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

[arouetta]

Cats can be truly amazing.

My dresser is narrow and tall, too tall for the old boys to jump onto. Which means the top has become a repository of stuff we don't want to throw out and we don't have a good place to store. It's piled a couple feet high and there is no surface of the dresser showing. The top edge of the front pieces of wood making the drawers are rounded, so less than a half inch in width. The height of the entire dresser is about armpit high.

I was putting away clothes and had the second to top drawer open and had stepped away from it. Midway walked over and jumped. His front feet never wavered, perfect diving position going in the wrong direction. His back feet hit the edge of the dresser drawer perfectly and pushed off just a tad to land on the top of the dresser. When he landed on top there was a bit of shaking of the entire pile of stuff but nothing got knocked over or off and he seemed sure on his feet.

Wow, the grace involved in that landing and the ability to judge how he would land without ever having been on top before is amazing. Plus the height, considering that he is 14 and pudgy. Guess I don't have to worry about him having arthritis at this moment.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Mamanyt1953 is there a way of getting an electric heat source in there, one that will safely heat throughout the whole night?

I'm actually thinking about battery heated socks. I just need to find some that are affordable and last more than 5 hours. Although, I could put them in when it gets dark, and once the kits were snuggled down, even if the heat stopped, they would stay snug. I would need to get a larger battery charger, and a stock of rechargeable batteries! Looking into it!

And loud neighbors would be even worse then. If they wake up my sleeping baby, I might wind up with murder charges.

You'd be amazed at what babies will sleep through if you don't start out by making everyone walk on tippytoe and whisper. We never really quieted the house down, and my boys would sleep very well through just about anything at all.

Today is my 28th wedding anniversary. I wasn’t sure we’d last the first five years.

He still makes me laugh and smile and puts up with all my craziness. And he’s quit saying ‘I didn’t want the first cat’.

THAT is definitely a keeper! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! or, to your marriage!!!

 

[arouetta]

Okay, stupid idea and it would probably need someone with an understanding of engineering to pull it off. But what about burying some pipes just underground that continuously circle hot water out and back into the house?

 

[margd]

Okay, stupid idea and it would probably need someone with an understanding of engineering to pull it off. But what about burying some pipes just underground that continuously circle hot water out and back into the house?

Not a stupid idea at all! A very good idea and one already shown to be extremely effective. Koreans invented ondol floors centuries ago which heat the entire house by sending heated air or water through a series of pipes running under the floor. Speaking from experience, sleeping on one of these floors is heaven. The Bit family would be cozy as could be. It's too bad that mamanyt1953 would be tossed out in the cold with them if management discovered: 1) cats and 2) plumbing modifications.

You really do have good ideas, arouetta . I've admired them before but am not sure that I've ever told you. You have the mind of an inventor, always looking for solutions to problems.


EDIT: Oops. It seems that Koreans invented the floors thousands of years ago, not hundreds. Five thousand year-old ruins have been excavated that show that ondol floors were in use even then.

 

[Alicia88]

Happy anniversary!
I'm hungry but I'm feeling really lazy so I think I'm just gonna have some oatmeal. I feel lazy more often than not lately.

 

[arouetta]

Not a stupid idea at all! A very good idea and one already shown to be extremely effective. Koreans invented ondol floors centuries ago which heat the entire house by sending heated air or water through a series of pipes running under the floor. Speaking from experience, sleeping on one of these floors is heaven. The Bit family would be cozy as could be. It's too bad that mamanyt1953 would be tossed out in the cold with them if management discovered: 1) cats and 2) plumbing modifications.

You really do have good ideas, arouetta . I've admired them before but am not sure that I've ever told you. You have the mind of an inventor, always looking for solutions to problems.

I knew it had been done professionally with concrete. I just don't know about an amateur jury-rigging it.

As far as the former, I can't help Mamanyt1953. For the latter, if it could be piping screwed into an existing set of pipes, like how you screw on a shower head with a hose onto the shower piping, it could be explained as trying to keep some warmth near the wall so pipes running in that area don't freeze.

 

[Margret]

Not a stupid idea at all! A very good idea and one already shown to be extremely effective. Koreans invented ondol floors centuries ago which heat the entire house by sending heated air or water through a series of pipes running under the floor. Speaking from experience, sleeping on one of these floors is heaven. The Bit family would be cozy as could be. It's too bad that mamanyt1953 would be tossed out in the cold with them if management discovered: 1) cats and 2) plumbing modifications.

You really do have good ideas, arouetta . I've admired them before but am not sure that I've ever told you. You have the mind of an inventor, always looking for solutions to problems.

I'm pretty sure I also read about the Romans having done this, in one of the Sister Fidelma mysteries, by Peter Tremayne.

Margret

 

[arouetta]

Thoughts....

Watching TV, some documentary about Bermuda Triangle disappearances. There is just something wrong about some scientist saying that there is a very rare form of methane that gets trapped in an ice lattice that could be the cause for a ship disappearing, and a great way to test the plausibility is to substitute dry ice and a soda bottle in place of this super-rare methane. Dry ice and a soda bottle???

When I started my Facebook account, I said that I was only going to add people I know. Well I added someone a while back that I have no clue who she is. And based on the last couple of days on Facebook she doesn't live that far away from me, she lives in the same metropolitan area that I lived in for 20 years and left just a couple of years ago. Best guess, she's a cousin I've never met, but that is only a guess. I have no idea how to politely ask her who she is.

 

[Margret]

I have no idea how to politely ask her who she is.

I've never been able to solve this one, either.

I come from a very large family, on my father's side, and when I was growing up all the grownups were kind of just a blur for me. I had older cousins whom I believed to be aunts and uncles! My mother told me that she was at a family wedding reception once, that was being held in some posh venue, for family members only, and she watched as a total stranger walked in, went through the buffet line, stood there eating the free food, said "Hi" to people as if he knew them, and everyone just said "Hi" back and walked away wondering which relative he was, because he put on a good show of belonging and there was no way to ask without risking embarrassment when he turned out to be someone they should have known.

As I've grown older and more jaded I've decided that avoiding embarrassment isn't everything, and there's nothing genuinely impolite about saying "I've tried and tried to think who you are and somehow I just can't call you to mind. Who are you?"

Margret

 

[Margret]

Watching TV, some documentary about Bermuda Triangle disappearances. There is just something wrong about some scientist saying that there is a very rare form of methane that gets trapped in an ice lattice that could be the cause for a ship disappearing, and a great way to test the plausibility is to substitute dry ice and a soda bottle in place of this super-rare methane. Dry ice and a soda bottle???

Now that's just weird. Icebergs in the Bermuda triangle? I have a lot of trouble believing that theory!

Margret

 

[arouetta]

Now that's just weird. Icebergs in the Bermuda triangle? I have a lot of trouble believing that theory!

Margret

It's not icebergs. It's the same theory as the worst case scenario with the north sea ice melting. Stuff in the sea dies and drops down to the very bottom of the ocean, where it's actually colder than the freezing temperature of water. All that stuff decays, releasing methane. That low and that cold, ice can actually form in the dirt, and it forms in crystalline form at the molecular level, and all that methane decay gets caught in the lattice shape of the ice crystals. It could sit there until the sun goes nova, unless there's some sort of disruption.

What they are concerned with in the north is the ocean warming up a little at the bottom and melting the ice, which would release all that trapped methane. Which would float upward and the sheer volume would make us a Venus clone. Farther towards the equator, that is also a scary possibility, but the more likely would be a methane burp and when it hits the surface it causes very localized mass destruction. Some lakes that have had a methane burp have killed all wildlife in the surrounding area because it pushed the oxygen away just long enough. Siberia has had several methane burps recently due to the melting of the permafrost and those areas look like a bomb or a meteor hit because the release was so explosive and circular.

Since methane is so light, if a burp happened directly under a ship and if the ship survived the explosive compression of the water above it (highly doubtful), the ship would drop straight down to the bottom of the methane bubble and basically sink instantly.

To give you an idea of the size of a potential methane burp, these are pictures of a couple of the ones in Siberia. Check out the size of the people next to the crater.

 

[tallyollyopia]

Today was payback day.

First, I pretty much emptied our basket that was overflowing with torn packages and untagged items. Not completely, but pretty close. But that means I took an entire shopping cart filled with loose underwear and socks to the front for Guest Services to defect/salvage. Yeah, I'm sure they were cursing my name. So I got a bag of discounted Halloween candy for them as a "sorry" present.

Second, harassment from motorists is virtually gone. Yeah, someone honked at me today even though I didn't impede his progress in the slightest (two lanes going the same direction), but it's the first time in a month maybe someone has honked at me, and near passes are gone. I still get the stupid idiots proceeding when their heads are turned to look to their side rather than where they are going, but that happens to everyone. (Just the stakes are a lot higher when they have 2000 pounds of steel protecting them and I don't.) While part of it is the simple fact that they can't make me go away so they have to get used to me, I'm pretty sure the police hold another part of that. I'm betting several people have called to report me and they in turn tell them I'm legally in the right and I can be there. Also, people see me ride on by the speed trap without the police so much as blinking at me. So they got 3 big bags of discounted Halloween candy tonight as a "thank you for keeping me safe" present.

Okay, @segelkatt, I checked out The Dodo's YouTube channel and found it there, so if your browser can handle YouTube videos it should have no problems:

Margret

OMG! That is so amazing! (By the way; I was taught in EMT Basic class--no idea if it's accurate, but it's what I was taught--that if you're performing CPR on a pet or animal less than ten pounds to do so as if you're trying to do CPR on an infant.)

Looks like I'm gonna be up most of the night. Little man spent 2 and a half hours beating me up from the inside today. It's like he was trying to rip his way out and it hurt! I tried pressing on my belly a bit to get him to move and he just pushed back harder. I actually have a few bruises on my abdomen now. Stubborn little turd. And he's strong! So, when he finally settled down, I was exhausted and decided to take a little nap. That was a little after 4 pm. John just let me sleep and I woke up just before 1 am. I guess I must have needed the rest, but now I'm gonna be up forever. On the bright side, Murphy cuddled me while my unborn child was abusing me. So someone was sympathetic. LOL

About six or seven years ago I had two cousins (not siblings to each other--DD's family is very large) who were pregnant at the same time who had the same problems you're having now. One of them merely had external bruising--no harm done. The other, on the other hand (no pun intended), was in a different situation entirely. Somehow, when the baby dropped, it got turned around and ended up kicking so hard she had internal bleeding. (Her problems were complicated by the fact that none of the "experts" at the hospital she gave birth at believed it was possible and she almost died in the delivery room. Side note--that particular cousin is being raised by another cousin, altogether, because the mother developed a very real, paranoid delusion that the baby was trying to murder her before it was born.)

I loved the video. The way the kitten plays in the snow is how Floey played in the snow. She loved it. chased it all over the yard. didn't mind walking in it either but she was warm blooded like me. She used to lay on her back all the time because it was too hot in the house..I sure miss my Flo Monster kitty. She had this loud purr you could hear across the room.

Last night went to see my dad and there's some medical stuff going on that is concerning me. He goes to the doctor on Tuesday. So I hope they can figure out what's going on with him and manage whatever it is....you know when you have parents-you always think they will live forever...or friends or whoever....and when the years go by and health issues come up-you are faced with the reality that they may not be here as long as we want....and it is bothering me to be honest.

The good news of last night is we went to eat at a small country place with good prices..so much better than the Bonanzas we were going to. Jon and I had baked stuffed haddock with crabmeat filling-it had a white sauce and was so yummy. The topping was real crumbly stuff and they didn't skimp on it. The rice was good. Jon got a potato but we took it home. I couldn't finish my meal and will eat it tonight. Dad and his girl got Salisbury steak and mashed tators and baked stuffed chicken-it looked really good. We had a good meal and they had a bakery so we got some huge chocolate chip cookies to take home...and the best part? they have a bookcase of free paperbacks..so I took a few-they had some good ones too!

We went back to their house for a bit and they have a cat and dog..I smooched up to the dog more than the cat! older guy who just loves being rubbed and petted-guess they said he's gotten aggressive to strangers so he can't go out with people but he didn't act anything like that with me..just kept rubbing on me and staring at me...too bad the girls hate dogs and I don't have time to take care of one. I should have taken a picture-didn't think of it..he's a small dog about 25lb or so-just enough to be bigger than the cat...the cat gets grouchy at the dog..she was in a box and the dog came up to sniff the box and out swiped a paw with claws She likes getting pet but don't touch her tail but my dad always wacks the tip of the tail and she loves it-she is always waving that tail around-she's a tortie dark short hair. she is always on my dads lap. and the dog gets jealous.

When I got home none of my cats cared about the smells on me...it was give me treats time so she wanted that more than being upset at smelling other animals..

Man, I was reading about you going out to eat and thought of this little family owned restaurant whose menu I couldn't read but served a rice dish that was both sweet and spicy (honey sweet and pepper spicy, to be specific) that was served with some kind of savory sauce that was supposed to be poured over the rice dish (they had to show me how it was supposed to be eaten--I've never eaten anywhere like it before or since) with a side of grilled meat and veggies that had been basted in the savory sauce. Anyone know what kind of food that was?

 

[tallyollyopia]

Update on Patrick, my black foster cat: there is someone in Tracy, CA who wants him. That is East of San Francisco and I'm South of Los Angeles. The problem is on how to get him there, it's over 500 miles from here. He can be brought there by what they call a "chain", several people transporting him each a bit of the way, sort of like the pony express. But communications have broken down a bit. The first person in the chain wanted me to bring him to Bakersfield which is doable as it would take about 2 1/2 hours by car. Problem is that this person wanted him in Bakersfield by 10:30 a.m. on Friday. That would mean rush hour traffic for 2/3 of the way and rush hour traffic here is a nightmare, it would take me at least 4 1/2 hours for that trip (and then probably 3 hours back, that's a lot of driving in one day even for car-obsessed California drivers). I was never told an address or the name of the person who was supposed to call me and never did. So I am still waiting and waiting. Another person on this site even tried to get things moving but so far no luck. This is very frustrating.

I lost my mother in 2015, one month after my birthday. She was two months short of her 98th birthday and was quite ready to go. I'm on the verge of going on Medicare. And I still want my Mommy.

There's no such thing as being ready to lose a beloved parent.


It sounds like it! I hope you can get it straightened out soon.

Alicia88 , . It will be over soon, after which the really hard work begins. Maybe this will cheer you up a bit:


I think dolphins and cats share the same attitude about pregnant women.

Margret

I remember giggling when I read the scene in the book the first time and when I saw it in the movie I just cracked up!

Well, I finally killed it. I've had a rat in my bathroom cabinets harassing me for a week. I set traps, but he would avoid them. Sometimes when I'm in the bathroom, he would open the cabinet and pop his head out. Since he was so big, I thought it definitely a packrat. Those things are R.O.U.S.'s . But after looking at it (in the trap), this is not a packrat. It has the looks of a normal rat. Except it's about 5x's the size.
Although I'd love to show the pictures, I don't think it appropriate for this site.
I made sure the kittens couldn't get into the bathroom, no telling what these rodents have. I also removed all my towels from there. I can now sleep better knowing it's gone and there is no way the kittens can get it. What a relief.

Maisie is not doing well. I'm having a really hard time accepting that he is probably not going to be with me for a whole lot longer. I've had him for ten years, and I can't imagine life without him.

This is probably a stupid question: if I need to replace a smoke detector and CO2 detector, does an electrician do it? Mine are hard wired in addition to having a battery back up so I'm guessing an electrician is needed? Do I provide the smoke and CO2 detectors for the electrician to install?

The low battery alarm for the kitchen / living area smoke detector just went off. I had replaced the battery earlier this year too Then the hallway CO2 detector low battery alarm went off so I replaced that one as well. I'm hoping the bedroom one doesn't go off tonight because I don't have any more batteries The bedroom one isn't as old as the other two so it should be ok. I had that one replaced a few years ago by the then-maintenance person when it wouldn't stop beeping despite having a new battery.

At least it detects smoke. You would think that would be standard, but our last smoke detector didn't; it detected steam. There was April 1st where LS and AWM were trying to set off the smoke detector as part of a prank and LS had lit a roll of newspapers on fire and was waving the smoky mess under the detector--no reaction. AWM got it to go off--with the steam from my teakettle!

No question about him being a strong little bugger. I think he's training to be a MMA fighter at birth! Haha. I'm glad hes strong - just wish he'd take it a little easier on his mama. I'll ask the doctor about the bruise stuff, but I am a bit nervous about using something that close to him. It's not unbearable pain - I've had worse. I mean, I've had a broken back and a lacerated spleen and kidney, not to mention many kidney stones. This is nothing compared to all that. But I could still do without it. He's been kicking hard enough to make it hurt since before 20 weeks but he really took things up a notch. It kinda made me think of someone pushing through a plastic bag until it stretches enough to break. But a plastic bag has more give and hopefully my womb won't actually break. LOL. I'll be 30 weeks tomorrow - just 10 to go. And the doctor has me drinking 3 ensure shakes a day to hopefully help me gain some weight. Four pounds in 7 months apparently isn't cutting it. She says he'll be just fine - my body gives to him before it gives to me - but she's worried about me. I'm not a big person in the first place. I'm constantly on the border of being underweight. It's not for lack of trying, though. I've always been an eater - just have a very high metabolism. We get WIC and the doctor wrote a note so I get whole milk now instead of 1%, which I prefer anyway. I feel like anything but whole is lying about being milk. Haha. WIC is also covering the ensure, which is a good thing. That stuff isn't cheap. Looking at the prices when I was picking it up, drinking 3 a day would probably run us at least $150 a month which we sure can't afford.

This may sound counter-intuitive, but Slim Fast has very much the same nutritional value as Ensure, and for a lot of people it tastes better.

My shelter doesn't euthanize ferals (we refer them for TNR) but in some cases the local community will not allow the ferals to be returned, so the shelter may feel they have no other option.

Update on Patrick: finally heard from Katie, she is trying to get somebody for either this Saturday or the one after in Bakersfield, from there he would go to Fresno and from there to Tracy. It's all done by volunteers. I can do Bakersfield on a weekend, it will take about 2 1/2 hours one way. Patrick travels well, once the carrier is in the car he never makes a sound, but the carrier being carried around upsets him, probably feels like an earthquake to him. The carrier I have for him is big enough to accommodate a small litter box, it was meant for air travel and I got it from someone who did use it for that, she travelled a lot and took her cat with her.
Now that I have at least a name of the new mom I feel much better, just knowing there is an end to Patrick's uncertain status and that he is welcome where he is going.

Congratulations!

You only get shingles if you've previously had chicken pox, right?
Interesting story: My body seems to want nothing to do with chicken pox. When i was a kid, my mom tried really hard to get me to catch it. This was back when chicken pox parties were still a thing. I never did. While I was married to my ex husband, I had full coverage health insurance since he was a Marine. I was in for a check up and they decided to give me the chicken pox vaccine. Ok, sure. A couple years later, blood tests showed no immunity. So, they vaccinated me again. About 4ish years later, here I am pregnant and the doctor runs the typical blood tests. I'm still showing no immunity. It's like my body just flushes the virus without doing anything with it. It wants nothing whatsoever to do with chicken pox. She's gonna vaccinate me a third time after little man is born, but I doubt it will take. Maybe 3rd time is charm? Haha
So, I'm weird. It's fun, though.

Nothing wrong with a natural immunity.

Vent time! I put in the effort to make a delicious roast - granted, cooking a roast doesn't take much work, but still - and then a few bites in, the heartburn flares up so bad, I can't stand it! My doctor prescribed new prilosec to take once a day. I took it earlier. And she also gave me zantac. I took one of those, too. And the heartburn is still so bad, i can't bear to continue eating. No wonder i can't gain any weight! Shouldn't I get to eat what I cook? And it's not spicy in any sense of the word. The doctor said my heartburn is bad because I'm such a naturally small person and the uterus and baby and all that takes up a lot of room and forces the stomach acid into my esophagus because there's nowhere else for it to go. Makes sense, but it's driving me batty! I'm gonna drink some milk and hopefully that will settle it down a bit so I can try to eat some more later. I managed to eat what I would consider a child's portion. I won't starve. But it's really good and I want more! I think this child is going to kill me.
K, vent over.

I feel like an afternoon nap but where am I supposed to sleep?View attachment 204300

How many are there?!

 

[tallyollyopia]

Glad you weren't hurt worse!
Finally got the spay voucher for Marcy. Yay! She has an appointment on December 5. They're booked solid 'til then. That way, if she gets a wild hair up her butt and decides to try to sneak out, she won't come back pregnant. Honestly, I don't see her trying to sneak out. She was found on the street and she seems to have no desire to go back. She's never tried to slip out the door. It was raining pretty hard last week and she was sitting in the window looking out at it with a really smug look on her face. It cracked me up. But, better safe than sorry. Then we'll just need to see about getting her shots. And we'll need to call John's aunt to borrow her cat carrier again. We don't have one of our own right now. I don't know where we would put it if we did! We really need a bigger place.
I'm pretty sure I'm gonna make my mom mad. I've decided that when this baby is born, I don't want anyone there but John. It's nothing personal - I just don't want to have a huge audience. But, she'll get offended anyway. So that's gonna be fun. But I'm not changing my mind.
Baby decided to kick hard as heck for an hour again yesterday. This kid is great at causing pain! At least he's strong but he's sure making the end of this pregnancy miserable. And if the size of my belly is anything to go on, he's gonna be a big boy. I think John might have to cut out the doorway to get me out when I go into labor. I can't bend over to tie my own shoes anymore so I can only leave the house when John is here to tie them for me. Haha. I can't figure out where the belly came from. I haven't gained much weight and I can't see anywhere that I've lost it. My wedding ring is a bit loose so I must have lost a few ounces in my fingers.
Quick spay question - I've heard that putting a baby onesie on a cat after spaying keeps her from licking the incision and most cats fit a 0-3 month onesie. Marcy is pretty small - should I get a premie onesie for her?

It never occurred to me to try--I played guard until the stitches healed enough that the glue was no longer needed.

Oh NO!!! Take care of yourself when you are Peddling!! We need you!! OUCH!!

Why, on top of all those warm, furry cats, of course! (Hey, they have no compunctions about sleeping on top of you!)

Seriously, when I need to put the computer down on the spot Jasmine is occupying she gets two warnings and then down it goes, slowly so she can get out of the way at the last minute, but down all the same. And, sure enough, Jasmine does get out of the way, though she's stubborn enough that she invariably waits until the computer is right on top of her and s-l-o-w-l-y getting heavier.




Margret

@Anne, awesome new emojies! Thanks!

Margret

@dahli6 Zoey wants what she wants....
She has me trained, I do NOT move when those claws she won 't let me trim are close to my face... what a nap partner !

View attachment 204381

My new detectors are here I didn't see it until almost 4pm and by that time the maintenance person had gone for the day. I did run into him this morning and mentioned it. He said to just give him a call when I have the detectors. I won't be home until Wednesday. Hopefully the blasted detector in the main living area won't start chirping again There is a button to silence alarms but I've never been able to get it to work

Good luck!

I'm not sure if pregnancy is making mine irritable or my neighbors are being stupidly annoying. We have thin walls here but for some reason, they've been leaving their apartment door open so I can hear everything they say and do. I really hope we find a new place soon. I want peace And quiet. Plus, every time they walk in the hallway, it sounds like a herd of elephants. I don't know how they walk so heavily! I mean, are they stomping?
I'm cranky today. I'm sending myself to my room for a nap.

Happens.

arouetta , no, wet weather does not cause colds; it just makes you more likely to catch them. Two things happen during cold wet weather:

1. You can get cold and wet with no chance to dry off and warm up, which stresses your body and hence your immune system.
2. People tend to crowd together inside, exposing one another to all their germs. (This is why we so frequently end up sick after a plane trip.) Then, when they get sick and take time off from work, they go to the store (Target?) and expose everyone there to their germs.

It sounds like both of these things happened to you at the same time; I would be very surprised if it hadn't resulted in you getting a cold.

Margret

I saw a really cute video on Facebook, but I can't link this one. I think it's because it's a commercial. And it's staged, but still hilarious. On Cats Planet or Your Daily Dose of Cuteness look for a video titled "How Christmas feels when you have a cat".

I saw that last year! I thought it was hilarious!

Today is my 28th wedding anniversary. I wasn’t sure we’d last the first five years.

He still makes me laugh and smile and puts up with all my craziness. And he’s quit saying ‘I didn’t want the first cat’.

Cats can be truly amazing.

My dresser is narrow and tall, too tall for the old boys to jump onto. Which means the top has become a repository of stuff we don't want to throw out and we don't have a good place to store. It's piled a couple feet high and there is no surface of the dresser showing. The top edge of the front pieces of wood making the drawers are rounded, so less than a half inch in width. The height of the entire dresser is about armpit high.

I was putting away clothes and had the second to top drawer open and had stepped away from it. Midway walked over and jumped. His front feet never wavered, perfect diving position going in the wrong direction. His back feet hit the edge of the dresser drawer perfectly and pushed off just a tad to land on the top of the dresser. When he landed on top there was a bit of shaking of the entire pile of stuff but nothing got knocked over or off and he seemed sure on his feet.

Wow, the grace involved in that landing and the ability to judge how he would land without ever having been on top before is amazing. Plus the height, considering that he is 14 and pudgy. Guess I don't have to worry about him having arthritis at this moment.

They are amazingly limber.

Not a stupid idea at all! A very good idea and one already shown to be extremely effective. Koreans invented ondol floors centuries ago which heat the entire house by sending heated air or water through a series of pipes running under the floor. Speaking from experience, sleeping on one of these floors is heaven. The Bit family would be cozy as could be. It's too bad that mamanyt1953 would be tossed out in the cold with them if management discovered: 1) cats and 2) plumbing modifications.

You really do have good ideas, arouetta . I've admired them before but am not sure that I've ever told you. You have the mind of an inventor, always looking for solutions to problems.


EDIT: Oops. It seems that Koreans invented the floors thousands of years ago, not hundreds. Five thousand year-old ruins have been excavated that show that ondol floors were in use even then.

I think they either stole it from the Romans or the Romans stole it from them. I forget which.

I've never been able to solve this one, either.

I come from a very large family, on my father's side, and when I was growing up all the grownups were kind of just a blur for me. I had older cousins whom I believed to be aunts and uncles! My mother told me that she was at a family wedding reception once, that was being held in some posh venue, for family members only, and she watched as a total stranger walked in, went through the buffet line, stood there eating the free food, said "Hi" to people as if he knew them, and everyone just said "Hi" back and walked away wondering which relative he was, because he put on a good show of belonging and there was no way to ask without risking embarrassment when he turned out to be someone they should have known.

As I've grown older and more jaded I've decided that avoiding embarrassment isn't everything, and there's nothing genuinely impolite about saying "I've tried and tried to think who you are and somehow I just can't call you to mind. Who are you?"

Margret

I had that happen at a family reunion once. (Then again, I was a kid and always asking people who they were--I highly suspect I've always been face blind.) The guy admitted that he was a stranger, but that the food had smelled so good and he hadn't eaten in a few days. I advised him not to say that too loud, since all the adults had guns. The best part? When we had a family tug of war (we divided into evenly matched teams; no largest against the smallest going on there) his team one!

Now that's just weird. Icebergs in the Bermuda triangle? I have a lot of trouble believing that theory!

Margret

It's not icebergs. It's the same theory as the worst case scenario with the north sea ice melting. Stuff in the sea dies and drops down to the very bottom of the ocean, where it's actually colder than the freezing temperature of water. All that stuff decays, releasing methane. That low and that cold, ice can actually form in the dirt, and it forms in crystalline form at the molecular level, and all that methane decay gets caught in the lattice shape of the ice crystals. It could sit there until the sun goes nova, unless there's some sort of disruption.

What they are concerned with in the north is the ocean warming up a little at the bottom and melting the ice, which would release all that trapped methane. Which would float upward and the sheer volume would make us a Venus clone. Farther towards the equator, that is also a scary possibility, but the more likely would be a methane burp and when it hits the surface it causes very localized mass destruction. Some lakes that have had a methane burp have killed all wildlife in the surrounding area because it pushed the oxygen away just long enough. Siberia has had several methane burps recently due to the melting of the permafrost and those areas look like a bomb or a meteor hit because the release was so explosive and circular.

Since methane is so light, if a burp happened directly under a ship and if the ship survived the explosive compression of the water above it (highly doubtful), the ship would drop straight down to the bottom of the methane bubble and basically sink instantly.

To give you an idea of the size of a potential methane burp, these are pictures of a couple of the ones in Siberia. Check out the size of the people next to the crater.
View attachment 204673 View attachment 204674

The only problem I have with this theory is that some of those lost ships should have been found by now, and I don't think (it's been a while so I may be behind on the news) they have been.

 

[Margret]

arouetta , I've heard of methane burps; I just thought they happened in lakes when some kind of underwater inversion layer was breached.

(By the way; I was taught in EMT Basic class--no idea if it's accurate, but it's what I was taught--that if you're performing CPR on a pet or animal less than ten pounds to do so as if you're trying to do CPR on an infant.)

That makes sense to me.

At least it detects smoke. You would think that would be standard, but our last smoke detector didn't; it detected steam.

Ours is right next to the bathroom Roger uses, and goes off every time he leaves the bathroom door open while he showers (to vent the steam, duh).

This may sound counter-intuitive, but Slim Fast has very much the same nutritional value as Ensure, and for a lot of people it tastes better.

Does it have the same number of calories? I thought the doctors told her to drink Ensure because they wanted her to gain weight.

Margret

 

[tallyollyopia]

Okay, it's been a few days so I'm going to catch everyone up (and it might get a little ranty, so please bear with me): I may or may not have mentioned (I don't really remember) that my manager is in charge of a new store in addition to the one she's currently running. So, we've been trying to keep up with that. One of my coworkers quit, because she and her husband sat down to do the books and figured out that they'll save money by having her stay at home with the kids instead of putting them in day care, so we've been working short handed. The coworker who's daughter had the splitting headaches (and it turned out that it was an abscessed tooth--according to her the oral surgeon said that one of her permanent teeth tried to emerge before the primary tooth under it was ready to leave, and one of the two teeth broke and got infected--it's all cleared up now and the girl is doing much better) is working her last two weeks because she's leaving for a better paying job (good for her!) However, we still don't have new people (the company is having a local hiring event--but I saw how well those worked last time), and we've all been working overtime. I was at forty-two hours this last pay week when my coworker called in because she had to take her son (she has two) to the ER for anaphalactic shock. Somehow, despite all of her attempts to prevent it, he got something with Red Dye 5 which he is deathly allergic to (he's in ICU now). So--shorthanded, especially with our manager doing double duty at another store. The billing company the hospital uses immediately sent my information to a collection agency (the invoice is dated before I received the hospital bill again) and every time I've tried to call I've been informed (via recording) that the offices are closed. So--frustration, and exhaustion on that front, since they're only available from ten in the morning to four in the afternoon (when I should be sleeping). More frustration. On top of that, I've been having trouble with my left arm--while I'm sleeping it will stiffen up, but forcing it to move again fixes the problem. (It happens every time I sleep though--no matter for how long or what position I'm sleeping in.) On top of that it makes an odd clicking noise when I force it to move--it doesn't hurt, not really, but for some reason the sound just ticks me off. I'm not sure why. The store has a Merchandise Inventory (which is not the same thing as an audit, but what the company uses to decide how much to sell what shelf space for to make the winter planogram) on Tuesday, so in addition to being shorthanded, in addition to all the other stuff that's going on (the cooler went out--again--for three days last week, and on that last day it was so hot in the cooler that we hauled all the nonrefrigerated stuff--like beer, soda, and energy drinks--out for fear of it spoiling; the bright side was that the store was actually warm) and the company itself sent a text message that we are to make sure we carding every single customer. Also--Princess has roundworms. Not sure how she got them, but I picked up the medicine which said to mix it into food--that she won't eat. (AWM says to wait until it's normally time to feed the cats to give Princess the food; she's always eaten less than the others. So, that's what we're doing.) I ended up working over fifty and a half hours this last work week; so when I got home I pretty much crashed. Got up, ate, used the restroom, and crashed again. By the time I woke up woke up, it was three o'clock Saturday morning.

Now, AWM and I went to the flea market this morning (I got some dried fruit, dried ginger--that the owner of the stand told me would taste just like ginger snaps and they don't--some freshly made pork rinds, and some candy. (While there I had a great idea for RB's Christmas present--basically the same thing I gave him for his birthday only less jerky and more sausages--which he also likes.) One of the things I was looking forward to doing was going to Kroger's "Fondue Event." Let me explain. Last week Kroger put up huge posters advertising that, for Saturday and Sunday, they were going to host a Murray's Cheese Fondue Event. Big, bold letters. Imagine my surprise (and disappointment) when we got there for the fondue event only to discover that the big "event" was a single free sample table set up. Now, the fondue we sampled was good, don't get me wrong. (In fact, both AWM and I, who sampled separately, grabbed recipe cards for the mixture.) It was just disappointing given the advertising. And--work tomorrow night and for the foreseeable future. I did put in for a week's vacation though--right after Thanksgiving. (I need a break to recover.)

And, now, everyone's all caught up with what I've been doing. I'd type more, but I'm tired. Have a good night/week/month everyone!

 

[tallyollyopia]

arouetta , I've heard of methane burps; I just thought they happened in lakes when some kind of underwater inversion layer was breached.


That makes sense to me.


Ours is right next to the bathroom Roger uses, and goes off every time he leaves the bathroom door open while he showers (to vent the steam, duh).


Does it have the same number of calories? I thought the doctors told her to drink Ensure because they wanted her to gain weight.

Margret

Honestly, I don't know. When AWM was drinking Slim Fast we were looking at nutrition, not calories.

 

[Margret]

tallyollyopia , sympathy; it sounds like you need it. Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of suggestions, though.

the company itself sent a text message that we are to make sure we carding every single customer.

Every customer? No matter what they're buying? Or every customer who's buying cigarettes or alcohol, no matter how old they appear to be? The second makes sense. The first makes sense only in that it may cut down on business enough for you to actually get that vacation time you need.

Margret

 

[tallyollyopia]

tallyollyopia , sympathy; it sounds like you need it. Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of suggestions, though.


Every customer? No matter what they're buying? Or every customer who's buying cigarettes or alcohol, no matter how old they appear to be? The second makes sense. The first makes sense only in that it may cut down on business enough for you to actually get that vacation time you need.

Margret

"Every customer purchasing or attempting to purchase age restricted products such as alcohol, tobacco, lottery or any other age restricted products carried by the store not specifically mentioned in this text." And yeah, it's cutting down on business a lot--but not enough to still get everything done that needs to be done for third shift. There was one night last week where I had customers from the time I got on the register to the time I got off in the morning (it's amazing I was able to get the coffee pots and roller grill done) while at the same time I had to clean up the syrupy mess from a soda bib that had broken open (before I every got on shift) and got a lecture when the AM arrived in the morning about how awful the floors looked. (And did I mention that I had to do this with no floor cleaner? I had RB, who was off the next day, run down to wal-mart and pick some up so I could do a little better than just hot water and Dawn (I was also running low on Dawn). She told me I still should have been able to "spare a minute to mop the floor" and I just looked at her. Said nothing, but I was originally scheduled for four days off in a row before one coworker had an emergency and the other mysteriously developed a fear of working third.

Sorry. I didn't mean to rant at you.

 

[tallyollyopia]

tallyollyopia , sympathy; it sounds like you need it. Unfortunately, I'm fresh out of suggestions, though.


Every customer? No matter what they're buying? Or every customer who's buying cigarettes or alcohol, no matter how old they appear to be? The second makes sense. The first makes sense only in that it may cut down on business enough for you to actually get that vacation time you need.

Margret

"Every customer purchasing or attempting to purchase age restricted products such as alcohol, tobacco, lottery or any other age restricted products carried by the store not specifically mentioned in this text." And yeah, it's cutting down on business a lot--but not enough to still get everything done that needs to be done for third shift. There was one night last week where I had customers from the time I got on the register to the time I got off in the morning (it's amazing I was able to get the coffee pots and roller grill done) while at the same time I had to clean up the syrupy mess from a soda bib that had broken open (before I every got on shift) and got a lecture when the AM arrived in the morning about how awful the floors looked. (And did I mention that I had to do this with no floor cleaner? I had RB, who was off the next day, run down to wal-mart and pick some up so I could do a little better than just hot water and Dawn (I was also running low on Dawn). She told me I still should have been able to "spare a minute to mop the floor" and I just looked at her. Said nothing, but I was originally scheduled for four days off in a row before one coworker had an emergency and the other mysteriously developed a fear of working third.

Sorry. I didn't mean to rant at you.