Random Soapbox for Saturday 3/31/18

I don't mean to go off on a rave here, but ...

[... it's the LAST time I've raving ('cause Jesus and Lent) before returning to my usual ranting next week ...]

... insurance is an amazing thing -- especially when you bump into *this* guy driving *this* jeep.

And by "bump into", I mean when you're sitting at a red light, and the guy in the jeep behind you decides to do a little bumper car action into *your* trunk in order to stop *his* vehicle, pushing you into the car in front of you (which also pushes that front car into the car in front of him).

A few good things ... it wasn't a high speed crash.  It was a big jeep so it hit high up and crushed the trunk instead of doing more damage.  There wasn't anyone riding in the back seat at the time of the crash.  Everyone survived.

A few bad things ... obviously, the crash.  The police officer's official report names our car as the wrong model.  And the aforementioned guy driving the jeep's insurance company couldn't find any record of him in their system, necessitating us resolving this through *our* insurance and leaving it up to the respective insurance companies to sort it all out (State Farm -- feel free to use this pic in your attempts).

Which is actually the whole point.  Insurance is an amazing thing.  We were lucky enough to have the "rental car option", so we had an immediate replacement vehicle the same day as the accident at only a cost of 20%.  And, in the end, it seems like the whole thing is going to settle at almost what was owed on our car that was indeed totaled.

Here's hoping I can one day post that insurance is whatever the next category is up from amazing ... on the day that they go after *this* guy in *that* jeep for the deductible and for the percentage of rental car we paid out of pocket.

In lieu of the traditional links-in-triplicate, here are a few more accident related pics from that day ...

2 0 8 4:M i s s i v e 26

"Five.  I mean four -- if you don't want me to count my thumb.  Or eight, I guess -- if we're doing both hands but still not my thumbs."

I was clearly flustered.  You would have thought that answering the question of how many fingers I had, in response to what had been asked of me by the man behind the booth in the front of the gentlemen's club, would have been easy.  Back in *my* day -- as opposed to the day in 2084 when I stood there -- I was used to the question being asked at that kind of door by that kind of person to be one about showing an ID ... so a finger census before gaining admittance was odd.

But hey -- it was my first night in Old Orleans -- the city rebuilt when the original one was flooded when the Mississippi River became the Bay of Mississippi after the New Madrid Quake of 2023 had changed America's heartland forever ... and had changed *America* forever as it was split into East and West America shortly thereafter.

These were all things I had learned since arriving in 2084 after slipping through the portal created by my cell phone app.

It was only by running these things through my head as I stood there throwing out various numbers in hopes they one of them would indeed be the right one for me to gain admittance that I also remembered another key fact about "the future" that was likely relevant in that moment.

As part of the debriefing the IntransiGents had given me upon my arrival in the Florida Isles, I had been told about the power of the PCB (Population Control Board) and how they had taken over the zoos in order to raise genetically engineered children ... because animals in zoos, in the future, had been released to be free ... and because children were no longer born the "traditional" way as all sexual activity had moved into the virtual realm.

In those conversations I had been informed that children of the future all had a sixth digit, as such an "evolution" that aided them with their texting efficiency.  By my showing my hands as they were, I was IDing myself as *early* 21st century.

"You're in," the man in the booth said, after looking at my outstretched hands.  "Head to the Voodoo Room."

Voodoo Room.  Voodoo had apparently survived decades later, even though other major religions had failed by that time ...

... which is another story for another end of month, as the window to share with you now is rapidly closing.  Until the last day of the month next, I remain Ilion in 2084, hosted and brought to the future by t1a7n72.lif., communicating with you through the use of Troy in 2018's social media accounts.

Until then -- stay safe ... seeing as how all the Uprisings are still to come for y'all!

Random Flashback for Friday 3/30/18

Okay ... one last pic from that bus trip with Kristi HB back in the summer of 1998.

In case you didn't see the other photos in this mini-series, *this* is Atlantic City (circa two decades ago).

Well, more appropriately, *this* is the space under the AC pier at low tide, the image of which, to my 26 year old self, was more powerful than all the flash and the bling of the casinos up lining the beach.

Was it the light at the end of the pseudo-tunnel to which I was drawn?  Or the symmetry of the foundation that spoke to my mild OCD?  Or the danger in thinking that a dead body might go floating past at any time?

Regardless -- *this* was the underbelly of Atlantic City ... twenty years ago.

Random Memorial for Monday 3/26/18

Gone but not forgotten:  the way the back yard was when we moved in on day one just over three years ago.

Lookit, I love me some mulch.  As regular readers know, we tried to sod a time or two, but it just didn't stick -- and with a puppy who is allergic to lengthy exposure to Florida dirt, it was important to have cover over the yard as much as possible.)  But I also love that we are slowly getting a few "pops of color" out back.

What with spring being sprung in other climates (here it's pretty much eternal summer), I thought it fitting to give the latest tour of the place that gives comfort to me and mine.  If you're seeing this on the Facebook, there's a video to accompany the static images (this old man doesn't know how to imbed a video on the blog) ... but either way, you'll be able to see what we see day in and day out.

If you look closely, you might notice the old standards (my archives shed, the thinking bench, the bird house in which the lizards live, and the recently installed "south patio" for catching some Florida sunshine) and some changes:  a little less overheard greenery (thanks to Irma) accompanied by a brand new side fence the length of the yard (also thanks to Irma) ... a transplanted bougainvillea that is now thriving after almost dying ... the one surviving hibiscus plant that blooms daily only for them to fall by night ... our novel approach to dealing with a flower/vegetable box that didn't quite flower and never grew vegetables (due to a lack of easy irrigation) ... a mango tree full of baby mangoes ... and the annual amaryllis currently in all its glory.

My thumbs aren't necessarily green ... but I do love me a space to read ... or nap ... or hang out with the puppies (or the lizards ... or the snakes ... or the 'possums ... or the stray cats ... or the iguanas ... or the spiders ... or any of the other creatures who pass through). 

Empty plot of uninspired land ... you will NOT be missed as your replacement is our much needed little sanctuary.

Random Scandal Sheet for Sunday 3/25/18

What southern Florida is talking about this week:

Those Parkland kids ... and all the other kids they inspired.

Kids changed the civil rights movement.  Kids changed the apartheid movement.  Kids changed the world ... and they will continue to do so.

And to all those fuddy-duddies dutifully spreading the memes that mother Russia supplies -- you know the ones with the photo shopping of a torn Constiution and the character assassinations of high school age CHILDREN -- children who just barely survived America's favorite pastime of late (i.e. the active shooter scenario) -- you just better hope that they take on Social Security next, 'cause all the leaders YOU voted in in your adult life robbed from their futures in order to make themselves comfortable in the past and the present isn't looking so good now, is it?  Shame.  On.  You.

To those of you who have to suffer the slings and arrows of your outrageous fortune flung at you by the fuddy-duddy brigade, the lobby zombies and those who prove they shouldn't be allowed in the discussion because they immediately jump to the extreme response foregoing all logic and sensibility ... may all that cruel negativity only serve to strengthen your spirit and to steel your resolve.

For it is the youth who shall lead us ... and it is the youth who just might pass you by ... and when that happens, I promise I'll make a meme for you.

THE YOUTH SHALL LEAD:
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a19601237/parkland-kids-march-civil-rights-apartheid/

HOW THE YOUTH CHANGED THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT:
https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-children-of-birmingham-changed-the-civil-rights-movement

HOW THE YOUTH CHANGED THE APARTHEID DISCUSSION:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2018/03/14/soweto-was-on-fire-the-student-walkout-that-defied-apartheid-and-left-children-dead/?utm_term=.fa919c522d7d

Random Soapbox for Saturday 3/24/18

I don't mean to go off on a rave here, but ...

[remember, my Lenten tradition (despite not ever pledging allegiance to the Pope Dude) is to rave instead of ranting during the 40+ days of traditional sacrifice ...]

... as of this morning, our snowbirds have flown back north ...

[also remember, due to the magic of back dating on the blog, I'm actually posting this a few weeks late as I found a pocket of time to catch up on my backlog of entries ...] 

Back in the day when we lived in adjacent states, we would visit with Walt and Dolly multiple times a year, particularly around the holidays -- but since the big move from Chitown to the FTL in 2014, we've bundled ALL of those visits into ONE two-three week period every year.  The 5th such mega-visit just ended -- and, as per usual, we can already predict that it is one of the highlights of the year.

As everyone gets older, we tend to do less and less running around when we get together -- although we did get up to the Manatee rescue center this time, and we worked in a full day of thrift store shopping as an outing one long long day.  We also tend to have fewer and fewer Walter-projects, but that doesn't mean that he didn't help with installing the dishwasher, and building a new shelf in the laundry room, and giving the dining room table a new look.  But all that cutting back just meant that there was more time for hanging out (with the puppies AND the kitties this year), for playing a multi-night marathon of Michigan Rummy, and for listening to stories of what Walt watched recently on "the youtube".

Plus -- let's face it -- there's also a good bit of time that goes into choosing some quality eating establishments at which we share multiple family meals (including the annual steak house dinner that ties back to my birthday).  We know we did well when Walter all but licks his plate clean ... after which he lets us know that the food was "good" (and, when we pick places where the waitresses flirt with him, that the service was "really good").

All in all, of course there's the Facebook and phone calls and such, but absolutely nothing beats face to face time with the ones you love and who love you in return.  We're already counting down the days and starting a new list of activities for the 2019 visit.

[In lieu of the usual links-in-triplicate, here's a single link to a brand new Facebook photo album showcasing 10 years of WaltDolly pics like the one accompanying this post.  And yes, we only realized afterwards that the manatee was getting a touch *too* friendly with Dolly as the pic was taken.]

TEN YEARS OF WALTDOLLY PHOTOS:
https://www.facebook.com/troy.neidermyer/media_set?set=a.10208918862089158.1073741864.1843633569&type=3

Random Memorial for Monday 3/19/18

Gone but not forgotten:  another Billy Joel cassette that is finding its way into the trash can because the exact same release also exists as a CD in my collection, and a guy with the number 50 on the horizon can't exactly keep hold of everything forever.

Tonight, it's his sixth studio album (from when I was but six years) ... and I'm going to bypass all the big hits ('Big Shot', 'Honesty' and 'My Life' anyone?) ... and even though there's a big part of me that wants to pick the sweetly romantic 'Rosalinda's Eyes' (even if it was creepily inspired by his own mama, according to the omniscient Wiki) ... instead I'm going to settle on the slightly more dangerous (you know it so from that bass line followed by the staccato piano [look at me with the music terms!]) and much more cautionary tale that is 'Stiletto'.

The song for all you sadists out there ... you will (not) be missed ('cause I can listen to you on the CD at any time)!

BE WARY OF THE ONES WHO CAN CUT YOU ONCE (OR TWICE):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmUrJ_el-SM