I think Julie asked if anyone was watching the Olympics. I am, a little bit. I always enjoy the swimming, the gymnastics, a few other things. The commercials, some of them. (So far, my favorites are the one for the pickup truck with the guy and his cat, and the Dick’s Sporting Goods Miss America thing.) Today’s big news was, of course, Simone Biles’ exit. As I merely watch these events for entertainment, I don’t feel emotionally invested, but apparently a wide swath of the conservative Blabbersphere is:
I always thought the Olympics was supposed to be about competing, and winning, for your country. As an American, the Olympic Games always felt like a unique opportunity to utterly defeat other countries and prove, again and again, that the USA is the greatest country on earth, and other countries suck.
Apparently, things have changed. For some U.S. athletes, the Olympics has become all about them.
…Biles doesn’t suffer from a specific mental illness, at least not that we know of or that’s ever manifested itself before. What she experienced wasn’t that, it was something more common among professional athletes: she got psyched out. She wasn’t mentally tough when she needed to be.
But instead of being ashamed of that, or apologizing to her teammates and her countrymen, Biles seemed to revel in taking care of her “mental health,” whatever that means.
Whatever that means. Ai yi yi. These are the armchair gymnasts who simply cannot imagine what a top-tier gymnast having a bad day could mean — a broken leg, a broken neck, whatever. Jesus wept over these morons.
So Simone got the yips. BFD. Sometimes I hate the Olympics.
At least swimmers with the yips don’t have to risk anything worse than drowning. And there are lifeguards.
Fortunately, we can comfort ourselves with bloggage:
I love this story:
Everyone can agree that Camp Quinebarge did not go as planned.
…The decision to close the 85-year-old camp in Moultonborough, N.H., in the middle of the summer left campers bereft, counselors stewing, and some parents furious. Soon, stories began to circulate of problems that went much deeper than late deliveries: counselors hired just days before camp and lacking basic training; a counselor punched in the face by a child and a camper later hit in the head by the same child; dirty dishes provided at multiple meals; at least four campers vomiting and getting quarantined, while some parents said they weren’t informed; and staff quitting and being fired in high numbers.
…Tales from the aggrieved make Quinebarge sound like the summer camp equivalent of Fyre Festival, the ill-fated music fest that promised luxury accommodations in the Bahamas but instead delivered FEMA tents and second-rate cheese sandwiches. The Globe spoke with more than a dozen parents, current and former staff, and campers.
It’s the usual story: Covid hiring supply chains blah blah blah. I’m just imagining a kid punching a counselor in the face, and laughing. (I shouldn’t.)
Then there’s the January 6 hearings, which I did not watch. I hear they were hard to handle. Don’t need that now.
Krugman on J.D. Vance, that doughy fraud:
Vance noted that some prominent Democrats don’t have children, and he lashed out at the “childless left.” He also praised the policies of Viktor Orban, the leader of Hungary, whose government is subsidizing couples who have children, and asked, “Why can’t we do that here?”
As The Washington Post’s Dave Weigel, who was there, pointed out, it was odd that Vance didn’t mention Joe Biden’s newly instituted child tax credit, which will make an enormous difference to many poorer families with children.
It was also interesting that he praised Hungary rather than other European nations with strong pronatalist policies. France, in particular, offers large financial incentives to families with children and has one of the highest fertility rates in the advanced world. So why did Vance single out for praise a repressive, autocratic government with a strong white nationalist bent?
I’ll give you three guesses.
Meanwhile, ha ha ha ha ha:
Republicans' attempted counter-protest of the 1/6 commission was itself counter-protested out of existence pic.twitter.com/lVQXCwh09v
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) July 27, 2021
Happy Wednesday, all.
Suzanne said on July 27, 2021 at 9:28 pm
I am sure those people who spooked Greene and Gaetz were just overly excited tourists, you know, like those at the Capitol on Jan 6. You’d thing Gaetz & Greene would understand that since they defend it.
As to the Olympics, it’s really not fun to watch anymore. There is too much money involved, to much pressure on the athletes who are no longer amateurs, and too much hoopla surrounding it. I am sad Biles cracked but who wouldn’t under all that pressure to be perfect? When you are routinely called the greatest of all time, you have no wiggle room for error. She erred. She’s human but we don’t allow for that anymore.
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Colleen said on July 27, 2021 at 10:05 pm
Simone Biles doesn’t owe anyone jack, much less an apology.
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Dexter Friend said on July 27, 2021 at 11:22 pm
I have never been moved, even by my half-century hero, John Lewis, as much as I was by the Capitol cop Harry Dunn’s testimony. My guts clenched, I was stopped in my tracks, and I was so goddam enraged , and it lasted for a while. https://www.npr.org/2021/07/27/1021197474/capitol-police-officer-testifies-to-the-racism-he-faced-during-the-jan-6-riot
Olympics, delayed so long, so many problems, even a fucking monsoon, athletes dropping away…I can’t watch it. I also heard the usual tens of thousands of rubbers , usually passed out to the athletes, didn’t happen. I guess there is no co:mingling , the beds are cardboard , and everything is partitioned off. Yeah, they want us to believe the athletes ain’t fucking. Whatever.
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Christy said on July 28, 2021 at 7:41 am
The beds are cardboard, but not because of sex. Reputedly they’re stronger than normal beds. The idea is to be recyclable/sustainable, it’s just that people have been joking about how this must be to prevent sex among athletes, and this wouldn’t prevent real athletes, ha ha.
https://brightly.eco/olympics-sustainable-cardboard-beds/
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Suzanne said on July 28, 2021 at 8:33 am
Excellent explanation of what happened with Simone Biles:
https://twitter.com/wittynamechoice/status/1420225657938710533?s=21
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rb said on July 28, 2021 at 8:41 am
are: Olympics – like the NCAA, the IOC has lost its way and become a money-grubbing oligarchy which is a million miles away from the Olympic ideal of competition and fraternity.
Loved the counter-counter protest. Just desserts.
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LAMary said on July 28, 2021 at 10:04 am
You could not own a cardboard bed and a cat. Sustainble? Hah.
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Julie Robinson said on July 28, 2021 at 11:02 am
Mary speaks truth re kitties and cardboard, hah hah hah.*
Still no Olys, but I saw five minutes of the policemen’s testimony and thought it extremely powerful and just what people needed to hear. Now I’m reading comments that they were Hollywood actors.
The Fort Wayne City Council found its collective spine and denied Amazon a second round of tax abatements for building in Fort Wayne. The first one was $16 million and the second an additional $7.3, if I’ve got it straight. Unfortunately the JG cut off our digital access, the nerve of them.
*A kitty story for kitty lovers: the two cats (and one dog) already here have had to adjust to the new kid in town. Since two of them seemed to have alpha personalities, we figured they might duke it out, but they’ve pretty much just hissed and groaned at each other.
In the meantime, the third cat, who is small and shy and scared of everything, has decided that she is also Mother’s cat. This is nice because she loves snuggles, and Mother’s cat doesn’t. Two nights ago small scaredy cat crawled into Mother’s bed, and Mother’s cat retreated! She spent the night in the bathroom sink instead. Quite a comeuppance. It’s been fascinating to watch.
The cats now have two different cat doors so they can pop out to the screened in pool whenever they want. Sun and geckos to torment–what cat could want more?
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JodiP said on July 28, 2021 at 11:47 am
Julie, I love the cat stories! Cuddly cats are the best, and I’m glad your mom has a new pal. Introducing new animals is can be a challenge. We tend to be super careful about it, taking it very slowly. We only had one failure, with the dog we tried to adopt in November. We had to surrender her back to the foster in part because she attacked our cat for walkng past a Chewy delivery box of food.
Our new-ish dog doesn’t care if the cats drink out of his dish or eat his food! I do care about the latter because that cat is obese and we are trying to help him lose weight. I always have an ear cocked for crunchy sounds. 🙂 And I often just put up the food out of reach since the dog typically waits till evening to eat.
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Icarus said on July 28, 2021 at 11:48 am
The cats now have two different cat doors so they can pop out to the screened in pool whenever they want. Sun and geckos to torment–what cat could want more?
We need an easy way to post pictures here. JCBurns, get on it LOL
I’m having a fire sale here, selling all sorts of stuff so we don’t have to bring it along, and maybe recoup an average of 30% purchase price. Man, the people you meet on OfferUp and MarketPlace.
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LAMary said on July 28, 2021 at 12:10 pm
Two of my cats don’t like each other. Mostly they give each other wide berth but there are occasional skirmishes. I never had any dog\cat issues. They get along, sneak each other’s food, cuddle up.occasionally.
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Julie Robinson said on July 28, 2021 at 1:01 pm
We have calming collars on all three cats but since it’s been over a month we should take them off and see how they do. A backup set is already here if necessary. The new cat was isolated for the first 10 days or so before we let her and the others meet each other. For the last year Mom fretted about how the cat would do, more than she fretted about herself. I mean, fingers crossed, but I’m feeling positive.
Our son spends a lot of his time at the gf’s house and his cat has been at loose ends. She plops herself on the sofa next to the hallway and yowls every time someone walks by, demanding pets. So it’s been mutually beneficial. She was also demanding treats because the Japanese kids that were here for two weeks thought she was so cute and gave her treats constantly. We had to change their storage location because she would sit next to the box and make that piteous cry cats are so good at.
Jodi, we have had some food issues. Here they get fed twice a day while the new cat gets fed five times a day. The dog also likes cat food so it had to be elevated too. Everybody wants each others food while jealously guarding their own. As one does.
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Sherri said on July 28, 2021 at 1:11 pm
Anyone complaining about Biles should have to spend a week training with the Karolyis. At least Nasser is in jail for his abuse.
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jcburns said on July 28, 2021 at 1:21 pm
It’s easy Icarus. You upload your pic somewhere you control, and then…post the URL!
(All of which is to say I really don’t want to get in the business of hosting a bunch of images. For a bunch of reasons.)
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basset said on July 28, 2021 at 1:29 pm
Icarus, say more about OfferUp and Marketplace. I have a bunch of stuff to unload and don’t really want to deal with eBay, Craigslist hasn’t been too effective for us.
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Deborah said on July 28, 2021 at 1:34 pm
When we first got our litter mate cats in the late 90s, we gave them a wide birth until they adjusted to us and our place, then in ST. Louis. We kept them in one small room for a couple of weeks as we had been advised. We visited the room cautiously and patiently let them come to us. It wasn’t long, and we bonded. I miss them still.
Things are very busy at the condo in Santa Fe. Since I’m feeling better about most of our fellow condo owners who voted on the good quality replacement windows, I’m feeling more ambitious about doing yard work on the premises. LB and I worked on the backyard yesterday. That is mostly a job dealing with clearing out the drainage swale. It’s backbreaking. Lots of rotted leaves to dig out. We added it all to our ongoing compost pile which unfortunately we aren’t good about maintaining. We need to get a pitch fork to be able to turn it periodically. Since we’re getting a lot of rain lately (miraculously) weeds are growing a lot and weeding in the cool mornings is bearable.
The A-hole fellow condo owner is still being a pain but the other 4 owners are up for improvements so that’s making us more hopeful.
LB is making a lot of lavender wands now that our remaining plants are producing like crazy. She’s hoping to sell in a couple more shops that have indicated they’re interested.
I have a few days left in NM before I go back to Chicago for 3 weeks. I keep checking the weather in Chicago, and at least the first few days I’m there it’s not bad, except for the humidity. Ugh, I hate the humidity.
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Suzanne said on July 28, 2021 at 1:40 pm
I have sold a few things on Facebook Marketplace but for every sale, I get about 10 inquiries from people who never respond back after the initial message to ask if the item is still available. Why bother to contact me if you pretty clearly don’t really want the item?
I’ve sold a few things on Craigslist, some I gave away because I just wanted them gone. I always meet anyone I am selling to in very public place like the lobby of a hospital or the parking lot of a busy grocery store. I did sell a dress on Poshmark recently which was fairly simple.
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Julie Robinson said on July 28, 2021 at 1:41 pm
Okay, I’m trying it: https://photos.app.goo.gl/i1b8tBSmhdVSsRL38
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tajalli said on July 28, 2021 at 2:33 pm
Julie, the picture showed up fine. I did have to sign in again to my google account for access even though I’d not signed out, but whatever. That is one fat, angry-looking cat.
A big fan here of guinea pigs. Although I haven’t had any for some time, I get all thrilled whenever I see one. Mine trained me to let them walk up my forearms like a ramp out of their house, set up a commotion whenever I rustled a plastic bag (the source of carrots), and loved to chew on electrical cording of any type.
During the pandemic lockdown, I backed off from Craigslist but kept up with Freecycle, delivering items when I went into town for errands since I live in an outlying area in a locked/gated building with no place for an outside dedicated drop box.
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Deborah said on July 28, 2021 at 2:37 pm
Whenever I have a photo I want to share, I put it on FB, but I have a private account so you have to be my friend to see it. I’m connecting with FB less and less, as I see how dangerous it can be with violent postings by people. I’ve considered deleting my account altogether but so far as long as they will suspend Trump’s, I’ll keep mine.
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Icarus said on July 28, 2021 at 2:54 pm
Suzanne @ 17, I’ve had the same thing happen to me, especially in the wee hours
At two in the morning you should be making your last attempt at getting laid, not looking for a deal on a coffee table.
https://www.chicagonow.com/mysteries-of-life/2019/03/letgo-tinder-furniture-selling-apps/
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Julie Robinson said on July 28, 2021 at 3:56 pm
Our kids have jumped on listings immediately after they went up, and the people never respond to them. All I can think is that they’re harvesting names, I dunno why else they do it. I stay away from the whole scene.
tajalli, that’s the cat that is fed 5X. She’s trying to work her down to four. She can be forgiven for the expression, since she’d been rudely awakened.
Okay, retail rant: went to Target for Mom’s prescription and a few other things. Out of half the things we wanted, so I guess we’ll order them on Amazon, which I hate, but I have limited time to stand around at stores. One checkout with 20 people in line so we went to self checkout and were overcharged. Fortunately I caught it while still at the register, but had to wait for someone to come over, explain it, show her the ad, wait for her to change each individual pair’s price. Hey Target–it’s Wednesday and your school scissors have been on sale since Sunday.
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Joe Kobiela said on July 28, 2021 at 5:08 pm
Well looks like young Kate moved up one spot on the best bassist list, RIP Dusty Hill,
Pilot Joe
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basset said on July 28, 2021 at 5:22 pm
Before ZZ Top he was in, among other groups, one of several fake Zombies bands that a Texas promoter put on the road. When they were asked why they didn’t sound English, they’d reply that their English singer had just quit.
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Deborah said on July 28, 2021 at 9:52 pm
LB is a member of a facebook group called This Cat is Grompy, it made me think of that with your picture of your cat, Julie. LB put photos of our cat, Ursula on the page and she seemed to be quite popular as a grompy cat. She had a perpetual scowl, even when she was content. It was hilarious. After her sister died she howled a lot which was sad. She lived 2 years longer than her sister so we had a lot of howling. But she was adorable to us and we loved her, even though she could be a case sometimes.
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Deborah said on July 28, 2021 at 11:11 pm
It is so amazing to me, and amazing isn’t the right word but I can’t come up with another one at this time, how Republicans are on the wrong side of history IMHO. It is astounding how they can say what they are saying about 1.6, about Simone Biles and so much more right now. It is mind boggling that they feel their messaging is working, and if it is actually working I’m even more baffled.
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Heather said on July 28, 2021 at 11:29 pm
Gotta love a sink cat. One of the rescues I follow on Facebook had a very pregnant cat a few years that liked to loll in the sink. The kittens were named with a sink theme–among them Kohler, Belfast, and Farrah (Faucet, get it?).
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Dexter Friend said on July 29, 2021 at 2:14 am
Farrah Faucet indeed. My cat is named Friendo. Can’t recall why… 🙂
Actually, it is from Anton Chigurh’s encounter with a gas station owner in “No Country for Old Men.” That quarter had been in circulation 23 years and finally saved “Friendo’s” life. “Don’t put it with the others…then it would become just another quarter, which it is.” https://www.coinstudy.com/1958-quarter-value.html
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beb said on July 29, 2021 at 3:33 am
Suzanne: that is a good twitter thread.
Icarus @10: What JC said. Sign up for a free hosting site, like Flickr or Mediafire.I’m partial to Mediafire. Flickr’s upload procedure is complicated perhaps because it’s trying to create an viewing album. Mediafire just hosts the photo and gives you a link to send to friends.
Deborah @26. Maybe the word you are lookking for is “baffled” as in “I’m baffled how consistently wrong Republicans have become about everything.
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ROGirl said on July 29, 2021 at 5:13 am
Suzanne, I have some things I’d like to sell, will look into Poshmark. How does the pricing work?
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Connie said on July 29, 2021 at 6:43 am
We were just talking about several older appliances that work that we do not want to move: A 30some year old Maytag washer that works like the day it was new, a 40some year old smallish upright freezer that needs defrosting, an 11 year old glass top electric range, works fine, 11 yr old freezer with handle held on by duct tape, works fine. Rather than offer them up to a scrapper, surely someone needs them. All of them. How do I get rid of them in a meaningful way?
Meanwhile the sewing table went for the asked $200. The card catalog on facebook marketplace got a lot of interest but no actual shoppers. I posted it on a librarian buysell page and generated a lot of excited comments and almost 300 likes, but no sales. Price reduction comes next.
New living room furniture comes tomorrow, new mattress on Saturday. All old mattresses and old couch will go out in the trash. Everything left to move will go in a couple trips in the Traverse.
We kept saying that we couldn ‘t set a final move date until we had a new mattress, so I guess it is time.
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alex said on July 29, 2021 at 7:34 am
Connie, I’d recommend donating to the Habitat for Humanity store, if you have one in your area. That’s what we did with our old appliances when we remodeled. (We also picked up some cabinetry that matched what was in our kitchen, enabling us to enlarge the kitchen area with the kind of continuity that would have cost a lot more if we’d torn everything out and replaced it with new stuff.)
It’s a great resource for DIYers and remodelers, kind of a low-budget architectural salvage warehouse. They take donations of furniture too. And of course the store supports a very worthy charity.
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Julie Robinson said on July 29, 2021 at 7:58 am
Connie, is there a Habitat for Humanity Restore near you? (Never mind, Alex beat me.) Fort Wayne also has a furniture bank that helps out families after fires.
Here in Orlando our appliance guy has a little side ministry. When he delivers new appliances he will pick up the old ones, and if they’re repairable he fixes them up and waits for people like our daughter to tell him about someone in need. Then he sells them for a nominal cost.
Today my mom turns 89 and as a true child of the Depression has requested meatloaf, scalloped corn, and jello with fruit cocktail for dinner. And angel food cake with strawberries.
We are giving her a beautiful piece of stained glass with her favorite flowers, irises. It walked into the church thrift store about a month ago, saying, I’m for Beverly! It will be dramatic on one of her windows overlooking the pool or the lake.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 29, 2021 at 8:09 am
Julie – are we talking fruit cocktail IN the jello, or next to it? Of shredded carrots we will not speak.
We had old friends come through town two nights ago (he was one of my groomsmen) that we hadn’t seen in years in person; found a restaurant doing outdoor seating on a Tuesday, ended up shutting down the place talking for almost five hours. Ten years ago, we would have done the same, mostly talking about our kids. This week, we spent it talking about caring for our parents, comparing experiences & swapping tips or suggestions for how to manage. We’re all four within a year of 60 either way, and this is where we’re at. And the last three vendor dealings I’ve been sorting out, after explaining my limiting factor on availability, the person on the other end says “oh I get you” and we talk three times longer about their elderly parent and what’s not working. It’s like every person we deal with over 50 has been waiting for permission to talk to another adult about the challenges and heartbreak of elder care.
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Suzanne said on July 29, 2021 at 8:15 am
I think Poshmark keeps a percentage of what you sold. They pay for shipping. I sold the dress for $30 and got a check for $24. For me, it was a win for a dress I bought online for $35 on clearance & it couldn’t be returned. It was a lovely dress but looked horrible on me (lesson learned).
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ROGirl said on July 29, 2021 at 8:54 am
Sounds good. I might as well get a few bucks to offload what I don’t wear any more. I’ve taken a lot of stuff to a local charity thrift shop over the years.
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Mark P said on July 29, 2021 at 8:57 am
At 60 my wife and I were worrying about her parents and my mother. Now at 71, all we have is a photo album and memories. It doesn’t seem enough.
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Deborah said on July 29, 2021 at 9:48 am
I was parentless by the time I was 40. My mother-in-law is 102, my husband is 74 and his older sister is 78. Not many people that age still have a living parent. His younger sister lives in the same city as their mother so most of the care has been on her, but the older sister pays for it all, she’s quite wealthy. My MIL has recently been moved to the memory care part of the very nice home she has been living in for the last decade or so. She had round the clock care givers the last year in her own apartment in the home. She was remarkably sharp and capable for the longest time. She isn’t the person her offspring remember but she still has a strong will to live.
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basset said on July 29, 2021 at 10:15 am
Saw King Crimson in Nashville last night, the drumming alone was worth the ridiculous ticket price and added fees. A lot of gray hair in the audience.
And they didn’t play “21st Century Schizoid Man.”
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Suzanne said on July 29, 2021 at 10:30 am
My in-laws are 90. My mother-in-law fell for the umpteenth time again this week, nothing broken, but is in the hospital for observation. She uses a cane or walker “when she needs it” but has fallen numerous times in the past few years, always when she wasn’t using the cane or walker but that still doesn’t give her the incentive to use either one. There was talk of setting up home health care and household help (light housekeeping, cooking) but my father-in-law unequivocally rejects that because “those people will steal from us!” I don’t think they eat much because my f-i-l doesn’t know how to cook anything but meat on the grill and my m-i-l is so unsteady and frail, I can’t imagine she can cook anything substantial. As with so many older people, they drink minimal fluids, and with my in-laws, I think the few fluids they do drink are usually coffee, scotch, and gin.
I keep making mental notes that we need to be proactive about scaling down, understanding that we will, at some point, have limited mental and physical capabilities, and prepare for that before it’s necessary. It ain’t no fun.
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Julie Robinson said on July 29, 2021 at 10:33 am
Jefftmmo, we are talking fruit cocktail IN the jello, ptui. She’ll be the only one eating it.
In our experience, if it’s not a parent who needs help it’s a sibling. But don’t we want our family members to step up for us when the time comes? In a good way, of course, not in a Britney Spears’ father’s way.
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Deborah said on July 29, 2021 at 11:12 am
It is in our midst again, one of LB’s friends that came over to our place about a week ago, found out she was exposed to Delta Covid and is getting tested today. She is vaccinated, the person who has Covid was vaccinated and so are we, but damn I do no want to get Covid, even if it is mild.
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Deborah said on July 29, 2021 at 11:47 am
Suzanne, your in-laws might want to look into meals on wheels. When LB was a baby I helped deliver those through our church. I took LB with me and the folks were always delighted to see a baby. Some of the places we delivered meals to had very feeble and frail people living at home, somehow. There’s also a national organization called, Village (name of city), Chicago has a strong group in Lincoln Park. It helps people stay living in their own homes as they age and become less independent.
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Suzanne said on July 29, 2021 at 11:57 am
My mother-in-law used to deliver Home Bound Meals so they know these things exist and we think it would be a great idea, but they resist. My mom gets Home Bound Meals and raves about it! It’s pride that keeps my in-laws, who have always been very independent, from getting help because, I am sure, they don’t want to admit they need help. It’s hard, I understand, and likely harder than I know, but it’s time. It’s just time.
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Deborah said on July 29, 2021 at 11:58 am
A friend of mine is on the board of directors for St. Louis Village, here’s a link to it, but they have a lot of chapters all over the country https://stlvillage.org
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Joe Kobiela said on July 29, 2021 at 12:05 pm
Bassett,
We saw the Mavericks a couple weeks ago at a small venue in Shipshewana,
If you get a chance go see them.
Pilot Joe
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Mark P said on July 29, 2021 at 12:06 pm
We didn’t have kids, and there is no one within 1000 miles we can call for help. Just over a week ago my wife had spinal fusion surgery, and there was no one to even let the dogs out and feed them and the cats. I had to rush home to take care of them, then rush back to try to be there when the surgeon made his rounds. That’s one reason I want to move to Colorado, despite the huge difference in home prices. I could impose on my nephew, or more likely the daughter of a good friend I have known all her life. Of course she has to worry about her own parents. There’s no good solution.
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Connie said on July 29, 2021 at 3:54 pm
Habitar Restore does not accept appliances that are more than ten years old.
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Deborah said on July 29, 2021 at 4:01 pm
Yay, I bought my first batch of freshly roasted green chiles. I put them in the freezer and will try to take them back to Chicago when I go back in September. They’re locally grown. Its smells fantastic in the whole Foods parking lot where they’re roasting them. I leave for Chicago on Saturday but will be back in 3 weeks, then back to Chicago again, as I said, in September I will check a bag then.
I’m not feeling great, I had a heat incident yesterday afternoon, I was out working in the sun (with hat and sunscreen of course) and I started feeling dizzy and nauseous. I went inside and drank a bunch of water, felt better, but today I’m not working on all cylinders. I can’t put my finger on it, took my temp, because of course Covid is on my mind. I can still smell and taste just fine though. I haven’t been sick in such a long time because of masks and social distancing, it feels weird.
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David C said on July 29, 2021 at 5:04 pm
We’re in the same boat Mark P. Since we moved away from Michigan we’re not very close to our nieces or nephews. We looked at co-housing communities but they’re so expensive. We’ll probably end up moving back to Michigan when I retire and hope for the best. I hope Mrs. P is recovering well.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on July 29, 2021 at 5:19 pm
Connie, thank you, that’s good to know.
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alex said on July 29, 2021 at 6:20 pm
Sorry to hear that, Connie. They used to take older appliances and were in fact a great resource for retro decorators. I notice our Habitat Restore has been carrying a lot of new merch, low-grade and probably overstock from retailers that can’t move it. At one time they had a marvelous selection of old doors and old shutters. When we wanted shutters for our rental, however, all they had were the flimsiest, cheesiest plastic things I’d ever seen, so we made our own wooden shutters by hand.
Surely there must be a charity that takes donations of appliances that are in good working order. Hell, some older appliances are better than new ones. I’ve seen 1940s-’70s refrigerators and ranges and clothes washers that are still going strong, and know plenty of people who’ve been burned by practically new ones going kaput.
Recently helped my parents find a new refrigerator. Their appliances are white and they were insistent on a white replacement. No store stocks them these days and they have to be ordered. So they’ve been living without a fridge the last several weeks and won’t be getting one for a few more.
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Mark P said on July 29, 2021 at 8:57 pm
David C, my wife is making slow progress. The bad thing is that this was the second surgery for the same problem. She had a laminectomy in December, but she continued to have a lot of nerve pain in her legs. The fusion seems to have significantly reduced the leg pain, but the incision has been hurting a lot. Hopefully she’ll get better and better over time.
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rb said on August 1, 2021 at 9:03 am
re: Olympic commentators – Preach, Nancy! Tuned in last night to watch fencing coverage on USA network, but instead came across Tara Lipinski and Johnny Wier prattle on and on and on. WTF?!? Ice skaters? Summer Olympics? Why are they showing us photos of Johnny and the 78 pieces of luggage he brought to Tokyo? NBC then only showed about half the event, some of which shared a split screen with women’s wrestling?!?
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