# Met Jacqui!



## Madkins007 (Aug 19, 2012)

Jacqui stopped by for a bit today, and we had a great, but all too short, time. I enjoyed meeting her and talking about tortoises and families.


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## Jacqui (Aug 19, 2012)

I agree, it was much too short. We need another meet, one where I don't have such a tight schedule. How was your family dinner? I ended up having three of mine joining me for supper and we spent over 2 hrs talking.


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## dmmj (Aug 19, 2012)

And you survived to tell the tale, congrats.


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## Jacqui (Aug 20, 2012)

I love meeting members, because in your mind you have built up this mental imagine of what they look like and how they sound. Two of my children had met Mark before, so they and from what Mark himself has said, had added to my picture of him. It wasn't too far off and his voice was no surprise either.


.... and yes, of course we talked about ALL of you.  Actually in our very short time, we did an amazing job of jumping around and touching many different tortoise subjects.


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Aug 20, 2012)

wow, your kids have met him but you haven't?  Too bad I wasn't working yesterday.


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## dmmj (Aug 20, 2012)

Jacqui said:


> we did an amazing job of jumping around and touching


That is so wrong on so many levels, for shame.


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## Jacqui (Aug 20, 2012)

futureleopardtortoise said:


> wow, your kids have met him but you haven't?  Too bad I wasn't working yesterday.



Yeppers on both counts.





dmmj said:


> Jacqui said:
> 
> 
> > we did an amazing job of jumping around and touching
> ...



Ditto right back at you for taking things out of their complete sentence.


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## Madkins007 (Aug 20, 2012)

So when are we going to do that big Heartland TFO meet?

The Nebraska Herp Society has a big symposium coming up Oct. 5, 6, and 7 (http://www.nebherp.org/symposium.html )- might be a fun time to set up some sort of tortoise corner!


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## wellington (Aug 20, 2012)

Does he have a deep voice? For some reason, I picture him with a deep voice. That's nice. It's too bad we all live so spread out. It would be so much fun, if we ALL could meet at one time. What a hoot that would be.


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## Jacqui (Aug 20, 2012)

Madkins007 said:


> So when are we going to do that big Heartland TFO meet?
> 
> The Nebraska Herp Society has a big symposium coming up Oct. 5, 6, and 7 (http://www.nebherp.org/symposium.html )- might be a fun time to set up some sort of tortoise corner!



Yeah and as usual, nothing is related directly to turtles or tortoises.


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## Edna (Aug 20, 2012)

Mark, did you not have your phone with you when you met Jacqui? Or did she make you sign a "no photos" contract or something?


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## Jacqui (Aug 20, 2012)

Edna said:


> Mark, did you not have your phone with you when you met Jacqui? Or did she make you sign a "no photos" contract or something?



  Mark is a true gentleman and knows a proper host does not do things that would make his company nervous.


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## Itort (Aug 20, 2012)

Madkins007 said:


> So when are we going to do that big Heartland TFO meet?
> 
> The Nebraska Herp Society has a big symposium coming up Oct. 5, 6, and 7 (http://www.nebherp.org/symposium.html )- might be a fun time to set up some sort of tortoise corner!


This sounds like good idea.


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Aug 20, 2012)

I'm in, if we do one. Jacqui, you never said for positive, did you get Susan? Because I want to see pictures of Susan! Also, apparently we had two HUGE yellow bellied sliders that someone adopted there earlier... I missed them too, darn it! Now we just have this RES that came in in terrible shape... poor guy


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## Madkins007 (Aug 20, 2012)

wellington said:


> Does he have a deep voice? For some reason, I picture him with a deep voice. That's nice. It's too bad we all live so spread out. It would be so much fun, if we ALL could meet at one time. What a hoot that would be.



Deep voice? Hah! I make James Earl Jones sound like a little girl!

Actually, I have always thought I have a kinda weird voice, as proven by my radio interview with Alabama Herp Radio with Student of the Reptile- http://www.blogtalkradio.com/aark/2012/04/01/tortoise-talk[hr]


Jacqui said:


> Edna said:
> 
> 
> > Mark, did you not have your phone with you when you met Jacqui? Or did she make you sign a "no photos" contract or something?
> ...



Besides- if I would have taken a photo of her, she would probably have tried to take one of me! The horror!


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## Jacqui (Aug 21, 2012)

futureleopardtortoise said:


> I'm in, if we do one. Jacqui, you never said for positive, did you get Susan? Because I want to see pictures of Susan! Also, apparently we had two HUGE yellow bellied sliders that someone adopted there earlier... I missed them too, darn it! Now we just have this RES that came in in terrible shape... poor guy



Yes, I got Susan. Yes, you had two beautiful and large yb sliders. They are currently in an outdoor enclosure with a buried preformed pool.


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## Crystal2807 (Aug 21, 2012)

I can't believe their are so many members from Nebraska here, wouldn't it be neat to have a Nebraska tortoise meet!


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## Itort (Aug 21, 2012)

Don't forget Iowa and surrounding states.


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Aug 21, 2012)

Jacqui said:


> futureleopardtortoise said:
> 
> 
> > I'm in, if we do one. Jacqui, you never said for positive, did you get Susan? Because I want to see pictures of Susan! Also, apparently we had two HUGE yellow bellied sliders that someone adopted there earlier... I missed them too, darn it! Now we just have this RES that came in in terrible shape... poor guy
> ...



You adopted the sliders too?? Hahaha, I wondered if you did  You should come back and adopt the RES, Jefferson, he needs a good place.


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## Jacqui (Aug 21, 2012)

futureleopardtortoise said:


> You adopted the sliders too?? Hahaha, I wondered if you did  You should come back and adopt the RES, Jefferson, he needs a good place.



If I had saw him I would have, not that I need another RES, especially a male one. I do have another couple of old outdoor enclosures with various pools in them, that I am not using. He could have gotten some time out in the sun, which if he does have shell issues would have been ideal for him. Of course that would then mean having to keep a male RES area going, I don't put males in with my female group.


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Aug 21, 2012)

I'm actually not sure if it's a male, haha  I just call him a "he" for the heck of it. How are the two yellow ones doing? I keep getting told that they were just huge, and the guy tried giving us his 95 gallon tank with them and we didn't take it. Booo! I would have taken it for myself


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## Madkins007 (Aug 21, 2012)

Itort said:


> Don't forget Iowa and surrounding states.



Io- wha??? (checks Wikipedia and Google Maps.)

Huh- hey Jacqui- did you know there was a whole other state across the Missouri? Says here it is called 'Iowa', and actually has a capital- De Mones or something like that. 

It even claims that have football, interstates, and WiFi in some places. 

You learn something new every day!

Dang. Next they'll be telling me there are states between Nebraska and Canada!


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Aug 21, 2012)

Wait!? That place across the Missouri isn't just more Nebraska? I'm dumbfounded.


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## Jacqui (Aug 22, 2012)

Yeah, but they don't play real football over there.  Of course it is Larry and he does have hingebacks, so we can't hold his choice of states against him.


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## Madkins007 (Aug 22, 2012)

True. Not everyone can be lucky enough to be born in good old Nebraska where the summers are hot and dry, the winters are unpredictable and usually harsh, the herpetofauna is relatively bland and we don't have easy access to oceans or mountains. 

Ummm.... remind me again why the heck we are staying here?


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## Itort (Aug 22, 2012)

In the words of Shoeless Joe "Is this Heaven". Response "No, it's Iowa".


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Aug 22, 2012)

We stay because it's too expensive or too far away to move anywhere else  And we get cheap, tasty corn here.


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## Jacqui (Aug 22, 2012)

Madkins007 said:


> True. Not everyone can be lucky enough to be born in good old Nebraska where the summers are hot and dry, the winters are unpredictable and usually harsh, the herpetofauna is relatively bland and we don't have easy access to oceans or mountains.
> 
> Ummm.... remind me again why the heck we are staying here?



Because there is no place like Nebraska!

Because some of us live in areas where folks never lock their cars nor their houses. Homes have no bars on the windows. Where if you pass somebody on the road, you always wave, even if you have no idea who they are. Where children can go to the park to play by themselves or to a home blocks away and you know they are safe and being watched as they pass by all the other folks in the neighborhood. A place where folks notice strange cars or people. A place where on a hot summer's day you can still safely go to the river and swim. At night the sky is clear and you can feel close enough to the stars to reach out and touch one, while listening to the chorus of frogs and the lonely howl of a coyote. A place where smog is not a reality, just a word for places like CA.


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Aug 22, 2012)

Jacqui said:


> Madkins007 said:
> 
> 
> > True. Not everyone can be lucky enough to be born in good old Nebraska where the summers are hot and dry, the winters are unpredictable and usually harsh, the herpetofauna is relatively bland and we don't have easy access to oceans or mountains.
> ...



You been to Omaha lately?


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## TortoiseBoy1999 (Aug 22, 2012)

Jacqui said:


> I love meeting members, because in your mind you have built up this mental imagine of what they look like and how they sound. Two of my children had met Mark before, so they and from what Mark himself has said, had added to my picture of him. It wasn't too far off and his voice was no surprise either.
> 
> .... and yes, of course we talked about ALL of you.  Actually in our very short time, we did an amazing job of jumping around and touching many different tortoise subjects.



I've met Tom!


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## wellington (Aug 22, 2012)

Well, now all the crooks know where to go. LOL Is that one of those places, that when a stranger comes into town, they are stared at, and made to feel totally unwelcome. Where, everyone knows your name and business? Sounds nice LOL


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## Tom (Aug 22, 2012)

Jacqui said:


> Because some of us live in areas where folks never lock their cars nor their houses. Homes have no bars on the windows. Where if you pass somebody on the road, you always wave, even if you have no idea who they are. Where children can go to the park to play by themselves or to a home blocks away and you know they are safe and being watched as they pass by all the other folks in the neighborhood. A place where folks notice strange cars or people. A place where on a hot summer's day you can still safely go to the river and swim. At night the sky is clear and you can feel close enough to the stars to reach out and touch one, while listening to the chorus of frogs and the lonely howl of a coyote. A place where smog is not a reality, just a word for places like CA.



You just described where I live to a "T". We get a whole chorus of coyotes every night and I can't even count all the species of frogs and toads we keep finding this year. When I wave to an unfamiliar car on my dirt road, my daughter will often ask, "Who was that, Daddy?" I will frequently answer, "I don't know, honey..."

There is no smog here anymore. That was in the 70's and only right in the middle of the big cities. Most of CA is beautiful farmland or countryside. And politics wise, we are almost half and half, contrary to popular opinion.

We certainly don't have the frozen winters, but the its nice to hike through a forrest in the mountains or take a barefoot walk on the beach in the warm sun in JANUARY.


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## Vishnu2 (Aug 22, 2012)

I am truly jealous, I would give one of my canine teeth to meet Jacqui. Lol. Oh well, maybe in this lifetime.


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## Jacqui (Aug 22, 2012)

Tom said:


> We certainly don't have the frozen winters, but the its nice to hike through a forrest in the mountains or take a barefoot walk on the beach in the warm sun in JANUARY.



Tom, in my times of travel through CA, the things that stick out the most is all the smog. I could not believe folks would willingly live with such a cloud over them all the time. While I was amazed at the green in the spring, it too quickly became a very brown landscape in so much of your state. Then the traffic! It seemed no matter what time we went into CA, we had nothing but traffic and often long jams... here a traffic jam is a slow moving traffic. A friendly wave??? You must mean all those fingers being used. I can't recall a single friendly wave in the state. Sure there are a few isolated nice areas in CA, but with Nebraska that is the norm, not the rare isolated place. I love the fact that we HAVE seasons, real season, not just momentary disruptions. The CA beaches I walked on, I was smart and kept my shoes on for fear of glass and other horrors among the particles of sand. I also recall all your comments in other threads about the NEED for guns and security, one of the things I like about Nebraska is the over all freedom of the fear you live in. So Tom, I do not see where I described your place in CA to a T or even a t.


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## Tom (Aug 22, 2012)

Well, the hills do get brown here in the summer, that much is true. The places you describe are Oakland, San Francisco and L.A. (where I grew up and learned about the NEED for self-defence) Those places are disgusting cess pools of human depravity. I avoid them whenever possible. But those places are tiny specks on the map compared to the enormity of CA. So sad that you would judge a whole state by the few major cities on the main interstates that you travelled. Those places might as well be on another continent from where I live. Did ya spend any time at Bass Lake, Big Bear, Malibu Canyon State Park, Shasta, Manhattan or Hermosa Beach, Mammoth, or here in Santa Clarita...?

Every state has their good and bad places. I recall all the upstate New Yorkers lamenting about how New York is a beautiful state and most of it is NOT like the NY city we always see on TV. I'm sure Nebraska has its good and bad areas too. It did when I was there a few years ago. I just want you and everyone reading to know that yes, some of CA is nasty, but MOST of it is very nice. Why do you think so many people want to come live here?

You should take note that I do NOT live in fear. People who are prepared have no reason to be afraid.

... and Jacqui, if you ever drive down MY dirt road (which you are always welcome to...) you will get a nice full wave, with all four fingers and a thumb from each neighbor you pass along the way. 

P.S. We ALL still want a pic.


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## Vishnu2 (Aug 22, 2012)

Jacqui, I don't want a picture. AnthonyC already provided me with better.


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## Jacqui (Aug 22, 2012)

Tom said:


> Well, the hills do get brown here in the summer, that much is true. The places you describe are Oakland, San Francisco and L.A. (where I grew up and learned about the NEED for self-defence) Those places are disgusting cess pools of human depravity. I avoid them whenever possible. But those places are tiny specks on the map compared to the enormity of CA. So sad that you would judge a whole state by the few major cities on the main interstates that you travelled. Those places might as well be on another continent from where I live. Did ya spend any time at Bass Lake, Big Bear, Malibu Canyon State Park, Shasta, Manhattan or Hermosa Beach, Mammoth, or here in Santa Clarita...?
> 
> Every state has their good and bad places. I recall all the upstate New Yorkers lamenting about how New York is a beautiful state and most of it is NOT like the NY city we always see on TV. I'm sure Nebraska has its good and bad areas too. It did when I was there a few years ago. I just want you and everyone reading to know that yes, some of CA is nasty, but MOST of it is very nice. Why do you think so many people want to come live here?
> 
> ...



Sweetie, a lot of my travels in CA were the smaller areas, the places where the crops grow. I did not like the big cities and made Jeff do the driving there.  (Don't get me started on NYC and yes, I do love love most of NY state). I have to agree some of the mountain areas in CA were beautiful and I would have liked to have stopped and visited, but I was not allowed to... by CA and it's people. I did park along the ocean, but once more the nice places I was not allowed to go to. CA is a great place to visit and Yvonne for one does live there, but to live, really live, for that there is no place like Nebraska.

I did years back (12 yrs perhaps) go out to CA for a tortoise symposium. I had fun there, I freely admit just driving around seeing LA and surrounding area and down to San Diego. I did as much off the main roads as possible. Like I said, a nice place to visit, but not for living.





Vishnu2 said:


> Jacqui, I don't want a picture. AnthonyC already provided me with better.



I thought Ant was before your time? Plus I never showed him a picture of me.


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## Vishnu2 (Aug 22, 2012)

The famous video of you and your Dentist visit.  There is a reason for archives.


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## Jacqui (Aug 22, 2012)

Vishnu2 said:


> I am truly jealous, I would give one of my canine teeth to meet Jacqui. Lol. Oh well, maybe in this lifetime.



Keep your teeth.  I may someday, hop a ride in the semi, if it is going to CO before coming home (and my work is done here, animals where they need little care, and somebody is available to do some care). I have been very lucky. I have gotten to meet Mark, Yvonne, RedfootNERD, Dee from NJ, and seems like I am forgetting somebody (apologies to whomever my mind is blanking on).





Vishnu2 said:


> The famous video of you and your Dentist visit.  There is a reason for archives.



I remember something along those lines. Not really me, but something Ant did as a joke that day.


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## Laurie (Aug 22, 2012)

I've always wanted to go to California. Not the big cities either. I would think its similar to NY or any other place for that matter when it comes to good/bad locations. 


I for one, despise NYC, others like it, to each his own. While my area isn't farmland, that setting is more my style. It's a nice town for now, but I would eventually like to move.


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## dmmj (Aug 22, 2012)

Not to go to OT, but I live in La Verne CA, nice little town.


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## Jacqui (Aug 22, 2012)

Vishnu2 said:


> The famous video of you and your Dentist visit.  There is a reason for archives.



Just looked and the video is gone. 
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/Thread...e-Dentist?highlight=dentist#axzz24JJ41nIY[hr]


Laurie said:


> I for one, despise NYC, others like it, to each his own. While my area isn't farmland, that setting is more my style. It's a nice town for now, but I would eventually like to move.



Are you in one of the mountainy areas? 





dmmj said:


> Not to go to OT, but I live in La Verne CA, nice little town.



That's near Ontario, right?


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## Itort (Aug 22, 2012)

I do enjoy living in a city with two active eagle nests (saw one of the young eagles sailing past today), pelicans feasting undisturbed, deer in my backyard, and quiet nights.


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## Jacqui (Aug 22, 2012)

wellington said:


> Well, now all the crooks know where to go. LOL Is that one of those places, that when a stranger comes into town, they are stared at, and made to feel totally unwelcome. Where, everyone knows your name and business? Sounds nice LOL



Nopers, we make them feel welcome and treat them nice, but we do keep an eye out for each other.





futureleopardtortoise said:


> You been to Omaha lately?



Yep, Sunday! lol





Itort said:


> I do enjoy living in a city with two active eagle nests (saw one of the young eagles sailing past today), pelicans feasting undisturbed, deer in my backyard, and quiet nights.



Are you getting both adult pelicans and youngsters? I have not saw our normal groups. I wonder if this drought has caused them not to come this far.


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## CourtneyAndCarl (Aug 22, 2012)

I hate big cities. I don't even like going into Omaha. Walking around in St. Louis or Denver makes me cringe. I have never been to Chicago or New York City but I can almost guarantee that I wouldn't like them either. Guess I've been spoiled with my "small town living in a medium sized town" lifestyle here in Bellevue.


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