#nurse sandra may
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Barbara Windsor - Carry On Doctor (1967)
#barbara windsor#carry on doctor#60s movies#60s comedy#british comedy#carry on films#nurse sandra may#kenneth williams#gerald thomas#sixties#1967
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Hello! I was wondering if you still have the request open, can I request a Price x F!Reader? (It can be any version of price OG MW or MW2019)
I really love your reader fics!💕
Thank you!!✨
Request are always open at any time, so don't worry about it. Here is first chapter of new series. I hope you will enjoy it.
New me! | Team | Price x Reader
Chapter 1
"Why are we here? Because WE make a difference. We are soldiers who serve the people. We fight.
5 years ago
"Weak, small, and coward. That's who you are. You're gonna give up the first second when you hear gunshots." my brother never believed in me, and he says it every time. I mentioned him that I want to join the military. Understandable, we lost our parents, and he took care of me and he doesn't want to loose only member of his family, but I'm an adult now, working in FBI behind desk, but that's not it.
"You're speechless? Cat got your tongue?" -"No, I was just thinking."
"You don't need to think. You're already working in FBI and you don't need anything else. If I was asked, you wouldn't even work at all. You would start a family and take care of your family and household, and that's it. Military leave to MEN, that's our job." Annoying! We stopped walking in front of a cafe where my brother works when we saw crowd running and screaming from the opposite direction.
______________________
"We're losing her!" -"No, we're not! She's a fighter, give me defibrillator"
"Charging...Clear!....Again, charging...Clear!"
______________________
The sound of helicopters covered the screaming sounds. In the moment, I felt hot wave from my left side, and it throwed me to the side. I remember that someone was dragging me from that place, saying that I would be okay. I was looking for my brother, I thought he was the one dragging me then I saw him laying on the streets far away, burned from the explosion. Tears ran down my cheeks and I fell asleep from the pain in my body, but still I could hear his voice saying: "Hold on, doll. Hold on..."
______________________
"Well I can say, you were the lucky one. Look around you, sweetheart. You're in infirmary, and people are in pain, most of them lost some parts. Be happy that you got only few scars. This one on your face is ugly one, but you'll get used to it. Now take a rest, sweetheart. You need it." The older nurse called Sandra was lovely, but she's not the one for comforting. She was right, I have all my parts of the body, but still so much pain.
I was there few days, and in these few days, I saw many of them dying, heard so much screaming. It was awful, and only thing that could get my mind away from it was that man's voice from before. I analyzed it from my memory. British man in his late 30s and early 40s. He's calm, but knows how to lead his team, so he's sergeant, lieutenant, captain or colonel.
"Hello Sandra, how's your day going doll?" speaking about the wolf
"Captain Price, it's so nice to see you, too. How may I help you sir?" bullseye!
Captain's POV:
"Few days ago, we came back to base with one civil. She was really in bad shape. I was wondering what happened to her? Do you have any information." Sandra just pointed at her. When I turned around she was already looking at us. I slowly approached her and just as I wanted to greet her, she spoke first. "You're hurt."
"What?" -"You're hurt. Your left side of your waist. It's bleeding." I didn't even realized that I was wounded. She took few bandages from the table next to her bunk and gave it to me.
"Sit on the bunk, I'll call Sandra to give you some medicine."
"No need, it's just a scratch." She looked at me, we both knew that it would be the best to look at it, but I suppose she didn't want to be annoying.
"Can you teach me how to shoot?" -"Excuse me?" "Can you teach me how to shoot and some basic combat skills? I want to join you."
"That's for praise, but...It's not on me to decide that." I bet all of her hopes have been destroyed, but she was stubborn. She reminded me of the younger me, when I was her age."
"Captain Price, the world we knew is gone. Our lives have changed 180 degrees. And we both know that you need more personnel in this war. Sooner or later you will have to mobilize every man. I'm the only one left of my family, but that doesn't mean I will stay silent. I will join you with or without your help. But I bet it's better to fight with someone you know they're capable for fighting because you trained them than anything else."
I have to admit, she was good, and with her vocabulary, I realized that she's the FBI agent everyone was telling me about. And when I think about it, I could use a profiler in my team.
"Okay, tomorrow we'll start with your training. Sandra will take care of your medical papers. As for the rest, leave it to me."
"See you tomorrow, sir."
#cod#cod mw#cod mw2#cod mw3#call of duty modern warfare#captain john price#john price#john price x reader#captain john price x reader#modern warfare#call of duty#fanfic#price x reader#codfanworksfriday
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My thoughts on Midnight Club that no one asked for! I think it was decent overall and I went into it not expecting a Bly Manor or Hill House 2.0 because Mike does something different every time! So,
Strengths:
-I like how the individual stories they tell tell you something about the character. Natsuki’s story was amazing and broke me. I was like what the hell is going on (though I did wonder if she was wrestling with two versions of herself) and then my mind was blown in the end. Not all the stories interested me but like I said they tell you about the characters.
-The themes of grief, coming to terms with death got to me. Anya’s story got to me as well.
-Spence’s story and how they handled the AIDS; his relationship with Nurse Mark was heartwarming. The dialogue with the Christian gal Sandra was good.
Weaknesses:
-Didn’t really care for the cult stuff and history, just found it boring. Felt like they pushed it to a climax that was kind of like….that’s it? What happened to Julia after the attempted ritual? This whole part was just kind of dull to me.
-The ending wasn’t bad, but the twist was kind of expected and eh. A S2 may answer some of the questions still left like why Kevin sees the old man and Ilonka sees the woman.
-The main characters are possibly the worst ones. Ilonka got on my nerves so bad in the end and I don’t think she carries as a main. Kevin is okay but he got really creepy after that story lmao. I don’t really have a distinct favorite character or two, but I think the side characters are likeable enough.
Overall, I like it better than Midnight Mass. I’d probably give it a 7/10.
#midnight club#the midnight club#the haunting of bly manor#the haunting of hill house#hill house#bly manor#midnight mass#mike flanagan
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The erasure of records, digitization, and 1990s Hollywood films
Gif of one of the scenes from Hackers (1995)
In the past week, I've watched a number of 1990s Hollywood films, such as Sneakers (1992), Hackers (1995), The Net (1995), and My Fellow Americans (1996), where the "everything's on the computer" state of records, as stated in passing in The Andromeda Strain (1971), has been reached. All of these films share a similar theme: the erasure and change of records (mostly digital), which has an increased relevance as archival institutions continue to digitize more and more of their records, although not everything, as I noted in my post about challenges of archival digitization in late April.
Reprinted from post on my History Hermann WordPress blog and Wayback Machine. Originally posted on May 19, 2019.
Looking at the 1990s films
Let's start with The Net, since it was the first of these films that I watched, computer with bulky hand-held phones and dial-up computers. In this film, Sandra Bullock plays an isolated middle-age White woman (Angela Bassett) who is a "program systems analyst from Los Angeles" who lives most of her life online, talking on chat rooms and ordering pizza. That all changes when she takes a trip to Cessna (before which there is a computer malfunction which screws with flights), Mexico, meets a man who basically seduces her in order to get control of a virus which is on a floppy disk, of all things. This plan fails, however, as she realizes, after literally sleeping with him for some reason, that he wants to kill her, so she gets away in a dingy that crashes on rocks, knocking her unconscious. She wakes up three days later in a hospital and the disk has been destroyed. As she is about to go back into the country, after a record was changed that checked her out of the hotel, she is told to sign a temporary visa document which states that her name is Ruth Marx.
As the movie goes from here, she realizes that her identity has been stolen by an imposter, with the change of records by the villains who want to make profits off their security technology and gain access to every system possible. With this, the movie is a bit of warning that it is very easy for someone to be digitally erased with so much of our lives online, with which you don't even have to spoil the ending. Clearly there are inept secondary characters (police officers, nurses, and jailers), many of whom, like sole archivist Madame Nu in Attack of the Clones think that records are inviolable and cannot be changed. The partially inept villains are even able to kill a few people, like the Undersecretary of Defense by falsifying a report saying he has AIDS and a friend of Bullock's character. At one point, she says that "our whole lives are on the computer, and they knew that I could be vanished. They knew that nobody would care and it wouldn't matter." Later she adds to the inept court-appointed lawyer, who believes in the inviolability of the records in that they cannot be tampered with, to defend her from false charges:
Just think about it. Our whole world is sitting there on a computer. It's in the computer. Everything. Your DMV records, your Social Security... your credit cards, your medical history. It's all right there. Everyone is stored. And there's this little electronic shadow on each of us... just begging for somebody to screw with. They've done it to me, and they're gonna do it to you...I'm not Ruth Marx. They invented her. They put her on your computer with my thumbprint.
There were some similar themes in the 1992 film, Sneakers, which starred Robert Redford. The film focuses around attempts to create a black box which would crack American codes, allowing access to any American security system. In the process, a team tries to steal the box back and one of the characters purchases blueprints from the county recorders office for $50.00, leading the movie to be cited as an example of "the use and portrayal of records in film." [1] With the information from the county recorder's office, and their own observations, they are able to break-in to the company of the villain and get the box, but before it is handed to the NSA of the characters removes the main processing chip.
There is more than that. Redford's character is basically a hacker, as was his friend Cosmo (who is the film's villain) who was arrested and thrown into prison for computer crimes. The black box has a similar power to malicious code in The Net. Again, the focus is that records can easily be changed, or in the case of this movie, mimicked, to certain ends. Like the previously mentioned film, the cast is mostly White, but a bit more diverse in that they have a former Black CIA agent on the team of the "heroes."
There's one other film which has similar themes: Hackers, which features Angelina Jolie in a starring role. It focuses on a group of teen hackers who work to take down a villain who wants to sink a few oil tankers while getting wealthy in the process. In this "cult classic" film, as some places call it, there are computers running on dial-up (like in The Net), huge portable phones, people in some of the nerdiest clothes ever, and moving of information around on...floppy disks! In fact, the virus itself is on a floppy disk.
The altering of records is a key part of this film as well, as the villain alters criminal records of the male protagonist and his mother to list them as criminals, blackmailing him to give up the floppy disk. In the end, this group of hackers, all men except Angelina Jolie's character, and all White except one kid with dreadlocks, sets out to take down the servers of the villain's mega-corporation, succeeding thanks to help from two Japanese hackers and their subsequent "electronic army" of hackers. Somehow they basically get off from their prison sentence thanks to a television broadcast from one of the hackers, which seems strange as he could be utterly lying. As with most movies of this nature, the plot doesn't always completely add up.
Finally, there is a bit of an outlier: the 1996 film, My Fellow Americans. This is perhaps the most hokey film of all, although archives is a main part of this film. Ex-Presidents, played by James Garner and Jack Lemmon, discover a scandal in the current administration. Lemmon discovers that conspirators have altered his official records, at his presidential library archival vault, in order to "erase traces of a meeting." At another time, Mark Lowethal's character goes to the National Archives, finding that the presidential appointment log does not show this meeting. [2] It turns out the culprit behind these changes is the current sitting present, the former vice-president, with his chief of staff being the one whom "doctored the Archives log and the log in Kramer's library."
In this case, the film does not involve the changing of a digital record but only the changing of a paper record. Still, this has a similar theme to the other three movies in that records can be doctored, manipulated, and changed to the benefit of certain individuals. Although, this can be, at times, easier to do with digital records than with paper records. I would also say the theme that records can be changed, erased, or rewritten follows through the Halt and Catch Fire series, along with shows like Mr. Robot, going into its last season this coming fall.
Why do these films matter?
"If I could take all the things that I am, all the feelings I have, all the things that I want, and somehow get them on a computer card, you would be the answer. I don't know why or how you've come along at this particular point in my life. See, that's the magic part. I'm not gonna let you go."- Dr. Sidney Schaefer talks to his girlfriend (who ends up being one of the people who is spying on him) in The President's Analyst, a 1967 film
They matter because more and more of the records held by archival institutions are digital, specifically "born-digital" (like tweets, Facebook posts). Of course, they are a bit dated, as they came out between 1992 and 1996. However, the point that records can be changed and manipulated should be considered. There should be measures in place to make sure that the records, especially digital records, are not tampered with. Perhaps this would require fixity checks, but also could necessitate rules on the usage of records themselves.
At the same time, the archives themselves should not be like the dark and haunting Thatcher Memorial Library in Citizen Kane, which has what some have described as having one of the world's meanest archivists, played by Georgia Backus, with hair up in a bun "and an intimidating stare on her face, a real dragon lady at the gates of knowledge." This is not the type of archives you want to go to! This is not the image which should be projected. [3]
What I have said so far is only scratching the surface. These 1990s movies have standing importance because born-digital files which are entering archives across the world, like some in New Zealand, include "photos, radio broadcasts and documents," requiring appropriate workflows. Margot Note, a prolific writer in this field, described that as a former lone arranger who directed all archival management at an organization she launched a project to digitize a set of records, creating digital surrogates of 2,000 of the collection's best images, adding that such surrogates are superior to past formats like microfilm since they can be delivered through networks "offering enhanced access to simultaneous users around the world." In the same article she advocated the importance of digital collections, saying they grant "valuable remote access to the information contained within the original records" if they are created within the appropriate archival infrastructure, with metadata and search functionality, indexing. She adds that digital collections of archival records can not only provide for "multiple points of access and enhanced image details" but it can allow for more in-depth study than analog originals, increase interest in items which have often been ignored,and it can also act as "an advocacy tool for an archives." She also argues that different types of digital surrogates of records can be created, either for web display, storage, or print reproduction. She ends by saying that while "electronic copies suffer no degradation through the duplication process," a copy of a digital photograph is "indistinguishable from its source" meaning that the "original" loses its meaning, and that with digitized images, "researchers risk losing information that enables them to understand how the image was accessed and how its physicality changed over time." As such, there should be efforts to limit or eliminate such a loss.
But there is another aspect to archival records. Librarian Carrie Wade argued back in December 2018 that information is political with information loss affected by federal funding decisions of research repositories ruining the work of professionals. Similarly in the case of archivists, they should not be completely neutral not only because who "we elect impacts our ability to do our jobs well and the access that people have to information," as she argues, but they literally cannot be neutral as they are human beings with viewpoints, emotions, and thoughts of their own. Building upon this, there are clear archival silences or "gaps in the archival record," with these silences "created and enforced within archives" as a result of practices that are "central to the work of archivists." Digital records, whether born-digital, like social media posts, or digitized paper records, can help bridge this gap. After all, paper or analog records can be digitized in ways that allows access to them through online channels while originals are restricted.
All of this is relevant to the 1990s films I referenced in the first half of this post, as it requires having effective records management programs. The policies regarding records not only in Hackers and The Net, or even My Fellow Americans and Attack of the Clones were clearly outdated, and should be taken as a warning to have correct policies. This also requires taking into account challenges with capturing resources that are born-digital and making it available, effectively curating this information for the user. Furthermore this is important as a major trend in libraries is collection of data to prove their value even though this has its downsides especially when it comes to ethical concerns with data mining and big data, even though this can be useful. At the same time, how material is defined for easy access is a challenge "to every content owner," as is choosing the right metadata, with "important detail work" in this process. The same is the case for finding more "accessible ways for people to find and scan content" and ways to share these "images with your target audience." [4]
Concluding words
All of this ties back, of course, to the classic animated sitcom, Futurama, with its mentions of "technical support," CDs, CD players/CD racks, and floppy disks (some of which are 15-inch). In fact, in one episode, "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" (season 2, episode 15), the last half of the episode is about going into the central bureaucracy to get back a disk with Bender's brain on it, which is floppy disk. Others mention existing government records, databases, a record vault (safe box) and an arrest record. In one episode Fry even declares to Bender that "I'm not a robot like you! I don't like having disks crammed into me" while in another he downloads "a celebrity from the Internet" from a parody of Napster, which is kidnapping celebrities and illegally copying them, with the "backup disk" being a floppy disk. Others focus on big data and concentration of information, digital cameras and operating systems.
I mention all of this because it shows the relevance of record erasure, digital archives, digitization, and the changing digital environment. This requires of course that you don't have "unauthorized data access" like Fry accessing the computer connected to the brain spawn. In the end, while these 1990s Hollywood movies are dated in various ways and problematic in others, they still have relevance connected to present developments of archival institutions in response to new technologies and making records more accessible to online users.
© 2019-2023 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.
Notes
[1] Kyle Neill, Senior Archivist of the Peel Art Gallery Museum & Archives also argues that there are archival themes in The Dark Knight (2008), The Avengers (1998), Chinatown (1974), and Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy (2011).
[2] This reminds me of a major plot point in Thrill Seekers, a 1999 TV movie, where the protagonist finds out that there are people who travel in time (from the future) to disasters and serve as tourists, disgustingly watching people die. In the process, the researcher on staff at a local newspaper, a bit like a records clerk, has databases of newspapers on her computer, which he searches to find information, which she lets him use even though she just met him (not good records management). Ultimately she says that she will go to the National Archives to find the original images, proving that he was not lying about the time travelers. Later, the protagonist goes back and time and saves her. But, I thought I'd just mention this, as the fact she is a bit of a records clerk brings in line with the records clerks in Erin Brocovitch (2000) and Chinatown (1974). The former has a clerk who flirts with a law firm filing clerk (Erin Brocovitch) who uncovers wrongdoings of a water utility company on her three visits to the records office of the Regional Water Board, letting her into "a records storage area, piled high with files, papers and binders, where she proceeds to copy water records," allowing her to complete her work. The latter has a sullen young man who does not like his job, grudgingly providing assistance, with Jack Nicholson's character "tearing out part of a page from a record book by covering the noise with a cough" after he is told he cannot check out the volume.This clerk, as one reviewer puts it, has "a well crafted scene presenting a stereotypical records keeper" with the clerk/archivist as "an impatient, unhelpful civil servant guarding over his records domain who treats the public as trespassers" while the "records are in long aisles in bound volumes." Some have compared Erin Brocovitch to another film with records as central, specifically A Civil Action (1998).
[3] The same goes for Hollywood images of old archivists like in Vampires (1998) where the church archivist is introduced, a "slight, bearded man with glasses" whom is sent along on a quest," in They Might Be Giants (1971) where a wealthy lawyer, who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes, teams up with a psychiatrist "to try to rid the world of evil" and in the process, one person plays an aged archivist who, despite his problems, "does come across as the sanest person in the movie and he finds clues to track down Moriarity," or in Amityville II: The Possession (1982) when a father uses a local archives to find out about a hosue causing trouble for his family, and in the process he is helped by an elderly archivist, a person who says "I've worked here for 25 years." There are other mentions of archives, but without archivists in Arlington Road (1998), Batman Begins (2005), Beverly Hills Ninja (1997), Broken Lullaby (1994), GoldenEye (1995), Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (aka Doppelganger) (1969), L.A. Confidential (1997), Message in a Bottle (1999), Ninth Gate (1999), Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2017), Secret Nation (1991) [Canadian film], Shooting the Past (1999), Smila's Sense of Snow (1997), The Dark Knight (2008), The Name of the Rose (1986), The Phantom (1996), and The Shadow (1994). Also, there are said to be flirtatious archivists in Carolina Skeletons (1991) and Just Cause (1995), along with helpful ones (either initially or ultimately) in Cloud Atlas (2012), Deceived (1991), Quatermass and the Pitt (1967), The Fugitive (1993), and The Mask of Dimitrios (1944). There are also a number of films which have archivists in the background: Charlton-Brown of the F.O. (1959), Macaroni (1986), Red (2010), Ridicule (1996), Rollerball (1975), and The Age of Stupid (2009), and those that are said to have nasty or mean archivists: Blade (1998), In the Name of the Father (1993), Scream 3 (2000), The Nasty Girl [Das Schreckliche Madchen] (1990), and The Watermelon Woman (1996). Please, do not constitute this as an endorsement of any of these films, as likely they are mostly terrible.
[4] Also see articles about how libraries lead with digital skills and a cryptic finding aid.
#sneakers#hackers#the net#my fellow americans#the andromeda strain#libraries#archives#pop culture#floppy disc#halt and catch fire#mr. robot
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ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Shortlisted: Beau is Afraid / Full Time / Joyland / Stonewalling / Tótem
THE NOMINEES ARE:
ANATOMY OF A FALL, written by Arthur Harari and Justine Triet
SANDRA: That recording is not reality. It is a part of it, maybe. If you have an extreme moment in life, an emotional peak, and you focus on it, of course it crushes everything. It may seem like irrefutable proof, but it actually warps everything. It’s not reality. It’s our voices, that’s true, but it’s not who we are.
VINCENT: I don’t give a fuck about what is “reality,” ok? You need to start seeing yourself the way others are going to perceive you. A trial is not about the truth.
OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN, written by Rebecca Zlotowski
ALI: It doesn’t mean anything. She’s only five years-old.
RACHEL: Of course, I know. But it still hurts.
ALI: I don’t know...
RACHEL: What don’t you know?
ALI: It’s all about you. She does it to her mom. And to me, too!
RACHEL: It’s all about me, are you serious? From the start I’ve followed your schedules. I met her when you decided. I eat and sleep when it suits you both. Same with breaks and weekends. It’s all about you!
ALI: I didn’t think you were making concessions.
RACHEL: Oh, give me a break. Don’t you see I’m getting attached to her? I’m responsible for her, I deal with her sulking moods. Except that I’m disposable.
ROTTING IN THE SUN, written by Pedro Peirano and Sebastián Silva
SEBASTIÁN: That guy actually swims away and kills himself. I’m not that brave.
JORDAN: You’re not that brave? Don’t joke about suicide. Like, for real. My sister killed herself. *bursts out laughing* I’m kidding! She didn’t kill herself, she’s a nurse. She saves lives! But for real, suicide is, like, not brave. Suicide’s for fucking fags.
SEBASTIÁN: Sure, you do need some balls…
JORDAN: It's for faggots! You hear me? I like life! Come meet my friends, you’re gonna hate them.
TRENQUE LAUQUEN, written by Laura Citarella and Laura Paredes
EZEQUIEL: I mean, apart from the thousand books, what’s the mystery?
LAURA: Read this.
EZEQUIEL: Out loud? “Carmen: I feel swept away. I feel like until yesterday I was a child, and that you have made me an adult. Something has just begun. I have lost my virginity again, this time definitively. All the women I have been with before, the women to whom I was married for over ten years, every one of my lovers appear before me like little girls. Your vagina, Carmen. Your vagina. Someone has given me a treasure map, and I have started to explore it. I want to return to your vagina again and again. Immerse myself in it, give my life to it. If I could live there, Carmen, if that devouring sex would accept me as a permanent inhabitant, I would, after so many years, finally be happy. My phallus is a poor innocent. A poor blind man who has entered the jungle and cannot now leave. I am crying. I am a castaway. I am lost. Paolo.” *beat* The mystery is her.
AND THE CRISTAL GOES TO...
MAY DECEMBER, written by Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik
ELIZABETH: I wanted to be on Broadway… When I first told my parents, I was nine or ten, and they looked so disappointed. They said, “But honey, you’re so much smarter than that.”
GRACIE: And what did you say? ...are you smarter than that?
ELIZABETH: *laughs* I don't know.
GRACIE: What do they do, your parents?
ELIZABETH: They’re academics. My mother wrote a pretty respected book on epistemic relativism…?
GRACIE: My mother wrote a great recipe for blueberry cobbler.
ELIZABETH: What was your mother like?
GRACIE: She was beautiful.
#2023 Film Awards#Best Original Screenplay#May December#Samy Burch#Alex Mechanik#Anatomy of a Fall#Arthur Harari#Justine Triet#Other People's Children#Rebecca Zlotowski#Rotting in the Sun#Pedro Peirano#Sebastián Silva#Trenque Lauquen#Laura Citarella#Laura Paredes
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Ch. 3 // Should I Stay or Should I Go? // Day 1
Contents (Warnings): Soft Vore, Non-Fatal, Unwilling Prey, Willing Pred, and M/F (Continued part).
Wordcount: 2,017
Side note: This will contain experimental writing, first person (Lynette's view) will be implemented alongside third person for the two other essential characters, (mostly) Alexander and (occasionally) Drake. For those third person moments all their text will be italicized and have the characters name in Bold at the start. There may be other characters I write for in the future using this method but we’ll see...
__________________________________________________
(Sept. 8th, Thursday)
Alexander
He huffed heavily, partially overtaken by the euphoric daze. His back laid on the wall, and his stomach groaned with delight. He had finally eaten her. He body would let him relax.
He glanced down at the slight bulge she created in his form, a half smile curled at his lips. It's over.
His focus dwindled as he waited for his satisfied bliss to settle with her. He played with the taste in his mouth, ignoring the barely audible yells from the inside. His hand strode up, running along the fabric and movement from the inside. He never got used to the feeling nor taste he got from those he ate either.
Especially not her.
Ten minutes had passed and Lynette stopped moving all together. It allowed him to gather his thoughts and force himself up.
He moved with little effort, even being so full, to the break room couches. He got to one of them rested back.
He heard the fridge open from the far side of the break room, he hadn't even heard someone come in, then the steps as they approached him.
"Satisfied?" His best friend's voice asked.
Alexander glanced over, seeing Drake drink out of one of his blood pouches.
Alexander nodded at first, taking a second to work up a response, "I can't even describe it." He uttered. "I've never had someone half this good before." He leaned his head over the back of the couch, "I'm going to need an extra twenty minutes to settle in."
Drake sat at one of the armchairs nearby, “mhm, like you can remember who tasted good.”
"shut," Alexander huffed. "I meant, I feel," he didn't want to talk anymore. He wanted to rest and enjoy it while it lasted.
Alexander took a nearly two hour lunch just to relish in his satiated appetite. He passed through the kitchen on his way back to the counter.
“Hey, Edgar…” he said. He pressed up his glasses and watched his Boss put a few toppings on a pizza.
Edgar glanced up and waved his hand, “Drake told me, I know."
“Right-” Alexander replied, going back to work. He would still have Lynette inside him for the rest of the shift. There wouldn't be much difference, except things were a little harder to reach at times, which is why they installed their screens to be removable or be able to extend out closer to them. Not that he showed Lynette that.
Besides that, any human customer wouldn’t be able to tell his height was any different nor his extra weight. To them, he looked pretty normal. A tall male that was in good physical shape. It wasn’t difficult for him to disguise himself in this way as he did so whenever he ate. However, he never ate during work, so it was pretty difficult for him to maneuver as he wasn’t used to it. But, by the end, he got the hang of it. And he finally realized, he could have made this easier on himself using the seal he had on his chest for this. Next time I'll go back to my normal height and make whoever I eat smaller inside me.
He looked down at his phone's clock as he was helped clean up, he hated to have to do it, but he couldn’t keep Lynette trapped inside him forever. No matter how much I want to.
He traveled past the kitchen, down the hall, and to the nurses office. Sandra sat at one of her chairs, taking notes. She peered up and she gestured to the lowered medical bed.
“Place her there. I’ll clean her up and get the paperwork ready.” She told Alexander.
He exhaled and closed his eyes. He focused on throwing her back up.
It wasn't long, he was too used to it by now to be, before her body was pushed up and slipped past his lips.
Her fleeting taste made him want to swallow her back again. It was an issue he never hadn't had for a long time. His form struggled to let her go.
His instincts tugged and beckoned him to take her back, but he eventually let her go.
She laid there, soaked in the thick vat of saliva.
He almost reacted to clean her himself and stopped. He wiped away the excess of drool from his own lips, went back to his normal height, and swallowed the last remaining bit of her flavor, before his body no longer remembered it.
The only reminder he had to attest for her alluring taste was the scent that littered the air or the fact that he wanted to get her once more.
He looked away and spoke faintly, “thanks, Sandra…”
…
Lynette
I woke up and sat up when I realized I didn't recognize the bed. I quickly surveyed my surroundings, the cabinets for the uniforms, other beds, two desks, as well as the white walls. Is this the nurses office? Why am I-
I frantically patted my body down. It was dry. I wasn’t in any wet, cramped space. I never had a dream so vivid and disgusting before in my life. I wondered what happened to make me end up in here though. Did I hit my head or something?
My eyes looked over the other beds, higher and bigger than my own. I caught a figure moving from the desk, I didn't notice her before. It was Sandra, she got up.
"Ah, miss Wayland, how are you doing?"
I shrugged, "Fine?"
She gave a sincere smile and held out a few papers to me. "I prepared your resignation form and don't worry I will erase your memory of the event."
I took what she handed me without realizing what she said. “Huh?” I skipped over the erase memory part, “resignation form, why would I resign?”
Sandra tilted her head with wide eyes, “you don't want to resign?"
I nervously chuckled. Why would I resign? What did I do? "Did I hurt someone and get knocked out by them?!"
She denied it. “Do you not remember Alexander eating you?”
I still smiled, waiting for the joke thinking I talked in my sleep. There wasn't. She looked serious.
My grin dropped, “THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED! YOU'RE INSANE.” I pinched at my clothes and then skin, "I'M-" I lowered my voice since I had been yelling toward her. "I'd be dead and- ahhh..." I clutched my uniform and shook my head, "nope, I don't want to think of how the digestive system works right now."
“We would not allow someone whose body would harm or kill you to eat you, Miss Wayland. Monsters have seals to prevent that.”
“Monsters?!”
“Did you not read the contract?”
I felt hysterical, leaning forward and clutching the sides of the bed. “You’re kidding. I talked in my sleep, didn't I? Or I slept walk, is that how you knew to say that?”
She leaned on the bed beside me and pressed at its mattress, “it’s already ten thirty, Lynette, this is not a joke.” She pointed at the clock on the wall with her free hand.
I gestured to my clothes. “But I’m not wet!” I took it out my phone and checked it. It worked and was dry too. The time was the same on the clock and I saw I missed a few texts from Wicks.
“This infirmary is to make sure those that might have been involved in these incidents are fine and are cleaned off before leaving work as I’m sure you don’t want to drive home wet.”
I put my phone and other freehand to my head, “show me then…show me something that’s not normal.”
She looked back at the clock, “Alexander released you about ten or so minutes ago. So it should be reversible.” She muttered something under her breath and all of a sudden my clothes were heavy and disgustingly sopping.
I gasped and scrambled to get it off. I almost fell from the bed in the process. She lurched forward to prevent me from doing so.
“Sorry, and do be careful.” she said as she reversed it. It all vanished and I hugged myself. “I’m not a monster so I couldn’t show you form shifting. I’m simply a magus.”
I rubbed at my skin, relishing in the dryness. It didn’t look burned or hurt. “How is eating someone not against some sort of rule?”
“As long as it’s for lunch, it's fair game. And as I said they can't do any real harm to you.” She picked up the papers I dropped and handed them back. “If you’d like, you can resign now, and you won't have that memory anymore.”
“I'll forget everything if I resign?”
“You will get your pay for today, but yes.”
“What else will you do to me?”
“Only that.” Sandra said, sharply. “In your contract you signed you cannot talk to another human about the monsters or magus's here. And if you resign you will automatically forget.”
I held my throat, “...do other humans work here?”
“We haven’t had one last more than a day or two, getting eaten by their coworkers isn’t something most humans can handle.”
I looked over the resignation sheet. But the money, it's a lot to give up. “Can I avoid them?”
“Anything is permitted to try as long as you don’t bring weapons or plan to kill another coworker.”
"I'd never!" I said. I'm not even sure I would have been able to defend myself if I did have one when he was eating me. “Is there anything else I should know?”
She raised a brow, “you almost make it sound like you might stay.”
I looked at the paper and then at her. I couldn’t get the scene out of my head, nor the trapped feeling.
My mouth felt dry, “was the offer Edgar made me a lie?”
Sandra walked to her desk to get a pen for me, seeing as I didn't have one.
“I was made aware of the offer. He usually offers only the normal pay. So you made quite the impression on him." Sandra plucked a pen up from her desk and made her way back to me. "He didn't lie about what he'd give you."
She held the pen out to me and with her other hand pressed back her long, wavy brown locks.
“That only happens on lunch?”
Sandra nodded.
“He can’t attack me at any other time?”
She motioned for me to take the pen, “Lynette…” She placed her free hand gently on my leg. “You’re shaking.”
I hadn't noticed. I took a few long breathes. Am I really considering this? Why am I asking so many questions. Can I really do something like this? It's so much money... I shut my eyes and regrettably muttered, “What would happen if I wanted to stay?”
…
Later near midnight
I opened the door and down the short hall, I saw Wicks stumbled up from the couch, nearly tripping over himself.
“YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CALL ME FIRST!!” He yelled, whisking me into his arms. He twirled me around bringing me inside.
He let me go when I cried out from dizziness.
“I’m sorry, I had a busy day at work.” I said, trying to keep my feet planted. “You know I get dizzy easily, Wicks.” I grumbled.
Wicks jogged over to our kitchen. “Good, gives me just enough time to pop this cake out of the fridge!”
“Cake?” I gathered my bearings and made my way to the bar over looking the kitchen from the living room. I took a seat at one of the stools. Wicks slid the cake in front of me. I barely put my hands up to catch it. “HEY!”
He wore a cocky grin on his face, his scraggly chestnut hair looking as crazy as my orange hair in my ruined ponytail. “You caught it.”
I squinted at him then looked down at the chocolate cake. It had a poorly drawn pizza mascot in icing at the center, clearly put over what was once “happy birthday”.
He looked up at me, patiently awaiting response.
I kept my lips pursed, trying to contain my laughter, but couldn’t. “You’re a dork.”
He did jabs in the air, “ah! You love it. I know, my pizza mascot rocks!”
I popped off the lid shaking my head. I tasted the chocolate frosting, smacking my lips a few times, “why did you buy coconut, it’s subpar.”
He jolted, “WHAT! NO! It didn’t say anything about coconut in it!” He did the same, putting the finger in his mouth and then lowered his shoulders seeing my sly face. “Liar!”
I giggled, knowing he absolutely hated the stuff. “I meant you put chocolate in it, those words just sound so similar.”
He turned back to grab some paper plates, but I called his attention.
“Wait, Wicks, remember when we all ate your birthday cake with our hands?”
Wicks chuckled leaning over the counter near the cake, “mom was pissed she didn’t get a good picture of it.”
“Why don’t we send a picture to mom right now,” I said with a smile, gesturing to the cake.
Wicks smiled wide, “you know she’s gonna video call us if we do!!” He brought out his phone. "So as an excuse to talk to her..." He got a handful and encouraged me to do the same as we took a picture together.
The night felt great. It always was with Wicks. He had a way of making me smile, even on my worst days.
When we settled in for bed, I showered and got underneath the covers. I couldn't sleep for the first hour, and simply stared up at my glow in the dark stars.
...
I'm not going to be able to sleep, am I? I thought as I reached up like I could grab them. What even was today.
Thank you for reading! :D
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What I’d do for a Livable Income (Synopsis/Chapter - List)
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Nobody asked but I was doing some writing for It Would Be So Simple, and I wanted to share some world-building details.
Horacio and Kiara met ten years prior to the events of season 2 Narcos so the flashback scenes take place starting from 1983ish.
At the time, they're both living in Bogotá since that's where Kiara is finishing up her nursing studies and that's where Horacio is stationed for his military duties.
Horacio's on the tail end of his military career and is about to make the transition to the National Police of Colombia (where he will eventually work his way up to being head of the Search Bloc)
Sandra Rodriguez is a good journalist/reporter and rather than get annoyed at her sometimes getting in the way of their pursuit, Carrillo and our DEA bois allow her to help and she even plays a role in taking some of the cartel down. Even though her and Horacio aren't endgame, I love her, so she may be sticking around..
Laz, Kiara's older brother, works at Interpol. Some of his work overlapped with the Search Bloc and DEA, so he's kind of a part of the group, too. I know his name being Laz is hella redunant given his face claim but I love his name and it just fits so...
When Kiara leaves, she takes a post working as a health volunteer in the Dominican Republic after they suffer a series of tropical storms that cause a lot of damage. It was originally supposed to be something temporary to give Horacio and Kiara space, but she ends up taking a permanent position as a public health nurse.
I was originally gonna have Steve and Connie go back to Miami, but I was re-watching scenes while writing and I love them too much, so they're staying. Also, we gotta resolve why Kiara and Connie got into an argument before she left 😉
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Track 29 (Nicolas Roeg, 1988)
Cast: Theresa Russell, Gary Oldman, Christopher Lloyd, Colleen Camp, Sandra Bernhard, Seymour Cassel, Leon Rippy. Screenplay: Dennis Potter. Cinematography: Alex Thomson. Production design: David Brockhurst, Curtis A. Schnell. Film editing: Tony Lawson. Music: Stanley Myers.
With directors like Luis Buñuel and David Lynch, whose films regularly stray along the boundaries between logic and the irrational, between the waking world and dreams, between sanity and madness, you can always sense a central consciousness, a coherent vision, holding the film together. This isn't the case with Nicolas Roeg's Track 29, which falls apart as it drifts into weirdness for weirdness's sake. It centers on Linda, a neglected housewife, whose physician husband, Henry, spends most of his free time in the attic playing with his model trains, and at work is having an affair with his nurse, who spanks him while wearing rubber gloves. The doctor and nurse are played by one of the odder couples ever to be seen in a movie, Christopher Lloyd and Sandra Bernhard. One day, when Linda (Theresa Russell) is having lunch with her friend Arlanda (Colleen Camp), they're joined by a young man named Martin (Gary Oldman), whom we see at the start of the film hitchhiking along a country road and later being picked up by a trucker (Leon Rippy). Martin creepily admires the trucker's "Mom" tattoo, which sets us up for the even creepier assertion that he will make to Linda that he's really the son she gave up for adoption at birth. That Oldman and Russell are almost the same age should clue you in to the fact that nothing is going to make conventional sense in Track 29. Martin arouses more than maternal passion in Linda, but he may not even exist: Although Arlanda sees him in the cafe where he makes his acquaintance with Linda, in a later restaurant scene in which Martin plays on Linda's erotic obsession, we cut from the table where they're sitting to behind the bar and share the point of view of a waiter and bartender who see her sitting alone. Oh, there's much more, including a scene in which Henry addresses the attendees at a model train collectors' convention and stirs them to a frenzy with his speech. But you get the point: Track 29 is mostly an elaborate psychosexual fantasy, but it lacks a central vision to hold it together or carry it to any kind of satisfactory conclusion. It's never daring enough to explore sexual frustration and obsession in the many imaginative ways Buñuel does in Belle de Jour (1967). It could pass as satire if there were any larger point to its fleeting moments of insight or surprise, the way Lynch's Blue Velvet, made two years earlier, uncovered the seamier side of Reagan-era complacency. As it is, it's just, well, weird.
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THE DUNWICH HORROR (1970) – Episode 191 – Decades Of Horror 1970s
“The Old Ones are not truly dead. They only sleep. It is a dreamless oblivion, stretching on and on towards vast eternity!” Eternal, dreamless oblivion? That’s a hard pass. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they enroll at Miskatonic University to study The Dunwich Horror (1970).
Decades of Horror 1970s
Episode 191 – The Dunwich Horror (1970)
Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel!
Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content!
https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine
Wilbur Whateley travels to Miskatonic University to borrow the legendary Necronomicon. But, little does anyone know, Whateley isn’t quite human.
Director: Daniel Haller
Writers: Curtis Hanson, Henry Rosenbaum, Ronald Silkosky; H.P. Lovecraft (based on the story by)
Music by: Les Baxter
Title Design by: Sandy Dvore
Poster Art by: Reynold Brown
Selected Cast:
Sandra Dee as Nancy Wagner
Dean Stockwell as Wilbur Whateley
Ed Begley as Dr. Henry Armitage
Lloyd Bochner as Dr. Cory
Sam Jaffe as Old Whateley
Joanne Moore Jordan as Lavinia Whateley (as Joanna Moore Jordan)
Donna Baccala as Elizabeth Hamilton
Talia Shire as Nurse Cora (credited as Talia Coppola)
Michael Fox as Dr. Raskin
Jason Wingreen as Sheriff Harrison
Barboura Morris as Mrs. Cole
Beach Dickerson as Mr. Cole
Michael Haynes as Guard
Toby Russ as Librarian
Jack Pierce as Reeger
Set your H.P. Lovecraft expectations aside and you just might enjoy The Dunwich Horror. The film features a great cast, including Sandra Dee, Dean Stockwell, Ed Begley, Lloyd Bochner, Sam Jaffe, and Talia Shire. While the results may not be 100% successful, the cinematography looks spectacular, the often cliché visual effects are used creatively, and the direction is spot on. Could a 1970 film adapt Lovecraft more faithfully at that time? It’s hard to say. Lovecraft is a tricky beast to translate cinematically. Regardless, the poster from Reynold Brown is phenomenal. Check out what the Grue-Crew has to say. Enjoy!
At the time of this writing, The Dunwich Horror is available to stream free with ads from PlutoTV and PPV from Amazon and Apple TV. The film is also available as a Blu-ray from Arrow Video.
Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1970s is part of the Decades of Horror two-week rotation with The Classic Era and the 1980s. In two weeks, the Grue-Crew change it up for their next episode with a bit of a treat, welcoming director John D. Hancock to discuss his first feature film, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death (1971), and of course other aspects of his career. This will be fun!
We want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: comment on the site or email the Decades of Horror 1970s podcast hosts at [email protected].
Check out this episode!
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The Apartment
by Lena
Disclaimers: There are none. This is an original work by myself alone. These characters belong to me and, though they may hold a physical resemblance to certain characters we know, they are created from my own life's experiences and so has this story sprung from that well. Please do not plagiarize. This work comes straight from my heart and soul through a lot of sweat.
Warning: Contains references to a loving relationship between two adult women. If this type of relationship is illegal in your neck of the woods then.................SCAT!
Rating: I rate it PG14 for adult themes. This would likely be considered a Hurt/Comfort story.
DEDICATION: I dedicate this work to my friends, Liz and Val, who've always believed in me and truly loved me unconditionally, and to all my gal pals at Club Uber, especially Vi. My deepest gratitude to Jerry and Mom, without whose help and support I shutter to imagine where I'd be now. I love you all.
This story takes place in a small country town about 85 miles north of New Orleans.
"Second floor apt. avail., rent free, to responsible RN student"
for personal companion services. Must have good driving record and be available one day a week to drive me to my many and varied appointments. You must be able to do a little cooking and to help lift the heavy stuff. No smoking, drinking or partying. I would also like to speak to your parents so they are comfortable with the arrangement. I am a retired nurse and can help with your studies. I live less than five minutes from campus in a quiet area on several acres with a fishing pond. Lots of breathing space here. If you are qualified and interested, please contact me, Josie, at 555-1377 asap. HAVE A GREAT DAY.
"Good gravy, Beth, maybe this ad thing wasn't such a good idea. All I've gotten is calls from 18-year-old children who have never been away from their folks before and haven't got a clue about real life. I don't want some young impressionable girl living here. I am too old to change my manner of living, and speaking, to protect their virgin ears. All I need is some irate parent causing trouble cause the town dyke lured their unsuspecting child into her lair."
The petite brunette rolled her hazel eyes at her best friend of 25 years. "Jo, no one here knows you're gay and you are not exactly the SPIDER WOMAN. Maybe you need to be more specific in your ad as far as age and maturity. It couldn't hurt. Write a new ad and I'll stop by the campus on my way home and replace the old one. Let's just see what happens. You need help around this place, Josie. And, you can't be driving 50 miles, alone, just to see your Chiropractor and go to the mall. I know you do fine around here, but you just can't concentrate long enough for these trips you have to take into the city, not to mention the 85 miles you have to drive to see your Mom. This was a great idea and I still think it will work." Beth walked up behind her friend and placed both her hands on her tight shoulders. "Now go get me a flash card and let's get writing.
"Upstairs apt. avail. free to mature, female, RN student"
for PERSONAL COMPANION services. Must have good driving record and be able to drive me one day a week to all my varied appointments and shopping, do some lite cooking and cleaning, and help lift the heavy stuff. No smoking, drinking or partying. I am a retired nurse and would be able to help you in your studies. Would prefer a more mature woman. You youngsters are a bit much for me. My home is on several acres with fishing pond. Lots of breathing space here and only five minutes from campus. If you fit these qualifications, call Josie at 555-1377. ASAP HAVE A GREAT DAY
***
"Hi, I'm Sandra Abbott. I'm here to be interviewed about the companion position for Josie." The RN student stared uncertainly at the adorable blonde in the doorway. 'Maybe she's the daughter.' Sandy thought to herself.
"Oh, yes. You're the woman who called this morning. Come right in. Can I get you a cup of decaf? It's hazelnut. I grind the beans myself. Just made a pot." Josie gestured to the beauty to have a seat at the table while she slipped into the kitchen alcove to retrieve two cups of her aromatic blend.
"Thanks. Mmmmmm. That smells sinful." Sandra gratefully took the cup and devoted a few seconds to breathing in the intoxicating aroma.
"I see you are a true coffee enthusiast too. I was reared in New Orleans and drank caf' au lait with breakfast as a toddler. Been hooked ever since. People here usually don't appreciate a good cup of java. There are condiments on the table there. Just help yourself." Josie rattled on as she grabbed the notebook containing all the pertinent questions she wanted to ask the applicants and the information she needed to give them.
"Beautiful home." Sandra complimented, admiring the taste and warmth of the medium sized home. She noted how the 9-foot ceilings and polished cherry wood cabinets gave it a feel of the old city.
"Thanks, I designed it to fit my personal needs. I'm afraid I'd have a time reselling it because it only has two bedrooms and two baths, but the second floor is a separate apartment." The petite blond offered eagerly. "Now lets get down to the interview. Shall we."
Sitting down in her director's chair at the head of the dining table, Josie made a concerted effort to be professional about this, but her immediate harmony with the other woman made that difficult. "Now, you read the add and all that will be expected of you, right."
"Yes, I did. Do you want to go over that some more. And, I'd like to meet her. I think it is important that we can get along together. Your mom might not like me." Sandra said in all sincerity.
"My Mom?" Josie was puzzled.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just assumed it was your mother I'd be caring for." Sandra was a little embarrassed.
"Oh boy.....uh..... No. You'd be a companion, kinda "girl Friday", to me." Josie stated hesitantly, looking into blue eyes full of confusion.
"I don't understand. Why would you need a companion? Are you having surgery are something?" The raven haired beauty tried to figure out what the heck was going on.
"No..... Listen, Sandra, I am ill and have been for a very long time. Some days are much worse than others, then sometimes I'll go into remission for weeks to a few months at a time. But, I literally don't know what I'm gonna be able to do, activity-wise, from one day to the next. I need some freedom to plan my week like everyone else does and to do that I need dependable help. And, I do mean dependable." Josie's sea green eyes held no room for doubt about the gravity of the situation.
"I'm sorry. It must be very hard on you. May I ask what kind of illness it is?"
"Don't worry. It's not catching." The fiery blond sat back in her chair her defensive wall slammed into place.
"I didn't mean it like that. If you don't want to tell me, that's your prerogative. It might help me to better care for you if I knew what to look for." Sandra tried to keep eye contact with her potential employer, but the intensity of her glare was too great.
"Well, I guess this didn't go so well..... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you. I'll just go now. I hope you find the right person. Thanks for the brew." Sandra let out a sigh of defeat as she raised from her chair and walked to the front door.
"Wait." The word was barely a whisper.
Sandra eagerly turned toward the still seated blond waiting as she'd been bade.
"Would you like to see the apartment?" Josie asked looking at the grain in the wood of her table.
"Yes..... Yes, I would like that very much." Sandra felt her heart become lighter.
"Good. It's this way." Josie released an impish grin as she led her new employee to the garage stairs and up toward her new apartment.
***
"It's not very big but you have a full bath and kitchenette. The rest is all open with two dormer windows with seating area. I love to sit in the window to read or just daydream so I made certain the contractor put that in. If you don't have furniture, I could put a bed, desk and sofa in for you."
"No, I have furniture in storage in New Orleans that I might could have one of the students help me bring over. All these country-types have pickup trucks. It seems to be a requirement." Both women chuckled at that observation.
"So what do you think?" Josie asked hopefully, trying hard to hide the shortness of breath she was experiencing at the exertion of climbing the stairs.
"I think it's perfect. Just what I need. If you'll have me, I'd like the apartment and the job."
"Then, it's a deal." Josie offered her hand and they sealed their agreement.
***
The next two weeks were spent moving Sandra Abbott into her new home, then getting her oriented to Josie's routine. Sandy found it very easy to familiarize herself with where things were due to Josie's nearly religious devotion to the motto "a place for everything and everything in its place". Even with two little dogs running about, the house always seemed orderly. That was likely due to the fact that the larger member of her canine family was not allowed inside, except on the rear screened porch.
Her boss was up every morning before 0600 to walk the dogs and get her head cleared of the fog that dulled her mind and senses. The walks never lasted more than thirty minutes, then she soaked in her over sized tub and washed her short blond hair. Feeling rejuvenated, she was ready for coffee and breakfast, which took longer than most folks because of the large number of medications and vitamin pills she took every morning with her meal. It was her habit to read a good mystery novel during breakfast while she relaxed. This, Sandra was soon to learn, was her quiet time and she new to leave her alone. She'd call upstairs if she needed her.
Tuesdays were Sandra's easy days at school. There were two early morning classes, but no clinicals, so it was decided that Tuesdays would be Josie's errand day. Sandra's time and boundless energy was her's from 10am to 8pm for whatever Josie needed. A bulletin board was placed next to the staircase in the garage so they could communicate. Josie had an inexpensive intercom system put into the house so that Sandra didn't have to have the added expense of a phone. She let her use the phone in the house whenever she needed.
Things were working out to both women's satisfaction. The only sign of Josie's failing health was in her exhaustion when they'd return home on Tuesday evenings. Sometimes she'd fall asleep in the car on the way home and Sandra would assist her to the house, Josie's much smaller body leaning heavily against her arm. She'd deposit her boss on the bed, retrieve her evening meds and a large glass of milk, then tuck her in for a short nap.
Sandra enjoyed cooking for Josie on Tuesdays because she got to experiment with all kinds of delights in her state-of-the-art kitchen. Her boss had rather eclectic culinary tastes and, both being from New Orleans, were accustomed to the spicy flavors and lots of cayenne.
This particular night, she'd whipped up refried beans with low fat sour cream and jalapeno peppers on a whole wheat soft tortilla. The scent wafting from the kitchen awoke her charge and brought her tousled head shuffling into the living area in her bugs bunny slippers, and long sleep t-shirt with Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs dosing on the front. As she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes her companion thought she'd never seen anyone so adorable in all of her 33 years.
"Hey, did you bring your appetite with you? I've made some of your favorites." Sandra couldn't help the silly grin plastered on her face.
"What? What ARE you grinning at?" Josie inquired as her sleepy eyes focused on the sweetest little grin on that strikingly beautiful face.
"I can't help it. You just look so damned cute. Like a six year old." It was hard for the taller woman not to reach down and ruffle her boss' hair. But she didn't want to over step her bounds as an employee.
"Uh...huh. Will you stay and eat with me? It's such a nice night, why don't we eat out on the screened porch. I'll put the ceiling fan on." Josie asked hopefully as she pointed towards the back porch.
"Sounds good to me. Why don't you go get comfy and I'll bring this out to you."
"No. I want to help. Let me pour the Barq's and bring our drinks outside and you can bring the plates and napkins. Ok?" Josie said as she busied herself in the kitchen.
"Sounds good to me. Let's eat." Sandra gathered their plates and proceeded to follow her employer onto the porch where there was a small wicker table with four chairs for just such a meal.
The women ate in comfortable silence for a time until Josie asked, "Tell me about yourself. We spend all our time together with me drilling you on your studies in micro, anatomy, nursing diagnosis and interventions, but never do we talk about you. Where are you from originally, do you have any family, why is a beautiful woman like yourself alone, etc., etc., etc."
Sandra took a deep breath. She had learned to care for this little spit fire and wanted for them to become closer friends but didn't want to say or do anything to compromise her position. "Not much to tell. I'm originally from New Orleans, my parents are divorced, I'm close to my Mom and my little brother, but he got married to a girl he met while studying law at Loyola and moved to Wyoming so she could be close to her family. I don't get to see him cause I just can't afford to travel right now. But, hopefully, once I graduate and start making a descent salary I can go visit them a couple of times a year. I hope I'll be an Aunt by then." Sandra looked up into curious green eyes and smiled.
"Wouldn't that be great. You like kids?" Josie inquired around chewing.
"Yeah, I get a big kick out of the little rug rats. It's teenagers that I find a trial." She chuckled.
"You and the rest of the sane adults in this world. That's such a difficult time in everyone's life and the one time you are least likely to accept advice from an experienced adult. Go figure."
"Yeah. Go figure." Josie watched as a pall of grief passed over her companion's beautiful blue eyes for just a flicker of a candle's flame then was squelched by a noncommital small smile.
"So, go on." Josie urged. "Why is a beautiful woman like yourself alone?"
"I'm not alone. I'm here with you." Sandra smirked.
"You know what I mean." Josie rebuffed. 'This woman and I seem to share the same personality traits. That should be interesting.....not.'
"Yeah, I know. How's about a cup of decaf. I'll get your lap rug and we'll have a real talk. Ok." Sandra proffered as she collected their plates to put in the dishwasher. She didn't know how much about her past she wanted to share with her boss so she decided to just play it by ear. She wouldn't lie to her, but she wasn't gonna offer herself up for sacrifice either.
After cleaning the dishes and brewing some freshly ground coffee, Sandra rejoined Josie on the porch, then covered her up with a warm, soft chenille lap rug. "You warm enough? We could move this party inside, you know." Sandy asked concern written on her face.
"No, I love it out here. I'm fine, really." Josie pat her friends arm and noticed a feeling of warm pleasure. She liked it.
"So, you ask the questions and I'll do my best to answer them, unless I don't want to then I won't. But for every two questions you ask me I get to ask you one. I figured I'd give you the upper hand you being the boss and all." Sandy smirked.
"Fair enough. How old are you?"
"33 back in October."
"Have you ever been married?"
"Yes" Ok, my turn. At the risk of being redundant."
"I know..... I am 44 years old and divorced from a very kind moron..... My turn. Why'd you leave the big city to go to Nursing school in a small town?"
Sandy thought about this answer carefully before responding. "I wanted to get away from the dirt and the crime, not to mention the traffic and one way streets. Going to school here was much cheaper and it was much easier to get accepted. The RN programs in New Orleans are either very expensive or there's a huge waiting list. So, it's all working out and I think I made the right choice. Of course, I miss the food and the culture. You don't seem to have any culture here and not a decent creole restaurant for 50 miles." The tall beauty pouted.
"Oh yeah, I miss the food, the French Quarter, the museum and the zoo. Oh, and the beautiful architecture of the homes with their graceful Great Oaks." The little blond sighed. "But, there are always sacrifices for the things we want." Josie said with quiet conviction.
"Yes. That's true. Now, what made you leave the Big Easy for small town USA?" Sandra sat back with her coffee cup in both hands enjoying the aroma.
"That is a very long story best reserved for a more decent hour. I'm afraid it's passed my bedtime."
"Oh, I've kept you up too late. I'm so sorry. You must communicate with me. Tell me when you're tired. Tell me what you need." Sandra looked sincerely into the gentle green eyes. She felt her gaze captured then released.
Josie saw the concern in her companion's strikingly blue eyes and something else, something that drew her to the young woman. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I'm fine. Just tired. Tuesdays are a big day for me now and I do very much enjoy them, thanks to you. The women stood in close proximity of each other feeling slightly awkward like they should hug or something. Josie, being the more physically demonstrative of the two made the first move. Reaching her arms up to the much taller brunette she instructed, "Come give me a hug." Sandra was a little off balanced by her boss's affection but slid her long, graceful arms around the tiny woman's waist as she leaned down so Josie could hug her neck. "I'm glad you're here. Now go home. I'll talk to you tomorrow if I need anything." The smaller woman pulled away and began to turn toward her bedroom.
"I'll...uh...just lock up before I leave, Ok."
"Ok. Goodnight Sandy."
"Goodnight Josie."
***
The following week was pretty routine. There were no notes from Josie requesting Sandra's assistance and the only time the nursing student saw her boss was through her window each morning as she made sure she left for her walk and returned safely.
Returning from her clinicals on Friday there was a note on the bulletin board letting Sandra know that her boss was going to be volunteering her time, along with some other nurses and doctors, offering free vaccinations for the lower elementary school children. She'd been offered a ride by one of her friends and didn't know what time she'd return, but not to worry because she was in good hands.
'It's fucking 10p.m. No school inoculation program goes on this late. Where is she? She should have left me the number of her "friend" who was driving her.' Sandra mumbled to herself and she paced from window to window.
'Now don't panic, Abbott. What kind of trouble could she get into in this podunk town?..... A woman who looks like her....., plenty. Shit! I'm gonna find her.' Sandra grabbed her keys and headed out to the car determined to search the whole damned town if she had to, starting at the lower elementary school.
No one was at the school. In fact, no one was anywhere. The whole damned town was locked up and everyone had gone home. The eerily empty town just served to frighten Sandra more. 'Maybe I should just go home and sit by her phone in case she calls.' The worried beauty turned her car around and headed back to the house.
'I'll pass once through the park just in case.' Sandra thought just to soothe her mind that her friend hadn't been dragged off by some rapist into the many shadows of the small park and playground.
'What was that?' Sandra asked herself as her eye caught the glint of moon light off metal. She backed her car up to get a better look and could make out the outline of a vehicle tucked into the shrubbery. Obviously, somebody didn't want to be seen.
'Let me check this out.' Sandra said to herself as she left the protection of the vehicle and crept over to the rear of the concealed car. Her eyes had not yet adjusted well enough to the darkness to tell definite shapes but the golden hair of her missing boss' head was unmistakable. A white hot rage gripped the companion inspiring her to take action and she ran to the door nearest her friend and ripped it open with great force reaching in and grabbing the dumfounded woman and quite nearly dragging her to safety.
"Hey!!! Hey!!! Hey.....what are you doing? Let me go!" The terrified woman screamed at her assailant.
"Stop fighting me. I'm trying to save you from being raped, here."
Sandra was totally nonplused by her boss' reaction to her heroism.
Josie managed to squirm her little body away from her companion's grasp. "I don't need saving. Damn it all! I wasn't being raped. Now, let me go, Sandra." Josie had composed her voice to a hard command and Sandra let her go as an imposing looking redhead slid out of the back seat of the car tucking her Wynonna t-shirt into her jeans.
"You Ok, cher?" The redhead looked at the little blond who had just recently been making intense love to her. "Who is this crazy woman? You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend now. You need to tell me these things so I don't get shot." She grinned.
Sandra just stood there trying to figure out what the hell was going on and who this woman was and what they were doing in the back seat of a car and 'OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!' "Oh shit, shit, shit....., I'm....., oh god....., so sorry. I thought, when you didn't come home, that something had happened to you and..... Oh shit! It never occurred to me that you were....." Sandra pointed back and forth between the two women. "Oh Shit!" The very embarrassed companion paced in a circle, running her trembling hands through her long black hair. "I'm really sorry. Oh shit!"
"You've said that. Let's all calm down. Kathy meet Sandra. She works for me, at least she did up until a few minutes ago. We may have scared her away with our antics. Kathy is a very old friend, a nurse I worked with for years who called to tell me about the drive and we kinda took advantage of the moment." Josie smirked
"You do have a house you know with a nice soft bed. You didn't have to park out here in the dark where lord knows what could happen." Sandra felt her anger rising again.
"Like getting attacked by a crazed nursing student?" Josie giggled. "Come on let's go home. Kathy, sweetheart, sorry for the interruption. Call me. Maybe you'll give me a rain check?"
"Anytime, ma cher. I think you and Xena here have a lot to talk about." With that she leaned down to kiss Josie's cheek and waved goodbye to the still stunned companion.
Josie looked up into vacant eyes and said, "Come on, I'LL drive YOU home." Sandra just nodded and followed her boss to the car.
Josie pulled into the garage and stopped the engine. "You want some brew and we can talk about this?" She lifted worried green eyes to study the stiffened features of her friend.
"No....." Sandra sighed then looked down at her hands surprised to find them wringing the tail of her shirt into a wrinkled mess. "I have to think. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Does that mean you'll be moving out?" Josie was very concerned she'd loose her companion and friend.
"No, no I'm not going anywhere....., unless you want me to leave." Sandra held her breath fearing the worst.
"No..... Stay. I want very much for you to stay." Josie softly responded.
"Good. Tomorrow then." Sandra practically dove out of the car and ran up the stairs to her apartment, locking the door behind her.
***
Saturday morning Sandra kept watch as she always did to make certain her boss safely returned from walking the dogs. She'd not known Josie to skip her morning walk, shorten it now and then, but never not walk her little buddies. They were like her children and she took excellent care of them. There was the big mongrel, Rover, who had just shown up one day after apparently being dumped and decided to stay and then there were the babies, two little sickly long-haired chihuahuas that she adopted from the vets because she felt her nursing skills could improve their quality of life. One had a heart condition and the other was born with a deformed rear leg. She named them Scooby and Doo after her favorite cartoon character, who just so happened to be a Great Dane. Scooby was totally devoted to her mistress as her mistress was to her.
'I'd better go check on her.' The companion decided not to just sit and worry when her boss could be in trouble.
She knocked for the 4th time with no response before using her key to unlock the kitchen door. Calling out her boss' name softly, so as not to frighten her, she walked in. Getting no response to her calls, Sandra quickly ran to her friend's bedroom, then through to the bath. Not finding her there, she turned back around into the living area. There she found the little blond sitting askew on the sofa next to the fireplace. The logs had burned down hours before. Her skin looked pale and waxy with a sweaty sheen covering her but her chest rose and fell rhythmically. Sandra released an audible sigh of relief.
"Josie.....?" Sandra came to sit next to her boss on the sofa and reached out to touch her forehead. It was burning up. "Come on now, boss, it's time to wake up." There was no response. Sandra became alarmed and took a small hot hand into her own, patting it and calling to her more assertively. "Josie, can you hear me. It's Sandy, honey. Please wake up. You're scaring me." The tiny woman stirred, eyelids fluttered to show blood shot green eyes that wouldn't quite focus.
"Sandy?" She slurred. Her tongue felt thick as the fog filling her mind.
"Yeah. It's me."
"Sandy? What's the matter? What time is it?" Josie tried to orient herself, but it was difficult to concentrate. She recognized the symptoms and new she was no longer in remission. She was sick, yet again, and would need her companion's assistance to function until she was able to arrest the symptoms one more time. She groaned with the knowledge of what lay in front of her. Then groaned again when she remembered the night before and what Sandy had seen and the talk she knew they had to have. "I'm sick, Sandy."
"I know, honey. Tell me what you need and I'll do it. Ok? Can you do that for me?" The sympathetic woman gently brushed the blond's bangs off of her wet forehead to comfort her.
"I need my morning meds and the prednisone that's in the medicine cabinet and bring me the tin that's in there too. I need a big glass of milk and some tin roof Sunday ice cream." She concluded her list with just a trace of a grin on her pale face.
"Ice cream?" Sandy looked at her friend in amusement.
"For medicinal purposes only. It'll help bring my temperature down faster..... Well, it will." Josie giggled, swallowed and made a face. "Gods, my throat hurts. Shit."
Sandra retrieved all the items requested as well as some tylenol and chloraseptic losenges she found in the cabinet. "Here, let me help you sit up and get comfortable. Now, take these." The companion handed her boss a few pills at a time and her milk. It took a while since there were about twenty regular morning vitamins and meds. "Now how much prednisone do you need to take?"
"Give me 10 mg for now. And, would you draw up 1000 mcg of the B12 that's in that tin, please?" The companion did as requested and injected the B12 into her boss' deltoid muscle. She didn't even flinch.
"You've had to do this often haven't you."
"Oh yeah. Too often."
"Why did this happen? What caused it?"
"I've been feeling really good so I've been doing more. Yesterday I went way over my limit in activity tolerance. I was on my feet for most of 12 hours, then I had sex, several times, which requires an amazing amount of energy and taps the bodily fluids. Then, getting upset does a real number on me. Add in the pretty good bet that I came in contact with a child who has a cold or pink eye and my immune system went bat shit and attacked." Josie stopped to catch her breath and closed her eyes to rest. Sandra went into the kitchen to fetch the ice cream as requested.
"Here ya go. Sugar free, huh? Any good?" Sandra noticed how badly the little blond's hands were shaking while trying to scoop some of the treat from the bowl. "Here, let me do that." The companion fed small bites of the frozen treat into her employer's mouth. Causing a small grin to crease her lips.
"Mmmmm." Josie purred.
"So, if you have an immune system to attack, then you don't have AIDS." Sandy said.
"AIDS? No I don't have AIDS. I have a form of CFS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, alias Chronic Epstein Barr. It's like having Mononucleosis one too many times and it decides to live in. Though I've had it for at least ten years now, it didn't get debilitating till about a year ago when I had to have some surgery. It became acute and caused me to quit working so I wouldn't permanently damage my liver and kidneys. Not everyone gets such an acute case. I'm one of the unlucky few. It's probably because I have diabetes too and it adds just so much more stress on my little body. Now that it is active again, my blood sugar is probably going banana's. I'll need you to check that for me now. My case is in that tin, also." Josie pointed to the small leather container inside the antique tin.
"I've done that for several patients already so I do know how." Sandy said as she opened the kit and set up her cotton, alcohol swipe, stick gun, test strips and accu-check machine. "Ok, I'm ready when you are." The nursing student took the finger offered her and proceeded to check the blood sugar.
"Josie, it's 350mg/dl. That's really high. Should I get you to a hospital?" Sandra looked at her patient with concern.
"No. It will be Ok. Give me 12 units of regular insulin. That along with my glucophage will keep me under control for now. I'll start taking 70/30 tonight. That covers me really well during these episodes. I'll have to check it three times a day to make certain I don't peak. I'll need you today and tomorrow to be close by. After that I should be able to monitor myself. Right now my head's too damned fuzzy to make sure I'm not giving myself the wrong dosages."
"But you are SURE you need 12 units, right?" Sandra asked reticent to trust her friends judgement under the circumstances.
"Yeah, I'm sure. What I meant was I can't focus my eyes well enough to gauge the dosage in the syringe." Josie pat her friends hand and smiled reassuringly.
Sandra gave her boss her insulin injection, then assisted her to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After helping Josie peel off the sweat soaked clothes and wash up a bit, the companion tucked her into bed in a fresh pair of PJ's. "You get some sleep. I'll walk the dogs and feed them. Ok?" She asked as she walked around the room, shutting off lights and closing the blinds so her boss could get some much needed rest.
"Ok. Thank you Sandy. We'll talk later, deal?"
"Deal."
Josie tried to keep her eyes open, but to know avail. Before Sandra could close her bedroom door she was soundly asleep.
***
"Come along, children, your "Auntie Sandy" is taking you out this morning. You'd better put your Rebock's on, cause I'm not your mom. I run." Sandra jogged out of the door and onto the walking track that Josie had created with her riding mower and a grating attachment. It wended through over twenty acres of land that she chose to share with her little canine family and one tall, beautiful nursing student.
***
Sandra had taken over the dining room table with all her books and notes for class so she could keep an eye on her patient and still get her school work done.
It had been three hours since Sandra had put her boss to bed and she was beginning to worry about her. As quietly as she could she opened up the bedroom door and peered in to find her charge still asleep with no visible signs of distress. 'She looks so small and helpless lying there. I've never wanted to protect someone so much in my life. What's going on with me?'
Sandra sat in the bedroom chair and was instantly joined by two equally distraught little fur balls, both perched on her knees staring over at their sleeping mistress. 'She's gonna be Ok , fellas. I promise. I'm gonna take good care of her.' That's when the decision was made to move her things into the guest room/exercise room and purchase a noise device so that Josie could get her attention when she needed her.
***
Sandra was busy cooking in the kitchen and reciting the names of all the bones of the human body, all 206 of them, when she was joined by her freshly scrubbed, clear eyed boss. "Hiya, I'm starving. What ya cooking there?"
"Oh, Jesus...! I didn't hear you walk up. How are you feeling? You look so much better. It's amazing." Sandra just kept letting her eyes rake over her patient's body in awe of her seeming recovery.
"It's the prednisone mostly and the B12, along with the myriad of other vitamins I take. The prednisone stops the inflammatory process and gives me a false sense of well being and energy. It makes me feel human again. I only take it during bad flare ups. I was able to take a bath and dress myself which I find very valuable in life. How's your studying going?" Josie asked as she plucked an artichoke heart from the salad Sandra was mixing.
"Great, I find I study really well at your table. I have no problem concentrating here at all." The tall beauty smiled.
"Good. I'm glad. When's dinner gonna be ready. I'm starved. Did I eat today? I can't remember." Josie looked slightly confused as she took a seat at the table.
"How much do you remember exactly?" Sandra went around the kitchen preparing a plate for her boss and herself to eat as she listened intently to her explanation.
"I remember you fed me ice cream." A contented smile creased her lips. "That was really sweet of you by the way. I remember you giving me my meds. My sugar was high and you gave me insulin. You washed me up and you helped me to bed. Thank you by the way for helping me get cleaned up. I am sure that was hard for you." Josie said as she stared at the grain in her table unable to make eye contact discussing something so personal.
"Not a problem. I've cleaned more than my share of bare behinds this past clinical. I don't get embarrassed anymore. I've never found flabby butts enticing." Sandra tried to lighten the mood with a little levity.
"So, then, mine was an improvement?" Josie gave her friend a lascivious grin.
The tall nursing student looked up and winked in retort.
"Do you remember how high your blood sugar was?" Sandra asked.
"No. I remember you took it, but none of the details. Short term memory loss is a problem with this disease and so is concentration." Josie stated matter-of-factly.
"You probably haven't eaten anything since supper yesterday, so let's eat." Sandra set their plates down and poured them both some Barq's.
***
"I want to talk to you about what happened last night and, please don't interrupt. I have limited stores of energy so I can only talk for so long before I peter out. Ok?" Josie stated as she arranged her food on the fork.
"Ok. But can't it wait till after you've eaten?" Her friend implored.
"No. I want to do it now and get it over with. Now don't argue with me." The older woman accentuated her point with her fork.
"Ok."
"I am a lesbian. In case you hadn't figured that one out yet. I was married, but for all the wrong reasons. He was in love with me but I didn't reciprocate. We had been friends for many years. He knew my history with women, but we were both willing to believe that I could change because I was so fond of him and I wanted children so desperately. It didn't work out. It's like being a heroin addict and just smoking pot. It will eventually bring you back to heroin because that's your drug of choice. When I started having sexual relations with my husband it left me feeling unfulfilled and brought me back to my first love.....women. We had as amicable a divorce as possible. But, it was still damned painful." Josie studied her companion's face looking for any signs of shock or disgust. Finding none, she continued.
"The woman you saw me with, Kathy, is a very old friend and occasional sexual partner. She is a very desirable woman. We thought we might fall in love once, but found we made far better friends than lovers. She knows about my health problems and hasn't let it negatively effect our relationship. We have a little roll in the hay once every few months when one of us gets a bit too randy or needy. There is no one else. Most women lose interest in someone who is sick all the time. They don't want to be a care taker or they resent the fact that I don't have to work to get the bills paid. Thank God I have enough income from my investments to pay the bills, at least, most of the time. I couldn't afford, however, to pay a companion, hence the apartment idea and an RN student. That would be you."
"I hope this won't effect our working relationship or our friendship. I also hope you will respect my privacy and keep my private life to yourself. I have to be very discreet living in a small town. I'd like to feel that I can trust you." The older woman looked tentatively at her employee and friend.
"You can depend on my discretion, Josie. What goes on in this house and in our lives goes no further. I've had a lot of experience keeping secrets. Believe me I have no problem with that, nor do I have a problem with your sexuality."
Sandra took a deep breath and looked at her friend for encouragement before continuing. "I have often wondered, myself, what it would be like to be with another woman. I have noticed in recent years that all my true friends have been women and I'd much rather spend my time with them than with any man I know. Maybe that's why my marriage failed. I just lost interest in him, especially sexually, to the point of being repulsed. That made me feel just awful. Then he began looking elsewhere for his satisfaction. Everyone felt badly for me because my husband was screwing around on me. But, it was my fault. I didn't want him anymore. In fact, I hadn't wanted him for a very long time. Ever since I got sober. I realized that I had to be drunk to make love to my own husband. I haven't made love at all since I divorced Jack Daniels along with Frank Abbott." Sandra took a shaky breath to settle her nerves. She hadn't spoken this openly about herself to anyone, ever. It felt really good, but scary.
"I'm so sorry, Sandy. How long have you been sober?" Josie reached over to touch her friend's forearm.
The companion searched her employer's eyes but found only compassion and understanding in them. "It's been over three years now."
"That's wonderful. You should feel very proud. It's quite an accomplishment. I'm so glad you told me. Thank you for trusting me and thank you for accepting me the way I really am. Now, why don't you go on home and get some rest. I'm just going to read until I fall asleep. If I need you I'll call you on the intercom." Josie began to get up from the table but was gently pushed back into her chair.
"Actually, boss, I moved myself into the guest room while you were sleeping. I'd feel much better if I was in close physical proximity of you for the next few days or until I am sure you are safe. If you need me I bought you a bicycle horn for you to summon me with." Sandy took the horn from the kitchen counter and handed it to her patient. "It's easy to use. Just squeeze the bulb and it makes quite a racket. See." Sandy squeezed the bulb and a loud "Ah...ooooo...gah" came out.
"Oh, my. Let's hope I don't need to use this too often. That's downright obnoxious." Both women giggled. "I am glad you'll be so close by for the time being, but please don't let it interfere with your school work. I haven't been putting you through all those drills for nothing you know. I feel like this is our degree and I intend to complete it. Deal?" She smiled.
"Deal. Now let me clean up and I'll get you your meds. I'll check your blood sugar just before supper." Sandra got busy in the kitchen as Josie curled up on the sofa with Scooby and Doo.
"You know, fellas. I am one lucky lady to have found that guardian angel in there. I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 2 OF THE APARTMENT
#xena#Xena Warrior Princess#Xena/Gabrielle#Xena/Gabrielle Fanfiction#fanfiction#xwp#mel/janice#mel/janice fanfiction#xena au
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The erasure of records, digitization, and 1990s Hollywood films [Part 1]
Gif of one of the scenes from Hackers (1995)
Some time ago, I watched a number of 1990s Hollywood films, such as Sneakers (1992), Hackers (1995), The Net (1995), and My Fellow Americans (1996), where the "everything's on the computer" state of records, as stated in passing in The Andromeda Strain (1971), has been reached. All of these films share a similar theme: the erasure and change of records (mostly digital), which has an increased relevance as archival institutions continue to digitize more and more of their records, although not everything, as I noted in my post about challenges of archival digitization in late April 2019.
Note: This article is reprinted from my History Hermann blog, with this post published there on May 19, 2019. I published it on my Wading Through the Archival Stacks WordPress blog on Aug. 28, 2020 with some revisions because I thought it was relevant to archives, at least when it comes to films.
Looking at the 1990s films
Let's start with The Net since it was the first of these films that I watched, computer with bulky hand-held phones and dial-up computers. In this film, Sandra Bullock plays an isolated middle-aged White woman (Angela Bassett) who is a "program systems analyst from Los Angeles" who lives most of her life online, talking in chat rooms and ordering pizza. That all changes when she takes a trip to Cessna (before which there is a computer malfunction which screws with flights), Mexico, meets a man who basically seduces her in order to get control of a virus which is on a floppy disk, of all things. This plan fails, however, as she realizes, after literally sleeping with him for some reason, that he wants to kill her, so she gets away in a dingy that crashes on rocks, knocking her unconscious. She wakes up three days later in a hospital and the disk has been destroyed. As she is about to go back into the country, after a record was changed that checked her out of the hotel, she is told to sign a temporary visa document which states that her name is Ruth Marx.
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As the movie goes from here, she realizes that her identity has been stolen by an imposter, with the change of records by the villains who want to make profits off their security technology and gain access to every system possible. With this, the movie is a bit of warning that it is very easy for someone to be digitally erased with so much of our lives online, with which you don't even have to spoil the ending. Clearly, there are inept secondary characters (police officers, nurses, and jailers), many of whom, like sole archivist Madame Nu in Attack of the Clones think that records are inviolable and cannot be changed. The partially inept villains are even able to kill a few people, like the Undersecretary of Defense by falsifying a report saying he has AIDS and a friend of Bullock's character. At one point, she says that "our whole lives are on the computer, and they knew that I could vanish. They knew that nobody would care and it wouldn't matter." Later she adds to the inept court-appointed lawyer, who believes in the inviolability of the records in that they cannot be tampered with, to defend her from false charges:
Just think about it. Our whole world is sitting there on a computer. It's in the computer. Everything. Your DMV records, your Social Security... your credit cards, your medical history. It's all right there. Everyone is stored. And there's this little electronic shadow on each of us... just begging for somebody to screw with. They've done it to me, and they're gonna do it to you...I'm not Ruth Marx. They invented her. They put her on your computer with my thumbprint.
There were some similar themes in the 1992 film, Sneakers, which starred Robert Redford. The film focuses on attempts to create a black box that would crack American codes, allowing access to any American security system. In the process, a team tries to steal the box back and one of the characters purchases blueprints from the county recorders office for $50.00, leading the movie to be cited as an example of "the use and portrayal of records in film." [1] With the information from the county recorder's office, and their own observations, they are able to break-in into the company of the villain and get the box, but before it is handed to the NSA, one of the characters removes the main processing chip.
There is more than that. Redford's character is basically a hacker, as was his friend Cosmo (who is the film's villain) who was arrested and thrown into prison for computer crimes. The black box has a similar power to malicious code in The Net. Again, the focus is that records can easily be changed, or in the case of this movie, mimicked, to certain ends. Like the previously mentioned film, the cast is mostly White, but a bit more diverse in that they have a former Black CIA agent on the team of the "heroes."
© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.
Notes
[1] Kyle Neill, Senior Archivist of the Peel Art Gallery Museum & Archives also argues that there are archival themes in The Dark Knight (2008), The Avengers (1998), Chinatown (1974), and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (2011).
#hackers#sneakers#1990s#films#the net#my fellow americans#the andromeda strain#mr. robot#halt and catch fire#archives#archival studies#archival science#archivists#pop culture#reviews#cia#central intelligence agency#recorders office#sandra bollock#Youtube
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Holidays 5.2
Holidays
Astronomy Day
Ba Ba Ba Booo Day
Baby Day
Battle of Hogwarts Day (Harry Potter)
Bird L.A. Day (California)
Brothers and Sisters Day
Childhood Depression Awareness Day
Coarse Fishing Season begins (Medieval UK)
Day of Madrid (Spain)
Dos de Mayo Uprising Anniversary Day (Spain)
Fire Day
Flag Day (Poland)
Good Housekeeping Day
Holiday of the Region of Madrid (Spain)
International Harry Potter Day
International Loch Ness Monster Day
International Market Research Day
King James Bible Day
Mad Festival
National Babies Day
National Byron Day
National Curly Hair Day (UK)
National Day of Hiring
National Education Day (Indonesia)
National Fire Day
National Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome Awareness Day
National Life Insurance Day
National Play Your Ukulele Day
National Report Homeland Security Fraud Day
National Sandra Day
Natural Joy Day
Peasant's Day (Burma)
Placebo Day
Polish Diaspora and Poles Abroad Day
Robert's Rules of Order Day
Rowdy Friends Day
Sam Winchester Day (Supernatural)
Sappho Asteroid Day
Scurvy Awareness Day
Sibling Appreciation Day
Take a Baby to Lunch Day
Teachers’ Day (Bhutan, Iran)
Third Druk Gyalpo Day (Bhutan)
Trade Unions House Fire Anniversary (Ukraine)
Wallflower Day (French Republic)
World Bloggers Day
Food & Drink Celebrations
Green Tea Day (Japan)
National Matcha Day
National Truffle Day
World Tuna Day (UN)
1st Thursday in May
Idaho Gives Day (Idaho) [1st Thursday]
Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]
Make-a-Book Day [Thursday of 1st Full Week]
Martin Z. Mollusk Day [1st Thursday]
Mom's Night Out [Thursday before Mother's Day]
National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day [Thursday of 1st Full Week]
National Day of Prayer [1st Thursday]
National Day of Reason [1st Thursday]
National Student Nurse Day [Thursday of 1st Full Week]
Thank a Dance Teacher [1st Thursday]
Thank a Youth Worker Day [1st Thursday]
Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]
World Password Day [1st Thursday]
Weekly Holidays beginning May 2 (1st Week)
Children’s Book Week (thru 5.8)
Screen Free Week (thru 5.8)
Independence & Related Days
Hudson Bay Company (Founded; 1670)
Richensland (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]
Festivals Beginning May 2, 2024
Earth Frequency Festival (Queensland, Australia) [thru 5.6]
Festival Accès Asie (Montreal, Canada) [thru 6.2]
LSR Wine Stroll (Chicago, Illinois)
Mushroom Festival (Richmond, Missouri) [thru 5.4]
Strawberry Festival (Cabot, Arkansas) [thru 5.4]
UK Asian Film Festival (London, UK) [thru 5.12]
Vinton County Wild Turkey Festival (McArthur, Ohio) [thru 5.5]
World Art Dubai (Dubai, UAE) [thru 5.5]
Feast Days
Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church).
Alexandre Antigua (Artology)
Athanasius of Alexandria (a.k.a. Athanasius the Great; Western Christianity)
Blessing of the Deosil (a.k.a. Sunwise; Celtic Book of Days)
Boris I of Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
Conrad of Seldenbüren (Christian; Saint)
Demosthenes (Positivist; Saint)
Eve of the Finding of the True Cross
Exsuperius and Zoe (Christian; Martyrs)
Feast of Osiris (who taught the Egyptians how to brew beer)
Feast of Ysahodhara (Consort of Buddha)
Fertility Festival featuring a Man wearing a hobbyhorse costume, a devil’s mask, and pointed hat (UK; Everyday Wicca)
Fiesta Dei Serpari (Cocullo, Italy)
Germanus of Normandy (Christian; Saint)
Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni (Artology)
Humane Day
Jerome K. Jerome (Writerism)
Junior (Muppetism)
Listen to Your Heart Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)
Mafalda (Christian; Saint)
Media Ver I (Pagan)
Nina Hartley Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Ramen Day (Pastafarian)
Scurvy Awareness Day (Pastafarian)
Ultan (Christian; Saint)
Waldebert (Christian; Saint)
Wiborada (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)
Zoe (Christian; Saint)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Lucky Day (Philippines) [25 of 71]
Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]
Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [24 of 60]
Premieres
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Film; 2014)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (Film; 1997)
The Awful Tooth (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1952)
Ballyhooey (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1960)
Bulldog Drummond (Film; 1929)
The Cute Recruit (Phantasies Cartoon; 1941)
Daffy’s Southern Exposure (WB LT Cartoon; 1942)
Disintegration, by The Cure (Album; 1989)
A Dog’s Dream (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)
Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Coleman (Book; 1996)
The Firm, by John Grisham (Novel; 1991)
The Holy Bible, King James Version (Religious Book; 1611)
Iron Man (Film; 2008)
I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), by Whitney Houston (Song; 1987)
The Jack Benny Program (Radio Series; 1932)
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (Film; 1986)
Let It Be Me (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)
Living With War, by Neil Young (Album; 2006)
Made of Honor (Film; 2008)
The Magician’s Nephew, by C.S. Lewis (Novel; 1955) [The Chronicles of Narnia #6]
Miracle on 34th Street (Film; 1947)
Money Heist (TV Series; 2017)
My Favorite Wife (Film; 1940)
No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (History Book; 1995)
The Odd Couple (Film; 1968)
The Old House (Happy Harmonies Cartoon; 1936)
Peter and the Wolf, by Sergei Prokofiev (Symphonic Fairy Tale; 1936)
Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (DePatie-Freleng Animated TV Special; 1980)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (Film; 1946)
Ragtime Romeo (Ub Iwerks Cartoon; 1931)
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (Film; 1930)
The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis (Novel; 1942)
Southern Fried Rabbit (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)
The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1594)
Tell Laura I Love Her, recorded by Ray Peterson (Song; 1960)
10,000 Days, by Tool (Album; 2006)
Triplanetary, by E.E. "Doc" Smith (Novel; 1948) [Lensman #1]
The Vanishing Duck (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1958)
The Wacky Rabbit (WB MM Cartoon; 1942)
Waitress (Film; 2007)
Wonderful Tonight, recorded by Eric Clapton (Song; 1977)
X2: X-Men United (Film; 2003)
Today’s Name Days
Athanasius, Boris, Siegmund (Austria)
Boriana, Boris, Borislav, Borislava (Bulgaria)
Atanazije, Boris (Croatia)
Zikmund (Czech Republic)
Athanasius (Denmark)
Maaja, Mai, Maia, Maie, Maiu (Estonia)
Viivi, Vuokko (Finland)
Boris, Zoé (France)
Boris, Siegmund, Zoé (Germany)
Avgerinos, Esperos, Matrona (Greece)
Zsigmond (Hungary)
Atanasio, Efisio (Italy)
Laris, Sigismunds, Visvaris, Zigmunds (Latvia)
Atanazas, Eidmantas, Meilė (Lithuania)
Åsa, Åse (Norway)
Afanazy, Anatol, Atanazy, Longin, Longina, Walenty, Walter, Witomir, Zygmunt (Poland)
Atanasie (Romania)
Tamara (Russia)
Žigmund (Slovakia)
Atanasio, Zoe (Spain)
Filip, Filippa (Sweden)
Bing, Zoe, Zoey, Zolita (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 123 of 2024; 243 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 4 of week 18 of 2024
Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 19 of 28]
Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 24 (Bing-Yin)
Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]
Hebrew: 24 Nisan 5784
Islamic: 23 Shawwal 1445
J Cal: 3 Magenta; Threesday [23 of 30]
Julian: 19 April 2024
Moon: 37%: Waning Crescent
Positivist: 11 Caesar (5th Month) [Ptolemy Lagus]
Runic Half Month: Lagu (Flowing Water) [Day 8 of 15]
Season: Spring (Day 45 of 92)
Week: 1st Week of May
Zodiac: Taurus (Day 13 of 31)
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Holidays 5.2
Holidays
Astronomy Day
Ba Ba Ba Booo Day
Baby Day
Battle of Hogwarts Day (Harry Potter)
Bird L.A. Day (California)
Brothers and Sisters Day
Childhood Depression Awareness Day
Coarse Fishing Season begins (Medieval UK)
Day of Madrid (Spain)
Dos de Mayo Uprising Anniversary Day (Spain)
Fire Day
Flag Day (Poland)
Good Housekeeping Day
Holiday of the Region of Madrid (Spain)
International Harry Potter Day
International Loch Ness Monster Day
International Market Research Day
King James Bible Day
Mad Festival
National Babies Day
National Byron Day
National Curly Hair Day (UK)
National Day of Hiring
National Education Day (Indonesia)
National Fire Day
National Freeman-Sheldon Syndrome Awareness Day
National Life Insurance Day
National Play Your Ukulele Day
National Report Homeland Security Fraud Day
National Sandra Day
Natural Joy Day
Peasant's Day (Burma)
Placebo Day
Polish Diaspora and Poles Abroad Day
Robert's Rules of Order Day
Rowdy Friends Day
Sam Winchester Day (Supernatural)
Sappho Asteroid Day
Scurvy Awareness Day
Sibling Appreciation Day
Take a Baby to Lunch Day
Teachers’ Day (Bhutan, Iran)
Third Druk Gyalpo Day (Bhutan)
Trade Unions House Fire Anniversary (Ukraine)
Wallflower Day (French Republic)
World Bloggers Day
Food & Drink Celebrations
Green Tea Day (Japan)
National Matcha Day
National Truffle Day
World Tuna Day (UN)
1st Thursday in May
Idaho Gives Day (Idaho) [1st Thursday]
Kid Lit Art Postcard Day [1st Thursday]
Make-a-Book Day [Thursday of 1st Full Week]
Martin Z. Mollusk Day [1st Thursday]
Mom's Night Out [Thursday before Mother's Day]
National Children's Mental Health Awareness Day [Thursday of 1st Full Week]
National Day of Prayer [1st Thursday]
National Day of Reason [1st Thursday]
National Student Nurse Day [Thursday of 1st Full Week]
Thank a Dance Teacher [1st Thursday]
Thank a Youth Worker Day [1st Thursday]
Throwback Thursday [Every Thursday]
World Password Day [1st Thursday]
Weekly Holidays beginning May 2 (1st Week)
Children’s Book Week (thru 5.8)
Screen Free Week (thru 5.8)
Independence & Related Days
Hudson Bay Company (Founded; 1670)
Richensland (Declared; 2021) [unrecognized]
Festivals Beginning May 2, 2024
Earth Frequency Festival (Queensland, Australia) [thru 5.6]
Festival Accès Asie (Montreal, Canada) [thru 6.2]
LSR Wine Stroll (Chicago, Illinois)
Mushroom Festival (Richmond, Missouri) [thru 5.4]
Strawberry Festival (Cabot, Arkansas) [thru 5.4]
UK Asian Film Festival (London, UK) [thru 5.12]
Vinton County Wild Turkey Festival (McArthur, Ohio) [thru 5.5]
World Art Dubai (Dubai, UAE) [thru 5.5]
Feast Days
Ahudemmeh (Syriac Orthodox Church).
Alexandre Antigua (Artology)
Athanasius of Alexandria (a.k.a. Athanasius the Great; Western Christianity)
Blessing of the Deosil (a.k.a. Sunwise; Celtic Book of Days)
Boris I of Bulgaria (Bulgarian Orthodox Church)
Conrad of Seldenbüren (Christian; Saint)
Demosthenes (Positivist; Saint)
Eve of the Finding of the True Cross
Exsuperius and Zoe (Christian; Martyrs)
Feast of Osiris (who taught the Egyptians how to brew beer)
Feast of Ysahodhara (Consort of Buddha)
Fertility Festival featuring a Man wearing a hobbyhorse costume, a devil’s mask, and pointed hat (UK; Everyday Wicca)
Fiesta Dei Serpari (Cocullo, Italy)
Germanus of Normandy (Christian; Saint)
Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni (Artology)
Humane Day
Jerome K. Jerome (Writerism)
Junior (Muppetism)
Listen to Your Heart Day (Starza Pagan Book of Days)
Mafalda (Christian; Saint)
Media Ver I (Pagan)
Nina Hartley Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)
Ramen Day (Pastafarian)
Scurvy Awareness Day (Pastafarian)
Ultan (Christian; Saint)
Waldebert (Christian; Saint)
Wiborada (Christian; Martyr & Virgin)
Zoe (Christian; Saint)
Lucky & Unlucky Days
Lucky Day (Philippines) [25 of 71]
Tomobiki (友引 Japan) [Good luck all day, except at noon.]
Unlucky Day (Grafton’s Manual of 1565) [24 of 60]
Premieres
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Film; 2014)
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (Film; 1997)
The Awful Tooth (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1952)
Ballyhooey (Woody Woodpecker Cartoon; 1960)
Bulldog Drummond (Film; 1929)
The Cute Recruit (Phantasies Cartoon; 1941)
Daffy’s Southern Exposure (WB LT Cartoon; 1942)
Disintegration, by The Cure (Album; 1989)
A Dog’s Dream (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1941)
Emotional Intelligence, by Daniel Coleman (Book; 1996)
The Firm, by John Grisham (Novel; 1991)
The Holy Bible, King James Version (Religious Book; 1611)
Iron Man (Film; 2008)
I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), by Whitney Houston (Song; 1987)
The Jack Benny Program (Radio Series; 1932)
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (Film; 1986)
Let It Be Me (WB MM Cartoon; 1936)
Living With War, by Neil Young (Album; 2006)
Made of Honor (Film; 2008)
The Magician’s Nephew, by C.S. Lewis (Novel; 1955) [The Chronicles of Narnia #6]
Miracle on 34th Street (Film; 1947)
Money Heist (TV Series; 2017)
My Favorite Wife (Film; 1940)
No Ordinary Time, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (History Book; 1995)
The Odd Couple (Film; 1968)
The Old House (Happy Harmonies Cartoon; 1936)
Peter and the Wolf, by Sergei Prokofiev (Symphonic Fairy Tale; 1936)
Pontoffel Pock, Where Are You? (DePatie-Freleng Animated TV Special; 1980)
The Postman Always Rings Twice (Film; 1946)
Ragtime Romeo (Ub Iwerks Cartoon; 1931)
The Return of Dr. Fu Manchu (Film; 1930)
The Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis (Novel; 1942)
Southern Fried Rabbit (WB LT Cartoon; 1953)
The Taming of the Shrew, by William Shakespeare (Play; 1594)
Tell Laura I Love Her, recorded by Ray Peterson (Song; 1960)
10,000 Days, by Tool (Album; 2006)
Triplanetary, by E.E. "Doc" Smith (Novel; 1948) [Lensman #1]
The Vanishing Duck (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1958)
The Wacky Rabbit (WB MM Cartoon; 1942)
Waitress (Film; 2007)
Wonderful Tonight, recorded by Eric Clapton (Song; 1977)
X2: X-Men United (Film; 2003)
Today’s Name Days
Athanasius, Boris, Siegmund (Austria)
Boriana, Boris, Borislav, Borislava (Bulgaria)
Atanazije, Boris (Croatia)
Zikmund (Czech Republic)
Athanasius (Denmark)
Maaja, Mai, Maia, Maie, Maiu (Estonia)
Viivi, Vuokko (Finland)
Boris, Zoé (France)
Boris, Siegmund, Zoé (Germany)
Avgerinos, Esperos, Matrona (Greece)
Zsigmond (Hungary)
Atanasio, Efisio (Italy)
Laris, Sigismunds, Visvaris, Zigmunds (Latvia)
Atanazas, Eidmantas, Meilė (Lithuania)
Åsa, Åse (Norway)
Afanazy, Anatol, Atanazy, Longin, Longina, Walenty, Walter, Witomir, Zygmunt (Poland)
Atanasie (Romania)
Tamara (Russia)
Žigmund (Slovakia)
Atanasio, Zoe (Spain)
Filip, Filippa (Sweden)
Bing, Zoe, Zoey, Zolita (USA)
Today is Also…
Day of Year: Day 123 of 2024; 243 days remaining in the year
ISO: Day 4 of week 18 of 2024
Celtic Tree Calendar: Saille (Willow) [Day 19 of 28]
Chinese: Month 3 (Wu-Chen), Day 24 (Bing-Yin)
Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]
Hebrew: 24 Nisan 5784
Islamic: 23 Shawwal 1445
J Cal: 3 Magenta; Threesday [23 of 30]
Julian: 19 April 2024
Moon: 37%: Waning Crescent
Positivist: 11 Caesar (5th Month) [Ptolemy Lagus]
Runic Half Month: Lagu (Flowing Water) [Day 8 of 15]
Season: Spring (Day 45 of 92)
Week: 1st Week of May
Zodiac: Taurus (Day 13 of 31)
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The Shape of the River - CBS - May 2, 1960
A presentation of "Playhouse 90" Season 4 Episode 15
Drama
Running Time: 90 Minutes
Written by Horton Foote
Produced By Fred Coe
Directed By Boris Sagal
Music by Jerry Goldsmith
Stars:
Franchot Tone as Samuel Clemens
Leif Erickson as William Dean Howells
Katharine Bard as Livy Clemens
Shirley Knight as Susy Clemens
Katherine Squire as Katie Leary
James Bell as John Briggs
Larry Gates as Henry Rogers
Philip Coolidge as Albert Bigelow Paine
Elizabeth Patterson as Woman at Hannibal House
Jane McArthur as Jean Clemens
Nancy Rennick as Clara Clemens
Sandy Kenyon at Man at Hanibal House
Moyna Macgill as Nurse
Len Lesser as Photographer
Doris Karnes as Maid
Sandra Harrison as Jenny
#the Shape of the River#TV#Playhouse 90#1960#Drama#CBS#Franchot Tone#Leif Erickson#Katharine Bard#Shirley Knight#LarryGates#Philip Coolidge
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For N.S. welfare recipients, budget freeze by Tories in inflationary times hurts
Sandra Page wonders how the Nova Scotia government expects her to remain healthy after its recent budget froze welfare payments despite more than a year of high inflation.
"I sometimes go to ask for help out on the street -- panhandling -- which I shouldn't have to do," she said during a recent interview when asked how she manages to pay her monthly costs.
The 59-year-old Halifax resident said a hand injury prevents her from working and that she relies on monthly income assistance of $950 -- along with a special payment of about $220 to cover medical and dietary needs for a thyroid condition. But after rent is paid, there's not enough to buy the healthy food her condition requires, she said.
The Progressive Conservative government has emphasized fixing health care as its prime focus, and its March budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year kept welfare rates at 2021 levels. But cases like Page's are raising criticisms that the government is too harsh on the province's poorest citizens.
Lori Turnbull, director of the school of public administration at Dalhousie University, said she understands that the focus of Premier Tim Houston is on recruiting doctors and nurses, but is "baffled" his government isn't seeing how leaving welfare rates unchanged may send more people to seek medical care.
"It seems an obvious thing for the government to do (increase the income assistance rates). Why it's not a priority, I don't know. I just don't get it," she said in a recent interview.
In his annual budget analysis, Vince Calderhead -- a human rights lawyer with Pink Larkin -- says the decision against increasing the income assistance rates during high inflation is one of the harshest moves he's seen in 11 years of tracking the issue.
He said that since welfare rates last went up in May 2021 -- under the prior Liberal government -- overall inflation in Nova Scotia increased by about 11 per cent, a figure the Atlantic Provinces Economic Council confirms.
"The failure to increase rates at all means the provincial cabinet has effectively chosen to significantly increase food insecurity," Calderhead wrote in an email.
He's calculated how much further people like Page are falling below the poverty line of $27,631 -- a figure based on the ability to pay for a basic mix of goods and services like food, footwear, transport and shelter. She and other single adults with disabilities have incomes about half that amount, and Calderhead's calculations estimate that with 3.7 per cent inflation in 2023-24, their monthly income would fall another $37.50 per month in purchasing power.
For Page, inflation and a freeze in her welfare payments have forced her to buy cheaper food. "I buy canned food now sometimes. But canned meat is not as good as hamburger."
Less fresh food effects her health and sends her to the doctor's office more often, she said. "I can't even afford a can of fruit."
The Maytree Foundation, a Toronto-based anti-poverty group, estimated that in 2021 there were on average almost 28,000 cases, including families and single adults, and almost 42,800 beneficiaries, receiving Nova Scotia's employment support and income assistance programs.
The foundation has said that New Brunswick and Nova Scotia had the lowest social assistance rates in the country in 2021.
Mohy Tabbara, a policy adviser at Maytree, said in an interview Monday that while New Brunswick made small income assistance increases in its recent budget, "Nova Scotia is falling behind the rest of the country."
Tabbara noted there were a number of one-time supports introduced last year by the Nova Scotia government, such as a payment of $150 per household to help recover from post-tropical storm Fiona. "But these were one-time payments and people lost them this year."
The government also points to certain targeted programs, such as an investment of $8 million to increase the monthly Nova Scotia child benefits, and $100 million to provide home-heating rebates.
When asked about the welfare payment freeze, Community Services Minister Karla MacFarlane mentioned the government's targeted programs, and repeated its message that health care is the number 1 priority.
"I think this government has been very clear we were presenting a budget that was based on health care, and we have made significant investments in health care," she said Friday.
Turnbull said she wonders about this communications strategy, adding that there's little evidence that letting the poorest citizens fall victim to inflation solidifies the party's base.
"They've got a communications line about being focused on health care," she said. "Yes, yes, we heard that. But you're also the government, and that means keeping multiple balls in the air at one time."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 24, 2023.
from CTV News - Atlantic https://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/for-n-s-welfare-recipients-budget-freeze-by-tories-in-inflationary-times-hurts-1.6369874
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Lou Gutheil, age 74, passed away Monday, March 21, 2022 at his home following an illness.
Lou was born in Johnson City, NY a son of the late Louis J. Gutheil and the late Margaret Gutheil-Hartung. He was a self-proclaimed comedian who loved to play practical jokes. Lou was a true people person who loved to fellowship and mentor others in Scripture. He loved Southern Gospel music and enjoyed hosting bible studies in his home. He was also a former member of both the touring ensemble at Bob Jones University and the Southern Gospel group The Missourians. Lou’s passion was writing. He wrote for several nonprofit Christian ministries. Lou was innovative and dedicated to his work; always eager to learn new things and train his fellow staff. He was an avid Florida State Seminoles and Toronto Blue Jays fan and a member of North Conway Baptist Church.
In addition to his parents, Lou was predeceased by one sister, Cathy Gutheil-Jagger.
Survivors include his wife, Linda Gutheil of Conway, SC; two daughters, Kristin Richards (Stan) of Centerville, OH and Beth Cresswell (Mick) of Scotland; five grandchildren, Jordan Hanson (Jim), Matthew Shultz (Grace), Kevin Shultz (Bailey), David Cresswell, and Fiona Cresswell; one sister, Judy Ferris (Robert); one brother, David Gutheil (Heather); Linda’s two sons, David Andersen (Katie) and Bobby Andersen (Sandra); Linda’s two grandsons, Travis Andersen and Jonathon Andersen; and many nieces and nephews.
The family would like to give a special thank you to the nurses and staff of Crescent Hospice for their loving care and support for Lou.
Memorial services will be held at 11:00 AM Friday, April 1, 2022 at Goldfinch Funeral Home, Conway Chapel with Dr. Jeff Gaskins officiating. The family will receive friends one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.
To view the service via livestream, please click the link below.
https://vimeo.com/694930461
Memorials may be sent to Crescent Hospice, 1370 Browning Road, Suite 120, Columbia, SC 29210 or to Youth for Christ-Fayetteville, P.O. Box 43205, Fayetteville, NC 28309-3205 and Acts1:8 Mission Fund, North Conway Baptist Church, 1608 Sessions Street, Conway, SC 29520.
#Bob Jones University#Archive#Obituary#BJU Hall of Fame#BJU Alumni Association#2022#Class of 1969#Louis William Gutheil#John Matzko#David Friberg
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