Day: August 13, 2019

Photo Challenge — Forgotten Step

Fandango6 Comments

FC946E03-0D97-40D3-B829-314A59E117D3Anatoly beamed as Ivan met him in the small clearing in the dense pine forest.

“You imbecile!” Ivan shouted.

“What?” a surprised Anatoly asked. “My crew and I did everything you told us to do. We stole the spy plane from the capitalistic, imperial pigs, carefully disassembled it, transported it piece by piece deep into the forest, and painstakingly reassembled it here. Exactly what you asked of me, Ivan.”

“You forget the step where I said to paint the plane’s fuselage in camouflage colors so that it couldn’t be seen by overhead surveillance, Anatoly,” Ivan said angrily. “My team just intercepted this image that was taken by an American drone half an hour ago.” Ivan handed Anatoly the photograph.

“Ah, I see what you mean,” Anatoly said.

Moments later the two men were surrounded by American mercenaries.

Written for this week’s Photo Challenge from Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie. Photo credit: David Kovalenko.

The Antique Show

Fandango6 Comments

D7A1C7F2-DDAE-4E2A-AA73-2E24F03AC833“Lady,” the man said, “do you have a permit to set up this booth?”

“A permit?” the woman said. “I set up this booth every year at this antique show and I’ve never needed a permit before.”

“Well, ma’am,” the man said, “there’s a new head of the Park Authority and permits are now required for booths to be set up at the fairgrounds.”

“Why am I just hearing about this now?” she asked.

“The Park Authority transmitted a notice to the show’s organizers two months ago,” he said. “You needed to complete the application and submit it with your $200 fee two weeks ago.”

The woman started crying. “This is just some more of my bad karma,” she sobbed. “I tried so hard to make my booth attractive and spacious and now you’re telling me I have to take it down. I make nearly half of my annual income at this antique show. Does your boss want me to end up on welfare?”

Feeling sorry for the woman, the man said, “Let me talk to my boss. Maybe we can give you an exemption for this year’s show.”

“Oh thank you so much,” the woman said, reaching out and shaking the man’s hand. As he walked away, she thought to herself, “What a sucker!”

Written for these daily prompts: Word of the Day Challenge (lady), The Daily Spur (permit), Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (authority), Nova’s Daily Random Word (transmitted), Your Daily Word Prompt (karma), Ragtag Daily Prompt (spacious), and Daily Addictions (take).

Blog Award Q&A

Fandango11 Comments

BCD7E2F0-A8EB-46B6-A630-CA6F4C3DB664James A. Best was awarded the coveted Liebster Award and was kind enough to include me among those he paid it forward to. So thank you for the shoutout, James.

I typically don’t participate in these blog awards except to answer the questions the blogger who tagged me asked. So, to that end, here are James’ questions and my answers.

  1. Have you ever seen any of the “Too Fast Too Furious” movies that have come out? The star is Vin Diesel and his crew. Which one is your favorite? I have never seen any of the Fast and Furious flicks. Not a one.
  2. Which genre of book do you enjoy the most — real stories or fictional stories? And why? I generally prefer to read fiction. Why? Because fiction provides an escape from the shitstorm that is swirling around us in real life.
  3. What is your opinion of blogging? I enjoy blogging immensely.
  4. Who inspires you the most in this life? My kids.
  5. The most important person in your life? My kids, both of them.
  6. What do you think the key to success is hard work or talent? Luck and good timing.
  7. What is your favorite song? And why? Oh my, so very many favorite songs by so many artists. I’ve got around 2,000 of my favorite songs on my iTunes app. Do you want me to list them all?
  8. What do you want to be in this life? Alive!
  9. How can you describe creativity? The ability to produce something new and imaginative.
  10. What brings you the most smiles in your daily life? My kids, my pets, and late night comedians like Stephen Colbert, who make Trump and the Republicans who enable him look like the imbeciles that they all are.
  11. What is your favorite sport and favorite player? I’m going with baseball as my favorite sport. As to my favorite player, I’m going with Tom Brady. (And yes, I know he plays football and not baseball. But he’s a standout player in any sport.)

Anyone else want to take a shot at James’ questions?

Twittering Tales — Bad Timing

Fandango20 Comments

F2CA1BC7-53E6-4633-91EA-999C7530E8A2In 2009, Ramesh paid nearly a million dollars to purchase a taxi medallion. He thought he was set for life and he could pass the medallion on to his children, giving them a valuable inheritance.

Then Uber and Lyft came along and now that damn taxi medallion is close to worthless.

(279 characters)

Written for this week’s Twittering Tales prompt from Kat Myrman. Photo credit: Wal_172619 @ pixabay.com.

FOWC with Fandango — Authority

Fandango34 Comments

FOWCWelcome to August 13, 2019 and to Fandango’s One-Word Challenge (aka, FOWC). It’s designed to fill the void after WordPress bailed on its daily one-word prompt.

I will be posting each day’s word just after midnight Pacific Time (US).

Today’s word is “authority.”

Write a post using that word. It can be prose, poetry, fiction, non-fiction. It can be any length. It can be just a picture or a drawing if you want. No holds barred, so to speak.

Once you are done, tag your post with #FOWC and create a pingback to this post if you are on WordPress. Or you can simply include a link to your post in the comments.

The issue with pingbacks not showing up seems to have been resolved, but you might check to confirm that your pingback is there. If not, please manually add your link in the comments.

And be sure to read the posts of other bloggers who respond to this prompt. You will marvel at their creativity.