Small Talk: We'll Be Right Back

[Prevailing Wind]

13 hours ago, bankerchick said:

I had both shots a few years ago.  No reaction at all to the first shot.  I felt like my arm was broken after the second one.  It was sore for a few days.  As compared to my covid vaxx last week where I had trouble believing the needle had even gone into my arm.

I had the same experience.

[Prevailing Wind]

3 hours ago, nokat said:

I would go to this huge three story mall and spend all day there. Food court food.  I now have nightmares where I can't find my out of a huge shopping mall.

My anxiety dream (besides the school/I don't know my locker combo one) is I'm at some carnival and go with a friend into the funhouse - and I get stuck because I'm too damn fat. Encouragingly, I haven't had that dream since I started a serious weight-loss regime (pre-covid)..

[nokat]

2 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

My anxiety dream (besides the school/I don't know my locker combo one) is I'm at some carnival and go with a friend into the funhouse - and I get stuck because I'm too damn fat. Encouragingly, I haven't had that dream since I started a serious weight-loss regime (pre-covid)..

Do we ever get rid of the locker one? Or where to find a classroom? They do occur when I'm feeling stress.

[Gramto6]

39 minutes ago, nokat said:

Do we ever get rid of the locker one? Or where to find a classroom? They do occur when I'm feeling stress.

I'm 72 and still have the locker dreams or can't find the classroom. Never thought these were somehow indigenous...

[Annber03]

I personally can't recall ever having a "can't find the classroom"/"my way out of a store" type of dream. My recurring stress dream, as it were, involves me trying to crawl across a road-sometimes it's downtown, sometimes it's a rural road out in the countryside-and I'm crawling really slow and struggling to make it across in time before any cars or whatever drive by. And it always leaves me a bit tense afterward. Thankfully, at least, it's not a dream I have too often. 

[Prevailing Wind]

On the other hand, I don't have that naked in front of everybody dream very often.

[nokat]

I have the one where I'm trying to run away from a bear (no idea why) and it's like running through molasses to get to my door.

[cynicat]

15 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I did not know you could get the shingles vaccine if you had already had them.

You can totally get it again.  Multiple times!  @Browncoat, I can sympathize because I had it on my face too, and could literally trace the path of my facial nerve by the blisters.  I walked into work and everyone took one look at me and said GO HOME.

It hurt like a motherfucker.

[janie jones]

My high school dreams involve me not knowing where to park and/or not having a parking permit. I never drove to school in real life.

[Bruinsfan]

Sadly I can't go shopping at the mall because my city's mall was destroyed by a tornado a bit over a year ago. I guess I should be thankful that the Target at one end of it is still in operation. I miss the Auntie Anne's and Barnes & Noble, though.

[nokat]

1 hour ago, Bruinsfan said:

Sadly I can't go shopping at the mall because my city's mall was destroyed by a tornado a bit over a year ago. I guess I should be thankful that the Target at one end of it is still in operation. I miss the Auntie Anne's and Barnes & Noble, though.

Yes, the pretzels! I miss browsing in bookstores. Cinnabons which I didn't like but the smell of cinnamon was nice. Orange Julius, back when they would add a raw egg.

Edited July 9, 2021 by nokat

[peacheslatour]

6 hours ago, nokat said:

I have the one where I'm trying to run away from a bear (no idea why) and it's like running through molasses to get to my door.

I have that one too. I also have one where I'm working my old job at the paint store and I can't remember how to write an invoice or use the till.

[susannah]

10 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

I'm 72 and still have the locker dreams or can't find the classroom. Never thought these were somehow indigenous...

I have had the one where I can't remember where my classroom is and that it is exam time and I have no idea of the material, a bunch of times.

2 hours ago, nokat said:

Yes, the pretzels! I miss browsing in bookstores. Cinnabons which I didn't like but the smell of cinnamon was nice. Orange Julius, back when they would add a raw egg.

I love browsing in bookstores. I loved Borders, but they  are gone now.

 

[smittykins]

19 hours ago, susannah said:

I love browsing in bookstores. I loved Borders, but they  are gone now.

I haven’t been to our regional mall(Fingerlakes Mall  in Auburn, NY)since Waldenbooks went under, and it’s gone WAY down in recent years(the only national retailer left is Bass Pro Shops).

[nokat]

7 hours ago, smittykins said:

I haven’t been to our regional mall(Fingerlakes Mall  in Auburn, NY)since Waldenbooks went under, and it’s gone WAY down in recent years(the only national retailer left is Bass Pro Shops).

We had said B & N, but Waldenbooks too. So many stores have gone down. It used to be Sears and a Macy's as the anchors. A JC Penney perhaps.

[SoMuchTV]

12 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I guess Cozi will also be airing 3rd Rock from the Sun, which I can watch on occasion, but is impossible for me to binge due to the over-the-top characters.   Plus, the title of just about every episode comes off as childish.

LOL  I always did like 3rd Rock and I enjoy seeing what the stars pop up in. And I promise I'm not a 12-year-old boy but I do get a kick out of the episode names.

[madmax]

10 hours ago, smittykins said:

I haven’t been to our regional mall(Fingerlakes Mall  in Auburn, NY)since Waldenbooks went under, and it’s gone WAY down in recent years(the only national retailer left is Bass Pro Shops).

The very last thing in my local mall (and for the year and half before that) was a JC Penney.  The only reason they lasted that long was that they owned the portion of the mall they were in and the store was still doing good as it was one of only 2 in the general area.  About 8 months ago, they finally closed their doors. 

[CrazyInAlabama]

A lot of former malls are finding a new purpose.   Some turn into office and medical offices, 

Another I read about is turning into the jail, police station, and administrative buildings.   With other city departments going into other former stores. 

My local indoor mall was a booming place when I moved to the area in 2003, but there isn't much left there.   There are still 4 big anchor stores, but the food court only has a few food places, and the other former stores are either shuttered, or regular stores.     The few remaining food places are complaining about the rent, and talking about closing.    There are a lot of empty spaces.    The only hair place left is in one of the department stores, and the other three are long gone.     So many retailers closed, and only a few relocated to the big outdoor mall.     I like the outdoor mall so much better.   It's safer to park in front of where you want to go, and you're not in a confined space.     In the outdoor mall it's so much closer than having to park and walk in the interior one.      Also, the outdoor mall has better big box stores, and I haven't heard of any crime issues there.   The indoor mall had a big fight a couple of years ago, over a hundred people, having a brawl right in front of the cookie place (right before a high school basketball game, with an obviously heated rivalry).     

You know the interior mall is going down, when there is very little traffic coming or going.   

[smittykins]

A former mall in Syracuse is now a multi-franchise car dealership.

Drivers Village

[madmax]

2 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

A lot of former malls are finding a new purpose.   Some turn into office and medical offices, 

UPMC, the healthcare "non-profit" that has the majority of medical work here tried to buy the mall for a hospital because they didn't have one in the South Hills, but the other, smaller health system, AGH, that does have a hospital in the South Hills blocked them.  So UPMC built a smaller outpatient facility and the mall still sits empty.

[Prevailing Wind]

We had a developer who had designs to convert the defunct mall into a multi-use residential/ commercial property, with Costco being the anchor store. The county insisted on so much infrastructure to be repaired or built - stuff that had nothing to do with the old mall - the developer told them, "No, thanks."  And entropy is taking over...

[susannah]

6 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Cozi has started airing a couple of episodes of Quincy on Saturdays.  I liked the series when I was a kid, but now it is damn near impossible for me to watch due to that character's inability to climb down off of his soapbox.

I just saw today that Quincy is on now. I always liked the show and I never minded that he got on his soapbox, because he always had a good reason to be on it.

[nokat]

5 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

We had a developer who had designs to convert the defunct mall into a multi-use residential/ commercial property, with Costco being the anchor store. The county insisted on so much infrastructure to be repaired or built - stuff that had nothing to do with the old mall - the developer told them, "No, thanks."  And entropy is taking over...

Where I am Costco is so popular and brings in people from several cities away.

[Prevailing Wind]

6 minutes ago, nokat said:

Where I am Costco is so popular and brings in people from several cities away.

W really don't have one nearby. This would have been great, but the developer saw no reason to upgrade the county's sewer system for miles around the property, among other things.  We all KNOW that area next to the Saturn dealer is a flood plain and the only thing on it is a county park/wildlife refuge.  There was NO reason to expect the developer to try to mitigate the flood plain.

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, icemiser69 said:

I don't think he was in any position to judge.  Several years earlier he was a very messy person, couldn't get along with his room mate, drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney, gambled a lot, and couldn't stop yelling.  In many ways, that dude was quite "odd".

He still yells, rants, and raves, as a coroner.  I guess that sports writing gig didn't work out for him after all.

And those smelly cigars and endless poker games! No wonder his room mate turned into such a neurotic.

[Bruinsfan]

A life in the closet probably didn't help with that, though he seemed to chill out a little bit when Swoosie Kurtz became his new roommate.

[susannah]

6 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

I don't think he was in any position to judge.  Several years earlier he was a very messy person, couldn't get along with his room mate, drank like a fish, smoked like a chimney, gambled a lot, and couldn't stop yelling.  In many ways, that dude was quite "odd".

He still yells, rants, and raves, as a coroner.  I guess that sports writing gig didn't work out for him after all.

See, after sports writing didn't work out, he went to medical examiner school and now he knows what he is ranting about! Quincy is very vocal for people's health and wellbeing. I really liked the episode of Crossing Jordan where he guested as an aged ME who was losing his sight.

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

And those smelly cigars and endless poker games! No wonder his room mate turned into such a neurotic.

I think Tony Randall was in real life as much of a neurotic jerk as Felix and Sidney were.

[Bastet]

On 7/11/2021 at 3:15 AM, nokat said:

Where I am Costco is so popular and brings in people from several cities away.

I'm not surprised.  I have two nearby (my neighborhood is about smack dab between the two), and, while I tend to stay away from "big box" stores, I am unashamedly a Costco member.  The company treats its employees well, the Kirkland brand puts out quality items (for example, its organic extra virgin olive oil was one of the few that came out of the UC Davis study proven to actually be 100% 1) organic 2) extra virgin 3) olive oil, and then add in the terrific price - sold!), and they provide shelf space to local brands.  Plus all those yummy free samples; I snack my way through shopping.

I work from home so have the flexibility to shop during off-peak hours; I couldn't handle the weekend or after-work crowds (and won't get up early enough to beat the rush that way).  Same with gassing up my car - what a savings, and, while sometimes I'm still unpleasantly surprised, I can usually time it so there's little wait.

Living alone, there are some things that come in too large a package for me to consume in time, but between my parents and friends, we have a good sharing system in place.

The toilet paper lasts me about six months, and I had just bought a package in January of 2020, so when COVID hit and people started losing their minds and hoarding it, I was all set through summer, when that had settled down.

Edited July 12, 2021 by Bastet

[peacheslatour]

14 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I'm not surprised.  I have two nearby, and, while I tend to stay away from "big box" stores in general, I am unashamedly a Costco member.  The company treats its employees well, the Kirkland brand puts out quality items (for example, its organic extra virgin olive oil was one of the few who came out of the UC Davis study proven to actually be 100% 1) organic 2) extra virgin 3) olive oil, and then add in the terrific price - sold!), and they provide shelf space to local brands.

I work from home so have the flexibility to shop during off-peak hours; I couldn't handle the weekend or after-work crowds (and won't get up early enough to beat the rush that way).  Same with gassing up my car - what a savings, and, while sometimes I'm still unpleasantly surprised, I can usually time it so there's little wait.

Living alone, there are some things that come in too large a package for me to consume in time, but between my parents and friends, we have a good sharing system in place.

I too love Costco. We get all of our big stuff there. TP, paper towels, garbage bags, cat litter and their olive oil is all I ever use.

[madmax]

4 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I too love Costco. We get all of our big stuff there. TP, paper towels, garbage bags, cat litter and their olive oil is all I ever use.

We had at one time both a Costco membership and a Sam's membership.  Costco beat Sam's hands down.  Better quality items, much friendlier employees and a much cleaner store.

We get all of our paper goods there.  The Kirkland brands are as good as and in some cases, better than national brands and the prices are great on most things.  Their clothing is even well made and fairly priced.  

[The Crazed Spruce]

7 hours ago, madmax said:

We get all of our paper goods there.  The Kirkland brands are as good as and in some cases, better than national brands and the prices are great on most things. 

We don't have a Costco, but the supermarket around the block from my house carries Kirkland products, and I swear by their TP and paper towels. The TP is soft and sturdy, the paper towels are strong and absorbent, and they're both inexpensive as hell. After using them for a while, any name brands are almost literally like throwing money down the drain.

[peacheslatour]

34 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I didn't know this was real a thing.  There was a teacher that I had early in the semester (the late summer/early fall) school year back in the day that you could smell before you entered the building.  The dude stunk so bad, we had to open the windows.  It was a daily stench that never went away.   It was so bad, Pepe Le Pew would have been offended.🦨

 

We had a land surveyor like that at the engineering firm I worked for. We had interns in the summers and this one poor kid had to hang her head out the truck window like a dog when she went on jobs with him.

[Bruinsfan]

Some people go noseblind or have poor senses of smell in general, and some just don't care for whatever reason.

My psuedo-nephews are in college but seem not to have mastered the art of frequent bathing and dental hygiene yet. Okay boys, spend your prime dating years as That Stinky Kid if you want to, but I know your parents taught you better than that.

[KittyMom4]

17 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

How can anyone not know they smell that bad, and why don't they try to correct the problem?

 

1 hour ago, Bruinsfan said:

Some people go noseblind or have poor senses of smell in general, and some just don't care for whatever reason.

My psuedo-nephews are in college but seem not to have mastered the art of frequent bathing and dental hygiene yet. Okay boys, spend your prime dating years as That Stinky Kid if you want to, but I know your parents taught you better than that.

I get that the person him/herself might be noseblind but what about their significant others? My brother-in-law was a high school teacher and the kids complained to other teachers about his stench, swampass and bad breath, the school counselor finally pulled him aside and told him. I asked my sister "How could you not smell him???" she said "Oh I guess I'm just used to it." WHAT????? You sleep next to that ??????

🤢🤮

[susannah]

2 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

There are a few companies now that offer apple cider vinegar gummies.   I do wonder if those gummies have any negative affects on tooth enamel.  🦷

I have taken apple cider vinegar tablets before, and they wreak havoc on my stomach. 

What is the purpose of taking those?

[susannah]

7 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Here you go.

Thanks. I have always heard of apple cider vinegar as a weight loss thing, back in the day you were supposed to drink a spoonful in water, like twice a day or something. I never knew if it was proven to work. I didn't know it had other medical uses!

[Bastet]

Oh yeah, several years back, apple cider vinegar started being touted as the cure to all that ails you.  Since I can't even stand the smell of it, never mind consume it, I'll just die earlier, thanks.

[peacheslatour]

3 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

My parents used to put a splash of it in potato salad to give it a little zip.  Potato salad with just mayonnaise can get kind of bland.  Of course I could have done without the canned shrimp that they also through into the potato salad.  Slugs with their slimy trail in the yard look more appetizing than canned shrimp.

My mom always did that with cider vinegar as well and I can't eat potato salad or cole slaw without it. No shrimp though.

[susannah]

4 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

My parents used to put a splash of it in potato salad to give it a little zip.  Potato salad with just mayonnaise can get kind of bland.  Of course I could have done without the canned shrimp that they also through into the potato salad.  Slugs with their slimy trail in the yard look more appetizing than canned shrimp.

My mother used to put dill pickle in her potato salad, for the same "zip." Thanks ever so for the lovely visual of the slugs in the yard!!! 😀 I have never heard of anyone putting shrimp in potato salad. Even if I liked shrimp, to put it in potato salad would be kind of gross.

[SnarkySheep]

11 hours ago, Bastet said:

Oh yeah, several years back, apple cider vinegar started being touted as the cure to all that ails you.  Since I can't even stand the smell of it, never mind consume it, I'll just die earlier, thanks.

Same - I have a number of serious health issues which prescription meds don't really help, so I tried ACV.

Long story short, I guess I'm stuck remaining sick...

[Bruinsfan]

Apparently if there's such a thing as a super taster for just vinegar, I am one. Anything in which the taste is noticeable, like potato salad or pickled beets, is a hard pass from me. I can even taste it in coffee for several days after it's been used to clean the coffee maker.

Weirdly I like balsamic vinegar in salad dressing or drizzled over figs and blue cheese.

[Bastet]

I am really picky about vinegar; some I love on their own (balsamic is my favorite), some I like so long as they're more a flavor enhancer than a pronounced flavor, and many I cannot even be around.  I can't clean my windows with heavily diluted white vinegar without making sure the room is well ventilated.  And, oh, whatever nasty-ass stuff we dissolved the tablets into to dye Easter eggs when I was a kid?  I had to go to the other side of the kitchen for all inactive time, and hold my breath for any time I spent standing there dipping the eggs.

[friendperidot]

A little late to the topic, but I don't recall ever having the can't remember locker combination or can't find my classroom dream. I think I just have a different version of them. Mine is that I'm getting ready to go somewhere I can't make it out the door, things just keep happening to prevent me from leaving, and it's frequently ironing. I haven't ironed except when I sew for decades, but in my dreams, I iron and never finish. 

[janie jones]

On 7/10/2021 at 6:16 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

My local indoor mall was a booming place when I moved to the area in 2003, but there isn't much left there.   There are still 4 big anchor stores, but the food court only has a few food places, and the other former stores are either shuttered, or regular stores.    

What do you mean by regular stores?

On 7/11/2021 at 3:15 AM, nokat said:

Where I am Costco is so popular and brings in people from several cities away.

Yeah, but do any of those people want to live across the parking lot from one? I sure as hell wouldn't.

I love vinegar. My mom's Filipino.

[CrazyInAlabama]

Regular stores are the usual trendy teen clothing stores, and others that are just little stores, not major stores like the national department stores.    The food court is only three or so food stores,   However, the anchors are Belk (having issues), J C Penney (having issues), Dillard's which is doing very well I think, and Burlington.     Most shoppers just drive up to the one department store they need.   

The food court has one national chain that's very busy, and a couple of locals ones (both owned by the same people), and the local one says what their rent is, and it's very high.   The rest of the food court spaces are either closed off because the food store closed, or turned into a clothing or other shop.     I don't understand how the smaller food places can survive with the rent they pay, because they used to get a lot of business, but not any more.   

It used to be very popular to have mall walking clubs, and people meeting at the mall with a quick lunch or dinner, and shopping for hours.   Now, you can easily drive around the parking lot, park very close, and there's very little car traffic.    I don't see how the mall can survive with 90% of the smaller stores gone.   

 

 

 

 

[nokat]

6 hours ago, janie jones said:

I love vinegar. My mom's Filipino.

I use a lot of rice vinegar, not so much the apple cider version.

[janie jones]

5 hours ago, CrazyInAlabama said:

 I don't understand how the smaller food places can survive with the rent they pay, because they used to get a lot of business, but not any more.  

I wonder if they've cut deals with the mall. One location of the store I work at was paying no (or next to no) rent because of some arrangement that was made. My store is getting an entire section of our space for free, because the mall doesn't want us to reduce our size and have the mall end up with a vacancy.

Also, I take back what I said about teenagers not going to the mall to hang out. I had groups of teenagers come into my store over the weekend who seemed to just be hanging out.

[peacheslatour]

29 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

What I don't understand is why rent is so high.  Wouldn't it be better for the mall owners to lower the costs to rent and have more stores and restaurants in the mall as opposed to raising the costs to rent and having very few stores and restaurants?

When I had my flower shop in FancyAss Plaza, my rent was relatively low. I was told that my shop was encouraged by building management because they considered my business a "courtesy" to the other tenants.

[janie jones]

36 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

When I had my flower shop in FancyAss Plaza, my rent was relatively low. I was told that my shop was encouraged by building management because they considered my business a "courtesy" to the other tenants.

What did they mean by that? People would come to the shopping center specifically for the flowers and then shop at the other stores?

[peacheslatour]

13 minutes ago, janie jones said:

What did they mean by that? People would come to the shopping center specifically for the flowers and then shop at the other stores?

No, it was a twenty five story office building. There were probably seven hundred to a thousand people in the building at any given time. These were my customers.