cdneh
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Posts posted by cdneh
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Survived the road trip from AR to BC. Left August 11, made it back September 8th. I knew it was a long way, but man, it's a long way. I was not robbed, or carjacked, or murdered along the way, as some thought that would be the most likely outcome.
Learned some things. There really are only two seasons in this country: winter and roadworks. Yikes, the further West I went the worse it was. So my scheme of not driving any longer than five hours a day, to keep my back from screaming at me, was laid waste, cruising along at the blinding speed of 25 mph. Seemed peculiar to be driving in one coned off lane of I-90 East whilst travelling West. My GPS kept blaring at me that I was travelling the wrong way on a one way street and I had better make a U-turn. After driving ten miles in that manner.
Ahhh, my brand new GPS lies. Well, that's a bit harsh, but it is a trap for young players. Old ones too. Unless I selected the New Route, which wasn't always offered as an option, it did its level best to make me repeat what I had already done. Which is how I came to find myself driving over the Tacoma Narrows bridge away from Gig Harbor when that wasn't my intention. I ended up miles from where I was heading, in some sort of industrial area. I don't drive after dark, which complicated things; every pair of headlights coming my direction were surrounded my rainbow halos. An 8 min trip to my hotel from where I'd been visiting took an hour and a half.
No problem at the border, in either direction. Once I was in Canada, I had to work out what km's per hour equated to in mph. There are a lot of one way streets there, and the 'all way stops' appear to be a mere suggestion for many drivers.
GPS kept announcing my son's address was not found. There are six 3 story buildings in the complex, or there were. The one with that address attached to it has been pulled down, and they are erecting a 34 story tower in place of it. He had to come out and flag me down, entrances are closed and parking has been cut in half. Meh.
I came in for a fair bit of honking, rude gestures, and verbal abuse. Not from my driving, as it happens. My son pointed out that people yelling Yankee Go Home was more likely down to my US license plate. Sheesh, people, grow up. Canadian are such friendly people
Couple things I decided on. If I couldn't see the actual gas station or offered restaurant option from the highway, not to get off. I had several tours of lovely leafy suburbs that led to neither. Get gas before you need it, keep the top half of the tank full. There are some astonishingly long stretches of highway where there is absolutely nothing at all.
Swearing at your GPS has no effect whatsoever.
Am I glad to be back? No. I am glad to be off the road.
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Tbone, I am exhausted simply reading this. It does affirm my decision years ago, to take every last article of my late husband's belonging to the hospice shop, to Habitat Restore, and to the local Vets association. All of it. One carload at a time. It's amazing what you can fit into the boot of a Toyota Matrix with the rear seats folded flat
- TBoneTX, Ban Hammer and Asia
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It's a wonder I even found this thread. Apparently it's been a very long time since I was here. No point in trying to catch up, but I can let you know where I am at.
I only hope someone remembers me, although I can't say I'd be surprised if not.
And I am still here, right where I was the last time I posted.VA appeal went from the Board of veterans appeals, to the Court of veterans appeals. The board agreed they messed up, and the case was sent back down to the board early this spring for a new decision. Back to standing in what seems to be a never ending queue.Been an interesting year, kinda sorta. DX'd last year with wet macular degeneration, so I get injections in my eye on average about every month and a half. Woke up the last week of January in a ridiculous amount of back pain. Couldn't think of a single thing I'd done to earn it, either. After a couple of weeks of waiting it out, gave in and saw the Doc. Had xrays, an MRI. I didn't have to do anything to earn it, other than getting older. I have a compression fracture and a couple of bulging discs. And osteoporosis. Can't get into a specialist for that until December. The referral to PT was sent, but never arrived, so didn't do the time allotted until June. I really don't think it made a blind bit of difference.Lost my little dog in May. She had a lot going on; Cushings, tracheal collapse, cognitive disorder, and others. We managed pretty well with meds, until she couldn't figure out the couple of steps at the back door, or the ramps I put in for her, where dinner was. Paced and wandered all night, just like people do when the sun goes down. Didn't seem to know me sometimes, just seemed to lose interest in everything. So, in spite of knowing I would miss her greatly here on my own, I made the decision to do the right thing by her, and call it a day. A month short of seventeen she was. I saved a couple of her things, and the rest went to a local animal shelter.So, I am free as a bird. I have been away on a couple of short weekend trips. Next month I am hitting the road for a month. Driving to Vancouver BC to visit with my son. Have a poke around here and there. In October, I am off to London. There is a little group I went to Uni with still among the quick(ish), so we will have a small 50th reunion. I want to see the commemorative poppy display at the Tower of London before it ends in November. I am working under the assumption that I'd better do things whilst I am able.After that, it's anyone's guess
- Ban Hammer, Asia, mam521 and 1 other
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I remember you
Simplest part of the entire immigration process. All the best!
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Glad that cleared up in time!
Not been very cold the last few weeks. I had frozen pipes Christmas week, and a break where the water comes into the house on Christmas day. The preacher over the road shut the water off at the street for me. He came back the next day and made repairs. Wouldn't even let me pay for the parts. Turns out the heat tape on the pipes was dead. The indicator light was on, but nothing else.
So I spent most of yesterday afternoon out there under the house putting on new tape. So far, so good!
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No dangerous storms here, but we are under a winter storm warning. Rained all morning, and now it is snowing quite a bit, for here at least. Hope your nasty weather clears soon!
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Herself and I are camping at the moment. Pipes froze yesterday afternoon, in spite of my best efforts to avoid it. Meant to warm up to at least freezing by Saturday, so I intend to wait it out. Too cold to go out there and fiddle with it. I took all the precautionary measures, and have had all new pipes installed last year, and insulated them, but still. Was minus twenty when I went to be last night, and the present feels like is minus six. So...yah nah. Happens every year here in a cold snap, and I always have plenty of bottled water. It was five years ago on Wednesday that we landed up here, and had frozen pipes for New Years
Happy Christmas !🌲.
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8 minutes ago, Chancy said:
Maybe the lawyer won't get paid if your friend realizes he can actually mail the package himself?
He is only creating a delay. He is just one of those people who won't listen. As far as I am aware, they still go to the lockbox. Not to a foreign country. Sheesh.
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7 minutes ago, Chancy said:
Are they Ukrainian? If not, your friend is severely misguided if he thinks the petition will be approved in 6 months. Tell him to expect the K1/K2 visas in late 2024, if he's lucky.
No, they aren't Ukrainian. Can't tell a dill pickle nothing. I am more concerned that he is taking this packet overseas, instead of sending it off. I don't understand why his paralegal here, and his lawyer there, are both thinking this is the way it's done.
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18 minutes ago, Chancy said:
Which petition? I-129F for K1? Or is he going to get married on this visit, then file the I-130 for his wife-to-be's CR1/IR1?
If I-129F, believing that it will be approved in around 6 months is delusional. Current estimate is around 15 months, just for the petition stage, excluding wait time for consulate interview.
If I-130, 6 months for petition approval is possible, though very optimistic. 12 months would be more realistic. But who knows, your friend could get lucky.
It is a K1, and three K2's.
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I hope someone here can tell me if I've lost my ever loving grip. A friend of mine has just told me, he has received his "package' from his paralegal. He is off overseas in two weeks to visit the future wife, and says he is going to hand deliver this to his Immigration attorney in her country?
"This is the petition we are going to file with USCIS for the Visa for her to come to America. After it is filed it will be approximately 6 months for them to approve it and turn it over to the US Embassy to grant us an interview"
That seems a short time, presently. And why would he not sent the blessed thing to the Dallas Lockbox? I've been out of the loop but this seems bizarre to me?
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27 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:
No relief at night is crazy. I would go out at 6 am and be hit with the heat and all that muckiness. Yuk
It's like walking into a wet sweater. Man I can't wait for fall. I let Herself out one night about midnight last week, and it was as warm as midday. Muggy. I hate muggy
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42 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:
Yes the last two days have been great. We lost a hen on Saturday with the heat she just couldn't take it. I have 2 fans out there and we even bring them frozen treats.
Poor little hen. It's been brutal. Herself and I stay indoors until early evening, and then whip out and do what we can. It's even been hot and humid at night 😕
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47 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:
I won't take the kids to those tea places either. They will need to get their DL and own car before they ever set foot in one.
Never heard of those. Must google
Cool-ish today. Mowed entire yard in one go for a change. Back out to weed the flower beds. The heat will be back in a day or two so taking full advantage. Going to be in the 50's tonight!
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Hot. Hot as the doorknob to Hades here. Herself and I do a bit of work about the yard, early, and then hide inside all day until evening. I am putting in a new garden where there wasn't one before, and between the rocks and the big roots I am finding it has been slow going. Been a heat advisory every day this week, so by eleven o'clock it is miserable out.
I meant to get all this nonsense done in the spring, and I was well on track. Then in the last week of April I went down with the flu for three weeks. So...playing catch up now. At the rate I am going it will be weeks before I get finished.
Himself would not recognize the area around here today. Farm next door was sold at auction, and nothing at all is going on over there at the moment. One of the prospective buyers wanted it so he could knock everything down and put up a lot of apartment buildings. Thank goodness he didn't get it. Some Taiwanese consortium is meant to own it now, but so far they haven't done a thing with the property. New McMansion gone up over the road, huge thing with a three car garage that looks pretty odd way out here. Preacher's house has a new extension, and he has painted the entire house barn red. As it is already barn shaped it looks pretty peculiar. He bought up all the land around my quarter acre, and I found him digging right outside my fence a couple of weeks ago looking for the survey markers. He's going to fence the entire fifteen acres, and put cows on it. I dunno what Herself is going to think with cows grazing right around her. 🐄 😄
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11 hours ago, TBoneTX said:
We need some advice in somewhat of a hurry, solicit we man.
Earlier, we let Ex-Mrs.-T-B. know that we wanted to cook din-din for Mama-Ex-Mrs.-T-B., Papa-Ex-Mrs.-T-B. (the ex-in-laws -- the Outlaws?), and Cousin Mini-B. (who will interpret) one night during their visit, feed we they man. That night will be Saturday, si man.
Jeeves and Smedley, our chauffeurs/butlers, are off that night, great planning man.
The rubias are useless for anything like this, don't even think about it man.
We have never cooked anything except for ourself and Mini-B., limited we man.
Accordingly, we need advice from Those Who Have Experience, solicit we man.
The planned menu is nuked-in-bag mixed vegetables, nuked Costco salmon slabs, nuked rice, and either peanut butter or apple pie, this last to be procured Saturday morn from FST (favorite small town) man.
The microwave is about a Manyzen-and-a-half hazardous steps from the din-din table, geography man.
We can remove some of the obstructions from the floor, think we man.
The miu-toys should be on the other side of the room, calculate we man.
However, our serving (carrying) tray is big enough for only one din-din plate at a time,
man.
It is dangerous for an inexperienced server to navigate a "bachelor floor" while carrying two din-din plates, egad man.
The challenge will be to nuke everything and serve everyone in timely fashion and so that no one's plate gets cold while the others are prepped, egad man.
We can serve the nuked vegetables as a separate appetizer, no problem there man.
We can serve the pie as a separate dessert, no problem there man.
Two salmon slabs will take about Many or Many-&-a-half (2+1 or [2+1] + half) minutes to nuke, calculate we man.
Two nukings of two slabs each will be necessary, calculate we man.
The little tubs of Basmati rice take about a minute-&-a-half each to nuke, experienced we man.
Each tub serves two as a side dish, two tubs total man.
We can certainly nuke both tubs simultaneously, calculate we man.
Optimally, we would like for the salmon and rice to be served concurrently, optimal we man.
We are having trouble envisioning the timing of the prep and the serving, struggle we man.
We could nuke two salmons, transfer them to din-din plates, then nuke the rice, then add the rice to the din-din plates alongside the salmon, and rewarm each for half a minute, perhaps man.
We could then serve two plates (to the Outlaws) while we prep our plate & Cousin Mini-B.'s, think we man.
However, when the Outlaws wait for everyone to be served, theirs would get cold, not good man.
This is much like the quandary of having to carry the fox, the chicken, and the bag of grain across the river one at a time without having anyone eat or be eaten, headache man.
And, before anyone asks, the stovetop is Otherwise Occupied and we have no idea how to use the regular oven, si and no man.
Advice from Those Who Are Experienced, solicit we man.
We had an oven breakdown on , I think it was thanksgiving, some time ago. All I can tell you is what I did.
I heated the the thing that took the longest first. Covered the container with a lid to keep the heat in. Next thing, same deal. Once everything was heated, I put it all into separate serving bowls. All that had to go to the table then was four bowls, one trip. Everything else was already on the table.
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On 5/11/2022 at 11:27 PM, TBoneTX said:
You really had a doozy, si and sigh Eh ma'am.
Good grief, Eh ma'am! Have you been all alone during this, or has anyone been stopping in to help you, huh ma'am?
On my own. 😕
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Tough one, T-Bone. I don't know how the heck you could motivate him to look after himself when he simply won't. Anytime the last few years I had to take Himself away for medical appointments, we had to hire someone to stay with the MIL. Come to find out they didn't anymore than turn up a the house when she would fire them. Even after I'd made it perfectly clear that I was paying them, that she might argue and complain and be nasty, she couldn't fire them. Made no difference in the end, off they went. And no, I did not pay them. Her doctor did try to arrange for respite care for me, but she refused. Very much like a petulant child, really, "you can't make me"!
I'm up today for the first time in two weeks. I have been flat on my back with the flu and I do mean flat. Couldn't even keep water down. Meals certainly do look peculiar when your choices limit you to what doesn't make you want to yark on sight.
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22 hours ago, Scottish Mernymph said:
*walks into the forum like I'm walking onto a yacht
Hai everybody peepsies, anybody miss me? Sbin a time rightly nuffs....
Working two jobs has been keeping me busy & mostly out of trouble....mostly....other than that I'm still going through the kaleidroscopic rollercoaster of grief & all it's wonders....I keep trying to make my life not suck......hmneh.....I try to convince myself it doesn't....but it does, it sucks, it sucks great big donkey bawz & I hate it, no matter what I do.....but here I am, I just keep on going....I'm doing all the 'things'....I work, I eat, I meet up with friends, I even sleep(sometimes)....my work helps me connect with people & give them care & compassion(I'm working as a massage therapist during the day & I'm a CNA in a carehome-dementia unit on nightshift)......but truly I'm lonely as hell on a pogo stick, I miss my husband like crazy......
.....well this IS the rant thread ain't it?!!
Anyhoos, hope everyone here is doing well, thanks for this space to moan.It does suck. Right, left, and center. 💗
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13 minutes ago, Jorgedig said:
J-D seeks news of interesting weather nationwide. It is 46f and boring here.
I've got a quarter of an inch of freezing rain with a few inches of snow on top of that I'd be happy to pass on
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On 1/19/2022 at 6:05 PM, SteveInBostonI130 said:
I think NZ has a registry system for booking quarantine accomodations in advance. No one, even NZ citizens, can travel back without that booking confirmation. Apparently it's a long waiting list.
There is a long wait. In fact there are no spots in MIQ at the moment. You cannot book a stay for the mandatory length of time at all.
The borders are closed, have been since March 2020, except for a brief time or two when trans Tasman travel was allowed, between NZ and AU . They did open MIQ for booking for a time, but the latest release of rooms was canceled. Kiwis are stranded all over unable to get back home. People with ill children, parents funerals, the lot.
https://www.miq.govt.nz/about/news/20-january-room-release-postponed/
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Just popping in to wish everyone a happy New Year. Herself and I have come to Heber Springs until Monday. We are right on the Little Red River. She has been busy giving the ducks and geese what for. And the motor boats and fisher folk going up and down. This place is huge. Our house would fit in here four times with room to spare. She keeps losing me
It has got a dog enclosure with an igloo dog house, but other that that, it is not fenced. So, that would account for my wandering about at 03:30 in my parka and gumboots.
There has to be one flaw in the plan of course. Severe weather ahead, and no fraidy hole here. Scoped out a closet that will have to do.
Cheers!
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Let Sleeping Dogs Rant
in Off Topic
Posted
I had a look through the footage from my dash cam. Which unbeknownst to me, was also recording audio. It was....colorful