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Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:24 am

The rest of the journey was without incident. Trains were operating normally and on time.

I had finally reached Constantinople. The end of the rainbow.
:wink:

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20 ounces ... 568 milliliters

Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2007 11:01 pm

So the bus was late. In fact it had broken down and the trip had to be rescheduled. Nobody informed us so we all sat around patiently waiting like docile sheep. This kinda stuff tends to get my goat and before long I started to bitch and complain to anyone who would listen.
Finally an old man politely asked me to can it. The gall of the guy! Just because he didn't have to get to Constantinople pronto didn't mean the rest of us had to be inconvenienced.
The old codger quietly replied that he did indeed have to get there before noon tomorrow.
"Sure' I snickered, "tell us about it".

He looked at me for a few minutes then abruptly started to ramble in a low monotone.
"We were twins" he said. "The first set of twins born in that little prairie town. Winters were cold then but we always had matching boots and coats. Few people could tell us apart. We had good times then.
One day Dad went to war. He did not return. Dunkirk was his Waterloo the Postman said. It seemed Mom went from a happy laughing lady to a frail sickly woman in a matter of months. The final cough from her tortured lungs was on our 8th birthday. She had made us some turnip soup and baked a pumpkin pie. It was our 'birthday cake' complete with 2 candles. They buried her where they bury all the paupers in this area. A field outside of town. We never ate that pumpkin pie. A day later we dug a little hole next to her grave and buried it so to be with her. I had a dime coin and my brother 4 marbles which was also entombed with the pie.

The next day some people took us to the town-hall. I was sent to another town to live with some strangers. My twin was placed somewhere else and we never saw each other again.
At 14 I ran away from that foster home. I had always wanted to contact my brother but they discouraged me. I don't know why they were so against it. They were good people otherwise. I had most of the house chores to do while their own kids went skating but I...

[ Continued ]

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On the road again

Posted: Thu Nov 15, 2007 12:58 am

So it is Tuesday. If you have work to do start on a Monday. That leaves Tuesdays open for other stuff. Stuff you could not get you head around or finger on the day before.
I planned a leisurely visit to the library and later in the day to the fish market. I wanted to compare the locals to the Connies. (Constantinoplenians).
But first a stop at the Laundromat. I had my underwear under my arm and planned to slip into some sweet scented freshly washed hosiery as soon as possible.
At that early hour (10:25am) the place was a beehive of activity. Two matronly looking women were folding laundry. A young husband was sorting shirts and diapers as his wife was quietly breast feeding their baby in one corner.

I came prepared with my supply of miniature soap bars I found in various hotel washrooms. On the rinse cycle I will add some freshly picked rose blossoms from the neighbor's garden. Works better than those pansy scented commercial softeners I've been told.
Observing the young man for a few minutes I could tell he was a hunter/killer type male with a dash of feminine nurture/gatherer traits. The two matrons appeared opposites. All humans depend on a dominant mode of unconscious internal awareness for survival.
I think so anyway.
It became obvious soon enough that they were partners, a pair, though which one was dominant was not immediately clear. When they left arm in arm I figured the one with the wash load balanced on her head was not the dominant one. Just a hunch.

By noon I was ready to set out. I smelled so good I was concerned about being attacked by some desperate housewives. Who was it who said desperation was the thief of Virgo's? It mattered not as I was determined to reach Constantinople before they changed the name again. It is amazing what is in a name.
I always liked the binomial system. The genus and species method of naming names. Piggy Dumpster was a classic. It was not long before the copy cats appeared. Porky Drummer...

[ Continued ]

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SOscareY

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 11:47 pm

So a new day and I had to get my morning starter upper. A cup of Coffee with refills. Preferably free. My usual trick is to engage someone in conversation over coffee and hope she ends up paying for it.
It worked twice in the last 4 weeks so I have a lot of improving to do. Usually I get the response that instead of spouting off to strangers about things I know little or nothing about, I should get a job.

That always hurts my feelings needless to say. It is bad enough when they take the position that I have made up my mind and don't want to be confused by any facts. It is worse when someone else makes up my mind for me.

Like the time I ordered a veggie burger and a soy milkshake. I was expecting a heavy duty weekend with the girlfriend and wanted to build up my reserves. A hulking trucker from Prague set me straight on soy. We shared a table where we got a good view of the cooks legs. A coincidence I'm sure. Henkj was his name and he advised me not to ingest soy in any form. He graduated as a chemist but preferred to drive long distance trucks. Ferried people one way and Chemist drugs the other.
Soy is so scary I fired off a text message to Emmylou to chuck it all out. Better still take it to the HazMat people.
Remember in my breast milk entry Connie did great on 38DD's while I his twin, had formula. That may also be why I suffer from supposed brain damage, probably caused by toxic manganese. Henkj says scientists report that soy infant formula contains up to 200 times the manganese of breast milk. It lodges in the liver, the kidneys and the brain.
When I looked up the evils of soy I couldn't function as a tourist and took to my bed for the rest of the week.
It is that serious.

Henkj offered me a ride in his truck but I turned him down. Some 8th sense I guess.
Besides I had some chores to attend to before arriving in Constantinople.

Later...

[ Continued ]

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Organizing.moveon/gr

Posted: Sun Oct 21, 2007 1:45 pm

So it has come to this. I have decided to move on. No not to gravitate to moveon.org. Heaven forbid. That would be admitting I had lost my mind completely. Given up on civilization as most female oceanography scholars would doubtless agree.
I have decided to visit my roots. My Constantinople as it was once known.
I have been a conformist here but it time to be a non conformist. What better place than Constantinople?
Some would say Finland was a better choice. But on previous visits I discovered some Finns are boozers. An irate Finn drunk is more than I can handle. I don't know what it is but the combination of Finnishness and a empty Scotch bottle equals anarchy.
I found it interesting that the women and vodka mixed well. It often happens in a frigid environment where bikinis are only seen in magazine ads. Many became overly friendly and often sprang a biscuit with a cup of tea when I was down and out. The downside was I often had to listen to tales of vodka drinks going back to the 15th century. The broken English parts I understood but the Swedish was beyond me. Why Finns switch into Swedish when they are drunk is a mystery.
I once asked a professor of International Studies that question on a train from Hämeenlinna to Tavastehus.
Phallic symbol he said matter of factly in Swedish. Just look at the shaped bottles.
I nodded even though I had no clue what he said. It was only after he got off the train at Jyväskylä did a fellow traveller translate the answer for me.

Once while I was in Finland I went to the Finnish Embassy. I wanted to enquire about citizenship. It was not a long line but it didn't seem to move too fast. I didn't mind it at first as it gave me time to observe the other customers.
I counted 15 guys in the renew passport line and 5 in the expired passport line. The expired line were all dead-faced unshaven types. I couldn't say for sure about the renew line as they wore veils. There were slits so they could peep ou...

[ Continued ]

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