I’m 71 years old and I smoke weed. Weed, marijuana, Mary Jane, The Devil’s Weed, whatever you want to call it, I smoke it. I’ve smoked it since I was a young lass of 17, sitting on the back wall of the Alamo. Yes, that Alamo. San Antonio, Texas. The shrine to Texas liberty. And we were quite liberal in our consumption of joints at the time.

Skip ahead from 1967 to 2021, and I’m living in a State (New York) that has legalized recreational use of marijuana. All that really means is I don’t have to hide it anymore.

…

I lived in Alaska for twenty years. For much of that time I was married. My first daughter was born in Petersburg in 1975. Her sister was born 4 years later in Juneau, where we lived until 1989.

My wife’s brother and his family were also there for much of the time. Our children were similar in ages, and we frequently would vacation together. Over time, we developed something of a tradition.

On Memorial Day weekend, we held our “Annual Joint Family Freeze Your Buns Off Picnic And Campout.”(AJFFYBOPAC) We’d pack up our camping gear and enough food for the…

Last Friday I got a letter from my insurance company informing me that because of newly-received information, they had reviewed one of my prescription claims.

“Oh, how wucking funderful!” I thought. “How much is this going to cost me?”

Reading further I was delighted to learn that I was entitled to a refund in the amount of just over $800, and please find an enclosed check in that amount.

Later that afternoon our friends from Syracuse came for a visit and needed a trip to the grocery store. Did I want to go? …

I tried. I got so fed up with Medium and how it works differently on the mobile apps versus the desktop version that I decided to say goodbye to Medium.

The problems still haven’t been resolved: my Windows laptop says I have no stories, either published or in draft form. But my iPad, iPhone, and Chromebook versions are in complete sync with each other and show all my stories.

But as Arlo Guthrie sang so long ago, “That ain’t what I come here to talk about.”

I Can’t Find A Better Platform Than Medium.

Believe me, and I’ve tried. So what makes Medium so special? Even on my…

Medium on my iPhone is an almost- perfect writing app. There are still a few things that need improving, such as inserting images, but I can always rely on doing the final work on my Windows laptop.

But!

I recently installed Medium onto my HP Chromebook, which is where I also do a lot of writing. I logged in using the same credentials I use on my iPhone only to discover that all of my preferences, the people I follow, all of that was missing.

Even worse, all of my writings were gone! Although I had signed in as a member…

I’m breaking up with Medium. But I’m not leaving. Lemme ‘splain.

I’ve been a member for four years and in that time, my $5 monthly fee has returned, in my best month, less than $8. Averaging things out, over the years I’ve easily spent $240 in membership fees and raked in a grand total of less than $50.

So what am I even doing here?

Because I Enjoy Your Stories

And that’s why I’m going to continue reading them here. …

You clapped for one of my posts, which is how I became aware of you. Your profile tell me you’ve been here on Medium since October of last year. It also tells me that you have no followers. Nada. Nil. Zip.

What’s up with that? I see you’ve written several stories, and yet nobody’s following you.

Well, enough of that! So what if I’m your first – and at this point – only follower? I’m always looking to find new authors, which is why I follow so many of you. Especially if you only have a few readers. …

Photo by Yohann LIBOT on Unsplash

We’re all familiar with the basic theme: people die, are buried, then come back to life. Oh, right: they come back to life with ravenous appetites for brains. Nothing else. Only brains.

I think that if, as I’ve read from numerous sources, humans taste like pork (giving rise to the quaint designation of “long pig”), why choose brains? Personally, I’d choose a meatier cut. After all, brains are mostly fat. Not much nutrition there. If people are anything like chicken, give me a nice big breast or a couple of meaty thighs.

And what…