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Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events

 
Riff-Raff  (OP)

User ID: 85110859
United States
01/21/2023 06:08 PM
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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
Okay, finally starting to see some reaction to the incoming storm systems from our local NWS office. They're telling us 2" to 3" tomorrow, then a much stronger system coming in Tuesday night through Thursday morning with an additional 4" to 8", then another storm next weekend for which they're not making accumulation predictions yet.

All of this is spreading from SW to NE across Indiana, so those of you north and east of me are bound to be impacted by these storms as well.

Stay warm and safe, everyone.
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

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JAZZz50

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01/21/2023 07:21 PM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
we keep bouncing right at the freeze mark. no snow in a month.looks like a inch then 3 WED. rain after. no complaints.
JAZZZ50

2020 The SHTF literally as TP ran out.

we went from being over the target, to actually being the target. too close to the truth.


if i had a dollar for everytime someone says "merge" without using the word, i'd b so green i'd b King of Mars.
Texan Buckeye

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01/21/2023 07:49 PM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
The weather service just adjusted ours again. We've gone from less than an inch to 2-4 tomorrow. They still can't decide what we're going to get during the week. Whatever we end up with, this is going to be a powerful front. Pain level is off the charts this weekend.

I've changed my mind. Can I have a do over and be 20-something again? But, only if I can know then what I know now.
Moniker Shmoniker

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01/21/2023 07:52 PM

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I'm suppose to get rain with round one, then snow with the second round Mon/Tues. Not expecting much or really cold, but I sure have been enjoying our warmest winter on record.
Texan Buckeye

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01/21/2023 07:56 PM

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They've gotten the weather wrong so many times this winter, we'll probably have a darned blizzard! Hope not, but we're ready if we get stuck for awhile.
Riff-Raff  (OP)

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01/21/2023 08:41 PM
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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
The weather service just adjusted ours again. We've gone from less than an inch to 2-4 tomorrow. They still can't decide what we're going to get during the week. Whatever we end up with, this is going to be a powerful front. Pain level is off the charts this weekend.

I've changed my mind. Can I have a do over and be 20-something again? But, only if I can know then what I know now.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


You and me both.
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

Deputy Director - DEFCON Warning System
Texan Buckeye

User ID: 56359218
United States
01/21/2023 09:35 PM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
The weather service just adjusted ours again. We've gone from less than an inch to 2-4 tomorrow. They still can't decide what we're going to get during the week. Whatever we end up with, this is going to be a powerful front. Pain level is off the charts this weekend.

I've changed my mind. Can I have a do over and be 20-something again? But, only if I can know then what I know now.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


You and me both.
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


When life got tough, I used to wonder what my life would've been like had I taken any of the paths I could have taken. None of them included marriage and children at the time. Growing up, my age group wasn't included in the b**mer generation. That came much later, after someone juggled some numbers. It was kind of odd, growing up in the'70's in a small town. Most moms didn't work until we were in high school. Mine did. We were a minority of latchkey kids in our town.

College wasn't possible for me. Remember, there really weren't student loans back then and I only managed a small scholarship. It wasn't close enough to pay for school. My parents wanted to go themselves, but couldn't and so they didn't believe in helping us out. I couldn't even get them to fill out the FAFSA form. I tried several times later on, but it never worked out.

I've always wondered, what if. I made damned sure my daughter finished college with a decent degree that would take care of her and any children she might have. Thankfully, she's good at what she does and enjoys it. I can live with that.
Texan Buckeye

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01/21/2023 10:09 PM

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Click on the link and enlarge the map. Our weather service office isn't talking about this yet. Looks like our rain/snow mix isn't going to be a mix after all. We'll see.
Riff-Raff  (OP)

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01/22/2023 12:42 AM
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The weather service just adjusted ours again. We've gone from less than an inch to 2-4 tomorrow. They still can't decide what we're going to get during the week. Whatever we end up with, this is going to be a powerful front. Pain level is off the charts this weekend.

I've changed my mind. Can I have a do over and be 20-something again? But, only if I can know then what I know now.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


You and me both.
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


When life got tough, I used to wonder what my life would've been like had I taken any of the paths I could have taken. None of them included marriage and children at the time. Growing up, my age group wasn't included in the b**mer generation. That came much later, after someone juggled some numbers. It was kind of odd, growing up in the'70's in a small town. Most moms didn't work until we were in high school. Mine did. We were a minority of latchkey kids in our town.

College wasn't possible for me. Remember, there really weren't student loans back then and I only managed a small scholarship. It wasn't close enough to pay for school. My parents wanted to go themselves, but couldn't and so they didn't believe in helping us out. I couldn't even get them to fill out the FAFSA form. I tried several times later on, but it never worked out.

I've always wondered, what if. I made damned sure my daughter finished college with a decent degree that would take care of her and any children she might have. Thankfully, she's good at what she does and enjoys it. I can live with that.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


My childhood sucked, being the only child of two teachers who had me reading before I hit kindergarten but never socialized me as a puppy (Raffette's favorite phrase to describe me). I was also a latchkey kid and I was in trouble all through school, mostly because I was bored to tears and pissed off that being smart took a back seat to football, basketball, wrestling, and anything other than academics. I couldn't wait to get into college where that wouldn't be the case any longer. Boy, was I deluded.

Ended up getting accepted to Belmont College (back before it was Belmont University) in Nashville, which is pretty much the Julliard for country music, but my parents told me they couldn't afford it. (Turns out that wasn't really the case, but that's another very long post.) So, I ended up going to Ball State, which was pretty much just an extension of my high school back then. I turned into a very bitter and angry person before I hit 21. That led to some less-than-ideal career decisions until the mid-90s, when I finally made a good career choice but also made a very poor marriage choice. Having a daughter changed me in ways I wasn't prepared for, but lost her in 1999 when she was only five. That caused me to go completely off-reservation and I was extremely destructive to myself and others. Without going into gory details, I spent five years almost completely off the grid going to some pretty shithole places with nothing but a poor attitude and bad memories. 9/11 happening during this time certainly didn't help my emotional state any. I didn't speak to my family for years. I was getting ready to make an extremely bad decision when I met Raffette. She pulled me out of a very bad place with no shortage of baggage and demons. Somehow, although there was no shortage of it around me, I avoided drug and alcohol addiction through all of this, so at least I don't have *that* baggage as well.

I say all of that not to play for sympathy from anyone. On the contrary, I want to circle back to your first statement about paths not taken. It has only been in the past few years that I have realized that as shitty as the paths I took were, I wouldn't have the life I have right now without having gone down them, and since I love the life I have right now, that means I shouldn't have any regrets about how I got here. I would also probably be a much weaker person, incapable of standing up for myself or anyone else without going through everything I did.

I've gotten rid of most of my regrets. I still have a couple of major demons that will never go away completely, but at least I have them on a leash now, and I'm doing something with my life that makes a difference and that I can be proud of. Like you said, I can live with that.

hugs
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

Deputy Director - DEFCON Warning System
Texan Buckeye

User ID: 56359218
United States
01/22/2023 12:50 AM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
The weather service just adjusted ours again. We've gone from less than an inch to 2-4 tomorrow. They still can't decide what we're going to get during the week. Whatever we end up with, this is going to be a powerful front. Pain level is off the charts this weekend.

I've changed my mind. Can I have a do over and be 20-something again? But, only if I can know then what I know now.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


You and me both.
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


When life got tough, I used to wonder what my life would've been like had I taken any of the paths I could have taken. None of them included marriage and children at the time. Growing up, my age group wasn't included in the b**mer generation. That came much later, after someone juggled some numbers. It was kind of odd, growing up in the'70's in a small town. Most moms didn't work until we were in high school. Mine did. We were a minority of latchkey kids in our town.

College wasn't possible for me. Remember, there really weren't student loans back then and I only managed a small scholarship. It wasn't close enough to pay for school. My parents wanted to go themselves, but couldn't and so they didn't believe in helping us out. I couldn't even get them to fill out the FAFSA form. I tried several times later on, but it never worked out.

I've always wondered, what if. I made damned sure my daughter finished college with a decent degree that would take care of her and any children she might have. Thankfully, she's good at what she does and enjoys it. I can live with that.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


My childhood sucked, being the only child of two teachers who had me reading before I hit kindergarten but never socialized me as a puppy (Raffette's favorite phrase to describe me). I was also a latchkey kid and I was in trouble all through school, mostly because I was bored to tears and pissed off that being smart took a back seat to football, basketball, wrestling, and anything other than academics. I couldn't wait to get into college where that wouldn't be the case any longer. Boy, was I deluded.

Ended up getting accepted to Belmont College (back before it was Belmont University) in Nashville, which is pretty much the Julliard for country music, but my parents told me they couldn't afford it. (Turns out that wasn't really the case, but that's another very long post.) So, I ended up going to Ball State, which was pretty much just an extension of my high school back then. I turned into a very bitter and angry person before I hit 21. That led to some less-than-ideal career decisions until the mid-90s, when I finally made a good career choice but also made a very poor marriage choice. Having a daughter changed me in ways I wasn't prepared for, but lost her in 1999 when she was only five. That caused me to go completely off-reservation and I was extremely destructive to myself and others. Without going into gory details, I spent five years almost completely off the grid going to some pretty shithole places with nothing but a poor attitude and bad memories. 9/11 happening during this time certainly didn't help my emotional state any. I didn't speak to my family for years. I was getting ready to make an extremely bad decision when I met Raffette. She pulled me out of a very bad place with no shortage of baggage and demons. Somehow, although there was no shortage of it around me, I avoided drug and alcohol addiction through all of this, so at least I don't have *that* baggage as well.

I say all of that not to play for sympathy from anyone. On the contrary, I want to circle back to your first statement about paths not taken. It has only been in the past few years that I have realized that as shitty as the paths I took were, I wouldn't have the life I have right now without having gone down them, and since I love the life I have right now, that means I shouldn't have any regrets about how I got here. I would also probably be a much weaker person, incapable of standing up for myself or anyone else without going through everything I did.

I've gotten rid of most of my regrets. I still have a couple of major demons that will never go away completely, but at least I have them on a leash now, and I'm doing something with my life that makes a difference and that I can be proud of. Like you said, I can live with that.

hugs
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


Are we clones of each other or something similar!?! I'm not going to post more in the open, but WOW!!

When we all finally meet up at the barbeque, we'll have to fill in the blanks! I don't think there will be too many.

I AM glad you got to go to college, though. Not many from my class got to go. I guess we were all too blue collar in my town.


ETA: I wasn't an only, but I WAS the only girl in the family. On my mom's side, there were only 2 of us and my cousin didn't come along until I was around 10. That wasn't any fun at all.

Last Edited by Texan Buckeye on 01/22/2023 12:53 AM
Riff-Raff  (OP)

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01/22/2023 04:29 AM
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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
...


You and me both.
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


When life got tough, I used to wonder what my life would've been like had I taken any of the paths I could have taken. None of them included marriage and children at the time. Growing up, my age group wasn't included in the b**mer generation. That came much later, after someone juggled some numbers. It was kind of odd, growing up in the'70's in a small town. Most moms didn't work until we were in high school. Mine did. We were a minority of latchkey kids in our town.

College wasn't possible for me. Remember, there really weren't student loans back then and I only managed a small scholarship. It wasn't close enough to pay for school. My parents wanted to go themselves, but couldn't and so they didn't believe in helping us out. I couldn't even get them to fill out the FAFSA form. I tried several times later on, but it never worked out.

I've always wondered, what if. I made damned sure my daughter finished college with a decent degree that would take care of her and any children she might have. Thankfully, she's good at what she does and enjoys it. I can live with that.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


My childhood sucked, being the only child of two teachers who had me reading before I hit kindergarten but never socialized me as a puppy (Raffette's favorite phrase to describe me). I was also a latchkey kid and I was in trouble all through school, mostly because I was bored to tears and pissed off that being smart took a back seat to football, basketball, wrestling, and anything other than academics. I couldn't wait to get into college where that wouldn't be the case any longer. Boy, was I deluded.

Ended up getting accepted to Belmont College (back before it was Belmont University) in Nashville, which is pretty much the Julliard for country music, but my parents told me they couldn't afford it. (Turns out that wasn't really the case, but that's another very long post.) So, I ended up going to Ball State, which was pretty much just an extension of my high school back then. I turned into a very bitter and angry person before I hit 21. That led to some less-than-ideal career decisions until the mid-90s, when I finally made a good career choice but also made a very poor marriage choice. Having a daughter changed me in ways I wasn't prepared for, but lost her in 1999 when she was only five. That caused me to go completely off-reservation and I was extremely destructive to myself and others. Without going into gory details, I spent five years almost completely off the grid going to some pretty shithole places with nothing but a poor attitude and bad memories. 9/11 happening during this time certainly didn't help my emotional state any. I didn't speak to my family for years. I was getting ready to make an extremely bad decision when I met Raffette. She pulled me out of a very bad place with no shortage of baggage and demons. Somehow, although there was no shortage of it around me, I avoided drug and alcohol addiction through all of this, so at least I don't have *that* baggage as well.

I say all of that not to play for sympathy from anyone. On the contrary, I want to circle back to your first statement about paths not taken. It has only been in the past few years that I have realized that as shitty as the paths I took were, I wouldn't have the life I have right now without having gone down them, and since I love the life I have right now, that means I shouldn't have any regrets about how I got here. I would also probably be a much weaker person, incapable of standing up for myself or anyone else without going through everything I did.

I've gotten rid of most of my regrets. I still have a couple of major demons that will never go away completely, but at least I have them on a leash now, and I'm doing something with my life that makes a difference and that I can be proud of. Like you said, I can live with that.

hugs
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


Are we clones of each other or something similar!?! I'm not going to post more in the open, but WOW!!

When we all finally meet up at the barbeque, we'll have to fill in the blanks! I don't think there will be too many.

I AM glad you got to go to college, though. Not many from my class got to go. I guess we were all too blue collar in my town.


ETA: I wasn't an only, but I WAS the only girl in the family. On my mom's side, there were only 2 of us and my cousin didn't come along until I was around 10. That wasn't any fun at all.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


Clones, siblings in a former life... who knows? I've picked up on more than one item here and there that lets me know we're very similar in some ways. One thing I am glad of is that those initial bad career choices and especially the five years I went deep down the rabbit hole gave me the survival mindset and skills to make it through these 21st century dumpster fires that keep hitting us. I'm assuming your life experiences have done you a similar favor.

And, yes... the first official GLP BBQ. I'm hoping we make it to that point.
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

Deputy Director - DEFCON Warning System
Larry D. Croc

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01/22/2023 06:34 AM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
I'm thinking we might be, the three of us, triplets.

Given up at birth, knocked around the foster home system for most of the next four years. Adopted by a couple who, I've come to believe, wanted children because all their friends had some. Dad was a functioning alcoholic which, in the 50's and 60's, was more common than not for lower middle class families. The alcohol helped blot out what their lives had NOT turned out to be.

Dad had decided early on what my career was going to be. I was going to go to Michigan Tech in the upper peninsula and come out a metallurgical engineer. I hate cold, I really hate snow, and working in a factory my whole life wasn't anything I'd ever imagined. A vet? Yup, love animals. An oceanographer? Yeah, always loved the water. His response was easy to interpret, "get the fuck out, I don't care what you do but you'll get no help from me. The day you graduate high school you're on your own you ungrateful little shit."

Per Riff, several questionable career choices later and after a much too soon marriage was over I finally, in 1999, found my true calling and spent the final 21 years of my working life looking forward to going to work every day. Liz and I found each other almost 16 years ago to the day. Finally found some birth family at the end of 2019 and that's worked out better than expected.

Liz wonders why I'm such an early riser. I had to think about that myself because I'm far enough into retirement that it's not just "habit" any more. I figured it out. It's simply a matter of being so happy that I look forward to and want to see what the day holds. There were long periods in my life when that wasn't the case...
"Socialism only works in two places: Heaven where they don't need it and hell, where they already have it." Ronald Reagan

The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so." Ronald Reagan
Riff-Raff  (OP)

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01/22/2023 08:44 AM
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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
I'm thinking we might be, the three of us, triplets.

Given up at birth, knocked around the foster home system for most of the next four years. Adopted by a couple who, I've come to believe, wanted children because all their friends had some. Dad was a functioning alcoholic which, in the 50's and 60's, was more common than not for lower middle class families. The alcohol helped blot out what their lives had NOT turned out to be.

Dad had decided early on what my career was going to be. I was going to go to Michigan Tech in the upper peninsula and come out a metallurgical engineer. I hate cold, I really hate snow, and working in a factory my whole life wasn't anything I'd ever imagined. A vet? Yup, love animals. An oceanographer? Yeah, always loved the water. His response was easy to interpret, "get the fuck out, I don't care what you do but you'll get no help from me. The day you graduate high school you're on your own you ungrateful little shit."

Per Riff, several questionable career choices later and after a much too soon marriage was over I finally, in 1999, found my true calling and spent the final 21 years of my working life looking forward to going to work every day. Liz and I found each other almost 16 years ago to the day. Finally found some birth family at the end of 2019 and that's worked out better than expected.

Liz wonders why I'm such an early riser. I had to think about that myself because I'm far enough into retirement that it's not just "habit" any more. I figured it out. It's simply a matter of being so happy that I look forward to and want to see what the day holds. There were long periods in my life when that wasn't the case...
 Quoting: Larry D. Croc


Congrats on your 16 years, Larry. Raffette and I are only a few years ahead of you. And this might explain why we've gotten to be such good friends here. Our backgrounds have some similarities, beyond the basic generational stuff.

Anyone else think they might be part of the Tex-Croc-Raff family?

On another note, it's snowing here. Looking at the radar, we're probably only going to get an inch or two, but that sets us up a nice base for round two, which is setting up for the possibility of major accumulation combined with gusty winds.
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

Deputy Director - DEFCON Warning System
SpinalCracker

User ID: 84224218
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01/22/2023 08:46 AM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
The weather service just adjusted ours again. We've gone from less than an inch to 2-4 tomorrow. They still can't decide what we're going to get during the week. Whatever we end up with, this is going to be a powerful front. Pain level is off the charts this weekend.

I've changed my mind. Can I have a do over and be 20-something again? But, only if I can know then what I know now.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


You and me both.
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


When life got tough, I used to wonder what my life would've been like had I taken any of the paths I could have taken. None of them included marriage and children at the time. Growing up, my age group wasn't included in the b**mer generation. That came much later, after someone juggled some numbers. It was kind of odd, growing up in the'70's in a small town. Most moms didn't work until we were in high school. Mine did. We were a minority of latchkey kids in our town.

College wasn't possible for me. Remember, there really weren't student loans back then and I only managed a small scholarship. It wasn't close enough to pay for school. My parents wanted to go themselves, but couldn't and so they didn't believe in helping us out. I couldn't even get them to fill out the FAFSA form. I tried several times later on, but it never worked out.

I've always wondered, what if. I made damned sure my daughter finished college with a decent degree that would take care of her and any children she might have. Thankfully, she's good at what she does and enjoys it. I can live with that.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


My childhood sucked, being the only child of two teachers who had me reading before I hit kindergarten but never socialized me as a puppy (Raffette's favorite phrase to describe me). I was also a latchkey kid and I was in trouble all through school, mostly because I was bored to tears and pissed off that being smart took a back seat to football, basketball, wrestling, and anything other than academics. I couldn't wait to get into college where that wouldn't be the case any longer. Boy, was I deluded.

Ended up getting accepted to Belmont College (back before it was Belmont University) in Nashville, which is pretty much the Julliard for country music, but my parents told me they couldn't afford it. (Turns out that wasn't really the case, but that's another very long post.) So, I ended up going to Ball State, which was pretty much just an extension of my high school back then. I turned into a very bitter and angry person before I hit 21. That led to some less-than-ideal career decisions until the mid-90s, when I finally made a good career choice but also made a very poor marriage choice. Having a daughter changed me in ways I wasn't prepared for, but lost her in 1999 when she was only five. That caused me to go completely off-reservation and I was extremely destructive to myself and others. Without going into gory details, I spent five years almost completely off the grid going to some pretty shithole places with nothing but a poor attitude and bad memories. 9/11 happening during this time certainly didn't help my emotional state any. I didn't speak to my family for years. I was getting ready to make an extremely bad decision when I met Raffette. She pulled me out of a very bad place with no shortage of baggage and demons. Somehow, although there was no shortage of it around me, I avoided drug and alcohol addiction through all of this, so at least I don't have *that* baggage as well.

I say all of that not to play for sympathy from anyone. On the contrary, I want to circle back to your first statement about paths not taken. It has only been in the past few years that I have realized that as shitty as the paths I took were, I wouldn't have the life I have right now without having gone down them, and since I love the life I have right now, that means I shouldn't have any regrets about how I got here. I would also probably be a much weaker person, incapable of standing up for myself or anyone else without going through everything I did.

I've gotten rid of most of my regrets. I still have a couple of major demons that will never go away completely, but at least I have them on a leash now, and I'm doing something with my life that makes a difference and that I can be proud of. Like you said, I can live with that.

hugs
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


OMG! You know, a friend of mine always says: We all have our own horror story. Ugh, I don't even know what to write. I also had horrible life choices when I was young, and still sometimes now. Parents never around etc. It's amazing I made it this far. Sounds like we have all been through the wringer, yet, here we are.........
A whole new level of fuckery
Riff-Raff  (OP)

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01/22/2023 08:58 AM
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...


You and me both.
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


When life got tough, I used to wonder what my life would've been like had I taken any of the paths I could have taken. None of them included marriage and children at the time. Growing up, my age group wasn't included in the b**mer generation. That came much later, after someone juggled some numbers. It was kind of odd, growing up in the'70's in a small town. Most moms didn't work until we were in high school. Mine did. We were a minority of latchkey kids in our town.

College wasn't possible for me. Remember, there really weren't student loans back then and I only managed a small scholarship. It wasn't close enough to pay for school. My parents wanted to go themselves, but couldn't and so they didn't believe in helping us out. I couldn't even get them to fill out the FAFSA form. I tried several times later on, but it never worked out.

I've always wondered, what if. I made damned sure my daughter finished college with a decent degree that would take care of her and any children she might have. Thankfully, she's good at what she does and enjoys it. I can live with that.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


My childhood sucked, being the only child of two teachers who had me reading before I hit kindergarten but never socialized me as a puppy (Raffette's favorite phrase to describe me). I was also a latchkey kid and I was in trouble all through school, mostly because I was bored to tears and pissed off that being smart took a back seat to football, basketball, wrestling, and anything other than academics. I couldn't wait to get into college where that wouldn't be the case any longer. Boy, was I deluded.

Ended up getting accepted to Belmont College (back before it was Belmont University) in Nashville, which is pretty much the Julliard for country music, but my parents told me they couldn't afford it. (Turns out that wasn't really the case, but that's another very long post.) So, I ended up going to Ball State, which was pretty much just an extension of my high school back then. I turned into a very bitter and angry person before I hit 21. That led to some less-than-ideal career decisions until the mid-90s, when I finally made a good career choice but also made a very poor marriage choice. Having a daughter changed me in ways I wasn't prepared for, but lost her in 1999 when she was only five. That caused me to go completely off-reservation and I was extremely destructive to myself and others. Without going into gory details, I spent five years almost completely off the grid going to some pretty shithole places with nothing but a poor attitude and bad memories. 9/11 happening during this time certainly didn't help my emotional state any. I didn't speak to my family for years. I was getting ready to make an extremely bad decision when I met Raffette. She pulled me out of a very bad place with no shortage of baggage and demons. Somehow, although there was no shortage of it around me, I avoided drug and alcohol addiction through all of this, so at least I don't have *that* baggage as well.

I say all of that not to play for sympathy from anyone. On the contrary, I want to circle back to your first statement about paths not taken. It has only been in the past few years that I have realized that as shitty as the paths I took were, I wouldn't have the life I have right now without having gone down them, and since I love the life I have right now, that means I shouldn't have any regrets about how I got here. I would also probably be a much weaker person, incapable of standing up for myself or anyone else without going through everything I did.

I've gotten rid of most of my regrets. I still have a couple of major demons that will never go away completely, but at least I have them on a leash now, and I'm doing something with my life that makes a difference and that I can be proud of. Like you said, I can live with that.

hugs
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


OMG! You know, a friend of mine always says: We all have our own horror story. Ugh, I don't even know what to write. I also had horrible life choices when I was young, and still sometimes now. Parents never around etc. It's amazing I made it this far. Sounds like we have all been through the wringer, yet, here we are.........
 Quoting: SpinalCracker


Welcome to the family! hugs
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

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Guythu

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01/22/2023 09:05 AM
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...


You and me both.
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


When life got tough, I used to wonder what my life would've been like had I taken any of the paths I could have taken. None of them included marriage and children at the time. Growing up, my age group wasn't included in the b**mer generation. That came much later, after someone juggled some numbers. It was kind of odd, growing up in the'70's in a small town. Most moms didn't work until we were in high school. Mine did. We were a minority of latchkey kids in our town.

College wasn't possible for me. Remember, there really weren't student loans back then and I only managed a small scholarship. It wasn't close enough to pay for school. My parents wanted to go themselves, but couldn't and so they didn't believe in helping us out. I couldn't even get them to fill out the FAFSA form. I tried several times later on, but it never worked out.

I've always wondered, what if. I made damned sure my daughter finished college with a decent degree that would take care of her and any children she might have. Thankfully, she's good at what she does and enjoys it. I can live with that.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


My childhood sucked, being the only child of two teachers who had me reading before I hit kindergarten but never socialized me as a puppy (Raffette's favorite phrase to describe me). I was also a latchkey kid and I was in trouble all through school, mostly because I was bored to tears and pissed off that being smart took a back seat to football, basketball, wrestling, and anything other than academics. I couldn't wait to get into college where that wouldn't be the case any longer. Boy, was I deluded.

Ended up getting accepted to Belmont College (back before it was Belmont University) in Nashville, which is pretty much the Julliard for country music, but my parents told me they couldn't afford it. (Turns out that wasn't really the case, but that's another very long post.) So, I ended up going to Ball State, which was pretty much just an extension of my high school back then. I turned into a very bitter and angry person before I hit 21. That led to some less-than-ideal career decisions until the mid-90s, when I finally made a good career choice but also made a very poor marriage choice. Having a daughter changed me in ways I wasn't prepared for, but lost her in 1999 when she was only five. That caused me to go completely off-reservation and I was extremely destructive to myself and others. Without going into gory details, I spent five years almost completely off the grid going to some pretty shithole places with nothing but a poor attitude and bad memories. 9/11 happening during this time certainly didn't help my emotional state any. I didn't speak to my family for years. I was getting ready to make an extremely bad decision when I met Raffette. She pulled me out of a very bad place with no shortage of baggage and demons. Somehow, although there was no shortage of it around me, I avoided drug and alcohol addiction through all of this, so at least I don't have *that* baggage as well.

I say all of that not to play for sympathy from anyone. On the contrary, I want to circle back to your first statement about paths not taken. It has only been in the past few years that I have realized that as shitty as the paths I took were, I wouldn't have the life I have right now without having gone down them, and since I love the life I have right now, that means I shouldn't have any regrets about how I got here. I would also probably be a much weaker person, incapable of standing up for myself or anyone else without going through everything I did.

I've gotten rid of most of my regrets. I still have a couple of major demons that will never go away completely, but at least I have them on a leash now, and I'm doing something with my life that makes a difference and that I can be proud of. Like you said, I can live with that.

hugs
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


OMG! You know, a friend of mine always says: We all have our own horror story. Ugh, I don't even know what to write. I also had horrible life choices when I was young, and still sometimes now. Parents never around etc. It's amazing I made it this far. Sounds like we have all been through the wringer, yet, here we are.........
 Quoting: SpinalCracker


What’s funny is that it seems that no matter what you do or whether you go through the wringer on the “hard” or “soft” cycle …we’re still all right here.

No wringer for me really - I mean life is a wringer in and of itself, so I’d say “soft” cycle for me. Relatively “normal” childhood. Parents stayed together. Lower-middle class. Tended to make descent grades and life choices. Went into the career I wanted (once I finally discovered it).
Texan Buckeye

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01/22/2023 09:12 AM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
It is really snowing here! It just switched over a few minutes ago and it's snowing hard enough to stick already!

I checked the weather service before I got on here and they've upped the snow amount again to 2-4 plus inches today and Wednesday/Thursday will be more. I know I'm kind of paranoid about snowstorms, but the midweek storm has me watching hard. There's a lot to read between the lines in our extended forecast. We'll just have to wait to see if it plays out though.

And guys? I'm beyond glad I "ran" into y'all! grouphug
Guythu

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01/22/2023 09:48 AM
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XBB has hit the 40% and is dropping.
Obviously this is a bit generalized
But seems to be the pattern to expect for now.

Thailand Medical is has been claiming it’s not XBB we should be overly concerned about (in terms of acute illness) but rather the emerging variants in Asia.
Guythu

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01/22/2023 09:49 AM
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It is really snowing here! It just switched over a few minutes ago and it's snowing hard enough to stick already!

I checked the weather service before I got on here and they've upped the snow amount again to 2-4 plus inches today and Wednesday/Thursday will be more. I know I'm kind of paranoid about snowstorms, but the midweek storm has me watching hard. There's a lot to read between the lines in our extended forecast. We'll just have to wait to see if it plays out though.

And guys? I'm beyond glad I "ran" into y'all! grouphug
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


Coming down pretty good here.
Road is covered already.
Texan Buckeye

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01/22/2023 10:07 AM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
It is really snowing here! It just switched over a few minutes ago and it's snowing hard enough to stick already!

I checked the weather service before I got on here and they've upped the snow amount again to 2-4 plus inches today and Wednesday/Thursday will be more. I know I'm kind of paranoid about snowstorms, but the midweek storm has me watching hard. There's a lot to read between the lines in our extended forecast. We'll just have to wait to see if it plays out though.

And guys? I'm beyond glad I "ran" into y'all! grouphug
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


Coming down pretty good here.
Road is covered already.
 Quoting: Guythu


It didn't take long for everything to get covered here. Nothing dangerous, but it would've looked a lot nicer with Christmas lights! LOL Just a month late.
Riff-Raff  (OP)

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United States
01/22/2023 10:28 AM
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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
XBB has hit the 40% and is dropping.
Obviously this is a bit generalized
But seems to be the pattern to expect for now.

Thailand Medical is has been claiming it’s not XBB we should be overly concerned about (in terms of acute illness) but rather the emerging variants in Asia.
 Quoting: Guythu


Lather, rinse, repeat...
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

Deputy Director - DEFCON Warning System
Guythu

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United States
01/22/2023 12:11 PM
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Russia official warns West of destruction for arming Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The speaker of Russia’s parliament warned Sunday that countries supplying Ukraine with more powerful weapons risked their own destruction, a message that followed new pledges of armored vehicles, air defense systems and other equipment but not the battle tanks Kyiv requested.

[link to apnews.com (secure)]
JAZZz50

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01/22/2023 12:28 PM

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no snow yet. suppose to start this afternoon. my graph says 2", weather service calling 3-4". with 3" more WED. bouncing in mid-30's, might b slushie.

thought it suppose to come up from the south and go right over my head. u all must b getting a back spin. play dodgeball with the storms.
JAZZZ50

2020 The SHTF literally as TP ran out.

we went from being over the target, to actually being the target. too close to the truth.


if i had a dollar for everytime someone says "merge" without using the word, i'd b so green i'd b King of Mars.
Texan Buckeye

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01/22/2023 02:25 PM

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So far, it looks like we're not going to get as much snow. Cincinnati/Dayton/Columbus is getting the bulk and they're in a winter weather warning. We're just getting big goose feathers falling! A lot melted.
Riff-Raff  (OP)

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01/22/2023 03:44 PM
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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
So far, it looks like we're not going to get as much snow. Cincinnati/Dayton/Columbus is getting the bulk and they're in a winter weather warning. We're just getting big goose feathers falling! A lot melted.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


Yeah, most of what we got this morning has melted now. Keeping an eye on round 2!
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

Deputy Director - DEFCON Warning System
Texan Buckeye

User ID: 56359218
United States
01/22/2023 03:54 PM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
So far, it looks like we're not going to get as much snow. Cincinnati/Dayton/Columbus is getting the bulk and they're in a winter weather warning. We're just getting big goose feathers falling! A lot melted.
 Quoting: Texan Buckeye


Yeah, most of what we got this morning has melted now. Keeping an eye on round 2!
 Quoting: Riff-Raff


We're still ground covered, but the pavement is all melted. I imagine things will get icy overnight, though.

I'm watching round 2, but not going to get excited. They've hyped up every storm and they've all turned out to be nothing here. That's ok. It sure was pretty, though.
Guythu

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01/22/2023 04:53 PM
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Russia official warns West of destruction for arming Ukraine

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The speaker of Russia’s parliament warned Sunday that countries supplying Ukraine with more powerful weapons risked their own destruction, a message that followed new pledges of armored vehicles, air defense systems and other equipment but not the battle tanks Kyiv requested.

[link to apnews.com (secure)]
 Quoting: Guythu


Germany ready to let Poland send Leopard tanks to Ukraine: foreign minister

[link to mobile.twitter.com (secure)]
Guythu

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01/22/2023 05:06 PM
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FAA Won't Divulge Data Behind Pilot Heart Arrhythmia Decision

The Federal Aviation Administration recently widened the acceptable range for heart rhythms for commercial pilots based on "new scientific evidence" which they won't disclose, according to Just the News, which reached out to the agency for comment.

[link to www.zerohedge.com (secure)]
Riff-Raff  (OP)

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01/22/2023 07:59 PM
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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
FAA Won't Divulge Data Behind Pilot Heart Arrhythmia Decision

The Federal Aviation Administration recently widened the acceptable range for heart rhythms for commercial pilots based on "new scientific evidence" which they won't disclose, according to Just the News, which reached out to the agency for comment.

[link to www.zerohedge.com (secure)]
 Quoting: Guythu


Only one reason why a government agency doesn't want to disclose data.
"Collapse is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It's in your nature to destroy yourselves." - Terminator 2

"Risking my life for people I hate for reasons I don't understand." - Riff-Raff

Deputy Director - DEFCON Warning System
JAZZz50

User ID: 77771189
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01/22/2023 08:33 PM

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Re: Coffee Crowd for Civilized Discourse on World Events
case u haven't seen this 1 yet-



JAZZZ50

2020 The SHTF literally as TP ran out.

we went from being over the target, to actually being the target. too close to the truth.


if i had a dollar for everytime someone says "merge" without using the word, i'd b so green i'd b King of Mars.





GLP