Jeeves

Last month I dropped TV from my Xfinity package, saving more than $100/month. I decided to do that after I got home from a 4 week trip, turned on the TV, scrolled through the entire cable onscreen guide - and didn't really find anything I wanted to watch. Yikes. (I kept internet and a cheap home phone deal; their internet has been great.) I have great reception here for over the air channels, so I refreshed those channels on my TV. And I found that Oxygen is available over the air here, so I can get true crime shows OTA on that channel as well as True Crime Network which we've had OTA here for quite awhile. Just thought I'd mention that. Oxygen channel finder, to see if it's OTA near you: https://www.oxygen.com/channel-finder True Crime Network: https://www.truecrimenetworktv.com/ Interesting that the logos for those channels look very similar. I assume they're part of the same corporate conglomerate. For now, to get some cable channels, I'm subscribed to Philo. It's only $25 a month, no contract. It's by no means a substitute for a full fancy cable TV package, but it has some channels I actually watch. Including ID, Crime & Investigation, and several non true-crime networks. Yes, I do watch some of those too. 🤣 When it originally aired on ID, I just wasn't in the right head space to watch Let Us Prey. I recently watched it, I think on Max. I'm glad I watched it, and that I waited until I was in the right frame of mind. It was a lot to process, and I thought it was well-produced. I don't think I'm quite ready for Quiet on the Set. Not at the moment.

I remember when they bought the barndo, I looked at the listing photos. At that time the area that was finished as living quarters, IIRC consisted of the kitchen and living/dining room area, plus one bedroom and a bathroom. Then there was a large finished area which looked like it could have been an office area and also big enough to park a car or two in as a showroom. (I have a vague memory that the prior owners did some kind of car restoration business there.) Then attached to the "showroom/office" was the large barn or garage type commercial building area. IIRC the roof on that part was a lot higher than on the other areas of the building. It's possible that the office/showroom area may have been as well insulated as the finished living quarters, but if it wasn't? I doubt that the Rods added any insulation when they turned it into living space. Didn't they carve out the boys' and girls' bedrooms and a bathroom from that space? And as to the big barn or garage-like part of the structure, I'd be surprised if it was very well insulated to start with. I don't have a clear idea how much of that big space they turned into living quarters. If they're heating and cooling that much space without good insulation it's no wonder their utility bills are high. And as has been suggested, it's possible that big bill covers more than just one month.

Too late, alas. ☹️

This isn't a current situation by any means. It happened about 10 years ago, but it's such a "horrible boss" story that it's burned into my memory. Which TBH has plenty of holes where it should have stored important stuff, but that's another subject. So, back then I was a few years retired from my so-called career and from full time permanent jobs. But I was not old and creaky, and did various temporary and/or part time work, both for the income and TBH to get out of the house and have something to do. I'd wanted to get away from my profession, just to try something totally different. And through some neighbors I connected with a local office of a national temp agency. For them, we worked as on-site staff for conventions. Usually in our convention center, sometimes in hotels. I did that for a few years. The pay was minimum wage or sometimes a little better (at least our local minimum wage is higher than the federal rate), the hours could be challenging, and some of the jobs could be IMO physically challenging (there were 'security' jobs where you stood on your feet the whole shift, checking badges for admission to expo areas, etc.). But it could be interesting at the check-in desks where I usually worked, and I didn't do the security jobs (for one thing you needed to get a City license for that which cost $100). Many of my co-workers were also retirees. For some of them, I could tell, the pay was more important/necessary, than for others. In December one year, the company announced there would be a special holiday meeting one morning at their downtown office. I went. They served us cheap refreshments straight out of the Safeway packages. The head of our City's tourism office was there, who was at least entertaining and interesting, and brought us some goodies like comp tickets to a museum, while exhorting us to take every opportunity while working, to talk up our fabulous city to the conference attendees. Sure, Jan. The next year, when December rolled around, I was working a full time temporary office job for that agency, not doing conventions. I got a mass email from the company to employees who did the convention jobs, about a MANDATORY "holiday party" and meeting on a weekday at their downtown office. And it would be: POT LUCK. Seriously, these employees, who were mainly retirement age and working temp jobs at minimum wage, were instructed to RSVP and to state what food they were bringing to the "party." So the company was telling them to pay either transit fare or downtown M-F daytime parking rates, to attend a MANDATORY event which would be UNPAID and to which they were REQUIRED TO BRING FOOD. I was appalled. I immediately replied, sorry, I'm working at X company for you that day and can't attend. But I continued to think about it and what I could or should say or do, if anything. Apparently somebody brought the company up short. Two days later I got another mass email from the company. They were SO sorry for any misunderstandings about the holiday "party." They had only intended for everyone to get together for a good time. Of course nobody would be required to bring food, and yada yada. I can't remember if they also dropped the "mandatory" part. Because AFAIK under labor laws, if you require an employee to attend a meeting, they should be paid for that. I eventually quit doing anything for that agency. Went back into the field I'd worked in for decades (better money, for one thing), for temp and project work. But I still remember some of the really nice people I worked with on those convention jobs, and as you can see I still can get steamed up at the agency's arrogance and greed over that mandatory potluck. If you read this whole novella, thanks for sticking around. Hope this rant isn't off topic, but it's good to vent sometimes.

Today I cancelled Acorn TV, effective at the end of my billing period in about two weeks. With Acorn TV, I have been through a few cycles of subscribe, then unsubscribe, rinse and repeat, over the years. I've enjoyed some of their shows. I'm not saying it's all bad or anything. But this time around - I've been subscribed for a few months - I'm just not finding anything special that I haven't already seen. I'm keeping my subscription to Britbox. It has plenty of content that I want to watch. For example, I watched, and liked, Wagatha on Britbox this week. It's the dramatization of a real trial. I probably live under a rock - but I'd been unaware of the libel trial pitting two UK footballer's wives against each other over social media and tabloid shenanigans. So this was all new material to me. Wow, what a life some people lead.

If they can recoup the cost of getting the van to FL (and perhaps also the trip back to OH), that would probably be worth it for them. That way they have the use of the van to run around in while they're in FL and the RV is parked. I'm just speculating of course. I think they used to have a car they towed behind the RV; not sure if they still do that. The van holds two or three times as many passengers as a car would. Edited to add: The RV has famously broken down once or twice in the last year or so. They may want to have the van along as backup. And who knows if David has decided that towing a car would put too much strain on the old RV? As I said, just speculating.

I doubt anyone other than the Rods knows what their tax returns look like. Of course they'll drive the tracts to FL and collect the "shipping" to defray part or all of their trip expenses. That's better for them than just shipping via UPS or some other company with the church paying that cost. I'm assuming that the churches will be eyeballing the "shipping" costs and not paying the Rods more than they'd have paid for UPS or other shipping. But again, who knows?

Oh gosh. I've been reading here. So many serious health conditions are going on that I've hesitated to ask my question. But I've decided that it may provide some comic relief. Or something. For a minute. My question is about: donut pillows and bruised tailbones. See? Kinda funny already. Two days ago I slipped on a bit of black ice on a sidewalk. I landed hard on my well-padded (okay, fat) rear end. Fortunately I had no injuries except a sore tailbone. I don't think it's broken. I'm able to walk and move around. It's not debilitating pain or anything. But it's definitely painful. It seems that a bruised tailbone should heal in a few weeks. I've read recommendations that using a donut pillow to sit on will be more comfortable and not trigger as much pain. Before I buy one, I thought I'd see if anyone here has experience or insight about that. I don't want to waste money by buying one if it won't make much of a difference. I'm old and of course my injuries heal more slowly now than they did a few decades ago. I'm happy that I wasn't hurt worse and was able to get up off the sidewalk without assistance. Thanks for any info you can provide.

I thought that under their contract with the missions clearinghouse (from which they receive financial support), they agreed to provide tracts at cost + shipping, no profit, to the churches in that affiliation. I don't know if they also committed to not pursuing any for-profit printing jobs for customers other than those churches. I suppose if the clearinghouse is providing them with financial support, they would be expected to devote their time and energy to their mission: David as a traveling preacher, plus his talented spouse and kids coming along to provide the music and some uplifting talks for the ladies (wimmin can't preach but they can talk to ladies' groups). OTOH I don't think it's unusual for preachers and pastors in the IFB world to have jobs or businesses to help support their families, to supplement the funds they receive from their churches, missionary organizations, etc. I thought it was interesting that on their way to their big Plexus vacay, they delivered a bunch of boxes of tracts to a church in FL. Jill posted a photo of the boxes loaded into what I think was their van. I assume they calculated their "shipping" costs for those boxes as the gas for the van plus their expenses for the trip (food, etc.). Pretty clever. If they had just shipped the stuff via the USPS, UPS, or another shipping company, they wouldn't have gotten to FL on someone else's dime (in whole or in part). I don't know if their contract with the clearinghouse defines what the "cost" of production means. Is it only paper + ink, or is there an allowance for overhead? So many questions. One being: if it's okay for Jill to pursue her (allegedly) fabulous and worthwhile Plexus "business," then why wouldn't it be okay for David to pursue some for-profit printing jobs? Hmm . .

Thanks for this. Especially the bolded parts. That helps me understand my mixed reaction to Delana as I watched her episode. We were hearing what I think of as the usual "addiction talking" from her - the crazy sh*t about how she was just eating salads and yogurt and chicken. Which ordinarily cues me to start seriously snarking - and of course I didn't believe her (nor did Dr. Now). But yeah, I just couldn't write her off somehow. As you've pointed out, she didn't seem as sunk into herself as many of the others featured in the series. She showed a level of civility and courtesy. I'm glad she turned it around sometime during the few months before her surgery. I hope her life continues to improve. But I think she needs some therapy, and I hope she gets it.

Good for you for not ignoring the TPS light. I'm also not good at airing up the tires on my car. Thank goodness the local tire store will do it for me.

I just saw a t-shirt that says "I do not spout profanities. I enunciate them clearly. Like a lady." I'm so tempted. . . Well said!!

Good night, friends! I've enjoyed our chat.

Gosh. The woman can shoot pool. Good for her.

TBH indoor activities make more sense to me in Houston than outdoor things. I lived there for years. It's hot and humid outdoors. I hated that.

Well, that's a bit better than the 7 minutes I thought it might be.

Yep. I was surprised to see how she walked into the clinic for her weigh in.

WHOA! She lost 73 pound. Took her 8 months or so. But at least she did it.

Is this going to be yet another episode where Dr. Now does the surgery in the last 7 or so minutes of the show? Ugh.

I believe that Dr. Now's diet plan specifies low-carb high-protein foods. That would not include big old sammiches. https://www.forbes.com/health/nutrition/diet/dr-now-diet-review/#:~:text=The Dr. Now Diet is,to Dr. Now diet literature.

Her bro is gonna drive the truck. And her daugher's coming along. Bringing the granddaughter Delana's never met. Ooh. Add family dynamics. And stir the pot. . .

I forget. Did anyone create the M600PL bingo card? Because that should be one of the squares.

This afternoon I may have been ambushed by a few cookies . . . Just saying.

Already with the resistance, the "I gotta do things my way!" Dr. Now: I"m giving you a diet sheet. Delana: But, I have an APP. Sigh.

Yogurt! In the little cups! Salad for lunch! Unsweet tea. Chicken and pork for dinner. Dr. No: "That's too good to be true. You have pretty much the highest BMI I've ever seen." I ❤️ him.