Watcha Doin' - 2016.1 Showing 3,101-3,150 of 3,910

[Sarah]

Thanks guys :-)

[Tasha]

Happy Birthday, Sarah!!

Oh no, Rusalka!! I hope you can ger some rennet before the milk turns!

[Kristie, Moderator]

Happy birthday, Sarah!

[Sarah]

That's annoying about the cheese. I've planned to make something before, even started cooking it then realised I'm missing a vital ingredient. So frustrating. Fingers crossed they can get it to you quick before the milk goes bad.

[Joan]

Rusalka, if you use unhomgenized milk does it separate into cream and milk as the cheese forms?

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Thanks guys. One of my workmates just pointed out I could freeze the milk. I am not sure how that will go, but it is an option.

My understanding Joan, is that homogonisation (so blending the milk and the cream particles together so you don't get the cream layer) impacts the separation of the curds and whey somewhat, and means that the curds are too soft if you are making a hard cheese. If you are making a yoghurty cheese, it doesn't really matter. So it doesn't split while the cheese forms as you have already split it another way (huh pun).

And apparently the cheese tastes heaps better too.

[KimeyDiann]

Y'all are making me hungry! Or it could just be the fact that it is almost lunch time for me...

[Travis]

Unhomogenized milk costs more. Huh. Never knew it. Or thought about it. It is all we have in our house as we have a 2 gallon pasteurizer and just pasteurize milk from our tank as we need it

[Travis]

Freezing should be fine. I freeze colostrum in 1 gallon zip lock bags to feed calves if their mother doesn't give enough or milk is bad. It keeps fine. I know people who buy milk on sale because its about to pass the sell by date and freeze it. They have never had a problem either

[KimeyDiann]

How do you freeze milk that you buy at the store? Just put the whole gallon in the freezer?

[Sarah]

I'm back to work tomorrow after being off ill. I'm feeling much better now, just a lingering chesty cough so I should be fine for work. Phew!

[Lisa]

Glad you are feeling better now, Sarah! Hopefully your cough won't linger for too much longer!

[Travis]

Yeah Kimey they just put tge whole gallon in freezer

[Joan]

Does frozen milk keep the same texture for drinking? I'll bet the hungry calves don't object but I'm a whiner.

[Travis]

I don't know if I ever drank the froze milk. If I did it was with chocolate because that's just how I roll

[KimeyDiann]

I was wondering the same thing, Joan.

[Joan]

I just put some milk in the freezer, so I will let you know tomorrow.

[KimeyDiann]

How did the frozen milk turn out, Joan?

My husband has been working for his B-I-L for the past couple of years doing residential construction and remodeling work. The BIL told my husband and the only other employee on Friday that he had been offered a job and was going to take it and starts in a few weeks. So my husband and his coworker are only employed for 5 more weeks.

After the initial shock wore off, my DH started making phone calls to the supervisor where he used to work and talking to a few other people. It appears he is going back to work with the company he used to work for (which is also the company I work for). The only downside is that he will be working in the Charleston, South Carolina area and I will still be here in Mississippi.

He's always traveled for work except for the last three years or so. A few of those years I was traveling too and we were in the same place so that was fine. But most everywhere he has worked he has been able to come home on the weekends or I would go to where he was if he couldn't. Usually a 4-6 hour drive tops. That is manageable for us. SC is about 9 hours away. Too far to reasonably drive back and forth every weekend. Flights are going to cost at least $400 per trip... that isn't exactly in our budget. Plus, I'd have to pay someone to keep the dogs if I flew out there so it would be even more costly.

I know it will all work out and that we can survive being apart, I'm just dreading it. He says he will come home every other weekend. We've done that before. It is just a big adjustment to get used to. Especially since I'm used to having him home most every night.

[Peggy]

That sounds difficult KimeyDiann, especially since you're so used to being together all the time now.

Will he just work there until he finds a job closer to home? Or will you look for something closer to him?

[Kristie, Moderator]

Sorry to hear that, Kimey. That distance does make it tough.

[Sarah]

Sorry to hear that your husband is having to change jobs. He's lucky to have landed something straightaway though. It's a shame you'll be apart. I don't think i'd deal with that too well. I hope you can work things out so it works for all of you, dogs included.

[Joan]

KimeyDian - the Charleston - Mississippi split does sound tough, I hope at least that you both enjoy your jobs.
I totally forgot about the milk in the freezer, I will try it tonight.

[Janice, Moderator]

That's too bad that your husband has to take a job so far away. Hopefully it will all work out.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Sounds tough, Kimey. I hope you two find a way of making it work well.

[Tejas Janet]

KimeyDiann. i'm hoping his will be a more temporary arrangement for y'all. It's not ideal, but it may lead to something even better in the near future.

[KimeyDiann]

Thanks for the encouraging words! I don't know how long this will last exactly. He works in the construction industry and stays in one place until the project is done. The one he will be going to should finish up around April I think. But then it is just a matter of where the next project is located. It could be closer, it could be further.

The plus of him doing this is that he will be making quite a bit more money. So we should be able to get out of some debt. And hopefully if we have less debt, I'll be free to take a different job even if it pays less than I currently make. Which would be fantastic.

[KimeyDiann]

I don't remember which thread I was discussing the Halloween party I went to last weekend so I thought I'd share here. I had dressed up as a Crown Royal whiskey. In case you don't know, it comes in a signature purple velvet bag with gold draw strings. I made a very quick and easy version of it to be my costume out of a twin sized sheet, my mom's embroidery machine, and some curtain tie-backs. Someone asked for a picture, but I didn't have any full length ones. Well, my sister borrowed it for her work today where they were having a costume contest. Her and a coworker dressed up as Crown & Coke and won first place. Here's the pic she sent me of them together. I thought it was extremely cute!

[Janice, Moderator]

Cool costume, Kimey!

[Peggy]

Random question. What is the official age for retirement where you live?

It was 65 here for a long time, but some years ago they started to slowly increase it to 67. Today it was on the news that in 2021 it will be 67 and 3 months (poor mom, it applies to people born after December 31, 1954, and she was born early February 1955), and likely it will increase to 68 in 2025.

I'm curious how it compares to other countries.

[Travis]

My dad had to retire at 60 because he worked for NYS as a trooper. I think collecting social security starts at 65

[Sarah]

I think it's different for men and women here, although that might have changed now. 65 for men. My dad started collecting his pension earlier this year although he's going to work for another year. By the time I'm old, I'll bet there won't be any pensions so we'll have to work until we die. But I'm not going to think about that now.

[Mariab]

It has to do with the configuration of the population pyramid in each country. Countries with a great percentage of elderly people tend to (or must) defer the pension's age

[Sandra, Moderator]

We were talking about that an hour ago! It is happening in many places. People live longer, so that means more years after retirement. It is being a great load for the active population. And at the same time people is "younger" and more active now at 60 compared to the past, so it seems they can work longer. I Feel for your mom. Right now in Uruguay is being discussed the change from 60 to 65. In 2010 when we visited Paris, they where going from 60 to 62.

[Joan]

For the US government social security program retirement age varies: 65 yrs old for those born before 1937, 66 for those born before 1954 and 67 for those born in 1960 or later.

But organizations can set other retirement ages (I've no idea how the law works) for example New York State judges have to retire by age 71.

I expect that your gov't pension is safe Sarah. Craven politicians here in the US try to scare people about social security running out of money but that is not really a risk according to knowledgeable economists.

[Travis]

Yeah they are always changing things. The troopers wer for example mandatory at 55, then 57 and now 60 . State fire fighters are about same ages as well

[Janice, Moderator]

There is no general mandatory retirement age here in Canada. Some businesses/industries may impose a mandatory age depending on their personnel policy.

You may start drawing your Canada Pension at age 60, but it's ridiculously low. Old Age Security kicks in at 65. There have been recent changes that allow you to continue to pay into CPP up to age 70 as long as you are working.

I will likely be working till I'm 70 because my rent is higher than a monthly pension cheque from the government. Scary!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Here it's whenever you want to work too. The pension starts now at 65, but your seniors card for discounts and things starts at 60. They are talking about raising this to 68 as our population ages. If the government gets it's way, 70 by 2035 when I'm beginning to look into it. But you can retire whenever over the minimum retirement age (set by the super funds (see below)) which is usually 55.

But, we have things like mandatory superannuation. So since I started working at 15, my employer is required by law to pay a percentage of what I earn (not out of what I earn, of what they pay me) to my super fund. This accumulates (and they invest it in the meantime) and then when I retire I can access this. The minimum they can pay is 9.5% of your wage. I'm very luckily working at a place at the moment that pays double that.

Then when you hit over the age your super fund specifies you can retire and they will start paying it out to you how you wish (usually people choose payments like a pension). Allows people to live on that and takes the stress off the pension, opening that up to people who need it. If you cark it before using it, they will pay it out to your family. But the aim is to use it.

So point is, here it's flexible. Most people will retire between 55 and 65 though.

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Oh and the tradies and labourers are really annoyed at the Gov for wanting to keep on increasing it. They point out it is much easier to work a desk job or in politics as a 60+ but not so easy as a bricklayer for example. So financially "encouraging" people (ie if you don't have a good super fund or need to rely on the pension) to work until 70 is going down like a lead balloon at the moment.

[Peggy]

Thanks for all replies!

You can stop working here earlier too, but then you have to have enough savings to live from. You can't collect your pension until 67.

I get that it increases because a 65-year old now is very different from a 65-year old 20 or 30 years ago. But there are also arguments that there are already so many young people who don't have jobs, and that it would be better if the age stays at 65 so that the younger people have a chance to start working.

There has also been talk about being able to retire after 40 years of working, no matter how old you are. My dad, and soms others in his generation, started working full time in a factory at 15 and did hard physical work for most of the time. It's a lot to ask of people to do physical labour for 50 years..

[Travis]

Goodreads choice awards are back. Of the few I read I didn't vote for because they weren't strong enough for me to say yes it was betrer than all the other books in the category. A few i own but haven't read and did not find one to add to the tbr. Most just don't look that appealing and it seems as every year the awards are based more on favorite authors than the actual best books.

[Lisa]

I haven't voted for any of the nominees in any category this year because I haven't read any of them. I own a few of them and several others are on my wishlist but most of them I just don't have any interest in. It's not the strongest selection I have seen in these awards. I agree Travis, I do think it's more of a popularity contest than how good the books are.

[Peggy]

Same here, I don't think I ever read a book that was nominated. Several on my wishlist or shelves, but none actually read.

[Sarah]

I voted on two categories - horror and mystery. Typically in the horror genre there were two books I really liked so had a hard time choosing. Neither of them I'd call horror either. I mainly read Sci fi and fantasy but still I don't seem to read ones that appear in the pick. There are way too many series books in there of which I've not even read book 1 off. I did add a number of the Sci fi ones to my wishlist though.

[Travis]

Wrll I did make a notr to add Fluency because i have heard good things about it which is not nominated but its sequel is in sci fi category which again I jave heard good things about

[Janice, Moderator]

I had the same experience as Sarah in the horror and mystery. I had a difficult time deciding.

[KimeyDiann]

Rusalka wrote: "If you cark it before using it, they will pay it out to your family.

Cark it? Is that a euphemism for die? Like kick the bucket or croak?

[Tasha]

I usually don't vote much either, I have to read a book and really love it to vote for it. I voted for 2 books today.

America's First Daughter I loved this one.

Hamilton: The Revolution I have this book, saw the musical and know all the songs. I'm reading the book this was inspired by so I had to vote for it. It's impacted my life as well as my family's life! ;)

[Kristie, Moderator]

I voted in a few genres, but far from all of them. There were a few books that I have on my TBR, but haven't read yet so I couldn't vote for them. I also wrote in one.

I was particularly disappointed in the humor category. I don't read much humor, but it seemed to be mostly memoirs and not necessarily by comedians either. I'm not sure they were categorized properly.

[KimeyDiann]

I think I voted for one book in all of the categories. I added a LOT of books to my TBR though!

[Cherie]

I voted for the two books that I read. I own two others but have not had a chance to read them yet. I added one book to my TBR list - beyond what I already had.