Week 212 – Questionable Stains, Underlying Secrets And Drinking Chemicals

Here we go again!

This is posting number 212.

These weeks come and go in what seems to be a good seven days.

There are some things that I miss as they aren’t done anymore. (Having a life, being bothered and reasons for living have always been debatable so I am ignoring them!)

The fascination with wooden flooring has taken away one job that I loved doing and that was ripping up old carpets. The longer they had been down the better as they sometimes disintegrated into dust like *puff candy. But it wasn’t advisable to breathe whilst doing this. A few naive folks lost their life by doing that very thing. I think that was where toxic shock originated from. And when you think on it, you realise the connection between old carpets, cat shit, blood and absorption.

You see, most folks didn’t bother with the cost of underlay, they used many old papers layered on top of each other. This was also handy if you had a toddler, a pup or a granny as they helped soak up all-sorts of spillage and ooze.

So when you came to change your carpet, this normally took at least one full day. The time was divided thusly:

Thirty minutes to go to the Off Licence for two dozen cans of beer.

Twenty minutes to rip up the carpet.

Two hours at A&E to remove the carpet tacks from your hands and to get a tetanus jag.

Ten minutes to throw out the yellow or brown coloured newspapers.

And the remainder of the time to read through all the old news papers whilst drinking the beer.

You felt as if you had won a watch if the papers were local and not just tabloid. I learnt a few things about my family history whilst reading under the carpet local journalism.

For example:

My dad had been in a news story wearing very silly trousers. (Sadly the trouser weren’t the story, he hadn’t worn them for a bet, they were a fashion choice).

My uncle had been done for drink driving and theft. (He stole the drink before he drove).

My Grandfather was ‘Senior Service Citizen Of The Year.’ (He smoked a lot).

My cousin had been barred from Ayr for stealing car batteries and cassette players.

(Any youngsters reading, ask someone over fifty – They will explain all these terms and long hand, ‘actual word’, typing!)

I think this is why so many people put these newspapers under their carpets. It wasn’t a cheap alternative to underlay, it was hiding the family shame.

OK onto this weeks stories.

We have three new authors and two lovely ladies who have adorned our site for quite a while now.

The topics include; love, removal, creation, statues and voyeurism.

As always our initial comments follow.

First up on Monday was our first new writer.

Lisa Keeble has been a delight to work with. She is tenacious and has no trouble in working hard at her craft.

We are sure that ‘From His Perspective‘ will be the first of many!

‘A bit of lightness with a dark centre.’

‘Some very natural humour to this. Some writers force this but not Lisa.’

‘The length of a story can sometimes be misjudged. This was perfect. Getting out before you say too much is a more difficult discipline that readers realise.’

On Tuesday we had our second new writer. We welcome all of them to the site and we hope that they enjoy their time with us.

Michael Martin was next up with ‘An Engagement.’

‘The melancholy added to the mystery.’

‘Quite meaningful.’

‘Strange but you found yourself getting into it.’

There is no introduction needed for the enigmatic Leila Allison. When she isn’t writing superb introductions for our Sunday Re-Run Posts she is also adding to her amazing back catalogue of work.

‘Through Amazed Eyes‘ broke the back of the week.

‘A few of the sections mix logical reason with emotional reality which is under the surface.’

‘I was enthralled and I loved the ending to bits.’

‘This was a story about control and its many offshoots.’

Our nearly last new writer was Lida Papasokrati.

We look forward to more stories from all of them.

‘Standstill‘ nearly finished off the week.

‘This made me check out the statues.’

‘We all see statues but there are probably many that we don’t know about. This story takes that idea and makes something interesting.’

‘When you think on it, it’s a very novel and unique twist on a vampire story!’

And to end we had the very inventive and talented ‘L’Erin Ogle.

It was our pleasure to publish L’Erin’s latest short ‘A Pill To Love, A Pill To Forget, A Pill To Live Forever.’

‘The MC was a very well written character.’

‘The emotions lifted this into something quite excellent.’

‘I like reading about any idea of individuality.’

Well that’s us for another week folks.

Here come the usual reminders.

Have a look back and send us in an introduction to a story you have enjoyed from the site and we will add it to our Sunday Re-Run feature. We won’t edit your words, they are all yours.

And please keep the site alive, even one comment a week from all those shy thumbs up folks will keep the site fresh.

I’ve finished working on my Family (Hanging) Tree so I think I’ll rip up some laminate flooring and stain the soulless plywood underneath.

*Puff Candy – Also known as Cinder Toffee or Diabetes Delight.

Ah Bicarb – It can clean puke, ease bee stings and fuck up your sugar levels!

Does anyone remember ‘Boston Cream’?

Hugh

Banner Image: Pixabay.com – You can tell he’s just ‘distressed’ the carpet can’t you? anyway – wood floor, carpet and a dog – I think I covered much of the rant. Couldn’t find an incontinent Granny!!  dd