Subj : moving or not To : Nancy Backus From : Barry Martin Date : Thu May 14 2020 12:34:00 Hi Nancy! BM>>> A little after 7 p.m. things start to get interesting: warning sirens BM>>> go off. My window up here faces South: nothing unusual. Check BM>>> wUnderground: big colourful diagonal band to the northwest about the BM>>> Cedar Rapids area, 90 miles 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. NB>> Still, pretty good idea not to just ignore... ;) BM> Right. 99.9% of the time there's something going on which needs to be BM> monitored. NB> Yup... and if it turns out to be a test or a false alarm, no harm NB> done by checking things out.... :) BM> I do check out why the sirens are going off if not obvious: normal BM> test time or looking nasty outside. NB> I suppose that even if it is normal test time, one might want to NB> check, just in case... :) Or would a real alarm go on for NB> longer, to get your attention....? You know, I'm not sure! It seems like the test siren goes on forever; I'm sure probably the same period as the actual warning, just seems that way. As far as checking when the test is being done, I sort of do that -- probably barely qualifies as checking but I do look out the windows as I wander for coffee/water refills and so have an idea of what the weather conditions are. Normally decent, but if it happened to be semi-threatening outside and the siren goes off I'd check even though pretty sure was just due to the testing. BM> LIS a little while back it looked relatively bland from my south- BM> facing window when the sirens went off but look north -- uh-oh! NB> And as you said above... wUnderground "told" you to look north... So the Internet is good! BM>> We're supposed to have some 'potential for bad weather' late this BM>> afternoon. At this point for me it's just close the windows so the BM>> rain doesn't come in. NB>> Simple enough.... :) We haven't started opening windows yet... NB>> Sunday, maybe I should have, to let the lovely heat in.... Forecast NB>> had been for about 70ø, it went into the high 70s and stayed sunny... NB>> Temps dropped overnight, and we've been back in 40s for highs today, NB>> barely got into the 50s yesterday.... BM> I think I mentioned in an earlier message they're predicting 31ø for BM> the low on the Saturday before Mother's Day (this weekend as I write); BM> last Friday we put the window air conditioner in the Master Bedroom BM> because it was in the 80's! NB> Just when we think that we're on track for warming weather, it NB> drops back to cooler, sometimes even wintry weather... that NB> said... starting tomorrow, highs are supposed to be back in the NB> 60's, so seasonable... and look to be staying there for the NB> week-out forecast.. about time.. ;) Yup; we tend to get some wildly swinging temperatures in the Spring -- in the 70's/80's one week and snow the next. Usually not that extreme but not unusual. BTW we only used the air conditioner that night and the next night -- so far! 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. NB>>> Not too bad, then, considering the hailstorm itself.... BM>> Still have to do something about the screen replacement and chips in BM>> the siding...... NB>> Tape the rips for now, just in case there's another hailstorm in your NB>> future....? ;) How bad is the siding damaged...? Will it need NB>> replacing, or are there ways to just mend the chips and cracks...? BM> A rip has been temporarily taped up in a window we open for fresh air. BM> The ones in the slider have been left alone for now. Will have the BM> screens repaired later; insurance adjuster coming this afternoon. BM> Siding -- my original thinking was to hire someone to patch -- BM> something like the repair they used to do for furniture. Guess could BM> be done -- never saw but that doesn't mean anything. Again the BM> insurance adjustor will be making recommendations on that. NB> That's starting to sound more serious... ;) Got the claim back and combination of covering more and less than expected. The inspector said a possibility of near-full replacement cost, we had thought maybe 20% because of the age -- getting about half. Also replacing some dented and cracked vents up there. Metal awnings over the front and side doors will be replaced, as dented window trim and of course the ripped screens. I'm not sure how the vinyl siding was goignt o be handled -- there's a meeting coming up so will verify then. I also want to ask about having all the screens rescreened while the contractor is here -- we pay for that, of course. Just easier as someone already here doing part of the work. BM>> I'm an "only brat" (sort of a joke on being the opposite of brattish); BM>> just not my way to whine about wanting something (well, I'm quite sure BM>> my Mother could come up with a few examples!). Christmas and BM>> birthdays I'm a pain: "What do you want for ?" "Ah dunno..." BM>> "(Just like all the other askings.)" NB>> Richard used to always tell my family to get him socks... and of NB>> course was usually ignored... My youngest sister finally did... :) NB>> He was glad to get something useful... ;) BM> I don't mind "non-useful" items -- smallish yard BM> decorations are nice; indoor items also, just running out of room. NB> It's that running out of room sort of thing that makes it harder NB> to think of things one really would like... :) That, plus for me it's the I don't really need anything and when I do it's relatively expensive as far as gift amounts go -- "hey! wanna chip in on the house repairs?" - yeah, right! NB>>> Shaklee (supplements) had a soy-based (IIRC) protein powder supplement NB>>> that I used for a while but then decided I disliked it more than NB>>> getting any benefit from it.... BM>> I've forgotten about Shaklee! ...If something doesn't taste all BM>> that good and the reason for taking it is semi-casual I'd stop taking BM>> it also. (And just to cover my rump, just because one person doesn't BM>> like the taste doesn't mean someone else won't.) NB>> I had a doctor back then that suggested I take various Shaklee NB>> things... after he retired, and I reassessed things, a lot of it NB>> seemed not to be being all that helpful.... In the meantime, I'd NB>> become a dealer, just to get a discount on what I was using... ;) NB>> That didn't last all that long after I decided I didn't need the NB>> stuff after all... :) BM> No; being a dealer made sense to obtain the discount but if not using BM> the supplement not that much of a need to sell and so probably loss of BM> interest. NB> I wasn't really selling much anyway.... a couple of friends knew NB> I was selling it, and once in a while they'd want something... I NB> certainly wasn't making any money off it... :) Probably the usual for that kind of marketing dealerships: sell to a few others to get a discount on their own purchases. BM>> As for the 'besides cereals' some of them BM>> tasted like wallpaper paste to me: just bland no matter the topping or BM>> mix-ins. Oatmeal I like, preferably the flavoured kind, but not so BM>> much the instant Cream and Berries type: too sweet. NB>> Those puffs cereals, I never did care for... but in thinking back on NB>> what we had, I did get the mental picture of the big bags of those NB>> Daddy used to get... ;) Never have done the instant oatmeals... I NB>> can cook up even the old-fashioned in just a few minutes in the NB>> microwave, no waiting for hot water... :) BM> The puff cereals were 'okayyy': IIRC generally too sweet. There may BM> have been a couple not too bad: OK for the occasional breakfast. NB> What we had were the non-sweetened type... just puffed wheat or NB> rice or whatever, no sweetening at all... add your own at the NB> table.... The other day I had the bite-sized shredded wheat topped with a bran-type cereal topped with raisins - tasted fine to me! :) To me the single 'bale of hay' tastes bland plus is a bit of a fight to eat. BM> Winter/cold weather I like the warmth of oatmeal. Having instant BM> might be more of a habit plus has flavour options, which I tone down BM> with a 'pour' of the non-flavoured, plus expands the amount as that's BM> all I'm eating. NB> Never cared for the flavour options... just as soon just add real NB> stuff, like raisins, cinnamon, butter, brown sugar.... and since NB> it isn't pre-packaged, I can choose how much I want from the NB> get-go... ;) I almost always add raisins anyway. The single packet isn't enough for me so I add a small 'pour' of the plain-from-canister): cuts down the sometimes too-strong default flavour while adding to what I'm eating. Have also occasionally added cinnamon, sometimes butter. BM>> Rare times go out for breakfast I do go a little wild (and usually BM>> little to no lunch). NB>> Most of my breakfasts are involved with traveling of some sort... if NB>> I'm staying at a Bed & Breakfast, I'm paying for breakfast so will NB>> have, and enjoy.... or if a hotel has free breakfast as a perk... and NB>> yes, it can take the place of lunch... :) BM> True: if part of the accomodation would make sense to have. Sometimes BM> have breakfast meetings at the store and the quick/cheap pasteries BM> they usually had were a treat for me. At the hotel in Vienna they had BM> a nicely assorted offering of which I'd rotate: emphasis on the cereals BM> one day, another day the bacon/sausage/eggs, another day a different BM> emphasis. Of course I was there for three weeks; a couple of days I BM> might have had a little of each instead! NB> Makes sense to rotate when one is going to be there for a NB> while... was it always the exact same spread each day, or was NB> there any variation from day to day....? It was mostly the same. Last years when I was there they (the hotel) had decreased the offerings from the previous two years but was still more that a sufficient choice. The hotel had been part of a mini-chain with two other hotels in Vienna and the other two were holding 'mine' back. When I arrived last year noted a lot of changes: fresh paint, new carpeting, etc. A little difficult to tell what was done in the suites themselves as each seemed to be decorated differently. Back to the breakfast offerings, about partway through my stay a new ffering was added: probably a 3- or 4-oz glass with some sort of a 'mush' in milk or cream, topped with a layer of a darker 'mush', topped with three or four raspberries, blueberries, and sometimes another small fruit. Served cool. OK: I'll try! Yumm!! Complimented to my waitress (was self-serve but the refilled coffee, etc.) -- she was a little puzzled as apparently is a common dish in Austria/Europe and seemed surprised I had never had it. ¯ ® ¯ Barry_Martin_3@ ® ¯ @Q.COM ® ¯ ® .... "Osborne's Law": Variables won't; constants aren't. --- MultiMail/Win32 v0.47 þ wcECHO 4.2 ÷ ILink: The Safe BBS þ Bettendorf, IA --- QScan/PCB v1.20a / 01-0462 * Origin: ILink: CFBBS | cfbbs.no-ip.com | 856-933-7096 (454:1/1) .