Small Talk: Ughngnggh! Ugghhnnn!

[nachomama]

12 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Is that code for dirt?

Edited October 24, 2020 by nachomama

[nachomama]

I don’t know what’s happening with that post ^ yes it’s code for dirt. I put it in iced tea and it was ok but sort of a grit thing. I’m not sure if baking with it would be better. 
my internet is flaking out on me and that’s not good for my work. I’ve got a tech guy coming Sunday. I think the problem is outside. How dumb does this sound? ... my neighbors tree is launching acorns into my yard. His tree overhangs my shed and the sheer numbers of acorns that are falling on my shed and carport are astounding. Is it bananas to think the acorns are rattling my intertubes? Picture this, my carport has a gutter for rain that kinda pours directly on the back window of my house. The acorns are dropping and rolling right in the same trajectory. And the internet hookup box is directly under that window. I’ve been working from home for 6 months. I’ve been fairly steady online. Hasn’t crapped out on me for most of that time. Today alone it kicked me off 5-6 times. It’s only out for like 2 minutes but I have to get my supervisor to kick me out of the servers I’m on. So I basically have to announce every time I’m not online. I’m gonna get a tree guy to trim the branches because of the annoyance of the noise. It’s 4:51 am and I’m listening to the ricochet now. Sigh. 

[Nashville]

16 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I have a tree guy, but the trees I want to take down are leaning heavily on my property from a neighbor's yard.  No one can seem to get a hold of that neighbor, even though several neighbors have tried to contact that said neighbor for similar reasons.

Don’t worry about the neighbor; his/her tree or not, you have the legal right to deal with any part of it which crosses the property line as you see fit.

[Nashville]

7 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I want to take about four or five trees out completely.  I understand, and appreciate that you are confirming that I can remove the parts that overhang my yard, but so many of those trees are so unstable at root/trunk level that are on his property.  I just don't want those trees falling and wiping out the trees in my yard.  There is one tree on his property that is at least fifty feet tall and its roots are practically ripped out of the ground on one side.  The only thing holding it up is that it wedged itself in a nearby tree also on his property.   The trees on his property are really old and planted too close together.  They were there long before he bought the property.

Even more reason to trim them back from your side of the property line; if they’re likely to fall, take off as much balance weight on your side as you can - so they’ll be more likely to fall the other way.  😉

[AngelaHunter]

@icemiser69 - You can't tresspass to take the trees down. However if you inform your neighbour with a note (email or whatever) or inform the city entity who deals with such things that the trees are dead, dying or a hazard you will have a record in writing that he/she was on notice of that in case one of them falls and damages your property.

[madmax]

On 10/24/2020 at 8:37 AM, icemiser69 said:

I have a tree guy, but the trees I want to take down are leaning heavily on my property from a neighbor's yard.  No one can seem to get a hold of that neighbor, even though several neighbors have tried to contact that said neighbor for similar reasons.

Apparently one of that neighbor's trees has already hit another neighbor's shed.  That neighbor who owns the shed is not too happy.  He put up another shed.

 

This is why I'm so glad I don't have any real neighbors.  All are on the other side of the street and not even directly across from me.

I'd check the laws where you live.  In some areas, like mine, you just need to inform the homeowner of the problem and they have a certain time period to correct the situation, in most cases 30 days.  If they don't, you can have the problem resolved.

I had a tree hit my house after a really bad wind storm.  It was a pine, so they're shallowly rooted to begin with.  I swear, the floor jumped when it hit.  The insurance adjuster said we were lucky that it hit where it did, otherwise it might have gone straight thru the house.  Which would have been absolutely horrible because my 2 year old son was sitting in his high chair in front of that very wall.

[nachomama]

Internet technician guy came and said I had a bad wire from my house to the box around the corner, then he says there's a bad wire from the box to the wherever hub so he was able to change out me to the pole but the pole to the wherever box will be today. I had internet all day but none last night. Why is it going down in the night? Are there bats sleeping on it? Squirrels chewing it? But it all better be fixed today!

The other evening we bonded at work, I said something silly, supervisor said I'm so funny. I replied "people been laughing at my my whole life" so this kid Patrick piped up with "I been fighting my whole life" I shouted "HARPO"  and the big, big boss piped in with "I fought my daddy, my uncles, my brothers, a girl child aint safe in a family of mens" ....THE COLOR PURPLE. Big boss says it's one of his favorites and he re-reads the book every year and watches the movie, Patrick says "it's my mom's stuff" to which I replied "shut up Patrick don't call us old" If I had any internet this weekend I would have tried to watch the movie. Who knew the color purple would bring us all together?

[AngelaHunter]

10 hours ago, madmax said:

It was a pine, so they're shallowly rooted to begin with.  I swear, the floor jumped when it hit. 

I had a huge beech tree break in half and crash to the ground during some kind of wild microburst thing. My whole house shook. The tree considerately landed in the space between my fence and the neighbour's side deck, damaging nothing. Miraculous.

25 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I don't want to raise a big stink, but I don't want to lose any trees either, and I sure as shit don't want to clean up any mess from a neighbor's trees possibly falling.   I just don't want any drama

I understand totally. I would never want any hostilities with neighours either. Does this person actually live there? I would be afraid he has no insurance and if one of his trees does major damage to your property you'll be stuck with the tab. 😟

[nachomama]

Is there a way you can check with city/county if the property is derelict? The owner of record maybe died? If there's no one actually maintaining the property you can maybe have the city/county come declare something and then you can take down the trees that are a hazard (or have them do it). Our city recently went through a whole search of public records to find properties that the owner listed is no longer alive or paying taxes etc and I guess it kinda becomes eminent domain. for us it was within city limits and the city then elects to improve upon the property so that we eliminate blight. Don't know where you live or how rural.

[Nashville]

5 hours ago, nachomama said:

Is there a way you can check with city/county if the property is derelict? The owner of record maybe died? If there's no one actually maintaining the property you can maybe have the city/county come declare something and then you can take down the trees that are a hazard (or have them do it).

Echo this.
 @icemiser69 - contact your city Codes Dept. and ask if “hazard tree” management/responsibility is currently addressed in the city property codes.  If so:

1. The Codes Dept. has legal authority to send out an inspector and assess the level of risk.
2. If they determine a credible risk exists, the city can contact the owners (they should have a record of the current owners via the property tax records) and inform them of the need to address the hazard.
3. In most cases if the property owner does not respond or address the identified problem, the city will address it and bill the property owner for the cost - so at least it’ll get taken care of somehow.

In any case:

• Any points of contention will be between the owner and the city, not the owner and you; in general I think most city departments can’t/won’t even disclose who called in a complaint.
• If the problem isn’t addressed and something happens, then at least you have it on record that you tried to get the issue addressed before it resulted in damage.  Just be sure you keep documentation of your contacts with the city.

[madmax]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

If there isn't any pain they will just prep it for a temporary cap.  Otherwise it will be a root canal which they farm out to a specialist.  Apparently root canals are handled differently now. 

My dentist only does root canals in office on certain teeth.  He did mine in office, one visit, but my husband got farmed out to another dentist 45 minutes away.  At least it was only one visit.

[nachomama]

I'm going to have to check with my dentist if I'll be able to talk on the day of my tooth thingy. I've scheduled it for 8 am on a Friday and I normally go to work on the phones at 5, I might be a slobbery mess.

I watched a truly odd movie yesterday. "The Kid Detective". I had never heard of it. It stars Adam Brody of the "California" show a few years back. I thought going in that he had "played" a kid detective on tv and now he's a washed up adult who finds himself trying to solve a real case. Sort of a dark comedy. The premise is that he was "actually" a kid detective. Somehow in this quaint Canadian town a 12 year old solves the mystery of the stolen bike and the missing cat. Kids pay him a quarter and he gets his picture in the paper. His "big" case was finding who stole the fundraising money at the school and it's a guy names "Beansy". But then his 12 year old "secretary" who he pays in "soda pop" goes missing. And it's a real burden on a 12 year old to solve a real crime. Flash forward 20 years and he's a loser and the mystery was never solved. A high school girl comes to him to solve the murder of her boyfriend who was stabbed 17 times. He thinks it's his redemption. Most of this as a dark comedy I can get behind. It's not Twin Peaks but everybody has a quirk. Ya'll it was so weird. I should say it ended so weird.

[nachomama]

Today I present "The Dumbest things I've every been threatened to be fired for" Dude sends in a picture of a baseball and they're going to make cards up to sign your name and they put them on the walls kinda like when you buy a shamrock at the grocery store, fundraiser. So I find a baseball online and the middle is white for writing your name and the name of the organization above and below. I gave him a couple of options put the name in a curve around the ball, put one in a "sports" looking font, (the original was like a calligraphy) made some words blue...you know OPTIONS. Neanderthal brother became absolutely unhinged. How dare I have a gradient in the baseball. (it's a white ball on a white background...the better to see you with my dear) was my thinking. Got rid of that. There was no line to write your name (how fucking dumb do you think people are? they won't know where to put their name in the white space in the middle) Even if these are things that you want to say "hey nix this and this" duh, I literally was just giving options and he thinks he has to "explain" to the customer what "clusterfuck" evolved. IT'S GODDAM OPTIONS YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE. The customer had not weighed in but seriously this was not something that needed to lose your shit about. I would love for the customer to choose the one that neanderthal almost had a stroke over.

I want to believe he's in such a shitty mood because his dad died a year ago. I'm sensitive to these things. I understand no one gives 2 fucks that it's also a year since my sister died but I didn't rip anyone's head off over it. But also he's just a raging dick 24/7. I'm going full time at the other job and his functionally illiterate computer self can make all the baseballs he wants by his own damn self.

[Nashville]

Been there done that.  Once back in my younger days I made a mistake on a project - nothing insurmountable, mind you; once I discovered the problem I pulled an all-nighter and got everything fixed before anybody else was even aware of it - but being a moderately honest person, I immediately informed my supervisor of the issue (and my correction of it) first thing the next day.  Jim (my supervisor at the time) was normally one of the most laid-back people you ever met, and he seemed okay with everything - then.

Fast-forward to a departmental staff meeting we were having a couple of hours later, though, and it was a totally different story.  I don’t know if one of the agency higher-ups was giving Jim some shit about the situation - or another situation entirely, even - but in the interim between my informing him of the issue and the staff meeting, Jim had gotten a MAJOR burr under his saddle and had apparently decided a public excoriation was in order.  He insisted on spending the entire staff meeting going through a postmortem of the situation - not once, not twice, not three times , but SIX TIMES.  Six times he Q&A’ed me on the problem, its potential ramifications, my corrective actions, its actual ramifications (spoiler alert: there were none), etc., etc. - and throughout each iteration he kept peppering me with “But this was your fault, right?  You did this, right? You wouldn’t have had to fix this if you hadn’t made the mistake in the first place, right?” - and so on.  Six times over.  For something over an hour.

Now, I’ll tell y’all something a couple of things about myself which may surprise some of you.  One of them is I’m Southern (SHOCKERRRR, I know) which is germane to this situation because when interpersonal conflicts arise, my automatic go-to is to try to get everybody calmed down and settled down as politely as possible.  It’s a Southern thing, but one which over the years I’ve come to understand can sometimes be confused with passive-aggressiveness - and Jim, by the way, is from San Francisco.  Another thing (which I’ve come to learn over over the years is FAR less common, especially in the workplace) is when I make a mistake I have zero problems admitting it - and in retrospect that may have been a contributing factor to Jim’s ire; I think maybe Jim kept at me because he was looking for a “gotcha!” moment when me could catch me in an evasion or a lie, and I (unwittingly) wasn’t giving him that. 

In any case, the first two or three times Jim went at me with his “gotcha” questions I simply replied, “Yes” or “yes sir.”  Iterations 4, 5, and 6 that shifted to more like “Yes - as I said before” - and I will allow my stressing on the last four words may have been gradually increasing in both emphasis and volume with each repetition (in my own defense I will simply say that at this point I had not had any sleep, I hadn’t left the building since lunch the previous day, and I’d been living on coffee and the snack machine since).  Anyway - as soon as Round 6 had been completed Jim immediately started in for Round 7, and I kinda snapped REAL Southern on him.  As it was related to me later, I said (rather loudly*) something to the effect of this: 

“Look Jim, what’s your point here, to assign blame?  That's already been done - it was my mistake, I freely admit that, none of this is your fault, it’s all totally on me.  I know that, you know that, everybody in this room knows that, I’m pretty sure [insert regional director’s name here] knows that, and by now the people in the insurance agency down the street probably know that.  So what do you want to do here - work together to get past this, or do a few more rounds of the Blame Game?  Because I have a conference call starting in about fifteen minutes, and I need to know if I should reschedule.  Or is my continued employment here no longer an issue?  Because it isn’t, tell me RIGHT NOW because I am right about done with this shit.”

Well, that was the end of the staff meeting.  And I didn’t get fired, although that’s probably the closest I’ve ever come to getting myself fired.  And Jim never tried so hard to push my buttons again.  And five people bought me lunch over the course of the next couple of weeks (still haven’t quite figured that’un out).  But absent part-time and summer jobs in college, that’s the closest I ever came to outright quitting a job.

* 99% of the time I’m more than usually soft-spoken - but in the interests of full disclosure, my father was a drill sergeant.  And I have been told every now and then (a) I can take after him vocally, and (b) the contrast between that and my normal speech can be pretty damn jarring.

[nachomama]

I am not allowed to speak in my own defense. Not even a little bit. And he's the owner with his brother, there is no HR. He spent 20 years as a bouncer and absolutely has an anger management problem. Part of me wants to entice him to hit me and then I sue him for everything he's worth. But I don't think I'd survive the hit, he was that good of a bouncer. There are legendary tales ( he doesn't remember these things but plenty of witnesses do) He picked up a giant football player from some visiting team. Like how you see in movies, lifted from the floor and physically tossed him. And he had the entire team with him that could have started some very serious shit that no single individual was capable of handling. He does black out in times such as these. He has 2 ex wives and even if he never lifted a hand against them I guarantee there was rage and intimidation. I'm the only one he can treat like that around here, his brother and mother obviously not, the other guy was someone that went to high school with him, he can yell but I think he does this because I'm female and I literally have no say. And it isn't the losing my job at this point, I want to walk out, I know I will never win, whatever the outcome he can never be wrong. It is a joke amongst us "don't poke the bear" but there is no cause to ever speak to anyone like that unless I kicked your dog.

[nachomama]

Are all teeth numbered the same? 19? it's the second from the back on my left hand side.

and...............a car hit the building again. And to be precise 3 cars. That's a total of 10 times over the years. Some girls from the neighboring catholic school ran a red light and slapped a car across the intersection into our building. We heard a loud bang and neanderthal was changing flourescent lights out and I thought he fell off the ladder. We go to look and we got 2 cars smooshed into each other and one other out in the road.

There's something about this light that people ignore. Once about 4 years ago a drunk guy drove into the building and got allllllll the way inside. the curb acted as a launch pad and he was all the way in and hit the back wall of the front room. Once he got himself out of his truck he was locked in the building. drunk as a skunk. I've been here for 4 of these, 3 minor. this one knocked over a bookcase and pushed through drywall. You can't say my life isn't interesting, it's shit, but it aint dull.

Edited October 29, 2020 by nachomama

[Mr. Sparkle]

3 hours ago, nachomama said:

I am not allowed to speak in my own defense. Not even a little bit. And he's the owner with his brother, there is no HR. He spent 20 years as a bouncer and absolutely has an anger management problem. Part of me wants to entice him to hit me and then I sue him for everything he's worth. But I don't think I'd survive the hit, he was that good of a bouncer. There are legendary tales ( he doesn't remember these things but plenty of witnesses do) He picked up a giant football player from some visiting team. Like how you see in movies, lifted from the floor and physically tossed him. And he had the entire team with him that could have started some very serious shit that no single individual was capable of handling. He does black out in times such as these. He has 2 ex wives and even if he never lifted a hand against them I guarantee there was rage and intimidation. I'm the only one he can treat like that around here, his brother and mother obviously not, the other guy was someone that went to high school with him, he can yell but I think he does this because I'm female and I literally have no say. And it isn't the losing my job at this point, I want to walk out, I know I will never win, whatever the outcome he can never be wrong. It is a joke amongst us "don't poke the bear" but there is no cause to ever speak to anyone like that unless I kicked your dog.

He sounds like a bully, and an asshole. 

[madmax]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I guess back in the day people didn't know that much about sun exposure and possible issues.

Hell no, we didn't.  I remember laying out on my kitchen roof slathered in baby oil so I could get a tan on top of my already half Hispanic complexion.

As we learned more, we slathered sunscreen on ourselves and our children, but sometimes, even that didn't help.  I remember taking my sons to the pediatrician one summer and getting yelled at because they were tan and accused of not using sunscreen.  When I told her that I put sunscreen on them almost hourly when they were outside, that they were tan because of the Hispanic genes in the family, she shut up.  But didn't apologize.

I requested to never see her in the practice again.

[Nashville]

58 minutes ago, madmax said:

I remember taking my sons to the pediatrician one summer and getting yelled at because they were tan and accused of not using sunscreen.  When I told her that I put sunscreen on them almost hourly when they were outside, that they were tan because of the Hispanic genes in the family, she shut up.  But didn't apologize.

I know it isn’t likely - not for people who aren’t as big an asshole as me, at least - but I would really really love it if your “telling her” went something along along the lines of, “They’re not TAN, you racist moron, they’re Hispanic.  What the hell are you a doctor of, literature?”

[AngelaHunter]

1 hour ago, Nashville said:

I know it isn’t likely - not for people who aren’t as big an asshole as me, at least

We don't think you're an asshole. Even if you are, we love you anyway!😄

[madmax]

3 hours ago, Nashville said:

I know it isn’t likely - not for people who aren’t as big an asshole as me, at least - but I would really really love it if your “telling her” went something along along the lines of, “They’re not TAN, you racist moron, they’re Hispanic.  What the hell are you a doctor of, literature?”

😂

Pretty close, actually.  If I recall correctly, it was something like "It's not a tan, it's heritage.  I'm half Hispanic." with lots of muttering under my breath.

[Nashville]

5 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

We don't think you're an asshole. Even if you are, we love you anyway!😄

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not generally an asshole - well... not most of the time, anyway - but I have absolutely zero problems with going there when it comes to making a point.

[AngelaHunter]

We all have our "last straw" point!

As long as you aren't this type of A-hole!😆

 

[AngelaHunter]

19 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

Over at the MeTV website they have a true false game that makes me feel incredibly stupid.  Sports is probably my best subject.

Those are tough. I love doing the MeTV quizzes!

[AngelaHunter]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I do like the quizzes, but there are some that I have no chance of answering correctly given that there are some series I just don't watch.

MeTV is obsessed with Andy Giffiths but I never watch that so can't do any of those quizzes. I prefer the Westerns ones.

[nachomama]

Anyone feeling optimistic today?

[OoohMaggie]

On 10/26/2020 at 5:35 PM, icemiser69 said:

I haven't seen Maggie's main squeeze post in awhile, I hope he is okay.

I hope you’re referring to me, I’d be happy with one squeeze of Maggie, never mind being the the main 😊

Despite a recent death in the family I’m doing Ok thanks, I’m hoping that some of the silliness and jesting  on the forum will help take my mind off things at the moment, so let the ‘snarkiness’ continue 🤗

[heisenberg]

5 hours ago, nachomama said:

Anyone feeling optimistic today?

Who ever comes in tonight, shit will still hit the fan.   No one has plans or want to change anything, so...  Same in Canada.

My favorite song of 2020 just got out 3 days ago.  Danny Elfman made lots of movie musics,  He was working with Tim Burton.  I think he nailed the feeling that a lot of people are living.
 

 

Edited November 3, 2020 by heisenberg

[OoohMaggie]

On 10/25/2020 at 4:57 AM, Nashville said:

Don’t worry about the neighbor; his/her tree or not, you have the legal right to deal with any part of it which crosses the property line as you see fit.

We have a similar rule in England, anything that overhangs your boundary from a neighbour’s can be cut back up to the boundary, but you must either deposit what has been cut back onto their land, or offer to return it to them if wanted, as it is still considered to be their property.

[nachomama]

Good to see you Maggie, sorry for your loss. I wish there were more whacky hijinks taking place. Returning cut limbs to the neighbors sounds a little passive aggressive like the 2 old guys that go out and blow leaves into each other's yards. They blew off your tree into my yard so I'm gonna blow them back into your yard for you. Until I get the tree guy it feels like squirrels hate me and they're just chucking acorns at my house. It's gotten better because I believe the bulk of them has now fallen out of the tree. (nuts not squirrels) Of course, if you're sleepless at night like me and you wake up wondering if the overabundance of nuts this year is due to all the squirrels having died and no one noticed...because have you seen a squirrel lately?

[OoohMaggie]

On 11/2/2020 at 1:43 AM, icemiser69 said:

Over at the MeTV website they have a true false game that makes me feel incredibly stupid.  Sports is probably my best subject.

I got up to eight, I was stumped by the fact that Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay on Flatulence 🤔 who knew 😭

[Nashville]

50 minutes ago, OoohMaggie said:

I got up to eight, I was stumped by the fact that Benjamin Franklin wrote an essay on Flatulence 🤔 who knew 😭

Ben’s wife, no doubt.

[nachomama]

Perhaps Ben Franklin not only flew the key to catch lightning but also invented the Dutch Oven? I've heard he had the Syphillis and frequented the bordellos. Weird, cuz he was so hawt.

[Nashville]

1 hour ago, nachomama said:

Perhaps Ben Franklin not only flew the key to catch lightning but also invented the Dutch Oven? I've heard he had the Syphillis and frequented the bordellos. Weird, cuz he was so hawt.

Can’t judge yesterday by today’s standards.  “Skinny = sexy” wasn’t really a big thing until the early/mid 20th century.  Prior to that, being inordinately thin was more associated with either disease or a lack of prosperity than anything else; only the well-to-to could afford to eat enough to pack on any extra poundage - and fat = rich.

And rich, incidentally, has always equated to “hawt”.  😁

[nachomama]

I do not diss him for being rotund. My friend keeps telling me I'm attracted to a "dad bod" because she likes super skinny people like Jeff Goldblum and Adrian Brody. I keep telling her I will never fight her for a man. If a man looks good in skinny jeans, I don't want him. I will just keep feeding him.

[Nashville]

I don’t think Ben did the bordello thang for lack of other opportunities; the opposite, in fact - his success and celebrity had women chasing him all over.  Fact is, though, Ben frequently appreciated the gratification of physical desire without accompanying emotional entanglement; purely a guess on my part, but IMHO he appreciated the simplicity of the arrangement.

[OoohMaggie]

17 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

It is always sad to lose loved ones,  It is nice to here that you are doing okay.

Thanks, unfortunately it was the one I was dreading most of all, she went peacefully though and I was there at the end which helped a lot.

18 hours ago, nachomama said:

Of course, if you're sleepless at night like me and you wake up wondering if the overabundance of nuts this year is due to all the squirrels having died and no one noticed...because have you seen a squirrel lately?

Thank you and yes I have, I live in one of the few places in the UK where our native Red Squirrel is managing to maintain a healthy colony. Our pesky Victorian ancestors chose to import the dreaded Grey from North America, which carry the Squirrel Pox that has devastated our lovely Reds 🐿️

Edited November 4, 2020 by OoohMaggie

[OoohMaggie]

Can anyone explain, simply, the College electoral vote system please.

[Mr. Sparkle]

31 minutes ago, OoohMaggie said:

Thanks, unfortunately it was the one I was dreading most of all, she went peacefully though and I was there at the end which helped a lot.

I'm very sorry for your loss. My condolences. 

25 minutes ago, OoohMaggie said:

Can anyone explain, simply, the College electoral vote system please.

Without any political commentary: Every state gets a certain number of electoral votes based on that state's population. Whoever gets the most votes in that state gets all of that state's electoral votes (except for 2 states.) The candidate with the most electoral votes wins the election. 

[AngelaHunter]

OoohMaggie - my sympathies on the loss of your mother.😟

[OoohMaggie]

5 hours ago, Superclam said:

I'm very sorry for your loss. My condolences. 

 

3 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

OoohMaggie - my sympathies on the loss of your mother.😟

Thank you both very much, it’s much appreciated. 😊

Nachomama,                                                                                                                                                                                                                          I appreciate the effort but you lost me in the first two lines I’m afraid 🤕

Superclam,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                So it’s who gets to 270 electoral votes? I think it was the use of ‘College’ which added to my confusion, if it’s not too complicated, what happens in the other two states?

Edited November 4, 2020 by OoohMaggie

[Mr. Sparkle]

It's called the Electoral College. I don't know why. 270 votes is half, so that's what you need to win. Two states (Nebraska and Maine) divide their electoral votes proportionately, so a candidate can get a portion of the votes. They are small states, so they don't get a lot of votes. 

If a candidate in California wins the popular vote by 100, then that candidate gets all 55 electoral votes. 

[Nashville]

8 hours ago, OoohMaggie said:

Can anyone explain, simply, the College electoral vote system please.

I’ll give it a shot: 😄

1. The legislative branch of the U. S. government consists of two Houses, if you will: the “lower” House of Representatives (frequently referred to simply as “Congress”), and the “upper” Senate.  Each state has representation in each of these Houses, but on a different basis in each.  
2. The basis of Congress is representation of the general population, to ensure (theoretically) individual citizens have their voice in government.  There are currently 435 Representatives, each representing roughly 1/435th of the national general population.  Each state is apportioned a certain number of these Reps according to the state’s share of the general population.
3. The basis of the Senate is representation of the individual states, to ensure our nation’s legislative processes are not rendered totally subordinate to a “mob rule” imposed by a few heavily-populated states.  There are 100 Senators - two for each of the 50 states.
4. The Electoral College is a still-functioning artifact from the earliest days of our Constitution, when near-instantaneous communications were not yet even a dream.  Each state has a number of “electors” equal to its # of Representatives + # of Senators - 538 electors in total.
5. When the Electoral College meets, the electors travel to the meeting and are pledged to vote - or are supposed to, anyway - in representation of the way their state’s citizens voted.  A simple majority (>50%) of the Electoral College votes wins the Electoral College, and therefore the Presidency.  
6. Half of the 538 electors would be 269 - so the first candidate to acquire 270 or more electoral votes wins.

[Mr. Sparkle]

^ Much better said. 

[Nashville]

Chris Cuomo just quoted XTC lyrics on a live broadcast; at this moment, he is my hero.

[OoohMaggie]

13 hours ago, Nashville said:

I’ll give it a shot: 😄

Thanks, I’ll file that away. Even though I hate politics it’s actually quite exciting to watch.

 

Edited November 5, 2020 by OoohMaggie

[OoohMaggie]

After managing to earn a few quid following enforced closure, pubs, bars, restaurants, cinemas etc, are having to close again for a month because our new lockdown started today. Only essential travel allowed ‘yeah right’, most shops shut, queues outside supermarkets again, just in time for winter.

I wonder how many people are dying because they can’t see a bloody Doctor 🤬

The pubs  were virtually giving beer away last night.

[raven]

Hey everyone,

While your discussion of the mechanics of the electoral college is fine, posts have been removed that talk about politicians, which is a violation of our Politics Policy.   Talking about politicians, political parties, the US election, etc. in this topic is a violation of the policy.  Please read it before posting and PM @nodorothyparker or @raven if you have any questions.

[AngelaHunter]

12 hours ago, OoohMaggie said:

I wonder how many people are dying because they can’t see a bloody Doctor 

I don't know but I would imagine someone who might be dying can get in to an ER. I saw two doctors in the last two weeks, in person (all of us masked of course)which really suprised me, but my GP just phoned me which was okay since it was only to give me results of blood tests.

12 hours ago, OoohMaggie said:

most shops shut, queues outside supermarkets again, just in time for winter.

It was better in spring and summer. With flowers blooming, birds singing and being able to get outside and sit in the sunshine made all this fade to an extent and gave us some sense of normalacy, but the coming of winter with freezing temps, darkness descending when it's not even 5:00p.m. and the prospect of again standing in the frigid wind and blowing snow, waiting in line at a grocery store is causing much distress to many people, especially when we thought  - hoped - it would all be over now.😕

On 11/3/2020 at 3:47 PM, nachomama said:

If a man looks good in skinny jeans, I don't want him.

I'm with you there!😄

[OoohMaggie]

10 hours ago, AngelaHunter said:

I don't know but I would imagine someone who might be dying can get in to an ER

Sorry I was rather vague, I meant all those who aren’t getting diagnosed or treated for cancer, heart disease, depression etc. You can’t go and see a GP, they won’t come out to you, they are relying upon video conferencing. Routine operations are just cancelled, people are living with pain and debilitating illnesses and conditions. They don’t want the hospital beds taken up in case we have another major outbreak. If my Mother had been taken into hospital she would have died on her own as I would not have been allowed into the hospital to stay with her, the whole thing is just a complete shit show.

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by OoohMaggie