The "What's on your mind?" Thread -2017

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artiemom

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MOD NOTE -   Do you want to discuss something but it's not worth starting a full thread for? Feel free to post it here.
I was such a poop on NYE.. Was in bed by 9:15pm and asleep by 9:30pm....Just ate junk.. some cheese and crackers, shrimp--which Artie really wanted, and a couple big glasses of wine.. 

Up very early for church. I am really planning on taking a nap today..I feel as if I need one. I really want to nap the day away--in my pj's and do absolutely nothing by lie down.. and perhaps watch TV or listen to some music.. 

I need to remember to drop off my bills at the Post Office this morning.. I did not have a car until late yesterday, so that day was shot as far as the post office. I do have a letter drop box in my apartment, but the mailman I have is really irresponsible. A couple of bills I mailed from here were lost.. and all of us are always getting other peoples mails in our boxes..

I think he is in too much of a hurry...

Took a pork tenderloin out of the freezer for supper, but I do not feel like cooking it.. I was planning on a mustard, chutney sauce with it.. I found the recipe and it is hanging up waiting for me.. tomorrow will be another day..
 
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margd

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We've got a new thread in honor of the New Year!  
   I hope everyone had a safe New Year's Eve and is ready for 2017.   
As far as I'm concerned, 2017 arrived a few months too early.  I'm always a bit out of sync with time.  
   At any rate, Chula, Paul and I stayed up until midnight and listened to the gunfire and fireworks outside.  With the first bang, Paul ran to the window to see what was going on.  He's such a big brave boy! 
 
[emoji]127878[/emoji][emoji]127879[/emoji][emoji]127878[/emoji]
 ​
 
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Alicia88

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I haven't been to bed yet.  About to go.  Got a little buzzed, played video games, watched random tv, and I'm going to bed now.
 

segelkatt

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Good morning everyone. Stayed up until 1 a.m. watching a Downton Abbey Marathon on PBS SoCal, they are showing all 52 episodes back to back, it started on Friday and is still going. Who can stay up long enough to watch all of that?

Drank a whole bottle of my home-made wine which has turned out to be pretty good, it's a rose and rather dry the way I like it, @Alicia88 would not like it. While it is smooth it is definitely  not sweet.

There were a few loud bangs between 11 and 1, sounded more like gun shots than fireworks, none of the cats were impressed. Panthera got up to look out the window, the others just snoozed. Chamouti was snuggled up in my arm on his back like a child, incredibly cute. He is such a teddy bear and his purr box never stops..

Sun is  shining but I still hear water dripping from the roof so there must have been more rain during the night, Yeah!

Rose Parade is tomorrow and no rain forecast for that, they've been incredibly lucky with that. As far as I know it has never been rained on but for a couple of years ago when there was a tiny bit of rain.

Chilly again so I've turned on the heat. Have to be careful though as I just got my electric bill (this place is all electric) and it was $145.00 for just one month, ouch! I haven't figured out yet which is the most efficient source of heat. I've got my choice between an electric fireplace, pretty but the blower is very weak, a heat pump that blows the air UP when I really need the heat at the lower part of the room where I am, or a heat dish which has a parabolic mirror and really throws the heat across the room. I think that one may be the most efficient. Maximum  any heater is allowed to throw out is 5,000 BTUs so it should be the one that does not just pool the heat up close to the source. Any physicists out there who could help me out? @JTbo, you appear to know something about this?   
 

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Found a late Christmas gift on my desk this morning from my co-worker - a hanging glass octopus figurine
I know where she got it from and she likely bought it with her volunteer discount. I noticed the same figurine when I was at the gift shop over the summer and considered buying one for a friend as a Christmas gift but I ended up buying something else instead.

I had planned on baking cookies for holiday gifts but I wound up sick for well over a week and then felt like
for a week after that so I didn't get around to making any. I think tomorrow would be a good time to make some cookies to share. I pulled four recipes out of my binder last night and I still can't decide which one to make: peppermint crinkle cookies (it's past the holidays so maybe not?), chewy chocolate chip cookies, crispy chocolate chip cookies, or bittersweet chocolate chip cookies. I think Mom still has a stand mixer that actually works
Her 1960s hand mixer apparently just went kaput. I think she has a fairly new Hamilton Beach stand mixer buried in one of the basement's junk filled rooms.
 

handsome kitty

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I just finished stuffing the last of the Christmas cards in envelopes.

I started some Turkey bone broth in my pressure cooker.  I hope there are enough bones in it.  I used two turkey necks and the legs and wings from our Christmas turkey and some chicken thigh skin. Fingers crossed.

Earlier this morning when I was catching up on TCS I heard a sound like a cat playing with a box in the other room.  Not unusual.  It happens a lot.  It went on for quite a while.  When I went in the kitchen to check on things I saw Eclipse locked outside the cat flap in the tunnel banging on the cat flap.  He managed to move the tab that locks going out but not coming in.  He was pretty cold when I let him in.  There was a reason the flap was not opened this morning.
  I did feel bad for not checking on the noise earlier though.
 

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LTS3
Top Cat said -
Found a late Christmas gift on my desk this morning from my co-worker - a hanging glass octopus figurine


One of my little indoor/ outdoor cats left me a Happy New Year "present" this morning too !
The counter top seemed a better litter box than the other FOUR that I have around the house. No gift wrap or even a bow !
`[emoji]128542[/emoji][emoji]128166[/emoji]

~ HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL ~

 

tallyollyopia

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I was such a poop on NYE.. Was in bed by 9:15pm and asleep by 9:30pm....Just ate junk.. some cheese and crackers, shrimp--which Artie really wanted, and a couple big glasses of wine.. 

Up very early for church. I am really planning on taking a nap today..I feel as if I need one. I really want to nap the day away--in my pj's and do absolutely nothing by lie down.. and perhaps watch TV or listen to some music.. 

I need to remember to drop off my bills at the Post Office this morning.. I did not have a car until late yesterday, so that day was shot as far as the post office. I do have a letter drop box in my apartment, but the mailman I have is really irresponsible. A couple of bills I mailed from here were lost.. and all of us are always getting other peoples mails in our boxes..

I think he is in too much of a hurry...

Took a pork tenderloin out of the freezer for supper, but I do not feel like cooking it.. I was planning on a mustard, chutney sauce with it.. I found the recipe and it is hanging up waiting for me.. tomorrow will be another day..
Well, that's my motto anyway.
 
Found a late Christmas gift on my desk this morning from my co-worker - a hanging glass octopus figurine
I know where she got it from and she likely bought it with her volunteer discount. I noticed the same figurine when I was at the gift shop over the summer and considered buying one for a friend as a Christmas gift but I ended up buying something else instead.

I had planned on baking cookies for holiday gifts but I wound up sick for well over a week and then felt like
for a week after that so I didn't get around to making any. I think tomorrow would be a good time to make some cookies to share. I pulled four recipes out of my binder last night and I still can't decide which one to make: peppermint crinkle cookies (it's past the holidays so maybe not?), chewy chocolate chip cookies, crispy chocolate chip cookies, or bittersweet chocolate chip cookies. I think Mom still has a stand mixer that actually works
Her 1960s hand mixer apparently just went kaput. I think she has a fairly new Hamilton Beach stand mixer buried in one of the basement's junk filled rooms.
Hope so. Those things are expensive.

Well, in honor of the New Year, I have a few stories to share that took place over the last month (and today), and I thought I'd share them in order of most recent to oldest.

IB brought his stepkids over to play (two five-year old twins, a ten year-old, and two year-old), and I slept through most of their visit. There was this one moment when they were racing through the house trying to find the cats (who, not being used to strangers, especially not strange children, hid) and in looking for the cats one of them turned on the light in my room. I, who had been sleeping at that point, thought it was AWM making sure I was getting up for work. (She does that if we have a power outage.) So I called out that it wasn't time for me to get up for work yet, rolled over, and the light went out. Princess raced into the room, jumped on the bed (waking me up) and I sat up as I tried to figure out what was wrong. (She has a bed on the top bunk, so she almost never gets on my bed.) The light turned on again and this little girl's voice hissed, "Not that room! There's an ogre in there!" (I guess I didn't sound too friendly. There's a reason I get up three hours before work.) Princess, meanwhile, pressed against my chest and looked at me with wide eyes, tense and purring madly. (I think she was saying, "Don't let them find me!) I pet her until she calmed down, and listed to the shrieking children in the house. (My first thought was: who gave them sugar? Which probably tells you more about my childhood than anything else.) Curious, I got up and went to the living room where they were playing. They all saw me at the same time and froze. (AWM said she thought it was because they were afraid of getting in trouble for waking me.) So, I handed out Christmas stars. (I had made them in anticipation of the tree we never got.) The children didn't know what to make of me, and IB's BB (best bud) handed me a seven month-old. I turned the baby around so that he could see what was going on and he got all excited at actually looking around instead of at a person. It was cute. I said nothing. The kids went back to playing, quieter this time. (I think it's because the ogre was up. Not sure.) Then IB's BB said it was time to go and the two year-old tried to put the toy (a large exercise ball) back up. He walked past an end table, knocked something off of it, turned (still holding the giant ball) to see what had happened, and ended up clearing the end table. IB's BB got up to interfere, but I stopped him. (I firmly believe that children should be encouraged to pick up after themselves, and the place to start is to not interfere when they're doing so.) It wasn't a long visit (they left shortly after I got up), but I enjoyed it. (The funny thing was that when the baby grabbed my hair all I could think was, "Oh, yeah--that's  why I used to have my hair up all the time.)

This is a heartwarming story that happened last night at the store. This woman came in with a baby and a toddler and went to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and a small cup of fruit with food stamps. (Nothing really unusual there.) Then, in the middle of ringing up her items my computer froze, and I had to shut down and restart the thing. (The problem with that is that it takes half an hour to come back up.) So the man behind her laid more than enough money down to cover her three items so that she could take her groceries and go. (I let her; we had duplicates of everything at the store and it wouldn't take that  long to round them up so I could scan stuff and finish her order.) The man waited and I duly rang the items up and gave him the change. I thought it was sweet.

This one (I found it hilarious, but I refrained from laughing about it until I was off the clock) happened on Christmas Eve. (I wanted to wait to post it until I was sure that enough time had passed that the trick either worked, or didn't, just in case anyone in the family was on the site.) Anyway, this one customer came in, out of breath, saw me at the register, and said, "I need you to write a note from Santa!" I, naturally, asked why. "I need you to say that the elves went on strike and that's why his presents aren't wrapped!" Still curious, I inquired as to why he couldn't write it, to which he replied, "He knows my handwriting!" 
 

LTS3

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It' actually a Sunbeam stand mixer. It's a basic mixer, nothing fancy like a Kitchen Aid. Mom brought it up from the basement today, still in the original Jordan Marsh shopping bag. She has another stand mixer that's really old with frosted glass bowls instead of the common stainless steel bowl nowadays. It's buried under even more stuff than the Sunbeam mixer was
My parents are pretty much hoarders


I think I'll just go with a chocolate chip cookie, nothing too fancy. Anyone know if this recipie is ok for vegetarians? http://archive.boston.com/lifestyle/food/articles/2009/12/02/recipe_for_bittersweet_chocolate_flats/ My co-worker is a strict vegetarian.
 

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It depends on if she's vegetarian or vegan :dk:. Vegans don't eat dairy products or eggs. If she's "only" vegetarian, that should be fine. No meat products :D.

I have the entire next week off from work (have to use my annual up or I'll lose it). But it's supposed to be super cold all week so I won't be able to do any outdoor work :/. Why couldn't the weather be like last week? Bah.
 

segelkatt

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Stayed up until 1 a.m. watching a Downton Abbey Marathon on PBS SoCal, they are showing all 52 episodes back to back, it started on Friday and is still going. Who can stay up long enough to watch all of that? Drank a whole bottle of my home-made wine which has turned out vto be pretty good, it's a rose and rather dry the way I like it,

There were a few loud bangs between 11 and 1, sounded more like gun shots than fireworks, none of the cats were impressed. Panthera got up to look out the window, the others just snoozed. Chamouti was snuggled up in my arm on his back like a child, incredibly cute. He is such a teddy bear and his purr box never stops..

Sun is  shining but I still hear water dripping from the roof so there must have been more rain during the night, Yeah! Rose Parade is tomorrow and no rain forecast for that, they've been incredibly lucky with that. As far as I know it has never been rained on but for a couple of years ago when there was a tiny bit of rain.

Chilly again so I've turned on the heat. Have to be careful though as I just got my electric bill (this place is all electric) and it was $145.00 for just one month, ouch!
 

Margret

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Well, in honor of the New Year, I have a few stories to share that took place over the last month (and today), and I thought I'd share them in order of most recent to oldest.
IB brought his stepkids over to play (two five-year old twins, a ten year-old, and two year-old), and I slept through most of their visit. There was this one moment when they were racing through the house trying to find the cats (who, not being used to strangers, especially not strange children, hid) and in looking for the cats one of them turned on the light in my room. I, who had been sleeping at that point, thought it was AWM making sure I was getting up for work. (She does that if we have a power outage.) So I called out that it wasn't time for me to get up for work yet, rolled over, and the light went out. Princess raced into the room, jumped on the bed (waking me up) and I sat up as I tried to figure out what was wrong. (She has a bed on the top bunk, so she almost never gets on my bed.) The light turned on again and this little girl's voice hissed, "Not that room! There's an ogre in there!" (I guess I didn't sound too friendly. There's a reason I get up three hours before work.) Princess, meanwhile, pressed against my chest and looked at me with wide eyes, tense and purring madly. (I think she was saying, "Don't let them find me!) I pet her until she calmed down, and listed to the shrieking children in the house. (My first thought was: who gave them sugar? Which probably tells you more about my childhood than anything else.) Curious, I got up and went to the living room where they were playing. They all saw me at the same time and froze. (AWM said she thought it was because they were afraid of getting in trouble for waking me.) So, I handed out Christmas stars. (I had made them in anticipation of the tree we never got.) The children didn't know what to make of me, and IB's BB (best bud) handed me a seven month-old. I turned the baby around so that he could see what was going on and he got all excited at actually looking around instead of at a person. It was cute. I said nothing. The kids went back to playing, quieter this time. (I think it's because the ogre was up. Not sure.) Then IB's BB said it was time to go and the two year-old tried to put the toy (a large exercise ball) back up. He walked past an end table, knocked something off of it, turned (still holding the giant ball) to see what had happened, and ended up clearing the end table. IB's BB got up to interfere, but I stopped him. (I firmly believe that children should be encouraged to pick up after themselves, and the place to start is to not interfere when they're doing so.) It wasn't a long visit (they left shortly after I got up), but I enjoyed it. (The funny thing was that when the baby grabbed my hair all I could think was, "Oh, yeah--that's  why I used to have my hair up all the time.)
 
Originally Posted by Tallyollyopia  
 
This is a heartwarming story that happened last night at the store. This woman came in with a baby and a toddler and went to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and a small cup of fruit with food stamps. (Nothing really unusual there.) Then, in the middle of ringing up her items my computer froze, and I had to shut down and restart the thing. (The problem with that is that it takes half an hour to come back up.) So the man behind her laid more than enough money down to cover her three items so that she could take her groceries and go. (I let her; we had duplicates of everything at the store and it wouldn't take that  long to round them up so I could scan stuff and finish her order.) The man waited and I duly rang the items up and gave him the change. I thought it was sweet.
 
Originally Posted by Tallyollyopia  

 
This one (I found it hilarious, but I refrained from laughing about it until I was off the clock) happened on Christmas Eve. (I wanted to wait to post it until I was sure that enough time had passed that the trick either worked, or didn't, just in case anyone in the family was on the site.) Anyway, this one customer came in, out of breath, saw me at the register, and said, "I need you to write a note from Santa!" I, naturally, asked why. "I need you to say that the elves went on strike and that's why his presents aren't wrapped!" Still curious, I inquired as to why he couldn't write it, to which he replied, "He knows my handwriting!" 
Well, it certainly makes sense to me!  Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.  
  This is why my mother never told us Santa was real; she knew that eventually it would mean being caught in a lie.  (And, no, I don't mean to criticize anyone's parenting decisions on this subject.)

Well, I needed to visit the grocery store and Target today, but, living in Denver, I knew the exact right time to do so.  During the Broncos game, when all "patriotic" Denverites (at least of the male persuasion) are at home, watching television.  The stores are almost completely deserted then.  It's wonderful!

I remember, many years ago, when we lived near a Hancock's Fabric (we didn't move; they did) it was the ideal time to shop for fabric as well, because many women in Denver also like to watch the Broncos play, so Hancock's had a great way to get the customers in during games.  They would have the radio broadcast of the game running over the loudspeakers, and not only could you follow the game while browsing, but if you were at the checkout counter when the Broncos scored you got a big discount!

Margret
 

Alicia88

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This is a heartwarming story that happened last night at the store. This woman came in with a baby and a toddler and went to buy a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and a small cup of fruit with food stamps. (Nothing really unusual there.) Then, in the middle of ringing up her items my computer froze, and I had to shut down and restart the thing. (The problem with that is that it takes half an hour to come back up.) So the man behind her laid more than enough money down to cover her three items so that she could take her groceries and go. (I let her; we had duplicates of everything at the store and it wouldn't take that  long to round them up so I could scan stuff and finish her order.) The man waited and I duly rang the items up and gave him the change. I thought it was sweet.
That about made me tear up.
 

tallyollyopia

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Well, it certainly makes sense to me!  Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.  
  This is why my mother never told us Santa was real; she knew that eventually it would mean being caught in a lie.  (And, no, I don't mean to criticize anyone's parenting decisions on this subject.)

Well, I needed to visit the grocery store and Target today, but, living in Denver, I knew the exact right time to do so.  During the Broncos game, when all "patriotic" Denverites (at least of the male persuasion) are at home, watching television.  The stores are almost completely deserted then.  It's wonderful!

I remember, many years ago, when we lived near a Hancock's Fabric (we didn't move; they did) it was the ideal time to shop for fabric as well, because many women in Denver also like to watch the Broncos play, so Hancock's had a great way to get the customers in during games.  They would have the radio broadcast of the game running over the loudspeakers, and not only could you follow the game while browsing, but if you were at the checkout counter when the Broncos scored you got a big discount!

Margret
Yeah, I thought it'd be good to share those. And DD didn't let me believe in Santa either, he said that Santa Claus was a "pagan god who taught children that bribery and greed are good." (Funnily enough, RB and LS2 were allowed to believe in Santa with no problem. 
)

The next part gets kind of ranty and whiny, so feel free to skip it.

Now last night was a weird one. It started out pretty good, the store was quiet and I was actually--for the first time in almost a month--ahead  of schedule. I cleaned the cappuccino machines, changed the chili and the cheese in the nacho machine, the roller grill, had gotten the pastry case ready for set-up--and then things began to go sour. On my way to clean the pastry trays I noticed that there was a small mountain of cheese beneath the cheese spout. I took the machine apart, saw that I had somehow screwed the spigot onto the new bag (each bag comes with a spigot so they're not getting re-used) wrong, so I unscrewed it, fixed it, put it back together, and thought nothing more of it for a while. Then after cleaning the bathrooms (almost an hour and a half early!!) a customer came in asking for my help finding something. I asked him to wait while I washed my hands--and the shelf above the sink fell on me. (I wasn't even touching it!) I looked at the mess--and then went to help the customer. (After all, I only asked for the time to wash my hands.) Well, I helped the customer and got him out of the store, cleaned up the mess as best as possible, and went to help another customer. While I was helping another customer I noticed what looked like a blue splinter in my thumb. It wasn't a splinter--something from the shelf had cut into my thumb when I tried to grab the shelf as it fell and the cleaning supplies I had picked up later had dyed the flap of skin over the cut blue. No problem, I keep a first aid kit in my purse for that very reason. Well, I went to put the Neosporin on it--and the gel inside the tube was a chalky yellow-white, which is not the color that Neosporin is supposed to be. So I checked, and it turns out the tube expired back in 2002! 
 (Good thing I haven't had to use it before!) So I used an alcohol wipe (found with the diabetic supplies in Wal-Mart, and a must for any first aid kit) to clean the cut (and boy, did I feel it when the alcohol hit it!) and then slapped a band-aid over it. Then I went to mop up the spilled chemicals and saw another  mountain under the cheese spigot. 
 So I pulled the whole thing apart--again--and discovered that the there was a crack in the spigot. Luckily we have extras, so I just grabbed another one and slapped it on there. (Lost almost half the bag though. 
) So then, after all that, I had to play catch-up and almost didn't make it.

Also, last night was the first time that I've ever told a customer that she (or he--I've never said this to a customer before) was full of bull. Here's what happened--she came in and told me that it was company policy that if someone needed to get to the other side of town and had no money for gas, the station would give the customer two dollars worth of gas. And as I stared at her, amazed at her gall, she started spinning this story involving a love triangle, a trampoline, cancer, and the hospital. (I can't repeat it. I'd bust a gut laughing it was so poorly done.) So I told her that she was full of bull, but I enjoyed her creativity and gave her two dollars for gas. She thanked me and then asked if the store takes food stamps and if fountain drinks are covered. (We do and they are.) So she gets a fountain drink, comes up to the counter, and makes a grand show of trying to find her food stamp card. 
 Then, then  she gave me the "sad puppy eyes". (Those didn't work for my dogs back when they were alive--and they certainly don't work for strangers.) I told her I didn't have the money for the drink (she took the last two dollars I had for gas), and she asked if I was going to pour out the drink. I said yes, since she couldn't pay for it, I was indeed going to pour it out. She said she'd spare me the trouble and pour it out for me--then grabbed both cup and straw and headed for the door. (Luckily, she was in stilettos and I had just mopped, so she couldn't move quickly.) So I called for her and ran to the door and intercepted her, taking the drink back. She looked me right in the eye and said, "I'm just going to dump it right outside. I didn't want to clog the drains under the soda fountain.) So I looked her right in the eye, smiled and said, "That's all right. We have a sink." 
  Some people!

To top that off, something's wrong with our water. The tap water has been visibly worsening since Friday night (to the point where there's no point in me taking a shower today), and the water company doesn't open until tomorrow. On top of that, I recently learned that SD is going to need back surgery and has to recuperate for a year and a half, which means he's going to have to go on disability. 
 Happy New year. 
 

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Yeah, I thought it'd be good to share those. And DD didn't let me believe in Santa either, he said that Santa Claus was a "pagan god who taught children that bribery and greed are good." (Funnily enough, RB and LS2 were allowed to believe in Santa with no problem. 
)

The next part gets kind of ranty and whiny, so feel free to skip it.

Now last night was a weird one. It started out pretty good, the store was quiet and I was actually--for the first time in almost a month--ahead  of schedule. I cleaned the cappuccino machines, changed the chili and the cheese in the nacho machine, the roller grill, had gotten the pastry case ready for set-up--and then things began to go sour. On my way to clean the pastry trays I noticed that there was a small mountain of cheese beneath the cheese spout. I took the machine apart, saw that I had somehow screwed the spigot onto the new bag (each bag comes with a spigot so they're not getting re-used) wrong, so I unscrewed it, fixed it, put it back together, and thought nothing more of it for a while. Then after cleaning the bathrooms (almost an hour and a half early!!) a customer came in asking for my help finding something. I asked him to wait while I washed my hands--and the shelf above the sink fell on me. (I wasn't even touching it!) I looked at the mess--and then went to help the customer. (After all, I only asked for the time to wash my hands.) Well, I helped the customer and got him out of the store, cleaned up the mess as best as possible, and went to help another customer. While I was helping another customer I noticed what looked like a blue splinter in my thumb. It wasn't a splinter--something from the shelf had cut into my thumb when I tried to grab the shelf as it fell and the cleaning supplies I had picked up later had dyed the flap of skin over the cut blue. No problem, I keep a first aid kit in my purse for that very reason. Well, I went to put the Neosporin on it--and the gel inside the tube was a chalky yellow-white, which is not the color that Neosporin is supposed to be. So I checked, and it turns out the tube expired back in 2002! 
 (Good thing I haven't had to use it before!) So I used an alcohol wipe (found with the diabetic supplies in Wal-Mart, and a must for any first aid kit) to clean the cut (and boy, did I feel it when the alcohol hit it!) and then slapped a band-aid over it. Then I went to mop up the spilled chemicals and saw another  mountain under the cheese spigot. 
 So I pulled the whole thing apart--again--and discovered that the there was a crack in the spigot. Luckily we have extras, so I just grabbed another one and slapped it on there. (Lost almost half the bag though. 
) So then, after all that, I had to play catch-up and almost didn't make it.

Also, last night was the first time that I've ever told a customer that she (or he--I've never said this to a customer before) was full of bull. Here's what happened--she came in and told me that it was company policy that if someone needed to get to the other side of town and had no money for gas, the station would give the customer two dollars worth of gas. And as I stared at her, amazed at her gall, she started spinning this story involving a love triangle, a trampoline, cancer, and the hospital. (I can't repeat it. I'd bust a gut laughing it was so poorly done.) So I told her that she was full of bull, but I enjoyed her creativity and gave her two dollars for gas. She thanked me and then asked if the store takes food stamps and if fountain drinks are covered. (We do and they are.) So she gets a fountain drink, comes up to the counter, and makes a grand show of trying to find her food stamp card. 
 Then, then  she gave me the "sad puppy eyes". (Those didn't work for my dogs back when they were alive--and they certainly don't work for strangers.) I told her I didn't have the money for the drink (she took the last two dollars I had for gas), and she asked if I was going to pour out the drink. I said yes, since she couldn't pay for it, I was indeed going to pour it out. She said she'd spare me the trouble and pour it out for me--then grabbed both cup and straw and headed for the door. (Luckily, she was in stilettos and I had just mopped, so she couldn't move quickly.) So I called for her and ran to the door and intercepted her, taking the drink back. She looked me right in the eye and said, "I'm just going to dump it right outside. I didn't want to clog the drains under the soda fountain.) So I looked her right in the eye, smiled and said, "That's all right. We have a sink." 
  Some people!

To top that off, something's wrong with our water. The tap water has been visibly worsening since Friday night (to the point where there's no point in me taking a shower today), and the water company doesn't open until tomorrow. On top of that, I recently learned that SD is going to need back surgery and has to recuperate for a year and a half, which means he's going to have to go on disability. 
 Happy New year. 
I'm actually speechless.  I've been sitting here trying to find something to say but you described such a dreadful night (even with its moment of humor) and then followed up with such bad news that I'm just flummoxed.  I just hope that your next shift actually is the breeze last night started out to be and that the water company quickly resolves the water issue.   Your poor SD - I wish him the best.  Back surgery is no fun - I've been there.  
 

LTS3

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It depends on if she's vegetarian or vegan
. Vegans don't eat dairy products or eggs. If she's "only" vegetarian, that should be fine. No meat products
.
 
She's only vegetarian, not vegan or anything. I'm pretty sure I've seen her include a boiled egg with her salad lunches and she occasionally indulges in a sweet gooey baked good from the cafeteria or local bakery.

Hmm... I wonder her vegetarianism is why she owns guinea pigs instead of a meat-eating pet like cats
Guinea pigs are geat pets, though.
 

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Well, it certainly makes sense to me!  Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive.  
  This is why my mother never told us Santa was real; she knew that eventually it would mean being caught in a lie.  (And, no, I don't mean to criticize anyone's parenting decisions on this subject.)

Well, I needed to visit the grocery store and Target today, but, living in Denver, I knew the exact right time to do so.  During the Broncos game, when all "patriotic" Denverites (at least of the male persuasion) are at home, watching television.  The stores are almost completely deserted then.  It's wonderful!

I remember, many years ago, when we lived near a Hancock's Fabric (we didn't move; they did) it was the ideal time to shop for fabric as well, because many women in Denver also like to watch the Broncos play, so Hancock's had a great way to get the customers in during games.  They would have the radio broadcast of the game running over the loudspeakers, and not only could you follow the game while browsing, but if you were at the checkout counter when the Broncos scored you got a big discount!

Margret
Yeah, I thought it'd be good to share those. And DD didn't let me believe in Santa either, he said that Santa Claus was a "pagan god who taught children that bribery and greed are good." (Funnily enough, RB and LS2 were allowed to believe in Santa with no problem. 
)

The next part gets kind of ranty and whiny, so feel free to skip it.

Now last night was a weird one. It started out pretty good, the store was quiet and I was actually--for the first time in almost a month--ahead  of schedule. I cleaned the cappuccino machines, changed the chili and the cheese in the nacho machine, the roller grill, had gotten the pastry case ready for set-up--and then things began to go sour. On my way to clean the pastry trays I noticed that there was a small mountain of cheese beneath the cheese spout. I took the machine apart, saw that I had somehow screwed the spigot onto the new bag (each bag comes with a spigot so they're not getting re-used) wrong, so I unscrewed it, fixed it, put it back together, and thought nothing more of it for a while. Then after cleaning the bathrooms (almost an hour and a half early!!) a customer came in asking for my help finding something. I asked him to wait while I washed my hands--and the shelf above the sink fell on me. (I wasn't even touching it!) I looked at the mess--and then went to help the customer. (After all, I only asked for the time to wash my hands.) Well, I helped the customer and got him out of the store, cleaned up the mess as best as possible, and went to help another customer. While I was helping another customer I noticed what looked like a blue splinter in my thumb. It wasn't a splinter--something from the shelf had cut into my thumb when I tried to grab the shelf as it fell and the cleaning supplies I had picked up later had dyed the flap of skin over the cut blue. No problem, I keep a first aid kit in my purse for that very reason. Well, I went to put the Neosporin on it--and the gel inside the tube was a chalky yellow-white, which is not the color that Neosporin is supposed to be. So I checked, and it turns out the tube expired back in 2002! 
 (Good thing I haven't had to use it before!) So I used an alcohol wipe (found with the diabetic supplies in Wal-Mart, and a must for any first aid kit) to clean the cut (and boy, did I feel it when the alcohol hit it!) and then slapped a band-aid over it. Then I went to mop up the spilled chemicals and saw another  mountain under the cheese spigot. 
 So I pulled the whole thing apart--again--and discovered that the there was a crack in the spigot. Luckily we have extras, so I just grabbed another one and slapped it on there. (Lost almost half the bag though. 
) So then, after all that, I had to play catch-up and almost didn't make it.

Also, last night was the first time that I've ever told a customer that she (or he--I've never said this to a customer before) was full of bull. Here's what happened--she came in and told me that it was company policy that if someone needed to get to the other side of town and had no money for gas, the station would give the customer two dollars worth of gas. And as I stared at her, amazed at her gall, she started spinning this story involving a love triangle, a trampoline, cancer, and the hospital. (I can't repeat it. I'd bust a gut laughing it was so poorly done.) So I told her that she was full of bull, but I enjoyed her creativity and gave her two dollars for gas. She thanked me and then asked if the store takes food stamps and if fountain drinks are covered. (We do and they are.) So she gets a fountain drink, comes up to the counter, and makes a grand show of trying to find her food stamp card. 
 Then, then  she gave me the "sad puppy eyes". (Those didn't work for my dogs back when they were alive--and they certainly don't work for strangers.) I told her I didn't have the money for the drink (she took the last two dollars I had for gas), and she asked if I was going to pour out the drink. I said yes, since she couldn't pay for it, I was indeed going to pour it out. She said she'd spare me the trouble and pour it out for me--then grabbed both cup and straw and headed for the door. (Luckily, she was in stilettos and I had just mopped, so she couldn't move quickly.) So I called for her and ran to the door and intercepted her, taking the drink back. She looked me right in the eye and said, "I'm just going to dump it right outside. I didn't want to clog the drains under the soda fountain.) So I looked her right in the eye, smiled and said, "That's all right. We have a sink." 
  Some people!

To top that off, something's wrong with our water. The tap water has been visibly worsening since Friday night (to the point where there's no point in me taking a shower today), and the water company doesn't open until tomorrow. On top of that, I recently learned that SD is going to need back surgery and has to recuperate for a year and a half, which means he's going to have to go on disability. 
 Happy New year. 


My brother had back surgery a while back, with good results.  He tells me that he knows other people who've had much worse results, and when I asked him what the difference was in their treatment he said there were two things:
  1. As the son of a physical therapist, my brother knew enough to insist that he get physical therapy along with the surgery, and to pay attention to what the physical therapist told him.  Those who had worse outcomes didn't.
  2. Because of this need for P.T., my brother made sure his surgery done at an in-patient clinic that does everything, provides consultations with the therapist before surgery, does the surgery, and then provides long term physical therapy after the surgery is done.  The people he knew who had poorer outcomes went to clinics that did surgery only.  After that the patients were on their own.
And, despite the fact that my brother had a good outcome, every once in a while his back will begin acting up (this is to be expected), but because of all the P.T. he got he has the exercises he needs to be able to take care of his back when it needs extra care.
 
It depends on if she's vegetarian or vegan
. Vegans don't eat dairy products or eggs. If she's "only" vegetarian, that should be fine. No meat products
.
 
She's only vegetarian, not vegan or anything. I'm pretty sure I've seen her include a boiled egg with her salad lunches and she occasionally indulges in a sweet gooey baked good from the cafeteria or local bakery.

Hmm... I wonder her vegetarianism is why she owns guinea pigs instead of a meat-eating pet like cats
Guinea pigs are geat pets, though.
Possible, but don't jump to conclusions.  And if that is it, it's very responsible of her to stick to guinea pigs rather than getting a cat and trying to turn it into a vegetarian, the way some people do.

Just make sure she doesn't have any food sensitivities you need to know about.  I'm neither vegetarian nor vegan, but I'm sensitive to casein, which is a milk protein.  This is vastly different from lactose intolerance, which is fairly easy to deal with; it means I can't have any milk product, including cheese, butter, yogurt, cream cheese, ad infinitum, and I can't eat anything made with any of these things.  Needless to say, I don't eat out a lot.

Margret
 
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