72 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 6-22-16”

  1. Good morning from The Triad.

    We have more stuff than places to put it here. So last night I was going through some stuff I could dispose of.
    I came across a print out from almost ten years ago. November 7, 2006. It was in answer from Lynn Vincent about who we were and what we did. Several pages from people such as Worthy Girl, Don, Someone describing herself as “daughter of the King living in the middle east”, Weekendman, and others. Some of you were here then, but not many.
    I can’t keep all that stuff now.

    Liked by 2 people

  2. I don’t have access to a dictionary anymore. I had one on my old Kindle, but it broke and I have a new – improved kindle where you punch the word and it gives the definition.
    Problem is: There is no way to enter a word on your own. I can’t find a keyboard on this Kindle. Maybe Jennifer (Youngest GD( can straighten me out. She knows all that stuff.

    But what I came here for is this: What does the word “uber” mean? People on TV are using it to say something is superior, or some such.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Maybe the blog needs a historian? Michelle seems likely with her love for all things historical.

    It’s still quite warm in the house this morning. Thanks, Donna!

    Art and I enjoyed meeting his new doctor yesterday. He used a model of the heart to thoroughly explain what is happening now, and how this situation is the hardest to diagnose, therefore why we have gone through so many previous procedures without a fix, and the multiple procedures he will perform to fix it all. He is a pioneer in the field and has taught doctors from all over the world. We are extremely blessed to have him. Art has to have a CT scan next week, and surgery will be in Sept. since it is elective and not emergency.

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  9. Chas- On the new Kindles, if you want to type something you press the area for typing and a keyboard pops up from the bottom of the screen. You have to proofread though, as it has the same tendency to change words that Janice’s phone has.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. I don’t know if all of you saw my post yesterday. They took the young man off of the ventilator. He was talking to family last night and asking questions. Now the real healing will need to start–why he attempted this in the first place.
    I feel like BG will be better able to handle this since he survived. She may still need to talk to someone, but this is easier to handle than if he had been successful.
    My heart still hurts for his parents.

    Liked by 5 people

  14. Peter, I turn it on, swipe to open.
    The book I ordered comes up. That’s all. If I swipe, it changes pages. That’s all.
    It has improved so much that it’s useless. I want my old Kindle back.
    I’ll get Jenn to help me. She is a librarian and knows all that stuff.

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  15. Looks like another head-less bird shot to me. I’ve seen a trend.

    Uber also refers to a ride sharing company folks take in place of taxis. (iPad turned taxis into tacos; I was tempted to leave it).

    It’s frequently in the news because of the financial implications of licensed taxi services losing all their riders to upstart contractors who are paid far less and have no requirements or unions. They drive their own cars in their own preferred time schedules.

    Everyone in my hip family ( this excludes me as well as my husband) uses Uber– you access them off an app on your phone.

    You may have herd of Airbub– similar principle only using your own home to rent our a spare bedroom.

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  16. One comment about moving. My 92 year old grandmother was completely lost when my dad and uncles moved her from her long time home. My uncle asked a nurse why– she had managed alone in her 2- bedroom bungalow.

    The nurse explained many fragile elderly can cope in their familiar settings because so much of life is habit and routine. It’s only when she entered a completely new life that her cognitive issues became so obvious.

    I’m glad you’re near family to help. keep a close eye on Elvera, and don’t be hard on yourself. Three years out, I still can’t find some things!

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  18. AirBnb. It is easier to type it if you aren’t using a device that thinks it is smarter than you. Yesterday at a closing, the title agent told us that on residential purchases with some mortgages you have to sign a documents saying you will not have a bellhop, rent rooms nightly and some other restrictions because of this new trend. People may think they can swing the payments if the rent their home or a bedroom out on a regular basis. It falls under the category of what I tell condo buyers. Don’t buy this property expecting it to pay for itself.

    https://www.airbnb.com/?af=43720035&c=A_TC%3Dfmeb9dyr2w%26G_MT%3De%26G_CR%3D115939287856%26G_N%3Dg%26G_K%3Dairbnb%27%26G_P%3D%26G_D%3Dc&gclid=CKOPsufku80CFdgIgQod_68LZw&dclid=CIzEz-fku80CFY0LgQodEQ0DfA

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  19. I haven’t used a dictionary in some time, I realize.

    Now if I need to know how to spell or what a word means, I just type it into google (with “definition”) — uber definition — and all the pertinent info comes up. Like this (from Urban Dictionary, but they also give you choices from Merriam Webster, etc.):

    TOP DEFINITION
    uber
    The ultimate, above all, the best, top, something that nothing is better than. Also Über
    I’m Über confused…

    I still use my iPad more than my kindle for reading at night and that has all the features of a smartphone as far as online access goes — but typing is on the screen, so not as easy for writing. I’d considered getting one of the those small keyboards to attach to it (they come as part of some cases) but haven’t really needed it.

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  20. AirBnb, yep — very big issue in LA right now.

    It took me a while but I finally saw the bird’s head, upside down. The bird, not me.

    How is Elvera adjusting, Chas?

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  21. I have a herd of goats and I have seen a herd of deer. And a murder of crows. And a murmur of blackbirds. I am so glad I am not a writer. I have seen a flock of geese, but never a herd of airbubs. This could be so fun. But we would not do that to poor overworked Michelle, now would we? Kevin B?

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  22. Janice, I feel your pain. it’s gloriously cool here (well, cool is relative, but it’s back down in the 70s and our marine layer fog in the morning at least). We’ll be hovering around 80-ish as highs for a while, which is way-way better than 90-ish or 100-ish. 🙂 And it’s finally cooling off at night again.

    Summer has arrived, I guess. Not my favorite time of year anymore, although my friend who’s a teacher still loves it, of course. School’s out …

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Definition:

    Airbnb is an online rental service that enables people to list, find, and rent vacation homes. It is an online marketplace for vacation rentals that charges a fee for connecting users with property to rent with users looking to rent the property. It has over 1,500,000 listings in 34,000 cities and 191 countries.
    ____________________________

    Between Airbnb (herds of them, I hear) and Uber, crime writers will have all kinds of new plot scenarios to scare us with.

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  25. Donna, Elvera is adjusting. I’m the one who isn’t adjusting.
    Problem is. We’re moving from a big house to a small house.
    That is according to plan.
    Problem is. She wants everything she had in the big house.
    That presents a problem, trying to explain that to her.
    I’m thinking of sitting the “guest room” aside and making it the “Junk room”.

    A trivial problem for me. I am used to entering a room and switching the light on without looking. Problem. The light switches are about six inches higher than what I’m used to for 15 years. Minor problem, but frustrating.

    Liked by 4 people

  26. Oh, I wouldn’t know about junk rooms (innocent eye roll).

    Some of it can probably just wait, as long as your main living areas are more or less in order. You’ve been through a major sea change in the past couple of months, maybe just sit back and let some of the sorting go for later in the summer?

    Do you have A/C?

    That’s my new standard for the perfect house.

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  27. No A/C. A/C is poison. Much as I like the feel of air conditioning, it does not like me and I inevitably become quite ill after being in it. So, I try to stay out of it as much as possible.

    We have offered repeatedly to have my dad and stepmom live out their days here, but they won’t . If it was just my dad, he would. But stepmom has some rather overbearing children and she won’t do it. Won’t live with them for sure. I pointed out once that she would actually be closer to her children here and my dad said, that is why. Oops. Meanwhile, daughter has been able to help them stay on familiar grounds.

    My herd of sheep is in with my flock of goats. Or my flock of sheep is in with my herd of goats.

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  28. Some how it all sorts itself out in about six months.

    Great idea just having a box room for now and just shutting the door when it gets too much.

    Try to match the pictures/ paintings with the furniture in their former home. That can help.

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  30. Meanwhile, posted by one of my neighbors this morning:

    This is the third night of yipping howling Coyotes 3 to 5 (?) of them and the death screams of a cat…their victim of the night…. It is a nightmarish…. Echoing throughout the ravine….

    Is it a “herd” of coyotes? Or a “murder” of coyotes? Or do I repeat myself?

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Oh, it’s a pack, that’s right. Someone tells me this is about the time when the parents are teaching the pups how to hunt. So lots of noise and “group” activity of late.

    Liked by 1 person

  32. Donna, you have been in California too long. You cannot murder a cat. You can kill it. You can murder people. But I would not advise it.

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  34. It is not a theme park, Donna, it is wild animals having their meals. Husband used to say that a lot. It is not Disney land out here, people need to be aware. If they are going to put themselves into danger, they have to realize it is up to them to get themselves out. Others will try to help but it takes time. It is wild. Now, after the horrible tragedy at Disney world, that speech may change a bit.

    One of the things my dad commented on when he visited us in Greece was that they don’t have handrails and fences on all of the things. Like the acropolis. You walked up and down the slippery marble steps at your own risk. Here, we are so safety conscious, people start relying on that rather than common sense. And they put buffalo calves in the back of their car.

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  35. I’m not a big fan of hunting but I realize it has a place in (real) conservation. Populations, predators, sometimes, in some places, need to be controlled (by us).

    There has been a push against this in recent decades and I suspect we’re seeing the results with the urban coyote surge across the nation. LA won’t so much as allow any trapping of coyotes (following a vote a few years ago, influenced by coyote rights groups). They post and send out fliers on “how to live with coyotes.”

    So here we are.

    Howl.

    Liked by 2 people

  36. We’re told to lock our pets indoors, don’t let your dogs out — even in your own fenced backyard — without your personal supervision. Well, sorry, not practical. I have a 6-foot-tall wooden fence, but I suspect a coyote could probably breach it if motivated. My dogs are big enough (and there are 2 of them) that they’re probably OK. But 2 border collies were fatally mauled by coyotes in their own backyards (separate occasions) in the northern part of LA a few years ago. So no guarantees, I realize.

    Some of the smaller cities around us have finally begun trapping programs after the coyote problems and attacks have escalated each year. LA never will.

    But living so close to us for so long, urban coyotes have little fear of man left (wonder why?). We yell, we wave our arms, we blow air horns. But that’s about it. That’s all there is. They’ve figured that out now.

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  39. Donna, I once lived in a region with a creature that it was illegal to kill. When we moved there, we were quietly told that the local wisdom was “Shoot, shovel, and shut up.” One problem with laws that ignore common sense is that at some point you force residents to quietly choose common sense, even if it doesn’t align with the laws. That isn’t a good position for a state to place its citizens.

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  40. Thanks for all your comments on those articles yesterday. First off, let me say that I believe the 2nd Amendment indeed gives ordinary citizens the right to bear arms. I am not anti-gun, but I’m not personally pro-gun, either. On Facebook, I have posted articles defending gun ownership, & recently one on what an AR-15 really is, & what it is not. I posted those things not because I like guns, but because the articles I shared dispelled myths that I saw being repeated on Facebook.

    I also agree that self-defense, & the defense of others, is allowable, from a biblical viewpoint.

    Re: the fact that one can’t tell if an intruder is thief or not – I think it depends upon the circumstance. If the thief is confronted, & backs off (even if the TV or laptop is still in his arms), then I wouldn’t want to shoot him. But if he approached me, that would be an indication of danger, & shooting him might be the necessary thing.

    Honestly, though, I don’t know if I could take another life, unless I was convinced my life or someone else’s was truly at risk. I hope none of us are ever in that situation.

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  41. Why would you trust anyone who broke into your home? If they had to break in your door was locked and they obviously knew they were trespassing.

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  42. Not that I would trust them personally, but I’m pretty sure that I’ve read that most thieves don’t want any trouble, & will run if confronted. (By “confronted”, I mean with some kind of defensive weapon in hand.) So if the guy (or gal) is backing off, & leaves the premises, I would not feel a need to shoot. Refusing to leave, or approaching me, would be reason for taking defensive action. Or one could hold the bad guy at bay with a gun while waiting for the police to arrive.

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  43. Agree, the problem is these are decisions made in what is a home/family crisis. Not always going to have the presence of mind to “try a skillet” first or whatever.

    Of course, that’s my only choice as I don’t have a gun.

    But if I did, and knew how to use it, that would become a part of the factor in whatever decision was made, possibly in a panic, granted.

    Theory vs. reality, there will probably always be a gap.

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  45. cheryl, I entirely agree.

    When I see people up in arms about quiet discussions among homeowners in favor of trapping & euthanizing, I just see that as the natural consequence of a government that has failed to act. The citizens are then pretty much on their own. (And that can lead to bad actions, such as poisons being used in open areas by some folks).

    I remember one of our editors — this was a couple years ago — at a sister paper being horrified, just horrified, by coyote trapping discussions on a FB page in that community. Having followed this issue for several years now, off and on, I simply saw it as the natural response to a government that failed to do anything at all other than to mail out a kindly flier about the new neighbors.

    It is legal, apparently, even in LA, for homeowners to privately hire and pay a trapping company, although many feel it still should be incumbent upon the government to handle what they see as a health and safety issue within the borders of a city and/or county.

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  46. And someone put it like this — the authorities have drawn a conclusion (“no wildlife can be killed”) before measuring and studying the scope of the problems being reported.

    So everything now has to fit within their beginning conclusion — thus, the all-out effort to get residents to coexist and live peaceably with habituated coyotes

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  47. Donna – Agreed about theory vs. reality. But it’s probably good to have an idea of what we would like to do, keeping in mind we may not follow through the way we would like to.

    Liked by 1 person

  48. Yesterday I had the consultation appointment with the ophthalmologist, in preparation for cataract surgery (coming up in September). It was a looooonngg appointment, with more involved than I’d expected.

    What was funny, though, was that the lady who was doing the initial exam called two others in, at separate times, to see my differences. I had to laugh as she’d say, “You have to see this!” to each one. Then she would mention Moebius (which I’d explained to her), & show them how I can move my eyes up & down, but not laterally. Another thing she got a kick out of was that my left eye is so bad that even the giant E on the chart is pretty blurry. (The cataract in that eye is really bad.)

    It’s a good thing I am comfortable with all this, & was amused by her enthusiastic interest. It really did make me laugh. 🙂

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  54. I am uber swimming in paper clutter. 😉

    Speaking of that, does anyone here own a paper shredder? I am considering buying one for home use, as we have a massive amount of old bills, bank statements, etc. around here that I’m sure we don’t need anymore, but I don’t want to just throw it all in the garbage as is.

    Any particular brands/models any of you has had good/bad experiences with?

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  55. It is a fine day to have the windows open…we’ve had showers everyday for the past three and it’s sprinkling now…ya’ll should be here to smell the pines!!…oh, and my peonies are blossomed…it smells heavenly as I sit on the front porch…drinking coffee…there is just nothing like drinking coffee on the front porch! 🙂
    We have a shredder but I am not certain of the brand…I think it was only about 30 dollars at Office Depot….it comes in handy when we have uber sensitive papers we want to dispose of
    😛
    I don’t recall hearing of a rabid coyote around here…but bats…now I have heard of rabid bats…that’s why our daughter freaked out the other night when she came home to find a bat in our garage…right over the entry door to the house….it flew right over her head as she got out of her car….now I’m ducking and looking around when I’m in the garage. We’ve had them fly over us during our evening walks through the neighborhood…but had never seen them around the house!

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  56. Ooh, a coyote band, I like that. They do sing…. after a fashion.

    Rabies is rare in LA but is a concern — everyone who is either bit or scratched by a coyote has to go through the painful shots as a precaution.

    Some of our coyotes also seem to have mange, they’re falling well below our wildlife standards.

    Last I saw, someone was talking about hiring a sharpshooter …

    The natives are restless.

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  59. I also have a shredder. I use it all the time.
    It wasn’t expensive, but only chews up about three pages at a time. If you have a big job, you may want get a strong one.

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  60. It’s a big job. We have two tallish file cabinets (with a combined total of seven drawers) and two desks with three more file drawers, and there is a LOT of stuff in there that doesn’t need to be. Plus I found a lot of papers in my recent bedroom-organizing project that I threw into a box and removed from the room to deal with later.

    We moved to this house 27 years ago this month, so I’m thinking it’s about time to stop saying about the paper I’ve stuffed into those drawers and boxes, “I’ll deal with this later.” 😛

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  61. You might check into taking it somewhere — around here, Office Depot and other stores do shredding jobs that are big, you get to stand and watch while they do it.

    Shredding is a very time-consuming job if you’re not doing it daily. I still struggle to get into the habit of doing it more often, but it gets away from me.

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  62. they have those mega shredding machines, though and so it’s not something that has to be done piecemeal (like you do at home).

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  63. I read about the KonMari method of organizing last year, and the originator, Marie Kondo, recommends sorting things by category, rather than by room.

    Clothes was listed first, and I went through all my clothes, shoes, accessories, etc. and kept only what I needed/gives me joy.

    Then we did books.

    Third on the list is papers, and that’s where I quit. Didn’t even get started on that part, I don’t think. Time to bite the bullet and just do it!

    I’m going to head on over to Home Depot probably on Friday and get me a shredder to help me get that massive paper project going. 🙂

    Thanks for the shredder input. 🙂

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  64. Guess Who, that might be the way to go — get Office Depot or someone to shred the huge amounts I probably have. I don’t think I’m going to need a big, expensive shredder for the long term.

    I wonder how much they charge?

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  65. Looks like someone snuck in and took my 62 when I was so close! Maybe I can get AJ to shred Guess Who’s 7:44 post. 🙂

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  67. Oops, “Home Depot” in my 7:44 should read “Office Depot.” Although maybe Home Depot has shredders, too.

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  68. And in other news… Ricky Weaver would be proud to know that my 12-year-old reluctant reader just sat down of his own accord and read out of a book we have here: The Look-It-Up Book of Presidents.

    Son turned to the Ronald Reagan pages and read out loud the whole biographical sketch of the man. 🙂

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  69. Kim – I was just reading the article you linked, & I recognized the story from having seen her tell it on the 700 Club years ago. (Yes, I used to watch the 700 Club for the encouraging stories, in the late 90s, but I was never a fan of Pat Robertson.)

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