Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
>
What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
Joy H. wrote: "Hurray! My new laptop arrived today. It's a Dell Vostro. It says Model 3550, installed memory (RAM): 4.00 GB. It has "Windows 7 Professional". Our son set up the new laptop so that it has the same ..."Great news, Joy.
Thanks, Linda. I envy your knowledge of computers! I'm hanging in there!
Joy H. wrote: "I use Thunderbird as my mail program."I'd heard the Windows7 Mail was junk and people were using substitutes. I've been recommending Thunderbird, but I've never used it. I've used Eudora for years and have a paid-for version. I guess they're going out of business so I thought I ought at least get familiar with Thunderbird. I installed it and it offered to take my 'Settings' from Eudora and I said yes, then it hung. When I looked for the Eudora shortcut on my Desktop it was gone (ain't that nice?) but Eudora still seems to work. I'll now try to educate myself about Thunderbird WITHOUT messing up Eudora.
Earl, our oldest son recommended the Thunderbird mail program to me when I was making some changes a while back. He said it was more similar to Outlook Express than the Windows 7 Mail program. Since I was accustomed to OE at the time, I chose Thunderbird, even though our youngest son was more familiar with Window 7.I never had any trouble with Thunderbird before I got this new laptop recently. I must tell you that it has crashed several times on this new laptop but when it does, it gives me a chance to restart it. When I restart it, it's as good as ever. I haven't notice losing any e-mails yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!
We went to the terrier trials today. It was OK. Lily got sick in the car, just watery grass since we didn't feed her. I REALLY hope she gets over car sickness one day soon. I had covered the car seat & the console with towels. She still managed to get my leg. It was lots of fun watching Amber & Pixie race both on the flat & over hurdles. Amber won both heats handily. Pixie came in 2d & 3d in both. Amber ran against the boy champ in her size/age division & kicked his butt again. They're 3 to 1 in Amber's favor over the past 4 years. The one time he did beat her was because he nudged her with his shoulder & she dropped back.
All of us did the Agility. Lily & I did on lead beginner all breed class & there were a lot of tunnels, which she doesn't fancy at all. They were nice enough to hold open the ends of the parachute tunnels for us. Lily laid down in one S curved tunnel. After several practice runs, she'd just had enough during the 'competition'.
Pixie did on lead advanced with Erin & they went around pretty fast. She might actually win something. Amber did beginner off lead with Marg, but kept getting distracted. Erin too Molly around the off lead advanced but they had a terrible time with the weaving poles.
Harley, aka The Tripod, competed in the Barn & Brush Hunts. She did very well in the first, but not being allowed to give hand signals, she didn't do so well in the brush. I left before Pixie, Amber, & Molly did those hunts. I was going to take Lily in the Barn Hunt, but she wasn't interested at all.
Lily drooled some on the way home, but did much better. She was actually hungry shortly after we got home.
It was fun - once. My boss dropped by. He's thinking he might take his dog, Lola, in the Agility next year. He missed the racing & left before the lure coursing, so I can't imagine he had much fun, but it was a pretty day out.
Thanks for the pics of the, Jim. Looks like great fun. I have no experience with this sort of thing. I wonder if there are any canine agility races like that near our town.Some questions:
Do the dogs mind the muzzles?
How do you get the dogs to be willing to race?
How many dogs competed altogether in this race?
I've sent you a FB friend request under Romeo's name. I have two other FB accounts: one for my relatives and one for Eddie's relatives. In that way I can keep the friends lists from getting too long. I like everyone on my friends lists know one another.
Some dogs do mind the muzzles. Pixie manages to take hers off all the time, but she goes nuts when it is time to race. The dogs are willing to race in part because there is a lure in front of them. It's like a fake squirrel tale & is attached to a string on an electric motor that goes up to the end where the catchers are. When the box opens, they see this squirrel tale running away from them. Not all the dogs go for it. Sometimes the owners run alongside calling them. That's usually just in the puppy races though. One bitch did her last race yesterday. Her first one was in 1992 & she was a champion at big races all over the country. That makes her about 20 years old!
I have no idea how many dogs were in the races. There were a lot of divisions based on breed (Dachshund or JRT). The JRT's were further broken down into sex, height (below 10", 10"-12" & over 12"), age (under 1 yr, mature (1yr to 10yrs) & seniors. Almost all of those were also broken up into flat or over hurdles. So, there were a lot of different races & then there were run offs for champions where the different sexes ran against each other.
I declined the FB friend request from Romeo. My kids all have pages for their dogs & I've declined all of their friend requests, too. They say I'm a curmudgeon, but I only friend people.
;-)
Ah, so it's the squirrel tale that makes the dogs run. What a dirty trick on the dogs. It's amazing that they fall for it. Shows you where their minds are. I'll send you a different FB friend request. I'll count you as a relative. My two sisters (who married two Irish brothers) have almost 50 grandkids between them and the grandkids are having kids now.) So you will get lost in the crowd.
I think the fake tail is just an excuse, Joy. They really like it. I raced Amber yesterday for Marg & she was pretty calm & collected as she went out to kick butt & take the championship. On the other hand, Pixie was such an incredible handful - super excited - that Marg almost lost her several times. I think she ran her race before getting into the box, although she does have energy to burn. Most of the JRT's are super excited & their noise is incredible. There was one big dog (for a 12" JRT) yapping with the highest pitched yelps that it hurt. It just sounded silly though. Imagine Mr. T yelling like Shirley Temple & you've got it.
My neighbor, Curtis, was really excited over a tree on the edge of his woods that he thought would make neat bowls. He thought it was a Black Cherry & still in good shape, although dead. Lily & I took the truck & chainsaws over there this morning & found that it was a Hickory. There are both Shagbark & Shellbarks mixed in there, so I'm not sure which it was, but one look at it & I didn't have much hope. It had some heart rot mushrooms growing on it & a big scar on the base. Still, I cut my way in & dropped it out into the field. It broke into a bunch of pieces & I spent the next hour cleaning it up in the rain.
Lily had fun running around for a while, but then something scared her. She came running over & almost jumped into my arms. She was shivering, too. I guess coyotes could have been around, although they usually make themselves scarce around people since most of us shoot them on sight. Anyway, she hung around the truck after that, but wouldn't get in it.
Hello. I have started volunteering at a local Senior Center four afternoons a week. This is the start of my second week. They do say you are never too old to learn...
Mary JL wrote: "Hello. I have started volunteering at a local Senior Center four afternoons a week. This is the start of my second week. They do say you are never too old to learn..."Do you help with activities? I work for a company that provides services for seniors. Very rewarding.
Yes, Linda I do help with some activities classes. This is only my second week, but it is rewarding so far.
I just got back today after 2 days away from my computer. Had some fun galavanting with my sister.Mary JL, nice of you to volunteer at the Senior Center. What type of activity do you help out with?
Jim, speaking of trees, some of the old maple trees in our yard were rotten inside. They had to be taken down. Actually, a couple of them split in the middle and half the tree came down by itself. Bang! Scary! One missed our car by a few feet. Hate to see the old trees go.
That's pretty typical of old Maples, Joy, especially ones that get pruned or have broken branches.
We are surrounded by fifty years or older Scotch Pine trees that have a disease much like the Dutch Elm that wiped out those lovely old trees. One by one they are dying and I mourn their loss.
That's a shame, Nina. I think our Mountain Ash is slowly dying but every spring it seems to come back again. It gets white blossoms in the spring and red-orange berries in the fall. A very pretty tree. Hate to lose it.Here it is with white flowers in the spring:
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1753...
Here it is with the red-orange berries in the fall:
http://pic60.picturetrail.com/VOL1753...
I would love to have that tree. We do love our trees don't we? We do have Bradford pears across the street along the split rail fence and they are beautiful in th spring and fall, also. But, only if we don't have a late frost.
Sounds beautiful, Nina.
Nina wrote: "We are surrounded by fifty years or older Scotch Pine trees that have a disease much like the Dutch Elm that wiped out those lovely old trees. One by one they are dying and I mourn their loss."Nina, Scotch Pine trees are wonderful. Sorry to hear about their demise. My home is surrounded by old and tall (some 100 feet high) pine trees as well as some hardwood trees). Luckily, we also have some maples in between here and there to make some wonderful color.
A few years back we lost all of our white birch. They adorned our driveway. Two fell on their own (heavy with water)and we had to take the others down before they fell on car/garage. I certainly miss them.
This week and last week - both 4-day work weeks for me. Got to love those. We had a mini-vacation (Fri-Mon). We went to Ottawa, Canada to visit the Aviation museum (for the 4th time) and the Nature Museum. We also stopped by the Parliament and got there at 12:00 to hear the gong gong - twelve times - of the clock. Next visit we'd like to see the changing of the guard and actually tour the public sections of the Parliament. This visit we just scoped the area getting an idea of the location of the buildings, parking, etc. At the border we had an interesting time. The customs guard (?) was decked out in uniform, most aren't. She had on her broad hat, starched shirt and more. This should have been a Red alert to us. She asked where we were and why. We told her. She asked when was the last time in Canada, it was the day before. We witnessed her body action, stood up straight and face showed disbelief. She said that's a lot of driving. Well, you know NOT to argue with Customs so we just looked at her. After a few other regular questions, now we were looking at her in disbelief, she said to my husband, "Sir, turn off the car, put the car in park, hand me your keys and exit the vehicle." Uh oh. I told her I needed to put my shoes on. We were escorted into the Customs building where 3 employees watched us. Once they got the OK that we were OK, I had to fill out a form which asked questions relating to what we were bringing to or from Canada such as vegetation and snails. Snails?
One of the employees asked why we weren't staying in Canada overnight? I said for one, its less expensive and we'd rather give some of our $$ to the US (geez, aren't you US Customs??). I then said I know not to argue or question the Customs person, but it was only 1.5 hours to Ottawa to visit the museums and city for a day. Where was all the driving????
Anyway - that was our interesting experience.
Sigh.
Linda, that certainly WAS an interesting experience at Customs! Did it happen as you were going into Canada or leaving Canada? I can't imagine what they suspected you were up to.I'm sure there are lots of people who go to Canada for the day. As you say, it's not really that far, especially Ottawa. In fact, our son who lives in Montreal, is closer to us (in distance) than our other 3 sons! It's just a hop and a skip! Actually, I think it takes him 3 hours to get to our house. It's longer than that for our other sons to visit us from downstate.
You never know when crossing; once years ago we were stopped crossing into Windsor and all of our suitcases opened and checked and everything out of the trunk and most disagreeable guards. Another time, we had forgotten our passports and we were not an hour away more like 800 miles and we got in and out without a hitch. Figure??
Nina, how inconvenient it must have been to have to open your suitcases and empty the trunk! So far, when crossing the border to and from Canada, we've had no problems. They don't even ask for the dog's rabies papers. They ask where we're going and why. When we do go, it's to visit our son, but we don't go too often. He visits us instead.One exception: We went thru Montreal on our honeymoon. We were on our way to a ski lodge in Mont Tremblant in the Laurentian Mountains of Canada. The lodge was called called "Manoir Pinoteau", but it's no longer there.
Below is a link to some pics we took while we were at Manoir Pinoteau:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Sea1934/...#
We stopped by the neighbor's house tonight because they were having a garage sale. I took some pictures of some of their animals. They have an eclectic mix; emus, llamas, an alpaca & a ton of goats. One kid was only 10" tall!https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...
I tried to send this once before and they couldn't send it. I loved the pictures of the honeymoon lodge and seeing the good looking couple. You were a beautiful bride, yes!
Fun pictues to see. Once there was a contest my granddaughter who was about eight at the time had to ask a question. Her question was, "What is an Emu?"She won. I suggested her question.
Jim, thanks for the pics of the animals. What fun to see them!Nina, thanks for the kind words.
Yes, emus are very funny-looking. Strange name too.
I'm glad you liked the pics. The emus are funny birds. They'll peck at your hands & arms. Their beaks aren't sharp, so they don't break the skin, but they do pinch. I let the male chew on my index finger a few times just to see what it was like. Their beaks aren't really hard like some & they don't even have little barbs like ducks or geese. It was interesting.That one little pygmy kid was amazing. I think they said he was 2 months old & under a foot tall at the shoulder. Miniatures & kids are cute. Put the 2 together & wow! Super cute!
Jim, you're pretty brave, letting the emus peck at you! Interesting observations.I wonder how they develop pygmy animals. I suppose it's a matter of selective breeding. I've always liked miniatures of everything. But I wonder how the animals feel about it.
In the case of this Pygmy goat, it's a runt with a very protective mother. She won't let him play with the other kids, most of whom were Boers - a meat breed of goat that is much bigger than a Pygmy. Pygmy goats are bred for both meat & milk. Like our goats, which are Kinders (half Pygmy - half Nubian, a milking breed) they vary individually as to which they're better for. In our case, Buttercup would have been a good meat goat. She's stocky, but Rosie is built much lighter, even though they're twins. I don't know which would be better for milking & probably won't find out. They've gotten too fat & kids are too cute. We don't need any more goats!
;-)
Jim, the only impression of goats I've ever had was from the "Billy Goats Gruff" fairy tale.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OO-5Kg...
So I associate goats with trolls. Not a good start. Now, after watching the You-Tube linked above, I realize that the goats weren't trolls. I don't know where I got that impression.
So now, Jim, as I read about your goats, I'm getting a new impression of them as friendly pets.
Joy and Jim, great pictures! Thanks for sharing them.
You're welcome, Werner. It's really MY pleasure. When I work with my pictures, I relive the experiences all over again!
This was done coming back into US which made the situation odd to us. US Customs just ask a few questions and tell us to have a good day. Well, now we have a good story!
Nina wrote: "You never know when crossing; once years ago we were stopped crossing into Windsor and all of our suitcases opened and checked and everything out of the trunk and most disagreeable guards. Another ..."Luckily for us, all we had were sneakers in the trunk. Don't think I'd like to have my suitcases opened and checked. We didn't get to see our car being checked or what they checked as we were escorted into the customs building.
Love the pictures Joy. You both look quite happy. Good looking couple. We used to snowmobile in the Laurentian Mountains in Canada. Beautiful area.
Wow, Linda, you two really get around! I'm going to call you "The Great Gallivanters"! LOLAbout the customs experience, they might be making random checks for people who might be bringing goods into the country without paying duty taxes... or something like that. I really don't know how it works in either direction. I know that when our son goes back to Canada, he's careful not to bring things which wouldn't be allowed or which should be reported for one reason or another. I guess they tax a lot of stuff going either way.
It's creepy having people search your car and its contents without your being there. I'll bet those customs guards see a lot of strange things! LOL
As a child I was afraid to go over bridges as I was absolutley certain the billy goat gruffs were under them.
Nina, you, like myself, had a bad feeling about goats because of that fairytale. I think that "Billy Goats Gruff" was a misleading name. Perhaps the word Gruff had something to do with it. It has a negative connotation, a combination of gr-r-r and rough. They should have named it "Billy Goats Three".It was a Norwegian fairytale. I suppose the word "gruff" has a different meaning in Norwegian.
Google translate says 'gruff' is the same in both languages, Joy.
Well, Billy Goat Gruff looked menacing in my fairy tale book. So the name fit.
Thanks, Jim, for the "gruff" info.Nina, I guess I read the same book as you did because
I had a negative impression of the Goats Gruff too.
Nowadays, maybe they've softened them up.
Below is a pic of some sweet Billy Goats Gruff:
I like these goats better.
Jim wrote: "Google translate says 'gruff' is the same in both languages, Joy."Jim, I searched but couldn't find that info at the Google webpage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Bi...
Now I'm REALLY curious.
PS-See next post.
PS-Oops, Jim. Now I see what you mean by "Google Translate":http://translate.google.com/
Yes, gruff is gruff in both languages.
Definition of gruff: http://www.vocabulary.com/definition/...
I had to smile at that book cover. It isn't at all like I remember Billy.
Nina wrote: "I had to smile at that book cover. It isn't at all like I remember Billy."Yes, Nina, that's quite a switch from gruff to sweet.
Reminds me of a quote:
"The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind." -William James
Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Educated (other topics)Pride and Prejudice (other topics)
Moby-Dick or, The Whale (other topics)
The Count of Monte Cristo (other topics)
War and Peace (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Tara Westover (other topics)Ann Howard Creel (other topics)
Ann Howard Creel (other topics)
C.W. Gortner (other topics)
C.W. Gortner (other topics)
More...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AglGJY...
Interesting about the insurance bargain.