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It was a glorious day in South Jersey - perfect weather, no humidity, gentle breeze and a few clouds. My DS and I took his 5 year old to a Wild Life Preserve in the New Jersey Pinelands and had a delightful afternoon visiting the rescued animals. And of course topped it off ice cream.
Ah fireplace weather is approaching. Autumn is my favorite season and DH and I are already planning another Leap Peeping tour across Route 6 in PA and then down toward Pittsburgh to visit family before heading home.
For me, this entire nightmare boils down to those children - who was most negligent in protecting them? Their father? All those doctors? Her mother who heard her say she was thinking about harming her children? Lindsay herself? She was definitely negligent but was she MOST negligent? She was psychotic, wasn’t she? What does that even mean? I don’t know because I’ve never been exposed to this kind of nightmare. I do accept that it’s real. Look at Nick Reiner who killed his parents - wasn’t he psychotic and wasn’t he treated with many and multiple drugs?
I think most people just want to understand how this kind of thing can happen and with such a horrible loss of life we naturally want to place blame somewhere. Reading all of the opinions here makes me sure that there is no way to get a fair judgement from a jury of one’s peers because there just aren’t any peers for this kind of thing. Maybe this should have been an all female jury and only women who have been through multiple pregnancies. Would that make a difference? I don’t know but that wouldn’t be the random cross section jury selection requires.
And Mapquest has a sense of humor
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DcooSnhB0Ub/?igsi=MXM5OWQ4aDNpNXV4YQ==
"…a boat is a hole in the water…"
Yep, right up there with the equally stale "The two best days…"
B.O.A.T = Break out another thousand
Aw, Trail, such a good reminder. Glad you're getting back to it, albeit with some caution! In terms of fitness, my biggest fear is injury, because I'll take any excuse to be lazy! Good for you for working through this with caution and persistence.
Love the suit, Mtn, and that you've blown past it being too tight.
Just busy week being back at school. I had Pilates both Monday and then tomorrow and did weights yesterday. I am looking forward to Labor Day holiday. Weight is holding steady. I like the way my arms look lately.
I will need to meet with HR one more time to discuss retirement. Last week was so stressful (one of our part time faculty unexpectedly passed away) I was ready to say I'm done. Now we have to do a spring schedule and I'm nowhere near sure who is teaching what.
Oh my, Gscience, what a shame about your colleague..
Yay on the arms!
I'm so glad it's improving and hopefully near the end of its cycle. What a painful ordeal. You make a great case for the vac cine, for sure.
I'm glad to hear you can go without pain meds now and things are improving. I agree with you and your friend -- a positive outlook makes such a difference. But so do vaccines and antivirals. I'm sure you are progressing well due to all three.
How can you see a person you know suffer for months and not want to avoid that? I would think that a person who has such a bad case would also be at risk for lifelong nerve pain. That and potential blindness are just not worth the risk. Even if you don't "believe" in the science, it would seem worth humoring it a bit.
I’m very glad to hear that you are continuing to improve, Annie. Here’s hoping that it is soon a distant memory.
Fosters and rescuers are truly special people. Bless you, Bestyears, for positively influencing not only the lives of these pups, but their new families, too.
During COVID we adopted our boy from a GSD rescue in Beaumont, Texas. It was facilitated through a group very much like Bestyears described. He came on a bus to just this side of the Canadian border and we picked him up there.
When we applied to adopt we specified we wanted a GSD, and they put us in touch with the woman who ran the rescue in Texas. We followed her on FB and watched all of her videos, etc. until we found the boy that clicked for us. Then she worked with the transporter to get him to us.
What we learned along the way about conditions in Texas echos what Bestyears & Lascatx have said. It's very sad. At the time the rescue was overcapacity, and she was getting calls everyday for owner surrenders, strays picked up and taken to the shelter, on and on. I remember at the time we met her, she was in the process of taking in a group of dogs - including several puppies and a male thought to be aggressive, from a "breeder" that had died and left his disabled wife with all of these dogs she couldn't take care of. They were basically starving in the yard. The male turned out not to be so aggressive once he was untied, fed a few good meals and treated kindly. A few of those dogs came to Canada with our boy.
I don't know how she handled it emotionally.
This is our Waylon. He loves his pool.
Blessings to you Bestyears! They are all adorable and you have really set them up for the best possible life.
Waylon is incredibly handsome! And I love his name. What a great story.
If you want a framed option, for a very long time, I used Frame USA because I needed certain sizes and rabbet depth. They were a great company to work with. They have poster frames, and, yes, you want acrylic vs glass on a piece this size. This company won't even sell glass above a certain size. I'd just call their customer service, tell them what you have, and ask for their suggestions.
Professional framers may have a larger machine for dry mounting. If you recall these in our last house. 48" wide each (52" with frame), and as you can see, much taller. Dry mounted, framed and installed by a TTT only framing business. Somewhere someone can mount your daughter's piece..
This is a rather large(2'x4') "photo" I had printed, my husband took....then I purchased a LARGE frame(glass-matting-frame)....took the old photo out...put MY photo in. The frame, with the glass and gold border was $18.....from a Goodwill Boutique store. Yes...your right...it's heavy....just a thought...
Thanks for sharing this. I’m simultaneously appalled and delighted with AI. I don’t like its climate impact and how it may be dumbing down our critical thinking skills, but yesterday it very efficiently informed me of the optimal time to plant grass seed in my zone, and the deadline for appealing my property assessment with my county. 🧐
If I just use a search engine, giving just keywords, does it use AI? It gives me a list of links and maybe some text from the link. I’ve been doing that for years, so now I wonder. And now some search engines provide an AI-generated response, in addition to a list of links.
bpath I am no AI expert but this might be helpful - part from searching beyond AI answers and part from personal experience. If you are using Google for a search, most of the time the first response will be from Gemini, Google's A - not always but pretty frequently. Much of the time all it's done is aggregate info from what would have been the first few responses, sometimes only from the first one. But if you follow what ever it is you're searching for with -ai (minus ai) the AI response isn't eliminated but it's thrown further down the page and your search results will look like they used to. Not perfect but often works. It seems to work best with the most simple requests, the types of things we used to search for. Many of us now are not really doing a search but asking for information on a specific topic or answers to a question and AI steps in.
That’s lovely! Who’s your insurance company? Mine would never!
Oh, yes, looking forward to your DR reveal!
Love it, your house looks great!
Such a nice gift! And you have a beautiful, charming home.
I inherited my current quartz counters. They are white and calm, and I like the look. But in the past 5 years, I’ve put 2 nicks in them and there is some very slight staining. I cook every day, but am not particularly hard on them. They are the first quartz I’ve had and am surprised they are not more durable. I don’t need things to stay pristine, but nicks and staining in quartz do not give off ”character” and ”well-used” as they do in soapstone or marble.
I loved my old soapstone counters. I will likely remodel my kitchen in the next few years, but I doubt I’ll use quartz. I know nothing about Corian so am looking forward to Kswl’s results.
eta Eileen I wonder if they don’t make quartz as durable as they used to. My sister’s quartz counters were installed 15 years ago and still look great. Mine are more recent and have not held up as much as hers.
There was a poster, now deceased, that had Corian and loved it. She even remodeled her kitchen and added new Corian to the old and you could not tell. She was in Kentucky. Her screen name started with an A. Angelophia??? Search stinks now, but maybe someone could find it.
Feathers, China's first attempts at quartz were pretty much garbage so maybe it's that, especially if it was put in by the builder. I remember all the complaints in the Kitchen forum back then, and people were warned to stay away.
Sherry, Anglophile. She passed away.
I think I've had enough of the internet for today.
I feel like I am reminded regularly how vapid so many people in "society" are. And I think it's because they feel like they don't have to try very hard to have a personality.
F Scott Fitzgerald addressed that very thing, Pal, in many of his stories.
This passage from his story Winter Dreams is very apropos to your comment @Lisaam:
”He knew the sort of men they were — the men who when he first went to college had entered from the great prep schools with graceful clothes and the deep tan of healthy summers. He had seen that, in one sense, he was better than these men. He was newer and stronger. Yet in acknowledging to himself that he wished his children to be like them he was admitting that he was but the rough, strong stuff from which they eternally sprang.”
An update: The mural of Dolly i shared is becoming a shrine of sorts. Was just watching noon news and many flowers have been left at wall in honor of Dolly 🩷. The statue picture is on the grounds of the courthouse of the county where she was born and lived for many years. News person was there and many people visiting. Tonight we plan to drive to another city near us and view a bridge that is part of a main highway. There are lights along the sidewalk/railing of the bridge. They are lit up in colors for different holidays/occasions at times. For the next few days, the lights will be multi color in honor of Dolly’s coat of many colors. 😊 So much love and honor being shared for Dolly!
I took MB during my first career job in my 20s and results were INFJ. At the time, it helped me understand myself better. I’ve taken it a few times since and same results. My kids took it, and I reiterated to them that these tests don’t define you as a person, just explain your tendencies and preferences. I think your mid-20s are the optimal time to take MB, once the brain is fully developed and you can use the self-knowledge to maneuver thru the world.
Lol Lisa, that’s why I advocate for taking it in your 20s before that mindset sets in. I did, and I truly am the oddball it said I was. 😜
Oly, it says you are retired and very happy about that! 😆
Agree that many of the answers can go either way depending on the situation. That said I go back and forth between an INFP and INFJ. I did take the really long test during the hiring process for a job many years ago, can not remember which INF I was that day. I do find personality types interesting.
@Feathers11 just seeing your post and the possibility of hiking a marathon distance.
What is the surface of the trail? Footing is important as it involves different footwear, muscles flexibility and endurance.
What is the expected length of time to do the hike? 1 very long day or?
The rule of thumb in distance training is you can do double what you have trained for . Of course the caveat is doing it and finishing it in what condition physically and mentally?
The other rule is one needs to do the distance in training so your body remembers what to expect.
On a comfortable non racing ” easy” trail I avg a 9-10 min mile jog . So your distance of 26 miles would be 4-5 hrs if jogging and steady . Add rest stops and if you are walking then more like a 15 min mile on an easy trail. 7-8 hrs with rest stops.
Hope this helps you decide what training would look like. Having fun with a friend is the most important part. 🙏c
True to form, I guess, I’ve been on vacation since Sat and have been sick the whole time. It feels like Covid (what!?) tho I haven’t tested. I am pretty miserable. I did go out yesterday morning for a few hours, mostly looking at views from the car but we visited Maligne Lake, which was beautiful. Today we leave Jasper and head to Banff. Maybe a change of scenery will fix me.
The saving grace is that randomly we were upgraded from a standard room to a 2 bedroom cabin so DH didn’t have to listen to me cough all night. That luxury ends today.
Maligne Lake
@Feathers11 🙏. I looked up the trail it has steps of various kinds stone and wood. It goes out and around and and is very scenic and in general seems to be meant for strolling. If you go on a weekday likely fewer people. Have a great time a report back with pictures. C
Oh @Sueb20 I am so sorry! I saw a headline that Covid is really bad again due to the time of year . School restarts etc .
Our neice has been in ICU for a week with meningitis in WA state. She flew from
Houston and 24° later was horribly ill. She’s getting better but it has been scary for everyone. She is mid 40’s.
Take care. 🙏❤️c
A very nice person and a real Christian.
”Never shy at expressing her Christian faith, Parton was also a public supporter of the LGBTQ community who advocated for marriage equality and spoke up in defense of transgender people.”
“I keep saying: If you’re the fine Christian that you think you are, why are you judging people,” Parton said during a 2017 interview with Larry King. “That’s God’s job.”
Along those lines, she jokingly told a British outlet a few years earlier: “I think gay couples should be allowed to marry. They should suffer just like us heterosexuals.”
Wait—Kswl, you are 70?!?! My goodness, I find that impressive and hopeful! You are a model of active, curious, engaging and healthy aging. Happiest of birthdays to you.
And with that, I leave this thread with…
Do we have a September edition yet?
We do!
Those are saddlebags… why on earth anyone would want or need padding there is a complete mystery. Sometimes I wonder what kind of crazy algorithm throws such things at us!
Porkandham, I recall similar circumstances when my kids graduated HS, and parents joking all we were doing was swapping money. But my kids had tight friend groups then, and parents knew one another. In fact, 2 of those HS friends dropped by my house this weekend.
College graduations were celebrated with just our families. I knew college friends and their parents from family weekends and drop-off and pick-up days, but we didn’t become close with those families.
I'll just chime in with one more thought. I have a few young people to whom I give birthday and Christmas gifts. In general, I stop giving them gifts when they graduate from high school as that seems to me to be a logical, if somewhat arbitrary, age to transition from childhood to adulthood. I don't give adults gifts for the many reasons that have been discussed here before. Therefore, a high school graduation gift is really celebrating more to me than just an accomplishment. It's a key life transition and so my gift is sort of a last hurrah, if you will.
High School grad parties/money gifts are super common where I live - I used to think it was a strange thing to celebrate (of course you graduated from high school) but having been to lots of these parties now, I see that it's more of a "end of an era" celebration
At the parties, all the kids hang out and get to see each other + parents/families reminisce about all the freezing soccer games, marching band performances in a gale force winds etc.. many of our kids have been in school together since kindergarten - kids who graduated earlier years will often come back and hit all the parties to see friends from the younger grades all in one place.
so my opinion has changed and now I think the celebrations/gifts are super sweet. We give $50 or $100 depending on how well we know the graduate - most kids put the money in their college account to help with tuition/expenses - where I live probably only about 25% get all of college paid for by parents
The adults have all been to Pike Place Market at some point. While I think it is interesting, I don’t think it would hold the attention of the kiddos.
How recently did your guys go to Boeing? Did they go to the Everett factory?
We might split up. It might be me going to Chihuly and everyone else going to Boeing. I’m as crazy about Chihuly as DGS is about airplanes!
My little airplane nut. He and I flew to Las Vegas just so he could visit this airplane model store.
It reeks of white supremacy.
DLM and Pal, thank you. I hope I didn't contribute to the end of this thread as the Flock camera debate is ongoing in so many areas and so important for people not to just assume data will not be misused.
The data shows a significant number of Amish in the U.S. are not assimilating and hold socially conservative views very different from U.S. norms.
The data shows a significant number of Mormons in the U.S. are not assimilating and hold socially conservative views very different from U.S. norms.
The data shows a significant number of Christian home-schoolers in the U.S. are not assimilating and hold socially conservative views very different from U.S. norms.
See how dumb this game is?
Jojoco, that was a rude, or at least insensitive, comment from the caretaker. I think your measure should be how you feel and your energy level.
Lisa, is the tweak in a muscle, nerve or spine? If muscle, I'd try a massage over a sauna or cold plunge. If it's nerve or spine, then I'd see a doctor.
Jo, I am sorry you had such a rude experience ... but the only thing that matters is how you feel!
I tend to use the ”you look great” compliment, too. I got together with 2 high school friends last night, and I said it to both of them because of their smiles when we greeted one another. We laughed and carried on for hours—that’s the impression they left me. Not their bodies (although we had a lot of laughter about our changing bodies, tha’s for sure).
Funky, I overlooked your comments above re: Mt Joy. I hope you and your niece can see them together some time. They got their first big ”break” as a band at Red Rocks, and they say how magical it is there for them. But they are truly good anywhere. I’ve seen them 3x and am seeing them again this fall.
Love it! I suspect this could double as a craft room when the grands visit? If so, the Flor is essential. Or will this be solely your room?
And this evening, the first paintings in my new space!
A 6x8” vase of flowers. I am working on painting glass— windows, vases, etc. (hint: hard!!)
A new birthday card still drying and taped to a board. These small paintings are my happy place!
Floor lamp from Amazin is amazing, it gives just the right amount of light right where i I want it, and it’s cute and green.
And hot off the production line today, a nice basket of apples and autumn colored flowers. I will undoubtedly use both for upcoming autumn birthdays
These seem just for hype. Who would actually wear these? Just looking at them makes me cringe. Yuck.
I think it’s good to walk barefoot as much as possible—I do indoors all year round. I love seeing toddlers learning to walk, and children playing barefoot outside, so long as it’s safe and bath night!
They were in the most recent runway show IIRC. Chanel was not going to put these i to productiom for obvious reasons. My guess is this was a loan for the publicity
Happy birthday RN mom! 🥳🎈🎁
I honestly don’t give a flip where a stone comes from if it is beautiful. That said, I recently got a natural diamond bracelet (far left in picture, part of great perfume exchange situation) because it replaced a similar bracelet I lost several years ago. I would have kind of liked one with larger stones (turning into a shallow magpie in my dotsge) but it would have cost 20 times more than the original lost bracelet which was this same size, very petite. The perfume refund covered about two thirds of the cost,
(The emerald and diamond bracelet was a gift from my mother— also real stones. The heavy alternating yellow and white gold links with sapphires (several others on the clasp) was a milestone anniversary and the thinner link bracelet commemorated a trip with my DD. I wear these all the time.)
One thing I learned while shopping for the new bracelet is that if you like yellow gold as I do it sort of corrupts your perception of the color or the stone it surrounds. The salesperson brought several bracelets for me to try on and opined that natural diamonds in a yellow gold setting are a waste of money as they lose brilliance in the proximity. I still bought the natural diamonds to replace what had been a gift from DH but would have been happy as a clam with lab ones.
Petalique, I haven't received a marketing call on my cell phone in ages. I'll get a spam text once in a while, but no calls. I registered on the Do Not Call registry ages ago, and it seems to have worked.
I use fake phone numbers and fake birthdays. What do you care why people do it? No one owes you a reason.
I have the app for the supermarket that I usually use. And I am the type of person who likes to look at the weekly flyer for sales. I have no problem loading those digital coupons onto my account. It sure beats clipping them and remembering where I put them! But tracking does have its postives. Last week I got an email, telling me that I had purchased an item that was now subject to a recall. The specific item was not the one I had purchased, but the heads-up was appreciated. Any money saved is a plus--it's sort of a challenge or game. Then I feel I can buy things I need that are expensive without guilt
I like booking . com’s search features, esp especially when traveling solo. But I usually book directly from the hotel once I’ve found a place.
Bpath, is it perhaps a B&B where you’ll be staying in one of the bedrooms?
The listings said whole house. Several expressed the bedrooms/beds in the same confusing way. We thought maybe it referred to how many actual beds total, or if ”1 bed” refers to a pullout in the sitting room, but the math never added up.
Our beach rental is mostly rented through AirBnB and VRBO. Even though it would cost less through the management company that is named in listings.
I have a friend with a VA Beach condo. The listing photos and description have been used at least twice by people with no morals, to the point of guests arriving and it is rented.
Hopefully you will arrive to the desired number of bedrooms. You would think listings would not be that complicated!
I would love to grow fennel, too. Let us know if you find the strain.
My cooking with herbs skills just isnt too great. I grow chives and dill, and like them both fresh in egg salad, tuna salad, etc. Dill is next to the milk weed and the catapillers are crazy about dill. But not very informed what I would do with the other herbs. Recently used a bay leaf in making homemade tomato soup and it was wonderful. I think there is a whole world out there waiting for me.
“Recently used a bay leaf in making homemade tomato soup and it was wonderful.”
Yes, they really are good. We have a California bay tree but long ago I discovered the leaves are much too strong. The much more subtle Mediterranean (Turkish?) ones from the grocery store are best.