Small Talk: The Polygamous Cul-de-Sac

[deirdra]

13 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

They even found some face masks with adhesive that sticks right to your face so you don't need to have ties or anything over your ears.  It worked great. I had to fill out a form and as soon as I was finished she took the pen an wiped it down for the next person to use. 

I was wondering how they cut around the ears and was thinking of bringing some medical paper tape to temporarily tape my mask to my face so that I can unleash the ear elastics when I get my first haircut.  I like to always use my own pen to sign things and my own sanitizer as I am allergic to many chemicals and you never know what's in the unlabelled bottles of sanitizer used in most stores and venues.

I had a scare a couple of days ago in the parking garage at my condo. I was coughing and finding it getting harder to breathe.  It turned out that someone was unpacking her car after hiking when she or her son accidentally activated her bear spray and got it on her hair and back.  She was on the far side of the garage and it happened before I arrived, but that stuff travels.  And no, I did not take the elevator with her, but was glad to learn the cause.  I always carry bear spray when hiking in grisly country and have been more scared of spraying myself than bears.

Edited July 2, 2020 by deirdra

[Kohola3]

Saw this on FB today and immediately thought of our beloved @Rabbit Hutch.

Don't know if it's true but the sentiment certainly is!

[suomi]

 

Sailor On A Concrete Sea

Edited July 2, 2020 by suomi

[Meowwww]

10 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I apologize too - I think I've had a bad couple of days and going out there and feeling stressed doesn't help.  I've been going outside my comfort zone in an attempt to get some exercise, but it's hard given how hot is is outside so I'm shopping more just to get out, and in some cases not feeling comfortable with what I encounter.  It also doesn't help that I'm experiencing some symptoms scaring me that point toward diabetes - My blood sugar has been going up for years since menopause despite weight loss and exercise and now with the pandemic and not being able to get as much exercise I've been experiencing more symptoms.  I can't even skip a meal now without feeling like my blood sugar crashes and I get very tired and almost feel sick, of course making me worry that I'm getting the virus.  And I'm not really sedentary - Even at home I'm always active doing something except for about an hour in the morning and a few at night after dinner.  I had a zoom meeting with my dr. about this last month but despite my glucose test numbers being high enough for intervention he just told me to "give it 3 months" to try to lose some weight, get more exercise and limit carbs.  I told him that was a tall order given the difficult circumstances right now.  Given my current condition of likely insulin resistance, nothing works but cutting down to very little for me to lose any weight no matter what I eat, and then there's feeling sick and weak because of that.  Even if gyms were open I wouldn't go.  I stopped going years ago because I got constant colds from them even with all the sanitizing.  And right now you can't even find affordable exercise equipment online because they're all sold out, so forget that too.  I hesitate to buy anything without trying it first anyway because most exercise equipment is not sized for people my height (5'2") and is very uncomfortable. 

I begged my dr. to consider putting me on diabetic meds. but he acted hesitant despite my bringing my glucose numbers to his attention - he still wants to see where they are in 3 months.  I said, "Doc, if they've only gone up in the past several years despite everything I've done (including losing over 30 lbs. when I had my gallbladder out and going on a seriously carb reduced, no sugar added, low glycemic diet), why would they go down NOW in just about the WORST situation?"  My best friend is type 2 and told me that when her doc put her on meds. she lost weight.  Right now I am gaining weight and it's really rough because I know how hard it will be for me to lose it.  I haven't gained even 10 lbs. yet since last Fall, but if it keeps going in this direction I don't know what I'm going to do.  I am doing my best to stem the tide but I feel like it's an increasingly uphill battle with not the best results.  I am seriously considering calling him again to tell him all of this.

Anyway, sorry to go on so long - I know you are on my side and I do love you, Tea.  Many (((hugs))).

My hubby just went on insulin last week.  He’s been battling it for years and felt like you do. He was on Victoza and Metformin and they made him sick.  Doc said stop all meds, and his blood sugar soared to and stayed at over 500.  
Advocate for your health.  Ask for a referral to an endocrinologist.  You are the only one who can change your life.  Hugs. 

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, Meowwww said:

Ask for a referral to an endocrinologist.

Bingo.  You need a specialist and someone who will listen to you.

[Teafortwo]

17 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I apologize too - I think I've had a bad couple of days and going out there and feeling stressed doesn't help.  I've been going outside my comfort zone in an attempt to get some exercise, but it's hard given how hot is is outside so I'm shopping more just to get out, and in some cases not feeling comfortable with what I encounter.  It also doesn't help that I'm experiencing some symptoms scaring me that point toward diabetes - My blood sugar has been going up for years since menopause despite weight loss and exercise and now with the pandemic and not being able to get as much exercise I've been experiencing more symptoms.  I can't even skip a meal now without feeling like my blood sugar crashes and I get very tired and almost feel sick, of course making me worry that I'm getting the virus.  

 

Anyway, sorry to go on so long - I know you are on my side and I do love you, Tea.  Many (((hugs))).

I love you too, Yeah No, you know I do. Very sorry to hear about your symptoms and I hope you're okay. I wrote a long response but as I went to submit it my internet conked out.  I agree with those above that seeing an endocrinologist would be wise. Best wishes and apologies again - I think my other post probably did sound judge-y. We're indeed all stressed out by things that just six months ago were nothing remarkable and have now become scary. Let us know how you're doing.

Edited July 3, 2020 by Teafortwo

[suomi]

This is a very, very odd story. "Someone" has taken your month-old infant from you, in the midst of a pandemic?

Sports Anchor Dan O'Toole Says His Missing 1-Month-Old Daughter Is 'Safe:' 'We Are Still Broken'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/sports-anchor-dan-otoole-says-his-missing-1-month-old-daughter-is-safe-we-are-still-broken/ar-BB16iAAA?li=BBnb7Kz

[Kohola3]

11 minutes ago, suomi said:

This is a very, very odd story. "Someone" has taken your month-old infant from you, in the midst of a pandemic?

 

Bizarre.  And googling it makes it even more so.  Sounds like some sort of publicity stunt to me.  

[Kyanight]

He just doesn't come across as sincere.  It's like he's acting and he's a big drama queen.   To clarify:  if someone's baby is kidnapped it would be TERRIFYING and you certainly have every right to be as dramatic as you want to be.  I would have been freaking HYSTERICAL!!  It's just the things he was saying and how he said it that didn't ring true to me.  Like Kohola said, it certainly seemed like a bid for attention.   Just my opinion.

Edited July 3, 2020 by Kyanight

[Sandy W]

I live in the Toronto area, and 20 minutes from where the baby was found with the mother in Peterborough.  There were no Amber Alerts and I heard nothing about it on the local news.  Very odd, that he would announce this devastating event on social media and not report to the police.

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, Sandy W said:

I live in the Toronto area, and 20 minutes from where the baby was found with the mother in Peterborough.  There were no Amber Alerts and I heard nothing about it on the local news.  Very odd, that he would announce this devastating event on social media and not report to the police.

And all of the news sources I saw were all tabloid rag types, not real newspapers.

[Meowwww]

6 hours ago, Sandy W said:

I live in the Toronto area, and 20 minutes from where the baby was found with the mother in Peterborough.  There were no Amber Alerts and I heard nothing about it on the local news.  Very odd, that he would announce this devastating event on social media and not report to the police.

Gotta be a court/custody thing.  He’s an idiot. 

[suomi]

I'm in northern Utah right close to Idaho's southern border. Usually our big fireworks happen with a sold-out crowd in the USU stadium (Home of the Aggies ~ Go Blue!) and the small towns across the valley do their own shows. 

The stadium show obviously couldn't happen this year so our communities pooled their money and hosted simultaneous shows in four locations. Idaho's southernmost town also synced with us so you could see fireworks from almost anywhere in the 50-mile length of the valley, and in many locations you could see all four shows at once; I saw three. Way cool. Best fireworks since I moved here in '85. 

The local AM station always blasts an hour's worth of appropriate tunes during the show that people listen to in the stadium or wherever else they gather. We're usually on a blanket on a hillside across from the stadium. Tonight I propped the Bose in my front window and cranked it, I was sure I would hear other radios but mine was the only one. Oh well, glad to be of service. It evened out because the folks in my neighborhood, lemme tell ya, are into buying fireworks and they're still at it out there. My cat is a party animal, she is still observing from an open window and is unfazed by the noise. (I do realize that many animals are incredibly fearful during our celebrations). 

Staying home tonight beat the heck out of the usual 2-hour traffic jam getting back from the stadium (a drive which usually takes 15 minutes). I was able to cry as much as I wanted without an audience and played a mean air-piccolo during Stars and Stripes Forever. Le sigh.

I remembered to light the citronella candle tonight but forgot I had some Bailey's and Grand Marnier. Now that I have remembered... bottoms UP!

Edited July 4, 2020 by suomi

[Rabbit Hutch]

On 7/1/2020 at 7:52 PM, Kyanight said:

I'm glad you like my state!  : )

I LOVE ME SOME COLORADO!!!!!!!!

On 7/1/2020 at 8:11 PM, Kohola3 said:

Great to hear from you!  It's interesting to hear different experiences from all of my online friends. 

I feel like a new woman and 10 pounds lighter - finally got a haircut today.  It was unnerving to go into a building after all of these months but my hairdresser and her colleagues are super, over the top careful.  They even found some face masks with adhesive that sticks right to your face so you don't need to have ties or anything over your ears.  It worked great. I had to fill out a form and as soon as I was finished she took the pen an wiped it down for the next person to use.  There were only two customers for the eight stations plus the manicurist so plenty of room between us.  I felt totally comfortable.  What a relief!

Thanks for your report on the salon situation.  I'm shaggier than Shaggy from Scooby Doo, but didn't want to get so up close and personal with a hairdresser, yet.  However, I think I'm brave enough now to give it a shot.  😊

[Rabbit Hutch]

On 7/2/2020 at 4:17 PM, Kohola3 said:

Saw this on FB today and immediately thought of our beloved @Rabbit Hutch.

Don't know if it's true but the sentiment certainly is!

Awww shucks, Kahala!  Thanks so much for your kind sentiments, you're making me blush, for realz!  ☺  It's so nice to be appreciated.

Ya know, I'm a firm believer in the adage, "no person is an island."  This is never more true than when being a trucker, for it takes a small army to keep us up and running.  From the garage mechanics who work 12-hour shifts to the office ladies who keep us supplied with an almost infinite number of permits and insurance papers, from the housekeeping folks who disinfect the showers and supply us with clean towels to EVERY SINGLE TRUCKSTOP EMPLOYEE who does their part to keep us running yet another 500 miles down the road, I consider all of them essential❣  We couldn't do our part without them, these unsung heros of the pandemic. 

So, on this 4th of July I'm happy to toast them all with my iced matcha and say a hearty THANK Y'All!  😁

[Roslyn]

11 hours ago, suomi said:

I was able to cry as much as I wanted without an audience and played a mean air-piccolo during Stars and Stripes Forever. Le sigh.

I remembered to light the citronella candle tonight but forgot I had some Bailey's and Grand Marnier. Now that I have remembered... bottoms UP!

One of the most terrifying moments of my life was when I was in high school marching band.  I played flute, okay enough to be in the top 4, but not spectacular. During parade season I had to practice the piccolo parts for when the usual 2 or 3 were absent, but during football season I usually never worried about it. The perfect storm came in my Senior year when the other 2 who did the Stars and Stripes Forever solo were both going to be absent and it was my turn to solo the solo (we often had two piccolos, one on either side at the back of the band)

Well.  I had to speed practice the solo and spent a lot of time in the woods above my Grandmothers house playing it over and over.  It went off without a hitch but I was scared sh**less.  It also cemented a life long love of marching music and Sousa in particular.  ☺️

[Roslyn]

We went to Wal Mart this morning for the first time in over 6 months.  After this big ball got rolling back in February and the hoarding purchasing started we wanted to avoid the madness, particularly there.  I had heard from others of people acting obnoxious and empty shelves etc and it took awhile for the local WM to get their act together.  The wet "diaper wipes" that they have as their store brand and sell in jumbo cases are the ones that we keep in stock for household needs.  I've been making my own alcohol wipes with them and we finally ran out at home...now we had to go.

Well, everything is very well organized.  Instead of one of the entrances as the "in" and the other as the "out", they have both portioned off with a definite in side and out side. It was quickly getting busy when we got there at 7:30am and very busy when we left around 8:45.  We only saw two people in the store (customers) without masks.  The signs say required but without enforcing it, it really is on the people to comply.  With the area I live in I was expecting to see more "no mask" people, but was happy that most all were keeping their distance and respectful etc. We used their large order self checkout instead of a regular check out.

The store was stocked very well and we found everything on our list (even better).  I will admit that I don't need toilet paper at home...but I did buy a 12 pack anyway because they had a small stock of my usual brand.

Pennsylvania has tightened up and is requiring masks state wide again.  Our county went to DEFCON green awhile back since we have low numbers (108 confirmed and 6 deaths since the very beginning), but overall the PA numbers are rising again and so some places are going back to more restrictions.

[ginger90]

14 minutes ago, Roslyn said:

Pennsylvania has tightened up and is requiring masks state wide again.  Our county went to DEFCON green awhile back since we have low numbers (108 confirmed and 6 deaths since the very beginning), but overall the PA numbers are rising again and so some places are going back to more restrictions.

I’m in PA also, it’s not getting better. It’s a scary time everywhere.

The complaints here about wearing masks are ridiculous. Makes me glad I go to work, grocery store occasionally, and home. Boring perhaps, but alive is good.

Edited July 4, 2020 by ginger90

[Nysha]

I went to a local store here in Idaho yesterday with my 9 yo grandson, both of us wore masks and we were the only customers in the store wearing them. My county has had 19 new cases in the last month, all of them are community spread so I'm sure it's just going to get worse. Prior to this all our cases were either over 60 and most of them were in care facilities, so a lot of people here think it only targets old people.

[suomi]

3 hours ago, Roslyn said:

One of the most terrifying moments of my life was when I was in high school marching band.  I played flute, okay enough to be in the top 4, but not spectacular. During parade season I had to practice the piccolo parts for when the usual 2 or 3 were absent, but during football season I usually never worried about it. The perfect storm came in my Senior year when the other 2 who did the Stars and Stripes Forever solo were both going to be absent and it was my turn to solo the solo (we often had two piccolos, one on either side at the back of the band)

Well.  I had to speed practice the solo and spent a lot of time in the woods above my Grandmothers house playing it over and over.  It went off without a hitch but I was scared sh**less.  It also cemented a life long love of marching music and Sousa in particular.  ☺️

'twas nice to hear that you aced your piccolo solo in such a stirring and spectacular piece of music. Wonderful feeling of accomplishment, eh?

I flove marching bands, and especially a drum line. I went to numerous regional and state high school competitions and greatly enjoyed every one of them. My dotter was a flute player and her HS placed first many times and when they didn't the enjoyment was what mattered. I was blown away at the first one I attended when I got the full effect of what it sounds like when a band turns in your direction after marching away from you.

It was almost like when I saw the Doobie Brothers in a very small venue in SoCal and their two drummers produced amazing sound waves which assaulted the audience. Wowzer.

Another amazing sensation happened when I watched a bagpipes competition at our local Scottish games. The venue had lots of hills and we could hear the pipes and drums of each regiment long before they came into view and the sound when they crested the final hill was overwhelming. Bagpipes always make me sob - not cry, but sob. They inspire such a soul-deep reaction that it makes me think I was a piper in a previous life. 

[Kohola3]

8 minutes ago, suomi said:

Another amazing sensation happened when I watched a bagpipes competition at our local Scottish games. The venue had lots of hills and we could hear the pipes and drums of each regiment long before they came into view and the sound when they crested the final hill was overwhelming. Bagpipes always make me sob - not cry, but sob. They inspire such a soul-deep reaction that it makes me think I was a piper in a previous life. 

I was a pipe band groupie for a long time, attending all kinds of events and competitions. I absolutely love their drummers - I could watch them for hours.  And what a fascinating instrument is the bagpipe!

[Sandy W]

32 minutes ago, suomi said:

 Bagpipes always make me sob - not cry, but sob. They inspire such a soul-deep reaction that it makes me think I was a piper in a previous life. 

Me too Suomi, but it's a good, cleansing sob.  Bagpipes and any rendition of 'Oh Danny Boy' gets my heart every time.

[Irate Panda]

On 7/2/2020 at 9:47 AM, Yeah No said:

I apologize too - I think I've had a bad couple of days and going out there and feeling stressed doesn't help.  I've been going outside my comfort zone in an attempt to get some exercise, but it's hard given how hot is is outside so I'm shopping more just to get out, and in some cases not feeling comfortable with what I encounter.  It also doesn't help that I'm experiencing some symptoms scaring me that point toward diabetes - My blood sugar has been going up for years since menopause despite weight loss and exercise and now with the pandemic and not being able to get as much exercise I've been experiencing more symptoms.  I can't even skip a meal now without feeling like my blood sugar crashes and I get very tired and almost feel sick, of course making me worry that I'm getting the virus.  And I'm not really sedentary - Even at home I'm always active doing something except for about an hour in the morning and a few at night after dinner.  I had a zoom meeting with my dr. about this last month but despite my glucose test numbers being high enough for intervention he just told me to "give it 3 months" to try to lose some weight, get more exercise and limit carbs.  I told him that was a tall order given the difficult circumstances right now.  Given my current condition of likely insulin resistance, nothing works but cutting down to very little for me to lose any weight no matter what I eat, and then there's feeling sick and weak because of that.  Even if gyms were open I wouldn't go.  I stopped going years ago because I got constant colds from them even with all the sanitizing.  And right now you can't even find affordable exercise equipment online because they're all sold out, so forget that too.  I hesitate to buy anything without trying it first anyway because most exercise equipment is not sized for people my height (5'2") and is very uncomfortable. 

I begged my dr. to consider putting me on diabetic meds. but he acted hesitant despite my bringing my glucose numbers to his attention - he still wants to see where they are in 3 months.  I said, "Doc, if they've only gone up in the past several years despite everything I've done (including losing over 30 lbs. when I had my gallbladder out and going on a seriously carb reduced, no sugar added, low glycemic diet), why would they go down NOW in just about the WORST situation?"  My best friend is type 2 and told me that when her doc put her on meds. she lost weight.  Right now I am gaining weight and it's really rough because I know how hard it will be for me to lose it.  I haven't gained even 10 lbs. yet since last Fall, but if it keeps going in this direction I don't know what I'm going to do.  I am doing my best to stem the tide but I feel like it's an increasingly uphill battle with not the best results.  I am seriously considering calling him again to tell him all of this.

Anyway, sorry to go on so long - I know you are on my side and I do love you, Tea.  Many (((hugs))).

I’m not sure all you’re going through but have you may want to try Walk at Home by Leslie Sansone DVDs.  They helped my grandma when she broke her hip.  She lost 20lbs without really doing much.  You can get them at the library so you don’t have to spend any money. Agree with those who say seek a specialist.  Good luck!

Edited July 5, 2020 by Irate Panda

[Yeah No]

On 7/2/2020 at 8:42 PM, Meowwww said:

My hubby just went on insulin last week.  He’s been battling it for years and felt like you do. He was on Victoza and Metformin and they made him sick.  Doc said stop all meds, and his blood sugar soared to and stayed at over 500.  
Advocate for your health.  Ask for a referral to an endocrinologist.  You are the only one who can change your life.  Hugs. 

I will, thanks for your support, many hugs!

On 7/3/2020 at 3:44 AM, Teafortwo said:

I love you too, Yeah No, you know I do. Very sorry to hear about your symptoms and I hope you're okay. I wrote a long response but as I went to submit it my internet conked out.  I agree with those above that seeing an endocrinologist would be wise. Best wishes and apologies again - I think my other post probably did sound judge-y. We're indeed all stressed out by things that just six months ago were nothing remarkable and have now become scary. Let us know how you're doing.

Thanks, Tea.  I'm OK but not great.  I've had a few disturbing bits of news, plus the fact that case numbers are soaring in so many areas is getting to me.  Thankfully it's still low and leveled off here in CT but I am shocked at what's going on in the rest of the country.  It's insane.  Then two nights ago while I was getting ready to go to bed for some strange unknown reason my first love popped into my head.  I hadn't thought about him in YEARS and haven't talked to him in over 20 years or seen him in 40.  I think thinking about him was spurred on by hearing about the soaring in numbers in some states and I knew that he retired to Arkansas several years ago, plus he would be about 70 by now.  I thought I'd better Google him just to see if I could find out what was going on with him.  As I sat down at the computer to do that I had the feeling he was dead, and I thought that maybe I'd better not look him up right then because it would disturb me to find out this news, but I did it anyway and of course, I saw an obituary.  He died on June 12, 2020.  No reason given and I have no way of finding out the cause.  That was disturbing enough, but then I figured I'd google on one of his daughters because I knew she had a Facebook page I once stumbled on several years ago.  Well, you can just imagine how shocked I was to find out that she had died in 2014.  She wasn't even 40 years old.  Again, a simple obituary plus her Facebook page has disappeared.  She was a beautiful, happy, statuesque blonde with long hair.  Unthinkable.  And again I have no way of finding out what happened.  I never knew her myself but I knew of her.  It's all very shocking and sad, and coming at a bad time when it seems like all I hear about are people dying even if not because of the virus.

Anyway, this is not the first time I've had a strong feeling to look someone up from my past out of the blue.  A boy I went to day camp with as a kid popped into my head several years ago and I hadn't even thought about him in decades.  I knew him one summer when we were 11 years old.  I wasn't into boys just yet and so we were just friends.  I hadn't even seen or talked to him in close to 45 years at the time and so it was very strange that I would suddenly have the urge to Google him.  He had a very unique name, too.  His name came up in a New York Times article on his death by suicide.  He was a day trader in the New York Stock Market who had gotten implicated in an insider trading scandal and had been asked by the Feds to wear a wire in exchange for leniency.  He was humiliated and probably innocent of the charges but he felt so coerced he did it anyway.  They put him through so much that he eventually snapped and took his own life.  And get this - it happened only 10 days before I looked him up!  Another very sad story.

Unfortunately there are other similarly spooky stories like this and I do believe I am somewhat psychic at times.  And it can be a curse.

So anyway, that's what's going on with me right now, but thanks for asking and many hugs to you too!

 

Edited July 5, 2020 by Yeah No

[Yeah No]

3 hours ago, Kohola3 said:

I was a pipe band groupie for a long time, attending all kinds of events and competitions. I absolutely love their drummers - I could watch them for hours.  And what a fascinating instrument is the bagpipe!

I used to attend the local highland games and bagpipe competition when I lived downstate.  My whole family went every year for decades.  We'd bring chairs, eat meat pies and watch the bands practice, then perform.  I grew up listening to bagpipe records because my Dad loved them too and used to play them at home.  I understand the deep emotional connection with that music because I experience it too.  It was an amazing all-encompassing feeling to experience the music played live as it felt like it resonated all through me.

39 minutes ago, Irate Panda said:

I’m not sure all you’re going through but have you may want to try Walk at Home by Leslie Sansone DVDs.  They helped my grandma when she broke her hip.  She lost 20lbs without really doing much.  You can get them at the library so you don’t have to spend any money. Agree with those who say seek a specialist.  Good luck!

Thanks a lot for that tip - I just found some of her videos on YouTube for free!  I'll get them up on my TV and start with those.  They look very doable!  Wow, this made my day after all the sad stuff I wrote about!  

[suomi]

These are my two favorite versions of our national anthem. One is traditional and one is decidedly non-traditional but both are a delight.

Happy Birthday, America!

 

 

 

 

[suomi]

This is a trip. She is very creative, and talented. I wonder how much it weighs, 41 rolls of duct tape adds up. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/teens-coronavirus-themed-prom-dress-made-of-duct-tape-is-a-work-of-art/ar-BB16lCOZ?li=BBnbfcL#image=5

[Kohola3]

3 hours ago, suomi said:

This is a trip. She is very creative, and talented. I wonder how much it weighs, 41 rolls of duct tape adds up.

That girl has got some imagination! That was amazing!

[TurtlePower]

Last night was THE WORST. Every citizen in this town must have been issued firework, BIG professional ones. It was like a war zone. These selfish jerks were at it until 1am, setting fields and their own homes on fire. I wanted to crawl into the closet with headphones on but had to make sure my own house did not catch fire. I was so angry I wanted to go out there with a baseball bat and start taking knees out.

Why do people insist on launching fireworks themselves and causing meyhem? They think nothing of combat veterans, dogs or the dangers of fires. People here are selfish, rude and stupid. 

Had to get that out. Whew. Glad it's over until next year. 

[Kohola3]

13 minutes ago, TurtlePower said:

Why do people insist on launching fireworks themselves and causing meyhem? They think nothing of combat veterans, dogs or the dangers of fires. People here are selfish, rude and stupid. 

And I wager it's the same people that refuse to wear masks.  They think nothing of the elderly, the immuno-compromised, those on chemotherapy.  People all over the US are selfish, rude, and stupid.

I did not celebrate in any way, shape, or form yesterday.  For the first time in my life I am ashamed to be an American.

[TurtlePower]

13 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

And I wager it's the same people that refuse to wear masks.  They think nothing of the elderly, the immuno-compromised, those on chemotherapy.  People all over the US are selfish, rude, and stupid.

I did not celebrate in any way, shape, or form yesterday.  For the first time in my life I am ashamed to be an American.

Awwww. I understand, I'm getting close myself. We're so divided in this country right now. It seems people are on one side or the other, there's no moderation (so independent thinkers like me don't belong anywhere). I feel like I'm on the sidelines watching a massive tennis match. 

[Kohola3]

6 minutes ago, TurtlePower said:

It seems people are on one side or the other, there's no moderation (so independent thinkers like me don't belong anywhere).

For me it's more the lack of consideration for others that has me do depressed.  When did we become a country so mean and selfish and insistent that "having fun" is more important than a human life?  I just don't get it.

[Twopper]

13 hours ago, Yeah No said:

That was disturbing enough, but then I figured I'd google on one of his daughters because I knew she had a Facebook page I once stumbled on several years ago.  Well, you can just imagine how shocked I was to find out that she had died in 2014.  She wasn't even 40 years old.  Again, a simple obituary plus her Facebook page has disappeared.  She was a beautiful, happy, statuesque blonde with long hair.  Unthinkable.  And again I have no way of finding out what happened.  I never knew her myself but I knew of her.  It's all very shocking and sad, and coming at a bad time when it seems like all I hear about are people dying even if not because of the virus.

I have had this happen to me.  In one case, I was able to locate and contact one of the survivors listed  and thus was able to connect with a childhood friend.  I had lost contact with her as her dad was in the AF, and they moved all over the world.   In the other situation, I sent a letter to the sister of a friend who had died, and I got no reply.  Her dad had died with early onset dementia, and I am afraid maybe the same had happened to her, but she had smoked so it is possible lung cancer got her;  I will never know.

31 minutes ago, TurtlePower said:

Last night was THE WORST. Every citizen in this town must have been issued firework, BIG professional ones. It was like a war zone.

The official one was cancelled here to avoid crowds, but at least 4 bedroom communities still  had theirs  Usually I can see the ones from a nearby club or from the baseball field, but those were cancelled as well.   I was absolutely shocked to see on FB that my husband's nephew's step- daughter in Katy, Texas, had stacks of fireworks in her garage that they were going to set off at 8:30 cdt and it was going to be live on FB.   I did not watch, but I may check out the video later.  I wasn't sure that was a great idea as she has 3 little kids, but it sounds like they have done this for the past few years, and it seems  a lot of their neighbors do the same in this affluent neighborhood.  Instead of having a party for their personal fireworks, they invited their friends to park a few blocks over in the parking lot of a local park.  The idea of someone setting off a fairly large fireworks display from their own backyard in a suburb just blew my mind.   We used to light sparklers when I was a kid, and the teenagers used to set off small fireworks, but this was more like they had bought out the store at one of the large fireworks warehouses like this place.  http://www.sheltonfireworks.com/

We had a rather boring 4th.  I did a picnic inside with hot dogs and watermelon, potato salad and cole slaw.  The neighborhood parade went ahead as usual, but was a lot smaller than usual.  The neighbor hood concert was cancelled, and there were no floats, although a few people still were in costume and riding in convertibles and waving.  They were also throwing beads made of stars this year so it was like Mardi Gras and the 4th of July all rolled into one little parade.  I am sure the drummers in their 18th C costumes with masks were probably miserable in the heat.  I caught a necklace.   I did enjoy watching the fireworks last night from DC--I love it when they set them off while the 1812 overture is playing. 

One of the signers is in my family tree.  I have a spoon from his estate that my grandmother got from her grandmother.  My grandmother's other grandmother was the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier.  She was the youngest of his children by his 3rd wife.  I think she was born in 1815.   I personally can feel really connected to Independence  Day, but I realize many others do not.  (On the other side of the family, my gr-grandfather came here from Portugal in the 1870's so not the connected feeling on that side).

[Yeah No]

52 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

I did not celebrate in any way, shape, or form yesterday.  For the first time in my life I am ashamed to be an American.

You know, I said the exact same thing to my husband yesterday.  Very sad, especially because I am usually so proud on Independence Day for a lot of reasons (below).

8 minutes ago, Twopper said:

One of the signers is in my family tree.  I have a spoon from his estate that my grandmother got from her grandmother.  My grandmother's other grandmother was the daughter of a Revolutionary soldier.  She was the youngest of his children by his 3rd wife.  I think she was born in 1815.   I personally can feel really connected to Independence  Day, but I realize many others do not.  (On the other side of the family, my gr-grandfather came here from Portugal in the 1870's so not the connected feeling on that side).

Wow, that's amazing about the spoon!  I actually have several signers in my family tree (including John Hancock) and other notable Revolutionary war relatives (such as Ethan Allen among others), and since I found that out about 10 years ago I have felt more connected to Independence Day.  The other side of my family (my mom's) came here from Sicily in 1904 via Ellis Island.  My mother was always very proud to be an American and loved to travel to New England to visit historical sites.  She even lived in Vermont for a while when she was young, where my Dad has a lot of roots.  She didn't live long enough to learn the specifics of my father's incredible genealogy, but she would have been amazed and very proud of that anyway, I am sure. 

[Yeah No]

48 minutes ago, TurtlePower said:

Awwww. I understand, I'm getting close myself. We're so divided in this country right now. It seems people are on one side or the other, there's no moderation (so independent thinkers like me don't belong anywhere). I feel like I'm on the sidelines watching a massive tennis match. 

Me too.  Like my parents I have always been independent that way.  I have to keep my mouth shut around everyone anymore because when you're this independent you inevitably end up pissing off everyone that's drinking some form of kool-aid.  And these days, that's a lot of people.   A lot of it does look very immature, ignorant and petty, also dangerous from this perspective.  People will vilify you and assume you're on "the other side" just for one opinion that's out of lock step with their extreme view.  It's unbelievable. 

23 minutes ago, Twopper said:

I have had this happen to me.  In one case, I was able to locate and contact one of the survivors listed  and thus was able to connect with a childhood friend.  I had lost contact with her as her dad was in the AF, and they moved all over the world.   In the other situation, I sent a letter to the sister of a friend who had died, and I got no reply.  Her dad had died with early onset dementia, and I am afraid maybe the same had happened to her, but she had smoked so it is possible lung cancer got her;  I will never know.

If you know some details about her such as her name, town, (or just state) and year of birth if you know that, you could try Googling her.  I just put in name and town and the obits popped up.  They both had moderately common names and lived in small-ish towns, plus I knew about how old they were so it was easy to know it was them.  I became good at finding people when researching my genealogy 10 years ago when I was unemployed after getting laid off during that recession.  Speaking of that, I'm glad I did a lot of that research when my Dad was still alive and could verify some of what I found out from his memory of what his family told him about their ancestors.

[Twopper]

32 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

If you know some details about her such as her name, town, (or just state) and year of birth if you know that, you could try Googling her.  I just put in name and town and the obits popped up. 

This is very weird.   I had found her years ago on find-a-grave, and it gave a short obit which basically said her parents had preceded her in death as had a brother (which I knew) and that she had recently retired and moved back home at the beginning of Aug 2003. She died on Aug 15 of that year so I had guessed maybe she had a terminal disease and went home to die.  I wrote a belated sympathy note to her SIL and inquired as to the cause of death, but I got no reply.  One of our priests was from her hometown, and he had known her parents, but he couldn't find out either when he asked around.    So today I did another search for her obit and I found part of one from the Times-Pic in New Orleans which said she died of a heart attack.   I can't read the whole thing without paying to restore it.  I had searched years ago for obits, and the only thing I found online was the obit shown on the Find-a Grave page which I think was from her hometown paper.     Thanks for the suggestion as it made me search again. 

[Roslyn]

18 hours ago, suomi said:

'twas nice to hear that you aced your piccolo solo in such a stirring and spectacular piece of music. Wonderful feeling of accomplishment, eh?

I flove marching bands, and especially a drum line. I went to numerous regional and state high school competitions and greatly enjoyed every one of them. My dotter was a flute player and her HS placed first many times and when they didn't the enjoyment was what mattered. I was blown away at the first one I attended when I got the full effect of what it sounds like when a band turns in your direction after marching away from you.

Oh yes, I do love the marching bands.  When my daughter was in band (trombone) she didn't guilt us into going to all the home football games (both my husband and I don't like football...) but every year her school hosted an evening of the bands from several counties as well as the local university band.  THAT we attended in the rain and the cold to see all the performances. 

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

Speaking of that, I'm glad I did a lot of that research when my Dad was still alive and could verify some of what I found out from his memory of what his family told him about their ancestors.

I wish I had done more looking around when my folks were still alive although I don't know that it would have done much for my mom's side.  She didn't know a lot about her family and it's a very common name (Brown) so searching isn't going to do much good.  My dad's name is highly unusual and my cousin has done extensive research so I know a lot about that side of the family, back to the 1700's.  My grandfather and his family were immigrants from Bohemia. 

[DakotaJustice]

My city has set up those big portable flashing signs in several prominent places on the main roads throughout town that day simply stating the following:

Quote

NO FIREWORKS

1,000 DOLLAR FINE

I think it did the trick. There were a few pops, but my cats and I had a restful night. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by DakotaJustice

[Teafortwo]

9 hours ago, TurtlePower said:

Why do people insist on launching fireworks themselves and causing meyhem? They think nothing of combat veterans, dogs or the dangers of fires. People here are selfish, rude and stupid. 

And not just humans, dogs and cats but wildlife. One example:  spooked rabbits abandon their babies and run off, never to return. Plus the darn things can dangerous to life and limb when mishandled or not set up correctly. 

[Sandy W]

13 minutes ago, Teafortwo said:

And not just humans, dogs and cats but wildlife. One example:  spooked rabbits abandon their babies and run off, never to return. Plus the darn things can dangerous to life and limb when mishandled or not set up correctly. 

I had never even thought about that aspect, thanks for bringing it up.  At least with domestic animals like dogs and cats, they can be comforted and reassured by their people.  It must play havoc with farm animals also if farms are located in the vicinity of these fireworks displays.

[suomi]

I heard about this when I asked my high school reunion contact how she finds people. Because we're old. Old.

There's a free site called family tree now dot com. First and last name plus city and state. If state is all you have, try that.

The results will include relatives and associates, in separate sections. Ages are included which helps you to determine who you're looking at.

Also current address and phone number along with address history. Usually many years of address history, which helps to verify that you've got the right person.

Practice with your own name, and click on your associates and relatives a few times to get the hang of it.

Heads up, sometimes the first results page you get conveniently wants to take you to the Been Verified site which requires payment.

Click on the upper right X if you see the words Been Verified anywhere and then you'll go right to the page you want.

If you get multiple results and know that your Larry Jones always lived in NY then, process of elimination, back out of Wyoming or Florida results and keep going to the next Larry Jones.

If a person is deceased and their death is on the Social Security Death Index you will be offered that result.

Not all deaths meet Social Security requirements but most do, depending on age and circumstance.  

This was much easier before a certain church *ahem* purchased the rights to federal government records. That's how Ancestry and the other church-owned pay-to-view sites came about. Which is bullshit!!! 

I guess public records are public records only until the price is right... and I have seen this particular fact denied many times. Again, bullshit!!!

Edited July 6, 2020 by suomi
clarity

[Yeah No]

1 hour ago, suomi said:

I heard about this when I asked my high school reunion contact how she finds people. Because we're old. Old.

There's a free site called family tree now dot com. First and last name plus city and state. If state is all you have, try that.

The results will include relatives and associates, in separate sections. Ages are included which helps you to determine who you're looking at.

I've used that one.  Also worth a try are peekyou.com and spokeo.  You might get one additional nugget from each one that makes the extra searching worthwhile.

I also belong to truthfinder.com and actually pay $10.00 a month to have easier access to all of that info. plus info. on social media profiles, career affiliations, etc.  I signed up for a trial period and when they wanted to bill me some ridiculous amount like $30.00 a month after the trial ended I went to unsubscribe only to have them give me a "medium happy" access membership for $10.00.  Every time I think about unsubscribing I end up using it again.  I've even used it for friends and my husband, who wanted to find a friend from childhood that he somehow couldn't locate.  He did and now he is part of the Facebook page for their old block back in the day.  One of these days I WILL unsub. but for now I'm still enjoying it.

[Meowwww]

So hubby and I were in our backyard last night, our neighborhood sounded like a war zone.   People spent tons of money on fireworks, there were beautiful displays.  Our lab was out with us, she didn’t care at all.  Just wanted us to throw the ball. 
I board my horse at a secluded barn, no issues there.  A friend of mine was out with her horse at another barn, she pasture boards.  The horses there were running in panic.  Her horse is old and she was very distraught.   People don’t think, nor do they care.  Horses are herd animals, and no matter how sane an individual is, once the herd is riled up, all bets are off.  

[Yeah No]

8 hours ago, suomi said:

If you get multiple results and know that your Larry Jones always lived in NY then, process of elimination, back out of Wyoming or Florida results and keep going to the next Larry Jones.

I just had to respond to this - This made me look up one of my old bosses, Larry Jones, who was a VP at the big aerospace company I worked for in the late 00's.  He was a former military pilot in the US Marines and I think either his father or his uncle was one of the famous Tuskegee Airmen of WWII.  I was working for him right before I got laid off from my exec. assistant position in '09.  He had moved on to another division and I was reassigned to someone else when only 10 days in I was let go in a massive workforce reduction, the likes of which this well-known Fortune 100 company had never done before.  I was shell-shocked and that was the beginning of the roller coaster ride that has never really ended for me in over a decade.  Losing that job was one of the worst things to ever happen to me.  The company was one of those that would never rehire anyone that was laid off unless they were specifically requested by someone high up.  Unfortunately all of my best connections left the company soon after me.  I had really bad luck there.  Before I worked for Larry I worked for another VP who ended up leaving the company after decades of working there - I only worked for him for his final 6 years there.  He had been on track for bigger and better things when the new company president (who turned out to be a klunker) decided he didn't like him and sidelined him.  He was the best boss I ever had and losing him in 2007 was very bad for me.  He ended up going to a company up in Boston, or I would have at least tried to follow him.

Anyway, Larry Jones is OK.  He retired to Florida but still does consulting.  That was interesting news because when I knew him he sometimes surfed websites for retirement communities down south (he was from the south) and he seemed to like this place in one of the Carolinas called "St. James Plantation".  I remember looking at him like he was crazy and saying, "Why on earth would you want to retire to a plantation?"  LOL  He was a decade older than me so perhaps that name didn't bother him, but he was African American and I know that if I were one I probably wouldn't love the idea of living in a community called "plantation" anything!  I guess I feel better knowing that he didn't actually end up there!

Exec. Assistants can end up casualties when they lose great bosses.  I've seen it before.  Of course I have been one of those "lucky" ones a few times over.  Even at my next company I ended up losing a great boss after 2 years who had been there for decades before that, only to get a new one that was so narcissistic and toxic that half the department left because they couldn't work with her.  I almost had a nervous breakdown working for her.  HR had to calm me down and told me to ride it out because she was scheduled to transfer to the Midwest soon anyway.  Only 7 months after getting a new boss I fell in the parking lot at work and broke my dominant arm so badly I needed surgery and months of recuperation at home.  This was in 2016.  My still new boss, a younger man, was very nice and told me to get better and that my job was safe, but at the end of the year I got a phone call from HR telling me that I was being let go.  No reason was given because there was no real justification, and CT is an "at will" employment state, which means that they can let you go for any reason or no reason at their discretion.  The only problem was that they didn't factor in the fact that I was still collecting workers' comp. and letting me go then was actually illegal.  I already had 2 glowing reviews from this new boss (he was review happy and did them every month), so I had proof that there was no good reason to get rid of me.  Fortunately a good friend of ours is a lawyer and referred me to a great employment firm that won that lawsuit for me.  I didn't win tons money but it was enough that I felt good about it. 

This company was actively finding excuses to get rid of anyone over 50 for a long time, unless they were connected somehow.  After me they got rid of several other female admins. plus a male director in my department.  They would routinely "retire" people who were over 62.  They'd tell them that they were changing their job duties and now they were no longer qualified for their position.  Then they would actually change the job name and description and hire someone else who supposedly had those qualifications.  I had even seen it done with older female VPs and HR people.  In my case they didn't even do that.  They just thought it was a good time to lay off another COL and replace her with a younger model that they could pay less (meanwhile I found out they laid her off a year later in another year end lay off).  They had been laying older people off around the holidays every year and so I guess they thought "here's an opportunity to let another one go that's already half gone anyway, so why not"?  Stupid asses, anyone knows you can't lay someone off when they're on workers' comp.  Even I knew that!  When I told my employment lawyer about what they were doing she told me it was "very hard" to win an age discrimination lawsuit.  How these companies continue to get away with this blatant crap is beyond me.  We have everyone in this country screaming about discrimination but it's still OK to discriminate against older people and even when we scream about it we get conveniently dismissed.  And now with the pandemic, you can bet your sweet ass that most of the people not being called back to work after a furlough are the older ones.  My friend's husband, an engineer in an HVAC company is one of those.  He is 62 and now what is he going to do?  Both of them have had to take early retirement because of it and are now worried about making ends meet.  And yet these companies continue to get away with murder and no one does anything about it.  I've already posted about my neighbor that worked for Nordstrom who feels that she was actively being forced into leaving, and that they were doing this to all the other older women employees there as well.  So amid all the other insanities we have going on right now, there's this one too.

So anyway, you had to go and mention Larry Jones!  😉

Edited July 6, 2020 by Yeah No

[TurtlePower]

14 hours ago, Sandy W said:

I had never even thought about that aspect, thanks for bringing it up.  At least with domestic animals like dogs and cats, they can be comforted and reassured by their people.  It must play havoc with farm animals also if farms are located in the vicinity of these fireworks displays.

I’m actually surprised our town allows it, given some people set their own homes on fire. I honestly would not have cared if I learned one of the idiots lost a finger or two. 

Leave the big fireworks to professionals. 

[suomi]

This article resonates with me because of my maternal grandmother (born in 1910) and my stepmother (1921), who were two of the finest humans I've ever known.

Both preached "It's a sin to waste food." Not in the clean-your-plate sense but rather don't grow or buy more than you will use, don't cook more than someone will eat, and share what you have.

My stepmom (who was single for many years) would often fix an extra plate for her single neighbor, knowing she would come home to an empty house after work tired and hungry. 

So this article reminded me of Mayes and Norma.

Meet the Gleaners, Combing Farm Fields to Feed the Newly Hungry

An age-old tradition suddenly has fresh urgency in the pandemic, delivering surplus produce to Americans who can’t feed their families.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/dining/gleaners-farm-food-waste.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

[Gramto6]

I am sad that all these articles are behind a pay wall. I am not going to pay to read...

[Yeah No]

5 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

I am sad that all these articles are behind a pay wall. I am not going to pay to read...

I don't pay but I was able to see the NY Times one about gleaning.  I do have a free online account with them, though.  Right now I think they're not charging for certain articles pertaining to the pandemic but only if you are logged in from a free online account.

[Yeah No]

51 minutes ago, suomi said:

This article resonates with me because of my maternal grandmother (born in 1910) and my stepmother (1921), who were two of the finest humans I've ever known.

Both preached "It's a sin to waste food." Not in the clean-your-plate sense but rather don't grow or buy more than you will use, don't cook more than someone will eat, and share what you have.

My stepmom (who was single for many years) would often fix an extra plate for her single neighbor, knowing she would come home to an empty house after work tired and hungry. 

So this article reminded me of Mayes and Norma.

Meet the Gleaners, Combing Farm Fields to Feed the Newly Hungry

An age-old tradition suddenly has fresh urgency in the pandemic, delivering surplus produce to Americans who can’t feed their families.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/06/dining/gleaners-farm-food-waste.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

That is nice to hear - thanks for posting something uplifting.

I have read that there is a glut of lobster on the market right now because of the pandemic and prices are continuing to fall to historic lows.  My local Shop Rite supermarket had Maine lobster for $2.99 a lb. today, so guess what we ate for dinner?  I told my neighbor and he told his friend, the owner of a local fish market who said she is going over there first thing in the morning tomorrow to stock up.  She doesn't sell live lobster but does sell cooked lobster meat and lobster rolls.

Wouldn't it be nice if some of those surplus lobsters could be given out to people in need?  Before the pandemic I used to give food away to a local family.  They are friends of ours from way back and struggling, raising a teenage daughter, who is a lovely person, BTW.  Both of them are on disability for medical reasons.  We haven't seen them in months but they have found out about all the places they can get free food since the pandemic, so thankfully they're doing OK.