Watcha doing today?

[Jeepers]

I think maybe Carly AKA Charlene got her name because once when she was barking at me I suddenly channeled Dolly Parton's Jolene. 

 

I started singing at her. "Car-ly, Car-ly, Car-ly, Carleeeeee. Please don't bark at me just because you can." It sounded like I was saying Carlene which morphed into Charlene. 

 

BTW, I can't carry a tune in a bucket but that doesn't stop me. I sing it loud and I sing it proud. 

 

I'm known to burst into song...often. Family usually let's me get through half a verse before the, "Okay mom stop..."

 

I had an Aunt Charlene. She didn't bark. That I know of. 

[Jeepers]

Mt. Rider, kinda sounds like the Simon electronic game. 

 

I'm bad at those games because I get too anxious and then I get nervous then agitated. I get stressed out. I play a number of computer games but not the timed ones. I don't even like to see a clock ticking. I do a couple of crosswords. And some seek and find and 3 in a row type games I'm hooked on Funky Bay.   

 

Also a couple of jigsaws. One is pretty neat. It comes with a package of 12 puzzles. You can buy more. But when you finish a puzzle, you get free coins. You can use the coins to buy more packages. Or you can buy coins from Amazon to use. Also every so often they give you free coins and a free puzzle. 

 

I think my gaming would be classified as, Old Woman. 

[babysteps]

I know zero about huskies, but I have 3 German Shepherds. (1 is ours, 2 we inherited when Mom came to live with us)

 

They also blow their coats twice a year. THE HAIR. 🤣🤣 They are fantastic family dogs, but not good farm dogs. Too high of a prey drive. 

Our boy is well trained, but I would not trust him by himself around any of the livestock. Mom's are NOT well trained and I don't trust them period.

 

They are very smart dogs and will learn whatever you teach them -- good AND bad. Mom taught hers to come only when offered treats, to run through the house and jump on beds and furniture and people, and to bark at everything that moves. It's taken us almost three years, but we've almost got them tolerable. 🤣🙄 

 

All 3 of ours are 10+ years old, so we are not expecting to have them for many more years. GS life expectancy is 9-12 years IIRC. 

 

When we are ready for a new dog, we will probably look at English Shepherds instead. Medium sized, supposed to be good farm dogs as well as good family dogs, described as "border collies with an off switch" 🤣🤣

[Littlesister]

The best watch dog I ever had was a mutt. About medium size and weighing about 20lbs. If a stranger came around, she would go for the throat and bark later. She loved kids and was very protective of them. If she didn't know you and you tried to come around a child, she would attack. Only scared me once when my next-door neighbor was babysitting, and a child's father came into the back yard instead of going to the front door. Lady lunched for the throat, and I caught her just in time. She had never seen that man before and was only protecting all the kids at the time. I would love another dog like her. That was many years ago when I was still married to my X. Since then, I had my mother's dog that was also a mixed bread and a very good, well-behaved dog and my DH had his mother's dog which was a poodle. The 2 dogs got along really well. But neither of those were good watch dogs. My mother's dog was funny though. The UPS man was coming into the yard to deliver a package and Sandy started running at what he thought was him and she scared him. I yelled out to him that she wasn't interested him but she will try to destroy his truck. Yep, she ran to the truck and started biting the tires. It was something about the color of the truck she didn't like or at least we thought that might be the reason. 

 

 

 

 

[Simply~A~Snow]

It's a late start for me today! Stayed up most of the night watching the Middle East. I just can not imagine waiting for something to fall from the sky or wondering if I'd meet armed morons with evil intentions while out and about in town. We are so lucky....for now. I hope that does not become our reality or even that we experience it once. 

 

While watching everything going on in the world and with the markets.... I did create a couple "emergency list". We have a Walmart and Dollar General less than a mile to 1/2 mile from our neighborhood. If things go south at any point or I feel uneasy.... I want to be able to grab a list and give my daughter a list so that we can divide and conquer. These will just be items that I KNOW that I will need at any given time even though I try to stay stocked on them. I'm working on setting aside cash to accompany each list in an envelope.

 

Today I plan to clean the freezers and fridge out and MAYBE work on the garage. I swear I could bake a cake out there it is so hot! Since my Mamaw died a couple of months ago I have been slowly moving the things from her house 3 hours away to my garage to sell. Those items along with the stuff I have been cleaning out and all items I have for my closet on Poshmark has created a huge mess. I'm just about to the point that I want to just donate all of it but that would be irresponsible since I am no longer working and it could provide some cash. I just can't handle the heat!!

 

Sitting here is not getting it done so I guess I should get started. LOL. Hope you all have a great day!

[Jeepers]

They say a mutt is the best breed to have. They usually inherit the best from mom and dad.

 

Border collie with an off switch is a good description. We had one up the street a few years ago. Everytime a car would go by, it would run to the curb and start running around and around in fast circles trying to catch the car. Craziest thing to see. 

 

@Simply~A~Snow I've been keeping tabs on the Middle East too. I can't imagine living there either. This country isn't great sometimes, but thank God we are safe from enemy bombs falling on our head at any given moment...so far. I've also been keeping up on England. They have seemed to have exploded from within. I could see that happening here mostly for the same reason.  Good idea dividing a list. I have a last minute list of things to get...if I could find it. 

 

This must be the year to clear out the extra stuff in our lives. So many of us here are decluttering, organizing and downsizing this year. Very hard work but worth it in the end. 

[snapshotmiki]

Walked first and then walked dogs.
Worked in Church for a while.
Finally came home and got a shower.
Finished the laundry from yesterday.
Having fajitas for dinner again.

[Littlesister]

I also have been keeping tabs on the Middle East. It's not good. 

 

My day today didn't turn out like I thought it would.  GS wanted me to go with him to Walmart as he wanted to buy a game that he ended up at Game Stop in Chesapeake to get.  We headed out to Walmart that is normally about a 10-to-15-minute drive to get there and it took us two and a half hours to get there.  We had to pull into the median to let the police and an ambulance to get through. Not sure how far back the traffic was but it was packed. No one was moving. Someone T-boned a car and it was not pretty. They blocked traffic on the other side of the road so a police car and the wrecker could drive down the wrong side of the road to get where the wreck was. I just hope all involved are ok. Though I know at least one went to the hospital. 

DGS wanted me to go with him to show me the google Crome TV stick. They are better than the firestick that I have. He bought one while in N.C. as he uses the TV in the living room and got one for that TV and wanted me to get one for the TV in den.  We got home and he then decided I needed to go with him to Best Buy for a game thing he wanted as Walmart didn't have it. But first we went to the first Game Stop, and they didn't have it. Then came home and then went to Best Buy and then Game Stop where they did have an off brand one that he said would work. I think it was for his Nintendo game or something. But anyway, I then took him down memory lane to the 17th street surf shop. His mother and I used to take him there when he was in his early teens. He loved that store. So, it was next door to game stop, so we went there also. He didn't remember it at first and then it came back to him. I got him an early birthday present. A hat and a hoodie that now he won't take off. 

 

Anyway, I did get a few things done this morning while he was sleeping. Got those 2 shelving units out of the hall and into the garage and set up where I wanted them. Going to be working in the office as much as I can tomorrow as I will need that shelving unit for my canning supplies and larger appliances. I really don't want those in the garage. So, trying to get some organizing done. I need to get the kitchen bar cleaned off. I cleaned out a couple of kitchen cabinets also and stuff is everywhere. Seems it never ends. 

[Jeepers]

Traffic jams are why we keep our gas tanks atleast half full.    for those involved.

 

I had two tornado alerts on my phone and we didn't get a drop of rain. Didn't even get cloudy. Not sure what that was all about. I'm not subscribed to any thing like that. It was loud like the Amber alerts. But my lights did flicker a couple of times. 

 

I headed out to the Meijers. I wanted some fresh fruit and veggies. I got what I wanted but it was slim pickins. Meijers always has the best produce around here but tonight it was pretty bad. Some empty spaces and about 10 cucumbers. At this time of year? I got two but they didn't look great. I think the use by date will be tomorrow. Other things were just okay. And expensive.

 

I went around the store and picked up a few more items. There were a lot of empty spaces. Reminded me of 2020. 

 

I bought 39 items and spent $151.  Dang. Mostly fruit and veggies. 2 boxes of tea bags, 4 jars of spaghetti sauce, milk, cereal, eggs, bread and basic things like that. I did get a half gallon of ice cream and some popsicles but no paper products and no meat. Dang.  

 

 

[Becca_Anne]

On 8/5/2024 at 8:10 PM, Necie said:

DH may want me to go pick up a bike 🚲 for him next weekend... in SOUTHERN ILLINOIS!! 12 hour round trip. 

 

and 

Necie

Necie you'll be in my backyard if you do come to get the bike

[Mt_Rider]

We've been periodically getting rain again today/tonite.  Lots of blotches of rain cells on the Doppler radar.  We dodged between cells but heard some LOUD thunder!  I was able to walk fine tonite.  I've had to skip some evenings lately - not feeling stable enough.  We're thinking the HEAT has been getting to me.  Another HOT day tomorrow but then cooling down with rain possible the rest of the week.  I'll schedule a horse ride for Sat morning again. 

 

I've got the cognitive appt on Thurs.  I've been doing some of the homework.  Some of it is about how to cope with ..less ability in general.  Eh...I'm way ahead on that adaption.  Decades of adaption for the M.S.   Same adjustments for the cognitive too.  But I want to slow that down.   

 

Getting to bed earlier than 3 or 4am - I'm working on it.  Except for the days I have early appointments (riding or doc appts) I get around 8+ hrs of deep sleep.  Just set back later than most folks.   I have breakfast at 10:30 - 11am.  By then, I NEED to eat right away.  Get the shakes! 

 

So....East coast folks:  H. Debby downgraded to Tropical Storm Debby is on her way up the coast.  Likely just get a lot of rain but that can cause trouble too.  So be ready and take care!  Some parts of FL got really drenched - flooding! 

 

MtRider  ..... need to finish up some things and then..   

[babysteps]

Last load of peach pie filling is in the canner. Had one jar break   and one not seal (so far). 

 

I gotta do a grocery run tomorrow. How are we POSSIBLY out of ketchup?!?! but we are. I didn't believe it and dug to the verrrrry back of the pantry... I'm still mildly suspicious that I will find four bottles of it. Tomorrow. After I get home from the store. 

 

DD18 ran off to a party with friends, so she and DD10 didn't pick me any blackberries today. And she works tomorrow. Sigh. 

 

Saw this and giggled. Seems accurate. 🤣

 

 

[Littlesister]

We have been and still having rain from the Debby.  I think it said for another week. Seems the storm has stalled. Our governor has declared a state of emergency because of possible flooding which will happen. They are saying the hurricane is going to be catastrophic in South Central Pennsylvania. And it is now getting stronger. I think for us it will be heavy rain at times and possible flooding in low laying areas. So, this one I am not worried about. I'm not in a flood zone. 

tomorrow I am going to Harris Teeter to pick up an RX and maybe pick up a few things while there. It is senior day plus I have a $10.00 coupon. Working on the pantry this morning and making a list of things I am low on. Just bought some shelve stable milk from the Dollar Tree so good on that but need to put one in fridge. I forgot to do that. It is raining lightly now and has been all morning. So will be back out in garage soon. Some things my GS was saying I could do out there might work but in a different way than what he was saying. I could move the worktable out from the wall and have it in the sitting out from the wall a good way and put that shelving unit that is in my office against that wall there. If that can be done and table is not going to interfere with me getting car into garage. I would rather put my canning supplies out there on that shelving unit. I am trying to clear out the rooms as I am going to get a day bed with a trundle bed to put in the office and make that room for both office and for company when family comes into town. That would work out much better. I have something like 3 or 4 projects going at one time right now. Having to do certain things in one place to get another place cleaned out. Doesn't seem to make much sense but it is how the rooms are as far as stuff being packed into rooms in a very unorganized way. 

[Jeepers]

@babysteps  I've had those type of canning days too. Not the breakage but jars not sealing. So discouraging. Then you have to decided if you want to just eat it or recan it. By that time I'm so sick of looking at what I spent the day canning, that I don't even want to look at another jar, much less eat it. And I'm not firing up the canner for 1-2 jars. 

 

Love the picture. Funny, but a couple of weeks ago I rewatched Ken Burns Dust Bowl documentary. It's long but worth watching! That picture fit right in. 

 

[babysteps]

@Jeepers

Fortunately, peach pie filling is really easy to throw into a pan with a crust of some sort and turn into cobbler ❤️ and DH, Mom, and the kiddos will cheerfully eat it all day, even if i don't want to look at it anymore 🤣

 

That last load took over TWO HOURS. Because it was late, and I was tired, I didn't really notice for waaaayyyyyy too long that the front burner was not heating correctly. Old electric coil stove, and I know that it happens once in a while, but a) late, b) tired. 

 

It honestly took me over an hour to realize that no, it does NOT, in fact, take this long for the wb canner to come back to a boil after you add jars.

 

Switched to the back large burner and it was boiling in under 5 minutes.

 

Oops. 

 

Today I picked the baseball bats, aka zucchini, and the latest crop of green beans and a zillion cucumbers. 

[Jeepers]

I have a backache today. So it's on the heating pad and in front of the fan for me. 

 

I kept thinking about my cologuard (fecal) test. I looked on the website and it said results should be ready within two weeks. They would send me my results. 

 

It was a month yesterday. 

 

I texted my doctor and asked about it. He wrote back that they said, "The sample was too old to test." B.S.

 

I told him that, "I took the packet inside the post office and mailed it the same day I got the sample. The next time I'll get a receipt. Send me another one or I'll pick it up at your office."

 

When was cologaurd or the doctor planning on telling me? Never. 

 

BTW the outside mail slot is too narrow for the packet. You have to take it inside the post office to mail it. And it's only sent two suburbs away. Crimony. 

 

‐------------‐-----------------------

Dr texted back and said, "Did you date and put the time on it?"

 

Dude, this ain't my first rodeo. "Yes, I did. I remember because the ink started to smear and I had to wait for it to dry to continue. Also, last year they said I never turned in the test. But "My Chart" said it came back clear."

 

Dr said, "Sorry for your inconvenience. You can drop it off at our clinic."

 

It isn't a clinic. It's a freakin' doctors office. I said  "Drop what off? I mailed it in a month ago."

 

Crickets. 

-----------------------------

 

Dr messaged back today. They are sending me a new test. They do have them in the office. They gave me one a couple of times before when I happened to be in. I'll get a mailing receipt for this one. He didn't mention me coming in to his "clinic" to pick one up or drop one off. Probably thought best to let this sleeping dog lie. I wasn't feeling very chipper yesterday. 

 

They should have told me a month ago the test was flawed. I only found out because I asked. 

 

Edited August 8 by Jeepers
Update

[themartianchick]

2 hours ago, Jeepers said:

 

I told him that, "I took the packet inside the post office and mailed it the same day I got the sample. The next time I'll get a receipt. Send me another one or I'll pick it up at your office."

 

When was cologaurd or the doctor planning on telling me? Never. 

 

BTW the outside mail slot is too narrow for the packet. You have to take it inside the post office to mail it. And it's only sent two suburbs away. Crimony. 

 

‐------------‐-----------------------

 

 

Cologuard in a packet?!?! Mine was in a weird bucket-like thing that had to be sealed in a box and then shipped off. I took it to a UPS store to send it back.

[themartianchick]

Hi, everyone!

 

We returned from Canada on Monday evening after some traffic delays in Buffalo NY. The area was hit with an F1 tornado about an hour before we came through and there was a lot of flash flooding and a couple of accidents on the thruway. 

Today was spent catching up on a few things for my client and prodding Dad to prepare for a doctor's appointment. Prior to leaving for our trip, I had cleaned out the fridge and cooked a lot of food. When I returned, I discovered that he hadn't eaten much of the food, so I had to clean out the fridge again. This evening, I need to order groceries for delivery tomorrow and then do some house cleaning. We have another trip planned in a couple of weeks, so I should probably analyze what worked and didn't work for dad in my absence. 

[Jeepers]

Mine has always been in a cardboard envelope. A little square tube similar to a mascara tube only about half the size. Put that in a little plastic hazzard baggie and send it off in the envelope. If it had fit in out tiny mailbox slot, I wouldn't have even had to go in the post office. 

 

I was wondering if you were in Florida when Debby came to visit. Glad you are safe. 

[Mt_Rider]

NEED to get to bed/sleep.  Cognitive appt tomorrow.  But.....I NEED to read all the posts here too!     Very good that I never joined Facbook or any other...

 

Worked on the Cognitive homework again.  I'm so detailed in my answers...it gets long.      That's how I operate. 

 

Yeah, Martian.  Mine and DH's were bucket type things to mail back.  Is yours a real company, Jeepers?   

 

Oh....I pulled 2 weather pics regarding what's-her-name storm.  Debby..had to look. 

 

 

[Mt_Rider]

Here is the other one.  Hope it might be useful for you in the path. 

 

MtRider ...going to bed!!

 

[Jeepers]

Real company? Heck if I know. It came in the mail per my doctors orders. Did y'all have to send it off very far? Mine only went about 5 miles up the road to be tested. It said biohazard on it. 

 

It had to be real because they told my doctor it was too old to test. So he said. 

 

If it wasn't for a fecal test then someone got a surprise when they opened it. Oops. My bad.  

 

[Littlesister]

People even in the medical field are not doing their job. The package will just sit there where they put it and forgotten till it is too late to use it for the test. it's a sign of the times. Our medical system is falling apart and has been since late 2019. 

 

I am sitting here waiting for the pharmacy to open at 10 am so I can pick up an RX. 

I think the rain from Debby should be out of here by early Sat. morning. It's drizzling now. So far it hasn't been an issue for me other than I can't finish getting my raised beds together. Needed to do that first so we can place them to make sure they are the way I want them to be as I am going to be adding more as time goes on. I would like to have a total of at least 8 of them over time. I have 3 now if I can get them put together. 

 

[themartianchick]

Debby is expected to hit Central NY rather squarely. We have no other appointments this week, so we should be able to stay in and remain dry.

[Littlesister]

The southside of Suffolk is under tornado watch. It is getting dark here now and looking like the bottom is about to fall out. I need to go lay my trash can down flat on the ground as it was emptied earlier and will blow away if not full. So, it's fill it part way with water of just lay it down flat so the lid won't blow open. 

I think Debby for us is almost here. I think it will be mostly rain and wind. They are saying this is a 100-year event for the flooding this one will cause. I am not in a flood zone, so should weather this one out with no issues.