Weekly Chat Thread June 12th - 18th

[staytuned]

Good morning, everyone! We finally got rain yesterday after 2 weeks of mostly sunshine. Chance of rain all week with 60s-70s temps.  Reminder Sunday is Father's Day and remember to celebrate those still around to enjoy. Hope everyone has a super duper dandy day!

[val2525]

Not only is Father's Day on Sunday, the following Monday is a federal holiday (Juneteenth) and I don't think the post office is delivering.

I had to venture out late this afternoon and pickup a prescription from WM. Dang it was hot! I've been trying to do all my outdoor stuff earlier in the day but I got caught up in stuff today and heat of the day it was

[chapeaunoir]

We had our hot day today (it got to 85 here) - I went out for a bike ride and, because I was waiting to see if a friend wanted to go, didn't leave until 10:30 a.m. The hottest part of the day here is about 4:00-5:00 PM, but I was toiling up the hill back to my house at 12:30 and was melting. The DH got home from work and came clunking into my study where I was working, dripping sweat everywhere and got sweat all over my face kissing me lol. It was almost 7:30 pm.

We're back into the low 70s tomorrow which is more seasonable, with rain coming soon.  The house is finally cooling down so I can go to sleep.

We were in Oregon this past weekend, staying in the lovely town of Silverton. Along with bike rides and my long hill walk, we visited the Oregon Garden, 80 acres of garden, woodland, experimental forestry sites and exhibits. I have some photos later, but it's a wonderful place. While the DH was out doing his 100 miler, I was sitting in a cafe on the little deck over the river, drinking espresso - I felt so decadent.

[jesmelric]

Hello, hope everyone is doing ok. We are officially moving into HOT here. The highs this week are: 96, 97, 98, 99, 99, 99. With lows of about 80 Sunblock and water all around, lol.

We went to see mom yesterday, we missed last week as she was sick with a head cold that is apparently going around the facility. She was feeling much better and we had a nice visit. The boyfriend's name didn't come up at all, maybe he's fading from her memory a bit.

Well, DH's work van was stolen from the job on Friday! He was working down the street from here at a medical building near the hospital and they broke the passenger side window and drove off. It has a tracker on it and they found it pretty quickly. A lot of his power tools were taken, but it could have been worse. They couldn't get in the back doors as he has special padlocks and mesh on the windows, and a lot of the area between the front bucket seats is blocked off; so they had to squeeze through and that prevented them from getting as much. He got it back yesterday after they fixed it, and it is a mess. His lunch cooler is sitting out back with water and baking soda in it as his watermelon in a pyrex dish was in it in the heat all weekend. It's been stolen from our driveway twice before and broken into several times, from a job site is a first. He has a club he keeps on the steering wheel now when it's at home, guess he's going to have to start putting it on while on the job, too. I hate people. I think the company is going to replace his personal tools, he's waiting to hear.  There's two others that were robbed recently too. One dummy left his keys in the truck!

We went to VV Sunday, I didn't find much but I had a 25% off birthday coupon that was about to expire.

[labbypaws]

Wow Jes, I would be mad about that. Hopefully the company covers his tools.

[staytuned]

I'm glad your mom's feeling better you were able to visit her, jesmelric. So sorry about DH's van and tools. It's a shame too many people have no conscience or morals and think there's nothing wrong taking what they want not caring about how it affects others.

[val2525]

That sucks, jes. I hope the company has the decency to pay for the tools since they were stolen from a job site. But don't be surprised if they don't. An employee of a former client of mine had his truck stolen from the office parking lot. The company refused to reimburse the employee, even though the company could have easily afforded to do so. Tools are a lot cheaper so fingers crossed.

The company that makes Pyrex and Instapot declared bankruptcy:

www.cnn.com/2023/06/13/business/instant-brands-bankruptcy/index.html

Forecast today is mid 90's, partly cloudy, high humidity and a heat advisory. The 100 degree days are forecast to begin starting Thursday. Ugh. Parts of NM and GA are looking a lot better weatherwise

[denise15601]

So sorry Jes and I sure hope that he gets reimbursement for everything! Glad that your mom is doing okay.

We went for 3 weeks without rain, but it finally rained yesterday and we just had another brief but heavy shower. I don't miss hauling buckets of water for all of my veggies, flowers and shrubs.

I have a leaky gutter right over my A/C. So I put a big bucket under there to catch water. And 3 other 10 qt buckets beside my A/C. So they are providing plenty of water at the moment.

My veggies are doing well on my porch railing, but the squash that I have planted beside my driveway aren't coming up. I put down newspaper and mulch to make a nice bed for them. But they are hiding at the moment.

[chapeaunoir]

jesmelric - I hope your husband gets some reimbursement - having the tools of his trade stolen would be a real blow - it would also feel like such a violation.

It was dark and drizzly today with temps slated to be in the 60s for the next while, which is seasonable for this time of year, with rain coming this weekend.

We're planning a trip to Vancouver, BC for my b'day. The DH wants to go somewhere bijou and I just said "how about we just go hiking in Oregon?"  He heaves a BIG SIGH. Sorry I'm so pedestrian, I say. He's such a sweetie and wants to do something BIG for my 70th BD. So we're going to Vancouver and we're planning at least one day in the dirt, two if we can - many beautiful places to hike and Vancouver is a true 21st century city - you can get anywhere easily on public transportation, including to hiking trails. We're not even bothering with a car, just taking the Flixbus up there and it's a brief half mile stroll from the station to our hotel - we'll go on foot or public transpo for everything else. There are two cathedrals to visit within short walking distance, and a bunch of pubs and coffee houses.

[val2525]

I agree with your DH. You can hike in Oregon any time. Vancouver is AWESOME. Have you visted Victoria before? You can take the ferry there and from what I recall, most of Victoria is walkable. We had a rental car, but once we parked after disembarking the ferry we didn't use it again until it was time to go back to the ferry and Vancouver (the ferry also took foot passengers). Of all the public aquariums I've been to, I think Vancouver's was the best (New Orleans was a very close second LOL). Pearson Air Museum was interesting too, if you're into historial aviation.

The plumbers are here today and the lead one seems to know what he's doing. He figured out why I didn't have any water pressure in one bathroom. They're trying to clean out all the mineral buildup in the lines. We have hard water and no water softeners. So we get really bad buildup in the plumbing.

[val2525]

The plumbers are using a water vac and grinder, and they're really noisy. Twila came running in here trying to find somewhere to hide. I'm surprised she didn't go under the bed with Simon and Trixie, but maybe it was too close for comfort since it's the masterbath the plumbers are working on. She's in here with me. She started out in the closet (I opened one door for her), but now she's hiding in the corner behind some fake plants. I don't know if it's the plants, being in here with me or both, but I'll admit I was very surprised that she came out of hiding in the master bedroom to run across the whole apartment and into the office bedroom. I've been talking to her and she doesn't look as spooked. She's still hiding but she's not all hunched up any more. Poor thing!

[chapeaunoir]

Vancouver is actually closer than where we go in Oregon - for some reason we just don't go up there much. I used to go more often - we'd ride our bikes up there. 

Yes, Victoria is beautiful - we took the high-speed catamaran over there but there can be a lot of chop in the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Haro Straits and the DH got quite seasick. We talked about going over again and he said "By ferry this time!" LOL - I don't blame him.  But decided on Vancouver as it's so easy to get to. 

Anyway, we'll bring hiking boots - I absolutely insisted and the DH is quite up for that, though I think he's afraid he won't be able to get me off the dirt until it's time to go to the pub lol - not to worry! I want to see the cathedrals and explore - its been a while since I've been up there. There are gorgeous hiking trails - hop on the rail and then a bus and there you are. 

When our cats were really, really upset they always came into my office/study and squirreled away in a corner, though when Jamie was pouting or just moderately annoyed she'd go under the bed. 

[jesmelric]

Well it is officially HOT here. At 6 am it was 81 degrees and with the humidity it felt like 91!! There is no escaping this heat. And no chance of rain and it looks to continue for the next 7-10 days

DH is still waiting to hear back about his tools. I know his employer has had 10 trucks hit since the beginning of the year and it is a big expense. But surely they have insurance? And DH put, at his own expense, special padlocks on the back and side doors, mesh on the back windows, and a heavy duty lock box. They did cut the box with bolt cutters. But they didn't get as much as they would have if he didn't have those locks on the back.

Well hiking for your 70th birthday is crazy to me lol. I hope you guys have a great time   I like things like a meal and a movie in bed lol

[val2525]

We had a heat advisory yesterday but I went out midday and it didn't feel hot enough to me for an advisory. Humidity wasn't overly high though, so that might be why. We have another heat advisory today, and will probably have them ongoing. It's summer.

[val2525]

I just got another Amber alert on my phone for a missing child. This is the 5th or 6th one in a week. WTH is going on in this state?

[sunsetpainter]

We FINALLY got some rain Tuesday after 3+ weeks of nothing! Warm and muggy here this morning but they're calling for a cold front to come through this afternoon and drop the temps about 20 - 30 degrees.

And (YAY!) we caught a raccoon in the trap this morning. I don't think it was the big one that's been terrorizing my bird feeders, but it was better than nothing. So far our trap totals are: 11 tree rats, 2 trash pandas, a 'possum, and a cat. Everything but the cat was relocated. I think the cat is our neighbors! lol

[chapeaunoir]

Racoons get really big, don't they?  We had three who would come up onto our back deck and I swear they had to be over 2 feet tall! Peering in to see what we were doing, then laughing at the cats hissing at them lol. 

We actually had sun today but are back to clouds and rain and temps in the upper 50s down to 40s at night for the next while. The DH is going east of the mountains to train tomorrow where he can get some warmth and sun. I'm fine with clouds and cool. A friend and I are going riding on Saturday where we'll probably get a bit wet - he's training for STP (Seattle to Portland) and says he's woefully unprepared, so I said I'd help out if he wanted some company. The DH is training for RAMROD which is one of the top 10 hardest rides in the country. So these guys are riding hundreds of miles. Meanwhile I go to the gym, or run some miles or take a short ride - my friends are outclassing me in every way lol. But, then I get more reading in. 

[val2525]

Sunny, partly cloudy, humid and hot here today. The usual

For any QVC shoppers - they're doing 5 easy pays today and no shipping on most items. Plus a lot of stuff has been marked down. I'm taking advantage of the free shipping and reduced prices and buying some Christmas gifts early. Now I just have to remember where I put them once they arrive so I can find them again in December

[Desire]

Jun 17, 2023 17:53:18 GMT val2525 said:

Sunny, partly cloudy, humid and hot here today. The usual

For any QVC shoppers - they're doing 5 easy pays today and no shipping on most items. Plus a lot of stuff has been marked down. I'm taking advantage of the free shipping and reduced prices and buying some Christmas gifts early. Now I just have to remember where I put them once they arrive so I can find them again in December

Thanks for posting this Val.  Going over there now to look for some pillows and pillow-cases.  I always forget about QVC - I have a credit account with them, but haven't purchased anything in a few years.  I know sometimes they close your account if you don't use it, so I think I'll look there first. Thanks!

[val2525]

Happy Father's Day to all the dads and grandads here, or related to someone here