Weekly Chat Thread March 6th - 12th

[staytuned]

Good morning, everyone!  March is always full of surprises (or not) around here. For those states that still have to set clocks twice a year, we'll spring forward at 2am on the 12th so remember to "spring forward" before bedtime Saturday night.  St. Patrick's Day on the 17th, (supposedly) first day of Spring on the the 20th.  On a personal note, DH & I will celebrate our anniversary on the 25th. Temps, at least through the next 2 weeks, will be below normal and we'll be seeing the white stuff flying around and probably accumulations, so actually more winter than February. *shrug* it will eventually warm up and stay there, probably 2 weeks of actual spring before delving into too hot summer. Hope everyone has something to smile about today!

[kritter]

March 20th is first day of Spring.  I think we started Spring around the middle of February here.

[labbypaws]

I like this time of year when it is sunny and in the upper 40’s or higher. Right now we are headed downward from the 50’s. As long as the sun is out I am ok. I hate cooler cloudy days. It has been breezy though but survivable.

[staytuned]

Sun was out most of the day and recently turned dark and gloomy. Glad I went out earlier when it was low 50s and felt like spring. Temps plummeting to upper 30s for highs, 20s at night and chance of rain/mix/snow towards weekend.

Val, did maintenance get around to checking the source of the noise?

[val2525]

The apartment sent me an email this morning that the critter guy will be out tomorrow to check the building and seal up any access points. Either the critter I was hearing managed to get out, or died since I didn't hear it all yesterday. Guess I'll find out which it was in a few weeks

If anyone here shops at Belk, be aware they quietly changed their return policy a few weeks ago to 30 days. It was 90 days. Plus, for online purchases, it is 30 day from purchase, not 30 days from delivery. /PSA

Muggy and high 70s here.

[denise15601]

Beautiful today...57 and sunny. This is working okay so far with 1 or 2 days a week that are nice. On the cold days I can recover from doing yardwork.

[val2525]

The ceiling critter is REALLY restless tonight. Twila is going nuts trying to figure out how to catch it . She can jump really high but not ceiling height . Well, not yet anyway LOL.

[staytuned]

Mar 7, 2023 7:08:43 GMT val2525 said:

The ceiling critter is REALLY restless tonight. Twila is going nuts trying to figure out how to catch it . She can jump really high but not ceiling height . Well, not yet anyway LOL.

Sounds like it might be a raccoon w/wo family.  I sure hope maintenance finds the source of entry and solves that problem.  MIL had one or more down her chimney a few years ago and the noise was unnerving.

[jesmelric]

Mar 7, 2023 14:39:36 GMT staytuned said:

Mar 7, 2023 7:08:43 GMT val2525 said:

The ceiling critter is REALLY restless tonight. Twila is going nuts trying to figure out how to catch it . She can jump really high but not ceiling height . Well, not yet anyway LOL.

Sounds like it might be a raccoon w/wo family.  I sure hope maintenance finds the source of entry and solves that problem.  MIL had one or more down her chimney a few years ago and the noise was unnerving.

Omg I remember some years ago hearing about an older woman who had a rabid raccoon come in through a pet door and attack her in her bed at night. I've been scared of them ever since! My neighbor has a very nice vegetable garden and it draws raccoons. She's had to have them removed twice (they had babies and were living in the rafters of her detached garage). Sometimes they would come in my yard and freak me out.

Poor mom, we went to see her yesterday and she is quite lonely, she and the boyfriend spent most of the day together hanging out for the last 8 months. She said I feel like the World's Oldest Sad Teenager We did find out why they kicked him out. Apparently some residents smoke, they have to go outside obviously. A woman there has problems using her lighter (arthritis? I really don't know what) and he lit it for her. And they told him not to do it again because he could accidentally burn her hands or something. So of course that is a huge liability issue for them. Well he did it again and was caught. So that was it, he had to go. Mom said he said when he was leaving: If I would have known this would happen I wouldn't have done it. My sister was saying they should have told him what the consequence would be. And they may have; his memory issues aren't as bad as mom's but he does have them. They did call him for her on Sunday and she spoke to him. They said he could come visit her (not sure if that would ever happen) but he can't come back. They are still having her participate in activities, etc, so hopefully that helps. She also told me: The truth is that I love him and he likes me very much. That sounds pretty accurate, mom's always tended to go all in so to speak.

We are quite warm here. We were expecting some cold weather this weekend, but I see today they have changed that and it looks like more warm and not much rain. Ugh we are still struggling after the drought last summer. If we have to get warm this early, it would be really nice to get some rain with it.

[denise15601]

((((Jes's mom)))

[denise15601]

Just got my 3rd Covid booster. It has been hard to schedule it around all of my recent tests and scans.
The nurse gave me quite a compliment when she said that she had to change to a shorter needle since I don't have a lot of butt fat!!!

[staytuned]

Sorry about your mom, jes. I hope she winds up making new friends. I remember visiting Mom in a beautiful facility when she was doing rehab and found her in her room all alone, gloomy and depressed. I asked if she'd seen how nice the rest of the place is and she shook her head "no". I finally told her to wheel herself out to the common room to take a look around (there were tables, books, puzzles, games, bigger t.v.) and if she didn't like it, wheel herself back and continue feeling sorry for herself. She has nothing to lose. Never thought I'd be using "tough love" on Mom, but next time I visited, she was smiling, happy, peppy and thanked me because not only did she do it, she not only made some friends, but one woman came from the same part of Yugoslavia she did.

[val2525]

The critter catchers have come and gone. Less than 2 minutes after they parked and got out of their trucks, I heard one get on his phone and say they'd found the entry. I hope that was the only entry, because they weren't here long enough to check out the whole building. Guess I'll find out tonight if that was the only entry or not, eh? Do the critters leave during the daytime? As in, no critters to catch today, just close up the door? I was reading up on this online and it seems it's fairly common here, especially in my part of town. There were several articles on how tenants were having to file complaints with the city to get their apartment management to do anything. Thank goodness I live in a complex where management is quick to respond to requests.

Partly cloudy, muggy and 80 here. The pollen count is insane. I sneeze my head off anytime I go outside, and that's after taking an antihistamine daily.

[kritter]

Do the critters leave during the daytime? As in, no critters to catch today, just close up the door?

The critters come and go at night.  I had a possum underneath my house. I waited until midnight and went out and closed up his entry point.  Next morning there was digging like he was trying to get back in but no luck as I had blocked it like I was building a dam out there.

[val2525]

Well crap, then that means they're inside during the day. So just closing up the opening and not trying to locate and remove the critter inside means I may still have critters up there? Because the critter guys did not get out a trap and did not leave with any critters. My home office window looks out over the parking lot so I was able to watch them.

[staytuned]

Mar 7, 2023 23:08:38 GMT val2525 said:

Well crap, then that means they're inside during the day. So just closing up the opening and not trying to locate and remove the critter inside means I may still have critters up there? Because the critter guys did not get out a trap and did not leave with any critters. My home office window looks out over the parking lot so I was able to watch them.

Raccoons are nocturnal. Guess you'll get your answer tonight if it's (hopefully) all quiet again or not.

[kritter]

So just closing up the opening and not trying to locate and remove the critter inside means I may still have critters up there?

The usual plan is to set up traps overnight and then come back the next day and remove the traps and whatever is caught and THEN seal up the opening.  It sounds like your guys are taking the apth of least restriction for them and just sealing up the opening.

There is a chance that the critters were just passing through last night and didn't bed down for the night.  You will find out tonight.

[val2525]

The critters have been partying in the ceiling every night since either Sunday or Monday of last week It's the second time the critter guys have been here in the past 2 weeks, so it wouldn't surprise me if they did take the easy way out. And that's just what I can see for my building. They may have been out here before for other buildings. Unless maybe they came out yesterday and set up traps? I wasn't working at my desk so I wouldn't have known if they came out Sunday or not.

Oh well. If we still have ceiling critters tonight, at least Twila will be entertaining She actually tries to jump up the wall to get to the noise. She's a little lightweight thing so she doesn't do any damage to the wall and it's funny as heck to watch.

[kritter]

My sister was saying they should have told him what the consequence would be. And they may have; his memory issues aren't as bad as mom's but he does have them.

I bet they made it perfectly clear what the consequences would be but being he is one of those old fools that thinks stuff doesn't apply to him, he figured he could do what he wanted and not get caught. Old men/little kids..same mindset.

[Dawn R]

Jes- Your poor mom. Change is so very hard at that age and more so with memory issues. I recently lost my mom to dementia and I know that whatever brings them joy is a huge bonus.

I am a bit shocked that a memory unit/assisted living allows lighters. Dementia patients have lost their abilty to reason or remember. It seems so sad that they punished him for actions that he probably had no control over.

[jesmelric]

Mar 8, 2023 12:20:56 GMT Dawn R said:

Jes- Your poor mom. Change is so very hard at that age and more so with memory issues. I recently lost my mom to dementia and I know that whatever brings them joy is a huge bonus.

I am a bit shocked that a memory unit/assisted living allows lighters. Dementia patients have lost their abilty to reason or remember. It seems so sad that they punished him for actions that he probably had no control over.

Well you know neither mom or the boyfriend were in the lock down unit so I don't think they are considered severe. And I'm not sure about the woman who was smoking. But I agree that it is rather surprising.

And yes mom has definitely lost a lot of joy Hopefully she will stay engaged with the activities and that will help keep her occupied.

I went to see my sister's new apartment today now that she is all unpacked. It is really nice! However, apparently the woman next door smokes (she is on the end and only has another unit on one side) and it wafts through to her apartment. You can definitely smell it when you walk in. She is very distressed about it. She talked to the manager but I'm not sure if there's much they can do. She has ordered some purifiers and smoke neutralizer spray, I sure hope they help. My sister has never been a smoker and is also sensitive to smells so it's very unpleasant. I guess I didn't realize people still smoked inside anymore. All the smokers I know do it outside.

There's a great pool, and a theater room, and a meeting room, a work out room, all kinds of amenities. Hopefully it can be resolved.

[Dawn R]

Oh! I was thinking it was a memory care unit.

[val2525]

Mar 8, 2023 19:35:40 GMT jesmelric said:

However, apparently the woman next door smokes (she is on the end and only has another unit on one side) and it wafts through to her apartment. You can definitely smell it when you walk in. She is very distressed about it. She talked to the manager but I'm not sure if there's much they can do.

Depending on what state she lives in, she might be able to file a complaint against the apartment company. Secondhand smoke is dangerous, and landlords usually have a requirement that they provide a safe living environment to their tenants. She's also going to need to invest in a top grade air purifier, with HEPA and carbon filters. The cheapos won't do the job. Some tips that might help:

www.lung.org/policy-advocacy/tobacco/smokefree-environments/multi-unit-housing/secondhand-smoke-apartments#:~:text=Talk%20with%20your%20landlord%2Fproperty,what%20solutions%20might%20be%20available.


www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/will-an-air-purifier-get-rid-of-cigarette-smoke/

[Dawn R]

I am always shocked when I hear about places tha allow smoking. In one of our travels, we stayed at a hotel that had a smoking floor. I hadn't see that in years.

[Emerald_Door]

When I was a teenager I had surgery and spent ten days in the hospital. One of my roommates smoked. Yes, it was allowed back then. I complained and they moved her to another room.

[val2525]

Mar 9, 2023 12:12:41 GMT Dawn R said:

I am always shocked when I hear about places that allow smoking. In one of our travels, we stayed at a hotel that had a smoking floor. I hadn't see that in years.

A lot of hotels are still smoking, although from what I can see they tend to be in the South. A lot of the hotels I looked into or stayed in out west were totally non-smoking. I'm trying to plan a trip to AL and one to GA, and in both cases, I see a LOT of smoking hotels. Fortunately, the AirBnB selections in those areas are non-smoking

A non-profit client told us they needed financials tomorrow to apply for an $8.5 mil grant. They still hadn't given us the info we requested back in January, so I told them we were dead in the water until they gave us that. I did tell them I could get them basic financials, but they would look like a corporation P&L and Balance Sheet rather than non-profit, since we're still missing allocations by program. They said that was OK, so that's what I've been working on. And it's in Quickbooks online, which was glitchy as he!! yesterday.  I may have to take a mental health afternoon tomorrow

[val2525]

Simon likes to drown his toys in the water bowl. Usually he drowns one of the mice. This time he tossed a toy fish in there. It was kinda cute floating in there

[staytuned]

I still feel bad for all the years I smoked in here. You don't realize how bad it smells and travels until you quit and literally come to your "senses". New management has "no smoking" policy in lease, but have heard there are still complaints, especially pot smoking, going on in other buildings.

We're going to a casino end of month in NY that's on Native American land that offers smoking rooms that are first to sell out. There are also at least 5 cannabis dispensaries close so wondering what's going to be smoked and if we'll be on a different floor/area.

How nice of Simon to clean his toys.

[staytuned]

Almost forgot, we're supposed to get 1-3" of wet s-n-o-w from 3am til 7am, more off and on through Friday and wind up with at least 3-5" or more. Even more in the snowbelt. It's been a really weird winter with more liquid precip than frozen (absolutely no complaining) that waking up and finding everything covered in white is going to look strange. Glad I can hunker down and not have to deal with it.

[labbypaws]

You are sending a dusting my way tomorrow night. Mostly rain though.