Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
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What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
Perhaps only for pick up on their tomato basil soup - yum. I can't believe how expensive restaurants are. I ordered two pastas (comes with soup) from Olive Garden a few weeks ago and it came out to $30! Also, the prices at IHOP have gone up.Washi tape is just decorative tape. Many people use it to decorate their planners.
ex:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/5602760...
LoL She does sound like a tough cookie. We actually didn't really complain about our waitress directly, although perhaps we should have since she just seemed like she didn't want to be there and not until the end did she start asking if we needed anything else, etc. We're too nice I guess but hopefully the manager will talk to her since it was her poor service that upset us. I mean I don't know how she missed all those brown spots on the outside of my glass and missed that red raw meat on my friend's burger when they stuck a stick in it with the word WELL for well done? If she would have been paying attention she would have told the chef right away.
Mercurialgem wrote: "... Washi tape is just decorative tape. Many people use it to decorate their planners. ..."Thanks for explaining and for the link. I have quite a few photograph albums, but now, at the age of 80, I'm wondering how my family will be able to save them. So much space is needed to save this type of thing. I also have my MIL's old albums. I don't know what to do with all this stuff!
PS-I learned the following at Wiki: The word "washi" comes from wa 'Japanese' and shi 'paper'. See the Wiki page here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washi
Mercurialgem wrote: "... We actually didn't really complain about our waitress directly, although perhaps we should have ..."I too hate to complain about bad service. I guess it depends on the circumstance.
I understand. A couple of days ago I went to a local restaurant/usually good food but that day a rude waiter who lost the ten dollors we put into his black book and accused us of not paying him the right amount. We finally had to call the manager and she got us off the hook but not sure even she believed us.
I don't know if you are near a Trader Joe's but if so get their Tomato soup in a box. There are two flavors and both are really good.
Nina wrote: "I understand. A couple of days ago I went to a local restaurant/usually good food but that day a rude waiter who lost the ten dollors we put into his black book and accused us of not paying him the..."Nina, that's why I like to use a credit card in a restaurant. No fooling around with cash... and the tip is easier when you just add it to the credit card bill.
Nina wrote: "I don't know if you are near a Trader Joe's but if so get their Tomato soup in a box. There are two flavors and both are really good."I don't think we're near a Trader Joe's, Nina.
Joy, the reason I don't use a credit card at restaurants is I don't like the card out of my sight. I use it if the cashier is standing there when I am paying my bill and sometimes it is too easy to leave the restaurant, especially if you are visiting with someone and realize too late they didn't bring back your card. This happened to a friend of mine and there was four hundred dollars charged on her card before she got it back.
Nina wrote: "Joy, the reason I don't use a credit card at restaurants is I don't like the card out of my sight. I use it if the cashier is standing there when I am paying my bill and sometimes it is too easy to..."Nina, thanks for cautioning me. I never thought about that before.
Nina wrote: "I don't know if you are near a Trader Joe's but if so get their Tomato soup in a box. There are two flavors and both are really good."Yes, there is a Trader Joe's around here and next time I go I will lookout for the tomato soup. Thanks!
A couple of years ago I did a school report on identity theft and I learned how they can take your card to the back and swipe it on a skimming device that steals all your information. They can put this device at gas pumps too. Below I just attached two random links about identity theft. The first one is new to me........a woman at a pizzeria would steal the customer's credit card when they paid over the phone and pay her bills with them. That's scary since I've done that a couple of times and never thought about it EVEN though I had learned a lot from that school report I did. http://abc13.com/finance/restaurant-e...
http://www.scambusters.org/skimming.html
Credit card fraud is amazingly easy. I read about one by a young lady who stole a credit card offer from a mailbox, filled it out, & sent it in. She kept checking the people's mail & fished out the new credit card when it arrived. To activate it, she pretended that her car was broken down & asked to use their phone, so the activation was easy & seemed legitimate to the CC. I don't recall how long or how many different cards she did this with, but I believe quite a few people received huge bills for credit cards they didn't even know they had.A big part of my job is keeping an eye out for scams & dangers in email. I'm continually amazed by how easy it is to fool people. Most of us don't want to be rude & aren't suspicious enough. We're also not aware of just how little information is needed to cause a lot of damage.
Did any of you read the story about how 100,000 US taxpayers had their IRS accounts hacked a few days ago?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05...
Half of their attempts were successful because the information they needed was minimal: name, address, birthday, Social Security number, & filing status. It was probably the latter that stumped them more than anything else. They wouldn't have attempted the account unless they had the rest & that's available from many sources. Every job, credit, college, & other application form seems to require them.
All it takes is one person with access to that information to click on a spam email & get their computer compromised. Any information they access can then be sent without their knowledge to the hacker. That person might not even do anything with it except tidy it up & sell it. They might use it to get into other systems. It's really scary just how easy it is.
Mercurialgem and Jim, I'll add all that to all the other things I have to worry about! "Worrying won't stop the bad stuff from happening, it just stops you from enjoying the good." -Anon.
SEE THE QUOTE HERE IN A CARTOON: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BI4nX4kCM...
I'm not suggesting we worry, but we do need to be aware of scams & some generalities about how they're done so we can avoid being victimized. For instance, if I get a call that says it is my credit card company & they ask me for any information, I won't give it. I'll ask them their business & then call the number on the back of my card. Some have told me I'm missing out on a great offer, but I doubt that very much. I think they're fishing for information.Another call we get fairly often is Microsoft calling to tell us that our computer is showing that it has errors & they will fix it if I go to a particular web site. Right. I generally just laugh & hang up, but one time I asked the guy how he knew it was my computer. He hung up when he realized I knew he was trying to scam me.
We're on all the 'Do Not Call' lists, so we generally just hang up on any cold call including most charities now. Seems as if you give to one & they pass along our info. We give to a select few that we're sure are good. Turns out a lot of those calling are scams, too. Apparently a lot that say they're for police or fire fighters don't really give much, if any, to those services. Ours come around with a boot to toss cash into &/or stand on street corners so we just give it that way.
Thanks for those cautionary reminders, Jim. It's important to keep them in mind. I'm getting used to hanging up on solicitors or people who sound suspicious on the phone. I don't even respond at all. I just hang up after saying "hello" or "Who IS this?". The "robo" calls are very annoying!I forget when the last time was that I called to put our number on the Do-Not-Call list. What's the number again?
I don't know a phone number, just an Internet site:https://www.donotcall.gov/
Just click the "Verify Registration" button, put in up to 3 phone numbers & your email address & then submit. I did all 3 of ours (home & both cell phones) & had an email confirming they were on the list in seconds.
Many will still call. With VoIP, it's easy to spoof the number they're calling from (basically the same as in email) & it's cheap enough that call centers are often scattered about the world. The phone companies don't want to devote the resources to controlling it, unfortunately.
Even if we can't stop the bad scams etc at least we can perhaps discourage the thievery as best we can by our knowledge aforehand.
Jim wrote: "I don't know a phone number, just an Internet site:https://www.donotcall.gov/
Just click the "Verify Registration" button, put in up to 3 phone numbers & your email address & then submit. I did a..."
Thanks, Jim.
And why do all the calls you don't want come at supper time?
This might not be our weather posting but we are way over our rain inches for the month of May/fortunately not like OK and TX however.
They do seem to have an unerring knack for calling at inconvenient times. We were way over in rain last month, but we've had a really dry one in May. Not sure what the official totals are, but they only vaguely resemble what we get. Thursday evening it was pouring down in Frankfort, but it was dry as a bone up here.
Nina wrote: "And why do all the calls you don't want come at supper time?"It's true, Nina. The annoying telephone calls do seem to come at suppertime. I guess they figure most people are home by then.
They predict possible rain here for the days ahead. Well, we've had a lot of sunshine lately.
It has rained here every day in the month of May; except for four days. The grass needs cuting often. the flower beds are soggy. But, come July we will wish for more rain. Never satisfied is what we humans are, I guess.
I had an interesting morning. Around 4am, I started hearing a weird bark. Just one, high pitched one & I wouldn't hear another for a minute or so. I couldn't tell where it was coming from, but thought it was south of the house, so I figured some coyote was up to something out in the neighbor's woods. I finally gave up on sleep 20 minutes later & realized it was closer to the house & at the opposite end. No dogs around, but I didn't hear Lily or Pip's distinctive barks & they often spend some time out in the yard when I get up. I just rushed getting ready for work & got out to the car as soon as I could.I drove the car around the turnabout & saw Amber, our 10 lb Jack Russell, with a coon half again her size glaring down at her from a small Golden Rain tree - in the side yard, not in the back yard. The other 2 dogs were still in the back yard, but Amber is a bit of a Houdini. She stays in unless there is something on the other side of the fence that she thinks needs killing. We're not sure what happens, but it's as if she teleports through the fence.
I went back into the house & came back with a gun & a spotlight. I was about halfway there when the coon leaped on to the ground. Amber pounced on it immediately & the fight was on. The two were moving so fast they looked like one of those cartoon fights where all you see is an occasional limb sticking out of the cloud.
I knew I couldn't get into that mix & do any good, so I opened up the back gate, but the other 2 dogs were barking at the fence to let them through & paid no attention. Luckily, Amber & the coon broke apart & she chased it up into the Sand Cherry, a big bush about 10' tall. It was still panting & disoriented when I caught up with it & then it was just a matter of cleaning up.
The dogs were quite excited & I gave them a biscuit when I got back in. Amber had some saliva on her & was excited as all get out, but came through the ordeal without a scratch. I called Marg to make sure she checked her over well, too. Good thing I did since her weekend adventures, the drive back from Nashville, & her new medications let Marg sleep through the whole thing!
:)
I am glad the outcome was succesful for Amber and not the other way around.
My Leica C-Lux3, the little camera I carry every where, got dirty on the inside. Leica wants over $100 plus shipping each way to clean it, so I decided to give it a try on my own & managed it. I had to do some digging around to find out it is a rebranded Panasonic & then found a YouTube video on the process. Easier than I thought in some ways, tougher in others. The toughest part was the #0 Phillips screwdriver. It worked for all the screws in the demo, but I guess mine isn't the best quality & it seemed too big for the final 3 screws. I got it to work, but it was tough balancing the amount of pressure. One screw was so tiny - half the size of a BB. It fell inside & when I finally got it out, it bounced down on to the floor. Finding it was interesting, but I managed it.
Putting it back together wasn't easy. I found out just how steady my hands were - not very. And how good I am with hemostats - good enough. I think it took a minute to clean the lens, but the entire project took over an hour. Interesting. I left one light smudge on the lens, but no more black dots.
Good for you, Jim. Mission accomplished!
Jim, you are the original "do-it-yourself" man! More power to you!
It's a night of wild life here. The hummingbirds have obviously raised a couple of batches of babies. The 16oz feeder on the front porch seems to have a swarm of really big bees around it & needs filling daily after going almost a week without needing to be filled.There was a Painted turtle laying eggs near the goats' gate. It's weird how none of the animals noticed her. The goats trotted right by & so did Pip & Lily. She laid them just a dozen feet away from there last year & it was the same. No one but me noticed. It's like she has a spell of invisibility. On the way back from doing the goats' water, I almost stepped on a garter snake.
While I was feeding Speedy, I noticed a sudden silence. Normally the Purple Martins are singing up a storm & the rest of the birds are making some sort of noise, but all was still. I looked around & found a really big hawk in the dead ash on the corner of the woods closest to our & the Martins' houses. I think it's a gosshawk & the red tails are gone. Not sure. I'm not that good at identifying them & seem to only see this one from a distance or just a breast shot while she's sitting.
Pip is on the corner of my bed intently watching the corner of my shop where a rabbit is standing like a statue. Nice night.
Interesting nature comments Jim. When we lived on the eighth floor of our condominium with a balcony a red tailed hawk came and sat a long time on the railing.Do you have whipoorwills? I probably didn't spell that right but you know what I mean. I used to love to hear them at night when we were in the Ozarks.
Jim wrote: "... While I was feeding Speedy, I noticed a sudden silence. Normally the Purple Martins are singing up a storm & the rest of the birds are making some sort of noise ..."My husband just got a hearing aid. He says it's a "noisy world". :)
We used to have a whippoorwill that would sit in the tree outside my window, but not for the past couple of years. I occasionally hear another across the road. They're fairly rare.One thing I wish we didn't have are those damn green-head flies. They were awful last night. I killed 3 on Chip, one on Indy, & over a half dozen in one window. Unfortunately, I got 3 bites. Didn't really notice them until I was trying to sleep. Usually a squirt of benadryll spray or a dab of the chigger cream takes care of them, but they bugged me all night.
Where my husband grew up there were no chiggers. There are here and he is very allergic to the bitss and the swelling and red splotches make him miserable as some are as large as eggs.
The weather here is not something to brag about. It is hot and in the nineties but we hope for better days to come. Even the eighties would be welcome. I Joy, we couldn't watch "The Greek Tycoon," as there were no subtitles and the voices were so muffled we couldn't understand them. We see so many WWII movies I agree with whoever wrote, "If it wasn't for that war we'd have far less movies."
Nina, about the Greek Tycoon, I saw it as a DVD from Netflix. I can't remember whether it had subtitles or not. Usually the DVD's give you the opportunity to have subtitles via the settings before you start the movie. I'm not sure if this one gave you that option. Sorry you couldn't view it.
Joy, that movie didn't have a menu so you had no chance to get subtitles and our dvd the sound was so garbled we had no way of understanding it. But, tonight we saw a deightful movie filmed in Scotland. They have accents but very understandable. Think Sean Connery. It was a fun movie/great characters. "The Decoy Bride."
Nina wrote: "Joy, that movie didn't have a menu so you had no chance to get subtitles and our dvd the sound was so garbled we had no way of understanding it. But, tonight we saw a deightful movie filmed in Scotland. ... It was a fun movie/great characters. "The Decoy Bride."Nina, the sound was OK when I watched the DVD (Greek Tycoon). I don't remember it being too garbled. Usually, I would notice that. Anyway, I was able to understand enough of it to be able to watch it to the end. Sorry you had a problem with it.
I'll check out "The Decoy Bride.". Thanks!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1657299/?...
http://www.netflix.com/search/The%252...
http://www.amazon.com/Decoy-Bride-Ali...
"The world's media descend on the remote Scottish island where a Hollywood actress is attempting to get married."
PS-My records show that I watched some of the movie ("The Decoy Bride") but then I bailed out. I guess I wasn't enjoying it enough. I might try it again.
Great shots! Thanks, Jim.
Enjoyed the pictures. Lovely ones of the hanging baskets.
I added some pictures to the Jun 2015 album I posted the other day. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...
I posted a some more pictures, mostly of the gardens & flowers (& one set of predators) from July here:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...
Nice travelogue, jim. Thanks for posting. Coneflowers are some of my favorites and Jack Russel puppies.
Sorry I haven't posted in this group for a few days! Barb and I just got back this afternoon from spending a few days at Fulks Run; but I'll be home now until (we hope) our next vacation in early August.
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)
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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)
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PS-About not leaving a tip, one time a friend told me she had left a penny tip. When the waitress pointed out that it was only a penny, my friend said to her: "That's exactly what you're worth!" My friend was a tough-cookie! LOL