I remember their loaves of bread and butter being very delicious. One time they let me take home two extra. I think that was on a Sunday they were slow or something. I recall they always baked them fresh. Other times I couldn't even get a refill on bread before the food came.

2am here, so 11pm on the west coast. Around 300 members logged in now, and around 550 viewers.

Pinside gets dead this time of night, I always thought that was weird.

And yeah, so many times after not many posts for me to read I would goof off and drink some more beer and make a long post here.

Not tonight!

It's 6.15 pm on the East Coast.

TheWorldIsNotMadeOfNorthAmericaPunkin

I confess that your story gives me the chills and I would love to know what happened next

Because of the separation all my money was tied up and it was either move back to the parsonage or the couch at my parents (which was out for various reasons).
I moved back in with a bed and a chair. The first night was the worst, it was a 2200 square foot house and echoed when you moved or spoke. I was convinced there was something in the closets so went around opening all the doors. It was a feeling of oppression, doom, can't quite put it into words. Many prayers were said and it somewhat subsided.
My Brother in law moved in with me and brought a couch and another chair, and welcome company.
He was a radical Christian, the type of fellow who challenged Pastors and crooked evangelists to their face in front of crowds. I had told him of the manifestations and he was always on edge.
One night we were playing guitars and he stopped mid song,looking down the long hall.
"Look at that"
It was a smoky looking cloud, right outside the nursery. Semi transparent but still blocking most of the light. We both stared at it and noticed it was moving. It kept getting denser,almost black.
"I've had enough of this" he said, jumping up and shouting prayers and cursing evil and asking deliverance while marching from room to room. This went on for a full 10 or so minutes, then he returned to his guitar.
It was gone.
A little more history, the day I started dating my future wife her mom was diagnosed with cancer. For the next 8 Months she horribly withered away until finally dying. She was 46. Six Months later my father in law was found on the kitchen floor with the phone in his hand dead, he was 50. The autopsy found no discernible cause of death. His Mother had died a lingering death a couple of years before in the house, my mother inlaws Father had came there to die too 7 years earlier.
Can't really blame it on that or the many others that passed after being brought to the Parsonage. I studied this mess and entities like this feed on belief, and the more you start believing something is around the more these things manifest.
Nothing else occurred during the rest of my time there after the paint-peeling preaching from my Brother in law.
I did notice the Lady who bought it remodeled everything and then moved out 6 months later, it went into foreclosure.
The Bank told me she moved out in the middle of the night, defaulted on the loan and they just wanted the principal, 42000, a great deal.
I passed.
I did see this same dark cloud/smoke like thing again, but it was years later,in different circumstances.

Confess that i thought my beer habit wouldn't change much when i went from buying 10 x 24 packs every 10 days to buying a 100 ctn pallet every 3 months.

Did a quick audit on myself yesterday and i'm actually drinking a little less these days. 68 ctns in 79 days. So there's that.

This happened in about the mid 1980's.

A chubby girl about 14 years old started coming in when my Mother was working for a few hours. Every day she was telling my Mother all the various things I did or was doing.

She had a female friend about 18 or so working at the grocery store. Standing all shift and having to work. My job of sitting making change seemed easier. And could meet guys. Obviously the chubby girl was trying to get me fired so her friend could work here.

My Mother got a big kick out of it. She let it go on for over a week.

Finally tiring of it. She asked the chubby girl if she knew who I was ? She said no. My mother informed her I was her son, and owned the business. Now get your a** out of here and don't ever come back.

Gee, that plan backfired.

LTG : )

I confess that I have not been posting here lately and I am not even sure why. I guess I just don't have anything interesting to talk about.

My excuse is work has been very busy and haven’t had much time to check into Pinside. At best I’m able to just view a select number of threads. I got 10 hours of sleep last night and still tired. No illness symptoms just tired and working a lot so hopefully that’s all it is.

Hopefully this weekend I’ll be able to catch up more. However Sunday I’m hoping to stop by someone who lives about 6 blocks from me and has a WMS Fire! Haven’t played one in about a decade.

The Company I worked for had a Safety Suggestion Program where you got points for each suggestion you entered.
At the end of the year you received a small gift book to order prizes based on how many points you had.
It was difficult to find any new hazards since everyone was looking.
So I found the Corporate safety manual. Me and a friend started submitting things in the manual that Corporate mandated but we weren't doing.
We had 160 suggestions for the year and got great top of the line prizes. Gold Seiko watch(big deal back then), kayak, gas grill.
The HR Manager took us in and said we were scamming the system using insider knowledge for gain. We were forbidden to submit any safety suggestion for a year or we were terminated.
This is basically how I see the Gamestop short squeeze drama going on.
I did negotiate a few free pies from the Ladies who needed a safety suggestion for their review.

Had a customer forget his cellphone this evening. He's coming back for it. Reminded me of another cellphone incident.

One night I was real busy ( the good old days ) and a few guys left without paying for their pool. Too bad one of them forgot their cellphone.

He came back the next day and asked if I found a cellphone. I told him I did. And I asked what the reward was up to ? He responded that he thought thanks for finding it was reward enough.

I countered with that paying for the pool table he ran out on, apologizing for that, and thanking me for not dropping his phone in the toilet was a good start. And never coming back in. He agreed on my suggestion. Which was good if he ever wanted to see his cell phone again.

Another time I found a cellphone and the owner of it called it. I answered in my best fake Chinese/English voice. Pizza Place, you want order pizza ? I kept it up for a good ten minutes. What size you want ? You want pick up ? You want cook yourself ? etc.etc.

Finally the light went on and he screamed into his phone he was calling from, "Lloyd, is that you ?". I told him it was and his phone was safe for when he wanted to stop by for it.

And to wrap it up. I had a young man come in and plugged his cellphone and charger into one of my wall outlets and left. I'm thinking what the F ? He didn't even ask if he could use my outlet. He wasn't even a customer. When he came back about an hour later he couldn't find it. He asked me. I didn't see it. He finally found it in the garbage can. I have no idea how it got there.

LTG : )

Thought of another incident. Back when times were good, early 1990's. I stored 24 packs of pop in a corner. I lost a can once a month or so. I didn't worry much about it unless I caught the culprit.

One night some guys left and a person from the other side of the room came over and told me a case of pop left with them.

I ran out, they were in their car and hadn't left yet. I rapped on the passenger window. They ignored me. I tried the door. It was unlocked. I climbed in. Laying across the passenger, pounding the hell out of the one in the back seat, and trying to grab the keys out of the ignition with my other hand. I was afraid they'd drive off with me.

The guy in the back seat was screaming, "you can't do this !". I always love this part, because well, I seem to be doing it. I told him go ahead and call the police and explain how this all started.

Once I got the keys I hopped out. I told the driver, "We're even. You keep the pop. As soon as you get bored and leave I'm going to take your car and park it in a tree somewhere."

Funny thing. I got the pop back, a round of apologies, and promises to never return. I mentioned I had their license plate number, in case they ever had ideas of further retribution. The assured me they'd had enough.

LTG : )

Note to self, don’t fuck with Lloyd if I know what’s good for me

That's a good policy. Though I have mellowed with age. Back when I was younger, especially when working for my Father. And drinking heavily. I did have a bad temper. I really F'd some people up back then.

LTG : )

A couple years of full contact karate in the mid 1970's mellowed me considerably too. This was after I no longer worked for my Father and the drinking tapered off.

LTG : )

Saw this and my mind immediately went “JOHNNY!” That sign sums up this thread these days. Lol!

309E6D07-A7B0-4359-9DFD-3459532A1D9A (resized).jpeg

Holy crap truth in advertising.

If anyone prefers I not write these stories here let me know, i understand. No hard feelings.
My goal was to document and publish a few things when I felt like writing, as well as sharing them with a few who may get a kick.
Just don't want to be a hassle.

I confess I don't really believe in ghosts. or talking to the dead. or dead relatives making hallway lights flash or dishes break. carry on tho!

I enjoy random things/thoughts on a bunch of topics. I do believe in stuff that people/science can’t explain.
My confession..I have never used my snooze button on any alarm clock. Isn’t the idea, if you set the alarm at a specific time, to wake up?
And I still have road rage and finger people, even if I drive a company vehicle w their phone # on it..

When I have to get up to an alarm I usually wake up several times before it goes off. So much so that the need for the actual arm is slim to none.

Overall I don't use an alarm clock.

I didn't either. Until I ran into it.

LTG : )

The ghost here has not disturbed me in a while, sometimes just a minor chill, or a feeling that while I need something in a certain room, it can wait a tad longer, because I can sense it is in that room, and I want to give it plenty of space.

For anyone that does not remember, at the strongest, the ghost hugged me, I felt it, and there was no one there. Later it threw a lighter across a table in front of someone that thought I had too many Natties.

And I was never told what it did to one girlfriend, but she never spent another night here. (and that was a good thing).

My current girlfriend is the only person that I know of besides me that has been hugged by it, and she is a keeper.

I love my ghost! Best I can figure it is my granddad. He died young from a accident and at the time he and grandma was not getting along and he really liked me and my parents and wanted to move in here with us, and I think he did. (when I was around 6).

My girlfriend is the last to physically encounter it. (it is playful and will move some things random at times, but when physical it will freak you out).

I had just went to the bathroom, gone maybe 10 minutes, when I get back to the man cave bedroom (I have bedrooms all over the house, my favorite is in the man cave with all the games around),

Anyway, when I got back my girlfriend was sitting on the bed all freaked out.

I said Honey, there is a ghost here, and I think you may want to tell me something.

She said yeah, I was sitting on the bed, drinking coffee, and I felt you sit down next to me, I felt the bed move from you sitting down next to me, and then you gave me the warmest best hug ever, and then I realized you were not in the room.

And I said HELL YEAH! The ghost loves you so I know you are a keeper!

None of my friends, or anyone coming over to buy a game from me has never sensed anything about the ghost, and most of the time, like 99.9% of the time I do not sense anything either. (I have asked some of them).

And I confess I will try to post long stuff somewhere else, I know these long stories was not what started at first.

Sorry that I ruined the confessional.

And while all of this is 100% true, I do confess that recently I was trying to be funny and I was too drunk to make that work. (kind of like now, except now I was not being funny).

And that even confuses me, when I try to read it, but if you get it, you get me.

One last confession. I have never down voted anyone. I have never flagged a post, (I may have accidently flagged some posts in the what game did you bring home today when I was tired a long time ago, and was trying to catch up and give them all a thumbs up).

IF I EVER FLAGGED A POST, it was in the what game did you bring home today and it was by accident while I was trying to upvote posts and I was tired. I know this only because a couple of times I said to myself "what was that button I accidently clicked on".

My whole take is we are all different, but at the same time the love of pinball machines has brought us all together, and I respect every ones opinions, and if I agree, or just am in a happy upvoting mood, I give lots of thumbs ups.

I will just delete my account, and walk away from here, before I would ever down vote anyone on purpose.

And when I say on purpose, yes I was tired the other night, and accidently gave a thumbs down before quickly fixed it to a thumbs up, I think that was in dogs rule, which is one of my best favorites here.

Anyway, I want another beer, and make one more post.

I wish all of you the best!

I dont believe in ghosts either, but I do find the phenomenon fascinating and like reading all your stories here.

Don't sweat it. Easier to skip as complain. Those of us who don't have any interest can just scroll on past

I say keep all the stories going from all! This is one of the best threads on Pinside...

I was not going to post tonight. I am tired.

But something in this beer I just opened made me want to post.

My first pin ever, and only gifted pin ever, was a Evel Knievel that Dad bought me for my birthday back around 1980 or so.

When I see them for sale now I am tempted, but at the same time I think about how bored I got with it, and basically gave it away in 1992.

In 1992 I had 4 pins in the shop area of Dads construction company, they made me some money during the day with workers playing on breaks, and at night my friends would hang out and we would play for free.

I had Evel, Playboy, Rock, and Special Force. Playboy made the most money, it paid for all the games.

Rock was the worst, and Special Force was the first game that I had purchased new.

Anyway, Dad had got in bad health, and went bankrupt, and lost everything and I sold all my stuff because I did not want to move or store anything.

Luckily I was always a saver anyway(hell I remember my savings account making 10% interest when I was young), and so I raised as much as I could to start my own construction company.

I went on to work 80 hours a week forever, never even dated in my 20's, and I have never been married or had any kids(and still do not want any kids) As a comedian once said, "kids are expensive pets".

Once things settled, I had missed pinball, had not even seen or played one in 20 years. (damn time flies by).

Bad advice from a electrician friend that I would need a whole new fuse box and wiring to have a pin delayed my quest a few more years.

It finally hit me, Hell, if I have a pin, it means I am not in the jacuzzi using power, or in my shop building using power, so he was full of crap and I can start shopping for a pin.

I am so glad that I found pinside and I was able to read comments in the top 100 as a non-member and do research because I would have messed up on a bad deal.

After not ever playing, or seeing any pinball machines since 1992, in 2016 I made a 40 minute road trip to buy a NIB Metallica Monsters.

I was very impressed to say the least. Wow these games got a whole lot more expensive, and at the same time a hell of a lot cooler in the time I was away.

My girlfriend and I laughed so hard the first time we got the electric chair multiball and the game said fry that motherfucker.

My plan was to keep the game low plays in case I ever wanted to sell it. That did not work. When I was done she would ask if she could play it more. 2 hours later...

I picked up Ghostbusters kind of in a rush, just to get another game so that she would not be wearing out Metallica.

And yeah, if you have read my stories, you may remember that now I vent that she wants to play the Big Buck arcade for 2-3 hours, while I only want to play a hour or so, and she gets mad that I will not keep playing it.

She is a KEEPER! I have read so many stories here about wives, etc., not into games, my lady loves games.

We both really enjoy all the games, not only pins, and Big Buck and Golden Tee, but also corn hole and ping pong.

Recently I built a decent horseshoe course(or whatever you call it if course is not the word), with stuff I had laying around. That is the cheapest yet I have spent on a game, all I needed were the horseshoes. (we have not even played it yet).

Except for the virus stuff, it is a awesome time to be alive, so many fun things to do.

There is a pretty good free 18 hole frisbee golf course 4 miles away, and a while back I posted a pic of me on the boat, and in 2020 the boat only made it to the lake 2 times.

Sometimes I am tempted to just sell the boat, and use the money on another rental house, or more games, but a few years ago when I did use the boat more, one time I was by myself all relaxed and catching a few fish and I just thought Damn, it does not get any better than this, and once I completely stop working, I can just hang out on the lake all summer.

Anyway, I am not rich, I do not live in a mansion, or even a mini mansion, and I do not care to. I have way more house than I need already.

I worked for Dad until he lost everything in 1992, since then I have always been self employed and I semi retired in 2005.

I stay busy, but as far as working that makes money I did that 5 days in the last month, a tad slower than I like.

Out of those 5 days 2 days were the days I hate when I have to be up before the sun to help a customer, and the other 3 days I can start at the crack of noon if I want.

I prefer about 12 days of work a month that I can get up at the crack of noon, and 0 days that customer wants me somewhere before the sun comes up.

I did work a 9-5 job for a few months in the summer back when I was a teen, so that I could get in the work program and get out of school early.

I hated school, bored the shit out of me. Look at the clock, 10am, look at it again and thought maybe 10;30, nope, 10:04.

Now when I work, I think I can get all this done by 2pm, look at the clock, and it is 6pm.

If you enjoy life, time flies by really fast.

If you hate your job or whatever you are doing, time drags by.

Damn I am getting old and starting to think that maybe I need to get some job that I will hate just to slow time down a tad.

But then I have a beer, and I say hell no, time is flying by, but it just does not get any better than this.

How many people do you know that worked 80 hours a week for themselves, and never dated during their entire 20's?

That work was risky and demanding. My knees are shot now, and my back hurts a lot.

I just wanted to get ahead while I was young, so that I could take it easy when I got older.

I love to work, as long as my knees are ok I can outwork a 20 year old(easy to do, I work with both hands, while they have a smart phone attached to one hand).

And it was cool one time back when I did construction for myself in my 20's, a superintendent once asked how old I was, he said are you around 40, and when I said no, 24, he could not believe it. He was like damn, only 24 and working for yourself in pipeline?

Anyway, if anyone is ever passing through my area, shoot me a pm to see if I am around to hang out and play some games.

I am normal in the daytime and I do not talk a lot. It is only after a few beers that I get typing happy.

And I never have that first beer until at least 7pm. (when I was younger, I may would start at 7am).

I have not seen my girlfriend in several days, she has been sick, and this morning she tested positive.

She can not smell, but she can still taste.

I have felt fine, except for weird headaches that come on strong but last a very short time. (been going on for weeks, I assumed they were caused from her talking about what kind of BS her Mom just did).

And I was just thinking about the whole headache thing.

I had headaches bad in high school, I even had a MRI or cat scan or something done, and I was on some kind of pills for all that for a while.

I never knew alcohol caused headaches. (Natty never bothers me that way).

But high school was so damn boring (I made really good grades), that I was drinking whiskey before I went to school.

Looking back it could have been the alcohol, and not some weird growing pain killing my head.

And back in those days if caught drinking and driving it was like a speeding ticket, no jail time and all that.

In high school I was drinking and driving all the time, but I was careful, I knew if I was ok or not.

And I am glad that we have strong DUI laws now:

1. it saves lives.
2. it helps people to get help that maybe they did not know they had a problem.
3. it saves me a hell of a lot of money to drink at home and not in a bar.

And I confess that I do stop drinking for a while every now and then, sometimes as much as 60 days.

I love beer, but I am also into saving money, and as my tolerance gets back up and I am having 20 beers a day if I stop for a while, then when I start back 8 is plenty for a while.

At my worst (and most fun time of my life), (when I was about 32 years old), in a 24 hour period one time at the beach I had 45 Bud Lights, and 7 mixed drinks.

I had a big ass lounge chair float, and a floating cooler, and I camped all day on the ocean just having a awesome time.

Right before I started, and was bringing all that onto the beach, someone asked me where I got the cool float from (Lesilie Pool Supply), and turned out they were from my area.

I was pretty wasted when I was on my way back to the room, and the dude that had asked me about the float greets me at the top of the stairs and said I just cost him $100.00.

He and his wife had watched me all day, and he said no way with all he is drinking will he ever make it up these stairs to get to his room.

I will never forget that, I was drunk as hell and ready to crash, and I thought this dude was about to punch me for no reason.

I did make it back to my room just fine, and I was alone on that trip, and the room had 2 queen beds, and I proceeded to get in the one I did not plan to sleep in later, soaking wet, and covered in sand.

Later, when I woke up and looked at the time, I said shit, I have to jump in the shower and get cleaned up before Harpoon Harry's kitchen closes.

I made it in time, had the awesome bourbon teriyaki steak, and the band was kicking ass and I stayed for 7 mixed drinks.

And that is the only time ever I have had a beer in the morning.

For whatever reason I woke up at 7am, and I had left a beer half full on the night stand, and I finished that one and popped a new one and a new day began.

(and that is the only reason why my 24 hour total is so high), just that one time, I woke up early for whatever reason, and went right back to drinking.

As far as the 45 beer count, I had put 48 in the cooler, and 3 was still there, and alone at the time, and I damn sure did not pour any out.

It was fun. I am way too damn old for that now.

Not tonight, but I do have another beach story, a friend saying he was sorry, to avoid getting his ass kicked. (not by me, I have almost always been very peaceful).

LTG is a badass! I love his stories!

And for whatever reason, I have done it my entire life, even if I know your name, I always will just call you man.

(hey man, what's up, hey man, how have you been, etc.)

In person I am big time easy going and easy to get along with.

+1 I'm usually a little slow with names for whatever reason but good with faces.

Johnny, you should probably get a covid test...too.

Something to consider

Right now I just want to confess about something friends do that gets on my nerves.

How is your Mom doing? Tell her I said hi.

How is Phyllis Doing? Tell her I said hi.

How is Larry doing? Tell him I said hi.

I HATE THAT CRAP! And I never take time to tell anyone that so and so told me to tell you hi, because all that would lead to is "oh, how are they doing? Tell them I said hi".

WILL EVERYBODY JUST PLEASE TELL SOMEONE HI THEMSELVES!

Do I look like a Carrier Pidgeon, with nothing to do than relay messages back and forth for you?

Maybe I need to get a hat made (I do not wear t-shirts, always hated them) that says: THEY SAID HI, and when face to face with anyone if asked I can tell them who had a hi message for them.

For real, this shit was old 20 years ago.

I asked my girlfriend what they gave her for medication, and she said none.

WELL, what in the hell was that all about?

Test says you have this, come back and get tested later when you feel better to see if you test negative.

If I feel bad enough to go get help, I want some damn drugs to get better.

I don't get it, a positive test and no medication.

Hell, that's kind of like going to the doctor talking about your butt hurts and he looks and says: Yes, you have hemorrhoids, and that is it.

If the world is like this now then I am glad that it was around 3 years ago that I cut my leg with a chainsaw and they did 11 stitches.

I guess if I ever get cut again and go to urgent care they will just look at the cut and say: yes, that looks like a cut, you should be more careful, you are dismissed.

I get the whole testing thing if you are going to travel, to prove you are safe.

But, if you do test positive, like my girlfriend, and that is it, have a nice day, and not be offered at least something to help you get better, or at least feel better, what was the point?

And for the record, I am 100% sorry for this rant here.

PLEASE! No more virus talk here!

Let's talk about Waffle House!

I never eat breakfast, I am never hungry early in the day but I do love breakfast food.

I love me a Waffle House All Star for dinner a few times a year!

And I may be weird, but I love my bacon limp! I love chewy bacon, and not crunchy bacon.

(and I use plenty of paper towels to try to get rid of some of that grease before I eat it).

LTG, please help me! Another awesome story please!

(and with all this, I am trying to be serious and funny at the same time).

I wish all of us the best!

(and yeah this is one of those times that happen that I need to be up in 5 hours now...sucks).

There was an incident at the Feast of Fantasy at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival many years ago.

I used to take a group of ten. The Lord High Sheriff got us an end table, candelabra, and a character to join us. I used to go the first Saturday and the last Sunday so I wouldn't have to wait a whole year until the next one.

Well one year the character that joined us was a beautiful young lass. Dark red velvet gown. And she had a small wooden catapult on wheels and a velvet bag. Which I thought strange. This was asking for trouble as there was no tossing of edibles at the feast.

She set up the catapult and opened the velvet bag. It was full of green grapes. When the other nine people saw this, they all pushed way back from the table. The young lass looked at me wondering what ? I just shrugged and said I didn't know. ( actually I did. I once about beat a guy to death for hitting me with a green grape )

One of the first entertainment groups that came in. The young lass mentioned to me the one young man, she whispered she was sweet on him. I leaned over and pulled the lever on the catapult and THWACK nailed him a good one. The young lass was not pleased. I waved him over. Chatted with him, tipped him $20 for his great performance, and let him know it was I and not the young lass who nailed him.

Then this huge, and I mean HUGE nun came in. With her young nuns in training. She put on quite a show. Running them around. Making them do stuff. And when her back was to us I leaned over again and hit the lever and THWACK nailed her right in the upper middle of her back.

She spun around and was pretty pissed. I right away fessed up and told her it was me. To take any heat off of the young lass. And I thought it was pretty funny anyway.

A couple hours later walking around the renaissance grounds. All of a sudden a bull, I mean HUGE nun was running at me with a long walking stick. I have to admit for a large person she moved damn fast. I out ran her and made good my escape. Barely.

I miss the feast of fantasy. Back when it was good.

LTG : )

One of my oldest memories(around 4 years old?) was a sand box out in the yard.

There used to be a green snake that would come around, and I would play with it, I had no fear of snakes.

Then when I was around 8? A cousin had a fake snake at his house he was trying to scare me with, it did not work...

But at the same time it worked. One time my cousin had visited here, and I seen a snake and thought my cousin had left the fake snake here.

I picked it up, and it was not fake, it was real. Scared the shit out of me.

So forever, anytime I see a snake, it startles me, usually I cuss, and jump backwards about 5 feet.

(I live next to a pond, that does have poisonous snakes).

So anyway, my main client that I have worked for, for years somehow figured out I was startled by snakes.

So for the last 15 years anytime we are on a job, and there is a snake anywhere around, he picks them up and throws them at me.

He admits that he has been bit, well, I have not and I plan to keep it that way.

My whole thing is ok, maybe the snake has no poison, but at the same time I have read that you can still have problems with infections. (I ain't picking one up).

Anyway, I confess that for a long time, me and everyone around here would kill every snake we seen.

But my client taught me that good snakes kill the bad ones, so now I am more careful, and I have tried to get everyone else around here to be more careful also.

About a year and a half ago I was in my shop building out in the backyard, getting a lawn mower ready to go, when all of a sudden the biggest snake I have ever seen in my life came wandering in.

This snake was at least 8 feet long.

Yeah, I was startled, but I did not jump back 5 feet, and I can not remember if I cussed or not.

I was quickly able to tell it was a good snake, so I was not afraid of it so much, but I still was not getting near it.

I looked around and seen my old swimming pool brush, on a 10 foot pole, and grabbed it and started nudging the snake back out the door.

(My mind was made up, if this son of a bitch strikes at the pole or gets aggressive I will beat the shit out of it).

Nope, the snake was a gentle giant, not aggressive at all, and he went back out of my shop, into the firewood pile I had behind the shop.

I told everyone around here, that if you see this big ass snake, 8 feet long, leave it alone, it gets rid of the poisonous snakes around here.

So anyway, I have not seen Fred (I named the snake Fred) lately, but I have also not seen any water moccasins or adult copperheads either. (I have seen some baby copperheads though, so Fred needs to keep at it).

We also have tons of turtles from that pond also. The big one, getting about as big as a truck tire, I named Godzilla.

And it was weird, last year I watched a turtle walking up from the pond through my yard, and it went right up to my shop in the backyard, dug a hole in the gravel driveway, and plopped its ass down and I assume laid eggs?

All I know is that after that turtle left, it did such a great job of filling the hole in (and it was a around 8 inch by 8 inch hole around 5 inches deep), that I could not even tell the gravel had been disturbed at all after it left.

And I know raccoons are bad, but I think they are so cute, they used to walk by all the time with their young in single file behind them when I would be grilling out, and I have not seen any in a while. (Fred?)

Rabbits galore though. If we ever have a food shortage I will be ok. (just joking, I think they are cute also).

I am weird. I love to fish, but I am sick of eating fish. I used to catch so many and cook them all the time.

I care less about hunting, never was into it, hunted deer when I was young with my Dad.

I have joked with friends that my perfect sport adventure would be to take the boat out on the lake, find a cow near the water, and somehow catch it and reel it in. I like steaks!

Thanks for the story!

I went to one of those one time, my girlfriend at the time had free tickets and she wanted to go, so I said hell yeah.

I didn't get it. I did like the falconers show or whatever it is called, with the big ass birds doing tricks.

As far as everyone dressing like it is the year 1200 or something, and talking funny, I don't get it.

(And I know I did not fit in with my shaved head and wearing a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and flip flops).

It was weird to me. I would only go back if a girlfriend wanted to go, and then I would spend some time on Google or something so that I could learn more about it to get into it better the next time.

I do remember some of the characters/actors, whatever, saying some stuff as I walked by, but I had already seen a sign for turkey legs for 20.00 and I was in a hurry to get out of there before she got hungry and we would be spending as much as Longhorn, for turkey legs.

I know, I should have chilled and spent some more time and money.

With my girlfriend now I could probably chill more and take it in, but I think we have already talked about it and she does not care for that stuff.

My girlfriend was disappointed that we did not go to the beach last year. HELL YEAH! I fit in at the beach well!

She has the worst Mom, talking worse than that movie Monster In Law.

It gets aggravating, but I will not leave her. She is just too awesome!

Hell, most guys are on here complaining that their wife/girlfriend has no interest in any of their games, while most of the time i am complaining about my girlfriend will not leave me alone wanting to play games for 3 hours when a hour and a half is all I can handle.

Hey Lloyd, do you have any snake stories?

Sorry, does anyone have any snake stories? (Anyone and everyone, if you think you have something funny or interesting to share, please post it! BUT! Please space a little so us old timers can read it a tad easier!)

(any story, ghost, snake, shark, penguin, etc.)

(I know I constantly mention LTG but he does have some awesome stories!)

And I know this was meant to be a pinball confessional, and I confess that I did not turn any machine on tonight, but the 12 times I have passed by them on the way to the fridge, I have looked at them and smiled and thought DAMN! I hope I have the time and energy to play this again soon!

Poor TWD. It gets neglected, after other games were brought in sometimes it was not turned on for 8 months.

But it is always ready, within 5 seconds the game is fully powered and shows the scores from the last time it was played.

Out of all the games I have ever owned, this TWD is the fastest to be ready to play when you touch the power button.

(and with my luck, after posting that, someone will say JOHNNY! IF THE GAME POWERS THAT FAST IT MEANS THAT THE MOTHERBOARD IS GOING OUT AND IT NEEDS TO BE REPLACED BEFORE IT BURNS YOUR HOUSE DOWN).

Take care my friends!

Also, I just figured out that bug spray does not kill spiders, but it does slow them down enough that you can beat the shit out of them with the can.

Only one. A good friend of mine was out golfing one day. Had a horrible round going. And a garter snake slithered past him. He grabbed a 7 iron and massacred that poor garter snake.

Not the end of it. I happened to stop into a local bar/bowling alley to buy a drink for another friend on his birthday. And in walks the golfer.

I couldn't help it. I screamed, "mongoose". The place erupted in laughter.

His new nickname stuck for many years.

LTG : )

What is it with you guys. Two of my best friends are snakes.

Fuck.

Reminds me of a story.

I was at a place and this guy had heaps of dogs. We just up and smacked em with 4 x 2's.

How funny is that?

I was actually just confessing that I am not so fast to kill them now.

Not sure if I will ever get to the place that you are with snakes, but I am getting better.

I can't say anything nice to that, so goodnight Johnny.

FromTheDarkSideOfTheWorldPunkin

I have nothing against snakes. And would never hurt one.

I made fun of the guy that killed one.

LTG : )

My Moms people lived in the middle of Pungo in Eastern NC. It used to be swamp but the Army Corp of engineers went in during the 20's and built dikes and pumped it out, revealing super fertile soil and peat moss pits that would spontaneously combust, the place was always smoking.
When it rained the Diamondback rattlesnakes and Coral snakes (NC Cobra) tried to find high ground, usually my Uncles garden.These were fat, stubby rattlers. Water moccasins too that were really aggressive.
A Rattler will run from you but a Moccasin will challenge you, make it mad with a stick and it keeps coming.
All my Cousins wore high waders to work in the garden, when a rattler or moccasin (Coral snakes were rare) was found between rows my Aunt would kill it with a hoe and hang it up on the clothesline so they didn't get confused as to living versus dead.
During the wet season there would be a half dozen snakes on that clothesline.
My cousin Jim was skipping school with friends when they saw a big rattler run over in the road.
They were high and drunk so they got out to mess with it.
The rear half was flat but the front very much alive. Well, it bit his friend in between the thumb and index finger.
He started sucking the poison out of his hand.
Problem was he had an accessed tooth, autopsy later said the poison shot quickly to his brain and he died on the spot.
They freaked out and drove him to the Hospital, left him in his car and ran like hell.
Stopping at a payphone they called Emergency and told them he was out there.
After hiding out and drying out and coming down they went home and fessed up.
None of them got in any trouble (small town)

I confess that spiders kind of scare me, but I do not have the heart to squish them. I always take them outside in a cup.

SnakeDefenderPunkin

Moderated, as i should have been.

Confess that as a kid I wanted to become a herpetologist.I've always had a fondness for snakes,lizards,turtles,frogs and such.For the life of me I cannot understand how anyone can just kill something whatever it is for no reason just because they can.

Maybe you should start a "snakes rule" thread?

My Kin in Pungo still used outdoor toilets until I was 12 when my Uncle built a modern house on the property. Growing up using a outhouse is pretty rough for a little kid. In the Summer, there was always a giant Wasp nest in the corner you had to keep an eye on and not scare them or they just unloaded on your ass while you ran out with your pants down and your "Business" unfinished.
Blowing flies were thick inside and out, and in the hole under the seat were Black Widow spiders. People tried to burn them out with a torch and a lot of times it would catch the whole thing on fire.
I worried about them Black Widows crawling up my privates after Grandma told the story of the little boy down the road who got bit and died.
There were also several small kids who fell in and drowned in the sepsis.
But the worst time I had was when I'm sitting in there, looking at the Wasps, worrying about Black Widows, swatting flies and pretending it doesn't stink Like hell and looked down.
In the corner was a new addition, a huge scary looking snake.
After running out shouting and screaming and crying Grandma calmed me down and told me that snake was their friend, and mine too.
They had caught a King snake and tamed it to stay around the outhouse to kill and eat poisonous snakes and warf rats. "No matter how scary it looks, its doing its job Sweet Pea, so go back in there and do yours"