My Own Little World-Virtual Home in the Suburbs

[joshriddle 29]

Hello and welcome to my new digs!

This is my (virtual) home in the suburbs of Fort Worth.

Anyone who steps in may hang their coat on the hangers behind the closet door.

Please feel free to take a sit on one of our couches.

Feel free to let me know if you need anything. Snacks/drink are avalible in the fridge.

So please use your imagination.

About me:

I live with my little brother, a dog, and my parents

This neighborhood isn't quite what you would see in Southlake. We live in a neighborhood where the poor' folk live. Were not poor but we like to make a joke out of it. Not to say we are rich, we make enough to live.

A part of my past:

When I was a baby, had to have been about two, I lived with my parents in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in a little town called Evergreen. I was born in Denver

About a couple years later we moved down here into Texas.

So really I tend to seem to live a boring teenage life. For the most part. Really there ain't that much exciting stuff going on. There used to be the old arguments and sometimes disputes amongst the troublemaker kids of this neighborhood, but we managed to get rid of that. Or I should say they did.

I stay secluded to myself here in my room here. Usually the only time I step into the outside world is when I eat, go to the bathroom, or when any other essential-to-life necessity needs to be taken care of. So I really consider this place

my own little world.

So welcome to my world, and I hope you enjoy your stay, (if you do stay for all that matter)

Josh

[Barbarossa 51]

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  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[joshriddle 29]

Steps out of shower, puts clothes on, sits down in his chair

Today a very strange thing happened to my old box of a computer. Got the Blue Screen of Death! dadadada!

It told me to restart it, OK, so I did, when it booted up it said the system has recovered from a serious error, so I clicked send error report, looked at the event logs, and I didn't know what it meant.

Originally posted by: Barbarossa

I have family in CO. It must have been an amazing culture shock to move to TX. Did you have the same habits of seclusion "back home" as you do in your new locale?

Barbarossaquote>

To be honest, it is kind of hard to remember. I only remember there being me and my mom and dad. But I think not so much as it is now. Going off of my thoughts

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Now, Josh.  You never mentioned that you have a dog before.  What kind of dog is it?  What's its name?  Is it a boy or a girl (I know, it is probably an it) but what was it?  Have you got a picture of your dog?  You've seen mine, so I am at a disadvantage.

Don't spend too much time swapping around in your virtual space.  There really is a world out there for you to enjoy.  Do you go to movies?  theatre?  concerts?  museums?  swimming (not at home)? play sports?  go to church?  What does a teen-ager do these days?  I haven't been one in nearly fifty years, so I am sure we did things differently then.  I was 20 in 1957 and in my first year of engineering at Queen's University (Kingston, Ontario, Canada, not the one in Scotland).

You can see that if you hang around here, someone will try and make you a Mayor.  You have lots of friends here, but you should have some physical ones too.  "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death". -- Patrick Dennis in Aunty Mame.

[joshriddle 29]

Gets back from dinner, and talks to his dad a little, and goes into his room, which he will soon leave...

(by he I mean me)

First off, here is my dog:

her name is Ginger, she's a mix of Pit Bull and Jack Russell Terrier. Most people freak out over pit bulls, but to me if they would stop abusing them and fighting them with other dogs maybe this would stop.

Speaking of which, little note about pit bulls:

You see, remember Michael Vick and his dogs, he would train them to fight, well, he ain't the only one. You hear of pit bull attacks here in the US at least, so much. Well, as a matter of fact, it is actually how they treat that dog. If they are cruel to it, train it to fight using cruelty, they will turn on their masters and just maul them.

Ginger has got to be the biggest, laziest love hound on earth. She is very well natured, she will let you do almost anything to her. Cause we don't treat her by force or cruelty. Most people we came across, family, friends, etc... were afraid that she was going to turn on us.  We told one of our relatives that she is a good dog, we get a "what's so good about her?" thing, which, that sort of offended me. She wouldn't have known the difference, but I did. That was a mistake to say something like that, especially with the way she does so good around them. She does get a little excited around "new", not meaning us, but visitors, but she is just a rather young dog. Not at puppy stage anymore, but still very young, like 2 dog years young.

But anyway, she does appear to be a lazy old "toad" dog, but she is also such a love hound.

A Nonny Moose: We do stuff together, we go to the movies, zoo, museums, go to the water park, church, go to the restaurants and go out-to-eat. Church and eating out (I should say pigging out) we do rather frequently.

And there is one guy, who which, isn't that bad of a person to hang with. He is constantly with his brother, but we like talk and stuff. In our backyard pool me, him, and my brother play together.

But I would say the better friend is my dog. I would be just lost without her.

But indeed we haven't done much this summer. Mom's to busy. I am hoping this Friday we can go to the water park Saturday.

But as far as today, played around for about an hour in our pool with my brother, and now, I get out of the pool, take a shower, couple hours later, red bumps on my hips and upper legs that itch. Figured out I am having some sort of allergic reaction to the cholorine in there. Thing is never does it in any other pool, just ours.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Sounds like you have swimers itch. you should check the Ph ballance/chlorine levels in your pool.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Originally posted by: Easy Bakes

Sounds like you have swimmers itch. you should check the Ph balance/chlorine levels in your pool.

quote>

Spell checked.  EB you must have been in a rush.

Josh, you have a very pretty dog.  Pit Bulls are banned in Ontario because of some silly knee jerk reactions by the idiots that make laws here.  Thousands of them were put down because some wise asses in Toronto thought it was macho to have a "fighting" dog.  Ach, I spit!

Pit Bulls are really American Staffordshire Terriers and they are descended from English Staffordshire Terriers, known in the U.K. as Nanny Dogs.  In the late 19th and early 20th century it was not unusual for English kids to have a Nanny Dog to look after them when their governess had to be elsewhere.  These gentle, loving, caring dogs have been maligned by the activities of a few miscreants like your stupid basketball player.  I recently saw an episode of Dogtown in which Michael Vick's worst fighting dogs were sent there for rehabilitation.  Many of them were deprogrammed and became loving and beloved pets.  When it comes to animal rescue in general, that outfit in Utah gets five gold stars!

Staffordshire's are much more reliable around children than even a St. Bernard.  I have known a vicious St. Bernard, but I have never heard of a properly trained Staffordshire that was anything but wonderful.  As for the Jack Russell admixture, you dog is probably a little on the stubborn side, too.  I assume you named him Ginger so you could say, if someone asked, "Does Ginger bite?", "No, Ginger snaps."

I am glad to see you have lots of outside activities.  The initial impression was one of severe introversion, which is not good for anyone, let alone a young person.  Enjoy life, you only get one crack at it.

[§haÅ--Ñ€ §hÅŽo 370]

Originally posted by: A Nonny Moose

Josh, you have a very pretty dog.  Pit Bulls are banned in Ontario because of some silly knee jerk reactions by the idiots that make laws here.  Thousands of them were put down because some wise asses in Toronto thought it was macho to have a "fighting" dog.  Ach, I spit!quote>

*Coughs, Michael Vick!*

[joshriddle 29]

Originally posted by: Sirron Kcuhc

*Coughs, Michael Vick!*

quote>

What???

Anyway, got to lay down, perhaps take a nap. Not feeling to good today.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Josh, you need to back up to my previous post to understand that choke.

[joshriddle 29]

Oh right.

BTW, forgot to answer your question. Yes, we have called her and said Ginger Snaps before. Part of it from this horror movie.

The initial impression of naming her Ginger came from when we got her from the old rusty cold hard dog pound. Poor girl she saw us and she got so happy. And so then we left and she started making these sad barking noises. We came back later and just couldn't resist her.

At first her name was "Gidget". which to me sounded like what her other masters named her when she was/born or a tiny puppy. We accidentally called her Ginger one day and so came the name Ginger.

For the most part, she is a very good dog. Sometimes does some naughty stuff, such as snatching stuff off the table and slunkering outside when nobody notices, and vomiting all the time considering she eats everything imaginable, and also sometimes occasionally swallowing that stuff she finds, licking the floor when she sees a tiny bread crumb, but she isn't a bad dog at all.

It was hard to housetrain her though. She was rather stubborn, but with the old whack across the rear legs every time she would pee on the floor eventually broke her of that habit.

Forgot to add, she is deaf as well. Not part deaf, but just like you can scream in her face and can't hear a thing. If she wasn't deaf she wouldn't get any sleep at all at night, considering I always talk in my sleep and stir around.

Starting to get stormy over around here as well.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Ginger sounds like a great dog.  Anybody know why she is deaf?  Was it congenital or an accident?  Really too bad that she can't hear "Good dog", but dogs do well on hand signals, ask anyone who hunts, especially birds, about hand-signal-trained dogs.  In order to get rated as a hunting dog, they have to know these signals cold.

She looks like you have the best of the Jack Russell and the Staffordshire Terrier in her.  If anyone should ask, you could call her a Jackfordshire Terrier.  Should confuse them for a while.

After a nice morning, after the rain raised the humidity to 100%, we got a warm front.  There were supposed to be thundershows with all this, but nothing so far.  Currently the weather network is reporting 26C and 79% humidity, and still forecasting thundershowers overnight.  The weather radar shows that all the action is going south of us.

[joshriddle 29]

Ginger I think was born deaf. We use hand signals in certain conditions, like we raise 2 fingers over our her nose for sit, palm of the hand for stay, fist for come. She does good with that. Except she has a hard time doing it unless she knows for sure there is a treat in that other hand...

Edit: Not our nose, her nose.

Speaking of which, my grandmother, when my mom was growing up, she used to be a nurse at a hospital. She was treating a patient. She was telling us a story about when her patient told her how he had a pit bull, and someone came along in their car, and stuck his head out the window and said,

"Hey I have a fighting pit bull. You want to fight your dog?"

The guy goes, now just why would I want to fight my dog?

I thought that was so sad. People, like you said, think it is macho to have a fighting dog.

We got Ginger from Hurst's pound. North Richland Hills pound won't adopt out pit bulls. Instead they either put them down or charge the owner a good amount of cash to pick it up if it ran away and had a collar...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Well, now that Staffordshires are no longer available up here, the idiot macho bunch is going for Rottweilers.  Generally, Rotties are bigger and heavier, and look meaner.  You can make them into a fighting dog, just like you can with any breed, by the usual cruel methods.

Rotties are very good dogs, and they have been bred to be caretakers.  This tends to make them territorial, so it is easier to swing them to being nasty.  I think that anyone who makes a dog fight should have to do a few rounds with a grizzly brear, or, better a polar bear.  You might get away from a grizzly, but a polar bear will simply kill and eat you.  It knows it is at the veriest tippy top of the food chain, and everything else is food.

People who are cruel to dogs make my blood boil, but not enough to kill me.  I report idiots like that to the local authorities as soon as possible when I am sure of the facts, like the guy's address and identity.  I do the same in any animal cruelty situation, but dogs really churn me up.

If the macho bunch want a really scary looking dog, why not go for Italian Mastiffs?  They don't usually have the price, that's why.  These dogs sell for up to four thousand dollars a pup.

[joshriddle 29]

Now it is Rotties? How sad. First it is Stratfordshires that are banned and soon it will be Rotweilers? Well, if there are those kind of stupid dummies up in Canada most likely it might cross the border. If stuff like that is going to begin going on up in Canada then not before long my aunt will have to give up her Rottie, down here in Texas.

To a certain degree Strattfordshires are banned in certain conditions here in Texas. Some pounds you can't get them. We got Ginger not before long before they put her down.

Indeed those idiot bunch that are cruel to dogs make my blood boil as well. But what also makes me mad is why some people just say it is the dog's fault when it is the owner who was being the dummy.

Speaking of which they let Michael Vick on one of the NFL Teams. Never again will I watch another NFL game if the jerks there are so stupid to let a guy like that on the NFL. People who think that way make me sick.

But the world is full of 'em I guess...

[Barbarossa 51]

.

  Edited September 8, 2012 by Barbarossa  

[joshriddle 29]

Originally posted by: Barbarossa

Rottweilers are fantastic dogs. They look intimidating, but they are just big babies with big teeth. They live to make their owners love them. My uncle bred and trained them. His pups went for 2k a piece. I have owned two in my life. Both of them were exceptional animals.

Barbarossaquote>

Sure they are. But like John said, they want to think they are just a big ol' macho group, cause they have a rather powerful dog and they look intimidating.

Same goes for Strattfordshires, except they are the most powerful dogs in the world.

You outta see Ginger and her big, bulgy upper arms. She is pretty strong, and solid, muscular. But has to be the most good, gentle natured dog. Dyed her hair dark brown, perhaps cut off part of her big, long, flabby, floppy lips, as well as her ears, then I would bet the macho group may buy her out...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Mutilating a dog for any reason is rather stupid.  I am even against docking spaniels' tails.  It is only a fashion.  Such a thing would need assurances from my vet that there was a health reason.

Everyone knows that I am a CKC class I dog person.  I've never had anything except setters and spaniels.  My Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Duffy {Heartscontent Fire and Ice} was a love sponge.  He always managed to give back more than he got, even when he was dying of liver failure.  I have had five pure bred Setters.  Two Irish Red, one Gordon, and Two Irish Red and White.  Because of my circumstances, I will have to see about something small and quiet.  The building supervisor, who lives next to me, has a female (fixed) Springer Spaniel.  She is the sweetest dog, not too big, and not at all noisy.  I may look in that direction for my next companion.

I mention the CKC classes because in the AKC things are different.  My class I's are in three different AKC groups.  Cavaliers are actually in the toy group.  In fact, they are hunting dogs, designed to start grouse in the Scottish highlands.  The setters are, of course sight hounds, but CKC classes all of them in the Hunting Group.

Y'know, if the macho goons had any real guts they would go for either black Doberman Pinschers or Cane Corsos.  A lot of bucks, and training for these guys is absolutely essential or they will be very stubborn and disobedient.  Would serve them right, too.

[joshriddle 29]

Look at this I did,

The Ginger Background Mod...

I was just fiddilin around with seamless nebulae pictures to make backgrounds out of them and this came to mind...

It is just cruel to remove body parts, such as ears/lips\tail of a dog just to make them fight. Or it is cruel to fight them in general. Stuff like that, like I said, just make me sick...

[LivingInThePast 364]

Your virtual home, eh? Snacks in the fridge?

You wouldn't happen to have some amazingly tasty H-E-B salsa, would you?  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Well, I don't think Ginger tiles well.  Try using more of Ginger in a smaller shot, and tiling the whole puppy.  There is a plugin for the GIMP that makes doing tile textures easier.

Livin' in Sim is looking for some snacks.  How about some of my sour cream and home-made pesto with some nice chips of some kind?  I made my very first batch of pesto the other day, and it is nearly all gone.  Gosh, that stuff is good on almost anything, including the Greek Salad I made the other night.

Tonight, I am going to dry-roast a pork tenderloin with rosemary and garlic, then serve it with asparagus and mashed potatoes.  Probably have some old cheddar and triscuits for dessert later on.  The rest of you can order that at the Moose Factory.

I finally got a resolution on my Simcity 4 Rush Hour graphics problem running under wine today.  The wine (simulated) registry didn't have a key for my video memory, and was using the default (32MB).  I have 128MB on there, and it now runs much better.  It really was a long learning curve to find out what was going wrong.  I can now use the wine debugger and a few other features.  Still a lot more to learn.

[joshriddle 29]

Originally posted by: A Nonny Moose

Well, I don't think Ginger tiles well.  Try using more of Ginger in a smaller shot, and tiling the whole puppy.  There is a plugin for the GIMP that makes doing tile textures easier.

Livin' in Sim is looking for some snacks.  How about some of my sour cream and home-made pesto with some nice chips of some kind?  I made my very first batch of pesto the other day, and it is nearly all gone.  Gosh, that stuff is good on almost anything, including the Greek Salad I made the other night.

Tonight, I am going to dry-roast a pork tenderloin with rosemary and garlic, then serve it with asparagus and mashed potatoes.  Probably have some old cheddar and triscuits for dessert later on.  The rest of you can order that at the Moose Factory.

I finally got a resolution on my Simcity 4 Rush Hour graphics problem running under wine today.  The wine (simulated) registry didn't have a key for my video memory, and was using the default (32MB).  I have 128MB on there, and it now runs much better.  It really was a long learning curve to find out what was going wrong.  I can now use the wine debugger and a few other features.  Still a lot more to learn.

quote>

I could go for some tenderloin right now. We hare having those huge crispy tortillas with the refried beans and cheese and salsa on top that people call "tostadas".

Replace the asparagus with creamed corn and I would be pouncing on your meal. It is making me hungry. The tastiest dip around my premesis is Ranch/Garlic dip. I love to put loads of ranch dip onto the Ruffles potato chips.

I haven't had any triscuits in a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong. I don't know why though. They are so good.

LivinIn The Past, there is no HEB salsa, but we do have that mild Pace salsa. I particularly like the more spicy salsa. I outta trick my mom into buying some next time she goes down to Wal Mart.

I am starting to feel like I am being starved half to death.

Now John, what are the ingredients that are used in that Pesto dip? I may want to try it sometime...

Oh and look at this joke my aunt sent me. It is called:

Contractors Of The Year

People, yall outta try this thing called common sense... these dumb contractors:

1:

2:

3:

4:

6:

Notice the train tracks that go under the porch..'

The train comes by and WHABAM!

No you CANNOT have your money...

And the Winner Is...

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

/

...

[Easy Bakes 253]

You should just buy Salsa at El Fenix.

Good stuff.

[joshriddle 29]

I actually figured out our salsa is spicy, not tremendously spicy, but, spicy.

[Easy Bakes 253]

Originally posted by: joshriddle

I actually figured out our salsa is spicy, not tremendously spicy, but, spicy.quote>

Well to spicy is not good either.

A good salsa should compliment the food, adding a kick but not overwhelming it.

BBQ sauce should be the same.

[joshriddle 29]

Of course. I mean it is not all that spicy, it makes it good, and tastes better.

BBQ sauce, I go for the stuff that has the, little hints of honey in it, that stuff is good!

[LivingInThePast 364]

A lot of the H-E-B salsa IS pretty spicy.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Pesto recipe, as requested.

And here is a Salsa recipe.  Of course there is more to this than meets the eye.  If you use seranno chilies it will be hot.  Jalapeños are milder.  If you want to step out of the box and make a murderously hot salsa, substitute Scotch Bonnet peppers, and be prepared with lots of whole milk to fix up your taste buds.  The lactose and flavinoids in the milk bind closer to your taste buds than the piperene in the peppers.  Water or beer do not do the job.  If you are lactose intolerant then burn, baby, burn.

I know a chap who was raised in India.  His father was a British civil servant during the Raj.  He orders Vindaloo Chicken curry then puts dried hot chilies on it, because it isn't hot enough for him.  A Vindaloo curry is as hot as they get.  An old client of mine, a Singhalese (from Sri Lanka), used to eat Scotch Bonnets right off the stem, raw.  He said he was used to them, and he liked the flavour.  You wouldn't believe how hot those things are until you have had a nibble off of one.  Wear gloves and don't touch your face or other sensitive part until you have washed thoroughly.  If you touch yourself in the wrong place, you will be doing tight circles for a while.  This is one time you wash before you tinkle.

The pork tenderloin was good, but my rosemary jar is still packed somewhere and the supply bottle was empty.  I had to use French herbs (chervil and tarragon) with the garlic.  Worked quite well.  Used up the last of my spinach instead of asparagus because tomorrow is shopping day and I want to get another package.  Europe's Best packages spinach in "chef" format.  Frozen oblong lozenges of chopped spinach that you just take what you want, and steam.  Mmmmm.

Creamed corn is for putting on mashed potatoes.  To make creamed corn, you cut the kernels off the cobs and boil then in enough water to cover them.  You can add your favourite herb to this.  I use tarragon because I like the mint-licorice flavour it adds.  You cook the corn for about five minutes, then remove the lid and reduce the mixture until is thickens.  The corn will provide the starch to thicken it.  No cream or other liaison agents need be added, but a nice hunk of butter helps with both thickening and flavour.  Now, mash your potatoes with a cup of ground horseradish, and serve with the creamed corn on top.  Heaven!

[joshriddle 29]

This food talk is making me hungry...having creamed corn tonight! So happy! Going along with pork chops, yum yum!

Anyway, a super-strange occurrance happened in my game today. The Terisu Extra Terrain Tools, the lake tool, I wanted it to make a lake around twenty tiles long, but wound up around like 200. You could actually see the buildings\roads submerged in water, it was pretty neat.

Anyway, that stupid Oncor Electric Company came by and "trimmed" our trees. They were hanging over the power lines, and instead of trimming the branches like they said they were going to do, in the flier we got a few days ago, it looks like they chopped our tree in half... so rather upset that they made a mess of our backyard like that and made our tree look awful...

[LivingInThePast 364]

Picture #7 (train platform) is a model.