what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[Nords]

Four 65-gallon cans of green waste from "pruning" a 20-foot mango tree. Four more cans at the next green waste pickup and we should be down to just a few branches.

Next year we get to do the other mango.

It takes them about five years to grow back to view-obscuring size, but my pruning days are just about over. I've cut way back on the water in that part of the yard, too, so maybe that'll slow them down a little. One or two more iterations and then we'll be looking for a chainsaw artist to cut them back to standing trunks and carve a tiki to look down into the gulch.

Good grief...I'd hate to think of one being so large it's not portable!
....hmmm...let me think about this a little longer....

I don't think it's the size or the weight as much as the power requirements...

 

[RonBoyd]

For example, Frank loves amateur astronomy and ham radio (but didn't have any telescopes or radios with him). I missed my Wii, my cheap art/sculpture/painting collection, my new Venza, and that sort of thing. Stuff.

And you still don't think RVing is the way to go?

 

[bbbamI]

I don't think it's the size or the weight as much as the power requirements...

 

[REWahoo]

Completed the task of eating my way from west to east across the Gulf of Mexico. Reversed course and began eating my way back late yesterday.

Stopped briefly at Key West to buy more Tums...

 

[freebird5825]

I was a good listener for a friend today.
I made homemade bread, beef with mushrooms and cream of mushroom soup in the crockpot, and lemon pudding. I like to welcome my favorite weary traveler (dh2b) with a home cooked meal. He is snoozing right now after a long 4+ hour drive from CT. Poor guy had to attend a conference at the Foxwoods Casino/MGM Grand.

 

[Koolau]

Good grief. That reminded me of a story from my previous life before permanent voluntary unemployment.

Among all the stuff I had to keep a close eye on was the inventories and storage of all the illegal sex toys we would occasionally seize from a dirty book store.

So how DO you distinguish between the legal and illegal toys? Guess I didn't know there WERE any illegal ones. Maybe if the toys are under 18, they are illegal

In every state I've called home, you could go to Spencers Gifts at the mall and buy "devices" that hum. No, they weren't anatomically correct, but I think most folks knew what they were used for 95% of the time. Are they illegal in your state? If so, I'll be sure to visit as I'll feel so much safer there than at the mall.

 

[Khan]

Got up.
Took shower.
Looked at thermostat.
Called plumber.
Two visits and $111 later, house is 60F.

 

[TromboneAl]

Boy, that sex toys post will never die.

Anyway, we just finished another 1.5 day power outage caused by high winds, so I got a break from being a mouse potato. Funniest part was that last night we went out when the power was still off. When we got to the restaurant, Lena noticed that she was wearing two different shoes.

It's always a little scary to find out how much of our entertainment depends on electricity.

 

[RonBoyd]

Lena noticed that she was wearing two different shoes.

It's always a little scary to find out how much of our entertainment depends on electricity.

Or the lack of, apparently.

 

[Alan]

Boy, that sex toys post will never die.

Anyway, we just finished another 1.5 day power outage caused by high winds, so I got a break from being a mouse potato. Funniest part was that last night we went out when the power was still off. When we got to the restaurant, Lena noticed that she was wearing two different shoes.

It's always a little scary to find out how much of our entertainment depends on electricity.

At least the batteries weren't affected

 

[freebird5825]

Boy, that sex toys post will never die.

Nope. Very unlikely. Slim chance.

 

[freebird5825]

I have a list of outside things to do, but oh well. Too windy and chilly out for yard w*rk. Yeah, that's it.

Today's actitviites...the kitchen is humming. The roster of culinary delights includes chicken tortilla soup for the low fat entree, and homemade strawberry ice cream for the...um...high calcium dessert.

dh2b is watching an online video about the iPad. I better hide his credit card.

 

[bbbamI]

At least the batteries weren't affected

Thanks for reminding me ...add to shopping list...batteries....

 

[IndependentlyPoor]

Today's actitviites...the kitchen is humming. The roster of culinary delights includes chicken tortilla soup for the low fat entree, and homemade strawberry ice cream for the...um...high calcium dessert.

Can you wait dinner until, say 9PM?

 

[freebird5825]

Can you wait dinner until, say 9PM?
View attachment 8752

Sure, but you're looking at a 5 hour drive from the Island. Try Hancock International in Syracuse, then it's only a 1 hour 15 minute drive.

In the meantime... Chicken Tortilla Soup V - All Recipes

and Amazon.com: Cuisinart ICE-25 Classic Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker: Electronics

I actually use this ice cream maker a lot. To lower the calories and fat a little, I use 1 cup of 2% milk instead of whole milk, and I use 1 cup heavy cream + 1 cup half-n-half instead of the 2 cups heavy cream called for by the recipe book. Only 1/2 cup sugar for the entire batch. Nothing like fresh made ice cream.

 

[Nords]

Yummy buffet lunch with friends. Reacquainted myself with the owner of a local solar-supply store who's been in the business for at least three decades. Lots of great geek talk.

Last night was the mandatory Project Grad meeting for interested students and (at least one of) their parents. These high-school kids are being emotionally blackmailed into pulling an all-nighter with their friends after their graduation ceremony just for the chance of creating memories. (No, not those kind of memories.) They have no idea where they're going or what they're doing but they don't want to miss out. There's a seemingly endless requirements list of how to dress, what not to wear/bring, and what not to do. Our kid, who is already authorized to operate lethal machinery on public highways and who in a few months will be eligible to vote and trained to kill by the U.S. government, has to be signed in and out of Project Grad by a parent/guardian. With photo ID for both of us. So much for Mom & Dad getting in a little Waikiki partying time of our own while our little darling is celebrating her accomplishments with 303 of her closest friends.

I don't know if you remember your high-school graduation parties, but what little I remember of mine was a beer-soaked bacchanalia. As one of the parents said last night, "The next morning I recovered consciousness when the sun was shining in my face. After a couple beers I realized that I was hungry and I needed to clean myself up, so I brushed the pine needles out of my hair and drove home." Project Grad grew out of this lack of responsible behavior. Their goals are noble, laudable, and unfortunately essential. But in the process of tightening the standards so that not even the most uncontrolled idiotic teen can stub their toe, the experience resembles a lockdown more than an enjoyable party. You have to go or you're "left out". You have to do exactly as you're told or you'll be "kicked out". And have fun, dammit!!

We might have gone just a tad overboard.

It's also given certain parents the opportunity to exert their more authoritarian, dictatorial, and conspiratorial skills. Maybe they have organizational skills too. Last night wasn't such a good demonstration of the organizational part.

36 days to go. Hope it's worth it...

 

[W2R]

Nords, my 1966 post-graduation party at Punahou really was completely alcohol free and drug free. They whisked us directly from the graduation ceremony, by bus, to the party. The chaperones were as strict as Nazi guards. Once we were whisked into the party (at the school), we could dance, eat, reminisce, and party all night but if we left for any reason we absolutely could not re-enter the party. It worked quite well since nobody could leave and then come back drunk.

Of course, my date and I took the long way home AFTER the party...

 

[Goonie]

Got up fairly early this morning and joined a bunch of my friends at an all day railroad conference...prototype and model. It was put on jointly by a couple of railroad historical societies that both have strong ties to our area. Good friends, good food, good buys at the swap meet, and loads of good memories!!!

Afterward, since it was an absolutely gorgeous day out, I took the long way home out through the country back roads....saw 2 cars in the 30 miles or so between there and home.....real back roads!

Got home and sat out on the patio for a few hours, enjoying the weather, the gardens, and the wildlife.....and the big ol' bumble bees!!! I love bumble bees!!! They are soooo cool!!!

 

[happy2bretired]

Got up very early this morning and didn't read my paper or look at this forum until I came back from a bike ride. I wanted to hit the road before all the cars in the neighborhood woke up. I didn't go very far but I felt a little more at ease with no cars around. I need to get on a flat trail at some point. There are bike trails all over this town and I'm close to one, but, it's hilly...I want flat.

Nothing else planned for the day...waiting for the start of the work week to get in gear for nothing.

 

[Nords]

Helped a neighbor fix his water heater.

I actually wasn't much help at all, which is even better than helping. He called to describe the symptoms and ask if it was worth fixing or if he should buy a new heater. I went over with my copy of Rex Cauldwell's "Plumbing" book and showed him the troubleshooting paragraphs. We put a multimeter on the element terminals and sonofagun the lower element was bad. (I've read about it, but that's the first time I've actually seen it!) We talked through the repair, whether it was worth the effort for a 10-year-old heater, and how long it'd take. At that point he needed to do some shopping and I had to go to taekwondo practice, so we agreed to get together later. It was probably 10 minutes from the time I walked into his garage until I walked out, which around here would earn a plumber $85 for a service call.

When I came back it was all over but the applause. He'd brought home a $12 element and a $1.50 1.5" element socket wrench, read the instructions, and decided to try it on his own. (This was a big step for him, one that perhaps might not have happened if his spouse wasn't looking over his shoulder and asking "Is it fixed yet?") The first couple gallons out of the heater were kinda nasty-- that element had broken a while ago and he doesn't regularly drain a few gallons off the bottom of the tank-- but he persevered and even made sure he'd filled the water heater back up before he turned on the electricity.

The old element looked like it had exploded & burned but the heater's working fine now. Next time we get together we'll check his anode rod. And when this heater finally reaches the end of its life, he's been convinced that he's ready to go solar.

This experience can only have encouraged him. Can't wait to see what repair project he tackles next...

 

[TromboneAl]

In 2005 I volunteered to help at DD's Safe & Sober graduation party. My job was to make sure no one went outside to drink:

 

[Nords]

In 2005 I volunteered to help at DD's Safe & Sober graduation party. My job was to make sure no one went outside to drink:

I think what I object to is the way that the theme of the grad party has changed. Instead of the benevolent oversight demonstrated by TromboneAl it's mutated into a posse of vigilantes waving oaths, conducting personnel searches, and essentially locking the teens away to "be safe". Supervision at the absolute lowest common denominator. Scramble to get in line to be carted away for mandatory fun.

I'm surprised that our teen is putting up with it. She's already declined school's opportunities to do an "optional" senior-year project (required to qualify for valedictorian) and to participate in the graduation ceremony. She's quite accustomed to going her own way regardless of whether that appears to be a good idea or not. I had expected the parental personalities involved with Project Grad to cause her to veer away from this one, too, but I guess the combination of mystery and "last chance with friends" make it irresistible.

Maybe it's cultural/family expectations. High school graduation around here is a very big deal compared to college. Over 10% of her senior class is already not qualified to graduate or dropped out long ago, and of the remaining 90% only a handful seem interested, let alone excited, about college. Most of the stories are "Oh, yeah, I guess I'll take classes at UH" while living with the family and working minimum-wage shifts.

I saw college as my chance to [-]get the hell outta Dodge[/-] gain some independence and start my own life. I guess if these seniors aren't looking forward to that then high-school graduation seems like a pretty important rite of passage.

Maybe the seniors have yet to learn what a number of 19- & 20-year-olds at taekwondo have already figured out. They're scrambling for scholarships, applying for internships, transferring community-college credits to universities, and turning black belts into résumé bullets...

 

[W2R]

In 2005 I volunteered to help at DD's Safe & Sober graduation party. My job was to make sure no one went outside to drink:

View attachment 8759

Al, you must be related to those crusty old mothers that guarded the door at my graduation party back in 1966! Never would have DARED cross 'em...

 

[Nords]

Al, you must be related to those crusty old mothers that guarded the door at my graduation party back in 1966! Never would have DARED cross 'em...

If he's related to them, then maybe they weren't guarding those doors so well after all!

 

[bbbamI]

What I 'almost' did today:

A guy honked his horn at me because I didn't turn left when he thought I should. I almost got out of my car to do a little damage by ripping his car door from the frame.

Ohhhhmmmmmmm......