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Post by Merge on Sept 25, 2024 13:45:17 GMT
Only public building here - schools, community centers, etc. I usually go to the community center close to my house.
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Post by Merge on Sept 25, 2024 13:39:22 GMT
Texas Tribune does important writing without all the froth and foaming rhetoric we hear from some other outlets. This article is long, but worth a read for anyone concerned about matters at the border. Thanks for sharing, librarylady! |
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Post by Merge on Sept 25, 2024 0:46:15 GMT
Just thinking back to when election night was maybe interesting and important but not a matter of such nail biting and anxiety. Those were the days!
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Post by Merge on Sept 24, 2024 17:01:47 GMT
Apparently how to change a toilet paper roll both one of my sons fail to do it. This is on the list of things my MIL didn't teach her son to do.  |
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Post by Merge on Sept 24, 2024 16:24:25 GMT
I honestly think he imagines that if he's president, American will immediately become a place where white nuclear families predominate so every woman will have a husband/protector. And he extrapolates from that, that abortion will no longer be needed.
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Post by Merge on Sept 24, 2024 14:29:26 GMT
I teach piano until 7 on Tuesday nights, but I’ll be glued to the couch watching after that. Hoping for a victory so resounding that Georgia’s little ballot counting scam won’t matter. I think the Rs are seriously underestimating the effect the abortion issue will have on turnout and voting patterns.
I was pleased to see that some state senator in Nebraska nixed their attempt to return to winner take all instead of letting Omaha’s vote go to Harris.
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Post by Merge on Sept 24, 2024 14:04:02 GMT
This isn't things we forgot to teach, but instead things we taught incorrectly. DH and I have always used "bocephus" to mean facetious so that's what our DDs grew up hearing. Our youngest said it to her college roommates and then argued with them when they told her it wasn't a word.
Also, I say iburprofren (with the R after the F). Way back I thought that was the word and no one has ever corrected me. The same DD also said it to her college roommates and was corrected. She then corrected me and that's when I realized that I've been saying it wrong.
We have a whole family lexicon of made-up words and phrases that our oldest apparently took to high school with her and was embarrassed by. Now, at 23, she will ask, "is that an actual thing or just something that WE say." Most came from FIL, who passed in 2009, but DH has kept his memory alive with all his colorful words and phrases. I didn't teach my oldest how to bake or the youngest to cook. They can both do the other thing. They can figure it out like I did, through videos, because when I grew up I realized that my mom didn't actually cook - like many 80s moms, she assembled things with cream soups and rice a roni. Could whip up a mean jello salad. But actual cooking from scratch? No. I taught HER how to work with fresh garlic after I'd been married and had kids. My oldest had extreme anxiety and other issues and simply refused to be taught many things, like taking her car for an oil change. Any new experience was overwhelming. We're working on all of that now that she's more stable. The youngest is extremely independent and has the attitude, "I'll figure it out," which is great. We've been putting her on planes to visit her Nana since she was about 12. She manages layovers in large airports and has no problems. Through college, though, she's needed help with things like time management and scheduling, as well as meal planning and grocery shopping now that she's in an apartment. Her junior and senior years in HS were heavily affected by Covid, so some of the teaching we might have been doing at that time went by the wayside. I'm a firm believer that we don't stop raising our kids when they turn 18. Young adults need guidance, too. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 24, 2024 3:09:12 GMT
DH and I went to look at a house yesterday, and I would like to add to my list of dealbreakers. I prefer not to have neighbors who mow the lawn topless. I wish I were kidding, but that house quickly got crossed off the list. I might have let it go, but they also had a boat being stored in their side yard, plus a giant camo-covered dually with a flat tire in the driveway. I just feel like they don't match with my aesthetic. See, that’s what you get house-shopping in the burbs. 😂 |
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Post by Merge on Sept 24, 2024 0:41:14 GMT
Just long enough to heat it through at the end.
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Post by Merge on Sept 23, 2024 16:39:37 GMT
Merge, as much as I loathe Putin (probably as much as I loathe CF) I sincerely doubt he would want trump in his country. Trump is only good to him if he's president. I think if Trump can continue to post on social media while there, sowing discord and division and riling up his followers, Putin can still make use of him. I have no doubt that Putin and Elon would make it so Trump can freely post on Twitter even if other Russians can't. And from there he can boost the candidacies of other potential Russians assets like JD Vance. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 23, 2024 16:15:29 GMT
I feel fairly certain that if he doesn't win, he'll be on the next plane to Russia, Venezuela, or another country without a US extradition treaty. To which I say - good riddance. I would be so happy to never hear about or from this POS ever again, I don't care what he does! Rot in prison? Good. Runs away to another country? Good. My question is...if he does run away, do the SS men go with him? I'm sure his good buddy Putin will provide him with Russian security guards if he ends up there. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 23, 2024 14:17:33 GMT
He could fix it fast by going away. I read today that he has reportedly said if he does not win this election then he is done and won’t run in 2028. Maybe that is how we get rid of him is by making sure he does not win this election I feel fairly certain that if he doesn't win, he'll be on the next plane to Russia, Venezuela, or another country without a US extradition treaty. To which I say - good riddance. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 23, 2024 2:25:23 GMT
Move the iPad as needed while you’re beginning. When you’re more familiar with the poses, you won’t need to look as much.
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Post by Merge on Sept 22, 2024 23:49:32 GMT
Texas will never do this, but we should. There's no reason to be using disposable plastic bags in 2024.
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Post by Merge on Sept 22, 2024 22:09:20 GMT
For me here in the northeast, my two top wishlist items would be a full house generator and a screened in porch. Ohhh, good point on the generator. Also on the wishlist for us if our next place is in Houston. Screened in porch/patio would be nice, too. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 22, 2024 18:10:11 GMT
If gold/champagne don't work with your coloring (I'm thinking you have more cool tones?) I think a cool-toned blush would be beautiful. Slate blue might also work well.
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Post by Merge on Sept 22, 2024 17:25:33 GMT
And the Kohls nearby never has anyone in it except to make Amazon returns. Hahaha, I was in Kohl's to make a return and, yes, the store was very empty. But at least it was a Kohl's return. I love their Tek Gear workout clothes, always buy online for size/color options and occasionally throw something else in the cart. The something elses have a high return rate. Yeah, it's been years since I saw anything there I wanted to wear. I'm probably there every other week for Amazon returns so I see what they've got out. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 22, 2024 15:15:08 GMT
I don't know how JC Penney's is holding on. They did partner with Sephora, and our local Penney's has a Sephora store in it. What is funny though is that there is full-sized Sephora store across from Penney's in the mall. I wondered if Penney's still had Sephora because I was in Kohl's not long ago and they have a Sephora store inside now. I'm surprised to se DVDs making a come back. Sephora left Penneys and went to Kohls, which I found funny because my area has one of the few remaining standalone, really successful Penneys. Frequently crowded. And the Kohls nearby never has anyone in it except to make Amazon returns. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 22, 2024 12:46:40 GMT
I'm so glad I have an elderly white man around to tell me what I should think and feel.
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Post by Merge on Sept 21, 2024 18:27:01 GMT
I think katlady is right. I've never been to Texas but when they had that big winter storm a few years ago, I was totally surprised by how many people had burst pipes and how poorly their power lines did with it. It seemed to me that the construction down there has to be different than Michigan because even though we do have a storm every once in a while where we lose power, what happened down there is just Tuesday in January for us. Yes. Most homes in Texas don't have much, if any, pipe insulation. Instead we have radiant heat barriers in our attics to help keep the temperature down. We have our power lines above ground for reasons no one understands. Money, most likely. It's a problem not only during a winter storm but every time we have a tropical storm or hurricane (or derecho, now). Houston has been AC-dependent pretty much forever. The city was basically a small town until the invention of air conditioning. The climate has never been livable and it's only gotten worse. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 21, 2024 14:59:21 GMT
Years ago we had friends who lived in a different neighborhood but set up a kind of tool co-op in their cul-de-sac. Each household had and maintained certain things for the group - they had like two lawnmowers between six families, one leafblower, a couple of trimmers, and then the one guy who was super handy was the keeper of the tile saw and other things that you only use once in a blue moon. I was always very impressed with that but couldn't imagine doing it myself. These days we tend to hire someone who already has the tools rather than buying the tools ourselves.  That's such a neat idea. I have seen that done locally at a community garden, where a shed on the property holds tools anyone can use, but the concept you are describing really helps individuals with larger items, too. Plus I'm sure it helped foster a sense of community.  I've started seeing libraries loan out items as opposed to only books & periodicals more and more as well. Yes! The "library of things." We have that in the larger library branches here. I love it. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 20, 2024 16:50:32 GMT
Twenty years or so, and it would have been a Creative Memories or Stampin' Up party.
I'm so glad most MLMs have subsided.
ETA: I spoke too soon! Just got an invitation from SIL to an online Tastefully Simple party. 😂
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Post by Merge on Sept 20, 2024 16:15:51 GMT
I think the bigger problem is all the processed foods. Eating Whole Foods, whether plant or animal is better for our bodies than anything that comes in a package. Fast food is killing us and the planet. ^^^ this. I grew up with a mom who cooked from scratch (meat and potatoes, mostly), and we had a garden... when I got out on my own, I did NOT cook. I never learned how to actually 'cook' while I was growing up. Processed food items EXPLODED during the 1980s and beyond. During my 20s and 30s, I lived on Lean Cuisines, WW frozen entrees, frozen pizzas, canned soup + grilled cheese (processed American cheese food slices), and the like. My all-time favorite cereals are Lucky Charms and Honey Smacks (previously called Sugar Smacks); my all-time favorite snack food is Cheetos. Cheetos is NOT an actual FOOD. None of what I lived on for most of my adult life was actual food, except the frozen vegetables I added to my frozen entrees. Most of what's in the interior aisles of the grocery store is not actual FOOD that ANY person could replicate with a recipe. MOST of what's for sale in stores nowadays is industrially-processed, artificially sweetened / salted / fattened edible food-adjacent items developed in a LAB to hit the 'bliss point' for addictiveness-- to make us want more, so the companies can make more and more money. The big industrial "food" companies are doing the same thing the tobacco companies did, and most people don't even realize it. eta: maybe my viewpoint on this is too cynical, but I don't think so. Another good book on this topic is The Pleasure Trap by Dr. Doug Lisle and Dr. Alan Goldhamer. (I haven't read the book yet, but I've heard them speak on this topic on a lot of podcasts.) And Salt Sugar Fat is a REALLY good book- and sobering / scary at the same time, when you realize how easily the big companies can manipulate us into buying what they want us to. You’re absolutely right, and the fact that the crap is usually cheaper than the good stuff (unless you really do cook from scratch) only helps it jump into people’s carts. I really learned to cook well from scratch during the five years I was a SAHM and we had no money and I had plenty of time. Necessity plus opportunity. People need both to push them in the path of change, and opportunity is lacking for a lot of people. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 20, 2024 15:30:46 GMT
I think one of the things I love about my local Buy Nothing group is that more and more I see posts where people are saying "Hey, does anyone have a widget that I can borrow for one day/a few hours, before I go out an buy one?" And that seems to be working well for people. They don't have to buy items just to use once and then store away. And that's something I try to get DH to think about as well. He'll want to do something around the house and his first thought is "Go buy a new tool!" So I've been trying to say to him "Do we know anyone else who might have this tool?" Especially if it is something we'll only use once in a blue moon. Years ago we had friends who lived in a different neighborhood but set up a kind of tool co-op in their cul-de-sac. Each household had and maintained certain things for the group - they had like two lawnmowers between six families, one leafblower, a couple of trimmers, and then the one guy who was super handy was the keeper of the tile saw and other things that you only use once in a blue moon. I was always very impressed with that but couldn't imagine doing it myself. These days we tend to hire someone who already has the tools rather than buying the tools ourselves. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 20, 2024 1:44:36 GMT
I was thinking more about this and wanted also to put in that a majority of Americans likely don't have the time or skills to cook plant-based meals every day. Never mind the money. It's a position of privilege to be concerned about the origin of what you eat - I suspect most Americans are just looking for the cheapest and quickest way to fill their families' bellies. I find this interesting because I have no idea how to cook most meats and find the idea of most to be incredibly daunting. You have to somehow magically know how to get them cooked to the right temperature inside (and different meats have different temps), but without drying them out, and I don't have a clue how to do that. Plus, I know some people buy certain cheaper meats and make magic with them, but when I was buying chicken (the only meat I ever bought aside from ground turkey), I only bought boneless skinless chicken, and even then I felt like it was an ordeal to get them ready to cook. Those weird little tendon things were fricking impossible to remove. Plus growing up, while we were not served vegan meals, which I do think require more thought & effort in some cases-- as a kid when my parents were having hard times, we ate a regular rotation of meatless meals each week to cut down on how many nights my mother had to buy the meat, which was the most expensive ingredient. Pierogi, spaghetti, homemade pizza, rice & bean tacos, pancakes or eggs, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches with tomato soup (canned): these were regular things for us for awhile. We'd have in season fruits or veggies with them, so all winter long we ate apples, oranges, and because they were always cheap, bananas. We also ate a million pounds of cucumber slices and carrot & celery sticks, and during the winter, we used to eat thinly sliced raw sweet potatoes. (I have to say, I have never eaten raw sweet potatoes since then---I did not like the mouth feel of those things!) Fair. I would say that a majority of Americans have neither the time nor the skill to cook from scratch with meat or without, and in most cases find processed foods (which often contain animal products if not actual meat) cheaper. And those who live in food deserts don't have access to all those vegetables and fruits, and when they do have them, their kids won't eat them. It's a complex issue. My mom grew our vegetables and canned them to save money, but that's also a skill most people don't have even if they have the time and space. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 20, 2024 1:04:05 GMT
I was thinking more about this and wanted also to put in that a majority of Americans likely don't have the time or skills to cook plant-based meals every day. Never mind the money. It's a position of privilege to be concerned about the origin of what you eat - I suspect most Americans are just looking for the cheapest and quickest way to fill their families' bellies.
So maybe we can't rely on legislation or corporations, but realistically, we also can't rely on the vast majority of Americans to fix what needs fixing.
(We did whole foods, plant-based eating for a year and a half before Covid and the amount of time needed to make it work was incredible. And I didn't necessarily find it less expensive, one because you eat a greater volume of food that way and two because we have tended to limit our meat consumption anyway. Also, when I would "cheat" and buy some plant-based "dairy" items like cheese or yogurt, those things are outrageously expensive. Ultimately it wasn't sustainable for me to work full time, manage my family's schedule and needs, keep the house up, AND spend several hours every weekend on meal prep plus cooking time in the evenings.)
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Post by Merge on Sept 20, 2024 0:16:13 GMT
I will never understand how a parent can do something like that to their own child. Thanks for being a safe place for him.
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Post by Merge on Sept 20, 2024 0:13:58 GMT
People in other countries shaking their heads at us right now. I'd call the insurance company and ask what info they need from the doc to give you a quote. Alternatively, your doctor's office may be willing to coordinate with insurance to give you a quote (that's what they should do). Raising my hand Canadian - so if bloodwork is wanted by my family doctor, it's covered. Although we did pay $100 out of pocket for DD's gluten testing a few years ago. But bloodwork ordered by my Naturopath is not covered. So she sent me to my doctor to get things ordered - it wasn't out of the blue, I'm in peri-menopause so it was time to go and say "hey it's time to..." and then once I had the request form, she looked it over and added to it (separate form). I only had to pay out of pocket for the tests the Naturopath added. And then DH's benefits covered that under my Naturopath coverage so win win! I have an appointment with a peri/menopause specialist next month and I'm scared to find out how little will be covered by insurance. 'Murica! |
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Post by Merge on Sept 19, 2024 18:10:04 GMT
Interesting thoughts. I’d say we tend to do the opposite with most things - buy what we need and rent or make do on the rare occasion that we need something larger. But of course there are some things you can’t do that with. And then we were the annoying parents who didn’t have an extra room for sleepover guests and the annoying family members who provided a list of nearby hotels to family because, again, no spare rooms. So that can be a downer.
I think a lot of people feel a certain sense of comfort in abundance, in having more than they need. Perhaps because they grew up with less than they needed or perhaps because that’s how they’re wired. IDK. I don’t feel that way with our house or car but I do with clothes and certain other things, like dishes. Something to ponder.
Ohhh one more thought - food. I seem to be physically incapable of cooking a nice meal that would feed fewer than ten people. Even if there are only four of us at the table. I need to work on that because with the kids out of the house, leftovers don’t get eaten up the way they used to.
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Post by Merge on Sept 19, 2024 17:54:09 GMT
jeremysgirl do you truly eat tofu in place of beef? I'm just curious as I've never eaten tofu. (Don't come at me, I'm a midwestern girl raised by a farmer.) Tofu can be delicious when prepared properly. I often choose it at Asian restaurants even though I’m an omnivore. You don’t have to replace beef, but you can try some plant-based options to see if you’d like to include them periodically. |
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