To You, Is "Nice" a Four-letter Word? (page 5)

ziddina

[From Beks...]: "I love your pride Zid..."

Pride, schmide... Idiot husband and I were at a campsite; some construction worker/squatter was hanging out at the picnic table but wasn't camping there... Drinking his coffee, or something...

As we were unpacking and setting up our tent and stuff, I noticed that he'd drawn out some knife - not a Bowie, but a 6" - 8" blade... He was running it along the edge of the [WOODEN!!] table, and grinning evilly at me... Like he was sharpening it with me in mind...

Idiot husband was TOTALLY ignoring all of this... [I think that his tendency to ignore - or deny - unpleasant situations, causes a sort of 'blindness' wherein he truly cannot see such situations arising...]

First thought thru my head was "GreenHorn"!!! I told him [the construction worker creep] that he'd have better luck sharpening that thing on something like sandstone, or the bottom of a ceramic cup... He flips his cup over and continues sharpening, still grinning at me...

I take another look at him, pull my hatchet from the car, get our big whetstone out, and start sharpening my hatchet within 7 feet of him, grinning back at him in the same fashion...

He turns white as a sheet, packs up and leaves within 5 minutes...

I hate bullies!!! But I LOVE calling their yellow-bellied, chicken-livered bluffs...

Zid

snowbird

Ziddy!

You rock!!!

Syl

ziddina

Thanks, Sylvia...

Actually, I just like hatchets... And rock hammers... And I want a "Bowie" knive - or maybe a way to keep my sawed-off golf club on the bike frame - when I go bicycling... For mean dogs - and stuff...

Urk! What was this thread about again???

mrsjones5

Ziddina, you and my hubby would totally get along. He's go a hatchet (brought it with us from Indiana for protection) and he's jonesing to get a big bowie knife. The man loves knives...and guns.

ziddina

I'm not a big gun fan... Though I'm a crack shot with a rifle... Never owned one, and don't really like the "gun mentality" prevalent in the U.S....

But, I have had a hatchet since I was 12, and lemme tell you, I can split kindling as tiny as my pinkie!!! Rock hammers - never could quite figure out the best way to use them - they seem to destroy samples as much as obtain them...

But the rock hammer REAAALLY came in useful, one cold September, when we slid into a snowbank up on Engineer Pass [elevation 12,700+ feet...] in the San Juans, and got stuck...

NO help available for 20 miles, at least... The snow crystallized - like an avalanche does - under the front of the 4-Runner, and up under the front axle. Couldn't fit the shovel under there, but that rock hammer - MADE for that type of situation!! A little bit of hacking, and I had the front axle free... And sometime I'll tell you the REST of the story...

But, for bicycle riding, and the hazard of dogs - especially BIG, nasty dogs, like pit bulls - I'd like to have something that'll discourage them quickly... Hmmmmm..... Perhaps a quirt???

Oh, and bear spray?? Doesn't work very well...

Zid

beksbks

Ok, tell me your yellow bellied, chicken livered grinner was in The South?

ziddina

Noooo, my stompin' grounds are the Rockies... And the San Juans... And the Sierra Nevadas... And the Wind River range... And - uh, Lake Louise, and the Black Tusk, and... Oh, yeah!! Telegraph Peak!! And the Inyos - mmmmmm, Goddess! I LOVE the Inyos... If ever a mountain range was haunted by nature spirits, it'd be the Inyos...

A-Hem!!! In other words, out West... Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, British Columbia, Alberta - the Canadian Rockies, New Mexico, California...

And so, that construction worker yahoo was probably of a local variety... Could have been from anywhere, tho... We get lots of imports, out here in the west - you know, "Go West, Young Man!!"

Sorry to disappoint you, Beks... Zid

not a captive

That sounds beautiful, zid. I have not traveled very much further west than Loveland , Colorado. My husband says the West is grand and great. He says Montana was his mother.

Nice... nice means something positive to me. But it doesn't mean being wishy-washy. It means to be substantially pleasant and hospitable to all you meet. It wasn't natural to me, my family had a sarcastic way about them. It wasn't kind, if you were on the receiving end.

When I decided to undo those habits because of Jesus (I wasn't a JW then) I saw how corrupting it was to relationships, that sarcasm. I taught my children to be respectful of others. I think that was nice.

beksbks

I can see his toothless Southern grin dagnabbit!

This reminds me of one of my favorite movies for some reason. Thelma and Louise.

nancy drew

ziddina

interesting campsite story

sylvia

nice is a very bland word that doesn't convey much thats why the expression "have a nice day" is such a perfunctory gesture

To You, Is "Nice" a Four-letter Word?

Share this