Kitt

I am beginning to think Granger is almost as crazy as the Wilcox clan! Good thing he is a lucky bastard!

Are all the Wilcox family either crazy or stupid???

Humans make mistakes. It is how we learn. Comments do not need to be, nor should they be, 100% positive. Say how you feel, but do it NICELY! Got a comment on your story that was less than 100% positive? Take the info under advisement. You don't necessarily need to make changes. Each comment is only one opinion, and everyone has one. Like a certain portion of our anatomy, not all smell like roses. Responding to a less than complimentary comment? As with making the comment in the first place, do it NICELY. Want to write about something you don't have a good knowledge of? RESEARCH! Find a beta reader who has a good working knowledge of the subject. Conversely, if you are writing a story that is tangential to a previous work, find a beta that knows little to nothing of the previous story. You know the background, your regular teem does too. You may automatically fill in the blanks where your reader may not be able to. They say sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me. I call bull. Bones will heal. The damage that evil words can do could become permanent. Think about what you say. An author here posted an excellent blog. I recommend everyone read MacGregs "Taste your words before you spit them out" https://www.gayauthors.org/story/macgreg/poemsandshortquips/16 The only think I want to add to what @MacGreg said is something my gram used to say. "You may have to eat them!

You are so right Molly! While many times hurtful words are spat out intentionally, a bad thing to be sure, sometimes no hurt was meant. Worse, the intent could have been just the opposite. I urge everyone who posts to consider how tone might affect the meaning. This is something that cannot be adequately conveyed in a post or tweet or wherever you happen to be talking. Take, for example, some of Carlos Hazday's characters use the word a******as an affectionate reference. But said differently the same word could incite a riot. The first time I read Mac's poem, it made me think of something my grandmother used to say. Mac said "taste your words". Gram used to say that, with the addition "you may have to eat them!"

A friend of my daughter Wings finally came out when he was in his early 20's. He told us when invited to a function I was in charge of. He called to decline the invite, but as we talked, he changed his mind and said he would attend solo. When I asked why not bring a date he admitted he was gay. My answer? Tell me something I don't know! Like why shouldn't you include him? Reply? He didn't think we would accept a gay couple. How did I know? Me. Hon I have known since you were 13. If I thought it would be a problem we would have had this Convo before the invites went out!

Like most illegal drugs, there is no quality control involved. Pot can be mixed with any number of household herbs to extend the sales, most of which no one has any idea if/how they would affect the user. Heroin and coke is commonly cut with baby laxatives, and who knows what else? Many times the extender agents are what cause the worst reactions. At least legalizing pot will institute a quality minimum. When mom was undergoing chemo and the usual anti nausea meds did nothing for her the doc recommended pot. It was not legal for medical use at the time, so we learned all about how to score on the street. By the time I was doing chemo with the same poisons they used on mom, medical pot was legal and my oncologist offered me a script for it. She actually said it worked better with fewer side effects than most of the pharmaceuticals. Fortunately I found other ways to control the nausea and didn't need either. Now, if someone could explain to me why anyone would want the regular use of ANY mind altering substance, alcohol included, to become the "norm" maybe we can sit down together and figure out how to prevent addictions. Obviously the "Just say no" approach does not work.

Thank you for including me!

When I was in high school one of my friends told me if I had ever lived in one of those housing developments that every house looks the same, he was quite sure I would find a way to turn it upside down and sit on its peak. He thought it amusing that I had to be different. Normal changed for me over the years. Now that I work with the animals, normal to me means a day that things go smoothly. When things get exciting at a 40 horse stable, it usually means something is going wrong.

Something tells me Jimmy Dean isn't done with Preston yet!

Prep would work great if I were actually trying to sit down and write a full length story. All my posted work is just shutting up that distracting damn little voice in my head so I can think about what I am supposed to be thinking about!

That response was meant for my comment. Actually I do NOT have stories going on for years, I have shorts that were prompt responses, although many have asked if I could expand them into stories. The thing is, I am not really an author, my claim to 5 minutes of fame is as an editor. Things I write are actually distractions to me that get written down so they will no longer distract me!

.is the first five paragraphs! I have absolutely no problem with this. Sometimes I get as far as the first five pages. But then those little voices dictating to me just dry up and that's that. They seldom return to a topic I have written about before.

Hi Ali! Welcome to the nicest group of people you will ever meet. We have our rough spots like any family, but when the chips are down ... Don't hesitate to pm me if you need help with something.

So what does that leave us to eat besides meats?

LOL Myr answered before I put my two bits in!

Happens on my android phone as well, and has been since the upgrade. Never thought about it much and thought it peculiar to my phone.

I can be a nag if I need to be!

Hinted Hell! I hounded him to give Imp and Angie their own story!

For everyone's information, Wings wrote this four years ago about a twit that my reaction to the breakup was "good riddance to bad rubbish". She recently took first place in a poetry competition with this piece. Lol yes I am proud of her and felt the need to crow a little!

Yes, you do! Eloquently put Mike. May you have many many years together.

I've been on both sides of the equation that is depression, tho thankfully nothing like what tim needs to deal with. Your actions help more than you will ever know!

You can and should be there for any child, PD or no PD. It is a similar regret to my having left the after school child care system I worked in for 15 years. The parents at the barn all know it is safe for them to allow their early teens to hang at the barn without them looking over their shoulders when I am there,(the other instructors too, I just spend more time there than they do). There are lots of youth groups who would love having a former PD officer as a councilor! That is as it should be! LOL