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

[shapeshifter]

10 hours ago, Anduin said:

I just remembered something else from house hunting. One place looked great in the photos, of course. In the flesh, the gutters were clogged with leaves. A real flood/fire hazard, but not a dealbreaker. Inside, turns out the wooden floor was actually lino with a wood print! Not great. And in one spot, it really sagged when I walked on it. Some people will try anything.

Before I got this condo, I put an offer on a house with a kitchen floor that sagged like a bowl.
I was out-bid.

[Anduin]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Before I got this condo, I put an offer on a house with a kitchen floor that sagged like a bowl.
I was out-bid.

Wow. Do you think the winners were renovators or desperate or what?

[BooksRule]

There's still a lot of day left, but so far it's been a pretty good one (even though I fell off the healthy eating wagon this week).  As I was leaving to do some errands, one of my neighbors, who was mowing a lawn across the street, rode over on his mower and offered to mow my straggly front lawn (I have no grass in the back yard).  Of course, I took him up on his offer, which means that not only do I now not have to mow this weekend, I can try to get started on some other yard work that I couldn't do until the yard was mowed.  Then, I went to a book sale at a nearby public library and found a couple of books to fill in gaps in my vintage children's book collection and a nice stack of DVDs.  To top it off, the next item on my errand list was to drive over to another library in the system that was about 1/2 hour away just to check out a copy of 'The Incredible Hulk' (I'm starting a re-watch of the MCU movies and didn't want to wait for the DVD to be sent over to the branch near me).  As I pawed through the DVDs for sale, I found a copy of the movie.  Yay for me!  I'm now going to have a late lunch of chicken tenders, a couple of little lemon/cheese cakes, and a huge glass of iced tea.

Maybe I'm just easy to please.

Edited September 28 by BooksRule

[nokat]

29 minutes ago, BooksRule said:

I'm now going to have a late lunch of chicken tenders, a couple of little lemon/cheese cakes, and a huge glass of iced tea.

Maybe I'm just easy to please.

That sounds like a great meal. I ate something that was 200 calories, and I was thinking there are better ways to lose 20lbs.

To clarify, I love unsweetened tea and don't drink soda, but darn those menopause pounds won't come off.

Edited September 28 by nokat

[Browncoat]

I spent an hour this afternoon picking up branches and sticks that were blown from the trees in my yard by Helene.  I am grateful that everything was small enough for me to pick up, and nothing was damaged.  It was a lovely sunny day today, but it's clouding up again, ready for round two (which shouldn't be nearly as bad as round one yesterday -- I think there were more than 20 tornado warnings in my area, but so far only two actual tornadoes that I know of.).

 

[Anela]

40 minutes ago, Browncoat said:

I spent an hour this afternoon picking up branches and sticks that were blown from the trees in my yard by Helene.  I am grateful that everything was small enough for me to pick up, and nothing was damaged.  It was a lovely sunny day today, but it's clouding up again, ready for round two (which shouldn't be nearly as bad as round one yesterday -- I think there were more than 20 tornado warnings in my area, but so far only two actual tornadoes that I know of.).

 

I've been catching clips of the areas affected. So scary. I just checked in on a friend in North Carolina, because I haven't seen anything from her for a few days. 

We've been getting rain from the outskirts of it - it's raining heavily right now - but we still have power. People in the mid- and southern part of our state, are without power. 

[Annber03]

35 minutes ago, Anela said:

I've been catching clips of the areas affected. So scary. I just checked in on a friend in North Carolina, because I haven't seen anything from her for a few days. 

We've been getting rain from the outskirts of it - it's raining heavily right now - but we still have power. People in the mid- and southern part of our state, are without power. 

I hope your friend is doing well. 

I have relatives in North Carolina and Florida - the ones who live in North Carolina live in the eastern part of the state, though, so they've mainly just been dealing with the rain, they've fortunately missed the worst of it. And the ones in Florida still have their power, which is rather surprising considering they live on the west coast of Florida. They said their home is fine, but there's a lot of trees down in their neighborhood. I know they were talking on the Weather Channel about how the trees could pose a big issue for a lot of Floridians with this storm, 'cause there's some areas that have a LOT of them. 

But yeah, the footage I've seen of the aftermath..what a mess. I hope the cleanup goes smoothly for everyone. 

[Anela]

1 hour ago, Annber03 said:

I hope your friend is doing well. 

I have relatives in North Carolina and Florida - the ones who live in North Carolina live in the eastern part of the state, though, so they've mainly just been dealing with the rain, they've fortunately missed the worst of it. And the ones in Florida still have their power, which is rather surprising considering they live on the west coast of Florida. They said their home is fine, but there's a lot of trees down in their neighborhood. I know they were talking on the Weather Channel about how the trees could pose a big issue for a lot of Floridians with this storm, 'cause there's some areas that have a LOT of them. 

But yeah, the footage I've seen of the aftermath..what a mess. I hope the cleanup goes smoothly for everyone. 

Thank you. :) she and her family are okay. She said the worst happened hours away from her.  

[Annber03]

18 minutes ago, Anela said:

Thank you. :) she and her family are okay. She said the worst happened hours away from her.  

Oh, good, glad to hear that :). Hopefully those who did get the brunt of things made it through okay, too. 

[Calvada]

On 9/27/2024 at 8:07 PM, Anduin said:

I just remembered something else from house hunting. One place looked great in the photos, of course. In the flesh, the gutters were clogged with leaves. A real flood/fire hazard, but not a dealbreaker. Inside, turns out the wooden floor was actually lino with a wood print! Not great. And in one spot, it really sagged when I walked on it. Some people will try anything.

Another thing you cannot determine from a photo is smell.  I remember going into a house that on paper seemed ideal until I walked in and realized the people who lived there must smoke 3 or 4 cartons of cigarettes a day.  It reeked.  All I could think was that I could never get rid of that smell from the carpeting, from the draperies.  Obviously, I could put in new flooring, new draperies, but it just turned me off so completely I couldn't even think of those fixes.  

House hunting is always an interesting experience.  There was the house that had a large fish aquarium in every room (including bathrooms), the house with every room painted and carpeted in mint green, the house with tanks holding several dozen snakes. I never went into that last one - that was a hard pass.  

[Anduin]

2 minutes ago, Calvada said:

Another thing you cannot determine from a photo is smell.  I remember going into a house that on paper seemed ideal until I walked in and realized the people who lived there must smoke 3 or 4 cartons of cigarettes a day.  It reeked.  All I could think was that I could never get rid of that smell from the carpeting, from the draperies.  Obviously, I could put in new flooring, new draperies, but it just turned me off so completely I couldn't even think of those fixes.  

House hunting is always an interesting experience.  There was the house that had a large fish aquarium in every room (including bathrooms), the house with every room painted and carpeted in mint green, the house with tanks holding several dozen snakes. I never went into that last one - that was a hard pass.  

Thankfully I never had to deal with a smell issue. But that last one, wow! Yeah, I'd avoid that one too.

[shapeshifter]

37 minutes ago, Anduin said:

Thankfully I never had to deal with a smell issue.

Very rarely do I not have to deal with a smell issue when house hunting. Often it’s those plugins that stink up the home with toxic perfume — presumably to cover the smell of pets or smoke or mildew. It’s really nice when that’s not an issue.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love my air purifier so much that I’d marry it if it asked me.

Sadly, the change in real estate law (broker fees) in NY State and the interest rate changes seem to have increased prices in the last month since I underbid on the place on the beach.

[Mountainair]

Whew… I know I don’t post often enough to leave a mark on anyone’s memory here but I just got cell service back today after dealing with Helene.  
Was finally able to watch news coverage and the devastation we are dealing with is no joke. I live about 10 minutes outside of Asheville, NC. We had about three days there with no cell service, no way to contact friends or family, no way to find out what was going on around us. No power, etc. everyone frantically trying to find out if loved ones were alive and still doing so. We surpassed all records set from the 1916? Flood and they are now calling this the 500 year flood. My husband’s company has an office down the street from Biltmore and he managed to make it down there and the building no longer exists. Whole towns were completely wiped out. My family was spared a lot of damage but we have a place on Lake James and it was destroyed along with our meager boat. My daughter was most distraught about her bike being gone. We can’t get to the lake because the highways are closed. My parents live 10 minutes outside of Asheville in the other direction and they had damage to their garage and shed, multiple trees down. 
We have a generator but also currently have power and water. They do not. So they are staying with us until things are restored. The county hoped by Friday most power would be restored but Asheville City could go weeks without water. My brother lives 30 minutes away in yet another direction and tried to get to my house today but was unable to make it due to road conditions. 
We have had flooding here in the past but nothing like this. I grew up in Eastern NC and am used to Hurricanes so I didn’t really “prep” but now the few stores that are open are cash only (I don’t carry cash) and gas is at a premium with lines for miles. Believe all the footage you see. It’s bad. 

Edited September 30 by Mountainair

[Annber03]

Weeks without water? Good lord. 

My god, I am so sorry for what you and your family and the area are going through. I'm sorry about your husband's company, and your place on the lake, and your daughter's bike, and your parents' lack of power...just all of it. And I'm sorry for the people who lived in towns that no longer exist, too. 

So glad to have you check in, though, and to know you're okay, all things considered. Wishing you and your family well as the cleanup and recovery efforts begin, and thoughts going out to everyone in that area in general as they deal with the aftermath of all of this. 

[Love2dance]

Oh my @Mountainair, you and your family have been through a lot! Glad you are all safe, but so sorry for all the work you, and so many neighbors, have ahead of you. 

[Mindthinkr]

@Mountainair So glad you made it safely through Helene. I have a friend out that way and I was happy to hear she is safe. Unfortunately another friend has been frantically trying to get in touch with friends and no luck. So many people thought because they lived in the mountains that they were safe from hurricanes so this is an eye opener. Best wishes on your clean up, getting services back and having water available. Sadly hurricane season isn’t over 🤞🏻

[nokat]

I'm so sorry for what people are going through with Helene. I was just happy to get out my fuzzy socks.

[Moose135]

I'm glad to hear you are safe, @Mountainair Fortunately, we didn't have too much happen here in Charlotte, but from all I've seen, it's been devastating out your way.

[Browncoat]

Glad you're safe, @Mountainair! 

[Browncoat]

And we're now under a boil water advisory due to the flooding here.  Which was barely flooding, relatively speaking.

[Mindthinkr]

The National news focuses primarily on Asheville and the hard hit areas of NC, but SC got hit pretty hard too. I have a friend who lost a half dozen trees, and they will not have their power restored until next week. It’s over a hours drive to find gas, and about a 2 hour drive to find a grocery store that’s open. A hardware store opened to sell some generators that were shipped in and they sold out within 2 hours. All sales were cash only. Price gouging is rampant. $900/hour to use a chainsaw to clear a fallen tree.

The couple I know are good eggs. Since there was nothing more they could do at their home, they began helping neighbors and using their chainsaw to cut trees at no charge. The elderly lady next door to them was sitting in her living room when a tree came through her roof landing about a foot away from where she was sitting. After cutting up the tree he put a tarp over the hole on the roof. It may be a long time before all of Helene’s storm damage has been assessed. My heart goes out to all the communities impacted. 

[Anela]

I was reading these, and scaring myself at gone 4am. Mainly because it reminded me that we still don’t have a reliable lock on the sliding glass door. 
 

https://www.jezebel.com/annual-scary-story-contest

Edited October 4 by Anela

[Calvada]

On 10/1/2024 at 7:07 AM, Mindthinkr said:

The National news focuses primarily on Asheville and the hard hit areas of NC, but SC got hit pretty hard too. I have a friend who lost a half dozen trees, and they will not have their power restored until next week. It’s over a hours drive to find gas, and about a 2 hour drive to find a grocery store that’s open. A hardware store opened to sell some generators that were shipped in and they sold out within 2 hours. All sales were cash only. Price gouging is rampant. $900/hour to use a chainsaw to clear a fallen tree.

The couple I know are good eggs. Since there was nothing more they could do at their home, they began helping neighbors and using their chainsaw to cut trees at no charge. The elderly lady next door to them was sitting in her living room when a tree came through her roof landing about a foot away from where she was sitting. After cutting up the tree he put a tarp over the hole on the roof. It may be a long time before all of Helene’s storm damage has been assessed. My heart goes out to all the communities impacted. 

I think most people are good people, most help their neighbors and that very few are those who would charge $900/hour to use a chainsaw.  A couple years ago friends here in Wisconsin had several trees come down in a tornado, including a large oak that completely blocked their driveway.  This couple, both in their mid 70s, were trying to figure out how to deal with this when down the street came the local high school football team & coaching staff with some chainsaws.  They were going through the community helping those in need.  

But I also know that in disasters such as Helene, state and federal law enforcement agencies and prosecutors are gearing up to investigate and prosecute those who would price gouge, or scam victims with bogus home repair schemes, or defraud people who think they're donating to a legitimate aid organization.  People who see this tragedy and their first thought is "How can I make a buck out this?" are despicable.  

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, Anela said:

I was reading these, and scaring myself at gone 4am. Mainly because it reminded me that we still don’t have a reliable lock on the sliding glass door. 
 

https://www.jezebel.com/annual-scary-story-contest

I just wasted an unconscionable amount of time reading some of the winners from previous years.  I don't believe most of these people, but some of them are pretty good storytellers ("Room 4" should be made into a movie -- the scene of waiting through each cycle for that room to appear on the monitor, with the figure being closer and closer to the patient each time, would play really well). 

I let out a rather undignified squeak when my cat, who usually announces herself well before she gets to me, silently walked into my office and waited until she was next to my chair to meow.

[EtheltoTillie]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

I just wasted an unconscionable amount of time reading some of the winners from previous years.  I don't believe most of these people, but some of them are pretty good storytellers ("Room 4" should be made into a movie -- the scene of waiting through each cycle for that room to appear on the monitor, with the figure being closer and closer to the patient each time, would play really well). 

I let out a rather undignified squeak when my cat, who usually announces herself well before she gets to me, silently walked into my office and waited until she was next to my chair to meow.

our dog has jangly ID tags on so you always hear her coming. When one of our dogs dies it’s always too quiet in the house. 

These stories are new to me so thanks to whoever recommended them. 

My supernatural story is that in 1989 one night my first dog, Lucy, appeared to be having a seizure and some difficulty walking. Then she recovered.  We then learned that at the same time my father was having a stroke. 

[Kimboweena]

9 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

My supernatural story is that in 1989 one night my first dog, Lucy, appeared to be having a seizure and some difficulty walking. Then she recovered.  We then learned that at the same time my father was having a stroke. 

This is very familiar to my story. In 1996, my father died.  He was in Florida and Hubby & I were in California.  Around 11:00 pm (PST), our dog just stood up on our bed and stared at us.  We said "outside?" and "bacon? (dog treat)." No response, just kept staring.  The next morning, we found out that my father passed, they believe around 2:00 am (EST). Exact same time, very bizarre!

[annzeepark914]

10 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

My supernatural story is that in 1989 one night my first dog, Lucy, appeared to be having a seizure and some difficulty walking. Then she recovered.  We then learned that at the same time my father was having a stroke. 

At 6:00 AM, one cold, dark January morning (2002), our cat began to meow loudly at the foot of the stairs. It was one meow after another, nonstop. She was not much of a meower (she was a Mainecoon cat, she usually trilled). I got out of bed and yelled down to her to be quiet. She never stopped, as she stared up at the upper hall. Meowmeowmeowmeow...on & on. It went on until 6:30 AM and suddenly stopped. About 3 hours later, my stepmother called and told me my dad passed away at 6:30. He was almost 94 & was in the medical wing at their retirement complex (so it wasn't really unexpected). He was in Florida, we live in the metro DC area. 

[lookeyloo]

Shortly after my brother passed, I was standing in a Sam's warehouse on a weekday morning.  It was virtually empty.  I was still in a grief daze and was between the displays and the checkout lanes. No one was around me.  I felt a cold rush of air on my face and strong scent of brother's cologne. I turned around and around to see if someone passed me wearing it.  No one.  Then a short time thereafter, Mr. lookeyloo, not a believer, walked into the hall in our house and said "Come here, I can smell (brother's) cologne - can you smell it?"  I couldn't. We didn't have his cologne.

[Yeah No]

On 9/22/2024 at 1:24 PM, ECM1231 said:

About once a month, on a Sunday, I make a sauce with about 16 meatballs to last for 4 Sunday pasta dinners. I've been doing this for 41+ years and probably will for another long while. We haven't had Sunday sauce for a few weeks, as I was all out of sauce and didn't feel like making it in the Summer heat. Last week we went to our favorite Chinese restaurant instead. I could always whip up a quick marinara sauce, but the mister wants meatballs. My meat sauce cooks about 4 hours and right now the kitchen smells so good.

Catching up here - Only a couple of days before these posts I had a hankering for linguine and meatballs and hadn't had it for months (because it was too hot and I'm always on a diet) so I made some. My sauce also cooks for about 4 hours. I have two recipes, though. A long version like grandma used to make and a shortcut "cheat" version. I made the cheat version. My cheat version has meatballs and sweet Italian sausage in it and I use Victoria jarred sauce as the base. My grandma version uses 2 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes in puree (which I crush manually) and has big chunks of chuck roast, pork shoulder roast and sausages. If I really want to get into it I also make meatballs with that one too. I also put hard boiled eggs in all my gravies because that's what grandma did and most of us loved it.

On 9/22/2024 at 1:45 PM, ECM1231 said:

Not really a recipe per se. My dad taught me how to make meat sauce, and over the years I have simplified because my husband isn't crazy about sausage, and cutting and frying the spare ribs was tiresome. 

Basically it's:

2, 28 oz cans crushed tomatoes 

4, 6 oz cans tomato paste 

Water from each of the cans

Basil, oregano 

Onion and garlic 

Start by sauteing a diced onion and a few garlic cloves in olive oil in bottom of large saucepan. Then add the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste with water and seasonings. If you are not making a meat sauce, just marinara , don't add a lot of water.

While this is simmering over low heat, fry the meatballs. Drain on paper towels and plop into the sauce. Cook about 3 1/2- 4 hours.

A lot of folks bake their meatballs, but we prefer frying.

Wow you use a lot of tomato paste! Per two 28 oz. cans of tomatoes I use only 1/2 to 3/4 of one can. That was grandma's way so that's mine too. We also never put onion in the sauce at all. Again, that was grandma's way. But of course I use at least 3 cloves of minced garlic. My grandma taught me to cook the garlic in at least 1 tbsp. of olive oil until fragrant and just turning a little brown, then add the tomatoes, crush and reduce them for about 15 minutes on a healthy simmer before putting in the tomato paste. The heat shouldn't be too high so as not to burn the tomatoes. For seasonings I always use about a tablespoon of fresh minced parsley, about palmful of dried basil and a half a palmful of dried oregano. To taste of course, and I have small hands, LOL. I also grind a little fresh black pepper into the pot. Not a lot. Sometimes it will need a little salt depending, but I try not to add it until later when I see how much it needs.

After browning the meat on all sides (which I usually do first then set aside) it goes into the sauce along with any juice that has settled on the plate. And the hard boiled eggs, of course. Then I usually add about 3/4 of a tomato can to the pot. If you keep the heat down low enough you won't need to add more.

Then I reduce the heat a lot to a low simmer and don't touch it for a while to allow the fat to come to the top so I can skim it off with a spoon. I get as much as I can, stir the sauce, then leave it alone again for about 20 minutes or so, then repeat the process for 4 hours.

On 9/22/2024 at 7:17 PM, ECM1231 said:

One memory I have from childhood is returning home from Sunday Mass and seeing 2 fried meatballs on the counter that my Dad would leave out for my sister and me to sample. 

My grandma used to do the same thing for me when my family came over for Sunday gravy after church!

My "shortcut" meatball gravy involves 2 regular sized jars of Victoria marinara (or when the Mr. asks for it I use one jar of Victoria and one of Rao's) instead of canned tomatoes and 1/2 a can of tomato paste (Contadina of course, the plain variety). Same method as above, except I use only 2 minced garlic cloves and less parsley/basil/oregano because the ready made sauces are already seasoned. And it definitely won't need salt. In fact if I can get the Victoria low sodium marinara I use one jar of that and one of the regular. I add about 2/3 of a Victoria jar of water to the sauce and it cooks for about 3-4 hours. You can get away with cooking it a little less time because the jarred sauce is like a shortcut.

This is a meat sauce but I only add no more than 5 browned Italian sausage links to the pot or it will taste VERY sausage-y. But it's to taste so do what you want.

I make the meatballs separately but only put a few in the sauce while it's cooking because I find that cooking them in the sauce for hours makes them taste a little bland because all the seasoning goes into the sauce. I just keep the rest aside in the fridge and add them to the sauce at the end to warm them up.

I'll post the meatball recipe if anyone wants it. It's grandma's thanks to my father who followed her around the kitchen with a pen and pad and quantified it. Of course she was an old world cook and never used hard measurements. But he perfected it and it is exactly like hers!

[shapeshifter]

It just occurred to me that since having bought my first home 3 years ago, at age 68, I now possess a (mostly) golden porcelain throne of my own 😂
— of 1973 vintage:

[Dimity]

Speaking of houses with vintage looks to them my cousin just sent me some before and after pics of the recent remodel she did on her house.  I am going to ooh and aah (of course!!) but to be honest I think the house looked better before the changes she made!

[oliviabenson]

How do I use an add block on here? The ads make this site unusable.

 

I made meat sauce and it came out ok. Nothing to brag about.

Edited October 6 by oliviabenson

[Bastet]

7 hours ago, Dimity said:

Speaking of houses with vintage looks to them my cousin just sent me some before and after pics of the recent remodel she did on her house.  I am going to ooh and aah (of course!!) but to be honest I think the house looked better before the changes she made!

This happens to me all the time scrolling through NextDoor.  I live in an old (for L.A.) neighborhood, and a lot of people, IMO, ruin their houses by having them remodeled to look like every boring, repetitive house on the HGTV shows.  (If you want your house to look like everyone else's, why buy in a neighborhood where no two houses look the same; go to a fucking development in Valencia and leave these cool old houses in the inner suburbs alone!)  They, or their contractor, proudly post the before and after pictures and I prefer the before.  (Sure, these houses need some functional updating and cosmetic changes, but not complete overhauls that erase the original style.)

Edited October 7 by Bastet

[EtheltoTillie]

25 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

How do I use an add block on here? The ads make this site unusable.

 

I made meat sauce and it came out ok. Nothing to brag about.

Use DuckDuckGo.  It runs in the background of my firefox browser on the desktop.  It also works on the iPad.  I just access this site through DuckDuckGo. 

[oliviabenson]

1 minute ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Use DuckDuckGo.  It runs in the background of my firefox browser on the desktop.  It also works on the iPad.  I just access this site through DuckDuckGo. 

I'm on an android. 

[Dimity]

13 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

I'm on an android. 

I use Adblocker Plus- the free version.  Most sites I don't see any ads at all but i do still see a few here but they are off to the side and not intrusive at all.  This is on my laptop BTW with google chrome.

27 minutes ago, Bastet said:

(Sure, these houses need some functional updating and cosmetic changes, but not complete overhauls that erase the original style.)

What makes me laugh or wince depending on my mood is that most of the time the updates will look just as dated in a few years as the things they wanted to change out.  Barn doors for almost every door, all walls down so the main living area is one big room, every wall left standing painted gray.  The paint they can change easily, the no walls and the barn doors will be a bit more of a challenge.

[emma675]

32 minutes ago, Bastet said:

This happens to me all the time scrolling through NextDoor.  I live in an old (for L.A.) neighborhood, and a lot of people, IMO, ruin their houses by having them remodeled to look like every boring, repetitive house on the HGTV shows.  (If you want your house to look like everyone else's, why buy in a neighborhood were no two houses look the same; go to a fucking development in Valencia and leave these cool old houses in the inner suburbs alone!)  They, or their contractor, proudly post the before and after pictures and I prefer the before.  (Sure, these houses need some functional updating and cosmetic changes, but not complete overhauls that erase the original style.)

I used to love this show called Restored (effing Joanna and Chip didn't continue it when they started the Magnolia network). The host would restore houses around parts of California, and he would make it look original but with modern conveniences and safety. His restorations were gorgeous. 

[EtheltoTillie]

24 minutes ago, oliviabenson said:

I'm on an android. 

Probably can work for that also. 

[shapeshifter]

It is 77ºF / 25ºC right now at 5:30p.m. in Rochester NY, which is across Lake Ontario from Canada.

By Wednesday morning it's supposed to be in the 40s F. 

[annzeepark914]

8 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

It is 77ºF / 25ºC right now at 5:30p.m. in Rochester NY, which is across Lake Ontario from Canada.

By Wednesday morning it's supposed to be in the 40s F. 

Lucky you! We've endured high humidity for several weeks plus rain off & on each day. Today it's been sunny with a clear blue sky...so unusual. I'm so ready for crisp, cold fall weather (& be able to wear leggings & turtlenecks without sweating!!) Bring it on 🍁

[GHScorpiosRule]

37 minutes ago, Dimity said:

I use Adblocker Plus- the free version.  Most sites I don't see any ads at all but i do still see a few here but they are off to the side and not intrusive at all.

If you go into the settings, you’ll see “allow some ads” is probably selected, which is why you still see some ads. Uncheck and you won’t see those, either. I figured this out when I got on my personal laptop yesterday after months. And was irritated to see ads! So I went through settings and saw why. After unchecking that box, the ads disappeared.

[Dimity]

19 minutes ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

So I went through settings and saw why. After unchecking that box, the ads disappeared.

Thank you!! It worked!

[emma675]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

It is 77ºF / 25ºC right now at 5:30p.m. in Rochester NY, which is across Lake Ontario from Canada.

By Wednesday morning it's supposed to be in the 40s F. 

I would love to have any of this weather. In Texas, it's been unreasonably hot and dry. We're edging back into drought warnings again and I hate wearing shorts in October. I want cozy sweaters and hot cocoa and autumn, dammit. 

[oliviabenson]

I found a solution to my ad problem. Now I can use the site in peace .

[Anela]

12 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

Shortly after my brother passed, I was standing in a Sam's warehouse on a weekday morning.  It was virtually empty.  I was still in a grief daze and was between the displays and the checkout lanes. No one was around me.  I felt a cold rush of air on my face and strong scent of brother's cologne. I turned around and around to see if someone passed me wearing it.  No one.  Then a short time thereafter, Mr. lookeyloo, not a believer, walked into the hall in our house and said "Come here, I can smell (brother's) cologne - can you smell it?"  I couldn't. We didn't have his cologne.

Three years ago, just before Thanksgiving, I was watching a show from my childhood, and walked into the kitchen, late that night. I was at the counter, and I had the strongest feeling that my mum was behind me. I almost said something to her, and then I remembered that she couldn't be there. I think I mentioned it here. 

5 hours ago, Bastet said:

This happens to me all the time scrolling through NextDoor.  I live in an old (for L.A.) neighborhood, and a lot of people, IMO, ruin their houses by having them remodeled to look like every boring, repetitive house on the HGTV shows.  (If you want your house to look like everyone else's, why buy in a neighborhood were no two houses look the same; go to a fucking development in Valencia and leave these cool old houses in the inner suburbs alone!)  They, or their contractor, proudly post the before and after pictures and I prefer the before.  (Sure, these houses need some functional updating and cosmetic changes, but not complete overhauls that erase the original style.)

I follow someone who was looking for a house, a few years ago, in Los Angeles. She wanted an older home, and posted before-and-after pictures of houses she loved, where they'd taken all of the character out of them. 

[annzeepark914]

I hope all our Florida folks will be safe, go to a shelter if necessary, as this new hurricane is now a category 5. 

[Absolom]

I'm out of town and off news. I hadn't realized another hurricane was about to make landfall.  I hope everyone is well and damage is minimal.

[Annber03]

3 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

I hope all our Florida folks will be safe, go to a shelter if necessary, as this new hurricane is now a category 5. 

Oh, shit, that escalated fast. Last I saw yesterday it was a category 1. 

We're in touch with our relatives who live in Florida, they were already preparing for Helene when there was still some uncertainty over where that was going to go, so I think they're probably already good to go for this one. But yeah, if they are able to evacuate, I hope they can. 

Yeah. Sending good thoughts and well wishes to anyone in the path of this storm. Stay safe and take care. 

[jennifer6973]

23 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Probably can work for that also. 

It does

[Ancaster]

 

On 9/13/2024 at 2:03 PM, EtheltoTillie said:

I have to add something really funny to the Scrabble story above.  The people we were visiting were Shabbos observers, and it was a Friday night.  So we could not write down our scores but instead had to remember them and add in our heads! 

The easy answer for Shabbos Scrabble scoring (and other games) is to take a book from your shelves and use a bookmark to mark the pages.  (You need to decide which way is odd and which is even, but it's not hard.)

On 9/25/2024 at 11:15 AM, PRgal said:

How should I tell a friend that I don't want to hang out with her anymore?  A woman I've known for 30+ years AND who was involved with my wedding would randomly text me with updates on her life.  Like she was in Europe with her parents for her 45th birthday.  Or just random things that I just don't feel like commenting on.  I told her that I was busy (which is true) but then she'll start messaging me again a few weeks later.  I know that she's neurodivergent, and maybe a bit lonely, but still.  We don't live close and we have different lives (not married, no kids).  I just don't want to hang out with her.  I can block her or just ghost her without blocking, but that seems rude since we've known each other for so long.  It's frustrating!   

I'm genuinely not sure why you can't just not respond?  Relationships/friendships end.  Am I missing something about what ghosting is (because I don't really know what that is)? 

 

Edited October 8 by Ancaster
Deleting many quoted posts I didn't actually want to post.