What are you doing these days?

[Alpacalia]

I am awaiting my chick-fil-a sandwich after an arduous study session and then I will be zoomin' with 4 of my gal pals. 

We're going to play emoji bingo.

[poppyfields]

5 hours ago, Alpaca said:

Coldbrew, great idea! And, your day sounds lovely. 

It was lovely actually, thanks!

I have a modification to make though; I checked out the size of the cup and it was 30 ounces, not 40, and a quarter was ice, so my Coldbrew was about 20 ounces, which is still a hell of a lot of caffeine - between 400-500 mg! 

I got to chatting with one of my ex's (short term relationship) who is an ER doctor who got mad at me cause he said that was way WAY too much caffeine in one sitting and then I went for a run!  

Bad bad bad, he said people have gone into cardiac arrest after consuming that much caffeine in such a short time, and then to go for a run?  

Fortunately nothing bad happened and I'm fine, but warning to all that the energy drinks, and other highly caffeinated drinks, like Coldbrew - be careful, they can literally kill you, my doctor friend/ex has seen it happen. 

They're shouid good though, I just love my coldbrew, maybe go for the smaller size next time. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by poppyfields

[Happy Lemming]

Parts order just came in for my girlfriend's car.  It needs upper and lower torque mounts.

I just need her to bring the car over, so I can install them.

We've been talking and she'd like to keep her car "alive" for 3 more years, if possible.  I think that is an attainable goal, but it will require some TLC. 

I've found an on-line source for affordable parts and the shipping costs are reasonable.

[Wiseman2]

What year is the car ?

[Happy Lemming]

37 minutes ago, Wiseman2 said:

What year is the car ?

2005 Dodge Neon...  It's actually a pretty good car, it's just suffering from lack of maintenance.  I did ask my girlfriend what maintenance had been done to the car and if she was following the maintenance schedule in the owners manual.  She looked at me like I had 3 eyes.

In the past, she hasn't let me touch her car (which is fine)... Recently, she went in for an oil change, and the mechanic recommended $3K worth of work.  I told her we are not putting $3K into an '05 Dodge.  I can do all of the work for about $300 - $500 in parts.

We are hoping in about 3 years, she'll have saved up enough money to get a gently used Honda or Toyota.  She has her heart set on a Toyota Corolla.

 

[Happy Lemming]

Yesterday, I received the "termite treatment" chemical I ordered.  It appears next week the weather will be cooperating and I can trench around the house and Casita (guest house) to apply the treatment.

I don't have termites... this is just preventative maintenance that is supposed to be done every 7-8 years.

The chemical was somewhat expensive, I'd hate to see what a professional pest control company would charge for a treatment of this stuff.

[Happy Lemming]

I'm about 75% done with trenching around the house and applying the termite treatment chemical.  It is supposed to rain today, so I'll hold up until tomorrow.

All in all, everything is going well.  I'm quite thankful that the chemical lasts for 8 years and I don't have to do this too often.

[sothereiwas]

The Taurus SC or similar can also be used to nuke meat eating wasps. 

[Happy Lemming]

3 minutes ago, sothereiwas said:

The Taurus SC or similar can also be used to nuke meat eating wasps. 

I'm using the new Termidor HE. 

I don't really have any problems with wasps.  Basically, I'm just doing preventative maintenance.  There is a real problem in AZ with termites and once they get a foot hold in your home, they are very difficult to get rid of them (or so I've heard).

[sothereiwas]

12 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

I'm using the new Termidor HE. 

It's the same active ingredient. Fipronil or whatever. 

[Happy Lemming]

1 hour ago, sothereiwas said:

It's the same active ingredient. Fipronil or whatever. 

Yes... but the new "Termidor HE" states you only have to trench down 2 inches instead of 6 with Taurus SC.  Personally, I'm dealing with hard dessert soil and caliche soil, which is an absolute pain to trench.

So I spent the extra money for the Termidor HE to save some wear and tear on my body.

[Happy Lemming]

I went up on the roof yesterday and caulked around the chimney flashing.  Nothing is leaking... just doing some preventative maintenance.

The monsoon rains here are hit and miss... some years we get a lot of rain, while other years nothing.  Last year we got very little rain.

[Alpacalia]

Finishing out the spring semester then a wee bit of travel.    

[Eternal Sunshine]

Life has gotten pretty much back to normal. Nobody wears masks even in crowded shopping malls. People are fully back to office work. The other day, I was in an elevator with 25 people crammed in, no masks. One person sneezed and we all laughed. Crowds are back everywhere and it feels like pre-COVID times.

I am still worried how it will be with winter coming and hotel quarantine system has frequent leaks of the virus. Together with major vaccine rollout problems in Australia, I can see the virus taking the foothold again, especially the new variants.

 

[BaileyB]

^^^ So weird! I have a friend who lives on the Gold Coast and she is living her life as per usual too. 

Here in Canada, we are heading back to another lockdown. Many parts of the country have already placed new restrictions and we seem to be just a few weeks behind... but, they are coming. We were talking today about how we have to pull in again, as the variants are spreading fast. I am vaccinated, my partner is not. We are not taking any unnecessary risks. 

For me, I’ve become an indoor gardener. New house with beautiful windows and lots of natural light. This is my first experience with houseplants and I’ve been enjoying learning and growing my new plants. And going for lots of walks, as the weather has been really nice. 

[FMW]

I felt a little jolt reading the post about things being back to normal, crowded elevators, etc.  Things are better here, numbers of positive cases and hospitalizations greatly decreased, in my Midwestern US City, but we're still wearing masks (per mandate) and social distancing.  And I'm quite happy with that.  I go out to bars/restaurants a few times a week, capacity is limited to 50% and I feel comfortable with that most of the time.  I and most of my friends are vaccinated now.  But I think it's way too soon to be "back to normal".

I visited my mother in a more rural area in the upper South over Easter, our server at a restaurant wasn't wearing a mask.  I was extremely uncomfortable.  Their numbers are up, but they have no limitations down there.  Fortunately my mom has been vaccinated and wears a mask when she's out in public, but I have noticed she doesn't maintain much distance from others sometimes in public.

I'm happy the weather is warmer now, my friends and I can resume our outdoor get togethers at each others' homes.  Almost all of us are fully vaccinated now, so things feel more comfortable.  

I'm buying a house and I look forward to gardening and spending a lot of time in my new fully wood fenced back yard. 

[Prudence V]

We’re allowed to meet up (two households / max six people) outdoors now, so went to see friends’ new place, which was beautiful. It was their second meet-up (first at home; they’d been round to mutual friends two days earlier) and our first. We were all very sensible about distancing and sanitising and not going indoors, and we’d all had our first shots (friend has terminal cancer so will shortly get his second) so it felt safe enough. 

[Happy Lemming]

I'm working on my 2021 Taxes and figuring out my estimated payments... boring stuff, but it needs to be done.

[glows]

In the yard! Cutting grass and planting.. wait, this is not the right thread.

[Woggle]

I finally saw my in laws for the first time in over a year since all of us are vaccinated now. I want us to do it smart but I am ready for the world to open back up again. The weather is good lately and I am hoping to see things come back to life this summer.

[glows]

2 hours ago, Woggle said:

I finally saw my in laws for the first time in over a year since all of us are vaccinated now. I want us to do it smart but I am ready for the world to open back up again. The weather is good lately and I am hoping to see things come back to life this summer.

I am still video calling everyone. I am not yet vaccinated because it's not my turn. On my list.. !

Me too. Although it's a little bleak for us out here. The cases have gone up. I'm just so excited that the days are finally getting longer.

Edited April 19, 2021 by glows

[The Outlaw]

Tryin' to stay out of trouble. And working. 

[Gaeta]

I envy all of you going back to your regular life!

We're still in lockdown here, nothing is open, no restaurants, no hairdressers, visiting is forbidden, office towers closed. I've been working home for full year now. I was thinking earlier today I just spent a full year in my pj's hihi! This week I had my 2 patio doors changed, I'm happy that's done. We had a full week at 20C so I thought lets set up the outdoor furniture & umbrella and BOOM, today we're hit with 0 degree and snow!!

Edited April 21, 2021 by Gaeta

[RecentChange]

Things are far from back to normal here in the San Francisco Bay area - but we are slowly getting there.

I get my second dose of vaccine in a week, and many I know, including my husband and coworkers are now fully vaccinated. 

Taking my mask off in a small office with one other vaccinated coworker is as close to normal I have gotten! It's still masks in congregate settings, very limited indoor dining etc.

My big change is that I quit the company I worked for 17 years, and found a much better position (signing bonus, 30% increase in salary, lots of opportunity for upward mobility). All interviews were done via zoom. And the best part? It's a permanent work from home position. Thanks Covid! This pandemic showed many that their job could be done from home. I haven't worked in consistently in an office in 13 months now. 

I still have an office in San Francisco should I feel compelled to come in (which I do on occasion), but not being tied to a commute is so freeing.

So these days I have more time for my horseback riding, cooking, gardening, my husband and all the little things that make me happy. 

[Alpacalia]

Things have slowly opened up in my neck of the woods though I've been keeping a safe distance until myself and others are fully vaccinated. Work and school I can do from home but I have a trip coming up but I still plan to take the necessary precautions. Fall should be a bit different, hopefully.