The Person Below Me .... gets their kicks on Route 66

From siubhank here - http://www.librarything.com/topic/129076

TPBM never has any trouble getting going in the morning

Yes I do.

The person below me is a lark, not an owl.

That's my hat you've mistaken for feathers, dear.

TPBM has got the garden catalogs out already.

We've received a few, but it's not like we have much space for a garden.

The person below me has the space for a garden but no one to do the work.

Strangely it's the other way around. We live in a rented apartment, but we just plant things in the grass (or mud) outside. If the landlord objects, he hasn't said anything. The neighbors love the flowers, but they love the hot peppers and blueberries even more, a little too much. They always steal them.

The person below me hates IM abbreviations with a passion. H8S THEM!

I don't hate them but I don't use them. What always gets me is how fast people can type on their smart phones, I have an old flip-top cell that was free with contract and worth every penny. I think I'll get a massive upgrade in June when the contract expires.

TPBM saw an big hole somewhere today (not a kicker for a dirty joke).

There is a very large hole in the playing field at our school which makes for a very large and entertaining mud puddle for the children to play in.

TPBM likes to jump in puddles.

Guilty, as charged.

TPBM thinks a man of sixty years should know better than to do things like that.

No. Because a person's body is 60+ years old, it doesn't mean he/she can't have fun.

TPBM thinks younger people don't realize that inside an older body is a still-young mind.

I do think that. I remember thinking how OLD 60 used to be. Funny thing, it isn't anymore...

The person below me will always be young at heart.

I hope so, but I've got probably another 10 or 15 years before I need to start thinking about that.

TPBM wants to buy something.

Happiness, but I don't have enough money. Maybe someday.

The person below me has everything they want.

I don't want what I haven't got is closer to my philosophy.

TPBM has actually driven part of the famed Route 66.

Sadly, no, but it would have been fun to do when it was still intact. I'm sure there are still parts that are interesting, but they are probably sad reflectionss of current economic hard times.

TPBM is in a sunny mood today.

Well, the sun has been shining here today, even if it is bloody cold, and I'm going to sing in the local choral society tonight, which is always mood-enhancing.

TPBM sings in a choir or other sort of group

//Mr.House, I live about a 45-minute drive from part of Rt. 66. It goes about two blocks behind my son's house in El Reno, OK.//

I did at one time -- high-school girls' ensemble and church choir.

TPBM still sings in a group.

//PeeEss~My daddy and I used to sing duets in church.//

No, I hate it when people sing in group. Oh! No.

TPBM plans on getting their stupid on this weekend.

Truth be known, it's never off.

TPBM knows his/her IQ.

Well, I know what a couple online and self administered tests say it is. How close that is to what an "official" test would say I have no idea.

TPBM, like me, thinks there should be a test for common sense.

I second the motion!!

TPBM will third.

I certainly will. According to those in the know, IQ tests are pretty worthless.

TPBM agrees.

I don't agree but I might not be smart enough to know better ;)

TPBM knows a smart trick or two for simplifying life (and will share them if we ply them with beer and cookies)

I'll give the beer to someone else but will take the cookies.

Throw stuff away, give stuff away, put stuff in boxes for your child(ren) to go through eventually.

TPBM has way too much stuff.

Absolutely, after 35 years of marriage, the death of my mother and the sale of my mother-in-law's home, I have way to much stuff. The local St. Vincent DePaul society has been the place where we have given most of the stuff and our son and daughter-in-law are eating off our old stoneware set with the matching flatware. We are still sorting through the boxes, four moves (counting our son's) in four years make it difficult to weed through, but we're working on it, at the moment have two boxes of clothing and bedding and one of kitchen ware ready to go to St. Vincent.

TPBM has a difficult time getting rid of old treasures .

*finger on nose*
You called that one!

TPBM has a gold stash.

Nah, just the ring on my finger.

TPBM prefers glass-bottled beverages over cans or plastic. It just tastes better.

It does taste better; I avoid cans if possible.

TPBM learned the hard way.

About many things, I learned the hard way. That's true.

The person below me loves movies made in the late 1930's and must name one.

Sorry Jill,
An Affair to Remember was 1957
Duck Soup was 1933

I've seen TONS of movies from the '20s, '30s and '40s, but I'm running on an extreme caffeine deficit, and TPBM know that that feels like.

Not really, I don't really get that much caffeine on a regular basis. I don't like coffee and when I drink soda its usually sprite or root beer, neither of which have caffeine in them.

TPBM doesn't get much caffeine either.

I don't like coffee or tea but I love Diet Pepsi. I try to drink less than 2 20 oz. bottles a day. I want to stop drinking soda altogether soon.

What!? You don't like coffee or tea, says TPBM.

Oh yes, I am constantly amazed at people who don't like coffee or tea. They're probably surprised that I despise colas. To each her/his own.

TPBM recently found a new recipe to add to their permanent collection.

Yes, I did.

TPBM doesn't really like to cook.

It beats washing up any day of the week!

TPBM has advanced knife skills.

Only when I feel ~dangerous~.
ACK! I've been simul-posted!

Actually, I'm much better with rope than a knife.

TPBM has already go too much to do this year, despite having an extra day to do it all.

Yes, my skills have advanced: I can now
cut meat on a plate without having a chunk
of it fly away (well --hardly ever).

TPBM believes that certain small and little-known
restaurants have a secret formula for the ingredients
and preparation of certain foods.

Definitely! Usually it's just a matter of kissing. You know, KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! But name-calling isn't very nice.

TPBM isn't thrilled with the outcome of the Super Bowl and would have rather watched the Puppy Bowl, instead.

What is this "Super Bowl" that you speak of?

TPBM didn't see it, either.

Nope, no interest whatsoever.

TPBM likes to read in bed.

That is the best place to read, especially if it is chilly and you have a cat to sit on your feet.

TPBM is ready for it to be spring, already.

No, we really haven't had winter yet. It's been cold, but not cold enough and long enough to control next summer's bugs. I'd be happy with two weeks of very cold. And then spring may come.

TPBM knows it ain't gonna happen according to my instructions.

Does it ever? We have been enjoying the spring like weather where I live, but I am waiting for the inevitable snow storm to come and leave us stranded for a week.

TPBM will inform us about the Puppy Bowl and tell us how good/bad it was and will tell us when we can watch it again on reruns.

I have no idea when you can watch it again.

TPBM wonders what is wrong.

It is easier than wondering what is mauve.

//Oh! Oh! Oh! BookStoreCloseouts.com is having a $1.99 sale on select titles. That's 9p for those in the UK.//

TPBM rows merrily along.

Life is but a dream.

//SomeGuy, I picked out a whole pile of $1.99 books, then discovered that shipping would cost just as much as the books, so I rebelled,and just left them in my cart.//

TPBM is happy and you know it.

*Clap Clap*

TPBM really wants to show it.

:D

The person below me would have joined me on the merry-go-round I rode on Sunday at the mall (it was so much fun!) and would have picked a carriage or a swing, but not a horse.

I would have picked a horse, because everyone knows the horses are the fastest.

TPBM likes their rides slower.

No, and I Loooove the up and down part, so save me a saddle too.

TPBM will describe their steed of choice.

John Wickham Gascoyne Berresford Steed



TPBM is planning a surprise party.

Now I am. Surprise!

//BWAHAHAHAHA! Nice.//

TPBM keeps on truckin'.

And getting more and more tired of it, finding it more and more not worth the effort.

The person below me glories in life finding each day a precious gift.

Any day I wake up is a day I wasn't expecting. The last time I was told by the doctors to get my affairs in order was just a couple of years ago.
You better believe I apprecate the time I get, and not just because I spend it with MrsHouseLibrary.

TPBM sniffed a baby's head today.

I try not to. . even though some people think its cute, most moms don't take kindly to strangers coming up to their children and sniffing them.

TPBM got a new haircut recently

No, and I'm waiting to cut it till after a photo shoot in April because I'll need it long enough to braid.

TPBM got a new something else.

I got wireless headphones so that I can listen to TV after husband goes to bed. He goes to bed around 9:30 pm these days because he has to get up at 4:30 am and rather than not be able to hear the sound, now I can listen in comfort.

TPBM has a favorite gadget.

Well, today it is my refrigerator. It was repaired yesterday, after five days being broken. Fortunately we have a small fridge in the garage, but not nearly big enough. Now I have to resort all the food hubby pushed in and get the ice-maker going, but the food is cold!!:>)

TPBM also gets great joy out of things working as they should.

You know it!

The person below me has a favorite t-shirt and will now tell us why it's a favorite.

No, the closest I get is a favorite turtleneck (a red striped one) and that is a favorite just because it is warm.

The person below me is experiencing some late day fatigue. (*yawning*)

Nope, itʻs only mid-day here. Although, come to think of it,
I am experiencing some --aw forget it!

TPBM believes "fatigue" is more respectable than just plain "tiredness".

Especially if you pronounce it "fatty goo."

TPBM also has a silly pronunciation used in childhood and will tell us what it is.

I was probably 8 or 9 before someone told me that chimney wasn't pronounced 'chimley'.

TPBM has another.

Long John Silvers has forever been known as Long John Sliver's ever since I mispronounced it when I was like 3.

TPBM hasn't been on a vacation in years..

I was somewhere in my early 20s before I
knew that Boise, Idaho isn't pronounced
"BWAZ"*

*Oh well, at least I eruditely assumed
a French origin and hence to be
pronounced as in French. After all,
(though I'm not an expert on early
Rocky Mouuntain onomastics, Idaho
does have another French sounding
name: Coeur d'Alene. (I wouldn't
go near trying to pronounce that
correctl;y.)

Months, actually, but only because I count the family reunion in June as a "vacation."

TPBM regularly performs spiritual rituals

Every time a tornado misses us, I say, "Thank you, God."

TPBM has more regular conversations with the god of his or her choice.

//Roland, the locals pronounce it Core Dalane (lane, as in a small road, no accented syllable.)//

Not really. We get such a wide variety of natural phenomena here that none of them (usually) hit us too hard.

The person below me lives in a one-natural-phenomenon town.

Thanks, Boobalack, for the Coeur d"Alene/ "Core DʻAlane"
pronunciation. In Nova Scotia, North my old New england home, we had "JUDD-ick"
(spelt Judique) and "HAV-ra BOO-shi" (spelt Havre Boucher).
It looks like "Core Dalane" has been de-Gallicized, but not quite as thoroughly as those two.

Floods, Ohio River variety. But most of the city is protected by a floodwall now. Those guys on the other bank are not protected, and regularly get smashed.

TPBM loves messing around in boats.

I could probably count on one hand the number of times I've been in a boat, and some of those were while staying with family in the above-mentioned Havre Boucher.

//Roland, I have always heard "Havre" pronounced as "Harbour" in Havre Boucher. And I think yours is the first mention I have ever seen online, except by my own relatives.//

TPBM comes from a small town.

No, but both of my parents did and hated it. I've loved being a kid in the country, though.

TPBM has spent most of their life in big cities.

I grew up in a town where there was a celebration when the population sign got changed to 10,000.

TPBM prefers city life to smaller towns

I like smaller towns, where your hairdresser will come to your house to cut your hair when you can no longer go to her shop, and the pharmacist will give you a ride home when you find that you'll have to wait over an hour for your ride when you've been to the doctor. Those are just a few examples of life in this little town.

TPBM also prefers small-town life but would not like to live "way out" in the country.

Well guessed, I do and I would not. I live in a little Main Street town, and it's lovely. The pharmacist does know everyone, and he makes deliveries.

The person below me has had a premonition that came true.

I often see mojitos in my future, and by golly it always comes true when we eat Mexican food.

TPBM wouldn't dream of eating Mexican food without a margarita.

That's why I don't dream of eating Mexican food. I eat it with water.

The person below me thinks a meal without wine is like a day without sunshine.

Nope, not me. I don't like the taste of wine. To me it tastes rotten and detracts from the taste of the food.

TPBM also doens't like beer with pizza, preferring to drink a soft drink or tea with pizza.

No. I don't drink beer with pizza but would never drink tea with pizza either - after this evening's pizza I am just finishing a glass of a South African Shiraz/Mourvedre/Viognier blend. It goes very well.

TPBM prefers white wine to red .... or not!

As a wine drinker, I used to prefer port to muskatel --
not that I would refuse muskatel -- or any other wine.
DIdnʻt pay much attention to colors.

TPBM has tried at least one of these lesser-publicized members of the beer "family":
ale, stout, or malt liquor

All of them! I used to be a member of CAMRA (the Campaign for Real Ale - apparently having a beard is not obligatory!) and used to have great fun trying all the different beers at their beer festivals. Sadly, Dunoon's pubs only sell fizzy tasteless keg beer - siiigh.

TPBM is looking forward to spring.

//BTW, sorry for my recent absences - I went down with serious flu for the last two weeks of Jan, and have spent the time since trying to catch up on my earnings. The upside, however, is that I haven't had a ciggie for weeks now!//

Oh, yes! It's very parky down here in South-east England just now.

Just thinking about Scottish beer, I greatly miss a Christmas Special brewed by William Younger in my youth - their No.3 Scotch Ale wasn't bad either. Where are the beers of yesteryear?

Commiserations over the 'flu.

TPBM has a dose of flu vaccine every year.

Yes I do. My company arranges with our insurance to give them to us and our families at no charge and husband and I faithfully get one every year. 18-year old daughter doesn't like shots and so far won't get one. If she ever gets the flu I predict she'll change her mind.

TPBM has recently been amazed and touched by a random act of kindness sent their way.

All the time. There's a homeless guy who sells a paper called 'Street Sense' close to were I work. I think his problems are neurological as much as they are tough breaks and bad decisions. I hope that he has a place to stay- I think that he does because the street sense people don't have that ragged edge the people who live on the street do. So this guy just seemed whipped to me the first time I saw him. He'd hold his stack of papers out in front of him whenever anyone walked by like he was creating a barrier between them and himself. He'd only ask if someone wanted to buy a paper if they made eye contact with him, but he'd always ask if they did, which I think if a good sign. I don't see him often because he's only out in the afternoons. First few times I walked by him I'd nod and he'd ask if I wanted a paper and I'd shake my head. I know a guy who has scatological tourettes and he's overcome the limitations by hard work, not becoming bitter, courage and having a strong support group. When I saw the street sense guy I thought 'Here is a guy who hasn't had to support and he's fallen down,' so I'd take a second to talk to him when I passed by; jyst 'hey, how are you.' So yesterday afternoon I was crossing the street, there were two attractive girls in front of me and the street sense guy was in place on the curb. I wanted to see what effect the attractive girls had on him so I watched. When he saw them he help the papers up like he was hiding behind them. I was maybe 12 feet behind and when he saw me he must have recognized me because he broke into a grin lit him up and I thought 'Ah. There you are,' he looked like such a different person. I hope the girls smiled at him. ETA His grinning from ear to ear made my day, just a little act of kindness.

TPBM is wearing fuzzy slippers.

Nope, just socks.

TPBM spent today partaking of assault courses & laser tag & blindfolded 4x4 driving too (Work team building day)

Wow! That sounds amazing. Hope nobody got hurt driving blindfolded.

TPBM enjoys taking risks.

Yesterday I had a cup of coffee at 5 pm. It turned out that it did not keep me up all night. I enjoyed it, but the risk kept me on edge.

The person below me is undergoing a pleasant Sunday.

I am and good of you to notice, Mr. Durick. I've been binging on Downton Abbey and related World War I reading.

The person below me has been prompted to read more widely because of a particular TV show.

Yes and no.

I woke up to find the Internet at home functioning wonderfully fast, something that only happens a few times a month. However, the pipes were frozen (first real cold spell of the winter) so no shower, no flushing toilet, no refilling the cat's dish & just enough water in the Brita pitcher for one cup of tea. I said to hell with it, and with a sad look at my for-once wonderfully functioning desk top computer, threw some clothes onto my stinky body, grabbed the laptop and headed to the co-op marketplace for coffee, brunch, and a functioning restroom. Had a great omelet, and just a few minutes ago the roommate texted that the water was back on. But I'm enjoying sitting here with my coffee and computer looking out at the trees and the blue sky, so I'm not going to rush home. The cat will cope.

TPBM is having a boring morning.

It's afternoon already, and we're getting hail, smaller than BB pellets, but there's a lot of them.
And it's been a busy morning, but it's all focused on using the laptop.

TPBM puts popcorn in his/her tomato soup.

ETA: It's snowing actual flakes now. (deep sigh)

I never heard of that, but it sounds like a tasty alternative to crackers, and my husband would go for it.

TPBM is having a wonderful cold day, all bundled up in a warm fluffy robe.

No, sadly I just got home from what at the beginning of the day was really good, but then the last hour really sucked.

TPBM can relate.

I have had days like that. Right now I'm just tired. My mom is in rehab (old pacemaker out and new one in) and I've been driving hours everyday to be there to keep her mentally active and in good spirits.

The person below me would enjoy winning a $300 million lottery. (I try to buy a ticket just for the entertainment value.)

I would. Every time I have a friend on whom I can impose go to a lottery state, which is not often, I give them a $20 bill and promise to split the winnings with them.

The person below me has won a big sweepstakes.

I won a dollar once from Publisher's Clearinghouse. Yay, me!

TPBM has never won anything.

I win things all the time, although rarely anything I can use. Recently I won two tubs of gourmet chocolate mousse, and I can't eat sugar. I laughed when I accepted my prize and explained why it was funny. A group at the table next to mine laughed and said the woman who won a gift certificate for a pizza shop was lactose intolerant. After that, a vegetarian won a gift certificate for a steak house. The whole room was laughing.

The person below me has a winning smile.

So I've been told, but I'm not sure exactly what that means.

TPBM smiles all the time so people will wonder what he or she has been up to. (Yeah, I know -- ended a sentence with a preposition. lol)

(Aside, 96: So should that be "...wonder to what he or she has been up" or "...wonder up to what he or she has been"? )

I try to. I do like it when people smile back.

The person below me ate some ice cream recently.

I almost had some today, but changed my mind.

TPBM has had fuzzy dice on their car mirror at some point.

//Meredy, "up" is also a preposition, so it would have to be the second one. I think most people don't hold to that particular rule any more, as it makes for some very awkward phrases. I think I just solved the problem! "…wonder what he or she has been doing." Yay!//

No fuzzy dice. This is more like:



TPBM is still cheering for winter.

Meh. It's February, time to start warming up. And think of all the good reading weather to come.

//Happy Valentine's Day, everybody. WHL, call me.//

TPBM has been in a biosafety level four lab.

Never knowingly - sound scary. Unless ... level four is for pussycats and it's level one where Ebola-loaded mucus drips from the ceiling.

TPBM will tell us a story of true lurvv to take our minds off biohazard.

Instead of a (personal) story of "true luvv" I will mention three American writers that I think are very overlooked--AS writers of a luvv story:
Saul Bellow (in The Deanʻs December)
James Gould Cozzens (in By Love Possessed)
and Dan Jenkins in Dead Solid Perfect

The Bellow reference is just in one line, where the protagonist says to a dead body lying in state, "I also love you..."
The body is, of all peopleʻs his mother-in-lawʻs! The love is
true love as opposed to "merely sexual" love.
The Cozzens best seller (1957) was much ridiculed by critics, including by Dwight MacDonald for whom I have a lot of respect. It brings out, after sexual episodes which were a
cause both of its popularity and of the critical ridicule, the contrast between merely sexual love and true love.
In Dead Solld Perfect the protagonist, a pro golfer, falls in love with his dying ex-wife.

TBPM knows of an unlikely case of true love -- real life or fiction.*

*And afetter all, the two arenʻt so different. Mark Twain says that the main difference is that fiction is required to make sense, and real life isnʻt.

I lurve my husband and he lurves me. Truly. ♥

TPBM thinks that was a truly exciting story.

Here's the real one. We were at a bar, and on the jukebox came "All for the Love of Sunshine." He looked down at me and said, "Hello, Sunshine," and I melted. It wasn't just the words but also the way he said it and the way he looked when he said it. Sigh. Be still my heart.

I was a tad late, but it kinda' fits, as we are very different personalities, so I'm leaving it.

Yes, I do. My family refers to my husband and I as a fairy tale romance, never mind we've been married 35+ years. We met when my best friend(?) from high school married hubby's cousin. We were paired up and a year and a half later we were married, the only difference being that we are both Catholic. The fairy tale comment really irritates me, there must be many couple who genuinely like and love each other. I can't think we are that far off the average.

TPBM also has a true love/like marriage.

I am disgustingly happy with my marriage. :3

But, like us, TPBM holds the same opinion on Valentine's Day as Sheldon Cooper. ^_^

I've found that most girls don't appreciate a really good murder. I know, I don't get it either

TPBM can burp the ABCs.

No I cannot. I am home with the flu and may be urping my ABCs.

TPBM saw an unusual looking person today.

I had my head shaved on Monday. I came up from underneath my bathroom mirror this morning and startled myself as a stranger in the mirror.

The person below me looks the same no matter what they do with their hair...or the person below me can effect an inscrutable disguise just by changing their hair.

I pretty much look the same, the biggest difference depends if I bother to put on makeup or not.

TPBM can fold origami. . .do origami? since origami means kinda folded paper the first might be redundant. . .TPBM also knows the right way to say it.

I can't even fold a poker hand.

Phonetically, it's: or ih GAH mee

TPBM, when storing pants, lines up the seams of the legs before hanging or folding them.
(The end effect is the crease of the pants appears front and center.)

Yes I do.

TPBM wonders why everyone doesn't do that.

Nope. I don't care if my jeans have a crease in the front. I just fold them to get the wrinkles out. When I was young, it mattered. And when I was married, I folded my husband's pants with the crease in the front.

The person below me irons his or her clothes.

Nope. I made a resolution about 40 years ago now to try not to own anything that needs ironing. I'd already spent way too much of my life ironing little white blouses with Peter Pan collars and roll-up sleeves. Give me permanent press, thanks.

TPBM isn't afraid to wear mismatched socks.

Well now, I'm not afraid to wear mismatched socks because all the socks I wear are black woollen socks of the same make. I buy a dozen pairs at a time and throw them all together after washing. As they wear out they are thrown out until I have too few to make this system work. I then put the remaining socks in a recycling bin and buy another dozen. I know that this is too much information about undergarments but I suppose that's what social websites are all about ;-)

TPBM darns

I say, "Oh darn! There's a hole in my sock." Then I throw the sock away.

TPBM is allergic to wool.

No, I like wool. I also like the idea suggested by abbotttomas of buying all the same type of socks. What a great time saver when it comes to matching up after washing.

TPBM likes time saving routines and will share one.

AT and I share the same sock solution, except mine are blue as I almost exclusively wear jeans.
I have black, and brown socks for when I have to dress up a bit more, but they're kept in a different drawer.

Time-saving routine - Is it still a "routine" if one merely doesn't "do" something? I save lots of morning prep time by not shaving.

TPBM will tell us another time-saving measure.

I wipe the bathroom down with foam cleanser every day, except the shower. It only takes a minute and makes the hard clean a snap. I'm a reformed slob, now a neatnik. As intolerant as any ex-smoker.

TPBM has a place for everything and everything in its place.

No such luck! I've just taken all the books that were on their sides on top of the rest of the books in the shelves and now I've got about 2 metres of books piled up waiting for a home. There are 3, maybe 4, that can go to the charity shop but WTF can I do with the rest? I suppose it's going to be another Billy.

TPBM reshelves their books with ease.

Sure do: Just find the top of a stack that hasnʻt yet grown to high to take on another volume.

TPBM goes by the old library school rule that you can shelve a collection of less than 500 --just anywhere, and get to them by memory; but over 500--there has to be a semblance of subject- or other- order.

I would agree with that assessment. My books have location tags, because at 3900+ books I don't know where most of them are anymore.

Of course, making sure the tags are accurate is another issue entirely.

TPBM took either home economics or shop in junior high school or high school. (SgiV's "a place for everything and everything in its place" reminded me of Miss Letitia Perry, my home economics teacher in 8th grade).

I never got the real shop shop classes, wood and metal. In seventh grade I had drafting and print shop. At a new junior high school in eighth grade I had drafting and print shop again. That was the last shop we had in our school system, and I'm sorry I missed those two.

The person below me would like to know something that everybody else seems to know.

Would I ever! Then again, it's a lot less complicated in my own little world.

TPBM doesn't mind when it rains or snows, because they know it means less chance of drought in the summer.

Just change the auxiliary from "doesnʻt" to "shouldnʻt", and youʻve got my situation exactly.

TPBM has lived in a time and place where people were starting to assume that every routine winter fall of snow was
the early stages of a historic blizzard.

I do now. If six flakes fall, it's historic. And that's without anything sticking to the ground. I do miss me a good nor'easter.

TPBM lives where it's already showing signs of spring.

Unfortunately yes - daffodils are out and the buds are fat on my tulip tree. I'm afraid there's going to be snow, freezing rain, sleet, or a hard frost that will do major damage to seriously confused plants and trees.

TPBM has had way too much snow this winter.

Not yet.

TPBM knows all the answers.

Every single one of them.

TPBM doesn't have any answers.

And it's because you haven't learned to share.

TPBM knows where you're supposed to tell 'em you were sent by Joe.

No, apparently I do not have any answers, because I'm just a stupid teenager who can't do anything right and whose choices are all idiotic.

Sorry. I may have been speaking to my mother, who may have forgotten that I am, in fact, 26 years old with two children and am capable of not only doing things right but am also capable of making good, not-idiotic choices. Life is always easier with her when I don't have to live with her and her opinions.

Leaped! I don't know any Joe, but I know a place where I'm supposed to tell them I was sent by Jim or Steve...

TPBM has never moved back in with a parent after moving out.

Not yet, tho mom and I have discussed off and on the idea of going in together on a two family or mother/daughter. (In the spirit of fair disclosure, I didn't move out on my own until I was 35.) Since we're both unmarried and each living by ourselves, it'd let us keep tabs on each other but still have our own space.

TPBM wouldn't move back in with their parents if they could possibly avoid it.

I'm in no hurry to move back in with my parents, since it would require a significant adjustment to the status of my mortality.

TPBM is immortal.

An emphatic 'newp'. I'm just beginning to walk out of a flu and missed work half of last week.

TPBM never gets sick.

I wish.
@RandomActofMuse, Are you my sister? We must have had the same mother. It will be the same until she perishes, no matter how old you are.

TPBM tries very hard to be a non-interfering mother/mother-in-law, and for the most part succeeds.

Yes, a non-interfering mother. Daughter's 18 and I hope I've done enough things right so that she can make intelligent/reasonable decisions without me interfering. A nice thing is that she frequently asks her dad and me for our opinions about things that are important to her. :)

TPBM was a rebellious teenager.

Well, my mother certainly thought I was.

The person below me is experiencing a culinary disaster this evening.

Yes, I did. I love to cook but sometimes putting the book down and getting off my backside to do it just holds no appeal. So I had pizza delivered. Grim in a cardboard box.

TPBM lives by the adage that pizza, even when bad, is good.

Ugh, no way, but you do have to really work at it to make pizza bad. Generous George's was the only really good pizza place I knew of in this area; it didn't deliver and moved about 20 miles out a year ago. Sorely missed.

TPBM lives in a place where restaurant and deli food is consistently good.

Aaakkk! After 10 hours, leapt!

Why, yes, now that you mention it. Even considering that I am from Chicago, which makes me a major, major, major pizza snob. I'll tolerate them calling all those other things pizza, secure in the knowledge that I, at least, know what the real thing is supposed to taste like.

I live outside a town of 2000 people, but the food there is pretty darn good. It helps that the whole region is obsessed with local ingredients.

Latest new yum was sweet potato shepards' pie at Angelina's Kitchen, with everything but the salt and pepper locally sourced.

TPBM wonders why there was ten hours between posts.

Not really.

TPBM is participating in the annual Great Backyard Bird Count:

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/

I don't have a backyard, just a balcony. Which reminds me I need to take a scrub brush to it to clean off the pigeon leavin's.

TPBM has a walled garden.

Hell yeah! This is central Texas, west of I-35. Three, if you're lucky, inches of topsoil on top of miles of limestone.
Interlocking cinder blocks, four high, four wide, fifteen across. The weeds are in bloom.

TPBM doesn't garden at all.

Right. I don't have the energy and managed to kill the only plants I ever tried to grow.

TPBM loves home-grown tomatoes.

I certainly do and grow them every year. Cherry tomatoes, grape tomatoes, Better Boys, and, best of all, German Johnsons.

TPBM has a method of acquiring home grown tomatoes that doesn't involve growing them.

Yes..I do, my grandpa gardens and always grows tomatoes so I end up getting a ton of them for free..they are so much better than store-bought..the only bad thing is they all ripen at the same time, so you have like 20 tomatoes to eat really quick before they get rotten.

TPBM has a theory about organic vegetables/food that they will share with us.

Um, you can't trust labels? Or maybe labels can be misleading?

The person below me likes raisins (the last "organic" thing I remember buying).

I like raisins, but not cooked, as in oatmeal/raisin cookies or oatmeal with raisins. Hubby likes them any way.

TPBM likes prunes. I think they are starting to be called dried plums. How clever. lol

Aak! No! It's like eating something you found under the car seat. I'm ok with prune juice but nothing beats oj.

TPBM has strong feelings about hairy fruit.

I have strong feelings about dried fruit. It's the texture I find offensive.

TPBM is mentally cataloging types of hairy fruit.

Kiwi, peach, ...... hmm. That's all I can think of offhand.

TPBM knows a few more hairy fruits.

All of them are if you leave them out long enough!

TPBM votes.*

This is a non-political query. I don't want to know how, when, where or why. Just IF.

on occasion.

TPBM doesn't bother.

I bother.

TPBM is a political junkie.

No way! I think all politicians are crooked but my husband loves it so I get to hear all about it.

TPBM is going to clean.

I've been meaning to do laundry since mid-January; maybe today I'll get around to it.

The person below me does laundry weekly.

Nah, I have a house husband - luckily, he does the laundry.

TPBM has started re-reading a book they read & loved in their youth.

No, but I've got The Dark is Rising audiobook and keep telling myself I'm going to listen to it. So far- bupkis!

TPBM has too much time on their hands.

"On my hands..." Oh! so that's where it went!

TPBM believes that there are some books we'll never read because life is too
short. And others that we wouldn't read even if life were "long enough".

I think it's likely very true. I seriously doubt that I will ever read Moby Dick, even if I had another fifty years ahead of me.

The person below me is having a hard time coming up with a good line to use for TPBM.

I am actually.

TPBM can help jillmwo and myself with coming up with a good TPBM line.

I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.

TPBM is worried about their deck under the weight of all the snow.

No deck and no snow. That's odd for this time of year in Central Pennsylvania. The snow part, I mean!

TPBM has had a very mild winter....so far.

Yeah, two days that actually qualified in my estimation. And the robins had returned the day before. Gonna be a buggy year.

TPBM is thinking .... "Hotcakes and sausage!"

Well, I wasn't, but I am now. *G*

TPBM is in a time zone ahead of LTs. (East coast USA)

I lived for some 43 years in the zone that is now
on E S T. I once visited, (without leaving North America!),
a zone that is ahead of E S T: Cape Breton Island in the Atlantic Zone. My present zone is so far ahead of E S T that
it has caught up with it and passed, and is usually known as "behind" it. Always beware of saying that two things/people are "360 degrees" apart. (Means theyʻre equal again!)

TPBM often feels 180 degrees separated from some among
the most publicized politicians of 1912.

Teddy and I are like this - ||

He loved travel adventure and wrote books about them. One title is A Book-Lover's Holidays in the Open. What's not to like?

TPBM thinks Roland might have meant to type 2012. (Time keeps slipping slipping into the future.)

I don't know. I prefer the politicians of 1912.

The person below me is against all politicians.

"might have meant to type 2012..."

Yes, I did mean 2012! But glad to hear about one of the "Old Time Politicians of 100 Years Ago"
"1912" is an example of an incorrect correction: I was
correcting "312" which I had previously written! I must get back to writing my new essay: "Octogenarianism: From Honor to Lame Excuse"

TPBM, like I (failed to) say, feels 180 degrees separated from some among the most publicized politicians of TWENTY- twelve.

It's worse than that. Not only are they 180 degrees out from the norm, they're in a different plane of existence.

Roland - would you like me to proofread it for you?

TPBM is well-versed in web browsers and their configuration parameters, and will help me with a problem I'm having with it.

ETA: Another option for TPBM is to recommend either FireFox or Safari as an alternative to Internet Explorer, based on personal experience. (Not going to try Chrome again, ever.)

Well, if you don't like Chrome, I don't think you'll be particularly enamoured of Firefox. They're largely built off of the same code. I don't recommend IE so that leaves you with the Opera browser.

The person below me uses the Opera browser.

No, I use Firefox, and I like it a lot, because I've found extensions to simplify all the little tasks that I find finicky to do with my keyboard. But my needs are pretty simple, since most of my internet time is spent on LT.

TPBM can recommend another website that is as wonderful as LibraryThing.

Yeah, but they're all porn sites. I kind of like Twitter because I've set it up as a news feed more than a social networking site.

//I'd rather that all politicians just declare victory and go home.//

TPBM is surprised at the number of book stores and lie-berrys the LT zeitgeist shows for their area. I am, there aren't anywhere near as many as I thought there would be.

All it shows in my area is the 1 library and and the 1 Barnes & Noble.

TPBM wishes there was more stuff near them too.

I wish there were more independent and used book stores near me. We have a lots of versions of the mega monopoly store in my suburb and the neighbouring cities but not enough small, independent new and used bookstores.

TPBM also worries that small independent businesses are an endangered species.

I do indeed. Dunoon has a streetful of independent shops, with no McDonalds, no Tescos and no Starbucks (a situation almost unheard of in the UK these days) - but I can't imagine that state of affairs will last much longer. I do my bit by using them as much as possible (especially the bookshop!) and will keep my fingers crossed ...

TPBM has a good idea.

Yes I do, but first #177 Sophie236, I need to know what Tescos is????? Oh, yeah, my good idea is - read more, watch less TV. Not original by any means, but still a good idea.

TPBM has a better idea.

//#178 - Tesco are the biggest supermarket chain in the UK - their trick is to build a large superstore (or a small mini-store) wherever they can (they're skilled at offering sweeteners to local councillors, so even if the local populace is vehemently opposed it makes no difference). They then use their enormous purchasing power to undercut everyone else. Cash-strapped families can hardly be blamed for shopping there exclusively and not using their smaller independent shops, because Tesco is (initially, at least) so much cheaper.

Then, when the smaller shops have all gone out of business, Tesco can do what they like, because there's no longer any competition. You have to admire such ruthlessness, but I'd rather admire it from a distance ...//

I understand completely-sounds exactly like the Wal-Marts here.

The better idea is mutual respect among all people with whatever necessary qualifications there might be. Those qualifications will give us a lot to talk about, keeping us off the street and out of trouble.

The person below has an even better idea.

If the speed of light is constant, then the universe is finite. Plus, pancakes are so good they qualify as a gourmet experience.

TPBM is or lives with a gourmet chef.

Yes, and he makes the best cheeseburgers, evah.

TPBM also thinks cheeseburgers are gourmet items.

//Roland, I'd like a copy of your essay. Even if you were kidding, please write one. Thanks.//

Yes. Especially with bacon and grilled onions.

The person below me prefers something else on their cheeseburgers.

I like mine one of 2 ways, ketchup and mayonnaise OR bacon, onion rings, and BBQ sauce

TPBM prefers home-made burgers to restaurant

On 183:

"E ven if you were kidding . . ."

I was kidding, but thanks for asking.

If by "restaurant" you mean the typical fast food joint, then yep! But I've had some great burgers at other places. I do admit to having a HUGE craving once in awhile for White Castles tho.

TPBM saw White Castles and went "EWWWWWWWWWWWWW"

Not me. I was raised on Krystals and think that the argument about which is best is silly -- it depends on where you live. I found some WC frozen in the grocery, as we have neither here, and they almost hit the spot.

TPBM loves chili pups from Krystal.

As long as they're not those tiny, yappy kind. Oh! No idea, this is the first I've ever heard of Krystal.

TPBM doesn't recognize any of the people on magazine covers anymore.

That's pretty much true. I recognize Barack and Michelle, and once in a while there's a cover piece about how well preserved someone is who I still thought was young. But at a newsstand or in a waiting room, I just look at the covers and think, "Who ARE these people?"

TPBM still wears tie-dye.

No, but my sister-in-law does, and I wish I had some t-shirts. I think they're pretty.

TPBM is too old to have been a hippie back in the day but does have hippie tendencies.
No, SomeGuy, I don't mean that kind of hippy.

I am too YOUNG to have been a hippie back in the day, but I definitely have some hippie tendencies.

And some "hippy" ones, namely that my hip likes to put itself out of place and take my spine with it.

TPBM also visits a chiropractor regularly.

Twice a month unless my adjustments are holding, then once a month. He and his staff are like family to me. I've avoided surgery twice because of his talent and persistence.

TPBM, like my hubby, cannot understand how a medical professional would consult an alternative healing source.

No, I fimly believe you should try anything that works (within reason) when conventional medicine either has no answers or the solution would be drastic or risky. My foster son survived three years longer than conventional medicine predicted and with more comfort using Chiropractic, massage, Naturopathy and nutrition.

TPBM has used unconventional means to achieve health and well-being as well.

That's what I told the judge.

TPBM is already being bothered by allergies.

No, luckily they aren't too bad since I moved to the UK, but it will soon come!

TPBM has fruit trees growing in their yard. (I wish!)

An apple, an almond, and a cherry. And the neighbor's orange tree hangs over our fence. The almond has just passed full bloom, with its sweet, sweet white blossoms tinged with just a faint blush of pale pink.

But the birds and the squirrels will get all the nuts and the cherries.

TPBM has lilacs.

I used to walk by a lilac bush when I was a kid. Boy, did they smell good. I do have a sahuaro, a mesquite and some lantana. Not very exciting. There is a miniature rose bush outside my kitchen window that I like.

Did LT go wonky yesterday or did I dream it?

The person below me is planning to plant some pretty flowers.

Last year's gardening was so unsuccessful that I have absolutely no motivation to plant anything. Probably by the time May comes, I will feel more eager.

TPBM makes jam.

Only when I get together with other guitar player, which isn't all that often anymore.

TPBM owns a grandfathers clock.

I own one of my grandfather's clocks that he collected. The one I have is a mantle clock from about 1880 and typical of the period. It works but it's such a pain in the tuchus to keep running that I don't.

TPBM also inherited some odd stuff.

When my husband's mother died, he and his brother divided some belongings between them, and they all seemed like odd picks to me. Guess they had some sentimental value to Jim, but to me it was junk...a few pieces of costume jewelry went to my daughter; a pair of 1940ish art prints of lilies, which are hanging in the sewing room (which actually belonged to her mother); a plastic Crayola box; an old camera; and "the" saucepan in which she cooked her famous fudge. No idea why he took that, as I am not inclined to make candy at all, and her recipes took hours to make, making it 10 fold unlikely to be made. I think the saucepan was discarded when we moved, but we still have the rest of the stuff.

TPBM has begun planning their spring garden.

Yeah... not going to happen this year. The water bill to just keep the trees alive is too much already.
The lawn is still mostly-dead, even with all the rain we've had lately. There's a bumper crop of weeds, though.

TPBM fidgets.

Yes. Can't sit still for very long at all. Up and down up and down up and down.

TPBM has a summer vacation planned.

//xorscape, not sure about yesterday, but LT does go wonky occasionally -- not as much as other sites, though.//

No. Can't afford one. My daughter will come visit for about a month, though, so that's all I really need.

TPBM hasn't been on a real vacation since 1996.

I've only been on 1 real vacation ever in my life. . .2007 Disney World

TPBM agrees that the best thing about Disney World is the Margarita Huts in Epcot.

Thanks, Boobalack.

I've never been to Disney World. I've always wanted to go, but just never have. I have been to Disneyland many times, but not recently. I love Space Mountain! I will agree that the Magarita Huts sound great.

The person below me likes amusement parks.

I haven't been to one in decades, but I would love to ride a serious roller coaster.

The person below me gets their roller coaster thrills in their automobile.

God no, I drive like a leetle ole lady. Up until about 10 years ago there was a crest on a country road that you could get air if you went 45 over it, but they graded it down. Damn nanny state gubmint.

TPBM gets no kick from champagne.

Yeah, mere alcohol doesn't thrill me at all. I actually don't drink, not for moral reasons so much as the fact I don't like the taste.

TPBM agrees that caffeine is the only addictive substance that they are unwilling to give up.

The doctor says I have too much blood in my caffeine system.

TPBM buys coffee beans whole and grinds them as needed.

Absolutely! Been doing it for upwards of 25 years. (I use Gevalia Stockholm Roast). I make coffee fresh every morning with my good well water and take a thermos to work. I can't stand the sludge at work. I also grind the beans fresh for the weekend.

TPBM loves flavored coffees.

I'm one of not many who don't like coffee at all. Hubby prefers non-flavored coffee.

TPBM is going to try hot tea one of these days.

Gah! Tea is the veggi pizza of hot drinks. Why.Bother? Starbucks completely ruined happy hour.

TPBM has got his own.

Sometimes I get it back.

The person below me watched the Academy Awards.

When are they again?

TPBM cares about such goings on.

I wasn't interested enough to watch even if I had a teevee, but I did read the results. The Academy was dull this year.

The person below me has their own taste in movies and doesn't care about awards.

I much prefer to watch a movie with no prior knowledge and decide if I like it or not. I find when someone tells me I have to watch something because it was soooooooooooo good, I have expectations, and they often times aren't met.

I mostly watch TCM channel now and prefer the old black and whites to most of the churned out stuff today.

TPBM is ready for _______.

a really good cheeseburger, made by Chef Husband.

This is cute. Let's keep it going for a while. :-}

TPBM is ready for _______.

I don't know. I was ready to win the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, but someone in Arkansas won it. I'll have to get ready for something else -- desperate poverty perhaps.

The person below me is ready for __________!

A day off! Gladly tomorrow is the day.

TPBM is ready for...

The usual- the zombie apocalypse, total system failure, greeting cards for all occasions, wondering when the neighbors are going to complain about the smell coming from my crawlspace.

TPBM is ready for ___________!

bed.

TPBM irf __________...

storytime. Every Wednesday night at this hour, my husband and I read aloud.

TPBM is ready for ___________.

//Meredy, I think that's great!//

... anything. More or less.

TPBM is waiting for ...

The reveal of what's in SGIV crawlspace....

TPBM is waiting for.....

Geraldo Rivera to make that reveal.

TPBM has actually been under a crawlspace (though hopefully not SGIV's)

I've been "in" many crawlspaces, for inspections and repairs, but never "under" a crawlspace, thankfully. That would be terminal, I think.

TPBM has found treasures in unexpected places.

That depends on your definition of treasure. While going thru a box of stuff pre-move from my house, I found several hundred dollars that based on the dates on the bills, had been in that box at least several years.

TPBM can't imagine "losing track" of that much money.

No I can't. I've accidentally thrown away a gift certificate before (and am still kicking myself over it years later). I can't imagine having hundreds of dollars in my home in cash in the first place, unless I was just about to embark on a trip or something.

TPBM is personally fiscally conservative as well.

Not by choice.

TPBM likes vanilla ice cream better than chocolate.

Probably so, but not as much as when I was younger.

The person below likes ice cream in specialty flavors, like dulce de leche or butterfinger.

Coffee-flavored ice cream.

TPBM has tried watermelon-flavored ice cream and will provide valuable insight from the experience to us.

Never watermelon but my newest surprise love is grape flavored ice cream. MMMMMMMMM

TPBM has a motorcycle.

My husband does, and in fact, just left on a ride out to his brother's house.

TPBM like to ride on the back of a motorcycle.

I do not. The last time I rode in back I was almost left as a greasy spot on Rt. 7.

TPBM works on old cars.

I drive one... I'll have had it eighteen years come 2-Apr.

TPBM drive one older than that.

Not anymore. I used to keep my cars 20 years, but the current one is just 12. It does have over 175,000 miles on it so I may have to get a new one in a few years.

The person below me keeps track of his or her vehicle's mileage.

That would be a bit difficult on my vehicle.

The person below me needs a car to get to most places.

Yes. We live in the middle of nowhere. Closest gas station is 7 miles away, closest store is 8 miles away.... work is 28 miles away.

TPBM loves listening to audio books.

Oh, yes. They have saved my life while driving hither and yon. I am hooked, hooked, hooked. Some books are just better in audio.

The person below me has definite opinions about audio books, ebooks, ereaders, paperbacks, big expensive paperbacks (they have a name I don't remember), and hardbacks.

I'd rather have hardbacks but usually can't afford them. Not fond of mass market paperbacks, but I have quite a few, as they are cheaper. I'd rather have the other kind, which are less expensive than a hardback, and I can't remember what they are called, either. I'm afraid my mind would wander too much to listen to an audio book, and I think I'd rather have hardcopy than ebooks. I sometimes turn back pages to reread, but I assume you can do that on an ereader, too. They still don't appeal to me.

TPBM thinks I'd like ereaders if I had one.

I love my e-reader in certain situations. It's fantastic for going on a trip because I can bring 6 books with me but only need to pack one, or in situations where you have to wait in lines. Mine is so small it literally fits in my coat pocket. But the rest of the time I'd rather have a real book. Way less hassle!

TPBM enjoys something even though it is a hassle.

Life.

The person below me is with Leibniz on thinking this to be the best of all possible worlds and loves it.

Iʻm indifferent to Leibnizʻs thought, but
definitely turned off by Voltaireʻs attempted refutation of it (in his, to me, very over-rated Candide). As a compulsive vowel-twister, I
may have converted Leibnizʻs* "B E S T" to
B O O Z I E S T" -- better d escription of my world
at a certain time of life.

TPBM has read either a Leibniz or a Voltaire work in its original language.

*I ʻve only heard the Leibniz theory at 2nd hand, not read it, so I heard it in English.

Ive never heard of Leibniz and I only know who Voltaire is because I read a book once where the character was talking about it.

TPBM has a fear of elevators and not because of claustrophobia.

Aaak! Leaped! No, but I do have long elevator rides and make sure I don't have to take a leak before I get on one.

//Those fancy paperbacks are called trade paperbacks. As for liking an ereader, Boo, I don't know- it's convenient but you don't own the book. I love mine, but most of my stuff is out of print.//

TPBM is an editor on project Gutenberg.

In my dreams!

TPBM has seen signs of spring already.

(We have - Bluebonnets, Mayflies, Bob the tree lizard, green grass... I actually mowed the lawn yesterday.)

//Ah, yes. Trade paperbacks. I could not think of that. Thanks, SomeGuy.//

Our lawn needs mowing, and it's too early for that. Also, my robin has been back for quite a while. I know it's mine because of a mark on his chest.

TPBM is not ready for winter to be over, as he/she had not had any real winter this go 'round.

You read my mind. Just yesterday I was saying "I want snow! I want snow!" I want just one nice snow that lasts several days. No ice, no sleet, no freezing rain. Just snow. Sigh. Plus, it's too damned hot. 80F one day this week. Disgusting.

TPBM just added a bunch of books to LT.

I did, I totally broke my 'no books' moratorium and bought a bunch of inexpensive zombie books.

TPBM is still looking at snow.

I've been wishing for snow too. We'll get it next month and curse it.

I've read Candide in French because Voltaire uses such clear language, it's one of the few I can. I also like to read the various translations.
Roland, Voltaire was a pessimist, but a very funny one - He reminds me a bit of Kurt Vonnegut.

TPBM has a silly addiction.

I know I'm addicted to caffeine because I go through withdrawals if I stop. I usually take a caffeine tablet instead of drinking coffee because I don't like to get up early enough to make and drink coffee, and no way in hell am I paying 5$ for a cup of joe. Hell I know for a fact you can have Joe for a 40 and a trip to the liquor store.

TPBM has a mean streak.

Me? Nah, I'm a pussy-cat!

TPBM, on the other hand........

I wouldn't call it a mean streak because I always try to be nice, but if a person pushes me too far, and I get angry, then watch out!

TPBM is hard to anger, too.

It depends. I have some buttons that family can push pretty quickly...

The person below me takes calming breaths.

I don't but that just reminded me of an episode of Family Matters when Carl kept getting mad and they made him say the mantra '3,2,1, 1,2,3, what the heck is bothering me?'

TPBM remembers that episode

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfs0wz8nEPU

In case someone else, like me, doesn't.

TPBM wonders if YouTube is contributing to a trend towards a general decrease in attention span.

I don't wonder - I know. Youtube is a mere subset of the entire Internet trending towards a general decrease in attention span.

TPBM loves looking at stuff on Youtube, even if it is affecting their attention span.

I've learned a lot from Utube - how to replace a foundation, how to collect rainwater, how to speed paint a portrait of Jesus, etcetra, etcetra, etcetra. I find it a very good thing indeed. But I don't go very far into the choices for fear of getting terminally lost.

TPBM has been to the end of the virtual world and will tell us what they found.

Some guy at Google staring back at me on the screen.

TPBM had grits this weekend.

Yes, but only because I didn't wash all the sand out of the spinach.

TPBM thinks hand sanitizer is overrated.

How is one to build resistance without exposure?

TPBM innoculates themselves.

I can't legally do so: I'm not a doctor.

The person below me isn't a doctor, but plays one on TV.

No, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

TPBM likes to eat something unusual for breakfast.

If at all possible, lunch.

Come the rosy fingered dawn, TPBM is never found in hoggish slumber.

Very rarely do I sleep past dawn. Definitely a morning person, and I usually watch the sun rise.

TPBM is a night owl.

No, as a cardinal rule, I'm an early bird.

TPBM is a chicken.

Just generally fowl.

TPBM feels just ducky.

With the rain and flood warnings that could be a comfort. My cat actually came indoors on his own initiative last night, presumably seeking shelter.

The person below me can levitate.

I can lift the wine glass at my side for a quick slurp - but I confess that I use my hands.

The wine (French) I am drinking has a drawing on the label of a cat sitting on an egg.

TPBM can come up with the name of the wine.

//AnnaClaire, unless NY has different laws from OK, it is legal to inject yourself. I had to inject Forteo for two years, and I injected my daughter for her allergies. Don't for get all those who must inject insulin. I'm sure there are other examples.//

No, but it sounds like an interesting label.

TBPM doesn't drink wine. He or she thinks it tastes rotten.

I donʻt think ANY wine tastes rotten, except possibly muscatel-- well, no, not even musky; it just doesnʻt taste as good as other wines. But (for the past few decades) I donʻt, in fact, drink wine.

TPBM particularly enjoys Chilean riesling.

I haven't tried that, but I have sunk a few bottles of Chat-en-Oeuf, abbottthomas!

TPBM loves the smell of ........

Raspberries!

And TPBM loves the smell of .......

freshly brewed coffee from freshly ground beans. And the smell of bacon cooking.

We're on a roll.

And TPBM loves the smell of .....

Cigarettes and coffee.

TPBM loves the smell of...

Freshly baked bread. And the numerous Persian bakeries I pass by when walking up the main street of my town. I think there may be calories involved in the smell alone.

TPBM loves the smell of.....

My cat.

The person below me is revolted by the smell of ______.

Vomit.

TPBM would buy bacon-scented air freshner.

NO! That'd be CRUEL.

TPBM forgot somthing today.

Maybe - I just don't remember.

TPBM will explain why 33ml of printer ink cost me £55 today. That's probably more expensive, drop for drop, than Cheval Blanc from a decent year

Probably, it's the exchange rate, but I'm just guessing really. I have no empirical data to back that up.

TPBM regularly schedules a backup of important data from the hard drive.

Nah, I love to live dangerously...

TPBM can explain to my why my caramalised sugar keeps crystalising, even though I am not agitating the boiling sugar...

Electrons. Plus we know you, ceinwenn, no way in hell are you not agitating the boiling sugar. No way!

TBPM would be willing to write for an ebook that would sell on Amazon for about a buck US. (That's, well actually, that's -5 pence to the Brits.)

I would be willing, but I would need more details. Also, I find exchange rates very confusing. Even if someone tries to explain them, I cover my ears and say ohmmmmm.

TPBM thinks maybe ceinwenn (#285) NEEDS to agitate the sugar to keep it from crystalizing.

OK, we can keep this very simple and let me do the math and divvying up the cash. You don't worry about it. But you know, we all readers, we also all writers, and we could turn a buck. They have 1 Buck horror, we could have 1 Buck Thrilling Anthology of Shocking Truthiness.

TPBM is thinking of ways to get rich. Fast.

Find a million dollar bill in a toilet bowl and be the only one who dares to fish it out.

The person below me laments the 2010 passing of Tuli Kupferberg.

My grief seems insurmountable, my only solice is that time may lessen the burden.

TPBM is up on dates.

I'm married so I'm not allowed to go on dates anymore - up? down? doesn't really make any difference.

TPBM has a secret life

Yes, but how did you know?

TPBM knows all and tells all.

Knowing more than one tells is probably better than telling more than one knows. Iʻve occasionally been ʻGuilty" (?) of both.

TPBM has been known to "Tell" something that was previoiusly kept sec ret for ...years... decades.

Yes, I have kept some things to myself for that long. And some are still not told. It suits me to keep a few mysteries.

TPBM carries a talisman.

I have a couple of stones in my change purse and a medallion.

The person below me carries a talisman in a different way.

I have a St. Christopher medal that I wear on a chain around my neck. That's a little strange, as I'm not Catholic.

TPBM doesn't think that's strange, at all.

Not at all. I say "G** d**n it" a lot, and I'm an atheist.

TPBM Is getting rained on right now.

No, I'm getting blown. I came home, showered, climbed into bed with a cheesy thriller, and with the balcony door and window open (it's that nice) the winds are howling through. I've been looking forward to climbing into bed with a cheesy thriller all week; found myself nodding off and just downed 2.5 cups of coffee.

TPBM has never posted to TPBM before.

No, I've posted quite often.

TPBM will share a good joke to make up all laugh.

"A blonde walks into the library. She walks up to the counter, SLAMS a book down and screams at the librarian, "This is the WORST book I've ever read! It has NO plot and far too many characters!"
The librarian looks up and calmly remarks, "So, you're the one who took our phone book."

TPBM will tell another joke.

A batter had a count of 3-2 on him. On the next pitch, the umpire called "Strike!" The batter says,
"That was Ball FOUR! I walked!" The umpire says, "Well, youʻre walking NOW! --Straight to the dugout, because that was Strike THREE!"
-- really happened, if my source is correct. The umpire was rookie ML umpire Emmet Ashford.

But
Iʻm using it as the SECOND-lamest baseball joke Iʻve ever heard.

TPBM knows THE LAMEST baseball joke of them all.

No, no I think that was it.

TPBM has another joke.

I have a lot of jokes!

TPBM will tell us his or her favorite joke.

A blonde is sitting in her living room and notices that the house across the street is on fire. She immediately calls the fire department to tell them what's happening. When the operator asks her how to get to the house the blonde replies
"Duh! In a big red truck"

That one still cracks my mom up to this day.

TPBM is reading a joke book at the moment.

No, I'm reading a computer screen. duh! Then I'm getting back to my mystery.

TPBM is not happy about losing an hour's sleep tonight (and not being able to stay up late to read a mystery).

Doesn't bother me one single bit. Just tell me what time it is when I wake up, and I'm fine. My time sense is very poor.

TPBM always knows what time it is without looking at the clock.

Nope, completely missed the time change last night and arrived at church just before dismissal.

TPBM thinks I still get credit.

Of course you do. God knows about your intentions.

TPBM thinks college basketball is highly overrated.

I think all basketball is overrated.

TPBM thinks it's ridiculous how the Peyton Manning situation went down.

Peyton who?

TPBM is excited about next weekend's 6 Nations finale (Go Wales!)

Another final? Does this mean we're going to have to bail out Wales now, too? I mean, what economy do they even have to screw up? What? Oh. Never mind.

TPBM recently learned something new about the place/neighborhood/lockdown ward they call home. (I learned at lunch on Friday that the trees on the grassy meridian of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE in Washington are cherry trees. I lived there for 15 years and did not know that. To be fair, the cherry trees bloom for only about 3 days and look like dogwoods or Bradford pairs the rest of the time.)

I used to live in DC as well and I was thinking it was nearing time for the Cherry Blossom Festival. *happy sigh* We have no cherry blossoms in my area.

The person below me is not feeling that spring has sprung. (Despite Daylight Savings Time)

I am feeling the spring, but not because of the time shift (my sense of time is a little wobbly after 2½ months' unemployment anyway).

The person below me has also been having spring-like weather for a while now.

If by a while you mean 3 or 4 days, then yeah, I've had spring-like weather for a while.

TPBM has done something handy today.

//Spring has sprung.
The flowers is ris.
I wonder where the boidies is.
The boids is on da wing.
Well, ain't dat absoid?
I tot da wings wuz on da boid.//

If by today you mean yesterday, then yes. The critters, especially birds, but now skunks too, see my house as prime real estate. I think I've finally got then all foiled. Hahahahaha. Yeah, sure!

TPBM welcomes wildlife.

Outside. Deer, birds, peepers, etc., when in their proper environment.

Wildlife inside is not so cool. Yesterday our kitty Inara Starbuck brought in ANOTHER small snake. It apparently escaped to underneath the sofa. We forgot about it. While straightening up the kitchen about 9:30 p.m., I looked down and there it was, coiled up in front of the floor mat in front of the sink. I screeched for husband to come and get the snake. Daughter's home for spring break, so she came galloping back downstairs and after her dad grabbed it with a paper towel (it was about 12" long), she escorted it outside. They both said that it looked venomous - had the right shape head and had diamonds down its back. Brrrrrr.

TPBM has had a nasty experience of wildlife in the house too.

Almost $2,000 to replace the 220v line to my oven. I still need to replace the insulation wrap around a heat duct in my attic.

TPBM knows another reason why I prefer ALL animals be kept outdoors.

Something about a bird? :)

The person below me wants a new computer.

Yes..in fact I need a new one here at work because this one is SO SLOW!! My home computer is new so I don't need a new one there..my boss has been promising me a new computer for at least 6 months now...

TPBM loves their job and will tell us what they do and why they love it.

I'm a public librarian in a rural area in Nova Scotia & I absolutely adore my job!

TPBM also loves their job & will tell us why.

Sorry, I don't love my job. I don't even particulary like it. I'm trying to get in on the ground floor of a tech startup, but that may take root or I may be out of luck. It's nice not having to report to a clearly insane person any more, but I do want to move on.

TPBM has a really cool 'puter desktop pic.

I do! It's of fox smelling a daffodil



TPBM is about to make some big changes in their life

Yeah, I'm moving again, this time to the west coast. Hope to be on the road before June. My son was going to drive out with me, but now it turns out he can't get off work. So I have to find someone else or drive 3000 miles alone.

TPBM would be more prepared.

//From where to where, PhaedraB? That sounds like a fine adventure.//

/// From central North Carolina to southern Oregon. Have nowhere to live yet, but what the heck. ///

////I love your adventurous soul, PhaedraB.////

I learned to always be prepared in Girl Scouts.

TPBM was also a Girl Scout or a Boy Scout.

The Boy Scouts let me down, so I was a member but not for long.

The person below me has seen The Lorax and recommends it.

My daughter has and does.

TPBM watches Mythbusters.

Yes. Or rather, I will when there's (finally) a new season on.

The person below me will tell me when that will be.

I'm actually more of a GhostFacers fan. GHOSTFACERS!!!!

TPBM studies phsysics. . the physics of psychics.

What's that, studying the viscosoty of ectoplasm or co-efficients of friction on Ouija boards?

TPBM has witnessed a manifestation.

I once watched someone make and lose a great fortune at roulette. Manifestation indeed, I got to see the whole spectrum of ecstasy cross some stranger's face. Or was that the prom?

TPBM is or knows or is sleeping with a congressindividual.

I don't trust any congressindividual enough to sleep with him/her.

TPBM, however, believes all politicians are honest.

//I believe some of them should not be in prison. Some of them.//

Wasn't it Diogenes who went in search of an honest man? Unsuccessfully? Always shown with a lantern in his hand? Or is that some other myth I'm remembering?

The person below me has a flashlight handy to aid in the effort.

I keep a little one powered by four hearing aid batteries on my key chain just in case I have to look more closely at a putatively honest politician.

The person below me is an honest politician.

No. I am not a politician, and I don't (always) claim to be honest.

The person below me is a dishonest non-politician.

I'm pretty honest. I'm a do-unto-others kind of believer. Karma. (Edit: I am a non-politician.)

The person below me has seen karma in action.

You got it half right. I'm a non-politician.

Yes. It bit my former son-in-law in the rear. lol

TPBM is anxious about who will be the next POTUS.

No, I'm worried that the presidential election process will give my husband apoplexy.

The person below me has low blood pressure.

Sometimes, but it is usually at the low end of whats considered normal.

TPBM is wondering WTH happened to winter this year.

Not at all, just glad to get a break on it. I think one month of winter would be quite sufficient to allow us to appreciate the other 3 seasons.

TPBM can keep anxiety at a minimum through meditation.

Thiiiis close. Instant Karma, bay-bee.

TPBM is meeting someone newsworthy this week, or even better- gossipworthy.

Well, I'm not supposed to tell anyone...but...I know you wouldn't tell, so.........Oops, boss is coming, gotta go.

TPBM really does dish good dirt.

I wish. I do talk too much, though.

So, the social media study says:
"Turns out women want ice cream while men want a car. Specifically, women crave Dairy Queen and men desire a Ford. The other top 10 "wants" for both genders are similar. We all want pizza, cake, cookies, phones and pancakes. Women would also like chocolate, sushi and coffee, while men want beer, chicken and, of course, bacon."

The person below me agrees.

I would rather have bacon than coffee.

TPBM wants it all.

Bacon and coffee are absolute musts for breakfast, so I must want it all.

Doesn't mean I'll get it all, though.

TPBM is more optimistic than me.

Yes. I think that you'll get it all. I on the other hand...

The person below me has it all.

I must, because when I'm faced with spending money to acquire things, I usually end up saying I don't need whatever it is....

The person below me doesn't do conspicuous consumption.

Well, I have a LOT of STUFF, but it's mostly second hand. Shabby and not sheik or chic.

TPBM has no trouble pitching stuff.

No way man. I've moved too many times to become overly fond of anything that I can't anthropomorphize.

TPBM wonders what they'll do with their stuff when they check out.

Nope. It won't be my problem.

Actually, I already had to deal with my mother's stuff: a few hundred Braille books, over a thousand print books, hundreds of CDs, and boxes full of cassette tapes. The Braille was hardest to get rid of.

TPBM has something, besides books, that will be difficult for their heirs to dispose of.

Mainly books, but my daughters will take them. Next is my music. Other than that, I don't think so.

TPBM has a pain in the neck. (Behave, SomeGuy.)

Just for a change, I don't - those physiotherapy exercises do seem to work, huzzah.

TPBM never wears the colour ........

Full on orange, though I'll wear peach and cantaloupe.

TPBM loves to snack on fruit or froot loops.

Unfortunately, no. I love veggies but have to force myself to eat fruit (no fruit loops since???). Now potato chips......mmmm....my downfall.

TPBM wears only black.

I think that person is lurking in the shadows and wants to go un-noticed.

TPBM has been a spy.

What are you talking about? Wow, there is something seriously wrong with you. (No, but if I were that's what I'd say.)

TPBM is a spy.

I used to play "I Spy" a lot with my children.

TPBM will tell us of another children's game they used to play -- either with or without children.

A favourite of ours is "Find that book". We each pick a title, or a word from a title, for the others to find in my bookcases. Yes, my children and I have a strange idea of fun. My husband does not join us in this exciting activity.

TPBM had a favourite book as a child.

The Littlest Angel by Charles Tazewell. I still have that copy on my shelves.

TPBM has a favorite book they read, then have re-read at least 5 times and will tell us what it is.

An Old-Fashioned Girl by Louisa May Alcott. Literary allusion to Cranford which led to me to Mary Barton and so forth.

The person below me has fond memories of 19th century literature.

Well my favorite book of all time is Wuthering Heights. I first read it in 5th grade and have read it probably 20 times since then.

TPBM should be getting back to something.

Not really. It's my night off from work and about 1:45 AM here and there's not a lot I can do around the apartment at this hour without having to worry about disturbing my neighbors.

TPBM, like me, has trouble thinking of something good for the person below them.

Truth! I am having a really hard time thinking of something good.

TPBM is going to tell us why they're up so late at night

Well, four hours after #366 I'm having my second espresso of the morning, and four hours ago here it was about the same time as it is now in LT-land and I was putting on the kettle for the first cup of tea of the day. The UK is still on GMT until the end of next week.

Tomorrow I hope to watch England demolish Ireland in the Six Nations Rugby competition.

TPBM has more shamrock-friendly plans for St Patrick's Day

Flying home from a week in Florida.
It turns out, I have an amazing niece (from the brother I had the most trouble with when growing up).

TPBM never had to suffer through sibling rivalry.

No, after a certain age it was pretty clear that my parents had chosen a favorite child and it didn't seem useful to make it a rivalry. (And no, I am not the favorite; that'd be my younger sister, because I'm too "difficult" and my baby sister is "too much like me." Or something.)

TPBM doesn't have a favorite child.

No kids, no pool, no pets. I ain't got no cigarettes.

TPBM gave up smoking.

Long ago, and I still miss it under some circumstances.

TPBM has taken notice of Harvard Medical School's recent urgings to eat less red meat.

I didn't eat red (or any color, for that matter) meat before, so no, I hadn't really noticed.

TPBM discovered something recently.

Husband's Great-Great-Great Grandfather's Confederate Money that used to be in the family Bible when husband was a child but wasn't when we got the Bible a while back. We found it in a box when we moved husband's mother from one nursing home to another. Husband's now happy.

TPBM is amazed at how passionate people still are about the Old South.

No, I think we all have some allegiance to something or other.

The person below me also discovered something recently. (I found a ring I thought I'd lost.)

I discovered something negative: that I no longer* know how to get into Google.com on
this dinosaur (a Mac).

TPBM knows a fool-proof way of getting into
Google on ANY keyboard.

*It would take too long to describe how
I used to get into Google; anyway, Im
not really as crazy as that way would
sound and it
doesnʻt work at present.

You mean with shortcuts? No, without a mouse I'm screwed. As Richard Gere said to the petshop owner. If you're having trouble, press here.

TPBM had a mad crush on a teebee star.

I haven't had a mad crush in many years, but Jeff Kober is one who tugged at my heart strings in "China Beach."

TPBM doesn't even know who Jeff Kober is. Le sigh.

How did you know? I also don't know what "China Beach" is.

The person below me doesn't know who Bing Bing Lee is.

Nope..no clue..

TPBM will enlighten us on who Bing Bing Lee is...

apparently shes an actor.

tpbm knows what to do.

I used to, in fact I wrote down how to do it on the back of a bus ticket but I think I must have used the ticket as a bookmark - I don't know where to start looking.............

TPBM has found an interesting bookmark in a second hand book.

Actually, one of the used books that just arrived in the mail contains a lovely photograph of someone's dog. Such a sweet expression.

The person below me is struggling to balance stuff s/he wants to do with stuff s/he ought to do. (Please note I've bungled it entirely myself.)