Another lovely day in Oklahoma. . .

[Micca]

@ronandannette that is some kind of trip you two had, and I'll echo what @Twilight Sparkle said--I can't believe a fish would bite you while on an underwater motorscooter! I hope you ate some fish in a retaliatory actYikes on that Ottawa tornado, glad your loved ones are ok but being without power is miserable.

TS my DW is a barefooter as often as possible but I've become a flip flops guy year round (indoors only in the cold weather.)

@Kitty 34 holy cow the news about your house is awful! Please tell me insurance will cover most of that, it sounds incredibly expensive. You must be putting a lot of stuff in storage, OMG what a mess. I'm glad you're getting out of there though even without the lung issues it would be completely miserable while they're doing the work. I hope they restore it better than it was before the damage. Don't blame you for not wanting to talk about it, I'd be blocking out the whole thing as much as possible. By whatever means!

 

[Kitty 34]

@ronandannette that is some kind of trip you two had, and I'll echo what @Twilight Sparkle said--I can't believe a fish would bite you while on an underwater motorscooter! I hope you ate some fish in a retaliatory actYikes on that Ottawa tornado, glad your loved ones are ok but being without power is miserable.

TS my DW is a barefooter as often as possible but I've become a flip flops guy year round (indoors only in the cold weather.)

@Kitty 34 holy cow the news about your house is awful! Please tell me insurance will cover most of that, it sounds incredibly expensive. You must be putting a lot of stuff in storage, OMG what a mess. I'm glad you're getting out of there though even without the lung issues it would be completely miserable while they're doing the work. I hope they restore it better than it was before the damage. Don't blame you for not wanting to talk about it, I'd be blocking out the whole thing as much as possible. By whatever means!

Thanks Ron. Yes, DH and I have done our share of but unfortunately with some arguing here and there. Just not what we wanted to deal with in our mid 60s. We're not feeling sorry for ourselves as many many are so far worse off then us doing this move but I'm sure some of you understand as a married couple....just something we didn't want or ever think we would have to deal with........packing up a home we have lived in for over 34 years; Oh my!!!!!!

 

[Micca]

Thanks Ron. Yes, DH and I have done our share of but unfortunately with some arguing here and there. Just not what we wanted to deal with in our mid 60s. We're not feeling sorry for ourselves as many many are so far worse off then us doing this move but I'm sure some of you understand as a married couple....just something we didn't want or ever think we would have to deal with........packing up a home we have lived in for over 34 years; Oh my!!!!!!

Well if you decide you wanna vent anytime during this process I'm sure you'll get a sympathetic ear here in ALDIO. You are a much better person than me to not feel sorry for yourself, I'd be begging ronandannette to bivouac in their shoe niche for the duration.

 

[leebee]

Hi everyone!

OK here goes........I wasn't going to even say anything on the DIS. I actually don't even like talking about this in RL but this is my story in a nutshell......

The end of August we found out we had 3 feet of hot water spewing from a burst pipe all over our crawl space on the bottom of our floors. This had been going on for almost a month. Fast forward, the house is sinking as we speak and there's mold everywhere down in the crawl space.

Oct 4, we're moving to an apartment for 5 to 6 months because it's unsafe for me especially (with my lung disease) to be here while they gut 2 thirds of our house. There will be no heat or bathroom that whole time.

It has been a nightmare suddenly up and packing your whole house to a little 2 bedroom apartment but it's something we have to do.

Not looking for sympathy just telling you like it is........thanks.

Eta.......I do love you guys!

Oh my holy, I have no words... and that rarely happens, LOL! I cannot imagine going through this and all the associated stress, in many areas. Good luck and know that we are all thinking of you!

Let's see... Sarah (who turned 25 today) and I had an amazing trip to Disney. I got a killer rate through a travel agency, so we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's always been her dream to stay here, so we did, for 6 nights, at about $195 a night. This was the "biggest" Disney vacation we've ever done, but with free air miles on Southwest, $500 in Disney gift cards, and about $1200 in Disney Visa rewards, it wasn't too much out of pocket. We didn't have a savanna view room but we had a great view, with 2 addax and an ostrich (we named her Maude) that visited us several times daily, as well as some zebra and giraffe that were less "regular" but still seen fairly often. We did all the usual park things, including riding Flights of Passage. I'm sad to report that even with a scope patch and a backup medication, it made me motion sick to keep my eyes open. I rode most of it with my eyes closed and while I wasn't happy, I was OK. Occasionally Sarah would say, "Mom, open your eyes!" when the movie was stopped, and I have to say, it's pretty amazing! One thing I am glad we did was the Magic Kingdom fireworks dessert party. The desserts were OK, there were a few savory choices, but the viewing spot is perfect. Main St. was so packed that I am sure that if someone picked up their feet, they'd remain upright, as the crowd was shoulder to shoulder (on the 22nd of August). We had a clear view, and there were few enough people in the garden area that we could actually sit down to watch the show. There is no way to get your money's worth in food (and especially for me, with gastric sleeve instead of a stomach), but I think of it like I do character meals: I am paying for the experience, not just the food. I am not one to give my money to the mouse willy-nilly, but I am glad we did this. Not sure we would do it again, but it was worth it one time. This was the "relaxing" Disney trip. Yes, we went to parks every day, but we didn't go commando, we took extra time to relax by the pool (pool bar), hot tubs, visited some of the lounges in the parks, ate amazing meals, etc. It was an excellent vacation first and foremost because we spent the time together, not because we were at Disney. In fact, I've been in kind-of a funk ever since we got home, wishing I could spend more time like that with Sarah again. Guess I'm still missing her.

Fall has set in (it's about 40 out there right now) and school is in full swing. I don't love this new job, but the pay is more than worth it. It is more hours than I was led to believe, as grading takes about 18 hours a week on top of doing the job full-time. If I'd known this in advance, I'd have negotiated for more money. Oh well. We've been having some home repairs done, to fix the damage from an ice dam last winter and also from a less-than-qualified contractor who replaced some windows a few years back but mis-measured and botched the job. The general confusion of having a contractor in the house every day, furniture moved around and stacked, and the mess of construction/repairs aren't helping my glum mood. Ah well... two more weeks and we'll be on fall break. Columbus Day is early this year, so break is early also. It'll be a long haul til Thanksgiving, but I am ready for the break, for sure! We are going to spend it doing some minor home repairs we've been putting off, and of course the usual housework and laundry. We thought about going away, but it's just few enough days, and both DH and I will have just enough grading to do, that traveling will be more stressful than relaxing. Anyhow... so work-woes are adding to my funk, as is being stuck here for break. Sigh.

To answer a few questions... Socks? What is this item of which you speak? I haven't switched entirely into fall/winter mode, so I am still barefoot under my crocs/sketchers. I know the day will soon be here, though, and when it is, I'll let you know if I'm a sock/sock or a sock/shoe person. And speaking of shoes, we don't wear them in the house here in Maine, either. Everyone automatically takes their shoes off as soon as they get in the door, be they family, friends, or guests. Between long messy winters and mud season, it's just a courtesy/habit to remove your shoes at the door!

 

[ronandannette]

I appreciate your post, Twilight....as much as I always thought of you all summer seeing my fireflies. Thank you.

Oh, you've got sympathy from all of us here whether you want it or not! That's a pretty major upheaval and while it's not of the magnitude of losing a loved one, it's still a BIG crisis to get through. Here's hoping you have all the practical help (and insurance coverage!!) you need to get through it.

As to my "fish issue", do any of you here know that old, very bad joke about being so ugly your mother had to tie a porkchop around your neck to get the dog to play with you? It was sorta like that, only with fish (and I'm not particularly ugly thankyouverymuch!!). We were on this underwater motor scooter excursion - DH and I like to do weird stuff like this just to say we did - in Cozumel. Part of it was motoring around a small reef formation. In order to get the fish out of the reef and over where we could easily see them the guides were spreading food right near/on us to attract the fish. This is not my picture, but it gives a VERY good representation of what happened:

It was just a little nibble on the hand; barely more than a scratch. It makes for a good story though! This is was the bikes themselves look like:

 

[ronandannette]

Hello! I had so much fun reading this post today. So glad to have you back and posting.

I love hearing that people don't wear shoes in the home in Canada. We don't wear them in our house unless they are designated indoor shoes that have never been worn outside or have been scrubbed and repurposed for indoor shoes. That would normally be me in a pair of Teva flip flops in the kitchen when I have hours of cooking ahead of me. Hard tile and bare feet standing in front of the stove for way too long doesn't feel good. Or it could be my daughter breaking in a pair of heels before an event. Most of the time, though, we're barefoot. We keep our shoes on a rack out in the garage. I don't know many people here who do the same. If someone visits, we usually don't have them remove their shoes unless the weather is just really muddy and gross -and then, they usually offer on their own. i just clean the floors like crazy once they're gone.

Crazy weather is right! Intense heat, early snow, and tornadoes all in a short span of time? No thanks. Is your snow gone already? So glad to hear your stepdaughter and her home are okay.

I'd love to hear about your Carnival cruise experience and why it wasn't a great choice. We almost cruised with them once but had to cancel due to conflicts that came up at the time. Should we stay away?

A fish bit you?! Any idea what kind? Was it a big bite or just a little nibble? I would have expected the scooter to scare fish away.

I went to that Space Center once as a kid. I don't remember much about it except the feeling that everything was huge.

Glad you guys had fun being together on your trip. That's always the best part of a vacation. Well, that and escaping real life for awhile.

I'd say it's rare, and would raise eyebrows, for anybody to not automatically take their shoes off when entering a home in Canada. Not to say everybody goes barefoot; lots of people wear "house shoes" but you wouldn't probably take them with you when your're visiting. Remember, we're taking at least 6 months of winter where your usual footwear is boots that will be snowy, wet and slushy upon arrival.

As for the cruise, I'm not sure if you're a frequent cruiser or not - if you've had some experience it all makes a bit more sense. Here's my review posted on CruiseCritic and honestly, it sounds a little snarkier than I meant it to. The basic bottom line is that while a bad day cruising is still better than a good day at work, I feel like a better experience can be had for the same money on other cruiselines besides Carnival:
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=633879

 

[PollyannaMom]

we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's always been her dream to stay here, so we did, for 6 nights, at about $195 a night. This was the "biggest" Disney vacation we've ever done, but with free air miles on Southwest, $500 in Disney gift cards, and about $1200 in Disney Visa rewards, it wasn't too much out of pocket. We didn't have a savanna view room but we had a great view, with 2 addax and an ostrich (we named her Maude) that visited us several times daily, as well as some zebra and giraffe that were less "regular" but still seen fairly often.

You are making me so excited for our upcoming trip! Half of our Disney stay will be our first experience at AKL as well.

@Kitty 34, . It sounds like you are coping very gracefully with a really tough time!

@ronandannette, that scooter thing looks awesome! I'm glad the fish bite was just a nibble.

 

[ronandannette]

You are making me so excited for our upcoming trip! Half of our Disney stay will be our first experience at AKL as well.

@Kitty 34, . It sounds like you are coping very gracefully with a really tough time!

@ronandannette, that scooter thing looks awesome! I'm glad the fish bite was just a nibble.

Our one-and-done trip to WDW was in a Savannah view at AKL - I almost peed my pants when we first opened the drapes and saw giraffes at what appeared to be face to face. Of course they weren’t really that close, but Disney has done a masterful job integrating the buffer-zone between the enclosures and the hotel. You will LOVE it!!

 

[NFLDERS]

Hi everyone!

OK here goes........I wasn't going to even say anything on the DIS. I actually don't even like talking about this in RL but this is my story in a nutshell......

The end of August we found out we had 3 feet of hot water spewing from a burst pipe all over our crawl space on the bottom of our floors. This had been going on for almost a month. Fast forward, the house is sinking as we speak and there's mold everywhere down in the crawl space.

Oct 4, we're moving to an apartment for 5 to 6 months because it's unsafe for me especially (with my lung disease) to be here while they gut 2 thirds of our house. There will be no heat or bathroom that whole time.

It has been a nightmare suddenly up and packing your whole house to a little 2 bedroom apartment but it's something we have to do.

Not looking for sympathy just telling you like it is........thanks.

Eta.......I do love you guys!

So sorry to read this has happened to you. I'm sending love, and patience your way as you get through this.

 

[NFLDERS]

Ronandannette: I'm a slipper gal, and keep a pair in the car to take with me when we visit others.

Summer ended one day with that tornado warning, and feels like 104
degree weather; that brought with it a 9 degree night! It's been pretty much Fall weather since.

I'm presently planning for our Thanksgiving dinner. Among other things this means locating the fancier bone discard plates for a tasty turkey! GOBBLE! GOBBLE!!

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Let's see... Sarah (who turned 25 today) and I had an amazing trip to Disney. I got a killer rate through a travel agency, so we stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's always been her dream to stay here, so we did, for 6 nights, at about $195 a night. This was the "biggest" Disney vacation we've ever done, but with free air miles on Southwest, $500 in Disney gift cards, and about $1200 in Disney Visa rewards, it wasn't too much out of pocket. We didn't have a savanna view room but we had a great view, with 2 addax and an ostrich (we named her Maude) that visited us several times daily, as well as some zebra and giraffe that were less "regular" but still seen fairly often. We did all the usual park things, including riding Flights of Passage. I'm sad to report that even with a scope patch and a backup medication, it made me motion sick to keep my eyes open. I rode most of it with my eyes closed and while I wasn't happy, I was OK. Occasionally Sarah would say, "Mom, open your eyes!" when the movie was stopped, and I have to say, it's pretty amazing! One thing I am glad we did was the Magic Kingdom fireworks dessert party. The desserts were OK, there were a few savory choices, but the viewing spot is perfect. Main St. was so packed that I am sure that if someone picked up their feet, they'd remain upright, as the crowd was shoulder to shoulder (on the 22nd of August). We had a clear view, and there were few enough people in the garden area that we could actually sit down to watch the show. There is no way to get your money's worth in food (and especially for me, with gastric sleeve instead of a stomach), but I think of it like I do character meals: I am paying for the experience, not just the food. I am not one to give my money to the mouse willy-nilly, but I am glad we did this. Not sure we would do it again, but it was worth it one time. This was the "relaxing" Disney trip. Yes, we went to parks every day, but we didn't go commando, we took extra time to relax by the pool (pool bar), hot tubs, visited some of the lounges in the parks, ate amazing meals, etc. It was an excellent vacation first and foremost because we spent the time together, not because we were at Disney. In fact, I've been in kind-of a funk ever since we got home, wishing I could spend more time like that with Sarah again. Guess I'm still missing her.

To answer a few questions... Socks? What is this item of which you speak? I haven't switched entirely into fall/winter mode, so I am still barefoot under my crocs/sketchers. I know the day will soon be here, though, and when it is, I'll let you know if I'm a sock/sock or a sock/shoe person. And speaking of shoes, we don't wear them in the house here in Maine, either. Everyone automatically takes their shoes off as soon as they get in the door, be they family, friends, or guests. Between long messy winters and mud season, it's just a courtesy/habit to remove your shoes at the door!

I'm so glad you and Sarah had a wonderful trip, and I hope you are able to spend more time together with her very soon.

As for the socks and shoes situation, the responses from you, ronandannette, and Jane have convinced me I am simply not meant to live in the south! I've always felt out of place here, and now I know why!

As to my "fish issue", do any of you here know that old, very bad joke about being so ugly your mother had to tie a porkchop around your neck to get the dog to play with you? It was sorta like that, only with fish (and I'm not particularly ugly thankyouverymuch!!). We were on this underwater motor scooter excursion - DH and I like to do weird stuff like this just to say we did - in Cozumel. Part of it was motoring around a small reef formation. In order to get the fish out of the reef and over where we could easily see them the guides were spreading food right near/on us to attract the fish. This is not my picture, but it gives a VERY good representation of what happened:

It was just a little nibble on the hand; barely more than a scratch. It makes for a good story though! This is was the bikes themselves look like:

That looks like a lot of fun! Hearing that the guides bait the water, though, I am no longer surprised you were bit.

As for the cruise, I'm not sure if you're a frequent cruiser or not - if you've had some experience it all makes a bit more sense. Here's my review posted on CruiseCritic and honestly, it sounds a little snarkier than I meant it to. The basic bottom line is that while a bad day cruising is still better than a good day at work, I feel like a better experience can be had for the same money on other cruiselines besides Carnival:
https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=633879

The filthy state of the ship and the description of Carnival's other guests are enough to keep me away. Your review is not the first place I've heard this. It was probably a good thing our cruise needed to be cancelled since we didn't know any of this when we originally booked it. Now we know better, so it seems like it all worked out for the best.

Summer ended one day with that tornado warning, and feels like 104
degree weather; that brought with it a 9 degree night! It's been pretty much Fall weather since.

That's definitely a drastic temperature change. What a shock to the system!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I have seen the movie, but I was thinking even further back:

A gremlin is a folkloric mischievous creature that causes malfunctions in aircraft or other machinery...The term "gremlin" denoting a mischievous creature that sabotages aircraft originates in Royal Air Force (RAF) slang in the 1920s among the British pilots stationed in Malta, the Middle East, and India, with the earliest recorded printed use being in a poem published in the journal Aeroplane in Malta on 10 April 1929. Later sources have sometimes claimed that the concept goes back to World War I, but there is no print evidence of this. (from Wikipedia)

P.S.- It's totally worth clicking for more:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gremlin/

https://www.roalddahlfans.com/dahls-work/books/the-gremlins/

I didn't know there was a Disney connection!

Wow that's some awesome information there; love learning new things

Hi everyone!

OK here goes........I wasn't going to even say anything on the DIS. I actually don't even like talking about this in RL but this is my story in a nutshell......

The end of August we found out we had 3 feet of hot water spewing from a burst pipe all over our crawl space on the bottom of our floors. This had been going on for almost a month. Fast forward, the house is sinking as we speak and there's mold everywhere down in the crawl space.

Oct 4, we're moving to an apartment for 5 to 6 months because it's unsafe for me especially (with my lung disease) to be here while they gut 2 thirds of our house. There will be no heat or bathroom that whole time.

It has been a nightmare suddenly up and packing your whole house to a little 2 bedroom apartment but it's something we have to do.

Not looking for sympathy just telling you like it is........thanks.

Eta.......I do love you guys!

Aww I'm so sorry to hear about that

It must be awful dealing with that in your house

Here's some that the situation eventually gets all corrected and you won't have to stay at the apartment for too too long.

We know you're not looking for sympathy but you sure got it

Let's see... Sarah (who turned 25 today) and I had an amazing trip to Disney.

One happy birthday to Sarah and two I'm so glad to hear your trip was great. That's a great rate for AKL. I'm like you in that I have to close my eyes at least 50% of the time for certain rides with motion sickness. I'm hoping the next time I'm on FOP that I keep my eyes open longer than the 50% that I did. I really enjoyed the ride just need to get the motion sickness to lessen

Memories on trips are just as important as the trips themselves and it sounds like you made some good memories with Sarah!

 

[Micca]

Hi @leebee Glad you liked AKL, we stayed at Kidani with our granddaughters last trip and they loved it! Our next trip is in a few weeks--all adults for F&W this time. Hope you get settled in with your new job soon, the extra $$$ can help make it more comfortable. And still more repairs/improvements at the house! Our place could sure use some work, but until the grandkids are old enough to stop wrecking everything it's not worth it. They're almost 6 and 7, so another 20 years oughta do it. @ronandannette your rode on that thing???

 

[NFLDERS]

Apparently I'm invisible... sigh.

While at a buffet recently some of the partakers came up out of nowhere, and broke into the waiting line.. Then, while I was waiting next to one woman in a station line another woman came from around a corner, saddled up beside the one I was waiting to finish, and took a turn for that dish.

The worst though was DH having to practically catch me when another woman pushed me into him while she rushed past us from behind. That really scared me because a fall as a senior is usually not a good thing... sigh. I'm so glad my DH was beside me.

 

[Micca]

Apparently I'm invisible... sigh.

While at a buffet recently some of the partakers came up out of nowhere, and broke into the waiting line.. Then, while I was waiting next to one woman in a station line another woman came from around a corner, saddled up beside the one I was waiting to finish, and took a turn for that dish.

The worst though was DH having to practically catch me when another woman pushed me into him while she rushed past us from behind. That really scared me because a fall as a senior is usually not a good thing... sigh. I'm so glad my DH was beside me.

I've seen that kind of thing Jane, it's buffet blindness. Some people are overwhelmed with the food choices and the chance to scarf down as much food as possible that they turn into frenzied feeding machines, not unlike sharks.

I'm often invisible too, evidently I'm just the wrong height to be seen from the customer side of the service counter of just about any business. I guess it's my super power

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

Apparently I'm invisible... sigh.

While at a buffet recently some of the partakers came up out of nowhere, and broke into the waiting line.. Then, while I was waiting next to one woman in a station line another woman came from around a corner, saddled up beside the one I was waiting to finish, and took a turn for that dish.

The worst though was DH having to practically catch me when another woman pushed me into him while she rushed past us from behind. That really scared me because a fall as a senior is usually not a good thing... sigh. I'm so glad my DH was beside me.

You're not invisible to us! Sorry about the unruly people at the buffet. Manners and patience seem to be in short supply these days.

 

[ronandannette]

10”. TEN INCHES! That’s how much snow we got overnight. What’s the actual heck is going on here? There’s chaos in the streets as our city’s snow removal program is not in place yet. I can hear horns and sirens in the distance from my back yard. My flower beds are totally ruined and my tomatoe and herb harvest is beyond salvaging. I hope somebody’s having “another lovely day” somewhere because we sure aren’t.

 

[Kitty 34]

10”. TEN INCHES! That’s how much snow we got overnight. What’s the actual heck is going on here? There’s chaos in the streets as our city’s snow removal program is not in place yet. I can hear horns and sirens in the distance from my back yard. My flower beds are totally ruined and my tomatoe and herb harvest is beyond salvaging. I hope somebody’s having “another lovely day” somewhere because we sure aren’t.

Ok that's so not cool! I'm sooooo not ready for snow; actually at my age snow for a couple of days at Christmas would suffice. to you Ronandannette.

Moving day for me is Thursday to my apartment. That still seems surreal but at this point weather wise I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rain stays away.

 

[ronandannette]

Ok that's so not cool! I'm sooooo not ready for snow; actually at my age snow for a couple of days at Christmas would suffice. to you Ronandannette.

Moving day for me is Thursday to my apartment. That still seems surreal but at this point weather wise I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rain stays away.

Nope, not cool - cold!! And where are my danged boots? I haven’t hauled out any of the winter stuff yet.

How long will you be displaced? Hoping the project goes as smoothly as possible.

 

[Micca]

10”. TEN INCHES! That’s how much snow we got overnight.

OMG that's crazy I can't remember the last time I lived somewhere that got that kind of snow, maybe once or twice in my entire lifetime. Good grief

Moving day for me is Thursday to my apartment. That still seems surreal but at this point weather wise I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the rain stays away.

Good luck with the move, I hope you have lots of help. If I had to box everything up again I think I'd just tell 'em to give it to someone else. OK, not really, I'm attached to too much physical "stuff" but it would still be tempting. I could still be persuaded to move to Florida.