This is very unlikely to be a nice clearly thought out essay, but I've been missing my friends here and wanted to catch you up on where I've been physically and mentally, at least a bit. So if you can manage to follow a convoluted, disjointed, rambling post; read on :-)

I just returned from a 3 day conference in Nashville. The first night started out with a memorial for those who were killed/maimed/lost loved ones in the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. It was very well done, and ended with a playing of the Star Spangled Banner with the waving of the Stars and stripes. Then the president of the company putting on the conference spoke. Among other things, he said he hoped that the Canadians present would understand what might seem like overdone patriotism, and still feel welcome. I (and those Canadians with me) had not felt the patriotism was over done, and I was moved to tears by the standing ovation that his welcome of us Canuckians to the conference. That people in so much pain could take the time to make us feel warmly welcomed, touched my heart as much as anything else.

The next night, after a day of seminars, there was a recogition night for those who had accomplished some business goals. And they started it off with recognition of all those who had served in the armed forces in their country - American or Canadian or other (though I don't think that there were others there this weekend). It was amazing. The leaders of the conference told us the next day of men coming up to them and thanking them for the honour... that several Viet Nam vets said it was the first time *anyone* had thanked them for their service to their country! (Might I suggest that if you know a Viet Nam vet, you thank them for doing their very best for their country? Whether or not you agree with what was happening there, those who fought did so, in general, in service to their country.)

At home again, the golden leaves on all the deciduous trees are so beautiful; but because they signal the coming of winter, my heart aches. Nashville was so warm and green! Of course we've had near record temperatures here, too, but the leaves don't lie... winter's lurking and an ambush is just around the corner.

Underneath all this is a sense of loss. Sorrow for all those who have lost loved ones is a constant ache, as is the pain I feel for those who struggle with hate, anger, insecurity, and fear for loved ones who may yet die in the war to come. Although I have always prayed, I only now come close to the constant prayer urged by St.Paul. I pray for wisdom for our leaders, for strength for those who are persecuted for the actions of others, for comfort for those who mourn and for peace and justice.

I met several people while I was travelling who stand in my prayers, too. There was the waitress with the brilliant smile who made my lonely lunch less lonely. The waiter who was kind and friendly to the group of us, despite his fear of being cruelly disdained for being from Egypt. He was a Coptic Christian... hated by Moslems in Egypt for being Christian and by whites in America for being Arab. There was the woman I met at the airport who had lost her husband a few months ago and her son two years earlier, and is worried about her grandchildren being drafted and losing them, too. And the Canadian Lebanese who had been back to Lebanon to visit his dying father for six weeks, and now is returning to a changed home with hostility from many and suspicious looks from even more.

I pray for our society, that terrorism will not win by pitting us against each other. That the guilty will be found and brought to justice and that God's peace will flow, flooding hearts that were stone, and now are torn flesh.

I've started several haiku, but somehow there are too many swirling emotions to write well. I'll keep trying.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), September 26, 2001

Answers

Hi Tricia,

So nice to have you back. And thanks for your summary of your travels. If I had known you were heading for Nashville, I could have put you in touch with my brother who lives there, and he might have made you feel at home. (He is spending a lot of time dealing with a new computer virus where He works.)

If winter is the only ambush we have to contend with, we will be grateful. We are back to prepping again, but thankful we don't have to start from scratch. Checkout TB2K if you want to see a lot of posting going on. Most of it is good stuff too.

We have had the wood stove going the last couple nights. It got down in the 30s here. I don't think tonite will be so cold. (I know, to you Canuckians 30s is just comfortable cool.)

Good to hear from you. My friend with fibromyalgia is on the regimen that involves guiafenesin,and is having good success with it. He says his pain is greatly diminished.

We are having some old friends show up, but so far haven't heard from the King of Spain, or the Squirrel King, who allegedly puked on the server at TB2K and put it out of commission for several days. Perhaps current events will bring them out of retirement.

-- Gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 26, 2001.

Always VERY good to hear from you, Tricia. And Gene, I always suspected YOU were KOS...?

-- helen (got@plenty.mud), September 26, 2001.

Why, thank you, helen. That's a very nice thing to say. But, no, I'm afraid he and I are not the same. Probly not even related.

Personally, I have never mud wrestled. How about you? Do you like to?

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 27, 2001.

Hey, a quick post script.

Mike 9 or 10 in MI is planning a tb2k cookout next July. Looks like quite a few are planning to go. I think we could make it on a long weekend. The FRL should crash it. LOL

Check the board for the details.

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 27, 2001.

I always felt a bit less a woman, since I was one of only a very few that KOS never did ask to mud-wrestle ;-)

Michigan, huh? That might even be makeable!... We'll see what happens with Florida in Feb, first.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), September 27, 2001.

(((Sweet Princess)))

-- (thesonofdust@hi.tricia), September 27, 2001.

A heart that's hurting
Can make writing difficult.
We love you, Tricia!

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), September 27, 2001.

A heart that's hurting

Makes writing worthwhile also.

We love you, Tricia!

-- Robert Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), September 28, 2001.

Guys, guys...she doesn't want love. She wants you to ask her to mud wrestle!

-- helen (get@clue.guys), September 28, 2001.

Do you like to mud-wrestle, Tricia? [I'm asking for my friend]

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 28, 2001.

"Do you like to mud-wrestle, Tricia?"

Gene ... no wbe careful of those typo's.

It should have been:

"Do you like to mud-wrestle Tricia?"

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), September 28, 2001.

I would mud-wrestle,
To help cheer ev'ryone up.
How 'bout it, Tricia? :-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), September 28, 2001.

Oh, to rassle in the mud!

It stirs my heart, it warms my blood.

To grapple with a grimy miss,

Perhcance to steal a marshy kiss,

And writhe together in the crud,

Oh, to rassle in the mud!

---------------------------------------------------------

-- Lon Frankenstien (evil@the.bayou), September 28, 2001.

Thanks, Gene... now I feel all feminine again ;-)

And Gayla, are you sure you really want to make such a scene at Disneyworld? Or were you thinking at Mike's in Michigan? ;-)

Thanks, Robert and Rob... you all lifted my spirits immensely!

.

Rainy autumn morn

Golden glow from ground and trees

Turned leaves brighten day.

.

There, I knew it would come back if I kept after it :-)

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), September 28, 2001.

OH yes! I knew that once again we would ascend the loftie hytes of literary blysse. Perhaps we will have even higher kue.

And, Rober, it probably should have been: "Tricia, do you like to mud wrestle?"

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 29, 2001.

Mud, mud, mud ‘twix her toes,

Mud in her ears and mud up her nose.

Mud in her teeth, and mud in her hair,

I’s tellin’ you folks, it’s mud everwhere!

It’s muddy rasslin’, don’t you know?

Trish and me, muddy toe to muddy toe.

And as a special tag muddy team,

It’s muddy Gayla and muddy Gene.

Muddy Helen and muddy Mitch,

Get down to scratch a muddy itch.

But Rob and Robert will have their turn

“Cause on the bayou, we got mud to burn.

So drop a dime for some mud in your eye,

Step right up, it’s mud pie in the sky!

=======================================

-- Lon Frankenstien (evil@the.bayou), September 29, 2001.

Lon,

You're a muddy genius!

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), September 29, 2001.

Fer Heaven's sake, Gene, don't encourage him! It's bad enough that Trish posts so seldom, but now it looks like my evil twin has turned her beautiful thread into a vision of his warped little brain (it was dropped a few times, afterall).

-------------------------------------

-- Lon Frank (lgal@exp.net), September 29, 2001.

Seems to me the mud would have turned her beautiful threads into a warped mess ....

'Course, torn, wet shrunken threads do look good on certain people............

-- Robert Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), September 30, 2001.

After reading Lon Frankenstein's rhyme,
Gayla walks up and drops her thin dime.
She said, "I won't do this for just anyone,
But it's about time for some bayou fun."

She reaches down for a handful of mud,
An airborne attack that hits with a thud.
Frankenstein charges intending to tackle,
"I'll get you my pretty!" he says with a cackle.

As he jumps to grab her with arms open wide,
At the very last second, she steps to the side.
With mud on his face and anger in his eyes,
He turns to attack, but to his surprise...

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 01, 2001.

WELL?? Finish it, Gayla!

-- impatient helen (hurry@up.gayla), October 01, 2001.

She musta got stuck in the mud ....

Now, if she swims for it, what's gonna happen to poor Lon?

-- Robert Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 01, 2001.

LOL!

Y'all are wasting your time; clearly Gayla is no longer there. That's why Lon's surprise. Maybe the Aliens got her! Oh, NO!

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), October 02, 2001.

Don'tcha just love a cliffhanger? ;-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 02, 2001.

As far as he could see, there was no one around.
Gayla had disappeared without making a sound.
Frankenstein sat down in the mud with a plop.
He didn't know the 'other shoe' was about to drop.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 02, 2001.

And . . . . ?

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 02, 2001.

A prism of light from above caught his eye.
Even though he searched, he saw nothing in the sky.
Suddenly, gravity gave way to a magnetic beam.
The last thing he heard was his own frightened scream.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 02, 2001.

Don't stop now!

-- helen (got@pillow.blankie), October 02, 2001.

I'm scaring myself now! LOL

-- Gayla (gets@blankie.too), October 02, 2001.

And we heard him exclaim as he rose out of sight: "Merry Christmas, gee whiz, What a heckuva plight! I sure hope I make it! Good gracious! Good night!"

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 03, 2001.

LOL! I like that Gene. I was thinking I need to make it funny instead of scary. We've had enough terror lately to last a lifetime.

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 03, 2001.

When Frankenstein awoke, he was aboard a strange ship.
In front of him was a table with snacks, chips and dip.
Across the table from him sat Helen, Robert and Gene.
He asked, "What am I doing in this flying machine?"

"We're going to a planet where your dreams come true."
As he looked out the window, Earth faded from view.
Looking at the driver's seat, he let out a squeal!
For it was none other than DiETeR sitting at the wheel.

-- Gayla (trying@to.makeyoulaughnow), October 03, 2001.

ENOUGH!!!! SToPITNOw!!!! GO AWAY FooLISH CHILDREn!!!! whY DO YOU noT STOP ThIS MALarKEY???? How iN GODS Nam e DO YOU JUstiFY SUCH MIndLESS DIeTERFOoLERY?????? STOPITSToPTISTOPIT!!!!!!!OH IN HeaVENS NAMe WHY DO yOu TWIst dIETerS BOWELS???????

-- Dieter (questions@toask.com), October 03, 2001.

Sounds like you got yer panty hose in a kink, Dieter.

-- helen (not@my.fault), October 03, 2001.

Whoa, helen, maybe we shouldn't go there!!!

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 03, 2001.

Is it the panty hose part, Gene, or the kink part that we shouldn't mention?

-- helen (runs@galore.everywhere), October 03, 2001.

It's the panty hose, helen. Once, when I was a much younger man, I walked into the bathroom at night, and nearly suffocated before I was able to extricate myself from a nest of panty hose. The experience has had a lasting effect upon me. Now I avoid the panty hose displays in stores, and even feel a little uncomfortable around the shoe department.

But, somehow, it seems we have experienced some thread drift here. Didn't Tricia start this thread? It almost seems like it has been hijohned. (Didn't want to use the other word)

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 03, 2001.

"heybobbed" sounds safer...

-- helen (heybob@this.thread), October 03, 2001.

LOL @ Gene. For anyone who wasn't around back in 1999, DiETeR was the pet troll at Yourdon's forum. Lon wrote a story where the surprise ending included him. I wish I could find the link.

Tricia, sorry for the thread drift. :-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 03, 2001.

Threads drifting?

Heck I'm still trying to uncover Gayla's end .... er, ending.

Er, ending of the story.

Now, seems to me that the best solution where there are problems of excessive female-type clothes in the way of a male's progress is to remove as many of the female type clothes as soon as practical ....... but that's just me.

-- Robert Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 03, 2001.

LOLOL

Robert, has Mitch contaminated you lately?

Gayla, thread drift was the origin of the FRL... you're just maintaining our proud tradition ;-)

Helen and Gene and Gayla... LOLOL

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), October 04, 2001.

LOL. Tricia is right, Gayla. Remember poor Grandmama's missing socks - er, I mean check... back in the fall of '98 :-)

-- (thesonofdust@wonderwhatever.hapenedtothatcheck), October 04, 2001.

Now THAT thread, I could find! :-)

Grandmama's missing check

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 04, 2001.

Gayla: ROTFLTIP :-)

-- (thesonofdust@memory.lane), October 04, 2001.

Yes, that is a good thread. Thoroughly enjoyed the insights. Socks don't bother me near as much as panty hose.

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 04, 2001.

My keyboard got unplugged when Ronnie bumped the wires and I can't type anything right now. (She says its because my shoes got in the way of her feet.)

So I can't send this reply.

-- Robert Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 05, 2001.

Rob, glad it made you laugh. :-) We never DID find out how it turned out. With the FBI saying today there is a 100% chance of another terrorist attack on America, there might not be many smiles in the near future.

Gene, I DO believe you were traumatized by pantyhose! Poor thing! I wonder who invented them anyway? If you get a chance to see "Princess Diaries" (a cute movie) there is a scene about pantyhose that should make you smile. :-)

Robert, do you have big feet? ;-) How is Miss Jean doing? Has anyone heard from S.O.B. lately?

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 05, 2001.

Gayla,

That 100 percent figure isn't very encouraging. But we shall laugh as long as we are able. I don't know who invented panty hose, but I suspect he was a torturer left over from postwar Germany.

How I long for the old-fashioned garter belt. But that's another story. (What IS it about those things?) Now, in a similar vein, I saw a news story about Al Gore speaking to his supporters. Do you suppose they were an athletic group? Where's Gary Larson when you need him?

Sorry, Tricia, we are drifting far, far away.

BTW, are any of you planning for Doomstock 02?

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 05, 2001.

Athletic supporters! ROTFL! Gene, you are too funny!

I'm planning to attend the get-together. I just hope everything is OK and we're able to have it. It sounds like it will be lots of fun.

The original pantyhose (with those garters you love) ;-) have been around since well before WWII. There was a shortage of them during that time and they were a luxury. I'm old enough to remember wearing them and 'fishnet' stockings, too. They were lightweight and much more comfortable, except for the indention they left on the back of your legs when you sat down. :-)

-- Gayla (drifting@thread.again), October 05, 2001.

Yes, I remember the daybiew of the mini-skirt and fishnet hose. At the time I was attending the local university, and I remember a rather well-fleshed-out coed ditty-bopping through the student lounge in her mini-skirt and fishnet hose. Now, I don't mean to be insensitive, but there are some of us who should never wear some items of clothing (so-called). Her thighs looked just like those hams that they score and then stick cloves in each little section. (Her thighs didn't have the cloves, but this was before the body- piercing craze. )

Anyway, that sight kinda put me off the fishnet thing. I never wore them after that.

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 05, 2001.

Oh, the imagery! That's one sight I'm glad I missed. LOL

This is "Former Pantyhose Wearers Anonymous." Gene, please stand and tell us your story... ;-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 07, 2001.

I know I'm not Gene, but I've got to admit that I've fallen back into that terrible habit... I'm wearing pantyhose today :-(

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), October 07, 2001.

I'm wearing blue gean's .....

-- Robert Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 07, 2001.

(((((Tricia))))) When wearing a dress, I still wear pantyhose. I just wanted to hear about Gene wearing them. ;-) I'm not sure WHAT Robert is wearing??? He didn't answer my question about BIG feet, either. Is that an answer in itself?

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), October 08, 2001.

My lips are sealed concerning my former life. And my keyboard isn't talking either.

-- gene (ekbaker@essex1.com), October 11, 2001.

LOL! :-D

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), October 13, 2001.

Gene's keyboard is sealed?

Either he spilled coffee on it ... or a walerus squished it.

Thinking about elephants seals ... can a seal buy things at WalMart?

If an ant lion is speaking the truth, is he still lyin'?

If your mom is an ant lion, what do call her brother?

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 19, 2001.

Dad...?

-- helen (ah@ah.choo), October 20, 2001.

Dad?

Only in "odd" families m'dear.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 21, 2001.

I decided to resurect this thread - talk about a gamut of emotions!

It's been quite the roller-coaster, hasn't it?

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), July 02, 2003.

I never did finish my poem. LOL!

That's OK, Helen didn't finish the 'end of the world story', either. And Lon didn't finish HIS story.

Is that a bad FRLian trait? ;-)

-- Gayla (privacy@please.com), July 03, 2003.

A Travelounge Thread or a Travelong Thread?

We're gonna be in Florida (Daytona Beach area) next week - see y'all in a bit.

-- Robert & Jean Cook (RobertCook@GA.herewith Lon), July 03, 2003.