Cellar Scribblings

[CellarDweller]

Lucky you don't live in Florida! The governor passed a law making it illegal to shave or trim there.


Cue Emily Litella.

 

[serious crayons]

Sorry. It was not clear to me that you meant that you and yellow bananas agree with each other and not with me.

Ohhh, I see what you're saying. My bad, sorry it was unclear. It was too stupid a joke to be worth this much trouble! 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Ohhh, I see what you're saying. My bad, sorry it was unclear. It was too stupid a joke to be worth this much trouble! 

Aaah, don't worry about it. After all, I'm the first to admit I'm not the sharpest tool in the drawer when it comes to understanding things. 

[CellarDweller]

Hiya BetterMost friends!!!!

Is everyone doing well?




Things have been slower with work, and I've been able to catch up with a few things, which is good.

I'm counting down to vacation, which starts on Monday, August 14th.  However, since I don't work weekends, I guess it technically starts on Friday August 11th at 5:00.

 


I spoke with my mom the other day, and she and dad got themselves one of those carpet shampooer machines, and that's something I've wanted to do, so she's going to let me borrow it when I'm on vacation, so I can give my carpets and furniture a quick cleaning.

Spent some time last weekend at my brother and sister-in-law's place for some lunch, it was good to catch up.

Temps have been warm here, and I was dreading my electric bill, due to the A/C.  This year I decided that I would leave it at 75F during the day, and then in the evening, drop it to 70.   It's made a difference in my bill, which is good, and saved energy as well.

[Front-Ranger]

Nice to catch up with you, friend.  I haven't turned on my evaporative cooler yet. It entails getting up on the roof, not my favorite thing to do. I have ceiling fans and windows that open so I haven't needed anything else.

There was an article in the New York Times about rethinking the staycation. I didn't read it all but the gist seemed to be to put as much thought into planning it as you would a vacation away from home. I might try that for my next staycation.

My biggest tree has some kind of mild fungal problem causing it to lose most of its leaves early. There are still plenty to provide shade, but I'm sweeping up leaves several times a day. Also a lot of weeding. Last month was the rainiest June ever here, so it's a jungle out there!!

[Jeff Wrangler]

There was an article in the New York Times about rethinking the staycation. I didn't read it all but the gist seemed to be to put as much thought into planning it as you would a vacation away from home. I might try that for my next staycation.

I did that for a staycation I took about 40 years ago, before staycation even existed as a concept.

Back then it was just taking a week off from work and not going anywhere because you couldn't afford to go anywhere.

[serious crayons]

I spoke with my mom the other day, and she and dad got themselves one of those carpet shampooer machines, and that's something I've wanted to do, so she's going to let me borrow it when I'm on vacation, so I can give my carpets and furniture a quick cleaning.

I had one of those once -- the second or third time I used it, flames started coming out of it. "It was really weird," I said when I mentioned that at a National Night Out block party. My funny neighbor goes, "Yeah, you usually need a special attachment for flames."

Temps have been warm here, and I was dreading my electric bill, due to the A/C.  This year I decided that I would leave it at 75F during the day, and then in the evening, drop it to 70.   It's made a difference in my bill, which is good, and saved energy as well.

I have ceiling fans and windows that open so I haven't needed anything else.

My practice is about midway between the two of yours. I keep mine at 80 during the day with windows open, so it rarely kicks in until sometimes in late afternoon when the sun is shining directly into my apartment. At night, I turn it down to 77 because I like it to be cool, and if I wake up in the middle of the night I turn it down a few degrees more.

I'm still thrilled at how much better my energy use is now than it was in my house. I used to spend about $100 a month on AC in the summer (I rarely used it but my kids had a separate thermostat upstairs and they did) and about $100 a month on heat in the winter.

[serious crayons]

Back then it was just taking a week off from work and not going anywhere because you couldn't afford to go anywhere.

That's the kind I usually take. I'm taking two weeks off at the end of August. Even after that, I'll still have more than four weeks of PTO coming! We can roll over one week. Any hours beyond that get put into an emergency fund for if you're out of work for an extended time with an injury or illness. But you lose them as PTO. I did dip into the emergency fund last year when I broke my arm. Family leave or something covered 70% of my paycheck and the emergency fund paid the rest.

This year on my staycation, I'll be welcoming a bunch of visitors. In the first week, my brother will be coming up from Denver for a big 50-year-reunion of our high-school friends. The reunion goes over three days Friday through Sunday -- a small group party, a bigger community party, a boat cruise and a walk around the town. It extends to Tuesday to get together with an old friend who couldn't make it to the bigger parties.

Meanwhile, my son and his girlfriend will be coming from Chicago, either the same weekend or the one after, to go to the State Fair. So I'll join them on that excursion, too.

So I guess I do have plans this time.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Chuck, you are such a fan of figure skating that I wonder if you know there is a patron saint of ice skating? Her name is Lidwina. She was a Dutch woman who lived in the 1300s. She fell while ice skating.

I'm not making this up. It's mentioned in an article in the July 24 issue of The New Yorker.

[CellarDweller]

I've never heard of her!  LOL   I just checked her on on Wiki.....damn.


Lidwina (Lydwine, Lydwid, Lidwid, Liduina of Schiedam) (1380?1433) was a Dutch mystic who is honored as a saint by the Catholic Church. She is the patron saint of the town of Schiedam, of chronic pain, and of ice skating.

Lidwina is also thought to be one of the first documented cases of multiple sclerosis. At the age of fifteen, she suffered a serious injury while ice skating and became progressively disabled. Hendrik Mande wrote for her consolation a pious tract in Dutch. She fasted frequently and acquired a reputation as a healer and holy woman. Upon her death in 1433, her grave became a place of pilgrimage.

Lidwina was born in Schiedam, Holland, one of nine children. Her father was a laborer. At age 15, she was ice skating when she fell and broke a rib. She never recovered and became progressively disabled for the rest of her life. Her biographers state that she became paralyzed except for her left hand and that great pieces of her body fell off, and that blood poured from her mouth, ears, and nose. Today, some posit that Saint Lidwina is one of the first known multiple sclerosis patients and attribute her disability to the effects of the disease and her fall.