2 0 8 4:M i s s i v e 18

Oh the things I learned from Captain Sandy on the boat ride from the Florida Isles to Old Orleans.  (By the way, in case you're not aware, it's Ilion in 2084 contacting you via Troy in 2017's social media account in that small window of time on the last day of the month as the Vitalnet updates.)

I kept my forged identity papers close by me on the trip, so as to be ready at any time should I have come into contact with a member of the PCB (Population Control Board) during the voyage.  The IntransiGents had told me that there were others on the modified yacht that belonged to the group that had taken me in after I arrived in 2084 via the portal, but for all of our protection, I didn't know specifically who any of them were.  In my mind, it seemed that the best way to be prepared was to treat everyone as if he or she might have been with the PCB .

Captain Sandy was my confidante though.  She knew my secret.  And, during the trip, I came to know some of hers.  Our first private conversation happened during the testing of my Corti-hair that was required before I was approved to board.  That day, the first thing she had to explain to me was how medical prognostic testing had advanced to new levels once they learned that the little hairs inside the ear in the organ of Corti carried markers on them for susceptibility for or exposure to almost any disease.  

She explained that that medical advancement was actually one of those happy accidents, discovered when scientists went looking for a direct link to the brain for a better delivery system for social media notifications, as they had grown exponentially to the point where they were so distracting that the phenomenon had led to the proliferation of Ultra-AD-Super-HD in the populace.

Ultimately, she was testing to make sure that I had never been exposed to jbola -- and, of course, I never had been, seeing as how jbola was the successful weaponization of the ebola disease that had wreaked havoc in my original era (fbola, gbola, hbola and ibola had all been failures in the governmental secret labs).  Kim Jong-un's daughter Kim Ju-ae had released it in America seeking retribution for the assassination of her father, but luckily enough, the antidote there had been stockpiled to avoid a population being wiped out.  Unfortunately, the jbola plague was only controlled in the "have" nations, and those that fell into the "have nots" category were decimated.  

To that end, Captain Sandy shared with me that the entire continent of Africa was now just a jbola zone, with no travel permitted  in or out.  She mentioned that reports from that land were that the animals had reclaimed the entire continent since the chemically engineered jbola did not affect them in the ways that the natural ebola had in my time.

That was just one of the many stories about the state of current affairs that I heard from Captain Sandy as we sailed the seas under the stars ... and I intend to share more of them with you on the last day of the month next. Until that time, I remain Troy in 2084 now known as Ilion as brought to the future by t1a7n72.lif (my SQ, IQ and EQ files uploaded to the Vitalnet).

Random Flashback for Friday 7/28/17

Little Mauler Jean ... a wild Mau kitty found in the woods of Mt Gretna as a tiny tiny little thing ... was born back in 1997 (and lived until the summer of 2012).

She was raised in her formative years right next to a ferret (and had crazy play moves she learned from him) ... she was an early fan of the o.g. pit bull in the family named Demon since she would run from anywhere in the house into his room early in the morning (around this time twenty years ago, Demon slept with DJ, who went to work at the crack of dawn) ... she would walk up behind someone sitting on the couch and gently touch them on the shoulder so that they'd look at her and she could sniff them to see if they could stay.

And she would run from one end of the house into the kitchen at the other end where I was standing and use me as the ladder to get to the top of the fridge (and she didn't care if I was wearing a shirt).  Basically -- whether you wanted to admit or not -- SHE was in charge.

Random Memorial for Monday 7/24/17

Gone but not forgotten:  the sequel to what was in the trash can in the post from two weeks ago.

Indeed, the first 'Hits from the Heart' compilation album where sales of purchases benefitted the TJ Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS research was SO successful, that they put out a 'Hits from the Heart II' in 1996 -- and that's the one you see in the picture.  (As a reminder, it's there because we also have the CD in our collection -- and almost 25 years later, we're finally … and sloooowly … purging a few things.)

The top 10 hit of the 15 that are included in this release that I'm choosing to feature tonight?  The Aretha Franklin DANCE hit 'A Deeper Love', which it seems like I heard all the time in certain bars I started visiting around that time.

MAYBE IT'S THAT WHOLE "PRIDE" THEY SING BEFORE THE TITLE EVERY TIME:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7wCrjuTIyo

Random Flashback for Friday 7/21/17

Tonight's theme for the 41st batch of photos of my father's that I inherited when he passed is "Just a few more Pets!".  Actually, this will be the last of the special sets I've been doing on an alternating basis in order to get through so many of the pet photos that I discovered were in the mix.  But before it wraps ...

#201:  alert Fluffy with my father's father Paul

#202:  sleepy Fluffy with just as sleepy grandpa Paul

#203:  last shot of Fluffy in his big red bed

#204:  herd of kitties hanging out under the porch of what I think is the farm where my father moved after he divorced wife #4 -- in Fredericksburg across from the town's public pool (a house where that divorced wife once lived with the husband she had before she was married to my dad ... 'cause that's how my family rolls)

#205:  workbench cat with my dad -- except that I don't ever remember having a family kitty so I'm guessing this is also from a time frame much later in life after I ran away from home 

Random Memorial for Monday 7/17/17

Gone but not forgotten:  the "biggest and baddest" Schlitterbahn that was supposed to come to Ft. Lauderdale.

The word "supposed" is used in that opening gambit because a judge recently ruled that the proper bidding process was not used to grant the go-ahead to move forward with the plans to develop the old stadium property in the north of town that way -- which means that us SoFlo folks will have to seek our water fun elsewhere.  Luckily, there's an *ocean* nearby.

That which would have let us Schlitter to our hearts content, you will (quite literally) be missed.

JUDGE KILLS THE DEAL DEAD -- OR AT LEAST REQUIRES IT TO START AGAIN:
https://miami.curbed.com/2017/3/30/15130628/fort-lauderdale-water-park-schlitterbahn

YOU CAN STILL SCHLITTER IN TEXAS:
https://www.schlitterbahn.com/

WHY WATERPARK AT ALL?:
https://www.travelandleisure.com/attractions/amusement-parks/american-waterparks

Random Flashback for Friday 7/14/17

Then *this* happened!

Well, the *this* I'm referencing happened *two decades* ago back in 1997, seeing as how that's how I'm telling the story of my life, some twenty years after it happened.

As the tale is told, in those days, I had a job at Gretna Theatre and one later night, I was headed up to the offices above the corner store when I heard a crying in the woods.  It only took a little investigating to turn up a tiny tiny abandoned kitten.  And in no time at all, I was taking her home to hang with my ferret and an American box turtle (whom I had also coincidentally plucked from the woods of Gretna one night driving home when it wouldn't leave the road).  For the first few days, the one who came to be known as Mauler Jean, slept inside my shirt ...

This is the earliest pic I have of her, taken a few weeks after she joined the family.  I know this because she's playing on the floor of the office in the house on Walnut St next to Big Bertha's (which is another 1997 story waiting for its turn to be told later this year).

Random Memorial for Monday 7/10/17

Gone but not forgotten:  this compilation cassette in our trash can.

In case it's been awhile since you've seen this particular series -- just a reminder that this outcome is because we have the cassette AND we have the CD in the music collection (not to mention how we can pretty much find just about any song illegally on the youtube) … and so a purge is finally (albeit slowly) afoot.

If you don't recognize the item there with the Cheetos and moldy hot dog buns, it's a 1995 greatest hits of the moment release to benefit the TJ Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer and AIDS research.  And since we had both the cassette and the CD of 'Hits from the Heart', I guess we donated TWICE (although, this was the days of the Columbia House special deals, so the amount we donated might have just been a penny or two).

As is customary with these types of posts, the link below is to a tune on the cassette … 'cause 1995 was also the days of the return of a Mr. Marvin Aday.

THE BEAT IS YOURS FOREVER … THE BEAT IS ALWAYS TRUE:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3Iay1J87x4

Random Flashback for Friday 7/7/17

Tonight's theme for the 40th batch of photos of my father's that I inherited when he passed is "The Peiffers!".  Before returning to the reunion in 1980 that I started featuring last time (this time with some shots of the Peiffers), I am pleased to show the first photo of all of the surviving children of my maternal great-grandparents John Peiffer and Margaret Demmy.  I get so fixated on the connection between Neidermyers and chickens that I forget that I also come from early 1900's cigar makers (the aforementioned John). 

#196:  handwritten date of May 15, 1987 on back of photo of my paternal grandmother and her siblings (in order from oldest to youngest):  Esther Mae, Beatrice, Edith, Naomi, Robert, Margaret and Kathryn (sons Charles and John died in the 50's) -- note that somebody will have to help me assign names to each sibling other than the two on each end whom I know (Robert and Esther Mae)
#197:  1980 Neidermyer-Peiffer reunion (the first one!) showing some of my grandma's siblings
#198:  1980 Neidermyer-Peiffer reunion with Uncle Junior (my dad's brother) talking to unknown family members (with a Neidermyer chicken truck in the background)
#199::  1980 Neidermyer-Peiffer reunion shot of more Peiffers
#200:  unknown smiling man performing shoveling task in the woods (?) with "Buffy - Sara & Gordon" written on the back (so maybe someone can explain that?)

Random Memorial for Monday 7/3/17

Gone but not forgotten:  the second full year of tracking my weight.

On purpose, I've not included another word after the word "weight" in the opening sentence above.  And that's because year one was a weight LOSS of three pounds (from 252.5 in July of 2015 to 249.5 in July of 2016) … but year two, now officially in the books, was a weight GAIN of 10.5 pounds  (from 249.5 in July of 2016 to 260 in July of 2017).

Maybe "weight" is something that doesn't *want* to be watched?  Or maybe it's something that doesn't want to be watched *as frequently* (this past year, on a fortnightly basis)?  Or maybe I'm muscling up?  Or maybe (and most probably) I'm just getting older and fatter?

The routine of climbing on the scale post-poop and pre-clothing every two weeks (for the sake of consistency) … you will be missed (maybe).

OR ANY OF THESE REASONS:
https://www.verywellfit.com/i-just-started-exercising-why-am-i-gaining-weight-1231585

SCIENCE SAYS IT IS THE FAULT OF THE LIPIDS:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/09/190909193211.htm

BLOGGERS SAY WEIGH ON A FREQUENCY THAT MAKES SENSE FOR YOU!:
https://blog.myfitnesspal.com/how-often-should-you-weigh-yourself/

JUST ONE MORE ... ice cream (July 2017)

JUST ONE MORE ... ice cream.

Coming on the heels of the "just one more ... candy" challenge last month, I know I'm going to run the risk of being referred to as the second coming of Rosina Leckermaul (the name of the witch in Hansel and Gretel, in case you were unfamiliar) ... but these are rough times and we can get back to the original calling "to embrace incremental change in order to empower folks (or just me) to stay positive and solution-focused in a day and age where problems often seem insurmountable, control often seems out of reach and apathy often seems to be running rampant" soon enough.

Until then, though, let's accept the fact that people (or just me) might need a distraction from all that is going on in the world and that they (or just me) might happen to find a little bit of happiness at the bottom of a bowl of chocolate, vanilla or strawberry/cookie dough/chocolate chip -- which are the flavors that twitterers rank numbers 1, 2 and 3 (which one was #3 depended on the state where the tweets were twittered [source:  https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/these-are-most-popular-ice-cream-flavors-america-according-twitter])

Of course, as is true for every monthly challenge, feel free to modify it as your needs dictate -- if you need frozen coconut milk treats due to any food intolerances or allergies OR if you're counting calories and still have fro-yo establishments from last decade's craze nearby OR if you're pro-pro-biotics and want to indulge in some frozen Kefir ... have at it as you see fit!

As for me this month, I can't wait to recall my favorite ice creams in my past (Amish girls *will* be featured), to hunt down some new and exciting flavors to try and to explore (or re-visit) some of the best parlors in my local area.  After all, we're about to embark on some of the hottest days of the summer, when everyone can get some refreshing enjoyment from just one more ...  ice cream.