what are you doing right now?

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Dec 27, 2023 21:10:19 GMT -5 flamingo said:

I got the lovely surprise today that my car insurance rates are going. And when I called to inquire why, all I could get out of the woman who answered the phone was “do you want to talk about changing your coverage to lower your rate?” No! I want to know why you upped my rates by almost 50%!!! For which her only answer was “it’s an across the board rate hike the government instituted for everyone in the state.”

now, look. I live in Texas, and companies/government/most people do stupid shit every day for stupid reasons. And maybe that’s what this is. But also, it’s equally possible this lady is just making shit up. And she couldn’t connect me to my actual agent, and when I asked very nicely she literally ignored me and asked if I wanted to change my plan to lower my rate. 

at any rate, I am now going to be shopping around. Which I don’t have time for, but will absolutely be doing to save money. Plus I’m now mad at this office, so eff them. But also, I’m a little overwhelmed since the last time I did this was probably a decade ago.

That is infuriating on both the increase front and the woman who answered the phone. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

My mother is weird. I'm not awake enough to say more than that right now, but I needed to get it out. 


In other news, today is Thursday. I'm sure the rest of you knew that, but I'm quite off-routine and had no idea what today it is. 
Miss Grandbaby is with us again today as her parents are working. 
DD#1 and her husband are here, but they will leave this afternoon. 

Drinking my first cup of coffee. Will definitely have a second cup. 

[giramomma]

Dec 28, 2023 10:43:35 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

My mother is weird. I'm not awake enough to say more than that right now, but I needed to get it out. 


In other news, today is Thursday. I'm sure the rest of you knew that, but I'm quite off-routine and had no idea what today it is. 
Miss Grandbaby is with us again today as her parents are working. 
DD#1 and her husband are here, but they will leave this afternoon. 

Drinking my first cup of coffee. Will definitely have a second cup. 

We are way off routine as well. I don't know if I am coming or going.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I hate the week after Christmas.  There is nothing to look forward to except cold grey suck weather and getting dark at noon.   Work is weird because everyone is WFH upstairs but we still have to be here at least half the time and I am trying to make sure I "stay productive".

Then ever since 2020 I have panic attacks at the thought of starting a new year and what fresh hell may be coming our way.  Obviously that has gotten worse since last year. 

Then there is the usual SAD that comes with the questioning of all my life choices.

I get better around mid March.   It can still snow during that time but the days are getting longer and there is more nice weather than crap weather. I'll happily take spring rain over whatever the F*ck is currently going on with our winter weather.

[TheOtherMe]

I have no idea of what day it is.  It's been Sunday for so many days.  

I woke up to snow, so no chai for me.  

The package UPS delivered that wasn't mine went away yesterday.  I know if I were the intended recipient, I would not be happy with UPS.  When a package is shipped using overnight mail, it's done for a reason.  I did have a boss that received medicine for his wife on dry ice and someone had to be there when it arrived.  Since this said to keep refrigerated, I have wondered if the package was something like that.

[giramomma]

This really isn't a brag plaint. It just really boggles my mind.

My DS will be worth a quarter of a million by the time he's 25, unless he completely goes off the rails or the market goes down to like 10,000.

I cannot even begin to fathom that. 

That's twice what DH was worth at that age.

I had 20K to my name at 25, and I thought I was really doing something.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate it. 

It still just boggles my mind that I'm not sure that we can afford a family vacation this year, and I can't afford to buy a 200 robe that was absolutely gorgeous and yet, my kids will have a shot at some real wealth.

[seriousthistime]

Dec 27, 2023 6:21:00 GMT -5 daisylu said:

Setting up an appointment to get my hair trimmed. Nothing fancy, but I have not been since July and need some dead ends cut off. It has been bugging me for a while and we have a surprise birthday party to attend Friday night. 

ETA - Does anyone have a recommendation for a good towel wrap/dryerr? Towel drying my hair with a regular bath towel takes a bit of time,  and I've taken to using my hair dryer as a quicker way to make myself presentable. 
I use a Conair rotating brown dryer, which I love, but I like to go in with partially dry hair.

I have a microfiber travel towel that's designed to absorb water well and dry quickly.  I got it at the Container Store years ago.  I just did a quick search and didn't find any there.  

But Amazon has something similar.  Just do a search for "absorbent travel towel quick dry."

Here's one option:

www.amazon.com/HOEAAS-Microfiber-Absorbent-Towels-Fit-Backpacking/dp/B07DVMD6JP/ref=sxin_14_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.d17ca69f-1a39-4f7d-a62f-e5dff4cfd6d8%3Aamzn1.sym.d17ca69f-1a39-4f7d-a62f-e5dff4cfd6d8&crid=Y2HYILVOFS0N&cv_ct_cx=absorbent%2Btravel%2Btowel&keywords=absorbent%2Btravel%2Btowel&pd_rd_i=B07DVMD6JP&pd_rd_r=ad823501-39ec-4eac-bd98-84341f841acb&pd_rd_w=F3d7D&pd_rd_wg=NGhlp&pf_rd_p=d17ca69f-1a39-4f7d-a62f-e5dff4cfd6d8&pf_rd_r=VR5EEGXP9B8ACEPSH6T0&qid=1703783842&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=absorbent%2Btravel%2Caps%2C140&sr=1-3-364cf978-ce2a-480a-9bb0-bdb96faa0f61-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1&psc=1

It also helps to speed the drying of hand washables. I hand wash my bras, and I wring them out in the travel towel before hanging to dry.  They air-dry much quicker than otherwise.  

Hope that helps. 

[chiver78]

Dec 28, 2023 10:34:17 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Dec 27, 2023 18:53:39 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

this is more of a curious thing, though. not like I'm trying to make the senior tour haha. I'd literally never held a golf club (other than mini golf) prior to last spring's lesson.     my curiosity is more about how mixed of a bag of clubs I'd need to actually play. I'm absolutely a lefty putter, but couldn't figure out the pitch wedge* lefty. but I nailed it righthanded. 

*whatever's the 2nd club they teach you? 

driver, putter, 6 or 7 iron, will get you through, and having a wedge would be decent but not essential. 

I'm still at the stage of learning the mechanics of how to hold my arms as I swing. lol...

[andi9899]

Kitchen surfaces are scrubbed down minus the floor. I have the Christmas stuff packed up. Laundry is started. T2's car is ready to be picked up. I got her oil changed and tires rotated while she's out of town. If I get far enough today, maybe I'll do the sweeping/mopping part of the floors so all I have to do tomorrow is vacuum and run the carpet cleaner. First I'm going to mooch lunch off my dad. I will clean the fridge out when I get back so I can go to Aldi tomorrow.

[chiver78]

well, I might finally be finding a dentist closer to home. idk. I was surprised with a brand new hygienist as my preferred one moved south over the summer. I drive an hour to come to this office bc I'm comfortable here with my White Coat Syndrome. lol... today's replacement wasn't awful, but I needed to be peeled off the ceiling a few times. at least she didn't argue with me about refusing the polishing at the end like the last time I saw someone else. I said if A calls out on a day im supposed to come in, please just reschedule me. and don't ever schedule me with that one again.

so now I'm waiting for my coworker at a restaurant around the corner from my old condo, that opened after I left the area. we are going to grab lunch and catch up some. there will definitely be a glass of wine to help continue calming me down from that cleaning.

oh - and the Dr pointed out that an old filling I have is slightly cracked and she wants to replace it. I'm not sure how I feel about that today, but I scheduled it for the next cleaning. I'm imagining they need to drill out the old? ugh.

[minnesotapaintlady]

Today is even more unproductive at work than yesterday.  Cohort and I updated our "1974 to 1991 idiots that remain" spreadsheet after a coworker retired today.  Only 26 have her beat now.  Mine is screwed up because I left for a few years so they restarted my clock.  Anyhow we were reminiscing about crotchety old people that worked here and were talking about one woman in HR that looked like she was 110 when we started.  Turns out after some mathing that she was actually only in her late 50's early 60's back then.  OUR AGE.  At some point we became the old people here.

[busymom]

Dec 28, 2023 12:13:18 GMT -5 giramomma said:

This really isn't a brag plaint. It just really boggles my mind.

My DS will be worth a quarter of a million by the time he's 25, unless he completely goes off the rails or the market goes down to like 10,000.

I cannot even begin to fathom that. 

That's twice what DH was worth at that age.

I had 20K to my name at 25, and I thought I was really doing something.

Don't get me wrong. I appreciate it. 

It still just boggles my mind that I'm not sure that we can afford a family vacation this year, and I can't afford to buy a 200 robe that was absolutely gorgeous and yet, my kids will have a shot at some real wealth.

    But that mindset is how you have money saved.  If you were spending every dollar on everything you want, your account would have zero, or you'd have credit card debt.  Congratulations!  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Procrastinating getting dressed and such, so I'm looking at our 2023 spending reports. 

[forgot to hit enter]

I managed to get dressed and put away laundry. 

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Dec 28, 2023 12:25:34 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

Dec 28, 2023 10:34:17 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

driver, putter, 6 or 7 iron, will get you through, and having a wedge would be decent but not essential. 

I'm still at the stage of learning the mechanics of how to hold my arms as I swing. lol...

Meh, that's not important! 
I've been "golfing" for the last 15 years. 
We just do it for fun; I'm not actually good at it. 

[soupandstew]

Drove across town to get our New Year's day bird, a Cajun boneless chicken stuffed with eggplant and brown rice.  I managed to get out without any stuffed pork chops, gumbo, crawfish etouffee, or stuffed quail jumping in my basket but it was close.

And, just for the low-carb crowd, they now have cauliflower boudin, I kid you not.  

[soupandstew]

And DH insisted we needed a medium pizza for lunch instead of a small, plus side salads.  Guess what we're having for breakfast tomorrow  .  

[NoNamePerson]

Dec 28, 2023 13:14:27 GMT -5 soupandstew said:

Drove across town to get our New Year's day bird, a Cajun boneless chicken stuffed with eggplant and brown rice.  I managed to get out without any stuffed pork chops, gumbo, crawfish etouffee, or stuffed quail jumping in my basket but it was close.

And, just for the low-carb crowd, they now have cauliflower boudin, I kid you not.  

I am in awe of your self control. The two bolded would have hit me upside the head before allowing me to leave empty handed  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Just slammed my thumb in the car door.

[alabamagal]

The hourly forecast on WeatherBug has a ? In forecast from 4 pm to midnight. I didn’t open the app to see the forecasters have no clue.

Just checked again, some rain, some snow. Guess if they put in different options it will be correct sometimes.

[wvugurl26]

I've started searching for a vacation house in October. Needing an elevator and wanting pool heat cuts down on the available options greatly. I went without an elevator last year and I don't think it was appreciated. Otherwise I'd rent the same house again. I guess I should see if those needing an elevator intend to come. If they aren't, I get a few more options.

[giramomma]

Dec 28, 2023 14:20:51 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

I've started searching for a vacation house in October. Needing an elevator and wanting pool heat cuts down on the available options greatly. I went without an elevator last year and I don't think it was appreciated. Otherwise I'd rent the same house again. I guess I should see if those needing an elevator intend to come. If they aren't, I get a few more options.

I need to get on that.

We're likely taking DD1 on a college visit during spring break.  And I want to start pricing out places where the kids want to go this summer.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Wilbur has been super excited about me being able to be home early this week.  He wants to play or sleep on my lap.  Poor thing is going to be crushed when I can't do this anymore.  It came from very high up that we could do our lab stuff then "WFH" the rest of this week since the rest of corporate gets to WFH entirely.   

In other news that recruiter agency that keeps bugging me called again this time I chose not to ignore them.  I'll see what they have to say about this one.  The job pays $60k and is QA.   I need to know more details so I said I'd do a teams tomorrow afternoon.

Worth looking into that is quite a jump in salary for me.   It's never going to happen if I stay in my current position.  If I can move in the company it'll happen but if they are going to sabotage me and not promote me in my current department they will force my hand eventually.  It's just a fact of life.

It would be super sweet if this place offered a sign on bonus too.   That's something that has been pointed out A LOT since 2020.   Places offer all this stuff to get new people, nothing to people already working there, then wonder why everyone with experience leaves and all they have are people who have been there at most a year.   A lot of people have been quitting after they secure the bonus and moving on.

I don't blame them.  Companies treat employees as disposable why shouldn't employees treat companies the same?  Especially for things like warehouses and production where jobs are currently a dime dozen?  Will it last forever?  Probably not but I don't blame people for playing the game and maixmizing their earnings as fast as they can.

[busymom]

DS was feeling good enough for a quick trip to the grocery store, so we bought the frozen appetizers that we'll celebrate New Year's with.  This week is flying by for us.  

[busymom]

Dec 28, 2023 13:37:42 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Just slammed my thumb in the car door.

    Ouch!  Hope you didn't break anything.  

[Pink Cashmere]

I just got the phone with M (who I use to call Horseface). She had called Mister’s Aunt D, who called me because she’s out of town right now. The neighbors saw Mister’s brother laid out in the yard. It’s bad. The paramedics were pulling up and I told M to call me back when she knows what hospital they are taking him to. 

Mister was already on the phone trying to find his Aunt G (his Mom’s sister)  because her doctor called him. She left the ER against medical advice AGAIN and her doctor wants her to make and keep her appointments with him so she doesn’t keep ending up in the ER.  But she won’t do what any of them tell her to do, so what’s the point.

Please God, this is too much.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

I'm sorry about Mister’s brother.

And his Aunt. However he is not her next of kin. He's a nephew. She is not his responsibility and the doctor nerd to be told that. There are things her doctor can do if she keeps going to the ER. He's instead passing the buck to Mister.

Seriously for his sanity he needs to cut that woman off.

[tractor]

Sitting in the harbor in St Thomas....

[Pink Cashmere]

Dec 28, 2023 16:15:21 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I'm sorry about Mister’s brother.

And his Aunt. However he is not her next of kin. He's a nephew. She is not his responsibility and the doctor nerd to be told that. There are things her doctor can do if she keeps going to the ER. He's instead passing the buck to Mister.

Seriously for his sanity he needs to cut that woman off.

I ASSume they call him because she has him as an emergency contact. That’s the only way I can see them even having his phone number. Technically, I think Mister and his brother really are her next of kin. She has no spouse, siblings, children or parents. 

Either way, Mister is not going to take responsibility for her. He is over the games she keeps playing with her Doctors and the hospitals. 

Honestly, I am way more worried about Brother right now. 

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 28, 2023 16:37:17 GMT -5 Pink Cashmere said:

Dec 28, 2023 16:15:21 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

I'm sorry about Mister’s brother.

And his Aunt. However he is not her next of kin. He's a nephew. She is not his responsibility and the doctor nerd to be told that. There are things her doctor can do if she keeps going to the ER. He's instead passing the buck to Mister.

Seriously for his sanity he needs to cut that woman off.

I ASSume they call him because she has him as an emergency contact. That’s the only way I can see them even having his phone number. Technically, I think Mister and his brother really are her next of kin. She has no spouse, siblings, children or parents. 

Either way, Mister is not going to take responsibility for her. He is over the games she keeps playing with her Doctors and the hospitals. 

Honestly, I am way more worried about Brother right now. 

I have emergency contacts who are not responsible for me until I am incompetent.  

I am so sorry and do hope Mister's Brother will be okay.  That is a big concern.  

[TheOtherMe]

Dec 28, 2023 12:36:44 GMT -5 minnesotapaintlady said:

Today is even more unproductive at work than yesterday.  Cohort and I updated our "1974 to 1991 idiots that remain" spreadsheet after a coworker retired today.  Only 26 have her beat now.  Mine is screwed up because I left for a few years so they restarted my clock.  Anyhow we were reminiscing about crotchety old people that worked here and were talking about one woman in HR that looked like she was 110 when we started.  Turns out after some mathing that she was actually only in her late 50's early 60's back then.  OUR AGE.  At some point we became the old people here.

We had a woman who worked in Personnel when I started at the IRS.  She knew the job backwards and forwards.  She lived for that job.  

Any Personnel questions were answered with I will have to ask Lila.  Back then, there was mandatory retirement at age 72.  Three people were hired to replace her and it wasn't enough.

One day one called her and there was no answer.  Went to her downtown Des Moines efficiency apartment and she had died.  

She lived for that job and when it wasn't there, she died a natural death.  

I said when it happened, I did not want to be that person.