On this, the first day of my 69th year of breathing on my own, I leave you with a quote

[DFW]

It is from a former French Prime Minister, Georges Clemenceau. It is something I should have taken to heart long ago, and still can't manage to bring myself to do:

"Les cimetières sont pleins de gens irremplaçables, qui ont tous été remplacés."

"The cemeteries are full of irreplaceable people, all of whom have been replaced."

[dweller]

1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DFW !!

✌🏼

[DFW]

4. Thanks, Dweller!

Being 68 doesn't feel a lot different from being 67. I think.

It's ironic that plane crashes, train crashes, heart attacks and wild weather couldn't confine me to the house, but the fear of a virus so small, I could only see it with an electron microscope--now THAT lays me low for a couple of weeks.

[lunatica]

37. Think of it as you doing your part not to kill other people

because that’s also what you’re doing.

[DFW]

40. Fair enough! n/t

[Rorey]

2. Happy Birthday!

[DFW]

7. Thanks!

It was one of the most tranquil ones ever.

[Laurelin]

3. Happy birthday !

Clearly, you are not replaceable yet. 🙂

[DFW]

5. Not just yet, maybe

Give it time!

[badseedboy]

6. This is a good quote to keep

in your back pocket. Pull it out when you are suffering, ruminating over something that matters primarily to you, if that should occur. Enjoy your day!

[DFW]

9. It's after 11 PM here

But I will enjoy what's left, thanks!

[mnhtnbb]

8. Happy Birthday!

Did you have cake?

[DFW]

12. Are you kidding? I live in Germany, married to a German

Of COURSE there was cake!

My wife made both a cinnamon-peach cake and a chocolate sponge cake.

AND put out 4 different kinds of cheese (3 from Spain, one from Switzerland), a salad, Norwegian cod filets poached in a horseradish-garlic sauce and chicken wings with BBQ sauce I brought from Dallas. We had two of our closest friends from across the street join us. The leftovers could feed the Chinese army for a week.

[Lochloosa]

15. Mormons have several wives. How would your wife feel about another husband.

[DFW]

19. She has made one thing clear

She does not subscribe to the Mormon rules of cohabitation. She may be retired from the Catholic Church, but monogamy has been in her family at least since the year 1473, and she seems in no hurry to break with that tradition.

[Lochloosa]

31. Damn. A long lost uncle then?

[DFW]

36. You might get away with that one.

Better make it convincing, though. Are you fluent in Pladdütsch?

If not, don't worry. You and just short of 7 billion other people aren't!

[mnhtnbb]

93. Yum!

[crickets]

98. What a wonderful birthday feast! Very eclectic.

Happy birthday, DFW! Sounds like you had a good one. I'm glad.

[DFW]

99. Thanks! Believe it or not, that was a typical meal for us

My wife is a master chef (among other things), and is not big fan of heavy traditional German food. At any dinner at our house, one can count on there being random great things from all over the world. Maybe a fish soup in the style of southern France as an appetizer and then Indian garam massala over basmati rice as the dish. Then a slice of orange cake with dark chocolate coating from Switzerland as dessert. With food, we are allergic to routine and sameness. We once had a friend over for his birthday because his wife was in the hospital, and she made up some three or four course amazing meal, and he said "you didn't have to make up this elaborate feast just for me." Confused, we said, "but we didn't!" He said, you mean you eat like this every day? We said, well, yeah, when we're both here anyway. He just said wow..........

California Peggy has visited us, you can ask her. One day, we laid out a Greek feast. On their last night, we took them to an Arabian feast in an old German villa that had been remodeled to replicate a Moroccan Sultan's palace.

[crickets]

135. Kudos to your wife! Good food is one of the joys in life. nt

[DFW]

139. She was my one and only jackpot lottery win

Forty-six years together this July
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

[lastlib]

153. Relevant to nothing, my dad got a sponge cake for his birthday once---

A REAL *Sponge* cake! It was an actual car-washing *sponge* (the giant size), covered with chocolate icing! You should've seen him try to cut it!! It was HYSTERICAL!!

Hope yours was better! Happy birthday, sir! Live long and prosper!

[DFW]

154. Thanks!

A real Captain James Kirk once said that, too, just as he was assuming command of a new class of destroyer.....

[nolabear]

10. Yes, but as a writing prof once told me when I complained everything had been written about

“That’s true, but it hasn’t been written about by you.”

You might be replaceable as a body or a job or an accomplishment, but you’re not as DFW.

Happy Birthday, you old poop.

[DFW]

13. Ha Ha!

Well-stated (and noted)

[2naSalit]

11. Happy B* Day!

*Breathing!

[DFW]

14. 46 minutes to go!

Looks like I won't get replaced on day one, anyway!

[2naSalit]

17. LOL!

Congrats, every year is a milestone after all!

[DFW]

20. At this point

Every year is a goddam obelisk!

[2naSalit]

22. Can't argue with that!

I feel the same way.

[marlakay]

16. Happy birthday!

Hope you had a great day.

I am about to embark on the old fashioned out for a drive. I remember as a child we would go out every weekend for a drive as a family. Of course gas was 19 cents then. But I have a Prius and get almost 60 mpg so a drive in the country on edge of mountains it will be to replenish the soul!

[DFW]

23. Replenish away!

The nearest mountains here are a day's drive down south (6 hours to the Alps, 15 hours or so to the Pyrenees). I'll stick with watching the Rhein flow slowly by.

[marlakay]

27. You'll have to do a tour of them online

I live in southern oregon about 30 min drive into the country on edge of mountains.

[DFW]

33. I remember Crater Lake

One of those places Mother Nature placed here and there upon this planet to reminds us all who's boss around here......

[malaise]

18. Happy Birthday DFW

That has been one of the quotes that has guided my life. It was one of the first thing I told most of my students - have a life. Learn to delegate responsibilities.

[DFW]

25. I alwas tell people

"Get a life" can't be enforced in a court of law. That in no way lessens the fact that it is a good idea nonetheless.

[malaise]

42. My theory is that all succession planning begins with delegating responsibilities

and then everyone can have free time.

[Wounded Bear]

21. An old acquaintance from many years ago had a favorite saying...

He would say, as a way of dampening an argument or disagreement, "What does it matter anyway? In a hundred years we'll all be dead."

[DFW]

28. There is peril in that

It can also be used as a reason to tell me to not eat a fresh apricot or drink a cup of hot cinnamon tea. Not that I would insist on my gravestone mentioning that I did, indeed, eat an apricot or drink cinnamon tea, but at the time, it matters. Sort of like the tale that ended with, "it mattered to THAT starfish!"

[Wounded Bear]

35. Not to mention it's a cynical way to excuse shit like the partyers on Spring Break last weekend...

Double edged sword.

[DFW]

38. That, too, agreed

But we don't have "spring break" here anyway.

[Wounded Bear]

69. Like you, my spring broke many years ago...

I'm right behind you at 67.

[hunter]

45. 100 years is nothing.

One of my college majors was evolutionary biology.

In the blink of an eye this human civilization will be a curious layer of trash in the geologic record.

[Just_Vote_Dem]

24. Happy Birthday!

And hope you're breathing for many more!

[DFW]

29. No coughing spells the whole day long.

I might yet live to tell the tale!

[hlthe2b]

26. Well that is humbling, but I find you irreplaceable. So celebrate and stay healthy!

[DFW]

30. Like the old ad said, "it's not nice to fool Mother Nature."

But I won't tell her if you won't!

(and thanks for that!)

[Texaswitchy]

32. Happy birthday.

[DFW]

41. Thanks, witchy!

Almost over now (close to midnight here). It was one of the more tranquil ones, for sure!

[Texaswitchy]

43. I am getting there.

I am taking it easy right now.

Spent the morning working on the garden.

A big one.

Now just bbqing chicken.

[FM123]

34. Happy Birthday dear DFW!

<img src="" alt="German Chocolate Layer Cake"/>

[DFW]

39. Here in Germany, we always get a laugh out of that

There is no such thing as "German chocolate cake" in Germany!

[FM123]

97. I know! Enjoy the giggle, dear DFW.

[JohnnyLib2]

44. Happy Birthday, faithful poster!

[DFW]

47. I usually steal the time

Due to almost every country on Germany's borders closing off, I suddenly have plenty of time to post. Such an unusual feeling!

[livetohike]

46. Happy Birthday DFW! Live long and prosper. May

your new birth year bring you peace and happiness .

[DFW]

48. Thanks for that!

It has started off bringing me more peace than I ever wanted! Because of this stupid virus, I can't go anywhere, and I usually am in a different country every day for work. VERY weird feeling. Now, 5 AM rolls around, and my wife asks in bewilderment, "you're still here?"

[Duppers]

49. Happy Birthday, DFW! 🎂

May you have many more!

[DFW]

50. Thanks, Duppers!

This sudden routine of being able to sleep late and go nowhere is something I vaguely remember from the first days of summer break during my college years--half a century ago!

[Hortensis]

51. Hope this turns out to be a very nice year for you, DFW.

Interesting start, of course.

[DFW]

55. Definitely not the way they usually start!

I could go for this being a one-off!

[Hortensis]

59. :) I have hopes this is a year we all get a little smarter.

That's all it would have taken. But maybe your hopes will carry special weight.

[NBachers]

52. Happy Birthday, DFW! Instead of irreplaceable, I'll consider you unduplicatable.

[DFW]

58. Believe me....

There have been times when I wish cloning was available in emergency situations.

"You have to be in Geneva tomorrow!"
"No, you have to be in Brussels tomorrow!"
"No, you have to be in Barcelona tomorrow!"

And none of them are in the slightest bit interested in being flexible.

[NBachers]

60. I have an image of you walking through the security booth, and then multiplying off in different

directions. My mental picture somehow has you looking like a vintage grey-suited English businessman with a bowler hat, narrow lapels, rigid posture, and brief case.

[DFW]

64. My wife prefers me as a turbaned pirate

Last edited Fri Mar 20, 2020, 05:46 AM - Edit history (1)

Even if a black bikini doesn't exactly fit with a turbaned pirate, but here we are, almost 40 years ago!
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

Managed to link to the old site. MUCH better!

[NBachers]

65. Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life for me!

[DFW]

68. I have to figure out how to get rid of that stupid link!

Photobucket thought they were making improvements--must be consulting with the Trump family for advice!

[NBachers]

85. Photobucket has become so annoying and user-unfriendly that I've switched over to Imgur.

[DFW]

100. I will check Imgur out

"Annoying and user-unfriendly" describes the new Photobucket about as accurately as anything!

[spanone]

53. HAPPY B'DAY DFW!!!!

[DFW]

122. Thanks!

It went by in a soft flash.

[spanone]

123. 👍🏼

[gademocrat7]

54. Happy Birthday,DFW!

Enjoy your special day!🎉🎂

[DFW]

70. It's now "tomorrow" here.

Time to get to bed and start another year!

[Docreed2003]

56. Happy birthday DFW

Hope that you are able to enjoy this day, despite the insanity in which we find ourselves. Hope it goes without saying that I appreciate and throughly enjoy your contributions here. Best wishes on another trip around the sun my friend!

[DFW]

124. Another trip around the sun.

Nicely put. I may steal that on occasion. With your kind permission, of course.......

[Docreed2003]

125. Absolutely.

I certainly didn't coin the phrase, but I'm not sure where I first heard it used. I do like the imagery though.

[DFW]

126. I've heard it before as well

I just never heard it applied to my own itinerary.

[fierywoman]

57. Happy birthday -- you're 9 days older than me!

[DFW]

61. Yeah, my wife always gets on my case for chasing after younger women

Last edited Fri Mar 20, 2020, 05:49 AM - Edit history (2)

She is 3 months younger than I am, but looks 25 years younger than I do!
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]

Found a link to the old Photobucket site. MUCH better!

[fierywoman]

95. I've seen your previous posts of your stunningly beautiful wife! Many happy returns

to you!

[NNadir]

62. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag! n/t.

[DFW]

79. Danke!!

Nur noch einmal im Jahr.........

[NNadir]

91. Das is wahr. Ich habe ein ntzliches Zitat fr Leute, die sich ihren siebziger Jahren naehern.

Älter werden ist wie Bergsteigen. Ihr Atem wird kürzer, aber Ihre Ansichten werden expansiver. -Ingmar Bergen

Nicht war?

[DFW]

157. Tut mir Leid, dass ich das erst jetzt gesehen habe

Das ist wohl wahr. Und wie!!

[Dem2theMax]

63. Happy birthday to one of my favorite posters!

DFW, you share a birthday with one of my cousins. I just got off the phone from wishing him a happy birthday.
But you are younger, and I can tell, even from here, that you wear your years very well.

In spite of all the insanity going on around us, have an absolutely wonderful birthday!

[DFW]

76. I had a very tranquil birthday. Very serene.

If you had asked me a week ago what I would be doing today, I would have said I had to be in Paris by noon, but hoped to be back here in Germany in time for dinner. Today, if I had tried to get into France, they would have turned me back at the border!

[erronis]

66. And as others have said before, life is just organisms trying to succeed on top of other organisms.

We're in a constant race of succession. Whether within our own species, or even tribes; or species trying to live using us as a stepping stone.

This happens within our own human communities and also with the microbes that live within and surround us.

We're mainly just a prop for a great experiment.

Who will succeed?

And what does success mean?

(It ain't a techno-billionaire, BTW.)

[DFW]

75. Props though we may be

Like Trevanian once said in an introduction to one of his novels, some of the characters in it are completely fictitious, though some of them may not realize that.

[alwaysinasnit]

67. Many, many happy returns of the day!

[DFW]

72. Thanks!

Actually, that's "night" now. I'm on CET.

[blm]

71. ((DFW))

[DFW]

73. Hey, thanks!!

The old guard slogs through another year!

[blm]

74. That we do.

[samnsara]

77. happy birthday!

[DFW]

82. Thanks!!

Over here, it's the "next" day already. I need to get to bed!

[CaliforniaPeggy]

78. Happy Birthday, my dear DFW! And many, many more!

Lionel and I are very glad you and your lovely wife are friends with us! Please take care and some day we may get over there once again!

Not this year, though.

[DFW]

80. Thanks Peggy!

We are honored to have had you here at our house as well!

This year is crazy. We just hope that by July, we will be able to make it to Cape Cod. The way things are going, even that looks in doubt!

I always say that you, Lionel and Steve 2470 are the only DUers we have met, but I keep forgetting that once about 10 years ago, we had dinner in NYC with Tom Rinaldo and his wife. Tom, if you're perusing the site, and come across this, my excuses for the omission!

[trof]

81. Hey man! Happy Birthday.

Welcome to the geezer ranks.

[DFW]

83. Hey Trof

My wife has been married to a geezer for years now.

Just do me a favor, and don't tell, her, OK?

[trof]

86. Mum's the word.

I enjoy your posts from a European perspective.
Live long and prosper.

[DFW]

101. I've heard that line before somewhere.

A new USN ship was being commissioned in Baltimore a few years ago. It was named after the father of a friend of ours (a former Admiral who drove Nixon crazy--would have been my kind of guy), so I went. The captain was named James Kirk (for real!). At the big ceremony, with all sorts of DoD and congressional bigwigs, Captain Kirk got up before about 5000 people and made the Vulcan sign and said,"I had better get this out of the way first, so no one complains afterward: Live Long And Prosper." He had to have gotten the biggest applause the captain of any destroyer in the US Navy ever got.

[trof]

152. Good story.

Between us we probably have a million of them.

[OnDoutside]

84. Happy birthday, DFW ! Stay well.

[DFW]

102. Thanks, Doutside!

So far, I'm staying inactive, something I haven't done for about 45 years. VERY weird!

[Luciferous]

87. Happy birthday!

That's a great quote

[DFW]

105. Thanks!

I was once told that quote by an old French colleague, who noticed that I looked a little fatigued. I didn't always follow his advice, but I never forgot it, either.

[mountain grammy]

88. Happy Birthday DFW.. and many, many more.

[DFW]

106. Thanks, Grammy

The genetic lottery says my chances of many more are slim. Two grandparents never made it to 70, one barely made it to 80 (but never even knew it), and one made it to 102, so maybe I'll get lucky.

[smirkymonkey]

89. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag, DFW!

Stay healthy! Prost!

[DFW]

107. Vielen Dank!

I know it's a crime against nature, but even though I live in Germany, I HATE beer!

[Pacifist Patriot]

90. I wish you well on this anniversary.

I confess I am struggling with "happy" these days. But I am grateful in many may ways. I am so very grateful you were brought into this world. I am grateful we crossed paths on an Internet forum site. You are generous. You are wise. You are appreciated. Thank you for being you, and happy Happy Birthday!

[DFW]

108. Much appreciated!

There are plenty who disagree with your sentiments, so special thanks for your kind post!

[kozar]

92. Happy Bday!!

And let me add to your quote if I may,,"The cemeteries are full of irreplaceable people,, now we are trying to find room for an irreplaceable generation. "

Koz

[DFW]

109. Thanks!

As for finding THAT kind of room, that is like asking Jonah to swallow the whale. There will be some complicated logistics involved, for sure.

[yellowdogintexas]

94. Happy Birthday to DFW from FWD :)

(FWD is what we Fort Worthers call the MetroPlex)

[DFW]

110. Thanks, FWD!

When you manage to get the airport's designation changed, let me know. Come to think of it, let the pilots and the baggage taggers know first, I'll find out soon enough.

[greatauntoftriplets]

96. Happy birthday!

[DFW]

111. Many thanks! n/t

[DarthDem]

103. Happy birthday

Always enjoy your posts.

[DFW]

112. Thanks for that!

Not everyone does, and some are only too quick to say so in no uncertain terms, so I'm always glad to see posts like yours!

[DarthDem]

129. Then they're rude!

I genuinely do. Happy b-day. The cake sounded really nice.

[vlyons]

104. Happy Birthday

Thanks for the quote.

[DFW]

113. Thanks!

I'm always full of oddball quotes. That one is one of my more useful ones!

[sprinkleeninow]

114. Many Years! Chronia Polla! M'nohaja Lita! 💜

[DFW]

117. One of those "you can't translate it" expressions

Χρόνια πολλά.

Ευχαριστώ πολύ !

[sprinkleeninow]

142. And an OPA! 😍

[DFW]

147. That one I know, too

But if you get too much farther away from that and ordering avgolemono as an appetizer, it's all Greek to me!

[sprinkleeninow]

151. See if you can snag some galactoburiko. It's def not non-caloric, but so worth it!

[DFW]

156. Sorry about the delay on this

I finally took the time to look up galactoburiko.

It may be worth it, but you're right, it definitely does NOT seem lo-cal!!!

[sprinkleeninow]

160. Now Ima delayed! 😄

No ground meat, no paper goods for love nor money, no food, no nuttin'.

I'm making out but getting weary having to go to several stores day after day.

You guys and dolls be well in all respects! 🙏 💜

[DFW]

161. We still have plenty of food here, but paper goods are now a problem here, too

The rumor mill is churning faster than anyone can keep track. Even if the Germans get reassured, we have over a million refugees who speak no German, but lots of Arabic, Aramaic, Darí, Kurdish and other languages in which there is no nightly news broadcast. If a rumor starts among them that there is no more toilet paper, they will stand in line for 20 hours if they have to (nothing else to do), and buy up every roll the stores can put on the shelves, and there is no way to get a mass message to them that is isn't necessary.

[steve2470]

115. Happy Birthday DFW!

I hope you and your family are well

[DFW]

116. Thanks, Steve!

We're coping!

[a la izquierda]

118. Alles Gut zum Geburtstag!! Nt

[DFW]

119. Danke!

¡y gracias!

[Vinca]

120. Happy Birthday!

Last edited Fri Mar 20, 2020, 11:55 AM - Edit history (1)

I'd gift wrap some toilet paper and send it to you as a present if I could find any.

[DFW]

121. Thanks, but here in Germany, we still have some left

We may end up sending some as foreign aid packages to stricken third world countries like the USA.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

127. Happiest of birthdays to you DFW...

Memories of us make us immortal...create the best.

[DFW]

128. That is wise counsel

I will indeed try, thanks!

[BComplex]

130. Happy birthday, DFW, and many many happy returns of the day!

Good quote, btw. The thing is, to some people, those dead people ARE irreplaceable. The spouses, for instance, and some children.

[DFW]

131. Thanks!

You're right about immediate family, but Clemenceau was, of course, talking about leaders, heroes, scientists, etc.

My French friend, who has now joined the dearly departed himself, was admonishing me not to exhaust myself to the point where I would collapse. At the time, I was in his office, starting to come down with the flu, and I didn't know if I still had the strength to make it to the airport to fly back to Germany. I made it (Paris to Düsseldorf is usually an hour or slightly less), but I was a wreck.

[BComplex]

132. Are you ok?

Have you been tested?

[DFW]

133. No idea. They won't test you here in Germany. There aren't enough test kits.

Typical Germany: I called my ENT doctor, and he said call your GP or your lung doctor. They said call the health department. The health department said call your GP or lung doctor. If you offer a vital service here, you can't get a work permit unless you can say, "call someone else" in your sleep.

If I had been exhibiting severe symptoms and hacking away with a severe dry cough, and shown up at the ER, they probably WOULD test me--after letting me hang around in a crowded ER with 25 other people with the same symptoms. They said if you DON'T have symptoms, just stay home. So, I am doing just that.

[BComplex]

134. Please stay safe, DFW.

That run-around just boggles the mind. How friggin' hard would it be for industries to start pumping out copies of those test kits?

[DFW]

136. Apparently very hard!

I'm sure that if it were easy to produce RELIABLE test kits (many unreliable ones have been sold into various markets, it seems), the companies that make them would be only too happy to sell as many millions of them as they can.

But, especially here in Europe, where many (if not most) kits sold would be sold to/billed to government agencies, they would be liable for criminal penalties if it were determined that they knowingly sold defective or inaccurate test kits.

So, the manufacturers are getting it from both sides. Hurry up and get us millions of the test kits ASAP (on one hand), and be prepared (on the other hand) for your company the be shut down and the board of directors arrested if you ramp up production too hastily and flood the country with defective test kits.

[Phentex]

137. The one and only D F W ! ! !

Happy Birthday!

[DFW]

143. Thanks, Phentex!

And, just for the record, there is that airport........

[klook]

138. As Porky Pine said to Albert Alligator

in Pogo, “Don’t take life so serious, son. It ain’t nohow permanent.”


Happy birthday, DFW!

[DFW]

144. Thanks for that.

And as Han said to Williams: "We are all ready to win, just as we are born knowing only life."

[Heartstrings]

140. Happy Birthday, DFW!

And Happy First Day of Spring!

[DFW]

145. Over here, that's tomorrow, the 21st, but...

I'll take it! Oddly enough, yesterday was supposed to be cold and miserable, but it was sunny and springlike. TODAY it turned cold and windy, but the weekend is supposed to go up to 18 or 19 degrees. Here's hoping!

[dlk]

141. Wise words to remember

[DFW]

146. I don't remember them often enough.

This week was the ultimate reminder--if I do NOT get up 6 days in a row at 4:30 AM to be in Paris or München or Zürich or Sprout City, or wherever, the world will nonetheless continue to turn on its axis.

I gotta remember that more often, and not only when I'm forced to.

[dlk]

148. We all do the best we can

As a recovering perfectionist, I can relate. It reminds me of something I used to tell my sons when they would (often) give me flak, “If I was perfect, I would be an angel up in heaven, and someone else would be your mother.” Stay safe.

[DFW]

149. I'll try, thanks! n/t

[7wo7rees]

150. Happy BD belatedly dear DFW!

You are one of the best. I am so very glad you are home. Last post I saw from you, you were stuck in an airport somewhere.. Wishing you all the very best!!
The 7wo7rees - Dallas, Tx

[DFW]

155. Thanks, and a big hi to the home front!

I was stuck in Madrid's Barajas airport six days ago. I made it back to Düsseldorf just before they closed Spain off altogether.

They say the number of reported Covid-19 cases is increasing rapidly here, but don't believe it. The number of reliable test kits is increasing. The people were undoubtedly infected already.

[LuckyCharms]

158. Happy Birthday, DFW!

[DFW]

159. Thanks, Lucky!

Actually, it is a few days gone by now. I was just a little late in getting back to some of the previous replies-

Still, always appreciated!