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I've just edited an item in my portfolio:
for "The Writer's Cramp"  . Maybe you might take a gander (meaning a look-see.... not stealing a goose) |
| I T's finely here... the new year. We've been busting our butts to get out of our ruts and maybe save a few bucks. Only to have those dreams and aspirations dashed by the ruling "ducks" in the swamp called Washington, DC. (Note: this last descriptor, "Ducks," works with many possible starting consonants depending on the weight of the Taxes.) But this last descriptor notwithstanding as cause for trepidation ... I am here, at WdC for yet one more year, and pleased that no one is crying about this. So, here's to a new Portfolio image and stupid user handle. I'm hoping I can help fill this new year with a bit of good cheer. Yes, even though it is usually beer that promotes these happy feelings, I propose, despite the gloom and despair shared on the news outlets about the events of 2024... this year, as I sit watching the bowl games, my cup is full of "Johnny Walker Blue." And though neither of my colleagues, Alma Maters, made much of a showing this year. The scotch in my glass says their slumps will not last because we've made some great recruiting advances for this next coming season. So, with love in my cup and a deep warmth in my heart, I wish all my WdC friends a Happy New Year! |
Great balls of firey scales and toenails... I've just edited an item in my portfolio:
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| Holy Tyrannical Revelations! Bat friends! Okay. It's time to touch the Third Rail again. I know politics is not what we like to see or read here on WdC… and while I try to suppress my late father and grandfather's conservative teachings and feelings, I want to be liberal in my thinking, to give everyone a voice in and about our communities in the real world. But some things simply defy belief…. Delaware says it out loud! The Blue State government owns all the businesses in their state. Like California, New York, and other democratically controlled States, Delaware's courts have ruled that they…NOT THE STOCKHOLDERS control how much to pay the company's employees. They control where you can build, how you make your product, and with whom you can do business. These states dictate what you can sell and how much you can charge. I say let them! @Elonmusk, please keep moving your companies and supporting businesses out of Blue states… if everyone stopped buying or selling their products to the big cities of Blue states, they would fall within a month. Start looking. I determine where the product is made and where its parent company is incorporated. If they practice any DEI… if so, I look elsewhere. So far, I have not had to go without anything. Blue state commies do not yet have a monopoly. My morning rant was my quick slip from a more moderate attitude. I promise to return to the modern liberal mindset suggested we must adopt to be allowed in the writer's world. I'll check back this afternoon to see if I've regained my "Moderate Thinking Mode." |
Joey says, Love's on the Loose  - I get that part about melon's pay. But what about the DEI comment? Your ancestors were immigrants and women. They are not "from here." They came here and built something. Why is the continuation of the great American tradition of coming here and making something out of it suddenly DEI and bad? Musk is also a DEI hire: African immigrant. |
Annette  - Agreed...100% everyone everywhere is an immigrant. The ancestors of every nation everywhere are immigrants. Depending on who may be correct, we all started in the savannas of northeast Africa, southern Mars, or atop some mountain in the middle east. I have no problem with legal immigration! I will even allow, concede, that for the those who were processed in anyway by the current U.S.Administration as not being illegal, they were after all let in, even invited by President Biden, from a certain point of view. But for the 1.2 million "Got-a-ways." They are criminals and must be deported without any consideration of any kind they are criminals period! Those who will not assimilate to the standards and practices of America need to leave too... But for those who turned themselves in, We cannot allow these undocumented people to stay in the country without standing and a path to citizenship or we are creating a second class citizen ripe for exploitation and abuse (like that isn't already happening) Who sets the rules in your house. Is it you, and a spouse, or is it the children that dictate, is it the neighbors, your town's mayor? Why are you comfortable with people who contribute nothing to your existence and prosperity telling you who can live in your house. Oh and you are required to pay for their criminal behavior and upkeeping. |
| Delaware's courts have ruled . . . Yes, as they must. As an institution, that is their function. They interpret law and its legal application. This ruling was the result of a shareholding filing suit. The plaintiff in this case—according to the law—sufficiently made claim that 320 million shares given to one shareholder would dramatically dilute the value and voting power of their own shares within the company. Even though there was a "shareholder vote" to approve the benefits package, one must ask . . . hmm, who posses the largest amount of shares within said company to vote in the affirmative? if everyone stopped buying or selling their products to the big cities of Blue states . . . Yes, because Todd and Emmet in the rural boonies of Nowhere, Alabama are going to rush out and buy lifted Cybertrucks. If it weren't for urban areas in these "Blue" states, Tesla as a company would fail. If they practice any DEI . . . The political right of the US has a tremendous love affair with hating anything that's three letters. Which is strange considering those are about the longest words most of them can read  Tongue-in-cheek aside, DEI is Diversity Equity Inclusion. Which one of those words isn't the ideal of America? The "melting pot" of the world, where anyone can make something of themselves. As long as they're white, Christian, and male I suppose. Rather than being angry at companies trying to empower historically marginalized groups, instead ask yourself why such an effort like that needs to exist in the first place. Perhaps it's because those in power have historically benefited from a system that only enriched them and those like themselves. Blue state commies . . . Those on the right of the political spectrum often subscribe to individualist ideologies. They are the party of me—unless something directly impacts me personally, I don't care about it. Those on the political left have a more community-driven and collectivist ideology and have become the party of we—of a mindset that society should be for the benefit of everyone, even if it's not myself, rather than those at the top. If caring about the well-being, opportunity, equal access to upward mobility, and the general welfare of my fellow countrymen makes you label me a commie . . . well, my friend, than that's a label I will wear with fucking pride and honor. |
| With friends on Writing.com, in joy, we soar and blend, In virtual space, our spirits meet on words we so depend on. Together, crafting stories in both sorrow and delight, Sculpting dreams into scenes in the soft glow of screen light. In laughter and tears, our tales do ebb and flow, A symphony of heartstrings as we let our true selves show. The keystrokes echo hopes and aspirations we hold dear, In every word and phrase, our futures are drawing near. Despite the miles that separate, a fellowship we find, In the shared passion for prose, in the power of the mind. Here's to the words unwritten, to the stories yet untold, To the friends who gather on Writing.com, brave and bold. In this digital haven, our hearts find common ground, Forever in our shared love of words, a home is found. |
| How sad! YouTube influencer Benny Johnson was at the Kamala Haris rally here in Tampa. There were only about 200 people there, but they were so embarrassed they had him tossed out even though he talked to nobody and did nothing but use his phone to take pictures like everyone else. https://x.com/bennyjohnson/status/1852734318180753571 |
| I expected visits from my children and grandchildren this past weekend, but they all canceled to attend company dinners, dances, and karate tournaments. It was so sad I couldn't even go watch, as they allotted limited tickets to the event. And I was too late in the asking. In my depressed state, I thought I would write an Ode to express my dismay at my somewhat bruised heart. But then I remembered, I already added voice to the plights of an ole' granddad. The Phases of Man Extracted from the Unknown, a cycle begins anew, A baby, dependent, in a world vast and blue. Grows into a child with laughter and cries, Under watchful eyes, beneath the wide skies. An adolescent next, with dreams and fears, Rebelling, seeking, through the formative years. A son, who looks up, then eye to eye, Sees the hero in his father under the same sky. A husband emerges in the dance of fate, He finds love, holds it close, and steps through that gate. Then a father, with a burden, heavy and grand, Time slipping like countless grains of sand. A grandfather, wisdom in his gaze, Sees the circle of life through the haze. The chance to imprint on the morrow's wake, Legacy and love, for his progeny's sake. Forgotten but not gone, in the grandson's eyes, The cycle continues under the same skies. Returned to the Unknown, where it all began, Each phase, each step, in the life of a man. |
| Well, Helene has brought more than wind and water to my house ... My two sisters-in-law will stay at our house until their houses can be repaired. Normally, this is not a bad thing, but then, as the only male in the house, I am reminded of certain things. I think this sums up the mood of my house for the coming future... |
| And you might think you have troubles. I have a house in Bartow, one in St. Pete Beach (a few blocks from the Don Cesar Hotel)… and one in North Carolina in Otto, just south of Franklin. Bartow had only a few limbs to clean up. We can't get to the mountain house because there are no open roads in the area—the Beach house had four feet of saltwater. Everything inside is a loss but insured. But we just found out that our flood insurance covers nothing outside, so the new AC, Lawn sprinkler system, pool pumps, fences, two electric-powered awnings, and a dozen pieces of missing patio furnishings (some less than two months old) will be out of pocket replacements. Despite that, I am extremely lucky. We could have been two blocks over where the sand got deeper. |
That's quite a sandbox in the photo.  So sorry for your losses. And, yes, it could have been much worse.  The insurance not covering outdoors losses... I guess many don't realize that AC units in FL are quite expensive and seriously a necessity there!!! |
Ẃeβ࿚Ẃỉtcĥ Cupid who?  - Flood insurance is separate from homeowners. Homeowners don't cover water damage, the flood doesn't cover wind or other storm damage, and FEMA doesn't help until your insurance company has turned you down and has denied your claim(s). It's not even the cost—it's the fact that it will take a year or more to get things repaired. With 160 billion in damages across six states... building supplies and contractors will have a severe shortage. |
Joey says, Love's on the Loose - That is so true, Joey. It's happened where I live (snow bird) in Florida. I was very lucky as far as damages, but many were not. They lost carports, docks, porches, etc. It took over a year at least for all the insurance turn downs and awaiting Fema to kick-in. Many times, the damage is caused by spin-off tornadoes.  |
I know the Season's calendar denotation is yet 22 days to come. But Quilli ☕   Asked the question in "Question of the Day!" How about you ... do ya have a nickel's worthy of opinion? Autumn Around our hearths and homes, our neighbors decorate their yards and porches. How fun to stroll these avenues and their displays of this last year's bounty. Rectangle bales of cut Bermuda and straw, intermixed are pumpkins, riffs of dried corn stalk, and bunched cobs, lay nestled within the displays. Raggedy Ann, her happy mate Andy, and sometimes their little ones, all crafted from bamboo spines, swatches of plaid cloth, and more dried stalks. Their small, white-gloved hands wave at each passerby, drawing attention to their gleeful smiles, inviting us in. Enthralled by the season's palettes, I paint, channeling the autumn hues onto my canvas. Each stroke is a desperate attempt to capture the transient beauty of the season. Among the vibrancy are small boys chasing each other, tossing armloads of once-raked leaves. Angus, their black Labrador, nipping and tugging playfully at pant cuffs. Oh, how magnificent the laughs and Ah-ha cheers echo through the wide yard. They are a solid remembrance of those same days seventy years ago. Between wipes of my cheeks are images of another grandfather, his eyes locked lovingly upon me. The dog, Prince, a Border Collie, was never far from our sides, my brothers and me. Come afternoon, the wife joins my strolls beside Lake Mary Holland. There, we meet more neighbors and share stories of their joys while offering solace in their sorrows. Each interaction of pictures saved on phones and tablets is a testament to the human spirit and life's richness that went beyond the mere clock's ticking ... Oh, what do you say? |
| "Harkin Yee-ole Purveyors of Mirth, Mischief, and Tears." For once more, I extend a shaky, grubby tendril toward the brass ring. Your perusal and disclaimed candor are not only welcomed ... but heartily desired..! Behold my 882-word short for "The Writer's Cramp" 8/18/24
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Yes, it's been a very long week. 
smiles
Steph