Chit-Chat: What's On Your Mind Today?

[athousandclowns]

It was so nice today at one point it was 77 here in CA , it lifts my mood tons.  My condo community has had several of our cluster mailboxes opened and emptied with master keys 6-7 times in the last 6 months

Then 2 weeks ago I was sick for couple days and had an RX  taken and a package from Jockey.  Lucky thief got heart medication and black briefs, very sexy.  I changed the RX mail order address to my sons house and of course they sent it signature required so had to get the slip and then to the post office to pick it up.    I went to to pull my license for ID out of my phone and it’s not there.   My son finished my taxes yesterday and took a picture of my license and I didn’t put it back.  The song and dance I did for the postal employee convinced him to hand over my medication.   If this the procedure I’ll switch my address back since I don’t have to sign for them here obviously.    I had a package stolen off my porch 3-4 weeks ago so now my subscriptions from Amazon are going to my sons too.  My HOA is $655 a month but unfortunately cluster mailboxes are the post office responsibility and we only have part time security ( who I’ve never seen) with no phone number to call.  I feel very vulnerable being a older woman living alone. I wouldn’t go to a movie at the shopping center at night and I wrap up grocery shopping before dark too.   Age+ increased crime 

The earthquake discussion reminds me how my late husband from PA would get pale during a quake where I hate storms and lightning.  I was at work in a tiny bathroom that had a couple of empty medal revolving greeting card holders in that 89 quake. Pitch black with metal racks falling on me and I’m thinking so this is how I’m going to die with my pantyhose around my ankles?  I NEVER went to the bathroom at work so my fellow employees thought I must be locked in the walk in refrigerator that had big medal electric sliding doors has been a bank previously . ( floral designer ) 

 

[shapeshifter]

8 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

10 hours ago, kristen111 said:

Kidding.  Of course no guns.

I don't get it.  You originally said (it's been since edited out, but someone else quoted it), "No worries, as the relatives are packing legally, lol.  We feel safe."  Why would a relative packing a lunch make you feel safe?

I’m guessing it was a play-on-words joke that just didn’t work?

The “feel safe” could mean it’s funny that the only “packing” that makes them feel safe is “the legal kind” — meaning sandwiches etc.
But since carrying guns has (I guess?) become legal, the joke is a stretch.

Personally, I do feel safer packing my own lunch, but that still didn’t lead me to that interpretation.

Maybe it would have worked as a joke if 20-something Jerry Seinfeld delivered it on stage in the 90s?

[Yeah No]

9 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I’m guessing it was a play-on-words joke that just didn’t work?

The “feel safe” could mean it’s funny that the only “packing” that makes them feel safe is “the legal kind” — meaning sandwiches etc.
But since carrying guns has (I guess?) become legal, the joke is a stretch.

Personally, I do feel safer packing my own lunch, but that still didn’t lead me to that interpretation.

Maybe it would have worked as a joke if 20-something Jerry Seinfeld delivered it on stage in the 90s?

That was exactly my thought too.  Perhaps it was an incomplete attempt at double entendre that didn't quite explain itself?

Yesterday while driving home my husband, said, "Look at that camper the police pulled over".  I looked to my right and saw a camper on the highway shoulder with a police car behind it.

I said, "That is NOT a happy camper"!!

Badum-bum!

I'll see myself out......😉

[Anela]

On 4/9/2024 at 10:19 AM, AgathaC said:

I live in the path of totality and we just had a few wispy clouds — perfect viewing weather. I didn’t get a filter for my phone, so no eclipse pix (I was too focused on taking it all in). But I did get some cool shots of the odd shadows/light crescents on the ground as we neared totality. My area has been going nuts about this for quite a while — partly because we’re usually not a destination for out-of-staters, so the prospect of all those visitors was exciting.

Apparently, we’re in the path of totality for another one in 2045. That’s unusual to have two so close together.

I watched it from my garden. I hadn’t slept in at least two days, but caffeine helped a bit.  I didn’t take pictures, either, and I didn’t know that I could look directly at it, when it was at totality.  So, I looked at a livestream in Cleveland (NASA), and then wondered why people were being told to put their glasses back on now, as it ended.  I did hold my phone and take video of my garden, as I wore my glasses.  

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Anela said:

I watched it from my garden. I hadn’t slept in at least two days, but caffeine helped a bit.  I didn’t take pictures, either, and I didn’t know that I could look directly at it, when it was at totality.  So, I looked at a livestream in Cleveland (NASA), and then wondered why people were being told to put their glasses back on now, as it ended.  I did hold my phone and take video of my garden, as I wore my glasses.  

I'm sorry you're not sleeping. That is such a hardship, my DIL suffers from insomnia and it makes life harder than it should be.

[StatisticalOutlier]

7 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I’m guessing it was a play-on-words joke that just didn’t work?

The comment was that they feel safe going into NYC because "the relatives are packing legally," and just a few posts before that they had mentioned having relatives in law enforcement, and law enforcement officers are allowed to legally carry guns when off duty.  Sure doesn't sound like packing lunch to me (plus they even said they were going to have lunch in the Village before going to the museum--why would packing your own lunch when having lunch at a restaurant make anybody feel safe?). 

But, you know...whatever.  But then the post was edited to take out the part about feeling safe because they were packing.  It's not the crime, it's the cover-up.  🤣

 

 

[Yeah No]

51 minutes ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

The comment was that they feel safe going into NYC because "the relatives are packing legally," and just a few posts before that they had mentioned having relatives in law enforcement, and law enforcement officers are allowed to legally carry guns when off duty.  Sure doesn't sound like packing lunch to me (plus they even said they were going to have lunch in the Village before going to the museum--why would packing your own lunch when having lunch at a restaurant make anybody feel safe?). 

But, you know...whatever.  But then the post was edited to take out the part about feeling safe because they were packing.  It's not the crime, it's the cover-up.  🤣

I didn't see the part about the relatives in law enforcement.  If I did I would have seen that as answering the question and would have just assumed the reference was removed and the other comments were made because the writer didn't want to be interrogated about it.  Because you know, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

 

[ECM1231]

I need to stock up on US postage stamps. I just read that there will be a proposed increase to $0.73 for a first-class stamp, which is outrageous considering how bad service has gotten in the last few years. 

[chitowngirl]

20 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

I need to stock up on US postage stamps. I just read that there will be a proposed increase to $0.73 for a first-class stamp, which is outrageous considering how bad service has gotten in the last few years. 

The price just went up in January! I think that by implementing Forever stamps, people just don’t know what the cost of a stamp actually is. They buy a sheet or roll when they need it, tap the credit card, and off they go. And that sheet or roll can last a long time if you don’t mail out bills. I know I have most of my bills on Autopay.

[shapeshifter]

7 minutes ago, ECM1231 said:

I need to stock up on US postage stamps. I just read that there will be a proposed increase to $0.73 for a first-class stamp, which is outrageous considering how bad service has gotten in the last few years. 

Yikes! Thanks for the heads up.

See more about it:
https://about.usps.com/newsroom/national-releases/2024/0409-usps-recommends-new-prices-for-july-2024.htm

3 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

I think that by implementing Forever stamps, people just don’t know what the cost of a stamp actually is. They buy a sheet or roll when they need it, tap the credit card, and off they go.

That's me!

I hadn't bought any since they were 57¢ for a letter in 2022.
I usually wait until something strikes my fancy, like these even older John Lennon stamps: about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2018/pr18_069.htm
I still have 2.

I guess when my bf was drafted into the Army for 2 years during the Vietnam War, and I mailed about 600 letters, it cost about $36 over 2 years.
about.usps.com/who-we-are/postal-history/domestic-letter-rates-since-1863.pdf
This would be $306 today. usinflationcalculator.com
Never mind the price of scented stationary and sealing wax with wax stamps:
pinterest.com/pin/815573814413193303/

[Bastet]

I'm with Kathleen Madigan on this one.

 

[kristen111]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

I didn't see the part about the relatives in law enforcement.  If I did I would have seen that as answering the question and would have just assumed the reference was removed and the other comments were made because the writer didn't want to be interrogated about it.  Because you know, nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

 

Thank you @YeahNo.  You always were a Smart Cookie.  ❤️

[peacheslatour]

This seems to be the state of affairs these days.

 

[ECM1231]

Yeah, that Kathleen Madigan bit was funny, but good luck getting any 1st class letter to anywhere in 2 days, let alone Alaska. I finally started paying bills online b/c I was getting late fees b/c my checks were arriving late, even allowing at least a week to get there. I'm talking about bills that were supposed to arrive in Philly from the metro NY/Long Island area. That's about a 2.5-hour drive from here. No excuses for such poor service. Fortunately, most of the times I got the late charges dropped b/c of my previously stellar record of paying my bills on time. The department store, however, would not drop the interest charge accrued for being late. I always pay the balance in full and never had to pay interest.  I got a parking ticket in NYC a decade ago and paid the bill promptly by mail. They never received the check, and I got charged double the 2nd time around. Silly me not to have thought to mail it return receipt requested. Just the other day my Chase bank statement was mangled, and the post office sent it in a huge, at least 8 in x 10 in envelope with a stamped note on the back saying they were sorry. Too many bad experiences lately, so forgive my rant about the increases.

I rarely write checks now but have switched to gel pens b/c there's been a rash of stolen mail from the mailbox in front of one of our post office branches in town. The criminals get a hold of a person's check and are able to bleach or do something to the writing.  It happened to my elderly aunt in another town. Wiped her out of 40K. Fortunately, my cousin, who has power of attorney, was able to recoup the monies, but it wasn't easy. Supposedly, the criminals can't bleach the ink if one uses a gel pen. My town is not a crime ridden area. It's a town of mostly middle and upper middle-class folks, so I wonder if this post office crime is an inside job. 

[Mondrianyone]

Maybe I can get away with this if we're moderating ourselves.

I don't know why the postmaster general still has a job. Other than him I love the post office.

[Browncoat]

If I have to mail a check, I will take it to the post office -- either to one of the big blue boxes outside or inside the building if it's really important.

[ebk57]

1 hour ago, Browncoat said:

If I have to mail a check, I will take it to the post office -- either to one of the big blue boxes outside or inside the building if it's really important.

I'm anything but an alarmist, but if it's easy to go inside with a check to mail, I'd go inside.  Our local outside blue box was vandalized a couple of years ago, so I take important stuff inside.  

If parking is difficult, you'll most likely be okay with the outside box. 

[Browncoat]

13 minutes ago, ebk57 said:

I'm anything but an alarmist, but if it's easy to go inside with a check to mail, I'd go inside.  Our local outside blue box was vandalized a couple of years ago, so I take important stuff inside.  

If parking is difficult, you'll most likely be okay with the outside box. 

I live in the back of beyond.  Parking is never a problem.  I use the blue box if I'm in a time crunch -- I can do a drive-by for that.

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, ECM1231 said:

Yeah, that Kathleen Madigan bit was funny, but good luck getting any 1st class letter to anywhere in 2 days, let alone Alaska. I finally started paying bills online b/c I was getting late fees b/c my checks were arriving late, even allowing at least a week to get there. I'm talking about bills that were supposed to arrive in Philly from the metro NY/Long Island area. That's about a 2.5-hour drive from here. No excuses for such poor service. Fortunately, most of the times I got the late charges dropped b/c of my previously stellar record of paying my bills on time. The department store, however, would not drop the interest charge accrued for being late. I always pay the balance in full and never had to pay interest.  I got a parking ticket in NYC a decade ago and paid the bill promptly by mail. They never received the check, and I got charged double the 2nd time around. Silly me not to have thought to mail it return receipt requested. Just the other day my Chase bank statement was mangled, and the post office sent it in a huge, at least 8 in x 10 in envelope with a stamped note on the back saying they were sorry. Too many bad experiences lately, so forgive my rant about the increases.

I rarely write checks now but have switched to gel pens b/c there's been a rash of stolen mail from the mailbox in front of one of our post office branches in town. The criminals get a hold of a person's check and are able to bleach or do something to the writing.  It happened to my elderly aunt in another town. Wiped her out of 40K. Fortunately, my cousin, who has power of attorney, was able to recoup the monies, but it wasn't easy. Supposedly, the criminals can't bleach the ink if one uses a gel pen. My town is not a crime ridden area. It's a town of mostly middle and upper middle-class folks, so I wonder if this post office crime is an inside job. 

Being an Ebay seller I often have little choice but to deal with the Post Office.  The one in my town of 18,000 people is too small and you're lucky if there's one person at the window.  Meanwhile the line is often out the door.  On top of that everyone that gets to the window seems to spend forever there.  It's one issue after another.  Today I went in and the young man behind the counter was joking that the woman before me was shocked at the price to send a package.  He said she should have told him she wanted the cheapest way to send it.  I told him that most people don't know what the options are because they're like a big secret. I told him I knew about where to find the shipping calculators.  Of course I really wanted to tell him that the P.O. should make this information more easy to find but I didn't because I have to keep a positive relationship with this place even though I often have to bite my tongue to smithereens in the process, LOL.  

My Post Office has the worst reviews on Google ever.  I don't know whether to laugh or cry when reading them.  We had the Postmaster from hell for a long time.  She would yell at people and instigate arguments then tell them if they didn't shut up she would call the police on them.  This went on for YEARS.  I don't know how this woman kept her job all that time.  All the workers there looked miserable and it was a revolving door because she was so toxic.  All you had to do was ask her a simple question and it would escalate into WWIII in 2 minutes with her.  She finally disappeared from there several months ago.  You would think the place would have improved but the problems there are even deeper than that and the service is terrible.

Anyway sometimes when the line is too long and I don't want to wait I go to the P.O. one town over.  That one has a real nightmare woman at the window.  She has a dog with her behind the counter.  The dog is wonderful, but she is horrible.  Don't look at her the wrong way, she'll snap at you for no reason.  I once asked her politely for a receipt and she told me in a snotty tone, "You don't have to ask, it's coming".  Actually I do have to ask but I wasn't going to argue with her and get my head chopped off.  I don't know how these people keep a job.  This is a sleepy little satellite office that doesn't see much work.  So it's pick your poison where I live, LOL. 

I would just leave the packages and go because they are prepaid and pre-labeled but I don't trust the P.O.  One time I did that when the P.O. in my town was busy and they lost the package.  That nasty Postmaster insisted they didn't have it but I told her it hadn't been scanned so that meant it might have gotten lost there.  She refused to help me.  I had to come back when she wasn't there to get someone to look for it.  They knew me and were nice about it and lo and behold the package turned up under a desk.  You can't make this crap up!

My father used to send me a birthday check in the mail every year.  Why he couldn't wait to give it to me in person I don't know because our birthdays were close together and we always saw each other in person to celebrate.  Even that long ago I wasn't writing checks anymore if possible.  Once about ten years ago his check never got to me but it was cashed.  So we realized the check must have been stolen from one of those old fashioned street mailboxes.  We did get the money restored but he had to change his bank account numbers.  Then we read that there had been a rash of mail theft from those local mailboxes.  The P.O. has made them much harder to steal from since then I've heard.  I haven't sent a check in the mail in YEARS.  I can count on the fingers of one hand the times I have had to write a physical check in the past decade.  I haven't trusted the mail in a long time!

[roseha]

I only knew about the limited window for buying Forever  Stamps because there was a post about it on my Instagram feed. Must have been an ad because I don't follow the USPS!  So anyway when I was on their site to schedule a pickup to send some pictures to a family member,  I decided to buy 3 sets of 20 Forever Stamps.  I wonder if/when I will ever use them up!   I rarely ever send checks, I keep a separate small account for people who insist on them.   I don't really want everyone to see checks from my regular account - I had someone misplace a check once and had to get a new account with a new number so I'd rather not go through that again.

That said I do prefer  dealing with the USPS rather than FedEx or UPS when it comes to pickup.  I can schedule a pickup with them when they come to my (doorman) building every day, which is way easier than the hoops the other services put you though.  Since I am having a lot of mobility issues currently that helps a lot.

[shapeshifter]

For anyone with the means and the physical constitution and the desire to see the next total solar eclipse:

Quote

It's August of 2026. Greenland, Iceland, & Spain. If you've got the money, you've definitely got the advanced notice to plan it. I'm already thinking that if I go to that one, I'll either do Reykjavik Iceland, or a cruise liner in the open ocean between Iceland and Greenland.

I wonder if the cruise ship could change course a bit to escape a localized cloud formation?

[Browncoat]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I wonder if the cruise ship could change course a bit to escape a localized cloud formation?

If the ship is small and nimble, they can.  The giant floating cities, probably not.

 

[Quof]

A question for the group - Washing walls, yes or no?   I don't have wood heat or fireplace, and no one smokes in my house.  Any obvious grimy spots get cleaned, of course, but there no kids or others routinely making marks on my walls.   I just feel like the kitchen walls at least should get scrubbed annually.  I did the bathroom walls since it was quick, and it does look noticeably brighter and the water was pretty gross.  But the kitchen will be so much more complicated, taking things off the walls, pulling out the appliances...

I just need someone to say "No, it's fine, leave it" or alternatively "Get off your lazy ass and wash your kitchen walls." 

 

[Mindthinkr]

45 minutes ago, Quof said:

I just need someone to say "No, it's fine, leave it" or alternatively "Get off your lazy ass and wash your kitchen walls." 

I don’t know if you have a backsplash, but I’d clean the area around the stove, and sink where things can spot and not worry too much about the rest. 

[Yeah No]

44 minutes ago, Mindthinkr said:

I don’t know if you have a backsplash, but I’d clean the area around the stove, and sink where things can spot and not worry too much about the rest. 

That's what I do, also the wall behind the step can and the baseboard molding.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, Quof said:

I just need someone to say "No, it's fine, leave it" or alternatively "Get off your lazy ass and wash your kitchen walls." 

Test-wash a small area and see if it looks noticeably better than the area around it.
This should also give you an idea about how much effort it will take.

Maybe: If you have a strong sense of smell, see if you notice any cooking odors on the walls.

Edited April 11 by shapeshifter

[StatisticalOutlier]

18 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I didn't see the part about the relatives in law enforcement.  If I did I would have seen that as answering the question

Except the part about relatives in law enforcement was posted before the question was asked, so it couldn't be answering the question.  I just happened to remember it when I saw the vague post about packing legally.

The actual answer given to the question of what the "relatives are packing legally" in order to feel safe when going to New York City to have lunch and visit a museum was "lunch." 

[Mondrianyone]

Is this dopey argument really worth continuing ad infinitum?

Asking for a friend.

[kristen111]

24 minutes ago, Mondrianyone said:

Is this dopey argument really worth continuing ad infinitum?

Asking for a friend.

Lol.  Nothing like beating a dead horse.  Unbelievable.

[kristen111]

We had a blue mailbox in our development and someone threw a firecracker in it destroying it.  That was 3 yrs ago.  They never put another one back, so we have to drive to the Post Office Everytime.  Super annoying in winter.

[Mondrianyone]

27 minutes ago, kristen111 said:

We had a blue mailbox in our development and someone threw a firecracker in it destroying it.

Isn't that a federal offense? That seems to be the new thing, getting away with federal offenses. It would be nice if someone invented a mailbox that shot lasers at your eyes if you threw something other than mail into it.

[Bastet]

5 hours ago, Quof said:

A question for the group - Washing walls, yes or no?

Not unless I'm getting ready to paint them.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, kristen111 said:

We had a blue mailbox in our development and someone threw a firecracker in it destroying it.  That was 3 yrs ago.  They never put another one back, so we have to drive to the Post Office Everytime.  Super annoying in winter.

Funny story. Our mailbox used to be about two blocks down the road from us. One day a mail carrier brought a package to the house and remarked on the distance. I agreed. She said "Listen if you have a box or something, I'll just bring to your house." I have a small Igloo cooler so we decided that would work. I put the cooler on our front porch.  For a couple of years that's what we did until our renters next door wanted a mailbox closer to their house so my husband cemented in two mailboxes on a nice stand at the end of our driveway and that was the end of that chapter. Weird, huh?

[roseha]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

For anyone with the means and the physical constitution and the desire to see the next total solar eclipse:

I wonder if the cruise ship could change course a bit to escape a localized cloud formation?

I feel like such a dope to have missed the 90 plus percent eclipse here in NYC that I have half a mind to think of something like this. I don't know how seriously, but half seriously maybe.  I was going to go to Ireland in June but I am having a serious balance problem right now and I don't see myself making it at the moment.  I could get a credit on the flight and maybe use it for 2026 to go somewhere in Europe for the next eclipse.  Although much as I enjoy Ireland it tends to get a *lot* of clouds.

Still it might be an extra reason to go somewhere...

 

[shapeshifter]

11 minutes ago, roseha said:

I feel like such a dope to have missed the 90 plus percent eclipse here in NYC that I have half a mind to think of something like this. I don't know how seriously, but half seriously maybe.  I was going to go to Ireland in June but I am having a serious balance problem right now and I don't see myself making it at the moment.  I could get a credit on the flight and maybe use it for 2026 to go somewhere in Europe for the next eclipse.  Although much as I enjoy Ireland it tends to get a *lot* of clouds.

Still it might be an extra reason to go somewhere...

I'd do it if I could. 

[Yeah No]

4 hours ago, StatisticalOutlier said:

Except the part about relatives in law enforcement was posted before the question was asked, so it couldn't be answering the question.  I just happened to remember it when I saw the vague post about packing legally.

The actual answer given to the question of what the "relatives are packing legally" in order to feel safe when going to New York City to have lunch and visit a museum was "lunch." 

Apologies to everyone else but I can't help myself here.  I would think knowing that information from a previous post would have prevented having to ask the question in the first place.  I would have figured it out from the context and left it at that.  One thing I personally hate is being made to feel like I have to justify everything I say and my responses here are coming from empathy for someone I feel is being made to feel just that.  Perhaps this belongs in the "pet peeves" thread because that is one of mine.  Unfortunately it tends to happen to me a little too often hence my not being able to just let it go when I see it happening to someone else.

OK, back to everyone's regularly scheduled chat board.....I promise not to post on this subject again.  🤐

[StatisticalOutlier]

5 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I would think knowing that information from a previous post would have prevented having to ask the question in the first place.  I would have figured it out from the context and left it at that.

That's one approach.  But I favor accuracy, and wanted to make sure that I was deciphering the code correctly, which required saying the quiet part out loud.

If somebody feels safer being with people who are carrying a gun, that's great.  No need to hide that.  Or, if you think there's a need to hide it, then don't mention it.  As everyone says these days, "Own it."

Quote

One thing I personally hate is being made to feel like I have to justify everything I say and my responses here are coming from empathy for someone I feel is being made to feel just that. 

I don't know about anybody else, but I never requested justification.  All I asked was, "What did you say?"  Not, "Why do you say that?"

Quote

I promise not to post on this subject again.

Works for me.

 

[Mod-Tigerkatze]

Hi everyone,

in light of one of the ongoing discussions, I'm just dropping by to leave this behind: How can we express our differing opinions and still respect the other's opinion and recognize it as valid? How can we keep feedback constructive and disagree with empathy and consideration?

Thank you.

 

 

[Caoimhe]

On 4/11/2024 at 3:56 PM, roseha said:

Although much as I enjoy Ireland it tends to get a *lot* of clouds.

If Ireland had a half-decent climate we’d probably have moved back by now. At the moment most of our family members are in Spain, Italy, and Malta escaping to warmth and sunshine!

[SoMuchTV]

17 hours ago, Mod-Tigerkatze said:

How can we express our differing opinions and still respect the other's opinion and recognize it as valid? How can we keep feedback constructive and disagree with empathy and consideration?

Assuming that’s an actual question and not rhetorical, I think the posters here are doing a pretty darn good job of it. Posters sometimes disagree or share their own experiences or try to offer helpful suggestions, but I’m not seeing meanness or hostility. On rare occasion if someone feels their opinions have not been treated with respect, they seem to have been able to say that and got positive feedback. If posts are being flagged, I hope the mods are reading back far enough to get the context. 

Honestly, the threads in this forum have some of the most positive and well behaved posters I’ve encountered, and I think you’re lucky to have them!

[shapeshifter]

5 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

Assuming that’s an actual question and not rhetorical,

I was wondering this too, and afraid to ask.

[SoMuchTV]

1 minute ago, shapeshifter said:

I was wondering this too, and afraid to ask.

I guess I decided to take one for the team (unless I’ve vastly misunderstood what the team is) 🙂

[BlueSkies]

It took for make to look at maps, walk on waterfronts, and look at GPS navigations systems as to realize how much water is really on the Earth.  

[ECM1231]

Anyone know a surefire method of removing gel nail polish, or must I go back to the salon? This is only the 2nd time I've gotten a gel manicure and the 1st time, I just let it gradually peel off. Nail polish remover doesn't work. The manicure is lasting pretty well; it's been 3 weeks now. If it weren't for the fact that my right index finger is totally devoid of polish, I'd leave it be.  I won't get another gel manicure until right before Mother's Day. 

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, ECM1231 said:

Anyone know a surefire method of removing gel nail polish, or must I go back to the salon? This is only the 2nd time I've gotten a gel manicure and the 1st time, I just let it gradually peel off. Nail polish remover doesn't work. The manicure is lasting pretty well; it's been 3 weeks now. If it weren't for the fact that my right index finger is totally devoid of polish, I'd leave it be.  I won't get another gel manicure until right before Mother's Day. 

I had a gel manicure once after being talked into it by a manicurist.  I followed the advice of the internet which was to wrap the nails in foil with acetone nail polish remover on them so it can soak in, but despite the internet claiming it was a "quick, sure fire method", it didn't turn out that way for me and I was left constantly soaking my nails in nail polish remover for days and using all my cotton balls and emery boards trying to rub the sticky mess off.  I would have gone back to the salon to have my nails done again and not removed it myself but we were going into the pandemic and everything was shut down so I basically had no choice.  When I tell this story now it feels like it was so long ago.  Time is passing, now right before the pandemic was almost 5 years ago!

I never did go back for another manicure of any kind after that.  And I used to have my nails done on a semi-regular basis.  But the pandemic changed that and I just never got back into it.

[BetyBee]

Yesterday was a beautiful day, both weather-wise and in the way we spent it. We went to WI to celebrate my grandson's birthday. All 6 grands were there and we had a blast playing outside in the sunshine. We saw 2 of our 3 daughters. We had a delicious lunch and a dirt cake birthday cake and I got some good pics. We stopped at Taco Bell on the way home, to avoid cooking and slept like babies last night! Today is a sunny and gorgeous day in Northern IL, with an expected high of 79! Hostas and tulips are popping out of the ground and daffodils are blooming. Sometimes life is just so good! 🥰 

Edited April 14 by BetyBee

[kristen111]

Looking forward to buying some spring flowers and sitting on our swing today.  I’ll  hang all my chimes up also.  Some glow in the dark at night.  Yes, life is good.🥰

 

 

 

[kristen111]

11 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I had a gel manicure once after being talked into it by a manicurist.  I followed the advice of the internet which was to wrap the nails in foil with acetone nail polish remover on them so it can soak in, but despite the internet claiming it was a "quick, sure fire method", it didn't turn out that way for me and I was left constantly soaking my nails in nail polish remover for days and using all my cotton balls and emery boards trying to rub the sticky mess off.  I would have gone back to the salon to have my nails done again and not removed it myself but we were going into the pandemic and everything was shut down so I basically had no choice.  When I tell this story now it feels like it was so long ago.  Time is passing, now right before the pandemic was almost 5 years ago!

I never did go back for another manicure of any kind after that.  And I used to have my nails done on a semi-regular basis.  But the pandemic changed that and I just never got back into it.

I have my toenails done, but I do my nails myself.  I hate sitting in there for two hours.  Lately, I’m wearing a soft blue on my nails, but always very dark blood red on the toenails.  Never did gel.  Too much trouble.  Maybe if I was still working.

[BooksRule]

Just out of curiosity, do any of you have pickers or junkers who drive around your neighborhood and pick up stuff that's been left at the curb? Trash is picked up on Mondays, and the company also picks up bulk trash most Mondays (limbs, bagged leaves, and items that can range from broken lamp shades to mattresses.  Pretty much anything except hazardous waste and tires).  We have a couple of people with pickup trucks and trailers who drive around a day or so before trash day who will pick up almost anything that's been left out. Over the years, I've left small appliances, a love seat, a rusted through baker's rack that was on my back patio, and a computer desk chair (although in that particular instance, I happened to look out just in time to see my across-the-street neighbor wheeling it back over to his house). The other day I left a microwave that wouldn't heat up any more out and it was gone within a couple of hours (I had even taken the glass revolving plate out before I took it to the curb, because I can always use an extra big plate). I was surprised that the only item I ever put out there that was still there when the commercial trash trucks came by was a 20 gallon aquarium (no leaks, perfectly good). The junkers must have missed coming around that week. I guess another person's trash, is definitely someone else's treasure. 

Edited April 14 by BooksRule

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, BooksRule said:

Just out of curiosity, do any of you have pickers or junkers who drive around your neighborhood and pick up stuff that's been left at the curb?

Yes (especially items that can be sold to a metal recycling center), which is great because even though it's easy - and free - to arrange for bulky item collection from the city, many people don't bother, so otherwise the stuff would just stay on the curb. 

Plus, even if one arranges for collection, the item winds up in a landfill, when a lot of stuff isn't truly trash, but instead something one person no longer wants or needs but that could be reused by another, repurposed into something else, or at least recycled.  I know I used the bulky item collection service at least once, long ago, but can't remember what for; most things I am able to give away via Freecycle.  (And a few times people have emailed me pictures of what they turned my random old items into, which is always cool to see.)