Yeah No

I forgot to add that my husband had to work 11 hour days without lunch for decades with no extra pay. It was just what was expected in his position (service writer and later assistant manager) in car dealership service departments. Talk about lack of work/life balance! When he was laid off with most of his department during the 2008 recession they hired young people to do the job but paid them less and didn't expect them to know anything about cars. And they weren't expected to work 11 hour days either. When he worked it out by the hour he was actually paid less than they were. He is still shocked by how little the service people know about cars anymore.

I feel bad for the "kids nowadays" but it wasn't that different for the average worker when I worked either, which ended about 9 years ago. We older people just didn't used to complain about it as much. We accepted it as part of our lot in life or just a fact of life like death and taxes. If anything, bosses and companies were more likely to crack the whip and be stingy with raises and benefits in some fields, especially with women. Maybe if you had a union it was a little better, but most people haven't had the benefit of those for a long time now. It's been a long, long time since things were that much easier, and when they were, they definitely weren't easier for women in general. In many of my jobs I was expected to work frequent overtime and if I had personal issues that made that difficult, too bad. The only women that were given any slack at all with that were mothers and I wasn't one. And even then it wasn't much. Also pensions have been going away for a long time and decent retirement and health benefits too. My husband never got any retirement benefits and actually had to rely on coverage through my health insurance because he never got much as an automotive service writer/manager. If they offered anything the premiums were sky high. This issue is one I'd say is getting a lot of attention because the young people today have higher expectations, but it's really nothing all that new. Also, and this is something I noticed in my last few years on the job is that the younger employees (mostly Millennials) were given more perks and advantages than the older ones. They were seen as more desirable by management so they were catered to in terms of being given preferential treatment for promotions and raises, even when older employees were more deserving. And being the exec. assistant in my department I saw everything that was going on and this effect was striking to me. We older workers knew that management would love to get rid of us and in my company's case they found "creative" ways to do that. In my case they terminated me after I fell in their parking lot thanks to their negligence after construction was done. I was on workers' comp. but they didn't care, they just decided to terminate me with no justification, which in my state is OK. They just didn't factor in that it's against the law to terminate someone collecting workers' comp. so I won a lawsuit against them for that. And I knew many other older, valuable employees that were also terminated for no reason. And this was a big Fortune 500 product company, too. A household name. And they got away with it. My law firm told me it would be very difficult to prove what they were doing even though there was a LOT of evidence. Anyway, my point is it's not just young people that have something to bitch about in the working world.

How about after the war? I think the period after WWII straight through the 1950s was one of the most talked about eras of unity in the US thanks to an economic boom and the unity still felt after fighting a common enemy. That period lasted for more or less a decade. It's one reason why they named a show "Happy Days", LOL. I was born in the late '50s so I don't remember much of that decade but I do remember enough about it to know how things were, and learned more thanks to my parents who were both WWII vets and talked about such things a lot. My political friend is insistent that things will turn blue in 2 years. So I'm going with that! Oh for sure, but he's the profane instrument that God is using to bring good out of, remember? They've deliberately twisted things in their minds to forgive his profane ways.

Are wars considered tragedies? Because if allowed I'd say during WWII after Pearl Harbor before the death of FDR. Actually right after WWII might qualify too.

That's similar to the way my mother and I almost bumped right into her in NYC in the '70s, although it wasn't after a protest. We gushed like fangirls about how much she inspired us and how we subscribed to Ms. Magazine, so we weren't much better, lol. And my mother was rarely at a loss for words, either. Thank you SO much, your entire post resonates with me as I have been in that position myself, quibbling over minor things and being made to feel like I might as well be a Trump supporter. Only it was right here on this board, LOL. But that was months ago now. Since then I am feeling much better heard and understood. My very political friend has been chanting just this for months now and I believe him (and you). Exactly. Again, been there over similar stuff, have the T shirt. As one who has felt "knifed" in a discussion about something minor, I wholeheartedly agree!

It's 13 degrees Fahrenheit here right now. With wind chills it's 9. By morning it should be near zero. We had 8 inches of snow last night. It won't get up to freezing here until Sunday too. At least the high pressure is keeping the storm to our South away from us.

Trump says he wants to be a "peacemaker and unifier". Who is he kidding? Who's writing this stuff? And he's still vowing to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the "Gulf of America". 🙄

Joe looks really troubled. He looks like I feel. "We will make MLK's dream come true". Is Trump kidding us? What a joke and not a funny one, although Joe cracked a smile when Trump claimed he's making a "restoration of common sense".

I may have forgotten - Are you taking thyroid hormone? I am not, not yet anyway, and I worry about being able to tolerate it. I'm reading that being on it helps with the weight management. Yep, I learned all about "particle spray" thanks to the pandemic and those shocking videos posted, which isn't exactly making me rush to a gym any time soon. I will look into Orange Theory, though.

Same here, I was just thinking the same thing. I must be a glutton for punishment, I have the TV on.....

Thank you that means a lot to me, especially coming from you.

While I admit that the definition of "woke" is not negative, I have been at the receiving end of similar people using it in a negative way, more like a weapon to invalidate my opinion and experience. In other words, to make me feel like I'm not entitled to my feelings or opinions because they're invalid while theirs are. And they won't even hear me out either. To them I'm no entitled to an opinion. I am wrong, period, the end, so I should just shut up and accept being wrong and furthermore I should bow and scrape and apologize for it too. And the reason I'm seen as not being entitled to feelings or an opinion is based on something about myself that I can't change, like my race. So that's why I have a problem with wokeness as practiced by some people. For them it's definitely not about acceptance of anyone but them and no one else. Submit to their feelings and accept them, but even if you do they will still treat you with hate anyway. And believe me I wish that wasn't the case! I don't stand for anyone hating anyone for any reason. Liberals often refuse to see this phenomenon and put down people who complain about it. I am sorry but I am for people understanding each other and being tolerant of each other, and this is NOT it!

Thank you so much, I'll have to look into that! I'll have to see if Medicare and my supplemental will cover that place. We have two close by.

As you know, I feel your pain over this. My friend's kids are in your age bracket and feel the same way. They're also tired of being expected to pull up the slack of their coworkers that are like the ones you describe above and not get paid any more either. This is definitely more of a problem now than it was when I was younger but people like that have always existed and people like us have always been the ones to work all the harder because of it. I know that's no consolation, though! Years ago there were more people that complained about being sooooo busy, meanwhile they were pushing the same papers around their desk all day long to make it look like they were doing more work! Same effect, though! Same here although with me I'm chalking it up to age as it does get more bothersome as I get older. My husband, who never cared about traveling in snow has now admitted that he hates driving in weather anymore. And as a driver that's something new as he was always decidedly the opposite!

I hear you. We got 8 inches of snow last night and woke up to temps. in the single digits. And it's not going up much from there and the wind chills are going to be brutal. Nice view, BTW! So happy to hear that!!

I have that roasting pan. Like you I also use my Breville oven most of the time. We're only two people so it's often enough. And I love the way stuff comes out in it. I can't believe I've had that oven over a decade now and it still works so well. I made lasagna using cottage cheese once. I didn't like it but being Italian American and growing up on grandma's lasagna I should have known that would happen. Something about the consistency wasn't right. I often grimace at some of the things ATK suggests changing in traditional Italian American dishes. I think they think they're improving on it but in my opinion they're not. I leave my grandma's cooking alone. There's a reason it was so freaking good. Some of the stuff ATK has suggested doing with meatballs like putting oatmeal in them are an abomination as far as I'm concerned. And I'm not a stickler for tradition just for tradition's sake either. But I guess most of them didn't grow up with my Sicilian grandma's cooking. She could have taught them a thing or ten.

I've had that happen. I haven't done 10,000 steps in a day since the Summer. I did tons of walking this past Summer and my body barked at me after a while. I gave myself bunions and toe bursitis even wearing well fitting, comfortable Skechers. And I still gained a few pounds on the two cruises I went on despite that. How you can gain 4 lbs. in a week despite doing 16,000 steps a day and watching what you eat is beyond me. It's this damned Hashimoto's, I'm sure. I see the thyroid doctor again in early Feb. In the Winters I'm lucky to get above 5,000 steps a day. Interestingly my weight is holding, probably because I eat like a bird. But I can't lose those 7 or so pounds I gained. I think I lost one but the rest aren't going anywhere. I wish I felt good about joining a gym, but I had to quit going to them over a decade ago because I kept catching colds. And that was despite sanitizing everything like a lunatic.

That's too bad. When you have it serviced again ask them to do an analysis of how efficient the distribution of heat is. I've had that done, that's how we found out about needing a second zone for the bedroom. I'll bet it gets a bad report card, although there's probably not much you can do about it. They may have some useful advice for you anyway. It's usually a free service. Ouch, that says a lot. I just read recently that rooms adjacent to unheated rooms are colder. It would be especially bad if they're over the unheated rooms because part of the benefit of rooms upstairs is that they normally get the heat that rises from below. Our bedroom is farthest away from the furnace and it's got 3 sides exposed to the outside. One wall partially juts out from the back of the house. So that's why that room is the coolest in the house in Winter. It's also the warmest in the Summer, but it actually benefits from a lot of shade from trees in the back yard so that helps.

I've noticed that a lot of products are being discontinued or reformulated more rapidly lately and it's driving me crazy. They keep messing with products trying to find ones that sell better but in my opinion they're only alienating customers. I didn't know Aveeno made a soap for eczema. Good to know, thanks. I like the Dove bar soap for sensitive skin. It's fragrance free and very gentle. I use La Roche Posay Toleraine Hydrating Gentle Cleanser on my face. Not to be a nudge or anything but I found a few "vintage" Ivory soap bars for sale on Ebay Canada. Unfortunately, though, most of them are from the U.S. and the shipping can be high. But some are still reasonable.: https://www.ebay.ca/sch/i.html?_nkw=vintage+ivory+soap&_sacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p4432023.m570.l1313

Speaking of sad, I can't get over Victor Willis claiming that the song and the band never had anything to do with celebrating gay culture in Greenwich Village in the '70s. That's because he's made so much money since Trump started using the song so now he says what Trump wants him to say. It's a real slap in the face to the gay community and a rewriting of history. As someone that witnessed that gay culture in the Village in the 1970s, I know that it's like denying that the sun came up this morning. Does he think no one is still alive that would know better? And then he's threatening to sue anyone that says otherwise too! Unbelievable! It's really just a cover band now with one original member capitalizing on the original band anyway. And still sad.

Oh that's probably like I would wear if I were a mom. I used to love it when Stacy and Clinton on "What not to Wear" would take a tired, hardworking mom and make her over to look fantastic. I have always liked fashion although now I pretty much stick to stuff that's practical and comfortable. Nothing too "fashionista" for me anymore, but I usually look put together. My mother and all the women in her family were seamstresses and my father's father's family were tailors. So I guess it runs on both sides of my family.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DEdN6z4PRrK/?hl=en

I agree and it's a shame, although I wasn't so wild about Brandon anyway. I do think he deserved to stay over some of the others, though. My husband isn't exactly ignorant about current comedians and the only one on this episode that he knew of was Judy Gold because she's been around forever. I agree with the others that the challenge to teach them was dumb and irrelevant but I guess that's entertainment. At this point I'm pulling for either Egypt or Hannah. Whit and Kyle are long past due to get off my screen. Kyle is smug and obnoxious and Whit is showing a bit of an attitude that doesn't go well with leading a kitchen.

Yup I'm fully versed in all the ways petite sizes differ from regular sizes. It used to be more consistent but now forget it. It depends on the brand and the cut of the style as to which fit me better. That's why I have to try on petite regular, petite short and regular short. Everything is so inconsistent these days that I have to in order to find something that fits. Petite short is even shorter than Petite regular length. It's often too short for me. Regular short is supposed to be longer than petite regular, and that's supposed to be longer than petite short but it doesn't always work out that way these days. I was dealing with pants that were inconsistent lengths even in the same size/length combination so I couldn't even count on that. Like you, I'm one of those that also doesn't look as short as I am in photos. Part of the reason for that is wearing clothing that fits. When you wear things designed for taller people it makes you look smaller. I hated having my mother alter things when I was young before petite sizes existed. They didn't come on the scene until the mid to late '80s if you can believe that. And altering regular sized clothing doesn't take into account the shorter rise of a petite and other proportions like shoulder width and pocket placement, so just taking up a hem or a sleeve often doesn't look right. Everything has to be scaled down for a petite. My additional challenge now is that clothing is not made for older people. Most older people have bigger midsections so the waists aren't roomy enough. That's why elastic waistbands are associated with older people, LOL. So that makes buying traditionally styled jeans challenging for me. The bigger the waist the more everything else gets bigger, but older people don't need wider and longer legs in addition to a roomier waist. They just need the roomier waist. My favorite jeans are "jeggings" that have that hidden stretch waistband, but they are not as in vogue as they were for several years now and I want to be able to wear traditional jeans with belt loops so I can wear blouses tucked in with belts like they're doing again now.

I spoke on the phone with a friend today that I haven't spoken with in a while. We got on the topic of politics and he spent the next hour or more downloading on me all his frustrations and disgust with Trump and the Republicans while I sympathized and agreed with pretty much all of it. Most of it was stuff we've talked about many times here. He impressed me with his knowledge and awareness of the situation and thanked me for letting him go on about it because he lives in a little red patch in the middle of blue about 25 minutes away from here and doesn't know too many people he can talk to about this stuff without getting into an argument. So he's got a lot pent up inside of him. I told him about this thread and how therapeutic it's been for me, but he's not an online guy so I doubt he'll join any time soon. But I think we'll probably talk more often about it in the future. Anyway it made me really appreciate this place. I don't know what I'd do without all of you. My "stressed sideliner" husband often agrees with me but he is so disgusted with politics in general that he doesn't like to talk about it anymore. And my BFF who voted for Trump and then regretted it is also someone I can't talk about everything with either. Right now there are 3 people I can talk to in my "real life" about this stuff - the friend I talked to today, my lawyer friend and my sister in law. But I don't talk to them every day so this place has been a real godsend. Thank you everyone!