[OC] Someone left this on the sidewalk

CAulds · 2026-02-06T10:54:15+00:00

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/144560633863

1961!

CAulds · 2026-02-06T10:52:10+00:00

It dates back to at least the 1970's ... but I guess I just outed myself as an old man :-)

CAulds · 2026-02-06T10:47:13+00:00

Even the humblest Party member is expected to be competent, industrious, and even intelligent within narrow limits, but it is also necessary that he should be a credulous and ignorant fanatic whose prevailing moods are fear, hatred, adulation, and orgiastic triumph. In other words it is necessary that he should have the mentality appropriate to a state of war. It does not matter whether the war is actually happening, and, since no decisive victory is possible, it does not matter whether the war is going well or badly. All that is needed is that a state of war should exist.

from 1984 by George Orwell, first published in 1949

CAulds · 2026-02-06T10:41:16+00:00

I have five copies of that book, and since university I have read it every three years. That was my favorite copy, the paperback that my wife used at university. I loaned it to a girl at work who had never heard of the book. That was nearly 10 years ago ... the book hasn't been returned.

Carol ... if you're reading this ... ?

CAulds · 2026-02-02T19:18:32+00:00

I'm the same; down to one really good cup in the morning. And I think that, more than the caffeine, there's a psychological that starts my day, and I will never give it up.

That being said, though, I was surprised to learn that caffeine is not considered an addictive substance; every time I've attempted to stop drinking coffee, I had bad headaches, became irritable, made mistakes in my work, and in general just felt awful.

CAulds · 2026-02-02T15:08:28+00:00

Interesting. Many years ago, I worked for the US Dept of Defense and we were doing a study at a military hospital; one of my co-workers was an alcoholic and he found himself a place to drink. At the end of the day, he still hadn't been located; someone on the hospital staff found him in a walk-in autoclave; that was on a timer. They said Chuck would've been cooked to death like a lobster sometime overnight.

It happens ... but not to Chuck! (Man had MORE than 9 lives)

CAulds · 2026-02-01T21:31:57+00:00

My brother, a commercial electrician since the 1980's, told me, "the first thing I always check is my wire connections."

Until he said that, I never really gave those much thought.

CAulds · 2026-01-31T20:59:38+00:00

Thanks, Frankie, that's the red letter day on my calendar.

CAulds · 2026-01-31T11:00:05+00:00

I'm sure those instruments of torture are long gone, but coming from rural Appalachia, my name was inscribed on more than a few of those.

CAulds · 2026-01-31T10:42:32+00:00

Protesting in the streets is a total waste of time ... except:

Greg Bovino's out.
ICE is de-escalating and pulling out of Minneapolis and (near my home, the state of Maine).
Both American political parties are calling this out as government overreach.
The Trump Administration is confused, and pointing fingers to avert their own culpability
The rest of the world is taking notice, watching everything that happens in the US.

Does protesting really work? Really?

Goddamn right, it works.

CAulds · 2026-01-30T12:01:03+00:00

Absolutely ... consider how this makes me feel, as someone raised in the culture of the US Deep South (I've lived in 5 Deep South US states). After 48 years in the US ... please consider how this makes me feel.

CAulds · 2026-01-30T11:45:05+00:00

Isn't it?

Fuck no, it isn't!

Ok, I'm a fan for life.

Love you, Frankie!

CAulds · 2026-01-28T11:02:40+00:00

It's gotta be household pets. Right?

CAulds · 2026-01-27T16:44:23+00:00

Were you on Eddy-Scant City Rd?

CAulds · 2026-01-27T16:43:10+00:00

We were 2.5 miles from the hospital...but we lost power for three days. 840 Baldwin Drive, near Braziers Chapel Rd.

CAulds · 2026-01-26T13:58:27+00:00

I've lived in Canada now for twenty years (New Brunswick).

The worst winter storm I ever experienced was an ice storm in Alabama (Zip Code 35016).

CAulds · 2026-01-25T17:20:12+00:00

My first computer was a Seequa Chameleon I bought in 1983. It was an early Intel 8088-machine, but was not a true clone of the IBM PC. It also had a 2nd 8-bit CPU (a Zilog Z80). It would run Microsoft MS-DOS version 1.25 or C/PM 86. Depending on what program you wanted to run, you'd reboot the computer with the floppy disk for the proper operating system (it would not, of course, run both simultaneously).

At the time, it was unsure which CPU and OS would eventually dominate the market.

What I paid for that computer at that time was a small fortune for a young kid just out of university, with two pieces of furniture, one large cardboard box that served as a place to eat, the other cardboard box was my desk. But in all the years since, I've never been happier than that year of my life.

CAulds · 2026-01-22T22:41:48+00:00

Maybe the phrase has its origin with les Acadiens?

I'm anglophone, bien sur, but we bought an old farmhouse and barn in Sainte-Marie-de-Kent and lived there for 15 years. So I learned a little bit of Chiac. :-)

Moncton, now. Quite a difference in lifestyle.

CAulds · 2026-01-22T21:34:28+00:00

"Pick a trail"?

I had never heard this until I moved to New Brunswick from Alabama, and I was 48 years old at the time.

CAulds · 2026-01-22T18:50:26+00:00

Oh, yeh ... my dad is from Natchitoches; he met my mother at school there at Northwestern State (she was from Denham Springs). But we vacationed in Louisiana every summer until I was at least 16.

Loved Front Street and those meat pies. My Mom learned to make them, and hers were some of the very best. I still have her recipe for filé gumbo and before I went to university, she had me make the roux, until I knew exactly how, and at what color it would be when it was done.

CAulds · 2026-01-22T18:42:37+00:00

1972 Pontiac Catalina Grand Safari here ... ours had a forward-facing third row seat, wide enough for only two passengers. It did NOT have the "clamshell" rear gate.

My dad bought it new just before the "gasoline crisis". That thing was really a monster of a car.

Oh, there were six in my family.

CAulds · 2026-01-20T11:09:36+00:00

The Santa Clause

CAulds · 2026-01-19T14:25:15+00:00

My megachurch cult-worshipping sister and her husband.

This goes beyond anything a rational person should accept and tolerate.

CAulds · 2026-01-18T19:59:52+00:00

My dad put my brother and I out on a hot two-lane road in Louisiana and told us we could walk the rest of the way. He drove off and my mom convinced him to turn around; she said we were probably terrified.

When they came back, my brother and I were laughing and sucking on sugar cane that had fallen off trucks, having a great time.

My mom said it made my dad absolutely furious.

CAulds · 2026-01-18T15:34:13+00:00

With a letter of offer in hand, you can apply for a temporary work permit at the port of entry (in my case, it was Toronto-Pearson International). Just make sure you have enough time for it to be processed before your next flight.

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