Hello All,

Wishing a very happy Lunar New Year and much prosperity to those who are celebrating it!

-- Sean

... Clones are people two.
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Re: Happy Lunar New Year!
By: Sean Dennis to All on Tue Feb 17 2026 00:18:02

Wishing a very happy Lunar New Year and much prosperity to those who are celebrating it!

I'm celebrating by listening to Pink Floyd's, Dark Side of the Moon album, snacking on a Moon Pie and reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.
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By: Sean Dennis to All on Tue Feb 17 2026 00:18:02

Wishing a very happy Lunar New Year and much prosperity to those who are celebrating it!

I'm celebrating by listening to Pink Floyd's, Dark Side of the Moon album, snacking on a Moon Pie and reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.

Sounds like you have the right idea. ;) I read somewhere that there are several things you are not supposed to do today or your luck will disappear. One of them is to do laundry.

As I have a load in the dryer right now, I guess I am too late to save this year's luck. I will have to try again next year! :D

Mike

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Hello Mike,

17 Feb 26 09:41, you wrote to Mortar M.:

Sounds like you have the right idea. ;) I read somewhere that there
are several things you are not supposed to do today or your luck will disappear. One of them is to do laundry.

Don't wash your hair, don't sweep or mop, don't eat porridge...there's more.

As I have a load in the dryer right now, I guess I am too late to save this year's luck. I will have to try again next year! :D

Indeed!

-- Sean

... "A handful of good life is better than a bushel of learning." - George Herbe
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20240209
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (618:618/1)

Sounds like you have the right idea. ;) I read somewhere that there are several things you are not supposed to do today or your luck wil disappear. One of them is to do laundry.

Don't wash your hair, don't sweep or mop, don't eat porridge...there's more.

OK so I was damned long before I started the laundry! :D

Mike
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Wishing a very happy Lunar New Year and much prosperity to
those who are celebrating it!

I love that Chinese Zodiac door that you did.

BTW, I was born under the sign of the RAT. <G>

Daryl

... Is a sleeping bag a nap sack?
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Mike,

As I have a load in the dryer right now, I guess I am too late
to save this year's luck. I will have to try again next year!

That's how I spent Valentine's Day. :P

Daryl

... I couldn't fix your brakes, so I made your horn louder.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.52
--- SBBSecho 3.32-Win32
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Daryl Stout wrote to Sean Dennis:

I love that Chinese Zodiac door that you did.

It's one of my favorite doors I wrote. The seed for the idea of the door started when my second wife and I were in a local Chinese restaurant in Carbondale, Illinois, and they had these paper placemats that had the entire Chinese zodiac on it. I took that home and hence "Chinese zodiac" was
born.

BTW, I was born under the sign of the RAT. <G>

I was also.

-- Sean



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BTW, I was born under the sign of the RAT. <G>

I am the dog - loyalty, honesty, and constant worry. :D

Mike
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BTW, I was born under the sign of the RAT. <G>

I am the dog - loyalty, honesty, and constant worry. :D

I am apparently a horse.. specifically a wooden horse.. (?)

(adaptability, charm and enthusiasm)

The only type of wooden horse I know is a rocking horse, so
perhaps this suggests that I am currently 'off my rocker'.. B)

---
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Re: Re: Happy Lunar New Year!
By: Sean Dennis to Daryl Stout on Wed Feb 18 2026 23:01:57

BTW, I was born under the sign of the RAT. <G>

I was also.

I was born under the dog sign (Earth), which is quite a coincidence given my last name.
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Hello Mortar,

21 Feb 26 12:58, you wrote to me:

I was born under the dog sign (Earth), which is quite a coincidence
given my last name.

I'm a Virgo, also an earth sign albeit in a different system.

-- Sean

... Go straight to the docs. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200!
--- GoldED+/LNX 1.1.5-b20240209
* Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (618:618/1)

I am the dog - loyalty, honesty, and constant worry. :D

I am apparently a horse.. specifically a wooden horse.. (?)

(adaptability, charm and enthusiasm)

The only type of wooden horse I know is a rocking horse, so
perhaps this suggests that I am currently 'off my rocker'.. B)

LOL. Funny thing, it wasn't until this year that I had ever heard of a "material" being applied to the sign. Apparently, I am a "metal dog." I
had always just assumed that the zodiac sign meant the actual animal and
not a statue of one. ;)

Mike
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I am apparently a horse.. specifically a wooden horse.. (?)

>> The only type of wooden horse I know is a rocking horse, so
>> perhaps this suggests that I am currently 'off my rocker'.. B)

LOL. Funny thing, it wasn't until this year that I had ever heard of a

>"material" being applied to the sign. Apparently, I am a "metal dog." I
>had always just assumed that the zodiac sign meant the actual animal and
>not a statue of one. ;)

Same here.. I almost thought this was my year again, but apparently
it's a Fire Horse this year so they not only have a material attached,
but use the same animal more than once.

Winter is not quite over it seems. It's dropping to -23c (-9f)
here tonight. Funny things happening on the bay as well. I saw
the water level in hole where I get my water vary in depth by
about 14 inches over the past few days.

---
* SLMR Rob * Tomato paste - what they use to fix broken tomatoes
* Origin: Capitol City Online (618:250/1)

Same here.. I almost thought this was my year again, but apparently
it's a Fire Horse this year so they not only have a material attached,
but use the same animal more than once.

If it were an American holiday, I would assume that "big holiday" had
recently added those "material/element" modifiers to somehow swindle us
out of more money. :D

Winter is not quite over it seems. It's dropping to -23c (-9f)
here tonight. Funny things happening on the bay as well. I saw
the water level in hole where I get my water vary in depth by
about 14 inches over the past few days.

Yeah, it tried to rear its ugly head around here for two or three days,
but that ended last night. Temperatures rose steadily overnight, and we
are about 20F warmer this morning than we were yesterday afternoon.

I guess as the ice thaws on other parts of the lake, it starts moving
around and causes things like that?

Mike
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Winter is not quite over it seems. It's dropping to -23c (-9f)

>> here tonight. Funny things happening on the bay as well. I saw
>> the water level in hole where I get my water vary in depth by
>> about 14 inches over the past few days.

This morning when I headed out there, the water had totally covered
the lid of my 'box' by over an inch and frozen solid so I had to
chip all around down the the edges of the lid and then pry it out
of the ice..

Yeah, it tried to rear its ugly head around here for two or three days,

>but that ended last night. Temperatures rose steadily overnight, and we
>are about 20F warmer this morning than we were yesterday afternoon.

We will get a little above freezing tomorrow for the first time in
a few days, but the long range still shows some quite cold nights
coming so it's bouncing around.. not that unusual for late Feb and
early March.

I guess as the ice thaws on other parts of the lake, it starts moving

>around and causes things like that?

It's all one sheet covering almost 100% of Georgian bay so the ice
itself doesn't move around much until it gets warm enough for it
to start breaking up in early spring.

But the thickness of the ice should only change from the bottom,
melting or freezing the water under the ice. When the ice gets
thick enough to safely walk on I cut about a 36" hole in it and
put my covered box, about 40" square and 22" high, over that hole.
In theory that 22" should always be above the ice since no new
ice is being added from above, but I guess water is being forced
out the sides some and building up so that the entire inside of
the box and all around the outside of it is now solid ice, and
now more is coming out and submerging the whole thing.

I've wintered here 15 years in total over the years and I've
never run into anything like this before.

My first thought was that the wind was putting pressure on
the open water making it push water up through my hole in
the ice, but with Georgian Bay almost totally covered in ice
this year, there's very little open water for wind to hit,
and the worst night for it, last night, was not windy at all.

I'm thinking now it must be pressure on the ice from above due
to the weight of the heavier snow load on the ice this winter..

---
* SLMR Rob * Hold on to me, someday I may be quite valuable
* Origin: Capitol City Online (618:250/1)

We will get a little above freezing tomorrow for the first time in
a few days, but the long range still shows some quite cold nights
coming so it's bouncing around.. not that unusual for late Feb and
early March.

Similar to here, except the temperatures we are bouncing between are not
nearly as cold. The only night for the next 5 or so that we are expecting
to get below freezing is tomorrow (Sun), and that will be just barely.

I'm thinking now it must be pressure on the ice from above due
to the weight of the heavier snow load on the ice this winter..

That sounds like sound reasoning. I was thinking maybe the amount of
water under the ice was increasing somehow, which was pressuring it out of
the hole, but the weight of the snow makes more sense.

Mike
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We will get a little above freezing tomorrow for the first time in

>> a few days, but the long range still shows some quite cold nights
>> coming so it's bouncing around.. not that unusual for late Feb and
>> early March.

Similar to here, except the temperatures we are bouncing between are not

>nearly as cold. The only night for the next 5 or so that we are expecting
>to get below freezing is tomorrow (Sun), and that will be just barely.

We dropped to -18c last night and are supposed to drop to -21c tonight
(0F & -6F) but almost up to freezing Monday, and then above freezing
for at least the next 5 days during the day as well as a few nights.

That said, after a brief above freezing day a few days back followed
by this cold snap, most of my pathways, which are primarily on hills,
had the packed snow turn to rather slippery ice so getting around is
a bit of a challenge now..

I'm thinking now it must be pressure on the ice from above due

>> to the weight of the heavier snow load on the ice this winter..

That sounds like sound reasoning. I was thinking maybe the amount of

>water under the ice was increasing somehow, which was pressuring it
>out of the hole, but the weight of the snow makes more sense.

Could be from either I suppose. With so little open water this winter
I figured there's not much area for wind to build up pressure, and
the open water would also be a few miles away from here.
Trying to explain it is interesting but the bottom line is I have
to live with it regardles of the cause..

The actual volume of water shouldn't change much until it gets a
lot warmer and snow melt causes lots of run off from further North..

It takes a lot to affect the water depth very much. The surface
area of Georgian bay added to the other bodies of water at the
same level totals over 117,000 sq km (45,400 square miles)..

But it's March now.. Spring is just around the corner.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * I feel great! And I don't kiss badly either!
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Sean,

It's one of my favorite doors I wrote. The seed for the idea
of the door started when my second wife and I were in a local
Chinese restaurant in Carbondale, Illinois, and they had these
paper placemats that had the entire Chinese zodiac on it. I
took that home and hence "Chinese zodiac" was born.

It's amazing who some of the fellow "Critters" are.

BTW, I was born under the sign of the RAT. <G>

I was also.

Does that make us a couple of dirty rats?? (never mind James Cagney). <G>

Daryl

... I tried stopping on a dime, but I ran over it.
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Mike,

I am the dog - loyalty, honesty, and constant worry. :D

Sounds like my late father. <G>

Daryl

... Weelief: The feeling you get spotting a rest stop on the interstate.
=== MultiMail/Win v0.52
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I am the dog - loyalty, honesty, and constant worry. :D

Sounds like my late father. <G>

I am not so sure that I exactly fit that, though. When I was younger,
constant worry for sure but, as I have got older, maybe not so much.

As for the honesty, well, as I have got older I have noticed that when I
am it is probably the more painful kind. :D

Mike
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As for the honesty, well, as I have got older I have noticed that when I

>am it is probably the more painful kind. :D

I often kid that as I got older I learned to be more diplomatic with
my honesty because I have a hard time telling outright lies..

i.e. I've learned that when your lady friend asks if these jeans
make her butt look fat, the correct answer is NOT, 'No, it's your
butt that makes those jeans look fat.'. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Give your cats exercise - throw them in front of a dog
* Origin: Capitol City Online (618:250/10)

Re: Re: Happy Lunar New Year!
By: Rob Mccart to MIKE POWELL on Sun Mar 15 2026 15:51:58

i.e. I've learned that when your lady friend asks if these jeans
make her butt look fat, the correct answer is NOT, 'No, it's your
butt that makes those jeans look fat.'. B)

Soooo...How's that new identity working out for ya? :)
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i.e. I've learned that when your lady friend asks if these jeans

> > make her butt look fat, the correct answer is NOT, 'No, it's your
> > butt that makes those jeans look fat.'. B)

Soooo...How's that new identity working out for ya? :)

This may explain why I'm single in my old age.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Living with a saint is more grueling than being one
* Origin: Capitol City Online (618:250/10)

Hello Rob,

18 Mar 26 08:16, you wrote to MORTAR M.:

This may explain why I'm single in my old age.. B)

Sounds vaguely familiar...

-- Sean

... My hard disk is full! Maybe I'll try this message section thing.
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i.e. I've learned that when your lady friend asks if these jeans
make her butt look fat, the correct answer is NOT, 'No, it's your
butt that makes those jeans look fat.'. B)

And I just say how nice her butt is because she deigns to share it with me... That goes over surprisingly well...

--
Shurato, Sysop Shurato's Heavenly Sphere (ssh, telnet, pop3, ftp,nntp,
,wss) (Ports 22,23,110,21,119,999)


*** THE READER V4.50 [freeware]
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This may explain why I'm single in my old age.. B)

Sounds vaguely familiar...

It gets tougher as you get older too I think, not so much tougher
to find someone but tougher to put up with someone..

Then again I've rarely had lady friends that lasted more than a year.

Not sure if there's a message in this or not but when my ex-wife
and I split up she said at the end that what bothered her most
about me was that:

1 - I never argued (I'd think that a good thing?)

..And 2 - I always thought I was right, and I always was..
Again.. sounds like it Should be a good thing but maybe not
when viewed from the other side.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * Enter any 11-digit prime number to continue...
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Not sure if there's a message in this or not but when my ex-wife
and I split up she said at the end that what bothered her most
about me was that:

1 - I never argued (I'd think that a good thing?)

..And 2 - I always thought I was right, and I always was..
Again.. sounds like it Should be a good thing but maybe not
when viewed from the other side.. B)

For some reason, as I read those, they seem like a contradiction. Like, if
you were the (only) one of you that never argued, then how would #2 even be obvious?

I have met a few women over the years... luckily ones I never dated... that came right out and said that they like to argue and don't like it when men won't argue with them. Their reasoning, IIRC, is that sometimes they
needed to be argued with for some validation purpose... my memory is hazy
on that bit now.

In some cases, no doubt, it had to do with them being upset with someone else... boss, co-worker, etc... that they didn't feel that they could argue with.

Hearing them say that was eye-opening.

Mike


* SLMR 2.1a * I'll have one brain on drugs with bacon, toast and juice.
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Not sure if there's a message in this or not but when my ex-wife

>> and I split up she said at the end that what bothered her most
>> about me was that:

1 - I never argued (I'd think that a good thing?)

..And 2 - I always thought I was right, and I always was..

>> Again.. sounds like it Should be a good thing but maybe not
>> when viewed from the other side.. B)

For some reason, as I read those, they seem like a contradiction.

>Like, if you were the (only) one of you that never argued, then
>how would #2 even be obvious?

This was more about things that didn't evolve into an argument.
She'd say she wanted to do or buy something, and I'd say I didn't
think that was a good idea, and explain why I thought that.

As for the non-arguing thing, if she didn't agree I was right, if
we could afford it, I'd often just let her have it, BUT that rarely
happened. Usually I had good reasons that were obvious once pointed out.

I have met a few women over the years... luckily ones I never dated... that

>came right out and said that they like to argue and don't like it when men
>won't argue with them. Their reasoning, IIRC, is that sometimes they
>needed to be argued with for some validation purpose... my memory is hazy
>on that bit now.

This suggests that I'm not the only person who had that problem..
Is this a 'Male' thing? B)

In some cases, no doubt, it had to do with them being upset with

>someone else... boss, co-worker, etc... that they didn't feel that
>they could argue with.

I've met women who are frustrated at work and take it out on their
husbands when they get home for that reason I guess.

My first long term live-in girfriend (4.5 years) didn't have that
problem.. She said exactly what she thought at work.. Of course
she rarely kept a job for more than a few months.. B)

---
* SLMR Rob * If I wanted your opinion, I'd take you off my Twit list
* Origin: Capitol City Online (618:250/10)

i.e. I've learned that when your lady friend asks if these jeans
make her butt look fat, the correct answer is NOT, 'No, it's your
butt that makes those jeans look fat.'. B)

And I just say how nice her butt is because she deigns to share it with me...

>That goes over surprisingly well...

I can see the advantage to that system.. B)

But, kidding aside, if you're going out somewhere special and something
she is wearing doesn't look good on her, especially from an angle she
can't see easily, should you not 'politely' say something?..

That said, I never had that problem. My ladies generally looked
pretty good in anything, but I see some elsewhere or on TV and
wonder why no one tells them how bad some clothing choice looks
on them..

---
* SLMR Rob * It WAS bigger... Musta sat too close when I used PKZIP
* Origin: Capitol City Online (618:250/10)

I have met a few women over the years... luckily ones I never dated... that

>came right out and said that they like to argue and don't like it when men
>won't argue with them. Their reasoning, IIRC, is that sometimes they
>needed to be argued with for some validation purpose... my memory is hazy
>on that bit now.

This suggests that I'm not the only person who had that problem..
Is this a 'Male' thing? B)

In this instance, I would say no it is not. It is a problem for others,
IMHO. ;)

In some cases, no doubt, it had to do with them being upset with

>someone else... boss, co-worker, etc... that they didn't feel that
>they could argue with.

I've met women who are frustrated at work and take it out on their
husbands when they get home for that reason I guess.

My first long term live-in girfriend (4.5 years) didn't have that
problem.. She said exactly what she thought at work.. Of course
she rarely kept a job for more than a few months.. B)

Well, there is that. ;)

Mike

* SLMR 2.1a * Life's essentials: H O C N Ca P Cl K S Na Mg
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