Weekly Chat Thread April 4th - 10th

[staytuned]

Good morning one and all.  Currently 35 and not going much higher today. At least there's no SNOW like we had a decent coating yesterday morning. Winter just refuses to relinquish the grip to let spring take over.  DH emailed there was no hot water so I checked and still none so requested he call the office or emergency number since I was ignored last time when the oven stopped working.  He somehow got someone to actually answer the phone and will let maintenance know. Of course, I really need to take a shower so that would be my thrill of the day. Hope everyone has a totally narly day today!

[labbypaws]

Landscaper forgot he had something to do this morning so he will be here while I normally sleep. I am up waiting for him. Hoping hubby is home before they leave otherwise I have to stay up and make sure they fill the smaller holes.

Going to be another damp and wet week here. Sun was out earlier but has gone back into hiding for the week.

They are here but I am guessing they will have to get more dirt.  They didn’t bring much.

[staytuned]

We're looking at a week of showers as well, but at least they're rain showers vs. snow showers.

[Desire]

The darn moles and voles are back. Went outside earlier and saw hunks of grass on the sidewalk that leads to the pool area. They make their tunnels along the sidewalks and then continue along the Belgium blocks that line the mulch beds. It creates a spongy loose feeling when you walk over the grass area where they have tunneled under. We tried EVERYTHING (poison pellets/smoke bombs, etc) last year to stop them but it seems to be a lost cause.  By the end of last summer they were spreading the tunnels out further into the yard creating a maze of tunnels, ruining the lawn and making it dangerous to walk on, as your footing is compromised.

We just did grub treatment to the lawn but I don't think the grubs are what is drawing them in. Moles are meat eaters (grubs) and voles are vegetation eaters (grass roots).

[kritter]

Purrfect weather down here for our annual week of FIESTA with a river parade, a day parade, and a night parade. Many other celebrations across town every day to raise money for different organizations. Lots of eating and drinking going on.

Fiesta takes place each April to honor the memory of the heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto, celebrating the diverse heritage, culture and spirit that make up the city of San Antonio. It's a city-wide phenomenon, with events happening all over town.

[chapeaunoir]

Desire - the only thing that managed an infestation of moles n' voles in our little road was two predatory cats. We're watching the situation now that Jamie and Cassie are gone

[val2525]

[labbypaws]

Landscapers only took an hour. They bought topsoil left over from another job. We had asked for 2-3 yards worth and they bought a yard and a half. Hopefully that means my bill will be much less than he stated.

Of course I got no sleep before work. So far everyone on nights is supposed to be here.

[chapeaunoir]

We were supposed to have storms coming through here, and since my little niche loses power if someone sneezes, I stayed up half the night last night packing and shipping, including orders coming in, in the middle of the night .  I get up this morning and it's quiet as a lamb outside and the sun even came out! But I was so sacked from staying up until 3:00 a.m with these packages that I had no ambition to go outside and napped instead. It's snowing in the passes now, so no going over to "The Dry Side" for us anytime soon. I guess the storm we were supposed to have got bottled up in the mountains. We just have generic clouds and rain coming soon, but the winds are coming down from Alaska - brrrrr!

[Desire]

Anyone that has a swimming pool - order your chlorine tablets now before pool season gets into full swing as the prices are going up rapidly.  A 50lb bucket that used to cost 89.00-99.00 is now 249.00 for the 3-inch slow tabs, an enormous increase.  The shortage has reached a tipping point from the huge fire/explosion of 2020 in the main chlorine factory that supplies much of the pool chlorine for the country.  Amazon sellers are the highest after I did comparison shopping last week.

In early 2021 the prices were still OK, I purchased the 50-lb size for 109.00 less a 10.00 coupon. Doheny's Pool Store whom I spoke with last week said that by the Fall of 2021 the shortage was just beginning to be felt.  Wish I had known to purchase ahead of time as most suppliers still had pretty good supplies on hand. But now it's reached a point where the suppliers and dealers are facing a shortage and prices have skyrocketed.  They said that thousands of homeowners installed pools in 2020 due to the pandemic when so many were forced to stay home.  Adding that to the fire of 2020 and supplies have become exhausted.

The Chinese scammers have now gotten involved and are undercutting prices by offering prices way below the normal prices of years ago, for an inferior product. They are advertising the 50lb buckets of slow-tabs for 49.00, a price I haven't seen for at least 10 years. All their websites look the same and a lot of them seem to be using "In the Swim" and Member's Mark (Sam's Club) labels on their products. I've never seen any of these Chinese companies offering chlorine in the past. Now they are all over the place.

[jandsknight]

Desire, thanks for the info about pool chlorine tablets. I read your post to my husband as he's the one who takes care of that chore.

[jesmelric]

Hi guys, hope everyone is doing well. It's crazy to me that there are places in the 30s right now! We are supposed to hit 90 today but a cool front tomorrow should cool us down for a few days, at least. But once we hit April, no telling when the last cool front will be

We had a nice visit with mom yesterday and finally she is seeing the dr! It's crazy that she would be there almost a year and they would not have dr see her at least once, there is a dr that comes in every Wednesday. And they are supposed to refer her to a cardiologist as well. She's been under the care of a cardiologist for more than two decades and she hasn't seen one in over a year. And she's getting easily fatigued and out of breath so it seems a cardiologist visit is a good idea, just to check. It's crazy the hassle it was just to get the dr to see her, I mean this is a facility full of elderly people.

Desire, wow that is crazy about the chlorine! We had an above ground pool for years, and bought the tablets and they didn't cost a lot then, I feel bad for people who are trying to afford them now. I wouldn't mind a small above ground pool now, but it seems too much hassle just for me, DH would hardly ever use it. And now definitely too expensive, as well.

[allikat]

Something changed in the make and offer on eBay. I put the amount in for an offer and it made me choose a payment method and said I would automatically be charged if offer was accepted. I would think this would be good the all the sellers as it is auto paying when offer is accepted.

[chapeaunoir]

jesmelric - I think Covid has a lot to do with it - my regular doctor abruptly left and it's almost two months to get in to see the new PA that I chose and she's not a specialist. I've been hearing other reports like this.  Yes, your mom definitely needs to see the cardiologist for that breathlessness! 

Its been in the 30s here at night but not during the day. We're having what constitutes daytime temp swings for us - going from 45 to 65 toward the end of the week whoaaaaaaa...! LOL. 

A friend of ours moved into a commune sort of community and came down with Covid not a couple of weeks later - just called us last night. These people are responsible and community-minded, but those who have already had covid or are vaxxed are coming down with this now BA.2 variant.  I'm choosing to continue to mask up, and will schedule my booster for the end of the month - we'll see how it goes then. 

[chapeaunoir]

Apr 5, 2022 21:56:53 GMT allikat said:

Something changed in the make and offer on eBay. I put the amount in for an offer and it made me choose a payment method and said I would automatically be charged if offer was accepted. I would think this would be good the all the sellers as it is auto paying when offer is accepted.

allikat - you're probably in the group of buyers eBay is testing this on.  Hopefully they'll keep rolling it out. They really need a bundling option if they're going to do this right, though. 

[val2525]

Apr 5, 2022 21:56:53 GMT allikat said:

Something changed in the make and offer on eBay. I put the amount in for an offer and it made me choose a payment method and said I would automatically be charged if offer was accepted. I would think this would be good the all the sellers as it is auto paying when offer is accepted.

That's what I had to do on Posh, when I made an offer. I like it as a buyer.

[allikat]

I like it too. They need to streamline it a little on eBay. I put in one offer, said pay with PayPal, it took me to PayPal to sign in then back to eBay. It instantly declined offer so I wanted to up my offer and had to do the whole process again including sign into PayPal, which I understand because the amount changed. Could be it seemed like a long process because it was my first experience with it. My second offer was accepted a couple of hours later, the payment sat as pending for about an hour then I received an email that said your order is confirmed.

[kritter]

Happy day to Kenya and Chanel! Its your day, Meezer Girls.

[staytuned]

That's interesting about having to pay when making offers, but curious if you use Paypal and offer is declined, are you refunded their processing fee?

[kritter]

Apr 6, 2022 17:11:00 GMT staytuned said:

That's interesting about having to pay when making offers, but curious if you use Paypal and offer is declined, are you refunded their processing fee?

I could be mistaken but I don't think there is a processing fee until the transaction goes through.  If the offer is declined, there would be no transaction.

[Shirley U Geste]

WooHoo! It's officially spring at my house.

The first hummingbird showed up today.

[val2525]

Do the hummingbird feeders attract bees or wasps?

I unpacked my new 2 qt slow cooker and discovered a flaw in the crock liner. Which means it will crack when used. I put in for a replacement on Amazon. Hopefully they still have the pink in stock. Yes, it's pink I've never used a 2 qt before but I found quite a few recipes that use 2 qt cookers and it appears to be a good size for small servings (for 1 or 2 people) and things like 1-2 chicken breasts, etc. We shall see.

Sunny, high 70s and a nice breeze here today.

[denise15601]

Yay me!

My house is 45 years old, and so are my denim-blue bathroom toilet, sink and tub. However, my toilet flapper hinge broke off and I had to go to 5 places today to finally find a flapper kit that would work for my ollllld toilet.

I had to build it myself and it works!!!!! Otherwise, I was facing getting all new guts inside or a new toilet.

I haven't gone to that many stores in one day for over 2 years. Typically I can fix small toilet problems, as long as I can find the parts, but this was a real problem.

[staytuned]

My inlaws used to get hummingbirds and hung a feeder on the porch. Didn't have a problem with bees/wasps, but ants were attracted to it. FIL rubbed automotive oil on the hanging part so they'd slide off before getting the the feeder part and they took the hint quick and stopped trying.

[allikat]

It didn't charge my PayPal for first offer, just the second one after it was accepted.

[jandsknight]

Yes, hummingbird feeders attract bees, wasps and ants. Google for ways to prevent.

[labbypaws]

Got to work today and we were down a car. So I offered to go home when the 8pm-4am guy came in. Nice to get off early. Treated myself to Longhorn.

[Shirley U Geste]

Do the hummingbird feeders attract bees or wasps?

Unfortunately yes, & ants.

It's sugar water so a lot of pests want to get at it.

[Desire]

We have a hummingbird feeder that hangs outside our FR window and after a month or so I will occasionally see bees on it. But they don't prevent the hummingbirds from coming. We also plant a lot of dark red annuals in pots on our deck in the summer and that color of flower also attracts a lot of hummingbirds.

[sunsetpainter]

I have small hummer feeders that I hang underneath my hanging fuchsia baskets on our patio. We generally don't get the yellow jackets until late in the summer, and the ants leave those alone.