Post a bad thing that happened in your life today

[Bryan]

52 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

It is 22F (-5C) this morning. Two more arctic fronts coming, will get down to -2F (-19C) in a few days for overnight low while still staying well below freezing for highs. This is the part of winter I hate. Colder winters seem to be on trend around here. Long range forecast is below normal temps this winter.

The sun is shining, though, so all is not lost.

 

Sounds grim ! We are still hovering around the freezing point. dipping below overnight, but we have a double digit (degC) temp predicted for Monday. I guess it largely hinges on the wind strength and direction.

 

Despite the recent cold snap in the UK the weather bods are still reckoning that this year will be amongst the hottest on record, while apparently they have been experiencing unusually high winter temperatures in southern Europe.  Climate versus weather, it's getting hotter.

[Bryan]

1 hour ago, spacecadet said:

Although there had to come a time, I think the government could have dealt with test supplies better (as with everything else), maybe just limited the supply rather than pulling down the shutters completely. I agree that this winter test kits are going to be prioritised well below the gas bill, or even eating.

Fortunately as a vaccination steward volunteer I could order them virtually without limit and for a while I was the supplier for family and friends- I would offer them at dinner parties. In fact if I stretch the facts a little I still can order them. But we still have about eight boxes, so no need really😉

But your situation could get expensive depending on your approach- I tested positive for 32 days, although after about 10 I said to blazes with it and resumed normality, except for volunteering, of course. By then I was testing for that sole reason.

That was always the official advice IIRC- after 10 days you can get on with life because the chances of your still being infectious are very small.

There are no circumstances I can foresee under which I would personally pay for tests, any more than I would pay for healthcare.

 

I've looked at the NHS web site for clear guidance and am not finding it for our situation Mark.   We are due to meet with the family over Xmas, and we have a couple of doctors amongst our relatives so I guess we will take advice from them come the time. The last I heard was that you needed to have had two consecutive clear tests before you can be considered not infectious.

[Betty LaRue]

The US has instigated free test kits again, so far a one time deal of 4 kits per person. We can apply for them through the postal service.

[Michael Ventura]

3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

The US has instigated free test kits again, so far a one time deal of 4 kits per person. We can apply for them through the postal service.

 

I ordered my 4 today.  I should get my daughter to order some, she has to test herself if she feels the slightest bit ill, being a hospital nurse.  I am just surprise that the hospital doesn't check as a matter of course.  

[Bryan]

5 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

I ordered my 4 today.  I should get my daughter to order some, she has to test herself if she feels the slightest bit ill, being a hospital nurse.  I am just surprise that the hospital doesn't check as a matter of course.  

You can still get free tests in the UK on the advice of your doctor, or if you have a scheduled hospital visit. However us otherwise healthy folk testing positive can't access the free tests,  a false economy as many people will not bother.  I can see the merit of charging for a certified test if you need it to travel for a holiday, why should tax payers fund that? 

[spacecadet]

19 hours ago, Bryan said:

 

I've looked at the NHS web site for clear guidance and am not finding it for our situation Mark.   We are due to meet with the family over Xmas, and we have a couple of doctors amongst our relatives so I guess we will take advice from them come the time. The last I heard was that you needed to have had two consecutive clear tests before you can be considered not infectious.

Looking back at the diary, I see that my only possible opportunity for catching it was a full ten days before my positive PCR. So I concluded that the PCR had caught the tail end of the infection. I therefore went to a pre-booked (and paid for) event six days after that and dinner with friends a week after that, informing said friends and keeping my distance. ( did not give it to them BTW. By then, a fortnight after the PCR and three full weeks after the presumed infection, I called it a day except, as I said, for testing on the day of a volunteering shift.

So do your arithmetic- when could you have caught it. Christmas Day will be about 19 days after your first positive.

[Ed Rooney]

 

Where is the worst place to spend Christmas? I don't mean places that are awful anytime, just bad at Christmas. I say Hawaii. Understand, I love Hawaii and I've done 5 photo assignments there. But two of them were at Christmas. What's wrong? Have you ever Heard The 12 Days of Christmas with special Hawaiian lyrics? 

 

On the 1st day of Christmas, my Tutu gave to me
1 Mynah bird in 1 Papaya tree
On the 2nd day of Christmas, my Tutu gave to me
2 Coconuts, an 1 Mynah Bird in 1 Papaya Tree.
On the 3rd day of Christmas, my Tutu gave to me
3 Dry Squid,

 

. . . and on and on it goes. 

 

And no matter where you are on the Islands someone is singing it. 

[Michael Ventura]

43 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

 

Where is the worst place to spend Christmas? I don't mean places that are awful anytime, just bad at Christmas. I say Hawaii. Understand, I love Hawaii and I've done 5 photo assignments there. But two of them were at Christmas. What's wrong? Have you ever Heard The 12 Days of Christmas with special Hawaiian lyrics? 

 

On the 1st day of Christmas, my Tutu gave to me
1 Mynah bird in 1 Papaya tree
On the 2nd day of Christmas, my Tutu gave to me
2 Coconuts, an 1 Mynah Bird in 1 Papaya Tree.
On the 3rd day of Christmas, my Tutu gave to me
3 Dry Squid,

 

. . . and on and on it goes. 

 

And no matter where you are on the Islands someone is singing it. 

 

Not sure but if you are someone who does celebrate, probably a place like China would not be so good.  Back when I was 30, my father went to Italy for a cousin's wedding...the wedding was a week before Christmas and so we stayed through Christmas.  We were in Milan and that was great, I loved the street decorations, simple and beautiful.  Roasted chestnuts were sold on street corners. Ducking into a cafe for an espresso to warm up, was just wonderful! It was not overdone as things can be, here in the U.S.   My only complaint is just how much shuts down in the week prior to Christmas.  My dad and I were out on the other side of the city and so we bought tickets for the Milan subway and then went down to the underground platform waiting for the train.  We waited and waited and waited, there were others on the platform too.  Then a very muffled announcement, in Italian of course, came over the speakers and everyone was straining to make any sense of it.  Fortunately my father spoke fluent Italian and he finally figured out that they had decided to shut down the subway system for Christmas....this was not posted anywhere.  So we left the station and started looking for a taxi, there were none to be found!  We started walking the several miles back to his sister's flat.  After a while, I finally spotted a taxi and waved it down and got back to her apartment.  In many ways I love the shrugging-of-the-shoulder way of life there but on that day, not so much.

[sb photos]

Just heard via an AOP email that Martin Evening, photographer and photoshop author, has passed away, a sad loss. Some time back I would chat to him when repairing his Macs. 

Edited December 20, 2022 by sb photos

[NYCat]

Sad.

 

Paulette

[Bryan]

For the first time this year we will have no indoor Christmas decorations on display. My wife is not a fan, and, as there are no children or grandchildren coming this year, we decided against. I might feel motivated to climb into the attic and dig out a Xmas wreath for the door, and maybe some lights for outside, but given that we will be away over the festive period, the lights would not be switched on. We will be almost unique in the street without sparkly lights, even our Hindu Indian neighbours have Xmas lights, a second time this year following Diwali. 

 

Wreath it is then, after breakfast my job for the morning ! 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Bryan

[Allan Bell]

2 hours ago, Bryan said:

For the first time this year we will have no indoor Christmas decorations on display. My wife is not a fan, and, as there are no children or grandchildren coming this year, we decided against. I might feel motivated to climb into the attic and dig out a Xmas wreath for the door, and maybe some lights for outside, but given that we will be away over the festive period, the lights would not be switched on. We will be almost unique in the street without sparkly lights, even our Hindu Indian neighbours have Xmas lights, a second time this year following Diwali. 

 

Wreath it is then, after breakfast my job for the morning ! 

 

As you said elsewhere. Ba humbug.

 

I have no external or internal Christmas decorations, except for Christmas cards on a cupboard.

 

Allan

 

[Dave Richards]

1 hour ago, Allan Bell said:

 

As you said elsewhere. Ba humbug.

 

I have no external or internal Christmas decorations, except for Christmas cards on a cupboard.

 

Allan

 

You've got Christmas cards???!!!

With the postal strike, I think ours are in a mountain of mail gathering dust in a sorting office somewhere.

[Betty LaRue]

I’m with you all. Because of my illness beginning from Thanksgiving, I didn’t feel like hauling decorations up from my basement storage room. There is a wreath for the door there.  Bryan, you might have motivated me to fetch it.

A small coating of white stuff outside this morning. I’m trying to figure out if we had freezing fog or a light flurry of tiny snowflakes overnight. Tonight the big polar front comes through and the high temp for tomorrow is predicted to be 3F. That’ll freeze the whiskers off the squirrels, let alone the eyelashes off me if I stick my head out of the door.

[NYCat]

Oh dear. Betty, I think we will get that cold, cold weather here for Christmas Eve and Christmas. I have a busy schedule for my cat-sitting and will have to be out walking in it. Brrrrrrrr.

 

Paulette

[sb photos]

3 hours ago, Dave Richards said:

You've got Christmas cards???!!!

With the postal strike, I think ours are in a mountain of mail gathering dust in a sorting office somewhere.

Some may have used an on-line service and it’s emailed. We’ve had around the normal number of posted cards.

[Betty LaRue]

12 minutes ago, NYCat said:

Oh dear. Betty, I think we will get that cold, cold weather here for Christmas Eve and Christmas. I have a busy schedule for my cat-sitting and will have to be out walking in it. Brrrrrrrr.

 

Paulette

Oh, Paulette! I hope you have long underwear to wear under your clothes. I once had several sets for my skiing days, but the elastic aged out and I no longer have them. I can hardly bear to think of you out in that kind of cold. Be sure to protect your exposed skin/face with a warm scarf. They are saying on TV that we could get frostbite in 30 minutes of exposure.

Wind chills here tomorrow is expected to be -30F.

[Dave Richards]

2 hours ago, sb photos said:

Some may have used an on-line service and it’s emailed. We’ve had around the normal number of posted cards.

We posted cards to family and friends two weeks ago and they are only just starting to arrive. We’ve received some to date but there are quite a few outstanding. Maybe arrive next year in time for Easter 🥴

[NYCat]

4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Oh, Paulette! I hope you have long underwear to wear under your clothes. I once had several sets for my skiing days, but the elastic aged out and I no longer have them. I can hardly bear to think of you out in that kind of cold. Be sure to protect your exposed skin/face with a warm scarf. They are saying on TV that we could get frostbite in 30 minutes of exposure.

Wind chills here tomorrow is expected to be -30F.

 

I will be wrapped up head to toe. And I can take buses a lot along the way. Warm kitties at my destinations.

 

Paulette

[Bryan]

Article in The Times this morning covering USA weather. Heavy snow fall in Chicago, minus 22 degC in Denver. Forecasters described the storm as a “once in a generation” event.

 

Here we have rain, much to be thankful for !

[NYCat]

I'm feeling pretty thankful here in NYC as it seems just rain today with possible flurries late in the day. The main worry is below freezing tomorrow and I'll have to watch for ice. I'll take one of my trekking poles to steady me.

 

Paulette

[Michael Ventura]

2 hours ago, Bryan said:

Article in The Times this morning covering USA weather. Heavy snow fall in Chicago, minus 22 degC in Denver. Forecasters described the storm as a “once in a generation” event.

 

Here we have rain, much to be thankful for !

 

DC and the east coast is next for this arctic blast, coming today.  The good news is that it will be fairly short lived and they are saying by next weekend we will be in some balmy weather, with temps around 15C or 60F for New Years Eve/Day.

[Betty LaRue]

-1F here (-18C) wind chill -21F

I had to bring Echo’s cage and stand into the main living area yesterday because the heater in her sunroom is inadequate for this deep frigid cold. She likes being closer to me but I have to contend with flung food & floating feathers. Birds are messy.

My television was knocked out by the storm for all of yesterday except for about 1 1/2 hours before it went out again. It’s still not working this morning. I don’t envy the repairmen who have to brave the cold for repairs. There was a college football bowl game on last evening I really wanted to watch. 😡

I am enjoying my freshly-ground coffee bean coffee, though.

[Ed Rooney]

 

Poor little bird. An African Grey in a snow storm? Not good. 

[Michael Ventura]

3 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

-1F here (-18C) wind chill -21F

I had to bring Echo’s cage and stand into the main living area yesterday because the heater in her sunroom is inadequate for this deep frigid cold. She likes being closer to me but I have to contend with flung food & floating feathers. Birds are messy.

My television was knocked out by the storm for all of yesterday except for about 1 1/2 hours before it went out again. It’s still not working this morning. I don’t envy the repairmen who have to brave the cold for repairs. There was a college football bowl game on last evening I really wanted to watch. 😡

I am enjoying my freshly-ground coffee bean coffee, though.

 

Oh boy, I don't envy you and Echo, Betty.  We are getting just a mild taste of what you are getting.  We had snow flurries this morning and thermometer has been dropping with every passing hour but I think we bottom out at a 8F (-13C) tonight.   Hopefully no outages here, the winds have been quite strong.  I have done all my shopping and have plenty of food on had so no need to go anywhere.  Enjoy that coffee!  Might go for a cup of tea now.