Watcha Doing? Version 2015.5 Showing 1,351-1,400 of 2,846

[Peggy]

I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately but don't know how else to kill time during my daily train rides except for reading. But right now I don't know whether to read a book I think I will love and hope I get back in a reading mood, or whether that might cause me to not enjoy a book I really want to read as much as I normally would.

[Sarah]

Go for something light, fun and easy to read Peggy. That generally helps me out of a slump.

[Peggy]

Good idea Sarah! I think I'll do that :)

[Lisa]

I find rereading a book that I enjoyed previously often helps me to get out of slumps too Peggy.

[CFDeeDee]

Try audio books Peggy .. Maybe it'll help better!

[Peggy]

Oh congrats on the exam by the way cfdeedee! Great score!

[CFDeeDee]

Thanks Peggy .. The score made my day :D

[Bella]

Peggy wrote: "I've been in a bit of a reading slump lately but don't know how else to kill time during my daily train rides except for reading. But right now I don't know whether to read a book I think I will lo..."

I do a lot of sudoku when I'm in a reading slump. I also agree with the rereading thing.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Visiting the library and wander between its shelves helps me, Peggy.

[Lynda]

Congratulations on your test score, CF Dee Dee.

When I'm in a reading slump, I try to find a story completely out of my normal wheelhouse. My go-to pallet cleaner right now is the Anne of Green Gables series. It's light, kind of silly, and very very different from my normal fantastic doom and gloom.

Well my kitchen and dining room floor is completely torn up. We had a water leak in the common wall between the garage and the dining room, from an ill-fitted water return at the washer. So, we had to patch the wall, re-insulate, and patch the subflooring. Looking forward to the new floor, but it might be up to a month before the linoleum we want comes in at The Home Depot. It's a beautiful charcoal grey - which will be a big change from the white floor we had previously. I'm really looking forward to no longer having a white floor!

We have some tile to install for a back splash behind the stove; we're also repainting the dining room walls in shades of coral. (I'm a little worried I might get tired of the color, but I suppose we can always repaint again). The last thing we want to do is to resurface the counters, but that will have to wait a bit.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Wow Lynda, so much work! I hope everything goes fine.

[Tejas Janet]

Sorry to have missed wishing you happy birthday, Lisa. Happy wishes belatedly. So where did you get taken out to eat? Glad you're enjoying your kindle. Love my 'droid tablet.

How ingenious, Bella, your homemade harvesting tool. Love it. Wish you had posted pic of blueberry crumble that we could drool over, Sarah!

Congrats on your test achievement, CF Dee Dee : )

Good luck with the home improvement projects, Lynda.

I love the buddy bench, Sandra! Thanks for sharing that story.

We've had friends visiting from out-of-town and then have been visiting my brother and family. One of the triplets crawling enthusiastically now : ) I'm going to visit about every other week - and miss them the rest of the time. Despite the crying and constant demands of caring for 3 babies.

[Tejas Janet]

@ STEPHANIE

Stephanie, my husband and I got away to the beach with Sheeba for a day recently. She's cautious about the waves now, too, because she's not so steady on her feet like she used to be. Her first trip to the beach and ocean was pretty soon after we adopted her at age 5 and 1/2 years from city shelter. She waS afraid of the waves her first couple times, but LOVED running on the beach (we took her to remote areas where we could let her off-leash). Pretty soon she was playing in the water - running along the beach, chasing and jumping waves. Pure joy : )

[Lisa]

Tejas Janet wrote: "Sorry to have missed wishing you happy birthday, Lisa. Happy wishes belatedly. So where did you get taken out to eat?"

Thanks TJ! I got taken to this really lovely Thai restaurant which I had not been to for a couple of years :)

[Sarah]

Thai and Indian are my two favourite cuisines. I've just booked on to a Southern Indian cookery course in October which I'm really looking forward to. I'm no good at making curry so I thought a few pointers might help.

[Lisa]

Sarah wrote: "Thai and Indian are my two favourite cuisines. I've just booked on to a Southern Indian cookery course in October which I'm really looking forward to. I'm no good at making curry so I thought a few..."

Those are my favourite cuisines too Sarah, although I think Indian just pips Thai to the top spot. Enjoy your cookery course, it sounds great!

[Stephanie]

@TJ! Awe, Sheeba!! I wonder if it is the noise of the crashing waves they are scared of? We kept Blake on leash because he can be such a brat with most dogs but then there are some he is just fine with, lol! It was so beautiful out and being able to walk along the beach with my hubby and dog is so relaxing! I just wish we lived closer to the beach..we are about 3 hours from Virginia beach. Not bad but would love to live closer :)

[CFDeeDee]

Thanks lynda .. That seems a lot of work, good luck with it

Thanks Tejas .. I hope you had a nice time with your friends

[Lynda]

Well, we already hit one potential problem. It seems the flooring we originally picked out might not be available for the price we expected. So, now it's a matter of deciding do we really want to pay more, or is there something else out there? I'm sure there's something else out there, but when you finally decide on something, it's hard to transition to something else. I'll be going through swatches after dinner!

[Tejas Janet]

So true, Lynda, when you think you've got it decided, it's challenging to go back to square one. Good luck with the swatches! I bet you'll get things sorted out pretty soon.

Mmm... Thai food. Nice, Lisa! Up there with some of my favorites along with Indian and Vietnamese. That's great, Sarah, about your upcoming "cookery" class. Look forward to hearing some about that.

My biggest news right now is that I've bought a sewing machine! I haven't done any proper sewing in years, but got sick of not being able to make quick, decent fixes in hems, seams, and such. I used to have some skill with hand sewing, but my eyesight isn't what it used to be - and neither is my sewing ability! I chose a nice Janome Magnolia that I'm very happy with : )

[Tejas Janet]

Stephanie, my husband and I are also about 3 hours drive from the nearest beach - Galveston. I'm not sure what precisely made Sheeba scared on the ocean at first. It seemed clear she'd never seen anything like it before, and it just took a little time and experience for her to learn how far out she could venture without being knocked over by a wave or something.

[Sarah]

Have fun with your new machine TJ. I haven't done any sewing for a couple of years. My next task though (probably over the winter) is curtains and roman blinds for the boat.

[CFDeeDee]

@Lynda hmmm keep looking around, pretty sure there would be another place would sell the flooring for a different price ! Finding exactly what you want is a good sign ..

@Tejas wooooow that sounds amazing .. Share some of what you gonna make :D

~

Big days we're having around here .. We call it "Haj" its some kind of praying and doing good deeds ..
I had some throat pain last night, I drank some hot tea and went to sleep, I woke up twice during sleep feeling a sharp pain in my throat as if someone put a rock or a piece of wood inside my throat, and I knew I need my rest and if I slept I wont feel any pain, so I ignored the pain and went to sleep.
When I woke up this morning I thought "I should go and see a doctor, is the hospital open? Its a holiday today, I should ask my sister." So I saw my sister "Do you have any idea if the hospital is opened?" -what the h*ll just happened to my voice-
It sounded .. Like .. Funny
The body does some weird strange changes during sleep !

[Janice, Moderator]

You definitely need to get that checked out CFDeeDee. You might have strep throat and need medication.

[Bella]

Evidently, BetterWorld Books doesn't always/ever remove a book from your wishlist even if you've ordered it straight from it. So, I accidentally bought 2 copies of When the Mississippi Ran Backwards: Empire, Intrigue, Murder, and the New Madrid Earthquakes by Jay Feldman. Is this a book anyone's interested in? I'm willing to mail it to someone (in America). Let me know, I hate to have books wasted.

[Bella]

Obviously, I'm not asking for money, not even for shipping. I'd just like the book to go to a good home.

[CFDeeDee]

@Janice I went this morning and the doctor gave some tablets and a mouth wash ! How strange to be given a mouth wash !!

Bu dust, I started to sneeze and feeling weird, my nose started running, and I thought it was a perfect mood to finally have a long session with my book and finish it ..

[Lynda]

I feel your pain, CFDeeDee, literally. (What was your diagnosis?) I started to get kind of cough-y this morning at my desk. Someone had put on a bunch of icy/hot, which was burning my eyes, so I thought it was just that, bothering my asthma. Now that the day's progressed, I'm definitely feeling a cold coming on. I'm going to eat, load up on vitamins, then go to bed and read with a cup of tea.

[Cherie]

Bella wrote: "Evidently, BetterWorld Books doesn't always/ever remove a book from your wishlist even if you've ordered it straight from it. So, I accidentally bought 2 copies of [book:When the Mississippi Ran Ba..."

Bella - could you donate it to your library? It looks like a good read and I have added it to my TBR. I can buy the ebook for $15 and I am sure it would cost a lot more than that to mail it half way around the world.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Sounds like tonsillitis. Hopefully you knock it on it's head and feel better.

I love the strep throat things. We don't call it strep. You have a sore throat and you deal with it unless it gets infected like tonsillitis.

When you guys say strep throat, are you talking about the infected stage or when you have a discomfort/small pain in your throat?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Feel better Lynda. Sounds like a plan.

[CFDeeDee]

@lynda It was a throat thingy at first, the doctor didn't say anything at all, he just gave me some antibiotics and some other tablets .. Now I guess I've got the flue .. I hate flue .. I just hope I don't get a fever too !
If I had it then I won't be able to do a thing for days and my plan for going out with my friend would be cancelled !
Wish that won't happen .. I've been waiting for it for a month or so.

[CFDeeDee]

If there is only another stage Rusalka, cuz I'm way ahead from the discomfort and the pain, its like everything at once. Funny voice + pain + rough feeling during sleep + pain while swallow on anything - including air - + pain while not swallowing - there is a high chance of feeling the pain while breathing - + few coughs between now and then .. So I'm a master stage in the throat thingy alright !

[Lynda]

Bummer, CFDeeDee...feel better.

Thanks Rusalka. It's my understanding the tonsillitis is a more general term for a bacterial infection in the throat, but strep is from a specific strain of bacteria - streptococcus. Either one needs to be treated with antibiotics, but strep is especially serious because it can lead to scarlet fever.

[CFDeeDee]

Woow that is something lynda.
I'm not that good with medical terms, but I hope I'm not having the one with the fever thingy.
My temperature was 37.5 c. 18 hours ago, so I guess I'm on the safe side here !

[Janice, Moderator]

Rusalka wrote: "When you guys say strep throat, are you talking about the infected stage or when you have a discomfort/small pain in your throat?.."

Strep throat is short for streptococcal infection. It is a nasty infection that feels like you're swallowing razor blades every time you swallow.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Fair enough. I always wonder as it seems to be very common occurrence in N America, when I have never heard of any one here ever having it.

But it's common for at least someone you know each year to get tonsillitis.

Although I do know that in remote Indigenous communities, they are worried about a long term side effect of heart disease from rheumatic fever which seems to be from strep from my quick googling then. Mum just visited one community last month and said she hadn't seen/heard of any one get rheumatic fever since she was a small girl. So maybe it just is that we don't have strep often over here anymore.

[Sarah]

I'm the same as you Rusalka. I've only ever heard of strep throat on American TV and on here - it's never mentioned here in the UK but I guess it must be about. Although I don't think we get Scarlet Fever that much here anymore either. I don't view Tonsillitis as a general sore throat - here Tonsillitis is when the tonsils get infected. There is also laryngitis and pharyngitis, which are infections of the corresponding part of the throat. Oh and these can be both bacterial and viral. In my early twenties I got tonsillitis a lot and it was so painful. I ended up having them removed. No more tonsillitis for me but my throat has a weakness now so I tend to get pharyngitis instead, especially if I get a bad cold.

Mouth wash makes sense CFDeeDee - I was given a medicated one too when I had my tonsils out - gargle it in your throat. That and gargle with soluble cocodamol/paracetamol/aspirin - these were the only things that helped me to eat.

I was poorly yesterday in fact. Tummy bug. I caught the bus to town to catch the train to work but once I got off the bus I decided I wasn't going any further so came back home again.

It's getting darker in the evenings now and chillier over night - autumn has definitely arrived. It was only 10 C in the boat yesterday morning so we need to get our arses in to gear and buy some wood and kindling this weekend as I think a fire overnight is needed now. Lots of weather stories going about at the moment which is always the case here in the UK in the lead up to Winter. Apparently, we are going to see the coldest, snowiest, longest winter we've had for decades - something to do with El Nino. I'm not going to take too much notice of it, other than stock up on wood/coal etc. which we would have done anyway.

[Peggy]

Same here as with Sarah and Rusalka. I'm not so familiar with all the names for the infections, but mostly you 'just' have a sore throat, often together with other indications of an upcoming cold, and you don't go see a doctor for it. The alternative is an infection (according to google, the laryngitis and pharyngitis Sarah writes about, but we just simply call it 'throat infection'). I think tonsillitis is more common in children.

I hope you feel better now Rusalka!

I don't believe these weather-predictions. It seems that for every winter and summer already months before there are people saying it's going to be the hottest/coldest/wettest/driest or whatever, and it never seems to happen the way they say.

[Peggy]

I got curious and went to the website of the Dutch Weather Institute and they have some information about El Nino. It says that even with a big El Nino, like this year, the effects in Europe are very small. Several examples are given, but then it says that in winter, there are no noticable effects of el nino on the Dutch weather. Scandinavian countries can have a winter that's a bit more severe than average. Spring apparently is wetter in the Netherlands after a year with a stronger el nino.

[Travis]

Usually you don't see a doctor for a sore throat. It is when you shine a flashlight to see swollen super red throat and often little white spots all over that yoy get checked for strep.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Thanks Peggy, but I'm not the sick one! lol Too many people!

[Peggy]

Lol oops! I really meant to say that to Sarah ;-)

[Lisa]

I hope you feel better soon CFDeeDee, Lynda and Sarah!

Sarah, I've been noticing all those weather stories too. I'm not going to take much notice of them either as they hardly ever seem to get the forecasts right. Also, the stories change on virtually a daily basis. One day they are forecasting a Indian Summer, the next it's going to be the coldest autumn/winter on record.

[Stephanie]

Wow! Lots to catch up on in here!!
Hope you all feel better soon, CFDeeDee, Lynda and Sarah!!

I have completed 2 certificates for the program I'm in with school. I'm working on a Web design fundamentals course now. It is a lot more involved though but I'm having fun with it and learning a lot. So far it is just photoshop but it is so neat and I've been able to play around with some of the photos I have :) after this certificate I'm hoping there are more to take in regards to this type of coursework:) it is really fascinating!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Where as we bear the brunt of El Nino. More heatwaves, higher bushfire risks, higher daytime temps, less rainfall, usually widespread drought.

But I thought that the El Nino/La Nina phenomenon only affected the Pacific and Indian Oceans. So when we have El Nino, South America gets La Nina for example. I wasn't aware the effects could be felt up North with you guys too.

Main things I just remember when it comes to the weather/climate.
- Each year is getting hotter as a whole. So overall average temps of everyone.
- The climate is changing. More extremes. More changeability. More unpredictability. But we notice and are paying attention to those extremes one way or another (including cold), and we all just keep muddling on in the middle/normal times. So for us here, we had the warmest winter on record. But to me, the majority of the days where normal. I just didn't notice that the average over 90days had shifted a 0.5 degree or whatever it was.

[CFDeeDee]

I think it makes sense Rusalka, because we don't have a flue season around here, but when you catch it you catch it, in season or out of season ! So i guess every region has it differences.

I guess now it doesn't sound so bad for the mouthwash Sarah, but would've liked a drinking medication much better. It's kinda hard to believe that you actually live in a boat!
A cold night is something I like, but not if there was no heat source.

Thanks lisa, i really hope so too

Thanks Stephanie, we designing sounds cool, good luck with the course

[Sarah]

El Nino definitely effects the South more, bringing hotter weather. It does have an effect on the Northern hemisphere but not so severe. Apparently it affects our winter and causes drier but colder winters (Northern Europe) and wetter, milder winters (Southern Europe). No idea why.

[Lynda]

Stephanie, it sounds like your certification program is something I would enjoy. I always thought if I went back to school it would be for graphic design. I'm a photographer, but would like to learn to use PhotoShop and InDesign a little better. Mostly I just work in Lightroom any more.

We had a weird weather year this year in the Pacific Northwest. Our summer started in May, no real spring to speak of, and that was precipitated by a dry winter. This resulted in a lot of really bad fires this summer...my brother in Alaska lost his home in the wildfires around Willow.

They're anticipating another dry winter. For those who know anything about Seattle's reputation for rain, then you'll understand how unusual two dry winters are. And, while it's nice for us humans not to always be wet, it does lower our winter temperatures, but prevents snow from accumulating in the mountains. Also, we run on hydro-electric power here, and because we have an abundance, we supply California with power to augment their shortages. All in all, dry winters mean no ski season, freezing, and higher electric rates!

[Kandice]

Strep is a big "thing" where I live. There is a preschool and Torah School where I work and we have very strict rules about it. If you are diagnosed with strep you can't return to school until you have been on antibiotics for 24 hours which always means at least two days out.

Hand/foot/mouth disease is another that people get all worked up about here. Has anyone heard of that?

Funny how certain illnesses seem to be prevalent depending on where you live. Or maybe not...O_o