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#1
3rd January 2025, 07:47 AM
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January Joy
Last night I noticed what felt like a nagging splinter in a finger. But there was nothing visible even under a magnifying glass. I messed around with tweezers for awhile and then gave it up.
Woke up this morning with it still bugging me. So this time I looked it over under a 60X microscope, and found tiny little curls of stainless steel hooked into my hide here and there. Oh thats right, I installed a new shower head yesterday. And I had to grab it pretty hard to get it to stop leaking. At first I tried to get them with needle nose tweezers but it was like using logs for chopsticks. Finally I gave it a gentle scrub with a nail brush and that did the trick. Much better. Next time, gloves. 
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#2
3rd January 2025, 08:10 AM
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Eldest is 21yrs old today. We will celebrate with sushi and sake.
If that doesn't make you feel old, she was 5 when I started posting here. Just sayin'. Today also marks 21yrs and 1 day since I last took an Ambien.
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#3
3rd January 2025, 09:50 AM
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#4
3rd January 2025, 01:40 PM
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Yup, thats more or less how they did it to get a sliver out of my eye when I worked in a welding shop. But stainless isn't magnetic. I found another bit under the scope, and by taking careful note of which way it was inclined, managed to scrape it out with a knife. I'm pretty sure I got it all now. But just in case, all scratching duties will be done with the other hand for a day ot two.
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#5
4th January 2025, 04:01 AM
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ETA: Austenitic (what they put in my leg) is not magnetic. Martensitic (what's in my toaster oven) is. But both are 'stainless steel'. Last edited by C2H5OH; 4th January 2025 at 04:55 PM.
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#6
4th January 2025, 01:47 PM
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This is my birthday month and even tho it's almost 3 weeks away, I got to cash in my free burger at Red Robin! Afterwards, since we were in the neighborhood, we dropped in on our daughter and the grands and got our share of hugs and smooches. Then home to chill.
Despite the cold, it's been a good day!
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#7
6th January 2025, 04:52 AM
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Happy birthday, FCM!
We're vacationing at Bodega Bay, California. Today we're going to a seafood restaurant for lunch, and we usually get their topnotch halibut and chips. But yesterday was opening day for commercial crab fishing, and we noted that fishermen in the Bay were already selling live crab. So if our seafood restaurant has Dungeness crab on their specials board, that's what I'm getting, damn the cost. I don't think I've had crab in years. But if they don't have any, their halibut 'n' chips 'n' chowder are great, too. The other January joy is that today is the first day back to school for most kids, so all the holiday tourists (and there were lots in Bodega Bay yesterday) will clear out and leave the roads uncrowded for us.
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#8
6th January 2025, 05:53 AM
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My grandspawn are having a blast in their yard. Daughter sent me some videos of them and the dog in the snow. Roxy made a snow angel and the dog immediately ran across it a couple of times, destroying it. Tobias asked for help making a snowball. I don't know if it's good snowball/snowman snow - I won't be going out to see. They live about 15 miles away, but it's probably the same snow we have.
 As a kid, I'd have been out there for hours. As a geezer, I'm thankful for a toasty fire and a mug of hot tea indoors, plopped on my recliner!
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#9
10th January 2025, 10:24 AM
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After our snow earlier this week, I waited till Wednesday to shovel - did a little, took a break inside, did a little more. When I went out the second time, after shoveling a bit on the flat area, I got to thinking that I should clear around the mailbox before doing anything else.
But the road had been plowed and the snow pushed up at the end of the driveway and by the mailbox was big heavy chunks. I started by chopping it up, and realized it'd take me for-freekin' ever to accomplish anything, so I gave up on the mailbox. Instead, I decided to clear the worst of the end of the drive, in case I needed to take my car out. No probs witn FCD's SUV - it got out just fine. As I was taking a breather from that horrific task, a guy drove by on his John Deere with a scoop in the front and he asked if I'd like help, then asked what kind of driveway we have. (concrete) And in about 5 or 6 minutes, he cleared the part of the drive I hadn't gotten to as well as enough around the mailbox so we could receive our junk mail again. I thanked him profusely, then headed back into the house, realizing too late I hadn't asked his name. The next day, I took a chance and looked on Nextdoor - and there was a post with a photo of a John Deere tractor and an offer to clear snow. The user's photo looked like the guy, so I messaged him - YES! He was my back-saver! He said he likes to help out and rather than state a charge, he accepts what people think it's worth - mainly he wants to pay for the diesel for his tractor. I've got his number to text him if we need him again, and I stopped by the credit union for cash to pay him. We don't generally have cash on hand, but now we do. Anyway, YAAAAAY! I can handle the 2" that might come overnight tonight, but next time we get a big snowfall, I've got his number. Happy happy!!
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#10
10th January 2025, 04:26 PM
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nice, FCM!
the split pea soup I made is pretty good! took me hours and hours but I chop veggies slow. also? SECOND SUNNY DAY THIS WEEK!!!!!  
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#11
13th January 2025, 02:50 PM
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I was at New Seasons deli counter requesting their Greek meatballs. The clerk assisting me mentioned his liking of Greek food, and I said I like the stuffed cabbage rolls. He agreed, and wondered what it's called, to which I replied "I don't know; it's all Greek to me." I followed that with "You have no idea how long I've waited to say that", to which he replied "I wish you could've waited another minute." The other counterperson burst out laughing, than quickly apologized to me, but I waved it off. I was enjoying this repartee with strangers.
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#12
14th January 2025, 07:20 AM
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Our driveway is clear and dry!!!! The dry is the biggie - the sun would melt and water would pool and ice would form overnight. But we had a few days above freezing and abundant sun where water was no longer pooling - it was draining somewhere - so we have a dry drive!
Plus, this time next week (21-24) we'll be in Ocean City, MD for a mini-vacation. It'll be freekin' cold, but the hotel has 2 hot tubs and we're counting on mid-week peace and quiet. The last 2 times we went, it was on weekends and there were high school kids groups there for events. NOISY kids. We just want to relax after all the recent stress in our life. Can't wait!!
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#13
15th January 2025, 07:07 AM
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We're going on a cruise in June/July way up north of the Arctic Circle. Last year, we went to Antarctica - well, we cruised past but didn't actually set foot there. Since then, FCD has mentioned going to the North Pole. I found a cruise that goes up to the tippy-top of Norway as well as to Iceland and Greenland, crossing the circle 4 times. We decided to do this instead of the solar eclipse cruise next year.
I'm very excited. The cruise and the flights are booked (premium economy, because we're worth it!) and I'm about to work out hotel and transfers from airport to the ship and back again. And I'll be looking at excursions to decide what we want to see ashore. We'll fly out of and into of BWI, and and one of my sisters lives about 5 minutes away, so we can leave our car there and even if she can't take us, a cab ride will be quick and cheap. So, huzzah!!!
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#15
15th January 2025, 05:55 PM
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way cool, FCM, feel free to come back and post photos for us.
It's Bald Eagle season here, folks, I saw 7 today including one adult chasing an sub-adult for some time. There should be lots more, shortly.
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#16
15th January 2025, 08:30 PM
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So I've been watching this incredible Japanese wood worker who makes these vacuum tight fits on the complicated wood working joints he makes. And I got a Japanese pull cut saw with 0 teeth set for flush cutting. Tried it on some oak and it cut right through and the cut was so smooth it was shiny.
I'm going to try some of the simpler joints he cuts and see if I can improve my chops.
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#17
16th January 2025, 01:59 AM
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Please update us on this, Wolf. It sounds amazing!
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#18
16th January 2025, 10:52 AM
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https://www.youtube.com/shorts/6kGUSqp1DGg
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#21
16th January 2025, 06:59 PM
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There is a YouTube channel called Roaming Wild Rosie and she hand makes lap joints with a japanese saw and chisel. Bought a house in Sweden and is doing a reno. All her furniture, and her porch are done with hand made joints.
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#22
17th January 2025, 01:44 PM
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The best I was able to muster in shop class was the dove-tailed joint.
Years later I learned why everyone laughed when I talked about it.
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#24
17th January 2025, 03:09 PM
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#25
17th January 2025, 04:17 PM
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For that, I bust out the dovetail router jig.
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#26
18th January 2025, 07:40 PM
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#27
19th January 2025, 03:56 AM
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Funny moment from Visit of the Spawn that I must share: My daughter brought the grands over yesterday for lunch and a visit. I forgot (again) to pick up the cat’s kibble feeder before Trevor the lab came in. So, naturally, as soon as he charged in, he went for it. And I immediately reacted by yelling “Dammit, dog, get out of there!!” and putting the feeder out of reach. Tobias (age 3) was right there and he said “It’s not Dammit Dog, it’s Trevor!”
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#28
19th January 2025, 06:50 AM
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I love that!
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#29
20th January 2025, 11:56 AM
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The Trader Joe's Chicken Spring Rolls are very good!
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#30
21st January 2025, 08:50 AM
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Turns out the label printer Mrs. Larsen got me will print barcodes and the barcode reader app on my phone can read them!
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#32
21st January 2025, 03:23 PM
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Dear smoking young hottie:
I get that you are proud of your figure. And thats a bod to be proud of, its true. But a bikini in January? Thanks for the ogle, but you're trying too hard is all I'm saying. Its not worth freezing to death over. PS - Nice abs!
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#33
21st January 2025, 03:59 PM
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#34
22nd January 2025, 06:06 AM
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The ride from home to Ocean City yesterday was not bad. And we stopped at Doyle's Diner for lunch - it was yum! Our room's on the 5th floor facing the ocean. The hot tub was unoccupied last night - yay! Breakfast downstairs was quite good. Great start to mini-vacation! Well, except for the snow...
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#35
25th January 2025, 04:36 AM
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And the ride home yesterday was equally not-bad. We had to stop to get air in our tires - the nice guy at the shop did it for free. Turns out our pressure was down to around 25 in all tires - yoiks!!
But we got home in good time, I dropped off my sweetie to pick up his car (we think it's finally fixed) and I ran my Sonata thru the carwash to be de-salted. And last night, I got about 10 hours of sleep - guess I missed my own bed. It was a nice break, but it's good to be home.
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#36
25th January 2025, 08:20 AM
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#37
29th January 2025, 07:39 PM
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So I bought something on a whim at IKEA yesterday, but have already used them thrice. They had these trays that were like 3/4 size cafeteria trays for 99¢. They were a quiet pale green and I bought two of them to use as parts trays. So far today I've used them to hold the parts to assemble two metal sets of shelves and one IKEA Billy bookcase. They are really handy and the parts are easy to see against the pale green color. Since I have projects stretching out towards the next galactic supercluster, they are going to get a lot of use.
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#38
30th January 2025, 05:26 AM
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Some of the most useful things I've bought were plastic cafeteria trays. They were cheap at a restaurant supply place, and I bought four or five.
One use is for housekeeping. When it's time to dust, I offload all the tchotchkes and stuff off of furniture or off of the bathroom sink vanity onto a tray and move it all to another room to get it out of the way. After I clean the furniture or vanity, I bring back the tray and wipe off each piece before restoring it to its place. I keep another tray around to toss dirty, wet cleaning towels onto so that they don't accidentally end up on the carpet. Easy to then tote all the towels to the washer and dump them in. A quick rinse-off of the trays and they're ready for the next use. Another use is to put trays on those wire shelves to hold items and keep them from getting stuck in the slots between the wires. You can use the tray as an ersatz drawer and pull it out as needed to get at stuff. I know you can buy more elaborate organizer components at Closets-R-Us, but the plastic trays are as cheap as dirt.
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#40
30th January 2025, 05:56 AM
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#41
30th January 2025, 06:38 AM
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#42
31st January 2025, 09:52 AM
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Swimmy's heart's greatest desire back in late September was a stuffed animal plushie designed by her favorite YouTuber. There was a limited time pre-order, so I agreed to order it for her as a birthday gift, though it wasn't supposed to ship until after her October birthday. Our order estimate was that it would arrive in early December.
I was produced on schedule and we got a shipping notification to expect it no later than mid December. When the shipping date range hit she started watching like a hawk. We followed the tracking info as the plushie left China, crossed the ocean, made it through customs, traveled over land to the post office a mile from our house. . . . . . and a "shipping exception" occurred and it was deemed undeliverable.  I contacted customer service. They confirmed that there was a shipping problem, that they had my correct address, and they ordered a reship (which was a relief considering it was supposed to be a limited production run). It was supposed to be here by January 16th. We watched the 2nd plushie leave China, cross the ocean, go through customs, make it to Pittsburgh on January 11th, and sit. And sit. And sit. On the 17th I contacted customer service again. They confirmed it was a failed shipment and offered a reship or a refund. I crossed my fingers and requested a reship. . . . . . and today it actually arrived!!!! Which is nice because I'm tired of tracking plushies as they cross the planet and miss my house. I didn't open the package yet, I'll let Swimmy do that when she gets home. Those of you in the PNW will probably be able to hear her delighted squeal.
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#44
1st February 2025, 04:52 AM
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Ah, lots of actual rain on the way, and a little is falling right now. We need it, and I hope to take a drive to see the creeks fill up and the reservoirs start to recoup some of their losses.
I found on youtube one of those driving videos. The drive goes over a pass and through valleys in Norway, just by chance right past the village where my great-great grandfather lived before he said fuck this and emigrated to Minnesota in the mid-1800s. The village now consists of about three or four farmhouses and a barn or two. It must have been more populous back then, before emigration and starvation cleaned out a lot of rural inhabitants. The scenery might be beautiful, but you can't eat it, as I'm sure Ole Iverson said as he packed up and left. And jeez, Norway is gorgeous. At least in the summertime, when everything is lush and green and the creeks and rivers are full of clean, clear rushing water.
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#45
1st February 2025, 05:49 AM
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#46
1st February 2025, 07:11 AM
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There aren't any kosher delis to speak of here in the bay area, either. I used to work in downtown Los Angeles, and we had a few to choose from. I took for granted that I'd always have access to a hot pastrami on corn rye, but I haven't had anything remotely like that since I moved to the bay area, which was twenty-five years ago.
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#47
1st February 2025, 08:05 AM
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They recently opened a kosher deli in Santa Barbara of all places. It’s technically a private restaurant in the Jewish Community Center but everyone is allowed. Excellent pastrami. I’m so happy.
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