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Healthy Living Thread

Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, don't you love inept customer service. That is too bad Etsy is that way. My niece-in-law sells miniature sculpty clay pieces and sold them on Etsy for year and finally got sick of it. She just moved over to her own website. She does an amazing job on her pieces. Wow, that prices on Amazon are so much more. I think their prices have gone up on a lot of things - and even before inflation and shortages.

Counting down those days. Sweet.

Oh no that your computer took so long to update. Is it a Windows based computer? I only ask, because Macs seem to update a lot quicker than Windows. I took a picture for you of both computers and realized - the difference is the background on my new computer is black so the keys are the same size, just look closer together because of lack of contrast. LOL. See picture below.

I am enjoying my new laptop and it worked well for my editing. I am chuckling at the difference in the activity monitor. When I had 8 - it was peaked and often in yellow and red. With this one, it has a tiny little green line across the bottom of the graph.

That's great you have so much inventory. Boo to working on the annual review.

That is always good when an interview runs long and they ask some many questions of you. But I agree, no point getting excited until you've been offered the job and have accepted.

I did some laundry today as well.

I ended up working about 6+ hours today. I was glad to give the new laptop a real world test.

Speaking of poor customer service. That health rejuvenation place (yes sounds like a scam to me) sent Marty two emails. One was an invoice and the other was the lady I left a message with. She said she has no idea how I got her cell phone number but I should call the main number. Which is exactly what I called. When the voice mail picks up, it says to select 1 if it's an emergency and 3 to talk to a member of the staff. I picked 3 and it goes to her voice mail. Then she also said, we don't do anything with insurance so we can't provide a bill with coding information. Their website 100% says we'll submit your bill to your insurance company. I ranted at Marty for a bit that why do we pay so much for insurance and then use some place like this? I kind of feel bad about it, but really that's crap. Then I said - oh well, that is the last I'll say about it. I should talk, my teeth are costing us a pretty sapphire or two.

Since it was cloudy, I ventured out to the park to try for a better picture of that little bridge. Sadly, I had the wrong lens on the camera but got a picture or two I liked.

I'm meeting Marty for supper today. I did get my lifting done for a few days.

Laters,
Curby

The new laptop is the all black background. The screen is a big bigger on the new laptop but overall size is roughly the same.

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I had to reduce the size for this, but here is a new picture of the bridge at our local Botanic Gardens.

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Happy Friday kids!

Curby, that's so interesting that the size of the keys is a visual effect just because of the difference in color! Yes, all my devices are windows. Unfortunately a lot of real estate things like fillable forms don't work well on a mac (or at least they didn't many moons ago when I was first starting out) so I was stuck on windows and never moved off. Does your new laptop have a fan that keeps it cool? It sounds awesomely fast! WTF about not submitting bills to insurance -- is that even legal? Love that pic of the bridge!

Yesterday was busy! I did a bit of work, talked to the HH about a job I don't want now that I know who the manager is (a good friend of mine left the organization because of her), picked up boxes and peanuts from the local place, had a zoom with a big bank (I liked the manager there a lot more than I thought I would, so that's a plus!), and then Liam and I went to a local BBQ place for dinner. I went to bed early... and then woke up in the middle of the night and stared at the ceiling for ages...

Today I've got a call with a HH and then I need to get crackin' on the annual review. Lather, rinse, repeat!

No idea what's going on with my esty store. Last week I came home to eight orders in two days plus more steady sales as the week went on, this week I have had one order since Sunday... ??? Coincidentally the sales stopped as soon as the message popped up about verifying my business info so I wonder if there is some sort of "hold" on showing my items until the item is resolved? I'll likely never know. Ugh.

Better get going, much to do today!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I remembered the minute I was reading your post that you need a windows machine for real estate forms. Maybe that is changed by now. I am a total Mac fan. Marty bought me a Mac because he was running IT at the time and was sick of fixing my computer all the time. I had a pink Sony laptop with Vista - the worst version of Windows EVER - and fire walled myself off our network somehow. So he set my laptop to never do an update. Finally Windows said screw you and started to do 102 updates. After watching it cycle, shut down, start up, etc dozens of times I finally pulled the battery out of it. Yep, that sucker was locked up big time. He finally got everything restored but we went to Denver that weekend and he bought me a Mac. I hated it at first but wouldn't willingly go back now. He decided he liked the Mac so much he eventually moved all of his stuff over to Apple as well.

Yes, this laptop has fans but so far I haven't heard them kick on; I worked about 5 hours straight this morning and had the activity monitor up again and it never showed much above the bottom of the chart. Yay!

I do find it strange a doctor doesn't submit insurance information. I am concerned this place is kind of a scam, but it is apparently recommended in strength training forums. I'll be quiet about it but not thrilled about it.

Glad you found out you don't want to work for that place. It's good to know people! That sounds promising you liked the manager at the bank you had a zoom call with today. Mmm BBQ for dinner.

That sucks you had such a short night. I am yawning now and it's only 8 pm.

I can still see your site, hopefully the orders start rolling in again. Kind of, be careful what you wish for?

I woke up about 4 am and kind of drifted off now and then. I got up about 5:30 and caught a glimpse of a very skinny crescent moon and Venus but by the time I got to the deck - clouds had covered the moon and then quickly blocked out Venus. It was a fabulous sunrise though.

A friend of mine stopped by this afternoon for cards and brought giant cookies. I ate too much sugar and it gave me a gut ache. Bad food day for me. D'oh! I did order a pair of pants one size smaller and two more shirts. Next, I am off to order some of those spiral ring things.

We did have some rain. Finally!

Have a great weekend.
Curby
 
Happy Saturday kids!

Curby, if my laptop downtown tried to do 102 updates it would just explode, haha! I also ordered pants one size smaller for the two suites I just got. The black ones came already, but the grey ones seem to be taking forever. I wonder if I'll ever really get them because they seem to be sold out everywhere and the day they popped up I snagged them, but we'll see. I wore a cute pair of white pants and a new top from Macy's the other night when Liam and I went out to dinner. His comment was "I really like that top... I makes your b00bs look big." I choose to think of it as "it makes your waist look small!" :lol:

Yesterday I spent many many MANY hours clearing out my inbox and my sent messages. It was so frustrating that I had a glass of prosecco at 3:45! But I got it done. Today I am hoping to do some work on the annual review but I also have to clean up the basement family room because Liam's cousin is coming to spend the night and that's where he sleeps, and I want to put up a few listings to hopefully generate a little traffic on my page. The gem and jewelry show is going on here this weekend but I am doing my best to resist!

It's after 9 o'clock here and I'm still lounging around in better. Time to get moving!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I will probably never forget the 102 updates then the sinking feeling I had after pulling out the battery. Then I got to go tell Marty what a dumb sh*t I was. He takes things way more calmly than I do. Lucky for me. Yay for ordering a smaller size pants too. I hope the gray pants show up. LOL that Liam likes how the shirt makes your b00bs look. I like your version of it.

I cleaned out my email boxes too. For some reason, my KR emails don't get removed on our domain and I get a nasty email, I am about over my limit. Of course, I complain to my IT guy and Marty tells me to go clean them out myself.

Did you get the guest room cleaned out? We have two. The front room is fine for guests but good luck getting anything in the closet. It is full of my huge stash of paper products and my Christmas china and glasses. Now, the back guest room was my "where should I put this" collection of things and other than the bed open, the rest is spoken for back there. It was one of my retirement projects, but hey, I'm working again, right?

Did you make progress on the annual review? Did you go to the gem and jewelry show?

I slept in until 7 am. We went out for a late breakfast then. The first place we tried had their dining room closed and was serving breakfast in their coffee shop. There wasn't a table open. Then we ventured on to Village Inn. Our waiter was very lame and even though Marty clearly ordered - 2 orders of bacon and 2 orders of sausage; he got one with his skillet breakfast. The waiter then gets irritated and actually said "well you didn't make that clear." How can I want 2 orders of .... not be clear. Then he ignored Marty's empty glass. When we were leaving the cashier asked how was our food and service. So I told him. We got $5 off. This afternoon we went out to Texas Roadhouse and had way better service and food, but it wasn't a high bar to reach. LOL. Then we picked up a bunch of meat at Sam's Club. Marty often works at the gym until after 9 then can't get anything to eat on the way home. So he plans on grilling a bunch of it tomorrow and then freezing it. Of course, he'll forget to take it out of the freezer, but I'll watch for that.

As we were leaving Texas Roadhouse the huge pickup parked to the right of my car was crooked and close to my car. Yep, the JERK put a door ding on my car. I am so mad. I will call my insurance and see if there is a door ding place here they recommend. I thought of taking pictures of everything - the parking, the obvious missing paint on his door and the different color of white paint on the ding, plus their license plate, but how could I prove they did it.? Grr.

I had a very lovely text from my boss thanking for all I do and she said my work was excellent. She gave me a $2 an hour raise effective for this month and a $500 bonus. What a unexpected and pleasant surprise! I even got the bonus deposited already.

I thought Marty was going to rent Maverick for us to watch, but so far he is watching an old WWII movie. I want popcorn to watch movies but sadly I can't have it yet.

Laters,
Curby #stupiddoordingjerk
 
Happy Sunday kids!

Curby, I got an email that the grey pants shipped, so super happy there! I am beyond jealous you have you own IT guy. The CB was pretty good with technology, but Liam... not to much. No progress on the annual review... but I did get eight listings up! I also resisted the gem and jewelry show, but more on that concept later! WTF on someone giving the Curbymobile a door ding?! I would have been FURIOUS!!!!!!!!!! You got a unexpected raise and a bonus?! DUDE! You're my hero!

My plan yesterday was to throw up a bunch of quick listings, run to the grocery store, clean up the guest room, and get some work done on the annual review before Liam's cousin arrived... and then he came Several Hours Early. ARGH. Liam went to an auction and then came home to take YF to the local water park. He was of course also not home when cousin showed up, so I lost all sorts of time trying to be a good host(ess) and things spiraled downward from there. I did finally make a trip to the store (even though Liam wasn't home yet), got the guest room ready and then even washed up a bunch of dishes/glasses after dinner to take pics of today, but things most definitely did not turn out as planned. Isn't that always the way?! I also have had only one sale this week, as apposed to averaging almost TWO A DAY for the past year and half, and I am 100% convinced it's related to the alleged tax problem with my account. Sigh.

So here's an idea... (note I didn't say a GOOD idea! :lol:)... I was thinking I wanted a marquise diamond in an onyx halo... then I got the thought that maybe I wanted a black diamond in a white pave halo... so I started looking around and the idea morphed to a pear shaped diamond... and then I found a diamond that is like nothing I've ever seen before, and it knocked my socks off! I'll text you a link. I REALLY want to know what you think of it! I'd ask for a video of course, but the show reviews are really good and it's "cheap" in the whole grand scheme of things. I think it's late enough to message you there so when your phone dings in a minutes it's me! :cheeky:

Alright, almost 9 and I better rock and roll!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I will be anxiously waiting to see those videos. Yay new bling! The black and white combos you mentioned sounds pretty cool too. Those chocolate diamonds are quite interesting as well. Let's face it, we like anything that sparkles.

Sweet your gray pants shipped. It is nice having my own IT guy, but he sure gets lippy when I request service. LOL.

Good deal you got some new listings posted. Some things are more important than others.

Trust me, I am furious about my door ding. It's not horrid but it's like a big, black flaw in a diamond. Grr.

You did get a lot accomplished, even if your day didn't go as planned.

I hope Etsy gets your tax problem resolved. That is irritating.

We did end up buying Maverick last night and watched it. It was pretty good. I even made popcorn for us and ate some - against periodontal instructions. I chewed to the right and it worked fine. Ha! I still won't try chips and salsa though.

Marty grilled assorted meats today and got them all cut up and put away for lunches and suppers. He isn't a planner so never knows what he wants to eat. On MWF, he is at the gym until after 9 so then comes home and is starving and fills up on cheese sticks and tortilla chips. I took some assorted selections for lunch today and have some things for lunch and dinner tomorrow. Ha!

I updated a few articles today.

Laters,
Curby
 
Happy Monday kids1

Curby, LOL on your IT guy getting lippy. I'd fire him! :lol: Still no word on my tax problem from Etsy. No surprise there. Be careful with that tooth! Coming home late is hard when it comes to food. I totally understand reaching for the first and easiest thing when you're hungry!

So guess who has a diamond on the way! I showed the two you and I were looking at to Liam and he was like, well your birthday IS next week... so BAM! I went with the tiny little diamond landscape. I keep waffling back and forth over whether it's the sun coming up over the mountain or a tree (if I turn it 45 degrees). I need or order one of those stone holder thingys off of Amazon. And of course I've been googling setting ideas instead of working this morning, LOL.

I better get my act together, I've got a meeting with finance in 20 minutes to work on a government filing due on Wednesday. Ugh!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, yay for a birthday present. The "scenes" in that diamond are pretty cool. I'll be anxious to hear what you think of it and see the end project. Such fun! Some friends of ours used to go out and hunt rocks and crystals. So they had all sorts of cool microscopes to look at them. I will never forget one they showed us with an inclusion inside that looked exactly like a tiny pine tree.

Good luck with your government filing. I had a busy day - worked about seven hours.

I sure hope my broken tooth quits being achy once i get a permanent crown on it.

My lunch and dinner was some of Marty's stash of precooked food. Ha! It was great! I lifted tonight and got this picture of a thin crescent moon. I can tell autumn is coming, I had to come back inside and put on a fleece jacket when I was outside tonight. Nooooooo!

I hate to hear Etsy has such poor customer service for you. It's seems to be common these days.

Laters,
Curby

Crescent moon.jpg
 
Happy Tuesday kids!

Curby, I really like that moon picture! Certain inclusions in gems are just the coolest, aren't they?! There is another stone on that site that has what looked like a bird flying. Neat! How's the tooth today? Still no word from etsy. WTF.

I ordered a couple of fake ring settings to put my little landscape in to get an idea. Honestly I can't believe I haven't done this before! There's a storefront that has a ton of different setting options, including a bunch of CZ halos, for $10-20 each. Totally keeping that in mind for the future!

By the time the sun came up this morning I was already wide awake thinking about this stupid gov't filing. I've got a call with our attorney at 10 and then hopefully the finance lady and I can put this thing to bed. Ugh.

Alright, off to make another giant spreadsheet, LOL.
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, yes certain inclusions are great. I'd love to get a diamond with a little garnet in it. Cool to have a flying bird as in inclusion. Darn Etsy. Our website might be hacked. A captca is popping up that doesn't work and we didn't put it there. I can't even login to the account to see what might be going on. Great. My tooth is about the same - it reminds me it's annoyed occasionally off and on all day. Takes my mind off my right knee that does the same. Let them fight it out!

Wow, that is a great idea to order some fake rings to help decide settings. I have one of those little flexible prong ring holders. It's just a solitaire though.

Darn to wake up so early especially to lie awake thinking about work. I do that far more than I should. I hope the calls went well today.

I was up as the sun was rising and worked until about 5. I ran out to a small farmer's market to get some peaches. Since I was out, I bought myself a kids meal at Wendy's - easy supper.

I had to come check something for work - this is like my old job - and then did dishes and watched some TV. I am trying to knit but mini me 2 is not moving along quickly.

I haven't called anyone yet on my door ding. I need to look in to getting that fixed. That is one inclusion I don't like!

Laters,
Curby
 
Happy Wednesday kids!

Curby, oh no about the potential hacking of the site! Has Marty been able to get in yet? LOL on your tooth and your knee fighting it out. I had a really meh experience at Wendy's a few years ago and never went back. I'd been on this kick of running by McD's for a happy meal on my way home from estate saling on Friday's since I'd get done about 11:30/12:00 and I decided to shake it up a bit and try Wendy's since there was one coming right up on the road. I got a burger and fries... and it was utterly tasteless. This we before covid ha ha, but it just had no flavor whatsoever. I was sorely disappointed and have no plans to go back. I understand completely on the unwanted inclusion on the door -- like a big carbon spot on the table!

Yesterday I was on it from the word GO. I woke up early, only screwed around for a minor amount of time and then went to the office and started working on the big filing, which I had done by about 10:30 but needed the attorney to call me back on one final thing (which didn't happen until after 4 pm -- ARGH) before I could hand it to my assistant to Fed Ex. I also processed all the new hire certs from the thirteen associates the week before (six of the thirteen require further discussion... WTF) and finally called it a day around 7:30 when I left and headed back to The North Estate.

This morning I've got two orders to pack up plus I need to run by the bank and deposit a check because it's too big to do the on-line thing where you take a picture. And this afternoon I'll be zooming with the HR person at a private equity firm for a job that might frankly be too much work... but we'll see.

My little landscape still hasn't shipped yet. ????? The most recent online review of the store said the stone had arrived from overseas in four days. Guess this isn't going to be the case mine. Damn. I've been looking at both bezel settings (which are always my preference) but also prong-set in case I need more exposure for the stone's performance. What do you think of something like this? The stone is 8.1 x 8.2 BTW. https://www.stuller.com/products/bu...dationSource=CategoryBrowse#/mounting-options

That's the excitement going on here today!
 
Hi Kids,

Dee Jay, I don't know if our website was magically fixed or if my IT guy took care of it. I was able to get in there tonight and load up the September newsletter. Can you believe it is September 1st tomorrow? Wow! I had to get my telephony guy to reset our phones too. Good thing I have so many skilled people living with me. Ha Ha. You could call out on our phones, but incoming calls only rang on an old phone, not our cordless phones. Not that I minded. Yes, we still have a real phone.

I totally get why you don't go back to Wendy's. Culver's is my favorite fast food. Happy meals were my standard fair for supper when I was teaching. I'd leave work, go through a drive through and get a happy meal and eat it on the way to school. Perfect portions! There was a Burger King, McDonald's and Wendys on the way to school, so I picked whichever one had the shortest line.

You did accomplish a lot at work yesterday!

Yay for having orders to pack up. That is a good thing the check is too big to do a mobile deposit. How did the zoom call go today?

Did you get a shipping notice on the little landscape? I am so anxious to see your real life images.

I love that ring. It is similar to mine - ha ha - so it's okay with me. It will get lots of light under the stone.

Marty woke me up early and I was glad he did - there was a lovely sunrise going on. Actually, I slept in a bit but his text did wake me up.

I ended up working seven hours. We ran out for a meeting at our credit union, but other than that, I worked. I did have fun this afternoon, I had to go through all of the birthstone articles and update pictures.

Laters,
Curby
 
Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, I've been having a craving for KFC lately. There's one over by the post office but I never think to go there when I'm dropping off packages. Maybe I can talk Liam and the ferals into it on Monday for my birthday. Do I know how to live or what?! :lol: Still no shipping info on my little landscape. WTF. Put the thing in a DHL envelope already!!! I packed up A LOT of glass yesterday. I've gone one small bowl to ship this morning, which is child's play compared to the eleven giant crystal glasses I managed to fit into one box late last night. Remind me... what's your birthstone?

The zoom went well yesterday (at least from my perspective, I guess I'll find out from the head hunter what the HR person thought of ME!) but it's a 100% in the office job and I just don't know... Of course they haven't offered it to me, but if they do I have to do some serious thinking. I also told my boss I wanted a 33% raise yesterday. I tell him this every year... and then I get 5%. Hope springs eternal!

Today's mission, in additional to a zoom with a big bank, is to clean this place up a little. And I need to do my nails because they are a wreck and are starting to break at the ends. I wish there was a way to just do them once and have them last forever! I might also run over and get a pedicure because the last one I got is chipping off already. I think it was the polish. Of course if I were more flexible it wouldn't be such a hassle to paint my own toes... but... !

Alright, off to wordle and quordle and then up up up!
 
Happy Friday kids!

Today is all about listing, listing, listing! I washed up a ton of stuff last night and it's all ready to go. I've got a punch bowl that is about the size of a basketball and weighs a TON! And a slew of other things. I think I'm making real headway in terms of getting stuff out of the house and also in working through some of my inventory. This discipline in trying not to go to any sales or auctions though is killing me, ha ha.

Alright, there's some photographing to be done!

P.S. - no word on my little landscape yet. WTF.
 
Curby!!! Our little landscape has shipped! No DHL # yet but as soon as that pops up I'll be tracking like a mo fo!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, yay our little landscape is on the way. I am so anxious to see it in real life - or pictures anyway.

Mmm KFC - I like their biscuits. And mashed potatoes. Their chicken is good too. I remember we were watching a football game on the weekend during a blizzard and the KFC adds kept coming on - Marty ventured out in a blizzard to go get us a bucket of KFC or whatever the meal bucket is called. We were in seventh heaven for dinner that day. You should definitely get exactly what you want for your birthday dinner. Often, I want to make some chocolate chip cookies (aka as death cookies) because they are my favorite. You'll have a great birthday - chicken and a new landscape diamond. Sweet!

Definitely most of us want to work at home anymore. One of the many fallouts from the lockdowns. I hope you get a 33% raise but you won't be there anyway. How many days until BD? (bonus day). Glad you felt like the zoom call went well. When the director interviewed me at my last job - I was sure I didn't get the job. He asked me 4 questions, one business, one personal, one business and one personal. He cut me off in mid-sentence on my last answer and said "well, I've got all I need to know. thanks for coming in." I thought wow - no way I'm getting hired now. I was wrong. How did the other zoom call go yesterday?

I bet just packing up a bowl versus a bunch of glasses or dishes is a treat. I haven't looked at your sight in a few days, I will be sure and check it out this weekend. You have lots and lots of pages now. Sweet. I hope the heavy punch bowl is purchased by someone close enough to deliver it to their house.

Speaking of deliveries - I am sure the UPS guy HATES Marty now. He ordered hundreds of pounds in weight for the gym. They guy was out front maybe 15 minutes. There were about 10 boxes total, all bent up and ripped partly open. He had to use an upright dolly to get them to our porch and he put them right on the end of the step to our front porch. I didn't know when Marty would be home from the gym, and no way I was carrying them all in the house, so I moved them behind a pillar we have out front. As soon as I was done, I get a text from Marty saying he was between clients so he was coming home to get them. So I moved them back to the end of the porch. I told him that was part of my lifting for the day. He still has 2 bars coming but they are only about 100 pounds each. The other day when I got peaches at the farmer's market, the offered to have someone carry the 10 pound bag I bought to the car. I reassured them, I was fine. My two tops and one pair of pants were delivered at the same time, Marty said my package is what ticked off the UPS guy. The pants are the one size smaller and they fit way better than what I've been wearing. Yay!

I worked pretty late last night. Then watched a few episodes of For All Mankind. This morning I met Marty for breakfast when he was done at the gym for the morning, then went grocery shopping. I worked a little over 3 hours today. I ran several errands including my third quarter payment on my taxes. The tax lady warned me Marty best have a detailed receipt for every expense he has on the gym since they are hiring so many new agents to audit people. She claims she heard they are going after small sole proprietor businesses first. He's not a good records keeper.

I got the Curbymobile washed while I was out, the door ding is still there. Waaah! I need to get someone to look at that.

I made us tacos for lunch and since I have lettuce and tomatoes handy, that means a BLT for supper. Mmm. We bought Marty one of those huge tomahawk steaks last weekend, so I got me a smaller ribeye today so we can have those this weekend.

Laters,
Curby
 
That punch bowl and glasses look heavy!!!
 
Happy Saturday kids!

Curby... Liam might have been a little, shall we say, "inaccurate" when he declared that our little landscape had shipped... After five days of no update I told him to find out what was going on. So he finally logged in (he wasn't even logged in!!!) and there was a message from the guy that he needed his phone number for the international shipment. That message had been sitting there for DAYS. Once he supplied it the guy Created. A. Shipping. Label. And that is the current status. So it is NOT shipped. It is sitting in a box with a label on it somewhere on the other side of the globe. ARGHHHHHHH!!! If the buyer lived close enough for hand delivery on that punch set I would seriously do a happy dance! The bowl alone weighs over twenty pounds! That's interesting about the IRS going after people like me and Marty. I would be surprised by that though because that would be a lot of work for little reward in the grand scheme of things. I mean, they might get a few hundred, or even a few thousand, dollars out of the little guys like us, but the bigger fish have bigger wallets and are likely committing bigger infractions. Fingers crossed neither one proves my theory wrong!

I put up some listings yesterday and have some stuff queued up for today. My plan is to take pics until about 11:30 and then pack up a ten piece decanter set to get it to the post office by the time they close at 1:00. Then I'll need to clean up whatever mess I've made and take a shower so we can head to dinner, which is a little far away. I plan on having dessert tonight!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay. darn that Liam being inaccurate about that shipping notice. Him and Marty, what are we going to do with them? Ha ha. Glad our landscape diamond is on the way. Hopefully it will arrive this coming week.

I am not surprised the punch bowl weighs over 20 pounds. My mom had a punch bowl set, I think my nephew and his wife ended up with it. She likes to have lots of company and parties so it was a logical choice.

I totally see your point on audits. Our tax lady likes to talk and she said what she heard is it was a good place to start training the new people on audits. I guess we will see.

I like our post office at 12:30 on Saturday. They never seem busy then. I think most people believe they close at noon. I use the UPS store often for shipping things too. I'm from a small town, I don't have much patience waiting in line. Shocking, I know.

How was dinner?

We are almost through all three seasons of For All Mankind of Apple TV+. It's rather interesting. Marty grilled his giant tomahawk steak yesterday and I had picked up a bone-in ribeye for me, so we had a delicious dinner. I only ate half of my steak, but Marty polished his off with no problem. I am thawing NY Strips for today.

I am almost through skein #1 on mini me 2. I've been too busy playing Angry Birds at night and neglecting my knitting. I'm over 1100 now on levels though.

I'm working on laundry and have a stack of magazines to go through this morning. The thrill-o-meter isn't showing much activity today.

Happy Birthday tomorrow!

Curby
 
Happy birthday to me kids!

Curby, it's so funny you mention your post office hours! I have had the exact same conversation with the people at this local post office -- everyone thinks they close at noon on Saturday so the best time to go is at 12:30! How is mini me #2 coming? I keep forgetting to ask, what color is this one? Dinner was good the other night! I had fried chicken and they put a bunch of interesting stuff on top of it, like mustard seeds and tiny diced jalapenos. It was the most adventurous fried chicken I've ever had, that's for sure! That's an interesting point about using small businesses as an audit training ground for the new IRS agents. Yikes!

Yesterday, against my better judgment, I went to an auction. It was at a place I went to last summer and I swore I would never go back because it was such an unpleasant experience. But Liam goes there and generally does GREAT (as in, "Hi honey... can you come over here and load up your car because I've bought so much stuff I can't fit it all into my truck) and there was a huge lot of uranium green glass, as well as some other interesting stuff in the pictures. Well the first thing I tried to buy was a pair of quilts. I was standing right in front of them with my number held up and he yelled sold. The ring man, who was standing immediately to the my right went to hand them to me and and the auctioneer said, no not ME, but the people to my left, who were almost bidding. I was like... Wha.... ? So we had a bit of a verbal scuffle and he reopened the bidding and I finally (at a ridiculous price) let the people to my left have them. Afterwards four separate people came up to me and said I was clearly the winning bidder and they have no idea where the auctioneer was coming from on that one. Whatever. I ended up talking to the people who bought the quilts quite a bit the rest of the day and they are really nice and collect them so I'm happy they are the ones that got them, but I was just So Fvcking Mad. Not about losing the bid but because the auctioneer was a total d!ck about the whole thing. I was really tempted to leave but I had gone all that way and I was mentally committed to the green glass by then so when the time came for that hay rack I was front and center and there was no way to mistake that I was bidding. At one point the auctioneer was like "No need to throw rocks at me lady, I see you." Well apparently there is some magic middle ground between the way I was bidding in the beginning on the first lot when he didn't notice me and the way I was bidding on the second lot where I was being too aggressive that he prefers! Regardless, I got what I wanted and I paid up for it, but not TOO too much, so I was happy with that. I also got some other things along the way at reasonable prices, but I was just MAD all day. ARGH!!!!!

Whew -- that was a lonnnnnnng rant -- sorry!

Anyway, I didn't do much of anything last night and now I've got three orders to pack up plus I need to make some sort of headway in terms of cleaning up a little or else this house will officially be declared a disaster area!

Our little landscape is still sitting in the UK. Label created, but no progress...
 
Happy Birthday, Dee Jay!!!! Is our landscape stone in the states yet?

I don't share the 12:30 pm Saturday post office information with many people. I don't want to spread the word since it works so well for me. Ha ha. I hate going when they open though because "open" doesn't appear to mean the same thing to them as it does to me. You hear them in the back getting ready but the windows don't open until about 20 minutes "after" their posted opening times.

Your chicken dinner sounds good. I was contemplating chicken fingers from Culver's for supper today but I do have leftovers from the weekend I'll probably heat up instead.

Mini me #2 is coming along. I started skein #2 (out of 3) yesterday. It is the same ivory color.

Yes, to Yikes about small businesses.

Wow that sucks about the bidding on the quilts. Ha Ha though - you got the prices higher before the other guy bought them. Karma . . . That auctioneer sounds like a real jerk! He'll probably never "see" you bidding in the future. How rude!

Glad you got some glasses though. Those green uranium glasses are such a cool color.

Glad to see you once again have orders going out.

We finished watching the For All Mankind series yesterday. Poor Marty didn't sleep well last night so moved to one of our spare bedrooms at some point last night. I had a few hours of insomnia after I woke up and found him missing. So after peaking out the window before 6 am I went back to sleep until about 7 when my do not disturb turns off and work messages was chirping at me. I worked about 4 hours this morning and have to check things over for tomorrow after everything is ready to review.

I am FREEZING right now for some reason. I should go outside where its definitely warmer than inside the house. I am going to lift this afternoon but Marty might be napping downstairs so maybe I'll wait until he ventures back upstairs. I woke him up earlier when I sent him a text message about his expenses for his recent business trip.

I have my follow up doctor appointment tomorrow. Hoping my red blood cells still aren't out of whack. I studied before I went and took my blood test a few weeks ago so hopefully that helped. Ha Ha Ha.

Laters,
Curby
 
Happy Monday kids!

Curby, our little landscape is still sitting somewhere with only a label created. I'm starting to get a bit torqued off! Our post office is good about opening the counter right on time and the lobby door is open 24/7 (I think) so when I have packages that I need to ship early I can go stand there and be first in line when they roll up the big metal grate. And speaking of quilts... I sold my first one! I am so happy to ship something that won't have a chance of breaking along the way! Good idea to study before your test! :lol:

Yesterday I got some more listings up, including a few things I'd bought on Saturday, but I haven't even touched the giant pile of uranium yet. That will be a full day project.

Liam found a 1985 944 in Guard's Redthat he wanted to go and see in the city after dropping off the ferals. This car is The One of all that he's gone to visit over the years (in addition to his '85 Trans Am that is). It's in REALLY good shape, only second owner, and she (yes, SHE!) is a mechanic. I swear, if Liam doesn't buy this thing, I will!!! The only fear is she might have second thoughts about selling because she started to get a bit nostalgic... so we'll see. One the way back to The North Estate Liam was coughing like a mo fo and I am just convinced I now have his crud. When I went to bed I thought I should pre-emptively take some NyQuil. Holy guacamole. This morning I was sooooo out of it. I seriously thought I was going to have to pull over to the side of the highway and take a nap. When I got to my place I did actually go back to sleep for about 40 minutes, and I'd probably still be in bed if I hadn't set an alarm. Woah.

Today is going to be work, work and more work. Off to get this party started!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, we I certainly hope our little landscape is winging its way across the Atlantic right now.

I like being first in line in the morning at the post office. I used to do that on my way to work. That is awesome you sold your first quilt. Which pattern? You have some nice ones.

I'll go check out your new listings.

Did Liam buy the 1985 944? I looked up what it looks like. Sweet. How fast does it go? That's kind of cool the car is owned by a lady mechanic. My dad was a mechanic and one of my sisters was quite knowledgeable about cars and could fix pretty much anything. She ended up being a farmer's wife and I'm sure that comes in handy. As for me, I barely know how to fill my gas tank. Ha Ha.

I hope you didn't catch Liam's crud. NyQuil and DayQuil drop my IQ 40 points. Sorry you got so drowsy driving in to town. That is kind of scary. It's sing along with the radio time!!!

I worked some, went to the doctor, ran a few errands then worked more.

I did pass my blood test - mostly. The thing I was worried about is resolved. My strange size red blood cells are fine now. He said the readings on that was perfect. Last summer he mentioned my thyroid wasn't functioning properly and it is a bit worse so he felt my thyroid and found a nodule so I'm getting a ultrasound / biopsy on that. He said it is hyperthyroid which would explain why I get cold all the time. I am not concerned about that but was majorly concerned about my red blood cells. I've lost 60 pounds since my first visit there last summer. I know I lost more pounds before going in that it's good to see results.

I picked up Culver's for lunch including some chicken fingers for my supper. I was going to celebrate with a cookie but didn't.

Laters,
Curby
 
Happy Wednesday kids!

Well Curby... this is *some* progress on our little landscape... I got a "delay" message from UPS saying the trailer departed late in the UK. Uh... forget the TRAILER, put that fvcker on an AIRPLANE! Whatever; I'm sure it's all part of the journey. The quilt I sold is the hand pieced hex pattern. I hope the buyer really read the description because there are several places where it is coming apart (probably thanks to my ill advised trip through the washer... ) but I did price it accordingly. I guess I know when she gets it if she's unhappy! Liam took a pass on the 944. There is a "whine" when it starts up that might be related to old belts... or might be something much more serious, and there's not way to know until you get in there, which he is not equipped to do. Maybe you're sister would like to swing by and take a look?! You've lost SIXTY pounds since last summer??!!??!! Good for you!!!!!

Nothing exciting to report on my end. Work yesterday was work. I did have two sales last night, but nothing too terrible to pack up when I get back to The North Estate. I've got a bunch of training today and a phone interview with a big bank (for the job I want second to least) in fifteen minutes. Other than that, later rinse, repeat!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, I guess that is some progress on our landscape, but certainly not what we expect. It doesn't take that long to fly across the Atlantic.

Well darn the car had a whine. Good idea to pass on it. My 66 Mustang wasn't even running when I bought it but my dad was a mechanic so that worked out great for me. He had fun with my credit card and ordering parts from California Mustang. One of these, two or those and oooh shiny. Wait. That sounds like me!

Thanks. It does feel good to lose that much weight. I probably lost 20-30 pounds before I went to the doctor. That was when Marty was on his keto diet and I had NOTHING in the house to eat.

I hope the interview went well even if it's towards the bottom of your list. Practice. How many days to bonus day? It must be getting close.

Good deal your two sales last night aren't a pain to pack. I hope the lady is happy with her quilt. I know those are quite delicate especially if they are sewn by hands.

I worked on meteor shower stuff in 2023 most of the day. You'd think I was on DayQuil today because I had to make myself a moon chart of rising and setting times so I could put the correct info in the articles about the moon phase near the meteor shower and if it would interfere with viewing them. Marty thought it was funny. He was on calls today that he found boring so he came up and was entertaining me with card tricks he learned on YouTube. He must have been really bored.

I got my ultrasound scheduled for next Tuesday. Yay!

Laters,
Marcy
 
Happy Thursday kids!

Curby, we have a delivery update! UPS says tomorrow before 7 pm -- woo hoo! The quilts are a dilemma for me... I debate whether to wash them or not. I realize that doing so might cause damage, but I can't imagine selling something that I hadn't washed... ?! LOL on your dad having fun ordering things for you car. Sounds like my dad! Nice of Marty to entertain you with his card tricks. Regular Houdini you got there!

Yesterday I had a good interview with Big Bank #2. So now I like the JOB of Big Bank #1, but I really like the PEOPLE that I've talked to for Big Bank #2. #1 is remote, #2 is technically in office but everyone there works three days in office and two days from home, and did so even before covid. Of course I don't have an offer from either #1 or #2 at this point... but I did get an offer yesterday from Small Bank! It's not nearly enough money, which is too bad because I could really kill that job, but I'm going to turn it down today. Oh well. Twenty-two days 'till bonus payout!

When I got home last night Liam told me someone is coming over tonight and we're going to grill burgers for dinner. I have no idea how I'm going to get the house in any condition that another human won't be horrified... but I'll try!

Alright, off to look at some more settings!
 
Hi Kids!

Dee Jay, woo hoo for delivery of our landscape by tomorrow evening. I can hardly wait.

As a customer I'd rather have a clean quilt than one that might get frayed or rip a bit, but then again I'm OCD about these things. Old quilts generally don't hold up that well. Marty pulled the same card trick on me again today. I still don't know how he is doing it. Next time I think I'll tell him that's not my card. Ha!

Sweet about three weeks until bonus. Woo hoo!!! That's nice you got a job offer even if you plan on turning it down. Hoping things work out with bank #2. It's nice to like those you work with. It's good they don't work in the office five days a week. Is it in the city too?

Did you get the house ready for company? I grilled us burgers for lunch, along with a cup of fruit and wild rice. Who knew wild rice is so chewy when you have to chew on one side of your mouth?

I worked, bought groceries, lifted and made lunch. Now, I'm yawning, cold and debating what I want for supper. I picked up some swiss cheese so might make a grilled cheese. That sounds good. I'd make soup too but last time I had something hot my oral surgery area didn't like it.

Laters,
Curby
 
Happy Friday kids!

Curby, our little landscape is at the distribution center in Rockford as of 5:30 this morning! :appl:

So here's an interesting twist in the job hunt... Remember the very first big bank I interviewed with? I.e., the one where within an hour of me talking with the HR person the status changed to "no longer under consideration"? Well I got an email yesterday from the HR person saying another role had opened up under that manager and asked if I was interested. So now I'm back in play with THREE big banks. The in office / remote status is different with each one so that will factor into my decision (assuming I ever do get offers). And I did call yesterday and turn down the offer from the regional bank.

The house didn't get much cleaning up yesterday because Liam came home at lunch and we went to see a 944 about an hour and a half away... which he bought! So now we've got Liam's truck, my Audi, a TransAm, a 911 and a 944 in the household. We're starting to look like CarMax! That whole car buying trip landed us back here about 3:30 and I wanted to run to an estate sale that was just one neighborhood over which was closing at 4:00. My plan was to scope out the glass because there were two sets I knew I wanted and then decide if it was worth getting up this morning at o'dark hundred to sit there and get them at half price. Well there were two other sets of glass that weren't in the pics, as well as a set of Pfaltzgraff twelve days of Christmas plates. This is an estate sale company I buy stuff from all the time and the lady let me just buy everything at half price right then rather than having to come back this morning. I really appreciated that! So while Liam and our dinner guest were chatting away at the kitchen table after dinner I was washing glasses like crazy so I can get them up today. I also have three orders to pack up, but they should be quite easy.

It's going to be a busy day -- better get hoppin'! I'll send you pics/video as soon as our little landscape arrives!!!
 
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