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Friday, October 24, 2025

LUNCH & DEATH

 

During the double zero decade I was invited to numerous free luncheons from investment firms. 2007 was a particularly big year for this. My friend Irene (now deceased) & I seemed to attend one every month.

Nowadays I no longer receive invitations to these. Perhaps they’ve discovered that I’ve lost most of my money in so-called “safe investments.” Instead, I’m invited to luncheons by funeral and cremation services now. – I always attend, but only for the free food!

Death is a lucrative business! Our planet has an exploding population and none of us are getting out of here alive! Plus, a mortician will never be replaced by AI. It’s one of the few jobs that’s safe.

The last four of these stopped providing dessert. To me, a meal is incomplete without one. And I know they can afford it!

At the last one, the restaurant was spacious with a trendy vibe and had additional rooms for special functions. And unlike the previous places it wasn’t part of a chain. It was the type of place where dining felt like a treat.

This time, the hostess was an attractive young woman with a big personality. She lived in the coastal town where I grew up, just an hour south of here. She told us that ironically, she lived in a condo overlooking a cemetery.

I know the condo and that cemetery, it’s where my mother is buried. And I’d never want to live in that building, even though it’s lovely, since it’s too close to my mother for me.

As with the investment luncheons, some hosts are more aggressive than others. They remind me of dates who seem to think that because they bought you a meal, you owe them!

This host, a young hottie approached everyone asking, “Your place or mine?”

I declined, and I could tell she was quite unhappy with me.

Also, on the forms there’s usually a box to check if you do NOT want to be contacted again. And I always check that one, yet I’m frequently contacted anyway! – This time I was not.

I plan to be cremated. My dentist told me that if no one claims a body, it’s cremated for free. – I have no problem with this. I have a bigger issue with being exploited financially by a funeral home!

It’s not as if I’m still going to be around. I’m not planning on doing any haunting. – Unless Dictator Don is still in office. In that case, every time he walks into a dark room I’ll be there waiting. I promise!

My longtime friends of many decades are now dead. The others will probably miss me for a while, but they’ll move on, as they should. And most will probably be sloughing off the mortal coil themselves before long. All of us are members of the over 65 club. – In 2 months, I’ll be 10 years over!

Since I’ve had experiences with ghosts, I believe in an afterlife. We’ll meet again on the other side, sooner or later.


Friday, October 3, 2025

TOXIC CALLERS

 

Recently I received that scam phone call with the woman announcing she's on a recorded line and inquiring, "Can you hear me, OK?"

Red flairs began going off in my head immediately. This is an old scam actually. Your "YES" answer is used to gain access into your personal info.

This boggles my mind that they can do it with just that! To view my bank account online I practically have to jump thru flaming hoops followed by a tap-dance and then stand on my head while juggling bowling balls!

When asked if I could hear her OK I shouted "NO!" so loud I hope it blasted her ear drums! Had I been upstairs on the other line I would have topped it off with my police whistle to make sure!

Back in the 1970's I received a call I'll never forget! Back then, answering machines may have been around, however there was no need for one. Unlike now, the phone didn’t ring all day with telemarketers, scammers, & charities. Nine out of ten times you knew the person on the other end.

This particular incident happened on a Friday afternoon when I was alone in the house. A man asked for Mrs. Lininger and I replied that she was out for the day. He then asked is Mr. Lininger there? I told him that he was in West Palm Beach, I was their daughter, and did he want to leave a message?

What he said next, turned things upside down and twisted our conversation side-ways in a whole different direction.

"Do you love your mother?" he inquired.

"No!" I answered loudly with a laugh.

"This is not a joke!" he shot back and repeated the question.

I was silent. Never have I been close to my mother. Mom's love was the strangling kind and I'm rather fond of breathing. And I found the question intrusive! He repeated it again.

"What is this about? Why are you calling?" I wanted to know.

"Your mother is going to be blinded," he declared. "Do you love your mother?'

My initial thought was, who has Mom pissed off now? This was during her fanatical religious period that immediately followed the loss of Dad's high paying job. She dove head first into the bible and it was not unusual for her to tell people they were going to hell for not being church goers.

"Who is this?" I asked.

He just repeated all the above like a parrot!

I demanded to know who he was, plus how he knew, and when this going to happen!

Apparently, he was not expecting all these questions! He became agitated and seamed to freak out while repeating those same things over and over. Finally, he asked "Is there anyone else in the house?"

That was it for me, I hung up! Immediately I called the police!

Soon after, an officer arrived to make a report. He stated the target was not my mother, but me. He explained that sickos feel powerful by getting in your head and messing with you. I knew people like this in high school so that made sense.

He felt the call was probably random. But what disturbed me was that the caller knew the correct pronunciation of our family name, most don't!

When my mother returned, I told her everything that happened. She seemed unconcerned.

Later, my memory was jogged. Just three days before a couple of young guys in their 20's came to repair a cable outage. One behaved creepily! He kept staring at me strangely, then began gazing around our house in an odd manner, and then back to a fixed stare at me.

I can't prove he was the one who phoned, but I'd bet on it!