Day: November 18, 2022

Friday Faithfuls & TGIF — A Combined Prompt Response

Fandango21 Comments

Jim Adams has posted another Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie Friday Faithfuls prompt and Paula Light, at Light Motifs II, has posted another TGIF prompt. It’s rather late in the day, so I thought I’d combine the two prompts into a single post.

Friday Faithfuls

Jim would like to know our thoughts on cryptocurrency and Bitcoins. He asked, “Did you invest money in this, have you ever used it to purchase anything, or have you ever been asked by a hacker to send this to them? Do you think that cryptocurrency is the future of financial transactions, or do you feel it is just a way for criminals to hide money?”

Well, I actually know very little about cryptocurrency. In fact, I learned more about cryptocurrency from Jim’s post than I ever knew. That said, I have never invested in Bitcoin or any other crypto coin. About four or five years ago my son invested a sum of money in Bitcoins. He didn’t tell me how much, but he did try to persuade me to invest in it as well. I don’t invest in schemes I don’t understand, so I declined. I recently asked my son if he still has Bitcoins and he said he did, but when I asked him if he got a decent return on his investment, but he didn’t want to talk about it, which made me think it didn’t work out that well.

As to Jim’s other questions, I haven’t been asked by a hacker to send Bitcoins. And I would not attempt to predict if cryptocurrency is the future of financial transactions. Hell, I’m still trying to figure out Venmo.

TGIF

For Paula’s prompt, she wants to know if we had a good week, not so good, books, movies, counting steps…? Spill it and link back to my TGIF post, she says.

Actually, I had a very nice week. The weather was clear, dry, and with highs in the mid-sixties, it couldn’t have been more perfect. My wife and I got our annual flu shots with no adverse reactions. We also took a nice, invigorating ride on our ebikes. The stock market had another up week, which has helped replenish my retirement nest egg a bit.

It was also nice to have the house by ourselves and to get back to our routine again after our houseguests left on Sunday. And, because the nights have been so clear, when I walked our dog at around 9 pm, I could clearly see both Jupiter and Mars visible in the night sky with the naked eye. And Mars is definitely the red planet.

So all in all, it’s been a very good week. Thanks for asking, Paula.

And on that note, happy TGIF, everyone.

Google It

Fandango22 Comments

Another word I’ve never heard before, “dudgeon,” was tossed out among today’s one-word prompts. Not “dungeon,” not “dud,” or “dude.” Not even “dungarees.”

What does it mean? I went straight to Google, the search engine I utilize to look up words I’ve never heard of. Google told me that it means a feeling of offense or deep resentment. Yep, that’s how I feel when someone uses a word no one has ever heard of or uses in everyday language. I throw down the yellow flag and call interference on using such words. It’s an unsavory act to use such words.

So I’m proposing a revolutionary concept to all of my fellow one word promoters. It’s, of course, an unenforceable cease and desist order, but instead a plea to stop giving us words that cause feelings of offense or resentment. Doing so is a very dudgeonous thing to perpetuate upon your fellow bloggers.

Written in all good humor for these daily prompts: Ragtag Daily Prompt (dudgeon), The Daily Spur (straight), Your Daily Word Prompt (utilize), Fandango’s One Word Challenge (interference), My Vivid Blog (savory), and Word of the Day Challenge (revolution).

One Minute Fiction — The Birthday Present

Fandango18 Comments

Happy birthday, Dad. Here’s your birthday present. It’s on the coffee table opposite your favorite chair. Yeah, that’s right, the black wicker chair with the green cushions. I hope you don’t mind, but when I feel sad and depressed, and especially when I miss you the most, I sit in it. You know, on days like today, your birthday.

I know you can’t open it, Dad. So I’ll open it for you, if that’s okay with you. Oh look, it’s a framed photo of the two of us when I graduated from college. You always loved this photo, didn’t you, Dad? I’m going to put it right here on the coffee table so you can see it from your favorite chair.

I miss you, Dad.

Written for Cyranny’s One Minute Fiction Challenge. Note: this is flash fiction, my father died in 1988, so no condolences are necessary.

Fibbing Friday — What and Whatnot

Fandango6 Comments

Di (aka Pensitivity101) hosts Fibbing Friday, a silly little exercise where we are to write a post with our answers to the ten questions below. But as the title suggests, truth is not an option. The idea is to fib a little, a lot, tell whoppers, be inventive, silly, or even outrageous, in our responses. Today Di has handed wants to know what…

1. Why do we say it’s raining cats and dogs? Because spiders and snakes are too scary.

2. What is meant by ‘The elephant in the room?’ The guy with the big ears, who people call “Dumbo” behind his back, has arrived.

3. What is downsizing? It’s what happens to a man’s penis when he goes swimming in the ocean.

4. What is a Panto Dame? A woman who gets winded during sex and starts panting.

5. What is pumpernickel? It’s tiddlywinks played with nickels (the U.S. five cent coin) instead of plastic discs.

6. What’s the difference between poison ivy and poison oak? Nothing. Poison by any name itches just as bad.

7. What is a plimsoll line? A line in the sand.

8. What are waffles? Pancakes with acne.

9. How can you beat inflation? Print your own money.

10. What is catsup? It’s the sound a cat makes when it drinks water.

Chance Meeting

Fandango6 Comments

It was pure happenstance that they ran into each other at the Flamingo. The last time they were together, which was nearly four years ago, Eileen had gotten very upset with Vic when she had been telling him about her research on the volute scroll work on early Grecian temple columns, part of her PhD work in ancient antiquities, and he just kept yawning, which really pissed her off. He tried to explain to her that he was exhausted from eight straight days on the road, but she wouldn’t have any part of it.

“Eileen,” Vic shouted when he spotted her walking into the tavern. “Eileen, it’s been quite a while…” Then he noticed that she was with someone, someone noticeably younger, and they were holding hands.

“Oh Vic, it has been a while,” Eileen said, dropping her companion’s hand and blushing. Vic cleared his throat and Eileen said, “I’m sorry, Vic, let me introduce you to Kevin. He’s a doctoral candidate and I’m his faculty advisor.” Then she turned to Kevin and said, “Kevin, this is my ex, Victor.”

Kevin put out his hand to shake Vic’s, but Vic turned his gaze back to Eileen. He laughed and said, “You’ve always had an eye for younger men, Eileen, and I can see you’re on a roll tonight.”

“I suppose I am, Vic,” Eileen said. “Kevin doesn’t get bored when I display my ionic spirals and curves with him.”

“Well, with that, Eileen,” Vic said, “I will excuse myself so that Kevin, here, can savor your volute exhibitionism in peace. Enjoy your evening together in the playpen — I mean the restaurant — this evening.” Then Vic turned around and left.

Written for these daily prompts from yesterday: Fandango’s One Word Challenge (happenstance), My Vivid Blog (flamingo), Ragtag Daily Prompt (volute), Your Daily Word Prompt (tavern), Word of the Day Challenge (yawn), and The Daily Spur (roll).