Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion

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What are U doing today? > What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)

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message 6501: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments No, I meant the TV series with Archie Bunker.


message 6502: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "No, I meant the TV series with Archie Bunker."

Oh! You mean:
"All in the Family" - TV Series (1971–1979)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066626/?...

Yes! I LOVED that show!


message 6503: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Yes, that's it. I got confused with the song at the beginning of the program, "Those Were the Days" Didn't you love Edith? Nothing is written as witty as that now. My opinion.


message 6504: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "Yes, that's it. I got confused with the song at the beginning of the program, "Those Were the Days" Didn't you love Edith? ... "

Yes, Jean Stapleton was perfect for that role.


message 6505: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Quotes for the New Year: "I believe that life is given us so that we may grow in love." Helen Keller. I think I admire her the most of all people.

:"Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage." It does for me as I am always back in England as I sip.


message 6506: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "Quotes for the New Year: "I believe that life is given us so that we may grow in love." ..."

That's a lovely quote, Nina.
Here are some New Year photos and a wish for all:
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/group...
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/group...
https://www.goodreads.com/photo/group...
Best wishes to all... HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Joy


message 6507: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) I hope everyone has a good start on 2017. I've talked to Mom, so it's time to sit down, do bills, & fill out my new calendar. While I have some things in my Google calendar, I still like a paper calendar with all the birthdays & such on it above my desk.

I'm not sure if we've had one cold or several that have been haunting us for a month or more. Not really sick, but not really well, either. Get a little tired or cold & it's multiplied complete with aches & chills. The weather has been exacerbating the situation, too. Mid 30s to low 40s with spitting rain & horrible, cutting winds.

I've been spending as much time in the shop as possible working on Inkle looms. I'm slowly figuring out the basics & rules for their proportions & geometry.

I did help Josh put in their dishwasher yesterday. Those are some of the toughest appliances to deal with due to tight quarters & no standardization in their mounts, not to mention crappy documentation. It took us most of an hour to figure out how to mount this one properly & it took Josh 2 trips to town to get the proper parts for the plumbing hook up even though one had been there before.


message 6508: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Hope the next time you help your family move is a long time coming and that's my New Year's wish for you, Jim.


message 6509: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Jim, you are really a "Do-it-Yourself" family! More power to you!


message 6510: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) Joy H. wrote: "Jim, you are really a "Do-it-Yourself" family! More power to you!"

For putting in the dishwasher, Joy? It's not rocket science, although their instructions kind of read like it. I think the install fee on them is $150, so it made sense. Don't forget I was a remodeler for a lot of years & have kept my hand in. I've rebuilt entire kitchens with custom cabinets, so a standard dishwasher in standard cabinets with all the hookups already stubbed out isn't that tough with the right parts.


message 6511: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) Nina wrote: "Hope the next time you help your family move is a long time coming and that's my New Year's wish for you, Jim."

Thanks! Me, too. A neighbor stopped by a little while ago & we're both hoping that the luck has turned on the house the kids bought.

- The first couple (Jay & Tracey) had their mortgage sold & their interest rate go through the roof until they let it go to foreclosure.

- The next owners were a pair of sisters who did OK, but sold it after a few years & moved a mile away. Just as the kids were closing, the sisters dropped by & told me they had sold their new house & were living in a hotel. They wanted to buy the kids' house again!

- The last owners (Jay & Angie) got divorced & let it go into foreclosure.

The house was put up in 2004, but the kids are the 4th owners & I don't think anyone has lived there more than a few years, most only a couple. Sheesh! Let's hope the spell is broken. Moving is horrible. Far too much work.


message 6512: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments My daughter's quote is "Moving is like dying except you can't take it with you."


message 6513: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Jim, you are an amazing person!


message 6514: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments I believe that moving is considered among life's most stressful events.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/5741...


message 6515: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) Joy H. wrote: "I believe that moving is considered among life's most stressful events.
http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/5741..."


Excellent! I agree. Moving is a hard, stressful event that keeps the stress levels high for weeks, if not months. There are endless lists of high priority items that need to be juggled. Then something holds up one thing which cascades into changing the list & things get forgotten, so you wind up castigating yourself as you scramble to catch up.

There are so many things important things that are out of your control, too. The kids are going a bit nuts with their animals right now. They all got used to living here with a dog door, but we can't put their dog door in until we get the backyard fence up. Can't do that until we find the septic tank. Can't find that until we get the info from the Health Dept.

As for losing things, it's incredible what can get lost. I hold the record in the family for losing a 29 gallon fish tank & a blacksmith vice during one move. No clue how that happened.


message 6516: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Starting when I was sixty nine and my husband was seventy we moved seven times in nine years and the last time was nine years ago and my then eighty year old husband moved fifty boxes. We are survivors.


message 6517: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments So far.


message 6518: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) Wow. That's crazy. Why did you move so often? I'd guess you slimmed things down quite a bit each move. I certainly would. I think I got rid of 1000 books before my last move. I still filled almost a quarter of the POD with books & I've probably added most back.


message 6519: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Jim, We moved part of our belongings into a condominium building to aone bedroom condo on the tenth floor overlooking the Plaza/fountains/statuary etc. A couple of months later we bought another one bedroom condo on the other side of this building overlooking the Art Museum and a lovely park. We still mostly lived at that time still in our four bedroom house in the suburbs. The condos were in the city. A few months after that we sold one of the condos that overlooked the museum and bought a different one two floors down as it had two bedrooms rather than one. A few months after that we actually moved from our house in the suburbs into both of the condos we still owned/one on the tenth floor on one side of the building and one on the eighth floor on the other side. My husband told people we lived in a split level with an elevator. We ate breakfast in one and dinner in the other one etc. Two years after that we were driving down a street still in the city and I said, "Look there's a house for sale and it's an open house and it looks so cute," We went in and by the time we were in the back yard my husband said, "Do you want to buy this house?" We did and we ended up renting one condo and keeping the other one as by this time we are in our seventies and figured we probably wouldn't stay long in the house we just bought as it didn't have a bedroom downstairs. Then two years later I was visiting a daughter in ID and my husband called and said the condo next to our two bedroom one was for sale. Should we buy it? We did. Then we sold the city house we were then living in and broke a wall through to our newest condo and combined them. We then had two kitchens and two dining rooms etc. Two years after that we somehow decided to move back into an outside maintenance free house where we are now living for the past nine years. We got rid of so much but bought more stuff when we moved here. Don't ask why. We no longer own any condos. We sometimes miss the ambiance of the city life but do like the fact that no houses are across the street from us. The end.


message 6520: by Joy H., Group Founder (last edited Jan 02, 2017 08:09PM) (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Jim wrote: "Excellent! I agree. Moving is a hard, stressful event ... As for losing things, it's incredible what can get lost."

Oh, yes, Jim, it's very disturbing to lose things during a move or at any other time for that matter. I hate not being able to find things. So frustrating!

Hope all those problems iron out soon, Jim. Keep saying to yourself: "THIS TOO SHALL PASS".


message 6521: by Joy H., Group Founder (last edited Jan 02, 2017 08:12PM) (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "Jim, We moved part of our belongings into a condominium building to aone bedroom condo on the tenth floor overlooking the Plaza/fountains/statuary etc. A couple of months later we bought another on..."

Amazing story, Nina!


message 6522: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments I don't even want to THINK about moving! When the time comes, I have to trust that I'll have the inner resources to handle things... with the help of our family, of course. Meanwhile, I try to enjoy each moment I have without worrying too much.


message 6523: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments I'm at that point now too Joy. It is bitter cold here for a few days/nine degrees tomorrow and eleven the next few days at night. Brrrr. Next week in the forties and fifties/a bit of snow due on Wednesday.


message 6524: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "I'm at that point now too Joy. It is bitter cold here for a few days/nine degrees tomorrow and eleven the next few days at night. Brrrr. Next week in the forties and fifties/a bit of snow due on We..."

Nina, I really dread this cold weather. I don't know what I'd do without my electric blanket. I dread it when I have to go out. The cold is so uncomfortable. If I bundle up too much, I get too hot in the stores. We just have to endure until Spring!

Hope you don't get too much snow. Our yard still has a blanket of at least 8 inches of snow. We're spending a lot to have the fellow snowblow our driveway each time it snows.


message 6525: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Joy, we live in a maintenance provided neighborhood so if the snow depth reaches two inches, our street and driveways are plowed.


message 6526: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments My husband's answer to why we moved so often was, "Some people take cruises when they reach seventy, we just move."


message 6527: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "Joy, we live in a maintenance provided neighborhood so if the snow depth reaches two inches, our street and driveways are plowed."

Yes, Nina, there are many advantages to that sort of area. We're just very attached to our current situation for many different reasons.


message 6528: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Your place looks so lovely that I understand why you wouldn't want to leave. Our place is a bit unique as it's only one block long private road but off a busy street and we really bought it because even though it is in a very convenient location as far as anything we need; grocery store, drug store, bakery, restaurants, bird store, hardware store, library, dentist, yoghurt shop and other things/not a mall/all outside within three blocks/our house doesn't face any other houses across from us. You can see lights a block away as you look across the field that used to once be a race track for horses. Now there is actually a radio tower in the field and it has a split rail fence running along the street and lots of trees. It is very quiet and we are about the only ones who don't own a dog. Well, enough description. I envy your lake view however...


message 6529: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Your place sounds, ideal, Nina. Our lake view disappeared a long time ago. :)


message 6530: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) I had a rough day yesterday. It started out at 4:30am with 9 degree temps & icy on the way to work. On the way home, I got rear ended just as I stopped at a light hard enough to tap the car ahead of me. No damage to the vehicles so we went our merry ways, but my neck & shoulder started aching later. Nothing too bad, just annoying.

I shoveled off the porch & got salt down, but it's too cold for it to work well & we'd gotten enough sunshine to freeze a lot of it tight to the boards. I got that done by the time Josh got home, so we all went to his father's house to move the biggest, heaviest bedroom set it has ever been my misfortune to help with. We used the horse trailer for most of it, but still had to put the biggest, heaviest piece in the back of his truck.

Since temps were so cold, we couldn't leave the pieces out over night. I was afraid it would freeze & break the glue, so we unloaded it as soon as we got back. That meant in the snow on to their snow covered little front deck & into the bedroom. Slippery, but we got it done without any mishaps. Erin had a carpet runner to put over the porch which was a life saver.

I finally got back home to eat dinner at 8pm & was in bed by 9:30. I really wanted to sleep in, but was wide awake by 4am, usual time. Ugh! I laid around until 4:30, but finally got up. I'm all caught up on the PC, so out to the shop. I think I'll try making a new type of Inkle loom today.


message 6531: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Jim wrote: "I had a rough day yesterday. It started out at 4:30am with 9 degree temps & icy on the way to work. On the way home, I got rear ended just as I stopped at a light hard enough to tap the car ahead o..."

Jim, that certainly WAS a rough day! Hope you won't get too many days like that in the future. Days like that give new meaning to the expression: "Watch your back!"


message 6532: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments I'm sprry/ what a way to start the New Year; but hope your neck and back survived. Sometimes it takes a couple of days to see if there is inujury. Take Care. My sympathy.


message 6533: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) All is fine so far. I didn't get much accomplished today. For some reason I just can't get my mind around this Inkle loom that I have a picture of & some scattered, bad measurements.

It never got above 13 out today, but is supposed to get into the low 20s tomorrow, so I plugged in the tractor. The dogs all came out with me, but Amber was trying to run without using her feet by the end. It's too cold out for her. Indy thought the weather was great & was a terrible pest. He pulled my hat off & generally got in the way even after I spent a while scratching him.


message 6534: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Maybe he's telling you to slow down and give him some time alone.Take the hint.


message 6535: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "Maybe he's telling you to slow down and give him some time alone.Take the hint."

Nina, Jim will never slow down. He's gaited that way! :)


message 6536: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) No, Indy was just bored since Marg didn't ride him. It was too cold. It's colder this morning. Yesterday it was 7 when I woke up & went down to 3 just before dawn. This morning it was 4 when I got up & is now 3. It's another hour or 2 until dawn. We should warm up from this point on, though. I don't think today is supposed to get to freezing, but tomorrow we should stay above freezing.

I had a nice chat with Mom this morning. They got a little more snow than we did & they're about 10 degrees warmer, so they had a good hunt yesterday. The woods had good footing & scent wasn't bad. They had a couple of good runs.

The kids got the last piece to the bedroom set yesterday - a headboard that was stored elsewhere. Now that all their furniture is in, they should be able to get everything out of our house. I'm really looking forward to them getting the last of their clothes out of here so I can put my yarn back in the high boy in that room. I have it all jammed into bags in my closet right now. I haven't been doing a lot of knitting, but when I do look for yarn it's kind of a nightmare.


message 6537: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Hope it warms up for you, Jim. We're having a cold spell here too.

As for jamming things in bags, I know a lot about that. I'm a saver. I recently read that the difference between a hoarder and a collector is that the collector knows where everything it. His stuff is organized and well-placed. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! :)


message 6538: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Speaking of cold spells/Our highs at night are twelve degrees. Sometimes it is three degrees and then next week it will be fifty six. Roller coaster temps.


message 6539: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Good one Joy. Witty...


message 6540: by Joy H., Group Founder (last edited Jan 09, 2017 07:16AM) (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "Speaking of cold spells/Our highs at night are twelve degrees. Sometimes it is three degrees and then next week it will be fifty six. Roller coaster temps."

Nina, we've had no roller coaster temps here. It just stays cold. Last night it was near zero.


message 6541: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) It was 62 here this morning. 60 degrees warmer than 4 days ago. Roller coaster, indeed!

We had some excitement last night. Pip started barking & then was making mean sounds so Marg looked out back & saw he had a possum under the porch step. She said it looked dead & called him off. I'd just gotten out of the shower, so dressed in my best (a bathrobe & boots) I went out to clean up the mess. Turned out not to be one.

I found the possum curled up in a ball with its head tilted up & the eye I could see closed. Its long jaw with teeth bared looked like it made up a third of the length, but it wasn't moving. I got the snow shovel & it took a dozen tries to get it on & out from between the steps. I've cleaned up a lot of dead critters & no freshly killed one was ever that stiff, so I knew it was alive. I was a little surprised since they often go limp & relax their bladder & bowels, but this one's "I'm dead, dammit" pose was a ball.

It remained firmly in a ball the entire time, even when I tossed it over the fence. It relaxed a little as it hit & squeaked, but then took up it's ball again & stayed that way for at least 15 minutes. Pip even when out & barked at it again for a while, but it didn't move. It was gone when I got up this morning, though.


message 6542: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Once when my husband had set a trap for a squirrel he went to the trap and there was a possum that he assumed was dead. Wrong. As soon as he opened the trap door out scooted the "dead" possum.


message 6543: by Joy H., Group Founder (last edited Jan 12, 2017 07:47PM) (new)


message 6544: by Joy H., Group Founder (last edited Jan 12, 2017 07:53PM) (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments PS
=============================================
When threatened or harmed, they will "play possum", mimicking the appearance and smell of a sick or dead animal. This physiological response is involuntary (like fainting), rather than a conscious act. In the case of baby opossums, however, the brain does not always react this way at the appropriate moment, and therefore they often fail to "play dead" when threatened. When an opossum is "playing possum", the animal's lips are drawn back, the teeth are bared, saliva foams around the mouth, the eyes close or half-close, and a foul-smelling fluid is secreted from the anal glands. The stiff, curled form can be prodded, turned over, and even carried away without reaction. The animal will typically regain consciousness after a period of a few minutes to 4 hours, a process that begins with slight twitching of the ears.[24]
FROM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opossum [See photo here of possum playing dead.]
============================================


message 6545: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Once my husband and I were at a South Seas type restaurant and we brought home our whole coconuts to eat later. We thought we'd eatent most of their inside contents when we put the shells on the railing of our deck(why I'm not sure) and then later we looked out and there sitting on the edge of the railings were two possums not playing dead but holding each one a half coconut in their paws and apparently enjoying their feast.


message 6546: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "Once my husband and I were at a South Seas type restaurant and we brought home our whole coconuts to eat later. We thought we'd eatent most of their inside contents when we put the shells on the ra..."

How cute that must have looked, Nina!


message 6547: by Nina (new)

Nina | 6069 comments Now someone would run out with their phone and take a picture or at least through the window.


message 6548: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Nina wrote: "Now someone would run out with their phone and take a picture or at least through the window."

Yes, Nina, I know what you mean about the ubiquitous phones with cameras in them. I often wonder if people will ever have the time to review all the hundreds and thousands of pics they take.


message 6549: by Jim (new)

Jim (jimmaclachlan) We're up to our necks in mud. The temps have been mid 40s to 60 with too much rain. Marg & I went for a ride around the place yesterday, but had to just walk & even that was a bit dicey at times. We're supposed to get more rain today.

I've been busy out at the shop & on the computer working on Inkle looms. I've got a deadline since I'm now teaching 2 classes at the SCA event on 4Feb. (Yes, they're that hard up for teachers!)

One class will be "Sheep to Shawl". I plan to bring in the current sheep fleece I have plus a bunch of other samples. I need to make up a couple more drop spindles so the class can try them & see how tough they are to use. Then I plan to demo using a spinning wheel & show a little on how to knit & crochet.

The other class will be "Inkle Loom Construction: The Ugly, the Good, & the Better": Basic design elements & construction techniques of Inkle looms. What to look for when buying a loom, how to design your own, & build one inexpensively with minimal tools. Several examples will be provided along with a handout that contains several plans. Discussion of the designs encouraged.

Yesterday I finished building & then fixing the design of one of the looms in Inkle Weaving which I've been told is the 'Bible of Inkle Weaving'. It only has one short chapter on the construction of looms & the plans aren't very good in my edition. Her points on deficiencies in some designs & her knowledge of weaving are impressive, but I found the loom designs decidedly less so. I'd go so far as to say they're pretty horrific & yet these are some of the most common looms around.

Anyway, it's really interesting dealing with these & should be fun teaching the classes. I hope I get decent lesson plans together in time, but I'll probably wind up winging a lot of it. Part of the problem is no one has any idea how many people are attending the event much less the classes.


message 6550: by Joy H., Group Founder (new)

Joy H. (joyofglensfalls) | 16697 comments Jim wrote: "We're up to our necks in mud. The temps have been mid 40s to 60 with too much rain. Marg & I went for a ride around the place yesterday, but had to just walk & even that was a bit dicey at times. W..."

Jim, I LOVE the title "Sheep to Shawl"! Who thought it up?
Good luck on all your projects!

By coincidence, last night I streamed the movie, "On the Black Hill" (1988) via Amazon.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093674/?...
It takes place in Wales and has many shots of actual sheep being herded and even sheared. So many sheep! It's something we seldom get a chance to see. It even shows the mating of 2 horses. Very graphic! THAT's an education in itself.


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