what does off topic mean?

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affected

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Off topic means this is where people can talk about ANYTHING other than the topics in the other forums. It's specifically marked that it is off the topic of the forum.

I have this neat way of not reading threads if they don't interest me, that way anyone can post on anything they want, and I just interact with what I want to. No one forces me to read stuff I'm not interested in.

I am often so uplifted here by PALS and CALS that demonstrate how to keep their spirit gentle and positive. It saddens me that my PALS isn't able to do this, but helps me enormously to hear any little thing others still enjoy and find pleasure in. Sometimes it sparks me to try things with my PALS, even if often they don't work.
 
This forum is for those who are terminally or chronically ill with als/mnd .
We have some who were eventually diagnosed with other chronic neurological illnesses,they made friends and stayed and were blessed to have there support.

I have seen and felt a lot of heartache over the years but also so much joy and laughter thanks to the off topic forums.
Some of you may not remember the forum follies with rose ,barry,zaphoon and bethu to name a few.
Bethu's tale of her wig flying off while out driving in California ,I think causing a women to faint...just hilarious
Al's lawnmower story was priceless.

Look back ,there are so many wonderful threads .

Yes we can be sad when we feel it but we also need joy and laughter to make it through each day.
 
I found bethu's story,god bless her.....enjoy



This can’t compete with the lawn mower escapades, but it does show that you don’t need ALS to have a bad hair day.

Scene: About 1970, the era of women’s wigs, at a major intersection in Glendale, me in my ‘66 Mustang (“Charlie Horse”), windows open, gorgeous summer afternoon, pulled into the intersection waiting for the light to change to make a left turn. Light changes, opposing cars stop, I start my turn and some creep guns it from the curb lane to beat the light, and broadsides my car.

My wig flips off my head out the window into the intersection. (“OMG, my wig !”). I pull the car out of the intersection to the curb, and duck down, trying to get the bobby pins out of my hair. I’m in my mid-30s, but most of my hair is already gray, and I just let it go and let it grow under my trusty wig. So I’m hunched over in the car, trying to comb my hair with my fingers, and people are crowded around, peering in the window, thinking I’m injured and in pain because I’m clawing at my hair.

Meanwhile, much commotion and screams coming from the bus stop across the street.

From my left side rear-view mirror, I can see my wig in the intersection. Traffic goes one way, and it tumbles along in that direction a few times. A few people run over it. Then the light changes, and the wig starts tumbling in another direction. Back and forth and all around it tumbles in the intersection.

From the distance, I hear a siren. Thank God, I think, I can hide out in an ambulance. But the ambulance pulls up to the bus stop, not to me. Someone gets loaded on a stretcher and it drives away.

Suddenly, a kid from the corner gas station pushes his way through the crowd, holding my wig with his index finger and thumb, pinky in the air, like it was fresh road kill. He says, “Is this yours, lady?”

I grab it and shove it down on my head. Dignity restored, I let people pull me from the car. As I wait for the cops (the guy who plowed into me had only managed to get his car a half block, then he took off running. Car had been stolen), I talk to the onlookers, or as I think of them, defense witnesses, and get the whole story.

A woman at the bus stop, who happened to be an epileptic, saw my wig fly off, and thought it was my head. The screams I’d heard as my wig tumbled around the intersection were hers. “The head! The head!” The woman then had a grand mal seizure. Hence the ambulance.

I noticed as I talked to the cops and the tow truck driver and my witnesses that people were looking at me very strangely and not getting any too close.

When I got home, I looked in the mirror ... and there I was, gray hair sticking out all around my head, with the brown wig perched precariously on top ... backwards! ... with tread marks on it !

To this day, I still make three right turns to avoid making one left turn at that intersection.

BethU
 
OH MY GOODNESS! Got me laughing so much .......oh I miss you beth
Go to last page of off topic to read all the follie storys ect.
 
Grandpa Al's self taught mowing tips.......Boy ,I do miss Al so much.



First .you should wear a hat with a soft brim. This will help when you fall off riding mower and do a face plant on the branch you were leaning over to pick up.
Second .wear long pants so you rip the pants not your shin while tumbling off aforementioned mower.
Third. Always switch into neutral while stopped to try to pick up aforementioned branch. This will stop the mower from wildly going through ditch onto road and turning back down driveway and going back across lawn and into flower garden coming to rest on piece of driftwood just 3 feet from crashing through picture window.
Fourth. Always disengage blades when stopped to pick up branches. This will avoid mower mowing down flowers and bushes as it careens through garden.
Fifth. Always make sure that some other responsible adult (wife) is there to help you up off ground after taking a face plant onto branches.
Six. Make sure said responsible adult knows how to stop runaway mover. When mower is careening towards house is not the time to be telling wife which of the 6 levers is the throttle.
Seven. After mowing grass have a large glass of wine. It will help ease the pain but not the I told you so comments from responsible adult that runs down driveway saying Oh No How do I stop it?
Eight. Learn from the mistakes of others. You might not live long enough to make them all yourself.
 
Olly, that story by BethU was hilarious and she told it so well. To get the good stories & informative posts from PALS you have to go back a little ways. This is not the same forum for PALS as it once was. Thanks for sharing :)
 
Lol,thing is it was true.......you can't make it up lol.
Sorry for hijacking your thread Affected
 
I have read some of the stories and love them. I like the antics in the pub too. I had read that Helen liked the drink "sex on the beach". That was my go to drink back when I could have them. I miss them both.
 
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Hey Olly, you didn't hijack the thread at all, you added some great stuff to it, THANKS!

I had been directed to the lawnmower stories before and I can chuckle reading them but I also shudder as my PALS was still driving the tractor then (I'm sure he would now if we could get him on it!). The tractor is safer than a ride on though I might add as it is 4WD. I have always wondered though why Al's ride on doesn't have the safety feature of turning off if the seat is vacated, all the ones I've owned or used have that.

I must say that I find it hard when I hear people say - oh this forum isn't as good as it used to be, or it's not the same as it was - WE MAKE IT WHAT WE WANT IT TO BE. If you think others here should be making this forum into a place you want, then you are missing the point, that it is up to each of us here to make it what we each want.

I love this place, I can't imagine doing what I am doing with the people here, and I enjoy the input I give in. JMHO and I'll climb off now ... oooh it was a long way down!
 
Hi all! I am a PALS, and find that sometimes the Off Topic thread is the best for me. Laughing is one of the best medicines, especially on a down or difficult day ( thanks, Olly, those were priceless). My most enjoyable, stress-relieving activities are reading and watching good television, so I enjoy discussions on those too. They help to take me away from my issues and anxieties and into another place. Keep this thread active!

Linda

P.S. Thank you, Olly, for the beautiful slide show.
 
I have been a member of this forum since 2007 (like Olly) and there are very few of us left from the old days. I strongly disagree that this forum is not the same as it was because of some lacking ingredient or magic. I knew those people who are so fondly remembered here and grieved when they passed.

This forum IS WHAT YOU PUT IN IT! It is not the same because member come and go but to say or allude that it is not as good as it was is not true--it is just different and in 6 months or a year it will be different still than what it is today.

One thing that has remained the same in all the years I have been around is that every year or so members start getting their panties in a wad and act ugly to each other and there is a big brouhaha. This happen even when Al and Beth and Barry and Allen were alive. The last time was right after Al died, so we are probably due for one. If you don't think you are getting the support you need or you don't like some part of the forum, take a look at the support you are GIVING, and start putting in what you want to take out. Maybe it is the southerner in me, but I try very hard to be polite, even when I don't agree. and my mama taught me "if you can't say something nice ...don't say anything at all". Even with that, what I think is polite or nice can be taken out of context or misunderstood because people are all different.

In the end, we are all facing this disease and we need to stick together.

I for one, love this forum now as much as in the old days--it has been my lifeline and helped me in so many ways.
 
Some of you are about to stir the bottom out of that pot. I think it would be best if you heeded David's warning.
 
Sorry, but I don't heed "warnings" of "staying on topic" on an "Off Topic " thread, as David suggested. No offence to anyone, but our illnesses are serious enough; can everyone lighten up already?...?..
Not to mention try to be more understanding and considerate......


Linda
 
Ok,"on topic" to lighten things up....well sort of if were still doing about tv ect from the other thread.
Here is my son,who gets called clark kent alias superman in his onesie lol.

4489-albums832-picture6512.jpg
 
Sorry, but I don't heed "warnings" of "staying on topic" on an "Off Topic " thread, as David suggested. No offence to anyone, but our illnesses are serious enough; can everyone lighten up already?...?..
Not to mention try to be more understanding and considerate......


Linda

Off topic is fine & I believe what David was saying is that it shouldn't be used to bait other members into an argument. Everyone should respect his warning & abide by it. It is his forum & he makes the final decisions.
 
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