It is freezing in the office today. Why? I should have brought in a fleece.
My H and I are in a war with the neighborhood critters. We feed the birds, but the squirrels have been really greedy with our suet feeder and we are going through it too quickly, so I bought a higher pole to keep them off. That didn't work (though it caused some spectacular acrobatics!) so we bought a baffle to keep them off. Now we are pretty sure the racoons are taking the baffle down and stealing it anyway. This is all after we replaced our normal feeder with a squirrel proof one AND started feeding the squirrels corn separately in our backyard. I guess we are going to have to take down the feeders overnight. We just want the woodpeckers to visit! But it's become a battle of wills and they are winning.
My dad used to use a bebe gun to shoot at rabbits eating the garden, and my H and I thought he was nuts for doing that. We are starting to understand the urge now, lol. We will NOT do anything to harm them, but they are such cute little assholes!
May I recommend Mark Rober's squirrel olympics videos on you tube? Squirrels are surprisingly smart and athletic. I mean, these won't help you deter the squirrels, but they'll give you a good laugh and possibly give you some insight as to why most conventional squirrel deterrents are ineffective.
It is freezing in the office today. Why? I should have brought in a fleece.
My H and I are in a war with the neighborhood critters. We feed the birds, but the squirrels have been really greedy with our suet feeder and we are going through it too quickly, so I bought a higher pole to keep them off. That didn't work (though it caused some spectacular acrobatics!) so we bought a baffle to keep them off. Now we are pretty sure the racoons are taking the baffle down and stealing it anyway. This is all after we replaced our normal feeder with a squirrel proof one AND started feeding the squirrels corn separately in our backyard. I guess we are going to have to take down the feeders overnight. We just want the woodpeckers to visit! But it's become a battle of wills and they are winning.
My dad used to use a bebe gun to shoot at rabbits eating the garden, and my H and I thought he was nuts for doing that. We are starting to understand the urge now, lol. We will NOT do anything to harm them, but they are such cute little assholes!
We finally put a cone shaped thing on the stands the feeders hang from and this is the first summer we aren't feeding every squirrel in the tri-county area. They're still around because the birds are messy eaters so they clean up after them!
I am truly not one to judge people's COVID precautions, but I am confused by people still wearing cloth masks, especially below their nose. Like do it or don't, but what are you accomplishing here? Have they not read a COVID update since like June 2020? Brought to you by airport people watching.
I talked to 3 people about potential job opportunities last Friday. All said they would schedule interviews with me. I haven't heard from any of them. Patience is not one of my virtues.
I set up my digital planner yesterday and I'm liking it! I figured out how to add stickers and everything.
nancybotwin, my hair stylist is perpetually behind. Every time I had an appt it would inevitably be 20 before I was seen. I asked her to start texting me 10 min before she was ready since I only live 5 away. I will say I went to the DMV yesterday and they are punctual! There was a woman sitting near (in her 60-70s) and she huffed “we were here before she came in!” At least some places still honor appt before walk ins! That’s the way it should be.
I talked to 3 people about potential job opportunities last Friday. All said they would schedule interviews with me. I haven't heard from any of them. Patience is not one of my virtues.
I set up my digital planner yesterday and I'm liking it! I figured out how to add stickers and everything.
Which digital planner are you using?
I bought a template from Haus of Planner and I'm using it in the Good Notes app.
Post by sunshineandpinot on Jul 18, 2023 9:45:22 GMT -5
It's normal for 14 year olds to be completely self centered and self absorbed, right?? Bc I am really thinking we did something wrong to raise such a narcissistic being.
This is super common. For the European Union, your passport needs to be valid 3 months beyond the date that you will depart. Cyprus is 6 months beyond that date.
And the airline might approve the travel but make sure if she goes through customs in that country, they’ll approve it. I’d just get a new passport though. 😅
eddy - ditto this. It's not that it's a fake expiration date, it's that the other countries want to make sure that if you stay there for awhile, the US is going to let you back in and they won't be stuck with you lol
I understand it isn't a fake date. You just can't depend on the expiration date and assume you are good as my sister did. As in you need to look int othe rules of the country, which my sister didn't do.
I have never traveled close to an expiration date so this was brand new news to me, and well her as well lol.
It is freezing in the office today. Why? I should have brought in a fleece.
My H and I are in a war with the neighborhood critters. We feed the birds, but the squirrels have been really greedy with our suet feeder and we are going through it too quickly, so I bought a higher pole to keep them off. That didn't work (though it caused some spectacular acrobatics!) so we bought a baffle to keep them off. Now we are pretty sure the racoons are taking the baffle down and stealing it anyway. This is all after we replaced our normal feeder with a squirrel proof one AND started feeding the squirrels corn separately in our backyard. I guess we are going to have to take down the feeders overnight. We just want the woodpeckers to visit! But it's become a battle of wills and they are winning.
My dad used to use a bebe gun to shoot at rabbits eating the garden, and my H and I thought he was nuts for doing that. We are starting to understand the urge now, lol. We will NOT do anything to harm them, but they are such cute little assholes!
May I recommend Mark Rober's squirrel olympics videos on you tube? Squirrels are surprisingly smart and athletic. I mean, these won't help you deter the squirrels, but they'll give you a good laugh and possibly give you some insight as to why most conventional squirrel deterrents are ineffective.
Those are hilarious! My kids love his channel and we got his crunch boxes for the summer. They have been well worth the money.
I am truly not one to judge people's COVID precautions, but I am confused by people still wearing cloth masks, especially below their nose. Like do it or don't, but what are you accomplishing here? Have they not read a COVID update since like June 2020? Brought to you by airport people watching.
I can’t fault people too much for cloth masks but the wearing it below your nose boggles my mind!
Post by sunshineandpinot on Jul 18, 2023 10:05:07 GMT -5
ETA- PDQ
I have another random. We just stayed in an AirBNB with two other couples on our annual wine country trip. We always get 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms so no one has to share. Usually there is a nice master and the 2 others are fine. Well, dh and I got the total shaft. We stayed in the guest house which was a dump. The bathroom was horrific, smaller than a cruise ship with little privacy. The rooms were chosen in the dark after we arrived after a day of wine tasting. I honestly don't remember (bc wine) how they were chosen but didn't think it was a big deal bc I figured they were comparable. OMG they were not. I made comments abt the size of the shower and our friends said we could use theirs... but I didn't want to deal with that. But it was bad. Leaky faucet, I couldn't even wash my hair. The morning we were checking out I told them I wanted to see the other rooms. The SHOWERS in the two other bathrooms were bigger than our entire bathroom. Toto toilets with bidets. Beautifully updated. We got the shaft. Whatever. Until we get home. I notice red bites on my torso. Omgggg. They don't itch. I don't know what to do. The friend that booked it left a very nice review. Too nice IMO, or she really should have said the guest house is not equivalent to the reg house. We all paid the same and I'm pissed about it. They knew our bathroom was bad. Should I say anything? Should I ask my friend to let the host know a guest came home with bites? They advertised the guest bath as a full bath. It's a 3/4 and it's just really crappy and guests should know. It's not suitable for 3 couples IMO. Or do I keep my mouth shut and pray these are NOT bug bites and just move on? (I had them once years ago and they itched like crazy. These do not itch.) Signed, I paid too much money for a crappy bathroom and bug bite souvenirs.
ETA- should I just contact the host myself and let her know about the bites? I'm not looking for anything in return, more just thinking I should probably give her an head's up and whatever she wants to do with that info is fine.
May I recommend Mark Rober's squirrel olympics videos on you tube? Squirrels are surprisingly smart and athletic. I mean, these won't help you deter the squirrels, but they'll give you a good laugh and possibly give you some insight as to why most conventional squirrel deterrents are ineffective.
Those are hilarious! My kids love his channel and we got his crunch boxes for the summer. They have been well worth the money.
I can't wait for my friend's kid to be old enough for the crunch boxes! Said kid turns 2 this fall... but in a few years, I know what I'm sending for his birthday.
Or do I keep my mouth shut and pray these are NOT bug bites and just move on? (I had them once years ago and they itched like crazy. These do not itch.) Signed, I paid too much money for a crappy bathroom and bug bite souvenirs.
ETA- should I just contact the host myself and let her know about the bites? I'm not looking for anything in return, more just thinking I should probably give her an head's up and whatever she wants to do with that info is fine.
I would have 100% expected your friend to call those items out in the review - or if not the public one at least specifically back to the host. that's key info that it was advertised incorrectly.
I go back and forth on asking your friends for compensation - hopefully they would have realized the discrepancy and offered up a discount to you. But do you do these trips often? do they all come out in the end? I'd be pissed as well.
Post by definitelyO on Jul 18, 2023 10:51:54 GMT -5
I scheduled an uber to take my niece to the airport at 3am (YAWN). All went well - but I didn't realize that Uber charges a Reservation fee of 30% PLUS a Booking fee of 25% of the trip fare....
Trip fare = $36 - all in before tip charge = $62. Just a heads up for next time I suppose - but okay - worth it for 3am.
I am putting this out there as a PSA in case other people did know this. tldr- the expiration date on your passport is not a hard and fast rule. Update your passport 6 months out if you think you will be traveling internationally.
My sis is going to Fiji with her family this weekend. She woke up a night ago in the middle of the night with an email from the Fiji airline and in the email it said you can't travel if your passport is going to expire in 6 months. Well her passport expires in 5 months. Cue freaking the fuck out which is very unlike my sister. She was told to contact the airline and they did approve her to travel. but in the meantime she had booked a emergency passport renewel appointment in Texas and she lives in California. It was a lot of drama in a 4 hour period.
So learn a lesson. Renew your passport with plenty of time. Don't trust the expiration date. It is like a fake expiration date according to some countries lol.
I just saw a post on facebook - friends are leaving for Aruba this morning and their teen's passport expires in a month and they won't let him board. They are frantically trying to find an appointment for him to get a new passport. We don't travel much so I never knew about the 6 month expiration date issue until someone on here posted about it.
H tested positive for covid last night so he got to join me in the covid rooms. Now we wait to see if DS(7) will as well. We're masking up in the house except our bedroom & bathroom.
I have never been this tired in my life. I feel like I could sleep forever and still be exhausted.
Post by Patsy Baloney on Jul 18, 2023 11:06:09 GMT -5
Another random - Im feeling very, “I fought the law, and I won” today.
My oldest and her cousin go to GS camp together every year for a week in the summer. This past week, they went to a water camp where they were supposed to be out in a lake in some kind of floating vessel every day, weather permitting.
They reported they didn’t do anything on the lake. They just swam in a pool and did crafts (much to my disdain as a 100% kid craft hater)
I complained and asked for a refund. And got it! They also offered them a free week of camp from the remaining weeks left. We declined, because scheduling wouldn’t work and why would we send them again when they had such a bad experience the first time?
It does make me sad because my daughter ages out after this year, so this was their last year to be campers together. But I’m glad we got money back - too damned expensive for pool time and popsicle sticks!
sunshineandpinot I would probably just say to friends, “I’m calling it now—dibs on the best room next year after this year’s nightmare bathroom and bug bites!” That way you don’t have the uncomfortable money conversation and come out equal next year when you have the best.
I had the worst experience at the dentist yesterday. My lower teeth just do not get numb. My entire mouth can be so numb that I’m in danger of swallowing my tongue, but I can feel every damn thing in my teeth. Let’s just say that getting my cavity filled was agony. The dentist tried multiple novocaine shots in multiple places and nothing worked. Finally I was like, just do it, I need to get out of here. OMG. I may never go back.
Fortunately the night made up for it with an amazing birthday dinner with my daycare mom friends. We all have July birthdays and we went for a nice dinner and champagne flights. Then the server brought us a free glass of champagne each on top of those, free desserts and a ton of free truffles. We felt very spoiled!
sunshineandpinot I would probably just say to friends, “I’m calling it now—dibs on the best room next year after this year’s nightmare bathroom and bug bites!” That way you don’t have the uncomfortable money conversation and come out equal next year when you have the best.
Personally I think this is the best way to handle it. I think it’s be pretty unfair to ask your friends to give you money because you got the worst room when by your own post you don’t recall how rooms were chosen and it doesn’t seem like anyone realized the room was shitty. I’m not sure what the best solution would have been once you all realized that - I don’t think rotating rooms was the way to go and they did offer to let you use their bathrooms. I’m not sure what else they could have done there.
sunshineandpinot I would probably just say to friends, “I’m calling it now—dibs on the best room next year after this year’s nightmare bathroom and bug bites!” That way you don’t have the uncomfortable money conversation and come out equal next year when you have the best.
This is my plan!!!!
I do not expect compensation at all. In hindsight, had it been flipped I like to think I might have treated them to a meal as a thanks for "taking one for the team." Someone had to stay in the guest house. But yes, we're getting best room next trip.
I am putting this out there as a PSA in case other people did know this. tldr- the expiration date on your passport is not a hard and fast rule. Update your passport 6 months out if you think you will be traveling internationally.
My sis is going to Fiji with her family this weekend. She woke up a night ago in the middle of the night with an email from the Fiji airline and in the email it said you can't travel if your passport is going to expire in 6 months. Well her passport expires in 5 months. Cue freaking the fuck out which is very unlike my sister. She was told to contact the airline and they did approve her to travel. but in the meantime she had booked a emergency passport renewel appointment in Texas and she lives in California. It was a lot of drama in a 4 hour period.
So learn a lesson. Renew your passport with plenty of time. Don't trust the expiration date. It is like a fake expiration date according to some countries lol.
This is the law in many countries (passports have to be good a certain time period -- usually 3-6 months) after travel. It's country-specific too so you always have to check.
"Hello babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. On the outside, babies, you've got a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies-"God damn it, you've got to be kind.”
Today is the 2nd anniversary of my brother's death.
I took today off to spend with my family. My mom and I went to what was supposed to be an 8AM mass this morning. The priest overslept and didn't arrive until about 8:15. My mom leans over and goes "I guess L (my brother) let the priest sleep in a bit this AM". I snorted.
I honestly thought the passport thing was well known. It comes up a lot in any travel group I'm in.
I do remember way back in May 2001, my mom and her friend traveled to England. When the fried arrived customs was like "oh by the way, your passport is expired, can you take care of that while you're here at the embassy." Totally NBD pre-9/11, etc.
Another random - Im feeling very, “I fought the law, and I won” today.
My oldest and her cousin go to GS camp together every year for a week in the summer. This past week, they went to a water camp where they were supposed to be out in a lake in some kind of floating vessel every day, weather permitting.
They reported they didn’t do anything on the lake. They just swam in a pool and did crafts (much to my disdain as a 100% kid craft hater)
I complained and asked for a refund. And got it! They also offered them a free week of camp from the remaining weeks left. We declined, because scheduling wouldn’t work and why would we send them again when they had such a bad experience the first time?
It does make me sad because my daughter ages out after this year, so this was their last year to be campers together. But I’m glad we got money back - too damned expensive for pool time and popsicle sticks!
Did they give you a reason for no lake time (just because I'm curious)? So weird to advertise it one way and then it never happened.
Speaking of not honoring appointment times, I had a 10:30 appointment and finally saw the dermatologist at 11:25. Needless to say, she did not have time to do a full check today! I didn't assume there'd be time, so NBD on that front, but I'm pretty annoyed by the wait. I don't really want to go back, but she was hesitant to do anything about the concerning spot, so now I have to use Vaseline and bandaids for two weeks and go for a follow-up. Unless that's a stellar appointment, I'll find someone new after getting an answer on this one spot.
Thank you again for the good wishes and the info about the appointment. I don't have dental appointment anxiety, but medical appointment requiring various states of undress definitely get me all worked up.
My appointment was completely fine. Zero change to my gums in a year. So I’ve been obsessing over this for months for no reason. I’m such a weirdo.
Another annoyance- H has a high deductible health plan and an HSA, and I am not on his insurance bc I have my own, but I’ve used the HSA for various expenses in the past. I paid for all my Invisalign with it 2 years ago. Just tried to use the card at the periodontist and it was declined. No idea why that would be. It doesn’t expire until 2024. It was also declined in May when I tried to buy glasses on Zenni but I thought maybe that was a fluke. I asked him to look into it since it isn’t my damn HSA so we know how that will go, I’ll have to keep bugging him about it until that gets done.