|
Post by Emerald_Door on Apr 7, 2024 13:46:21 GMT
Have a great week, everyone!
|
|
|
Post by labbypaws on Apr 7, 2024 15:09:55 GMT
Smokey barks and carries on when I go out walking so I tried taking him and Shadow this morning. He still parks his butt. I had about 20 mini milk bones with me. I am going to switch back to “stink roll” and see if that works with him. In the 80’s we used it during training. Dogs love it. I can keep it in my hand better. Just have to try to find the current version. I am guessing a fresh dog food roll will do the trick.
He did ok but I think I gave out 40 half mini milk bones🤬🤣😩. He likes to sit and not budge without a cookie or 2 or 3.
I am off next week (start the 12) and will try taking him then if the weather cooperates. I felt bad for Shadow because we cut short the walk. We did 1.8 miles.
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,780
|
Post by val2525 on Apr 7, 2024 19:03:52 GMT
|
|
|
Post by Desire on Apr 7, 2024 19:10:34 GMT
I didn't recognize that bird that Emerald posted, had to look it up. It's not common to our area but it's a beautiful bird. We have the bluebirds coming here again. They showed up a few months ago and have been coming periodically. At one of our previous homes (over 30 years ago) DH used to ride around the grounds on his green machine as we called it (John Deere green and yellow Gator-type machine). He would check all the bluebird houses he had nailed up all around the property, keep them clean, and easily carried big bags of bird seed in the back of the gator to fill all the bird feeders. DS used to love to ride with him on the trails around the property and help when he was a kid. When we moved to the previous home before this one, we had to get rid of so much, he ended up selling it for $1,500 to a friend. He said it was one of the biggest mistake he ever made. We could never afford to plunk down cash for a new one now, they have tripled in price, although we do have enough land here to make it useful. Just to dump clippings and ground clean-up would be so helpful. We now wheel them down the bank to a dumping area near the wood-line. Bagged mulch would be a breeze to load and drive the bags into place, load/unload patio furniture from storage, etc., there is so much we could use it for. www.deere.com/en/gator-utility-vehicles/traditional-gators/th-6x4-diesel-utility-vehicle/
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Apr 7, 2024 21:54:04 GMT
Wow Desire! I want that! My JD is 21 years old and I am praying that it holds up. I am so lucky to be able to dump branches and stuff across the road from me.
Progressive Snapshot update....I made a few trips today and it only records the time and total miles. There is an option to choose something other than driving, but not lawn mowing. So I took it with me to mow today and it didn't register.
So this works okay.
But for my gripe of the day....I got gas in my car but couldn't pump it into my gas cans for mowing. Had to get the mgr of the station who told me that the new pump nozzles required by PA don't work in the new gas cans. He got one can filled by pressing up on the rubber gasket on the nozzle, thus getting gas on his hands. The other can wouldn't let him fill it. Apparently, the old cans that should no longer be used, will work. WTH?
Will have to see if my daughter's fiancee has any old gas cans sitting around. He did a few months ago, but they got a dumpster to clear out stuff.
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Apr 8, 2024 13:30:08 GMT
oops, I lied. The snapshot app does show where I went. I found out that I have to click on the trip number. I had left my house to go to Olive Garden for a take-out meal. And it showed that I went to the casino across the highway, kind of. LOL since I don't gamble.
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,780
|
Post by val2525 on Apr 8, 2024 17:27:46 GMT
Aaaaaaand the eclipse is on. At least one of the local stations is doing a live broadcast (they probably all are, if one is). It's party time in the parts of the area in the full totality area. It's also cloudy so I'm not sure what effect I'll see. I'm on the outer edge of the total path, so I'll only get maybe a minute of the eclipse. I don't have any eclipse glasses so I'll just have to watch whatever effects there are from my office window TBH, I'm more impressed with comets and I really, really, really want to see the aurora borealis (especially since I've learned I can see it from Fairbanks AK and not have to get a passport for out of country viewing). Other than that, normal day in the office.
|
|
kritter
Mod Squad
When we lose sight of how we treat animals, we tend to lose sight of our humanity
Posts: 19,901
|
Post by kritter on Apr 8, 2024 18:37:08 GMT
It is cloudy here so no sun visible anyway but my solar lights just came on because it is so dark from the eclipse. Really weird.
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Apr 8, 2024 18:53:29 GMT
It's like a cloudy day here. I can't see the sun from inside my house, so that is a good thing. I would be tempted to take a peak without glasses.
Drat-was checking my Yahoo email and got a warning not to open it up because of Malware. Had to change my password, which affects other sites.
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,780
|
Post by val2525 on Apr 8, 2024 19:15:16 GMT
The eclipse was cool. It got as dark as night for a little under 2 minutes. I had to turn on the inside lights, the outside night lights in the complex came in and cars had their headlights on. The night birds started chirping too. It's back to normal partly cloudy lighting now.
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Apr 8, 2024 19:22:00 GMT
Our totality just ended and it got as dark as as does around 7:30. Not completely black.
|
|
|
Post by Desire on Apr 8, 2024 19:33:27 GMT
Just starting to get dark here at 3:30 PM. The sun was out bright, now nothing coming in through the windows.
On TV some folks said they flew from Paris to NY to view this. I just cannot imagine doing anything like that for this short event in my book. It's like when a bad thunderstorm is coming.
|
|
|
Post by staytuned on Apr 8, 2024 19:50:41 GMT
My $30 Eclipse glasses were worth every penny (ISO certified and made in USA). Coating is so thick everything's black except sun is orange. Got home just as the show started. Amazing how little a sliver of sun is needed to brighten everything. There were at least a dozen residents outside and it was so quiet until totality around 3:13pm and a couple idiots had to set off firecrackers and too loud booming ones. Very happy apparently everyone was where they wanted to be when I left work at 2pm and partial eclipse started. Actually lighter than normal traffic, which was fine with me. It was nice to be in prime viewing for something around here.
|
|
|
Post by chapeaunoir on Apr 9, 2024 6:25:12 GMT
We weren't really anywhere near the path and I didn't notice much - it was so dark here, anyway, today that I don't think I would have noticed - just more black clouds.
We moved appliances today in our clear-out for the asbestos abatement people to come and rip out half of our first floor. The DH disconnected everything whilst I did cleared out a bunch of stuff, tossing some, recycling others, etc. He forgot to turn the water to the washing machine off and there was water spurting out all over the place - I mopped it up and finally we dolly'd everything out to the basement or the library. We're going to spend the next two or three weeks crawling over tables and appliances to get anywhere - a small space has been left for the DH's comfy chair and my reading chair, and a bit for his TV/video watching. Given that our last renos took five months, it won't be so bad this time.
We managed to get everything done after the rain stopped and before it started again which is a bonus.
I'll be glad when this is done.
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,780
|
Post by val2525 on Apr 9, 2024 18:21:14 GMT
Yikes, Chap, I hope they finish on time! Did you know you can set different wallpapers if you have multiple monitors? Took a bit of searching on Google to find decent instructions, but I did. I like garden-type backgrounds but if you have folders on your desktop, they don't show up very well. I ended up with a really pretty close up of violets on the main monitor, and a river walk view of dogwoods and azaleas on the other monitor. Now I can look "outside" when I work and see something besides cars and the little dog park
|
|
|
Post by Desire on Apr 9, 2024 22:51:03 GMT
I have beach/ocean scenes on my laptop desktop and an island tiki bar over the water on my google desktop. Beach ocean scenes on my Fire tablet and beach scenes of the girl running on the beach on every other thing. I used to have the Windows large rhododendron with waterfall picture on my old laptop but moved to the ocean. The ocean views calm me when I look at them.
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Apr 9, 2024 23:36:31 GMT
Was nice today-70 degrees and sunny. Was so looking forward to spring, but then, there's the weeds!
Did my weed-whacking, then spent hours pulling up the blankets of hairy bitter watercress along the back of my house. Still need to do the front. Impossible to pull it all up, so will be doing the vinegar thing next. So much for the weed cover under the river rock since all of the weeds grow on top.
I actually needed to take a nap after all of that since it really tired me out. I have no energy. Now it will rain for a few days which will give me a break.
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,780
|
Post by val2525 on Apr 10, 2024 3:40:46 GMT
Sitting thru a big thunderstorm with wind, heavy rain and hail right now. Wind is blowing the hail against the window. It's dark so I can't tell what size me the hail is, but I'm guessing small from the sound. Simon and twila are trying to figure out what the noise is at the windows . Power went out for about two minutes then came back on.
|
|
|
Post by labbypaws on Apr 10, 2024 4:16:10 GMT
Stay safe Val.
we had great weather here too. Today was Pinwheel Day. They put pinwheels all around the center of campus signifying Spring is here. The students all gather around the center of campus and enjoy the day between classes.
|
|
|
Post by chapeaunoir on Apr 10, 2024 7:17:03 GMT
Still working on clearing out half the ground floor. We moved the fridge (oh my GAWD that thing was an astardbay to move!). As we were grunting and shoving it around along the carpet to put in the library (we could barely fit it through one of the doorways) the DH said it would help if he was 250 lb lol - meanwhile I had my entire weight against the side of the fridge straining and pushing while he grunted and pulled. We're going to get the industrial dolly to move it next time - the casters it has are not meant for carpets. We have to clear everything out of the kitchen - absolutely everything, pantry door, any pictures, clear off all counters, as the asbestos people come in with their haz-mat suits and start tearing stuff up. So, we have the fridge and microwave/toaster in the library, tables, pictures - my reading chair has been engulfed, and making dinner was a little strange. We have stuff out on the deck, and we had to find something to cover it against the rain - finally used my 4-person tent. There are some little spaces we squeeze through.
But how do two people who are not particularly acquisitive and have simple tastes accumulate so much stuff in the pantry? There's so much CRAP everywhere, too. A bunch in the laundry room was left over from when I was selling online full time and I don't use a lot of it anymore. Going through it I realised how much things had changed from 10 or 12 years ago when I started selling clothing and accessories - I had so much more of a variety then. I'll put some ads up on Next Whine and get rid of some of it. Then there's the box with 8 quarts of 30-weight motor oil (that's mine from when I used to change my own oil - I haven't had a car in about 8 years). I already filled up the back of our wagon and took it all up to Value Village. We found like four Therma-Rest pads in the basement burrowing for my tent - I own one, the rest must be the DH's, but he doesn't remember. We're a real pair lol.
The asbestos people come on Thursday. The DH has to go into the office tomorrow so I'll keep washing walls and cleaning the pantry. Bleh. After they tear everything up we'll run around on the subfloor for a week, then the tilers come in.
|
|
|
Post by denise15601 on Apr 10, 2024 13:40:56 GMT
Val-I hope that all is okay now.
Chap-wow-that makes me very tired just reading all of it. Good luck!
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,780
|
Post by val2525 on Apr 10, 2024 14:48:09 GMT
Chap, where is the asbestos? Ceiling? Walls? Both? Do you have to get it removed from the rest of the house later?
Power ended up going out several more times last night, but just for 1-3 minutes each time. Weird. Sunny, windy and low 70s in the forecast today.
|
|
|
Post by chapeaunoir on Apr 10, 2024 21:55:19 GMT
The asbestos is in the floor in the kitchen, dining room, laundry room and one of the closets. Fortunately it isn't in the tiled foyer (which is also being retiled). The living room ceiling (which had the kitty litter treatment before it was fixed) I believe was checked years back before I moved in and was OK.
We have to clear everything off counter space, walls, etc., I suspect as a matter of policy so they don't have to deal with junk sitting around when they use containment methods. At least we don't have to tear out the counters as they laid the lino around the counters when the house was built.
|
|
|
Post by labbypaws on Apr 11, 2024 0:32:19 GMT
My parents had asbestos tile in the house we live in. Had to pay an abatement company to remove it. Part of the cluster moving in back then.
|
|
|
Post by chapeaunoir on Apr 11, 2024 6:15:35 GMT
Yes, we're having a local abatement company coming in. Their inspector wore shoe covers, gloves and a mask when he came in to test our floors and take measurements - a young guy maybe 30 who appeared to know everything about abatement procedures so we feel confident that they'll do a good job. The company owner even called us to make sure we knew when her people were coming over and make sure we had no more questions - she's been in the business for years.
We won't be able to use most of our downstairs while they're there, so thinking of walking down the hill to the middle eastern place to have lunch just to get a break from the noise and for a bit of a treat - I appreciate the DH planning to have it done when we're both home - I've borne the brunt of the home reno chaos up until now - to the point where I had to work nights for months because their equipment interfered with our wi-fi.
But I'm so disgusted by all the STUFF we have around here! Now I'm casting a glance around my study and it's just so bad - I hate clutter and just to save my sanity I think I'll just get rid of stuff even if I can't sell it.
|
|
|
Post by labbypaws on Apr 11, 2024 14:47:15 GMT
Chap, I made an effort to bag attic stuff up everyday, a bag a day, to get rid of some junk the last time I was on vacation. I am going to have to go up there next week and do something with more stuff. I have all my mom’s cooking stuff that is collecting dust. Of course I will check eBay for prices but betting I will toss most of it.
The other thing I am going to do is go through tax records and toss the stuff not pertinent to my taxes like credit card statements. They have a shredding event coming up and I think I only have a tub of stuff for that.
I am also going to take care of the rest of my Hallmark ornaments, they are separated from their boxes. They are used so I will do a bulk sale locally.
Changing the topic, hubby finally cut the grass. He didn’t want to do it until we filled in the digger dog holes but he couldn’t see the holes to guess how many bags of dirt he needed🤣. Otherwise I was going to have to nag him and say he couldn’t volunteer at the gun club until he did yard duties.
Of course he didn’t rake up the grass and my one dog threw up a large amount of grass this morning so I raked some of the yard.
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,780
|
Post by val2525 on Apr 11, 2024 17:06:34 GMT
Soooooo glad I'm single with cats Sunny and low to mid 80s on tap for today. Nice breeze too. I'm waiting for the tech service my office uses to call me back and install a VM on my new PC, then I think I'm heading to the grocery store. I have to work this afternoon.
|
|
val2525
Chaos Manager
Posts: 30,780
|
Post by val2525 on Apr 11, 2024 20:20:19 GMT
Ended up working all day so far, so I think I'll take tomorrow off instead. Reminder: Tax returns are due this Monday. If you don't have yours ready, you can file an extension. If you don't know how much you'll owe, you can estimate the amount on the extension, and then pay the rest when you do file your return, if you owe more. If you pay with the extension and end up owing less, you'll get a refund. And lastly, if you need to extend but have no idea how much you'll owe, just enter $0. Your extension will still be accepted but you will owe penalty and interest when you pay with the return. /PSA LOL
|
|
|
Post by chapeaunoir on Apr 11, 2024 23:40:25 GMT
It's handy having our very own tax expert! White sky today and we don't have our usual eternal wind - very quiet out. The asbestos people came and went - the lead on the project was this ebullient young guy who said our floors were in incredible shape for 50 years of use, so we won't have any particular repair to do on those. Our wood baseboards fell apart on removal, though - they really need to be replaced as they're 1969/1970 Cheap. After they left we were gazing at the laundry room and kitchen/dining room and I decided no better time to do some painting - the walls really need it - I washed the laundry room walls and it just made it a little less bad. The DH has to be in the office tomorrow and finish taxes over the weekend (my portion is done) but it's not an onerous job, given that I only have to mask the doorway trim and along the counters and IMHO, masking is the biggest job, though I have a bunch of spackeling to do in the kitchen - the previous owners drove nails into all sorts of weird places. I used to stay with my grandparents and I remember when grandpa had to get bifocals - he was trying to paint the ceiling in their house and needed to do some detail work - he was cussing about not being able to see and finally turned his bifocals upside down and wore them like that to finish the job!
|
|
|
Post by jesmelric on Apr 12, 2024 15:43:29 GMT
Hello everyone. Another week got away from me! Geez. It was DH's birthday Monday and we had our annual physicals then went to Home Depot as we needed a new mower. I also got an Indian Hawthorn bush to plant where we buried mom's ashes. When we got home there was a peek in the clouds and we used DH's welding helmet and were able to see the eclipse briefly then the clouds came back.
We had strong storms through here Tuesday night as well. Luckily no loss of power, I saw a lot of downed limbs when I took Janey out Wednesday morning. It got nice and cool so I went ahead and did some weeding yesterday while the air was cool and the ground was wet. Going to put out some Preen and then mulch tomorrow. After mowing with the new mower
Chap I feel you! DH and I remodeled our kitchen 11 years ago. DH was a weekend warrior and it took the better part of a year as we did it out of pocket ourselves. Because he's a plumber and a handy guy we had a functioning (temporary) sink and a functioning stove almost the whole time. I would hate to have to go through that again, but it was worth it in the end. At one point I had a crock pot on a bakers rack in the living room to cook dinner and our dog at the time (Coco) snatched a chicken breast out of the crock pot before I even got the lid on I had to exercise more caution after that. We had the fridge in the living room for the better part of a year. Then we did the laundry room which didn't take as long but was still a pain in the rear. Glad you are getting things purged. We purged a lot at the time, I probably need to do it again lol.
|
|