Healthy Living Thread

[deegee]

Dee*Jay- yay for your clients being able to close, but oh no for the other agent. That sounds like something I’d do! I’m sure your clients will put your gift to good use. 1200 sq ft with kids? My worst nightmare! I like that tile you posted. The last time we were in Home Depot, which seems like forever ago, we looked at tile to get ideas. My problem is patterns with patterns. My kitchen counter tops are grey speckled Corian. Not my choice, but they previous owners put it in not long before they put the house up for sale, so it’s too new for me to replace without tremendous guilt. I have issues. Anyway, I need to find something that won’t clash with those little speckles. We all know I’ll never get around to doing that! My hair drives my stylist crazy. She has tried so many different things to get it to take color all over. Once she was so dissatisfied she dried my hair and put color on again. It’s really no big deal. I have subtle highlights and I don’t pay for them. Oh, and you gave me a great idea for dinner. I have stew beef in my next Kroger order, and I’ll go back and add a seasoning pack. We never cooked like this, and now we’re planning meals a week ahead so we can get ingredients in our next Kroger order.

Hi Marcy!

Yesterday was a chilly, rainy, blah day. I watched Netflix all day and pretty much did nothing else. When there was a break in the rain, I took a 30 minute walk up and down the hills in the neighborhood. My sciatic nerve woke me up in the middle of the night and has been screaming at me ever since. I was too immobile yesterday, I guess. We’re about to head into town. I think there is a walking trail open, so we’re going to go check it out. Have you guys bought cloth face masks for going out? If so, where did you find them? I think I’ll order a few different kinds from Etsy sellers. We had a zoom meeting Friday, and my boss thinks we’re out for a minimum of two more weeks. She also mentioned that they may require masks when we return, so I might as well get a few. Have a great day!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, your hair looks great; I would say the highlights give it a sun-kissed look. Matt did good. Marty is like Matt; he likes his new pickup so much we usually wants to take it when we go places. Probably saves us on speeding tickets too. Ha Ha. Woo hoo for being first in line at CVS. I might try Sams club when they open this week hoping to find a big pack of TP. I would have never noticed your paint color patches until you mentioned it. Projects always wait. Nice you are planning meals too. How was you walk? We don’t have masks and from what I gather the cloth masks don’t really protect you; I hope they don’t require us to wear them here.

Dee Jay, too funny you had on slippers in the hospital while CB was there for a procedure. Probably no one noticed. I have seen ladies in PJ’s at the store in the morning. Sweet one of your clients closed on Friday. And yes I am sure they will enjoy a liquor gift card. Who wouldn’t enjoy that? Yay for a quiet weekend. This is a new side of you planning meals and cooking dinner.

We had a very lazy weekend. We watched season 4, 5 and 6 of Bosch and now will have to wait until Season 7 comes out.

We ate well. Marty made chicken linguini Alfredo yesterday and today we grilled steaks and I made scalloped potatoes for lunch today.

I got laundry done yesterday.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Just a fly-by because I'm swamped at the moment. Not much exciting yesterday... we took a walk but then I ended up doing about 5 hours of work, much of which I learned from a colleague today was completely unnecessary due to a system glitch that led me to think there was a problem that didn't really exist. Ugh.

Today I'll make the chicken for dinner that I never got around to yesterday. TR had a bowl of cereal and I had chips and salsa. Living high here at Chez Dee, ha ha!

Back later!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, don't you love those weekend crisis for work? That sucks it wasn't necessary.

We ate well this weekend but didn't plan on much for today. Marty is going to get us Arby's now. He hasn't eaten meals with me for about a year during the week because of his gym so I'm not used to planning meals.

Work is slow and boring today. Joy. Scary.

Take care.
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, I guess I should be glad all the trauma/drama was not for a real thing because it could have been an ABSOLUTE sh!t show. So bad that I might have just resigned, LOL. (Only partly kidding.)

Deegee, most meals with TR involve beef. He gets half (or maybe it's a quarter?) of a cow every year from a friend of his back in Iowa. It comes packaged in steaks, hamburger, roast, stew meat, etc. so you just open the freezer and pull out the meat de jour ha ha!

I've been working on the fourteen certifications for the managing directors. I've got eight set up and ready to go, two that can be ready pending answers from my boss, and four more that need to be "discussed." He's supposed to call me any minute now. Hurry up dude, I want this off my plate!

The ferals are here for two days. They were fighting like cats and dogs at their mothers' house. The original plan was to bring one of them here to split them up, but somehow they BOTH came. What is the logic in that? NONE. I've been heavy handed with this this morning letting them know I am WORKING and the internet belongs to ME right now. There just isn't enough capacity for all of us to be on. This morning when I tried to get into my vpn it kept timing out because they were doing e-learning. And this is with the DOUBLED capacity that TR got from his provider when I started to WFH here. ???

OK, off to work on another certification draft while I wait for my call...

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I totally get the serious consideration to resign over a serious sh*t show; I've been there more times than I care to admit. Glad it worked out.

That's nice to have a source for farm fresh beef. My boss has started raising cattle and I keep telling him I'll buy some but so far i haven't got any. My beef supply is generally from Omaha Steaks.

Good luck getting the managing directors completed. Major progress.

I see no logic in having both ferals there if they are fighting. That sucks the wifi is bad. I had VPN trouble this morning but it was our company's server. The brothers fighting reminds me of one of my nephews. He was the youngest of 3 boys and his older brothers always picked on him, took his toys and they would bicker back and forth. We were all up at my parent's cabin in the mountains and he was playing in the loft playing (he was about 4 years old then) and we heard him arguing with someone. His brothers were outside playing and he was arguing with himself. We figured he was so used to arguing with his brothers he just kept up his normal routine.

I was up before the crack of dawn and walking in to Sams Club a few minutes after 7. It was busy but not crowded. They had TP. Woo hoo! I got TP, paper towels, Kleenex, napkins, freezer bags, eggs, milk, fruit and some beef. I almost bought Marty a tomahawk steak but went with a big tenderloin roast we'll cook 1/2 of tomorrow.

We had burgers on the grill with cottage cheese and strawberries for lunch.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[marcy]

P.S. I’m buying 2 bags of tortilla chips and hiding one just for me. Non handwashingeatingoutofthebaghusbnd.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, I hear you on the Nonhandwashingeatingoutofthebaghusbnd! I have to say though, I'm getting weary of all this cleaning cleaning cleaning. And the irony of course is that it's more important now than it was when I was All Over It since the infection rate in this area has gone up over time.

In Evil Step Mother news, I just banished the younger feral to the basement. I got so tired of having to go up the stairs and telling him to be quiet, and of his brother b!tching about him being so loud because they are in back-to-back bedrooms, that I finally had ENOUGH. If they are going to be here when I'm working they will be here QUIETLY. And speaking of being here, when they came the other day it was only supposed to be until tonight. Well I highly suspected that was a load of crap. When I asked TR yesterday when he was taking them home tonight because I have a department meeting from 5 to 6 he, of course, was like, Oh, well maybe they'll stay. The weekends are bad enough, but during the week too? Fvck.

All of my certifications are sent out except for one MD, and he should go out tomorrow. Then the follow up process begins...

We're having pizza tonight. Ah, the small joys!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, agreed on the cleaning and one way or another we are all going to be exposed and either get sick or fight it off.

Too funny you banned the younger feral to the basement. That's rough when you need to get your work done especially on conference calls. Some of our conference calls have been interesting; one guy was fighting with his wife, one guy burped, you can hear screaming kids, barking dogs, such fun. I hit that mute button before I log in to the meeting.

Well rats the ferals are there for the week. Smile and carry on, eh?

I had part of a mint go down the wrong pipe last night because i sneezed and coughed at the same time. It didn't turn our pretty; glad I hadn't eaten much for supper. I haven't eaten much today but Marty is grilling a tenderloin roast for us tonight; I plan on filling up on that and strawberries.

I made Marty a batch of oatmeal raisin cookies; must be the first time in my life I didn't eat any cookie dough or a warm cookie. I'll brew up chocolate chip for myself tomorrow.

Take care.
Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, there is an antibody testing site in a downtown neighborhood that just opened yesterday. I went online last night and the earliest date I could get was May 27! There is also a place here in TR's area that is doing it but you have to call for an appointment. I may try reaching them today and seeing if they have anything available in the foreseeable future. And one of the ferals went home yesterday (the one that I sent to the basement). I'm not thrilled about having either of them here, but at least this one is quiet.

Last night TR had to go back to work for a few hours. I went with him and did some purely administrative stuff. At least that's two hours he can spend doing more important things for his customers today. I didn't mind at all.

I've got all but one of the MD's out now. Three of them simply COULD NOT figure out how to check all the boxes on the forms (even though I've got admin assistants who CAN... ?!?) so I finally gave up and send them very specific email messages that they could reply to affirming to certain things. Desperate times, desperate measures!

I HAVE to start eating better/less and getting SOME exercise. I wore my fattest fat pants yesterday. Rut ro!!!

Oh! And the car storage guy circled back with me and asked if I wanted him to go and get the oil changed in Billy Ray. I told him to go ahead and do it. Hopefully I can pick him up at the end of next week! There may not be a lot of joy or excitement in my life, but I would love to be able to drive my car!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I hope you can get tested soon there locally. I want too get the antibody test when they are available here.

Sweet the loud feral went to his mom's house. Sounds like a good call going in with TR to the office last night.

Too funny 3 of the MD couldn't figure out how to check all the boxes on the forms. We have some like that where I work too. Yay for being done then.

i have been trying to watch what I eat so I think I'm at least not gaining. I hope.

Woo hoo to get the oil changed in Billy Ray and hopefully get it to drive soon. I should call the Porsche dealer and see if someone would come get my car. Mercedes does.

I just ordered my dangle earrings. Here are the diamonds. I am excited.

I made chocolate chip cookies and only ate one. We didn't get the tenderloin roast cooked last night so we'll have that tonight. Marty sliced a few pieces off and just grilled them.

I lifted during my lunch. Woo hoo.

Take care.
Curby

 

[deegee]

Marcy-Yay! Earrings!! Beautiful diamonds too! I dropped off my favorite two pairs of earrings and my tennis bracelet for repair less than a week before our quarantine started. It’s going to feel like I got new jewelry when I can pick them up! Good thinking on the extra bag of chips. My calls have had interesting sounds in the background. One meeting, my boss asked “okay, why do I hear a pig?” Someone admitted their dog was playing with a squeaky pig toy. We all laughed, but really? If you’re not talking and your dog is playing with a squeaky pig...mute your microphone! You’re doing great with the lifting. I kept up with my walking and found some great paths, but we’ve been having storms all week. We have a nice treadmill, but that always makes my knees hurt.

Dee*Jay- I feel your pain with the ferals. I have ZERO patience with that kind of thing! When my niece and nephew were little, we had a rule that only one kid at a time could spend the weekend with us. We had something really fun planned one weekend, and they both begged to come. We came up with an agreement they both had to sign and have witnessed, and I remember making them swear an oath to behave. Haha! That works for the fun aunt and uncle, but not so much for your situation! I hope you get to pick up Billy Ray soon and can take a good ride somewhere. We got my BMW out for the first time in weeks. I miss driving it.

We have had some crazy storms this week. Today is just rain. Earlier in the week was a bad wind storm. Less than a mile from our house, trees were knocked into a power pole, snapped it in half and the pole was dangling in the air. No, cable, internet, or cellular data for nearly 12 hours. UGH! Luckily the previous owners of this house installed a fabulous whole home generator so we had power, and I had just downloaded a book on my iPad the night before. I always feel kinda bad during a power outage because our house is on a hill all lit up, and most other houses are pitch dark. If I remember, I turn off some lights so we don’t look like we’re bragging. Ha!

And the antibody thing... I was incredibly sick mid-December through February. A bunch of people at work had it and we were all really sick. It wasn’t a sinus infection, bronchitis or flu. It was something unlike anything I’ve ever had, it was super contagious, and it took a long time to get over. Matt ended up with it too, but not as bad as me. I know that’s too early for the virus in the US, but I keep half wondering... Have a great Friday!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee i am anxious to get my dangle earrings. That will definitely be like getting new jewelry when you can pick up your earrings and bracelet. Nice you found some good walking paths. I lifted 102.5 pounds yesterday; I am still not pushing more weight for rows and presses because my arm and shoulder continues to complain. Treadmills bug my knees too. The one we had at our old house was great to dry clothes on though.

Too funny you had your niece and nephew sign a document they had to behave when they spend time with you and Matt. My nieces and nephews only stayed with us one at a time and never gave us any problems. Marty's nephews are another story though. His sister has 2 sons. The older one put his fist through a wall at our house from a temper tantrum and a few years later took $80 off my dad's desk. The younger one was here over a year ago (18 years old) and set off our alarm after we went to bed and I think he was going downstairs to get booze. He also took candy from the register when I was paying for our supper without paying for it. It clearly had a sign it was for sale. i can't say any of his nieces or nephews impress me.

Yay for taking the BMW out for a ride.

That sounds like an awful storm. How awesome to have a generator. I have thought of getting one for our house too.

You may have had the virus; from what i understand it was already in California as early as November and December. What you said about it was my comment as well in February; this is the strangest / cold flu I've ever had. Really wiped me out for a few weeks.

Our grilled tenderloin roast was fabulous last night. We've got a larger piece remaining in the freezer.

I had fun last night. We have email accounts from 3 internet providers ago. You can't log in online anymore but the accounts remain active. They get worse and worse for spam, getting hacked, etc. Anyway the main email account got one of those I have your password and will lock your computer and steal your info if I don't get $2000 - and it had a password I've used on a lot of online accounts. So off I went to change any and all passwords that had any variant of that password. Then I updated my password app and had to sync that app with my phone and 2 iPads. Such fun. I can't get my Verizon password to save the change.

I am playing cards here shortly online with a friend of mine for lunch.

Take care.
Marcy / Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids! Happy Weekend (or just another day under house arrest)

Not much going on here. Marty is at the gym lifting. I am working on laundry and my article for the paper. The thrill-o-meter isn't registering anything.

Have a fabulous day!
Curby / Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-you’re right. Whatever I had was unlike anything else I’ve ever had, and it wiped me out for weeks! I remember nothing about Christmas because I slept through it. I missed work half of December and the first week of January. When I went back, I was dragging myself in and barely getting through the day. I just started feeling better and then we had to quarantine. Heck, I’ve been quarantined since mid-December! I wasn’t terribly congested, but I had a hard time getting my breath. I thought coughing so much was triggering asthma attacks, but my inhaler didn’t help at all. The doctor prescribed some things to help the symptoms, but they didn’t do anything either. It was just a really weird thing.

I’m excited for you to get your earrings. Will there be any delays or are they working? I’m hoping my jeweler has worked on my repairs even though he couldn’t open his shop. As soon as he tells me I can come and get them, I’m there! I had just bought one of the pairs of earrings a week before I broke it. They're antique, and I figure they safely made it for more than 100 years, and then I got a hold of them!

Our niece and nephew just fought like crazy when they were kids. They didn’t do anything like Marty’s!
Your evening with the passwords sounds like so much fun. My email from my internet provider is full of spam. Unfortunately, it’s tied to a few accounts that won’t let me change to another email, so I have left it alone. I don’t even remember the password.

We took a walk this morning before the rain sets in, and now I’m doing a load of laundry. Today should be starting week 2 of my 2 week vacation in a fabulous ocean front beach house in the Outer Banks. But alas, I’m sitting on my couch instead. All good...We’re healthy, the fridge and cabinets are fully stocked, and we have a nice place to be quarantined. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, did the ransom note for your computer include that they had a video of you on a sex website and they were going to send it out to all of your contacts? That's what the two I got a few weeks ago said, LOL. Who comes up with this crap? Someone must fall for it though or they wouldn't do it, right? What's the ETA on "our" new earrings?!

Deegee, it's too bad you took all that jewelry in for repair right before the lockdown, but as you mentioned, you'll get what seems like a bunch of new awesome jewelry when this is over--without the hit to your American Express card! I can't find the necklace I bought at the Boise GTG last year and I'm racking my brain about where else to look... I did completely by accident find my checkbook (I'd given up on that and ordered new checks MONTHS ago) and the second key to Billy Ray (which I didn't even realize was missing!) this morning in a super strange place so I have hope the necklace will turn up at some point!

Not a lot going on this weekend. The children are here. I haven't had to work this weekend, but the quarterly certifications are due on the 30th so I'm going to have a busy week chasing down the outstanding people. Tomorrow I'm going to go into TR's office with him and help with getting more loans into the SBA system now that additional funding has been issued. He's been trying to do some of it from home this weekend and the internet is SO slow sometimes. He actually came upstairs this morning to see if any of the rest of us were doing something online (we were all sleeping). Maybe he's starting to see why it's impossible for me to work while the children are here -- our internet capacity is for sh!t!

It's sunny and going to be mid-60s here today. Maybe I'll go for a walk. Or maybe I'll use the elliptical that's been sitting in the basement for well over a year now!!! Honestly, I'd completely forgotten about it, even though I walk past it all the time. The other day I was getting something (um... ice cream... ) out of the freezer downstairs and as I passed it I was like -- OH! The Elliptical!!!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, wow it sounds like you really had something bad and I would almost bet that was it. I know what you mean about not really being congested yet I had horrible head pressure. It was very strange.

According to Brittany and Vera quite a few people from Whiteflash are working at home; but I don’t know how many are in the store. I am guessing there will be some delay. They have to order the mountings as well but it should be a quick job.

Oh no your earrings broke as soon as you got them; if they were that old they were long overdue. Did you get pictures of them?

I am sure most nieces and nephews are good kids but his sister’s kids are pretty much punks. She is very self absorbed and doesn’t pay much attention to them; both of the fathers are jerks. Sad situation all the way around.

Darn that you are missing your wonderful vacation but yes you are in a great place for a staycation (that never ends).

Dee Jay, yes they apparently had multiple videos of me; I was only concerned they clearly had my password to online accounts. Usually I just ignore them.

Good deal some misplaced items are turning up so hopefully the necklace will as well. Finding the other key to Billy Ray is a good thing.

That is odd your internet is so awful after upgrading. I wonder if he needs a new router? We got a repeater for upstairs since our router is in the basement and our house isn’t small. Just an idea. TR will be busy with more SBA loan money; the first round was gone in a flash.

Have fun going in to the office with TR.

A walk sounds better to me; we are in the 60’s too but it is windy. Go figure.

I slept in until 7:30. I made pancakes and scrambled eggs for breakfast. I mentioned making them yesterday and Mr rarelywasheshishands declared them “crap” so I didn’t make them. This morning he wanted them.

I got the May article submitted to the paper yesterday and almost finished the newsletter for May today. It’s like working.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[marcy]

Happy Monday (I think it is anyway )

Lather, rinse, repeat here. At least it's nice and sunny out.

Have a great day!

Curby / Marcy

 

[deegee]

Dee*Jay-I hope you find your necklace! Last time I was digging around for something, I found a bag of stuff from the Ann Taylor Outlet from our fall Hilton Head visit. Haha! Whenever we go back to work, I’ve got some new clothes!

Marcy-I put things off for so long that once I finally act on something, I want it NOW! I hope you get your earrings soon. I broke my bracelet in September but of course I just took it to the jeweler 2 days before the quarantine. I have such awesome timing! I’ll see if I have any decent pics of my broken earrings. They’re my favorite white metal pair and my only yellow gold pair.

Our governor discussed his reopening plan in today’s press conference. Included in next week is hair salons with appropriate PPE. My stylist has already contacted me to see if I want to keep my appointment on Tuesday. I have to say, I’m not sure how I feel about that! Parks are 3-4 weeks away from opening. Government offices are 3-6 weeks away. On our call today, my boss said she thinks we have two more weeks at home and then they’ll start bringing small groups of people back at a time. We’ll have to wear masks, and they’re thinking of marking the floor for one-way traffic. I have a nice office with a door in an out of the way spot, but our second floor is a cube farm. They’re trying to come up with ideas of how to keep staff more protected. The cubes have 3 high walls and then a short wall with the entry opening. I’m guessing they’ll have to do something with that 3rd side.

So, would you feel comfortable going for a hair appointment? We both have to wear masks, she has to sanitize after each client (she’s a clean freak, I don’t worry about that). Only one customer can be in at a time. Her shop is an addition to her house with a whole separate entrance. She lives alone. I’ll do my best not to touch anything and take hand sanitizer just in case. What are your thoughts? Oh-and I’d be her first appointment of the day.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, LOL on the articles being like working. I've taken on some "fun" things over the years that turn into a JOB so I totally know what you mean.

Deegee, I honestly wouldn't go to a hair appointment... but I'm more conservative than most about this sort of thing.

Yesterday didn't work out like we'd planned. TR went to work early and I was there by 9. I got one application done and then the system timed out and I was never able to get in again because the system locked out the credentials I was using. I went back over twice more yesterday, but not dice. Last night the system opened up again and TR and I bolted over... and it slowed right down again. He brought home over two dozen files and worked on them until 1:30 am. Then he slept until 4:30 and started up again. He finally left for work about 8 or so. What a process... I really feel for him. He's trying so hard to get the loans processed for these small businesses and the system just can't handle the capacity.

Today I need to continue verifying all the certifications I've got are correct. I checked them as they came in, but I always do it twice. There are still seven people outstanding, including one managing director. Ugh.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee, nice to stumble across some new clothes. I sure need new tops; even my V necks are very “gappy”, the crew necks are awful. I certainly identify with wanting things now. I am not blessed with patience. I would love to see pictures of your favorite earrings. That’s hard to say about going for a hair appointment, it’s good she works from home - less contact with people. I have a hair appointment on the 2nd and I’ll keep it if they are open. I am not desperate for a haircut but I’m ready to get back out there. I see more and more reports (Stanford, John Hopkins, an interview with 2 Doctor from a hospital in California) that based on testing the results of positive numbers indicate the mortality rate isn’t anywhere near what was originally reported. The doctors said based on what their tests and numbers show the chance of dying if you get it is 0.03. It sounds like my company is trying to figure out how to get us back in the office too. Nice that you have an office out of the way. I’m on the second floor in a cube farm. I have a double cube with high walls but not all cubes have high walls.

Dee Jay, you and I just like to volunteer to do things. Marty and I can’t seem to find some suckers to take over running the astronomy club. I bet you don’t miss running your old building anymore. I am sure processing those loans is quite a chore for TR. I heard some of the initial loans ended up going to big corporations and colleges but luckily they had to give the money back. A newer local donut shop was unable to get any money since our banks were out of it already so they posted online they were going to have to close but the town came to their rescue- they were overwhelmed with customers and donations to the point they were able to pay their bills and employees for a month. They had a line of cars for about 1 1/2 miles at both locations and kept making donuts in to the night. Very cool. I hope you get the last certifications done this week.

Marty can officially open the gym on Friday. Poor guy has to wear a mask. We’ve been resisting and can’t find the real masks that protect you. They are opening gyms, salons, day cares and still restricting gathering of 10 or more people. Of course they have strict social distancing and cleaning requirements. Should be interesting.

Our house cleaner came today. Work was busy. I have a grocery order to pick up between 2 and 3 tomorrow. I have a meeting at 2 and at 3 so hopefully it goes smoothly to pick my stuff up.

I was so excited. I had an email arrive from Whiteflash today. It was just sending me a link to jewelers mutual if I wanted to insure my new jewelry. Such a tease.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-that’s an awesome story about the donut shop! That’s the kind of story that makes you think maybe people are good deep down. (People are NOT my thing) I’m thinking I may go for my appointment because she has very little traffic in her shop. She’s a one woman show and she has built a certain clientele. She keeps her shop spotless all the time and I have no doubt she’ll follow the reopening guidelines. Plus I’m scheduled first for the day. Still a little nervous! I haven’t been anywhere in so long. That’s going to be tough for Marty to wear a mask at the gym. I’m dreading having to wear one at work when I’m out and about. I; be spending more time in my office with my door shut. That was a big tease from Whiteflash! Stinkers!! We want earrings!

Dee*Jay-I bet TR is stressed. I guess everybody is trying to do everything all at once and computer systems are crashing everywhere. Our Workers Comp system was so pathetically overloaded. Last March they processed 3,000 claims compared to this March at 140,000 claims. They tripled staff, brought in temps and the National Guard to help and increased capacityBut when the system crashes, not much can be done.

Yesterday was a painfully slow day because the VPN kept crashing. We were pretty much at a standstill. Luckily I had lots of stuff to work on saved to my laptop. Today was so much better VPN-wise, and I felt like I got things accomplished. Testing mostly, but those bugs have to get fixed. It rained this morning but turned out to be a gorgeous day. We just took our last walk of the day before bed. We were chatting with our neighbor (who hooked me up with a stash of masks), and Matt happened to notice a line of airplanes way up high spaced perfectly apart, flying East. By the time we looked up until the last one, more than 30 had gone by. Incredibly super creepy.

I’m off to read a little before bed. Have a great Wednesday!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, that's awesome about the donut shop and all the local support! Some of the entities that got the loans (which are really free money because there is no repayment if you meet the ridiculously low threshold of certain criteria) were absurd. One of the NBA teams (the Lakers I think?)... WTF?!

Deegee, the system crashing or crawling along at a snail's pace was the most frustrating part to TR. He had the files all lined up and ready to go with just info entry needed at that point and BAM. Nothing. I can't really blame the tech people though -- who ever knew it would be like this?

Speaking of technology, we had a storm last night that knocked the power our for just a second but it did something to the internet. TR's internet give the option for regular and 5G and we normally just connect with the regular. Well now all I can get on is 5G but he's on the regular just fine... ? I guess I could go reset the router but I'm afraid to futz with it because at least now I've got something that works and I don't want to screw that up too.

We're supposed to do an online group thing for Big Bros / Big Sis this afternoon but my little has gone MIA. I traded emails with her early on when we went SIP but haven't heard from her since and neither has the program coordinator so I am not sure if I'll be on the group thing or not.

I need to do some laundry but with the storm that's still happening (although not as bad as last night) I think I'll hold off. I don't want a bunch of stuff in the washer if the power goes out.

 

[deegee]

Marcy-you probably knew what we saw last night! It was a line of 30 StarLink satellites. Now that I know it wasn’t a bunch of military planes heading east, I feel much better.

 

[marcy]

Marcy-you probably knew what we saw last night! It was a line of 30 StarLink satellites. Now that I know it wasn’t a bunch of military planes heading east, I feel much better.

Yes Deegee I am painfully aware of these. He plans on launching more and its not something us astronomers want clogging our view of they sky. I can see why they would get attention as to what the heck is that. Spy satellites usually fly over in a triangle of 3

 

[Dee*Jay]

Marcy-you probably knew what we saw last night! It was a line of 30 StarLink satellites. Now that I know it wasn’t a bunch of military planes heading east, I feel much better.

If I saw something like that I'm not sure who I'd call first -- 911 or Betty Ford!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Deegee both of us should get the t-shirt that says it is too peoply out there. I would like to believe most people are good though. It sounds like it should be fine to keep your hair appointment; pretty safe with little exposure. I ordered myself a Snoopy astronaut mask off Etsy so at least I’ll have something cute to wear if necessary. Ugh. I did hear from Whiteflash today expecting a ship date of May 26th. I’m like WTH??? I am sure they are not operating on full staff and do have to order in my mountings. That sucks to have connection issues; I think everyone is taxing their systems. I bet watching that string of satellites was a sight. I see pictures on astronomy pages all the time of how much they interfere with their observing and photos.

Dee Jay, that is great the loans don’t need repaid but our tax lady said you have to meet all sorts of criteria for that; she was helping some of her clients fill out the forms. I did hear about the Lakers taking a loan and I think Harvard did too (or some big name college). That sucks you lost power last night and the internet didn’t come back quite right. I doubt I’d mess with the router either. That kind of thing always happens to me when Marty is out of town. That’s too bad your little sister isn’t responding; I hope she did connect today. LOL to calling Betty Ford - you know you and I should plan our “stay” there at the same time.

I can’t believe my earrings won’t be here for about a month. Oh well, not like I can go get a new sapphire ring soon either. I do need new shoes though. Marty picked up our grocery order this afternoon. Quite a few things were not in stock but we had everything to make tacos for supper. Our ice cream was in stock.

We had an overloaded CPU at work today that slowed all of our applications down. I spent several hours on conference calls for that. Joy.

Take care.
Curby / Marcy

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, my little did join the call yesterday, but the whole thing was a very annoying experience. We used Microsoft Teams instead of Zoom. Only four people could be on the screen at one time, and it was the last four people who had said anything. The kids didn't understand about mute so there was ALL SORTS of background noise. And the feedback was crazy -- echo echo echo... ! Next time we're trying Zoom. It HAS to be better.

I didn't do a ton yesterday to be honest. Today I still have two people who aren't done with their certifications (including one managing director). They get one more ping from me and then it is what it is. I can't MAKE them do it.

The plan is to pick up Billy Ray tonight!!! I am SO excited! My only joy in life lately has been going to the grocery store. Now I can go to the store in a 911. Livin' large!

OK, up and at 'em.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, glad to hear your little sister did join in on the call. Hopefully Zoom works better next time. Teams and Google Meet work about the same; I am not a fan. We just recently switched to all the Google stuff, the mute in meet auto hides on my iPad and I have a hard time getting it to stay open long enough to hit it. The meeting I do with our direction is bad for me because he randomizes who he calls on and invariably can't hit the unmute button. I often just leave my microphone on until he calls on me then I mute it.

Darn those 2 who won't get back to you and finish your certificates. There always has to be holdouts.

Woo hoo to getting Billy Ray today - at least you can cruise around in your 911 to pick up food. Sweet. Marty keeps stealing my car to run "quick" errands.



I'm done with my morning work and have dishes done. We are grilling steaks and corn on the cob for supper. Mmm.

Have a great day.
Marcy

 

[deegee]

Marcy-I can see how those satellites would obstruct viewing of the night sky. The were very bright. Matt read that they were looking into some ways to tone them down. Darn that your earrings are going to take so long! Next week small businesses with fewer than 10 employees can reopen as long as they have PPE, limit the number of customers, and require customers to wear masks. My first thought was-Maybe my jeweler will call to let me know my repairs are done! I didn’t get a lot of things in my last grocery pickup. We have a new plan. Matt’s church is doing their services via Facebook live. He’s the youth pastor, so he joins the pastor and music guy to film the services. He stopped by the local FoodFair right after they opened and on his way to church one Sunday morning. Jackpot! No other customers in the fully stocked store. Our new plan is for him to stop by early Sunday with our grocery list. You do what you gotta do.

Dee*Jay-I’m glad your little called in, but too bad it was so annoying. Matt hasn’t set up a zoom meeting for his youth group, but he’s keeping up with them throughout the week to see if anybody needs anything. He misses working with those kids. The state office of technology pushed Microsoft teams to our computers this week, and my laptop doesn’t like it even when it’s not in use. One more thing to slow it down. Yay for getting Billy Ray!! That’s exciting!

I got an email yesterday that my digital library loan was ending, so I rushed last night to finish my book. I was really patting myself on the back until I just realized the loan that was ending was for a book I had checked out earlier and already finished. I’m such a dingbat sometimes! I had a very productive morning, but the internet went out this afternoon at about 1. Matt restarted the router and we got reconnected, but it was a real struggle the rest of the day to keep a connection. I had set up a whole bunch of test scenarios that had to be completed today because the test system refreshes at 7am each day. Argh! So I worked a few hours extra to get them all completed. I’m not sure what we’re having for dinner. I outdid myself last night with grilled pork chops, baked sweet potatoes and veggies. I’m tired of cooking! Have a great evening.