Hello people. I hope this finds all of you well. I’ve been randomly spitting out posts for these Saturday Specials for the last few weeks. I suppose today isn’t much different but I’m going to tell you something about the people around me.

I have two different types of friends. Personal can see touch and hear friends and my internet friends. They are different in that I cannot easily visit my internet friends because they are scattered about the country. I think some may even be in different countries. I’ve only in 13 or so years met one of my online friends and it took the death of my mother to facilitate that. It probably would have happened at some point anyway, that was just the timing. This is the one I visit in Louisville every summer. There are others as well and sometimes it’s so long between times I hear from them, it makes me wonder if they are interested in staying in touch. Of course there have been some I’ve lost touch with completely and I guess that’s the nature of the beast. They just stop writing or responding. I’ve done the same thing I’m sure.

Then there are the personal friends. These seem to come and go more easily than the internet friends and usually, the two worlds never mix. I’ve had many types, my favorite has always been the ones who call and tell me, they are on my street and will be here in 5 minutes. I’m still waiting to see the last one who said that, 6 years ago. Not that I’m counting mind you. He’s always been a little flighty and usually over busy. I think I can kind of write that one off to were once friends. Same with a lot of the others from the last 10 years or so. Again, I think it’s just the nature of the beast.

I’ll tell you about one of my current friends. She is the one I’ve mentioned who has cats. I don’t like cats but she does, and they’re part of the package. I’ve said that before. A month or so ago, I mentioned over in Chicago that one of her cats had finally succumbed to kitty cancer and asked people to send their positive thoughts, they did. I later told her about that which meant I had to tell her I watch these silly shows and participate in blogs about them. That’s the first time I’ve said that out loud to someone and I’m sure she thinks I’m strange for doing so but I don’t care, I think so too. Were it not for her cat, I probably never would have said anything to her about it. She has told me countless things, things that I had to pick my chin up off of the ground after she told me and when she told me. I’m not going to repeat them, I’ll just say they are pretty bad. I had and still have to, wonder, what possessed her to think she could trust me with this information? How did she know I wouldn’t spread it around? By that same token, how do some of you know? I never do and won’t but how does anyone know that? Those are all rhetorical questions that don’t require any answers.

I’ve had to learn in the past several years not to judge a book by the cover. Before anyone jumps on me about my typical housewives comments, let me just say, I’m judging what I see them do and hear them say. This friend recently bought a used truck from a dealer lot. She’s been having some problems with it. She took it to the dealer and described the problem and right away the service guy says ‘well that’s the transmission, you’ll have to leave it for a week at least’. She knew it wasn’t the transmission but he insisted it was. She is sitting on my couch telling me this story and the thought that came to my mind is, ‘you’re a woman’. She says Yes, that’s it (she knew it was his problem). Turns out, they’ve been trying to get rid of this guy for a year.

Let me tell you how I met this friend. 6 years ago, I needed a job to have some spare cash flow. Through another friend, I called this woman who was the supervisor at the job I would have until my mother got sick. The job was, Evaluating vehicles during programmed drive cycles and reporting back to the engineers at the car companies. What that means is drive the cars and look for things to report back. So, this woman who knew nothing, according to this guy, yeah, it was her job to know, and she did it quite well. As it turns out, she now works for me. Mowing lawns and cleaning houses when needed. It’s worked out well for the both of us, I think, and so it goes. Well, if I go much further, she’s going to wring my neck for talking about her on the internet so I’ll keep this one short.

Of course the people on the internet that I call friends (but have never met) are slightly different only for the reason I’ve never really met them. Can these be friends? I say yes they can. The potential is always there for a meet and anyone you share stuff with, could be called a friend. I am no more trusting of those on the web than I am of those directly around me. However, the people I include in the group of people I call friends, have earned my trust somehow. I hope I’ve earned theirs. When things happen to them, I worry about them just as much as my ‘personal’ friends and perhaps even more so. I like to trust that they are okay when they tell me they are but since I cannot see them, I am never completely sure. I only wish for some, I could reach out and give them a big ole bear hug because I’m that kind of guy and I think they need one. Maybe some day……

Others have told me that while we may be internet buddies, they don’t ever want to see me at their doorstep. I can understand and appreciate that too. I don’t want anyone just popping up at my door either, not even my personal friends. I don’t like surprise visitors that way. It’s never the ‘right’ time when it happens and the house is always a mess 😉

That’s about it for now, I will see you next week with something else.

Til then, Peace.