In a crappy world filled with bad news

[Bkeepr]

I used to enjoy the fun banter and stories of friends here. Why do so few post things here now? Seems like lots of people read, but almost nobody writes and shares their stories and lives.

I would love to hear about what you are doing. I am sick and tired of reading only bad news anymore.

[PHPaul]

Not much of any general interest going on here in East Overshoe. Having a decent Fall after a pretty poor excuse for a Summer. Doing a little maintenance and repair work for other folks, lawn equipment and trailers mostly.

I've noticed that my usual go-to outlets for parts have gone from an in-stock business model to drop shipping. You order a part from them, they order it from the manufacturer and have it shipped direct to you. Adds several days, if not weeks, to the process. Pain in the ass.

Good news is, the customers came to me by word-of-mouth and say "Just fix what's wrong, do whatever else you think it needs in the way of maintenance, and bill me." No haggling over pennies, which is a welcome development. Also nice to work with folks that buy good equipment and take good care of it.

[Bkeepr]

…Good news is, the customers came to me by word-of-mouth and say "Just fix what's wrong, do whatever else you think it needs in the way of maintenance, and bill me."

That’s the relationship I have with my auto mechanic. He has good judgment, and gets new parts when it is appropriate, used when they’re appropriate, and fixes what needs fixing without taking advantage. There really are a lot of good folks around, they just don’t make the news, or get talked about enough.

It’s too easy to talk about the bad ones…

[Jim @ Jawa]

I used to enjoy the fun banter and stories of friends here. I am sick and tired of reading only bad news...

Here is a funny one for you, from "The Bamboo Boogeyman". It is about my early years in school. I was born in February so that meant that I started a half a year late. I do not remember anything about kindergarden. All I remember about the first grade was having to stay in while the rest of the class was out on the play ground. I flunked the first grade.
Younger brother Glenn was now one year behind me in school. I remember a little more about both years in the third grade. That is right I also flunked the third grade. Glenn caught up with me and we spent the rest of our school days in the same grade.
I think that there is a couple of reasons for that. One was that we moved a lot from school district to school district. Two, I have dyslexia. Three I was very fond of fishing.
Now here is the story:

SECOND YEAR IN THE THIRD GRADE
I think the teacher that I had in the second half of my first year in the third grade flunked me because she believed I was an unruly, uncontrollable juvenile delinquent who needed to be in kiddy prison, not in her classroom.
I believed she actually hated me, but now I also believe I deserved it and had it coming. As I look back on those days, there's no doubt in my mind that I was exactly what she thought I was: an unruly, uncontrollable juvenile delinquent. I thought she was old, fat, ugly, and mean as hell.
My second year in the third grade was just three doors down the hall from the first year, but those two teachers couldn't have been more different. This teacher was also old, yet she was kind and gentle but still very firm in her manner of controlling me and her classroom.
Little Johnny, who sat at the desk across the aisle from me, came to school one morning with a rubber. He was blowing it up like it was a balloon. I knew what it was, but I had to ask him what he had, just to find out if he knew. He said he had a balloon.
Of course, my next question was: "Where did you get that balloon?"
He said he found it on the floor next to his parents' bed. I broke out in a very loud, uncontrollable laugh, and the teacher came up to me with a very stern look on her face, asking me what was so funny. I told her to ask little Johnny about his balloon.
She turned to Johnny, held her hand out, and told him to give her the balloon. Little Johnny reached into his pocket, pulled out the rubber, and laid it in the palm of her hand. She immediately dropped it on the floor, turned around to me, and slapped me upside my head. That same slap also knocked the laughter out of me. She disposed of the rubber using a sheet of paper to pick it up and dropped it into the trashcan.
The same teacher took three packs of cigarettes and two knives away from me that same year. I'm sure she knew I was one or two years older than the other kids in the classroom, so she must've known that she was dealing with a troubled little boy. I found out many years later that she, a truant officer, and my mother had a very lengthy talk about me.

[Patbridges81]

3 months later I finished your book. If it doesnt go anywhere on store book shelves, it'll be read by your family for hundreds of years to come. I'm sure of that. Love ya Gpa.

[Patbridges81]

Speaking of cigarettes, ive had that train hit my skull, and that stop sign after crashing my bike without a helmet, and ill never forget about that cigarette flip off the pack trick you showed me. My dumbass really thought you were gonna flip that cig back into the pack lol. You might still owe me 5 bucks for that. Might double it since cigs are $10.09 a pack now lol.