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Bayard

Bayard's Journal
Bayard's Journal
June 16, 2017

Lychnis/Rose Campion

I'm so aggravated! This is one of my favorite flowers--the hot pink ones on silver stems. I've planted from seed the last two years, and gotten nothing (thanks Swallowtail Seeds

Can't find the plants themselves anywhere locally, and afraid of having plants shipped. I had tons on them in my CA garden. Someone had shared the originals with me.

Most of the places I've seen online have reviews of poor germination. Does anyone have decent seed they will sell, or knows a good place to buy? Or plants?

June 11, 2017

A Tribute to my Dad

Today is his birthday, born in 1920 in South Carolina. He had 6 brothers and a sister. He married my Mom when he got out of the service in WWII. A story she never tired of telling was of her riding behind him on his motorcycle. Just as they rode past a cop, her dress flew up over her head. They raised 5 kids, my two sisters with Type 1 diabetes, on a door-to-door salesman's earnings, and no insurance. He said he couldn't stand being cooped up in an office. My brothers and sisters were instilled with his morals, love of the outdoors, and animals. When we were kids, he would take us on Sunday morning bike rides after church, strung out like ducklings behind him. We were in awe that he could sit backwards on the handlebars and pedal around when we stopped. He was always taking us to parks, and our favorite, Bernheim Forest. Even just stopping at a creek to drop cane fishing poles in the water. One time he brought home crawdads in a jar, and put them in my mom's aquarium. She kept wondering why her guppies were disappearing, while he was walking around chuckling. Only my little brother and I are left now.

He was always the Southern gentleman....soft spoken, courteous, generous, Southern Baptist. I never saw him wearing anything other than dress slacks and a long sleeve dress shirt. He only conceded to the summer heat of working in his large garden by rolling up his sleeves precisely two cuffs. He loved dogs, and used to tell me things like--if you wouldn't drink the water in that bucket, don't expect them to drink it.

He had a stroke in later years that paralyzed the right side of his body. My brother had to disconnect the distributor in his car to keep him from driving. He had been a hard worker his entire life, out-doing people half his age. Inactivity did not set well with him, but he had loved watching nature TV shows, the volume turned way up because he refused to wear his hearing aid. Loved his National Geographic and Farmer's Almanac.

We ended up having to move him and my mom to a retirement home because of his paralysis and newly-discovered colon cancer, and my mom's Alzheimer's. I think leaving their place in the country where they'd lived for more than 30 years finally did him in. He only lived a few months in the home. He had so loved being outdoors, working around his three acres, and in his garden.

Happy Birthday, Daddy, from your kids.



June 3, 2017

Saturday Morning Soothie........Whales

Elusive Whales Captured in Never Before Seen Drone Footage

A research expedition to Mexico’s Guadalupe Island has scientists excited after they captured never before seen footage of seriously elusive Cuvier’s beaked whales.

Little is known about these whales, who are the most extreme diving mammals on earth. They can dive to depths of 10,000 feet, which Sea Shepherd puts into perspective by likening it to the length of eight Empire State Buildings. They can stay below the surface for up to two hours before resurfacing for air.

Their behavior has made them difficult to study, but scientists are determined to learn more about them, and this location is a prime spot.

May 31, 2017

I'm a head hunter

Just discovered this group. I would be glad to offer advice to anyone. If I do say so, after 20+ years in this biz (most of it my own company), I'm an expert at interview preparation and follow up, putting together a resume, etc.

However, I don't find jobs for people. I find people for jobs, specializing in pharmaceutical, medical device, engineering, and manufacturing.

Post here, or email me, but might be useful for other people to read.

May 29, 2017

Karma Strikes Again: Trophy Hunter Killed by Elephant

Karma has really been a bitch to trophy hunters in Zimbabwe over the past couple of months. Early last month Scott Van Zyl, the owner of a South African trophy hunting operation, was eaten by the crocodiles he’d intended to kill.

On May 19, his friend Theunis Botha, the owner of another South African trophy-hunting company, was killed by an elephant at the Good Luck Farm, a canned hunting ranch near Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park.

The group Botha was leading on a hunting safari unwittingly wandered into a breeding herd of elephants, the Telegraph reports.

http://www.care2.com/causes/karma-strikes-again-trophy-hunter-killed-by-elephant.html

May 27, 2017

New plots for TV shows

I'm sick to death of old shows getting re-made, especially when they weren't that good the first time around. And reality shows. Really hate those. My new favorite is "Designated Survivor". Totally hooked.

What's your idea for new plots/premises? How about a famous portrait artist that gets involved in his subject's lives? Or a gardener whose plants come alive and talk to him? Oh oh! Even better, the earthworms in his garden come alive and eat him. Or......

May 22, 2017

Gruesome Discovery Under Ole Miss Reveals Dark Mental Health Care History

Construction on the grounds of the University of Mississippi — or Ole Miss — has turned up a rather gory stumbling block: the bodies of an estimated 7,000 people, scattered across 20 acres of campus.

While the media reported the story simply as a strange and fascinating discovery, the reality is much darker — and one that offers a valuable learning opportunity.

The human remains are those of inmates who were housed in the Mississippi State Insane Asylum. The institution was established in 1855 and closed in 1935 when the facility was relocated.

The sheer volume of bodies discovered highlights the harsh conditions that characterized psychiatric institutions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Put simply, a visit to the asylum could extend to a death sentence.

http://www.care2.com/causes/gruesome-discovery-under-ole-miss-reveals-dark-mental-health-care-history.html

And the accompanying story from the BBC:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-39849068


Fairly horrifying

May 18, 2017

Posts deleted by Admin?

Every thread I'm opening has a goodly portion of posts deleted by the admins. Is this something from the hack?

May 17, 2017

I love Rachel Maddow, BUT....

If she says---contemporaneous--one more time tonight, I'm going to scream! I stopped counting at 20.

Kind of like this other thing she's started doing with drumming on the desk.

Back to your regular programming.

May 12, 2017

TV Commercials Overload

What is the TV commercial that you despise the most that is running currently? The one that makes you throw things at the TV?
Mine is the one where the guy is walking along the street bitching about not being able to find a shirt that looks good un-tucked. It is his, "passion". So he opens his own store.

Now....you have to wonder. Does this guy have no other issues in his life? How can you be passionate about any article of clothing?

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Home country: U.S.
Member since: Tue Dec 29, 2015, 02:16 PM
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