The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[TheWritingGroup]

Or... if you set it now, with all those pirate costumes you have a Halloween story... just sayin.

Or ... if you set it at a Halloween party, but the privateers are from the past and time-traveled there, and the party-goers don't realize it ....

-Eddie

 

[Duleigh]

Or ... if you set it at a Halloween party, but the privateers are from the past and time-traveled there, and the party-goers don't realize it ....

-Eddie

CANON BALL TO THE FACE!

 

[Rustyoznail]

Or ... if you set it at a Halloween party, but the privateers are from the past and time-traveled there, and the party-goers don't realize it ....

-Eddie

WITCHES!!!

DIE FOUL HUSSY!

 

[JuanSeiszFitzHall]

Snap to it, people! I just made ten gallons of coffee. Drink up and resume posting about whatever. You're supposed to be killing time on this thread, not writing fiction.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Aye-aye, Sir! Cup ready, Sir!

And thanks. It’s actually a really good time for a cup of sanity restorer.

 

[MillieDynamite]

It's Saturday, and I am up to my neck in writing. But not my work, I doing blog entries, podcast scripts (and having to make certain the 'FACTS' the caster quotes are facts). Coffee break, hugs and kisses time with Donnie, and enjoying a quick snuggle with Jo. Then, nose back to grindstone. Such is the life I have chosen. How about y'all, how's it hanging?

 

[Rustyoznail]

Morning all! Sunday here, but the butcher didn't have any home smoked bacon. I refuse to buy supermarket crap, so cheese omelette and coffee for breakfast.

Have a good one.

 

[NotWise]

Listening to tangos for the first time in a while, and I'm transported to the party nearly twenty years ago where I first heard Astor Piazzola's music.

I was in the comfortable company of dancers and artists in a small, split-level apartment where, back in the 1950's, Elvis would stay when he toured. The lights were low, and the conversation was pleasant. I had good wine in hand, and tango was in the air late into the night.

 

[Duleigh]

Good morning from North Dakota!

I'm in the tiny city of Garden Prairie. They're all cities up here, there's no villages, and towns are a portion of the county, not a settlement between village and city. Garden Prairie is ten miles outside of a small city and lies so close to Saskatchewan that everyone knows what a 'loonie' is. As I write this, I'm waiting for Barry's Plen-T-Good Grocery to open so I can get my morning cappuccino (instant) a burrito the size of a proper submarine sandwich, and the local paper. Yesterday Barry welcomed me after a 25 year absence with "How ya doin' Duleigh. I thought you was moving to Buffalo?"

"I did twenty four years ago."

"Still working for that little cable company?"

"Comcast? No I'm retired from them."

"What do you do now?"

"I write. You know, stories and books and things like that." I knew that question was going to be next.

"When did that start that?"

"Barry, I'm your brother-in-law, don't you talk to your sister?"

And life goes on... slowly and peacefully. Life doesn't change much here in Garden Prairie North Dakota, it doesn't need to. The kids and I had dinner at the local truck stop, the burgers all came from a cow that you may have seen at the county fair, the French fries came with a side of gravy, without asking, an the soup of the day was "Chicken consume with noodles, and chicken." The cook, Edna, has been watching the food network again.

Dale and Lena Storstrand sat at the table next to us and my kids all said "Good Evening Mrs. Strorstrand." Lena had been their second grade teacher at Garden Prairie Normal school.

"Duleigh, how are the kids behaving?"

"They're all in their thirties, Mrs. Storstrand, they're doing fine."

The Great Northern put in "hornless grade crossings" so when the train crosses Pleasant Avenue, the engineer doesn't have to blow the horn. Of course that doesn't keep Knute Halvorson from blowing the horn at three AM. He's been blowing that horn since he signed on with the railroad in 1977. How else is his wife Frida going to know that he's on his way home? During his forty years of service the Railroad changed its name several times, but to Knute it will always be the Great Northern.

And that's the news from Garden Prairie, where all the women are strong, the men are all good looking, and all of the children are above average.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

I'm sitting over in the corner waiting for all of the time travelers to meet here today and tell us all about it. Too bad they couldn't have arranged it to happen while TxRad was here. Meanwhile, the pot is hot and you can brew your own tea. I'm having Earl Grey ...

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Black currant scones for those feeling a bit peckish. Thanks for the coffee, Candy!

 

[Fatdog25]

Good morning from North Dakota!

I'm in the tiny city of Garden Prairie. They're all cities up here, there's no villages, and towns are a portion of the county, not a settlement between village and city. Garden Prairie is ten miles outside of a small city and lies so close to Saskatchewan that everyone knows what a 'loonie' is. As I write this, I'm waiting for Barry's Plen-T-Good Grocery to open so I can get my morning cappuccino (instant) a burrito the size of a proper submarine sandwich, and the local paper. Yesterday Barry welcomed me after a 25 year absence with "How ya doin' Duleigh. I thought you was moving to Buffalo?"

"I did twenty four years ago."

"Still working for that little cable company?"

"Comcast? No I'm retired from them."

"What do you do now?"

"I write. You know, stories and books and things like that." I knew that question was going to be next.

"When did that start that?"

"Barry, I'm your brother-in-law, don't you talk to your sister?"

And life goes on... slowly and peacefully. Life doesn't change much here in Garden Prairie North Dakota, it doesn't need to. The kids and I had dinner at the local truck stop, the burgers all came from a cow that you may have seen at the county fair, the French fries came with a side of gravy, without asking, an the soup of the day was "Chicken consume with noodles, and chicken." The cook, Edna, has been watching the food network again.

Dale and Lena Storstrand sat at the table next to us and my kids all said "Good Evening Mrs. Strorstrand." Lena had been their second grade teacher at Garden Prairie Normal school.

"Duleigh, how are the kids behaving?"

"They're all in their thirties, Mrs. Storstrand, they're doing fine."

The Great Northern put in "hornless grade crossings" so when the train crosses Pleasant Avenue, the engineer doesn't have to blow the horn. Of course that doesn't keep Knute Halvorson from blowing the horn at three AM. He's been blowing that horn since he signed on with the railroad in 1977. How else is his wife Frida going to know that he's on his way home? During his forty years of service the Railroad changed its name several times, but to Knute it will always be the Great Northern.

And that's the news from Garden Prairie, where all the women are strong, the men are all good looking, and all of the children are above average.

I love Big Sky Blue. My favorite fallen flag color.

 

[Smuttyandfun]

 

[MrPixel]

I love Big Sky Blue. My favorite fallen flag color.

It's sort of funny (odd, interesting funny) that BSB didn't last, that BN was so intent on wiping it off the planet. So we never had the chance to see it age. Blues like that don't take well to the weather and sun, and I contend the fleet would've looked pretty weather-beaten by 1980.

But it was destined not to be.

 

[MrPixel]

We had fun today - a "Yappy Hour" event at a nearby art museum with a large grounds. Dog had a good time and made lots of doggie friends. Everybody had to stop what they were doing to ooh and aah at the Dalmatian.

On the back side of the event flyer was the museum's invitation to a motorcycle-themed party in two weeks. I had to laugh when noticing the primary sponsor was an insurance agent, and two other key sponsors were a law firm ("motorcycle specialists") and an auto collision repair shop. C laughed with me at the irony, and had to point out, "OK, where are the helicopter ambulance service, and the local ER?", our knowing that the hospitals here sponsor similar (tho' non-motorcycle) events. I avoided mentioning the really macabre sponsor they missed - a local funeral home has a program specifically for motorcycle enthusiast memorials.

There's a message in there somewhere.

 

[Rustyoznail]

So how is the dog, @MrPixel? Seems like there's currently less drama on the household.

 

[MrPixel]

Definitely. The change in meds a few months ago helped a lot. When we travel together, we're no longer taking the big van, just our daily driver (Honda Element, a small boxy SUV). He is totally comfortable in that car (versus the mobile living room!), and quickly goes to sleep on the highway, and pops up only to see where we are when I slow down. He just completed 3 weeks of training including dog-dog socialization skills. Today was the first live test, and he was a doll.

He's still going with us when we're out dining. But thank goodness one of the training outcomes is he is fine with being left in day care, and his trainer thinks he's good to go with overnight stays at the kennel. That was a biggie, because a year ago he couldn't handle it.

So... thank you for asking. At the moment he's cuddled up next to me on the sofa just snoring away.

Parenthetically, some of the dog drama was the situation with our "summer cabin" at a small resort, that they allow guests to let their dogs run free, and there were fights. We kept him on a lead. So we're abandoning our lease because of it, and that the resort owners were not holding up their end of the deal on other major stuff, anyway. Unfortunately it was pre-paid, and they are in no position to refund the remainder (hand-to-mouth cash operation). We're writing it off as a "life improvement" expense.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Sounds like very good news on the puppy side at least!

 

[MillieDynamite]

Good morning to all of you! I'm moving slow today, slept late. Me and Ragweed got really acquainted yesterday and I'm all stopped up. Let's see if some caramel coffee can help.

 

[Duleigh]

Uff da! Tis the season, yoo betcha. It's startin' to be harvest time here on the prairie and the air is filled with North Dakota grain dust and Canadian forest fire smoke. (We don't have that forest fire problem in North Dakota, we had the forests and mountains removed long ago)

 

[MrPixel]

Coffee is on!

For the tea drinkers, warmed-up the kettle for you, but you might want to push the button again.

If you're interested ...probably not... two boxes of tea I ordered for C just arrived. It's a weird flavored tea, "Bigelow Salted Caramel Black Tea". Our kid got her started on it when he was visiting this summer. C raved about it, so after the obligatory "...didn't find it..." at the grocery store I shrugged my shoulders and ordered it on eBay.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Interesting.

 

[Duleigh]

Bigelow Salted Caramel Black Tea

They supposedly have it at Walmart. I'll give it a glance and report back my findings.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Bigelow Salted Caramel Black Tea

That sounds interesting. I will have to try it. I will check Jungle Jim's and see if they have it.

 

[MrPixel]

Holy cow! I just finished another story. 37K, so I'll need to split it into three sections for more relaxed reading.

It was originally intended to be a Nude Day story, but it grew legs and I've been working on it for two months. Since it's installment to a serial, I've been resisting getting distracted to start the next chapter. Now that I'm free of that constraint, I have plenty of material for the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and the next one...