[Brokenfriend]

Originally Posted by waves

Yeah. There's also the benign ones with the stripes slightly different. I can never remember the rhyme... something about yellow and kill a fellow and red and black, snake's a jack. I dunno, not too helpful, you maybe know it though.
----------
On the islands where I grew up there were no poisonous snakes and people dealt lightly with snakes.

One day, the attendant at the nursery my mom weent to (plants not kids) found a baby snake in a potted plant. Snake was pretty with colored stripes. Snakes there being "safe" and all, he cooed at it, saying, "Hello, little fellow", and tried to pet it with his finger. I suppose the snake was in a good mood, or too young, or too scared, because the guy was not hurt. They isolated it and had itt identified: it was a coral snake.

They figure it or its parents were unwittingly imported. See, not happy with the luscious local vegetation, various resorts started bringing in massive amounts of landscaping materials from Florida. So now (40 odd years later) I am sure there is a happy population of coral snakes there, and who knows what else.

Yeah, they are big though. Aren't yours big? We had those on the islands... 6-8 feet. We had one in the yard we called Smoky. They are pythons and really don't tend to bite (they are constrictors). They are really timid and don't attack humans... they flee. They are strong though... I wouldn't try to capture one, timid or not, lol.

My room-mate had a pet ball python that was only about 3 feet, and he was strongggg! He tried to escape through a hole in the wall once, and I had to have a major tug-o-war with him... nearly lost him. I had a very hard time overpowering him. Had he ever gotten the idea that my neck was a fuzzy rabbit, I'm not sure I could have gotten him off. An 8-footer.... forget it! But they do seem to be very aware of our size (and intimidated by it). They mostly run if they catch wind of anything not small enough to be prey.


Sure enough!

I never ceasee to be amazed at the incredibly broad range of expression of stupidity in the world. Laughs aside, unfortunately, some of it really wreaks havoc.

That guy was so fortunate that he didn't get bit by the coral snake. He was very blessed. That could have turned out to be very bad. There is a shortage of anti venum for coral snake bits because it's not profitable for the pharmaceutical companies to make. I didn't know that pharmaceutical companies would drop a anti venum because it isn't profitable. What's the world coming to??? BF

[Brokenfriend]

Originally Posted by waves

Never!

Oh My! So much for checking my spelling.........

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unrequited_love



Sound familiar?

waves

Waves Yes. This sounds familiar. There has been many times where I've had unrequited love for girls in my past. In many cases,and especially one,I just couldn't tell this girl that I loved her,and that I have loving feelings for her.

Unfortunately allot of us with mental health challenges have had unrequited love that we could not express. I didn't know that there was a name for this.

I've had the beginning of relationships that have gone south very quickly. I would be very nervous,and very anxious. This caused people to back away. This broke my heart many times. I also just didn't know how to hold a relationship together because of high anxiety. This didn't provide any security for the girls(Ladies). I just didn't know how to hold myself together,and be interesting with all of this compounded anxiety. I could not think of what to say,or do. I was to tense,and my mind would freeze up.

I felt like where is everyone going? I felt left out,left behind,and broken hearted. This may have been to much info,but this has been my life. BF

[Mari]

I made progress with three containers of papers on the floor.

My intuitive system started to get messy very quickly and, more importantly, started to make me feel like quitting because it was taking up too much brain work.
I decided to focus on only three categories.

These are the results of my work:

1. one bag of trash
2. one milk carton of papers for hubby to shred
3. one container of papers that need places/files/ labeled manilla envelopes.

M

[Mari]

Steve and Waves,

I find your conversation lively.

I will get back to you after I sleep a little.

If my memory is right, in rural Virginia, my Mom taught us that rhyme. A part went like this:
Red and Yellow Kiss a Fella (get out of there and leave the snake alone).

I hope I can get her on the phone to give me this mnemonic because I cannot find it on the internet. I am only finding this:
Red and Yellow Kills a Fella.

My Mom has a deep interest in this stuff -- active in her county / state agriculture community. Lately she has been giving talks about composting.

++

Islands:
Hawaii for all practical purposes does not have any snakes.
Guam DOES have a big snake problem (arrived in cargo in 1950) and the gov is going through extraordinary measures to eliminate them in order to save the island's bird population. . . also to save wrecked power substations that the snakes ruin.

Take care.

M

[waves]

Originally Posted by Brokenfriend

I just didn't know how to hold myself together,and be interesting with all of this compounded anxiety. I could not think of what to say,or do. I was to tense,and my mind would freeze up.

Steve, you are a great guy, and you are interesting, without going about "being interesting" in any specific way. It's ok to be tense, and it's ok not to make conversation. A lot of times people make silly conversation just to fill silence anyway.... i.e. not much of an exchange there. Silence can be ok. Tenseness can be ok.

I felt like where is everyone going? I felt left out,left behind,and broken hearted. This may have been to much info,but this has been my life. BF

I felt that way a lot too.

Originally Posted by Mari

Steve and Waves,

I find your conversation lively.

Mari, I'm sorry if I overran your thread with unrelated concerns. I really wanted to respond to Steve's last post, but I will put a lid on it now. Thanks for letting us have this parenthesis.

waves

[waves]

Originally Posted by Mari

If my memory is right, in rural Virginia, my Mom taught us that rhyme. A part went like this:
Red and Yellow Kiss a Fella (get out of there and leave the snake alone).

I hope I can get her on the phone to give me this mnemonic because I cannot find it on the internet. I am only finding this:
Red and Yellow Kills a Fella.

I'm really interested to hear what your mom comes back with.

"Kills" a fella" sounds more familiar than "kiss" to me -- I actually don't remember an 's' sound. But it makes sense in a few ways, like you should kiss the snake goodbye, or, the snake will kiss/bite you.

There are probably hundreds of variants: I probably heard a different one. Come to think of it, my memory is congealing on this: "Red and yella kill a fella; red and black, snake's a jack".

To be honest, I was often confused by how to apply the rhyme. Googling, I see that pix of the harmless snakes all lack yellow, which would suggest that the presence of yellow is a sign of danger. What I remember is different. I seem to remember they showed us a "harmless" snake that had all the same colors of a coral snake, but with a different ordering of the bands. My understanding was that the rhyme was to remind you which order you were looking at, and whether it was the lethal or the safe combination. I found multiple ways to apply it so that it worked either way, so it seemed ambiguous to me. It seems like I must have misunderstood something at the time, either about the rhyme or about the snakes, to have this kind of confusion.

My Mom has a deep interest in this stuff -- active in her county / state agriculture community. Lately she has been giving talks about composting.

That is SO cool!

Islands:
Hawaii for all practical purposes does not have any snakes.
Guam DOES have a big snake problem (arrived in cargo in 1950) and the gov is going through extraordinary measures to eliminate them in order to save the island's bird population. . . also to save wrecked power substations that the snakes ruin.

Sigh. That's great about Hawaii, I wonder how they managed. Perhaps they have strict transportation rules? I know California does -- I had to leave all my plants in Florida because I could not have brought them in. And they DID ask me at the state-line and had a quick glance-over at my car, too. (I wonder if they always monitor their state-line, or if something specific was happening. I crossed, what, 4-5 other states on the way, with only the welcome sign to greet me ... didn't so much as have to slow down.)

Sucks about Guam but at least they are trying hard to fix it. I was in a tiny country. Seriously doubt the government started any initiative to do any ridding of anything, certainly not in time anyway. Long after I left they were still importing all kinds of stuff landscaping stuff in bulk and produce too... I doubt they could check the landscaping stuff (incl. soil) in a way as to be sure nothing was in there. Snakes nest in soils. How ever can you comb several boat-loads of soil, to make sure there are no itty bitty snake eggs in it. I dunno, maybe they have clever systems for bulk inspection.

waves

[waves]

Originally Posted by Mari

I made progress with three containers of papers on the floor.

Excellent!

My intuitive system started to get messy very quickly and, more importantly, started to make me feel like quitting because it was taking up too much brain work.

Great job, not quitting!

I decided to focus on only three categories.

These are the results of my work:

1. one bag of trash
2. one milk carton of papers for hubby to shred
3. one container of papers that need places/files/ labeled manilla envelopes.

M

That bag of trash and the milk-carton are things that are completely off your plate! The container of papers to organize has been "purified". It's almost like stuff that has been chewed, but you still have to swallow and digest. Hmm. I'm thinking that's maybe a not-so-appetizing analogy.

[Mari]

W

Originally Posted by waves

I suppose the snake was in a good mood, or too young, or too scared, because the guy was not hurt. They isolated it and had itt identified: it was a coral snake.

Right. It is best not to count on the snake being in a good mood.

They figure it or its parents were unwittingly imported. See, not happy with the luscious local vegetation, various resorts started bringing in massive amounts of landscaping materials from Florida

.

We have a big mess of this stuff going on. Burmese pythons for one. Their only predator is the alligator and in a fight the win could go either way -- depending on the size of the opponents.

Yeah, they are big though. Aren't yours big? We had those on the islands... 6-8 feet. We had one in the yard we called Smoky.

No. If I ever saw a snake in the wild that big, it was run over or rushing to get away --- so I never got a good luck.

The only snakes I worried about then (and now) were the water snakes because I guess being in the water makes a person more vulnerable (hence why the Jaws movies were so successful.)
It is hard to see one of those snakes coming.

I told my Dad on the phone that folks in the US have noticed that rattlesnakes are quieter than they used to be -- no warning. His comment was that those snakes are somewhat migratory and we are building homes in their paths.

They are pythons and really don't tend to bite (they are constrictors). They are really timid and don't attack humans... they flee. They are strong though... I wouldn't try to capture one, timid or not, lol.

Yes, leave them be.

My room-mate had a pet ball python that was only about 3 feet, and he was strongggg!

Did you say roommate? I missed that the first time through. You lived with a snake?

But they do seem to be very aware of our size (and intimidated by it). They mostly run if they catch wind of anything not small enough to be prey.

You have incredible gentleness and sensitivity . . . I am moved by your description of handling the snake.

M

[Mari]

Originally Posted by Brokenfriend

Yes. We don't forget the first people that we had crushes on in Elementary,and/or Jr.High(middle school).

Some of our Youtube songs helps me to remember them. Being a teenager
was some fun.

Steve,

It is great that music is good for you. That makes me happy.

There were probably some fun aspects to being a teen -- can't think of any now. I was not listening at all to pop or radio music. Our closest movie theater was 40 miles away.
I liked cooking believe it or not , esp when no was around and I was in charge of dinner for the family.
(One time I got some heavy heat when someone noticed that the Cheerios box was on the counter. Someone asked and then everyone else got upset that I put Cheerios in the meatloaf. What else would one use as a substitute for bread crumbs in a kitchen that was sparsely stocked? So I guess that that is not a good memory.)

My father thought it a great idea to buy me a pet goat. We named her Candy and I would go out and talk to her maybe like others talk to cats or dogs. She was a good pet and we took care of her.

Or I remember picking blackberries in the summers, dumping them in the freezer, and cooking them in a cobbler for the family in the "winter." I remember playing the piano. Practicing protected me --- I was not interrupted by family members.

Distance in time helps. Up until 10 years ago, I was describing that period as the worst in my life. I do not really have any bad decades now. Bipolar drugs (and lots of practice on my part) can do that -- muddle memories.
I feel for teenagers and sometimes fear for their futures.
Instead of "good bye" or "have a nice day," Work Buddy and I often say to our students when they leave, "Stay safe."

I am glad that you have good memories, Steve,
I like the songs now in retrospect. I enjoy listening to them now even if I did not listen to them then.

Mari

[Mari]

Originally Posted by Brokenfriend

That guy was so fortunate that he didn't get bit by the coral snake. He was very blessed. That could have turned out to be very bad. There is a shortage of anti venum for coral snake bits because it's not profitable for the pharmaceutical companies to make. I didn't know that pharmaceutical companies would drop a anti venum because it isn't profitable. What's the world coming to??? BF

Steve,

I started to look that up and then got distracted by having to put in up to date links.

I think some other countries like Mexico have developed antivenin that our companies can buy.
One antivenin (the one you mentioned perhaps) is expected to be available in generic.
Some companies have asked the FDA to make the process easier to develop and bring to market antivenin.

I guess we should be teaching safety.

M