Horatio

I need to post a photograph that I took, of the Iron Maiden Boeing 747. What a fantastic paint job. I felt so fortunate to be at the ramp at the same time as their airplane. They were doing a concert and parked right next to our ramp.

Unfortunately, I missed wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day. I was accomplishing this marathon drive from the Florida Keys to Utah, to Las Vegas and then back to Utah. I was attempting to take care of some details in Florida before heading back to Utah. I drove the twenty-seven hundred miles, in less than forty-six hours. It was drive, stop for gas, drive, stop for more gas, drive, stop for even more gas, until I needed to get a little sleep in the car, and repeat. The very first thing I did when I arrived home, was to take a long, hot shower. We are making a move from Utah to Nevada by the end of the month, so I hope to put an end to my cross-country driving career very shortly.

WOW!!! Lexxscrapham, I am so sorry to have missed you. What are you doing with yourself these days? What is happening in your life. I really would like to hear from you!

TBFOF!!! WOW!!! I am so sad that I missed being here when you and Lexxscrapham were here. How are you? How is life treating you? What are you doing? Please, fill me in!

And how is the potty training going? Terrific I hope. When we first met, it never occurred to me that we would be conversing about potty training your daughter. Yet, here we are. When you say you are 'doubling down' on the potty training, I am at a loss as to what you mean. I would think that the sticker chart with the weekly goal rewards would be a fantastic way to achieve your goal. That is so creative on your part. What else are you doing, or did I miss something? Thank you for your comment. I went to the beach and was rewarded for my efforts! I happy you enjoyed it.

Sunrise in Florida this morning...

Topazia, the good news is that your calendar will continue to get heavier and heavier. I just wanted to give you something to look forward to. How is your art progressing? You really have a considerable amount of talent and I hope that you can make money with your art. There is not much going on here. I am taking lots and lots of photographs and taking a couple of courses at the local university. Other than that, I am goofing off.

I was just wondering how everyone's new year is going? I was in Death Valley right after the first of the year and the weather was wonderful with gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that it is 2020!!! The holidays are over and we are starting a new decade.

This message is to send best wishes for a Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Wonderful New Year! May peace, love and happiness be with you today and every day! Good health and happiness in 2020. Horatio

Today is the very last shopping day before Christmas. I hope that everyone has accomplished their shopping for Hanukkah and Christmas.

You owe your grandmother so very much. She would be so proud of you and the fact that you have developed into quite the artist. You were an excellent student and it really shows. Finding clients is the hardest part of establishing a name and your business. What I would recommend is to do a couple free drawings in such places as a local children's store to get your name recognised. Also, I have no idea just how long the drawing takes, but you might ask a few of the local children's stores if you could set up in their store and consider giving them a small commission for every sale you make. When they say yes, you contact the newspaper and news stations and make a "press release". These are free and will hopefully get you and the store some additional business.

WOW!!! You are incredibly talented! These are so very good. I really love the images. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you will be successful in your art career. Have you ever taken lessons?

WOW!!! That is fantastic! I love hearing how Mackenzie is progressing and growing. The English language is not easy and to hear how she is developing her language skills is so exciting. I really enjoy hearing about how she asked the cat if she was having fun in her cat bed. That really made me smile. Yesterday I was in the grocery store and I saw this little baby who appeared to be so really, really young, maybe a couple months or younger. I talked to the baby and you would not have believed the smile he/she gave me. It shocked me as the baby did not look old enough to even be able to focus on someone yet. This really made my day. What are you making for the Christmas present. Your post made me think of the smell of Christmas cookies.

Is everybody ready for Christmas? I am almost finished with my shopping list.

Okay, I know that I am usually behind in accomplishing things, but this is ridiculous. I am so behind in my Christmas shopping. The worst part is that the FedEx Ground last day for shipping to arrive before Christmas is the sixteenth! And FedEx is much later than the other guys. This is too soon!!! Thank goodness that I can just head to the local store and I am not relying on the online store for my Christmas gifts.

I hope everyone had a phenomenal Happy Thanksgiving! I ate so much that I went into the sleep mode for a day.

Yes, the update is complete. Green bean casserole is a staple, but I love squash and I had forgotten about that. Thank you so very much! Butternut squash is my favourite, but I love all varieties of squash. My problem is that I would be very happy to have only salad and turkey, but that would be too boring for the holiday festivities. Thanksgiving only comes once a year, so I need to do something special.

Thanksgiving is almost here and it is time to think about what to cook for dinner. Turkey, of course, salad, crabnerries, sweet potatoes and some vegetasbles, plus the good old standby... homemade apple pie, from scratch, and a pumpkin pie. Any suggestions for what else?

Ha, ha, ha... I was agreeing with you. You stated it perfectly. A funny thing happened, I was standing in a line and the cashier spoke Spanish to the lady in front of me. By looking at the lady, you would guess that she most likely did not speak Spanish. The lady in line said, "speak English". No please or other nice way of asking. The cashier, said "I do not have to speak English. You need to speak Spanish." I was a little shocked at both of them. When I got to the counter, the lady spoke to me in Spanish and I said nothing, It was obvious that I needed to give her money, and I complied. But what a strange encounter with the two people in front of me. By the way, the cashier did not even bother to thank anyone for their purchase or business. Not in any language. I guess manners and courtesy are gone. That is sad. To top it all off, as I walked out the door, I held the door for the lady behind me. She was on the telephone. She did not even acknowledge that I had held the door for her. It was almost as if I was there to serve her. Hmmmmm. This makes me wonder, where, as a society, are we headed if we have lost all courtesy, kindness and compassion for others.

It takes us all a little bit of time to become more comfortable in our new homes. We are willing to wait until they are happy to be out and about. Yes, I wrote the professor. She came back with a reply that I did not need to include the reference. Her new thing was that I needed to add at least three references. Well, on the very last page of my paper, are ten references. I let her know that there was a reference page attached to the submitted paper, with ten references. I am waiting on her new reply. I totally agree about your view of millennials and participation trophies. You are so right. It came from the parents. Everything you said in your last paragraph is so very accurate. The only thing that I would slightly disagree with is, would be someone not taking responsibility for their error. For example, no one can even admit that they made a "mistake". They just say, "My bad". My bad really means nothing. The person is not admitting an error, nor are they apologising for doing something wrong. I will be back to answer this better as you just gave me an idea for my homework due this week.

Leo and Lagg will need a bit of time to become accustomed to the new smells and sounds of their new home. When they feel comfortable, they will start spending more time outside of their little homes. We can wait for those pictures. This week, I received my grade from my paper from last week. Out of a score of ten, I was docked two points because I did not include something that the professor wanted. The problem is that she used the word 'could' instead of must. So, I decided not to let this one slide. I wrote her a reply comment to her comment on my paper. My comment stated that she needs to say exactly what she wants, not make it is nebulous. Of course, she has not responded. The point that I must consider is that English is not her first language, but that is no excuse. We will see what happens. You are so right. The internet is a big problem. When people are able to hide behind an anonymous username, then this causes problems. People will say mean, aggressive and nasty things that they would not normally say, if they were required to write their real names. I have even witnessed adults attacking people on a message board, and I know for certain that they would never say those things face-to-face. Yes, I totally agree, that a real discussion, and learning, occur when you hear both sides of a subject. In this class, I have views that I would never say, because I do not believe that they would be received as a discussion. My belief is that in various locations around the world, women are treated horribly. Young girls are still not permitted to receive an education. They are forced into marriage at ages as young as twelve, and are forced to do whatever the man of the house wants. That is very scary. If I were to bring this up, I am afraid that it would not lead to an educated discussion. In addition to the internet, I see a problem with how young people were brought up. Some parents never wanted their children to experience anything that would hurt their child's feelings, or upset their child. Instead of teaching their child that not everyone agrees with everyone else, that some people like blue and some people like red, the children were taught that it had to be their way and anything they did that was wrong, they were not going to be held accountable. Whatever happened to removing yourself from a situation you do not feel comfortable in? The incident that I am speaking of, is where six police officers in a Starbucks were asked to leave, because one person felt uncomfortable. If I felt uncomfortable, I would have left. Never would I have approached the management and asked them to remove someone else. In this case, I found the actions of the management of Starbucks, revolting. The management of Starbucks asked the six police officers to leave. They should have asked that one person, who complained, to leave. I will never walk into a Starbucks, or any of their related companies, ever again. Starbucks does not deserve my business. Enough of my rant. You will definitely draw a perfect scene. We are waiting for the finished product.

Sasha and Penny really sent the same message, we do not like where you put our food treasures. We will put them in the place we want them. LOL. Haku and I play this little game. To get into the ball or not. There are days when he will hop into the ball without any hesitation. Then there are the days that he will smell the ball as if he had no idea of what it is. He will stand up, smell all around the entrance, walk around the entire ball a few times, run around his tank and come back to the ball and repeat the actions. Then he will head to his food dish and ignore the fact that this ball is in his tank. We always give him the option of what he would like to do. I introduce the ball a few times to see if he changes his mind. He usually never does. The class is interesting. But, I see that no one really speaks their mind as they do not want a bad grade. What I read in the discussion group is just feel good information. It would be better if people felt the liberty to say what they really think. I would enjoy hearing what people think about their religion or culture, or their perceptions of the religion or culture of other people. Sometimes people have misconceptions, and to talk about these things is how we learn. Horseback riding... yes, I have a special little saddle that is designed just for hamsters. My cowboy boots are a little heavy to wear on my back paws, and the cowboy hat is a little large, but I will manage. I should create a little tripod that could rest on the saddle. That will be a fun way to earn required credits in elective courses.

Haku always gets mad at me when I clean his home. You would think that he would have figured it out by now as it occurs every weekend. I hide piles of pine nuts and sunflower seeds and other treats. I check to see if he discovered them and find that the he has gotten into the sunflower seeds and left a pile of shells, or that all the pine nuts are gone. But, he always covers over the piles as if he had not been there. We are getting snow predicted for this higher altitudes. You would love the colder weather. I do not mind the snow as it falls and by noon the next day, it has pretty much melted off of the streets. So, at least on the main roads is not too bad. The course is Introduction to Diversity. It is a required course for my degree. This week two assignments are due. The first is a paper and the second is a Keynote or power point. I am attempting to get the paper accomplished first and then the Keynote presentation. Next semester I plan on taking Introduction to Photography and Horseback Riding. The photography course should be fun, but I am not so certain about the Horseback Riding. I ride using an English saddle. The Western saddle is not something I am accustomed to. It also weighs about one hundred pounds. At least I will gain some weight training with that course. My thinking was to be able to ride into areas with my camera to take some photographs. It really sounds like a dream.

With cold weather coming, I know you are happy. How long is the season where you have unbearable humidity? I am happy to hear that your brother will be taking care of your new family members. With you parents as back-up care givers, the geckos will be very happy. My hamster set-ups can get pretty wild. There is never any end to my creativity. Sometimes I think that the hamsters do not like their weekly hamster cage cleaning. I change around things and hide things, so make it more interesting. There was one hamster that knew the tubes were his, but when I would change around the path, he would act like he had never seen the tubes before. All the different personalities are such fun. I decided to take a few courses and this one online course has deadlines where your assignments are due at 18H00. That is an awful time. I really like when the assignments are due by 23H59. That makes life so much easier. Tonight, I have another paper due and I have been working on it all week. It seems that I had all the time in the world, until last night. Now I realise that I am pressed for time.