BS: stay afloat while others don't

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: keberoxu
Date: 24 Jul 24 - 07:41 PM

Update on previous post:

the sutures came out two days ago.
There is more scabbing than I expected,
so I am having to go softly and carefully with that part of my head.

The chorus that I sing with during the school year,
just had a board meeting which established that
they have got hardly any money left.
The director is gloomily thinking of austerity measures,
including not hiring an orchestra --
so much for Haydn's The Seasons, in that case.
Donations are drastically down this year.
There is serious talk of grant-writing.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 12 Aug 24 - 05:59 PM

We haven't seen Mrrzy around here for a number of weeks. I hope all is well. Wedding plans, travel, etc.

Keb, are you back to your old self now many weeks after the cyst? And is the estate work moving along?

Senoufou, it must be close to time for you to finally be on the schedule for the surgery. I hope!

Last weekend I emailed a book review to old friends who have lived in West Texas for about 20 years, but who were some of my first friends in the neighborhood when we moved to Fort Worth. We don't talk often, but it is that kind of friendship where you pick up where you left off. Except this time I learned the husband passed away last month of a rare and late to diagnose bile duct cancer. I'm wondering if she will decide to move back to town now, in which case I'll do everything I can to help. She has her hands full with selling some extra property out there, but there are no children or siblings to make her work more difficult. The husband was 67 with a healthy lifestyle and the expectation to live many more years.

What reminders have each of you had lately that we should have our affairs in order?

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Mrrzy
Date: 13 Aug 24 - 09:47 AM

Keep healing, keb!

Thanks stilly! Fine, but frantic, indeed. At least the wedding is next month, yay, and my other kid did get long-term committed, yay again.

Beach next week. Then classes start.

Retirement is terrifically busy.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: keberoxu
Date: 15 Aug 24 - 11:40 AM

Mrrzy, good to hear how well things are going!

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Mrrzy
Date: 17 Aug 24 - 10:00 AM

Spoke too soon!

Woken up this morning by frantic call from friend, whose wife (also friend) is suicidal, can I come help. No, I am 6 hours away at the beach.

Next message from friend who is supposed to be my date at my kid's wedding, who may not make it because her sister is dying of pancreatic cancer, to say that SHE now has been diagnosed with a pancreatic insufficiency that might be cancer, they don't know yet.

Well, shit, is all I can say. Am at the beach. Nothing I can do, so I'm going to the beach. With my phone, though.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 17 Aug 24 - 09:05 PM

Mrrzy, it might be best to leave the phone behind while at the beach. Give yourself time to absorb the salt and fresh air without the worry. Do you have a book for summer reading? Breathe deeply. Get the full value of the trip, it will help you work through the rest later, especially if there is nothing you will be able to do about it anyway.

I've been reading about health and diet recently; the amount of diabetes and pancreatic cancer is increasing and it has to do with the Western Diet. There's a lot we can do about that, but it takes research.

Last year I met a woman via a Facebook group and have been able to offer assistance on occasion; the goal is to not interfere or make someone dependent upon me, but to be a friend who can help occasionally. This spring she moved into a high-end building because the housing authority in town has placements with a few subsidized apartments for disabled/Medicaid-eligible people (the builders get a big tax break). She is finding that the mostly rich people in her building throw away a lot of things they should donate, and via bin diving has managed to round up and offer some interesting items on her Buy Nothing group. She is also able to sell some things and help her bottom line a bit. (Do you know how hard it is to get a bank account if your credit rating is low? She finally got a credit union account and is rebuilding that way.)

Yesterday I delivered two hard-case suitcases (rolling) and two sturdy gym bags to a homeless shelter for her. Staying afloat is a challenge, so I'm pleased that she's enjoying the bin diving in her building and with all of the activity is also still helping others. I'm pretty sure that minutes after I dropped off those items four people at the shelter with crumbling bags had a new suitcase or duffle to put their possessions in.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: keberoxu
Date: 23 Aug 24 - 03:10 PM

Now, if only we could hear from dear Eliza/Senoufou,
who hasn't been heard from in weeks at least ...
waiting patiently on the waitlist of the NHS
for her gallbladder surgery.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Thompson
Date: 30 Aug 24 - 11:36 AM

Diabetes and its evil allies are also increasing because of obesity, which is increasing not only because of awful diets but because of the accursed private car, in each of which sits one person dying of loneliness and texting and instagramming and tiktoking all alone while driving.
Talking of obesity, for those of use with swollen electricity bills, what's the deal on air fryers? Are they really that much cheaper to cook in than ovens?

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Aug 24 - 02:16 PM

I believe this is a response to The Sandman "Dick" several days ago.
Funnily enough there is a discussion germane to this topic,
but not on this thread --
seek out the DECLUTTER thread instead to see
talk of transportation and of eating habits.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Helen
Date: 30 Aug 24 - 02:33 PM

Thompson, our oven takes at least 20 minutes to pre-heat and a lot longer to cook the food than our versatile oven-style (not basket-style) air fryer. We can use either the air fryer or oven settings on it, and for some foods like roasting vegetables, we use the oven setting and then air fry for a few minutes at the end to brown the veges a bit. We're happy with it and almost all of our food is healthy and nutritious, except for some potato or sweet potato fries now and then. :-D

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 24 - 02:58 PM

I have never fooled with an air fryer but I bought a clean used convection countertop oven I use all of the time. It is so much more efficient than the big oven in the stove when I'm baking something small. (I also use a microwave and have a bowl-and-lid-style convection oven for bigger things like roasted whole chicken or baked vegetables, etc.)

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Thompson
Date: 01 Sep 24 - 06:46 AM

Thanks, lads, both air fryer and convection oven sound great; I shall definitely invest in one when I'm a millionaire.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Helen
Date: 01 Sep 24 - 11:18 AM

I've never been called a lad before. How about you, Stilly? :-D

We struck it lucky. Just as we were about to look for an air fryer a catalogue for a well-known local store landed in our mail box and it offered an air fryer/oven combo for a little over $AU200, reduced from over $AU500. It has been worth the money.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 24 - 01:22 PM

A lot of what ends up in thrift stores are the previous versions of things that people received for holiday gifts, etc. Excellent working crock pots, countertop skillets, toaster ovens, convection cookers, grills, many of these are still the best items to use instead of the new all-in-one devices. Every year at xmas I tell people please don't give me appliances. I like my cast iron skillets and versatile devices. My Mom used to get one-function things to try and they were soon neglected (egg cookers, hot dog cookers, etc.) I found a George Foreman grill for $3 at an estate sale (the plates top and bottom both heat, and the grill is sloped so grease drains, in my case, to a small plate put in front of it.) Fish, beef, pork, chicken, any kinds of meats, but you can also stack on cut vegetables and drizzle olive oil, etc for a great fast meal.

Family and friends know for my fondness of thrift stores so will let me know when they need something. My ex had an expensive and well-used older bread machine in which the bread tin inside had cracked. Could I find another of the tins? I ended up finding a bread machine that had the tin but was missing the rubber gasket and beater bar for kneading (for $20). He ended up putting his gasket and beater in the new tin and started using the much newer machine. Marrying devices like this means less stuff in the landfill and doesn't trigger a sale that indicates a manufacturer should make more.

Modern industrial nations are so wasteful. As a way to run an economy Capitalism can bring out the worst in investors and businesses who make things instead of building the best and fixing them when needed. Planned obsolescence is an obscenity.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Helen
Date: 01 Sep 24 - 03:36 PM

I'm a big fan of op shops (i.e. opportunity shops), and secondhand stores.

I have also been a big fan of cast iron cookware. I bought a large frypan/skillet probably nearly 50 years ago from a camping supplies store and I use it almost every day. I had a large cast iron casserole dish which I used a lot but then I found an enamel version and I use it for slow cooking recipes.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: MaJoC the Filk
Date: 02 Sep 24 - 06:32 AM

> Planned obsolescence is an obscenity.

*Agree*, Stilly. The rot for me set in with the transistor radio, which was *only* *just* repairable with a soldering iron and a bit of native wit .... once everything got merged into single-purpose chips, that were that.

But the repair instinct does have a downside if it isn't shared with one's spouse. I've inherited my father's DIY and hoarding habits, while Herself is a minimalist; we've evolved rigid areas of doubt and uncertainty to minimise conflict.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Mrrzy
Date: 04 Sep 24 - 09:04 PM

Yikes. Wedding rehearsal tomorrow! It begins!

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 24 - 09:59 PM

Good, Mrrzy! We look forward to your account of how it goes!

A friend I've described before, who is on a housing voucher living in a high-end apartment downtown (the corporation gets a huge tax break when they allow for a percentage of subsidized apartments) continues to amaze us with her account of things she finds in the trash rooms of the building. She is slowly building an income from selling things that people have thrown away; most of it she offers for free to clear the space in her small apartment and to pass on to others who need these things, but the items she can sell help her bottom line. She's a survivor and I am proud of how smart she has been to make this work for her. Dumpster Diving is an art and a science for survivors.

Subject: RE: BS: stay afloat while others don't
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Sep 24 - 03:07 PM

Mrrzy, you're in the home stretch! Keep it up!