Subj : Re: moving or not To : Barry Martin From : Nancy Backus Date : Mon Apr 27 2020 16:28:30 -=> Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 18-Apr-2020 08:35 <=- BM>> Was bright and sunny and hit 80ø here at the house -- went outside and BM>> did some more cleanup in the afternoon. A little after 7 p.m. things BM>> start to get interesting: warning sirens go off. My window up here BM>> faces South: nothing unusual. Check wUnderground: big colourful BM>> diagonal band to the northwest about the Cedar Rapids area, 90 miles BM>> from here. Hmmm! NB>> Sounds rather ominous... ;) And a good reason for the sirens... BM> Yes: they only go off if something serious in the area. Well, once a BM> false alarm when a trigger malfunction occurred. Still, pretty good idea not to just ignore... ;) BM>> About 8:15 the storm hits: winds are noticeable but not too bad, sounds BM>> like big raindrops, then the clunking starts: hail! Saw some which BM>> were pretty big: have one in the freezer which is about the size of a BM>> ping pong ball. Saving that one for Autumn when she's over later this BM>> morning. NB>> Was she impressed...? ;) That is a rather good-sized chunk of ice... BM> She admired it but said they had some bigger ones. What she did want BM> to do was rinse our hailstone off and eat it. Showed her the dirt and BM> said there was dirt inside and that squashed that idea. ...I guess BM> would be clean once rinsed but this hailstone had a bunch of dark BM> speckles. Probably best not to ingest unless one was desperate for water... and even then would probably be best to melt and then boil it... ;) I wonder if she'd tried that on her parents with the hail they got, and was also told not a good idea... ;) BM>> Too early to go out to check for any damage; doesn't look like BM>> anything happened to the cars (no garage) when checked from looking BM>> out the windows. Also want to check for any damage to the roof and BM>> if any windows cracked. Hopefully not! NB>> I seem to remember a message later that indicated that your car did NB>> get some damage... did you have any other damage...? BM> Just some cracks and chips on the vinyl siding and a couple of rips in BM> the slider's screen. Not too bad, then, considering the hailstorm itself.... NB>>> Actually, the powdered whole milk wasn't all that inexpensive... it NB>>> was more a way to keep milk as a shelf-stable staple, in particular NB>>> for baking and cooking... But the skim milk that my parents bought NB>>> was more an attempt to stretch the budget.... :) BM>> I remember growing up my Mother loved skim milk! To me was an odd BM>> light blue and tasted watered down. I don't recall anything about BM>> prices -- maybe because as delivered and all I had to do was go BM>> outside and get it out of the insulated metal box. NB>> Powdered skim milk was definitely less expensive... The bottled skim NB>> milk might have been a little less expensive (the cream skimmed off NB>> could be sold for a premium, after all...), but it might also have NB>> been close to the same price, delivered... I'd agree with your NB>> assessment... and would have as a child, as well.. :) BM> Costs and the concept of 'afford/not afford' never really occurred to BM> me back then, just sort of an "it costs money" idea and wasting was not BM> good. "Gimme-gimme-gimme" was definitely not allowed, though if I BM> wanted something and there was a valid reason plus I had earned it one BM> way or another (chores, being good, behaving and the like) I'd get it, BM> though I also remember rarely asking for anything. Similar for me... as the oldest of 8 kids, I did have a concept of things costing money, and of spending wisely and carefully.... but didn't pay a lot of mind to exact costs... and knew better than to ask for anything not a true need... which also meant I didn't ask much... BM>>> And this just popped in: I remember something like "Tiger's Milk" which BM>>> was supposed to be more of a protein or some sort of supplement. As I BM>>> recall an 'odd' taste. I was probably pre- to early teen then. NB>>> Yes, I remember that too... probably was fortified with soy and other NB>>> proteins... not something I was impressed with either.... BM>> Maybe was something the adults bought to make up for the nutrients BM>> missing in the watered-down skim milk! NB>> I probably tasted it on my own, nothing that my parents would have NB>> bought, I'm sure... As I recall, it was rather pricey, too... Maybe NB>> a forerunner of today's sports drinks... ;) BM> It probably was! ...We need to get our memories going and update the BM> Wikipedia article: it says Tiger's Milk is a nutrition bar from the BM> 1960's, I'm remembering it or something in a rectangular box (like BM> cereal comes in) -- a powder added to milk. not really recalling water, BM> and I think occasionally orange juice but that made it taste 'off' and BM> gave a gritty texture. It probably was originally the powder, and I wouldn't doubt they might have then come out with a nutrition bar to make it more convenient... Shaklee (supplements) had a soy-based (IIRC) protein powder supplement that I used for a while but then decided I disliked it more than getting any benefit from it.... NB>>> I don't think I'd add water to extend the mylks... just drink them in NB>>> smaller quantities.... BM>> Whichever ones I was buying back then, even the store brand, sort of BM>> had a slightly too-strong initial flavour ('uncut'). Not unpleasant. BM>> not oeverpowering, just noticeable. So the first pour or two (and I BM>> didn't use that much) was a treat because of the flavour; cut with BM>> water a couple of times to extend and save some money -- maybe got BM>> four or five extra cereal-for-breakfast out of it, which with my BM>> semi-randomness of what to have for breakfast would extend two or BM>> three weeks. NB>> I suppose, doing it just for your cereal would cover any weak/watered NB>> taste you'd get from doing that... cereals have a lot of taste NB>> themselves, usually.... BM> Not too much flavour from plain shredded wheat! Though I have munched BM> on the dry "little bales of hay" as I get kidded about and there is a BM> different taste when milk added. Never got in to the sweet cereals - BM> I don't like the coated shredded wheat. OTOH Corn Flakes taste bland BM> plus become a soggy mass so not really a fan of those either. OMG: I BM> _am_ a picky eater!!! I grew up with plain shredded wheat, corn flakes, Cheerios, once in a while raisin bran and the Chex cereals... nothing sugared... oh, and wheat puffs and rice puffs... and various hot cereals like oatmeal and Wheatena... I don't usually do breakfast anymore... for a while was using cold cereal to munch on out of the box, but don't now... once in a while still have oatmeal, with raisins cooked into it and various toppings.... most a holdover from childhood... ;) BM>>> We did try various physical options, even to the point of stuffing BM>>> cotton in her ears and holding in place with earmuffs. I think that BM>>> lasted about four minutes! NB>>> That's longer than I would have thought it would last... BM>> She sort of knew what it was for, but the uncomfortableness BM>> or ticklishness or whatever finally got to her! NB>> OK. :) BM> She did look rather funny with earmuffs on! And she did try to keep BM> the cotton in her ears with the earmuffs holding -- maybe helped a BM> little which she knew but just couldn't stand it any more -- BM> shake-shake-shake! Can't blame her much... :) ttyl neb .... BBS: A place where you are recognized as a friend! --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452) .