Share Your World

Share Your World — Did You Ever?

Fandango10 Comments

Share Your WorldIt’s once again Monday and time for Melanie’s Share Your World prompt. This week Melanie asks a series of weird, “did (or have) you ever” questions. And I must say that, given my advanced years, there are very few “did you ever” questions where my answer is “no I never.”

What is worse than a dentist with bad breath?

A proctologist with flatulence.

Have you ever been rejected by someone that you liked, or been told that you were not good enough for somebody else?

I have to admit that, back in the day, when I was a gawky, geeky, braces-wearing, pimply-faced teenager, there were a few girls who I attempted to pursue romantically, but who apparently weren’t as enamored with me as I was with them. So yeah, I experienced rejection. As to ever having been told I wasn’t good enough for someone else, no, not directly. But I suppose asking a girl for a date and having her decline my invitation is pretty much the same thing as being told that she didn’t think I was good enough for her.

Did you ever want to have toast for breakfast, only to find that all your bread was covered in green mold?

Yes, either green mold or lots of little white dots.

Did you ever sneeze so hard that your whole body hurt?

Yes, I’ve suffered from broken ribs several times, once as a result of a bad fall while skiing and once when I tripped while walking the dog, who zigged when I expected her to zag. If you’ve ever broken a rib, you know that the simple act of sneezing (or coughing or laughing) with a busted rib is excruciatingly painful. And it usually takes four to six weeks to fully recover.

Did you ever buy clothing on the internet that did not fit, but you wore them anyway, since you didn’t want to pay the $5 shipping charge to send them back?

Yes, I’ve bought clothing on the internet that did not fit as I had expected them to, but I always returned them because I am savvy enough to only buy things on the internet from vendors that offer free, no hassle returns.

Melanie has also asked us to share something that we are grateful for this November.

I am grateful that Donald Trump lost his bid to be re-elected. I’ll be even more grateful when he and his delusional GOP sycophants finally accept that he lost and we can get on with the transition of power to Joe Biden and to being trying to heal America.

Share Your World — Miracles, Surprises, and Zoo Animals

Fandango7 Comments

Share Your WorldIt’s time once again for Melanie’s Share Your World prompt. Let’s see what she wants us to share with her today.

Do you like or dislike surprises? Why or why not?

I like good surprises. I don’t like bad surprises.

What’s your favorite zoo animal?

I don’t go to the zoo much anymore because I don’t like seeing animals caged up or confined to small spaces.That said, back in the day, I always enjoyed watching the antics of the various monkeys, apes, chimps, and orangutans in the monkey house. Very entertaining.

What three things do you think of the most each day?

Well, most recently it has been the U.S. elections. Now it’s the antics that the soon-to-be banished orangutan in the Oval Office is going to pull to try to discredit the election results and do as much damage to America as he possibly can between now and Joe Biden’s inauguration on January 20th. I also think about my blog a lot, like what to write about, my prompts, etc. And finally, about what to eat. Which reminds me, it’s almost lunch time.

When, if ever, is taking a human life justified?

The only situation where I can think of where taking a human life might be justified is when someone has a terminal illness and is suffering. I do believe in death with dignity and if someone has instructed in a living will that they do not wish to have heroic steps taken to keep them alive when they are on death’s doorstep, I feel that “pulling the plug” is the right thing to do.

Do small miracles exist?

I don’t believe in miracles at all, large or small, that are attributed to a “divine agency” or to something supernatural (i.e., God). That said, I do believe in the possibility of what might seem to be extraordinary, surprising, or unexpected events or developments that bring welcome results, but that are explainable in natural, real-world terms. For example, if I take a look at a car that has been totaled and find out that the driver survived the accident, I might say that it’s a miracle that he or she survived. But that “miracle” may be the result of an airbag or some part of the structure of the vehicle the driver was in. I don’t buy that God intervened on the behalf of the person in the car.

Share Your World — All Hope is Lost

Fandango22 Comments

Share Your WorldIt’s Monday and that means it’s time once again for Melanie to prompt us to Share Your World with her. Here’s what she asks us to share today.

What’s the tallest building you’ve been to the top of?

The World Trade Center in New York before it was felled by airplanes flying into the towers on 9-11.

What do you do to keep fit?

Walk and stretch.

What’s your jack-o-lantern carved to look like?

I haven’t carved a jack-o-lantern since my kids were in high school.

Do you have hope or have you lost it?

I’ve always thought of myself as a glass half-full guy, but right now I have lost hope for America. I think that, if all the votes in next week’s elections were counted in a fair, honest way, Joe Biden would win the election and be our next president and this Trumpian nightmare would finally be over. But I’ve lost hope that, with all of the shenanigans that the Republicans are pulling, with the aid of Russia and some other foreign sources, and with GOP voter suppression and ballots lost or tossed, this will not be a fair election and that Donald Trump will, possibly via the Supreme Court’s 6-3 conservative majority (three of the nine justices appointed by Trump), not be removed from the White House. Or, if by some miracle, Biden is ultimately declared the winner, Trump will not go quietly, and his Proud Boys, QAnon, and right-wing militia friends will take to the streets and chaos will ensue.

So do I have hope or have I lost it? As of today, I’ve lost it. Ask me again on January 20, 2021 and I may have a different answer.

Share Your World — Wizardry and Honesty

Fandango9 Comments

Share Your WorldOnce again, Melanie is sharing her Share Your World prompt this week with Roger Shipp. Roger’s questions focus on Harry Potter stuff, while Melanie’s are more traditional SYW questions.

Let’s get started with Roger’s Harry Potter Questions.

You have just been gifted a magic wand that specializes in completing household chores. You can request the completion of only two household chores. Which chores would you assign your wand to complete?

Cooking meals and cleaning the pots, pans, and dishes afterwards.

At the local Wizards-R-Us store there was a sale on handshake shockers, instant darkness pellets, and levitation pills. Which of these ‘party thrillers’ are you more likely to purchase?

I’ve had recurring dreams in the past about being able to fly and I’ve always been disappointed when I woke up and realized that I’m earthbound. So without hesitation, I’d choose levitation pills.

In the alley behind Wizards-R-Us, there was a tradesman selling a Love Potion. The sales pitch was too much for you and you yielded and purchased one vial. What do you do with it?

I have a hard and fast rule to never, ever buy something from anyone selling anything from an alley. Even a love potion.

You are the Great Clearinghouse Winner of a new ‘good luck’ potion – Felix Felicis. It has to be used within the next thirty days or its potency becomes diminished. Do you use it? Do you give it to a friend in need?

I suppose I’d use it right before I go out and buy a multi-million dollar lottery ticket. Then, if I won a huge sum of money, I would give some of it to that friend in need. I’d say that’s a win-win situation, right?

And now for Melanie’s questions.

If everyone spoke their mind, would this world be a better or worse place?  Why?

I think it would be great, in my opinion, if people could be totally honest in everything they say and do. But I think a lot of people would be seriously pissed off about it.

Can achieving nothing make a person happy?

Sure, if your goal in life is to achieve nothing.

How do you know if you love someone enough to marry them?

When you feel that your existence would be incomplete without that person being your life partner.

Share Your World — Wizards and Muggles

Fandango8 Comments

Share Your WorldOnce again, Melanie is sharing her Share Your World prompt this week with Roger Shipp. Roger clearly has an unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter and he has asked four Harry Potter-related questions. Then Melanie, who does not possess that same unhealthy obsession with Harry Potter (but may have a few of her own unhealthy obsessions), has asked her non-Harry Potter-related (aka “Muggle”) questions.

So let’s get right to Roger’s Magical, Mystical Questions:

What happened to cause you to discover ‘bullies” were real?

I was in elementary (or some call it “grammar”) school and there were two bullies. I’ll call them Frank and David (because those were their names). They didn’t particularly like one another, as they were competing with each other about who could be the biggest, meanest bully. The only survival technique I could come up with was to ingratiate myself with each of them as best I could, so as to avoid falling victim to their bulliness. It worked, and I managed to get through elementary school relatively unscathed.

Eavesdropping — When given the chance, how often do you eavesdrop?

I try not to eavesdrop. Frankly, I don’t give a damn what other people are talking/gossiping about it. Unless it’s about me, of course.

Escalators, at one time, were the ‘next big thing.’ When was the last time you rode an escalator?

It was probably when I went to my last doctor’s appointment back in February. His office is on the third floor of a hospital and you can get there by stairs, escalator, or elevator. I didn’t have the patience to wait for the damn elevator and I didn’t feel like taking the stairs. So….

Have you ever ‘let’ someone win in a sports competition or a board game? How did it turn out?

I may have let my kids win some board games or when playing badminton or tennis when they were little. You know, just to build up their confidence. Now that I’m a dotting old fart, they are the ones who occasionally let me win.

Melanie’s Muggle Questions:

Melanie admits that she was very short on time yesterday when she scheduled her post, so she’s borrowed her questions from Rory and Sandmanjazz to fill the questions today:

Do our fears start with our DNA?  (Credit to Rory)

Yes, I’m deathly afraid of DNA. By the way, is DNA a disease or is it a federal spy agency like the NSA?

If you could have your hair any color for 24 hours, what color would you choose?  (Credit to Sandmanjazz)

Hell, I’d choose to have hair of any damn color on my head, since right now I don’t have any hair at all on my head.

When do you think a person gets old?  (Credit to Rory)

When they can’t remember how old they are.