Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

13 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

Took my first airplane trip since the pandemic started, left last Wednesday and return tomorrow. I met up with my childhood guy friends in Austin, Texas.   Normally there are five of us but one had to bail out.  Three live in New York and one in Texas… and Texas one (in Houston) couldn’t make it due to the religious holidays. Still had loads of fun, laughs and great meals!  I brought my Sony RX100 IV so I could shoot some stock if it presented itself but hanging with these guys was the main and most important thing.  Having old good friends is a value that can’t be measured.

That sounds great Michael must have been good to meet up again and return to some sort of normality whatever that is nowadays😄  I actually like flying, I feel it's like when my holiday begins but in the UK here at the moment airports are chaos....

 

Carol

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

Since our fish died in our pond, I decided to fill it with aquatic pond plants.  This presented a few problems as it's a large pond 6 x 4 and approx 2ft ish deep.  We had a few disagreements on how it should be done, I had a certain vision ha ha. The main problem was what to put the plants on as it was too deep to put them on the bottom of the pond and draining it even half wouldn't work.  OH did't want to put bricks or concrete blocks on the bottom for fear of puncturing the pond liner🙃 although many people use this method.  Anyway we eventually decided on a series of crates filled with gravel and a few weeks ago I went aquatic pond plant shopping.  Then I went again and again and again!  The pond is now called the Money Pit  - but pleased to say all plants seem to like it in there and have actually and are still growing😁

 

Carol

[Rebecca Ore]

7 hours ago, Martin L said:

You could give Krita a go. It’s free, open source so nothing really to lose if you don’t like it

 

Oopps doesn’t work on iPad

 

There are a couple of drawing apps for iPads.  Procreate is $10 and some of the others are free.  I've seen reviews of Procreate and it seems to be what Betty might be looking for.   There's also Adobe Photoshop Sketch which is free (not sure if an Adobe Creative Crowd subscription is required or not). 

[Rebecca Ore]

If you try fish again, suggest that you get a fish pond filter or a circulation pump if you can get electricity close enough.  Other options seem to be do it yourself wind-drive circulators.  Also, understock -- three small koi or five gold fish.  My cichlid fish tank is 80 inches by 20 by 19 and a half, with maybe 18 3 to 4 inch fish.  If circulation stops, the most fragile older fish die.

[Bryan]

4 hours ago, CAROL SAUNDERS said:

Since our fish died in our pond, I decided to fill it with aquatic pond plants.  This presented a few problems as it's a large pond 6 x 4 and approx 2ft ish deep.  We had a few disagreements on how it should be done, I had a certain vision ha ha. The main problem was what to put the plants on as it was too deep to put them on the bottom of the pond and draining it even half wouldn't work.  OH did't want to put bricks or concrete blocks on the bottom for fear of puncturing the pond liner🙃 although many people use this method.  Anyway we eventually decided on a series of crates filled with gravel and a few weeks ago I went aquatic pond plant shopping.  Then I went again and again and again!  The pond is now called the Money Pit  - but pleased to say all plants seem to like it in there and have actually and are still growing😁

 

Carol

 

I use an ordinary  telescopic ladder, both sections together for stiffness, to gain access to the centre of our pond, and lower the water lily basket in using a rope. Not fallen in yet, but no doubt one day ...... 

 

 

Some lilies are quite happy at 2 ft deep, indeed that's where ours currently dwells.  It grows very vigorously, in the fashion of a Triffid,  and needs to be howked out every few years and severely pruned back.  If we were to leave it untamed, it would no doubt want to reach out and consume any small animals or children who might be passing.

Edited April 17, 2022 by Bryan

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, Rebecca Ore said:

 

There are a couple of drawing apps for iPads.  Procreate is $10 and some of the others are free.  I've seen reviews of Procreate and it seems to be what Betty might be looking for.   There's also Adobe Photoshop Sketch which is free (not sure if an Adobe Creative Crowd subscription is required or not). 

I made a list yesterday and on it is 

Procreate, by Artrage, ($2.99)

Concept (free)

Artstudio Pro,

Sketchbook by Autodesk, and

Inspire Pro.

I don’t think any are over $15
 Wish I could talk to someone about how easy to start with them.

[Ed Rooney]

22 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Got my appointment to get my covid Easter booster jab tomorrow. That will be number four.😃

 

Allan

 

 

Allan, was the booking made by phone call, text, email, or letter? 

[spacecadet]

Ed, you should be able to use the online booking website. If you got a letter/text/email/phone invite before, that will happen again, but it may take a while so online is usually quicker. Your age group is eligible now.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/

(Not pre-empting Allan, but as a vaccination volunteer I've learnt the answers to a lot of questions such as this, and if it gets you a jab a day earlier it's worth butting in).

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by spacecadet

[Ed Rooney]

 

Thanks, Mark -- and thank you for volunteering. I'm so impressed with the way NHS has handled this crisis. 

 

Edo

[Allan Bell]

I received an email asking me to book a time and date. It then went on to give dates and times for you to click on.

 

I just went for the earliest.

 

Thanks Mark for your intervention. And most of all for your volunteering.

 

Allan

 

[spacecadet]

My pleasure. I'm the last person to blow my own trumpet, but I needed to explain how come I could Edo's question.

Unfortunately as I've now been testing positive for THREE WEEKS I've had to sit tight, and as the vaccine centre seems to have changed its  arrangements my contribution may be coming to an end. No matter, I've helped a few thousand jabs get done. Oh, and I'm still entitled to free tests

Edited April 18, 2022 by spacecadet

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

17 hours ago, Bryan said:

 

I use an ordinary  telescopic ladder, both sections together for stiffness, to gain access to the centre of our pond, and lower the water lily basket in using a rope. Not fallen in yet, but no doubt one day ...... 

 

 

Some lilies are quite happy at 2 ft deep, indeed that's where ours currently dwells.  It grows very vigorously, in the fashion of a Triffid,  and needs to be howked out every few years and severely pruned back.  If we were to leave it untamed, it would no doubt want to reach out and consume any small animals or children who might be passing.

Wow your pond must be enormous but very good idea with the ladder.  My water lily seems quite happy and is gradually coming to the surface

 

18 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said:

If you try fish again, suggest that you get a fish pond filter or a circulation pump if you can get electricity close enough.  Other options seem to be do it yourself wind-drive circulators.  Also, understock -- three small koi or five gold fish.  My cichlid fish tank is 80 inches by 20 by 19 and a half, with maybe 18 3 to 4 inch fish.  If circulation stops, the most fragile older fish die.

We have decided not to try any more fish.  We do have pumps and filters and the fish were quite happy for many years but now I think I'll just have pond plants which seem to be growing very well at the moment.  When I tried a water lily some years ago, the Koi ate them all....🙃  It will be good to see one thriving and now there's also not a lot of room for the fish.

 

Carol

[Betty LaRue]

On 17/04/2022 at 04:25, Martin L said:

You could give Krita a go. It’s free, open source so nothing really to lose if you don’t like it

 

Oopps doesn’t work on iPad

That one is what I’m looking for. A shame it doesn’t work on the iPad, although it does for the Mac. I spent some time on the site looking at the features and artwork. Maybe in the future they’ll develop it for the iPad.

[Ed Rooney]

4 hours ago, spacecadet said:

My pleasure. I'm the last person to blow my own trumpet, but I needed to explain how come I could Edo's question.

Unfortunately as I've now been testing positive for THREE WEEKS I've had to sit tight, and as the vaccine centre seems to have changed its  arrangements my contribution may be coming to an end. No matter, I've helped a few thousand jabs get done. Oh, and I'm still entitled to free tests

 

Ouch! So sorry to hear that, Mark. I hope you will kick Covid in the teeth. 

[Allan Bell]

The vaccination went well except I was overlooked a couple of times and lost my place in the queue. Never mind it is done now and the organisation was as good as can be expected.

 

The last three jabs were Pfizer but this time they were giving Moderna. I queried this and was told that if I had had three doses of one type the forth dose of a different type would give better protection this time round.

 

As it is Easter I gave the team a box of chocolates just because they were there. The reaction was very gratifying but I did not do it for that I did it for them.

 

Allan

 

Edited April 18, 2022 by Allan Bell

[Betty LaRue]

I’ve done massive amounts of laundry today. Besides the regular laundry, I washed a bunch of my jeans from regular denim color to a pink pair and a yellow pair.  The object is that I washed them in hot water, and dried them in a hot dryer, trying to shrink them. Most of them just bag on me and I have trouble keeping them up on my hips. 
I went into surgery at a decent weight, no fat anywhere. Size 10. At one point after surgery, I had lost 14 pounds. Right now, I’m steady at 8 pounds loss and staying there. I like my new weight, so have no plans to gain back what I’ve lost. I’ve gone down a size to an 8.

Some pieces of clothes I may have to give to charity because I’m swimming around in them. Tops falling off a shoulder. Ugh. I’ll give it 6 months to make sure I don’t grow back into them. 🙃

 

[Ed Rooney]

 

I had a super-duper eye exam today at Boots; they did every test short of taking out my eyeballs and bouncing them around in a Petri dish. The news was all good: there are no negative issues in my eyes and neither my walk-around or my reading perception needs a change. I ordered a second pair of reading specs and a pair at the length to watch videos and stuff on my 13" MacBook screen. 

 

I then treated myself to lunch out. I walked up to the Greek Taverna (first time) on Bold Street and had a perfect lunch. I tried both bottled Greek beers. Twas my second 5-star experience of the day. 😃

 

Edo

[spacecadet]

57 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

 

 

I then treated myself to lunch out. I walked up to the Greek Taverna (first time) on Bold Street and had a perfect lunch. I tried both bottled Greek beers. Twas my second 5-star experience of the day. 😃

 

Edo

Cheers Ed.                                                                            Or was it this one..........

[Ed Rooney]

 

One was Mythas and the other KEO. Both good. 

[spacecadet]

On 18/04/2022 at 18:18, Allan Bell said:

 

 

The last three jabs were Pfizer but this time they were giving Moderna. I queried this and was told that if I had had three doses of one type the forth dose of a different type would give better protection this time round.

 

 

 

The same vaccine was usually given for the first two but  this changed for the boosters- as you say it was found that protection was a bit higher with the combination.  Moderna is also easier to keep- in a fridge for 30 days. A phial of Pfizer must be used within 6 hours out of the freezer so many centres only have it on certain days when they are sure it can be used up, as it is much more expensive than the other vaccines. Unfortunately Vaxzevria (Astra/Zeneca) is not approved as a booster at all because there are too many age restrictions on it- shame as it's a tenth of the price.

 

Some vaccine centres would give someone who meet the criteria and preferred Pfizer the choice if they had it in stock- why anyone would want to enrich profiteering billionaires is beyond me but somehow Pfizer has had a good press. IME most people where completely unconcerned which they had.

 

As I said, vaccination volunteers learn a lot of details real quick. Hope I remember them when I get back.

Edited April 20, 2022 by spacecadet

[Allan Bell]

28 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

The same vaccine was usually given for the first two but  this changed for the boosters- as you say it was found that protection was a bit higher with the combination.  Moderna is also easier to keep- in a fridge for 30 days. A phial of Pfizer must be used within 6 hours out of the freezer so many centres only have it on certain days when they are sure it can be used up, as it is much more expensive than the other vaccines. Unfortunately Vaxzevria (Astra/Zeneca) is not approved as a booster at all because there are too many age restrictions on it- shame as it's a tenth of the price.

 

Some vaccine centres would give someone who meet the criteria and preferred Pfizer the choice if they had it in stock- why anyone would want to enrich profiteering billionaires is beyond me but somehow Pfizer has had a good press. IME most people where completely unconcerned which they had.

 

As I said, vaccination volunteers learn a lot of details real quick. Hope I remember them when I get back.

 

Thank you for your explanation of the situation regarding boosters. When I was told it was to be Moderna booster I asked them why and they explained as in my original post but they would call in someone to explain in more detail. I said it was not necessary just to proceed with the jab as I did not want to take up their time unnecessarily.

 

So far the only thing that was different was my upper arm where the needle went in was hot and aching longer. That did not happen with the other jabs. The gentleman who gave me the jab was a professional NHS person and to his credit I did not feel a thing.

 

Allan

 

 

 

[spacecadet]

2 minutes ago, Allan Bell said:

I did not feel a thing.

I did find out that they are using somewhat smaller needles than were commonly used before, but I think the real reason is that they no longer usually swab, so there isn't a tiny bit of cold IPA* injected in your arm so it doesn't sting. I did look into this and there was some information to back it up.

 

*not the beer. Just alcohol in a different form

[Allan Bell]

2 minutes ago, spacecadet said:

*not the beer. Just alcohol in a different form

 

😄😁😆

 

Allan

 

[Allan Bell]

Sat quietly in the office with a nice glass of cold Leffe. Yes I am drinking it as well. It is non-alcoholic.

 

Allan

 

[gvallee]

Not today but tomorrow. Perhaps I should keep quiet not to jinx it.

After a long period of straight forward travel in our bus, tomorrow we'll deflate the tyres and leave the bitumen for a long, steep, bumpy, 4WD climb involving corrugation and creek crossing. 3 hours of it. It will take us to one of the marvels of Australia.

If successful, photos to come.

If unsuccessful, switch to the Bad Things thread.

Wish me luck!

 

Edited April 22, 2022 by gvallee