Post a bad thing that happened in your life today

[Bryan]

50 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

That makes a point & your parents were wise.
My son bought one on the sneak even though I had told him as long as he lived at home, he couldn’t have one. His dad stayed out of it. I think he probably encouraged our son behind the scenes. When I saw him ride up the driveway, we went nose to nose, toes to toes. He took it back but didn’t speak to me for 2 weeks.

I threw myself on the bed and cried intensely at the terrible row, but as a parent, once you lay down the law, you have to stick to your guns or you lose complete control of your children.
When kids finally get their driver’s licenses, it takes a few years to learn how to drive defensively, always watching for the person running a stop sign or pulling out in front of you. One needs a sturdy car while this learning is going on, with seatbelts & now, air bags.

Fortunately neither of our sons showed any interest in owning a motorbike while the younger one shares my dislike of driving - boring and stressful. However they both cycle, and, although I share this passion,, I fear that the busy roads in the UK are far too dangerous and inappropriate for this. We do have a growing network of cycle tracks, but the provision remains poor compared to much of mainland Europe. 

 

As I get older I increasingly feel that we have allowed our lives to become dominated by the car. I grew up at a time when car ownership was exceptional, while now most people own or have access to one. This change has meant that children are no longer safe to wander while out of town shopping has killed local businesses. Then there is the noise, accident risk,   air pollution, and emission of greenhouse gases. If you watch old newsreels you rarely see an overweight person, but now a large percentage of the population is obese. A combination of junk food but also a lack of exercise is, I guess, to blame.

 

We do own and use a car, but we try to minimise its use, walking and cycling locally, and using public transport to get to nearby cities. Sadly life is now difficult if you don't own a car. 

 

Unfortunately any attempt to control car use means electoral suicide for politicians, and I don't see a way out of this mess. I guess that I will be wasting my vote on the Green Party come the next election, they won't get into power, but I feel the need to register my views.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Bryan

[NYCat]

On a lighter note, it was very Betty to say "a hole the size of a dessert plate".  You of the fabulous desserts.

 

Paulette

[NYCat]

 

7 hours ago, Bryan said:

If you watch old newsreels you rarely see an overweight person, but now a large percentage of the population is obese. A combination of junk food but also a lack of exercise is, I guess, to blame.

It's difficult to have a car here so most of us do quite a bit of walking. I have been a bit shocked to go to other states where a car is necessary and to see how fat people are. Definitely a noticeable difference.

 

Paulette

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, NYCat said:

On a lighter note, it was very Betty to say "a hole the size of a dessert plate".  You of the fabulous desserts.

 

Paulette

 Thank you, Paulette. The day of his accident, I baked two apple pies for the family. The day Adam came home from the hospital, I baked a huge batch of chocolate chip cookies for him, & took a sack of my home-grown tomatoes over. I guess my love language is food. 

[Betty LaRue]

3 hours ago, NYCat said:

 

It's difficult to have a car here so most of us do quite a bit of walking. I have been a bit shocked to go to other states where a car is necessary and to see how fat people are. Definitely a noticeable difference.

 

Paulette

You are right. When I grew up, my mother took us to downtown by walking. I walked to school, even when each advanced school was farther away. High school was about a mile & a half away & I fast-walked it. That was 15 miles a week just going to & from school.

Now, I drive everywhere, but I’m still slim because I work at controlling calories.. I had hoped my surgery would allow me my walks again, but something to do with the rods & screws have changed my body’s mechanics, & I can’t walk far. When I walk a half block to the corner, I can barely make it back before going into muscle spasms.

One day after my surgery, while still mending, I accompanied my daughter while she did errands before we went to lunch. I sat in the car while she made a return to a department store. To pass the time, I watched people coming in and out of the store. Mostly, women. 75%, if not more, were obese. I saw very few slender women & some of the obese ones had overweight children with them. To me, that was the biggest tragedy. I seldom saw obese mothers with slender children.

My childhood was made of walking, running, biking, roller skating & tree climbing. Kids today don’t do enough of that & spend most of their time with their electronics while stuffing their faces.

[Bryan]

My three outdoor tomato plants are all suffering from blight, so far those in the greenhouse are OK. The wet weather hasn't helped but I suspect that the problem may lie with the home brewed compost or containers. Those at my allotment are all Ok.

[Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg]

On 23/07/2023 at 23:51, Betty LaRue said:

One of my grandsons wrecked his motorcycle yesterday & broke 7 ribs. Has some pretty bad road rash, also. He nicked a lung...

oh Betty, this is 4 days later

but what can we do to help???

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said:

oh Betty, this is 4 days later

but what can we do to help???

He’s doing much better, Jeff, thank you. Somebody loaned him a lift chair & he can get up on his own, now. Finally was able to take a shower yesterday. It’ll be a long recovery, but he’s on his way. How nice of you to ask! Maybe you could get him in a headlock & tell him to never get on a motorcycle again. 😁 Just kidding….

[Allan Bell]

7 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

He’s doing much better, Jeff, thank you. Somebody loaned him a lift chair & he can get up on his own, now. Finally was able to take a shower yesterday. It’ll be a long recovery, but he’s on his way. How nice of you to ask! Maybe you could get him in a headlock & tell him to never get on a motorcycle again. 😁 Just kidding….

 

Hopefully the accident and suffering he is going through will persuade him not to get on a motorbike again.

 

Pleased to hear he is getting better.

 

Allan

 

[NYCat]

Nice to hear good news, Betty. So awful to not be able to breathe freely. I use breathing to calm myself, to help relax and go to street so I might avoid the Big Eye. That's so wonderfully descriptive of not being able to shut off the mind and sleep.

 

Paulette

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, NYCat said:

Nice to hear good news, Betty. So awful to not be able to breathe freely. I use breathing to calm myself, to help relax and go to street so I might avoid the Big Eye. That's so wonderfully descriptive of not being able to shut off the mind and sleep.

 

Paulette

Yes, Paulette, every time my mother said something like, “I finished painting the house yesterday. I was so worn out, I barely could take my bath & fall into bed. Then, I laid there with the big eye.” I always had to grin.
She was 5’2” & just over 100 lbs, but could do absolutely anything she set her mind to do. Cut dress patterns out of newspaper & make all of her daughters’ clothes growing up & they were pretty clothes. Climb ladders to hand-saw off tree limbs, build a hall linen closet with drawers & doors & a room divider, tile her bathroom, master cook & pie maker.
I walked in to visit her one day to find she had taken her old reel-to-reel projector apart on the dining room table. It had stopped working. It looked to me like there were a hundred or two pieces carefully laid out, but she worked her magic, & somehow got all those pieces back together & it worked again. She could take a vegetable like turnips & when she got through seasoning & cooking them, you’d go back for thirds even though you thought you hated turnips.

She worked rings around her 3 daughters & I wouldn’t have traded her for the world. Every time one of us got sick or had surgery as adults, she was there cleaning our house, cooking & giving TLC, heavy on the love.

I miss her so. The saddest thing of all was she had no feelings of self-worth, even though we sang her praises to her constantly. Part of it stemmed from having to quit school after the fifth grade to help her sickly mother cook & take care of five children after her father died when she was five, even though she was a middle child. Although she read extensively & had her set of world books & dictionary always at hand, the lack of formal schooling brought her self-esteem down. 
Mild-mannered and sweet, she grabbed my hand, took me back to school & roundly berated my first-grade teacher for whipping my left hand with a ruler for using it to write after I finally confessed my sin to her. Talk about the Big Eye, I think that teacher had it in a different context after my mom got through with her.

Her old-time sayings were precious, & all of a sudden sometimes I find them falling out of my mouth. I can’t think of another way to honor her other than to also carry on cooking the way she taught me.

Edited July 28, 2023 by Betty LaRue

[Betty LaRue]

12 hours ago, Bryan said:

My three outdoor tomato plants are all suffering from blight, so far those in the greenhouse are OK. The wet weather hasn't helped but I suspect that the problem may lie with the home brewed compost or containers. Those at my allotment are all Ok.

I once had something that affected certain varieties of flowers, made them slowly die. Perhaps a fungus that remained on my hand tools that I unwittingly contaminated them with. I could never seem to fix it & just had to eliminate those certain types of flowers. One of them were petunias.

Here in Kansas, this spring I planted petunias in a pot with another couple of flower varieties & they are thriving., 30 years after giving them up.

[NYCat]

1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

Yes, Paulette, every time my mother said something like, “I finished painting the house yesterday. I was so worn out, I barely could take my bath & fall into bed. Then, I laid there with the big eye.” I always had to grin.
She was 5’2” & just over 100 lbs, but could do absolutely anything she set her mind to do. Cut dress patterns out of newspaper & make all of her daughters’ clothes growing up & they were pretty clothes. Climb ladders to hand-saw off tree limbs, build a hall linen closet with drawers & doors & a room divider, tile her bathroom, master cook & pie maker.
I walked in to visit her one day to find she had taken her old reel-to-reel projector apart on the dining room table. It had stopped working. It looked to me like there were a hundred or two pieces carefully laid out, but she worked her magic, & somehow got all those pieces back together & it worked again. She could take a vegetable like turnips & when she got through seasoning & cooking them, you’d go back for thirds even though you thought you hated turnips.

She worked rings around her 3 daughters & I wouldn’t have traded her for the world. Every time one of us got sick or had surgery as adults, she was there cleaning our house, cooking & giving TLC, heavy on the love.

I miss her so. The saddest thing of all was she had no feelings of self-worth, even though we sang her praises to her constantly. Part of it stemmed from having to quit school after the fifth grade to help her sickly mother cook & take care of five children after her father died when she was five, even though she was a middle child. Although she read extensively & had her set of world books & dictionary always at hand, the lack of formal schooling brought her self-esteem down. 
Mild-mannered and sweet, she grabbed my hand, took me back to school & roundly berated my first-grade teacher for whipping my left hand with a ruler for using it to write after I finally confessed my sin to her. Talk about the Big Eye, I think that teacher had it in a different context after my mom got through with her.

Her old-time sayings were precious, & all of a sudden sometimes I find them falling out of my mouth. I can’t think of another way to honor her other than to also carry on cooking the way she taught me.

 

I see spellcheck changed my "sleep" to "street". No, I am not a streetwalker. Your mother sounds amazing.

 

Paulette

[Michael Ventura]

1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

Yes, Paulette, every time my mother said something like, “I finished painting the house yesterday. I was so worn out, I barely could take my bath & fall into bed. Then, I laid there with the big eye.” I always had to grin.
She was 5’2” & just over 100 lbs, but could do absolutely anything she set her mind to do. Cut dress patterns out of newspaper & make all of her daughters’ clothes growing up & they were pretty clothes. Climb ladders to hand-saw off tree limbs, build a hall linen closet with drawers & doors & a room divider, tile her bathroom, master cook & pie maker.
I walked in to visit her one day to find she had taken her old reel-to-reel projector apart on the dining room table. It had stopped working. It looked to me like there were a hundred or two pieces carefully laid out, but she worked her magic, & somehow got all those pieces back together & it worked again. She could take a vegetable like turnips & when she got through seasoning & cooking them, you’d go back for thirds even though you thought you hated turnips.

She worked rings around her 3 daughters & I wouldn’t have traded her for the world. Every time one of us got sick or had surgery as adults, she was there cleaning our house, cooking & giving TLC, heavy on the love.

I miss her so. The saddest thing of all was she had no feelings of self-worth, even though we sang her praises to her constantly. Part of it stemmed from having to quit school after the fifth grade to help her sickly mother cook & take care of five children after her father died when she was five, even though she was a middle child. Although she read extensively & had her set of world books & dictionary always at hand, the lack of formal schooling brought her self-esteem down. 
Mild-mannered and sweet, she grabbed my hand, took me back to school & roundly berated my first-grade teacher for whipping my left hand with a ruler for using it to write after I finally confessed my sin to her. Talk about the Big Eye, I think that teacher had it in a different context after my mom got through with her.

Her old-time sayings were precious, & all of a sudden sometimes I find them falling out of my mouth. I can’t think of another way to honor her other than to also carry on cooking the way she taught me.

 

As I have said before, Betty, if you write a book about your life, I will pre-order the book!!  Maybe an audio book would be great too!  

 

My mom was similar, tho maybe not as tough.  She did all the repairs on the house and made clothes from patterns, she was never afraid of getting hands dirty or cut.  My dad spent his spare time playing tennis and drinking wine (not a drunk but more of a connoisseur).  I think it helped that my mom grew up with a electrical mechanic father and two brothers who also got into electrical mechanics, so she was comfortable rewiring lamps and appliances.

[Bryan]

4 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I once had something that affected certain varieties of flowers, made them slowly die. Perhaps a fungus that remained on my hand tools that I unwittingly contaminated them with. I could never seem to fix it & just had to eliminate those certain types of flowers. One of them were petunias.

Here in Kansas, this spring I planted petunias in a pot with another couple of flower varieties & they are thriving., 30 years after giving them up.

Yes sometimes you win and sometimes you lose when gardening. I've never had a problem growing petunias, but I guess that is risking fate !

 

Today I discovered a potato growing among our squashes and courgettes (Zucchini), the top had died back so I pulled it up. Result, a magnificent yield of white spuds, of some indeterminate variety. 

[Rebecca Ore]

2 hours ago, Bryan said:

Yes sometimes you win and sometimes you lose when gardening. I've never had a problem growing petunias, but I guess that is risking fate !

 

Today I discovered a potato growing among our squashes and courgettes (Zucchini), the top had died back so I pulled it up. Result, a magnificent yield of white spuds, of some indeterminate variety. 

 

I need to try a large pot of potatoes.   Nobody sprays market potatoes with anti-sprout stuff, and I'd be curious to see what happened.  

 

My rule with plants is to shovel prune (a rosarian friend's term for "dig up and trash") anything that attracts white flies or tends to be problematic.  My best orchid is fortunately very beautiful.  My cat has been snacking on jalepeno seedlings, but I have some still coming along.  Luis found a Thai basil at a plant vendor on Monday, and I'll see if that can live without six or more hours of sun.   Luis also staked one of the begonias which has been with me since 2014, plus or minus some years.  I need to get some more mints.  Ground in the courtyard is a mix of rocks, concrete, and just really hard ancient volcanic clay soil, so containers are the way to go.  Things that were fussy in the US, like Crotons as houseplants, are big bushes here.  Some people have roses here, but I don't think I get enough sun for those.  

 

Local potatoes tend to be pale yellow, not as yellow as Yukon Golds, but closer to that than white, and mealy rather than waxy.   I almost bought a potato ricer, didn't, didn't see it again at that store.   The best elevation here for both cool growing plants and warm growing plants is around 800 meters.  I'm at 1,000 meters, so coconuts don't mature here, but potatoes, tomatoes, beans, and citrus are fine, as is broccoli.   Higher elevation yet, someone is growing strawberries. 

 

Hydrangeas should do well here, but I haven't bought any to try yet.  

[Michael Ventura]

After three days of daytime temps hovering around 100F or 37C, we got hit with very violent storms yesterday, late afternoon.  I was out having lunch with an old photographer colleague when the storms hit.  My daughter, who sleeps during due to her night shifts was startled awake and disoriented when the electricity went out at our home and all the thunder and lightning .  She didn’t know I was out and was concerned when she saw my car in the driving (my friend drove) and not answering when calling out for me. In the meantime, we were driving through what seemed like a tornado with tree branches and debris flying all around.  My daughter got through to me on my mobile as we were raced to get to my friend’s house to take cover.  Well 24 hours later my home still has no electricity and the prediction from the power company is that it will be restored by Tuesday by 3pm.  My daughter went to her firehouse shift tonight and my son and I got a room at hotel….too hot at home to sleep.  There are many homes and cars with trees on them so I count myself lucky to have no injuries or property damage.  And fortunately I have a quiet work week ahead but a big grocery bill to look forward to with so much food that will have to be tossed out.  Oh well, things can be much worse, so I count myself lucky.

[Cecile Marion]

Glad everyone is basically okay, Michael. It sounds like a scary situation, especially being caught out on the road in such a violent storm. We have several cells moving across NCFlorida at this very moment. I’m certainly happy I’m not out driving!

[Betty LaRue]

4 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

After three days of daytime temps hovering around 100F or 37C, we got hit with very violent storms yesterday, late afternoon.  I was out having lunch with an old photographer colleague when the storms hit.  My daughter, who sleeps during due to her night shifts was startled awake and disoriented when the electricity went out at our home and all the thunder and lightning .  She didn’t know I was out and was concerned when she saw my car in the driving (my friend drove) and not answering when calling out for me. In the meantime, we were driving through what seemed like a tornado with tree branches and debris flying all around.  My daughter got through to me on my mobile as we were raced to get to my friend’s house to take cover.  Well 24 hours later my home still has no electricity and the prediction from the power company is that it will be restored by Tuesday by 3pm.  My daughter went to her firehouse shift tonight and my son and I got a room at hotel….too hot at home to sleep.  There are many homes and cars with trees on them so I count myself lucky to have no injuries or property damage.  And fortunately I have a quiet work week ahead but a big grocery bill to look forward to with so much food that will have to be tossed out.  Oh well, things can be much worse, so I count myself lucky.

I saw the mess from that storm on the news. It looked like a doozy. I think you should have sheltered in place. People have been killed in storms like that, Michael, when trees have fallen on the cars they rode/drove in.

Take from someone who lived most of her life in Tornado Alley except for a short spell of living in earthquake country. Wait until the storm calms, my friend, before going out in it.

[gvallee]

5 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

After three days of daytime temps hovering around 100F or 37C, we got hit with very violent storms yesterday, late afternoon.  I was out having lunch with an old photographer colleague when the storms hit.  My daughter, who sleeps during due to her night shifts was startled awake and disoriented when the electricity went out at our home and all the thunder and lightning .  She didn’t know I was out and was concerned when she saw my car in the driving (my friend drove) and not answering when calling out for me. In the meantime, we were driving through what seemed like a tornado with tree branches and debris flying all around.  My daughter got through to me on my mobile as we were raced to get to my friend’s house to take cover.  Well 24 hours later my home still has no electricity and the prediction from the power company is that it will be restored by Tuesday by 3pm.  My daughter went to her firehouse shift tonight and my son and I got a room at hotel….too hot at home to sleep.  There are many homes and cars with trees on them so I count myself lucky to have no injuries or property damage.  And fortunately I have a quiet work week ahead but a big grocery bill to look forward to with so much food that will have to be tossed out.  Oh well, things can be much worse, so I count myself lucky.

 

I'm glad that you and your property are alright Michael. Sounds very scary, especially if you're on the road. Tossing food away is an awful feeling. I always hope that we don't lose power one day in our motorhome as the freezer is always jammed packed this meat. The insurance would pay for it but that's not the point, I hate wasting food. The 220l fridge/freezer has its own inverter. 

 

 

 

[gvallee]

We are housesitting again in a gorgeous huge bush plot in the hot North. The house is elevated on stilts for coolness with a large open timber deck, a spa in the garden and a hammock under palmtrees. It's a bit worrying actually as there are a couple of coconuts dangling just above. So far so good, what's bad you ask?

 

The bush plot has been divided into 3 sections: one large inner yard with lush grass and numerous tropical trees, another mowed yard around it and the third area left as bushland. There are high wire fences separating all areas. Unfortunately, kangaroos and wallabies are attracted by the juicy grass and fences do not seem to be a problem for them.

 

We are taking care of two dogs: a territorial powerful cattle dog and a Jack Russell. They stay in the inner yard and the cattle dog is taken for walks on a leash in the outside area because he cannot control his instincts to chase kangaroos. Either the roo or the dog might get injured or killed in a fight. Unfortunately, a wallaby managed to jump all fences onto the inner yard. The dog got him. It didn't seem badly injured and hopped away but very often, they die of stress. We found its body yesterday...

 

 

[Michael Ventura]

11 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I saw the mess from that storm on the news. It looked like a doozy. I think you should have sheltered in place. People have been killed in storms like that, Michael, when trees have fallen on the cars they rode/drove in.

Take from someone who lived most of her life in Tornado Alley except for a short spell of living in earthquake country. Wait until the storm calms, my friend, before going out in it.

 

Yes, agree, but we got caught in the storm while driving.  We were on a very wooded park road when it hit and he lives not too far from there so the best thing was to get to his house right away and ride it out there, instead of going to my home.  

 

Breaking news!  My daughter just texted that the power has come back on at our house!!!!! Yay!  I'm still at the hotel (got a free room with points) and doing work on my laptop here.  

 

Heading home!

[spacecadet]

I found a mortally injured swift on the pavement. I think it looked me in the eye. I'm not good with suffering creatures.

Fortunately it had died by the time I got it home so I didn't need a brick. Best thing to do seemed to be to take it down the end of the garden in the hope that the foxes will make a meal of it.

Edited July 31, 2023 by spacecadet

[Betty LaRue]

4 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

Yes, agree, but we got caught in the storm while driving.  We were on a very wooded park road when it hit and he lives not too far from there so the best thing was to get to his house right away and ride it out there, instead of going to my home.  

 

Breaking news!  My daughter just texted that the power has come back on at our house!!!!! Yay!  I'm still at the hotel (got a free room with points) and doing work on my laptop here.  

 

Heading home!

Oh, good! Maybe your frozen food will be okay. If one doesn’t open the refrigerator, usually it can be saved if only a day without power. I did see that the storm killed a motorist when a tree fell on his car, was it in Maine? Somewhere east.

I’m so glad you came through okay.

My son once had to turn back during a hailstorm, while trying to get to his terrified teen daughter. The tornado sirens were wailing. The streets were full of hail so deep he had no traction. His car was dented, though. Mother Nature can really drop the hammer, sometimes.

[Bryan]

4 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

Yes, agree, but we got caught in the storm while driving.  We were on a very wooded park road when it hit and he lives not too far from there so the best thing was to get to his house right away and ride it out there, instead of going to my home.  

 

Breaking news!  My daughter just texted that the power has come back on at our house!!!!! Yay!  I'm still at the hotel (got a free room with points) and doing work on my laptop here.  

 

Heading home!

 

Puts things into perspective Michael, we are suffering a miserable cool wet summer, but your problems are far worse !

 

Good to hear that your electricity is restored, does your insurance not cover freezer content, or is it not worth claiming ?