John Flushing

How English sounds to non-English speakers.

I may have never used a fax machine but I did use an electric typewriter that you plugged into the wall.

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I'm just glad he didn't steal from me. I was actually in Philadelphia a couple of weeks before the aforementioned incident. The Liberty Bell proved to be a lot smaller than I expected. The legend of the Liberty Bell made me think that the Liberty Bell was going to be somewhat taller than a six-foot-tall human being.

I can't believe I found this at the local grocery store. This morning I had a breakfast of 12 yorkshire puddings with roast beef and mashed potatoes and gravy (and drank one quart of milk). Nothing is better.

I hate the Greyhound bus company which had a bus ran one and a half hours late today, which caused me to miss my connection, which is going to cause me to be awake half the night because of the bus schedule, waiting for the next connection to leave the Chicago bus station. I called them scumbags to their face and told them that I will boycott their corporation for the rest of my life, even if I stay alive until the year three thousand. In a few days/weeks, the Recently Purchased thread will show where the train/bus takes me. I told everyone back in 2007 where I was going to wind up someday, somewhere over the rainbow, way up high, I will soon visit a land that I heard of once in a lullaby.

I purchased cheese from the grocery store for the first time in my life today (as my old-school readers such as Carl Monday and Much Lucho may remember, I hate cheese). I did not know that there were two different cheese departments (one for cheese plus other dairy products, and one on the opposite end of the store, for cheese only), nor did I know that cheese could be so expensive (or so cheap, depending on what brand of cheese/type of cheese you buy), nor did I know there were types within types (sharp cheddar, not-so-sharp cheddar, extra-sharp cheddar, etcetera), nor did I know that my local grocery store does not sell mouse traps to go with the cheese. Hopefully the mouse traps I purchased from the local Home Depot will (with the help of the cheese and peanut butter) successfully kill the small brown rodent that appeared to me in my apartment this morning. He disappeared before I could use the sole of my shoe to squash him.

Well then it's probably just as well that I don't know anything about cryptocurrencies (and I don't want to know).

Where I live, some convenient stores and sit-down restaurants are open on Christmas Day, but they typically close on or around 2:00 P.M. to allow employees at least some time to enjoy the holiday.

Things I purchased recently. 1) I bought myself a hayride at an apple orchard. The hayride carried me to and from the corn maze. 2) I could have purchased a cider doughnut at the orchard, but the doughnut line was so long, I chose not to get in line. I would have waited an hour and a half for the doughnut. I drove to the grocery store and purchased a pumpkin muffin instead, and waited in line for 18 seconds. 3) I purchased a train ticket, and attended the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, watching from the corner of Sixth Avenue and 42nd Street. 4) I went to Walmart on Black Friday at 4:00 A.M. The cops were walking up and down the aisles. I tried to purchase one U.S.B. flash drive and two bottles of water, but the person in front of me at the register, refused to let me go in front of him in line, even though he had what looked like 75 items. 5) I got tired of waiting for the slow customer to scan all 75 barcodes. I left the store at 4:10 A.M. and returned at 5:00 P.M. This time around, the person in front of me (who had what looked like 95 items) was begging me to go in front of him. I thanked him kindly as I purchased my three items. 6) The Salvation Army Bell Ringer was ringing the bell at Walmart, and I gave a donation. 7) On the evening of the M.L.S. Cup Final, I visited a coffee house, and purchased a Shepherd's Pie, thereby giving myself an excuse to sit in the coffee house and watch the Cup Final. It was a very good game, and it gave me great joy that the game did not go into overtime. I wanted to go to bed as early as possible.

Three points in response: 1) Good for you. I know of quite a few people who refuse to shop on Christmas Day, for similar reasons. These people whom I know, refuse to help the store owner make the employees work, on a day when the customers have the day off (the customers have time for relaxation/time with friends/time with loved ones/time to celebrate). 2) The store employees are non-essential employees. They are not hospital workers, nor are they firefighters, nor are they police officers, etcetera. 3) I enjoyed going to church to enjoy a Thanksgiving celebration this year, and appreciated the decision of my employer to permit me to celebrate and eat turkey in the church hall with those whom I know. I also enjoyed going to church for Mardi Gras this year.

I second that.

Digital cameras in general. I didn't even know what GoPro was (although I had heard the name before) until I looked it up on the internet just now. That's a relief. Ever since I had first heard of smartphones I assumed that smartphones had all the bells and whistles of the traditional standalone cameras.

I hate the statement the newscaster made a few minutes ago (I was watching A.B.C. Seven Eyewitness News). I have never done it. I am not interested in dying a preventable death; therefore, I do not text on the phone while driving, nor do I see why anyone would. Driving while texting is like driving with both of your eyes closed. It simply does not work.

Several points in response to this overall topic: 1) If I consume an In N Out Burger within the next one thousand years, then I will post the photograph(s) in these forums. I have not forgotten the discussions I had with such people as Quintus, Carl Monday, Dreamlander, Peace, Rita, Pexbo, Scout F.C., Why Did I Change My Name, LearnGFX, etcetera on such topics as the New York City Football Club, bagels, Boxing Day football matches, internet streaming, and the Golden Gate Bridge. 2) A lot of medical breakthroughs we take for granted today (eradicating smallpox, repairing a torn A.C.L, Tommy John surgery, etcetera) were considered impossibilities hundreds of years ago, thus the reason I might still be alive at the age of 600. 3) I recently obtained a V.C.R., which enables me to watch football after the game has been played. 4) I used the V.C.R. to tape the Champions League Final, and during a commercial, someone tapped on the glass inside of my T.V. set, and asked me if I was watching the game on the iPhone Seven. It was a commercial for the iPhone Seven. 5) I don't know anything about smartphones and I don't want to know, thus the reason I was watching the recording of the Champions League Final through my V.C.R. 6) People used to ask me regularly if I ever made posts about football, and the answer to that question is yes. This post here in the Lounge is an example of such a post.

Two points in response: 1) The snow covered mountains are amazing just like the frozen ponds you see during the winter. 2) I have heard rumours that they may stop making standalone digital cameras. I hope such rumours are false. I have no interest in owning a smartphone and the last thing I want is to be forced to learn how to use one just so that I can take photographs.