Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

Ha, yep, sounds about right. I now understand why my parents would get angry when I would claim to be bored as a kid. As an adult, I would loooove to have enough free time to be bored. Even just once. That wildlife center sounds great Hobbit.

@ThanosReXXX - That looks wonderful. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an elephant at a zoo. A few times at the circus, but that’s a far cry from observing them just being elephants. And yes, she definitely has some German blood from her maternal side. Her father’s side is a mystery, but my guess is Greek. I’m a better beer drinker, but she has me beat when it comes to spirits. I get sloppy 100% of the time, but I don’t let it stop me from enjoying a scotch or three.

@bimmy-lee Aha, Greece. Home of the Amazons. Not the Wonder Woman-kind, but the ACTUAL ones...
That might also be a good gene pool for being able to best men at various "skills".

As for you not ever having seen elephants in the zoo: that's kind of surprising to hear, although as a former resident, my memory probably isn't the best indicator for how many zoos the States have, and how many of them actually house the top 5 of big animals. Guess I kinda figured you didn't live too far from any of the big parks.

My bad...

I agree. Running across a sign like that in everyday life would make me chuckle. Thanks for sharing, Anti!

@Heavyarms55 Funnily enough, I also found myself wishing that they'd expanded on the Rotom Dex's photo mode. There was a faint echo of what it could be: an answer to Pokemon Snap in the main games. I'm sure decorating photos for some is all well and good (Truth be told, I would've been all over it as a kid), but it's not for me. It didn't help that Rotom encourages you to go to it every time one of your Pokemon evolves. Every. Time.

@HobbitGamer The funeral home in the small town I lived near growing up still has an upstairs living quarters to my knowledge. I don't think anyone has used that part of it for at least a decade though.

Mortuary Science is definitely an interesting field from a "Hey, this is weird and cool!" perspective. I know a younger person who's currently wanting to study it when they go to college, but it's not for me. XD I'd like learning stuff out of a book on it, but actually touching up cadavers...nope. I'm gonna have a hard enough time removing a dead woodpecker off of my lawn in a little while.

@Tyranexx - Ah, that’s too bad about the woodpecker. I have no love lost for them, but only because I have 52 year old wood shingle on the exterior of my house. It’s like a buffet for them. They’re cool birds though. I found my favorite chipmunk stiff as a board on the driveway last week. Didn’t have a mark on him. Not sure what got him. I planted him near an oak tree. The little guy moved in to my wood pile years ago and sang every day. I took him almonds and pumpkin seeds. He had almost no fear of me, but he wouldn’t take food from my hand. It’s been pretty quiet without him.

@ThanosReXXX - The biggest animals I remember seeing at a zoo are probably rhinos or hippos. I’ve been to quite a few nice zoos, but in Indiana, I’m really far away from almost everything anyone would want to see or do in the US. My town is actually pretty cool though. Not a bad place to be.

@bimmy-lee I think if people enjoy living where they live, then that's the most important, regardless of any specific places being in the vicinity or not. I guess you actually not having any large zoos in the nearby area, makes visiting one even more special than having one in the city where you live...

And Indiana definitely doesn't sound too shabby to me either. I'll share this little bit of flashback with you:

Back when I was a lot younger, and only just settling here, I always had the plan to either go back to the States to visit some of the more well-known places, or at least save up enough money, to go visit my family in California. When I became a teenager, that plan became a lot more ambitious, turning into a round trip to visit either all states, or at least all the interesting ones, or the highest number that I would be able to visit in a set amount of time.

Unfortunately though, live happened, with a LOT of bears on the road (while I'm typing this, I don't even know if that's actually me translating a Dutch saying or if it's also known in the English language, but suffice to say that it means a lot of obstacles), and as such, that particular dream never came true.

And right now, I don't have the money and the time either. And apart from that, the direct family that I actually knew, have almost all passed away, far as I know, so all that is left is their children and their children's children, none of which I've ever even met before, so the incentive to go there for my family has also diminished quite a bit.

But I'll be damned if I'll never set foot on American soil again before I myself am at a point when I really won't be able to go there anymore, but when that'll be, is anyone's guess right now.

I choose to believe the part about bears on the road is literal.

@Morpheel Well, either way: they're still obstacles. Pretty nasty ones as well...

Fun fact: if it actually IS a Dutch saying, then it's all the more comical, seeing as besides teddy bears and bears in the zoo, the Netherlands don't even have any wild bears. Much less wild bears annoying drivers by walking on the freeways...

I also vote for the jaywalking bear saying!
@Tyranexx It definitely takes a specific personality and outlook on life to do work in the funeral business. I’m glad there’s still family owned practices around, it began suffering the same “big company buyouts” that small town doctor practices experienced. But my second cousin still has three of ours going in Oklahoma!

Maybe their habit of sitting on the roads has diminished their numbers significantly.

A beautiful creature, the Dutch Jaywalking Bear. They were too precious for this world.

@Morpheel Haha, now I'm imagining some kind of sarcastic animated movie, in the vein of the one with all the talking groceries. I believe it was called Sausage Party.

Could be video gaming material as well. Frogger 3.0...

But all kidding aside: there's of course also a big chance that it's simply a case of "ye olden day language" being mistranslated/bastardized into modern day language, losing its original meaning, and/or getting misinterpreted.

In this specific case, if I have to assume that it is indeed a Dutch saying, it could be related to boars instead of bears. Wild boars actually being a local animal over here. And as it so happens, male pigs and/or boars are called "bears", so connecting all those dots, that might very well be the answer to this particular mystery.

@bimmy-lee I think I'll miss the little guy/gal. I'm pretty sure it's the one that's been hanging out on/near the telephone pole that straddles my southern property line. It wasn't a bother at all. Kinda neat to watch on occasion actually. I'm not sure if it was the poor thing's time or if it ran afoul of the transformer. Too, it could've been ill.

Your chipmunk friend sounded adorable. I have one that lives near my back steps and perches on them on occasion. He's a timid fella though. Besides that, there's also the visiting cottontail that made me decide not to do a garden just yet. XD I'm not sure one would have been viable with all the rain we've had this year anyway.

@HobbitGamer A lot of the funeral homes here are locally owned to my knowledge. Glad to know your cousin's business is doing well! It's not like there will never be a need....

Don’t forget to give me some merchandise money when the franchise becomes famous.

Anyway it’s been an interesting train of thought.

I don’t think you’d want swag from our business. So here’s another funny nugget. When grandpa had his first funeral home, he also had a flower shop, and made the first ambulance service in the county. The old family joke is the phrase; Comin or goin, you’ll have to see Ralph.

When the heck did the chit-chat thread turn into the funeral home thread? Sorry, but yegh...

@Morpheel I will seriously consider it, and at the very least, you'll be mentioned in the credits...

@bimmy-lee I think we need to look at it both ways though. Yeah as an adult I miss the free time I had as a kid. It would be unimaginable to have 2-3 month long summer vacations. But kids don't know better. Comparatively, it can be seen as boring because they are kids and don't know what it is like, yet, to have a more demanding schedule.

And that also depends on where you live. Kids in Japan, even on summer break are always busy. Like crazy busy. Like, I would probably have hated it if I were a kid here level of busy. So when they say they are bored, it is for totally different reasons. They aren't bored because of free time, they are bored because they lack interest in whatever it is they are being required to do by school, club, cram school, etc...

Different points of view! Banzai!

It all started from Graveyard Keeper, but’s it’s safe now 😜
I’ve got rabbits that still frequent the yard and nibble on the basil sprouts from an old neglected garden, and there’s bird nests in each of my trees. My favorite is the nest in my small rose tree hybrid outside my window. Jack likes to lay on the bed and stare at it.

@ThanosReXXX - I’ve heard the expression! Bears in the road. Bumps in the road. Any sort of obstacle in the road of life that make you pump the brakes or change course. I’ve lived on both coasts, and yet I ended up back home where things feel normal. My town is the very definition of a mid sized American city, roughly 255k people on a land mass approximately 286 km squared. Good public art, decent breweries, it’s on a convergence of three rivers, festivals, parks, jobs, all that good stuff. The zoo is pretty well known. Lots of Ohio and Illinois license plates in the parking lot. I hope you one day see your dream of making it back to the states for a big holiday tour. It would need to be a big holiday if you want to see every state, but there’s an open door in NE Indiana if you do.

@Tyranexx - I bet a garden would be going crazy after all this rain. Especially now that it’s let up a bit and the sun and heat are setting in. I have non edible plants in my yard I’ve never seen prior to this spring and summer. I wonder if you’ll get a new woodpecker? If you have them around, it means there’s something on your property they like, but they’re very territorial. I would guess a new one will move in to snap up all the delicious bugs living in your utility pole. I love to watch them, as long as they’re not drilling holes in my house.

@Heavyarms55 - Some interesting points you make there. They don’t say they’re bored often, but it happens. I can say my kids are very non Japanese then. They live very calm lives. We’re big on creativity and focus. I would much rather have them deeply interested in a few things, than trying to do a little of everything. The television is rarely on, and when it is, it’s Mister Rogers or nature shows. When we play, we pick two or three activities and see them through. Lots of outdoor time. Lots of imagination time. They’ve been pretending to be Link and Zelda for a week straight. They’ll be five and three in August, so they’re still young. Lots of time for growing and branching out, but right now; it’s all about expanding their little minds in a very calm environment low on artificial stimuli.

@bimmy-lee If not the utility pole, then the nearby trees would provide an all-you-can-eat buffet. There's a tiny drainage creek towards the back of my property that's bordered by trees in some places. Heck, there's even a tiny wooded area that borders my property line to the north that belongs to some neighbors.

The heat has visited full force for sure this week; temp-wise, we were spoiled here this spring. XD That said, we just had a round of nasty storms come through. Nothing too severe, but there was quite a light show at a couple of points.

@bimmy-lee If they are big on creative stuff, my go to would be Lego. Lego was an obsession of mine as a kid and I still love it. lol Not the Lego games, actual Lego. Pretty sure they still sell them. Haven't checked since Toys R Us went under.