Yikes! I’m all electric and my bill last month was $59.
In the tiny town where I grew up, we were 3 blocks from the downtown area. Mom would send us kids down to Bickel’s store for milk or whatever and sometimes would allocate 1¢ or 2¢ for candy. Doesn’t sound like much, but to a 5 year old who didn’t get a lot of candy, the penny candy shelf was a wonder to pick from.
At this point, I think I’m out of warranty.
Happy birthday JtC!
Good luck JBatts!
Thanks for the update on hippyboo.
I made a trio of holiday cards to put in with the chocolates for the dirty Santa at the holiday tea Saturday. Knowing the crowd invited, someone will be in the market for a couple of last minute ones to tuck a gift card into.
Nelson has been playing with his new Santa toy and the rope toys a good share of the day, excluding lap time (like now) and going outside this afternoon and playing with the neighbor poodles.
Now to emboss the flaps of the envelopes and putting my labels on the back of the cards.
Happy birthday to JtC!!! And a fetching variety of 39 you are. I’m sure you’ll have the LBTBs rehomed on your property soon enough.
Flyboy: Looking at that fault and the distance to Birch Bay, I think they neglected Birch Bay because it simply wouldn’t exist once the water receded after the fault slipped the Big One. Some of the high ground parts of those other cities might survive.
Cookie: my late first wife had a bridge for many many years. It was mostly trouble-free, but food gunk has a tendencey to get stuck under it; it doesn’t completely replace the missing tooth’s pocket. There are tools to clean under there which are kinda like flossers, but that’s one more irritating body maintenance task that won’t get easier as one ages. With infection being the penalty for poor hygiene.
In wife’s case that never mattered in her larger scheme of things. But all else equal, if I could afford the incremental cost for a solution that’s one-and-done with no ongoing maintenance or special hygiene effort required I’d sure choose that. All else may not be equal in your wife’s scenario.
I didn’t mention it earlier, but congrats to Metalmouse for inaugurating new and smaller shirts. Always cause for a celebration when that happens.
@Jack_Batty : FWIW I agree w your preference for the dog job. Even if you have to tell that warehouse “No, somebody else got to me first” I suspect they’re not exactly a low-turnover outfit and as long as the interviewer wasn’t a jerk and you’re nice in your “no” response, that offer may well be renewable the next time they need somebody. Which might well be next month, if not next week.
For sure do the math on “pays less” vs “pays more”. Your take-home will be ~25% less than your gross, so that shrinks the difference in dollars by that much. IOW a $100 difference in gross pay is only a $75 differencein take-home pay.
Also think hard about the cost of driving vs public transport. Driving costs more than just the price of gas per mile. The hardest part of course is knowing how reliably they’ll give you the full 40 hours every week. Our dear Shoe is suffering the variable short hours problem right now and it sucks lots. (I’m assuming these are FT positions).
Also whether and how much OT is available at what rate for each job. I’ve had jobs where the OT was so plentiful that I could reliably get myself a 25 or 30% take-home raise for not that much extra work. It’s not the multiplier that matters so much; it’s just how much OT is out there how reliably and how willing you are to spend extra time doing whatever. I’d bet extra dog time is a lot easier on the body than is extra box-throwing time.
Yaay for Hippie; thanks Boo.
As to free range kids:
When I was <10 we had pretty much free rein of our suburban housing tract, so about 1/2 mile square. The big boulevards surrounding it were off limits at first, but eventually we got dispensation to cross the one medium-street that separated us from a generic shopping plaza. Right behind our house was a community college campus and that in-bounds too. Lots for kids to see and do and chase and be a nuisance there. They even taught ag and had a mini farm with crops & cows & chickens & pigs.
The we moved to a newer suburban development that backed up to a ~2x 2 mi nature preserve. So hills & scrub and bamboos stands and drainage ditch with usually a foot or so of slow moving water in it, carp & crawdads, tadpoles etc. And lots of new kids our age in the new neighborhood. As long as we came home by darkish all was well. For a suburban kid, that was like access to all of wildest Africa: infinite land to explore, dig in, tear up, and no adults (and no police) for a mile-ish.
Once we were big enough for 10-speed bikes, our practical range expanded to about +/- 5 miles of what by then had changed from mostly farmland with scattered housing & shopping districts when I was born to 100% suburbia. Which range included getting to the beach where we kids basically lived all summer. Not that anyone’s parents had more than a vague notion of where we’d been or were at any time. IIRC there wasn’t a formal range limit; more like how ambitious we were to pedal in any one direction knowing we’d have to come back.
Once I had a license and car, my range was as far as I could afford gas. The entire greater Los Angeles metroblob is a very large place for a young driver. That was the good news. The bad news was that when I started driver’s ed, gas was $0.20 per gallon. When I finished driver’s ed the first Arab Oil embargo was in full swing and gas was obscenely expensive at $1.25 to $1.50 on the rare occasions you could get any. Tak about excellent timing! Not!
Gas and electricity was a lot cheaper when I lived in L.A. I lived in a lower apartment, so there was plenty of insulation above me. Up here in almost-Canada, it gets chilly. So far El Niño is working in our favour this year.
Thanks for looking that up for me. It makes sense that hummers wouldn’t want to spend the energy to fly that high without a very good reason, but it is also pretty amazing that tiny little birds can get that high in the air.
Oh, thanks. It wasn’t that big of a deal, they both lived within blocks of the pick up spot so it really took no time at all. Plus the entertainment value of tetrising everything into a dinky econobox car. (Nissan Sentra)
It really was quite a few years before I fully understand what had happened that day at the porn shop. Remember the chrome silhouettes of well built women that truckers used to have on their mud flaps? The sign in front of the store was a pink naked lady silhouette. Going by that and the lack of windows, I thought it was trucker bar. As my goal was phone change before I got in trouble for not checking in, I was focused on the guy next to the cash register and didn’t really see what was on the shelves.
BTW, good work on the weight loss. It is pretty inspiring to hear about your daily commitment and work to get where you are.
I wonder if these two things are related. I agree with the others about setting some firm boundaries with her.
I felt so bad for him, it must have been pretty scary to learn that your passwords had been disabled because you are terminated. I’m glad you were able to get it fixed so fast. Good bosses do things like that for their people
I’m so sorry. I hope her sister bullies her into drinking more, but really? at this time in her life, she deserves to choose how she goes.
I love it! Maybe I’ll needlepoint that on a pillow!
How lucky is that?
Implants require good strong jaw bones. Most women our age or older start to lose bone density after menopause. She probably should get a new bone density test before getting excited about a nice implant instead of a bridge. I looked into them a few years ago when I had a tooth go hot during the times of no dental hygienists, and was disappointed to learn that I probably wasn’t a good candidate.
That’s why they are taking away bus stop benches in the valley. And…I’m going to stop now. I have many words to say about the homeless problem…but I’d just be preaching to the choir and this is not the place for it.
Holy cow! Color me jealous!!!
Well he is! He saw something neat and wanted to share it with you. Not his fault hoomans are too stooped to understand cat!
Yikes is right! I like it much warmer than hubs, but not nearly as warm as your Mrs does. I wonder if she might like a nice warm pair of sheepskin house shoes? Uggs are pricey but super comfy and warm and last forever.
Our cats love knitted sweaters and I’m hear to tell you that Uggs, a thick sweater and a purring cat on the lap will warm her up in no time at all.
I’m enjoying all of the free range stories, our childhoods were all so much alike in so many ways. I had almost forgotten hunting for crawdads before Pilot brought them up. We’d spend the afternoon filling a bucket with mini-lobsters before dumping them all back in the pond because Mom wouldn’t let us bring them home.
Thank you so much for the lovely song! My birthday surprise was a new section of fence! The backhoe driver was pulling out the chain link fence and something went sprong, our 6 ft redwood fence shook and suddenly everyone was running around and yelling. I had my phone out, ready to call for an ambulance but by the time I got outside, one of the workers had taken off running around our side fence and rang our door bell before hubs made it to the back door.
Nobody had gotten hurt, but our fence had gotten damaged and they wanted us to know that they were going to make it right. The damage was very minor and we had wood left over from when we had the fence put up, so they bought our leftover wood at a very inflated price (we both had to put up a token protest when they gave us the check) and had it looking pretty much like it did before they touched it by the time they left.
Plus, we have a certificate for a free septic tank pumping for our bother. I’ll bet there ain’t nobody else round hereabouts who got a free pump-out for their birthday, LOL!
So update: Idiots hit me in the head with bags 7 times in 2 days(no dain bramage). Roomie had shoulder surgery today after 5 hours in Pre Op(surgery not as successful as the right one, but better than a disintegrated socket) It’s cold and I’m off to heave. Read but did not retain.
I didn’t even think of that, but you are absolutely correct, sir!
Give it time.
@JaneDoe42 since I can’t help you blow out your candles, howzabout I at least spark a J in your honor?
Eff the purse. Gimme hot pretzel!
(What can I say, I’m a cheap date.)
Yet another reminder that some people lead very different lives from others mine.
Thanks for keeping us updated!
You already know this, but you make really lovely things.
Okay, having put away clean laundry, I have - of course - a new batch piled up. Didn’t want to start it before work, cuz I wouldn’t have had time to shift it all to the dryer (by the time I thought of it) and have been taught that wet laundry sittin’ 'round is no bueno though considering how cold it is in the basement laundry, I wonder.
Still, that shall be initiated.
Have another chicken boobie on tap for dinner, and although a simple roasted skin-on with root veggies is delicious, I’m BORED (I do ^^ version frequently) and am investigating some sort of sweet/tangy option.
I did get an unexpected treat tonight: one of the Oven Masters (the super cranky one with buttloads of real restaurant experience, including fine dining) brought in homemade birria sauce and made us each a taco.
This stuff was amazing he did it right y’all, overnight marinated meat and all. He was laughing that by the time he was done, every dish in his kitchen was dirty (“I didn’t have room to wash my hands in that sink, man!”) and with the cinnamon and cumin … mmm hmmm.
It’s not unusual for me to let laundry sit for a day or two before getting around to shuffling it to the dryer (especially this week, when I’ve been ill). As long as it doesn’t smell odd, it’s fine. My laundry equipment is in one of the bathrooms, and stays at the same temperature as the rest of the apartment.
As far as the chicken, try salad dressing as a marinade? I think that works. As for the birria, isn’t that goat? (Not that I wouldn’t try it, but I’m sure I’ve recently seen beef-based concoctions with that name.)
Kids with tools often know how to use them and many forts and treehouses happened back in my day. Gawd, I am getting so stinkin’ old!!!
Thank you kindly, good sir. I am now at the age that I forgot how many times I’ve turned 39!!!
I sure do hope the LBTBs come back with the spring, they keep GG entertained for hours.
Speaking of who…the crashing was my fault. I only got the fur on his front feet cut before he squirmed out from under me and I thought I’d just wait until tomorrow to do the back ones.
I keep forgetting how not smart he is, he doesn’t understand that his front feets have much more traction than his back feets now and he spins out when he tries to make high speed turns.
He took out the living room torch lamp with his rump. He’s fine, hubs hurt his ribs laughing and the jungle has another very similar one all in plastic on the way.
I’m glad I entertain folks with my GG stories. Sometimes I wonder if you guys laugh at him because he is funny or if it is the “haha, better you than me” laugh I sometimes (often) use when reading about puppy mayhem.
Well, dang. Has she thawed out yet? I hope recovery goes well, I’ll bet Spot demands both of his slaves to have their scratching fingers in tip top shape at all times.
This. All this. I’ve seen the thingy that shows an incoming post from hippy and am thrilled that he is feeling well enough to try to type.
Gaining on it. The coughing is calming down a bit, body temperature is back to my normal range, and my sinuses think they’ll let me live. Two negative Covid tests, so that’s not what it was.
It was a frosty morning, and it is cold this evening, but midday was bright and in the 50s.
I’m already tired of the cold and it is just beginning. I should have moved to one of the Carolinas.
I have no idea why I put up with B/H mom. She can be a really nice person at times, but she’s a bit controlling, and yes, she does get a bit jealous.
I don’t understand it.
Years ago, I had a friend named Debbie. She had two other friends named Terri and Claire. Terri and Claire absolutely hated each other (I’m pretty sure they both hated me as well). If she did anything with Terri, Claire would have a fit, and if she did anything with Claire, Terri would have a fit. I never understood it. Debbie and I had things we liked to do together, but we had things we liked to do that the other wasn’t interested in. I had friends to do those other things with, and she had friends for her other things.
Sometimes all of you get together and do something. You don’t have to be best friends, but you can be civil and have a good time.
Isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?
I have no idea what my electric bills are going to be in this house. In the city, the electricity comes from and is subsidized by the city. I’ve heard in the winter it can get around $300. We’ll see.
One thing I need to get used to is that every room here has its own heater. The bathroom is in the middle of the house and we don’t use the heater, as it never gets really cold in there. Until I take a shower. When I step out of the shower, I am freezing. I never remember to turn the heater on first.
I’m still on the hunt for a new phone.
I love my Note, but Samsung has discontinued them. I have a spare phone, but I hate it. I could probably get used to it but it doesn’t have wireless charging. That is a pain because I charge the phone on the nightstand and when I grab the phone I either pull the charger out of the phone, or out of the wall. I was so happy when I found the wireless charger for my bedroom. I thought for sure I was going to break something.
I’ve checked At&t, BestBuy, Amazon, and Staples. So far Best Buy has the best deal.
I think I have all of my Christmas shopping done. I debated getting stuff for the nieces, but then I thought, be the right kind of person. I didn’t even look at prices this year, just bought what looked good.
I bought my son a Buche De Noel from GoldBelly. He wanted to try one. It was delivered today. He has to assemble it and melt the ganache and pour it over it. I hope he likes it.
Evening all. 38 posts since this morning, will try to cover them all, but if I miss something then yeas, boos, hugs and tears as called for. Have done my pedaling at the gym tonight after afternoon slothing, so should get another good night’s sleep out of it. Temperature is down to 44F but only going to 36F tonight so not too bad. Didn’t get a call back on when the plumbers will be back out, will try again tomorrow; with Xmas coming up and people taking time off, I may be rationing water until the New Year.
As for the heating bills, I have gas heat and electric AC, so my bills tend to fluctuate during the year, but the totals usually are around $200 combined, somewhat higher in Jan-Mar (the coldest months).
Thanks all for the nice comment on the smaller shirts. Next goal (probably in 2024) is to go from a 42" waist on my “flex” blue jeans to a 40"…that’s going to take a bit of time.
Real Fish, love that shirt. Need to get one for my gym workouts.
Pilot, glad you enjoyed the MegaMall, been quite awhile since I’ve been in one. They built a couple in Dubai when I was still visiting there for work that would satisfy your exploring bug (one of them had an ice rink and another had an indoor ski slope…)
Shoe, better having conversations with the cat than with yourself… Glad you got your mellow stuff for work and play. And that sounds like you had some fine dining at the Pizza place.
flyboy, hope that earthquake doesn’t show up for a couple millennium (geology is sure but very slow).
JtC, nice of the crew to repair your fence with a modest profit to you. Hope the tweety birds find a new home not far from you. And a happy Hippo-Birdie-Two-Ewes!
Cookie, can’t offer any advise on the dentistry, but crossing fingers that it works out well.
Nettie, feel better soon.
J-Bats, nice to be able to decide between two jobs, I think Pilot offers some excellent points to consider, also look a bit into the future–what chances of advancement/promotion are there and how does your budget for the year look (including unanticipated costs) with either job. Hope they come through for you.
BBBoo, thanks for the news on hippy, looking forward to his return.
doggio, remember to duck next time… Hope roomie does well and follows the PT requirements.
Whew…nearly 10pm now, so I’ll close this missive off and catch y’all tomorrow.
Red those are awesomely great cards. You are a craftess with the mostest. And cute dogs; man, you know how to live!
Yeah, but you could tell some great stories of how that premature browsing experience triggered your lifelong devotion to floozying with wild abandon and great skill. Or maybe you do tell those stories, but just not here lest some delicate & refined folks get the vapors. :leer:
Oh, and buxom chrome trucker nudes are not gone; I still see them now and again. I also see the same profile as stickers in pickup truck rear windows. An American classic. For certain really obsolete sexist versions of “classic”.
Oooooo, I am sooooo jealous. Mom!!!, I wanna septic pump-out for my birthday too! Sis got one, why not meee-eee-eee?!?!1?
That and a (partly) new fence. I really am jealous; your life has all the great stories in it and mine post-work is kinda plain really.
Her Ladyship, despite her pretensions to High Society had the exact same reaction when I told her about the silly purse at dinner. She too is remarkably cheap to have around. Fully 2/3rds of her wardrobe is from Wal*Mart.
it does; an Italian / oil & vinegar w spices works better than e.g. ranch. But any will be good.
I’d sometimes put a breast or two in a small baking dish, dump some or all of a can of diced tomatoes over that, drop in some chopped onion, garlic powder, and oregano. Bake until the chicken is done and you have half-ass cacciatore for negligible effort. I’m all about negligible effort, and have been since Ye Olden Dayes of Longe Loste Youthe and Vigour.
I might have been whooshed, but just in case you don’t know there Boo …
The Origin Story of 'Dain bramage'
There was an awesome SNL skit back in the very early days that coined the term “Dain bramage”. It was an instant classic. The black comic played a college football hero player making a PSA about the value of college athletics. But he was a) stupid to begin with, b) hadn’t really passed inner city high school, and c) was brain damaged from all that football he’d played. So his delivery of the PSA speech was an awkward mess and lotta words got scrambled. Such as “Dain bramage”.
It’s hopelessly insensitive here in 2023. But in 1980? Comedy Gold.
We need vids! we need vids! [c’mon everyone! join the chant] We need vids!
Well thank goodness for all of that, but especially the last part.
As to me:
My dinner companion cancelled on me. Damn, but we’ll do lunch tomorrow instead. So after Her Ladyship’s Gym session we walked out to eat. 45 minute wait at our planned destination, loud as hell inside, and windy / spitting drizzle outside. No thanks. Went elsewhere nearby and had a nice & healthy meal for both. Then home against the strong wind and drizzle. Wasn’t cold; temps in the low 70s. But wet and wind going 25-35mph is surprisingly cooling.
Once home had a nice hot eggnog + rum to re-warm my cockles and my next stop is bed. At least an hour later than desired, but once I start an MMP I kinda need to finish it. Before the rest of you folks post another 45 things for me to read.
ETA: and metalmouse slipped in there. About which: Sorry about the plumbing delays; hope it won’t be all the way to New Years; that much water rationing would get really old.
Nope, you haven’t been whooshed~I’m the clueless one. Had never heard about the ‘dain bramage’ schtick, the whoosh is on me. Mostly I was just trying to say “hey” to our beloved doggio. I will now slink over to a remote corner of the room and rethink my choices.
Which is amusing since I actually do have brain damage. Six years ago this Christmas Eve~I have enjoyed vastly more enjoyable anniversaries. This one I just try to survive.
Yeah. There is nothing funny about brain damage. And it’s nice the rest of society has figured that out.
You are a survivor, a brave soul, and quite a dear. Damned few could have done what you have done to get to where you are today. Every life has some bad anniversaries in it, and you’ve got more than most.
I don’t suppose you got covert pics, so us proletariat can see how the other half lives?
This was really well-phrased advice.
Remind me of how jealous you are when (if?) we ever get any ice/snow later.
(Why? … what’s your cheapest, in yr neck o’ the woods?)
UNSLINK!!
You are hereby ordered out of the corner, by the authority of … { looks around } umm … look, I can throw a rat at you, but none of us - including the rat - want this.
Shit, I didn’t realize (remember?) that it was tied to a holiday.
I diced the provolone, and mixed it with the fresh mozzarella (that I also diced… ish), and added more freshly-ground nutmeg. I used the leftover sun-dried tomato pesto sauce. It took 20 minutes to bake – twice as long as the pizza dough bag said. Everything looked good until I tried to move the pizza to the cutting board. I tilted the heave, hot, cast-iron frying pan and started sliding the pizza out. A quarter of the topping slid off. So I’m trying to scrape it up and put it back on the pizza, but it wasn’t cooperating. Meanwhile the hot pad was getting hotter and hotter. I finally managed it, and put the pan on the stove, only receiving a minor burn. Turned out, I could have just lifted the whole pie horizontally with a spatula. Anyway, it tasted good.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JtC!!! 
:leer: