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Post by Merge on Sept 19, 2024 17:33:05 GMT
I mean … no, but because information like that has already influenced what we buy to some extent. I’m comfortable right now with the balance we’ve struck between caring for the environment and living comfortably in modern America. There are a lot of corporations that need to change their ways to protect the environment in big ways before I make my life harder to make a negligible difference. I agree with you that there's a balance to be had. I had to find the line with my consumption of clothing. There is no set answer. The more of us that make changes, the more impact we have. Beef and cheese consumption has skyrocketed over the past 30 years. That's a change people made that might on an individual level seem negligible. But when many do it, it's big impact. Like what we are seeing right now. It happened gradually. What if we rolled back the dial on it? Right. And I feel I’ve made the changes I need to make. I’m an advocate for eating fewer animal products and sourcing those you do eat from humane, non-corporate farms to the extent possible. But I’m not going to be pressured into eliminating them all (again - BTDT) while the big players continue on their merry way. I’m also not about telling other people how to live their lives. Regulations should be for big corporations, not so much for individuals. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 19, 2024 17:09:00 GMT
I mean … no, but because information like that has already influenced what we buy to some extent. I’m comfortable right now with the balance we’ve struck between caring for the environment and living comfortably in modern America.
There are a lot of corporations that need to change their ways to protect the environment in big ways before I make my life harder to make a negligible difference.
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Post by Merge on Sept 18, 2024 19:34:22 GMT
Remind me, was he the one who left the country on a private plane a while back to avoid these charges? If so, why did he come back?
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Post by Merge on Sept 18, 2024 19:21:15 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). They might, but most office staff does not have the time to check with every single insurance provider for every patient to figure out what might or might not be covered. That's really on the patient, unfortunately. It USED to work that if the doctor felt you needed it, it was covered. Those days are long gone and insurance covers less and less. It's true that not everything is covered any longer, but my experience has been that providers affiliated with larger hospital systems at least can generally put what is being prescribed into the computer database and find out what it will cost the patient through their insurance. More and more, of course, providers here are leaving those large hospital systems and going concierge or setting up a private practice that simply doesn't take insurance. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 18, 2024 13:55:19 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).
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Post by Merge on Sept 18, 2024 2:20:40 GMT
It looks like they took two jackets that didn't sell last season, cut them up and sewed them together.
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Post by Merge on Sept 18, 2024 2:13:45 GMT
Both scenarios are bad. I think that if Trump dies, however, I’m not super confident everyone will fall in line behind Vance. I mean ... unless they've already set aside the constitution (possible), doesn't the VP have to become president if the pres dies? Not saying he'd be elected for another term. I think Vance is even worse than Trump. He's in the same box with Ted Cruz as far as I can see. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 17, 2024 19:42:53 GMT
My dad's family (his dad's side) came to Ellis Island from Scotland in the late 19th century. My sister knows more, but apparently my great grandfather ended up as part of the organized crime underworld in NYC, and the gang ties extended to the next generation because my mom swore up and down that my grandfather sent her and my dad to "a friend" who was supposedly a jeweler who laundered money for the gangs to get a diamond for her engagement ring. Dad's mom's family came from England and were apparently just respectable working class people.
My mom's family were homesteaders/pioneers from England and France who ended up in Iowa and South Dakota also in the late 19th century (the French side may go back further; I'd have to ask my sister). My grandmother actually taught in a one-room schoolhouse until she married in 1930. They were all farmers and some of my cousins still farm in that area today.
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Post by Merge on Sept 16, 2024 16:24:07 GMT
Ah yes, another "assassination attempt." They're the new "migrant caravans" when Republicans need to take back control of the news cycle.
Florida is an open carry state. Why should they care if some guy is sitting in the bushes with his rifle? We're all told to think that's totally normal and to go about our business.
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Post by Merge on Sept 16, 2024 16:19:02 GMT
So we're discussing dealbreakers elsewhere, but I've been thinking lately about my wish list for the new home we hope to build as our "forever" home. Most of these items are not dealbreakers for me, but just a wishlist.
1. Large kitchen with ample storage, including walk-in pantry with adequate light and shallow shelving.
2. A sort of butler's pantry/keeping room/mudroom situation off the kitchen that also has an exterior exit to the back yard/garage via covered walkway.
3. Garage behind the main house, not visible from the street.
4. Hobby space for DH above the garage with full power/AC and a bathroom.
5. No formal living or dining. Large family space adjacent to eating space.
6. Music room large enough to hold all of our instruments and host rehearsal sessions with others, with lots of outlets.
7. Two offices, one each for me and DH.
8. Separate MIL quarters that are either attached and very private or else a separate structure.
9. Large laundry room with space to hang clothes to dry.
10. Utility storage closet in or next to laundry room.
11. Large linen closet near the bedrooms.
12. Three bedrooms that are not offices - one primary and two guest, each with their own bathroom attached.
13. Separate his and hers walk in closets in the primary bedroom.
14. Large shower in master bath. No tub.
15. Covered patio area with outdoor kitchen and TV.
16. Xeriscaped/native plants yard with just a little grass for dogs to do business.
What would you have in your dream home?
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Post by Merge on Sept 16, 2024 13:11:56 GMT
I cannot now find the post/video, but there was a Harris/Walz truck train with waving flags in Edinburg, TX recently. Edinburg is in a light blue county in the Rio Grande Valley, so plenty of Trump supporters there as well. An act of bravery in such a heavily armed state.
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Post by Merge on Sept 16, 2024 13:00:17 GMT
No tub and a large shower in our current primary bath. That's how we like it. I don't like baths at all. Bathtubs with jets are gross to me - I've seen horror stories of the jets having mold in them that shoots out when they're turned on.
I'm fine with keeping the tub/shower in the secondary bath in case of young kids, but in nine years no one has ever used that tub for a bath.
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Post by Merge on Sept 15, 2024 22:16:35 GMT
one of our leaders started talking about voting, following the news etc.. then he switched to a survey he wants us to fill out---"make your voice heard".. on our pastor as we rehire him... it is to be constructive and not a vote. it was sort of funny cause he got our attention --with the beginning something we never hear from the pulpit. our message is vote.. up to you to figure out who or what. taxes would put many churches out of business.. Which other type of business do we allow to pay no taxes because their business model might not be strong enough to afford them? |
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Post by Merge on Sept 15, 2024 17:10:43 GMT
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Post by Merge on Sept 15, 2024 15:07:42 GMT
I've come to realize that I pronounce words differently depending on the time, place and audience. Years of voice training rounded my vowels and made "our" and "hour" roughly the same. If you've ever spoken with a voice major there's, um, almost a standard and kind of affected-sounding speech pattern that they use. I tend to still use that pattern when speaking in public, in meetings with admin, etc.
But in casual conversation now, either my old midwestern flat vowels or the Texas twang comes out and "our" sounds like "are."
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Post by Merge on Sept 14, 2024 23:39:16 GMT
No.
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Post by Merge on Sept 14, 2024 14:36:08 GMT
I don't really think Trump's going to put them out of business, but it was time to order spices for fall/winter baking anyway ... I think they are worried about their physical shops, not necessarily their full business. I am going to shop in person today. I see. IME they tend to put their shops in blue cities/areas, but I guess anything can happen. |
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Post by Merge on Sept 14, 2024 4:09:00 GMT
I don't really think Trump's going to put them out of business, but it was time to order spices for fall/winter baking anyway ...
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Post by Merge on Sept 13, 2024 19:17:27 GMT
As others have said, one syllable but more like two-r.
Two syllables would be very southern IMO.
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Post by Merge on Sept 13, 2024 18:41:08 GMT
Why won't they hit the space bar after they type a period at the end of a sentence before they begin a new sentence? A lot of the software, apps, etc. will automatically add a space after a period so they probably just aren't used to it. They need to be taught to go back and look to make there are spaces between sentences as part of their proofreading process. (Meanwhile, I'm still training myself to leave only one space after a period instead of two.) |
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Post by Merge on Sept 12, 2024 17:05:56 GMT
I actually love how independent many kids as young as 7-8 are with technology. We always joked at school that if you have trouble with your computer, call a 4th grader to fix it.
I haven’t found most to be lazy with it. The online composition tools I’ve used are really interesting to most kids and they work much harder and more thoughtfully on their projects that way than if I gave them a pen and paper project.
Personally, the laziness I see seems more related to parents doing everything for their kids, removing any productive struggle and making the kids believe they must be incompetent.
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Post by Merge on Sept 12, 2024 17:01:55 GMT
Hope all the affected peas are OK. SE Texas has your back!
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Post by Merge on Sept 12, 2024 16:59:53 GMT
Yes, and we have a genius for moving to the part of town where the next major freeway construction is planned.
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Post by Merge on Sept 12, 2024 15:04:53 GMT
My doctor was also like meh, you can get it or not last year. I hadn’t gotten the new variant one this year but it did get Covid a couple of weeks ago and did not enjoy it at all. I would have taken the new vaccine if it had been available to avoid being that sick.
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Post by Merge on Sept 12, 2024 13:28:14 GMT
Some people will believe any damn thing uncritically.
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Post by Merge on Sept 12, 2024 13:26:56 GMT
Yeah, I'd guess the worst that could happen is that whatever leavening agent is in it might be old and the cake might turn out denser than you expect. But it won't hurt you.
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Post by Merge on Sept 12, 2024 3:15:29 GMT
Guilty. We music teachers frequently have our students do dances in class.🙄
Chíp Roy is a moron. The people who keep sending him back to congress need to have their heads examined.
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Post by Merge on Sept 11, 2024 3:02:33 GMT
I would have had the small non-church wedding I wanted instead of the big church wedding my mom wanted.
But I was broke and my parents were paying, so they made the calls.
I would maybe have shacked up with DH for a few years instead of marrying right out of grad school and saved up for the wedding we wanted, but again, parental expectations.
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Post by Merge on Sept 11, 2024 0:46:53 GMT
I’m disappointed. I’ve always loved Dave.
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Post by Merge on Sept 10, 2024 19:54:03 GMT
I can't. I can't take his voice and any kind of contentious back and forth raises my blood pressure. I'll watch clips on YouTube later and read articles about it. Tonight I'll be watching the Astros game.  |
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