Subj : Re: Resend Isolation Dia To : Barry Martin From : Nancy Backus Date : Wed Jun 17 2020 19:36:04 -=> Quoting Barry Martin to Nancy Backus on 12-Jun-2020 12:14 <=- Interesting.... all the degree signs in this message turned into 'o-with-umlaut' whether in old quoted sections (including mine) or in your new reply bits... and stayed so when put into my editor for my reply... I also noticed that the fraction you used (in describing the shorting plug) didn't translate either... And all your reply messages to the end of this packet had remapped the double arrowheads you use around your signature section (to - and r)... it was fine before this message, and the last returned for the message you entered later warning that you might not be here on Monday... BM>>> Bleah for the middle of May! We had a 29” freeze yesterday morning [snip] BM>> Drizzling and 53”, though three days ago wasn't nearly as warm as 80”! BM>> You might be getting part of the same system we have been having -- BM>> which is five or six inches of rain the past few days. Doesn't help BM>> getting anything done in the yard; oh well, the time will come. NB>> I don't think we got nearly as much rain, then or even since... I NB>> only saw heavy rain one day... We did get those awfully hot days NB>> beginning of last week... yesterday was barely 60” with the low into NB>> the 40s, the house ended up cooling more than I wanted it to....! By NB>> the end of the week we'll be in the 70s, one day's supposed to be 83”, NB>> I forget which, but then back to the 70s, which is pleasant and NB>> properly seasonable... :) BM> Last Monday the roofers were here to replace due to the hail-damage. BM> I saw the official temperature at 92” but the thermometer here at the BM> house said 99” and general it's pretty accurate compared to the TV BM> reporting maps: the house is more or less centered between the NWS at BM> the larger airport in Moline (IL) and the municipal one in Davenport BM> (IA) -- each is less than ten miles. Even the 92ø is too hot... especially for roofing.... BM> Tuesday and Wednesday Cristobal visited and left some rain. Thursday BM> (yesterday) mostly sunny but cooler -- evening was 63”; there was a BM> power failure in the middle of the afternoon so I lost the earlier BM> ansiweather readings I leave in Terminal -- think low 80's. Late BM> morning Friday and 78” out there. Well it is almost summer, I guess.... ;) NB>>> Actually, I do read the messages as they come in... it's just the NB>>> replying to that takes so long... ;) Unless I'm actually away, and NB>>> then they get read when I return, of course... ;) BM>> So you're caught up yet behind! NB>> Sorta... ;) At this point, by the time I'm answering these older NB>> messages, I don't really recall all the interim answers... but I am NB>> still reading them all when they first come in... so, for instance, NB>> I saw that a set of Apr 18th messages came in from Daryl in last NB>> night's packet... guess his setup workings let a few more old unsent NB>> messages go out.... this time to ILink chat... ;) BM> Yes, the mail tossers will sometimes do 'strange' things to older BM> messages. May have been uploaded on one system but a new system will BM> see them as new so upload them again: "they look new to me!". I don't think they'd ever gone out from Daryl's system... I'd not seen them anywhere before (at least the ones that went out into Fidonet echoes intermittently), so they weren't dupes from earlier... just ones he'd written weeks before that hadn't gone out... BM> NB>>>> This was when he was only a first-grader, at least... ;) BM>>> First grade we can probably still handle! NB>>> Yeah... didn't really have to teach him anything, either, just make NB>>> sure he did the paperwork to turn in when we got home, as I recall.... BM>> Back in the Olde Days when I was in elementary school I remember doing BM>> my school work in my room but I don't recall being helped nor asking BM>> for help, yet I know I had to have been helped because I know Dad BM>> 'untrained' me from the New Math and we went back to the 'Old Math' -- BM>> maybe that's a repressed memory! NB>> Probably sufficiently traumatic... BM> Possibly! I don't really remember directly but the family BM> stories of how I got really confused and Dad had to 'de-programme' BM> from the New Math and went back to the Old Math with modifications to BM> semi-understand the New Math teachings. I rely a little too much on a BM> calculator, though can usually tell when I've entered an incorrect BM> number, and do do some simple math on paper. I try to make a practice of not using the calculator, mostly... using more for checking later... or for very complicated proceedings... BM> And do do sometimes the "Reverse Polish Notation" math: $2.99 + $5.99 BM> is $3 + $6, so $9 and then take off the two cents: $8.98! That's a good trick for doing mental math... works great.... :) BM>> As for helping Autumn next year BM>> in first grade, at this point more a play by ear. Her mother will BM>> probably do to the bulk of homewhork assistance. her father is smart BM>> but not overly patient with the academics; he'd be good for the BM>> mechanicals: shoebox diorama type stuff. We'll be on-call as needed; BM>> here is usually play time, though every so often the play is School. NB>> She probably wouldn't be needing much help until she gets farther NB>> along anyway.... and I suspect turning school into play would be NB>> more her style as well.. :) BM> Yes. Here school is 'over' as far as the official school year is BM> concerned. Her parents (mother mainly) are glad as less stuff that BM> has to be done that day. Still continuing learning, just at a more BM> casual pace as opposed to a structured one. She does tend to absorb learning along the way nicely... ;) BM> As for next school year -- presuming they're going back to the BM> classroom but not 100% certain. Have heard snippets of the various BM> local school boards are considering various options, asking for BM> parental input on what they would like to do, what worked and didn't BM> work last session (during COVID-19), etc. There's still a lot of things up in the air, since things really aren't known about how things really are tracking... BM>> So obviously a trusted neighbour if has a key. NB>> Indeed... by that time we were already watching out for each other's NB>> houses, and each had a key to the other's house... when we first NB>> moved in, she'd come over and said that the neighborhood had a motto, NB>> Since we're neighbors, let's be friends... and that quickly became NB>> the case... :) BM> Good concept. Here most are staying isolated/independent (talking BM> pre-COVID-19) but still keeping a casual eye on each other. We've not had that sort of relationship with any others of our neighbors since, there is at least the casual eye on each other, the wave and quick "how ya doing".... even now, in these stranger times.... :) BM>> I know a lot of times BM>> I walked home from school -- didn't have a key, just walked in to the BM>> house though the basement. (OMG! The house was _unlocked_??!!) BM>> Eventually the basement was finished and a wall erected between the BM>> garage and basement -- two doors, but still didn't need a key. Yes, BM>> they were locked. ...A certain section of the door trim was hollowed BM>> and a push-button switch was hidden: push the trim in the right place BM>> and would activate an electric door latch. NB>> That was convenient... :) And less than readily obvious... :) BM> Yes. Also had a small outlet -- was literally a two-prong outlet but BM> the snap-in front-panel size, about 3/8" x 1ª" that had a shorting BM> plug plugged in to it. (Sort of hidden.) Remove the plug, no BM> electricity to the door latches even if pressed the molding to activate BM> the hidden switch. (The house has been sold a few times -- bet the BM> current owners have no idea of those locks, nor the older 'sneaky' BM> alarms.) Depends on whether or not the info was passed along with the keys to the house.... ;) BM>> True: relatively easy to maintain the social distancing in an BM>> otherwise unoccupied building. Even if closed there is probably some BM>> activity: check to make sure someone hasn't broken in, make sure the BM>> water pipes are intact, etc. Teachers would probably be able to get to BM>> their classrooms to pick up rosters and texts -- "hey, what's this BM>> discolouration?" and have it checked out. ..Or the cleaning staff: BM>> not needed nearly as frequently because no body to make a mess but BM>> they'd have to clean away cobwebs, etc. NB>> But some presence in the building... :) BM> True. Quite certain a very thorough inspection wil be made before BM> opening the schools back up. I'd expect so... :) BM>> Yes, I was just thinking of at the store we'd periodically have a BM>> clear-out of the refrigerator (and its freezer) because Mystery Items BM>> would be left to evolve. NB>> Since this was just a closedown and not a castastrophe, one would NB>> hope that someone would have thought to check that sort of thing out NB>> at the beginning.... get rid of any Mystery Items or not reclaimed NB>> things when people left for the unexpected vacation.... BM> I would assume so, yes. It would seem logical (oops!) the BM> refrigerators and freezers would have been cleaned out by someone after BM> a reasonable period of time to allow the owner time to collect. One would think... ;) NB>>> Technology marches on, leaving obsolescence in its wake... NB>>> (I quote a tagline, I think....) BM>> Or would make a good one! NB>> I'll look for it... ;) [Edited to add: found it, and see that NB>> the spelling needs correcting... I'll take care of that later... ] BM> Sounds like a But First to me! And this also serves as a subtle BM> reminder if you haven't gotten around to it yet. :) I don't remember now if I did or not... ;) BM>> As for technology marching on, yes; generally for good. Trash truck BM>> just picked up a can -- probably recyclable by the sound as it was BM>> poured in to the truck. Old days couple of guys emptying the can into BM>> the back of the truck; now just the driver who pushes a button to BM>> activate the robotic arm. (And there's probably a lot of technology BM>> in that arm to make sure it self-aligns, doesn't extend too far or not BM>> far enough.) The two trashmen on the back are no longer present (well, BM>> on that truck) and so have had to find other employment. NB>> They probably are driving the extra refuse/recycle trucks... ;) BM> Possibly! I had not heard of any layoffs due to the new (at the time) BM> collection process. I'd guess they just shifted personnel within the department... :) BM>> LIS in earlier messages did pick up a small box of Ginger Tea and had BM>> some yesterday -- was good! Probably another one later today as not BM>> going to get outside -- stopped raining but overcast and damp out BM>> there. NB>> And the tea can be so comforting... ;) BM> I'll not go quite that far but tastes good, so sort of an equivalent BM> to the 'comforting'. OK.. :) BM> - r BM> - Barry_Martin_3@ r BM> - @Q.COM r BM> - r Leaving so that you can see the re-map of your usual characters... ttyl neb .... I'm an idealist. I don't know where I'm going, but I'm on my way. --- EzyBlueWave V3.00 01FB001F * Origin: Tiny's BBS - http://www.tinysbbs.com (454:1/452) .