Weekly Chat Thread July 10th - 16th

[staytuned]

Good morning, everyone!  Typical summer week with heat, humidity and chance of rain a few days. The part I like the most is how it's still light out until 9pm.  By the time we go to Myrtle Beach in September, it's down to around 7:30pm. Of course, that's still better than winter where it's dark by 4:30pm.  Anyhow, hope everyone has a nice day.

[kritter]

[val2525]

[val2525]

[chapeaunoir]

Here are some more photos of last weekend (requested) - since it had been over 20 years since we'd been there, it was interesting to see what was happening. 

Vancouver has a lot of skyscrapers, and a lot of them are wild! I didn't get photos of all of them, but there is this - from another angle it's even more strangely angled. 



This has a big garden right in the middle of the outside. 



New build, amazingly! 




"Living roofs" are getting more popular. 



Obligs food photo with small succulent: Breakfast before starting out on that bone-crunching hike. I'm restricting calories, so this is normally twice what I would eat, but I needed all of it! Very tasty stuff - Vancouver is full of good food. 



Into the woods: 



DH took this of me picking my way down one of the more treacherous descents. I almost never use a stick, but had to find and make one this time!



Cool public art work at the border: 



Fun at the beach (the second hike) - the forests and rocks step right down to the water - one of the few sandy beaches around here (anywhere - we don't have a lot of sand): 



That's it. 

[staytuned]

Awesome pics, Chap. What a great way to celebrate your birthday!

[val2525]

Cool pics, Chap!!

[val2525]

Anyone shopping Prime Day? I had some stuff in my cart that I didn't get around to purchasing yesterday and I noticed today most of them reduced the price. I suppose I should probably buy today, eh? The cat tower I bought Monday is marked down $6 today. Bummer.

[labbypaws]

I looked up the prices of some items on my wish list. Savings of a few percent.

[treetop]

I have been thinking about getting my stepdaughter a Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas, but they are $139, which is way over budget. Snagged one at Amazon for $89.99. Hope she likes it, because I’m sure it can’t be returned that far out. I bought Mine 4 or 5 months ago at full price. Wish I’d waited.

[val2525]

I went to the grocery store this afternoon and dang it's hot outside. The checker and bagger were commenting on how the snow/ice big freeze from 2 years ago isn't looking so bad right now But I'm not complaining. Shirley has the worst heat, 112 I think. Heck, that's even hotter than Phoenix is today

[val2525]

Ikea is running an eGift card special. Buy one card for $80 and get another one for $20 free. Good thru 7/16. Good only on gift cards purchased online, not in the store.

It seems the kitties have finally staked out their favorite sleeping area. Simon owns the middle level of the office cat tree. Twila has claimed the pink cave in the bedroom and the little fleece throw by the bedroom window. Trixie staked out one of the living room chairs and the lemon cat bed under one end table. The other beds (all over the house LOL) seem to be fair game and they all take turns using them. Hey, if it keeps the peace, it works for me

I'm also happy to report that Twila now comes when I call her so she can get petted.

[Shirley U Geste]

We only hit 108 today, so it could have been worse. Only time I went outside was to turn on the watering lines for the garden & shrubs.

We are getting sidewalks in my neighborhood & the crew was out putting in forms & pouring curbs. I felt so sorry for them working in this heat, but they started really early & stopped at noon before the heat peaked. The big machine that makes the curbs is fascinating to watch, it's like a giant play-do extruder & inches along pushes out perfectly shaped rounded curbs.

[val2525]

Shirley U Geste, is that one of your cats in your avatar today?

[staytuned]

It felt a lot more comfortable yesterday at 90 with low humidity than it does today at 75 and 85% humidity.

Anyone who has Walmart that sells Sahlen's footlong hot dogs, they're still advertised online for $8.68 and WM here has them marked down to $6.50 a package. Footlong buns were $3. Better believe I stocked up on the hot dogs because who knows if they'll be back next year or not. That alone was worth the trip.

[Shirley U Geste]

Not one of mine, just a cute cat pic I found.

I haven't had an orange cat for a long time.

[jesmelric]

Jul 11, 2023 16:22:37 GMT val2525 said:

Anyone shopping Prime Day? I had some stuff in my cart that I didn't get around to purchasing yesterday and I noticed today most of them reduced the price. I suppose I should probably buy today, eh? The cat tower I bought Monday is marked down $6 today. Bummer.

I ordered some roach baits yesterday as I've had several more huge flying cockroaches in the house They were 39% off so I got a bargain too, too.

I am so mad, my dishwasher I just bought in December crapped out!! It turns on and the heating element comes on but no water fills and makes the arms spin, etc. Since DH is a plumber he checked the hose for me and it's not the connection/hose. I bought a Whirlpool specifically because I wanted one made in America. I had a very hard time getting someone on the phone from Whirlpool when I called Monday (why do things always break on a Saturday?) and the earliest appointment I can get is the 21st!!! And when I got the email confirmation it has the info of the company doing the service, and the reviews are Abhorrent! I noticed it's about 20 miles outside the city and I was suspicious as to why they wouldn't have a service located inside the city? Especially since Channelview is only about 43,000 and Houston has a population of over 2 million. So I googled them, and YIKES! Apparently they do service repairs for Whirlpool and Kitchenaid and they have tons and tons of negative reviews that they were a no show, kept rescheduling, couldn't fix it, had to order parts which took forever. That they fixed stuff 2 and 3 times and it still didn't work right. That they were rude and unprofessional. You name it. UGH!!! I did pay with a major credit card and if they don't get it fixed I'm going to have to look into my options there, see if there are any protections. I totally hate handwashing dishes. 

Weather is searing hot here for the near future and maybe beyond. Ugh. And no chances of rain, either. 

We had a nice visit with mom Monday. We did a video chat with my nephew in R.I. and mom was so happy to see him and chat with him  

Chap, the pictures are lovely! 

[kritter]

Anyone who has Walmart that sells Sahlen's footlong hot dogs, they're still advertised online for $8.68 and WM here has them marked down to $6.50 a package.

They are $4.24 a package here at our Walmarts but out of stock in all stores.

[staytuned]

Jul 12, 2023 18:08:12 GMT kritter said:

Anyone who has Walmart that sells Sahlen's footlong hot dogs, they're still advertised online for $8.68 and WM here has them marked down to $6.50 a package.

They are $4.24 a package here at our Walmarts but out of stock in all stores.

For that price I'm not surprised.  Hard to find a regular pack of hot dogs for that price.

[val2525]

That sucks jes. I hope you can get it fixed.

Another hot and humid day here. I bought frozen microwave dinners yesterday, for the upcoming week. I don't want to cook anything, not even in the slow cooker or air fryer They're also easier to caculate points since I signed up with WW and I need to get in the habit of counting points.

[val2525]

It's appalling the used condition items that Amazon customers will return, and more appalling that Amazon allows it. Several of my recent orders appear to be defective customer returns that AMZ just put back into stock. One set of planters has rust and water stains in the bottom of several planters. Another set came with 2 of the pots with dents in the bottom where a previous buyer tried to hammer drain holes in the pots. Another item that looked like it had been previously opened was missing parts. Another set of hanging metal planters arrived with 2 of the detachable hooks missing, but I bought them as "used" and wasn't going to hang them, so I didn't really care about that. (Although I do think it was misleading of AMZ to say the product was not damaged just the packaging.)  I've started writing "damaged" or "parts missing" on the boxes when I return stuff now so AMZ can't just pop them back into inventory

It's a really pretty day here today. Hot, but really pretty. Nice and sunny If I wasn't so darn busy today with a deadline, I'd even consider going out to the apartment complex pool I haven't used yet

[staytuned]

Sorry about the dishwasher, jesmelric, and hope you get lucky and get it fixed right the first time. I don't mind handwashing dishes, but having a dishwasher sure is nice so only do hand wash recommended now.

Also sorry, Val, for all the trouble you have with Amazon. People should be ashamed of themselves to use a product and then repackage and return as new. When I worked at Goodwill, lost track how many times we got what looked like brand new coffeemakers, dish sets, small appliances, vacuums, etc. only to find obviously used (and many times abused) items inside. At least we opened everything and in the trash it went before it hit the shelves. The crap we got from Target was usually returns with broken and/or missing pieces.

[val2525]

It's not as much I'm having problems with Amazon as it is I'm SMH at what cheats some buyers are. It seems to be getting more frequent now. I see similar comments in product reviews, where buyers report getting used returns when they thought they were buying new. Amazon encourages it with their return policy, so I guess Amazon has no one to blame but their own management for developing an entitled, thoughtless, cheap segment of their customer base

[denise15601]

Sorry Jes. Sure hope that you can get it fixed soon! I depend on my dishwasher so much.

[chapeaunoir]

jesmelric - usually the only people who leave comments are to complain, so you may have a positive experience. Hopefully you didn't get a lemon for a dishwasher! 

The DH likes washing dishes, so we don't use the dishwasher more than maybe once a week or so. He listens to the game (right now it's baseball) and busts suds. 

It's supposed to have a hot spell this weekend. It was misting and chilly the last couple of days but now back in the 70s. About every 12 years we have several months of a dry summer (instead of one month) so I guess we're due. I start training for a marathon pretty soon so I hope it stays cool or I'll have to go running at dawn again. I was up for anything up to 10 miles without extra training, but backed off, so now I have to get back there again - I'm at maybe 2-3 miles, but I hike, too, and that helps. 

[labbypaws]

Thought of the cat people here. Seen in a license plate: MEOWWWZ

[kritter]

This day has been busy but totally spectacular. I went to HEB to buy baked good to take to the Humane Society tomorrow because I am getting the 4 fosters spayed/neutered and vetted for adoption. I love HEB's cookies baked in store so that was what I was getting. Lo and behold, coupon for $2 off of a tray of 18 cookies. How many to get to go on the big tray that I was going to use? Don't want it to look skimpy so got four trays of 18 cookies. Unforturnaly my big tray only holds 3 trays of the cookies so I guess the extra tray goes in my freezer. Bummer, right?

Then I go over to Vals to pick up some cat furniture and she offers me the most amazing yellow flower tree ever. It is still in my truck but I will post a pic when I get it put together. It even has lights on it.

Best day ever. Thank you, Val.

[val2525]

Jul 13, 2023 19:15:19 GMT kritter said:

Then I go over to Vals to pick up some cat furniture and she offers me the most amazing yellow flower tree ever. It is still in my truck but I will post a pic when I get it put together. It even has lights on it.

You're welcome! I'm just happy I could find a home for it. I bought it for the patio at the last apartment and it was almost too big for that one, so it's definitely too big for the current patio (which is an average apartment patio meaning this tree will probably be too big for the next place too). It's this one but in yellow:


www.qvc.com/Garden-Reflections-7-Plum-Flower-Tree-w-600-LED-Twinkle-Lights.product.M66697.html?sc=PRODFEED&TZ=EST

I bought a cute cat tree with a tropical leaf on the top, looked really cool like a jungle. Ends up it was really, really small. Like 2" smaller in ALL the measurements. It was too small for Twila, and she's pretty small. So back it goes to Amazon Saturday. I ordered a better one from Chewy.

[kritter]

It is so much better than it looks in that pic that Val posted. Once I get past this weekend dealing with these kittens, things hopefully will slow down here so I can work on my house. They all should be gone by Monday if everything goes according to plan.

[denise15601]

Neat tree! No worries about deer or bugs.