I ask questions on Answermug because doing so makes me happy. I don't do what doesn't. What makes YOU happy? Why?

It is truly huge. I'll let you know when we go there the next time what they tell us. Of course Hemet is a really small retirement community. Finding that huge liquor palace here really surprised us. There may be larger ones in the fancier dancier cities like Bel Air or Beverly Hills or Malibu. We don't shop there of course! We have visited and looked as we drove by on Rodeo Drive but we never stopped. Very nice environment fer shure. :) Kinda rich for our blood though! :)

Aww I adore opera. La Boheme is one of my favourites but my real favourite was the first I ever saw, which was the Barber of Seville.  I also love beer and prefer it to wine :)  I once worked with a guy who sang in stage productions/theatre musicals - so cool to get a free taste of a show while working.

I played Papageno in Die Zauberflöte when I was nineteen. The review in the arts section of the newspaper the following week was a little annoying - who cares how young I was?
"Papageno (played by Xxxx Xxxxx): Where did this boy get his voice? Sings with the power and control of a man more than twice his age. No child has a right to a voice like that, he's a spotty-faced teenager, for heaven's sake.
Pity the kid can't act." This post was edited by Slartibartfast at June 3, 2017 3:42 AM MDT

Thank you for the compliment Shar. I appreciate it. Now is a very happy time for me DESPITE a few health issues for both Jim and me. I think I am psychologically built like The Unsinkable Molly Brown. It is my nature to be happy and find the joy and the silver lining and focus on that. I'm a very lucky person. Thank you for your reply. I do hope your problems get to be fewer and fewer and that you actually experience joy every day, even if  it is for only a little while. Happy Friday! :)

Some people don't want such responsibility tj. Saving lives. That is what lifeguards do. That takes strength, determination, focus and passion I think. Not everyone who swims has the right stuff. I don't know if "achieving" means that much actually. The folks who work hard, raise good kids, struggle to pay their bills are legion. Are they any less that those who make a name for themselves via achievements? I think the real heroes are folks like my dad who worked his a** off for his family. Was always there for us. Was dependable and loyal and loving.  You wouldn't recognize his name. But I think he achieved a great deal. Thank you for your reply and Happy Friday! :)

"Achieving" in this sense means having become a responsible, fully functioning adult human being with the "right stuff" to be responsible enough to mentor / protect others.

It's funny. I don't recall ever striving to achieve. I'm not a conpetitor. I don't want to be "better than" others. I just want to be better than I was. I compete against myself. That's the only competition that interests me. In school I liked getting good grades of course. But what drove me was to gain knowledge/learn rather than getting good grades. I was a very good student. The kind who got very bored with summer vacation after 2 weeks and  counted the days until school would open in the autumn. Needless-to-say the other kids thought I was very weird. Maybe I am. I'm still that little girl that loves to learn about things I don't know. If good things came from my attitude they were  just icing on the cake. I didn't seek them. They came as part of the territory. I think the best way to mentor others is to be a good example. A good role model. Someone to whom people can look up and depend on to be honest and fair and kind. I'm sure you are all those things. Thank you for your reply tj and Happy Saturday! :)