Small Talk: We'll Be Right Back

[madmax]

8 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

She'd put a tray in front of her, tear off the proper amount of wrap, cover the meat & tuck in the wrap underneath and then run it over a hot plate just behind her work area that would melt the wrap and seal it tight.

When I worked in a deli, we had one of those that we used when we pre-sliced the sale stuff.  I wanted one so bad at home.  Still do.

[susannah]

8 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

We used them a lot for line material. In floral design you have four main components. Line like delphinium, snap daragons, etc. to give the arrangement height and scale. Then major focals like lilies, peonies and large gerbera daisies, theses anchor the arrangement and center the focus. Then miner focals like roses, iris, lisianthus, ranunculus and so on. Then you have filler flowers like babies breath, statice and other lacy things.

But I never see daffodils in bouquets! I love daffodils.

6 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

When my brother got married and the bride tossed the bouquet, it skimmed over my fingers. Someone else "caught" the bouquet, but I snagged a wee bit of Baby's Breath. I was worried about that until my doc prescribed "The Pill" for me.

 

You could have had a baby wind gust! 😃

[Haleth]

I admire anyone who can do a beautiful flower arrangement.  I consider myself pretty artistic but when I get flowers they end up looking like something left after a tornado came through.  I really need to find a lesson on Youtube.

[peacheslatour]

Quote

But I never see daffodils in bouquets! I love daffodils.

Florists don't use them unless specified. They just don't last very long. 

[susannah]

14 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Florists don't use them unless specified. They just don't last very long. 

True that, and probably that they have a very short blooming season?

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, susannah said:

True that, and probably that they have a very short blooming season?

Yes. Plus their stems don't really work in floral foam. If used at all, a vase arrangement is the only route.

[chessiegal]

I don't have an artistic bone in my body. I do appreciate florists, they can put together such lovely arrangements. I took a class many years ago on floral arrangements so now I can do something that doesn't look like a hot mess.

I belong to a social club that, back in the before times, we would have luncheons in some local restaurant. We have a member who is a retired florist. We tap on her talents to make centerpieces that don't use fresh flowers. They are raffled off for members to take home. I won one that had a beach theme and is so pretty. I still have it. Our florist member was at my home for a small meeting and noticed I had one of her centerpieces and was delighted I had it on my dining room table. It's so fun I would never throw it away.

[peacheslatour]

13 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

I don't have an artistic bone in my body. I do appreciate florists, they can put together such lovely arrangements. I took a class many years ago on floral arrangements so now I can do something that doesn't look like a hot mess.

I belong to a social club that, back in the before times, we would have luncheons in some local restaurant. We have a member who is a retired florist. We tap on her talents to make centerpieces that don't use fresh flowers. They are raffled off for members to take home. I won one that had a beach theme and is so pretty. I still have it. Our florist member was at my home for a small meeting and noticed I had one of her centerpieces and was delighted I had it on my dining room table. It's so fun I would never throw it away.

That is so sweet. Does my heart good.

[Maisiesmom]

One of the funeral homes I worked at would collect the flowers sent and put them aside for the family to pick up after their luncheon. So many families would not want their flowers (I don't know why-they are expensive) so we would donate them (we had a list of people to call). I snagged a lot of beautiful pieces (plants, too). It made my house smell so good (now I have a huge collection of vases). The only flowers I didn't care for were gladiolas (sp?) and those decorative brown mushroom looking things with the holes in them.

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Maisiesmom said:

One of the funeral homes I worked at would collect the flowers sent and put them aside for the family to pick up after their luncheon. So many families would not want their flowers (I don't know why-they are expensive) so we would donate them (we had a list of people to call). I snagged a lot of beautiful pieces (plants, too). It made my house smell so good (now I have a huge collection of vases). The only flowers I didn't care for were gladiolas (sp?) and those decorative brown mushroom looking things with the holes in them.

 

These things? I hate them too. I have that phobia about holes. I don't know what it's called.

[Tom Holmberg]

6 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

 

These things? I hate them too. I have that phobia about holes. I don't know what it's called.

It's actually a thing - Trypophobia

[Maisiesmom]

Yuck-don't like those guys lol!

[Prevailing Wind]

They're lotus seed pods.  Just glancing at trypophobia websites, they think it may stem from evolutionary behavior, protecting us from poisonous/venomous plants/animals.

[Bruinsfan]

Or just exceedingly gross ones, like that toad that carries its babies around in the holes in its back. Dodos and passenger pigeons and Tasmanian tigers we hunt to extinction, but THAT thing is left to thrive?

[peacheslatour]

5 minutes ago, Bruinsfan said:

Or just exceedingly gross ones, like that toad that carries its babies around in the holes in its back. Dodos and passenger pigeons and Tasmanian tigers we hunt to extinction, but THAT thing is left to thrive?

TIL about this cool bird. I've never seen anything like it. It's a Great Eared Nightjar.

 

[Browncoat]

The nightjars really are cool looking birds, and so good at hiding!  Perfectly camouflaged.

[Bruinsfan]

Oh yeah, I just saw something about that. How much do you want to bet the animators of How to Train Your Dragon were aware of it before the design for Toothless was settled on?

Edited January 17, 2022 by Bruinsfan

[CoderLady]

I like to imagine there are animators who were biological science majors who know all this really cool stuff and lucked into jobs where they can use their knowledge. And everyone wins.

Edited January 17, 2022 by CoderLady

[Haleth]

That is so cute!  It looks other worldly.

Edited January 17, 2022 by Haleth

[bankerchick]

On 1/12/2022 at 3:37 PM, susannah said:

I worked in call center customer service for a few years, and talk about abuse. It boggled the mind.

People will say things to you on the phone that they would never dream of saying to your face.  I worked in a call centre as a Resource officer, taking second level calls from front line specialists working in the same department.  New hires were often snarky to us, not realizing they were likely to see me half an hour later in the lunchroom.  And once they did meet us, their whole attitude changed when they called.  (At least to my face; I'm sure there were lots of comments behind my back about what a bitch I was.  But you know what?  If they needed the right answer or to have someone explain something to them so they could understand it, it was usually me they wanted to speak to.)

[peacheslatour]

5 minutes ago, bankerchick said:

People will say things to you on the phone that they would never dream of saying to your face.  I worked in a call centre as a Resource officer, taking second level calls from front line specialists working in the same department.  New hires were often snarky to us, not realizing they were likely to see me half an hour later in the lunchroom.  And once they did meet us, their whole attitude changed when they called.  (At least to my face; I'm sure there were lots of comments behind my back about what a bitch I was.  But you know what?  If they needed the right answer or to have someone explain something to them so they could understand it, it was usually me they wanted to speak to.)

That's why I love these online chats they have now. We needed a new cable box and I did an online chat and got a service call scheduled with no fuss, no muss. Very civil all the way around. But when the technician got here, he in full sales mode. I tried to shut him down but he was just going to barrel right over me. But I kept resisting. Finally my DH got home and I could see the relief roll over the guys face. He seemed to be thinking "this silly little woman doesn't understand the complexities of what I'm trying to explain to her." We anted to keep our old remote, that is all. My DH came and he went after him. After my husband stopped him  cold, we ended up saving money and keeping our old remotes. They work perfectly and we don't want a bunch of on demand crap. As my husband was walking him to his truck he goes "this was the hardest call I've ever made." We call my husband "The Hammer", Not because he's a big bad, he's actually very small and soft spoken but he does not give up. 

[Haleth]

That is awesome, Peaches.

[EtheltoTillie]

On 1/12/2022 at 3:37 PM, susannah said:

I worked in call center customer service for a few years, and talk about abuse. It boggled the mind.

Responding late here, but you deserve a medal.  That must be very hard work.  Having been a frustrated customer, I can only imagine what you have to go through.  I can't say I've always been restrained.  I think the call center reps are so restricted in what they can do, it just pisses off the customers, especially when the call center employees try to "apologize," and so on.   The customers know they are being double-talked, and the workers are caught in the middle. 

[peacheslatour]

17 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Responding late here, but you deserve a medal.  That must be very hard work.  Having been a frustrated customer, I can only imagine what you have to go through.  I can't say I've always been restrained.  I think the call center reps are so restricted in what they can do, it just pisses off the customers, especially when the call center employees try to "apologize," and so on.   The customers know they are being double-talked, and the workers are caught in the middle. 

As I said, those online chats work a treat. There is no tone of voice, no one talks over anyone else and it's always been an excellent experience for me every time I've had that option.

[Leeds]

On 1/12/2022 at 11:28 AM, EtheltoTillie said:

I always enjoyed watching the professional wrappers in the department stores.  They had such economy of movement and materials. 

I lived in Japan for a while, and the gift wrapping in the dept stores was unbelievable - exquisite paper beautifully wrapped - and no tape used!  (Uwajamaya here in the Pac NW does the same.)

 

On 1/12/2022 at 8:03 PM, Bastet said:

I'm at about 70% gift bags and 30% wrapping.  I think gift bags, being reusable, are a more responsible choice, but I think wrapping - incorporating some decorative items in place of bows we've been re-using in my family most of my life - shows an effort I don't want to eliminate entirely.  So where something is by its natural shape or included packaging something that easily lends itself to wrapping, I make the presentation special, and the rest I toss in a gift bag with some color-coordinated tissue paper.

Our frugal family used to save Christmas cards and cut them up for the following year's gift tags.  A hole punch and leftover wool from my mum's last project, and Bob's your Uncle.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 19, 2022 by Leeds
A whole lot of quoted stuff that somehow ended up in my response.

[susannah]

31 minutes ago, Leeds said:

Our frugal family used to save Christmas cards and cut them up for the following year's gift tags.  A hole punch and leftover wool from my mum's last project, and Bob's your Uncle.

That's a great idea. I always like the idea of reusing things, and Christmas cards are so pretty. Also, you can make them the size you want, etc.

55 minutes ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Responding late here, but you deserve a medal.  That must be very hard work.  Having been a frustrated customer, I can only imagine what you have to go through.  I can't say I've always been restrained.  I think the call center reps are so restricted in what they can do, it just pisses off the customers, especially when the call center employees try to "apologize," and so on.   The customers know they are being double-talked, and the workers are caught in the middle. 

Thank you. It was very difficult work, and we were extremely constrained in what we could say, and do. I was very glad to get out of it.

[dleighg]

41 minutes ago, Leeds said:

Our frugal family used to save Christmas cards and cut them up for the following year's gift tags.  A hole punch and leftover wool from my mum's last project, and Bob's your Uncle.

this year I mostly used those "nice" handled paper bags with a bit of ribbon. I think my family was somewhat bemused that the bottom of our Christmas tree looked like a brown forest, LOL.

[janie jones]

On 1/18/2022 at 2:34 PM, bankerchick said:

People will say things to you on the phone that they would never dream of saying to your face.  I worked in a call centre as a Resource officer, taking second level calls from front line specialists working in the same department.  New hires were often snarky to us, not realizing they were likely to see me half an hour later in the lunchroom.  And once they did meet us, their whole attitude changed when they called.  (At least to my face; I'm sure there were lots of comments behind my back about what a bitch I was.  But you know what?  If they needed the right answer or to have someone explain something to them so they could understand it, it was usually me they wanted to speak to.)

Wait, you worked in a call center where the callers were your own coworkers?

I worked in a call center, and I hated it. People would call about things that had nothing to do with my company (but were sort of adjacent), and they'd get huffy if you'd say their issue was out of your purview. Or, like, it's our fault that their mail got stolen and they didn't receive something that was sent.

But I could write a 30 volume series recounting situations from my years in customer service in which customers were indignant about complete nonsense.

The only time I've been short with call center people is when I have to call customer service on behalf of customers at the store I currently work at. Because sometimes they'll say they can't do something, and you know they can, because you've made this call dozens of times, and this is how this problem is supposed to be solved. Or they say something completely contrary to how it actually works in the store. Sometimes you just have to end the call and call back to talk to a different person.

[bankerchick]

22 minutes ago, janie jones said:

Wait, you worked in a call center where the callers were your own coworkers?

Well, yes and no.  The call centre was for branches of our bank to call if they had questions about policies or procedures.  If the person who took the call couldn't answer the question, or the situation needed to be elevated to another department, they would call my team, which as a rule was more experienced and could handle more complex issues.  We cleared most of the calls, or looked after getting the issue to the people who could deal with it (e.g. legal.)

[Leeds]

 

On 1/19/2022 at 2:43 PM, dleighg said:

this year I mostly used those "nice" handled paper bags with a bit of ribbon. I think my family was somewhat bemused that the bottom of our Christmas tree looked like a brown forest, LOL.

I used to have fun with my children using ink pads and stamps to "decorate/personalize" the bags (they were young and I have no artistic talent).

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Leeds said:

 

I used to have fun with my children using ink pads and stamps to "decorate/personalize" the bags (they were young and I have no artistic talent).

Stencils are good for those of us with no artistic ability.

[susannah]

5 hours ago, Leeds said:

 

I used to have fun with my children using ink pads and stamps to "decorate/personalize" the bags (they were young and I have no artistic talent).

Using ink pads and stamps is being creative, and personalizing the bags is too! There are lots of different ways to be artistic.

[Leeds]

21 minutes ago, susannah said:

Using ink pads and stamps is being creative, and personalizing the bags is too! There are lots of different ways to be artistic.

You're very kind, as were the doting grandparents.

[mmecorday]

I keep seeing ads on TV for the the Luminess Breeze airbrush makeup kit. It looks like it would be a fabulous alternative to conventional foundation and powder, but I'm just wondering -- how do you keep it from getting in your hair, your eyes and your clothes? The women demonstrating the product say "it goes where you want it to go."

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, mmecorday said:

I keep seeing ads on TV for the the Luminess Breeze airbrush makeup kit. It looks like it would be a fabulous alternative to conventional foundation and powder, but I'm just wondering -- how do you keep it from getting in your hair, your eyes and your clothes? The women demonstrating the product say "it goes where you want it to go."

And it looks like it would take many coats. 

[madmax]

1 hour ago, mmecorday said:

I keep seeing ads on TV for the the Luminess Breeze airbrush makeup kit. It looks like it would be a fabulous alternative to conventional foundation and powder, but I'm just wondering -- how do you keep it from getting in your hair, your eyes and your clothes? The women demonstrating the product say "it goes where you want it to go."

 

35 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

And it looks like it would take many coats. 

It's not a super-wide spray, it's pretty focused.  And you get used to doing it.  The first few times I used mine, I did get some overspray, but it didn't take long to get the hang of it.  And it takes a few coats, but you don't look like you've pancaked the shit on your face.

Of course, mine is now in the cabinet collecting dust since I haven't worn make-up in over two years.

[madmax]

6 hours ago, susannah said:

Again, I wonder how anyone knows just how much any individual athlete makes.

NFL Minimum Player Salary

NHL Minimum Salary

MLB Minimum Salary

NBA Minimum Salary

And that's just the minimum they can receive, anywhere from $600K to $975K.  Star players (or even just more established players) get much much more, which is also easily found on Google.  Granted, to most of us, that's a fortune.  But they have a lot of expenses - agent, manager, training, etc. and many of them have no idea how to manage money or even have an education to fall back on.

So I don't begrudge them any advertising opportunities they want.  Except Peyton Manning and Shaquile O'Neal.  Because they both made insane money and they're both media whores, shilling anything and everything.

But I do understand the repetition of the commercials on certain channels getting on someone's nerves.  Luckily, not my channels. 🙂

 

[Tom Holmberg]

On 1/25/2022 at 9:56 AM, mmecorday said:

I keep seeing ads on TV for the the Luminess Breeze airbrush makeup kit. It looks like it would be a fabulous alternative to conventional foundation and powder, but I'm just wondering -- how do you keep it from getting in your hair, your eyes and your clothes? The women demonstrating the product say "it goes where you want it to go."

I always wonder if you could use it for spray painting for hobby projects. Cheaper and more compact than a real spray paint compressor.

[CrazyInAlabama]

They use airbrush for wall art, cake and pastry decorating, as well as makeup.    It's a fairly versatile tool.  

[peacheslatour]

12 minutes ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

They use airbrush for wall art, cake and pastry decorating, as well as makeup.    It's a fairly versatile tool.  

Stands to reason.

[Leeds]

On 1/23/2022 at 7:44 AM, peacheslatour said:

Stencils are good for those of us with no artistic ability.

I remember the little Dover stencil books were great for young children and their artistically challenged parents.  They are pretty cheap and since the pages are small, doing a page is manageable and not overwhelming.  They would be good for party favours, too, if you do those, and for long journeys.

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, Leeds said:

I remember the little Dover stencil books were great for young children and their artistically challenged parents.  They are pretty cheap and since the pages are small, doing a page is manageable and not overwhelming.  They would be good for party favours, too, if you do those, and for long journeys.

My DH built a castle for our kitten out of Amazon boxes because we have to do something with them. I got some stencils of flowers, birds and butterflies to decorate it with . Very inexpensive with some acrylic paints. I'm looking forward to it since I'm stuck inside (it's supposed to snow next week.)

[Suzn]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

My DH built a castle for our kitten out of Amazon boxes because we have to do something with them. I got some stencils of flowers, birds and butterflies to decorate it with . Very inexpensive with some acrylic paints. I'm looking forward to it since I'm stuck inside (it's supposed to snow next week.)

I'm gonna need pictures!

[peacheslatour]

3 minutes ago, Suzn said:

I'm gonna need pictures!

Ugh. I'm having trouble with my Imgur account. For some reason they don't recognize my email anymore.

[EtheltoTillie]

Also, you owe cat tax, @peacheslatour

 

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Also, you owe cat tax, @peacheslatour

 

Imgur and I are fighting right now. I will  try to find a way!

[proserpina65]

On 1/14/2022 at 3:36 PM, peacheslatour said:

 

These things? I hate them too. I have that phobia about holes. I don't know what it's called.

ARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!  Those things freak me out!!

[Maisiesmom]

Me too! I recently saw some photos on Facebook about woodpeckers storing nuts for the winter. They make holes in a tree trunk, then place the nuts inside to be eaten when needed. That icked me out almost as bad!

[smittykins]

21 hours ago, proserpina65 said:

ARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!  Those things freak me out!!

I remember banner ads of images of the pods that were Photoshopped onto pictures of women’s breasts to make people think that larvae were “feeding on breast tissue.”(freak-out alert).

[peacheslatour]

^^^^^NOPE!