Morning all. Happy Hump Day.

Glad the campaigning is all done. I’m also glad I voted early on Sunday and didn’t have to go to my precinct’s polling place. Of all the places they could use as a polling place, they use the vestibule/entrance to the wave pool. It’s tiny and with all the voting paraphernalia jammed in there, it’s very cramped and claustrophobic, and I’m thinking it’s got to be a fire hazard and possibly violate occupancy regulations... I just don’t get why they can’t use part of the large adjacent park field house, which is right next door to the pool. From now on, I’m going to vote early and avoid that place.

My contact lens rx is now dialed in and the doc said we can forgo the samples, and he will order a 30-day supply for me. I’m not too worried about any problems – the lenses will be something between my old ones and the last samples, so it’ll be fine. It’s not as simple as fitting for eyeglasses. Since I have astigmatism, the lenses have to have the proper adjustment for three things - the astigmatism, the axis in which it occurs, and then the strength of the correction. Unless a lens is custom made (very expensive), you’re limited to what the manufacturers offer. For instance, lenses with an axis of 10 degrees or 20 degrees, when my actual measurement is 13 degrees. Not so easy peasy, so that’s why I needed the samples. Turns out 10 is better for me, and makes sense since 13 is closer to 10 than 20.

Nothing much else to report, except that I’m being a slacker around the house and need to get some lists going and “snap out of it” (like Cher tells Nic Cage in “Moonstruck”, LOL.)
~~~

Michelle – I hope everything is going well for you this week and you’re able to get the intranet site redesigned! Re the texting, yes, of course, send me texts, since we’ll all be anxious to hear that all is well with you and the surgery. Wow, the 19th is coming up so quickly now!!

Terra – Yum, Chipotle. We have one near home, but we usually go to our local taqueria instead. It’s cheaper, and it’s got to be pretty authentic since my bf and I are usually the only non-Hispanic diners in there! There’s also a Chipotle down the block from my office, but I avoid it because the burritos are huge and too filling, and even the burrito bowls without the tortilla are too big and I don’t trust myself not to chow down the entire thing! You have a long day at school today – hope the meetings go well.

Shad – What you call guttering, we just call gutters. Ours are made of metal (aluminum I believe), and most are made right on-site with a machine that turns a roll of metal into gutters that are custom-sized to the house. I don’t recall how much ours cost (I block that type of expense out almost immediately, LOL), and we had them replaced along with the soffit & fascia as well (underside of the eaves). That’s quite the list you’ve got going – good luck with it! (I imagine that’s what brought on the headache??) After the money suck from the sewer line repair this past summer, I’m not keen to do any more big jobs anytime soon. However, we do need to have some plaster/drywall repairs in the kitchen and office ceilings from when the skylight flashing was breached and leaking. Add to that the wall patching for our half bath remodel (old light fixture, medicine cabinet, and soapdish wall openings) and we might have a big enough job to get a contractor to quote on. We’ll see. Re contact lenses – adding the bifocal aspect into my complicated lenses is almost certainly not an option for me. At some point I will likely have to use readers with/over my contacts. Sigh. But I have my vision, and for that I'm grateful. :yes:

Ceejay – Yay for finding the pedometer. LOL finding it in your purse – I know mine can be a black hole! :p Enjoy your 4-day weekend!!! :carrot:

Dee – After a horrendous Halloween weather day on Friday, our Saturday, Sunday, & Monday were nice. Getting chilly now…typical November. Smart to be prepared for the weather. I carry my “ice grabbers” in my backpack during the winter when we have snowy/icy sidewalks on my commute between home and the train station. Your kayak paddle sounded so nice and peaceful. Otherwise you sound busy as heck with your home design and clothing businesses. I suppose I should update my ticker – I’ve been backsliding for several months now! Not as close to goal as I once was. Boo! Re the commuter trains – the Metra trains run out to the suburbs. If they were overhead trains, they were probably the “el” trains – short for "elevated", and they are part of the mass transit system in Chicago. Some are strictly overhead, some go underground too. I’m up for being a walking buddy! Let me know when you're ready to start!

Hellos to Annie, Happy & Susie! :wave:

Morning all,

Yesterday I put out a notice on a thing called hipages for someone to come look at my guttering. Meantime I went down to the local place to price the stuff taking my house plans with me and spoke to a delightful man who gave me a huge amount of information and a quote for the price of the materials from his stock. That came to just under a $1000. But we didn't quote on the barge stock - mainly because I forgot about it - and there is another 18 metres of that. Anyway, while I was having a conversation there my phone rang and a man wanted to come round and quote on my gutters. Then when I got home, there were another 10 or so e-mails from Hipages from companies wanting to quote. Miracles!!!! So the first one arrived yesterday afternoon, pointed out a few problems that would occur (it will be interesting to see if the others spot it) and then showed me something that I hadn't noticed and which when I later measured it was correct. It has nothing to do with gutters. His quote came in last night. And is nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. Today there are two more coming and that should be it providing the references check out. I have other things to do than interviewing blokes about guttering.

Laura - It's taking some getting used to, these contacts. Some days are better than others but they tend to do the job for which I am grateful.
There is always something to be done around the house. I just seem to keep adding to the list on the board in the dining room.
I've seen those machines that create the gutters on site on Holmes on Homes. Never seen them here tho'. It seems like a sound idea. But I would imagine that those machines are very expensive and most of the blokes that do this job are sole traders - it may prove too costly for a small business.

Ceejay - glad you found the pedometer. Not good to lose things - apart from weight.

Right well I am off for my shower. Today, since I have those two men coming, I had better stick around the house. I have list of small stuff to do and the kitchen and dining room need a going over. The cat has managed to drop fur everywhere, can't think why she isn't bald. The day started off cool but is rapidly warming up. I think me might have had a light shower over night (Be still my beating heart) but I didn't hear it - however there is quite a dampness around the yard but no actual puddles.

Be good and have a good day. Be careful.

Hi Everyone. I was back to work today. Still busy as ever. I actualy worked 8 hrs yesterday when I was home..5:30 a.m. to 1:30, then I shut down the computer and napped.

I want to share why I worked so long yesterday. I don't know how many of you have heard about the girl basket ball player from Mt. St. Joe who has an inoperable brain tumor. Her name is Lauren Hill. She was diagnoised with it about a year ago. There is no cure and it is in inoperable. They gave her two years ago and just recently changed that to this December. She is an amazing yourg lady and she is using the time she has to bring awareness to this type of brain tumor and to funnel funding to it....her dad works in my work group. One of the things that Lauren has put in place is the layup challenge. NBA players are doing this as well as college.

So, we decided to set one up at our work site and I was working on that with another guy in our group to get things in place for next week so that we can get it going.

If you google her name along with basketball, you will see all sort of videos on her...brave, amazing young lady and it just breaks my heart. In her interviews she usually talks about using the time she has here to be the face for this type of tumor and to get funding to it so a cure can be found. The only thing I have heard her say for herself is that she hopes when her time comes that she won't have pain and goes in her sleep...I pray this for her daily. As I said, amazing young lady..they raised her right and they are holding on to her and their faith to get them through.

I will do personals tomorrow....it's getting late and I need to get to sleep..I keep waking ups at 3:00 a.m. and can't fall back to sleep. I hope that isn't the case tonight.

Morning all.* It’s a windy day here today, otherwise the temp (mid-40’s) is okay.* Now if it rains, that’ll make it an ugly day.

I had 8,825 steps yesterday and after work I did one BE workout.* This particular workout was entirely chair and:) floor-based.* I liked it, of course.*;) It also included some traditional and side planks. Like those too.* I have to get back to those on a regular basis – they really work the core.* I have that plank workout from the magazine, but I’ve been too chicken to tackle it.*

I had some more spaghetti squash with some canned pasta sauce.* The slightly sweet flavor of the squash worked better with this plain sauce, but even though I had a big bowl of it for dinner, it wasn’t very filling.* (Same as when I had it with the Bolognese sauce last week, but the flavors of the squash and the sauce didn’t work very well together.)* I still have half of a squash to use up, so I’ll look up a recipe to see what else I can do with it.*

That’s about it for me*today.

++
Happy – Thanks for posting the Moonstruck “Snap out of it!” clip/link on FB yesterday.* :D

Susie – Very sad story about Lauren H.* But how brave she is to strive to make the best of the time she has and to also work to raise awareness & fund research for this type of pediatric cancer.* She’s an amazing young person.

Shad – Sounds like you got a lot accomplished with your home projects the other day.* I hope the other quotes come in competitively and you don’t have to seek more.* Speaking of competition – bf and I watched the first half of the rugby match last night.* Wow!* We were impressed with the All Blacks, but how could we not be?* (They certainly handled the Eagles easily, LOL.)* This is obviously a sport for the very strong and quick and BRAVE.* What a rough sport!* There was blood at one point and there was a time out that the tv announcer called a “blood time out”, which meant it wasn’t a rare occurrence...* *What a lot of action and not a lot of stoppage for penalties and time-outs, etc.* I’ll have to look online to read up on the basics.* Oh, I also liked the short shorts they wore. ;)

Hellos to the rest of you!* Hope you’re all having a great week!

Morning
I'm waiting on ADT to come and update the system. And I'm making a few business phone calls. The first one got me off base and I'm not in a very good mood at all. All I wanted him to do was to cancel. But no he wants me to keep it.
I need to go to Paragould this afternoon and get some things done for my aunt and cousin who will be leaving for Texas soon.
I'm happy that our Mayor was reelected. Told my aunt he's been my boss for 20+ years and wanted him to be their when I retired.
No time for personals.

Hi everyone,

Internet is extremely slow this morning. There was a dusting of snow overnight - the pine trees look like frosted cookies. Normally I like this but it does nothing for me this year. I guess because we are expecting another bad winter I am not so fond of seeing the snow this time around. It reminds me that I should have been cleaning out the garage area because the snow that sticks to the cars (no we haven't had that much yet but it's coming) will sit on the garage floor and make it's way over to the stuff we have stored there. Which desperately needs going through. And I will have to bite the bullet and learn to drive the big bus of a car we bought. They really upsized the 4Runner and I am regretting that we didn't just get our old one fixed instead of shelling out so much money for this new humongous truck that I am not comfortable driving. But it is our winter car so deal with it.

DH went to the doctor for a routine check up and said he mentioned he has occasional chest pains so they set him up for a 3 hour stress test today. :yikes: Had to be fasting and he looked rather tired this morning when he left. Poor guy. I do feel for him.

Yesterday the Sears guy came to look at my washing machine. The kid who came in March did not correctly repair the machine - he tried hard but was not experienced enough. The machine made some noise afterward which I chalked up to it just being older. Dumb me. The warranty for the repair was only good for 90 days so it cost me another service call. I also signed up for an extended warranty for the washer and dryer hoping I can get a few more years out of them. There went $500. :wave: I do need the more expensive low water, high efficiency washer because of the septic system so yes, the investment was more cost effective than getting a new washer. And I love my dryer which Maytag only made one year and if I replaced the washer again, I'd probably feel I'd have to replace the dryer and I don't want to do that because I'd never get another one like it. Money is just flying out the door lately so I feel your pain Shad.

Ceejay - I think they get an extra commission if you call wanting to cancel and they talk you out of it. Are you saying you wanted to cancel your alarm service? Glad to hear your mayor got re-elected and will give you your retirement plaque one day (soon). :D

Laura - I hope you don't have an ugly weather day. Ours started off gray and cold and now the sun is shining quite brightly. That's interesting that you mentioned you didn't feel full with the squash. I thought the same thing when I had butternut stuffed ravioli the other day. I guess maybe it's not carby enough??? I hope you were able to "snap out of your slump" and get back to trotting around again. We all have those days.

Susie - what an amazing story about Lauren. I hope she does well to raise awareness for her cause. I am always inspired by brave people like that - reminds me how they say we all have a purpose to fulfill in this world - I guess some people's purpose is more obvious than others, sad as it may be. How wonderful of you to help out but then again, I am sure you are the go to person for many things. :D

Shad - oh dear - you certainly have a big list of repairs, don't you? I remember when you were working on the portico. And forgive me if I forget but didn't you already remodel your bathrooms? I remember dimly about a gorgeous blue tile - or was it blue and yellow? I hope you can get good work done without breaking the pocketbook.

Michelle - thank you for taking the time to have a call tree so that people can get updates on you. We will all wish you well (lots) and worry a bit (just a little) until we know that things are proceeding nicely. Hope you can get all your work done this week at the office. Things must be rushing at you like a tsunami. I hope you are making lists. :write:

Terra - Chipolte - yum. Big portions, always good to know you'll have leftovers! I love Mexican food as long as it's not spicy.

Dee - with the busy life you have I'm glad to hear that you realize the importance of recharging your batteries on a regular basis. We are compelled to try and get 200 percent into every day but it does take it's toll. So you are a kayaker? Wow - those always scared me - I'm sure I would spend more time upside down but they say the first thing you learn is how to right yourself. Kind of important skill! We have some areas out here that would be sooooo gorgeous and peaceful to kayak. Do you live in the snowbelt around Lake Michigan? We would drive from Chicago to visit my brother in Midland - always around Thanksgiving or Christmas and it was always a nailbiter on whether we'd hit lake effect snow. :yikes:

Hi Annie with the cute grandkids :D

I should get off my duff and get busy. DH will be home soon and he'll be tired AND hungry. I'm sure he'd appreciate something tasty other than Cheerios. And it sounds like one of the cats just got sick. They are shedding the light coat over to the winter one and I have to keep on top of brushing them.

Have a good day everyone.

*


Morning all.* TGIF!!* Very quiet around here right now.*

Ceejay – I hope the ADT system is running as it should.* Nice the mayor will be around to see you into your retirement.*

Happy - Sounds like you need to have some pallets in the garage to keep stuff off the floor and keep it from getting wet.* I hope you get more comfortable driving the bigger vehicle.* Did this one replace the smaller vehicle you normally drove?* I hope DH’s stress test went well.* Sounds like you had an expensive day with the washing machine repair and purchasing the extended warranty.* I guess I need to feel very fortunate – we’re using the same old dryer that was in the house when we bought it 14 years ago.* Of course, that makes up for having to replace the washer that was there within a couple months of moving in.* On the positive side, the front loading washer we bought has been going strong for 14 years.* Re the squash – I found a recipe for an Asian peanut stir fry that uses the squash.* I might try that.*

I took a mini-walk at lunch yesterday even though it was a bit windy, and I felt a few raindrops during the last 2 blocks.* Thankfully it didn’t start to rain in earnest.*

In the afternoon I walked down 5 flights of stairs and then back up the 5 flights.* I did this once last week too.* Right now, I get really winded, but all the more reason to do it, right?* Next time I do it, I’ll do this twice.* I follow a blogger who did this in her place of work, going up and then back down 8 flights of stairs, and she worked up to doing 15 sets of that.* Of course, that’s a full workout…* I don’t see myself doing that because I don’t want to get all sweaty and have to shower afterwards.* Plus, as a regular workout, it would be pretty dreary in the fire stairwell, even if I were listening to music or a podcast on my smartphone.* I can, however, see myself trying to get to a point where I can do as much as I can in 5 minutes or 10 minutes.* And do that once or twice a day.* Next time I’ll bring my cell phone with me to time myself.*

Didn’t do much of anything last night.* Which means I’m still slacking on stuff that needs doing around the house.* Sigh.* I did, however, put together a list.* It’s a start.

No plans for the weekend, so it’ll be a good time to get a start on my list of to-dos.* I’ll also go to Jazzercise Saturday morning and the rest of the usual stuff – laundry, dog walks, etc.*

That’s it for me.* I’ll check back later.

Happy
No ADT had to upgrade the system which took longer than expected. I was wanting to cancel the extended warranty on my truck. I already had a 100,000 mile warranty that I purchased when I bought the vehicle. He wore me down but will not when I talk them again. I sent an email. Hoping that will take care of things. I realize he was doing his job.

Laura
Good for you in getting that many steps in yesterday. My main goal this month is to ride my bike for 10 minutes and to watch my intake at dinner. I have to eat too late. Wish I could have salad but right now all I can have is cooked food, even fruit.

------
I'm making soup for my cousin and my aunt who will be leaving for Texas this week end. I spent the night with negative Nancy and pop and they have both been extremely on good behavior. She's done most of the leg work for me in getting food over to them. My cousin from Texas will be in Paragould late tonight. I don't want to be there when WW111 begins. Hope that it doesn't get that way.
Of all things, my bff started sending me text messages at midnight. I heard them got up and turned down the phone. I needed my sleep.
More later. I'll find out what happens this week end.

Hi all,

Thought it was Saturday, realized it was Friday. :dizzy: That's what happens when you have a few free days. Right now it's snowing out. A nice, gentle snow that started as fluffy flakes but now it's regular snow. Of course the Weather Channel forecast right now says rain while they have a special weather bulletin that says there is a big snow squall in our area that will continue all afternoon. I swear the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing with that group.

We are supposed to go play games and visit with another couple tomorrow. They are providing snacks so I am looking for something to make for dessert. I still have apples to use up and I saw a recipe for cranberry pinwheel cookies or a cherry almond bundt cake that looked good. The thing is, if I make the cake, DH will want to keep it here instead of "giving it away" :lol: I should go to the grocery store - I am starting to run low on things but I just hate going lately. Maybe I can put it off a few more days. I will have to check the weekly sales ad - the new sale starts on Sunday, I'm thinking there was nothing compelling I needed this week...

I have been a slacker this week. :o Didn't get to a number of things I had thought about doing. Spent more time that I thought I would making meals and after I was done, just didn't feel like taking on a 6 hour task. I did make a stuffed pepper soup I saw on FB. Not my kind of ingredients but DH said it was good. I portioned out half of it and froze it.

DH came home from his stress test and said he doesn't think they will find anything - as in his heart looks good, no troubles. I said that's good - at least you will have peace of mind :D As for the washer, the repairman admitted they build the units to last 5 to 10 years now. He said washing my blankets puts more stress on the machine. Really???? I wash comforters and bathroom throw rugs at the Laundromat because you can't get enough water for a good wash in my washer and the rugs I know are wet and heavy and would be too hard on the basket. But blankets? Seems like a waste of money to me. Then again, maybe that's why dryers last a lot longer than the washers do. Our dryer is 9 years old, our washer is 7 - I am hoping to get a few more years out of it yet. We have overspent our quota on house repairs for this year and next and there are a few things left to do yet.

As for the car, yes Laura - a few years back they really upsized the 4Runner and made it more like a huge Dodge Ram truck. It's not quite as big now but substantially bigger than my 2002 model was. I got used to driving the sedan and it seems like I am driving a mini bus now. I just have to get used to it again. We looked at the smaller Rav4 but needed something with a good engine and tow capacity for the trailer and towing the ATV / UTV. Which I regretfully say we didn't take to the trails not even once this year. I mentioned it to DH several times but either something was going on, it was bad trail conditions or it was the weekend which I don't like going out on because of the influx of "visitors" from the cities who do not observe basic riding safety and instead attempt to go as fast as possible and jump bumps and put everyone else's life and limb at risk so they can go yee haw. Darn weekend warriors! We have the same problem with snowmobilers bar hopping but we don't snowmobile.

That's good that you incorporated the stairwell into your workout plan Laura. I was doing that for a while too but then they decided to lock the stairwells as a safety issue when people were sneaking in and stealing laptops off of people's desks. Just like your challenges, you will see an increase in strength and stamina the more you engage. Keep at it! Having music to set a beat and pace yourself is a good idea also. If you can't have a good looking shirtless man pounding on a drum (step, step, step), might as well have an iPOD :rofl:

Ceejay - how nice of you to make some soup for the family. I'm sure they will appreciate it. That's a good do-able goal with your bike. You will have to track your miles along the way.

I looked and looked and I cannot find the one picture I had of Mel. I will keep looking though. It might have been on my other computer - in fact, I'm sure it was. Will post when I find it.

Hope the rest of you are having a good weekend. I think I'm going to go find something to eat.

Thought for the day - people who routinely call other people "dopes, morons and idiots" are the biggest dopes, morons and idiots of them all. I can't believe the ignorance of some people but I guess when you have no class, manners, or a proper upbringing you can't help but broadcast it to the world.

Just ranting after seeing some comments on the internet lately. People are something else. :shrug: :yes: Thank you friends for not being like that. :grouphug: An oasis in a sea of big mouthed meanies.

Laura ~ Thats cool that you found a cheaper place that still taste your Chipolte.

Happy ~ Yeah having left over's is always good even though my mom says Chipolte's isnt good re-heated but I think it tastes just as good. Last time we had Chipolte I ended up finishing mine which is rare cause I usually make 2 meals out of one burrito.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My alarm went off at 5 a.m. this morning but I didnt get out of bed until 5:30 a.m. I'm currently watching my shows. I let Clyde outside and I gave him fresh food. Anyway my plans for today are to get my laundry done this morning and to go on my after dinner walk. I still have laundry to do and I'm about to go on my walk cause we are not gonna eat for another 2 hours.

great news at my pre-op appointment!! 222.5 lbs (1.5 lower than the surgery weight goal)!!! I'm ecstatic!! I still have to keep working and keep losing all the way to my surgery at 8 am on 11/19. My surgeon went over everything about the operation and what to do in the days leading up to the surgery, and what will happen at the hospital. I'm so happy and so confident that I know I'm making the right decision for me to get my health and really get my life back. :D

Afternoon all,
Short post while it is too hot to work outside.

Michelle - very pleased to see that you have lost the required amount of weight. It's been hard work but it's a positive result.

Happy - our met office is the same as your weather channel forecast. To get round it, we get - chance of a late thunderstorm, possible showers (likelihood decreasing as the day wears on), and on and on and on. Todays message reads:
Partly cloudy. Slight (20%) chance of a shower. Light winds becoming easterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the evening. Daytime maximum temperatures 26 to 31.
So far we haven't had a cloud in the sky. I don't know where they get their ideas from, but the wind almost always dies down after sunset. Bah Humbug.
Yep, you are right, there are many, many people out there who should actually put their brain (should they have one) into gear before engaging mouth.
Good to hear that the DH got a good report. Must be a bit worrying when you have chest pains.
I too have been having a few problems locating my pictures of Mel. Maybe she doesn't want to be found. I also have a problem locating my photos of the Mosque in Jakarta that I spoke to Red Balloon about on Facebook. It's weird.
Yes I did reno the bathroom over 10 years back and it has sprung a leak. Actually I think it has sprung more than one. There isn't any water coming out of the walls or anything but dripping water onto timber doesn't actually do much any good.

Ceejay - Ignore the woman. Who would send midnight messages. I hope the aunt and cousin are doing well. If I hear of the start of WW111 I will duck.

Laura - all that leg work on the stairs should help with the lower body fitness. Good for you.
Glad you got the list sorted. Now you can tick 'em off one by one.

Susie - there are some amazing people doing amazing things with serious disease at the moment. One only wonders why these good people are struck down. The world needs more of them. There's a few ratbags out there I wouldn't mind if they got sick. Still it's not mine to wonder why.

Okay, finished my cuppa. Better go out and mix up the chemicals for this stuff to stuff in the wood rot and hopefully fix it. If I don't get back in a week I am probably stuck in the wood resin mix. :lol:

You know, I thought that too :chin: She's up there laughing at us, you know that don't you? ;)

Happy
The forces must be against you. I'm sure Mel doesn't want to be found. She's probably having a good time where ever she is.
Glad DH had a good report.

Shad
That's exactly what I did, ignore her. She has a weird schedule and expects every one to follow hers. Nope not me. I did answer her back yesterday.

I made enough soup to feed an army and my aunt made her cornbread. We had enough for lunch. Then transported it to my aunt and cousin. I still haven't heard from my cousin from TX. They were stuck in traffic about 3 hours from here the last time we texted. I'll try again before I leave to go home.
I hear my autn up so I'll go see if I can help her with breakfast.