Guest Blog Today – Chuckle Guaranteed

Posted on November 14, 2022 by dfolstad58

While I should be writing a post today, and I might still – I wanted to gift my readers with a Guest Blog today.

Photo by Frank Mita on Pexels.com

Today while visiting “Robby Robin’s Journey” – Male-Female Communications – she commented on the humourous side of male / female communications and supported it with a link to another blog (which I will share below) – and she shared the story about Roger and Elaine (below). So good that I am sharing it also.

I hope you chuckle and visit BOTH of the blog sites shared♥♥♥ – David

Please enjoy the story – Clink Link to the blog story originator “A Story about Making Cider, Well Sort of” or read it below♥

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Roger and Elaine

Let’s say a guy named Roger is attracted to a woman named Elaine.  He asks her out to a movie.  She accepts.  They have a pretty good time.  A few nights later he asks her out to dinner, and again they enjoy themselves.  They continue to see each other regularly, and after a while neither of them is seeing anyone else.  And then, one evening when they are driving home, a thought occurs to Elaine, and without really thinking, she says it aloud:

“Do you realize that, as of tonight, we’ve been seeing each other exactly six months?” 

And then there is silence in the car.  To Elaine, it seems like a very loud silence.  She thinks to herself; Ge’ez, I wonder if it bothers him that I said that.  Maybe he’s been feeling confined by our relationship; maybe he thinks I’m trying to push him into some kind of obligation that he doesn’t want, or isn’t sure of.

And Roger is thinking:  Gosh, six months.

And Elaine is thinking:  But, hey, I’m not sure I want this kind of relationship either.  Sometimes I wish I had a little more space, so I’d have time to think about whether I really want us to keep going the way we are, moving steadily toward….I mean, where are we going?  Are we just going to keep seeing each other at this level of intimacy?  Are we headed toward marriage?  Toward children?  Toward a lifetime together?  Am I ready for that level of commitment?  Do I really know this person?

And Roger is thinking:  So that means it was…let’s see…it must have been February when we started going out, which was right after I had the car at the dealer’s which means…lemme check the odometer….Whoa!  I am way overdue for an oil change here.

And Elaine is thinking: He’s upset.  I can see it on his face.  Maybe I’m reading this completely wrong.  Maybe he wants more from our relationship, more intimacy, more commitment; maybe he has sensed, even before I sensed it…that I was feeling some reservations…Yes, I bet that’s it.  That’s why he is so reluctant to say anything about his own feelings.  He’s afraid of being rejected.

And Roger is thinking:  And I’m gonna have them look at the transmission again.  I don’t care what those morons say, it’s still not shifting right.  And they better not try to blame it on the cold weather this time.  What cold weather?  It’s 87 degrees out, and this thing is shifting like a garbage truck, and I paid those incompetent thieves $600.

And Elaine is thinking:  He’s angry.  And I don’t blame him.  I’d be angry too.  I feel so guilty, putting him through this, but I can’t help the way I feel.  I’m just not sure.

And Roger is thinking:  They’ll probably say it’s only a 90 day warranty.  That’s exactly what they’re gonna say, the scumbags.

And Elaine is thinking:  Maybe I’m just too idealistic, waiting for a knight to come riding up on his white horse, when I’m sitting right next to a perfectly good person I enjoy being with, a person I truly do care about, a person who seems to truly care about me.  A person who is in pain because of my self-centered, school girl romantic fantasy.

And Roger is thinking:  Warranty?  They want a warranty?  I’ll give them a warranty!

“Roger,” Elaine says aloud.

“What?” says Roger, startled.

“Please don’t torture yourself like this,” she says, her eyes beginning to brim with tears.  Maybe I should never have….Oh my….I feel so…”(She breaks down, sobbing)

 “What?” says Roger

 “I’m such a fool,” Elaine sobs.  “I mean, I know there ‘s no knight.  I really know that.  It’s silly.  There’s no knight and there’s no horse.”

“There’s no horse?” says Roger

“You think I’m a fool, don’t you.”   Elaine says.

“No!” says Roger, glad to finally know the correct answer.

“It’s just that…It’s that I…I need some time,” Elaine says.  (There is a 15 second pause while Roger, thinking as fast as he can, tries to come up with a safe response.  Finally he comes up with one that he thinks might work)

“Yes,”he says.  (Elaine, deeply moved, touches his hand.)

     “Oh Roger, do you really feel that way?” she says.

      “What way?”  says Roger.

      “That way about time,” says Elaine.

“Oh,” says Roger. “Yes.”

(Elaine turns to face him and gazes deeply into his eyes, causing him to become very nervous about what she might say next, especially if it involves a horse.)

At last she speaks: “Thank you, Roger.”  she says.

  “Thank you,” says Roger.

Roger then takes her home, and she lies on her bed, a conflicted, tortured soul, and weeps until dawn, whereas when Roger gets back to his place, he opens a bag of Doritos, turns on the TV, and immediately becomes deeply involved in a rerun of a tennis match between two Czechoslovakian’s  he never heard of.  A tiny voice in the far recesses  of his mind tells him that something major was going on back in the car, but he is pretty sure there is no way he would ever understand what, and so he figures it’s better if he doesn’t think about it.  (This is also Roger’s policy regarding world hunger.)

The next day Elaine will call her closest friend, perhaps two of them, and they will talk about this situation for six straight hours.  In painstaking detail, they will analyze everything she said and everything he said, going over it time and time again, exploring every word, expression, and gesture for nuances of meaning, considering every possible ramification.  They will continue to discuss this subject, off and on, for weeks, maybe months, never reaching any definite conclusions, but never getting bored with it either.

Meanwhile, Roger, while playing racquetball one day with Norm, a mutual friend of his and Elaine’s will pause just before serving, frown, and say; “Norm, did Elaine ever own a horse?”

Posted in guest blog posts, humor | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

Taking the Long Way

Posted on October 26, 2022 by dfolstad58

I appreciate every visit and comment to my blog. Recently this blog outgrew it’s memory for a free blog and I had a few options;

a) quit and start over,

b) pay and get rid of the ads that I had no control over.

I have been blogging for awhile now and my first goal was simply to try, and learn a new skill. Once that goal was accomplished, I realized I was hooked, I wanted to continue.

I was hooked by the kind comments and encouraging readers. Now and then someone out of the blue would say “Hey I read your blog”. It made me light up inside that they liked it enough to mention it.

If they read it occasionally it must not be totally bad, eh?

I couldn’t stop because I would miss you guys, and so I continue posting. Not every day, but I hope often enough you don’t lose interest and I hope not too often that you tire of visiting.

All of this preamble to say; Thanks for reading and keeping this blog alive! ♥ So far 845 posts since 2010 and few different categories for those who want to explore past posts.

Fill your boots and read along.♥♥

this was an amazing sunflower that actually had hues of purple this summer in my yard.

TAKING THE LONG WAY

The Okanagan valley where I live is a typical valley. It has mountain ridges on two sides and a string of different lakes stretch in a line like children on a playground holding hands.

The mountain ridge to the west of Penticton is steep. I remember years ago when a small plane taking off from Penticton and heading west to Vancouver crashed and landed in the forests west.

A good friend of mine once showed me just how steep the western side of the valley is. He took me up in his plane and we travelled north up the valley gradually gaining altitude. I knew our destination, Apex Mountain, was only a few miles west of Penticton but we kept going north, and kept gaining altitude.

Finally, he turned the plane and we continued to climb but now going south and west. Our plane had wound it’s way up and then back down the valley in order to climb to the necessary altitude safely.

We circled the ski hill and then he offered to take me back to Penticton direct. He would demonstrate the steep mountain slope by safely flying DOWN that angle of slope instead of UP. There would be no risk of stalling the plane heading down.

I felt like I was leaning heavily forward in this tiny two-seated plane. The trip to the mountain, up and then back down the valley had taken 30 minutes in his swift plane, but the trip direct, down the dizzying angle felt like 60 seconds even though I am sure it was more like ten minutes.

We finally leveled off and I breathed easier, no longer feeling like the plane was in a diving angle.

Definitely I knew I did not want to be in a plane that tried to fly UP that direct rate of angle – unless it was an F-18.

The short cut was a direct route to disaster, the way to success was to Take the Long Way.

Photo by Gaurav Nik on Pexels.com

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Oftentimes I have tried to go the direct route to my goals.

For example I wanted to run a ten kilometre race and was following a proven schedule of gradual increases of walking vs running. I felt like I could jump ahead and so I didn’t follow the graduated plan.

I skipped ahead a few weeks when training for a ten kilometre run, instead of following the well laid out plan. My enthusiasm, and impatience simply lead to injury and weeks of not training at all. I had to start at the beginning again.

But I did learn. I learned to follow the wisdom of a proven plan and being impatient was something I had to learn not to be.

By following the plan I learned I was actually following the best way, the safe way and that the short cut was actually the direction of failure and foolish when it came to training for my running goal.

I learned the hard way not to take the direct route because it was an illusion.

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David’s note – I have shared these two examples but I have many more, and you probably can think of situations yourself when taking a “shortcut” turned out to be a “learning experience” as we often describe it when we fail.

But failure is not a bad thing. I am not a critic of failing.

I admire people who are always trying new things, and challenging themselves. They are the ones doing exciting things and learning exciting things.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

_Eleanor Roosevelt, former 1st lady of the United State

As long as we can fail without permanent repercussions but better we learn from other’s failures. Maybe wisdom is not learning from our mistakes, better that we learn from the mistakes of others.

Have goals,

Have visions,

Have a plan and don’t worry if you Need to Take the Long Way to achievement.

  • Thanks again for your time and your visit! ♥ David
Made it! – now downhill going back.
looking south from the east side of Okanagan lake
Sunset – English Bay. Vancouver BC
Skaha lake beach

Posted in health, Just being creative, okanagan related, Thinking Out loud | Tagged , , , , , | 57 Comments

October has been amazing

Posted on October 24, 2022 by dfolstad58

Thanks for visiting my blog today, I was shocked to realize it has been nearly a month. Yikes – it’s not that I don’t think of things to write, the days disappear and best intentions don’t write blogs.

October has been amazingly warm in the Okanagan. We don’t normally have snow by this time of year but neither do we have dry and warm weather like we have been. I have still been able to pick cherry tomatoes from my garden and need to do so today.

My wife has finished with our plums now, and done more canning. I think her canning total was about 300 jars this year between cherries, relishes, plums etc.

I will include today some photos of beautiful purple flowers that bloomed this week by our front door – blooming wonderful in October♥

The leaves are changing now, and they are falling intermittently but consistently. The colours of gold and red leaves are all around us. My cherry tree leaves are still green but in time they will be turning golden and drop off as well. Raking and bagging are in the future. But October has been amazing so far.

But winter is coming. In fact a few times this week we woke up to 2 Celcius in the morning and I wore gloves yesterday on a walk.

Two days ago we put out some of our Halloween decorations, just silly, not scary for us though. Orange pumpkin lights now fill our entranceway and pumpkin pies are in my future. In fact they are in my recent past as well, yum.

In other news, I officially sang “When I turn 64” to my wife recently and she gave me the thumbs up. Thanks Beatles!

What’s a photo without my thumb on the lens? It’s still a nice autumn moment of my son by the shore. The days are getting shorter.
My son on the bench absorbing the view. No point is zooming past, we need to soak.
Our trusty but tired steeds along the lake.
Alongside the art garden these flags hang along with messages of love and acceptance. They remind me of prayer flags.
A new tree in the park received this knitted love treatment. I think it’s awesome that some people do that in town.
The breeze is cool off the lake normally but this was a lovely day looking north with Giants Head mountain about 9 o’clock in the photo.
three beautiful purple flowers bloomed that don’t care it’s October.

From the Tenth Anniversary Edition of Stuart McLean “Welcome Home – Travels in Smalltown Canada”

_ Thanks for visiting – please comment ♥ – David

HAPPINESS
Happiness is the colour 
of bread dough, 

Happiness sounds like the mixers turning around, 

Happiness tastes like puff pastry
like cream horns,

Happiness smells like cookies straight
from the oven,

Happiness looks like bread loaves
ready for the proofer,

Happiness is being free 
in the bakery.
Posted in okanagan related, Thinking Out loud | Tagged , , , , | 34 Comments

Some silly when the lakes are smooth

Posted on September 29, 2022 by dfolstad58

Thanks for visiting my blog “Life and Random Thinking” today.

A shorter post today – to check in and say thank you for the comments and visits on my blog recently. I especially enjoy receiving feedback.

Today I was down at Skaha Lake for a walk with my Dad, and my son; three generations.

The lake was smooth, the sand nearly empty except for two brave souls who went in for a dip. My son told me that would be a good shock to the system – he’s partially right at least.

On such a quiet day, it was nice to sashay along, say hello to fellow walkers and sit on a bench.

Most of the benches have memorial plaques on them and they face south along the Skaha lake walkway.

We took the opportunity to enjoy the rippling water, and peaceful time as we anticipate the changing of leaves and upcoming season of colour and cooler temperatures.

I am kind of looking forward to all of that.

Thanks to my son, I indulged in some silly relaxing time by watching “In the Bag” the other day.

The little presentation is just over SEVEN MINUTES LONG, musical/humorous and since it cultivated some smiles/chuckles and I had to learn more about it.

This Disney animated short film featured J. Audubon Woodlore (the park ranger) and Humphrey the bear.

Humphrey is the star of the short movie. It’s a cute story of a park ranger who engages the park bears to help him clean the park after careless tourists leave a mess.

The story includes the wonderful music (bump, bump musical number – at the time 2:06 in the video) where the bears clean and happily pick up papers.

Poor Humphrey runs into some problems, and at the end Humphrey reminds me of Charlie Chaplin’s tramp character.

The song in “In the Bag” was so popular, that Disney released it as a single “The Humphrey Hop“.

Spoiler – Smokey the Bear makes a cameo role – In The Bag – watch here.

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Thanks for visiting in this “Thinking Out Loud” post. ♥♥- David

Quail in my yard
Posted in okanagan related, Thinking Out loud | Tagged , , , , | 30 Comments

When the dog bites

Posted on September 15, 2022 by dfolstad58

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I’m feeling sad.

Dear readers, thank you for visiting today. How is it I can still remember the words to a song I learned in my exuberant youth?

I think I was living in East Vancouver and in grade 3 when Mrs. Renfrew taught her class this song “My Favorite Things”. I still smile remembering her. I got two detentions the first day of school for talking, and Most Improved Student at the end of the year. She was so nice.

Of course in my mind I hear Mary Poppins singing the lyrics – Link here “caution ♥ listening to this 90 seconds could have you singing all day!”

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream-colored ponies and crisp apple strudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver-white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

The Sound of Music

It’s not only when I feel sad that I remember my favorite things.

I love the simplest pleasures of life like walking, diving into a cold lake and standing by a bonfire with a towel afterward.

I love sunflowers, and the smell of grass. I love watching the birds jump from sunflower to sunflower and the bees that loiter and gather at each.

Queen Elizabeth just passed and she certainly had the means and access to anything her heart desired. It seems to me though that she really liked the simple things of life, walking her dogs, the countryside of Scotland. Those were her highlights, and where she had some of her happiest times.

I may be weird, but I truly believe that looking up at the sky and admiring the big dipper is a pleasure.

Happiness can be felt in the small details,

It doesn’t have to be something grand or complicated.

A warm mug of hot tea with lemon on a cold winter morning is a wonderful feeling, hard to beat.

”Comparison is the thief of joy.”

Theodore Roosevelt

I left the hospital today after my second of three appointments this week feeling very joyful. It’s a nice day, I found parking easy peasy and when I got home there was a hot breakfast and hug awaiting.

Starting each day with a long hug, and ending it the same way is the best heart medicine I could prescribe.

Life is good.

May your day be filled with a few of your favourite things also. ♥ – David

Big thank you for stopping by!

Don’t need no TV, I don’t need no phone
Don’t need a speedy car to get me home
Don’t need no nothing
All I need is time for the simple life

Go get your butt out off that lazy couch
Put down the laptop and get out of the house
Don’t need no nothing
All I need is time for the simple life

I got a brand new scratch on my Cadillac
Try to call the Bodyshop but my phone is dead
Tried to email my brother but the wifi’s down
This stuff is haunting me all year round

I’m fixing one thing and another one’s coming lose
It’s making me think how much it stinks
I keep on buying new things that I can’t really use
If it just gets you annoyed then what is the point?

Casey Adams – Simple life
Posted in okanagan related, Thinking Out loud | Tagged , , , , | 24 Comments

It’s always Blue Skies

Posted on August 30, 2022 by dfolstad58

Thank you for visiting my blog “Life and Random Thinking” today.

Today is my 8th post in my Toastmasters challenge to do 8 posts in a month.

Thanks for hanging in there and supporting my writing and especially the encouraging comments and suggestions.

I have a few different ideas to share and hope you will like one or all of them and I am including delicious music for dessert♥ – David

Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich on Pexels.com

Today I had another “procedure” as in day-surgery and stitches that will need to be in for three weeks because of the chunk removed. I have recurring struggle with skin cancer due to over thirty years of taking immuno-suppressant drugs so my kidney transplants don’t reject.

I’m happy about it.

The surgeon is always really nice, the day surgery nurse “Tammy” is always sweet and welcomes me by sight. I left the room today after multiple needles to freeze my leg, clothes soaked with blood; but I went home feeling content.

A few years back I took Headspace (a meditation app) and one of the first concepts was that the blue skies are up there, the clouds are temporary but the blue sky isn’t. Which I see and focus on is up to me. Today I admit I was gritting my teeth, and deep breathing but I knew the blue skies were still there.

Blue Sky link here

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Photo by freestocks.org on Pexels.com

I have just started watching a Netflix show called “Navillera“.

The story line is “A 70-year-old with a dream and a 23-year-old with a gift lift each other out of harsh realities and rise to the challenge of becoming ballerinos.”

The average young ballet dancer quits their careers young. The concept of beginning at age 70 is inspiring.

What would I do/try if I didn’t think about my age, weight, blah blah? What could I accomplish?

At one point the “seasoned” 70 year old says “I know I am old and weak. I am willing to be defeated by reality. But I want to at least try.”

That grabbed my ears, my heart and my imagination.

Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

A few years ago you might recall a bobsled team qualified for the 1988 Winter Olympics. The likelihood seems the same as finding a magic carpet outside my window.

quote from Wikipedia “Their “underdog” status as an unlikely competitor in a cold weather sport represented by a nation with a tropical environment quickly gained them popularity at the Games. They had little experience in the sport and had to appeal to other teams for basic equipment in order to compete; sporting camaraderie across national boundaries followed. In the third out of four runs, they lost control of the sleigh, crashed, and did not officially finish.

I have to imagine they went home with their hearts full that they tried.

Defeated by reality but riding a magic carpet regardless that they gave it their all, and I believe they were happy, joyful, exuberant in that knowledge.

I like this beautiful song and loved the Jamaican beat, lyrics and images from the Jamaican national bobsled movie.

So called “Failures” this team embraced the attempt and were living without regret because of that

My challenge of these 8 posts was to write “compelling” posts.

I don’t know if I did – only you can say if I succeeded.

I hope that every person sees the “blue skies” in their lives, that they are content enough to enjoy what life has given them but optimistic about what the days ahead might bring.

I also want to express sincere thank you to the readers that encourage me to share my thoughts. I am grateful for the friendships I didn’t expect when I started blogging many years ago.

I started blogging as way to continually learn and challenge myself – a goal I embrace for myself and I hope you do also.

I have learned and I have much more to learn and new challenges to try. I will try to embrace the joy of trying and failing as the doorway to achievement. ♥♥ David

Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.”

Henry Ford
Posted in blogging assignments, music related, Thinking Out loud, Toastmasters | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments