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

[NW-Bound]

Almost finished painting our master BR this evening. But I have not told the beginning of the story.

We got some wood flooring with the intention of doing the spare bedrooms upstairs. It was stacked up in the garage, and has been there for a couple of months. Then, my wife asked why we shouldn't do the master bedroom first. Well, fine with me, as she had the most stuff in the master BR and had to pack to move it out, while the spare BRs contained my "treasure", which I did not feel like moving at the moment.

So, my wife kept her words and cleared her stuff out. Then, it was my turn to move furniture, tear out the old carpet, remove all floor molding in preparation for the new floor. Of course we saw the dingy walls, and this was the chance to repaint them. It's going to be really "purty".

We took an early break last night to go to a French bistro with our daughter and son. We had such a good time. The food was good, but we now had more appreciation for the presentation of the dishes. Everything looked superb when they brought it out, and we told the waiter so. I thought he let the kitchen staff know that we enjoyed the food. The waiting staff was beaming. Everybody was happy! While I paid the bill, my daughter said she liked to pay for the tip. And she tipped 30%!

I wish I know how to present my food at home like they do in restaurants. Perhaps that should be another retirement pastime for me, to learn to do that. Yes, food and drink to celebrate life!

 

[powerplay]

I resented being stereotyped by my attire, and interrupted at the worst possible moment during my trip. I thought he was with the fraud or "loss prevention" staff, and in all the years I've been in Costco I've never been accosted like this. But then I don't usually visit Costco in my aloha business attire, and maybe I shouldn't do that anymore.

All of those people standing in line waiting to get to the registers... and he hits them with his pitch after they've completed their transactions. Tone deaf.

But, yeah, those weekly trips are beginning to add up to a possibility of signing up for the $100/year program. Now, if they handed out membership cards to our daughter as well as to me & spouse then it'd be a great deal.

I'm 100% sure this has nothing to do with your attire on this particular shopping trip and everything to do with your spending levels at Costco.
A couple years ago I had the same experience and they really do get up close and in your personal space. I drank the kool-aid and signed up. Well, I didn't spend enough to cover the extra fee so I went in and cancelled the Exec membership level. A couple months later I still got billed for the extra fee and had to go in yet again to get it all corrected. So NEVER Again for me!!!!! I think the employee gets a bonus for every member they can upgrade. Now if I spent enough at Costco to justify the upgrade cost it would be OK, but I don't spend enough annually to cover it and they messed up my attempt to cancel it.

 

[Gumby]

Changed the oil and filter. Rotated the tires. The cold made my fingers a little numb and clumsy.

 

[MichaelB]

Took Mom out to dinner to celebrate her 85th. Lots of fun, we all enjoyed. I had one of my favorite Italian dishes, carpaccio (raw beef thinly sliced).

No one brought a camera (of course) it was determined to be my fault (of course) but my brother has a smartphone with a "good" camera, so she tried to take a picture of the group. She actually nudged aside a diner at an adjacent table to improve the shot.

 

[imoldernu]

Woke up... watched TV... Dropped in into ER to see what was going on...

"what did you do today" thread... dozily reading the thread... until reaching a post on "watching swimming on the Olympics....



see page 1

doin' better... only 927,326 posts to go...

BTW... wondered if Sarah still goes to pole dancing classes...

 

[MBAustin]

Right now, being lazy after a very busy past several days. Thursday I hosted my bunco group (appetizers, drinks, and dessert for 12) in the evening but had a haircut and several volunteer meetings during the day so prepping was a little stressed. In any case, the Spicy/Sweet Pretzel Nut Mix, Tomato Parmesan Tarts, and Salted Caramel Cheesecakes (all from Cooking Light) turned out great and a fine time was had by all.

Friday after cleaning everything up we showed our 1-week-old RV to a 95+ year old man and his personal assistant - he has always wanted an RV and had never seen one with wheelchair accessibility. He was so cute - his assistant said that he was so excited he didn't sleep the night before. If he buys one, we get a nice check from Born Free so I suspect we'll be showing it more. Later, DH and I went out to get some paperwork notarized, and I filled out the RV title paperwork. By the time I finished it was too late to get to the tax office before rush hour, so that's on my list for today. Enjoyed catching up with DD on the phone for nearly an hour before dinner.

Saturday was an all-morning rehearsal for a concert, followed by a trip to the farmer's market (I am getting adventurous - bought a rutabaga for the first time in my life, now I just need to figure out what to do with it). Then we went to a Christmas party at a friend's house.

Sunday after church and lunch I dashed out to the RV storage lot to winterize it as we're predicted to have 2 nights of below-freezing temps and I don't want burst pipes on a brand new vehicle! Then prepped for the concert - we sang the Bach Magnificat along with two new pieces from young composers. It was nice to sing in front of a good crowd - looked like nearly 500 people - and overall it went very well.

Today after taking care of the RV title I'll start putting up the Christmas tree and interior decorations (outside is done fortunately) and try to finish up Christmas gift orders. How did I ever have time to w*rk??

 

[donheff]

Today illustrated the potential within nuthin planned. DW and I decided on the spur of the moment to go downtown and catch a movie. We walked two blocks to pick up bike share bikes and dropped them off at a station one block from the theater. The theater was changing a defective projector and cancelled our show. They gave us two free passes for the inconvenience. We strolled a half mile over to a larger theater to see what was showing but nothing we were interested in was running at the right time. DW remembered that she wanted to see a photography exhibit at the National Gallery so we walked about six blocks over there and enjoyed the exhibit and a walk thru the Gallery store. Walking home, we passed the Botanical Garden and stopped in to see the holiday train exhibit. Then a walk up Capitol Hill towards home exposed us to busy beavers rushing around, hopefully working on solutions to the the fiscal cliff so we can continue enjoying our retirement.

 

[grasshopper]

Sunday after church and lunch I dashed out to the RV storage lot to winterize it as we're predicted to have 2 nights of below-freezing temps and I don't want burst pipes on a brand new vehicle!

We got that blast last night only down to 29, not to bad, my African Spurred tortoise wasn't happy.

 

[freebird5825]

Today was a goof off day. I slept in until 11 AM.

I felt like cooking, so I defrosted a boneless pork tenderloin roast.

I cubed up half of it, sauteed it in soy sauce and garlic. I have it marinating in Ah-So sauce for tomorrow's planned dinner of pork fried rice. I also made up white rice and have it resting in the frig. The mung beans I have sprouting are just about ready. I make wicked good fried rice.

I sliced the rest of the pork roast into 1/4" thick pieces and pounded it thin with a wooden mallet. It was seasoned with salt and pepper and sat for 15 minutes. I dipped the thin cutlets in flour, beaten egg, and bread crumbs and fried it slowly in canola oil. A jar of pork gravy, some canned mushrooms, paprika and parsley were mixed together to become the mushroom gravy for Jager Schnitzel. It turned out fabulous!

 

[Moemg]

We also had pork today . I threw a pork roast in the crockpot with sauerkraut & caraway seeds and voila dinner . I made mashed potatoes for the big guy and he was in heaven .

 

[Sarah in SC]

Woke up... watched TV... Dropped in into ER to see what was going on...

"what did you do today" thread... dozily reading the thread... until reaching a post on "watching swimming on the Olympics....



see page 1

doin' better... only 927,326 posts to go...

BTW... wondered if Sarah still goes to pole dancing classes...

I'm taking Tabata classes now, thanks for asking! But i imagine one never loses the skills, so if these investments don't work out....

 

[Dreamer]

I never heard of Tabata classes, so I had to google it. That is another reason that I love this site...I keep learning new things all the time.

Do you like these classes? I really need to get back to exercising, although these would probably be too intense for me.

 

[MBAustin]

I felt like cooking, so I defrosted a boneless pork tenderloin roast.

I cubed up half of it, sauteed it in soy sauce and garlic. I have it marinating in Ah-So sauce for tomorrow's planned dinner of pork fried rice. I also made up white rice and have it resting in the frig. The mung beans I have sprouting are just about ready. I make wicked good fried rice.

I sliced the rest of the pork roast into 1/4" thick pieces and pounded it thin with a wooden mallet. It was seasoned with salt and pepper and sat for 15 minutes. I dipped the thin cutlets in flour, beaten egg, and bread crumbs and fried it slowly in canola oil. A jar of pork gravy, some canned mushrooms, paprika and parsley were mixed together to become the mushroom gravy for Jager Schnitzel. It turned out fabulous!

Yum! Great idea for using up a pork roast that is too big for two without ending up with a week's worth of boring leftovers! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Sue J]

Another pork post....

I saw a 2.5 lb pork roast with a $1 off sticker at the store, so I bought that and a package of buns and made pulled pork in the pressure cooker. It turned out wonderfully and DH loved it.

 

[JakeBrake]

Yet another pork post....

Last Saturday our local volunteer fire department was selling BBQ'd 8 lb. Boston Butt Pork Roasts for $25 as a fund raiser. We picked up one while it was still hot and have been eating it ever since. Delicious!

 

[Sarah in SC]

I never heard of Tabata classes, so I had to google it. That is another reason that I love this site...I keep learning new things all the time.

Do you like these classes? I really need to get back to exercising, although these would probably be too intense for me.

Gawd, we gotta break up all these pork posts!


It is hell, I'll be honest. But, after being out of the habit for so long, I wanted something that was efficient and I could push myself to do. It only takes 30 minutes and it isn't like some complicated moves you have to memorize. But oh, does it hurt, yes it does, when you are as out of shape as I am right now.

Try a couple just to see. I've got a friend who has been going for a while, and she asked me to come with her. And the girl teaching these is very quick to adapt stuff to your skill/ability level and compensate for injury prone areas, which is good.

 

[Nords]

Spouse's Series 2 TiVo died last night, so I'm trying to revive it (TCD 540080).

It's six years old and it owes us nothing. We bought it used and transferred the lifetime agreement, and it's paid back the up-front costs in monthly fees (to say nothing of our local cable company's DVR fees). It's been in use 8-12 hours/day and it's been recording for probably 16-20 hours day. Yesterday it locked up and wouldn't reset or reboot. Now it turns on to the "Powering up" screen and just stays there.

She's using her spare Series 2 TiVo, so she's good until that one dies.

I'm looking at a Craigslist $40 Series 2 that I could swap parts with, although if our TiVo hard drive is bad then I'm done. If I swap the power supply card and get hers working again then I'll transfer the shows off it and whatever else she wants to salvage. But I'm not sure how to handle any of the setup or tweaking that will probably be necessary. I have to do some research on the TiVo forums.

Meanwhile spouse's inner Scrooge/Grinch are debating whether she wants to march on with our "spare" second TiVo (plus whatever's left after I buy the $40 Craigslist parts bin), or whether she "deserves" to buy herself a Series 2 with an updated tuner from Weaknees.com. I've already been told that a Series 3, let alone a LCD HDTV, are not an option.

 

[REWahoo]

Meanwhile spouse's inner Scrooge/Grinch are debating whether she wants to march on with our "spare" second TiVo (plus whatever's left after I buy the $40 Craigslist parts bin), or whether she "deserves" to buy herself a Series 2 with an updated tuner from Weaknees.com. I've already been told that a Series 3, let alone a LCD HDTV, are not an option.

Another contestant in the "Who dies with the fewest toys wins" game.

At my age I'm beginning to doubt there's any future in it...

 

[GT1 Doug]

Went fishing today after the rain let up. Caught plenty of sport fish (non-edible) and one nice size tripletail. The tripletail was invited to dinner and is currently waiting for the coals to burn down a little bit more.

 

[W2R]

Another contestant in the "Who dies with the fewest toys wins" game.

At my age I'm beginning to doubt there's any future in it...

Seems to me that if someone

(1) can identify something they actually, truly want, and also
(2) can easily manage to purchase whatever-it-is, and can unquestionably afford it,

then they are in the catbird seat and just tremendously lucky. And should BUY it!

 

[NW-Bound]

Electronics are so good and so cheap now, so if one gives me enjoyment, I would get it.

Yet, I am speaking as a guy who has no TiVo, iAnything, nor any game console. Too much trouble for me, as I would not use them enough and would have trouble remembering how to turn them on.

 

[MichaelB]

I stopped by Barnes and Noble this afternoon. How times have changed. During college summer breaks I spent all my free time loitering in bookstores, and for many years when I traveled to the US on business we would go to the mall most nights, but the only things I wanted to buy were more books. Now I visit a bookstore once a year, if that.

Saw this on the bargain table and bought it for $6.

 

[Rustward]

Yet, I am speaking as a guy who has no TiVo, iAnything, nor any game console. Too much trouble for me, as I would not use them enough and would have trouble remembering how to turn them on.

Just so you know, the TiVo does not have a power switch -- it stays on all the time. One problem solved.

 

[prof12]

I really love this thread. This and "What did you eat today?" I think are my two most favorite here. Compare to many of you, I lead a very tame existence in retirement. And most of you certainly eat a lot better!!!!!!! I am envious and will try to "work" (bad word) to try and keep up!!!!!! Great stuff!!!!
Prof12

 

[MichaelB]

I bought the DVD "Amahl and the Night Visitors". The plan is to watch with DW over dinner tomorrow night.

Finally go into the holiday spirit this afternoon - by listening to "The Nutcracker".