On The Run

effective than any meds

I’ve ever taken

Usually, not out loud, but sometimes in a quiet voice to myself, but with an internal shouty voice.

Sometimes I have to do it three for four times, but it is a strategy that works most of the time. And most of the time, it works.

I look at it like when I'm trying to train my cat, sometimes you have to repeat yourself to make the animal understand you mean business.

The Narrows

FYI - I do love me some Lauren Harris. We had a smallish Lauren Harris in one of the elevator lobbies in the company office I worked in. I walked by this painting a couple of times a week and even stopped a few times (ok, more than a few), to bask in the light and gravitas it emanated.

Fast-forward to a few years later when I went on a canoe camping trip with a bunch of guys from work to Killarney Provincial Park. As we are paddling towards the portage at east end of O.S.A Lake (Ontario Society of Artists) and I looked to my right and there before me was inspiration of the painting that I had walked by and admired for years.

To say I had a "moment" would be an understatement.

DC Pride #1 - “Finding Batman” (2022)

Do you know what isn't wired on my PC? My headphones. Why? I've just about strangled myself more times than I can count by running the damn wire under my chair leg. Also, I can listen to my video feeds while doing chores around the house.

Recipient of a third-degree burn in front of witnesses. IE, "I won't take that shit from a man dressed like a ghostbuster"= "Gostbuster" or "Buster"

A distinctive personal feature or quirk. IE, "Have you noticed how that new guy is always eating bell peppers?" = "Peppers", or "That chick has a massive forehead" = "Forehead".

An embarrassing thing you said or did. IE, "Did you seriously call Dale "Dad"?" = "Junior", "Baby boy", "Sport"

A game of name-mutation telephone. IE, "Donny Clyde" = "Bonnie 'n' Clyde" = "Bonnie" = "Bon-bon".

Irony. IE, calling a tall person "short stack" or a particularly dour person "sunshine".

A 'wrong place wrong time' one-off incident. IE, "He spilled oil on his pants and had to borrow a pair that were way too big and Jim saw him with the waistband pulled up to his nipples and called him 'Parachute'"

A batman-style origin story but not in a cool way: "One time she hit a deer with the company car and when she called the boss to tell her she was crying so hard we thought she was dying" = "Bambi"

The incredibly rare 'admiration' nickname, bourne only once a millennia under the light of the blood moon: "We saw him lift a truck once so now we call him 'iron man'"

+ How Nicknames Stick:

Your fate is determined by The Counsel

You hate it

A thing I learned years ago is that if you want to be seen in a crowd, wear something bright on your head. Of course, being a Canadian down in the US, I wore one of those stretchy, circular do-rags or Buff, with a red maple leaf design.

When the department head wanted to talk to me, he'd send someone out with a message to give to "Canada".

So, yeah, my call sign is "Canada". Boring.

I could tell you the call sign that @toastheaven earned, but that is their tale to tell.

And I hope they do, it's a good story.

---

I get the "why don't you answer your email/text/phone call" all the time, and when I do, it's often at the end of the day or sometimes a couple of days later.

I worked in IT as a Sysadmin and was tied to my phone for support. I was paid to answer the phone, had systems text alerts to it and monitored hardware from it.

When I retired, I turned off my ringer. I am no longer a slave to the cell phone. I tell folks, to leave a vmail message if I don't answer. Unknown number, someone not in my contacts list? Yeah, I'm not calling you unless you've left a message.

Me? I'm blessed to be retired, have a decent pension and fairly simple wants and needs. I've set up a monthly cash donation to my local food bank. I'm sure I could do more, but for me, it's a simple, consistent, painless way to help out my fellow life travellers on the regular.

In the grand scheme of things, it's not much, but if we can all help our neighbours, we all become a better society. With many drops of rain, a mighty river flows.