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The Waterfall and Stream (in progress)

Needless to say, there is a lot of work yet to be done. Also, those of you with keen eyes and perceptive minds may note that the water in the pond is a bit cloudy. Someone – I shall not name names – used a water based caulk to bond together the two halves of the spillway (hidden under the rocks where the waterfall is). Uhmm, this caulk kind of dissolved into the water. It should clear up soon.

The black rubber base does cause an interesting problem: because it is so hot here, the water is evaporating on its way back to the pond.  So I am going to have to constantly refill it until I get enough plants and shade around it to help keep it from evaporating so much.

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Uncle Dave’s Memorial Weekend Big Apple Adventure & Billython

The Logo

The Plan
Leaving Tuesday, May 19th, mid-day and driving to San Francisco to stay at a hotel near the airport so I can get up Wednesday morning at…..3 A.M. for a 5:45 flight to Denver, then Denver to LaGuardia – do not ask why I am not flying direct!! But I am flying First Class for the first time (for the trip over, anyway)!!!

I have 5 BETM’s scheduled and most likely a 6th if I get into New York on time on Wednesday. Also have a very cool special event planned for Friday! Will tell you more about it when it happens.
And…………I am gong to meet some awesome people who I only know online so far!!

Incidentally, it is possible that I will never actually eat dinner when in New York. We have two group dinners in the works, one for Thursday night and one for Friday, and so far no one can agree on where to eat! It is New York, people!! How hard can it be??? 🙂

(The rest of this post can be read by selecting the “more” link.)

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Facebook Predators

I recently read where Facebook has removed 5,500 sex offenders from their site. Not long ago, I had a rather odd experience on Facebook which shows just how vulnerable kids can be.
My profile is open for anyone to see; I really have no reason to hide it. And it shows my real name and all. But for a while I used an avatar that I use on some other sites, one of the young stars of “Billy Elliot.”
One day I received a friend request from someone with an Hispanic name, which I do not remember. Thinking he was a fellow BETM fan, I allowed it. After all, I had not gotten any other friend requests from anyone who wasn’t a BETM fan, so I thought perhaps this was just the friend of a friend.
We had no contact for several days, and then out of the blue he started chatting with me on Facebook’s little chat thing (which I have since turned off). He started asking me questions about my age and where I lived, and he never said anything really overt, but when he learned that I was NOT the kid in the picture, this guy disappeared, not only from the chat but from my friends list. I am talking, within seconds.
It wasn’t until afterward that I even realized what he had been looking for. That is how subtle he was.
Needless to say, I changed my avatar back to 56 y/o me shooting Tinkerbell at Disneyland. Wonder what kind of perverts that will attract? 😀

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Confessions of a Cheetophobic

I hate Cheetos. One might say I am a Cheetophobic. My family, especially my sister and her husband and children, think this is very funny and do such things as put bags of them in my Christmas stockings.
Why do I hate Cheetos?
Nothing to do with the taste, although I do not really remember what they taste like.
My last memory of them is spitting them out of my mouth, when I was perhaps 3 or so, and my mother was trying to leave me at a church day care. I did not want to be left, I did not want it at all. I cried, I tantrummed (which is not a real word) and they tried to appease me with CHEETOS!!!!! SPIT!!!!!
And this is why I hate them!!!
Thanks for your support.
Please, by all means, continue to buy them, but do not let them near me unless you wish to die!!!

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Potato Chips (known as Crisps in some parts of the world)

When I was young, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, potato chips were decidedly imperfect, which made them perfect! You see, kiddies, there was a time when potato chips were made by slicing potatoes, dropping them in hot oil, draining and salting them, and tossing them into a bag. If the potato was a bit blemished going in, it was blemished coming out. And sometimes a thin edge of the potato might get a little more browned compared to the rest of the potato, and that was okay, too. They tasted wonderful, with all those little imperfections adding myriad variations in flavor. In college, I used to buy the cheapest potato chips I could find, Golden Bear, which I think were culled out of the “other” potato chips because they had imperfections, brown spots and holes and such. They were glorious, as I recall.
But somewhere in time, manufacturers found ways to take the imperfection out of potato chips. No variations, no overcooked spots, no blemishes. Just one potato chip looking just like the last one, Pringles and the like being the worst, abominable chips which appear to be formed or pressed out of some kind of potato mash before being fried, so that they all are EXACTLY the same. What a shame!!!
But joy of joys, this past year I discovered Kettle Chips, potato chips made the old fashioned way, imperfections and all. They are wonderful, and almost as good as the old kind. (I have left out the part where good ol’ hips used to be fried in animal fats, which made them even better.)
So I love Kettle Chips, and I was especially amazed to discover them in Sainsbury’s in London!! I love ENGLAND!!! LOL