Just a chime....or??

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-23-2014, 05:26 PM

I think I got that....LOL

**Jerry Oz** · 06-23-2014, 06:00 PM

I'm thinking that my self-perfection program will be complete in an hour or so. At that point, I will be casting aspersions art everyone else. I can hardly wait...

**arr&bee** · 06-24-2014, 12:32 AM

Art??oh boy now i gotta deal with vacant vin goo over here.

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 02:58 AM

LOL. That's what happens when you post from a stoopid tablet that uses its own stoopid version of autofill. It keeps changing the words and making my posts look... well, stoopid...

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-24-2014, 07:09 AM

You may think they look it, but they don't sound it.....

**144man** · 06-24-2014, 07:09 AM

Jerry, are you still intent on casting nasturtiums at everyone else?

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-24-2014, 07:22 AM

I love nasturtiums. Jerry can cast them in my direction any time. They will look great, growing in glorious colour all over our compost heap....

**144man** · 06-24-2014, 07:35 AM

That will do my hay fever the world of good.

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 11:45 AM

Well, Mom used to get on me for casting nasturtiums at people, so I started offering compliments instead... You never want to step on their toes because one day they may be in position to help you, but they might then cast nasturtiums right back at you in your time of need.

I guess you could say that I'm a changed man...

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-24-2014, 12:14 PM

That all sounds like common sense to me. It's surprising how so many people reach the door marked 'Exit' without learning it...so you're way ahead, Jerry.....

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 01:05 PM

It surprises me that people stop at stop signs even though there's no "go" signs to let them know when to proceed...

**144man** · 06-24-2014, 01:11 PM

Originally Posted by Jerry Oz

Well, Mom used to get on me for casting nasturtiums at people, so I started offering compliments instead... You never want to step on their toes because one day they may be in position to help you, but they might then cast nasturtiums right back at you in your time of need.

I guess you could say that I'm a changed man...

If only the internet trolls had been raised with that philosophy...!

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-24-2014, 01:16 PM

They can read...but they can't think. The difference between the two is too great.....

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 01:47 PM

They can think. But their thought is typically "how can I ruin some stranger's day under the cloak of anonymity, today?"

**144man** · 06-24-2014, 02:06 PM

But what do they get out of it? I can't put myself in their heads.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-24-2014, 02:55 PM

My rationale, FWIW....

They're unhappy about themselves, and it hurts when something occurs to confront and aggravate that hurt.

They want someone else to know it but, in order to conceal their feelings - and of appearing to be the victim they know themselves to be- they then go on the offensive, in an attempt to feel stronger.

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 03:12 PM

I'll add my two cents: Message boards are communities based upon common interests and the people who didn't them do so because it is enjoyable to converse about things that you care about. Trolls are typically unhappy and don't thrive in environments that are positive, so they are compelled to make sure they upset as many other posters as possible. They cannot thrive in a positive environment, so they terraform it for themselves.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-24-2014, 03:17 PM

They have the same interests as the rest of us but, for reasons they alone know, they have a feeling they don't fit in.

Reading about a subject is one thing. Interacting on that same subject can be very different.

The conflict between fantasy and reality has much to do with it.....

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 03:43 PM

There are also some who want to believe the worse about situations and they don't appreciate the suggestion that things aren't as bad as they believe them to be. I am quite fine with differing opinions but you can tell who is not confident when they start making personal attacks based on someone else's logical and contrary reply to something that they said.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-24-2014, 03:57 PM

Absolutely; negativity abounds.

Unhappiness in others is always unsettling, and a real challenge to our own feelings...

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 04:09 PM

I am happy we haven't seen any behavior like that at Soulful Detroit...

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-24-2014, 04:15 PM

Is that your tongue you have there in your cheek, Jerry.....?!

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 06:40 PM

I think I bit my tongue with that last one, Ralph...

Hurts...

**arr&bee** · 06-24-2014, 08:07 PM

Hey wait a minute,let's go back...you mean that realality and fantasy are two seperate things????when did they change it and we don't they tell me about these things,i'm confused i need to lay down.

**Jerry Oz** · 06-24-2014, 08:16 PM

They blurred those lines a long time ago. I think it was about two minutes after the first person told me that with a good education, "you can be anything in life that you want, Jerry." When I told them that I wanted to be a primary school dropout, they tapped me on the butt and made get out of bed and go to school anyway.

Since then, I've had no confidence in potential...

**144man** · 06-24-2014, 10:18 PM

I never wanted to grow up and have done my best to fulfil that ambition.

**Jerry Oz** · 06-25-2014, 12:29 AM

Now if that was true, your name would be "144boy", would it not?

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 03:12 AM

Yes, it could be PeterPanMan, but he wouldn't get his pension if he did that....

**144man** · 06-25-2014, 04:21 AM

As I'm in my second [[possibly third) childhood, I might be eligible for child allowance instead.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 04:30 AM

No-one made any allowances for me when I was a child....

**144man** · 06-25-2014, 04:45 AM

The thinking in those days was "Children should be seen and not heard"...and quite right too! Except maybe they shouldn't be seen either.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 04:55 AM

I learned to write well, very early.....

**144man** · 06-25-2014, 05:02 AM

Me too. Something beginning "Dear Santa" or "Dear [favourite] Uncle".

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 05:21 AM

Mine were generally on the lines of "What's for dinner?", and "Any chance of some pocket money?"

**144man** · 06-25-2014, 07:40 AM

Do you remember Billy Bunter? He was always looking for food and expecting a postal order which never turned up.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 08:05 AM

Yes, I do...and his sister, Bessie. Written by Frank Richards.

Gerald Campion, the actor who played him [[although in his 20s when he first took the role) on BBC TV had a pub in a village near my original home town.

He also had 'Gerrys' in Dean Street, London. It might still be there....

**Jerry Oz** · 06-25-2014, 10:56 AM

If it's still there, could you stop by and grab something for me to eat? I'll pay you for it.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 11:20 AM

If I'm ever in London,and over that way, I'll check it out....but I think it's a drinking club, so they may not sell takeouts....

If you become desperate, I'll have to put together a food parcel for you....

**Jerry Oz** · 06-25-2014, 12:56 PM

Just so long as it is still hot when it gets here. I hate to reheat food.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 01:02 PM

You're desperate....

**Jerry Oz** · 06-25-2014, 02:13 PM

Well, yes. I could drive to the store, but since the CRX is on the fritz, I'd have to take the truck and it only gets 14 miles per gallon. I'm not turning down any care packages if I can save on gas.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 03:28 PM

Mmmmmm. Why did you buy a vehicle which only travels 14 miles to the gallon.....??

**Jerry Oz** · 06-25-2014, 03:37 PM

I bought at auction two years before gas shot up in price. I checked reliability, resale value, and overall customer satisfaction before plunking half as much down for the vehicle than it cost two years before. Guess what I didn't check? Miles per gallon.

I like it a lot, but I've been using it for my regular ride for a few weeks now and I'm tired of paying three times as much for gas as I would with getting the other one fixed. I've just been lazy about having it towed to the garage, I guess. We don't have one of those mobile mechanics that you mentioned locally.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 03:55 PM

A surprisingly large number of people are unaware of their vehicle's mileage per gallon, so you're ahead of them.

In many ways, it sounds like a good buy -but its fuel consumption is not too much ahead of Arr&bee's shed...so for me it would have to be a goodbye....

**Jerry Oz** · 06-25-2014, 04:14 PM

Yah. It might be time to go to auction and get another one.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 04:41 PM

Problem is, the best value vehicles for mileage invariably have experienced a style bypass...

**Jerry Oz** · 06-25-2014, 05:40 PM

Not at the auction that I went to. The problems with the cars there are typically high mileage [[they're repossessed and people get the most out of them before the repo man catches up) and also poor maintenance or repair history. Beyond that, they're just nasty to sit in until they're cleaned up. You'll find cigarette burns on the upholstery and generally a dirty and beat up interior. But if you can get a car for half-price, it's worth it.

I'm thinking about purchasing a vehicle from a police surplus auction. That'll get me a high-mileage car with a huge motor and bullet holes in it. Nothing that a little touch-up wouldn't fix.

**westgrandboulevard** · 06-25-2014, 05:47 PM

The siren might come in useful in the supermarket car park, or a traffic tailback....

**Jerry Oz** · 06-25-2014, 05:55 PM

Unfortunately, the sirens and lights will be removed prior to the auction. They do come while still painted black and white, however. Some areas of my city would probably not like me much for driving them before they were repainted...