TBoneTX

Hoo, boy! I was on the very southern edge of this and was watching the news. For about 45 minutes, it was as black as night (before sundown) and it monsooned like an illegitimate male child. Didn't lose power, thankfully. Was watching the news station below when a reporter on the road got caught in 100% gridlock on a major freeway -- 4 main lanes and both feeder lanes in BOTH directions completely halted. He and the weatherman were kept on overtime way past the usual half-hour news. It turned out that straight-line winds had knocked over transmission towers, and live electrical wires were running across all freeway lanes. Watched emergency & utility personnel cut the deadened wires with equipment much like the "jaws of life" and drag the wires off the freeway. Absolutely gripping. That station's news director knew not to mess with success. Downtown Houston looks like a war zone, and parts north got completely hosed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 'We're in recovery mode': Storm kills 4, Houston mayor asks Houstonians to stay home HOUSTON – The severe storms that slammed into Houston Thursday afternoon and evening killed four people, blew windows out of downtown high rises, caused widespread damage and shut power off to nearly 900,000 customers. Mayor John Whitmire confirmed four people were killed and asked Houstonians to stay home tonight and "if you're not an essential worker, don't go to work tomorrow." The mayor said the city is reaching out to the private sector and asking companies to let people stay home from work Friday so they can be off the streets and be home with their kids. [...] https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2024/05/17/deadly-houston-storms-kill-4-causing-widespread-damage-900k-power-outages-and-flash-flooding/

Georgia homeowners share horror stories of HOAs abusing power with excessive fees — here's what is going on Homeowners associations (HOAs) have come under fire in Georgia for abusing homeowners with excessive fees and foreclosures. "None of it makes any sense," said Karyn Gibbons, who received a foreclosure notice from her HOA in Gwinnett County, for allegedly skipping her monthly dues. [...] https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/georgia-homeowners-share-horror-stories-095900191.html

McDonald's $5 menu is out – and people are not happy McDonald's customers in the United States are not happy with the catch that has come with the anticipated $5 Meal Deal that the fast food chain is launching to lure customers back to stores amid an inflation-driven, cost-of-living crisis. The menu for the newly announced promotion is rumoured to include, according to CNBC, four items for $5 – a McChicken or McDouble, four-piece chicken nuggets, fries and a drink – however, there is a catch. The $5 meal deal will be running from 25 June, but the offer will only last around one month, according to a source familiar with the offer telling the outlet. [...] https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/mcdonald-5-menu-people-not-164106530.html

A good move, huh? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Reynolds signs law to require 'Western civilization' be emphasized in social studies class Iowa will be required to include specific topics and themes in its social studies curriculum under a new law signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds Wednesday. The state's social studies standards would be required to include instruction on government, civics and "exemplary figures and important events in Western civilization, the United States and the state of Iowa." It also requires teaching on "the crimes against humanity that have occurred under communist regimes since 1917," in addition to World War II and the Holocaust, the American Revolution and other historical events. [...] https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/politics/2024/05/15/reynolds-signs-law-to-require-western-civilization-emphasis-iowa-social-studies-classes/73704514007/

Seems to make sense. Comments? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Where's the beef? New Iowa labeling law sticks a fork in 'meatless' alternatives Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law Wednesday requiring specific labels for lab-grown and plant-based meat and egg alternatives. The products, which include popular brands like Impossible Burgers and Beyond Burgers, are required under the law to include qualifying phrases like "meatless" or "imitation" on packaging if they're sold at Iowa stores. Senate File 2391, dubbed the "meat integrity act" by its backers, Republican lawmakers have touted it as a way to protect Iowa-based products from what they say is unfair competition, while increasing transparency for consumers. [...] https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/politics/2024/05/15/kim-reynolds-signs-iowa-labeling-law-cracking-down-on-lab-grown-plant-based-meat/73702346007/

Interesting. Comments about the choices? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Iowans can get an Ivy League experience closer to home, according to Forbes' New Ivies list Iowa high schoolers determining where to apply for college may want to know that there are Ivy League-level schools closer to home. That's according to Forbes, which published a list of new public and private schools in America that the media company deemed the new Ivy League schools based on admission rates, standardized test scores and more. The New Ivies are schools that have the high-caliber graduates employers want, Forbes described. [...] https://www.press-citizen.com/story/news/education/2024/05/16/forbes-new-ivy-league-schools-includes-5-universities-near-iowa/73712741007/

"If it bleeds, it leads"? Well, you're right about that, even if someone litterit has again hijacked your account. (NB's account hijacked! Reported!!!)

Photos or it didn't happen.

A post has been split from this thread and moved to the Work Visas forum.

The above was split from another topic in the Canada regional forum and has been moved to the Work Visas forum, to be among similar threads.

Related threads are merged.

Be sure to report on how things go. All the best to you.

Thrilling Thursday report, see man: Mini-B. feeling loads better and sent off to skool, big relief man. Lunch was 2 ham sandwiches, indict them and ingest we man. An attempted siesta was interrupted by incoming texts, man. Got e-mail from Mini-B.'s Science teechur, capable she man. Title was "Academic Dishonesty," man. Mini-B. was caught talking to someone else also taking makeup test, uh-oh man. Teechur said she'd void his current test grade and allow a retake for a maximum score of Many, man. Mini-B. felt OK after skool and hadn't coughed after Period 2, great sign man. We mildly greased the skids on ride to casa, then asked about Science, listen hard we man. Mini-B. said, see man: "I was taking the test with my friend, who's not very smart in the class, si and no man. I was afraid that she'd fail Science and have to take Summer Skool and not get to spend time with her friends, so I wanted to help her, si man." We reiterated what teechur had said about helping during assessments, si man. Mini-B. concurred and promised no repeat, si and no man. We wrote the teechur back, si man. We explained our conversation and said that if there's a silver lining, it's that we and ex-Mrs.-T-B. have raised a caring boy with a good heart, si man. We thanked the teechur for giving him a second shot at the test, si man. Din-din was sliced ham, air-fried tater tots, & canned Great Northern beans, ingest Two Guys man. It then began to monsoon and storm like an illegitimate male child, wow man. We were outside the bottom edge of the crisis zones, no tornadoes man. Other areas got more than hammered and indeed completely hosed, worry about mam ma'am we man. It lasted under an hour with no power-outage for us, si and no man. We watched a gripping news story about a major freeway shut down by fallen power lines, wow man. Mini-B. belatedly requested a movie night, try to accommodate wee man we man. Watched Many (2+1) Young Sheldon episodes, watch Two Guys man. Many (2+2) bowls of Costco popcorn were consumed, ingest Two Guys man. This makes Many (2x2x2x2 -1) for the week, quite commendable man. Toward bedtime, Mini-B. began coughing again, medicine wore off man. We gave him his antibiotic and a HSM cough pill, medicate we man wee man man. Mini-B. commented about their objectively huge sizes but ingested both anyway, good for wee man man. This new skill definitely opens up new vistas in medical therapy, pleased we man. We have itineraried a GS and Many (2+2) ESs for Friday, itinerary we man. We shall separately pick up our ES auction winnings, separate we man. No party with the rubias tonight, waiting for Asia* to supply us with more man. *our favorite Polish Commie-babe**, oj tak **Absent Asia! Absent, ABSENT Asia!

An image containing personal information has been removed at the poster's request.

Asia, our favorite Polish Commie-babe, is in the house, oj tak! Silent Asia! Silent, SILENT Asia!

Who or what is blasphemous -- its inclusion on the list? Its existence? The lack of misspellings in your post?

Happy 29th birthday, si LL ma'am! See above, see LL ma'am. Report on birthday activities and bestowed gifts now, si LL ma'am!

Thrilling Wednesday report, see man: Kept Mini-B. out of skool for a Many'rd day, cough wee man man. Called doc to get ghastly liquid converted to pills, responsive MD man man. Nicaraguan maid and amiga came as scheduled, si man. Just enough time for us to clear table, counter, & floor so they could work, clutter man. They did very nicely, si man. Miu closely observed all proceedings, entranced or bored or wary miu man. Lunch for us was leftover Chinese donated Tuesday by ex-Mrs.-T-B., ingest we man. Lunch for Mini-B. was 2 PB&J sandwiches, ingest wee man. Miu lobbied hard for miu-treats and even dragged treat-bag over to food bowl, rather obvious miu man. We tried to siesta thereafter, desperately need zzz we man. Of course, a text and a phone call hosed said siesta, man. Miu came in miuing but did not drop a feather-roller, what got into miu man. Ex-Mrs.-T-B. came over to spend time with Mini-B., see ex-she man wee man man. Of course, she dozed off in her chair, typical of ex-she man man. Then we all threw Nerf football around room and insulted each other's capabilities, si man. We got Mini-B.'s pills and gave him one, determined wee man. Mini-B. did it, like a Swallow in Capistrano man. It was a big honkin' size, too, antibiotic man. This opens up new vistas of pharmaceutical therapy, whee man. Din-din was beef kabobs and potato skins, ingest Two Guys man. Movie night was Airplane!, not seen by us for Many Manycades man. Mini-B. enjoyed it, too, retroactive to his usual tastes man. Many (2+2) bowls of Costco popcorn were consumed, ingest Two Guys man. This tallies to Many (2x2x2 +2+1) already, week only half-over man. Mini-B. took another big honkin' pill before bed, intrepid wee man man. We also gave him an almost-as-big honkin' cough pill, also taken by wee man man. We will hose this cough by every medicinal method, state we man. We learned that WCG, recently married with recently filed I-1Many0, got her pregnant, due in Manycember man. He has no idea what's coming, no man. The baby will almost certainly be born in England, CRBA man. Party with the rubias imminent, cavort we man.

Gracias, D ma'am. Gracias, Y ma'am. Well, this stuff is a ghastly orange, the consistency of oozing slime, si and sigh Y ma'am. The children's cough syrups are flavored as berry, grape, or bubble gum, si Y ma'am. Even the cheap knockoffs of those are ghastly, sigh man.

Reactions to this? I don't quibble with it too much. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The worst fast food restaurants in America [...] The ACSI survey, published in June 2023, polled 16,250 random customers across the U.S. to find out which fast food restaurants were the king of the industry, and which sat firmly at the bottom. The survey tracked satisfaction with fast food restaurants from April 2022 to March 2023 and asked respondents to rank chains based on a variety of factors. This includes the accuracy of their food order, the quality and reliability of the chain's mobile app, the quality of the food and food options, the cleanliness of the restaurant's dining room and more. The restaurants were then given an overall satisfaction rating between 1 and 100. [...] https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/worst-fast-food-restaurants-america-202900801.html

A more complete list is here. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Nearly 100 Red Lobsters marked 'closed' on restaurant site: See the full list Red Lobster locations across the country started closing abruptly Monday, surprising residents and, at least in one case, a city official. As of Tuesday, 90 locations in 27 states were listed as "closed" on the restaurant's website. [...] https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/nearly-100-red-lobsters-marked-231058621.html

Good to have you back here, LL ma'am!

Funny to everyone but him!

The good RLs were very good, and the bad ones were disappointing. This might be another case of "they made their bed, and they must lie in it."

Uh, great explanation as usual, Y ma'am, but this borders on furrin-language material for guys.