Dandy December

[Jaglavak]

We are having five (5) sunny days in a row. I actually intercepted photons this afternoon. Thats like manna from heaven around here.

[JackieLikesVariety]

hmm, interesting! haven't seen this "sunny" you speak of for months weeks well, I don't know but at least it's now less than month until we turn the corner.

in Dandy news I am now officially retired instead of unemployed. it really happened a bit ago but it's finally sunk into my concept of reality.

[Metal Years]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

hmm, interesting! haven't seen this "sunny" you speak of for months weeks well, I don't know but at least it's now less than month until we turn the corner.

in Dandy news I am now officially retired instead of unemployed. it really happened a bit ago but it's finally sunk into my concept of reality.

Way to go, Jackie!

[Rock]

Yay, Jackie!

[teela brown]

Good for you, Jackie. Welcome to being an RDOS (retired drain on society).

[JackieLikesVariety]

thank you, all!

[wring]

Yay Jackie! I’m really enjoying being retired.
My good news started from bad news from last month. I went out to my car to go pick up my son for Thanksgiving and it wouldn’t start showed all signs of battery not working a neighbor a neighbor of mine did me a favor and took care of transporting my son back-and-forth so that I could wait and figure out the battery thing the next day so we recharged the battery and I went out again the next day and it wouldn’t start again so we’re figuring either it’s a bad battery or the alternator but the battery was really new. I couldn’t remember how new but I knew it was pretty new so on Sunday I took it back to where I bought the battery and they confirmed Yep bad battery Swapped out a new one so that didn’t cost me anything and I went out this morning and yeah, the car still started so apparently it was just the battery and not the alternator so yippee yippee that whole thing didn’t cost me anything and with Goodwill of my neighbors it really wasn’t all that inconvenient either. And to top it all off I just got back to my apartment. Having done my laundry in time to turn on galaxy quest and my favorite part “whoever wrote this episode should die!”

[wring]

and another thing I just found out about the town I live in. Mason, MI very rural, though it's the county seat (piece of trivia, Michigan is the only state where the capital city is not also the county seat of it's county, but I digress). we have lots of little things that are cool, from the wooden soldier statues of all our major wars (and some person or organization puts scarves on them every December through March), to gingerbread houses galore, the old style capital dome courthouse (which was featured in the movie Real Steel staring Hugh Jackman), lots of festivals, lots of flowers in the downtown area etc. Anyhow, I knew about the Santa mailbox every year - it's a giant mailbox that's placed outside the courthouse, along with a giant statue of Santa and a set of steps leading up to the mailbox for the kiddos to send their letters to Santa, I just found out that if the kid puts a return address on their letter, they get a postcard from Santa hisself. isn't that cool? I just love this town.

[Diamonds02]

Wrapping up my trip up north. Got to see several people. $800 profit, even after factoring in gas, food, and the one night I paid for a hotel out of pocket.

Caught up with friends/gaming buddies in Chicago. Gamed. Caught up with some cousins in southwest Michigan. Gamed. I had lots of free play in that area. Gamed near Grand Rapids. Met up with a friend for breakfast in Lansing. That evening I headed over to The Knob to meet up with Detroit Hoser and Edna. They were a blast! Then over to Detroit to game and just explore. And now leaving Indianapolis soon. Caught up with some more cousins in Indianapolis.

[wring]

I’m just 10 miles south of Lansing…

[Diamonds02]

Ooh that’s cool! We all should have a mini-raffe meet up the next time I pass through. Do a stoned karaoke or something.

I had no idea that outside of a very small number of people, raffers would even be interested in meeting me.

[Peeking Duck]

Originally Posted by Diamonds02

... I had no idea that outside of a very small number of people, raffers would even be interested in meeting me.

If you come to Nova Scotia, I'll show you around!

[Diamonds02]

Originally Posted by Peeking Duck

If you come to Nova Scotia, I'll show you around!

Ooh Nova Scotia! Even farther up north. Will you hook me up with a keg of Labatt Blue?

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Diamonds02

Ooh Nova Scotia! Even farther up north. Will you hook me up with a keg of Labatt Blue?

Brador is better... Hell, even standard Molson beats hell out of that Labatt swill.

[Detroit Hoser]

Stoned karaoke.

Yeah okay, I'm down for that.

[Sputnik]

Originally Posted by Detroit Hoser

Stoned karaoke.

Yeah okay, I'm down for that.

Dance like nobody’s watching,
Sing like nobody’s listening.

[Detroit Hoser]

Originally Posted by Steve Putnik

Dance like nobody’s watching,
Sing like nobody’s listening.

Pfft, I'm at that age where I don't care who knows I'm a giant dork.

[FairyChatMom]

Today is the Festival of Trees - a fundraiser for our county's Hospice. I'll be going with my daughter and the grandspawn. I've got a small pile of cash that will, one way or another, go to Hospice today.

In the 7 months (so far) that they've been taking care of MIL, they've all been fabulous! Her regular nurse and the 5 or 6 others we've dealt with are amazingly kind and patient, as well as helpful and informative, making sure we know what we should and shouldn't do. The aides who help MIL stay clean (showers before, sponge baths now) have been tops, especially Jessica, who's pretty much our regular. (Plus Jessica is the one who was here when I had my seizure in May and she realized something was off and called 911 and my husband.)

Anyway, the festival has free admission, but I'm assuming there will be stuff for sale plus the donation buckets that show up at other events in the county. I can't say enough good things about the organization and I'm looking forward to this chance to give a little back. Even tho I'll have to venture out into the cold to support them.

[JackieLikesVariety]

today is the annual Habitat for Humanity Homemade Soup and Pie Fundraiser and I am stoked indeed.

meeting folks there are 10 AM so it really is more brunch, but things start selling out right away so more than one of us said let's go right when they open.



I told them last year they should raise their prices since it's such a popular event and we'll see if they did.

[Wolf Larsen]

So something I've been looking for since we moved out of our old house is the collection of specialized wrenches that came with my table saw, router table, circular saw and chop saw. I knew they weren't lost, but had no idea which box they were in.

Today I was unpacking a box of something unrelated and there they were in the bottom. I guess the final packup was more frenzied than I had thought.

[Dragonlady]

I usually just buy another one, insuring that I will find the original immediately.

[Scuba Ben]

Snorkel Boy had his first performance today with his school's honors chorale.

[Dragonlady]

Yay!
Go Snorkle Boy!

[Detroit Hoser]

Wow, way to crap on someone's post.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by Detroit Hoser

Wow, way to crap on someone's post.

thank you for not quoting whatever bozo it is I have on ignore.

[stormie]

Nothing to see here. I forgot what thread this is. I have a dog.

[Diamonds02]

Jokes on him, Molson is partnered with Coors. Brador and Molson Ice are mass-produced like Labatt Blue. Someone would probably have to go to some Canuck town way up in the Rockies to find the good stuff these days.

I like LB for its simplicity and low alcohol content. I can drive after one. I save the more complex and higher ABV stuff for special nights.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Diamonds02

Jokes on him, Molson is partnered with Coors. Brador and Molson Ice are mass-produced like Labatt Blue. Someone would probably have to go to some Canuck town way up in the Rockies to find the good stuff these days.

I like LB for its simplicity and low alcohol content. I can drive after one. I save the more complex and higher ABV stuff for special nights.

OK, I haven't had a Brador in over 40 years. It may well have declined in quality over that time, and I'd be in no position to know. Haven't had a Molson in that long, either, but I've had Labatt's much more recently, and it was no better than Bud.

[What Exit?]

Molson is no better than Bud unless you can find the import Ale, which as you're in upstate NY, you might.

Labatt Blue was better than Molson, but I stopped drinking it in the early 90s, so I have no clue what it is like now.

[Jaglavak]

Original Michelob was a fave for years until they got assimilated by the borg and the new corporate overlords fucked it up beyond all recognition.
Now its... :: shudder :: ...a fruited light beer.

[Wolf Larsen]

Originally Posted by Jaglavak

Original Michelob was a fave for years

A friend of mine made a bookcase using the cleaned Michelob bottles glued butt to butt for the uprights. It looked amazingly good.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by What Exit?

Molson is no better than Bud unless you can find the import Ale, which as you're in upstate NY, you might.

Actually, it's "Export Ale", and yeah that used to be really good too. We always just called it "X", but Elon has permanently ruined that name.

I was just in the grocery store which has a large selection of beers, but no "X". They only had Molson Canadian. I haven't tried the beer store across town, yet, but if they have it, I'll pick up a 6-pack and report back whether or not it's still good.

[What Exit?]

Originally Posted by C2H5OH

Actually, it's "Export Ale", and yeah that used to be really good too. We always just called it "X", but Elon has permanently ruined that name.

...

Hard to remember from 30 years ago, I have seen it down here in about that long of a time. But it was significantly better than Molson's.

I'm back to drinking Bass Ale. It has improved again with the latest US based brewery and for some reason, 12 packs are only $10 at my corner liquor store.

[Peeking Duck]

Mr. Duck and I have no class when it comes to beer; we drink Molson Canadian.

[Wolf Larsen]

I've been watching this Japanese woodworking channel on YouTube.

And I really have to sharpen my chisels, this guy is amazing.

https://www.youtube.com/@twcdesign

[teela brown]

I tried my hand at making homemade English muffins. Despite my making a math mistake in the amount of water needed (I halved the internet recipe), and having no stand mixer to do prolonged kneading, they turned out pretty darned good. I fork-split them, toasted them, and spread them with lots of butter. They didn't have as many bubbles and nooks and crannies that I'd like, but next time I'll make sure to make the dough wet and sloppy like it ought to be. A wet dough ensures lots of bubbles and holes in a bread.

But if I can't make them as good as I want them, there's always Bays English muffins, to be found in the refrigerator case at the supermarket.

[Wolf Larsen]

Today is the first day the sun starts setting later. (Shortest day isn't until the 21st, but the sun starts setting later today after two weeks at the earliest sunset of the year.)

It's uphill from here.

[hajario]

Originally Posted by Wolf Larsen

Today is the first day the sun starts setting later. (Shortest day isn't until the 21st, but the sun starts setting later today after two weeks at the earliest sunset of the year.)

It's uphill from here.

I had no idea that that was how it worked. Interesting. I just looked it up and in my area it started on the 11th.

[Wolf Larsen]

Originally Posted by hajario

I had no idea that that was how it worked. Interesting. I just looked it up and in my area it started on the 11th.

Yeah, it's location dependent. I feel like we should beat on drums or something to encourage the sun to return.

[JackieLikesVariety]

Originally Posted by Wolf Larsen

Yeah, it's location dependent. I feel like we should beat on drums or something to encourage the sun to return.

I'm in. I've got a drum.

now, where do I look this up?

[Die Capacitrix]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

I'm in. I've got a drum.

now, where do I look this up?

I used this site for my location, and tomorrow (December 16th) is the first day that the sun starts setting later.

Looks like those in Columbia Gorge (just taking a Gorge) have to wait one more day for the sun to start setting later.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@7307439

[FairyChatMom]

I suppose one should be irritated at scammers, but this just cracked me up.

I put an ad on FB Marketplace for 3 small flat screen TVs that I want to get rid of, listed for $20 for all 3, because when you say FREE, you may or may not have anyone show up when they indicate interest. Whatevs...

Within minutes of posting the ad, I got a reply on a thread I started a couple of weeks ago asking if I still had the TVs. Why would someone reply there instead of directly to the ad?? So, suspicion #1.

But folks have different levels of computer savvy, so giving "her" the benefit of the doubt, I messaged her directly with a Yes. She replied asking about the condition and the location (suspicion #2), and I answered back that I'd included that information in the ad, then I "apologized" for my brusqueness, but I'd dealt with too many scammy people in Marketplace.

Silence.

Maybe here I should mention "her" name is Mary Smith and she went to school in New York (Suspicion #3 - I live in southern Maryland) and she's self-employed. Oh, and it's a new FB account. BINGO!!!

No, I haven't heard back. Gee, could she be scammy?? She's been blocked.

[JackieLikesVariety]

I went to Handel's Messiah this weekend and was blown away, since world class soloists and musicians came to join our local Cascade Singers.

It was an awesome experience, I wasn't 10 feet from the conductor and the orchestra.

you don't have to be Christian to be moved by this music.

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by JackieLikesVariety

I went to Handel's Messiah this weekend and was blown away, since world class soloists and musicians came to join our local Cascade Singers.

It was an awesome experience, I wasn't 10 feet from the conductor and the orchestra.

you don't have to be Christian to be moved by this music.

Back when I went to FUStubenville, I ran the sound system in the chapel. One day, near Christmas, I plugged my new CD player into the system, and played one of my friend's CD of Handel's Messiah into it, and cranked it up to FILL the chapel with that. For anyone who wanted to listen. (Me and my friends told EVERYBODY I was going to do it. Got a good turn-out, including from several of the school administrators. Never asked permission. They didn't take my keys away.) I had all the keys to the place, and was responsible for all the equipment. I could do that and get away with it. Damn, that was impressive. That sound system was incredible, and so was the chapel's acoustics.

[Jaglavak]

Originally Posted by FairyChatMom

Gee, could she be scammy??

Next time hook them up with AI Granny.

‘AI Granny’ is happy to talk with phone scammers all day

[C2H5OH]

Originally Posted by Jaglavak

Next time hook them up with AI Granny.

Damn. My mother would LOVE that. But it would tie up the phone all day, so actually important calls can't come through. But I'm going to show her that vid, as soon as she gets home from the PT rehab on thursday.

[FairyChatMom]

Inspiration struck early this morning, or last night - I don't recall.

Anyway, I'm always expected to bring deviled eggs to the family Christmas gathering at my brother's house. One sister demands I make Blood Mary Deviled Eggs and the rest are the usual kind. Not this year.

First off, I'm going to dye the whites red (OK, more like dark pink) and green. Naturally, the red ones will get the bloody mary filling. But instead of making the usual boring filling, I'll add bits of chopped up ham to the mix, and we'll have Green Eggs and Ham!!

Is that a great idea or what?? I'm a freekin' deviled egg genius!

[Wolf Larsen]

New ash vac is freaking awesome. Used it yesterday to clean out the fireplace and today I cleaned out the grill. The double filtration system means it doesn't spew ash all over the place. Nice long cord, so easy to plug in.

[Solfy]

Those eggs sound yummy, FCM.

[Wolf Larsen]

Today is the shortest day of the year. We need to beat on drums to bring the sun back.