Healthy Living Thread

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

What a night... and I don't mean that in a good way! The little dog was growling at something for a long time, which caused the big dog to do some woofing. Liam was snoring like it was his JOB. And I somehow hurt my neck... getting up to pee. You can't make this tuff up!

On the good news front I've had four days of decent eating. So why aren't my pants too big yet?!

I washing up a bunch of glasses and said to Liam last night that when I get those photographed I'll be all caught up except for a bunch of quilts and two big sets of dishes. And he said, What about Betty Ludwig? (the auction I went to TWO YEARS ago that I'm still plowing through, but those boxes are now in the family room so out of sight out of mind LOL). And then in the middle of the night while I was hurting myself I remembered the three other sets of glasses I got last Saturday right before I picked up right before I ran to the airport to pick up the great travelers... and I have no idea where that box could be... Maybe it's still in my car.

Alright, time to get up. Hopefully I can make it through the showering and dressing process without further injury!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

I'm happy to report that I went to the auction this morning, looked up and down the rows, and came straight home! There were a few things that I would have bought if I'd been standing right there, but definitely nothing worth waiting for. Liam also left there and headed to another auction somewhere close by.

I am making progress on the backlog! Just this morning I took pics of about a down mismatched sugar and creamers (replacement pieces), four goblets I put together as a set, and six mix and match vintage pink candle holders. It's so satisfying to get some random thing that's been sitting around forever taken care of!

Not I'm taking a little break and contemplating lunch (five solid day of eating good so far!) and then I need to think about the half dozen or so quilts that are sitting in the dining room...

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, we had SNOW - yes that cold white stuff - in Wyoming yesterday. It's thundering now. I told it "don't threaten me". It's not listening. Speaking of white stuff, it sounds like hail out there now.

Not only is spilling wine a party foul, it's alcohol abuse. Yes, the guys would probably devour the mini ice cream bars plus eat more than one. You'd have to find a hiding place, or get a bigger box that says broccoli and hide them in there. Too funny you have your chocolate hidden.

Yay for day three of not screwing up your diet. Grilled chicken sounds delicious. I've been pretty good this week but an seriously debating what to have for supper today. Marty may or may not be here. He's working on the trailer and his telescope right now. Tell the young feral he'd like Marty's telescope. It's got a 20" mirror. It doesn't suck. We are having a "star party" this weekend, but between smoke, weeds, chilly weather and probably cloudy skies, I'm going to stay home. Last night was a total bust so he didn't go out then.

A corner office sounds great. I kind of liked getting moved around at work, it gave me an excuse to "not work" plus clean out my stuff. I need to move my desk around at home. I ordered myself a desk lamp and so might have to shift some of my teddy bears. At least my mic is on a stand now (one I didn't drop on my foot) and not a big old moveable arm. To be fair, over half of my desk is fluff, not toys.

Did you go shopping at any auctions or estate sales today?

So what the heck have I been doing - you might ask - mostly playing with videos. I got the brilliant idea last night to make a goofy teddy bear one to send to Marty. I do so enjoy amusing myself. Marty told me it was disturbing. My SIL said I had crazy brain. Think of the fun I can have now making stupid videos? It's like a new toy for me.

Other than that, I did work quite a bit, we went out for breakfast yesterday and today. And then had our eye appointment. Who knew, but he said that yes losing a bunch of weight does change my vision. So I got some new glasses ordered, replaced lenses in my computer glasses and sunglasses and then Marty got a new pair of glasses even though his vision hadn't changed. We got out of there for less than 1K. Yay for VSP.

Don't have plans for today or tomorrow. Nice for a change. Lenox is teasing me with the early Christmas ornament sale. I might go see what they have.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Happy Saturday kids!

I'm happy to report that I went to the auction this morning, looked up and down the rows, and came straight home! There were a few things that I would have bought if I'd been standing right there, but definitely nothing worth waiting for. Liam also left there and headed to another auction somewhere close by.

I am making progress on the backlog! Just this morning I took pics of about a down mismatched sugar and creamers (replacement pieces), four goblets I put together as a set, and six mix and match vintage pink candle holders. It's so satisfying to get some random thing that's been sitting around forever taken care of!

Not I'm taking a little break and contemplating lunch (five solid day of eating good so far!) and then I need to think about the half dozen or so quilts that are sitting in the dining room...

Ha Ha, I missed this. You didn't bring home anything new today.

I bet the random sets sell pretty good for you.

Good question - what is for lunch.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, I am still marveling at that pic you sent! YF is going to LOVE it (if I can remember to show him, LOL). I must have misread your post because I thought it said SNOW. That can't be right. WTF?! So losing weight changes your vision... ? I had absolutely no idea! Does that mean if I drop some tonnage I'll be able to read close up again, ha ha!? Did the star party go off as planned? Could you see anything? Lenox must not love me... I didn't get anything! But those snowflakes we ordered last year were fabulous and I would be happy to get another several sets of those again!

About yesterday and being all caught up... yah... NO. The glasses I mentioned at the auction that I decided not to stay and get? Liam bought me the entire table for $10. Not as many as the last time he got me a whole table, but still over four dozen pieces. I was cleaning stuff up in the kitchen, all proud of myself for being done, and he texted me to "come and get my glass." Don't get me wrong, I AM grateful. But in that moment I confess I groaned out load! So last night washed it all up and took pics this morning. Now I just need to store it and do the listings. My goal is to take tomorrow "off." Or maybe list some quilts if I get super motivated. But that's not as pressing.

Now... I am sitting on the side deck for the first time this season drinking prosecco. The sun has moved so much already though that my window of opportunity has either (a) come to an end, or (b) I need to MacGyver something with a golf umbrella since the big center table umbrella departed the yard in a big storm a couple of years ago and we've never replaced it.

Off to find some duct tape!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I'll send you a picture of Marty's 10" binoculars for YF too. They are amazing to look through as well.

Yes, I said snow. That's Wyoming for you. Why do I still live here?

Who knew about significant weight loss (or gain) impacts your eyes. He used his little demo eyeball to show me how some thick liquid builds up behind your eyes and presses on things. I found another pair of glasses one version newer and I am seeing GREAT with them. What's even funnier, is almost got this frame for my new glasses. They are Oakley but have weird little open circles on each "wing" of the glasses (don't know the technical term). It looks like they'd get cameras but they are open holes.

Marty just went camping. I stayed home. Two guys were there from the astronomy club over the hill. They had a few hours of okay sky until it clouded up again. They generally just take pictures and didn't know how to find things and certainly enjoyed Marty showing them around and looking through his scope.

Those snowflakes were a screaming deal last year. I ordered this year's Snoopy ornament. Shocking, I know and they had the ceramic mittens with 2023 on sale then with the discount they were pretty cheap so I ordered a few of them to put up for Christmas gifts.

Too funny about getting another batch of glasses to wash after getting the last batch done. That's the way it goes.

Sweet to be enjoying an adult beverage on the deck. It's almost getting warm enough here for that. We went through three umbrellas before Marty gave up on them. Yep, the wind took them out in no time and I swear that last one looked like it could end up as a projectile through our picture window. When I see someone around town carrying an umbrella, I always say, you aren't from here are you? They are like, how did you know? Umbrellas here are weapons or at least could turn you in to Mary Poppins if you are light enough.

I stayed up late and finished the last season of Picard. Slept in this morning. My bread had a lovely shade of green on the bottom but Marty's was fine so I had my usual toast and banana for breakfast. I started working on my next podcast, lifted then thought I'd do a bit more work, and four hours later I'm still working when Marty gets back to town and wants to go to lunch. That worked perfectly. We went to his favorite Mexican restaurant.

I got my desk lamp I ordered from Amazon, yay, I can see paperwork on my desk now if it's cloudy outside. The overhead light in our den isn't the brightest. Now that the sun is so northerly it come in through the shutters in the afternoon and totally glares my monitor.

I did take a few photos of flowers this morning. Our flowers look awful and quite a few have died. I think Marty needs to replace all the soil in our pots. I pulled up the dead ones, added a bit more miracle grow and we'll see if the rest make it.

Working on laundry and had to dodge the mountain of TP and paper towels to get to a new box of zip lock bags. We might be down to a 3-4 month supply. I'd best stock up on more.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Monday kids!

Curby, those binoculars are super cool! You guys are having all the sky fun out west! Liam took the ferals over to a friends' last night for a bonfire and smores but it was overcast here so nothing good to see. We get ziplocks from Costco and they come in a package with four different sizes. There's one size we never use (the tiny snack size) so even though we got through the gallon size and the two middle sizes we've got a stockpile of tiny ones that we have no use for. I should probably just donate those next time I give food items to one of those bins because maybe someone else can put them to use. I'll have to check out the Snoopy ornament on the Lenox site!

Yesterday I rigged up an "awning" using two giant pieces of cardboard I'd originally bought to use as photo backdrops. It worked great! Right until it didn't... The top piece got caught by what little wind we had an came down, of course hitting me right in the eye. That was the point at which I said to Liam, get in the car, we're going shopping. Of course all the good umbrellas are sold out by the point in the season but he said, hey, I've got a big free standing four post awning in the garage, why don't we put that up and see how it goes? I had NO IDEA this thing was out there! It covers pretty much the entire deck -- it's huge! The bad news is I look out across the kitchen counter to take my pictures and this thing is now blocking all of the light so it's not going to be up for long.

Speaking of pictures, I'm so frustrated with Etsy that I uploaded a bunch more listings to ebay and I'm going to look into a site with Shopify. Etsy's newest fvckery is at the bottom of your photos they put a link to other suggested options for what you looking for. Those other suggestions are at other stores. So basically they're steering the customer to other sellers. The new thing they're doing BTW is a test so only certain participants can see it. I didn't even know about it until the posts started and people showed screen shots. I realize ETSY'S goal is to get people to buy SOMETHING. But MY goal is to get them to buy something from ME. Folks are absolutely up in arms over this. The result is little vendors like me will eventually leave and then the site will just be like Amazon V2 because the only vendors left will be the big ones that aren't supposed to be on there anyway since it's supposed to be all vintage and handmade. Anyway, sorry for the rant -- again. It's just SO DAMN frustrating to put all this work into something only to have it go for naught.

I'm currently contemplating taking the walk I've been thinking about for a week or so now. Hmmm... I think I'll get out of bed and see what happens.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, Sam's used to have the assortment boxes of ziploc bags, I kind of liked them. Those snack size bags are not useful, I used some of them but most things just don't fit. They also had a 1/2 gallon size for a while with a fold out flat bottom. I really liked them and then after they were gone, I never saw them again. Such is life. Good idea to donate them. I was going to call Habitat for Humanity and see if they want our new short queen mattress for an RV that we replaced. Darn the campfire was under cloudy skies.

Did the cardboard hurt your eye? That could be bad. Darn the awning has to come down, around here the wind would take care of that for us. Did you go for a walk? I ventured over the mailbox. It's in the 70's and sunny today so the AC keeps running.

That really sucks about Etsy. Sounds like they are shaking up things and don't really care how it impacts their sellers. My niece that was on Etsy for years, finally launched her own website and does well. Of course, she managed to take a lot of her followers with her and she advertises her sight on Facebook and Instagram.

I worked most of the day. My new desk lamp is great for tiny writing on papers. Yay. A friend came over for lunch and we played cards. I had some chicken nuggets and was starving by 3 p.m. So I made myself a bowl of fruit. Now I need to find something filling to eat. I do have 1/2 of a filet left from yesterday but I'd rather save that for a sandwich for lunch. Maybe I'll see what the flavor of the day is for Culver's. I do have some already browned hamburger in the freezer that would work as well.

I'll send you a video Marty took of the sun today. It's not bad for the first time he tried that setup. I'm going to be putting all sorts of ideas in YF's mind.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, the sun shots Marty took are otherworldly -- literally! Liam took the ferals home early yesterday so I didn't get so show YF but I'm sure he'll be very impressed when I do. Actually, he's very impressed by all of the things going on at your house. Wish I could say the same was true here, LOL. The cardboard falling on me did a little damage, but not tooooo much. Liam did take one look at me and say, geez, if we have to go to the emergency room they're going to lock me up for sure!

I'm glad to hear your sister is doing well with her own website. I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to set up on Shopify and I am struggling. The good news I AM live on two other outlets, so even though I'm annoyed, I am also still up and running.

This was a weird weekend for sales. I had nothing come in the whole time except one piece of needlework going to Canada, and then I had four sales in a four hour period last night. I was so happy when the first one came though that I bolted downstairs and packed it up. While I was taping the box shut another one came through. I brought those boxes upstairs and said to Liam I'm done for the night... and another one came through. So I packed that up. And the fourth one was just after midnight (I was asleep by then) but I got up early enough to pack it this morning so it will be on the way too. Whatever. I guess weirdly spaced out sales are better than NO sales!

Today I've got a meeting with my boss to keep working on something that we finally got some legal input on last week. Ugh. And who knows what else. Nose, meet grindstone.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, those sun shots were pretty cool. There was a big flare on the limb today, too bad he wasn't playing with it then. Yes, the YF would enjoy our astronomy toys.

Oh no to the cardboard doing a little damage. Hope your eye gets better and there's no permanent damage. Too funny what Liam said about getting locked up. My friend who came over for lunch yesterday gave her husband a black eye. A group of them went to a wine tasting event in downtown Denver and she wasn't feeling well so told her husband she was going to walk across the street to their hotel. Apparently he didn't hear her, so after she left and got outside someone grabbed her shoulder and tried to turn her around. She elbowed them right in the eye, and it was her husband. There were homeless people everywhere and she thought it was one of them. A long time ago, I woke Marty up and I was sitting on the opposite edge of the bed facing away from him since I was getting dressed. He smacks me in the back of my head with a pillow. Well, the end of the pillow case flew around to the front of my face and the corner hit me right on the cornea and took a knick out of it. Instant pain, I couldn't see. My eye was tearing non-stop. I laid down to see if it got better, but it didn't; so I call my mom and say "can you take me to the eye doctor? Marty hit me in the eye". Marty was "thrilled" when he heard that's what I said. Luckily she liked Marty and figured it was something innocent. I had to wear a patch over that eye for several days and go to the eye doctor daily for about a week. I changed over to my pirate name - Marrrrrrrcy.

That's great you are exploring other sites for your store. Naturally, orders will come in sporadically and in bunches. I worked nine hours again today and was getting annoyed by the lady who answers questions for us asking me a bunch of questions. She's in Spain so English is not her native language so I often don't understand her questions. The first time was saying something was wrong in an article I recently did, but it wasn't. So that was a back and forth. Then later she wanted to know if I knew the answer to some abstract astronomy question. I had a guess, but didn't know and even though I usually look it up for her, I told her to google it. My guess was right but I was too busy to do it for her. I spent my day editing captions on the night sky charts for July.

Now, I'm hungry and think I'll heat up the leftover from my filet on Saturday. It got in the 80's here today. Woo hoo. It's like summer. Maybe.

Off to feed my face. That way, I can have some ice cream for dessert. Maybe, if I'd knock that off, I can go past those three pounds I keep gaining and losing.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, too funny about your friend giving her husband a black eye! And LOL on Marcy the Pirate! One time the CB poked himself in the eye in his sleep. He was having a dream that he was fighting. It looked pretty bad for a few days and he also wore a patch. You can bet I went around saying all sorts of pirate type things during that time, hahahahahah! Good for you for telling the lady to google the answer to her question. Give a (wo)man a fish... teach a (wo)man to fish... If you're only battling three pounds you're doing a lot better than I am. Ugh.

Yesterday I did some work, spent some more time upstairs figuring out what I'll do with my new office, and generally fvcked around with Shopify when I got home. I think I'm going to have to hire a "consultant" because there is one thing I simply CAN NOT figure out. It's the stupidest thing ever -- the main banner on my page. If I'm understanding correctly it's supposed to be a zip file and I've watched a bunch of you tube videos. I swear I'm doing the exact same thing they are on the videos, but I keep getting an error message. Without getting a banner put on my main page I obviously can't open my shop. I also tried bulk importing a bunch of listings yesterday (just ten to see how it went). It wasn't a perfect process, but given that I've got 578 listings as of this morning there is no way I'm interested in recreating those one by one! My friend with the cowhide bags hired a tech person to set up her whole shopify site, but she paid her a couple thousand dollars (!!!). I really don't want to shell out that sort of $, I just need some basic support. If you know any tech type people who might be proficient at this let me know. I'd rather give money to people I "know" rather than people I don't!

Yesterday one of the people moving upstairs went "early" (the rest of us are going tomorrow) because she's out for the rest of the week. She has a big mess on her wall where a TV bracket was taken down, and she's got a piece of art to hang there but no way to hang it. We found some hooks, but still need tools. This morning when I left I said to Liam "I'm going out through the garage because I'm taking a hammer to work with me." He was like.... UUUUUUhhhhhh.... !?!?

Alright, off to the excitement of my first meeting of the day. Joy oh joy.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, CB deserved the pirate jokes too. If you can't have fun with these things . . . There was a guy that started work at my last job that had a live parrot on his shoulder as a support animal. Pretty much every employee was pulled aside and told not to make pirate jokes to him. I saw him before the "talk" and really wanted to say "aargh" but I resisted. Surprisingly.

That same lady bugged me again today about a video she was making. I first referred her to the "help" section but she still had troubles so I walked her through it. I thought I got out of the being the go-to-answer person. I was a bit more patient today since I wasn't trying to get that giant project done.

I don't blame Liam, I'd be concerned too seeing you take a hammer to work. LOL. Did that lady get her stuff hung up? Good luck with your relocation. Are you still getting that corner office?

Darn that you're having issues with Spopify. I've never been on it. I'm sure there are some handy little tips and videos out there in cyberspace.

I want to loose more than those 3 pounds, but I seem to be stuck there. I am loosing inches though. That's good.

My day was a bit frustrating but I don't know why. I went and picked up a few groceries at about 10:30 and while I was trying to take my lunch was when that gal was asking me for help with videos. While I was showering and getting dressed this morning, the boss and another lady were in a deep discussion about what videos we need to make. So far, I'm the only one actually doing their own audio rather than using an AI voice. Maybe, I should let some Gordon Ramsey words slip out and they'll encourage me to use AI voices. Ha ha.

I was going to go grab supper somewhere but it's raining and trying to spit hail so guess I'll forage through the freezer and come up with something. I made a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch and I'm starving.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, this HAS to be a joke... right? A SERVICE PARROT? There is simply no way in he!! I would have been able to avoid the pirate jokes so I'd have had to just quit right then to safe HR from having to fire me! The lady who needs to hang the picture was out of the office yesterday but she's going to use the tools today. On my way out this morning I had a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a bottle of peroxide sitting beside my coffee cup and key fob. Liam was like WTF is going on there?!? The alcohol and peroxide are to try to get some many-years-old writing off the giant white board in my office. Everything I've read said use a light hand or you could ruin the finish on the board and make it unusable... but I submit to the jury of common sense that having a bunch of writing all over it makes it unusable anyway?!? The ferals got pre-made grilled cheese sandwiches at Costco. I kid you not. They go in the microwave for 30 seconds to get rid of the excess condensation and then in the toaster. As a society of we're doomed...

Yesterday I did some work, fumed some more about the Etsy situation, and accidentally completely removed the big banner picture on my Shopify page. I actually said, OH! I like that better! The big banner was REALLY big -- pretty much half the screen when you opened it on the computer, but without the banner the page fills with a bunch of thumbnails, and this is more interesting (in my humble opinion!). The next step is to go in and make any adjustments to my Etsy listings. For instance, I've got a bunch with sets of 8 and they are set up to buy either a set of 4 or all 8. I'm going to revise those as much as possible to just sell the 8 because all the variations are the thing that gets most messed up in translation using the importer program.

Alright, off to take my last box upstairs to my new office and then just wait for the folks to move my computer. Movin' on up!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I am not kidding about the service parrot. He didn't last long on the job. He was in a different building than me so I don't know what happened. Good luck on the white board. Some of those older boards just don't come clean. That was always one of my chores at work getting that board rearranged. Too funny you are taking strange things to work. Liam is going - WTH? Good luck with moving your office.

Sounds like you are making progress on Shopify. Naturally, nothing would be compatible. That would make it too easy. Text me the link (if it's up and running yet). Good plan to make combine your sets of four in to eight. More to pack, but less packages to send.

My day was the SOS. Work and watch the thunderstorms roll by. I ate an orange since I'm waiting to hear from Marty if I should Door Dash something for us for supper. I'm hungry already.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Apparently my last video has over 41,000 views. I hope no one stops me on the street for a selfie with me. Ha Ha.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, 41,000 views?!? That's FANTASTIC! When the entertainment rags come to interview me I'm going to be sure to say, "I knew her way back when... " The white board looks amazing! I used regular white board cleaner for a lot of it and only had to resort to alcohol for one corner. It was a lot of work though. You bet your sweet bippy I'll be sending you the Shopify link, LOL. I spent a long time last night cleaning up quantity variations. Now I need to go in there and standardize the shipping language (some of the older ones say "free USPS shipping" when in reality now I often use UPS, and sometimes even Fed Ex). I'm only about 20% through that process, but I figure better to just bite the bullet and get it over with.

For my regular job (oh yah, I've got one of those too!) mission no. 1 this morning is to get a contract resolved. We've been going back and forth with a new vendor and it's to the point that I'm tempted to just drive down there (they're in Chicago), sit across the table from the guy, and take out a red pen.

The move went OK yesterday. My new office is quite a bit bigger than I even realized, and I've got a ton of space, even with a small round conference room table and four chairs. I hope they let me keep this space for as long as I stay with this company, ha ha.

Alright, off to get this paperwork rolling. Wish me luck!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, It's now over 44,000 views. I'm a star. Ha Ha. I hope you tell them nice things about me when the TV crews show up to ask about "what's she really like?"

That's great your white board cleaned up so well. I know it's work. We inherited one that someone had used skinny black tape to make lines. That was a mess getting off the board since it'd been there since the Mayflower arrived. Your new office sounds nice and spacious. Makes it more enjoyable to be in the office. My office is pretty nice, it's homey.

Good idea to clean up your items now when copying them over to the new site.

Darn those pesky jobs. Not a bad idea to go meet that person face-to-face and go through the contract. Sometimes, that is just necessary.

I was "planning" on going to meet Marty for breakfast today when he was done at the gym, but about 9:45 I gave up and had some toast. He showed up while I was eating it. One of his morning clients takes a long time and then he had to call in for his "day job". They were "supposed" to quit scheduling conference calls on Friday but no one is listening to that anymore.

I was working by 7:15 and pretty much worked until 5. I got a lot done including recording the audio for my next attempt at fame. I even learned two new things today on fixing things in the video. Oooh. No one can stop my now.

Marty handed me a check from a new client (I'm still his bookkeeper) and it turns out to be a guy that grew up next door to me. His sister and I are really good friends, but she moved away a long time ago. Small world. I told Marty he even ate at his house once, they had us over for dinner the night before my friend moved out of town. I guess Marty had played golf with him before too.

We are going solar scope shopping - or looking - tomorrow. Maybe we can hit a mall and I can buy a few summer clothes that don't look like sacks on me. Better yet, I can get winter clothes on closeout since I am so cold I don't really wear summer clothes.

How many auctions and estate sales are on tap tomorrow?

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

Curby, after all the work that went into just getting off old marker from that stupid white board I can't even imagine that black tape! What a small world! LOL on no one stopping you now. I just knew as soon as you got the hang of it you'd be off and running! I'm on a clothes buying ban (unless it comes from an estate/yard sale or the Salvation Army). I have TOO MANY clothes and I'm trying really hard not to add to them...

No auctions or estate sales for me today believe it or not! I'm committed to working on the clean up and migration some more, especially since I didn't get to it at all yesterday thanks to having to do actually WORK! I did run by one estate sale after dropping orders off at UPS and bought two set of crystal that in retrospect turned out to be not so great. I don't think I'll lose money on them, but I certainly won't make any given how many of the sets were damaged. They told me someone came in ten minutes before I got there and bought the whole lot of chartreuse crystal goblets that I went to see, but honestly I was glad they were gone. The set was $400 and they were such a strange color, plus I wasn't in love with the etching pattern, that I think they would have been a tough sell.

Alright, off to get this adventure rolling. I think I might make a big batch of chili today while I internet and package it up for work lunches.

 

[marcy]

Hi NIRDI's!

Dee Jay, yes, I uttered some Gordon Ramsey words trying to get the old sticky tape off the white board. You could tell a lot of the surface was rubbed (or pulled) off.

I am still hesitant to buy many clothes as well. It's not like I need to get dressed up to go many places these days. I have an adequate supply to cover a few days.

Darn the glasses your brought home weren't the best and sounds like it was a good thing you didn't buy the glasses you went to see. Did you get everything moved and updated?

Marty got up a few hours before I did but when I got around I made us bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast. We headed to Denver at about 9:30. The interstate was nuts. Where people are merging on to the interstate, there are so many cars you actually stop on the highway. Colorado has not keep its interstates up with the current population so they are expanding lanes and there is construction everywhere. It probably took us an extra hour to get to the telescope store. We came home on a state highway rather than the interstate. Far less traffic. Got back on the interstate about 30 miles south of home.

We went to look at a different solar telescope than what we have, but they didn't have the one we wanted to look at out for display. But they set up a larger scope for us to use and the employee and Marty could never get it to focus right. I didn't like the finder on it or the focus knobs. Marty was eyeballing some refactor telescopes that he would use to take pictures. I gave the employee a hard time and said "he slipped you $20 while I used the restroom to make sure the solar scope didn't work, didn't he?" He didn't know what to think. Of course, Marty ended up bringing home a 91mm telescope with assorted accessories. He's pretty excited with this new toy. He just took a few shots of the moon and it focused okay. He'll be up all night.

After spending enough money that would have bought me a new ring - ha ha - we went to one of our favorite steak houses down there and enjoyed a lovely dinner. Then we ventured home.

I went downstairs for a while and watched Marty set up his new scope on his mount.

By the way, I did work about 30 minutes before we headed out this morning. But I'm not doing anymore. I swear.

Laters,
Curby

New toy below - and sorry it's such a huge picture.

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

It's been a long, but productive day. I did some work, got my article for the local newspaper finished and sent off and then even got the July newsletter done. Yay. We went out for both breakfast and supper. An old favorite Italian restaurant of ours opened again, but under new management, so we went there for supper. Their idea of "double" meat was severely lacking for Marty, but I gave him half of my chicken parm. It was good. I hope they make it. They've only been open a few weeks and currently are open Thursday through Sunday.

I got laundry done and lifted as well. Now I'm waiting for my supper to settle so I can have some ice cream.

We had lovely weather today. It was actually warm.

Laters,
Curby

Here's Marty's corrected version from last night. More "true" colors.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, LOL on slipping the guy a twenty! Wow -- those colors are fantastic! That new toy is going to keep Marty busy for a while. When I was in Kansas City there was one entrance ramp to the highway where people would would actually stop while getting on. The first time it happened I damn near rammed into the car in front of me. I was like DUDE! Get up to SPEED and MERGE! But it was a really bad entrance and had a bit of a blind spot so NOT stopping was a danger too. I would find other places to enter the highway whenever I could to avoid that one. NOTHING more has been updated, and certainly not moved over. Ugh. I have no idea how this is ever going to get done...

Too much to text so I figured I'd just say it here! As you know, my plan yesterday to go nowhere failed miserably before 9 am yesterday. Liam sent me pictures from an auction just over the state line and I was like, well alright then! And I threw some bubble wrap and boxes in the car and headed north! I bought a LOT of stuff, the most important lot being a bunch of vaseline glass, but really I got some other fab things too. This morning we'd already planned to go to a big antique flea market also over the state line. We were backing out of the driveway at 5:58! Of course I got a bunch of stuff.

After we unloaded the car and took showers I ran to Costco and Liam mowed the lawn. Rotisserie chicken for dinner -- no surprise there!

One more glass of prosecco and I'm going to bed. I can't wait to go to work tomorrow so I can rest!

 

[marcy]

HI Kids!

Dee Jay, yes, Marty will be busy with his new toy. He's pretty excited about it. And he's just learning how to use this stuff. We're old school, last time we took astrophotos, we used film.

That sounds like a big PITA merging in Kansas City. That's the same problem Denver is having and it starts at Fort Collins. And we both know my car won't accelerate very fast. I've got to the point that I hate to drive any further than Fort Collins.

You'll get things moved over to the other sight when you get to it. That's great you stocked up on more glasses including those cool vaseline glasses. Mmm to rotisserie chicken. I had some Culver's chicken tenders in the freezer so they were my supper with a bowl of fruit and a mini cup of mac and cheese.

I remember well the thought of going back to work so I can rest.

Speaking of work, I worked 10 hours today. I had a lot to do and still have a hefty to do list to work on. It's cute I always worry I'm going to run out of things to do.

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

I just logged off work. Ugh. What a long day. I stupidly volunteered to make two last minute videos (both my ideas too) and rushed through a "rough draft" so the boss could review them before leaving on vacation Friday. As always, I forget no good deed goes unpunished. None of it was right - even though I said it was a rough draft. Oh well . . .

I did stop for supper which consisted of a baked potato and grilled hamburger. We watched a view rounds of Jeopardy then I finished up something I hoped to get done this morning for work.

Marty not only got his new toy this weekend, he just ordered a new setup for a second solar scope. At least he'll use that for pictures and I'll get my solar scope back. Good thing I'm working all these hours, eh?

I placed an order myself today. Kind of . . . I called a glass company who are coming tomorrow to measure for a new storm door. We bought a nice one at Lowes when we moved in here and it has a visible gap at the top, the handle falls off once a year and it doesn't shut by itself, you have to pull it the last bit of the way and now screws fell out of the spring at the bottom. It's a Pella and I called their store here multiple times to see if they'd send someone to line it up, but they never called me back. So phooey on them. Since our door fits okay, I don't think it's the frame was cut wrong. At least with getting the new one installed, if I have the same problem then I'll call them to come fix it. Ha!

Off to veg out for an hour before going to bed. Let's hope I don't have another two hour period of insomnia at 3 a.m.

Laters,
Curby

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, I hear ya on no good deed going unpunished! Another solar scope?! If I tell YF that he'll show up on your doorstep and want to live with you for sure! He and OF have been in North Carolina with their mother visiting her parents this past week. It's been glorious! I hope everything works out with the door/frame. What a PITA. Did you sleep through the night?

My trip into the city yesterday didn't go as planned. I got on the road, made the two hour drive, got ready, and went to the office. So far so good. But the internet at that office kept dropping, which was especially annoying since I finally got the attention of the marketing lady and we spent over four hours together working on disclosures! Two hours in the morning, break, two more in the afternoon. It was horribly painful, but it had to be done. The air quality in the city was so bad I decided not to stay downtown. Honestly though it's not really any better here so I don't think I gained anything by making the trip back north.

Today I'd planned on working from home but I was awoken at 6:30 by the BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! of some heavy equipment. This is part of the ongoing repaving of the roads in Liam's neighborhood. Between that beeping, the loud rumble of other equipment, the dogs barking at all of that, and the chemical smell from the road surface I decided to come in.

I've got two more meetings today and a couple of errands to run at lunch. The excitement never ends!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I am going to order a few more "mittens". Think I'll get some extra spoons and knifes. They seem to be disappearing and we run out sometimes. It's 25% off today anyway.

Sweet the ferals are on vacation. That's a vacation for you. Yes, the YF would think Marty had the most wonderful toys. Some of his recent order showed up today. With the FedEx box mostly ripped open and the box of the "dealie" (my technical term) was bent a little but the contents are in a plastic case so I think it's fine.

I did sleep through more of the night anyway. Yay. You should see my face though. Looks like someone spray painted me a lovely shade of red. I sat out in the sun for about 3 hours yesterday when I met my friend for lunch. Oops, that sun got me. It doesn't hurt, just feels like my skin is a bit tight.

Phooey to the internet connection being so poor, sorry it was painful but nice you got the chore done.

I can't image the air quality is any better at the North Estate, it's closer to the fires (I assume since it's north). It is moderate smoke here, we wander in and out between moderate and heavy smoke here.

What a rude awakening this morning. Don't you LOVE people that don't consider someone might be sleeping in. At our last house, the neighbor to our north fired up the snowblower or lawn mower before 6 a.m.

I only worked seven hours today, but I had a year follow up with my endodontist, got cash, gas and food while I was out. My root canal has healed well and the bone is growing back so he was pleased.

I got another video posted on YouTube about the July planets. I forgot how many that is right now.

Today is our 32nd anniversary of putting up with each other's crap. Happy anniversary to us. We are going out to dinner, I suggested the restaurant that has the delicious Oreo crusted ball of vanilla ice cream aka bear balls. I'm hungry but want to save room for dinner.

Laters,
Curby #noautographspleasehaha

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Friday kids!

Curby, holy cow -- you sat in the sun for three hours?! If I did that my whole face would peel right off! Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!!! Thirty-two years; you and Marty each deserve some sort of metal LOL. Was your "dealie" ok even with the banged up box? Whenever I get something like that I make Liam video me opening it just in case I have to prove the damage. Our air quality is still pretty bad, but we're having some wind so maybe that will improve things a bit.

Yesterday I was a working machine! I'm actually getting stuff DONE and that feels great. Today I even came into the office because I've got a meeting at ten and we're taking our new head investment guy out to lunch so I figured this was just the more efficient thing to do.

Liam said the same company that did the auction last weekend just over the Wisconsin border has another one on Sunday. I'm not sure whether to hope the DO have stuff I want, or they DON'T!

Alright, off to get this party rolling.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Saturday kids!

I finally got my office organized the rest of the way yesterday and I have to say I really like it! I need to get another orchid from Costco, but other than that I think stuff is pretty much set. It feels so good to finally be settled.

No big plans for the day, but I am hoping to move forward with The Great Shopify Experiment! Such a painful thing... but I really think I need to do it. Stay tuned for needed advice and general hand holding.

Other than that, laundry, general cleaning up, and some grilling. Not too high on the excito-meter, but fingers crossed we're productive.

Later gator!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Happy Sunday kids!

Last night Liam found a sale on FB marketplace a bit south of where we are. It was run by a lady who lives in, and sells out of, an old schoolhouse. If nothing else, I wanted to see the space! And I did get some things. No big homeruns, but interesting stuff. Afterwards I packed up two orders and finished cleaning up my listings for the The Great Migration. I'm finally ready to move the process forward, but now I need to wash a bunch of stuff to take pictures for the first half of the day tomorrow because I am -- for the first time in months -- literally out of draft listings. There have even been a few days lately where I've only put up one or two as opposed to my goal of three a day.

Alright... off to clean up the kitchen and get this dishwashing party started!

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, you are correct. My face is peeling. It looks so lovely and itches. I said itches - it didn't start with a b.

Yes, Marty's "dealie" was okay and he took a few pictures with it already. I swear, he's having fun and losing sleep since it doesn't get dark very early. Oh well. Glad he has a project.

How wonderful you got your office setup and organized. That's always a good feeling. Makes i more comfy to work. I was toying with getting either an ultra wide monitor (I have a 32" inch in the den already) or two 27" monitors. Then I realized, doesn't matter if I can see two things at once, I still have to click back and forth so who cares?

That's great you are entering the home stretch of moving to Shopify. I'll look forward to seeing your site. I hope it works out well and phooey on the other site. Did you get pictures taken?

What the heck have I been doing? I got another video recorded and posted, started on the next one and that was this weekend. Today, I refined the script on the latest podcast and got quite a bit of my normal work accomplished.

We ate out quite a bit this week (every day come to think of it) and watched the first two episodes of Jack Ryan season 4 and some old Star Trek movies. Saturday night, we sat on the couch again and star gazed a bit before Marty picked his target and went out to set up the camera to take pictures all night. I think most of Marty's new toys have arrived now. I got another box today.

Marty is headed to Texas tomorrow. He hates hot weather so he'll have fun down there in the three digit temperatures. I'll be on a quest not to cook or do dishes while he's gone. Ha!

Laters,
Curby

 

[marcy]

Hi Kids!

Happy 4th of July. Yay fireworks!

Yes, I worked today. Marty left for the airport about 10 a.m. He didn't take the interstate and said that was a good call. I grilled my BBQ burger for lunch and will probably have popcorn for supper and find some movie to watch. He'll be back Friday so I'm glad I have work to do since I'll be bored.

We had an intense rain storm roll through. Good old Wyoming wind, it was blowing the rain in to windows on both side of the house. How is that possible?

I'd make cookies, but I'd eat them so I'll stick with ice cream. It's safer.

Laters,
Curby