What are you doing these days?

[Woggle]

Earlier this fall we debated getting the family together for Thanksgiving but decided against it. We will cook a turkey breast, make a thanksgiving meal and eat leftovers for a week.

[schlumpy]

I won't be going anywhere this year. The castle drawbridge will be up.

My dinner will be coming from Bob Evans.

[Happy Lemming]

I winterized my Evaporative Cooler for the winter.  Its actually been hot enough that we used it up until last week.  The current long range forecast shows no more 90+ degree weather, so it was time to disassemble it,  drain it, clean it and bring the pumps inside for the winter.

I do have a question, though.  I want to pick up a spare start capacitor for the blower motor on that evaporative cooler.  There are so many brands, though.  Does anyone know which brands are good??  Or is there even a difference??

Please and thank you.

 

[Ellener]

I don't travel these days anyway, and the only people I see are one friend and my son. He will visit tomorrow and we'll make a roast pork dinner and watch tv, and she already visited earlier this week with a food 'care package' of little treats!

@Happy Lemming I put two oleander cuttings in some water, they should put out roots and then grow in soil. The azalea I did like that earlier this year has died back...so I'll try that again too when I see an azalea to take cuttings from! When I was reading about cultivating oleanders it said not to burn the cuttings/branches, the smoke is toxic and causes hallucinations.

Lowe's is selling 99 cent poinsettias, I might get one of those. Lot of these plants are poisonous to dogs, but mine never nibbles on stuff like that. I still keep them out of her reach though.

[schlumpy]

My instrument cable to my guitar broke yesterday and my car recently flashed the mechanical problem icon on the dashboard. It's sitting waiting for Monday morning to get hooked up to diagnostics. Music store is about two and half miles away. I took a risk.

I looked up the bus service and found buses are still running and fares had been suspended because all passengers had to enter and exit by the rear door to protect the driver. I haven't been on the bus for many years. I got my mask and walked to the bus stop. When I got on, there were about 15 others and we all sat no closer then a seat apart and everyone was covered. I got off at the shopping center and went to the music store where I had to wait ten minutes because they were at capacity.

Once I was in, it didn't take me long to find a sales rep and get a new cable with the brand name of "Pig Hog." I started talking with the sales rep and it all came out of me in a torrent. I found myself telling him how I was experimenting with different tunings and what a pain it was to retune the guitar. He suggested buying another guitar that would be kept in whatever tuning was required. We talked some more about guitars and music. I needed that talk. It felt so good. I was filling an empty hole. I miss my guitar group.

I didn't want to tire him out so, I shut myself down sooner then I wanted but not until we had looked at some new Cordoba classical guitars. I'm going to do exactly what he suggested.

I decided to walk home cable in hand. I felt optimistic. I guess my need to belong and be a part of something is stronger then I am willing to admit.

What a rotten year 2020 has been. 

 

[FMW]

I went out of town to visit my mother for Thanksgiving (it was just the two of us the entire time, no exposure to anyone else).  I missed a show Wednesday night before the holiday (the guy I'm seeing is a musician) and it turns out one of the employees at the venue got a positive COVID test result back on Friday (the employees all test every week, this is the first time in 6 months there has been an issue with employees, patrons or musicians).  The venue is good at keeping everyone spaced apart and requires masks, so hopefully no one that was there that night will get it, but my guy and several of my friends are going to have to quarantine now.  They plan to do the rapid tests early next week (and hopefully all test negative), but in the meantime my full weekend of plans has been cancelled, along with mid-week plans.  No sitting around anyone's fire pit for a while.  

Good time for deep down housecleaning I guess.  

Edited November 29, 2020 by FMW

[Happy Lemming]

I went up on the roof yesterday for a little pre-winter inspection.  I found a couple small areas of concern, so I'll take care of them. I'm hoping for some Winter rains this year as we had no monsoon rains to speak of this summer.

Also found some areas to touch up on the fascia boards (corners), so I caulked them up yesterday.  I'll primer them up today and color coat later in the week.

[Happy Lemming]

I was trimming out some dead wood from my Grapefruit tree and noticed some rot.  The tree appears to be rotting from the inside out.  I cut away all of the rot and have very little tree left (only about 30%).  The poor thing looks pathetic.  I'm hoping it survives, but it appears doubtful.

If nothing else this wonderful tree got me and my girlfriend through the beginning of the pandemic by providing us "vitamin C" without having to go out to the grocery store.

[Ruby Slippers]

I'm feeling a lot of pandemic fatigue, and I can tell that other people are, too. Most people at work came back from the Thanksgiving break with a sense of exhaustion, realizing we have to hold on for a few more weeks till most of us take an extended break over Christmas/NYE. I'm very aware we're all lucky to have good jobs...but it's so obvious that people are feeling burnt out and ready for a real break.

[Ellener]

18 minutes ago, Ruby Slippers said:

I'm feeling a lot of pandemic fatigue, and I can tell that other people are, too. Most people at work came back from the Thanksgiving break with a sense of exhaustion, realizing we have to hold on for a few more weeks till most of us take an extended break over Christmas/NYE. I'm very aware we're all lucky to have good jobs...but it's so obvious that people are feeling burnt out and ready for a real break.

Where I am everyone pretty much looks tired all the time now, either from worry or exhaustion.

The supermarket staff are really nice on the whole, but they seem to work all the time, the same few people. 

I said to an older man a few days ago 2020 has been the worst year of my life, he said that he'd had a worse year- when he was fighting in Vietnam. He said it took him a decade to recover from that.

Where I live the first available vaccine for Covid is supposed to arrive here on Dec 14. 

 

 

 

 

[Ruby Slippers]

5 minutes ago, Ellener said:

Where I am everyone pretty much looks tired all the time now, either from worry or exhaustion.

Same. Even the people at work who are normally the most chipper and gung ho seem tired and worn down. I know employed professional workers are among the least affected in the big picture, but it's wearing on everybody.

[Ellener]

8 minutes ago, Ruby Slippers said:

Same. Even the people at work who are normally the most chipper and gung ho seem tired and worn down. I know employed professional workers are among the least affected in the big picture, but it's wearing on everybody.

It's been a depressing year all round! 

I had been thinking of working with terminally ill people next, well the dementia patients are technically terminally ill, but I mean in a more specialist end-of-life role. Now I just feel like I need not to think about death or dying or anything sad or angry for a long time...I've started doing some childcare qualifications instead, young people are a wonderful distraction and it would be equally worthwhile work. 

If I can get back on my feet I'd be happy to work in a garden centre to be honest, just anything 'normal'! and cheerful.

I'm still growing things on my balcony.

 

 

 

[Ruby Slippers]

I'm starting my Christmas cookie baking this weekend, will send out cookies and presents by mail to out-of-town friends, then do another round later for the locals. I know one of the best ways to improve your outlook is to do something nice for other people. 'Tis the season of giving, after all. So hopefully this helps.

[Ellener]

52 minutes ago, Ruby Slippers said:

I'm starting my Christmas cookie baking this weekend, will send out cookies and presents by mail to out-of-town friends, then do another round later for the locals. I know one of the best ways to improve your outlook is to do something nice for other people. 'Tis the season of giving, after all. So hopefully this helps.

My son said he's visiting tomorrow, so I picked up a pumpkin spice Pillsbury ready-to-bake 12 cookie dough @69 cents...that's about the extent of my baking these days. Well I don't eat carbs/sugar much.

I want to stop taking metformin after this month so a1c needs to be close to 5. It goes a little crazy when I get stressed so it's probably been up and down this year but last time tested it was 5.7

Enjoy your baking creativity @Ruby Slippers 

 

 

[major_merrick]

2020 has definitely been tiring.  Everybody is just a bit more exhausted and on edge than usual.

I continue to work mostly at home... feeding babies, chasing toddlers, cooking, cleaning, and solving feminine squabbles.  I never aspired to domestic life, but I'm sure getting my fill of it now!  Wife #1 is my primary partner anymore, and it seems like we spend most of the day working together.  Everybody else has their own thing to do. 

I've been wishing all year that my husband could be home more, but between his job and our community, he doesn't have much of a life.  I don't dare tell him, but he's aged significantly in just one year.  He forces a cheerful demeanor, but having known him for most of my life I see right through it.  For his own health and sanity, this is going to have to change. 

[Woggle]

The sad thing is that if it weren't for this pandemic this would be the best time in my life. These past few years I have been more at peace than I have ever been in life even if the rest of the world seems to be falling apart.

[Ellener]

10 minutes ago, Woggle said:

The sad thing is that if it weren't for this pandemic this would be the best time in my life. These past few years I have been more at peace than I have ever been in life even if the rest of the world seems to be falling apart.

You should embrace that just for you, my life's a bit of a disaster lately and it makes me happy when I see someone else found some joy 

There's beauty and love and joy and peace in unlikely places in this world.

[Ruby Slippers]

On 12/3/2020 at 5:22 PM, Woggle said:

The sad thing is that if it weren't for this pandemic this would be the best time in my life. 

Generally this is true for me as well. I finally landed my dream job and dream salary in April, during a global pandemic. I can finally afford to take a real vacation without worrying too much about frugality and saving for the future... and all the tropical beach destinations I'd like to visit have travel restrictions. This is certainly a first-world problem and I'm not complaining - but it is a bit strange how it all happened.

My boss said on our team meeting video call today that while our sector is finally starting to get hit pretty hard with the domino effect, our organization in particular is faring pretty well and currently still committed to keeping all of us in our jobs. He said there are no guarantees, of course, but I'm very thankful for what seems almost like a miracle at this point and praying it continues.

Today I went to my neighborhood post office, located inside an old Ace Hardware store, to ship off my many boxes of Christmas cookies and presents. I am so glad those are out of my hair. I'm sure everybody's going to appreciate them, but it was a crazy amount of work and I've been very low energy, so it was exhausting getting everything done over the weekend. But I'm glad I did it. Everyone I sent things to are old friends who have been so supportive for many years, and I can absolutely credit every one of them with helping me get to where I am now, so they deserve it.

Now I'm getting ready to make my biggest charitable contribution of the year for Christmas, to the local food bank. First I'm going to check with my organization and see if they'll match it.

[LivingWaterPlease]

I had a very busy weekend with five weekend guests! We decorated Christmas cookies, did some retail Christmas shopping in the city, ate breakfast at a favorite French restaurant and I served a large dinner in my home.  It is decorated more beautifully than it has been in the past fifteen years. I designed a special door ornament that hangs on my recently refinished front door. It was painted dark green but I had it stripped to its natural wood color and varnished this year right after my house was painted!

For Thanksgiving I was invited to an early dinner and a late dinner by two different friend groups and attended both. My children live a distance away and we are getting together for Christmas at one of the children's homes. Not all of my children can attend as one is too far away and lives in a very covid-19 restricted state. 

A sibling and his grown children from a different part of the country are planning to fly in to the same city where I'm visiting and we plan to get together with them. At some point I hope to see my 92-year-old mother and her husband who live there IF they want me to visit. I visited with them and stayed in their home a couple months ago as mom asked me to come see her. They are cautious but attend church weekly and eat with friends from time-to-time. I am respecting whatever they are comfortable with as far as visiting with them at Christmas.

On a sad note, a friend I'd lost touch with has covid-19.  I've been in touch with his wife, and daughter whom I've been scheduled to work with on a project which is related to her work also in January. Her father is in his 70's and has had heart issues for a very long time. It seems without a miracle he won't make it. This is a part of his testimony his daughter sent me a few days ago right before they put him on a ventilator,

"God has me right where He wants me...I have no uncertainty, no anxiety, no fear thanks to resting in His hands.  There is no place safer or more comfortable to be and I am a blessed man..." At this point he is on a ventilator and they are also seriously considering putting him on kidney support.

I continue to be in touch with the family praying for them and encouraging them. Their faith is amazing to me!

I am sad for those who have lost loved ones due to covid-19 or anything else. I have lost a dear friend and two friends I was not as close with in the past two weeks. One of the friends was my in-town bff's mom. None of them had covid-19 and one was a suicide. It is likely I will lose the college friend who has covid-19.

I've gone through two very rough times in my life which both times only God got me through though I really didn't think I was going to make it, so I understand those who are struggling emotionally or physically now. I just encourage you that, though things may seem dark, there is a Light at the end of the tunnel so to speak!

Much love to each person on this thread. I truly wish I could give a hug or something to each of you who are worn from all that's going on that would somehow bring sunshine into your lives.

 

 

[Happy Lemming]

I just got done putting a new alternator on my old work truck.  Why do the engineers tuck those things down underneath everything. 

Years ago, they were right at the top of the engine bay, two bolts and a couple of wires and you were done.  Now you have to take half the engine bay apart to get the darn thing out.

Oh well... its done. 

[FMW]

I finally joined the rest of the universe and bought an Insta Pot.  I ordered it online for curbside pickup later today at a local store.  I already have two recipes I want to try out.  

I don't enjoy spending hours cooking, but I'm tired of only serving takeout or quick prepare foods when the guy I'm seeing comes over for dinner a few times a week.  When he cooks at his house he always has something made from scratch and delicious.  It's getting embarrassing .  Here's hoping the Instant Pot gives me a little more food preparation game!

[Happy Lemming]

1 hour ago, FMW said:

Here's hoping the Instant Pot gives me a little more food preparation game!

Yes... I've been looking at those, but have not purchased one.  I have two pressure cookers with the "jiggler" weights.  I am curious how those compare to the insta-pots.

Please update once you've used it a couple of times, I would like to hear your thoughts/impressions of it.

[Ellener]

This week went from awful to productive again, I've had a falling out, a fall, and discovered the joys of buying internet online and of buying second-hand tires/tyres.

I did a little Kroger run tonight for the paprika I needed and discovered my night vision is getting really bad. Hopefully it's just fallout from the fall and the falling-out...

Got things cooked then while they were cooking took a little nap, I so need some sleep, woke to yet another nosebleed ( hopefully to do with the fall, though I have had them before )

So I dealt with that and I'm sitting in the kitchen peeling eggs with a kleenex stuffed up my nose, there's two white noise machines going to drown out the noise from upstairs, The Nutcracker is on tv with hysterical children parading around on tiptoe. The paprika lid is stuck so when I open it that goes everywhere and I start sneezing and trying not to sneeze. 

Think to self: this is my life now and laugh; oh well- deviled egg pasta turned out lovely 

Edited December 13, 2020 by Ellener
spelling

[Happy Lemming]

10 hours ago, Ellener said:

...and of buying second-hand tires/tyres.

 

This reminds me of this nice Latino gentleman that ran this neighborhood used tire place.  In the beginning, his prices were great and he was fair with everyone.  He had this very friendly dog that would greet people when you pulled up.  I'd pick up dog treats in advance of my visit.  He didn't speak English and I didn't speak Spanish, but we were still able to have a nice transaction.

I don't know what happened, but the next time I went there his prices more than doubled.  For $20 more, I could get a brand new tire from the shop down the street, so I stopped going there.

[Happy Lemming]

It finally rained here this past week and I had to take the car out in the rain.  Needless to say, a lot of dust had accumulated on my car from sitting in the garage and the rain made it look yucky/splotchy.

So I gave it a good wash and a coat of wax yesterday.  "V" sat in the garage while I waxed the car and we just talked... nothing in particular, but it was nice to interact with someone.