Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
What are U doing today?
>
What are U doing today? (Ongoing thread)
RE: The Light Between OceansNina, see the short GR review at the following link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Careful with the ice melt stuff. It's expensive & some of it is very hard on dog's feet. Most doesn't work well under 15 or 20 degrees anyway. Best to toss some kitty litter down. That will melt in & give her some traction.
I feel for you. Maybe help is slowly on the way East; our temps are supposed to be in upper forties by weekend. Yesterday seemed warm, can you believe at 22.
Jim wrote: "Careful with the ice melt stuff. It's expensive & some of it is very hard on dog's feet. Most doesn't work well under 15 or 20 degrees anyway. Best to toss some kitty litter down. That will mel..."Jim, thanks for suggesting the kitty litter. We'll try that.
Here's the link for the Ice Melt we use:
http://www.officedepot.com/a/products...
It says: " Effective up to -15° F. "
But it probably isn't good for the dogs' feet.
Joy, my neighbor's friend thought she was doing her a favor and sprinkled Kitty litter on her front stoop and it was a total mess to clean up and was dreadful to get out of her Yorkie's paws. Maybe it was a different brand that Jim is referring to but be cautious in using it.
Ooops! Eddie just came home with some kitty litter. Maybe he can bring it back. I had gone out in the yard and chopped away a small patch of the ice with a shovel. It had crumbled where I had put the ice melt. So it wasn't hard to chop away. Our current temp is 25 F.
Sand also works well, and I'm guessing that's nicer on paws? I do use salt at times, but it depends on if I actually have to use it to get the ice off of the sidewalk and driveway. Salt can actually eat away at concrete too. While we just have two kitties, I try my best to keep our sidewalk/driveway clear of salt as much as conveniently possible for me because we have so many dogs in the area. :)
Good suggestion, Jenni. Eddie said that he may be able to find sand at Home Depot or Agway's. By the time he get it, the ice will be gone. :) I hope. It would be good to have some sand on hand in any case.Before All-Wheel Drive, people used to carry sand in their cars in case they got stuck.
A benefit to having young kids and a sandbox is that I can steal from that box when needed. :) Haha! Speaking of all wheel drive, I'm getting a new car that has that! I've never had all wheel drive before, and I CAN'T WAIT :)
Joy H. wrote: "RE: The Light Between OceansNina, see the short GR review at the following link:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
It's our book pick for April so I'll see if we agree with Ruth's review or disagree. Thanks for posting it.
Jenni, you will love your All-Wheel Drive!Before we had All-Wheel Drive, we had Front-Wheel Drive. That helped getting up slippery surfaces but All-Wheel is even better.
I wonder, do they make cars with rear-wheel drive anymore? Those cars were awful in snow!
Any ice melt that has salt in it is hard on animal feet. It can cause sores in their pads, too.Kitty litter isn't too bad a mess if you get the dark stuff & sprinkle it thinly. It will actually melt into the ice, but it certainly isn't super clean. We have a door mat & a long runner carpet for them to run across before they hit the house. We call it a mud room for a reason. We track plenty in & have never had very clean floors anywhere in the house.
Fireplace ashes work well, too.
I think sand might be the cleanest option to help make the ice less slippery.Our current temp is 15 F.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick....
Jim - My parents used to use fireplace ashes all the time! They don't have the fireplace anymore though, kind of sad. :(Joy - I can't wait for my new car! I should have it by the first week of February, but the wait is killing me. I want it now!
Jenni, what kind of car are you getting?
Joy, a 2014 Subaru Crosstrek. Here's a photo of it - http://images.newcars.com/images/car-...Yep, I'm getting the orange color. It will be the first loud color I've ever had. It sure will make it easier to find my car in the parking lot! :)
Awesome, Jenni. Looks like a handy car.
Can you give me access, Joy, to any Goodreaders comments on a book I'm reading: "The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning?"
Wow, Jenni. That's a sharp looking car!
RE: The Hitman's Guide to Housecleaning by Hallgrímur HelgasonNina, click on the title of the book above (which you asked about). When you get to that page, scroll down. You will see the Goodreads member reviews.
Hope this helps.
Yes, thanks. It helped. It is a very difficult book to critique.
You're welcome, Nina.
Thanks Jim and Joy! It's big enough to haul around a full size string bass, but it's still small. I'm a small car kind of person, and I think that this car is a nice compromise between what I like and what I need. :)
Good luck, Jenni. A Subaru is a great car!So... you play a string bass, eh? What orchestra are you in?
PS - Jenni, that was well-put when you said: "a nice compromise between what I like and what I need."
Joy - hehe, thanks! It's the truth though, and I'm actually very in love with the car. I can't wait for it to come. The waiting is killing me, but I suppose that my wallet is happy that I haven't had to pay for it yet.I'm actually an oboe player, but my 9 year old daughter is a string bass player. Go figure, she's one of the shorter kids in her fourth grade class, and she would be the one to pick the string bass. Fortunately, it will be a few years before she's in a full size instrument, but I'm not planning to buy another car for a long time, so I had to take a full size instrument into consideration. :) I'm a good mommy, right?
Yes, Jenni. Good planning ahead! At least your daughter doesn't have to transport a full set of drums! LOL My former DIL was an oboe player. She used to work in a place where they prepared the reeds.
Oh Joy, my five year old thinks that he wants to play drums... Save me!!!! :)
Again, I made it in before the worst of the storm which is blowing snow like crazy. I was out getting a smoke at 8am & suddenly couldn't even see the cars parked 50' away. Rush hour has to suck. We got 1.5" of snow in 1 hour.What's going to make this really bad is we hit 50 yesterday so the top of the ground thawed a bit & the first bit of snow is slush. The temp started out at 31 this morning & is supposed to keep dropping into the teens by this afternoon & down to 3 degrees tonight. The snow is supposed to stop around noon, thankfully. Hopefully they'll get the roads cleared before salt quits working.
These 50 degree swings in temperature really stink.
:(
Shortly after I got up this morning, our temperature here was 37 degrees, but the snow has now moved in here, too, and is falling steadily (the temperature may have dropped as well). They're expecting a fairly severe winter storm. :-(In any case, I don't have to be out in it (though I feel for those who do). What I'm doing today (and for the rest of the week) is staying quietly at home to recover from hernia surgery yesterday. (The operation was a complete success.) This is my second hernia in two years, and third altogether. However, Dr. Phade and I believe we now have a handle on what's causing this to be so frequent. So, some things are going to be done differently, and I'm in good hopes that this will be my last hernia!
I guess the cold weather is covering a large part of the country. We have 2°F here right now.Werner, I wish you a quick recovery. Glad the surgery was successful. Does it hurt when you laugh? :)
Jim, I hope the roads will be safe for you and everyone there.
Not fun days; bad driving weather, hernia surgery and way too cold temps. Better days are coming. Drink hot chocolate and read a good book and be glad you don't have to dig dandelions. It is very cold here today but I'm picking up a friend and we are off to warmth at B & N for deciding on books to be brought home with us. Coffee and a scone are also on our timetable. Once home again I can't wait to delve into a library book my librarian daughter gave five stars and said I must read it; "Mrs. Queen Takes a Train."
Thanks, Joy! No, laughing doesn't hurt unless I do it so hard I roll on the floor. :-)Nina wrote: "Drink hot chocolate and read a good book...." That's definitely a good prescription!
Marg got her results back. She still has pneumonia. She's going in for a Cat scan tomorrow so they can get a better look.:(
Glad everything went well for you, Werner. Stay warm. We got 5" here in Louisville & were only supposed to get an inch. We were supposed to get twice as much at my house, so I guess I'll have a busy & hard night.
Once the only way I got over pneumonia was to go on a cruise and I know that isn't possible in Marge's case so I hope a different solution will be forthcoming. Life is full of worries and some more than others. Take Care as you must be the caretaker.
Hang in there, Jim! Let Marg know our thoughts and best wishes are with her.It's snowing very heavily here as well. Bluefield College closed at noon (not that I was going in anyway!), and they've already announced that Mercer County's schools will be closed tomorrow. Our temperature tomorrow is expected to be 2 degrees below zero, and 20 below when factoring in the wind chill.
Nina wrote: "Not fun days; bad driving weather, hernia surgery and way too cold temps. Better days are coming. Drink hot chocolate and read a good book and be glad you don't have to dig dandelions. It is very c..."Nina, enjoy your book. Sounds like a good one:
Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn
As the Amazon description says, it's "reminiscent of Alan Bennett’s The Uncommon Reader" which I enjoyed. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0062...
Jim wrote: "Marg got her results back. She still has pneumonia. She's going in for a Cat scan tomorrow so they can get a better look. :( ..."That's very worrisome, Jim! I hope that Marg will be completely well very soon. Take care of yourself too.
Current temp here is 3°F. It's supposed to go down to -3°F tonight. We have to leave a trickle from the faucet so the pipes don't freeze. Keep warm, everybody!
They're wondering if Marg has something in her lungs, like she choked & got rice or something in there. She's been through 3 bouts of antibiotics which are very tough on her given her stomach issues. The super cold we're having is tough on her, too.We were down to -1 when I left this morning & Marg said it was -3 when she got up. In some places, my car said it was -11! We aren't supposed to go above freezing for over a week. In fact, only 1 day is even supposed to be out of the single digits & then just get into the mid teens. This is very bad news for many in our area because our pipes aren't protected or buried with these sorts of temperatures in mind.
Jim, this must all be very stressful for you. I'm sending good thoughts your way for both you and Marg. I hope things get better soon. Better stock up on water in case the pipes freeze.
The results came back. Marg doesn't have anything in her lungs, just some scarring from the pneumonia. That's actually good news, although her lungs are obviously having issues with the cold & probably will for the rest of her life now.Unfortunately, we can't stock up on enough water if our pipes freeze. The horses drink about 5 gallons per day each.
Marge is in my "get well" prayers tonight. Hope it helps.
Jim wrote: "The results came back. Marg doesn't have anything in her lungs, just some scarring from the pneumonia. That's actually good news, although her lungs are obviously having issues with the cold & pr..."Jim, that's an improvement over the previous news. Hope Marg will be back to normal soon.
About the water, keep your bathtub filled! Take sponge baths. LOL Any port in a storm.
I plan on sitting in front of my heater. The temperature is -2F but the wind chill is -23F! Since my apartment is on the corner, I get the wind from two sides!Tired of being stuck in the house as I am unable to drive and can't breath cold air for very long for medical reasons. Hoping for a warm up soon!
Tea and sympathy, Mary. It is only getting up to 12 degrees here in KS. This morning temp was 3 with wind chill at fifteen below. brrrr. Good books are a comfort in winter. Just read a book that said to draw a tree in January. They look so different than spring and summer. So I sat and did just that; drew one of the crabapple outside my bedroom window.
This is the season for cabin fever! Hang in there everyone!
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...
Jim, Pip must be an intellectual. :)
Werner, enjoy your time off!