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

[Moemg]

Congratulations to you and Mr [-]Bestwifeever[/-] Besthusbandever!

Lovely avatar btw.....

+1

 

[seraphim]

Went to church, ate breakfast out, rearranged photo studio in basement and made a big(ger) mess. Got ancient photo printer running - now have to order new cartridges. Played with new camera (reason I'm reassembling old studio)...




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[braumeister]

Got our property reappraisal from the county, and the value dropped nearly 9% since the last one, three years ago. That will mean a small reduction in our tax bill next year.

So at least where we live, there has apparently not been much of a rebound.

 

[seraphim]

Finally got basement in order. Can call it a studio now lol.





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[travelover]

Lost several hours of my life dealing with AT&T. I've kept a basic land line service and DSL service going at a reasonable cost by calling "customer retention" yearly and negotiating a lower rate. Now they have had enough of landlines and DSL and insist that I move to a cable internet and VOIP phone to continue to play. So I grind them down to a decent monthly rate with no installation charges, but check my order on-line to verify and there is a $99 installation charge shown.

Spent the next 2 hours talking to various drones on several continents that claim there is no way to simply call the person that wrote the order to verify that the $99 charge is in error. "No sir, we cannot call that person" Really? You're the friggin' phone company! So I called back and said, OK, cancel the order and let's renegotiate. Miraculously I had the original person that wrote the order on the phone in minutes.

Oh and by the way, cost for just internet, no phone? Same price, but slower download speed.

Installation next Thursday, more anecdotes to follow.

 

[friar1610]

Walked the dog on the beach in the AM.

In the PM read a book aloud for an hour. I recently learned that our town has a "radio station" that reads newspapers and books to people who are blind or otherwise incapable of reading. Went for an audition a few weeks ago and have been put on as substitute news paper reader (live broadcasts) and book reader (recorded). So far I've done one substitute reading of the NYT and one of WSJ. Just started recording the book today. Pretty interesting volunteer gig.

 

[braumeister]

I recently learned that our town has a "radio station" that reads newspapers and books to people who are blind or otherwise incapable of reading.

I did that for a number of years when I first retired. Broadcasting is on a subcarrier that requires a modification to a "normal" radio, but they provide them to their clients. Had to go in to the studio to do the live reading, which was a hassle.

Then I found another service they provide as an adjunct to the radio reading service. It's called PTP (Personalized Talking Print). I had a regular gig reading the Wall St. Journal every Monday morning (just the headlines and some of the regular pieces, along with lead articles).

The way PTP works is that each client has a voicemail box. If someone wants to hear the whole article because they were intrigued by the headline you read, they request it by leaving a voicemail for you. Then you pick up those requests later in the day or next day, and read that article directly into the requester's voicemail box. Pretty slick system!

 

[Calico]

Walked the dog on the beach in the AM.

In the PM read a book aloud for an hour. I recently learned that our town has a "radio station" that reads newspapers and books to people who are blind or otherwise incapable of reading. Went for an audition a few weeks ago and have been put on as substitute news paper reader (live broadcasts) and book reader (recorded). So far I've done one substitute reading of the NYT and one of WSJ. Just started recording the book today. Pretty interesting volunteer gig.

What a wonderful service! I'm sure it is much appreciated by the listeners. I'm going to add this to my volunteer gigs to look in to when I retire.

 

[Tailgate]

DW and I went to the lake to do a dry run of trailering the new pontoon boat tomorrow.. Might need to call the tv station to send a news crew cause it's either going to be hilarious or there might be a murder.. We don't perform well together on projects like this..anyway, the boat needs service.

 

[friar1610]

What a wonderful service! I'm sure it is much appreciated by the listeners. I'm going to add this to my volunteer gigs to look in to when I retire.

FYI, here is a link to the place I'm involved with. There are likely similar places where you live (but I don't know for sure):

Talking Information Center

 

[rodi]

Changed things up - took the dog for a walk on Mission Bay rather than at the beach. Was feeling ambitious and walked further than my normal walk.

Help DH put in window #2 of the 5 windows we're in process of replacing. My help is limited to manhandling the new window into place (a 2 person job) until he can put the first screw in. The other part of the help is cleaning up the bits of stucco that he has to chip off to get the old window out. He's working on the second story - so the stucco gets a bit scattered... so lots of sweeping.

2 windows down - 3 to go for this phase of our home improvement.

 

[Walt34]

Went to the gym, registered for the cardiac rehab class the hospital encourages people with heart issues to take, and stopped by the store on the way home to get flowers to shoot in the basement. By "shoot" I mean with a camera.

I'm not sure if I qualify as having heart issues even though I have two overlapping stents in a heart artery. The docs all say I'll fully recover and will have no restrictions in a couple more weeks. So we'll see. Right now I'm still on half-weights at the gym but slowing moving toward back to full.

But if they're going to take 18 weeks to tell me to "don't smoke, eat healthy, and exercise regularly" I'll drop out.

 

[braumeister]

I'm not sure if I qualify as having heart issues even though I have two overlapping stents in a heart artery.

Really?
Couldn't possibly be into denial, could we?

Just take good care of yourself. There is useful help available, it sounds like.

 

[Walt34]

Really?
Couldn't possibly be into denial, could we?

Naw, not me...

But I have made some changes. I'd quit smoking a long time ago, don't need to lose weight (5'9", 147 lbs this morning) and exercise regularly. Doc says my cholesterol levels are already well below most people's, borderline being too low. The diet could use some improvement though fortunately not too drastic.

But I'm sure gonna miss pepperoni, ham, bacon and double cheese pizzas. Sniff, sniff.

 

[braumeister]

gonna miss pepperoni, ham, bacon and double cheese pizzas.

Right. The ham is overkill.

 

[aja8888]

Did someone mention bacon....

 

[MichaelB]

DD and her family spent a few days in Montreal. They brought back a small sample of my favorite food - Lebanese pastries. They are unbelievably good. Normally I'd share with other family members in the area, but I won't be seeing any before the weekend, so I'll have to deal with this myself.
.
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[FIREd]

Had a picnic at the park. I noticed that it was busier than usual. Since it is close to the convention center, I figured that there was some event going on. Turned out to be an American Chemical Society national meeting. As a chemist, I used to attend one of those meetings at least yearly. Fourteen years ago, I attended a meeting at that same convention center. I was still in graduate school, looking for a j*b, and thinking I was starting a 40-year career in chemistry. I never guessed that 14 years later, I'd be chillin' at the park across the street on a weekday!


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[Moemg]

.

I'm not sure if I qualify as having heart issues even though I have two overlapping stents in a heart artery..

Believe me you qualify !

 

[rodi]

DD and her family spent a few days in Montreal. They brought back a small sample of my favorite food - Lebanese pastries. They are unbelievably good. Normally I'd share with other family members in the area, but I won't be seeing any before the weekend, so I'll have to deal with this myself.
.
.

Are those pistachios in the pastries? (Salivating as I type this.) We discovered these amazing cookies and pastries in Sicily that had pistachios in them...

 

[Rustward]

• Slept late.
  
• Picked up a 9x12 Karastan Rug from the rug cleaning place -- kinda heavy. It's 20+ years old, and looks very nice.
  
• Did 30 minutes on the elliptical trainers. Fate gave us HIS and HERS trainers, and we each use both. Normally do 40 minutes (20 minutes on each) but skimped today -- see next item.
  
• Mowed the back yard (front yard and trimming were done yesterday as well as oil changes and blade sharpening on the mower and lawn tractor & lube jobs on the lawn tractor and edger); it's kinda hot here this time of year.
  
• Cooked a 5lb beef tenderloin while having some adult beverages. It came out buttah knife tender. We'll get a few more meals out of this piece of beef. The challenge is to reheat it without drying it out.

 

[chris2008]

I am with my mom (85) since Sunday.
As she is moving from her home of 50 years to an assisted living apt. in 2 weeks we are sorting out her stockpile of clothes (collection of at least 20 years) to reduce the load.
So many pieces hardly worn, too small, bad quality or worn out to rags.
What is usable goes to goodwill. 3 bags on day 1, 8 bags yesterday.

I will leave tomorrow, then return 1 week before moving day for the sorting out and packing of all other stuff.

Wish her luck. 85 years, hardly any vision left, hearing problems, rheumatism.
They say you should not move an old tree, but there is hardly any alternative.

And even though she is pragmatic and accepting, she tells me each night that she prays for not waking up again. I am trying to avoid the news for not making her aware of Robin Williams' method.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Wish her luck. 85 years, hardly any vision left, hearing problems, rheumatism.
They say you should not move an old tree, but there is hardly any alternative.

I do wish her the best of luck. Maybe she will end up enjoying more companionship and the extra help she will receive in her new home.

 

[MichaelB]

Are those pistachios in the pastries? (Salivating as I type this.) We discovered these amazing cookies and pastries in Sicily that had pistachios in them...

Oh yeah. Also walnuts, cinnamon, honey, phyllo and lots of butter. These are really good. And I know what you mean about the Sicilian pastries and cookies. They do magicial things with pistachios and almonds.

 

[Huston55]

Had a picnic at the park. I noticed that it was busier than usual. Since it is close to the convention center, I figured that there was some event going on. Turned out to be an American Chemical Society national meeting. As a chemist, I used to attend one of those meetings at least yearly. Fourteen years ago, I attended a meeting at that same convention center. I was still in graduate school, looking for a j*b, and thinking I was starting a 40-year career in chemistry. I never guessed that 14 years later, I'd be chillin' at the park across the street on a weekday!


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Sounds like Yerba Buena Gardens; a wonderful spot. I remember when they were building it. You're fortunate to live there.