I awoke early after sleeping early from our Flagstaff trip.
I got to thinking about all of you, and decided to go on a voyage of discovery.
Looking at the comments here in the admin page, sorted by name…
I guess I wanted to see who has been here over the years.
A lot of the old wheelies from the other site were here from the beginning or dropped by here and there. I won’t take you though the whole voyage, I just found it nice to go through and see who all has posted here.
There were a few DHD peeps that popped in to give deb updates.
I well remember when this new site was created. I am embarrased to say that while I read it in the beginning and created an account, I never posted anything in the beginning, until 2019. Harper popped in on 9/11/2013 for a few posts just to say hi and reflect on the old 9/11 posts that I recently referred to.
I have a cofession to make. Most of the reason we both haven’t been posting is because of me. I fell into a deep depression--maybe call it a “dark night of the soul.” I feel so ashamed.
Harper then gave me her full effort and attention. I was not much use to anyone, to be honest. It’s not so much her illness as it is my problematic mental state that she decided she couldn’t be here, or anywhere. She put all her effort into me, when it should very well have been the other way around.
I… dunno… I thought you all should know…. I appreciate you all so much. Also, I thought of you all so often and then one day… not that long ago, I got my faith back. Perhaps in a way that I had never had it before.
One of the first things I thought to do in those first few months was check in on you guys and see if anyone was still out there keeping the candle lit.
When I told Harper I had been posting here a bit, she cried. She missed you all so much. And after she calmed down, she actually explained to me why she hadn’t been posting here. I felt even worse about myself.
But I was glad, once she got over the emotional impact of it, that she was happy to resume posting here.
You really are a family to us both.
I also feel bad that I missed out on seeing Rabbit and Sulla and many of the others whose posts I read this morning.
Know that I treasure each and every one of you. And Harper does as well--even more, as she knows you all so much better than I do.
I loved getting to know you all in the heyday of the wheel. It was wonderful and lots of fun.
And this smaller, more intimate group, well it’s a treasure, and I love you all so much.
I’m pourin’ my heart out here. This is pretty embarrassing; if I read it over, I’ll probably start deleting things,
Love to you both, Dv8. I’m sorry to read of the troubles you had, but glad you got through it -- and thank you for sharing. It was a helluva community back in the olden days, but thanks to Mac, Paddy, and Fatwa, they’ve kept it spinning along.
It’s hard to put into words how happy I was when I found that you were all still here. I’m sure it seemed like I came out of nowhere, but… welll…. there I was, and here I am.
dv8, I have dealt with depression on and off most of my life. I know all too well how powerful it is and how little can be done to fight it. The most distressing thing you wrote was that you feel shame about it. I wish there was something I could say to change that. I don’t think there is anyone here in this small group that does not understand it.
I am just glad that you and your Gentle Lady are back with us. At times I am not able to comment much but I always follow and it means a lot to me. My life was vastly changed by Teh Wheel and this special group of friends.
mine too. And originally, this was Harper’s place. And my only role was to help her with the technicals when she took on a greater role in admin. I was all for her doing so and was glad I could help her at the time.
But you guys all sucked me in, and I was able to join in all the fun.
Also, It doesn’t feel like depression is beyond our control. That’s what makes it feel so shameful. You think: There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m fine. Why can’t I _______. or why don’t I just ______.
I’m going through that a bit right now with streaming. I haven’t been able to make myself do it for over a month. And it’s too bad too, because it makes me feel better when I do it. Even if I don’t do anything particularly creative and just play a dumb game, it’s still helpful. People pop on the chat or discord, we talk about stuff, and things happen.
If I’m playing online, they might jump on the same server and we’ll play together for a while. It feels like doing something. It really did save my bacon the last two years, to be honest.
Our internet connection has been deteriorating the last couple of days; normally, download speeds are 65+ Mbps and uploads 12-15 Mbps. Our “new normal” is sub-20 Mbps, often slowing to a crawl.
I suspect the sudden massive increase in teleworkers and telestudents is causing a similar situation nationwide. Bah!
Did my usual Friday morning vittles run; Kroger, Walmart and Sprouts still had wide swaths of the store which were barren, but a bit less so than Monday. (As last Friday’s panic crowds led me to skip provisioning entirely.)
Walmart, for instance, had some turlet paper, milk and eggs but the cold cuts were still nearly nonexistent.
Had one of my rare, unpredictable bouts of human decency and was extra nice to store employees; oddly, this seemed to be well-received. (I remember my years working retail all too-well and what a big difference a few pleasant customers made on über-carpy days.)
Look forward to this “crisis” being over so I can act like myself again.
As best we were able to glean, JimCo is considered “essential” wherein residential roofs are concerned, but not commercial or industrial roofs. Makes no sense; we’re still trying to get clarification but don’t expect it any time soon.
It truly was a wonderful surprise.
Teh yay!!1!
On my way back, I did find a “Jewish” deli run by by a Chinese looking woman that was open and bought a dozen bagels.
Did you get any “everything bagels” which included pangolin and bat? 👿
I’m glad our internet up here got a huge boost recently so we seem to be doing pretty well, bandwidth wise, although I haven’t tried streaming in a month or so.
Before I posted my first comment this morning, I refreshed the site and was a bit surprised nobody had beaten me here.
Clearly, that was not the case. Resser-fresser dodgy internet carp!
Ergo, I didn’t “ignore” dv8’s long comment; I didn’t see it. My sincere apologies if any umbrage was taken; I’d never ignore a heartfelt post from any of you. Brenda and I consider you all family (the kind we like, as opposed to those we’re stuck with) and love you dearly.
It’s always a delight when “wayward Gerbils” stop by TSW and I’m delighted that Harper and dv8 are “regulars” again. So sorry to read about the tough times you two have been through and happy that they’ve gotten better.
There’s a reason the original DHD caused me to think of “Callahan’s Law” and I’m grateful that aspect of teh GN’s culture has remained a constant over all these years. This place has been a very bright spot in my life since I hesitantly dove-in on (I think) Day 3 of DHD after following a link from Ace’s place.
Thank you Fatwa, the feeling is mutual. I kind of noticed that you me and Sven were all posting at the same time, because when i finished my post I saw your posts there. I don’t feel like anyone is obliged to respond to anything I write, but I always enjoy all the input and output I see here. Over the years I have looked at this site here and there.
I think though, that what I was most ashamed of was that I didn’t remember if I ever posted on this new site or not, I thought this morning that I might find a few posts from the beginning, but I didn’t even post one time even though I remember Harper telling me about the new site and creating an account there.
Not even “Test 1 2 3…”
I don’t even know myself from back then. It’s like another person.
Yet, things kept happening, and overall, although I didn’t really want to at first, moving here has been good for both of us in many ways.
There are still some challenges, to be sure, but things are better, though lonelier without all the guys in the household we had before.
I think they spelled it wrong, they left off the final “E”. Those wacky joos, giving pay raises during a crisis and showin’ the world how it’s done again.
I muttered something along those lines (Is H.E.B. short for Hebrew…) to myself for a good couple of years when we first moved here.
Mostly because they were the only store in a >50mi distance that carried not only Hannukah candles, but Memorial candles as well. Yippee. Matzo, gefilte fish… :: shudder ::
However, now due to the dearth of the above mentioned items, I do believe I am “The Last Jooooooo” standing SW of Brenham.
I crowned myself that at Tractor Supply, if I think about it. After finishing up my order, I watched the cashier take in my Star of David necklace. “Are you a Jew?!?!”
:: blink :: (Never been asked that bluntly)
“Yes, but since there is so few of my tribe outside of Houston, I tend to call myself ‘The Jew’. Have a good one!”
Only took me 54 years to execute a snappy comeback, too.
Good one, TeX!
I’ve never understood questions like that.
“Are you a Jew?”
No, I just wear this to ward off JW’s, and unwanted invitations to revival meetings..
No, I wear this for self-defense. I found a cross wasn’t stabby enough and doesn’t throw worth a darn.
No, I’m a Mason of the First Temple.
:: side-eyes Sven, Fatwa, Paddy and Mac ::
The above have been nudging me to “come visit” a little, and I woke up this morning thinking it was a really good idea.
What an understatement!
Happy Descriptive Owl Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Sven, dv8, Fatwa, Mac, Harper, and TeX!!!111!!!eleventy!!!!
This has been quite the read-through, this morning, and I had to pause more than once to reflect, and to wipe the moisture from my eyes (must be all that spring pollen).
dv8 -- thank you for sharing. There is no need to apologize -- we all have our struggles and I know that all y’all have helped me through mine. You and Harper are loved and cherished -- whether you can post here, or not.
TeX -- it’s wonderful to see you here, today! I hope you, Mr. TeX, teh puppers, and the whole menagerie are doing well!
To Jerry Atrick: If you were to get this site Brave Certified, you could get some money for the hosting. I don’t know if that sounds like too much of a project, I’m not the expert in it, but it sounds like it would be pretty easy.
If you were Certified, then when people use the Brave browser (a chrome fork) to go to the wheel, you’d get some BAT (basic attention token) crypto for it.
I just got back from a grocery run. I heard that a local Persian market had rice, pasta, fruits, and veggies, so I ventured out. It’s a small market, but everyone -- customers included -- was very friendly and courteous as we navigated the narrow aisles. I wasn’t able to get everything, so I stopped by Trader Joe’s. I got back in my car when I saw they had a line to get in. So I stopped by the Ralph’s on my way home -- they also had a line. Next stop, Smart & Final -- yep, another line. I think I’ll wait a few days and try again.
We had friends over for dinner last night, in contravention of Gov. Nuisance’s orders. It was a wonderful time and something we all needed. I’m used to the isolation of working at home, but I can feel the stress it’s putting on the rest of the family.
I see that the numbers of those tested for the Chinese virus and the number of people dying from the Chinese virus are both going up. And I came up with a simple solution -- stop testing.
Brings to mind an argument I often heard for socialized medicine, that the child mortality rate was lower in countries with government controlled healthcare. What they missed or ignored was that those countries did not try to save many babies we do here. They counted them as stillborn and dumped them. It helps the child death stats but a lot of babies die that would be saved here. Same thing in gun control and crime. I read that one reason UK crime rates look so good is the way they are counted. Here if I rob five banks that is counted as five bank robberies, but in UK that would be one crime of robbing five banks.
Like Obama’s unemployment rates dropping, not because people found jobs but because they were out of work so long the unemployment benefits ran out.
Yeah, it’s Saturday and I should still be asleep, but I’m gearing up for an early morning grocery store rush.
Happy weekend, GN!
Good Morning Sven.
A very reflective Caturday Morning, Gerbils.
I awoke early after sleeping early from our Flagstaff trip.
I got to thinking about all of you, and decided to go on a voyage of discovery.
Looking at the comments here in the admin page, sorted by name…
I guess I wanted to see who has been here over the years.
A lot of the old wheelies from the other site were here from the beginning or dropped by here and there. I won’t take you though the whole voyage, I just found it nice to go through and see who all has posted here.
There were a few DHD peeps that popped in to give deb updates.
I well remember when this new site was created. I am embarrased to say that while I read it in the beginning and created an account, I never posted anything in the beginning, until 2019. Harper popped in on 9/11/2013 for a few posts just to say hi and reflect on the old 9/11 posts that I recently referred to.
I have a cofession to make. Most of the reason we both haven’t been posting is because of me. I fell into a deep depression--maybe call it a “dark night of the soul.” I feel so ashamed.
Harper then gave me her full effort and attention. I was not much use to anyone, to be honest. It’s not so much her illness as it is my problematic mental state that she decided she couldn’t be here, or anywhere. She put all her effort into me, when it should very well have been the other way around.
I… dunno… I thought you all should know…. I appreciate you all so much. Also, I thought of you all so often and then one day… not that long ago, I got my faith back. Perhaps in a way that I had never had it before.
One of the first things I thought to do in those first few months was check in on you guys and see if anyone was still out there keeping the candle lit.
When I told Harper I had been posting here a bit, she cried. She missed you all so much. And after she calmed down, she actually explained to me why she hadn’t been posting here. I felt even worse about myself.
But I was glad, once she got over the emotional impact of it, that she was happy to resume posting here.
You really are a family to us both.
I also feel bad that I missed out on seeing Rabbit and Sulla and many of the others whose posts I read this morning.
Know that I treasure each and every one of you. And Harper does as well--even more, as she knows you all so much better than I do.
I loved getting to know you all in the heyday of the wheel. It was wonderful and lots of fun.
And this smaller, more intimate group, well it’s a treasure, and I love you all so much.
I’m pourin’ my heart out here. This is pretty embarrassing; if I read it over, I’ll probably start deleting things,
So I’ll just press “post.”
OK, after calming down a bit, and taking a few deep breaths, I went over the above and corrected a few misspellings and such.
I did not delete anything no matter how embarrassing I thought it was.
Love to you both, Dv8. I’m sorry to read of the troubles you had, but glad you got through it -- and thank you for sharing. It was a helluva community back in the olden days, but thanks to Mac, Paddy, and Fatwa, they’ve kept it spinning along.
It’s hard to put into words how happy I was when I found that you were all still here. I’m sure it seemed like I came out of nowhere, but… welll…. there I was, and here I am.
dv8, I have dealt with depression on and off most of my life. I know all too well how powerful it is and how little can be done to fight it. The most distressing thing you wrote was that you feel shame about it. I wish there was something I could say to change that. I don’t think there is anyone here in this small group that does not understand it.
I am just glad that you and your Gentle Lady are back with us. At times I am not able to comment much but I always follow and it means a lot to me. My life was vastly changed by Teh Wheel and this special group of friends.
mine too. And originally, this was Harper’s place. And my only role was to help her with the technicals when she took on a greater role in admin. I was all for her doing so and was glad I could help her at the time.
But you guys all sucked me in, and I was able to join in all the fun.
And Mac, I still have all your Christmas cards, and I hang them up every year. I think we have 4 or 5 years worth of them.
Also, It doesn’t feel like depression is beyond our control. That’s what makes it feel so shameful. You think: There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m fine. Why can’t I _______. or why don’t I just ______.
I’m going through that a bit right now with streaming. I haven’t been able to make myself do it for over a month. And it’s too bad too, because it makes me feel better when I do it. Even if I don’t do anything particularly creative and just play a dumb game, it’s still helpful. People pop on the chat or discord, we talk about stuff, and things happen.
If I’m playing online, they might jump on the same server and we’ll play together for a while. It feels like doing something. It really did save my bacon the last two years, to be honest.
Happy Caturday, GN!
Our internet connection has been deteriorating the last couple of days; normally, download speeds are 65+ Mbps and uploads 12-15 Mbps. Our “new normal” is sub-20 Mbps, often slowing to a crawl.
I suspect the sudden massive increase in teleworkers and telestudents is causing a similar situation nationwide. Bah!
Did my usual Friday morning vittles run; Kroger, Walmart and Sprouts still had wide swaths of the store which were barren, but a bit less so than Monday. (As last Friday’s panic crowds led me to skip provisioning entirely.)
Walmart, for instance, had some turlet paper, milk and eggs but the cold cuts were still nearly nonexistent.
Had one of my rare, unpredictable bouts of human decency and was extra nice to store employees; oddly, this seemed to be well-received. (I remember my years working retail all too-well and what a big difference a few pleasant customers made on über-carpy days.)
Look forward to this “crisis” being over so I can act like myself again.
As best we were able to glean, JimCo is considered “essential” wherein residential roofs are concerned, but not commercial or industrial roofs. Makes no sense; we’re still trying to get clarification but don’t expect it any time soon.
Teh yay!!1!
Did you get any “everything bagels” which included pangolin and bat? 👿
Good morning Fatwa.
I’m glad our internet up here got a huge boost recently so we seem to be doing pretty well, bandwidth wise, although I haven’t tried streaming in a month or so.
Maybe I’ll try today and see how things go.
I guess I may have buried the lead in my first post, but in short, Thank you all, and I love you all. And I missed you all so much,
And it was all my fault.
And as bad as it was for me, it was much worse for Harper.
And I am so grateful that some of you are still here.
There’s no blame here, Dv8. Glad you and Miss Harper are back.
Well that was fun. My first real shopping trip in 10 days -- got a few staples and such, but shelves mostly still bare.
Remember this fiasco? After the worse terrorist attacks in France’s history, this is how the Obama administration showed America’s support --
Down the memory chute -- but for all the reporters criticizing Trump -- there’s a lot to criticize -- but give me a break.
“Hey…rabid Islamofascists just murdered a bunch of your citizens, so please give a warm welcome to James Taylor!!1!”
(Lurch was a shitty roadie.)
You owe me ANOTHER!! Monitor, Fatwa…
Drive-by:
Before I posted my first comment this morning, I refreshed the site and was a bit surprised nobody had beaten me here.
Clearly, that was not the case. Resser-fresser dodgy internet carp!
Ergo, I didn’t “ignore” dv8’s long comment; I didn’t see it. My sincere apologies if any umbrage was taken; I’d never ignore a heartfelt post from any of you. Brenda and I consider you all family (the kind we like, as opposed to those we’re stuck with) and love you dearly.
It’s always a delight when “wayward Gerbils” stop by TSW and I’m delighted that Harper and dv8 are “regulars” again. So sorry to read about the tough times you two have been through and happy that they’ve gotten better.
There’s a reason the original DHD caused me to think of “Callahan’s Law” and I’m grateful that aspect of teh GN’s culture has remained a constant over all these years. This place has been a very bright spot in my life since I hesitantly dove-in on (I think) Day 3 of DHD after following a link from Ace’s place.
Thank you Fatwa, the feeling is mutual. I kind of noticed that you me and Sven were all posting at the same time, because when i finished my post I saw your posts there. I don’t feel like anyone is obliged to respond to anything I write, but I always enjoy all the input and output I see here. Over the years I have looked at this site here and there.
I think though, that what I was most ashamed of was that I didn’t remember if I ever posted on this new site or not, I thought this morning that I might find a few posts from the beginning, but I didn’t even post one time even though I remember Harper telling me about the new site and creating an account there.
Not even “Test 1 2 3…”
I don’t even know myself from back then. It’s like another person.
Yet, things kept happening, and overall, although I didn’t really want to at first, moving here has been good for both of us in many ways.
There are still some challenges, to be sure, but things are better, though lonelier without all the guys in the household we had before.
H-E-B Grocery Chain Thanks Workers with Pay Raise During Coronavirus Outbreak
https://www.breitbart.com/health/2020/03/20/h-e-b-grocery-chain-thanks-workers-with-pay-raise-during-coronavirus-outbreak/
I think they spelled it wrong, they left off the final “E”. Those wacky joos, giving pay raises during a crisis and showin’ the world how it’s done again.
heh : ) good on those guys!!
I muttered something along those lines (Is H.E.B. short for Hebrew…) to myself for a good couple of years when we first moved here.
Mostly because they were the only store in a >50mi distance that carried not only Hannukah candles, but Memorial candles as well. Yippee. Matzo, gefilte fish… :: shudder ::
However, now due to the dearth of the above mentioned items, I do believe I am “The Last Jooooooo” standing SW of Brenham.
I crowned myself that at Tractor Supply, if I think about it. After finishing up my order, I watched the cashier take in my Star of David necklace. “Are you a Jew?!?!”
:: blink :: (Never been asked that bluntly)
“Yes, but since there is so few of my tribe outside of Houston, I tend to call myself ‘The Jew’. Have a good one!”
Only took me 54 years to execute a snappy comeback, too.
Good one, TeX!
I’ve never understood questions like that.
“Are you a Jew?”
No, I just wear this to ward off JW’s, and unwanted invitations to revival meetings..
No, I wear this for self-defense. I found a cross wasn’t stabby enough and doesn’t throw worth a darn.
No, I’m a Mason of the First Temple.
I hope I’ll be able to misappropriate the “stabby” option some day. 😉
Wow, looks like I picked the right day to find my way home!
dv8. Thank you. Just thank you.
For the moment I’m entirely at a loss for words … so I’m going to echo Mac, Sven and Fatwa’s heartfelt comments for now.
Hi y’all!
Love y’all -- because you ARE the family I’ve chosen.
YES! Good to see you, X! Welcome back!
X_LA!!!!!!! WoW!!! I just got through reading a number of your old comments. Wow. So nice to see you!!!
… and how in the world did you happen to be here today of all days?!
:: side-eyes Sven, Fatwa, Paddy and Mac ::
The above have been nudging me to “come visit” a little, and I woke up this morning thinking it was a really good idea.
What an understatement!
The Gerbil horde in action.
That’s a Rabbit like nudge by the way. It could move boulders.
Now if only you could Rabbit nudge RaBbiT.
(Harper fell asleep just a little while before your post, TeX, I tried to tell her you had posted today, but she was just kinda talkin’ in her sleep.
did she wake up for a minute post this and go back to sleep? I never saw her stir.
I think that’s one of her magical powers.
Happy Descriptive Owl Caturday, Gerbil Nation!
Good morning, Sven, dv8, Fatwa, Mac, Harper, and TeX!!!111!!!eleventy!!!!
This has been quite the read-through, this morning, and I had to pause more than once to reflect, and to wipe the moisture from my eyes (must be all that spring pollen).
dv8 -- thank you for sharing. There is no need to apologize -- we all have our struggles and I know that all y’all have helped me through mine. You and Harper are loved and cherished -- whether you can post here, or not.
TeX -- it’s wonderful to see you here, today! I hope you, Mr. TeX, teh puppers, and the whole menagerie are doing well!
Thanks Paddy! As always, good to see you. I have felt for a long while I wanted to get that all off my chest… so… there you are….
To Jerry Atrick: If you were to get this site Brave Certified, you could get some money for the hosting. I don’t know if that sounds like too much of a project, I’m not the expert in it, but it sounds like it would be pretty easy.
If you were Certified, then when people use the Brave browser (a chrome fork) to go to the wheel, you’d get some BAT (basic attention token) crypto for it.
I just got back from a grocery run. I heard that a local Persian market had rice, pasta, fruits, and veggies, so I ventured out. It’s a small market, but everyone -- customers included -- was very friendly and courteous as we navigated the narrow aisles. I wasn’t able to get everything, so I stopped by Trader Joe’s. I got back in my car when I saw they had a line to get in. So I stopped by the Ralph’s on my way home -- they also had a line. Next stop, Smart & Final -- yep, another line. I think I’ll wait a few days and try again.
We had friends over for dinner last night, in contravention of Gov. Nuisance’s orders. It was a wonderful time and something we all needed. I’m used to the isolation of working at home, but I can feel the stress it’s putting on the rest of the family.
I see that the numbers of those tested for the Chinese virus and the number of people dying from the Chinese virus are both going up. And I came up with a simple solution -- stop testing.
Brings to mind an argument I often heard for socialized medicine, that the child mortality rate was lower in countries with government controlled healthcare. What they missed or ignored was that those countries did not try to save many babies we do here. They counted them as stillborn and dumped them. It helps the child death stats but a lot of babies die that would be saved here. Same thing in gun control and crime. I read that one reason UK crime rates look so good is the way they are counted. Here if I rob five banks that is counted as five bank robberies, but in UK that would be one crime of robbing five banks.
Like Obama’s unemployment rates dropping, not because people found jobs but because they were out of work so long the unemployment benefits ran out.
Oh, TeX!!
It’s so wonderful to see you here! Nice beans for everyone! I’m so happy, this is a wonderful place…
Thank you for keeping Teh Wheel spinning, Jerrie. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You’ve done a good thing here, Sir.
OK, I’m going to try and get some sleep. Early to rise means early to bed.
Good night wheelies : )
And clearly, I haven’t had enough naps today! Goodnight, Gentle Mac. Goodnight, Wheelizens.
I leave the place in your capable hands.
(((Poof)))
Good night, Harper and dv8! Rest well, tomorrow’s another day.