Horatio

This move sounds fantastic. I am happy to hear that you are all doing well. Walking to work is terrific. Not only because of the lack of expense with gas, but because it is so good for you. It helps start the day with a nice stroll to work. Walking MacKenzie to school is also a big plus. This is a wonderful way to enjoy your town. I lived in a town where, after I returned from a week or to away at work, we parked the car and walked everywhere for everything. It was so very nice. The snowman is so much fun! I really like seeing you all have a little bit of fun in your life. That is great. Congratulations to Maddie for the promotion. I am excited for her. May she continue to excel in her work environment. Talk to you soon.

Lexxscrapham, If you stop by, would you please let us know how you are, and what is happening with you these days? We hope all is well with you.

Oh my goodness!!! I missed seeing you. How are you? How is life treating you? What are you doing? There has been so much going on, and one of these days I will write it all down. Overall; most everyone is doing well; some with more trials and tribulations than others; but overall; things are going the best that can be expected.

I am so sorry to take so very long to get back to you. Like you, life has placed some stumbling blocks in our way. Oh my goodness!!! How can the Governor say that your marriage is illegal when the Supreme Court has said that your marriage is legal??? This is insane! I am so very sorry that you both are going through this. Take a look at Miami, it is a city that endorses every type of relationship, individuality and marriage. This Governor has lost his mind! So, I am guessing that nothing was done about your power bill. I am so very sorry. Oh my goodness. This is so upsetting and traumatic for you all. Losing your kitty is heartbreaking. At least she will have a good home. I am so sorry to hear this. Have you sold your wedding rings? If they are not sold, contact me through email. Maddie will be very comfortable in her hew location, without any past knowledge of her life. This is wonderful news. Hopefully, she will go back to work. That would ease quite a bit of pressure on you both. I am so very happy to hear that Maryland will be a good move for you all. This is too much stress for you all to deal with. By now, you have moved, I am so very sorry to not have responded earlier. Would you please let me know how you are doing?

Topazia, How are you, Maddie and MacKenzie all doing? What have you been doing lately? Any more thoughts on moving? Have you ever considered moving south, towards Miami? I believe that Maddie would love it there. And, it would not cost as much to move there. Not much is going on here. Our renovation was placed on hold due to the hot weather. We would not be able to tolerate triple digit temperatures with no air conditioning, so we delayed everything until about two weeks from now. Plus, I would have been mosquito dinner and that is definitely not an enjoyable experience. Other than that, it is pretty much the same old thing over and over.

Topazia!!! Oh my goodness! Your life has sure had quite a bit of turmoil and stress. But hopefully, you will be able to see some forward movement. The good news is that MacKenzie is making progress. I am happy that the HRT is working for her. That is good news. First grade, you are right. How did that happen? It seems as though it was only yesterday that she was this little bundle of joy, and now she is in elementary school. I believe that MacKenzie is a very bright young lady and you will need to keep her moving forward and learning. It strikes me that she wants to learn and if she is not constantly challenged and learning, she becomes bored. You have a very smart child on your hands. I know you will make the right decisions as to how to help her succeed. The challenges that Maddie is facing are so very difficult. I do understand the stress that she was going though when she was going to work. You both made the right decision for Maddie to quit her job. Her health and well-being is most important. Would you please how I may help you both? Do you have a Tuesday Morning store in your town? I have found some of my LGBTQ friends who have found jobs in those stores, in very conservative towns, and they loved those jobs and were well-received. It is just a thought. Another thought for work for Maddie, would be any job that has to do with the art community. Most artists are accepting of people exactly as they are, with all of their flourishes. The only power company in the United States that is a true 'public utility' is in Nebraska. All of the other's are businesses out to make sure that their bottom line increases. Regarding the power company, I am assuming that you have Florida Power and Light. We do on the east coast, but I do not know if they provide power for the entire state. My suggestion, is to contact the Governor of the State of Florida. Have all of your documents at hand, call about one million times, until you get through, then speak with one of his aides. Contacting the Governor usually yields some positive results. I would contact them first before paying the bill. Just pay a little bit each month, what you can afford. That would show that you intend to pay, but are not able to pay the full amount. We are still working on both houses. We would like to get the Florida house finished and then list it for sale. I am very tired of keeping up two homes. It will be nice to only have one place to worry about. I will keep you posted on how the progress is going. As far as the domain name. A company bought it and then uses it for a while in China, this drives up traffic on the website. After this, they say that the domain name is worth more money because of the traffic. So, I had to pay much more than I cared to, to get the name back. But, I have it now. I am asking a friend of mine to link them both together so that whichever name someone types in, comes to the boards. Wish me luck on that one. Well, I need to start getting ready to face the day. So, I will talk with you later. Take care, Horatio

How are you, Maddie and MacKenzie doing? What is happening? Any news to report? Regarding things here, the house is still under renovation. I guess that I should follow that old adage, good things take time, but this is dragging on too long for me. We are getting close to the final stage, which is the kitchen, laundry room and family room. That makes me feel much better being close to completion. The last month has been triple digits, too many days at one hundred fifteen degrees Fahrenheit or forty-six degrees Celsius, and that is far too hot for the workers to be outside for very long. Plus, you do not want them walking in and out of air conditioning, because then you would have an electric bill of over one thousand dollars. We are in the land of PG&E, and that is the most corrupt company I have ever encountered. They change the rates that the customer will pay, depending on your zip code. Totally incredible. This semester I am taking two courses, one in person and one on-line. There is a third course that I am taking, one-on-one and that is a new and exciting experience. It is all about alternative processes in the darkroom. This is quite an incredible step to photographic creativity. Not much else is happening. Work, school and very little time for play. But, that is life. I forgot to mention, hampsterboard.com is back and will be joined up to this one. That way, whichever address someone uses, the domain names will be linked. Yeah!!! Finally.

Dear Topazia, Thank you so very much for your wishes. We have about one month's worth of work to do to get it where I would like it. So the house has not been put on the market yet. I am thrilled to hear that your family is doing well in Maryland. What a nice idea to get a yearbook for your sister. That is a fantastic idea. Yes, she will be surprised and thrilled. What good news about you and Maddie. You are such a good person to go with the flow of things. Before you go for an ADHD check, would you please evaluate MacKenzie's diet? Sugar needs to be lower on the list than the first top ingredients. If it is in the first five ingredients, do not feed it to her. Doctors are too quick to prescribe medication for children when it comes down to how much sugar they are eating. I am struggling with cutting the sugar out of my diet and it is a struggle. When I eat too much sugar, then I can not focus on my school homework and studies. So I asked my doctor and he was the one to cut sugar out of my diet. It actually works. You would be surprised to see how food manufacturers put sugar in everything. We wanted to have some sausage for breakfast. So I went to Publix and was looking at Jimmy Dean's sausage. The regular sausage had corn syrup as the second or third item in the sausage. So, I kept looking and they made a Natural version of sausage without any forms of sugar and I could not taste the difference. Even bread has sugar. Anyway, I thought I would pass on what I have learnt about sugar and my experience with sugar and being able to pay attention. By the way, sugar comes in so many different forms. I am researching whether or not Monk Fruit has any sugar like properties, as it is a sweetener. It is one alternative that does taste almost the same and does not have any aftertaste. I will let you know what my doctor says. Other than that, I am taking a drone course and one other course at the college, so it means traveling to Las Vegas every week for two or three days. I would like to keep learning as long as I am able.

What a superb holiday you and your family had! For some reason, it did not seem like Christmas at all. It arrived without much fanfare and the New Year is right around the corner. Can you believe we have all been here on the message boards for so long?

MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY HANUKKAH TO EVERY ONE!!! May you all have a very, very happy holiday!

Leguan, Merry Christmas and a very happy, healthy and wonderful New Year! All the best to your family in 2022. What wonderful news!!! Congratulations on absolutely everything! First of all, on your marriage and becoming a father! How fantastic! How did you meet your wife? Is she also a scientist? This is such terrific news, I am thrilled for you. You will have to tell me the date of your son's birthday. Everyone in my family, save me, had a March birthday. My father the seventh, my sister the fourteenth, my mother the fifteenth, my old boss, the fourth, my pen pal from ages ago, the twenty-second, and numerous friends scattered on the other March days. Of course, I know Solingen. I have been there. And yes, the world knows your city for the highest quality blades produced. I remember living in Berlin and was able to travel all throughout Germany. It was a wonderful time. I am happy that you are not playing with blades, that might be very dangerous. Your job in molecular diagnostics sounds very interesting. It must be difficult work but exciting when you are able to develop products that you see improve lives. This is fantastic news. When you develop those COVID tests, please do not make them where you have to place the swab almost into your brain. Those are so very painful. I had to have that test when I had my appendix removed. It was awful. Fortunately, my diagnosis came back negative, no COVID. But, that test was about the worst thing ever. What I could not understand, is that is the virus is in my sinus cavity, would it not also be in my nostril? Congratulations on completing your doctorate. That is exceptional! I know that you worked so very hard to achieve your doctorate, so you definitely deserve the degree. I think back to all of those days when you were studying and working on your projects. At least you have all of that past you and now have a new opportunity in your job. I am so very, very excited and happy for you. As I was writing the year, 2022, it made me think... you have been here almost twenty years. That is really incredible. So much has happened in all of those years. Can you believe that we have known each other this long? WOW!!! Enjoy your Christmas with your family. I am so very happy you returned to fill me in. You have definitely made my day a happy one! Horatio

Leguan, How phenomenal of you to arrive! How are you? How is life treating you? What are you doing these days? Do we call you doctor? Have you discovered anything new? Please let us know what is happening in life. I hope that you stop by more often and also for Christmas. Horatio

Topazia, Thank you so very much. I had completely forgotten that I had a birthday. I greatly appreciate you remembering. You have made me feel so special. So much has happened. Last year on my birthday, I went to the emergency room for appendicitis and had my appendix removed. This year we were in the emergency for my husband. Hopefully, next year everything is boring. Next, three days after my birthday, burglars broke into the house and removed everything. Unfortunately, everything was in boxes, as we are renovating the house, so it was very easy to steal absolutely everything as it was perfectly packed and organised in boxes. Our insurance company is useless. They are depreciating everything down to the penny. You could have spent five hundred dollars on a coat, and now it is worth one dollar. But, you may have only worn it five times, and it is in perfect condition, that does not matter. It is now worth only one dollar. Now I understand how the CEO's of insurance companies make hundred million dollar salaries.

Topazia, thank you for the explanation. That is very interesting. I had no idea just how the housing worked. That is something they really do not let the congregation know about. Your sister landed a job quite fast. Congratulations to her. The beach is wonderful, and it is even better in the winter. I always loved the beach in the winter when I was younger. I hope that your parents remember how much they like the snow when they are scraping the ice off of their windshields. That was the part I never really cared for. Yes, terrific memories. We were never permitted to paint colours on our walls. We had white walls, and we decorated with art and rugs over our hardwood floors. We are in total agreement with you. We use our bedroom for sleeping. We do not watch television in there or get on the laptop, we only sleep in that room. This way, when we enter that room, we are usually asleep within minutes of our heads hitting the pillow. We created a media room in our house for computers, television, sound systems and anything else that you might want that is technology related. Closets, all the closets, save the hall linen closets are small. The old fashioned small. Just about six feet across. There is no walking inside and no playing a game of basketball in our closets. Our master bathroom is very small. It has one large sink, a bathtub/shower combination and a toilet. There is no additional room for whatever it is you want to do there. I hope that our house sells.

What a beautiful dress!!! You did a superb job as a seamstress. No wonder she felt like a princess. Your desk is not messy. If I was to take a photograph of my desk, you would wonder how I find anything and how I manage to get any work accomplished. I had no idea that work in the ministry was so hard to come by. The last few years must have been very hard on your father and family. This job will be wonderful for them. To show how little I know about other religions, I always thought that the church provided a residence for the minister. May I please ask what religion your family is? I hope your family enjoys Maryland. It is a very nice state. I wonder if Cheesus is still in Maryland. I do understand about your wanting to keep the house and rent it out. There are so many memories that you and your family have in that house. Our house in Florida is a house that I really love as well. We renovated the house and went far above what most people would ever do. The big drawback for someone else is that the house does not have a massive master bedroom and master bathroom. These two rooms are small and the master closet is not a walk-in closet. This is a big problem for someone else. For us, we only slept in our bedroom, so it did not matter that the rooms were small. The house was built in the 1950's, and they did not make monster-sized rooms back then. Oh well, if someone wants a football field-sized bedroom, they can always build a second story on the house. For me, I could grow old in that house, but it is time for me to downsize and having two homes on opposite coasts is more than what I want to deal with at this time.