The "What's on your mind?" Thread -2017

[Margret]

I just got a text message from Mamanyt1953 . Her Wi-Fi is down, again; she's been trying to get online since noon without success. She has called Comcast, but don't expect her to be here until you see her.

Margret

 

[arouetta]

I just got a text message from Mamanyt1953 . Her Wi-Fi is down, again; she's been trying to get online since noon without success. She has called Comcast, but don't expect her to be here until you see her.

Margret

Ugh. Comcast is the devil.

Some years back some 80 year old woman went into a Comcast office to complain about both her issues and the customer service she experienced when trying to get the issues resolved. When they blew her off again, well she had brought a hammer with her, she pulled it out of her purse and started smashing their computers. I wasn't even in an area served by Comcast but my local newspaper slanted the article to make her the sympathetic figure, which is how bad Comcast's reputation was.

48 hours ago, if you had asked me if I could do my job with only one arm I'd have laughed in your face. Maybe someone who had been missing an arm for years and knew how to compensate, but me? I have to fold clothes, put clothes on hangers, hang clothes on bars anywhere from 2 feet to just over 6 feet off the ground, get stuff off the floor, get stuff slung over bars, put things in the right place, pull stuff from the inventory holding area upon customer request, manipulate large boxes (some heavy, some light but bulky), place or remove or adjust fixtures, push full carts, change clothes on mannequins upon customer request, answer phones and other stuff I can't think of. How do I do that all with one arm?

From Torn Ligament Round #1 I knew that the heavy stuff wouldn't be an issue, I could just call a co-worker to do the lifting for me. But "reasonable accommodations" means I have to figure out how to do most of my job. So when the urgent care doctor put a sling on me, I grabbed the clean laundry and applied logic. Found out quick that nearly every shirt can be given a quick shake and will fall mostly flat. Yeah, you'll have to fix the corners, but it's mostly in place. So shake with one hand, lie it on its face and spread it out. Grab the sides one at a time, you can get it folded quick with one hand. Same with hangers, lay it out face up and then slide the hanger through the neck, one shoulder then the other. I learned I can manipulate clothes one-handed if I have a table top, and work already has fold trays that fit in carts.

Bending over to grab stuff changes how gravity pulls on my shoulder, putting weight back on it. But I bike 6 miles a day and I walk 5-8 miles in a typical shift. I may be middle age and fat but my legs should be strong, so I tried going straight down on one knee, then sitting on my lower legs and then back up. With something to hold onto while getting up I don't tense my body as much, and tensing my arm can cause a few seconds of pain. But holding onto something feels like it's more of a security blanket and I'm not really putting weight on the support. But I can go all the way to the floor and stand back up while holding fallen items without difficulty, even without my security support.

(Note: If you aren't used to doing that, your thighs will hurt on Day #2. It's clearly good strengthening exercises.)

Yesterday I had been working maybe half an hour when the manager on duty, who on this day was the big boss, came up to check on me. She had a weird look on her face and she was clearly rushing, and I am certain from her look that she couldn't imagine any possible way I could be productive and I was being evaluated to see if I should be placed on a medical leave of absence. And while I was somewhat slower than usual, I wasn't even half my usual speed and clearly had things in hand. She looked happy and the evening went on like normal.

Today my two direct bosses were in. After folding and hanging dozens of clothes yesterday I didn't think much of how I was doing things. I was folding a shirt at one point, looked up and one of my coworkers and one of the two bosses were watching me. My coworker said she couldn't believe it when she saw me folding one-handed. I said after getting the sling I practiced on the clean laundry. My boss smiled really big when I said that. I felt awesome.

I barely saw the other boss, but she was the manager on duty tonight. There must be all sorts of notes on me because she told me to fold all the tables without ever having seen me in action. So yeah, I'm feeling pretty awesome about myself.

Urgent care said to use the sling as needed. After yesterday's rest I felt pretty good but still wore it to get another day's rest. My orthopedic surgeon squeezed me in. I need another MRI (groan) to find out what's going on in there, as it could be the ligament not healing right or it could be damage to the nearby cartilage. And the sling is no longer "as needed", it's staying on until the post-MRI appointment.

She gave me a different sling and it has four different straps. I had to adjust it at work and got it all wrong and ended up pinching a nerve somewhere and my shoulder blade was burning bad. Nerve pain is the absolute worst, and I was really worrying the cure was worse than the disease. Got it right on my break though, yay! But the right position leaves me groping myself, lol. Unless I make a loose fist my fingertips are resting on my other boob, nearly dead center.

Yesterday there was a customer that I would greatly have loved to bash with a metal cart. Which I had handy.

Target has carts for employee use (which my Google Fu is not good enough to show a picture) that are solid metal and have three tiers. The bottom which is similar to a shopping cart and two baskets, roughly 6 inches deep, with another roughly 6 inches from the top of the lower basket to the bottom of the upper basket. The bottom edge of the top basket that faces the person pushing the cart is set into grooves on the two supports. That allows the top basket to be tilted up about a 45 degree angle, but doing so means that basket edge drops along the grooves about four inches. To make the basket level again you have to pull that bar upward to the top, and it's very heavy and difficult because a) it's metal and b) if it slid easily the basket could accidentally tilt.

So yesterday there were several customers in clearance and a few people in the fitting rooms. One of the people trying on stuff had her whole family there, so there were half a dozen adults and a baby sitting in the fitting room hall. Other people were wandering around close in the men's socks and underwear. There's a HUGE new emphasis on greeting and engaging every guest, I have to keep a mental inventory of items going into and out of the fitting rooms, I have to take the unsorted items received from the front and get them prepped so other coworkers can just grab carts and go, I have to man the multi-line phone, listen to my radio, watch to make sure no items are being pocketed, move customer carts aside to keep a walkway clear, dig hangers and hanger size tabs out of the closet behind me...and the regional/district level big bosses love to "shop" incognito to make sure we're greeting and engaging every guest. My eyes literally cannot be everywhere at once.

So I'm trying to do it all and I hear a metallic screech. I look over and the top of my three tier was lifted. It was parked in a sort of corner, just out of the walkway with the far edge against a fixture end. But the fixture is along a wall, keeps underwear packages from bulging out too far and only sticks out 6 inches, so someone can stand at the far edge of the cart if they are right against the fixture. And that is exactly what happened, some guy stood there just out of sight and lifted it. I step over, see him and he looks at me and says "I didn't like it there." Wha?? Now I'm wearing a sling, but I can't leave it, the top was half-filled with items now leaning perilously, and I have to put more in. Well I have to try, so I stepped on the bottom (necessary because the force needed will lift the cart off the ground), grabbed the lower edge in the center and pulled as hard as I could. I almost gave up and nearly called for help when it lifted. Meanwhile the a*****e stood there and stared at me. Obviously he can't clean up his mess because customers aren't supposed to use them, but he could have had the decency to walk away. Standing there, not moving an inch away, staring right at me as I struggled, having done this when I'm obviously hurt, it really seemed like he did it because he wanted to see me struggle and possibly get hurt even worse.

And before anyone comments, he was with the huge family camped out in my hallway and I had watched him and a couple of other male family members walk back and forth out of sight into the back of the men's underwear/socks area, so he had clearly seen me and my white sling contrasted against my red shirt when they first arrived and while he was wandering back and forth. He didn't move along the wall in a way that wouldn't have allowed him to see me.

Yeah, I would have loved to smack him with the cart a few times over. There's a huge difference between being oblivious and doing something deliberate that causes problems for someone obviously injured. I can deal with oblivious. This guy's stare made me feel like he pulls wings off of butterflies for fun.

 

[Willowy]

I got the DVD box set of Quantum Leap and have been binging it. I'm up to the second season. It was my favorite show when I was 9-13. I do love Scott Bakula. The acting and (most of) the plot lines aren't as bad as a lot of shows of the era so I'm pleasantly surprised. But, wow, maybe I've watched too much Sci Fi since then, because, jeez, they're really messing with temporal integrity and have no concept of the butterfly effect.

So he's supposed to "put right what once went wrong" and saves someone's young wife from an accident that killed her in the original timeline. Al says now she lives to be 103 and had 4 more kids. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID TO HISTORY, SAM? I guess he can't prevent himself from being born because he only leaps within his own lifetime but what about the rest of us? How do you know one of her 4 kids didn't murder you 10 years ago? What if one of them became president? What if one of them became an evil dictator that genocides everyone? LOOK WHAT YOU DID SAM! Now history is entirely changed and that's never addressed. Al's girlfriend should have disappeared because she was born from that guy's second marriage that never happened because his first wife didn't die, or something like that.

Haha, sorry, I had to nerd out and didn't have anyone to rant to, lol.

 

[kashmir64]

I got the DVD box set of Quantum Leap and have been binging it. I'm up to the second season. It was my favorite show when I was 9-13. I do love Scott Bakula. The acting and (most of) the plot lines aren't as bad as a lot of shows of the era so I'm pleasantly surprised. But, wow, maybe I've watched too much Sci Fi since then, because, jeez, they're really messing with temporal integrity and have no concept of the butterfly effect.

So he's supposed to "put right what once went wrong" and saves someone's young wife from an accident that killed her in the original timeline. Al says now she lives to be 103 and had 4 more kids. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID TO HISTORY, SAM? I guess he can't prevent himself from being born because he only leaps within his own lifetime but what about the rest of us? How do you know one of her 4 kids didn't murder me 10 years ago? What if one of them became president? What if one of them became an evil dictator that genocides everyone? LOOK WHAT YOU DID SAM! Now history is entirely changed and that's never addressed. Al's girlfriend should have disappeared because she was born from that guy's second marriage that never happened because his first wife didn't die, or something like that.


Haha, sorry, I had to nerd out and didn't have anyone to rant to, lol.

I always wondered about that with time travel shows.
It's weird that you brought this up today. Last night I was having a hard time sleeping and was thinking about the Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle in correlation to time travel.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Mamanyt1953 - I'm so sorry. Please forward my condolences.

Midway definitely hates that door shut, any door shut (don't lock him out of the bathroom), but he yowls at other times too....like right now. He's in the dining room and no one else is.

And crazy as it sounds, if it's too darn early to get up I can bring him into the bedroom with me and shut him in and he's calm as can be.

I'm going to be off the bike for a while. Today was the first pain free day in 6 months. I could manage without the sling, but first pain-free day in 6 months - that's too much temptation to turn down. It's the weight. When the sling slipped to where my arm angled downward in the slightest and the shoulder had to handle any weight some of the pain would come back. I just, I just don't want to hurt anymore. I know it's modest pain, 3 or 4 on the pain scale, but now I have a way of avoiding even a 1 and I don't want to turn it down, even if it means limiting my activity.

Just be prepared for my whining when I'm needing to rebuild arm strength because I'm too weak-willed to turn down temptation.

Thank you, both of you.

 

[artiemom]

I got the DVD box set of Quantum Leap and have been binging it. I'm up to the second season. It was my favorite show when I was 9-13. I do love Scott Bakula. The acting and (most of) the plot lines aren't as bad as a lot of shows of the era so I'm pleasantly surprised. But, wow, maybe I've watched too much Sci Fi since then, because, jeez, they're really messing with temporal integrity and have no concept of the butterfly effect.

So he's supposed to "put right what once went wrong" and saves someone's young wife from an accident that killed her in the original timeline. Al says now she lives to be 103 and had 4 more kids. DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU JUST DID TO HISTORY, SAM? I guess he can't prevent himself from being born because he only leaps within his own lifetime but what about the rest of us? How do you know one of her 4 kids didn't murder you 10 years ago? What if one of them became president? What if one of them became an evil dictator that genocides everyone? LOOK WHAT YOU DID SAM! Now history is entirely changed and that's never addressed. Al's girlfriend should have disappeared because she was born from that guy's second marriage that never happened because his first wife didn't die, or something like that.

Haha, sorry, I had to nerd out and didn't have anyone to rant to, lol.

Willowy, That is so weird.. I was looking at the Quantum Leap series, just the other day. I was thinking of buying it for myself as a combo B-day/Christmas Gift.

I loved that show from the first day! The humanity is really strong in it. The values...

I do not think they are dealing with the temporal time zone issues because the Leaps are not their doing. They have no control over it, and are trying to right a ton of wrongs.

Quantum Leap is on every night at 1pm on the COZI network. When I have a bout of insomnia, it is my "go to" program. It relaxes me, so I can sleep.. I just love it..

 

[arouetta]

To dip a toe into the theory of time continuity, it is possible that rather than changing your own past, you are actually creating a new and separate universe. So the girlfriend could continue to exist because her temporal universe still exists, they just simply jumped tracks to an alternate reality.

 

[Margret]

Unfortunately, we don't get COZI. I have a bunch of QLs on videotape; it's time I started converting them to digital.

Since it was, as far as they could tell, God who was determining where Sam leaped, it made sense to conclude that it was okay to fix whatever he ran into. In that way, this was a very faith-based show.

At the time I had trouble telling people about Quantum Leap. First I'd explain the premise, then they'd start looking extremely doubtful, then I'd have to explain "But, corny as that sounds, it's a very good show."

Margret

 

[Willowy]

Since it was, as far as they could tell, God who was determining where Sam leaped, it made sense to conclude that it was okay to fix whatever he ran into. In that way, this was a very faith-based show.

Yeah, I kind of figured that was part of their excuse. But they're still changing history, and they never address the fact that now all of history is changed and not just that one person's history. Or maybe they do in later seasons, I'll pay attention for that.

I don't mind a lot of fiction in science fiction but I do want a little self-awareness!

When we were vacationing in Florida I had the hotel TV on COZI and watched Quantum Leap, The A-Team (OK, that one is both more boring AND more insane than I remembered), and Knight Rider (meh) every night. That's what gave me the idea to buy the DVDs .

One problem is that the DVDs aren't captioned and I hate watching TV without captions :/.

 

[arouetta]

I'm an idiot. I went to my favorite cheap Italian place and got my favorite meal. They call it a "boat" but it's basically a funny shaped calzone. And when it was plunked down in front of me, I realized I should have gotten pasta. How do you cut up a calzone when you only have one arm? It took me over an hour to eat it and it was a pretty messy process.

 

[Margret]

Yeah, I kind of figured that was part of their excuse. But they're still changing history, and they never address the fact that now all of history is changed and not just that one person's history. Or maybe they do in later seasons, I'll pay attention for that.

There was a 2-parter where Sam leaped into Lee Harvey Oswald and tried to stop JFK's assassination. He didn't succeed, but according to Al that wasn't what he was there for. Al said that in the original timeline Jackie was killed as well, and Sam saved her life, which led directly to our timeline.

There was an alternate ending filmed where, in the last episode, set in the bar named "Al's place," Sam decides that before he leaps home he needs to leap back and talk to Al's first wife, encourage her to wait for Al while he's a POW in Vietnam, and afterwards we see a photograph change -- Al, his first wife, and the two daughters who were conceived after Al was rescued. The whole timeline with Al being a womanizer has changed. (Some of this was intimated in the ending they actually ran, but the alternate was, in my opinion, better done and more satisfying.) I've seen it online somewhere; try a Google search on Quantum Leap alternate ending.

Isn't there supposed to be a film coming out some time this year? I remember that they said Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell were going to appear in it, but not as Sam and Al.

I'm an idiot. I went to my favorite cheap Italian place and got my favorite meal. They call it a "boat" but it's basically a funny shaped calzone. And when it was plunked down in front of me, I realized I should have gotten pasta. How do you cut up a calzone when you only have one arm? It took me over an hour to eat it and it was a pretty messy process.

Ouch!

Margret

 

[segelkatt]

Oh my, since I live by myself with no children or grandchildren up close and don't watch a lot of TV besides CNN and MSNBC I have no idea what most of you are talking about. I don't want to watch zombies, vampires or shows about people who have more money than god, sounds like Dynasty from way back and all the other shows that spawned. I watched Dr Who way back but got bored with that, same old same old. I've got cable and a lot of what I call "in between channels" like 2.2 or 4.3 etc (I think they are called HD channels) but none of the premium channels like HBO. I watch PBS sometimes and NatGeo, like to watch the Weather Channel's shows, I find the History Channel to be a lot of stupid crap and not History at all. I guess I like to be educated instead of being "entertained". I also binge on BBC America for the Star Trek shows but then get tired of that also, I see that they will show the original on Friday, that should be fun to see all the out-of-date gadgetry which is now real.
Is there anything that I should try out that is not TOO dumb but intelligent even if it is NOT educational?

 

[NewYork1303]

We have started feeding the cats some commercial raw food. Seems like Carrot has crystals in his urine and we want to get rid of as much of his kibble as possible. The move to partially raw food is going better than I had hoped. He eats it much more willingly than his wet food.

 

[kashmir64]

Is there anything that I should try out that is not TOO dumb but intelligent even if it is NOT educational?

I just found People of Earth. It's about an alien abduction group and the three types of aliens that are in 'reports of abduction'. It's a comedy, without being a stupid comedy with nothing but jokes.
I ended up binge watching the entire 1st season and all the way up to last night's episode. I definitely believe there is alien life out there...just not here. But, I have heard a lot of the reports. I find this show amusing.

 

[arouetta]

Is there anything that I should try out that is not TOO dumb but intelligent even if it is NOT educational?

Quantum Leap is ancient, I think I was still a minor child when it was being produced. Side note, did it have a Halloween episode involving a teenage Stephen King? Or was that another show?

For new shows to watch, I can suggest what I like. I like What On Earth? and Unearthed on the Science channel. Reruns of How the Universe Works, the scientists manage to convert things to plain English without dumbing it down. (Example, when they discussed Gliese 581, one of the astronomers gave a sense of how dim it was by saying if our Sun was a 100 watt bulb, Gliese 581 would be a single Christmas tree light bulb in comparison for light output.) History has some good one-shot shows and mini-series, but you're right about the regular programming. Deadliest Catch on Discovery has a bit of reality TV feel to it, but you will learn a lot about the crabbing and fishing industries and it's interesting. Destination America has a lot of ghost hunting shows, some lame, some interesting. If you have a twisted mind like I do, some of the long-standing shows on Investigation Discovery are good; unfortunately the number of good shows are shrinking fast and ID is rapidly turning into the History Channel. I (Almost) Got Away With It is another crime show, but it focuses post-crime so it might be interesting to someone without a twisted mind, but I don't remember the channel it's on. HLN has Forensic Files reruns. If you have Netflix, Dark Matters: Twisted But True is awesome. (They played Gloomy Sunday after giving a warning they were going to do so in case you wanted to mute the TV. It sounded a little off but melodic and I'm still alive.) Big Bang Theory is really good despite being a sitcom and they have two real physicists on staff to make sure the characters' discussions are scientifically accurate.

And I have to champion re-runs of Star Trek TNG after the first couple seasons, DS9, Voyager, or the first couple seasons of Enterprise (pre-Xindi, once they introduced the Xindi the entire show was garbage). The fan base was pretty intellectual and would nitpick the science in the episodes to death so there is a decent amount of continuity and a lot of the technobabble has a solid science foundation. And there were at least two real astronauts and Stephen Hawking in episodes. Besides, Q is awesome.

Edit: My husband loves Supernatural, and when I watch it with him it just draws me in. It is good, but you must watch it from the beginning because literally every episode builds on previous ones, sometimes bringing in loose threads seasons later.

 

[kashmir64]

Side note, did it have a Halloween episode involving a teenage Stephen King? Or was that another show?

If I remember correctly, you are right.
How the Tess Was Won was my favorite episode.

 

[mokapi]

A random "what's on your mind"...I have to share this somewhere because it's so sweet, and not many of my friends would understand exactly why.

At around 2 a.m. this morning, I was awoken by deep, but not terribly loud, "help" meows from my older cat. I popped up like a meerkat and immediately shook awake Lucas, thinking it was a cat fight getting ready to start. Turns out my cat had gotten one of his nails hooked into his bed, and couldn't get loose. He was making what I can only describe as slightly embarrassed and scared meows, kind of like ">_> Mom...mom...MOM...I need help...MOM!!".

He had dragged his bed, stuck to his hand, all the way from the living room, into the bedroom, over to our bed. I was able to quickly unhook him and brought him up with me. Poor boy. But very sweet (to me) that he knew help was just a room away!!

His bed is a collapsible "den" sort of bed that folds in on itself very easily and is not heavy, so I don't think he hurt himself. Poor silly boy. He'll be getting a nail trim tonight.

 

[foxxycat]

wow got lots of reading to do-will catch up soon.

Glad to be HOME in my own COUCH. Good time away=more work bullcrap.

11 guys getting laid off Friday plus 15-20 guys getting shuffled onto 2nd shift- big mess.

our chief stew- quit. I thought about running-but I don't know if I can do the job to be honest-a few guys told me to run. I have until 3pm to make a decision. I don't know if it would be a good move. I am afraid I would get in trouble with cursing because I don't play games. If you are a whatever-I will call you a whatever...lol.
ok going to read...

 

[tallyollyopia]

Sorry for not being in touch for a while. Grandma passed last night. The center was polite, caring, and understanding. The funeral company (when they finally arrived, although I understand taking a while when you get a call at four-thirty in the morning) was polite, caring, and understanding.

Pardon me while I rant. Grandma's husband and his daughter were not. After talking about mundane, practical matters they began planning to sell the heirloom furniture that, according to Grandma's will (and in the will is explicitly stated as) belonging to AWM. AWM said she didn't want to sell and, despite this, were talking about getting an appraiser to take a look at the furniture and get a price for sale. They didn't drop the subject until I said I was interested in the furniture. (Apparently while it's okay to screw over AWM, it's not okay to do so to me. Or, I didn't manage to keep my voice calm and they heard how close I was getting to homicidal rage. Hard to tell.)

So AWM and I have been informing family and friends about the passing this morning.

 

[foxxycat]

I'm so sorry your grammy passed away. And so sorry the family are being assbuts.