Just a chime....or??

[westgrandboulevard]

I've never seen Blade Runner, so I'll just take your word for it.

I must say I find it comforting to know the world will carry on just the same when I'm gone. It takes away any temptation towards a sense of pressure and responsibility. or of taking myself too seriously.....

[Jerry Oz]

It's not a comforting thought! I want industry to stop the day after I'm gone. I want civilization to reorder itself. I want dogs to stop chasing cats. I want big kids to eat healthier. I want politicians to tell the truth. I want Diana Ross and Mary Wilson to make up [[if not their fans, that's too enjoyable). I want a chicken in every pot [[except for those, like me, who don't eat chicken). I want peace EVERYWHERE. I want things to change because a great man has passed.

All things being equal, I don't think that's a lot to ask for.

[westgrandboulevard]

They're not - and it is. LOL

You've been spending too much time listening to arr&bee's ideas of greatness...more LOLOL

[144man]

When I go, the Universe goes!

[westgrandboulevard]

That's very thoughtful.

It will save many millions the cost of a cremation.

[144man]

Of course, the alternate universes will survive, unless we happen to be living in the alternate universe where there aren't any alternate universes.

[westgrandboulevard]

Not to worry. I expect the buses will still be running....

[144man]

Yes. In some parallel universes, the buses have feet.

[westgrandboulevard]

With all those journeys, they're sure to become tyred.

[144man]

...and eventually retyred.

[westgrandboulevard]

And retyring, undeflated.....

[Jerry Oz]

Now you two are just putting on airs...

[144man]

And isn't it a gas!

[westgrandboulevard]

Even under pressure, we'll need to remain on track with our responses here.

Not good to be suddenly let down by puncturation.

[Jerry Oz]

That last one was a little flat...

[westgrandboulevard]

It was, and so I asked at the next service station if they had an air line there.

The lady said "no, but there's usually a bus every hour."

[144man]

...Which means you wait three hours then three come along together.

[westgrandboulevard]

By that time, the queue has become long enough to fill three buses....

[144man]

They'd run them frequentlier if only there were the demand.

[westgrandboulevard]

People have complained that there aren't enough buses.

They've told the bus company they're not going to take it sitting down.

[Jerry Oz]

It's time somebody took a stand...

[westgrandboulevard]

Some have tried, and found themselves needing a strong grip....

[144man]

The first time somebody was polite enough for them to give up their seat for me on a crowded bus, I didn't know whether to be pleased that I could sit down or insulted because they thought I looked old.

[Jerry Oz]

I have fond memories of riding the bus to work in my relatively youthful days. Once, a rather attractive woman sat down across the aisle and a few seats in front of me. In the seat across the aisle from me, another young lady started to laugh and I knew something was up. It turns out that the person that Lady A sat beside was a mute psychotic [[no exaggeration, either). He was as red-faced as a tomato and when he wasn't digging his finger into his nose up to the first knuckle, he was talking to himself in sign language.

And then he noticed his pretty new friend...

He stared at her and signed a few more times and she blanched. She got up from her seat and took another one when someone got off and the Tall Red and Silent followed her. Finally, she got up after the next stop and sat between two gentlemen on one of the bench seats at the front of the bus. And the girl beside me was still laughing her butt off through the entire episode.

Ahhh... Precious memories...

[westgrandboulevard]

Sounds like one of those scenes from the silent movies

[Jerry Oz]

On my way home, Red Man got on the bus going the other way. He was still talking to himself in sign language and I guess what he was digging for in his nose was still stuck up there because he was still exploring. It's sad but begs the question: Where was he going? To work?! And, if so, for who?

[westgrandboulevard]

Maybe that was all he did, just ride the buses?

I guess he would have had what we now call 'learning difficulties' - sometimes known colloquially as 'care in the community', but all are generally on the outside edge of society, to varying degrees. Many hold down jobs, and do them well but equally many are unemployable, I imagine.

[Jerry Oz]

Well, I certainly hope nobody takes my order art a restaurant while picking his nose and talking to himself, sign language or not!

[westgrandboulevard]

Even worse, he could be in the kitchen, cooking your order.

I bet he uses his fingers to assemble the food on the plate.....

[Jerry Oz]

Ugggghhh!!! Thanks for that one, amigo. But truthfully, people seem to trust their food to be prepared by cooks who care deeply about proper hygiene. They don't want to believe the cooks can be every bit as nasty as they are.

[westgrandboulevard]

It has certainly crossed my mind what could be happening out of sight, in the back.....

[144man]

Always be polite to your waiter and leave a generous tip.

[westgrandboulevard]

Yes, some of the food outlets [[UK, at least) do resemble 'tips', with a most distinct litter problem.

[Jerry Oz]

Indignant patron [[to his waiter): "Excuse me boy, but what is that fly doing in my soup?"
Indifferent waiter: "It looks like he's doing the backstroke, sir."

[westgrandboulevard]

Fly tipping! I rest my case....

[Jerry Oz]

There are other types of tips. Did you hear about the Jewish rabbi who didn't charge parents for circumcising their baby boys? He was okay financially, so he just took the tips!

[westgrandboulevard]

I instinctively felt like tightly crossing my legs when I read that one.....

[144man]

I feel circumspect about it.

[westgrandboulevard]

It would be a sore point with me.

[144man]

...but nothing to get cut up about.

[westgrandboulevard]

Best tuck it away, and forget about it, then....

[144man]

That's no skin off my nose.

[westgrandboulevard]

I prefer the skin left on my rice puddings.

[144man]

That's a bizarre way to stir a rice pudding. Ouch!

[Jerry Oz]

And it probably adds something unusual to the flavor...

[westgrandboulevard]

Suddenly, I'm not at all hungry....

[Jerry Oz]

Well, many cities in the US require good preparers to wear gloves so perhaps there is something you could wear when "stirring" your rice pudding... hmmmm... I am off the drug store; I will let you know if I see something.

[westgrandboulevard]

Have a quiet word with 144man. It was all his idea

[Jerry Oz]

I will pass. I think the whole idea is getting grosser the more I think about it...

[westgrandboulevard]

I've been trying hard not to think about it.

No part of me touches a dish of hot rice pudding, as my hands are protected by an oven cloth. I'm very partial to it, baked in the oven with a stewed fruit compote. Very nice cold, too....