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Cellar Scribblings
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on July 24, 2023, 10:22:27 am ---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.
--- End quote ---
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:
--- Quote from: CellarDweller on July 22, 2023, 11:29:23 pm ---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.
--- End quote ---
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."
--- Quote ---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.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Front-Ranger on July 24, 2023, 10:22:27 am ---I have ceiling fans and windows that open so I haven't needed anything else.
--- End quote ---
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:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on July 24, 2023, 11:12:10 am ---Back then it was just taking a week off from work and not going anywhere because you couldn't afford to go anywhere.
--- End quote ---
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.
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