DementedBlogger

I made a new acquaintance the other day… the shop pet. He wandered out from under his lair, coming out to explore the open expanse of concrete and survey his kingdom!

He was in plain site for several minutes before scurrying back underneath things that aren’t really easily moved. We didn’t name him/her, he/ she just is…

I’m not entirely sure of the exact species anymore than the gender, but arachnid’s of that size usually bring to mind only one, tarantula….

Now, I’m not a gambling man, but the odds of him climbing my leg to get in a really good bite are pretty small, so he we didn’t tear the shop apart to terminate his pest control contract. I just won’t be reaching into areas that I can’t see into any time soon.

As long as he doesn’t decide to get the urge to share my lunch, we will get along fine.

It never ceases to amaze me what can end up in the backyard pond… especially when it is connected to the bay, and the bay is connected to the Gulf of Mexico….

I had leaping Manta rays last weekend, flinging themselves out of the water in a vain attempt at flight.

I have seen sharks, both large and small, cruising the end of the bayou for unwary prey.

Dolphins are our favorites though, and always cause a commotion when they drop in to spread awe and the occasional coronary… My neighbor nearly fell off the dock when a 10 footer thrashed madly trying to catch lunch a few years ago. He was standing on his dock facing away from the Dolphin when it started after its luckless meal, chasing it into the shallows and nearly up the boat ramp to catch it. The rooster-tails of water were really flying off that mammal, but the neighbor held his own, windmilling to keep from tipping from the edge of the dock and into the water with who knows what in it… his back still turned to the water.

This morning a mother and child tag team of Dolphins were creating quite the show, chasing the locals around, and splashing. I ended up with several good photos after running for the house to retrieve the camera, coffee had been foremost on my mind until the Dolphins cavorting begged for pictures!

Two of those pictures are featured here: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1935318/dolphins_in_the_backyard_.html?cat=7

and I have posted one more here on the blog.

Thomas H. Forthe

The IRS tried to contact me, by e-mail no less… I simply could not pass up the opportunity to respond.

Now that several hundred filthy rich Nigerian relatives have passed from this world, and left their long lost cousin from the era of neanderthal a huge fortune, and the United Nations has stepped in and dropped me a line to kindly let me know that this is as real as it gets… Why even the FBI has sent a Internet note to back it all up and ease my mind, telling me that this cannot possibly be a scam!

The IRS in their wisdom is trying to add to my fortune… evidently they missed those millions of dollars careening in from all of those relatives just dying to leave me a heritage that will support me long after Social Security ceases to function!

To receive this windfall, all I have to do is submit my refund payment… that’s right, submit it. I can download the pertinent form right from my e-mail, a mere 213KB file, and submit it right away so they can send me my $733.50, I bet if I download it I will get a few bonuses too! I would bet that there are a yacht or two and some gold bullion just lying around the IRS offices that they can send along with my check….

The e-mail did come with a stern warning, anyone providing false information would be “pursued and indicated”! I don’t know about you, but the last thing in this world that I want to have done to me is to be “indicated”.

It must have been a typo, they had to have meant the lesser penalty of “syndicated” which carries a much smaller fine and jail sentence!

Good ol’ IRS, always willing to instill fear of torture over “submitting” a refund payment.

Perhaps I should consider moving to Nigeria, obviously the tax laws are simpler and one can amass a fortune in no time, and the Government there has already been kind to me… all those nice e-mails they sent to let me know how to send my money to claim my inheritance…

Thomas H. Forthe