The Hap-Hap-Happy Couple

They saw each other via semi-regular personal interactions

Which is not to say there weren't any compelling attractions

They just thought it best not to try to push their luck

By sticking around one or the other like a hopeless schmuck

There were those who said that surely that's just fear of

commitment

But they swore it helped prevent boredom from becoming

malignant

Not once, they both decreed, has the magic ever 

died

And both stated that neither has been tempted to 

backslide

It's been ever so long a time since they last had a fight

As far back as both can recall everything's simply been alright

Still, every so often they both imagine and wonder

What sort of misstep would it take to tear their thing asunder

More Disproved Folk Wisdom

   Over the years I've heard several people state that once you can make a woman laugh you can get her to do whatever you want.

Well, I've repeated that statement to several women, and each and everyone of them laughed when I said it...But not one of them would do any of the things I requested of them.

Ramble Through Brambles And Become Entangled

                        People can be convinced

                To believe in things that do not exist

 Like kabebbles and kabobbles and impartial squabbles

And that beef taste better when minced

The Unacted Upon Childhood Obsession

   It may well be a good thing that some childhood desires are never acted upon.

   For example, my childhood obsession with buying a pick-up truck with a roll bar.

   There was a time when pick-up trucks throughout North America sported roll bars, as if there was a desperate need to have them - despite the incident of a pick-up truck rolling over being less than that of being struck by lightning.

   Roll bars started out simple enough - a single (usually 3" or 4" diameter) steel pipe that had either been manufactured out of three pieces of steel welded together or a single steel pipe heated and bent into a "U" shape that could be bolted to the bed of a pick-up behind the driver/passenger cab. 

   Roll bars built for pick-up trucks were rarely functional - they were almost always highly polished chromium finished steel, bolted to the floor of the pick-up bed, and would provide the most minimal amount of protection should one rollover, and in fact could become a cause of injury should they break free of their mounting and go flying wily-nily.

   But they looked cool, as in f**kin' A bad-a** cool.

   Roll bars evolved from roll cages made for race cars, which in turn had evolved from roll cages made for farm equipment (three wheel tractors and high centered harvesters that were prone to falling or rolling over).

   Those roll cages and roll bars were actually functional and saved many from injury or worse. Roll bars for pick-ups, especially small pick-ups, did nothing but look cool.

   But looking cool was all most kids in their late teens wanted.

   The design of roll bars eventually got stupid. a single bar became a double, then a triple, them quadruple. Braces were added to further the illusion that roll bars would actually serve a purpose, the pipe diameter grew and grew and grew - I've seen 10' diameter roll bars.

   The first truck I ever owned was a used 1977 Toyota pick-up well past it's due date. However, by the time I was able to actually buy that truck, roll bars were out and so was my desire to install them.

   I've owned a lot of trucks since that first '77 Toyota. Never even thought about adding a roll bar to any of them.

   I did add some sweet Cragar white mag rims with the blue & white pinstripes on the outer lip of the rim to that first Toyota though.

   Looked cool as hell.   

Signs That A Bad Winter Is On The Way

Some of the better ways one can tell it's going to be a long, cold & snowy winter:

1) Prairie Dogs start stealing insulation for use in their dens

2) Your lawn starts to grow fur

3) Birds start flying south in June

4) Silk strands on ears of corn are beginning to resemble afros

5) Squirrels have been seen browsing North Face catalogs

6) The term "September Frost" is spoken before Labor day

7) Wool is the new black

8) Bigfoot and Yeti costumes are top choices for Halloween

9) Tree trunks are encircled by moss quilts

10) Canada closes at the end of August 

Tips For Handling Yellowjackets (Wasps, Particularly Vespula Alascensis)

 The Wasps known in these parts as yellowjackets (Vespula Alascensis for those of you into the whole scientific classification thing) are particularly nasty insects when they are bothered, and individual yellowjackets can sting a person multiple times if so inclined.

I write from personal experience. This past weekend I stumbled across a yellowjacket nest that was located along the side of a house. The nest was in the ground - yellowjackets, as I painfully discovered, nest in the ground.

The nest was obscured by tall grass, weeds, and small stacks of lumber and dead tree branches. My passage along the side of the house was enough to disturb the nest and subsequently I was attacked by at least 7 of the little f*ckers.

The sting of a yellowjacket hurts. It feels like being jabbed by a tiny white-hot needle, and the sensation lingers - it's not one-and-done, it's one-and-let's-make-sure-you-know-you've-been-stung.

First aid for a yellowjacket sting is simple: wash the sting with warm water and soap, then apply some ice to the area to reduce swelling. Calamine lotion or a topical antihistamine slathered over the bite will help with the itching.

It's been two days since I incurred the stings, and while the swelling has indeed gone down there is still a small itching sensation at each area that was stung.

So, my advice for handling yellowjackets is simple.

1) Don't

2) Run away

Short Synopsis Of A Trip Through Kansas

So, you're thinking you would like to see the wide-open prairies and uninterrupted horizons of the heartland of the United States?

May I recommend Interstate 70 east? It's been nicknamed the main street of Kansas for a reason - it not only stretches border to border longitude-wise through the state, but it also wends its way through or skirts very close to most of the major population centers of the sunflower state. 

There is not a whole heckuva lot to see scenery-wise when you are outside the environs of the population centers, but there are some quirky places to stop, and the food is almost universally awesome no matter where you choose to pullover to get a bite to eat.

And that's about all I have to say about Kansas.

The Earthquake Dream

Buildings were crumbling

Large pieces of concrete and steel fell twenty, thirty stories 

Crushing cars, trees, and people

Windows shattered as they were twisted out of window frames

Hundreds of feet up

And fragments of glass rained down

People ran, searching frantically for cover

Ducking into doorways or under arches

Anything to get away from the falling sky

The ground heaved, water mains erupted 

Telephone poles shimmied like Polynesian dancers

High tension wires snapped like dry twine

Electricity crackled and hummed

Vehicles roiled and pitched like small boats in a storm

People fell, staggering to get back on their feet

The unfaithful earth tripping them up

Plummeting debris knocking them down

Screams, screams everywhere

Barely perceptible above the roar of destruction

The remains of the city covered in clouds of dust

Timber!

 

Unnecessary Cat Rhyme

 There once was a cat with a toothache

Who was nursing the pain of a heartbreak 

When asked if he might, want to go out for a bite

He hissed and jumped in the lake

News For Those Who Confuse Entertainment For News

    The Internet has destroyed credible reporting. It's evident on every single website that purports to present news. The bias practically bleeds from the screen no matter which website one choses to access for news, and no matter how loudly said website proclaims themselves to be honest, fair, impartial, thorough, balanced, etc.

   It's all just crap...but that shouldn't be a news flash to anyone capable of critical thinking

   Hard to decide what's worse, the blatant editorial slant of what should be a simple who, what, when, where & how story, or what passes for newsworthy...or what is not considered newsworthy.

   There appears to be a format followed by nearly every single news website, no matter the obvious political, social, religious, gender, academic, nationalistic, racial or what-have-you leanings of the ownership, editorial staff and/or writers that create the content of the site.

   NBC, CBS, ABC, MSN, Fox, CNN, Yahoo, Facebook, Twitter, etc. all seem to follow the same format, which appears to be a mash up of actual news written by actual journalists mixed with political ideology, entertainment/celebrity-based crap, and a lot of click-bait nonsense.

Everything listed after "actual news" makes news websites deplorable, disgusting, depraved, unreadable, and any other word with a similar definition.

The format followed is pretty much this:

Somebody killed multiple people with a gun

Politician did something the website staff finds objectionable

Tragic accident killed someone, somewhere

Never buy this item at a big box store

Some virus has infected a lot of people, killing many

Fashion faux pax by a celebrity

Somebody killed someone, possibly with a gun

Politician did something the website staff finds agreeable

Drought incorrectly reported as water being wasted

Somebody killed a wife/husband/partner somewhere with something other than a gun

Celebrity cheated on partner

Followers of political party A are all extremists

Mexican drug war is bad

Followers of political party B are all well-educated, rational & civil 

Astronomers discover a planet bazillions of miles away

Rain/Snow/Heat/Earthquakes/Storms/Obesity caused by global warming/climate change

Somebody killed people with a bomb

Top Twenty drummers of all time 

Government cover-up exposed! (UFO's, disease cures, time travel, etc.)

Someone killed a sibling or parents

Biggest NBA draft busts of all time

Country you never heard of threatens neighboring country you've never heard of

Someone killed a person or people with a car

Massive search underway for missing woman

Reporter contracts odd ailment, report states odd ailment is on the rise

Someone killed someone that has a minor connection to a celebrity

Stocks tumble oh my

Celebrity ex writes revealing book about being the ex of a celebrity

Someone killed someone, might be racially motivated

You're cooking the food you really like completely wrong

This noted personality is really not so nice to the people around him

Someone killed someone a long, long time ago and has finally been caught/convicted

Female celebrity wore revealing gown to awards show

Debt is actually good for the economy

Someone killed multiple people with something other than a gun

Politician the owner/editor/reporter likes profiled favorably

Someone attempted to kill someone without motivation

The real reason an actor was fired from a movie 

Someone seriously injured someone

Debt is destroying the economy

Politician the owner/editor/reporter dislikes is profiled unfavorably

Someone in the public eye said something that has been deemed hurtful to somebody

Famous person died

Someone somewhere is being considered a threat to somebody

Stocks are rising oh my

Sorta famous person died

Sporting event played; victors left it all on the field

Comedian inadvertently insults half the planet by retelling his father's favorite joke

Somebody killed themself

Female celebrity dares to bare abs/bum/legs/elbows in public

Editorial cautioning against optimistic economic outlook

Celebrity who died a while ago actually died from an overdose (now the truth can be told)

Editorial cautioning against pessimistic economic outlook

Someone died while on vacation/celebrating a birthday/getting married/ordering Chinese take out

Whatever you like to eat, it's bad for you

Someone insulted a minor internet celebrity/influencer by addressing them as "he" or "she" instead of "they."

Biggest NFL draft busts of all time

Why this other country is a better place to live than the one you live in now

This Hollywood star from yesteryear was actually gay (now the truth can be told)

Is this the end of brick & mortar stores?

Some people who represent 0.000001 of the current population claim they are being marginalized

Experts sounding alarm about...whatever

Years ago, these people were killed/harmed/slighted, so their descendants should feel bad

If you notice your pet doing this, get it to a vet quick!

Remember the stars of this particular sitcom? They're barely recognizable now!

Couple win lottery with ticket purchased accidently

Animal attacks person who mistakenly thinks the animal wants a sandwich and not the person's arm

Lawyer defends client with accusations against the victim

Followers of politician/religious leader/sports star/celebrity decry unfair treatment of said personality

Someone kills someone with an uncommon object

Big company might declare bankruptcy if government enforces/doesn't enforce tariffs and or taxes

Formerly depressed area/business/person on the road to recovery

Specific minority calls for more inclusion in something or other

This stuff we thought was bad for you is actually not

Someone kills someone after argument over television remote/computer use/fish and chips order

Country with nearly 100% homogenous society has less racial unrest than where you live

Major airline offends traveler who refused to stop passing gas

Someone killed someone in a faraway country for inexplicable reasons

Political party A accuses Political party B of shenanigans

Costliest celebrity divorces

Who to vote for in your area's primary election (trust us, we know)

Two celebrities celebrate wedding

Warring factions in faraway country sign cease fire agreement

Customer with therapy salamander refused service in restaurant

Warring factions in faraway country sign peace treaty

People regarded as royalty given copious amounts of coverage for no known reason

Warring factions in faraway country violate cease fire agreement

Twenty-five songs you didn't know were about cupcake production in the Netherlands

Warring factions in faraway country violate peace treaty

The best cars for drivers with large foreheads

Ten celebrities that voted against our favorite politician - number eight will shock you!

Sequel to hugely popular movie in production with new actor playing minor character

Cat writes thank you notes for gifts received at owners wedding reception

The best lutefisk restaurants in each state ranked by employee uniforms

Movie/television show created three generations ago was racist/misogynistic/nationalistic/baleful

Celebrities you didn't know were born yesterday

Breaking: Congressman didn't know it was illegal to accept large untraceable cash donations

Reporter demonstrates correct way to tie shoelaces

Where to invest less money than it takes to pay for the stock transaction right now

Musical act commentary on political or social issue

Ten best women in coal mining, Editor's picks

Second rate reality television star angry at being treated like second rate reality star

You'll never be able to retire, ever

Weather in your area

Traffic watch

Shiny things

 

 

It All Adds Up, Eventually

Living has a cumulative effect on life.

Or should that statement be, the actions we take/experience while living have cumulative positive and negative effects on the quality of our lives?

In my pre-adolescent and teenage years, I often heard people say that some such thing or event that had affected me in some way would not matter in twenty years.

Usually in the manner of "C'mon, what's it going to matter in twenty years?"

Well, I'm here to state that a whole helluva lot of the things I was told would not matter in twenty years do indeed matter twenty (and far more) years later.

It has been my personal experience that a lot of what transpired in the past did not simply disappear once the action/event was over. Many, many actions/events have stuck around...accumulated if you will.

Take food for example. It was a habit of mine to eat nearly everything that was set down on a plate in front of me without question for most of my life. When I say everything, I mean clean-the-plate everything, even if I didn't care for what was being served up.

That habit was born from being raised by a single mother who had to feed six kids on very limited means. "You'll eat what you get, and you'll like it" was a common refrain in the home I was reared in.

That childhood lesson never faded away, but my childhood metabolism sure has.

And every little enriched, bleached, and refined carbohydrate (when you're poor carbs are the vast majority of the food you eat) seems to have left its mark.

Accumulated.

Eventually, my weight exceeded 330 pounds, my BMI was slightly more than 38. It was not pretty, or healthy, and even though there were people who assured me I held my weight well, it was certainly not comfortable mentally or physically.

What I have learned in the past few years (knowledge is cumulative too, which is one of the good aspects of growing older) about the human body and the role habit and hormones play in health and wellness has opened my eyes and more importantly, my mind.

I'll give a quick summation of what I'm about to write: It's not just about how many calories you consume on a daily basis or where those calories come from, and it's not all about how much exercise you do or do not get.

Plus, sugar is the devil.

It is about when you eat and don't eat, and it's about balance in your diet, and how much the food and drinks you consume act on specific hormone production.

Plus, sugar, and most chemical sugar substitutes, are the devil.

The body's natural mechanisms that regulate what and how much a person eats can be compromised by ignoring the body's signals regarding hunger and satiety. When a person eats when they are not actually hungry and eats far more than they should at a single setting, well, it seems obvious now but it didn't to me for the majority of my life, but that can compromise the body's "desire and control" mechanisms, meaning you can develop the ability over time to desire more of the bad-but-delicious foods you eat and lose complete control over how much and when you should eat.

TLDR; If you habitually go to all-you-can eat restaurants and force yourself to eat plate after plate of high carb, high sugar foods in order to get your "money's worth", you are effectively killing yourself with food.

Sadly, resetting the mechanisms that naturally protected the body against such behaviors is hard, and continuing to stuff your face with butter or gravy smothered mashed potatoes and shoveling loads of macaroni and cheese (processed or otherwise) down your throat is not.

But not impossible. I'm not about to state, "If I can do it, anybody can," because that is a bald-faced lie. The fact that I can do something has no bearing on whether or not anyone else can. 

The more correct thing to say is there is a path available that leads one away from obesity, and it can be followed by nearly anyone who is capable of making the choice to take the path.

Plus, sugar is the devil.

Next, I'll discuss my hips and knees and all those squats I did when I thought being a powerlifter was a good idea.

Skepticism 101

Just to be clear...

Association of one thing with another does not mean that one thing causes the other. 

Not in peer-reviewed scientific circles.

In other words, correlation does not mean causation.

Two things can have extremely strong links, but until there is actual, incontrovertible proof that one resulted in the other, it's not definite. 

Every possible factor must be examined, and re-examined, and then submitted to a number of other researchers for still more re-examination.

That is known as "rigorous testing" of the hypothesis.

I only bring this up due to a recent experience with a person who truly believes that an unproven theory regarding extraterrestrial life visiting Earth has some truth to it due to a number of supposedly respectable people repeating the theory and furthermore, has been quoting some very scientific sounding verbiage that the primary claimants of the theory have been using. *

So, once again, the old chestnut:

   Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Repetitiously quoting pseudo-scientific claims spewed by people who have an internet presence is not extraordinary evidence.

Thank you.

 * The "quoting some very scientific sounding verbiage" bit is not just irritating, it is comically wrong, somewhat like when a person says, "Pink Floyd? I love him!"

The Imperfect Question

   "My knees", she replied.

   "Really?" He said in disbelief. "Your knees? Why do you hate your knees?"

   "Because during the summer between 7th and 8th grade my cousin Jerry said my knees looked like moguls - those little hills that are really close together that people ski over."

   Eric looked at his friend Sharon and tried hard to remember when he last saw her in shorts or a skirt or a short dress. Despite his best efforts to do so, he could not recall a single time he ever had seen her knees.

   "You know, I don't think I've ever seen your knees, so I'm not able to gauge what they resemble. Do they still look like moguls? I mean, that must have been a couple of decades ago, eh?'

   Eric smiled at himself for what he considered a sly compliment - he knew that had to be at least four decades ago.

   "Right", Sharon shrugged. "Still a fresh memory though. My knees are not as bumpy as they used to be, but all I can see when I look at them are a bunch of little hills clumped together."

   "Huh." Eric mused. "Those are usually referred to as dimples I think. Never heard them called moguls".

   "What about you?", Sharon asked, "What is your least favorite body part?"

   Without hesitation Eric answered, "My feet. I hate my feet. They are just not proportionate to my body - big clown feet is what they are. No pun intended, but I can't stand them."

   Sharon laughed slightly. "You do have big feet, that's a truth - but I always thought guys liked having big feet. They aren't that disproportionate to your body though - you are a big guy, after all."

   "Yeah, nah, my feet are too big. If I was a competitive swimmer or a hacky sack player, they'd come in handy. As it is it just means I have to buy big shoes and larger than average socks."

   Sharon looked at him over her glass and smiled. He returned the look and then thought about the question that usually followed in this little game.

   "Well," Eric said, "If you hate your knees would they be the body part you would want to change the most?"

   Sharon's demeanor changed decidedly. It went from slightly amused too seriously contemplative instantly.

   She spent a good 5 minutes pondering whether or not to be as honest as she really wanted to be regarding her answer.

   She thought about giving a banal, nondescript answer but quickly realized that there was no reason not to be blatantly honest, so she forced herself to look up from the tabletop she was staring at and said, "My butt. I'd change my butt in a heartbeat. I would die to have a butt like Jessica Alba or Sofia Vergara."

   Eric bit his tongue. There was no way he was going to admit he thought she had a great butt. He was determined to keep this relationship as platonic as possible, and while he might be deluding himself that she was entertaining any romantic thoughts about him, he was still not going to risk it.

   "Oh," He said, "I'm going to go with my teeth. I should have had braces when I was a teenager, but we couldn't afford it. Wonder how much it would cost to get them straightened out now?"

   Sharon smirked. "Nice. You're either trying hard not to say my butt isn't that large, or that it's perfect the way it is - which is it?"

   Eric slowly sank into his chair...

   

   

   

Obsolete Professions

   In the last 100 years a number of fairly well-paying jobs have come and gone due to incredible advancements in technology, as well as the dramatic decrease in the replacement costs of just about all consumer goods.

It used to be that every neighborhood had at least one fix-it man who could do everything from sharpening mower blades to replacing the burnt-out tubes in a television set.

The need for those people seems to be long past. Just about every appliance that one can own is now fairly cheap - so cheap that it's much easier to simply discard the old one and buy a replacement than it is to have the old one repaired.

How many professions have been created and are now either obsolete or very close to disappearing since the dawn of the assembly line and the concurrent rise in mass-production?

Starting with the obvious, there is the whole army of people who worked in the television and radio repair industry. I imagine there are a number of technicians still working in the field, but a quick google search for "Television Repair" resulted in far more stories about television repair shops closing "...after 50 years in business..." than actual open repair shops, and the open shops were primarily advertising services to mount and hook-up televisions, not actually repair them.

I could also clump VHS player repair technician into the T & R field, but it's probably better to list them separate, with all tape recording machines, video or audio, and throw in DVD repair techs too.

The entirety of the television and radio repair field along with the VHS & DVD repair field, has no doubt been replaced by the computer & cellphone repair field, people who know how to replace which circuit board to get whatever function is no longer functioning, or who can replace little cracked screens.

There does not appear too many elevator operators working these days, though they are seen in just about every other movie that's broadcast on TCM, spiffy uniforms and all.

Telephone operators seem to be a thing of the past, at least those that provided connections for long-distance services or information. Maybe those people all moved on to being 911 operators.

Speaking of long-distance services... at one time the cost of one month's frequent use of long-distance calling cost more than an entire year's worth of cell phone use...and that's not even adjusting the price paid as recently as 30 years ago for inflation.

There are not a lot of film processors around anymore. There was a time when Foto-Mat booths were found in every shopping center or even occupying a small lot all by themselves. Those booths are all gone, along with the workers who made rolls of film, instamatic cameras, dark-room equipment, or did any type of film processing work.

The auteurs of Hollywood, the ones that consider themselves purists (see "audiophile" for further elaboration) are still using film stock to create movies, but by and large all movie making has gone digital, so processing film is a very specialized field now.

Related to the lamented mass-production of film stock, the vinyl album, that audio recording format that evolved from the 78-rpm developed in the early years of the 20th century into the less costly, more durable 33 & 1/3, has all but disappeared except for the small operations that produce albums (usually of a much heavier grain than used in the past) for the audiophile community. Another mass production industry whittled down to a boutique industry.

Theater projectionists are pretty much obsolete now, too. Films are sent to theaters in digital formats that can be programmed in advance for a week's worth of showings, and all it takes to get the films "rolling" is the touch of a button.

The printing industry has created and eliminated thousands and thousands of specialized jobs over the past 100 years. Not a lot of typesetters around anymore, or color-separation techs, or paste-up artists. Though newspapers are still being published, all the pre-production people have been replaced by software and the people who know how to use it.

Bicycle messengers are hard to find these days, though messenger services can be found on the internet. Most of those advertising on the internet seem to be delivery services for hard goods though, not manilla envelope encased messages.

I would be remis if I didn't mention commercial illustration as being an outmoded profession. Long gone are the days when magazines sported paintings of celebrities or politicians or just little bucolic snippets of life in America, and album covers featured phantasmagoric or idyllic imagery (depending on the music genre). Those days died with Norman Rockwell and Rick Griffen (amongst untold thousands of other talented folks). 

It's the masters of photoshop that rule the roost in the commercial art studios these days.

Sign painters should be included in that group too, as well as billboard painters and even the guys who used to hand draw flyers for parties or garage sales. All replaced by what can be done with a computer.

The Man From Colebrook

   The skorch of the large airliner's wheels as they made contact with the tarmac roused him fully. It had been almost 7 hours since he had boarded the flight at Logan, and his body had grown stiff in the tight business class seat.

    The repeated request for all passengers to remain seated as the plane taxied toward the gate garbled its way out of the speakers.

   It was an unusually bright morning for the London area, the sun streaming into the small window as he watched all the people stretching as they stood up in defiance of the Captain's orders.

   He remained seated, placidly. His schedule was as loose as a Jack Russell Terrier discovering a hole in the fence.

   The small man who had sat in the aisle seat stood on his tiptoes to open the overhead compartment the second the plane had come to a stop at the gate. He reached over Jenson to retrieve his carry-on, swinging it down in an arc that came uncomfortably close to hitting him. 

   Jenson smiled at the man and motioned a faint friendly wave with his right hand, the internationally recognized gesture signaling "no problem".

   The aisle of the plane was full of passengers within a few minutes, all of them clutching carry-on luggage or laptop bags, some even clutching large shopping bags - visitors to the states returning home to either Great Britain or maybe a further destination in Europe after making a connecting flight here at Gatwick.

   Slowly the plane emptied until Jenson was one of three or four stragglers who finally stood up, stretched, and retrieved whatever they had brought onboard with them from the overhead bins.

   Except for Jenson. He had brought nothing with him but the nice fitting off-the-rack suit he was wearing. He exited the plane after exchanging pleasantries with the Steward who had been tasked with thanking every passenger for choosing to fly with EuroAir Trans.

   The plane had landed at the North Terminal which had been exceptionally busy during his last visit due to the South Terminal being closed. Now that the South Terminal had re-opened, he walked briskly towards Customs, his completed declaration form in the inner breast pocket with his passport. The line was close to 300 fellow travelers long.

   In due time the Customs agent had asked him all the standard questions, and then asked if his luggage had been lost. Jenson replied that he never traveled with luggage, too cumbersome for his taste, and that he would be stopping at Marks & Spencer as soon as he was in London. The agent nodded without showing any indication of surprise or concern for the unusual statement, examined the passport with the multiple Visa stamps from countries all over the globe, and then stamped in the Visa good for six months. 

   Jenson passed through the familiar terminal towards the monorail station that would take him to the train platforms in the South Terminal and pulled out his wallet to retrieve the Oyster card he would use to pay for the train and the underground while he was in London.

   He had long ago learned to forego a car hire - parking in London and the surrounding area was worse than any city in North America and besides, a car hire was just one more way his activities could be traced.

  The South Terminal was bustling as he stepped onto the new escalator that would take him down to the remodeled train depot. Stepping off the escalator he moved to one side out of the way of the stream of humanity flowing past him and paused to get his bearings.

  He quickly determined where he needed to be and made a beeline to the self-service automated Thameslink ticket kiosk. 

  He used the Oyster card to purchase a ticket to St Pancras in London and was mildly amused when he noticed people using their phones to board with Etickets - just another way for them to track you he thought to himself.

 Thameslink trains originated at various points south of Gatwick, and sometimes they arrived full of commuters returning to London from day trips to Brighton. Thankfully that was not the case today. He found a seat and settled in for the 45-minute ride.

   He began to mentally review his itinerary and the steps he would follow to ensure he was not detected anywhere his cover story could not vouchsafe he was never at.

   Mostly though, he thought about the purpose of his visit - technically, his mission, and he wondered if the safe house he'd be staying in had been cleaned up since it's last use by the less than hygienic Allen and his crew - and he hoped they had at least put the guns back where they belonged.

Flowers Without Motivation

 

Super Sugary Dreams Of The Young Couple

They played the game of what the future might bring

He asked her what she wanted to be 

She asked him the very same thing

He said he really didn't know what he wanted to be

He liked to sail but didn't want to be a sailor

She said she had never given that question much thought

She liked to be around kids so maybe she could be a teacher

They went back and forth all afternoon

Carpenter, Doctor, Fireman, Priest

Dogsitter, Wonder Woman, Poet, Tycoon

She said it wouldn't be a bad life if she became a Lawyer

Though she never thought she looked good in a pantsuit

He said he might do well as a Wall Street Stock Broker

Though he never thought he could handle the commute

All I really wanted to be though, she finally said with a smile

Was a good person who hasn't lost the hope of her dreams

Of enjoying the carefree beachcombers lifestyle 

All he really wanted, he admitted, was a home with a view

That included palm trees, gentle waves breaking on the shore

Magenta-streaked sunsets and you

Passing Time As A Passenger On A Bus Headed West Through The Front Range

 Psychedelic Soul Music 

Observational Word Play

Neoprimitivist Houserocking Pop

Ambiguous Symbolic Rhyme

Scottish Bluegrass Melodies

Colloquial Prosaic Phonesthetics

Electronic Idiosyncratic Folk Rock

Dramatically Lyrical Phrasing

Vitaly Raw Instrumental Jam

Enclosed Linear Antistrophe

Experimental Baroque & Roll

Free Form Obtuse Hendecasyllable

Progressive Soft Core Thrash