"Carl's Lounge" (Off-Topic Discussion, Traditional Knife "Tales & Vignettes")

[mrknife]

mostly been sick. turns out i have an allergic reaction to cantaloupe. had an itchy throat last monday after eating some on sunday. had a second plate on tuesday. continued to get worst but just an itchy throat. hit me all on friday afternoon. full blown cold symptoms

 

[Jack Black]

Here's a friendly challenge for you today: go out of your way to say "good morning" or "good afternoon" to a few folks whose paths cross yours today. You'll be spreading the good cheer of The Porch and may just make someone's day. Or they may make yours.

Well into the afternoon here now, so Good Afternoon to you No big challenge for me, I already greet virtually everyone I meet in this way, often stop for a chat too. Being polite and pleasant to others is a much nivcer way of going through life in my experience, and pays dividends to everyone :thumbup:

mostly been sick. turns out i have an allergic reaction to cantaloupe. had an itchy throat last monday after eating some on sunday. had a second plate on tuesday. continued to get worst but just an itchy throat. hit me all on friday afternoon. full blown cold symptoms

Sorry to hear that Mr K, hope you're feeling better soon, and that you manage to avoid that cantaloupe :thumbup:

 

[mrknife]

[QUOTE

Sorry to hear that Mr K, hope you're feeling better soon, and that you manage to avoid that cantaloupe :thumbup:[/QUOTE]

Much obliged there Jack, would hate to have this fourth of July weekend go to waste due to this. Especially since I took a few days off to make it an extra long weekend!

 

[r redden]

mostly been sick. turns out i have an allergic reaction to cantaloupe. had an itchy throat last monday after eating some on sunday. had a second plate on tuesday. continued to get worst but just an itchy throat. hit me all on friday afternoon. full blown cold symptoms

Hope you feel better soon Jack.

 

[mrknife]

Hope you feel better soon Jack.

thanks, Randy

 

[btmccutcheon]

Here's a friendly challenge for you today: go out of your way to say "good morning" or "good afternoon" to a few folks whose paths cross yours today. You'll be spreading the good cheer of The Porch and may just make someone's day. Or they may make yours.

Good Morning!

Avoid doing this in bathrooms and dressing rooms though. People can get a little excitable and judgey.

 

[pmew]

Good Morning!
~snip~
Here's a friendly challenge for you today: go out of your way to say "good morning" or "good afternoon" to a few folks whose paths cross yours today. You'll be spreading the good cheer of The Porch and may just make someone's day. Or they may make yours.

Good Morning!

Until my mid twenties I lived in cities, then I moved to as rural a place as you could manage in the UK. It took me ages to acclimatise to the friendliness which I initially found quite intrusive, but now I couldn't imagine living in any other environment. For example, today I was driving along a road and saw someone I know whom I hadn't seen for a couple of weeks. Traffic is not exactly an issue on Lewis so as we drew level we stopped in the road, wound down the windows and turned off our engines to have a blether. About 15 minutes later a car appeared further along the road heading towards us so we concluded our chat and continued on our way. This is a daily occurrence (weather permitting).

And as it's now early evening time;

Good evening sir!




- Paul

 

[Jack Black]

Avoid doing this in bathrooms and dressing rooms though. People can get a little excitable and judgey.

Here in Britain, there is a certain etiquette in gentlemen's restrooms, I dare say it is the same in the US, though the etiquette may be different. In Yorkshire, the common expression between men, no matter where, is probably 'Ey up', it's very similar to the French 'Ca va' in its meaning, both a casual greeting, and enquiry as to the health and circumstances of the person being addressed. It is unusual for men standing in a restroom not to converse casually, often with humour.

Yesterday morning I went for a trail run at one of my favorite places: Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. I'm working on getting back into running shape and was feeling pretty tired, but having a great time nonetheless. There were a lot of other folks out enjoying the day and the space and I decided to say good morning to as many of them as I could. With each warmly returned good morning, my pace demonstrably increased for a bit, feeling buoyed by that simple sharing of a moment with others enjoying a beautiful space. It reminded me of what a powerful phrase "good morning" or "good afternoon" can be.



Until my mid twenties I lived in cities, then I moved to as rural a place as you could manage in the UK. It took me ages to acclimatise to the friendliness which I initially found quite intrusive, but now I couldn't imagine living in any other environment. For example, today I was driving along a road and saw someone I know whom I hadn't seen for a couple of weeks. Traffic is not exactly an issue on Lewis so as we drew level we stopped in the road, wound down the windows and turned off our engines to have a blether. About 15 minutes later a car appeared further along the road heading towards us so we concluded our chat and continued on our way. This is a daily occurrence (weather permitting).

And as it's now early evening time;

Good evening sir!

Good evening Paul, I would not have thought there was anywhere on Harris called Rancho San Antonio! Yes, a very powerful phrase, it has no baggage, who could argue with it? Good luck in getting back into shape my friend, I miss running. I've mostly lived in cities myself, not always, mainly in the north of England, again not always. Here, you stand next to a stranger at the bus-stop, and you can talk about, and learn, all sorts of things, it would be considered rude to remain aloof. When I've lived in London, you talk to someone at a bus-stop, they're likely to report you to the police! I live just a mile or two from the centre of one of England's largest cities, but I know most of the folk on my street by name, and when the weather is good, it can take me 45 minutes to get to the bottom of the road for stopping and chatting to different folk. Recently, we all had lunch together out in the street, closed it off, and spent the whole day out there, about 50 of us. We're going to try and do it annually

 

[pmew]

Here in Britain, there is a certain etiquette in gentlemen's restrooms, I dare say it is the same in the US, though the etiquette may be different. In Yorkshire, the common expression between men, no matter where, is probably 'Ey up', it's very similar to the French 'Ca va' in its meaning, both a casual greeting, and enquiry as to the health and circumstances of the person being addressed. It is unusual for men standing in a restroom not to converse casually, often with humour.

:thumbup:

Good evening Paul, I would not have thought there was anywhere on Harris called Rancho San Antonio! Yes, a very powerful phrase, it has no baggage, who could argue with it? Good luck in getting back into shape my friend, I miss running. I've mostly lived in cities myself, not always, mainly in the north of England, again not always. Here, you stand next to a stranger at the bus-stop, and you can talk about, and learn, all sorts of things, it would be considered rude to remain aloof. When I've lived in London, you talk to someone at a bus-stop, they're likely to report you to the police! I live just a mile or two from the centre of one of England's largest cities, but I know most of the folk on my street by name, and when the weather is good, it can take me 45 minutes to get to the bottom of the road for stopping and chatting to different folk. Recently, we all had lunch together out in the street, closed it off, and spent the whole day out there, about 50 of us. We're going to try and do it annually

erm... a bit of a cut and paste mistake there, brought on by a spaghetti covered Rory escaping from his high-chair whilst I was replying... You're very lucky to have that, I've lived in Cardiff, Hull and Belfast within walking distance of the city centre and in none of them have I ever learned the names of more than a handful of people in the street; most simply didn't want to talk or acknowledge you even. I'm jealous of the street party, sounds like great craic!

 

[Jack Black]

erm... a bit of a cut and paste mistake there, brought on by a spaghetti covered Rory escaping from his high-chair whilst I was replying... You're very lucky to have that, I've lived in Cardiff, Hull and Belfast within walking distance of the city centre and in none of them have I ever learned the names of more than a handful of people in the street; most simply didn't want to talk or acknowledge you even. I'm jealous of the street party, sounds like great craic!

LOL! Yes, I well remember being terrorised by food-covered young 'uns! As I was was saying to a young couple today, whose little lad (Jack) hit me on the head with his balloon, the first 20 years are the hardest! I consider myself very lucky Paul I remember on my first visit to Belfast, within 30 minutes of arriving, some idjat at a bus-stop in Rosetta had tried to pick a fight with me. I thought it was hilarious since the feller was barely taller than my waist! :thumbup:

 

[pmew]

LOL! Yes, I well remember being terrorised by food-covered young 'uns! As I was was saying to a young couple today, whose little lad (Jack) hit me on the head with his balloon, the first 20 years are the hardest! I consider myself very lucky Paul I remember on my first visit to Belfast, within 30 minutes of arriving, some idjat at a bus-stop in Rosetta had tried to pick a fight with me. I thought it was hilarious since the feller was barely taller than my waist! :thumbup:

...that's the funny thing with Belfast, I had a similar experience with an angry girl in a shop - I ended up marrying her though

 

[Jack Black]

...that's the funny thing with Belfast, I had a similar experience with an angry girl in a shop - I ended up marrying her though

:thumbup:

 

[jackknife]

Until my mid twenties I lived in cities, then I moved to as rural a place as you could manage in the UK. It took me ages to acclimatise to the friendliness which I initially found quite intrusive, but now I couldn't imagine living in any other environment. For example, today I was driving along a road and saw someone I know whom I hadn't seen for a couple of weeks. Traffic is not exactly an issue on Lewis so as we drew level we stopped in the road, wound down the windows and turned off our engines to have a blether. About 15 minutes later a car appeared further along the road heading towards us so we concluded our chat and continued on our way. This is a daily occurrence (weather permitting).

And as it's now early evening time;

Good evening sir.


- Paul

Strangely enough, I'm having that similar experience here in Georgetown Texas.

For most of my life I lived in the Washinton D.C. area, and a lot of my time was in and around it, and Baltimore Maryland. Both places are big city. Most times in D.C. people never talk to you, and of someone does come towards you on the street you go to red alert. My little hometown I moved from in Germantown Maryland had become a big city suburb of D.C. with over population and associated crime rise. I often wished Maryland would let us carry a gun, but in Maryland nobody but criminals could carry a gun. So I carried the stoutest of my Irish blackthorns and a few 'other' items on me.

Now, here I am in Georgetown Texas, and it has a small town feel, very friendly people, and a very relaxed atmosphere with no threats in sight. We walk around the square at night, stop off for an ice cream cone, and even at night, there's a feeling of safety around. Of course, Texas has CCW, and since January first open carry is ok, and we do see folks packing a gun right out on the hip. It ironic that just a week ago Karen and I took our CCW class and qualified, and the finger prints were done and paperwork submitted. But since arriving in Texas, I have not felt the need for any personal weapon on the person. I'm also not accustomed to people holding a door for us, or perfect strangers smiling and asking "How ya doin'" , or kids having their ball caps on the right way and saying yes sir or no sir when they talk to you. Even the younger teenagers seem to have been brought up not just with good manners, but some kind of better outlook on life.

Karen and I have been exploring the hill country here, and I have not run into a single rude person yet. A very definite difference from the big city in the east. A few weeks ago, Karen and I were on the side of the road looking at a map trying to figure out just where the entrance to a hiking trail was when a pickup going the other way on the road, made a U turn and pulled up behind us. A single guy gets out and starts waling up to our car. I'm reaching for something under the seat while getting ready to drop it in drive and floor it when I hear the guy ask, "Are y'all okay? Can I help you?"

So the guy is driving the opposite way, sees us pulled over on the side of the road, makes a u turn tp see if we're okay or lost? In some parts of D.C. or Baltimore he'd probably pulled a gun and robbed us.

Life's differeent in a small rural town.:thumbup:

 

[WhittlinAway]

Jack, Paul, and Carl, thanks for sharing your stories of friendly life experiences in smaller towns. Inspiring stuff.

I experienced some of that growing up in smallish towns in Oklahoma, but never to the extent that you three described. One thing I miss from there—along with thunderstorms!—is driving along deserted two-lane highways and having the drivers of approaching cars casually wave at you with their hand still on the wheel. More of a hand nod, I guess. A sort of "it's good to see someone else out here" gesture.

 

[r8shell]

Strangely enough, I'm having that similar experience here in Georgetown Texas.

For most of my life I lived in the Washinton D.C. area, and a lot of my time was in and around it, and Baltimore Maryland. Both places are big city. Most times in D.C. people never talk to you, and of someone does come towards you on the street you go to red alert. My little hometown I moved from in Germantown Maryland had become a big city suburb of D.C. with over population and associated crime rise. I often wished Maryland would let us carry a gun, but in Maryland nobody but criminals could carry a gun. So I carried the stoutest of my Irish blackthorns and a few 'other' items on me.

Now, here I am in Georgetown Texas, and it has a small town feel, very friendly people, and a very relaxed atmosphere with no threats in sight. We walk around the square at night, stop off for an ice cream cone, and even at night, there's a feeling of safety around. Of course, Texas has CCW, and since January first open carry is ok, and we do see folks packing a gun right out on the hip. It ironic that just a week ago Karen and I took our CCW class and qualified, and the finger prints were done and paperwork submitted. But since arriving in Texas, I have not felt the need for any personal weapon on the person. I'm also not accustomed to people holding a door for us, or perfect strangers smiling and asking "How ya doin'" , or kids having their ball caps on the right way and saying yes sir or no sir when they talk to you. Even the younger teenagers seem to have been brought up not just with good manners, but some kind of better outlook on life.

Karen and I have been exploring the hill country here, and I have not run into a single rude person yet. A very definite difference from the big city in the east. A few weeks ago, Karen and I were on the side of the road looking at a map trying to figure out just where the entrance to a hiking trail was when a pickup going the other way on the road, made a U turn and pulled up behind us. A single guy gets out and starts waling up to our car. I'm reaching for something under the seat while getting ready to drop it in drive and floor it when I hear the guy ask, "Are y'all okay? Can I help you?"

So the guy is driving the opposite way, sees us pulled over on the side of the road, makes a u turn tp see if we're okay or lost? In some parts of D.C. or Baltimore he'd probably pulled a gun and robbed us.

Life's differeent in a small rural town.:thumbup:

I'm so glad you're finding the area safe and friendly! My mother lives in Manhattan, and I remember one time she was visiting me in Austin. We were running errands and shopping. At one point she leaned over and whispered to me, "Do I look funny? Is there something odd about the way I'm dressed or how I'm acting?" I asked her why she would think that. She said, "Everyone on the sidewalk and in the store keeps smiling at me. They look right at me and smile and give a little nod when they walk past!"


Unfortunately I've been noticing a lot of less friendly behavior when folks get behind the wheel, at least in town and especially during rush-hour.

 

[TsarBomba]

Rey, reading your anecdote (and being from NYC myself) I couldn't help but feel a disconnect between your mom's story and what I learned as a youngster watching this short documentary:

[video=youtube;mSxnieYctVM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSxnieYctVM[/video]

"NEW YORK CITY?!?!"

 

[leghog]

 

[TsarBomba]

Out west, on the north side of the highway which eventually turns into Alligator Alley taking drivers through the swamp across the state, there is an outdoor rifle range and skeet shooting range in a county park.

Across the highway, there are not one but two golf courses in close proximity.

I've always thought they should expand the range...

 

[WhittlinAway]

"NEW YORK CITY?!?!"

I think we must have been born around the same time, TB, because I get all of your pop cultural references. I don't even need to watch the documentary to know its gonna end with "Get a rope!"

 

[TsarBomba]

I think we must have been born around the same time, TB, because I get all of your pop cultural references. I don't even need to watch the documentary to know its gonna end with "Get a rope!"

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

(Oh, and in deference to Rey, the proper pronounciation is "Git a rope!")