SWEET!
As it happens, I do have something to share—well, it’s not mine, I’m just sharing.
This person took over a year to “let’s Play” The Witcher. This is the final video out of 274. It contains his thoughts and impressions about the game. His comments start about 4 minutes in. Don’t worry, there aren’t a lot of spoilers (you see the ending cutscene, but for this game, it’s more of a cliffhanger for the next game)
First, if you haven’t done it yet, go to all your places you like to hang out and find your passwords, write them down, and put them somewhere you’ll remember where you put them! (if you use the same one for everything, shame on you, but at least you’ll know what it is) When you get a new computer, some of those places won’t automatically remember your password, so you might actually have to know it. 
Second, and the reason why I needed to remember my password so I could rant here…
People are mean. Sometimes they don’t mean to be mean but they are anyway. Case in point, my brother spoiled a game. It was a stupid game, but it was something non-serious that was fun and out of the ordinary. Just a little light fun, harming no one. He felt compelled to squash it like a bug, anyway.
I went to a house tonight to deliver someone’s food, they gave exact change and apologized for not having a tip. Ordinarily this wouldn’t bother me, except I’ve been to that house at least 7 times and they always say the same thing. If they are that strapped, why are they spending $30 on one meal when they could buy enough food for 3 days’ worth of meals for the same amount?
People in traffic convinced where they are going is more important than where anyone else is going, and they deserve the right to get there first.
People convinced they have an entitlement to various things that a few years ago were luxuries.
Makes me want to spit!
Let’s say, for instance, there’s a volcano in the Philippines that’s erupting (there is, but it could be anywhere there are active volcanoes) and let’s say you have a theory that if a volcano erupts in the Philippines, there might be a resonate earthquake on the other side of the world, but you think it would remain in the same hemisphere as the place having the active volcano blast. How would you look that up to see where the earthquake might happen? It’s not the Antipodes side, because that takes east and west and north and south into consideration. How would you find it?
I needed a new can of TetraColor fish food and algea bites for my golden lyretail mollies and plecos. I’d been going to this particular mom and pop shop for a couple years because they always had what I needed and it was always a better price than other fish supply stores.—and they were genuinely nice people.—So, I trudged through the snow (in my car) and went to go get what I needed.
Something new was in the store: a huge hutch-flight that took up one of the short walls of the store. It was in a quiet area, away from the kittens and puppies, but not quite as far back as the fish tanks in the back. Beside this there was a round white cage with one bird in it that had a sign, “Careful, I might bite”. Inside was this little tiny thing with a yellow crest and gray-orange cheek patchs. I’d never seen a cockatiel before. Sure, I’d seen the big macaws in other stores, but when the owners of those places said their birds definitely would bite, I didn’t doubt it for a moment, and that those huge birds with the 6 inch beaks would probably take a finger or an arm with them for good measure, but this one was just sitting, looking around, slightly smiling. I didn’t know birds could smile. I thought because their beaks were basically bone, they wouldn’t be able to smile, but he was.
Then, he started flirting. Ooh, he was shameless! Showing off his feathers and his tail and how he could hang upside down and still look at me right side up, and he started flapping his wings and saying over and over “Pretty Bird”, which was all he knew to say at the time, but then, he was only 4 months old. His tail wasn’t even fully grown in yet.
And I left him there. That time.
A couple weeks later I needed some charcoal for the fish filters. He was there. I asked the lady if that was the same bird and she said he’d bitten everyone who had tried to handle him. Oh, yeah, thanks for the truth, but that doesn’t inspire confidence and I knew nothing about birds, but he flirted and I played with him from a safe distance for a few minutes, and left him there again.
Another month passed and I needed something else for the fish tanks (slime coat?) and he was still there, like he was waiting for me. I asked if he was still biting and the lady said yes and she was worried he’d never get a home, so I plucked up my courage, balled up my hand so my fingers were protected and asked if I could have a closer look at him. He very gently nipped the back of my hand, but I could tell it wasn’t an aggressive bite. He was testing to see if I was solid enough to stand on. He climed on the back of my hand and shimmied over to the crook of my wrist and signed and fluffed his feathers, and wolf whistled at me, which made me laugh, but I only chuckled softly because I didn’t want to scare him into attempting flight. His wings had been clipped, so I’d been told if he tried to fly, he’d probably hurt himself landing on the shelves in the shop. But he was good and he looked at me expectantly. I grew braver and moved him to cuddle under my chin.
Ok, probably not my wisest move. I was wearing earrings, which he saw and wanted. He and I had a mild tug of war, but I won, but my earrings weren’t balls anymore- they were seriously dented. I moved my hair over my ears to cover the temptation and he loved it. He started almost purring and spread his wings just a bit and leaned into my chest while I tickled his head under his crest and on the back of his neck. He was content and fell asleep.
The lady at the shop watched the whole thing, then started pulling things off the shelf. She said she couldn’t give away the cage, but she could throw in some seed and vegie mix and vitamins for his water, but the cage would only be $20 and she could throw in a night shade so he’d be less likely to get night frights (which I didn’t know what those were, but I soon learned) and that she was sure I was the one who was meant to take him home because he’d never been that calm with anyone else who’d ever shown interest in him.
I said he was adorable but I had cats. She said, as long as I kept watch, they’d all work it out- which they did, but how she knew that, I’ll never know. My two cats just saw him as part of the family, the minute we walked through the door and there was never a cross look or word from either the bird or the cats, except the first time when he spread his wings and became three times his normal size and made a horrific pterodactyl face at them and scared both cats completely.
That was winter of 1993. Yesterday, Bert died from a brain bleed. He remained a wonderful sweet boy his whole life, learned many things to say and sing, fell in love with a gird-bird named Earnestine and made lovely gentle children with her, taught them well, and even helped bring Leena around to a more sane being.
Fly Free, my beloved Bert. You were always a good and sweet boy.
left ankle lightly sprained
right ankle bruised
right knee scraped
right hip bruised
right elbow bruised
right forearm scraped
right wrist hyperextended
right shoulder jarred- not sure if there’s real damage or it’s just mad, bicep keeps twinge-ing, though
Pizza: fine, coke: should probably wait a while to open
Bystander couple and pomeranian: sweetly worried, but not too pushy
rock that twisted out from under my foot: tossed back in the rock bed where it should have been in the first place!
So this in my cello. It’s late 1880′s German hand-carved Stradivarius knock-off, but it’s well built and has a wonderful rich developed tone and it’s got an easy action (the bridge height makes it easy to focus the sound on the proper tone) Spruce top, flamed maple back, ebony everything else. I use a pernambuco bow (not pictured) and a combination of Jarger and Larson strings.
I’m not sure why the photos came out fuzzy. I thought digital cameras were wupposed to take care of that?! 
Oh, the name: I was in 9th grade when I inherited this cello and was in the habit of naming my instruments. Antoine was a character in a book I loved, and DuBois means “of or from the woods”. What can I say, I thought it was punny.
There comes a time in everyone’s life when writing stuff down to remember becomes necessary. Normally, it’s because they start forgetting, but sometimes, it’s because there’s too much information to keep straight, which is why I’m putting this all down.
1982- learned to drive with family’s Mercury Zephir station wagon. Scared Mom when I almost hit a neighbor’s mailbox on the passenger side. Ok, fine, give me a break, it was a big car and I didn’t realize how wide it was— and I didn’t actually hit anything! (v6 engine, automatic transmission, 19 ft long car, didn’t even attempt to parallel park that sucker! black w/ butterscotch interior)
1983 Spring- graduated high school without a driver’s license. I didn’t take driver’s ed, so it was useless to try to get license at that time. Was informed by parents that I had inherited the family’s Datsun 210- a manual transmission I didn’t know how to drive, so I sold it for tuition for college before I ever sat behind the wheel. Too bad, really, in later years, I would fondly think about how reliable this car was and wonder what it would have been like to drive it. (no idea what engine, 5 speed, blue with grey interior)
1983 Fall- Boyfriend loaned me his ’72 Chevy Impala. What a muscle car! I could blow the doors of anything stock on the road! I loved this car. It was a horrible olive green 4 door sedan, The A/C didn’t work and it needed many parts replaced, but I learned about cars and how to fix a lot of problems and it was pure power and safe solid steel. That car wouldn’t give up no matter what I did or didn’t do to it. I remember one road trip with 1 qt of oil, almost no transmission fluid, and low water/coolant and it never complained. (Of course, my bro in law at the time read me the riot act about running a car dry, but I learned and didn’t have any major difficulties) Oh- the boyfriend sold me the car when he found a Challenger he wanted. My lovely Impala sedan died a horrible death by being T-boned by a Monte Carlo one morning (she hit me) The impact was right behind the driver’s seat and dented the body inwards 2 ft all the way down the side of the car. In hindsight, I could have fixed it, probably, but at the time, I thought the car was a goner, so I sold it to a junk yard for $50 (youth=stupidity) (v-6, automatic, green everywhere)
Not my car, but also 1983 Fall- Miranda, the only named car I’ve ever known. A friend owned Miranda who was a 70-something Chevy Vega with a manual transmission. He taught me to drive a standard- I think Miranda was a straight four barrel 5-speed manual, blue with red interior.
1984- Impala Station wagon Wasn’t half bad, but it was a full sized station wagon, 21.5 ft long. V-8, automatic, Pea green, died of crank shaft failure. I finally got my license and the trooper didn’t make me attempt the parallel parking since the space is 20 ft and the car was longer than the space provided.
1988- Honda Accord, manual 5 speed, Learned about fly wheels and clutches with this car. Was the first car I drove for Domino’s in. Beige, all over. Dependable, good gas mileage. Not a very smooth ride, though. Driving was uninspired.
1989- Plymouth Sundance hatchback. Oh boy! If you’ve never combined a throttlebody carburetor with a competition clutch, you haven’t lived! I LOVED this car. It lasted me 10 years. I drove it off the dealer’s lot when it had 3 (three) miles on it. Lovingly broke the engine in, and zoomed everywhere. Finally had to give it up when the electronics gave out so much that I would have had to rewire the whole car for everything to work right. At almost 200,000 miles, the engine was still great. (2.5 litre engine, manual 5 speed, teal with gray interior.)
1993- bought a backup 1970-something Maverick. Never drove it.
Now, at this point, I moved to my current location. I’ve had to buy many cars since moving here and almost all of them have had a failed trannie. Some of the previous cars were driven in mountainous areas, so I don’t get it, but eventually, I’ll figure out why, hopefully.
1999- 1992 Mazda Prelude- 5 speed manual, don’t remember engine size. Gray on gray. Electronics failure 6 months after I finished paying off the loan. It was just a car, but it was the first car I purchased on my own.
2001- 1997 Suzuki Esteem Also just a car, drove good, got repossessed in 2002. Suzuki finance has no tolerance for real life slapping you in the face. Gray on gray, don’t remember engine (2.4 liter?) automatic transmission.
2002- Emergency purchase of a 1998 Ford Cougar after Esteem was repossessed. Silver outside, red interior, big engine, but don’t remember what it was called. Man, this one had a safety feature that you had to go to the trunk to unlock the fuel system if it vapor locked which it did all the time. Smooth ride and nifty driver’s comfort seat features like lumbar support were fantastic. But it was also a coupe which meant BIG heavy doors and only two of them. Not a coupe fan. This might have been the first transmission failure, can’t remember.
2004- Dodge Daytona RED! with black interior. Ok, when you live in a place that has 80% sunshine during the year, black interior is not fun! Especially if the A/C quits. But, this car was MOPAR’s stock NASCAR car for a reason and it was fun to drive. Died of transmission failure. 2.4 litre engine, automatic, coupe/hatchback.
2006- 2002 Huyndai Sonata- special edition because it was an anniversary car, so standard package had a lot of luxuries. Bought at auction for my first time, was an interesting process, Wasn’t bad, I’d recommend it. This car came with a warranty, but Huyndai decided this car had had 2 previous owners, so they nullified the warrenty after my first maintenence. I’m left ambivalent about Huyndai. It was mostly reliable and very comfortable and when the transmission worked it was great, but for some reason, something happened to Huyndai in the late 90′s and early 2000′s where most of their cars had engine or transmission problems, so even if you replace a bad one, you might not get an improvement. Also, the drive belt on Huyndais of that era only last 30,ooo miles, (except both of mine lasted about 55000 each, so I must have been kissed by the good belt fairy) Technically, I suppose I’ll say this one died of transmission failure, too, but it was still drivable when I traded it.
Today, I drove my 2008 Chrystler PT Cruiser Touring edition off the lot. We’ll see, won’t we?
Oh, new rules about product reviews in blogs, so NOT A SINGLE COMPANY LISTED HERE HAS PAID ME TO SAY ANYTHING!
Yep, two transmissions in less than 6 months, so, it’s retirement time for the Hyundai. Not to mention the CV axles, the brakes, and the bald tires, and the not-working A/C, and the stuck power windows.
I was looking at new cars, thinking the Smart fortwo was perhaps an idea, except there aren’t any dealers that carry it here.. So I went to test drive the Chevy Aveo, the Nissan Versa, and the Toyota Yarus. I didn’t get to the Yarus yet, but I may go test drive it anyway.
Across the street from the Chevy place and the Nissan place, there was a place that sells used rental cars- low milage, fleet maintenance, so I stopped in JUST LOOKING.
And walked out with a 2008 Chrysler PT Cruiser with the touring package for $225 a month and a 10% interest rate! 
The Sonata was financed at almost 18%.
It’s cream colored and has 37k miles on it. They’re selling it because of hail damage, which it has two pocks on the roof, which the dealer will have removed tomorrow.
Good lord! Where is all my time going these days? I have stuff to mail, people to eavesdrop on, people to friend, stuff to look at, homework to make sure it gets done, people to get to school, work, and then, my own personal list of to-do’s, like the VA and things like that.
I’m sorry, I’m a lousy friend sometimes, but you are all in my thoughts, even when I can’t get to you to tell you.
I went to the drug store to get something today. I remembered what it was the whole 15 mile trip over there and the minute I stepped through the door, I forgot what it was. If you see my brain wandering around aimlessly, would you send it home? I miss it. (no, I still haven’t remembered why I went there )
If I haven’t added you as a friend, and you’ve been a friend previoulsy, I’m working on it.
Of course, this probably means I’ll have to start blogging again.
Do we have smilies?
treasa