Tuesday Tidbits

I was going through a box of memorabilia I have accumulated through the years.  In one box was a bunch of stuff I have had since high school.  The above picture is a condom i picked up somewhere.  Notable (besides keeping it all these years) is that back then they were in a hard plastic container.  Not only in a  container but also a shrink-wrapped plastic outer seal as well.  I swear you had to have some really sharp nails, biting ability or some kind of knife, preferably machete, to get that outer wrap off. Equably notable, and a little sad, is that it was never used.   Why it was kept, either as a symbol of failure or hope, has long since been forgotten.

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I am not part of the Jeep Nation, but I pretend I am when I am riding in Mr. And Mrs. Wombie's lime colored Wrangler up North.  I have learned that Jeep owners wave to each other much like bikers do.  I have also learned that the Company puts out different colors each year, like other car makers, but they tend to be more garish in nature.  I saw this in Largo at the grocery store the other week.  Very pretty, and a very different shade of green.

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I am returning to Northlandia in early December for a couple weeks.  I hope I get to see this landscape before the long winter in Floriduh.

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I was sitting in my apartment with Alfred when our upstairs neighbor bounded down the steps that are right in front of us.  All of a sudden he turned around and started flinging his feet in the air.  Flip-flops went flying.  I couldn't figure out what was happening so Alfred and I went out to investigate.  Turned out this poor fellow had not been paying attention coming down the stairs (who does really?) and stepped on a snake.  By the time I arrived he was taking off his socks (who wears socks with flip-flops?) and looking at his ankle.   

This was the miscreant reptile in question.  Black snake or racer, who knows.   I asked the guy if he'd been bitten and he said he wasn't sure.  He did leave shortly after, I think for the hospital.  When I saw him a day or two later he had a noticeable limp.  

Now I feel I am under siege.  I look both ways when leaving the apartment, then up and down.  I check my toilet before use and and sweep my sheets before bed.  This is war.  One of the few charms of this wretched place was the lack of snakes I had ever seen.  Just a couple times and that included nature preserves.  But this...right outside my door has changed everything.  This is a game changer.  I may have to move back to Northlandia - at least snakes up there sleep half the year.  Damn slimy sons-a-bitches.

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I won $50 from the Illinois Lotto last week. 

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I don't know about Illinois but Floriduh is a swing state which means we get political ads constantly on TV.  Add the primary ads and you have about 15 months of a barrage that has just about brought me to my knees - but snakes are down there somewhere so I stay upright.   And because Marco Rubio quit the Senate and ran for President but then quit the presidential race and has run for his old Senate seat we have those ads, too.  No wonder Floridians are fucked up.  

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The Mets lost 80% of their roster throughout the season, 3 out of 4 of their vaunted pitching staff; 2 games UNDER .500 in August and everyone counted us out.  Damned if we didn't go 27-12 since that time and made it to the Playoffs.  Only the second time in our history we have been in the Playoffs two years in a row.  I have no illusion about our team.  A bunch of unknowns and Triple AAA players - we don't have much of a chance, but I am far prouder of them this year than last.  

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Speaking of baseball, I was in 4 fantasy leagues this year and ended in the top 3 in all but one of those leagues. 

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On one of our last road trips we journeyed to Burlington and down Snake Alley.  Went down before with my bike friends in June and a little less scary in the Wombie's Jeep.  

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It's hard to see, at this date, how Trump could possibly win the election.  He and Bernie Sanders were both recipients of voters' disgust with establishment Washington.  It will be interesting to see how these two groups will handle the stay-the-course Clinton in the White House.   Could be rough times ahead.

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