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

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Mamanyt1953

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So I am awesome! $574.30 worth of awesome. That's the dollar amount of the merchandise that I stopped a pair of shoplifters from making off with.

They were exceedingly stupid, which is why instead of going grr, grr in my head over people breaking the fitting room rules, I called in a suspected theft. Looking back, one woman was trying to distract me and probably alerting her friend in the other room by asking my advice for the pants she was trying on. The other woman had her shopping cart in the room, which people do pretty often when I have to step away and no one is playing hall monitor there, but she left the paper from a large purse, the tag for the purse, the tag for a clothing item and the tag for a reusable shopping bag in the fitting room. Not just in the fitting room, but on the bench in there, which I have direct line of sight on when standing at the fitting room desk and no one is in the room. I glanced over to see if she had left clothes in there (another rule that gets broken when no one is standing there), saw the mess, immediately radio'd the manager on duty. If she had stuck all that stuff in the bottom of the shopping cart with her merchandise on top, I'd have likely not questioned it since honest people do take their carts in.

Though I'm sure the woman that came up right as the pair were walking off thought I was crazy, as I was snarling about somebody stealing from MY fitting room. She said she's worked retail and understands though.

Oh yeah, and if any of you all are shopping at Target in the DC suburbs and come across a short fat white woman whose brown hair is having a permanent bad hair day running the fitting room, and she not only talks to herself but answers herself and argues with herself about the answer, say hi to me.
:rock: and I will! I'm the medium-height fat white woman with a horse's tail hanging down her back doing the same! I don't get up that way, but who knows, I MIGHT!

Who ever does the question of the day can start with 'take your pills'. :p
~mutters to self~ When I can remember to do the dratted question of the day! I HATE not having my cell phone, that's where my reminder was posted. Maybe the new one will be here soon!
 

Margret

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We have electricity!!! :woo: And it took a good deal less than the 5 - 6 hours they told me to expect all electricity to be off.

Sitting here with the evening news on, and I just heard two things I feel I should mention.
  1. The Better Business Bureau warns that someone has been sending out email in their name, and it's not actually from them. It's a phishing scam; don't click on the links!
  2. Amazon is being sued for selling people defective eclipse glasses.
Margret
 

Willowy

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I'm binge-watching Quantum Leap right now. In a 2nd season episode (1990), Al says something is "hinky". I always thought Abby on NCIS (started in 2003) made that up. That was the first time I heard it anyway. So I looked it up and Mirriam-Webster says the first known use was in 1956! Learn something new every day.

It's September 11th. I went to Costco after work and they have Christmas trees on display :doh:. I still have the air conditioner on! :angrywoman:
 

Margret

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I'm binge-watching Quantum Leap right now. In a 2nd season episode (1990), Al says something is "hinky". I always thought Abby on NCIS (started in 2003) made that up. That was the first time I heard it anyway. So I looked it up and Mirriam-Webster says the first known use was in 1956! Learn something new every day.

It's September 11th. I went to Costco after work and they have Christmas trees on display :doh:. I still have the air conditioner on! :angrywoman:
And I thought it was ridiculous having the Halloween things out now!

I heard a piece on NPR, on the way home from my Aunt's 100th birthday party on September 9th. It seems that there was another 100th birthday that day -- the first known use of OMG occurred in a letter to Winston Churchill on that date in 1917.

Margret
 

kashmir64

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I'm binge-watching Quantum Leap right now. In a 2nd season episode (1990), Al says something is "hinky". I always thought Abby on NCIS (started in 2003) made that up. That was the first time I heard it anyway. So I looked it up and Mirriam-Webster says the first known use was in 1956! Learn something new every day.

It's September 11th. I went to Costco after work and they have Christmas trees on display :doh:. I still have the air conditioner on! :angrywoman:
I'm doing the exact same thing :hyper:. My son had never seen it and wanted to watch. Just saw that episode last night. We are on episode 20 or 21 in season 2 right now.
 

kashmir64

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:D!

Most '80s/early '90s TV shows are terrible. Quantum Leap is really holding up to rewatching!
Alien Nation is another that holds up. As well as American Gothic. That's Buck, with a 'B'. Even though it was only one season, it was great.
 

arouetta

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:D!

Most '80s/early '90s TV shows are terrible. Quantum Leap is really holding up to rewatching!
Even X-Files was terrible back then, I think it was the third season that was absolute garbage. And ST:TNG was pretty hokey for the first season or two.
 

Willowy

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And ST:TNG was pretty hokey for the first season or two.
It was, jeez, especially Riker.

I caught a few episodes of old TV shows on cable the last time I stayed at a hotel. The A-Team was terrible! And Knight Rider was just an excuse for Michael Landon to take his shirt off. I loved McGyver back then, and I still find it watchable, but it's just not great.

My mom has the box set of Little House on the Prairie. I think I'll borrow that one next. I know the general opinion is that it was good for the first few seasons and then went off the rails, with story lines involving witchcraft and boys kept in cages and Pa screaming at God to resurrect some random kid they took in who got shot in a bank robbery. . .could be fun!
 

arouetta

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Yeah, it seemed the first season of TNG was going around and defining the Prime Directive as being subject to the laws and customs of other races and being totally unable to do anything to get themselves out of trouble. The acting was very stilted, probably from the roles not really being defined at all for the actors to give some meat to. Once they got away from all that, started building storylines, rounded out the characters and let the show just go, it got a lot better.

I do love that the very first episode and the very last episode tied together quite nicely. I loved Q, and I liked the Voyager episode that showed why he was always outside of the Continuum causing trouble. Denise Crosby was a stupid idiot for quitting and I always hated the character Sela. And I love that Wil Wheaton grew up to be a geek.
 

Mamanyt1953

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It's September 11th. I went to Costco after work and they have Christmas trees on display :doh:. I still have the air conditioner on! :angrywoman:
And I thought it was ridiculous having the Halloween things out now!
As ridiculous as it may seem, it's mostly in response to people like me who can only spend a few dollars a month on things like that. I hate it, but I love it. And it drives me nuts, and I depend on it. shoot me now,..
 

arouetta

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As ridiculous as it may seem, it's mostly in response to people like me who can only spend a few dollars a month on things like that. I hate it, but I love it. And it drives me nuts, and I depend on it. shoot me now,..
Not just that, it's also for the people who can plunk down money on anything their hearts desire, and the first one they see is the first one they get, so retailers are in a race every year to be the first one seen.
 

arouetta

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Can your body learn to digest lactose? I know there's a gene involved, which to my mind is weird as bacteria actually do the digesting, not our intestines (maybe the gene makes the intestines a happy breeding ground for the lactose bacteria?). But after a few glasses of milk, it seems that my lactose intake has been low enough in recent months that I must have starved my bacteria to death. If I suffer through the stomach upset (not intestinal, I'm talking nausea and other unwell feelings) long enough, will I have my happy lactose bacteria back?
 

kashmir64

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Well, I just spent an hour on a chat with Tracphone. Looks like I will be switching soon. Not only will I get a smartphone (I have a flip phone now), but it will save me a ton of money in the long run. If I stayed with Verizon and got what I need, it will cost $150/month (3 lines). With Tracphone it will only be around $50. That's less than what I'm paying for 3 lines now. And, I can keep my number, which is a big one. I already know I get good reception here. I had friends stay with me for a short while and they had Net10 and never dropped a call. I can't tell you the last time I didn't drop a call with my provider.

Do any of you have bad things to tell me about Tracphone before I switch? I would appreciate any comment on them.
 

arouetta

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Well, I just spent an hour on a chat with Tracphone. Looks like I will be switching soon. Not only will I get a smartphone (I have a flip phone now), but it will save me a ton of money in the long run. If I stayed with Verizon and got what I need, it will cost $150/month (3 lines). With Tracphone it will only be around $50. That's less than what I'm paying for 3 lines now. And, I can keep my number, which is a big one. I already know I get good reception here. I had friends stay with me for a short while and they had Net10 and never dropped a call. I can't tell you the last time I didn't drop a call with my provider.

Do any of you have bad things to tell me about Tracphone before I switch? I would appreciate any comment on them.
Nothing really bad, other than it can get to a point where it's more expensive than one of the cheaper post-pay providers like T-mobile if you have an uptick in usage.
 

margd

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Can your body learn to digest lactose? I know there's a gene involved, which to my mind is weird as bacteria actually do the digesting, not our intestines (maybe the gene makes the intestines a happy breeding ground for the lactose bacteria?). But after a few glasses of milk, it seems that my lactose intake has been low enough in recent months that I must have starved my bacteria to death. If I suffer through the stomach upset (not intestinal, I'm talking nausea and other unwell feelings) long enough, will I have my happy lactose bacteria back?
The gene involved codes for the enzyme lactase and it's this enzyme that breaks down lactose so actually yes, the human enzyme does do the digesting. From what I understand, the bacteria in the small intestines help the process along, in part because some produce their own enzyme that helps with lactose digestion. Unfortunately, in some people, the gene may code for less and less lactase as they age so that they become lactose intolerant when they are older. It's unlikely that the gene will start churning out lactase again. It would probably help to look into probiotics to supplement the bacteria in your small intestines and alternative sources of milk like soy, almond or rice milk.

And that is the sum of my knowledge about lactose intolerance other than the fact that there are tests for it so a doctor should be able to let you know what's going on.

Anyway, I'm so sorry you're going through this. :alright: With everything else going on, this is the last thing you need.
 

Margret

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Can your body learn to digest lactose? I know there's a gene involved, which to my mind is weird as bacteria actually do the digesting, not our intestines (maybe the gene makes the intestines a happy breeding ground for the lactose bacteria?). But after a few glasses of milk, it seems that my lactose intake has been low enough in recent months that I must have starved my bacteria to death. If I suffer through the stomach upset (not intestinal, I'm talking nausea and other unwell feelings) long enough, will I have my happy lactose bacteria back?
Yes, over time lactose intolerance can disappear; that's quite common actually. It happened to me, but I don't know why or how it happened. You can buy Lactaid (a lactase supplement) or generic equivalent in most grocery stores (at least, you used to be able to and I've no reason to believe that's changed) and then just take a pill with your milk; if that fixes the nausea and (I assume, based on personal experience) diarrhea then it effectively diagnoses your problem without an expensive test, as well as providing a solution. You can also buy Lactaid milk, which has the lactose pre-digested; I never much liked the taste of it, and as margd margd said there are other milk substitutes available, including cashew milk, almond milk, and soy milk. At the time soy milk was first developed it was less likely to cause allergies than milk, one of the reasons it was developed; at this point soy has become so common-place that many people are allergic to it

Unless there is something very wrong, we're all born with the ability to make lactase since we need it to digest our mother's milk. However, over time that ability can turn off. There is some evidence that people whose ancestors came from places where milk cows were common are less likely to develop lactose intolerance as they age.

Well, I just spent an hour on a chat with Tracphone. Looks like I will be switching soon. Not only will I get a smartphone (I have a flip phone now), but it will save me a ton of money in the long run. If I stayed with Verizon and got what I need, it will cost $150/month (3 lines). With Tracphone it will only be around $50. That's less than what I'm paying for 3 lines now. And, I can keep my number, which is a big one. I already know I get good reception here. I had friends stay with me for a short while and they had Net10 and never dropped a call. I can't tell you the last time I didn't drop a call with my provider.

Do any of you have bad things to tell me about Tracphone before I switch? I would appreciate any comment on them.
If you buy a TracPhone minutes card, keep the receipt!!! I've had trouble with them refusing to honor an old minutes card because I no longer had the receipt.

Margret
 
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