Julie ~ "Lucky" 2013 ~ Booklist

[julie]

Yea, I guess they wanted to start the journey with as little as possible, including clothes ,so that's why they began with only underpants. I think their journey would have been extremely brief if they tried the first part NEKKID . They would have probably been arrested ,and I'd think most people wouldn't have opened their door for them if they saw 2 NEKKID guys at the door. I certainly wouldn't . 

 Several of the clothes they got were things from hotel's Lost & Found boxes mostly, but some people gave them items along the way .

[ian]

It's very heart-warming to think that the majority of people out there are prepared to help. For me, if I saw two blokes walking towards me with just underpants on, I would run very fast in the opposite direction!

[julie]

It's very heart-warming to think that the majority of people out there are prepared to help. For me, if I saw two blokes walking towards me with just underpants on, I would run very fast in the opposite direction!

 

Ian

 Yea ,it'd be a little odd to say the least. We have homeless guys come here to our door on occasion and I always give them a bit of money . Never a lot ,but something to help them. The Hubster is the exact opposite . He says I'm too trusting ,and that someday I'll help the wrong person and get hurt or worse . I stop all the time and give people rides home, etc . I guess I trust the majority of people ,so am not afraid. 

I've never had the occasion to help someone standing in public in only their underpants ,so I might not be quite as willing to approach them .  

[pontalba]

/cringing/  Julie.  Giving money to strangers, homeless or not.......I hate to say this, but otoh, I must.  That is an extremely  dangerous thing to do.  I, unequivocally agree with Hubster.

 

First of all, you are letting a stranger know that you actually have cash in the house.  A definite NO-NO.

 

Second, you're (evidently) keeping them waiting at the door, closed or not, while you get said money. It would be too easy for them to push the door open, and then they are in, in private with you. They can do anything.

 

Third.  I know this sounds hard and mean.  However, better that than having one's throat slit. 

 

I well know that many, maybe even half of the homeless people are just in a terrible dilemma, BUT a good number of the ones that are homeless are that way because of a drinking or drug problem.  When someone is an alcoholic or drug addict, or even a mental instability. It affects their behavior, and they cannot be trusted to act in a rational manner.  The money that is given to them either goes up their nose, in their veins, or if alcohol, down their throat.  Enabling them doesn't help anyone, much less the addict themselves. 

 

Please, please be more careful.  I'm sorry if I am overstepping, but I just cannot let this go by without expressing my opinion.   

Edited November 15, 2013 by pontalba

[julie]

Kate

 No offense taken whatsoever .   Perfectly ok for you to voice your opinion ,and thank you for being concerned for my safety.  I know the dangers . I guess I've just never been much afraid of anyone . I'm probably too trusting , and at times, my trying to help backfires .

 

Many years ago I was driving past a house and I saw a lady laying in her front yard . It was wintertime ,and she was face-down in a snow drift . I got out , and tried to help her stand up ,which turned out to be quite a chore, as she outweighed me by quite a bit . She was also PLASTERED ,so she wasn't able to be of much assistance in helping herself . She lived in a house on a steep hill, so somehow I got her up the steps and held onto her while kicking the crap out of their door ,so someone would let her in .

What was the result ? I got cussed out for "Dragging her drunk a** to the door . You should have let her lay out there and freeze to death " .

 

So that one was a bit of a bust .

 

Then the time I offered a ride home to a family downtown who were out in the pouring rain , no car, and were walking home with a pile of little kids and several bags of groceries . I don't own a HUGE car, but thought I could fit them all in. Let's just say by the time I got them all in, including their groceries and baby stroller,  I looked kinda like the car the Clampetts rode in when they went to B-E-V-E -R-L-Y  --- ( Hills, that is ...swimmin pools ... movie stars ... )  Sorry ,got carried away with the song ..  I got them home without anyone or anything falling off or out ,so it was a success . 

*** The DAD smelled suspiciously like he did some Smokin and Jokin , but he was pleasant as a baby lamb .

 

 

I've stopped at car wrecks and given people rides home and held a dead man's hand til the ambulance came , and also stopped and "talked " to a man who was killed in a motorcycle crash . I knew he was dead -- no one's body is supposed to bend the way his did . Then I went over and talked to the man in the car who hit him ..the poor guy was in shock and couldn't speak ..

 

The last 2 are state laws that we have to stop at an accident until help arrives ,so they don't count .

 

Once, I took a lady and her 2 girls home from the mall ( in a REALLY BAD NEIGHBORHOOD)  ,but they were very nice and thanked me .

 

I stopped and gave an elderly lady a ride back in the summer . She was walking several miles from home to a church to work for the Red Cross Bloodmobile. She said her car was broken, but she promised them she would help ,so she was walking .

This sounds so funny now, but the ONLY REASON she trusted me and got in my car ,was because I had a stack of library books on my back seat. She said anybody that READS ,she would trust .  

I'm not sure I'd use that as my rules of safety, but she did !  Funny ...

 

I stopped and gave a lady a ride home from work - she had a 5 mile walk, since her car wouldn't start .. No big deal... I was going the same direction .

 

I have yet to give a MAN a ride .--- OH ,whoops ,yes I DID ... but only once ,and he was so old, I didn't think he could hurt me ( and he didn't )  

 

The Hubster and I were driving home one night a long time ago and I saw a man laying along the road. I was driving ,so I slowed down to stop ,but the Hubster INSISTED I keep driving . The guy might be faking, he could kill us, KEEP DRIVING .

 

I complained the rest of the way home about the guy on the roadside , shame on us for not stopping to help, so the Hubster said STOP AND TELL THE POLICE, THEY'LL GO GET HIM .

So, we did, and the guy was drunk and ok, the cops picked him up . The Hubster said SEE - I  TOLD YOU .. 

 

Whatever .. if he was drunk, what's the worst that would happen ? I might have to HOSE DOWN my car if he LEAKED from anyplace, but other than that,. he probably wouldn't have hurt me .

 

Anyhow, yes, I sometimes put myself in harm's way by trusting people too much, but so far, it hasn't backfired . I've never been stabbed ,shot ,or beaten up . Strangers are usually really good people who just need help . If I am able to help ,then I will ( if the Hubster isn't around )   .. he pitches a fit when I tell him this stuff, so sometimes I DON'T . 

 

 

Anyhow, thank for your concern ,and maybe someday I'll wish I would have listened to you ,but at least I'll know I;m leaving this place by HELPING someone . What better way to go ?

Edited November 15, 2013 by julie

[pontalba]

LOL   I guess part of it may be that I grew up in the City, and was taught at a young age not to trust strangers.  I think it's wonderful that a smaller town has that vibe of trustworthiness. 

[Devi]

We have to stop at accidents here too, especially if you witness one.

[Little Pixie]

Happy belated Thanksgiving !

[poppyshake]

Yes Happy Thanksgiving Julie! .. hope you enjoyed the day  

[shelley.s]

I think its fab that your a good Samaritan   I too will always help someone in trouble but im cautious if its a man and im alone, you can never be too careful sadly. But ive helped people in the past who have fallen, one old man came off his mobility scooter and got detached from his oxygen, another collapsed in a heat wave, ill always most certainly stop if i see an animal on the road, i was very well known at work for stopping traffic outside after a seagull had its wing run over by a bus  i marched right out there and scooped him up regardless of his snappy attitude, i couldn't leave him to suffer that would just be heartless.  

[Ruth]

Free Country : A Penniless Adventure the length of Britain -George Mahood  4/5

 

 

This is a book about 2 guys who decide to travel the length of Great Britain, from the most southern to most northern piece of land . They intend to take their entire adventure using no money whatsoever, and depending on strangers to help them along the way with food, clothing and bikes ,so they can bike the entire way . They begin their journey with nothing but their underpants . They hope to complete the trip in 3 weeks .

They have some very interesting stories to tell along their way . The book also has pictures ,mainly of the people who helped them . Parts of it are very funny  .

 

I've read a few books like this before, set in our country. A young guy named Peter Jenkins decided to do the same thing back in the late 70's (?) or early 80s  ,and wrote two books about it : A Walk Across America - and  .The Walk West: A Walk Across America 2 .

 

I also read another ,about a guy who I think (?) walked from West to East across our country ,called The Kindness of Strangers: Penniless Across America by McIntyre, Mike 

Oh, that sounds like a good read. Great review Julie (I'm going to look out for the Peter Jenkins books too!)

[julie]

Thanks Pixie and Kay for the Thanksgiving wishes . I spent Thanksgiving week in the hospital so not much fun for me . 

At least I'm back home now .

 

 

Shelly

That's great that you stop to help people too. I 've never stopped to help an animal, mainly because I don't think I've ever seen one that still needed assistance ( already hit by cars before I saw them ), plus I don't know anything about taking care of animals or how to help them, but I'm glad you do

 

 

Ruth

Thanks for the comment on the book. It was a really good buy on Kindle, and worth the read . I enjoy reading travel books . I can see the world without leaving my chair !

[pontalba]

Oh, Julie!         I'm glad you're home.....I hope everything is doing mo'bettah. 

[chaliepud]

Hi Julie, sorry to hear you spent Thanksgiving week in the hospital, I hope you're all better now and snug at home with a good book x x 

[Athena]

Awww, I'm sorry to hear you spend Thanksgiving at the hospital. I hope you have some fun at home feeling allright .

[poppyshake]

Yes sorry to hear that Julie  .. not fun at all. Hope you're ok now   

[Ruth]

Adding my good wishes too Julie - hope you are feeling much better now x

[julie]

Thanks everybody

Slowly getting some energy back . Going Stir Crazy staying home. Haven't been able to get out of the house yet since being so sick .

[Devi]

Sorry to hear you haven't been well Julie. I hope you mend fast.

 

I know your stir crazy feeling very well!

[julie]

Thanks Devi

 

 I'm sure you know how it feels to be stuck inside for long . This time of year makes it worse  I think. It helps if the sun is shining and blue skies . Right now we have some snow . Not a lot -- maybe a couple inches ,but the sky is grey all day ,so it makes it more challenging .

Are you able to sit outside a bit in the good weather ? Do you have a small porch or area you can listen to the birds and watch the people ? That sometimes helps me if I can get outside a bit like that .

 

Sure wish you lived here, I'd bring you up and yak at you til your ears got tired . You'd be begging for some quiet .

 

Also wondering if you could possibly have an easy to care for pet, like maybe a bird or a few fish ? Something like that might cheer you up a bit ?

Edited December 7, 2013 by julie

[Little Pixie]

   Hope you feel a whole lot better soon, Julie.

[julie]

Thanks very much Pixie   

[julie]

History Decoded :

The Ten Greatest Conspiracies of All Time  by Brad Meltzer 4/5

 

I really enjoyed this book, as it had some "unsolved " or questionable things about our history that I have always found interesting. I like books that have unsolved items in them, since it gives the old brain a workout, trying to piece things together .

 

Out of the 10 chapters in the book, the ones I found most interesting were :

 

The possibility that John Wilkes Booth wasn't killed after soldiers found him hiding in a tobacco barn, that there was an imposter that was found instead . This one could be solved by DNA ,but no one can get the government to do it . Why, I'm not sure, unless they feel it easier to leave history as we have learned ,and not try to dig up something from so long ago . I'd never even heard this theory before and being a Civil War  Buff, I found it fascinating reading, whether true or not .

 

 

DB Cooper .and whether he possibly survived his jump from the jet with his backpack full of money . They did a good job on this one and made a pretty convincing story of who they think actually did it, why, and the possibility that he actually did survive and live for quite a long time  afterwards .

 

Roswell and the case For or Against UFO's . The jury iis still out on this one for me . I do believe in UFO's ,but not sure what is going on in Roswell. It's a pretty securely guarded area with little chance of "sneaking" in . There have been many interviews of the guys who worked there or lived nearby who swear they saw a crashed aircraft of some sort, and also some very small grey bodies being carried into the back of a van and taken away . Not sure on this one, but I think it's possible .

 

And of course,the number one was the Kennedy Assassination . I have never believed in the conspiracy theory with this one . I think the story we've been told all these past 50 years is the true one , and all the others a bunch of hooey . So many possible enemies, motives, etc. anything would be feasible, but I still think they got the right guy ,he was an excellent shot, hit the target ,but was caught a short while later and killed before he could ever be tried . A very odd turns of events, but anything is possible .

 

All in all, if you like this sort of thing, the writing is good, there are some photos and it makes your brain think a bit . If you've seen the tv show, a lot of the stories very closely match it, but it doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the book .

[Athena]

Nice review ! I have to admit, I don't know some of the cases you describe , but it sounds interesting though .

[julie]

Thanks ,Athena !