what are you doing right now?

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Yesterday, while my sister was at church, we took advantage of the empty house.

Then afterwards, decided to go get breakfast at the diner in Ferndale.  Got there, parked and trued to open a locked door.  Closed until further notice.  On FB, someone mentioned a death in the family and it’ll open in a month, so probably mid Nov.  This diner makes the best biscuits and gravy, so had to find a plan B.  There was another diner across the street.  About the same price, and just as good.  Only difference was the first place has a very nicely spiced sausage patty included.  Second place sprinkles crumbled bacon liberally on top of the gravy.  Decisions…decisions!  I could never eat like this regularly, I try to limit it to once/month.

[chiver78]

woof, the pups are expensive. good thing they are cute! 2 bags and $122 later, I'm heading home. yes, $22 of it was a huge jug of olive oil for me, but another near-$50 was 16-17lbs of BSCB.

[daisylu]

Oct 23, 2023 10:20:58 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

woof, the pups are expensive. good thing they are cute! 2 bags and $122 later, I'm heading home. yes, $22 of it was a huge jug of olive oil for me, but another near-$50 was 16-17lbs of BSCB.

How long does that typically last?

[countrygirl2]

Yes, pets are expensive, 3 bags of litter yesterday about $60 or so but they are big ones. Then I periodically order catfood and now we get the disposable bowls for them. Use 4 a day, but well worth it. I do need to wash their trays and clean them today.

My windows sparkles from the ammonia and vinegar. But if you look up close there are water spots on them, I will wash them again and take care of those but at least they are good and clean all around them, so that is a positive. And you really can't wash the walls down and clean them too as the water drips on them.

I'm washing the linens for our beds again and doing so in hot water. Have new sheets I'm washing for the beds. Hubs is starting his day on a liquid diet. The surgeon said protect our bed, I have all kinds of stuff for DD so no issue there. And this is sure a good time to have beds that raise and lower I have fruit juice, apple juice, soda, made jello. I also told him can fix some bouillon and tea if he wants. He is sure going to be hungry as the day goes on poor guy. Than this afternoon he has to do his prep. I wish his surgery were earlier than 10:30 for me that would be rough with my hypoglycemia. He will hang in there though. I'm so glad we are finally getting this over with. I know it hasn't been that long to wait but it is still trying.

Hubs has done everything for me he can think of. I hope everything comes out safely for him. The medical group is sure cooperative and reached out again today wanting to know if we wanted to know anything. I know that hospital has a good reputation. We all go there for anything very serious. I avoid the HCA hospital been in there, awful service.

The sun is shining brightly out and looks pretty. It's up to 62 so far. Both my kitties are out enjoying it while its still nice weather.

[jerseygirl]

Here in Sonoma with ODS and DIL. Very beautiful. They are renting for year and looking at various towns before buying. We went to see redwoods Saturday, very peaceful and awesome. I was able to walk 3 miles! Haven’t even walked a mile since surgery.
Yesterday went to a wine tasting in a gorgeous building that looked like a French chateau, gorgeous parquet floors and woodwork. Had about 10 wines , most I didn’t care for since I felt too much tannin. But they liked them and bought 2 bottles.
Went to restaurant after and ODS and I had fabulous roast chicken, DIL had pasta with wild boar, so good
Dessert was a lemon curd and cream with blackberry sauce. Wonderful
Lots of Michelin restaurants here. ODS took me to a little roadside restaurant with picnic tables in back. It has a Michelin star. Had chicken and beef enchiladas, next day DIL ordered in chicken and pork tacos. They’ve always raved about the Mexican food here and said I didn’t care for it cause NJ doesn’t have good Mexican restaurants. Well, didnt
care for either that I’ve had here.
The other restaurants also had Michelin stars and food was delicious!

[chiver78]

Oct 23, 2023 11:09:50 GMT -5 daisylu said:

Oct 23, 2023 10:20:58 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

woof, the pups are expensive. good thing they are cute! 2 bags and $122 later, I'm heading home. yes, $22 of it was a huge jug of olive oil for me, but another near-$50 was 16-17lbs of BSCB.

How long does that typically last?

quite awhile, actually. this is intended to fill up all of the freezer containers from none. they generally eat whatever proteins are on sale, which is why there's meatloaf mix in the fridge to cook off with some kale when I get off my ass in a little bit. BSCB is a brainless processing thing, because I run it through the IP and just glove up to shred it once it's cool enough to touch. 

I'll try to pay attention to volumes when I build their dinner bowls and post back. but they are 65 and 85lbs, so not dainty little pups. 

[snapdragon]

I ran down to the shore house last night with a car full of breakables. I left around 6 and managed to get back home by 11:30. I have some more things I need to box up and take down but I am just not engaged enough to do that at the moment. Waiting for the revised moving estimate for next week. Really ready for this move to be done and the condo to get on the market.

[Pink Cashmere]

Mister got the promotion. He applied for 2 jobs, and got the one that was his first choice. He will be the top manager in his department at a different building than the one he works at now. That building is expanding, so there is a chance that his pay grade will increase as the they grow, even if he is still in the same job. He has explained to me how that works, but I still don’t understand it lol.

I was worried he wouldn’t be given a fair chance because the “good ‘ol boy” network reared its ugly head and there was some fuckery. I will leave that at that, because it’s Mister’s job, not mine.

I am so happy for him. 

[NastyWoman]

Congratulations to Mister. I hope his time of pulling double duty at work comes to an end with this promotion as well.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Oct 23, 2023 11:31:29 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Oct 23, 2023 11:09:50 GMT -5 daisylu said:

How long does that typically last?

quite awhile, actually. this is intended to fill up all of the freezer containers from none. they generally eat whatever proteins are on sale, which is why there's meatloaf mix in the fridge to cook off with some kale when I get off my ass in a little bit. BSCB is a brainless processing thing, because I run it through the IP and just glove up to shred it once it's cool enough to touch. 

I'll try to pay attention to volumes when I build their dinner bowls and post back. but they are 65 and 85lbs, so not dainty little pups. 

When both dogs had some sort of GI issues, I cooked up a large family package of boneless chicken breasts and made 6-8 cups of rice.  There was a large container of food in the fridge, and between the 2 dogs, they were getting around 2-3 cups of it a day.  Kronk is 65 lbs, Harriet 45 lbs.  It’s amazing how quickly we went through that container of food.  Luckily the GI issues resolved about the time we ran out of food.  

[Peace77]

A “colleague”  has invited a friend to collaborate on a white paper.  He has asked my friend if he has received payments or gifts for his work.  My friend has sold a few copies of a children’s book and some poetry with original artwork but nothing major.  He was once given a copy of a book that included a few lines of one of his poems.
This colleague is well to do but my friend has never written anything lengthy other than college papers.  What would be a reasonable request?

[chiver78]

It’s amazing how quickly we went through that container of food.

I would definitely be doing less fresh stuff if I wasn't WFH. it's ridiculous how much food I go through here. I'm cooking 2c (dry) of rice every few days, and the bulk shredded lettuce (either purchased that way or I chop)? there's a reason I'm at the grocery store every few days.     it works out nicely though, in that they really aren't too picky and it helps me out with my indecisiveness on what I cook for myself.      take this week - I have a package of four boneless pork chops. I'm going to cook off two, unseasoned, that I'll set aside to chop up for them. one each will be a meal's worth of protein. I'll crust the other two in something and cook them for one meal plus a leftover one for myself. 

[andi9899]

Oct 23, 2023 11:31:29 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Oct 23, 2023 11:09:50 GMT -5 daisylu said:

How long does that typically last?

quite awhile, actually. this is intended to fill up all of the freezer containers from none. they generally eat whatever proteins are on sale, which is why there's meatloaf mix in the fridge to cook off with some kale when I get off my ass in a little bit. BSCB is a brainless processing thing, because I run it through the IP and just glove up to shred it once it's cool enough to touch. 

I'll try to pay attention to volumes when I build their dinner bowls and post back. but they are 65 and 85lbs, so not dainty little pups. 

If you have a stand mixer or handheld mixer that will shred it way faster. One of the many things tik tok has taught me.

[andi9899]

Oct 23, 2023 12:49:46 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

Mister got the promotion. He applied for 2 jobs, and got the one that was his first choice. He will be the top manager in his department at a different building than the one he works at now. That building is expanding, so there is a chance that his pay grade will increase as the they grow, even if he is still in the same job. He has explained to me how that works, but I still don’t understand it lol.

I was worried he wouldn’t be given a fair chance because the “good ‘ol boy” network reared its ugly head and there was some fuckery. I will leave that at that, because it’s Mister’s job, not mine.

I am so happy for him. 

Yay Mister! Hopefully he gets a big fat raise too.

I admire people that can hold management positions. I don't have the patience for that.

[finnime]

Oct 23, 2023 13:05:20 GMT -5 Peace77 said:

A “colleague”  has invited a friend to collaborate on a white paper.  He has asked my friend if he has received payments or gifts for his work.  My friend has sold a few copies of a children’s book and some poetry with original artwork but nothing major.  He was once given a copy of a book that included a few lines of one of his poems.
This colleague is well to do but my friend has never written anything lengthy other than college papers.  What would be a reasonable request?

It sounds like the children's books etc. he has done are not similar enough to be a good guide for the white paper.

Typically when I do a writing project I estimate the word count expected and use some number as a multiplier, like .05, to derive a total, then adjust as needed. Is there research involved? Other effort? Has he done comparable work before at his day job?

[finnime]

Good for Mister, Pink Cashmere!

[daisylu]

Oct 23, 2023 11:31:29 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Oct 23, 2023 11:09:50 GMT -5 daisylu said:

How long does that typically last?

quite awhile, actually. this is intended to fill up all of the freezer containers from none. they generally eat whatever proteins are on sale, which is why there's meatloaf mix in the fridge to cook off with some kale when I get off my ass in a little bit. BSCB is a brainless processing thing, because I run it through the IP and just glove up to shred it once it's cool enough to touch. 

I'll try to pay attention to volumes when I build their dinner bowls and post back. but they are 65 and 85lbs, so not dainty little pups. 

I guess I was more curious how much protein they eat in a day. I am sure you have been doing it for so long that you just eyeball it.

Since the kids, who were by far the largest eaters in the house, moved out, I am over here trying to calculate how much food is enough but not too much when cooking for DH & I. Ideally I like to make enough for 4 meals, 2 to eat and 2 for leftovers, but failing at that. And it is not just me. When DH started making some spaghetti the other night he cooked the sausage and the noodles, I did the sauce. Which wasn't a huge amount of sauce, but enough that some should have gone in the freezer. Until the noodles were done. DH strained them and said it did not look like enough, so he put more on. Once they were on the plates it was plenty for just us, but the other noodles were already going. So we ended up eating leftovers for DAYS.

[chiver78]

Oct 23, 2023 13:14:16 GMT -5 andi9899 said:

Oct 23, 2023 11:31:29 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

quite awhile, actually. this is intended to fill up all of the freezer containers from none. they generally eat whatever proteins are on sale, which is why there's meatloaf mix in the fridge to cook off with some kale when I get off my ass in a little bit. BSCB is a brainless processing thing, because I run it through the IP and just glove up to shred it once it's cool enough to touch. 

I'll try to pay attention to volumes when I build their dinner bowls and post back. but they are 65 and 85lbs, so not dainty little pups. 

If you have a stand mixer or handheld mixer that will shred it way faster. One of the many things tik tok has taught me.

I'll keep that in mind for if I ever buy another hand mixer. I think my stand mixer is almost dead, though. I think I'd have to be better about trimming the crap off before filling the IP if I did it that way. instead, I'm just dropping the fat/veins/connective tissue as I hand shred. the biggest thing with what I do now is remembering to add a cup or so of water before I seal the lid. it's honestly just muscle memory by now. 

[chiver78]

Oct 23, 2023 13:20:14 GMT -5 daisylu said:

Oct 23, 2023 11:31:29 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

quite awhile, actually. this is intended to fill up all of the freezer containers from none. they generally eat whatever proteins are on sale, which is why there's meatloaf mix in the fridge to cook off with some kale when I get off my ass in a little bit. BSCB is a brainless processing thing, because I run it through the IP and just glove up to shred it once it's cool enough to touch. 

I'll try to pay attention to volumes when I build their dinner bowls and post back. but they are 65 and 85lbs, so not dainty little pups. 

I guess I was more curious how much protein they eat in a day. I am sure you have been doing it for so long that you just eyeball it.

Since the kids, who were by far the largest eaters in the house, moved out, I am over here trying to calculate how much food is enough but not too much when cooking for DH & I. Ideally I like to make enough for 4 meals, 2 to eat and 2 for leftovers, but failing at that. And it is not just me. When DH started making some spaghetti the other night he cooked the sausage and the noodles, I did the sauce. Which wasn't a huge amount of sauce, but enough that some should have gone in the freezer. Until the noodles were done. DH strained them and said it did not look like enough, so he put more on. Once they were on the plates it was plenty for just us, but the other noodles were already going. So we ended up eating leftovers for DAYS.

that's exactly it. I'll try to explain like I do my Italian family recipes lol... I can totally report back in a few hours after their dinner tonight if this isn't helpful, though. lmk! and FTR, I'm an Italian cook first, and have only in the last couple years figured out how to only cook 1 serving of pasta. lol... I definitely get it. 

their bowls are 1qt serving bowls, which is helpful to stir it all up as I use salmon oil for their skin/fur as well. I start with ~2c of shredded lettuce for bulk/water. next are meds - LD gets fluoxetine, they both get a couple glucosamine chews, and they each get a Claritin when it's sniffles season. followed by ~1c veggie, fruit, protein and ~1/4c carb. at the moment, it's shredded BSCB, cooked frozen green beans, diced cantaloupe, and white rice. and then the salmon oil. oh, and a dollop of canned pumpkin. that fixes *any* GI issues, it's magical. 

one of hte things I need to do while I'm cooking this afternoon is to dice up the apples that I never got to, that are in my fruit bowl. they finished off the cantaloupe this morning. in the summer when this isn't cost prohibitive, they eat a TON of fresh blueberries. and, when I'm out of rice and forgot to cook more? I'll finely chop up a huge burrito tortilla and split it between them. like I said, it's very flexible. I know what's toxic to dogs, and obv none of that is in the mix. but everything else is up for grabs in about those proportions. they eat roasted root veggies, diced cucumbers, grape tomatoes, melons, strawberries, mashed potatoes (without garlic!) and extra cooked plain pastas, for example.  HTH! 

[Pink Cashmere]

Oct 23, 2023 12:55:51 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Congratulations to Mister. I hope his time of pulling double duty at work comes to an end with this promotion as well.

I think it will.

He doesn’t know when he will actually start the new job, because that will leave the job he’s doing now, vacant. It is a necessary job and it’s not something someone can easily slide into. He basically had to learn that job on the fly, because there was no one to train him. He connected with some people in higher positions in other parts of the state and they coached him and helped him learn. 

So they might keep him where he is until they fill that position and ask him to train the new person. It is the same pay grade as his promotion, so the money will be the same either way.

[countrygirl2]

I broke down and bought some of my ugly shoes again. A pair of Apex with the hard backs and sides to offer extra support. And if my orthotics won't fit in wide will have to get x wide which they have. But at $180 a pair, very pricey. I do have an older pair for daily wear and to work outside in and I have some I left in Washington. Thought I had another pair here but apparently not. Whoops, I just found a brand new pair in my one closet. And they are Xwide and just fit, so the others will be sent back. I put my good orthotics in them, I forgot how good they feel. There are others in there in an even bigger size but went with my braces I had. Wonder if I need to keep those? I no longer use my CPap either and had just bought supplies for it. I may put those free on facebook. I know that the other shoes, the very same cost a lot less like $120 or so. Unbelievable the price changes.

I've bought a lot of shoes at Walmart, the padding in the bottoms is now awesome and they have wider now, but my special orthotics don't fit. I bought some other type of orthotics but not enough support. It's sad because they are stylish. Ortho Feet seems to have gone to knit and not as supportive as I was getting from them. Likely fine for people with just flat feet but my right one is broken down so much and flays out, those just don't do enough for it.

I have been wearing these for some time and has caught up with my foot pain again. Hubs said you get them in good shape then try to wear the others again. Yes, I do. I will still wear them but not as often. I hate being so clunky looking, yes, I take pride in my appearance and like my mom always will.

[jerseygirl]

Oct 23, 2023 13:20:14 GMT -5 daisylu said:

Oct 23, 2023 11:31:29 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

quite awhile, actually. this is intended to fill up all of the freezer containers from none. they generally eat whatever proteins are on sale, which is why there's meatloaf mix in the fridge to cook off with some kale when I get off my ass in a little bit. BSCB is a brainless processing thing, because I run it through the IP and just glove up to shred it once it's cool enough to touch. 

I'll try to pay attention to volumes when I build their dinner bowls and post back. but they are 65 and 85lbs, so not dainty little pups. 

I guess I was more curious how much protein they eat in a day. I am sure you have been doing it for so long that you just eyeball it.

Since the kids, who were by far the largest eaters in the house, moved out, I am over here trying to calculate how much food is enough but not too much when cooking for DH & I. Ideally I like to make enough for 4 meals, 2 to eat and 2 for leftovers, but failing at that. And it is not just me. When DH started making some spaghetti the other night he cooked the sausage and the noodles, I did the sauce. Which wasn't a huge amount of sauce, but enough that some should have gone in the freezer. Until the noodles were done. DH strained them and said it did not look like enough, so he put more on. Once they were on the plates it was plenty for just us, but the other noodles were already going. So we ended up eating leftovers for DAYS.

I didn’t know how to cook when I married at 21. I had and still do little interest
Well I made spaghetti for first meal. The box looked really small so I made 2 boxes of spaghetti for 2 people! Didn’t eat it all!

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Oct 23, 2023 13:07:39 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

It’s amazing how quickly we went through that container of food.

I would definitely be doing less fresh stuff if I wasn't WFH. it's ridiculous how much food I go through here. I'm cooking 2c (dry) of rice every few days, and the bulk shredded lettuce (either purchased that way or I chop)? there's a reason I'm at the grocery store every few days.     it works out nicely though, in that they really aren't too picky and it helps me out with my indecisiveness on what I cook for myself.      take this week - I have a package of four boneless pork chops. I'm going to cook off two, unseasoned, that I'll set aside to chop up for them. one each will be a meal's worth of protein. I'll crust the other two in something and cook them for one meal plus a leftover one for myself. 

When I was trying to get weight on Gomez, I was buying packages of chicken thighs, cooking them off, throwing all the skin and fat into the food processor and chopping it.  A large family sized (2 sheet pans worth) supplemented him for about a month at 1/2c twice/day.  That cat was ravenous, scarfed everything down including his cat chow.  He still lost weight, vet thought it was a lymphoma of the gut that was just absorbing calories.  He was so painfully skinny.  I’d do it again too, as he adored chicken…..and angel food cake!

[daisylu]

Oct 23, 2023 13:32:14 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Oct 23, 2023 13:20:14 GMT -5 daisylu said:

I guess I was more curious how much protein they eat in a day. I am sure you have been doing it for so long that you just eyeball it.

Since the kids, who were by far the largest eaters in the house, moved out, I am over here trying to calculate how much food is enough but not too much when cooking for DH & I. Ideally I like to make enough for 4 meals, 2 to eat and 2 for leftovers, but failing at that. And it is not just me. When DH started making some spaghetti the other night he cooked the sausage and the noodles, I did the sauce. Which wasn't a huge amount of sauce, but enough that some should have gone in the freezer. Until the noodles were done. DH strained them and said it did not look like enough, so he put more on. Once they were on the plates it was plenty for just us, but the other noodles were already going. So we ended up eating leftovers for DAYS.

that's exactly it. I'll try to explain like I do my Italian family recipes lol... I can totally report back in a few hours after their dinner tonight if this isn't helpful, though. lmk! and FTR, I'm an Italian cook first, and have only in the last couple years figured out how to only cook 1 serving of pasta. lol... I definitely get it. 

their bowls are 1qt serving bowls, which is helpful to stir it all up as I use salmon oil for their skin/fur as well. I start with ~2c of shredded lettuce for bulk/water. next are meds - LD gets fluoxetine, they both get a couple glucosamine chews, and they each get a Claritin when it's sniffles season. followed by ~1c veggie, fruit, protein and ~1/4c carb. at the moment, it's shredded BSCB, cooked frozen green beans, diced cantaloupe, and white rice. and then the salmon oil. oh, and a dollop of canned pumpkin. that fixes *any* GI issues, it's magical. 

one of hte things I need to do while I'm cooking this afternoon is to dice up the apples that I never got to, that are in my fruit bowl. they finished off the cantaloupe this morning. in the summer when this isn't cost prohibitive, they eat a TON of fresh blueberries. and, when I'm out of rice and forgot to cook more? I'll finely chop up a huge burrito tortilla and split it between them. like I said, it's very flexible. I know what's toxic to dogs, and obv none of that is in the mix. but everything else is up for grabs in about those proportions. they eat roasted root veggies, diced cucumbers, grape tomatoes, melons, strawberries, mashed potatoes (without garlic!) and extra cooked plain pastas, for example.  HTH! 

That makes sense, thank you.

[jerseygirl]

Countrygirl good to read how your and DD’s health is improving
Hoping your hubs has a great result and will recover easily from surgery

[daisylu]

Finally eating lunch, at almost 3PM.

SPOILER: Click to show

I spent my actual lunch time doing something far more fun. 

[wvugurl26]

I find it easier to pull the fat and veins and stuff off the chicken once it's cooked in the instant pot. Then I just shred with 2 forks. It's definitely much easier when it's still hot. It gets packed up in 1 cup portions and frozen for later use in risotto, quesdillas, buffalo chicken dip, etc.

I'm logging off for the day and claiming sick time. DH shared his cold germs and I didn't sleep last night. I did test, not covid just regular germs.

[chiver78]

can I just say? I've been streaming old Bones episodes via this laptop today, and Teams messages and meeting notifications have been popping up, and it's been amazing to just ignore them ALL. 

although, I'm a little jealous of daisy's lunch hour. 

[giramomma]

Oct 23, 2023 10:01:00 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

Oct 23, 2023 8:55:32 GMT -5 giramomma said:

I'm either in bed or in the bathroom.  Apparently mother nature thinks I should go through natural colonoscopy prep for funsies.

Seriously, i'm on the cusp of starting hour 5 of this.

I have spent way too many days like that.

I hope you feel better soon.

I am so sorry.

[wvugurl26]

I log out of Teams when I'm out of the office or in training. People still try to call me in the middle of training just in case I might pick up.

I sent DH to get me food.