Small Talk: "I'll Take Non-Show Chat For $400, Alex."

[Prevailing Wind]

When I took RBG on my Road Trip, I left her gavel at home, sure I'd lose it.  Turns out, I could've used it the second night out - I was in a crab shack featuring all you can eat - everybody in the place was beating on their food with wee hammers.

Likewise, in fear of losing it, I'm letting Dr. F. wear his mask all the time.

[shapeshifter]

9 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

Likewise, in fear of losing it, I'm letting Dr. F. wear his mask all the time.

Keeping Dr. Fauci masked out of fear of something bad happening is very meta.

I hope there will be a day when you feel your Dr. Fauci no longer needs his mask 😷 and I no longer feel the need to wear one. 🤞

[saber5055]

PW, I still remember RBG's reaction to that hot dog dinner you bought in, I think, West Virginia.

I hope Dr. Fauci is as caring about your meals.

[Clanstarling]

11 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

I hope there will be a day when you feel your Dr. Fauci no longer needs his mask 😷 and I no longer feel the need to wear one. 🤞

Don't we all. But when that day comes, I'll still be wearing one to doctor's visits. I always hated waiting for my appointment in a room full of sick people!

[illdoc]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

Don't we all. But when that day comes, I'll still be wearing one to doctor's visits. I always hated waiting for my appointment in a room full of sick people!

My sister & her husband have been wearing one on planes for years!

[Prevailing Wind]

It was a truck stop in Pennsylvania...

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, Prevailing Wind said:

It was a truck stop in Pennsylvania...

Thank you for reposting that hysterical photo. It made me laugh all over again. Yes, I laughed with every part of my body! (That meal does look delicious though, RBG's reaction not withstanding.)

I LOVE wearing my mask and was happy when Illinois mandated masks must be worn inside all buildings, regardless. I look 10 zillion times better with my mask on as opposed to off, and would be delighted to wear one forever, until the end of time. Well, my time anyway.

[Prevailing Wind]

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

Thank you for reposting that hysterical photo. It made me laugh all over again. Yes, I laughed with every part of my body! (That meal does look delicious though, RBG's reaction not withstanding.)

I aim to please.

Edited October 7, 2021 by Prevailing Wind

[saber5055]

I had been a downhill skier for many years when I got my first cross-country skis. Living in the country, I figured it would be a snap to ski over to my boyfriend's house some three or four miles away. In my mind, I was shwooshing down those snow-filled country roads, breezing along like the wind.

So I put on my skis in the front yard ... and I was puffing so hard by the time I got down my driveway to the mailbox, I took the skis off and walked back to the house. And drove to my BF's house.

Later though, I got the hang of it and spent many hours in state parks on groomed and ungroomed trails. It's SO much fun, and can be done w/o buying an expensive lift ticket. I'd take my rifle along but not sure the park police would approve of that accessory.

[shapeshifter]

Sending in the clowns (great song, BTW) from the main thread:

16 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Clown? Clown!?!?? How could TALES OF HORROR for $200 "...menaced not by 'Scarecrow in a Cornfield' but worse, this smiley creature 'In a Cornfield'" be a TS???

After reading the remarks below, I want to give a little context to my remark above: I was too nervous as a child to read my older sister's Nancy Drew books because of the scary covers. Advertisements on our B&W TV for Walt Disney's The Shaggy Dog movie terrified me because of animals and people morphing into each other. So. No. I have not read It, nor seen any movies based on it, or read any of Stephen King (although I follow him on Twitter). And I didn't live in a home with a TV from 1970-1996. So my knowledge of coulrophobia is derived via osmosis from popular culture and acquaintances. 
To be continued below...

16 hours ago, saber5055 said:

This is how. Not exactly fear inducing. Plus I've never heard of a clown in a cornfield, and all my closest neighbors are cornfields.

2 hours ago, Clanstarling said:

Clearly you haven't seen IT. No cornfield, but a very scary clown, and I'm not even phobic about clowns like some people are. So I just pictured IT in a cornfield. (the latest IT, that is, Tim Curry was more campy than scary)

1 hour ago, saber5055 said:

I not only read "It" I own the book, and I saw the movie, yes. But Pennywise never went near a cornfield, in the movie or the book. So I have no idea where the writers got their idea for that (stupid) clue. Oh yeah, maybe because MR is not only the EP, he's one of the writers. That explains a lot of cr*p clues lately, and the stupid FJ rulings.

I don't have any problem with clowns, I don't see what freaks people out about them. Same with the word "moist." I just don't get it. Now if Jeopardy wants to talk about CHILDREN of the Corn, those kids were WAY creepy and more scary than any clown, and I remember being afraid to walk or even drive past cornfields when anyone would bring up those corn children. In fact, that was my answer to that clue. (Except they never smiled.)

19 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I had to look it up, but apparently there is a recent book and move called Clown in a Cornfield. So, it does come from somewhere (I'm all for blaming MR though). I didn't know that, but I put my two creepy King stories together somehow. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clown_in_a_Cornfield

I don't have a problem with clowns, but I do have a theory about why they creep people out. Their real faces are disguised by all that white and red makeup, so there is no way of knowing what their expressions really are. So I can get how they are scary to some.

Sorry about the the way I phrased the commenet, I was going to rewrite it, but it was early (my excuse for everything). I've owned at least 3 versions of the novel and watched every version. I gave my daughter my hardback as a Christmas present. IT is a thing with us.

She wore me down when she was  pre-teen (extremely persistent, a good trait now that she's out of the house)  and I finally said "fine, read it" and she scared herself silly. That's what passes as a heartwarming family story here. We had a great time going to see the first IT movie together awhile back, and the ticket is on my wall. I'm sentimental about the weirdest things.

 

...(continued from above)
Here's an oil painting portrait I did of a friend in the Halloween costume she sewed and painted circa 1977, before I knew about King's It or people being afraid of clowns. Mom had a collection of pretty, cute, ceramic clowns in her guest bathroom. Nothing scary about them. Anyway, my middle daughter in NYC has this painting up, and uses it as her "litmus test" when meeting new people. If they think it's cool, they can be her friend. Otherwise, not:

 

 

[saber5055]

I hope your daughter doesn't mind adding me to her friend list. I grew up with Clarabell (and Howdy) and think clowns are great. Even the ones who honk horns to speak. I would LMAO if I saw one in a cornfield.

A few years ago I had a horse in a training barn that sat back from the highway with cornfields all along the lane to the barn. I'd go on weekends to see my horse and watch the trainer work other horses. Then we'd all go to lunch, and we'd have a hilarious time telling the trainer, Kenny, an older man, that children were in the corn and would come out and grab him out of the vehicle when we were driving into town to eat. We did it every weekend to him and had the same hilarious results every time. Telling him clowns were in the cornfield would not have had the same effect.

Edited October 9, 2021 by saber5055

[Trey]

I love your painting, @shapeshifter - that is a very cool clown, not scary at all. 

I am meh on clowns.  They don't scare me but I don't really think they are funny either - except when dozens of them come pouring out of a small car - that's hilarious.

[shapeshifter]

54 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

I hope your daughter doesn't mind adding me to her friend list.

Well, at least you passed the first test! LOL. For someone who has to walk past rats to get into her Chinatown apartment, she's pretty snobby.

 

53 minutes ago, Trey said:

I love your painting, @shapeshifter - that is a very cool clown, not scary at all. 

Thanks!
And: I know! Not scary at all. 🤡
Except to people who have a fear of clowns. 🤷‍♀️

[saber5055]

2 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

For someone who has to walk past rats to get into her Chinatown apartment, she's pretty snobby.

I know some dogs that can take care of that problem for her.

My biggest takeaway from SF's Chinatown were the ducks and chickens hanging by their heads in the store windows, minus feathers of course.

[shapeshifter]

21 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

My biggest takeaway from SF's Chinatown were the ducks and chickens hanging by their heads in the store windows, minus feathers of course.

In 1930s Brooklyn and Perth Amboy, my dad remembered his mom plucking chickens in the bathtub. I'm guessing they had to be slaughtered by someone with the correct religious credentials so as to be Kosher. So no trips to China town for dinner. Or maybe they were just less expensive with feathers than without (Depression era immigrants with 5 kids + grandma.)

Edited October 9, 2021 by shapeshifter

[saber5055]

For @ams1001

[ams1001]

4 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

For @ams1001

Edited October 11, 2021 by ams1001

[saber5055]

If I could remember what month it is much less what day, that would have been more timely. Hope it was a good one. Translation: Cake and ice cream!

[Mindthinkr]

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian viewers. 

[Prevailing Wind]

Even though I retired from the vet's office, I still have a few months' worth of invoices to audit. I promised to do it, and I will, however late...

And looking at the goofy "breed" names (Morkie?) I thought of Saber's input back in the season 37 thread; "...Any dog not of pure parentage is a mongrel/mutt . These "designer" dogs are nothing more than mongrels and the bane of veterinarians who have to attend to their multiple genetic problems and diseases."

Thinking about this, it probably IS a help, though, to the vet to know the alleged parentage for those very breed-specific genetic weaknesses. You might be more likely to zero in on Addison's disease if you know the dog's part poodle and not spend time testing for other problems until the Addison's test comes back negative.

...But I'm still not buying there's a "breed" called Morkie.

[saber5055]

20 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian viewers. 

To honour our Canadian friends and their special holiday, I have to ask: How do you keep Canadian bacon from curling in the pan?

Answer: Take away their brooms.

You're welcome.

Edited October 12, 2021 by saber5055
to is not do

[dcalley]

@ams1001 said

Quote

I have regular glasses and sunglasses (which I can't drive with because the prescription is off, now). The regular ones are progressives and cost 400 bucks so I am fine with one. (The sunglasses are just for distance so they cost less, at least.)

Though I suppose they could be wearing contacts for vision correction and just get frames with plain lenses for fun.

I have contacts that are "multi-focal" (supposed to correct for presbyopia in addition to my nearsightedness), but I still frequently need reading glasses on top of them. It's frustrating. I also wear Rx glasses sometimes and use Fitovers sunglasses with them. I swear they were $25 when I bought them, but now they seem to be $40 and up. And of course I can wear them by themselves as regular sunglasses when I'm wearing the contacts. 

[Clanstarling]

2 hours ago, dcalley said:

@ams1001 said

I have contacts that are "multi-focal" (supposed to correct for presbyopia in addition to my nearsightedness), but I still frequently need reading glasses on top of them. It's frustrating. I also wear Rx glasses sometimes and use Fitovers sunglasses with them. I swear they were $25 when I bought them, but now they seem to be $40 and up. And of course I can wear them by themselves as regular sunglasses when I'm wearing the contacts. 

Cool. I just might buy some. Thanks.

[chessiegal]

I tried the far/near contact lenses and abandoned them after 2 days as they gave me terrible headaches. I had cataract surgery on both eyes this year, and the ophthalmologist offered that as an option, knowing I would still need reading glasses. I said hell no! My right eye is 20/20, but my left eye needs astigmatism correction and is 20/25. I got a prescription from the optometrist this week, but still haven't gotten it filled. She said my vision is good enough without glasses to pass the DMV eye test. I bought drug store reading glasses, and found a pair of sunglasses with bifocals on Amazon for the whopping sum of $12.99 that work great. I started wearing glasses at age 10, and now at almost 71 don't need glasses except for reading. It's wonderful!

[bankerchick]

I wore contact lenses for years for nearsightedness, then switched to the multi-focals which worked great for a few years, but eventually that stopped working so I got progressive glasses.  I'm sure that in the 70s when glasses covered your entire cheek, bifocals were probably easy to use but 15 years ago when glasses were really small, it was hard to find a pair that were large enough to even have a bifocal component at the bottom and I found my head was always tilted back so I could read and my neck was sore all the time.  At this time, I couldn't see anything more than a foot away, but had a very small window where, if I held something right up to my eyeball, I could read it.  So I pretty much had 3 pairs of glasses on the go all the time - one for distance, one for the computer and one for reading.  I was constantly switching and it didn't matter which pair I had on, it was the wrong one for what I wanted to do, so I bit the bullet and got laser surgery.  What really struck me was that while sitting in the waiting room after the procedure, I could read the crawl on the bottom of the tv, but lost the ability to see anything up close.  So now I am the woman with a pair of readers in every room in my house plus my purse and my car, and generally one perched on the end of my nose.  In other words, every 60-something woman in the world.

[zoey1996]

For years, I had mono vision contacts, one eye corrected for near sightedness, the other for far vision. When I had my cataract surgery, my nearsighted eye got a lens implant for near vision. My other eye got a lens implant for distance vision. However, my astigmatism for that eye was over corrected. Now I wear glasses with no correction on my nearvision eye, and a lens that helps with far vision.

eta: I now have the glasses as described, and the same prescription for sunglasses. Works well for me. 

Edited October 18, 2021 by zoey1996

[Caoimhe]

My sister in law had the laser surgery with one eye corrected for distance and the other for close up.  She’s been delighted ever since then that she doesn’t need any glasses.  

Because I sew and have great close up vision uncorrected I settled on wearing glasses after years of contacts (normal, multi focal, and finally monovision).  I now have one pair of fully corrected glasses in the car for driving, but an undercorrected pair to use the rest of the time which are perfect for everything else.  I look for the smallest lenses (top to bottom) that I can find, so I and read / sew close up underneath them or just take them off depending what I’m dong.

[shapeshifter]

24 minutes ago, Caoimhe said:

Because I sew and have great close up vision uncorrected I settled on wearing glasses after years of contacts (normal, multi focal, and finally monovision).  I now have one pair of fully corrected glasses in the car for driving, but an undercorrected pair to use the rest of the time which are perfect for everything else.  I look for the smallest lenses (top to bottom) that I can find, so I and read / sew close up underneath them or just take them off depending what I’m dong.

That was exactly how my eyesight was before cataract surgery in 2005 which took away my sharp, near vision, even with glasses. 
Cataract surgeons don’t seem to realize what it’s like for someone who has been very nearsighted all their lives and who has developed skills that require nearsightedness. 
 

Edited October 18, 2021 by shapeshifter

[saber5055]

3 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Cataract surgeons don’t seem to realize what it’s like for someone who has been very nearsighted all their lives and who has developed skills that require nearsightedness. 

Thanks a lot -- NOT -- for that since I have cataract surgery scheduled in two weeks.

Edited October 18, 2021 by saber5055

[Clanstarling]

17 minutes ago, saber5055 said:

Thanks a lot -- NOT -- for that since I have cataract surgery scheduled in two weeks.

Mine is on the horizon...not yet ready to be scheduled, and not bad enough for Medicare to pay for it, but it is inevitable.  I optimistically think wearing "normal" reading glasses might work for most of the things I take my glasses off for (reading), but not threading a needle. Which, to be fair, glasses on or of, it's been hard to do without the little gadget I use.

Hang in there. Except for here, everyone I've ever known who has had it thought it was miraculous.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Clanstarling

[shapeshifter]

20 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

Except for here, everyone I've ever known who has had it thought it was miraculous.

Meaning except for me. Sorry. 

[chessiegal]

Cataract surgery was a miracle for me. I'm living in a whole new world of sharp images and vibrant color. I love my HMO. My surgeries had a $30 co-pay for each eye.

[saber5055]

1 hour ago, Clanstarling said:

but not threading a needle. Which, to be fair, glasses on or of, it's been hard to do without the little gadget I use.

My mom was a voracious sewer. She used to ask me to thread her needle for her and, me a kid, thought (but never said) "What's so hard about that."

[Trey]

4 hours ago, saber5055 said:

Thanks a lot -- NOT -- for that since I have cataract surgery scheduled in two weeks.

Good luck with it.  I had mine done a couple of years ago - I still wear bifocals.  Get in a good supply of real tears eye drops; I used a lot of them post surgery.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Trey

[chessiegal]

I'm surprised to read of so many people having problems post cataract surgery. All my acquaintances have had good results like I did. 

[shapeshifter]

15 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I'm surprised to read of so many people having problems post cataract surgery. All my acquaintances have had good results like I did. 

I don’t think it’s “so many people.” 
It’s just me. 

[saber5055]

11 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

It’s just me. 

That old line again, "It's not you, it's me." *sigh*

[Clanstarling]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Meaning except for me. Sorry. 

 

11 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

I don’t think it’s “so many people.” 
It’s just me. 

I could have sworn it there was someone else. Besides, just because I've only heard good stories doesn't mean there aren't people whose results aren't quite as miraculous.

No procedure is that perfect! So I'm sure you have plenty of company, whether or not they're on this forum.

[saber5055]

10 minutes ago, Clanstarling said:

I've only heard good stories doesn't mean there aren't people whose results aren't quite as miraculous.

That's because those people are probably dead. *happy face*

[Caoimhe]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

I don’t think it’s “so many people.” 
It’s just me. 

It will be me too when the day comes.  Having been very nearsighted since the age of 7 I am so accustomed to having amazing close up vision that I can’t imagine losing it.  I remember my father struggling after his surgery (he was also nearsighted) whereas my mother who never wore glasses was thrilled to see clearly again.

Edited October 18, 2021 by Caoimhe

[Prevailing Wind]

My mom had a great experience with the first eye. The second one, not so much. If she had had those results on the first one, I'm not sure there would have been a second one.

But, like Saber suggested, she's dead, so it no longer matters.

[saber5055]

25 minutes ago, Prevailing Wind said:

But, like Saber suggested, she's dead, so it no longer matters.

That Saber is the biggest snot rag. Don't pay her any attention.

[Mindthinkr]

Just now, saber5055 said:

That Saber is the biggest snot rag. Don't pay her any attention.

But what other good friend would sit at the T42 with me and know that the poodle was the answer? 

[saber5055]

1 minute ago, Mindthinkr said:

and know that the poodle was the answer? 

When in doubt, Poodle is ALWAYS the answer!

[shapeshifter]

1 minute ago, saber5055 said:

That Saber is the biggest snot rag. Don't pay her any attention.

Anyone with surgery scheduled is entitled to be a snot rag. 
But it's probably better not to be. 😉

[Mindthinkr]

25 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Anyone with surgery scheduled is entitled to be a snot rag. 
But it's probably better not to be. 😉

Thanks. I’m scheduled for tomorrow morning! 

[saber5055]

40 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Anyone with surgery scheduled is entitled to be a snot rag. 
But it's probably better not to be. 😉

Ouch to that second sentence. BIG ouch.

Best of luck to you @Mindthinkr. I hope all goes well. Check in with us when you get home and feel better. Well wishes to you. Crossing my good-luck fingers!

[Driad]

I knew an astronomer who had cataract surgery and was pleased that with his new lens he could see some ultraviolet light.

[dcalley]

On 10/17/2021 at 8:25 PM, zoey1996 said:

For years, I had mono vision contacts, one eye corrected for near sightedness, the other for far vision.

I am new to presbyopia, and this was the first thing my eye doctor tried with me. I did not like it. Neither eye was all that great for laptop-range or closer, and I was constantly distracted by one eye being blurry for distance. It was doable but not what I wanted. <-I feel like this will be the situation with all the various "solutions."

I do like my uncorrected extremely close-up vision and should probably just do glasses. Of course I have to wait until next year for insurance reasons. And progressive glasses worry me. I don't want to have to hold my head at funny angles to see. You have to shell out so much money for glasses you may hate and then be stuck with them.

I'm pretty sure "difficult" is in my chart. 😂

Good luck to those getting surgery!

[saber5055]

29 minutes ago, dcalley said:

And progressive glasses worry me. I don't want to have to hold my head at funny angles to see.

The eye doctor talked me into progressive glasses when I had to quit wearing contacts, which I got before college. (So excellent to not have glasses anymore to fog up in winter or summer, going from cold to warm.) The progressives cost more and are a waste of time for me. I read looking straight ahead, and I either stick a pair of readers on over the glasses if I need to (which is seldom), or I take the glasses off altogether when reading anything, books, shopping lists, labels on grocery items. I've never ever used the "progressive" part of the lenses and would never get them again. YMMV!