The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 02: A Comma (is a Restful Pause)

After a very confusing evening, I feel the need for some decent coffee, but as it's nigh on bed-time, I think a cup of Tea is best.

One cuppa tea coming up.

I got caught up on a few things and added a few more to the list. The list is now longer than when I started.

I have a few days off from the novel. The first half of the third book is with the editor. I'll wait for the blood red soaked return in a week or so, if I'm lucky.

In the meantime, maybe I'll work on some porn, uh, erotica.

NotWise said:

They say that our smoke is coming all the way from Prescott (central AZ).

So fireworks are okay, right?

Click to expand...

Well I don't know if the smoke is getting that far, but who knows. It is a pretty good sized fire burning about 15 miles southeast of Prescott. They closed the highway that does down to the interstate which leads to Phoenix. Fire jumped the road and is heading northeast. At the rate it is going it will block the other road to the interstate. I can't see any of it from where I am, but I have to drive to Phoenix on Saturday, and it is looking like I will have to take the long distance route, which will add an hour or two to my drive. Prescott is about two hours from Phoenix if you take the most direct route.

Fireworks are not permitted in Prescott or Prescott Valley, but you can have the smaller stuff on your private property outside of city limits, which is pretty dumb, since that is either the dry pines or the dry grass areas. Even a sparkler can start a fire. My house is just outside of the city limits, so I sure hope my neighbors don't do anything stupid since the area is prime for fire.

sharingfantasies said:

Fireworks are not permitted in Prescott or Prescott Valley, but you can have the smaller stuff on your private property outside of city limits, which is pretty dumb, since that is either the dry pines or the dry grass areas. Even a sparkler can start a fire. My house is just outside of the city limits, so I sure hope my neighbors don't do anything stupid since the area is prime for fire.

Click to expand...

It surprises me how far smoke can travel.

I haven't even seen fireworks for sale around here. A fews years ago a couple kids playing with firecrackers started a fire that burned about 2500 acres of cottonwood forest right in the middle of town. After that the fireworks laws got very strict.

NotWise said:

...
I haven't even seen fireworks for sale around here...

Click to expand...

One of the more impressive things I've ever seen was in your neck o' the woods:

4th of July - 2006, IIRC. My wife and I were staying at the Towne Place Suites near the airport. We had a suite on the top floor that faced west - and we could see right over that wide, shallow valley of Albuquerque, to the distant mesas.

That night, sitting in our room, we could see at least 8 separate fireworks displays around the town - mostly held at schools, I think. And at the same time, on the distant western horizon, there was a dry-lightning storm. It was as if God was saying "is that all you've got? Hold my beer..."

Coolest 4th of July display we've ever seen.

Haulover said:

One of the more impressive things I've ever seen was in your neck o' the woods:

4th of July - 2006, IIRC. My wife and I were staying at the Towne Place Suites near the airport. We had a suite on the top floor that faced west - and we could see right over that wide, shallow valley of Albuquerque, to the distant mesas.

That night, sitting in our room, we could see at least 8 separate fireworks displays around the town - mostly held at schools, I think. And at the same time, on the distant western horizon, there was a dry-lightning storm. It was as if God was saying "is that all you've got? Hold my beer..."

Coolest 4th of July display we've ever seen.

Click to expand...

I live in the middle of that wide, shallow valley. At that time we would have fireworks shows all around us. I was never really sure, but I expect they were more at churches than at schools. There may have been different settings, but around here life is organized by the Catholic Church.

Nature does have the best fireworks. In a summer near the end of my undergraduate years I sat on a rock with two equally-stoned friends and we watched a thunderstorm approach over the Black Hills. It walked on long legs, and each lightening strike was closer then the last.

Then we noticed that the fizzy-haired guy in the middle had his hair standing on end. We got off the rock a minute or so before the lightening hit. We watched from the car, smoked a little more, and were happy.

I'm not forgetting that.

NotWise said:

I live in the middle of that wide, shallow valley. At that time we would have fireworks shows all around us. I was never really sure, but I expect they were more at churches than at schools. There may have been different settings, but around here life is organized by the Catholic Church.

Nature does have the best fireworks. In a summer near the end of my undergraduate years I sat on a rock with two equally-stoned friends and we watched a thunderstorm approach over the Black Hills. It walked on long legs, and each lightening strike was closer then the last.

Then we noticed that the fizzy-haired guy in the middle had his hair standing on end. We got off the rock a minute or so before the lightening hit. We watched from the car, smoked a little more, and were happy.

I'm not forgetting that.

Click to expand...

LOL@NotWise - great story. I have a few (somewhat fuzzy) memories of how everything changed when viewed through a haze of pot. In my world, everything just became as funny as hell

And another week has flown by, Happy Friday. everyone.

Fresh coffee and kettle is ready.

We have two groups down by the lake that try to outdo each other with fireworks and from the sounds of things, ever so often a little added gunfire. Last night was a point in case.

Chores or writing? Now there is a loaded question.

I'm thinking of making a 4-day weekend of it, and maybe starting early.

How about a 7 day weekend. They call it retirement.

Got a little writing done. A conference call with my editor and publisher took up most of the time. Both are elated with the way the new book series is going.

I'm pretty sure the highlight of my weekend is going to be an MRI.

TxRad said:

And another week has flown by, Happy Friday. everyone.

Fresh coffee and kettle is ready.

We have two groups down by the lake that try to outdo each other with fireworks and from the sounds of things, ever so often a little added gunfire. Last night was a point in case.

Chores or writing? Now there is a loaded question.

Click to expand...

Happy Friday! Now that party down by the lake sounds like my kind of fun in my misspent youth. I have fond memories of sitting on the front of an old pickup hanging onto with one hand and shooting one handed at eyes in the grass that the guy in the passenger side was spotlighting at midnight down some back road. Drunk Chinese girl with rifle and 4 guys in a pickup = extreme danger. Lol. I hadn't remembered that one in a long time. Got home and got grounded. My dad called my boyfriends dad. That was a shtf nite. Dad was mad!

I need that coffee now! Oh the horror! Oh the stupidity of youth! Shudders!

ChloeTzang said:

Happy Friday! Now that party down by the lake sounds like my kind of fun in my misspent youth. I have fond memories of sitting on the front of an old pickup hanging onto with one hand and shooting one handed at eyes in the grass that the guy in the passenger side was spotlighting at midnight down some back road. Drunk Chinese girl with rifle and 4 guys in a pickup = extreme danger. Lol. I hadn't remembered that one in a long time. Got home and got grounded. My dad called my boyfriends dad. That was a shtf nite. Dad was mad!

I need that coffee now! Oh the horror! Oh the stupidity of youth! Shudders!

Click to expand...

I learned to shoot accurately killing the rats out of the corn crib with a .22 long rife with open sights. My redheaded, long legged female cousin (Where my love of redheads first came to light) and I would lay in the barn loft door where we had an excellent view of three sides of the corn crib. We traded the gun back and forth. Five kills without a miss got a kiss. The barn cats were well fed.

TxRad said:

I learned to shoot accurately killing the rats out of the corn crib with a .22 long rife with open sights. My redheaded, long legged female cousin (Where my love of redheads first came to light) and I would lay in the barn loft door where we had an excellent view of three sides of the corn crib. We traded the gun back and forth. Five kills without a miss got a kiss. The barn cats were well fed.

Click to expand...

Now that's an incentive to be on target. It's all these fun things that kids in cities don't get. Swimming in the river at midnight. Shooting rats an wabbits. Driving old pickups down back roads drunk. I had a friend who did firebreathing as a party trick. Great way to start a BBQ. He tasted yuck afterwards tho! And you didn't want to offer him a smoke. Lol. Field parties! Yaaaay for field parties.

Oh well, done that trip down memory lane. Wasn't so long ago either. Back to writing! Gotta be disciplined here! Disciplined! Uh, what was I writing again?

We never had hat sort of mis-spent youth; sadly.

I really must try to illustrate a tale of the thunderstorms of my youth.

Meanwhile, A coffee would be great.

I hope HP already has his coffee. I was busy with a stopped up sewer line.

Yes, I washed my hands before I made fresh coffee and a new kettle.

I wasn't born in a barn but i played all sorts of games in them. I even did a little work ever so often. Boathouses come in a close second to barns for fun and games.

Evening folks. TGIF. But I'm afraid the weekend is not my own, my mother is visiting. Can I get a little something extra in my coffee?

Hi there. I read here, but haven't posted. Hope it's okay I jot a few words down today.

NotWise said:

A fews years ago a couple kids playing with firecrackers started a fire that burned about 2500 acres of cottonwood forest right in the middle of town. After that the fireworks laws got very strict.

Click to expand...

I bet. Yikes! It wasn't 2,500 acres, but my brother caught our back yard on fire with fireworks once. "Laws" got strict also, as far as I remember.

sr71plt said:

I'm pretty sure the highlight of my weekend is going to be an MRI.

Click to expand...

Hope you get good news from that. Fingers crossed for you.

ChloeTzang said:

Oh the stupidity of youth! Shudders!

Click to expand...

I was reminiscing with a friend just last week, and we were recalling some of our brainless youth moments. We were like, "How the heck did we survive that?!? Shudders for sure!

Happy July 4th weekend wishes to the people that want them.

The Late, late Duke of Westminster (the present Duke's granddad) was UK's wealthiest Billionaire. He was asked towards the end of his life what was his greatest pleasure . He replied that whilst he enjoyed fox hunting on horseback his greatest joy was 'ratting'

'Ratting' involved inviting numerous boys (sons of employees) and their terriers to go hunting rats in the Dukes many Liverpool or London warehouses. In the days before silos when grain was stored in hessian sacks the warehouses were homes to millions of rats.

The Duke claimed that even when he was in his seventies the gleam in those boys eyes took him back to his own childhood. The technique was to clear out almost everything in a warehouse the day before, perhaps leaving a few old sacks behind as cover with a bit of loose grain for the rats to feed on. The following day the Duke would lead his intrepid band of perhaps 20 or 30 9-12 year old hunters with almost as many terriers.

Several boys (no girls allowed!) would seize the old sacks and as rats ran in all directions all the terriers would be released. Mayhem ensued. Terriers are amazingly efficient , one snap of their head and one less rat - within five minutes the warehouse was cleared. Then onto the next one.

A Uni friend of mine went on a couple of these 'hunts' as a boy and told me that after a couple of hours the Duke marched the hunters to the Dockside pub and each boy would get half a pint of beer and as much steak and kidney pie as he could eat. My uni friend claims that even today there are middle aged men in Liverpool who claim that the old Duke was a toff, but a real sport.

sr71plt said:

I'm pretty sure the highlight of my weekend is going to be an MRI.

Click to expand...

All the best and a big hug. Hope it shows absolutely everything is good and fine and working well.

clistenovena said:

I was reminiscing with a friend just last week, and we were recalling some of our brainless youth moments. We were like, "How the heck did we survive that?!? Shudders for sure!

Click to expand...

Ohhhhhh yeah. That wasn't the dumbest thing I've ever done by a long stretch. I was a bit of an adrenaline junkie at high school. Still am, just not as impulsive now.

There was the BBQ. There were my friends. There was beer. There was this beat up old jeep that one of the guys had just bought. Very used. There was also a river. And a question in Chloe's head? How good is this thing in water. "Go for it" said jeep owner, tossing Chloe the keys.

"Oh yeah" said Chloe, taking them. At this point I had no drivers license. "Yeee-haaaah" said Chloe, bouncing over rocks and sandbars. "This is fun." "Ooops" says Chloe as hood goes under. "Shit" say Chloe as Chloe goes under. Bubble bubble bubble says Chloe as jeep imitates submarine. Turns out some construction company had been removing stuff and there was a big hole and guess who found it. Chloe popped up just as guys all dived in. Chloe wins wet tshirt competition. Jeep gets pulled out and towed home. A great time was had by all.

So yeah, sometimes I just shake my head. And then go skydiving coz, hey, it's a totally fun thing to do.

Gee. My big risk for the day was trying the Yellowtail Shiraz.

NotWise said:

Gee. My big risk for the day was trying the Yellowtail Shiraz.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I wondered where my open bottle of that went.

NotWise said:

Gee. My big risk for the day was trying the Yellowtail Shiraz.

Click to expand...

Should you care to make the drinking a little more exciting, mAy I humbly recommend snorting vodka. Take a small cap, fill with vodka. Snort. The alcohol vaporizes in your lungs. Tried it once. After I could see again I chased down the asshole (my boyfriend back then) and damaged him. Of course if you try this, I disclaim all responsibility. Definitely. It I want to watche the video clip.

ChloeTzang said:

Should you care to make the drinking a little more exciting, mAy I humbly recommend snorting vodka. Take a small cap, fill with vodka. Snort. The alcohol vaporizes in your lungs. Tried it once. After I could see again I chased down the asshole (my boyfriend back then) and damaged him. Of course if you try this, I disclaim all responsibility. Definitely. It I want to watche the video clip.

Click to expand...

In the future, I'm going to look carefully at your recommendations. A little schnapps dribbled into a woman's navel makes a delightful cocktail, without the painful side effects.

And Pilot, if you're missing your wine then it's probably because you drank it. I think I've come up missing a couple bottles this week.