You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion
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Watcha Doin' - 2017.1 edition
I'm with you Travis. With the exception of one of my dogs, all came from situations where they were unwanted. One was a stray that just showed up (although she appears to be a pure bred); one came from a family that intended to breed him until they realized his papers had breeding restrictions then they didn't want him anymore; the third came from some friends that got her at a flea market then decided she was too much trouble and put her outside; The fourth (the one in the pic above) we actually bought from what was probably a mill breeder, but I didn't know that at the time. Even if I had known that then, I would still have gotten him. He's the first dog that was truly mine and I couldn't imagine not having him in my life the past decade.
Travis sivarT wrote: "I'll try not to go into a rant here but I am so sick of Facebook,. (could be classified ads or other means of getting attention) always people needing to find a good home for puppies. You know what..."i agree wholeheartedly with you, mollie is spade even though i think she would be a great mother. i could not afford to keep a litter and there are already enough dogs that need a home in the kennels.
although i didnt get mollie from a shelter i think my next dog (in many years time) will be
I got a flat tyre on my way to hospital yesterday. Oh Calamity! I can't get down to cange it these days so had to ring garage. Took half hour to arive. No disabled parking when i finally got there so i had the choice of parking in front or the bicycle rack (empty) or limping half a mile - guess which i picked ha ha
I was an hour late, red faces blood and bp through the roof but i got my treatment!!
By the time i got home i had a splitting head so i fell into bed and i'm still there. I have been lying down listening to books and dozing since 2pm yesterday with Pete being my coffee and toast angel <3.
Head is a lot better today.
Oh, Margo, what an awful day! I hope you feel better soon. So glad you have a tea and toast angel.
Margo, I hope you are feeling better today. How annoying when things like that happen. :(
I finally found a place that sells the cow stall mats I want to try. They're made in Ireland which has nothing to do with anything but a nod to Margo (;. Anyway. Place is 4 hrs from our house. But my wife is visiting her grandmother so I looked and it's only 1 hr 41 minutes from there so I had her drive my truck so she could go get some first thing this morning. With a snow storm it took her 2.5 hrs to get there. Place doesn't take credit or debit cards. What a bunch of rigamarole but an hour and a half later the guy got ahold of his brother and ran the card through his tire shop for an 8% fee. Oh well done. Wife is loaded and headed back to her family. It's ,2017 how does a dealer not take cards. Wife says they're old school Mennonites don't even have a computer in the store just a register and pen and paper. Oh brother. I even see a lot of Amish taking debit cards these days. I mean you can fight technology but usually you are gonna get burned in the end. Wife says she heard them "not swearing" about all this technology. She says the tone was the same as if someone was cursing inly they didn't. She found that part rather comical. Guess I better ask next time first. Or send a backup check just in case
Do you guys even have cheque books still? We haven't used them here for years. I remember my step father writing them when I was 18 (so about 15 years ago) and they were so old fashioned then. I got stuck behind a girl at a Parisian supermarket in 2011 who was writing a cheque and I remember how archaic it looked and how long it felt it took. I think that was literally the last time I saw one.
Yay Travis - buy Irish! We have a lot of cows so I'm sure we know what we're doing ;-pThanks guys - I'm starting to feel more human now ;-) Making plans for next years reading!
Rusalka wrote: "Do you guys even have cheque books still? We haven't used them here for years. I remember my step father writing them when I was 18 (so about 15 years ago) and they were so old fashioned then. I ..."
We still have them, but don't use them very often. We, personally, don't use them for shopping of bill paying. It's for random things...like maybe if someone bought concert tickets so we can sit together and I needed to pay them back. Or a random place that doesn't take credit cards. Those are getting less and less common though. Even people that come to our house to do work often have credit card readers with them. Oh! I have a lady that cleans my house sometimes. I pay her with a check. We do have apps available for the transfer of money between people, but not many people that I know use them.
Glad you're feeling better, Margo. That sounded like a pretty miserable day.
Yeah we still use checks. But generally most ppl use cards or the internet. I send checks to about half of my monthly bills because some of the farm dealers charge a fee to pay online. My wife writes maybe 6 checks a year. And to go to a store if it's more than. A half hour away I always pay with a card because a bank will see my check possibly as not local and may make the person wait 10 days to get paid unless they use the same bank as I do. This is first time I've ever met a no card business. My wife says there isn't even a computer there. Weird Thing is this place sells equipment. I saw pics of new stuff in the yard that I know sells for 40k. If you sell pricy stuff you usually accept any form of payment
Yeah Margo I checked these mats out years ago but they we're like $125 a piece and I had none and needed to do whole barn. I bought a similar one for $75 a piece. They did work well but now I can start replacing those a few at a time rather than the whole barn at once so I'm gonna spend the extra money this time. Let's face it people don't just pay $50 more for a mat when there are many very similar unless they are worth it and this company has been making these for years and years so I have faith in this investment
we still use cheques quite a lot over here. i personally haven't used them in 13 years , since I lost power in my right arm I can only write BIG! No more form filling in for me ha haI can just about sign my name but I'm a big fan of the tap and pay system. Over the past year we have had a system introduced (yeah, you guys have probably had it for years!!) where items under 30 euro you can just scan your card n don't even need to put card into machine - simples ;-)
I had never heard of Mennonites until I read the most recent The Last Colony in the Old Man's War series. There were lots of them in there. So funny that just a week after finishing you should mention hem Travis. I take credit cards and debit cards and I'm a one man band. I like my little card reader which plugs in to my mobile. When it works that is. Shops don't accept cheques here now. You can still pay companies for bills I believe and a lot of small businesses still accept them as payment. They were talking of getting rid of them completely but small businesses didn't want that. I'm a small business but I stopped accepting cheques a few years ago as they take ages to clear and there aren't many banks around for me to pay them in. It became inconvenient. Just pit up our outside boat Christmas lights. Annoyingly we have no batteries for them so we can't have them on yet. Tomorrow.
We generally pay by cash.Nowadays credit card and online payment is becoming common too.Cheques are used here for paying large amounts of cash.
Many businesses here still use cheques. It's individuals who are more apt to use the various technologies available (debit cards, credit cards, eTransfer, etc). Personally, I like the immediacy of electronic transactions. I hate having to issue a cheque and then wait for it to clear my account.
I'm not sure as the rest of the country but here in the north east US there are a ton of Mennonites and they all roll a little different. Some are very strict. White painted houses, denim with black or white shirts, no swearing, no drinking. Others are more laid back. We have all types around here. The main Mennonite Church has 600 members. And even in the church they kind of vary. I think the stricter ones tend to be families that only marry Mennonite and the integrated families tend to be more laid back as you ha e a melding of beliefs there. For instance there is a Mennonite who married a Catholic and they aren't as near as strict as the next house that was both Mennonites. I don't want to stereotype them as this is how it always is but to me it makes more sense for more diviersity in a more varied background family.
But we respect everyone regardless of their belief and the degree of strictness they practice.we should learn to appreciate them for themselves.take them as they are.I am not talking about Mennonites specifically but in a general way.
Here in PA there are also lots of Mennonites and Amish communities. As Travis said, they vary in how strict they are.
I was going to say we don't have Mennonites in Australia But googling showed that they are called the Christian Brotherhood here, and I have had some interactions with that community while working at the Science museum. They tend to use technology here in Australia, but are very socially conservative.
To be honest this is the first time I've met any non Amish that we're kind of anti technology. Many that I know are self employed keep right up with technology to improve efficiencyGenerally the only reason I try to identify a Mennonite is so I don't put my foot in my mouth as most dislike swearing or dirty jokes. Which obviously is not limited to Mennonites . Usually you just have to try to size someone up. Use good language and listen to them if they swear or talk about partying or tell you a joke you know you're in the clear and that could be anyone from any background. I mean you could find atheists or Jewish folk or whatever that dislike crudeness. As I say though in my area a very large portion are Mennonites and you get maybe 8 last names that make up most of them as many tend to have large famikies. When you live in a very low populated area a couple large families can seem like they make up half the town. As a whole though they are very hard working and very honest people so I do a lot of business with them. And as it works out you do business with maybe a carpenter and then you need an electrician so he knows a guy and then a plumber and he knows a guy and then a garage door and he knows a guy and next thing you know you've employed half the church. That's exactly what has happened to me. And then the carpenter was putting a roof on my house and the next thing I knew his son became my brother in law. We don't even get a family discount. Lol
My wife and I had an interesting experience a couple weeks ago. We have a family who is kind of our emergency daycare. School days off and snow days and such. Our children love this family so much and have been there a lot of times. The last time they went they came home telling us they had been told there is no santa and no Easter Bunny and to cast out their demons they must say in the name of Jesus and we're given a prayer to say. I don't even know what denomination this family is other than I did know they were fairly religious. Of course I know many religious people and none of them have ever done anything like this. Finally we decided to let it ride. They take good care of the kids and we explained to the kids that all people believe different things and it's neither right now wrong and it's going to be their decision on what they do or don't believe. Probably pretty heavy for a 7 year old. I told my wife as long as we don't find them doing weird stuff liking making live sacrifices or beating their naked bodies with knotted ropes let's just let this ride. My sister's kid was there too and she isn't sending hers back there anymore. I've known this family for over 10 years and never has religion ever come up at any time. Of course I know the parents and this was the kids who were teaching my kids. We'll have to monitor the situation but as long as it all stays harmless we feel it best to say nothing at this time. If we say something and it offends them we could lose our sitter and then what. We could end up with someone a lot worse than a couple kids trying preach the gospel. Just was a weird experience all together though. Whether we are making the correct decision by letting it ride is debatable my father has told me I'm a coward and am making the wrong decision and we need to call these people up and give them hell. Him and I have decided to agree to disagree. Personally all the names he called me because he disagreed with me seemed way worse than people teaching about Jesus. My son actually has to go there tomorrow afternoon so we'll see what he brings home tomorrow if anything
What we found funny was my sister said if anyone is going to teach her kid religion it's going to be at our church. She says she'll see if her daughter can go to church with our mother because she isn't going to go to church herself. Lol.
Rusalka wrote: "Lol that's no fair!"This was about the discount, not the church thing. I am with your sister lol
Rusalka wrote: "Rusalka wrote: "Lol that's no fair!"This was about the discount, not the church thing. I am with your sister lol"
Lol
I know right.
Woke up to -27C this morning. Sometimes I feel like my blood is molasses because I just don't move that fast when it's cold
Travis sivarT wrote: "My wife and I had an interesting experience a couple weeks ago. We have a family who is kind of our emergency daycare. School days off and snow days and such. Our children love this family so much ..."We don't celebrate christmas either but I would never disillusion a child who believes in something he was raised in.Thats not just sad but rather interfering too... I would be hesitant to send my child to a family too , if they try to impose their belief on our children..I mean..respect goes both ways right..?
oh no.I think you are wise to let it ride.Theres enough hard feelings everywhere.And as you said they take good care of your children.Just ,maybe have discussion with them, about their children teaching these things to your children, maybe they will have a talk with their children and it will all be better for you all.
@travis: I would perhaps also ask them to keep their religious views to themselves, or at least talk to their kids about that. Like you respect their religious views, they should respect yours too. And especially telling young children there's no santa is really not done, their kids should be told that I think.
I would likely keep using them as sitters, but I'd have a discussion with them about the situation.
Thanks for the input guys. I don't disagree. Hopefully this was an isolated incident. If not we'll have to do something. It's actually a struggle just because my wife and I have such different backgrounds. I went to public school, church every sunday, Sunday school, and we did all the holidays. My wife was raised isolation style. Home school, no TV, no radio, didn't go to church at all, and her dad felt all holidays were too commercialized so they only celebrated Thanksgiving. Yet they we're Christian to where her father says grace, at least some of the time and they could either go to college down the road where they could still live at home or they could go to any other Christian college. The one down the road was not a religious college it was just that they could live at home and it is a very very good school to boot. My wife's mother sometimes goes to church now but she switched denominations like every 2 years. I think in the past 9 years she was a Presbyterian then an Episcopal and now she's a Catholic. So it's all very different. As for my house we do all the holidays and we have a Christmas tree and do 2-3 gifts. It's not a big event it's kind of a compromise between our backgrounds. Kind of like we do the holidays but not in excess. As for the Santa thing I looked online and age 7 is the average age kids kind of stop believing mostly because they go to school and hear the older kids or someone has an older sibling. Either way the santa damage has kind of been done but yet my wife went to town and there was a Santa in the store and my son was like see I told you those people didn't know what they were talking about Santa is right there. Lol.Through all of this regardless of what happens from here on the part that bothers me is to me if you look into a child's eyes they're lit by like 1000 candles of innocence and by someone saying santa isn't real I see one of those candles snuffed out and to me there isn't much sadder a thing than a child having those innocence candles snuffed out and taking on the hardened eyes of an adult. But I guess that is growing up.
I was walking into the skating rink the other day, following grandparents with their granddaughter between 7-10 (hard to tell). The grandfather asks, "Do you believe in Santa?" It was something my ex would have done - blurting things out without really thinking about them. The little girl said, "Oh course!" The grandmother smacked him and admonished him.
Lol Janice. Yeah just asking the question raises some doubt in the back of the minds doesn't it. I think as adults we forget just how intelligent kids are. You get those wheels spinning and they'll be thinking on it even if they aren't aware they're doing it
Janice wrote: "I was walking into the skating rink the other day, following grandparents with their granddaughter between 7-10 (hard to tell). The grandfather asks, "Do you believe in Santa?" It was something my ..."Lol
Funniest thing happened today. My hubby and I decided to swap gifts today because we won’t be home for Christmas. We both bought each other the same thing and wrapped it in the same paper even. When I told my daughter about it, she said, “I almost bought you that for Christmas too!”
You know each other well, Kristie!
I have found that many of the places around where I live, that don't take the cards, etc, dislike having to pay the handling fees that the companies charge for using them. Some places will even give a discount for cash and pass on the handling fee to the purchaser if they use a credit or debit card. I hate having to pay a fee to pay over the phone and will drive 10 blocks to put a bill in a post box to save a stamp - as long as I am driving by anyway. I use checks to pay one of my bills that has not converted to auto pay and to pay for school supported purchases for my grandkids. I use them to send money as gifts, unless I buy gift cards. I bought four boxes of checks over ten years ago and still have almost a whole box left.
My grandson just graduated from boot camp last month. He said they had a class to teach them how to write a check and how to balance a check book. Many of the servicemen are learning how to handle their own finances for the first time in their lives and have no idea how to deposit their pay checks. Tyler thought it was funny.
Wait. You guys still get pay cheques?!??!? Like the ARMY gives you a cheque?
When I had a weekend job in a supermarket 18 years ago I sometimes had people who used a check to pay for their groceries. It was rare back then (and such a hassle, people taking so long to fill out everything on it) and it's totally uncommon now. I never used them myself, and I haven't seen anyone use them for 15 years. Not sure if they're even still around. I use my debit card to pay for basically everything I buy (no fee for small amounts, so I use it even for things that are only 1 euro if I don't have any cash with me), and I use electronic banking on my phone or laptop if I have to transfer money.
Peggy wrote: "When I had a weekend job in a supermarket 18 years ago I sometimes had people who used a check to pay for their groceries. It was rare back then (and such a hassle, people taking so long to fill ou..."I am the same, most of the smaller, corner style shops, have a charge if you spend less than £2 ish but pushing it over that isn't difficult when you consider a can of pop is 80 pence and probably one of the cheaper things in the shop.
Most jobs give the option you can either be given a paper check or have it direct deposited into your account. Most people choose direct deposit because the money is available sooner and saves driving to the bank. I have my milk check direct deposited but there are certificate checks at the end of the year that you have to drive up and hand them your certificate and they hand you a check. The certificate is good after 3 years so the tricky part is not losing the certificate which I swear I put in the file cabinet every year but clearly I don't always as sometimes it's missing 3 years later. Luckily you just have to sign some papers work and they'll still give you the money. Anytime an individual pays me it's a check, cattle sales are checks, any type of refund it equity payments are checks. To be honest I still deal with a lot of checks. I go through about 100 myself a year which isn't bad since it used to be around 250 a year.
Last week was a horrible week for us. Had a lot of breakdowns and most nights were 2-3 hour sleep nights. Beat me up pretty good so I'm going forward on this Monday hoping to wipe the slate clean and have a fresh start. I hope we can reboot because I'd like some normalcy back into my life
Hope things pick up for you Travis and those machines stop letting you down.
Rusalka wrote: "Wait. You guys still get pay cheques?!??!? Like the ARMY gives you a cheque?"Quite a few of my clients do paycheques. They're small companies. It's expensive to set up and use EFT payroll deposit. It costs to set it up, then around $60/month in fees. It's not worth it unless you have a lot of employees.
I have one client who eTransfers paycheques at $1.50 a pop. Not everyone can do that because some banks impose daily limits for eTransfers.
I would prefer to pay my employee by eTransfer, but she thinks someone's going to hack her account if she uses online banking. It's annoying, because she hasn't deposited her cheque from two weeks ago, and I have to make sure I don't spend that money. Grrrr!
Peggy wrote: "When I had a weekend job in a supermarket 18 years ago I sometimes had people who used a check to pay for their groceries. It was rare back then (and such a hassle, people taking so long to fill ou..."Most retail stores won't accept cheques any more because too many of them go NSF. It's cash, debit, or credit card.
Just had a very weird conversation on the phone. My 6 years old son was entrusted with his classroom's elf today, and although he was supposed to keep it "in a safe place" all the time, he forgot it in the school bus. So I just phone the school district transportation department to see if we can recover it. There were a few seconds of silence after I told my son had forgotten his elf in the bus. I guess the person was trying to decide if I was crazy or not. "He is 10 inches tall and wearing green." Jeez... I feel so stupid.
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You'll love this one...!! A book club & more
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I'll stop before I gonon for like 10 pages here. It bugs me. Wouldn't if there weren't always shelters full of abandoned or neglected animals but there are. And I'm not saying you have to get a shelter animal as I myself have bought a pure bred English setter from a breeder and probably will again someday or a Springer spaniel. If I'm going to get a hunting dog it is going to come from a well bred line of dogs.