Who cares to play TJBM game, The Jelly Below Me, #69?

TJBM likes tradition but loves 69!

I am ecstatic, I’m an out with the old, in with the new type.

TJBM is so happy to have Pt. 69

Yes, indeed. And I’ll gladly relive it over and over. :D

TJBM was really satisfied with the last meal they cooked.

Yes. Spaghetti squash with marinara with sausage.

TJBM has a lot of coupons for shopping this week.

False. I have no coupons and would lose them or find them crumpled up in my purse if I had any.
TJBM LOVES watching Game of Thrones and just watched the latest episode!
(When I said “False” I sounded just like Dwight Schrute!)

I’ll watch it tomorrow night with Hubby. It’s not my favorite show, but Tyrion Lannister is my spirit animal, and I’ll keep watching as long as he stays alive.

TJBM has a favorite GoT character.

Yes, indeed. Well, from the books – I haven’t kept up with the show, because the shows are never as good as the books and read the books way before it was a show (I’m a snob about it). Tyrion is my favorite character, by far.

TJBM has a secret haven for their sanity when times get tough.

True.
TJBM had a stressful and tiring day

It was true last week
TJBM is relaxing.

True, I’m typing from the bathtub.
TJBM, much like myself, had no idea this tradition was still running after all this time.

True, someone sent me this question.
TJBM really doesn’t want to go to work today.

Very true. I ditched everything I’m supposed to do today and I ended up relaxing.
TJBM loves gollum so much and says “Myyyy preciouss” every once in a while.

Don’t love gollem but do occasionally use his catchphrase for my own devices…
TJBM likes fantasy fiction

I used to love fantasy fiction. Stephen R. Donaldson rocks. Nowadays I’m more into human fiction, and The Grapes of Wrath was the best book I read this month.

TJBM has already had something newly grown or gathered from a farmer’s market.

My garden is abandoned, sadly.
TJBM is fond of home-made things.

Are we talking cookies? Then yes.

TJBM is a stickler.

Yes, there’s a special adhesive that I use so that my lers always stick.

TJBM can describe the difference between a quincunx and a pentagon.

The pips on the 5 side of a typical 6-sided die form a quincunx. A pentagon is a polygon of five equal sides.

TJBM likes geometry.

Hell no! I am not a math person at all, language yes, and enough math to manage my life but I’d never consider solving math problems to be a fun past time. haha

TJBM has taken an antibiotic in the last few months for something.

True actually, though I try home remedies first if I ever can.
TJBM isn’t a fan of casual pharmaceutical drug use.

True. You ever saw a drug abuser with a healthy life.
TJBM is addicted to something healthy.

Coffee. It’s about my last “vice”, and recent research seems to say it’s healthy!

Okay, I’ve been known to crack a brew, or to toke up, but not to the extent I would call it an addiction!

TJBM has heard that kids in the US are four times as likely to be shot by a firearm than kids in Canada

No, I hve not but I’m also not surprised. Gun violence in America is out of control

TJBM has a cat littler box they scoop every day to keep the little poopers potty clean. lol

My little poopster does all her secondary business outside, but I do have a litter box inside for those special occasions.

TJBM has seen a predator on their property.

do foxes count?
TJBM is looking for Sinead O’Connor

No, she’s not my cup o’ tea.

TJBM is ready for a change.

Yes. But for now a shower will do.

TJBM had a GREAT weekend!

Pffft! No, spent 3 hours at urgent care and getting antibiotics and pain pills for a bad sinus infection.

TJBM is wearing something colorful.

Nope. Black yoga pants and a white cozy sweatshirt since I’m working from home.

TJBM wishes they could be in nature right now, relaxing and just taking in the beauty.

Yes. Even though it is raining here, it is a thing of beauty.

TJBM is excitable.

I can be yes.

TJBM has gone deep sea fishing.

A couple times, but it’s been over twenty years.

TJBM has been “cowboy camping”, as in out on horseback, build a fire, pitch a tent, etc.

Nope, though I would love to!
@Mimishu1995 I said casual use, not abuse. There’s a difference ;)
TJBM hates drama and finds it tiresome and exhausting

TRUE! Once upon a time I used to be caught up in drama easily, thinking I did something wrong to the others. Now I know that sometimes the drama is just an imaginary product, and I’ll be doing myself a favor not to care.
TJBM has removed a toxic person recently.

Not recently. I’m pretty good about avoiding toxic people before they insinuate themselves into my life.

TJBM’s dirty laundry is backing up.

Haha, how’d you know?

TJBM is enjoying a lovely, breezy, perfect temp evening and is dreading the summer heat to come.

I did yesterday yes, and true summer’s way too hot lol
TJBM wishes they could hibernate

In a way, I do. It’s called climate controlled environment. I only have to experience much nature on really nice days. :-)

TJBM thinks there is a maximum allowable hair limit for humans.

Yes, men with gorilla back grosses me out to no end. haha

TJBM will tell us their eye color. blue eyes here

dark eyes
TJBM is planting garlic

No, I’ve got a ton of garlic chives that keeps multiplying every year. I have to control the extent to which it spreads. @reijinni You may be faced with this in the future, but I don’t see it as a problem. It’s just part of what I have to do to have this in my garden.

TJBM has a garden

Had, not has :(
TJBM had a garden.

There is a huge garden already started on the property I am moving to in June. It is lovely, by a big pond, willow trees, blackberry vines, and you walk over a tiny plank bridge surrounded by reeds that is over the run off from a stream into the pond.

TJBM has rattlesnakes in their area.

There are rattlers in the region, especially in the open areas, but we don’t usually see them in the urbanized areas.

TJBM knows how to handle a rattlesnake.

I know how to gut, skin, and cook one.

That’ll teach a diamondback rattler to show up in my garage.

TJBM eats unusual meats.

Nah, not my thing. Unusual desserts, absolutely. haha

TJBM is a dessert lover.

Eggghhhhhh no. I leave no room for dessert.
TJBM loves to drive fast.

I’m a bit of a speed demon yes. haha

TJBM drives a silver car.

My station wagon is gold. It’s called the Shuttlecraft Lemmy, after the Star Trek auxiliary vessel and after the musician who died the day after my birthday, and the day I bought the car.

TJBM names their vehicles.

I did haha. It was a car worthy of the name though… ‘Bumblebee’.
TJBM hates wearing a seatbelt.

No, especially since I was ticketed for not wearing one some 20 years ago.

TJBM had something happen to them a long time ago that still affects their decisions to this day.

Yes. My ex husband was a total control freak tight wad and used to cut coupons and force me to use them. I hate coupons and to this day refuse to use them. lol

TJBM hates using food coupons.

I always felt I had better things to do with my time than search for and collect coupons, but in the past few years I’ve read about the huge savings they provide on quality products. Now that I don’t make the money I used to, I’ve given this some thought. If and when I get back to the states, I’ll probably make a game of it. I’ll probably go mostly vegetarian and hang in the fresh produce department a lot, do a lot of wok cooking, etc. Hopefully, I’ll have space for a garden. I’d like to keep my weekly food costs to around $30, and I think this is possible with store coupons.

TJBM gets most of their vegetables fresh from their garden.

No. I only have 3 tomato plants and that doesn’t qualify as a garden, I don’t think.

TJBM loves cream cheese.

I like it but wouldn’t say I love it.

TJBM wants a new drug. I was given Tramadol for my wicked sinus infection headache and boy does it work wonders on my bad shoulder, but it is addictive and sooo, back to the land of useless Tylenol. haha

For muscle aches and pains I have had great success with oil of arnica. For sinus congestion, I usually have good luck with chamomile. When it’s grown locally, it seems to work better on local pollens, much like local honey (which is also a natural antibiotic).

TJBM has heard of Mr. Natural.

Is it you?
TJBM has a title.

Teacher.

TJBM wants some lobster.

Always up for some lobster!

@Yetanotheruser I just looked up Robert Crumb a few days ago. He and Aliene are still together. They moved to France a couple of decades ago. She got all pissed off at him about his “Mohammed’s Hairy Ass” cartoon after the Paris bombings and is now on strike. She calls herself a “retired person” now. I love those two old pervs.

TJBM likes R. Crumb’s cartoons.

True, especially Big Ass comics.

TJBM puts on the seat harness before they start driving.

Yep, always, rote habit.

TJBM wants Calgon to take them away.

Who’s Calgon?
TJBM still has cartoon fantasy.

All kinds of fantasies, but none are cartoon.

TJBM is as happy as I am that Bernie Sanders just won Oregon.

@Mimishu1995 Calgon is an American bubble bath mix.

Not American but rather him than Trump
TJBM thinks international travel regulations are too strict >:/

Not true, I think that the TSA and Homeland Security (sounds so Nazi doesn’t it) are too anal.

TJBM likes to wear the underwear of the opposite sex.

I’ve never done that before. But my old school uniform had unisex ports shorts, with too much room in the front and not enough in the back for girls, I tried wearing them backwards to see if it would make much difference, it didn’t.

TJBM Has accidentally worn an item of clothing inside-out/back-to-front, and will tell us all about it

Yes. My underwear :p
TJBM thinks clothes is a mundance.

I like clothes a lot. They hide my lumpy bits ;-)
@Coloma Calgon is a product for removing limescale in the uk. Best not get the two confused!
TJBM bathes in something weird

My skin. I have to admit that after the age of 40 it started to develop it’s weird bits. ;-)
I associate Calgon with super-slimy Bath Oil Beads.

TJBM knows a delicious snack that is good for us!

Here you go. Matcha cookies. A combination of the healthy matcha tea and your cookie. I used to have these at home but they were too expensive.
TJBM knows another good snack.

I like a snack called “Powder Keg”, and it’s a snack mix made here by Mountain Man.

Calgon also makes water-conditioning and softening chemicals

TJBM has another good snack to mention.

I love pouring vanilla yogurt over blackberries and it becomes a delicious swirly dessert. Yummy! Froze sticks of Pineapple are great in the summer too.

TJBM is feeling discouraged about something.

Wo wo, a confession. I actually am. I’m literally discouraged about telling my best friend that I’m in love with her.
TJBM is going to give me advice about it.

Just do it! She is probably not clueless about this anyway.

TJBM thinks this is not the best advice

It’s always best to just speak up and see what unfolds vs. living in a tortured inner state.

@Tbag You’re adorable how could this girl turn you down?

TJBM is a student of truth.

@Coloma Aww, thank you. Very kind of you to say that. It’s not as easy as it seems. She has a boyfriend and that makes it even harder. I’m just so scared. I do not want to lose her! Punchline is that her boyfriend is what’s stopping me from spilling my heart out. Ugh!

Very true. I realized that I am more loyal to truth than many people around me. Don’t know if it is a good sign or not.
TJBM has a long-standing belief.

Many. Perhaps the most asinine is a belief in the inherent goodness of people.

TJBM has more than 2 internet-dependent devices.

Yes. Desktop computer, laptop computer (that’s so old the battery is dead so it’s basically a desktop), ROKU tv stick, Kindle Fire, Kindle e-reader, my smartphone, hubby’s smartphone, Wii U.

TJBM doesn’t have a Facebook account.

True. I dropped mine in 2011, just didn’t float my boat, found it boring, hated the stupid farm game requests, and it also led to me dumping a toxic friend.

TJBM has dumped a toxic person.

Oh yes. I called her Horrid Bridget
TJBM has a good friend and will tell us all about them

Tell you? No no… I’d rather show you a picture that can tell you everything you need to know about my good friend…
TJBM loves watching the big bang theory.

@Tbag which one? I don’t get it…
But false. I don’t often watch the Big Bang theory
TJBM likes QI

SO MUCH and I’m thoroughly displeased that Stephen Fry will be retiring. He’s only halfway through the alphabet!

TJBM is a fan of stand up comedy.

@Stinley The geezer holding the paper. I swear that joke was funnier in my head haha.

I am, I am, it is my secret fantasy to do some stand up.

TJBM would like to talk to God. Did you know, God likes lizards, ask him about lizards. lol

www.dumb.com/god/

I used to talk to “Him” all the time when I was a devout member of a religious community; “He” never answered me directly Now I communicate with “Her” (Mother Nature), and “She” talks back to me through my garden.

TJBM is a spiritual person.

I’m a member of the church of nature too.

TJBM has a tummy ache. Oh man, the mexican lunch is not settling well, haha

False. I narrowly avoided one. I was going to buy 8 jalapeno poppers at the Walmart deli, but the Walmart Diet strikes again – I stood there so long waiting for cheap, mediocre, unhealthy food that I wandered off. Again. Happens to me 9 out of 10 times at the Wali.

TJBM has an unpaid bill that’s driving them nuts.

Luckily I have given up excessive spending a long time ago.
TJBM is in good term with their money.

Not really. I am moving to a new little place and am spending a lot more than I had thought I would, you know how it goes..” Oh, I need a rug for this room, I need a new fan, on & on.”

TJBM needs a shower.

Probably

TJBM Has recently seen a very good movie (old or new) and will tell us all about it

Yes. The Red Circle. But I don’t really want to recommend it because it may be a bit too slow to some people, and it’s so abstract it may come as pretentious. If you want to watch something artistic, or just different from the norm, then give it a try.
TJBM would like to tell us about another good movie.

@Tbag I see it now!!
I watched About Time the other day which is a British movie by Richard Curtis. Very sweet and funny but doesn’t pass the Bechdel test
TJBM will knows of a good movie that does pass the bechdel test

I do not, as I have never heard of The Bechdel Test until now, so I’ll simply post a link.

TJBM knows of a rating system (on any topic) that they agree with almost 100% of the time, and will share it.

Found this by accident one day. I think it’s a pretty good movie rating system overal. At least it takes every rating score possible from various sources for the final judgement.
TJBM has discovered a strange website lately.

I am constantly stumbling upon strange websites, does this count? I also have a couple more:
this one is just trippy
this pointless website
correct coffee intake
totally pointless
koalas
this is so sad…they literally find a picture of someone pointing where your cursor is
dividing squares
Please note that I found a website that compiled all of these websites, but these ones are my personal favourites

TJBM Has looked at at least one of the links, and has conceded that I have no life

No, I haven’t. It’s looking like I probably won’t. :)

TJBM has watched a good film lately and will recommend it to us now.

I really liked the “In the heart of the sea” the Moby Dick soinoff that was released back in Dec. or Jan.

@Magical_Muggle Haha That cursor link, how do they do that?

TJBM is being really, really, baaaad, and eating macadamia chocolate chip cookies right now. Stay away from my cookies or I shall have to keel you.

Not at all. I’ve been a good kid. @Coloma I’ll have some today, for me and you!
TJBM will ask the jelly above me a question.

Can you forgive me for eating macadamia chocolate chip cookies pleeeeeease?
TJBM will forgive me.

I am eating Hobnobs so will forgive anyone anything
TJBM heard a lovely story today that brought a tear to their eye

Yes, but it was not lovely. I just read an 86 yr. old Florida man shot his sick 78 yr. old wife because they could not afford her medication. She was in pain and wanted to die but had not asked her husband to actually kill her. So sad and I do mot think he should be charged with murder.

TJBM agrees.

I do agree and hope someone has the wherewithal to put me out of my misery when the time comes.
TJBM has no plans for the weekend but is looking forward to it just the same.

Plans tomorrow to go over to my new little place and do some stuff before the move in date on June3–4.

TJBM has fallen down recently. OMG..I hurt myself so bad this morning and asked a Q. about when was the last time you fell down? haha

No I haven’t. Shit, it’s actually been a while since I fell down and hurt myself. I’m jinxing myself aren’t I? @Coloma How bad did you hurt yourself 0_0? You feelin’ better?
TJBM plans on traveling this summer and will tell us about it.

No travel plans, I am on a tight budget and moving in a few weeks.
@Tbag Oh man, I totally wrenched my right arm, tweaked my left wrist, hurt my thumb and scraped my knee and elbow, it was a good fall, should have been on video. lol

TJBM can hear thunder right now.

Nope, though I love the sound of thunder ♡
TJBM feels drained

A bit. I’m halfway through a music festival now, and I’m a bit “peopled out”. There are so MANY people here and I don’t know any of them. As a serious introvert, it is exhausting.

TJBM prefers camping more quietly.

Nay, I camped at Woodstock. YA ! ! ! !

TJBM does not remember Woodstock.

I can’t remember something I have never known.
TJBM has some interesting camping games.

Of course. I am a scout leader!
TJBM also has camping games and will give me some inspiration

Best camping game, get a little high and roast S’Mores. lol

TJBM likes S’Mores.

Must confess I’ve never had them. More of an American thing I believe.
TJBM has been camping on the beach

Yes, and had our campsite raided by a herd of free ranging cows. They slimed everything and tore open bags of food. haha

TJBM has hurt themselves recently.

Yes. I stepped on a nail yesterday while clearing out the old wood-scrap pile. I wonder if I need a tetanus booster? I can’t remember my last shot!

TJBM is not a medical professional, but they can advise me.

Yep. I advise you to call your doctor. Speedy recovery!

TJBM has recovered from a shock.

@Yetanotheruser If your last Tetanus shot has been 10 years or more a booster is in order.

I am still recovering from my bad fall yesterday. I am totally effed up.

TJBM made cinnamon rolls for breakfast.

I wish…. I woke up today and the first thing I had was green tea. Bad idea…..
TJBM started reading a new book.

I am reading Lake Over Turn by Vestal McIntyre. Odd and interesting, so far.

TJBM subscribes to at least one magazine.

Nope, I’d much rather buy a book :D
TJBM is a bibliophile and loves hunting for old books to collect

True, but lately I’m more of a movie lover and I collect old movies, mostly American and French one. Movies are easier to collect than books anyway.
TJBM loves collecting.

I have a nice size movie collection but I am not a cluttery collector. I like my environment easy to clean. haha

TJBM knows someone with about 5,000 books.

I was that guy! Drove my wife nuts. They didn’t go with her decorating schemes. I eventually was able to take over one of the bedrooms, line it with book shelves, move most of my books in there with a nice big leather recliner and pretty much gave her the rest of the house. It was my very own Southwest Style reading cave. Ah wuz in hevun.

TJBM loves to be surrounded by books.

Who doesn’t?

TJBM Will recommend two books to us

Beautiful Jim Key and Wesley the owl: The remarkable love story of an Owl and his girl.

TJBM likes non-fiction.

Yeah. I read some non-fiction for information too, especially “technical” ones.
TJBM can read any kind of books.

Yep. Even if it’s not something I’m interested in, I still might read it to fall asleep.

TJBM has a method of falling asleep.

Splay out on my belly, scrunch up my pillows, draw a leg up, zonk out. lol

TJBM is going to bed now. zzzzz

Goodbye world. Zzzz
TJBM will say: “Good night @Mimishu1995”

Good night @Mimishu1995, have a nice night!

TJBM will tell us about the latest dinner they ever accidentally had
I once had dinner on camp at 11:30 pm because the co-ordinators said our fire wasn’t good enough for food, and then the food took too long to cook. We then proceeded to wake up at 6:00am the next day because we had to do something

The most pleasant surprise at dinner was at a big Victorian B&B outside Ft. Ross, California, about 75 miles up Hwy 1 from San Francisco. This was about 1971.

It was a dark and stormy night. A friend and I had been building his cabin in Gualala all week and decided to have a decent dinner as a reward. I had Steak Diane and he had a whole Chateaubriand to himself. We were sat by an ornate lapis lazuli fireplace as a wild Pacific storm roared outside. We languished over our dinners under dim chandeliers in the warmth and quiet of this Victorian mansion’s ostentatious dining room. When it came to ordering wine, we went with a California Pinot Noir. Our waitress was this beautiful, soft spoken Asian girl from SF. She was new at waitressing. I was in love and monopolizing her time trying to wheedle a phone number out of her.

The wine that arrived was a 1961 Latour. The dining room was dark and I barely glanced at the label when the sommelier presented it. When I tasted it, I was shocked and took another look at the label and told the waiter that this was not the wine we ordered and asked him how much it was going to set us back. $130. Eek. But fuck it, we took it anyway. After all, I reasoned, he’d properly presented the wine to me and I had accepted it before it was opened. Fate had stepped in to my life once again, this time bearing a first growth wine. I’d never had a premier grand cru before. It was amazing. The girl came and apologized and I assured her there would be no problem.

After dinner the sommelier came back and introduced himself as the owner. He happened to be a former Marine and like my buddy had come back from Vietnam and got involved in the anti-war movement. We invited him to get a glass and enjoy some of his wine. He came back with a bottle of Margaux, 1953. The waitress was his girlfriend and he assured me that she would not be charged for the Latour as it would make his living situation unbearable. She joined us. We laughed and sat by the fire and drank first growths long after the place closed. It was a great dinner.

TJBM can describe the greatest dinner they ever had.

I forgot to say that the owner insisted on charging us only for the California wine, so basically the Latour was on the house.

We invited my sister and brother in law round for dinner. We were having Raclette and described it to them as potatoes that you eat with cheese melted under the Raclette grill. John looked very suspicious about this. There were loads of other things to eat like sausage, salads, ham, chorizo, peppers, mushrooms, pickles. He was so surprised at how good it all was and we all ate masses. He always wants Raclette every time they come for dinner. We are more than happy to oblige.
TJBM has tried Raclette

That’s it, CHEESE!
Looks pretty rich, but I’m always up for cheese.

TJBM has at least 5 different types of cheese in their home at this time.

Yes, lets see….Swiss, cream cheese, goat cheese, parmesan, white cheddar and shredded taco cheese.

TJBM has fixed up an old travel trailer or RV and has heard of “Glamping” glamorous camping” in renovated trailers and RVs. I am fixing up one now and it will look similar to this with a turquoise and red theme. So excited!

www.indulgy.com/post/MbzKDtHe92/vintage-travel-trailer-turquoise-and-red-kitchen

No, but I helped a friend move a big, old wooden chicken house to the top of a redwood ridge overlooking the Pacific near Occidental. We cleaned it out nicely and made it habitable. One end was his stained glass workshop, the other end was living quarters full of books. He had inherited a big Macaw named Ivan, as in Ivan the Terrible, from a dead uncle. Ivan was a prick. He hated people and bit everyone who ever visited this guy. The guy took his girlfriend up to Tahoe one weekend and when he came back, Ivan had reduced his whole library to sawdust. Son of a bitch lived for fifteen more years.

TJBM has owned a parrot.

Yes, a Military Macaw named “Louie”. He was a riot, liked to be wrapped up in a blanket like a “baby.” I would say ” Louie want to be a baby?” and he would grab his little blanket in his beak and roll over and over until he was all swaddled and then liked to lay in your lap. I had him for years but when I divorced I found him a great home with a girlfriend and he was very happy.

TJBM loves birds of all kinds.

No actually, I’m very picky when it comes to birds.
TJBM will tell us whether they like canines or felines more

Pussy cats large and small. Cats rule, dogs drool. haha
My 17 lb. Ragdoll “Myles” is flopped at my feet on the bed right now.

TJBM is having a relaxing Sunday.

I am. I cut the grass, tidied the kitchen, made dinner and washed my daughter’s hair. Now I am chilling
TJBM achieved stuff this weekend

I didn’t even know it was the weekend until Coloma mentioned it. I haven’t achieved anything new in the past two days. Just the regular stuff that has to be done around here. I’m cooking and feeding scraps to the dogs and cat right now.

TJBM went somewhere this weekend.

I’ve got a tough exam in 33 hours and 5 minutes to be exact. I spent my weekend at home sweet home. Read – snack – read – break – tea – read – read – read – dinner – sleep and dream about reading – wakes up, read.
TJBM will tell us something they thought they’d take to the grave.

Nope, nothing to tell. No skeletons in my closet. haha

TJBM likes history documentaries.

Factual, not “ancient alien theorists” programming. Although they are somewhat entertaining…and then there’s the hair…

TJBM wishes they could have hair like Giorgio.

I’m not a man.
TJBM successfully cartoonized someone. I drew one of my friends last night in the most cartoonic way possible as a joke. Turned out she looked much better in cartoon form. Troll failed :p

No. Not something I care to try.

TJBM recently bought a new computer accessory.

I had to buy a new cord a few months ago.

TJBM has an itch they can’t reach.

I constantly get itches in the back of my throat, or on the sole of my foot when I am wearing shoes I can’t get off.
I have discovered that I cannot scratch the itch in the back of my throat with my hand (I look like a total spastic) I have to use my tongue in a really difficult way to explain. The scratches on the soles of my feet just have to disappear.

TJBM Can do a neat trick with their tongue

I can touch the tip of my nose with my tongue. I can also do a bunch of different rolls and folds and stuff.

TJBM will tell us whether they have dangling earlobes or attached earlobes.

Dangling earlobes. * dangle-dangle *

TJBM Will tell us something that they are thankful for today, or in their life

I am thankful that I have first world problems
TJBM has a funny first world problem

I have every ingredient to make food, except that I am out food. Need to do grocery shopping ugh!
TJBM is on a strict diet.

Not a strict diet but watching what I eat and trying to slowly lose a few pounds
TJBM has a target weight and an actual weight.

Target is roughly 120-ish. I’m currently about 137. I’m not so bothered about it that I’m not having cinnamon rolls for breakfast. But I will do yoga afterward, and some strength training if I don’t murder my shoulders too much during yoga.

TJBM will share their workout routine

At 5.30pm I turn off my computer and go home. (see what I did there???)
TJBM will share the worst joke they know

Knock knock! Who’s that? Don’t cry. Still can’t understand what it means.
TJBM will share another dull joke.

Why did the gum cross the road?
Because it was stuck on the chicken.

TJBM will share two funny jokes.

What do cows have for breakfast? Moosli
-Doctor doctor I feel like I’m a pair of curtains.
-Pull yourself together man!
TJBM loves this and will tell another groan-worthy joke

@Stinley hahaha!
“Argon walks into a bar. The bartender says “Sorry we don’t serve noble gasses here” Argon doesn’t react”
TJBM fell in love with something new.

@Mimishu1995 I think I know that one. The way I heard it was: Knock Knock. Who’s there? Boo. Boo who? Don’t cry, it’s only a joke. Was that it?
@Tbag I made the cow one up myself

Nothing new and lovely in my life at the moment though
TJBM can answer TJAM

Yes. Another new movie.
TJBM defines love in the broardest sense.

I define love in many ways. There is the love I have for my wife which is quite different from the love I have for my kids, which is quite different from the love I have for my siblings, wwhich is quite different from the love I have for my fellow human beings in general, which is quite different from the love I have for music, which is quite different from the love I have for gardening, which is quite different from the love I have for my pet, which is quite different from the love I have for gardening, which is quite different from the love I have for Fluther…I could go on and on and on and on and on and on…

TJBM agrees that the concept of love is not simple to explain.

No, I don’t. Love simply means being willing to share half your jelly doughnut even though you really want to eat the whole thing.

TJBM has never been in love for more than a few hours.

Haha, false, but in the last 10 years that would be true, more like a passing few seconds.

TJBM has experienced extreme fatigue from taking an antibiotic.

nope
TJBM wants Trump to visit their country.

We already have Obama.
TJBM knows what I’m talking about.

Yes, I do. Better Obama than Trump, @Mimishu1995! It’s a good idea for the US to normalize relations with Vietnam. I think it’s about time.

I have to admit that I was surprised that I had a little reaction to see the flag I served under next to the flag I served against. And seeing President Obama in front of that huge statue of Ho Chi Minh brought up some feelings I am still trying to process…but it’s a small part of my overall feelings on the subject.

TJBM has had some unexpected reaction based upon past experiences.

I’m always shocked by the fondness with which I regard GHW Bush, considering the contempt I had for him while he was VP and then P.
(I don’t hold offspring against people. :-P)

TJBM thinks serious trouble is brewing in South America.

@Yetanotheruser true! Just watched the news report about Obama eating out in Hanoi. He was so friendly I could hardly believe the manner was something coming from a president. Another reason why I prefer Obama.
Wait, what? I was too caught up in Obama that I didn’t notice.
TJBM will fill me in.

It depends on what part of South America we’re talking about. Although Brazil is only one country of many, politics there is getting pretty interesting.

TJBM is aware that the President of Brazil is suspended from office pending impeachment.

Yes, she was. Although it is probably more of a power grab by those businessmen and moneyed elite who have seen their power dissipate over the past decade than a legitimate impeachment for corruption.
TJBM wishes that they could fly away for a few days and just lounge on a tropical beach sipping Mai-Tai’s.

That’s probably about number 6 or 7 on my “If I win the lottery…” list. @rojo, you (and yours) would definitely be on my guest list

TJBM will share their “If I win the lottery…” wish list

pay off bills
TJBM is having one of those weeks.

Oh man, yes I am. I am sick, fell down and hurt myself, trying to work, move in one week, paint a new house, and about 700 other things. If I survive this next few weeks without dropping dead in my tracks it will be a miracle.

TJBM is up to their eyeballs in stuff.

Yep, gardening.

TJBM has a great job.

Not yet!
TJBM would like to visit NY and NJ sometime in the near future

Nah, crossed that off my bucket list before I even knew what a bucket list was.

TJBM has a bucket list.

Yeah. But nobody knows if I can complete it before I die.
TJBM has crossed a lot of items in their bucket list.

I’ve never had one. I’ve always been too single minded. If I made a bucket list, 31 days later I’d be freaking out because I hadn’t book a flight to Egypt yet.

TJBM can make a delicious homemade frosting.

I could but I don’t want to. lol I used to make a home made peanut butter cake with peanut butter and cream cheese frosting, took freaking all day. haha

TJBM is so tired they just want to die in their sleep tonight.

Not really but if I had to go that would be a good way to do it; either that or while after an enjoyable bout of sexual excapades.

TJBM has gone “commando” some time within the last month.

Haha true xD sometimes you just gota let her breathe
TJBM knows sleeping nekked is good for health

I think you mean “naked”. Thanks for the info but how am I to explain that to my family if they catch me in the toilet doing my quick thing at night?
TJBM knows some myth and would like to bust it.

@Mimishu1995 I know how to spell darling. Nekked is something we used to say on here instead of naked lol
psst, night robe!
Hmm the Chupacabra!
TJBM is fascinated by the random acts cats often do… What on earth were they thinking? xD

Haha, I am. My little siamese bit me on the nose in bed this morning. She is a random love biter. My big Ragdoll brought me a lizard yesterday and let is loose under my bed. Oh joy! lol

TJBM has worked hard today and is ready to relax.

Yep, I got another patch of garden tilled and seeded, and just now opened a Blue Moon.

TJBM is satisfied with a good day’s work.

I am.

TJBM will reccomend a book to us that they have recently read and think we will enjoy?

The best book I read recently was The Grapes of Wrath.
Lake Overturn was a complicated and interesting book that does not promise you a rose garden. Certainly the only book I’ve ever read that has a prominent character that is underage, autistic, gay, ethnic and lives in a trailer park.

TJBM has heard a great new song lately.

I like Jess Glynne’s Hold my Hand. I don’t know how new it is, new to me anyway! Great pop song
TJBM has seen a great new film lately

Yeah, this. Don’t know if you want to try too, but hey, I assume that you know French, right @Stinley?
Why do I bump into so many movie questions when it’s my turn anyway? I like it though :)
TJBM likes obscure movies.

I love obscure movies, Moonrise kingdom was pretty awesome, and also the Grand Budapest Hotel, most all Wes Anderson movies, and Taika Waititi! HELL HE IS GOOD!- What we do in the shadows
And of course french movies, Welcome to the sticks (Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis), Amelie

TJBM Will tell us an odd fact that they think we deserve to know

@Mimishu1995 I have ordered that!

George W Bush and Saddam Hussein had their shoes hand-made by the same Italian cobbler (from QI)
TJBM has another random fact

I’m full of em. Such as, if you stay awake for 18 hours or more, it has the same affect on the brain as drinking a small glass of wine xD
TJBM knows things they have no recollection of learning

Yes. I have no recollection of learning how to teach music.

TJBM is looking forward to another productive day.

Yeah, but more of a “productive night”. My story has progressed a lot and I hope to write more tonight.
TJBM is working of something.

Yes. Many disparate things at once, as usual.

I just finished cleaning the boat from stem to stern, securing the electronics from the weather, cleaning and stowing the sails and clearing the hull bottom below the waterline of barnacles and algea.

I am working on passive devices to protect my free-range chickens from aerial predators, attacks of which have intensified since I introduced earthworms into their ranging area.

I am cleaning, repairing and upgrading the RAM memory of an oldish HP laptop.

I have also been looking into the “Rainbow Family.” primarily a Millennial, nomadic, nouveau-Hippy culture in the US and Canada.

And, for the past three days, I’ve been building a reference file on the actions of the American Army 9th Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade Riverines, Mekong Riverine Force, Joint US Navy and Army Task Force 117 operations in the Mekong Delta from 1966 until their disbandment in 1970 including ARVN and opposing NVRA/VC forces in that area. It has been quite an education.

TJBM is working on something.

I am about to resume painting my new little dogs in about an hour. Just as soon as the coffee kicks in and my stiff joints start creaking into action. lol

TJBM wishes one could still just hop a freight train and locomote to new territory.

I do.
New Mexico call to me.

TJBM has seen a great commercial lately!

Haha I usually skip adverts to be honest, though I’m curious to know which one you saw @ibstubro :D
TJBM can spend all day reading

Yes. That’s what bad weather is for.

TJBM is working on a long-term project today.

Does working on myself count?
TJBM woke up on the wrong side of the bed

Nope, not today. I woke up to peals of thunder in the distance and a rising wind. I love days like this. I secured the animals, made sure they all had feed. milked the two nannies and threw out a bowl of mackerel mix for the barn cats, called the dogs in and the three of us settled down to enjoy a wild, summer storm. On days like this I’d really like to have a dutch door from my study to Cheyenne’s stall so she could kinda hang with us during times like this—like the layout they had on Mr. Ed.

Yes, working on yourself does count.

TJBM is being tempted at the moment.

Tempted to get cross :(
TJBM has a good strategy for staying calm

I have heroes that I channel. At times when I’m in situational stress, or when I’m on the verge of being unfair due to anger, I channel Atticus Finch/Gregory Peck. When I myself experience unfairness, or I’m under physical threat or up against a more powerful foe, I channel Zorba/Anthony Quin. Even though these are fictional characters, they are ideals and emulating that ideal helps me get through bad situations. What would Zorba do? Like that.

TJBM probably thinks I’m batshit crazy.

Well if you are then I am too. That sounds like a good idea!
TJBM has thought of someone to channel

There are many times I channel “Tevye” from Fiddler on the Roof.

TJBM had plans for today that got rained out.

I was going to bring in some mangoes and take them to market, but that can wait until the weather clears.

Tevye is one of my favorite characters!

TJBM has heroic types they emulate as well.

I can’t think of any hero types right off hand but I am emulating a very strong and tenacious woman right now, considering my stress level has reached critical mass the last few weeks and I am physically exhausted after being sick and then falling and hurting my neck and deltoid muscle in my right shoulder. So far I have only had a minor tantrum trying to unscrew some wall brackets but I did seriously fantasize about killing the neighboring rooster that went off at exactly 4:19 a.m. this morning. WTF, dude, there is not ONE shred of light on the horizon, really? lol

TJBM lives near a loud and proud cock.

I am not going there. Bragging doesn’t suit me.

I hope you doing better soon, Coloma.

TJBM knows how to stop a rooster from crowing at 0419.

Shoot it? lol

TJBM likes good humored types.

I do! And just to prove it, I’ll also answer the post two above this…

…How to stop a rooster from crowing at 0419? Start preparing chicken dinner and 0418!

TJBM has prepared a dinner that included dispatch of the entrée.

Only Trout and Abalone no birds or mammals.

TJBM has gone fly fishing.

False. I have not fished since I was a kid and, as far as I remember, I have never caught a fish that was kept. I only remember fishing off of a dock in the Mississippi River.

TJBM has enjoyed a seafood meal recently.

Hmm… we had sushi last week. I’ve had a hankerin’ for seared tuna since I saw one contestant on Master Chef Australia make some a couple of weeks ago. Maybe I’ll make that happen tomorrow, if I have time. I’m supposed to be helping a friend move, though, so it might be pizza and beer instead.

TJBM has helped a friend move.

Yes, and now I am moving ta the the end of next week and 2 of my friends are helping me paint and move. Moving so sucks, freaking exhausting. lol

TJBM hates moving.

I do, I hate having to pack up absolutely everything, only to unpack it somewhere else.

TJBM Has been somewhere very nice recently

Yes. My bed.
TJBM is a basement dweller.

Well, I was when I had a basement. You can’t dig that deep where I live now; you’ll hit groundwater.

I miss the whole concept of attics and basements. Built in storage. What a thing.

TJBM had a house with a staircase.

I did, it was knotty pine, open stairs and had storage underneath. I wanted to turn the storage into a little reading hide away cubby when my family was driving me nuts once upon a time. The woman that lived under the stairs. haha

TJBM is working on a painting project.

Yes, my house…at least that’s the plan for this summer.

TJBM has plans for the upcoming season.

Painting my house too. Got the paint and everything
TJBM likes bold colours on the walls

I love bold colours!

TJBM has repainted a room recently

Hm… Must have been a year ago now. I painted one wall in my kitchen blue, just because everything was so white and I was bored.

I think I’m due for a new project.

TJBM has made a cross-stitch project.

Several. I got that hobby from my mom, an avid cross-stitch collector. But right now we don’t have money to fund more projects.
TJBM has a hobby hampered by financial problems.

Oh, so many. I’ve recently become interested in the Frankincense Tree. I have one, but it must be kept inside because the climate here is precisely opposite from what it requires. Except for the heat. My interest started when I found out that these trees are disappearing from their natural habitat through climate change and over-harvesting of their sap. So, I thought I’d like one to make bonzais out of.

But if I had the money, I’d take a look at all that “wasteland” east of the Sierras on the Nevada side and do a start-up Frankincense grove. The soil and climate appear to be perfect. (This goes for Myrrh as well). There is great demand for Frankincense and prices are climbing sky high, as is over-harvesting proportional to those prices.

There is government seed money available for solid business ideas that can potentially inject cash into poverty areas such as the Eastern Slope of the Sierras. I’m looking into it with one eye.

Who knows? Maybe in a couple of years, I’ll be out in the desert and well into my Gabby Hayes shtick.

TJBM also has a hobby hampered by financial problems.

I want to be a rare item collector. I have to settle down with digital items and not physical items due to money shortage :p Maybe I can do that some day, when I’m old and have a lot of money…
Speaking of being old and having money, I’m thinking of something…
TJBM has a passion they still keep alive.

Not so much the last few years, though I am enjoying my painting project now. I used to have a passion for growing exotic strains of bamboo and making water gardens and decorating but I too am financially compromised these days and living with a lot less space than I used to.

TJBM is waking up s-l-o-w-l-y this morning. Hey, rooster didn;t crow untill 4:55 am this morning, $%^!

Every morning xD
That’s late for you?
TJBM is good at spelling words

Spelling was always my strong suite in elementary school.

TJBM will share their strengths from school.

Art, english, animal sciences.

TJBM owns some tye dye clothing.

Not as much as I once did. My wife bought me a tie-dyed t-shirt from some barbecue joint in Kentucky.

TJBM has a regional preference for barbecue.

North Carolina, recently in the news, has a great barbecue from the eastern counties along the Atlantic. It’s unusual in that it isn’t as sweet as most barbecues and has more of a bite to it. Mix apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, cayenne pepper, a smidgen of Worcestershire sauce (optional), a splash of hot pepper sauce, an itty-bitty bit of corn whiskey, salt and pepper then pour it in a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. You can also cook it down a bit to thicken it. Refrigerate for 1 to 2 days before using so that the flavors will blend. Shake occasionally, and store for up to 2 months in the refrigerator. It is daaayam good. It is said to have come from the Gullah culture, freed slaves who lived out on the Sea Islands and low lands from Cape Fear south to Jacksonville.

I hear tell Colorado has a pretty good barbecue, but I’ve never had it.

TJBM also has a regional preference for barbecue.

I don’t know. I cook sausages, burgers, and veggie kebabs. Is that regional?
TJBM loves food cooked outside

Yes, I do. It seems to taste better and the central focus of a fire, the fresh air and the natural surroundings all appeal to the cave man in me.

TJBM especially likes a certain kind of sausage.

CHEESE SAUSAGE! In my local supermarket there is a strange kind of sausage called cheese sausage. It tastes really good! The smell of cheese is enough to hook me up.
But wait, is cheese sausage a thing?
TJBM knows if cheese sausage is a thing.

My first guess would be that it’s a sausage that is made with meat (as usual), with some sort of cheese mixed in with it, like this one. I’ve also seen cheddar bratwurst, which,as the name suggests, is a type of bratwurst that is made with cheddar cheese.

TJBM is fond of fondue.

Oh yes, fondue is yummy!

TJBM orders cheese from a special cheese factory. This is my fav. they make a Caraway jack to die for and a salami cheddar and a great pepper jack. www.loletacheese.com

Nope, from the supermarket lol. Though I do love cheese, I’d like to try a special cheese factory xD
TJBM is a FOODIE

I am and I have the cholesterol to go with it, having to be strict with myself, bah. haha

TJBM hates exercising extreme self discipline.

I never did have a lot of self-discipline. Unless it was required, then I guess it’s not self-discipline!

TJBM is getting silly today.

Well… that’s complicated. I need people around me to confirm.
TJBM gets silly because they stick to the rules too much.

I do get silly. It does surprise people as I think they think I am a bit of a stick in the mud!
TJBM can be a giddy kipper at times too

I can get about as giddy as any kipper you’ve ever met.

TJBM likes kippered herring with beer and crackers.

not really
TJBM has success with Android Pay

Don’t even know what that is
TJBM skips breakfast

All my adult life. I don’t feel hungry and it kills my morning energy.

Here is my moving tip: Strawberry Flats Fill one, stack, repeat. No need to wrap/unwrap and the more you stack, the stronger the stack gets. No unwrapping and great temp storage at the new place! Tomato, avocado, grape and apple boxes from Aldi may interstack and offer different depths.

TJBM has a keen tip to share!

If you have those little lint bobble things on your jumpers, (I hope you know what I mean) You can get rid of them by using old shaving razors that are no longer sharp, you just shave the bobbles off and whalla! good as new …I am not good at wording things

TJBM Has another household tip they can share with us

Want to sleep soundly at night in noisy condition? Turn on your fan. If that fails download a white noise file in your phone, turn your phone to airplane mode, then put on your headphone and play the file.
TJBM doesn’t have any tip.

I’m too chilled out to have any tips. We have a new lawnmower and my husband is playing with it and mowing the grass at the same time. I’m sitting in a deckchair I’m supervising
TJBM is enjoying some sunshine

Yes, infact I just finished the morning chores here and broke into a sweat at 8:30 am. haha
It’s going to be quite warm today, mid-high 80’s.

TJBM had ice cream recently. Oh man, Ben & Jerrys Pistachio Pistachio for me last night, it was great!

You bet! Just finished the last scope of my ice-cream box!
TJBM is enjoying the summer.

It’s been very mild here. Cool. I’ve not even bothered to break out the shorts yet. But, yeah, I’m enjoying the hell out of that!

TJBM knows how to put a good meal on the table without heating up the kitchen.

Yep, either BBQ or make picnic fare.

TJBM likes picnics.

Sure, I like them as long as bees are not present.

TJBM doesn’t play on any other qNa site.

I don’t. Q & A sites don’t usually appeal to me. This one has been the exception since 2008.

TJBM will tell us how long they have been a jelly.

Just look at my profile.
Seriously though, I have never had any real emotional attachment to any sites except this one. I don’t know why. I never knew I could be here for so long.
TJBM thinks the same too.

I feel the same, Fluther is like a neighborhood of friends and fun. :-)

TJBM is staying up waay too late watching random videos.

I’m staying up waay to late reading books.

TJBM Has to get up too early each morning

Thankfully not, I’m not a morning person at all.
TJBM has chronic insomnia

I’ll sleep when I’m dead.

TJBM exercises daily.

Gosh no. Hardly ever, too lazy.
TJBM needs to gain weight

I wish, I need to lose some weight. I’ve lost about 13 pounds since March but could stand to drop more. God knows I am active but at mid-life it just hangs on, and on and on. lol

TJBM is having a crazy busy morning.

Not this morning. I’m still lazily enjoying my holiday.
TJBM has a lazy day.

True
TJBM loves Italian cuisine * _ *

Oh yes. Pasta. Sauce. Mmm

TJBM loves Mediterranean food

Yes, yes, yes. I love Greek food especially. Saganaki and a Greek salad is a perfect meal. Spanakopita with a side of tzatziki sauce! On and on.
I was mourning the loss of our local Greek restaurant to last fall’s storms this week and – lo and behold! – found out it has reopened in a nicer location. I hope to make it there one day this week.

TJBM is passionate about food.

Passionate enough that I actually grow a lot of it.

TJBM likes gardening.

I do, very much. I like exotic grasses, bamboos and flowers and veggies.

TJBM has had Mexican food in the last few days.

I’m still trying to remember when I last ate a taco.
TJBM incoporates their love for food and gardening.

I do like to eat outside. I would like to grow more veggies. When I retire to France I will become more self sufficient
TJBM would like to be self sufficient

Absolutely yes. I’ve grown potatoes, onions, tomatoes, corn, herbs, radishes, spinach and I would love to do it all the time. Unfortunately English weather isn’t good for year round gardening.
TJBM wants to move to Spain or Italy

Yes. But Greece is much more affordable. I know the Aegean island I’d like to move to. I even know the house on the hillside overlooking a fishing village and the great, blue sea with islands in the distance. I could do well there with just a garden, a couple of goats, a good dog and a burro. But they are having terrible problems there at the moment, so it is wise to take a wait-and-see attitude.

TJBM knows of the terrible situation Greece is in.

Yes. sad. crazy high suicide rates. I understand people just feeling like giving up, life should not be such a struggle for many.

TJBM is gearing up for a major heat wave. Supposed to be like 105 or more this weekend, oh man, a living hell.

Currently suffering it. Someone send me ice-cream!
TJBM will send me ice-cream.

Would goat milk mango be alright? It’s delicious and doesn’t seem to negatively affect the lactose intolerant. Papaya is good, too, and great for the digestive system (natural Pepsin). Or Mandarin. Or Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) which works as an anti-hyprtensive. I can always whip some up fresh on a moment’s notice. I usually have a lot of goat milk.

TJBM has never had fresh Papaya.

True, that.

TJBM has hair on their chinny chin chin. lol

Yes I do. Appropriately, I have a well-groomed a goatee.

TJBM will do something to beat the heat today.

I am indoors right now but have to clean the bird barn soon and then go firth into the inferno for a doc appt. and errands and then tomorrow, gah, a full day if painting again with a friend in the heat.

TJBM drinks LOTS of water, so much water that they have to go pee about every 30 minutes. haha I do

I do drink a lot of water, constantly throughout the day, (feels-like temp is 101F inland today) but I sweat it all out as it goes in and pee only about every four to six hours. Never a dry moment here. Only mad dogs and Englishmen—and this bloody American.

About 4–5pm we get our daily luke-warm downpour and everything cools for the evening. The dogs and sheep head for the various sheep cotes I scattered around here. Shy and I take the slow walk back home in it and it washes the day’s sweat off us. Very refreshing. It’s a good time to sit on the porch with a coffee and pastry and watch the steam rise out of the jungle beyond the meadow. Then the storm clouds break up for a spectacular, technicolor sunset. Nighttime comes the polyuria, though. Age, dammit.

TJBM knows the pleasure of the 4pm ritual.

Mine is the pleasure of the 8–9 pm ritual after getting all the birds into their barn and coop in the summer, but soon my ritual will change and most days I will be done by afternoon unless my new work people have travel plans then I will be feeding horses around 7 pm. @Espiritus_Corvus OMG, yes, the polyuria, I try to cut my water off by 8 or so but when it’s hot that is hard. If I sleep fr 5 hours without needing to go pee it is a miracle. haha

TJBM soldiers on no matter what.

No matter what…Got a good start on the garden, rainy today, doing long-put-off plumbing chores today, with my head under the sink and an adjustable wrench that’s almost too long to get the right torque…

TJBM is also doing unusual chores today.

No, that will be tomorrow again. Re-screwing is that a word? lol all the freshly painted hardware on my freshly painted cabinets. OMG, it is going to take hours to out all these handles and knobs back on. Today is a doc apt. in an hour and errands and pick up an Rx.

TJBM likes winter better than summer anymore.

No, no, no! I love summer. I actually like winter as well. Summer because it’s my garden time, winter because it’s my music teaching time.

TJBM has a favorite time of year.

I like a temperate summer, something like what you and Coloma have, or a subtropical winter. It’s a hard question. Harvard Yard is incredible in the Fall. Maine, too. A stormy Spring on teh rocky coast of northern California or Maine. Then there is a warm brandy by a stone fireplace during a good snowfall in a lodge with friends. This is an impossible question to answer!

TJBM is not ambivalent at all about which season they prefer.

Quite the contrary…I just don’t like extremes of weather.
—Although with the global warming climate change, it seems that’s exactly what we’re getting.

TJBM will share an extreme weather experience.

Oy. I’ve been through a couple of hurricanes and the aftermath of Andrew. But the worst was a winter storm on the Baltic.

Aye, ‘twas back in ‘88 ‘twas, we were swamped with 40-foot seas sou’east off Gottland in freezing sleet and Cat 2 wind on the good, old MS Gripen, 120 yrds LOA, built in Danmark, 1956. She’d pierce a wave with ‘er nose and by the time the water came to midships, ‘twas rollin’ blocks of ice sweepin’ the decks clear of all ‘er hardware. The bridge lost all her windows and the landsmen aboard lost their guts. She was a sturdy tub, she was, and she held together to get us into Riga, thus we escaped with our liiiiiiives!. The old hoor ended her days a gambling ferry out of Biloxi and since 1999 she is sleeping at the bottom off the West Bank south of New Orleans.

TJBM will share an extreme weather experience.

The MS Gripen

@Espiritus_Corvus What kind of ship/boat is that?

About 6 years ago there was a crazy summer T-Storm with high winds and pounding rain. I ran out on my deck to crank down my market umbrella that was launching a pretty heavy redwood table off my deck and threatening to fling it into my bedroom window. I could not get the damn crank on the umbrella to crank and so had to stand there, a human anchor, holding onto the umbrella pole and preventing the table from overturning in the middle of a torrential downpour, lightening strikes and crazy wind. I felt like I was on a ship in a storm, holding onto the mast. lol

TJBM has had frost bite.

True. But for some reason, my frost bite loves to reside on my mouth. No other part of the body ever has it.
TJBM doesn’t like the cold.

I haven’t felt cold in twenty years, but it never bothered me earlier. I always dressed appropriate for the weather. I’ve lost some subdermal fat in the past few years, so I really don’t know how I would handle it these days.

@Coloma The Gripen was a small car ferry, very intimate for a Baltic ship. I was able to find her specs and she wasn’t anywhere near 120m long, she was 80. The first two decks below the first window deck were where the cars went and served as ballast. The first window deck was crew’s quarters and ship’s business. The next two decks were a couple of restaurants and bars.

Top deck forward was the bridge and the three windows aft of that are the captain and officer’s quarters. Aft of that, top deck, just forward of the stack, you’ll see a doorway. That was the worst placed bar ever put on a ship. It was a dutch door and shots were served from it at all hours long after everything below closed. There was only a three foot deck on the outside where the hardcore would gather late at night and drink. We lost a couple of passengers who chose to ignore the signs and the bartender’s warnings not to sit on the rail. The ship would lurch from a broadside and off they’d go into the night. The captain, against company orders, finally ordered the bar closed.

It was a great little ship. I had been on larger ones and they weren’t nearly as fun. Just me, the captain, three other officers and eight deckhands and load specialists. Same guys every tour for three years straight. A bunch of brothers, really. The hospitality crew was much larger and separate from ship’s crew. It was a good ship. We had an excellent captain and some good times. After that storm, he brought us into Riga limping at a 15 degree list on one engine at 40%. Helluva captain.

TJBM has a storm story.

The freak foothills blizzard of 2009. Dumped 2 feet of snow at my house, power was down for 4 days. I went outside at 5 am and all you could hear, all around you, was the sound of tree limbs snapping under the heavy wet snow. I was freezing, had like 7 blankets on the bed, slept in a layer of thermals, sweaters, sweat jacket and fleece vest with the cats stuffed under the covers. read by lamplight like Abe Lincoln. haha

The 2nd day I made it out of my driveway to check out the area near my house but by 4 pm the snow had had iced over and I couldn’t make it back up my hill. There were 6 or 7 of us from the neighborhood and we were all careening, out of control, sliding backwards down the steep hill back to our houses. I slid down and spun out sideways and came to rest between 2 pine trees and one of my neighbors was sliding towards me and spun around and stopped parallel to my car by maybe a foot or so. Amazing!

There was about 10 of us stranded at the bottom of the hill and another neighbor fired up his ATV and handed out hot chocolate and baggies of snacks while we waited in the dark to be shuttled., one by one, back to our houses. It was quite the storm.

TJBM has experienced a 3 pussy night.

No, but I very much enjoyed 3 Dog Night in my day.

TJBM likes bubble gum!

I do but haven’t had any in years. Bazooka!

TJBM has seen an amputee recently. Really bizarre but I have seen 3 legless people at my pharmacy in the last 3 weeks. I can’t remember the last time I saw an amputee and now they are everywhere. haha

I went past a legless man. Does it count?
TJBM feels sorry for disabled people.

Yes, it must be a really hard adjustment to lose a limb.

TJBM feels sorry for people with allergies, like me. lol

Yes, it must be a really hard adjustment to give up what you normally enjoy :(
TJBM feels sorry for people with too much bias.

Umm… I can’t remember ever feeling sorry for a bigot. I guess I’m just not that enlightened. I have a thing about people who live here on earth with us and purposely make it a worse place instead of a better place. One is not born with a bias, one assumes a bias. In this respect, we all have a choice. These people choose to take on beliefs that make other people miserable, unnecessarily. I have no sympathy for people like that. I will never be a candidate for beatification.

TJBM watches the weather, the birds, the foliage for signs of change.

Always. Whether one is in a city, in suburbia, in a rural area, or at sea, there is much to be learned by observing nature.

TJBM is up too late.

More like up too early. Off for another day of major painting and work on my project RV in about an hour.

TJBM will tell us their eye color. Baby blues here

Blue

TJBM will tell us their hair color (original, natural and current).

Blonde. Still blonde with only about 10 gray hairs at my temples and couple interspersed underneath. I was an Edgar Winter kid, white blonde.

TJBM knows the origin of why blondes are called “towheads”?

Towhead was a slang term for blonds. I think it originated in the Mid-West wheatlands, especially in Minnesota in the 19th century. Tow, I think, is the wheat chaff which is a light golden color. A bunch of agrarian Swedes and Norwegians began showing up after 1840 and the others referred to them as towheads. It wasn’t necessarily derogatory. There is a very poignant book, Letters From the Promised Land, a collection of personal letters sent back home to Sweden, affectionate family progress reports, to those left behind from 1840 – 1914. They refer to this new American term “Towhead” with some pride.

Skandinavians were known among their American cohorts as hard workers, good farmers and craftsmen, Lutheran—a quiet, sober and proud people. Willa Cather always included either a “Bohunk” family or a family of “Towheads” in her stories. Bohunks were mostly from southern Germany; Bavaria, Bohemia and Sudentenland (Czeckoslovakia), were often brunettes, harder to understand, Catholic, imbibers, louder, assertive, less educated, but also hard workers.

TJBM likes 19th century literature.

True, one of my favourite periods.
TJBM will tell us who their favourite author is and why

I don’t really have a favorite author. More like favorite director, maybe because I’m more involved in movies lately. Jules Dassin kicks ass! His movies may have very boring or cliche start, but as they go on you are treated with twist after twist, you can hardly see anything coming. He teaches me that a familiar idea if well executed can form a great story.
TJBM will tell us who theif favorite director is and why.

Mel Brooks.
I don’t know the names of many directors, but I know that Mel has made me think almost as much as he’s made me laugh.
Plus…Ann Bancroft loved him!

TJBM has worn a feather boa at night before.

@Espiritus_Corvus I think I love you. A man that enjoys brainiac trivia, and yep, count me in on the Bohemia tribe. lol

No Boas, but I have some sexy little satin numbers.

TJBM is pleased with their uber productive day. Today was the shift from critical mass chaos to the vision of a coming together on my project.

Hmm not yet!
TJBM has their birthday tomorrow

Sorry, no. I was born in the house of Pisces, ruled by Venus. According to a reading by a Romano lady at a county fair years ago, my divine associations are Poseidon, Vishnu, Christ, Aphrodite, Eros, and Typhon. Not a bad group to hang with, actually. I like being a Pisces.

TJBM enjoys esoterica.

I do. This is the stuff that will flesh out history.

The term Bohunk (as mentioned above, not necessarily a pejorative term) was shortened to hunk, which became hunkie. Around the 1960’s it was broadened in sense to include all white people, and evolved to honky.

Is that esoteric enough for TJBM?

Haha “Honkey” haven’t heard that term in forever now.

TJBM will tell us their astrological sign. Capricorn here, loyal, steady, stubborn, persevering.

Leo, of course.

TJBM is a honky.

Honk, honk, honk!
TJBM is annoyed by my honk.

False. I just dispatched it.

TJBM dispatches things they don’t like. @ibstubro Shoo! It’s my turn!

Indeed I do.

TJBM can link us to the “What’s for dinner?” question.

Yep.

www.fluther.com/187973/whats-for-dinner-/#quip3245180

TJBM already knows what’s for dinner.

I just ate dinner. Pasta carbonara house style…
TJBM has a pasta carbonara recipe to share

I don’t. But I plan to eat pasta tonight in some form, not sure yet.

TJBM made a big purchase this week.

Nope, just some small ones!
TJBM wants to go out for dessert

Don’t need to. Mama brought home some baclava from the Greek restaurant yesterday.

TJBM says I can take a beer break now

you are free to grab yourself a melvin beer.
TJBM knows about this: http://wkrn.com/2016/06/02/lifeflight-responding-to-blue-angel-plane-crash-in-smyrna/

Nope
TJBM will tell us if they prefer their custard warm or cold

Fresh from the package!
TJBM really has to have the last word.

Well, I do have the home court advantage.

TJAM TJBM defers to their elders.

Only if the elders are deserving of deferential treatment.
Old jerks are still old jerks. haha

TJBM does not think age automatically conveys respect.

Longevity, maybe. Age, not necessarily.

TJBM knows the difference.

An 8 year old dog is older than an 8 year old kid?
TJBM knows the difference between effect and affect

Effect is a noun only, affect can be both a noun and a verb.
TJBM will say if I’m right or wrong.

I’m too tired to be able to properly say

TJBM Can though

Yes, Mimi is correct. I am continually impressed with both her knowledge and use of the English language, especially when one considers her age and the huge differences between her mother tongue and ours.

TJBM would like to have a couple of laying hens in their back yard, especially since inferior store eggs have hit $6.00 per dozen in some places.

No. Just no. I have resisted the S/O petting zoo instinct for a dozen years.
We have seen bobcats in the back yard, for gosh sake. I think the den of fox finally moved on – now that yip-yapping down the valley into our house was unnerving!
Last I saw home-raised eggs for sale here, they were $1.50 a dozen.

TJBM would love a condo in a botanical garden.

No, Condos mean neighbors stacked on top or you, below you and all around you. haha

TJBM is dealing with a difficult person right now.

I have to encounter some difficult people, but not to the point that I have to think of a way to deal with them, fortunately.
TJBM is surrounded by supportive people.

Unfortunately not, quite the opposite
TJBM is considered to be a people person

I have always been gregarious.

TJBM is gregarious.

Absolutely!
Oh, unless I randomly hate your guts.

TJBM tends to be bi-polar.

Absolutely! Sometimes I just hate it when I can’t find a middle ground for my mood, but oh well…
TJBM is conservative.

I am liberally liberal and conservatively conservative depending. Mostly I am a free spirited type, don’t impose your will on me. haha

TJBM is moving at warp speed right now. Off for another day of major work at my new little scene.

No, just taking a break from raised bed construction project.

TJBM has planted their garden. (Or harvested, if they’re in the southern hemisphere.)

It’s an on-going proposition in this climate. Each season brings a different set of fruits and vegetables or a second harvest. There are no fallow seasons here, per se, but one must be careful not to deplete the soil. So, making full use of the beneficial symbiotic relationships between plants and animals—including humans—is paramount.

TJBM will tell us approximately how much area, in sq. feet or sq. meters, they have under cultivation this season.

This year I’m only doing about 600 square feet for vegetables. I have another 100–200 square feet for with wildflowers to attract pollinators.

TJBM will share a dream.

To be able to live freely, without any silly restrictions on who I can be and what I can choose to believe. It’s difficult being part of a religious and strict practicing family.
TJBM knows someone who is bisexual

Sure. Lots of people.

TJBM knows someone who is asexual.

Yes I do actually, but not many.
TJBM is a nymphomaniac xD

If I was, I would have been kicked out of here a long time ago.
TJBM is heretosexual.

I am, I like penises yes. lol

TJBM likes earthworms.

Not in the same way you like penises!

TJBM likes the beasties in the soil.

So true!

TJBM will name the last educational institution they attended, or the one where they’re currently enrolled.

Tennessee State University
TJBM will drop some Canadian Tire money into the collection plate

I might, if I knew what you were talking about…

TJBM Knows what @reijinni is talking about, and can answer accordingly

No, but then again @reijinni has a tendency to post cryptic response.
TJBM loves to confuse.

Not usually.
I’m guessing @reijinni is in need of new tires in order to make a road trip to Canada?

TJBM loves to make up stories to explain sketchy details.

No, but I find TJAM’s penchant for doing so to be both entertaining and amusing.

TJBM loves to entertain and amuse.

Well, I guess that’s the reason why I write stories in the first place.
TJBM has a passion that they can’t explain why they do that when asked.

Yes. entertain and amuse. lol

TJBM has worked like a draft horse the last few days.

No, been quite relaxed actually.
TJBM tends to avoid confrontation

It depends. With those that have shown themselves to be toxic personalities yes, you will never be heard or acknowledged so it is best to just ignore their toxicity and distance yourself as much as possible. With close friends and family and perfect strangers I have no problem speaking up or calling someone out on their crappy behaviors. Know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run. lol

TJBM is a good judge of character.

Usually yes.
TJBM is a hermit

50/50 blend. I love people, am a socially confident type, like to chat and joke and play with others then go home and tune out for an equal amount of time. As it says in my profile here, ” half social butterfly, half hermit.” haha

TJBM has cut themselves recently doing something like cooking or, in my case, taking a hammer to a broken cupboards glass insert to remove the pane. lol

Omg @Coloma I hope it heals up soon! Thankfully I haven’t cut myself recently, though I have making salad multiple times in the past lol
TJBM wishes they could sleep for a week

Who doesn’t?

TJBM understand the importance of sleep on their system

Yes and I’m quite good at getting enough of it, despite a lifetime of insomnia. I’m a big believer in naps. Sleep is all about mental rest, physical repair and building.

TJBM is going to try and grow something really new and different in their garden this year.

I’ve never grown garbanzo (chickpeas). I have three plants a friend brought me in a container from the local nursery; they’ve been in the ground for about two weeks now, two seem to be doing OK, and the third is not beyond hope…yet.

TJBM is going fishing soon.

Perhaps.
I check the “fresh never frozen fish” clearance bin at Walmart frequently.
Then, that’s “What’s for dinner”.
Hook and pole, no.

TJBM loves leftovers!

Not really, but better not throw away anything still functional.
TJBM recycles.

True
TJBM is sad about something

Yes, I am sad that I am no longer able to live my old lifestyle.
I’m hanging in there but the last few years have been uber challenging for me and now I am in transition again.

TJBM is in transition.

Not yet no.
@Coloma I’m sorry you’ve been having a tough time darling, best of luck to you <3
TJBM has been having a strange time in the chat room recently :/

I’ve never been in the chat room. That’s a bit of a confession!
TJBM will tell me what the chat room is like

crazy if filled.
TJBM likes to have a Linux laptop.

I would. I’d like to know more about using Linux
TJBM is an ethical hacker

More of an epical yacker
Fluther wise

TJBM is an ethnical snacker.

Well, I don’t snack on endangered species. That’s about a far as my food ethics go.

@Stinley Linux has numerous OS’s. I like Linux Mint Cinnamon because it’s just like Windows 7, only in reverse for proprietary reasons. It’s not hard to adjust to at all. And there are thousands of Linux free apps that actually work seamlessly and glitch-free, made by and for LInux users. I would have to pay thousands for the programs I use.

I’m running the Linux equivalent of MSWord Office Suite Professional ($400) that reads and converts many more types of docs than Word does, and allows me to edit photos after I insert them into a document – Word can’t do these things within one app..Linux apps is much easier and saves an enormous amount of time. Hyperlinking into a document is much easier also.

I have a photo editor that can do everything most good photo editors do, plus convert photos into believable pencil, charcoal or pen&ink drawings, oil or watercolor paintings. The “vivifier” function doe wonders for a faded color photo, or a blurry b&w.

My film editor is fast, carries 25 fonts for subtitling, and can vivify bad frames. As an added bonus, Mint will partition your harddrive and you will have the choice of booting into Windows or Linux until you feel confident enough to just go with Linux.

I did this because I was sick of getting comfortable with one MicroSoft OS only to have them stop supporting it and force me to take the next one. It happened with 98, then XP, then 7. I still mourn the loss of the photo editor that came with XP. The radical difference and inferior design of Windows 8 was bad enough, but the aggressive push for Windows 10 soon after was the last straw. I finally made the move and am not sorry in the least.

TJBM hates the way MicroSoft forcibly “markets” their shit.

I wouldn’t say hate but it can get annoying and irritating at times.
TJBM often jinxes technology around them xD

Then what do I type this response with?
TJBM is up to date with technology.

No. I love my laptop but am not all about the latest and greatest.

TJBM sees light at the end of their tunnel. OMG…about 10 hours away from completing my project. Mercy!

GO! GO @Coloma GO!
TJBM is ready to cheer their friends up.

Always. Strangers, even, if I sense it and I can.

TJBM likes short socks.

I like short, medium and long socks. I guess that means I just like socks period.

TJBM is eating “dinner” at 9:41 pm Damn summer time lol

I usually eat dinner between 7 and 9pm, depending on the workload. Usually, after the livestock have been fed and bedded and then when the chickens have had their evening tour of the garden and head inside. Then the dogs and Maggie the resident housecat get fed so I can eat in peace. Then it’s my turn. It goes by season, determined by when the sun sets. The chickens don’t head to roost until light starts to fade. They make the call. Strays are herded up by young Dave, who is learning to herd sheep by starting with chickens.

TJBM will tell us if their lives are ruled by the sun or by the clock.

I have an unruly life, but I tend to wake and sleep by the available daylight.

TJBM needs to clean out the bathroom cabinet.

Oh please not the toilet :(
TJBM has a grudge against the toilet.

No, I don;t mind cleaning toilets, doing laundry or mopping but I HATE vacuuming. haha

TJBM is a tidy housekeeper.

Well, I like a clean house. I try to keep my messes in two rooms; the kitchen and the study. The study is beyond help, like a bomb went off in a library. But there is a system in it. The kitchen is kept quite clean or the roaches will own it. Constant battle in this climate. I have a lady who comes in once a month to deep clean. The study is off-limits to her, though. She seems like such a nice, quiet, stoic woman. It would be a shame to cause her to have an emotional breakdown. But it’s not bad for a bachelor’s pad.

TJBM had a favorite bedtime story when they were a kid.

When I was little, I used to ask my older sister to tell me the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. She told it almost word for word, inflection by inflection, each time she told it to me. By the time I was four, I could recite it start to finish, and I would tell it to my younger brother, and then to my younger sisters when they came along.

TJBM has a nice childhood memory they would like to share.

Playing for hours with my model horses and Barbis out in my jungle like backyard. I made little stick corrals and was super into my little fantasy world. I also would take my Barbis to a local creek and tie strings to them and float them down the rapids. I invented ” White Water Barbi.” lol Also swimming until dark at the local park pool. back in the days when parents didn’t worry about their 8 or 9 year old kids walking a few blocks home at dusk or being gone all day on their bikes somewhere within a 5 mile radius.

The park pool opened at 1pm until 8pm. We would swim all day, rush home for dinner at about 5:30, gobble down a few bites while our mothers admonished us to “slow down” and then rush back to the pool to swim until 8pm. Then we would loiter and play in the park until almost dark before walking home.

TJBM has a pool at their disposal. My new little place has private pool privileges, can’t wait.

no pool, only frog pond.
TJBM is bored.

That’s why I’m here.
TJBM is not bored.

Nah. I worked today, then ate at the Mexican restaurant and caught a tiny margarita buzz. Stopped at Goodwill on the way home and made $90 buying wooden ladders. I started new Fluther questions today, so now I’m busy catching up.
I’m self entertaining.

TJBM is self entertaining.

I totally am. Living alone on the country for years and being an only child taught me the fine art of happy self entertainment.

TJBM had some nuts today.—OMG..I just polished off a bag of mixed nuts.

I have pecans nearly every day. They grow on the trees here and keep well when not in season. A Pecan tree looks like a cross between a big-ass Magnolia and a big-ass Eucalyptus. They give good shade and enrich the forest floor beneath them.

Yes, plenty of nuts here. Mostly of the tourist variety.

TJBM has to deal with tourists regularly.

Not regularly but the downtown of a near by town is a tourist destination. The tourists act as if it’s a Disney attraction, and not a functioning town. No regard for vehicular traffic, and ignore all signage. And are very pissy when they are 100% wrong. I steer clear.

TJBM likes to visit tourist traps.

Not really no :/
TJBM wishes they could see wolves in the wild

It would be a wonderful thing. I have seen them, as well as coyote, fox, and even once I saw a coywolf.

TJBM has witnessed exotic wildlife.

Plenty of whales, the playful dolphin, many kinds of shark, the passive whale shark, the graceful manta ray, the gentle manatee, big ancient turtles, gators and their huge Caribbean cousins, the nasty caymans. Parrots galore here. Spider and Capuchin monkeys on Jamaica and Cuba. Wild Rhesus monkeys in Florida. These beautiful snails found only on Cuba. And this poor thing, the Potoo bird of Puerto Rico. It’s call sounds like “pooooor-me! Pooooor-me!” which is unbelievably appropriate. Seals and otters are my favorites because they are so playful like dolphins, but I haven’t seen any down here.

TJBM’s favorite wildlife is…

Hmm…, that’s like asking me to name my favorite kid! I like it all; I’ve seen the wild mustangs in Colorado, white tail deer in Illinois, javelina in South Texas, and many many more.

Sometimes it’s the gatherings of human wildlife that are most interesting.

TJBM has witnessed human wildlife.

Hah…more than I care to yes. I am living with a form of wild life right now, my housemate is like a mandrill, you know, those volatile monkey things. lol

@Espiritus_Corvus Those snail shells are amazing. I want to make a pair of earrings from them. haha

TJBM is in tornado mode. My wind speed is about 240mph right now. Look out, Coloma’s breezin’ through. haha