~*~CASUAL COMMUNITY NEWS~*~
 

Issue XV February 15th  2003
 

Editorial.

Hi Folks,

Hooray! It's February at last!! I thought it would never arrive!

Why am I so excited? It's because I am off to Amsterdam this Monday morning! Though with all the hype at the moment over air travel safety I just know I will arrive with one arm black and blue. It's all because I am taking Maggs with me and she hates flying at the best of time, never mind when there is a security scare on! A tip I have followed in the past, is to anaesthetise her prior to boarding by the application of medicinal quantities of alcohol. However, we are leaving a tad early for any success in administering this cure. I wonder if I would have time to acquire one of those arm-guard things that American footballers wear? So folks, watch for next months issue to see what happens! I wonder if Amsterdam will ever recover!  Ohhh btw, now, I know you will all be shocked at this, but for the first time in years I am travelling without the added protection of my trusty laptop. Will I survive? I don't know, time will tell!

Now, on the home front, we had some snow recently. We don't do snow very well over here, a couple of inches and the place grinds to a halt! We managed to survive it all though and thankfully someone sent us our very own rain back. We missed it!

The sprogs are  still eating me out of house and home, well, two of them are, middle sprog headed back off to England to work. Rumour has it that Junior's best winter hat has decamped to England too, he is not best pleased! I will keep his location secret, as it may cause great concern to Stumpy as it's kind of close to him! LOL.

I went to Junior's school for his annual report. He, it seems is keeping up the sprog tradition of "Could do so much better, if he actually put some effort in!" <sigh>

Great news this month too! Juris and Dar are coming back to run their very popular game of Scattagories! If you haven't played this game yet, book your seat now! You don't need to be a fast typist and everyone scores in this game! During the game you also get to watch the antics of Maggs chasing Juris, Dar scolding Maggs and Wooly drooling over Dar! Be there or be square! Starting Friday 21st February (will be on alternate weeks) 7pm EDT (Midnight in the real world) LOL

We had some lovely well-deserved praise for one of our regular contributors

"Hello Lizzie dear,

How's the Hoosier hotshot today? I felt compelled to write and tell you how
much I love your homespun pieces in the newsletter. You have a real gift for
capturing the essence of rural Indiana and the way things used to be as
opposed to the way they are now. You go girl, and I hope you will make the
effort to eventually publish all of these jewels into a book. It seems that
self-publishing is the new wave, and if you want to invest the upfront monies
required, I think you have a real winner there. Your style in inimitable, and
I love it. Keep writing!"

Isn't it great to see appreciation for our writers?

So folks, I must off now, and find a suitcase and actually pack something  ....ooops  I have to also pack the sprogs off too (how could I forget about the little darlin's!) See you all soon!


 Lynda [Editor]

Any comments. articles, tips etc, please mail to LyndaAtCasual@Compuserve.com

Contents.

Editorial.........................................................................Lynda

Thoughts from the Farm...............................................Lizzie

Once upon a..................................................................Woolyback

February Highlights......................................................Taffy

"Lil bits" from Ma'am..................................................Maureen

THOUGHTS FROM THE FARM

     Well, us folks here on the farm are shaking our heads and wondering just like you all, if anything could have changed that dreadful scene over Texas the other mornin. Out here on the farm about the biggest problem is just hopin mother nature cooperates and sends rain when we need it and don’t when we don’t.  I always think farmin is one of the biggest gambles on earth, but if your crops don’t turn out you can still find a way of livin.

     Needless to say we spent a lot of time in front of that tv the other day. After doin the feedin and eatin supper we just sat down in the dark in our rockers and just pondered on all the things we had heard and seen. It is hard to accept and realize that all the hopes and dreams of those 7 “souls” are now gone as well as they themselves. Their families are left with that deep dark void in their lives and wonder why. We Americans tend to become very smug and complacent about some things and think our world will be perfect, just because we want it to be that way.

     Later on I stood with my hands in that dishwater, and wondered about those Mothers   Fathers and children who stood waiting for that space shuttle. How proud they were of their sons and daughters who were just 16 minutes out there in space, sliding through the atmosphere one last time. Just 16 minutes from safety and their families, just 16 minutes, a few thousand miles, a few ticks of the clock.  How those young people had worked and put themselves through the long process to qualify for their spot in history. The new commentators repeatedly told us how they were the “best and brightest” and rose to the top like cream. Their spot in history is assured, but what a price to pay. We wonder what other great things these “7” might have done, if their numbers had not been called. I found myself thinking of them as mine as I raised my head with tears running down my face and the dishwater gone cold.

     These are wondrous times, and the geniuses of the world keep finding new things to see and do and make things easier for us all. But in the end, we will all go the same way, at the discretion of our maker. Those “7” went into space with faith in their vehicle and their fellow NASA workers. Faith in themselves and their ability to do the job and come back. Faith in the rest of us to do what we should do in this time of mourning and be-reavement, faith that we will help their families accept and move on. Faith that the government will find the cause of the accident and correct it. And last but not least, that we will not abandon the program that took them on their awesome journey into the ether of outerspace. Like their forerunners, the submariners who went down with their ships, these “7 souls” will be on patrol for time eternal.            

Lizzie

copywrite

ONCE UPON A........

Once upon a midnight dreary, fingers cramped and vision bleary,
System manuals piled high and wasted paper on the floor,
Longing for the warmth of bed sheets, still I sat there doing spreadsheets.
Having reached the bottom line I took a floppy from the drawer
I then invoked the SAVE command and waited for the disk to store,
Only this and nothing more.

Deep into the monitor peering, long I sat there wond'ring, fearing.
Doubting, while the disk kept churning, turning yet to churn some more.
But the silence was unbroken, and the stillness gave no token.
"Save!" I said, "You cursed mother! Save my data from before!"
One thing did the phosphors answer, only this and nothing more,
Just, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

Was this some occult illusion, some maniacal intrusion?
These were choices undesired, ones I'd never faced before.
Carefully I weighed the choices as the disk made impish noises.
The cursor flashed, insistent, waiting, baiting me to type some more.
Clearly I must press a key, choosing one and nothing more,
From "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

With fingers pale and trembling, slowly toward the keyboard bending,
Longing for a happy ending, hoping all would be restored,
Praying for some guarantee, timidly, I pressed a key.
But on the screen there still persisted words appearing as before.
Ghastly grim they blinked and taunted, haunted, as my patience wore,
Saying "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

I tried to catch the chips off guard, and pressed again, but twice as hard.
I pleaded with the cursed machine: I begged and cried and then I swore.
Now in mighty desperation, trying random combinations,
Still there came the incantation, just as senseless as before.
Cursor blinking, angrily winking, blinking nonsense as before.
Reading, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

There I sat, distraught, exhausted, by my own machine accosted.
Getting up I turned away and paced across the office floor.
And then I saw a dreadful sight: a lightning bolt cut through the night.
A gasp of horror overtook me, shook me to my very core.
The lightning zapped my previous data, lost and gone forevermore.
Not even, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"

To this day I do not know the place to which lost data go.
What demonic nether world is wrought where lost data will be stored,
Beyond the reach of mortal souls, beyond the ether, into black holes?
But sure as there's C, Pascal, Lotus, Ashton-Tate and more,
You will be one day be left to wander, lost on some Plutonian shore,
Pleading, "Abort, Retry, Ignore?"


(Author Unknown)

 Submitted by Woolyback

February Highlights
By Taffy

 

Valentine's Day seems to take the spotlight this month, with so many of us focusing on our need for loving and being loved. The February issue of the "Mountain Connection," the paper here in Colorado where I'm a contributor, has an interesting cross-section of articles relating to that great mystery called "Love."

Michael Daniels, a local writer who's a friend of mine, and who also writes for the paper, has been successful with his book, "Living, Loving & Loathing." The last part of his poem "On Love," reads, " Perhaps it's lust that casts the spark, Or maybe Cupid hit his mark. Then in the heat of passion's lure, Love is forged forevermore. The mind desires, The heart demands, The soul responds, But love commands. And if you find these words untrue, Then love has yet to meet with you!"

Michael also writes of love that has been lost: "It could have been me, In tails by her side, It could have been me in love with the bride. It could have, It should have, It might have been. Whatever the reasons, She's now with him!" Ah yes, so many of us have 20/20 hindsight.

The "Mountain Connection" is a positive news only newspaper, distributed throughout the mountains and foothills immediately to the west of Denver.
Articles in this issue of the paper include stories about the environment, family life, wildlife and domestic animals, setting up a home office, travel, alternative health approaches, hosting parties, and Business Profiles, including one about a woman who has opened a store catering to gifts for
horses! (Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?) Items that are offered for sale include "Thorough Breads," a line of six or seven natural grain breads, and "GrandMare Big Chunk Cookies." Are you getting the idea? And yes, people here spoil their horses, as well as their dogs and cats.

My contribution this month was a tribute to the Father of our Country, George Washington, whose birthday falls on February 22 (1732-1799). In the April 29, 2002, issue of Time Magazine, historians and scholars cited Washington as our greatest president; however history textbooks have "chopped down" information about him to less than 10% of the coverage afforded him in the 1960s.

At one time, this great man's birthday was a national holiday. Since 1971, our country's first president and Revolutionary War hero's importance has been relegated to equal standing along with all of the good, bad, famous and infamous presidents for one big Monday holiday, President's Day.

I'm afraid I got on my soap box a bit on this one, because it's my opinion that the man who was the commander of the Continental Army that won American independence from Great Britain (sorry, UK friends!), was president of the convention that wrote the United States Constitution, and was our first
president, deserves to have his own day.

When Lynda asked me to write something for this issue of the newsletter, she suggested that I write about my travels. After thinking it over, I decided to write about writing. After all, that's what I do. I've been a freelance journalist for fifteen years, having been published in several papers both in
America and the UK. Travel, music, playing "The Merry Widow," and wisecracking here in Casual Chat tend to be the lesser part of what my life is about. And yes, a book is on the horizon!

Hugs to my friends,
Taffy (Janet Watkins Masoner)

LITTLE BITS FROM MA'AM
 

Greetings and hope everyone is doing well. Are we all looking forward to Spring yet?
I know I am ready for sunshine and long days, enough of the dreary weather

A few changes in the Casual Chat Event Calendar. Starting February 21st SCATTS, at 7:00 EST will return with Juris and Dar. The game will be run every other week and on opposite weeks, we will have a Greeter with rotating hosts. Gin will be running "Remember When" a new trivia game on Tuesday evenings. I hope all of you drop in the new events and check them out.

Ma'am and Tech have a new home on wheels. We finally did it and bought a RV. A 36 foot Diesel Motor home. We took our "virgin run" a few weeks ago and found a few things that need fixing and adjusting, and really enjoyed the trip. We are planning several trips the next few months and next year do the cross-country trek again. This time <ahem> I will not have to search out "rest stops" whew One thing that concerned me on going the RV way was my commitment to the forum and not knowing if I can log on as needed. Tech did some research and we have a modem that will let me log on with my cell phone. Amazing!!! Technology these days. I have to admit it is a slow connection, the important thing is a connection <grin> I am forced to get acquainted with "OZZIE" again, and he still hates me! Many of the RV parks have phone connections at the campsite or Internet connections in one of the building on the premises. Our next trip will be to the coast and perhaps down to Palm Springs area to see the sun. Will update on the adventures and I do know we will have adventures <rolling eyes>
 

VIVA LAS VEGAS.. There has been discussion on having a forum get together in Las Vegas this fall. I have looked into a few hotels and it is too soon for them to quote rates. Tech and I will probably be in Vegas in March/April sometime and the rates should be available then. We are hoping this event will be in late September/Early October. I will be posting messages soon in the forum to see who is interested and discuss dates. Hoping this meeting will be as successful as Montreal.

Everyone take care!!! Until next month.. Hugggs from Ma'am