Watcha Doin' - 2017.1 edition Showing 3,901-3,950 of 5,020

[Margo]

Thanks everyone. We are all feeling that the worst is behind. Now to get him well and back on his feet. I hope he will stay with us through winter at least.

[Kristie, Moderator]

I was looking into one of Nathaniel Hawthorne's books and just saw this on Amazon:

"Hawthorne’s writing centers around moral issues and the psychology of humans and is dark in nature. Much of this is due to Hawthorne’s shame of being related to one of the Salem Witch Trial judges. John Hathorne was Nathaniel’s great grandfather and the latter added the “w” to his name in order to hide that relation."

I had no idea of that relation or the "w" added to his name. I've even been on a Salem witch trial tour. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention? Anyway, I thought it was a really interesting tidbit.

[Janice, Moderator]

That is an interesting tidbit. Did you tour the gabled house on which he based the book, The House of the Seven Gables? That impressed me more than the witch trial tours.

[Travis]

Ok. I'm drunk. I didn't read the whole thing here but I've been to Boston and been to the house of the seven gables. I'm drunk and going to bed before I turn into an asshat

[Janice, Moderator]

LOL! Nighty night Travis.

[Travis]

Oh I also want to mention black cherry rum is delicious :)

[Margo]

:-D

[Anne (Booklady)]

Travis, I'm jealous! I just got permission yesterday to drink 1 cup of coffee per day until my Heart Echo is done. The Doc didn't say how BIG my one cuppa is supposed to be :D

Off to sleep for a few hours...you all have a good day.

@Jmom, thanks for the Red Cross site. Watermelon, mmmm
I pinned it to Start for easy access. Many thanks again.

[Travis]

Yeah. So I went to drop some beef off at my buddies. He said he was home alone and super drunk so he's showering and going to bed. I said I'll put the beef away . Left my truck on and went in. Next thing he's going just have a shot with me quick. Well you know how that goes. Lol. Finally I remembered my truck was running and went and shut it off. 4 hours later I said hey I'm gonna sleep this off a bit I'll drive home sometime. So I went and got in passenger seat and was actually just checking a couple threads to wind down a little so I could fall asleep when I posted last night. Sometimes I wake up to some pretty illegible things I've typed or texted which is why I put on my disclaimer as a warning. I've woken up to texts I've sent that resembles this

Sjshub jsudb jshxuf kihvdh with the reply from whoever of what?

[Sarah]

Thanks guys.

I saw your drunk disclaimer and quickly looked further up the thread thinking i might be in for a chuckle but you only made a brief post. But that made me chuckle that i was looking for a silly post.

[Sandra, Moderator]

That is very interesting, Kristie. Thanks for sharing. I will go and read some more about it.

Travis, Lol, that was funny. I hioe you do not have a headache today.

[Sandra, Moderator]

YAY for the coffee, Anne!

[Travis]

No headache. The disclaimer was a safety thing. Nothing saying I wouldn't find my way back again.

[Travis]

I'm envious of coffee drinkers. I have to take like 5 rokaids to survive a cup of joe

[Janice, Moderator]

So, Travis. Tell us about your trip to Boston and visiting the house of seven gables. LOL!

[Kristie, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "That is an interesting tidbit. Did you tour the gabled house on which he based the book, The House of the Seven Gables? That impressed me more than the witch trial tours."

I did not. I haven't had an interest in Hawthorne previously. I was looking up one of his short stories that another book referenced and found this.

[Travis]

Well the house had seven gables on the roof. And one room had a straw bed and we learned about bed bugs and where don't let the bed bugs bite came from. That's about all I remember. Lol. It was like 20 years ago. Then we went to Salem the next day and I just remember that place to me just has an aura of weird to it. There's just an unsettling feeling to the village. Like that movie population 301 or something where for a new person to live there someone must die. Or maybe the wicker man.

Not saying that it would have all been true but probably had I embellished last night I would have much more about Boston to share. Only a lot probably wouldn't have happened in Boston I probably would have mixed it up with other trips

[Kristie, Moderator]

Salem is awesome to visit around Halloween. We've done that several times.

[Janice, Moderator]

I recall a discussion about the hardships of the winter when I toured the house. They also talked about the contaminated grain theory surrounding the witch trials. One thing I distinctly remember was the stunning beauty of the yard overlooking the harbor. I have pictures of it somewhere.

I don't recall much of the witch tours. I went on a couple and one was interesting while the other was kind of hokey. I thought the monument to the slain victims was interesting as well.

I expected it to feel weird, like there was some residual haze over the town, but it was actually quite pleasant.

I was really impressed with Boston. I took a tour bus in from one of the surrounding hotels. I'm so glad I didn't try to drive in. We saw a lot of things and places I would never had gone to if I drove in on my own.

[Sarah]

I'm off to the spa later. I took all your encouragement. Annoyingly it's half term here this week and they are fully booked for treatments. I had planned on having a back massage too. I'll still go though as the pools there are lovely and they have just opened a whole floor of steam rooms which I've not checked out yet. It will still be nice even without the massage.

[Cherie]

Have a great day, Sarah!

[Rusalka, Moderator]

Enjoy Sarah!

I don't understand how it can be "half term" already. I mean, they've only been back at school 6 weeks or so. Look at me, being a cranky old woman who wants to be back on holidays too.

[Kristie, Moderator]

Have a nice spa day, Sarah. You never know... maybe they'll have a massage cancellation and you can squeeze in.

[Margo]

Sarah wrote: "I'm off to the spa later. I took all your encouragement. Annoyingly it's half term here this week and they are fully booked for treatments. I had planned on having a back massage too. I'll still go..."

Ooh that sounds soo good Sarah - enjoy!

[Lisa]

I hope you enjoyed your day at the spa, Sarah!

[Janice, Moderator]

Enjoy, Sarah.

Have you considered booking standing appointments? I pre-book my monthly appointments 6 months to a year at a time. We've only had to rearrange a couple of times because of conflicts.

[Sarah]

Thanks guys. I had a nice time at the spa. I nearly didn't make it though. When I got there, the queue to get it was out the door and was estimated to be a 45 minute wait as they were at full capacity. So I went and had some lunch and went back and the queue was inside the building at that point so I joined it. I waited maybe 10 minutes and I was in. The new steam rooms and sauna were nice. Much better than the ones they used to have. They also had a room which had heated loungers and on the ceiling were twinkling stars and a screen on the wall showing space images. I liked that one. I'm always fascinated by how many couples are all over each other in the spa. Sure go with your partner and but you don't need to hang off each other and snog their faces off for the whole 2 hour spa experience.

I used to have regular massages Janice and I would book up each time for the following month which worked well. I haven't had one since Christmas when my partner bought me one as a present. As a ex-massage therapist, I know that it's important to book in plenty of time to avoid missing out. With this visit to the spa, it was kind of a last minute idea which is why I missed out on being able to get a massage appointment too.

To continue in my birthday festivities I met with my partner for coffee and cake and then we spent the evening at home. We watched Power Rangers as we knew it would be light hearted (we are mid Handmaid's Tale series which is anything but). Unfortunately it was the worst film we've seen in a long time. It was painful. Oh well. I had a good birthday.

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm glad you had a great birthday, Sarah, even though the movie was sub-par.

I had my massage tonight and I'm going to have an early night. I'm really tired. It didn't help that I read till the wee hours last night.

[Tejas Janet]

Glad your birthday was fun, Sarah. It sounds like you have some different spa options than we have available in the U.S. Like I've never heard of people waiting in line like you talked about to get in. What you described sounds very inviting.

[Tejas Janet]

Not the line to get in ; ) But the warm lounge chairs and the stars on the ceiling and such.

[Sarah]

I'm guessing not all spas are like that TJ. This was is slightly different. Firstly it's in the city of Bath. Bath was called Aqua Sulis when the Romans were here and they built Roman Baths there which were fed by the natural volcanic springs. The baths are still intact and it is a major tourist attraction there. You cannot use the baths though. Then a few years back, they built a modern spa nearby which also draws from the natural hot springs. So it's quite novel. People come from all over the world to visit the roman baths then to sample it for themselves in a more modern setting. It was half term so it was even busier than usual. Actually the city was busier as a whole than usual because of it.

[Peggy]

Glad you had a nice time Sarah.

We came back from Dublin yesterday. It was so nice to be away for a couple of days. I really liked the city, the atmosphere, the building style, the pubs (so glad I started liking beer this year!). We were in luck with the weather too, no rain except when we arrived. And even a bit of sun sometimes!

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm glad you had fun Peggy. It was years ago that I was in Dublin, but I remember how the pubs would spill out onto the streets, they'd be so full of people.

[Sandra, Moderator]

Nice, Peggy!

[Sarah]

Good to hear you enjoyed Dublin. This last few days after Storm Brian have been uncharacteristically warm here. Perfect timing for you to be there.

[Margo]

Peggy wrote: "Glad you had a nice time Sarah.

We came back from Dublin yesterday. It was so nice to be away for a couple of days. I really liked the city, the atmosphere, the building style, the pubs (so glad I..."

Glad to hear you enjoyed the break Peggy - I think you needed it. You were so lucky with the weather ;-)

[Lisa]

Glad you had a nice time in Dublin, Peggy.

[Sarah]

So I had cornbread for the first time last night and it's absolutely delicious. I found a recipe for a veggie chilli which was topped with cornbread so I gave it a go. Worked out really well. Now I'm wondering what other meals I could also have cornbread with. I know it's a US thing so curious if you guys eat it and what with.

[Travis]

Depends but Johnny cake is good just in a bowl with milk and a little sugar. Usually we just have mini cornbread muffins and I'm not sure there's anything special we eat it with. Just randomly make them sometimes. I was going to say since it can be dry anything with gravy. I'm not sure what's available for vegetarian gravy. So maybe some soup or stew. Our diets are pretty different so I really have nothing specific

[Travis]

So I randomly decided to go get a Google pixel 2 xl phone yesterday. I mean I needed a new phone just I'm a die hard Motorola owner so was pretty random to get the Google. So far I love it but when I went to plug in my headphones, no jack. Eek! Yeah they decided the world should all be Bluetooth not wired. They do provide a jack adapter so I can plug into the USB port if I need to use wired. I wear out usb plugs like crazy as it is. The port on my last phone was so wore you have to bend the cord around slowly until the connection was made then hope it didn't move. So I ordered some Bluetooth headphones. If you wonder how could I not know this when I bought if you've never seen me phone shop. I never try any of the phone's I buy. I have 3 criteria phone physical size. Give me the biggest screen because that means I'll get the biggest keyboard which this phone is about an inch longer than my old phone. Then battery life and memory. The salesman started going on about the camera or something but I don't out and cut him off to ask tell me this battery life and memory. He says it has the longest battery of all the phone's in the store. Had available 128gb which is same as many others. And the speed. This thing almost reacts before I even touch it. Then I was a die hard car charger guy but I was sucked right in to the portable charging power station stores enough juice for two full charges. Now I don't have to haul that oesky truck around with me. Lol. No the problem I have is my car charger likes to bounce out of the tractor jack and also if I'm using the tractor cigarette lighter and am plugged into the radio with my phone there's feedback so this will eliminate that. As well as the issue when you go to a hotel and you're trying to make sure a plug is where you want it. Now I just need a plug to charge the power station and can charge my phone anywhere even in the suitcase . My phone was a new record for me 3.5 years old. Amazing. If I go 2 years without a repair that's usually doing good. 1.5 years is more the normal time for me then I nurse a broken phone for 6 months to get to the 2 year mark. Now we'll see how this phone does. Supposedly the phone itself if waterproof and has a shatterproof screen. Yeah so that construction phone I bought years ago was supposed to be bulletproof and I broke that like 3 times.

[Sarah]

Thanks Travis. Stews and soups sound like a good idea. I might try making some cornbread separate to a meal and see what it's like like your little muffins.

[Sarah]

Sounds like your new phone is a good fit. Hope it performs as you want it to. I have about 6 months left of my contract. It's the longest phone that has lasted boat life. It works well so I don't want to upgrade. I hate it when usable phones just get traded in for new ones because they don't have the latest whatever.

[Travis]

I was just thinking how yesterday my wife made Hungarian mushroom soup. It would have been delicious with some cornbread if we'd had some. I don't have the recipe but Hungarian mushroom soup is so good.

[Sarah]

Ooh. That sounds good. Thanks for the tip. Off to find a good recipe.

[Travis]

Kale white bean butternut squash chili. This is another soupish dish I had at a wedding once. Very tasty and looks vegetarian

[Sandra, Moderator]

Ok, I didn't read any post in this thread today, but just wanted to say I am annoyed because again I am not getting notifications.

[Janice, Moderator]

So no more bizarre words from funky phone keyboards? Enjoy your new phone, Travis.

[Sarah]

Thanks Travis. That's sounds pretty good too.

[Travis]

Maybe I'll program some gibberish in dictionary for old times sake Janice

[Kristie, Moderator]

Sarah - I don't know what we typically eat cornbread with either. I agree with Travis about the soupy or gravy meals. I would think baked beans. We've definitely had it with chili. We also make corn muffins that we can have for a breakfast.

Travis - Congrats on the new phone. My current phone is about 2 years old now. I don't want to update yet though, because I don't like some of the features they've "improved".

Sandra - I have one group where that happens to me all the time. I'm not sure why. When I check the threads and settings they all say that I am set up to get notifications, but I just don't.