De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 21 - 12:02 AM

I expect a couple of health issues are conflated there, Jos.

I have looked up some easy recipes for granola. I'm eating a lot of oatmeal, but would like the dry cereal for summer (faster and easier) - buying it can get expensive. I'll make some this week and see if it's worth the trouble. It's one way to keep the coconut out of it.

On Saturday family is coming over for a meal we'll cook here. I have all of the ingredients and I've cleared up a lot of the clutter in the kitchen and dining area. Once we get started it won't matter, but it would be nice if the first impression they have upon entering the house is one of organized clear counters and easy cooking access.

My exercise app is working so far; I'm keeping an eye out for moves that clobber the bursitis, but so far they seem to have kept that in mind (I told them in advance that the leg to the side moves are deadly.) 15 minutes at a time, small, but I can feel it. This is good.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jun 21 - 08:27 AM

My new basement windows are boffo. That is all.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: JennieG
Date: 19 Jun 21 - 08:36 AM

Boffo windows is a Good Thing.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 19 Jun 21 - 11:29 AM

Email from the investment broker, who apparently works on the weekend: Edmund's savings will be transferred to my account by next Wednesday, with no tax penalty.

Phew. But it took long enough.

Tony the carpenter was poking at the dubious wall in my middle bathroom yesterday. It's good to know that I can afford to pay him whatever it will cost to rip that sucker out and install something modern and mould-proof.

Kathleen my cleaner friend is giving the house a farewell scrub today. She is in the midst of packing up shelves of sheet music, including dozens of orchestral scores, so I was able to give her a useful going-away present: fifteen brand-new, never used file boxes. The two-cubic-foot boxes supplied by the moving company are way too big for books and sheet music; I can barely shove a full one across the floor, let alone carry it upstairs. Kathleen is no stronger than I am, so file boxes are her preferred "moving solution" (yuck).

That's a significant declutter for me.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 19 Jun 21 - 07:14 PM

After a quick clean up in the kitchen and dining area, three family members descended on the kitchen and my daughter made a batch of arroz con gondules (rice with pigeon peas) that turned out perfectly (the last time we made it there were too many cooks who burned the rice and it has become a bit of family lore). Fresh garden ingredients that went into it were green bell peppers and garlic. This was a convergence of birthday/Father's day and the ex went home with a gallon freezer bag filled with the rice mixture and a loaf of pumpkin bread. We also did our little "Welcome Summer" BLT sandwiches with the first (and so far only) ripe tomato from the garden. (We dug a few potatoes and admired tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants briefly - it's hot out there today.)

Today's meal was also interesting because we decided to use the covered electric fry pan and she didn't do a lot of measuring (except the water.) It was possible the rice could have expanded way beyond the boundaries of the skillet, but it was just below the top edge when finished. It was literally pour in a bag of rice to the sofrito and water and and see how it goes.

The next cooking adventure here - making granola.

Tomorrow I'll mow the front lawn and spray a vinegar/orange oil mix around the edge of the garden to kill the grass growing up around it. I've been adding items to the donation bin so I may make a run to drop them off at Goodwill, and I have a bunch of stuff for the recycle bins as I clear out boxes I'd kept but don't really need. My cat sitting gig shortened by a week as the owner seems to have decided to head home early. I had the thought he might be pursuing a romance during this trip, but apparently that didn't pan out. Too bad!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 20 Jun 21 - 04:52 PM

Beaver:

Considering the number the vaccine did on me the following day, one might think it could have cured, or killed, almost anything. Today is the first day I have really felt good, felt like normal me, since the 10th! As for the #$%^&*( cough, it hit in spades when I went to an art Gallery to see a friend's exhibit on Friday. I could not even talk to him for coughing and had to leave. Saturday, I did not have the energy to go anywhere, and coughed my guts out at home. Decluttered a great deal of mucous with these two events.

Today, I am right as rain! What a relief. There were hours in the last few days when I wondered if I would see tomorrow, should I call 911??? Close but survived since I doubted there was anything positive they could do.

In the meantime, I managed to do tiny amounts of work in the studio - maybe an hour a day; the laundry and remade bed - a bit at a time; And today!!!! Washed my hair! Now I am normal.

However, it is a good thing - for my mental health!, that I was able to decide to just let go of whatever I thought needed to be done by... Talk about de-clutter! So it is Sunday; everything is ready for a glaze firing but the kiln - which I have not the guts to endeavour to repair although I did unplug it today! Michael finally phoned today that he will come tomorrow at 10:30! If he manages the repair, and I have no doubt he will, I can load and fire and unload on Tues am to take Erica's plates to Quebec, and be there in time for R to have his shot on Weds. The "filler pieces" for the shop can be tagged and boxed for Pat, or someone to pick up whenever, from K counter. These folks generally get down to Bancroft once a week to shop. And Pat has been wanting more small pieces for the shop.

I might have thrown some more today but the rack is FULL and the studio is crowded. Need to "move 'em on out!" to make room for more.

There will still be at least two kiln loads to glaze fire next trip. Soon I hope, largely depending on how R reacts to his vaccine. Mock orange has not yet popped, strawberries still thinking about it and no snapping turtle mom has nested out on the road. I will be anxious to get back.

Our go-to granola recipe was in Diet for a Small Planet. It was terrific. We did about 50 pounds once for a camping co-op! I somehow stopped eating it years ago but it was BF for quite a while, with nutritional yeast (found I was allergic!) and yogurt. WOW! 45 years ago!!

And this am, I was busy glazing and the phone rang: "TD bank" about my credit card but a message so incomprehensible I just hung up and phoned the number I have for the bank and got a wonderful woman who assured me that it had been their fraud line and we determined there was a problem and I must have a new card But she agreed to fast track it directly to the TD bank in Chateauguay which will phone me on arrival; it is meant to be there on Tuesday! I may not always approve of its activities (fossil fuels/pipelines) but it has always done business well for me. This is the 2nd or 3rd time they have caught someone trying to use my card! The credit card department knows more about me than R! Where and when I shop and what I buy and do not buy... It is rather disconcerting but it works!

That took an hour out of my glazing time but I still did two hours and organized to do more later. Then it was lunch time and getting hot, and my shoulder was hurting. Maybe later...

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 12:42 AM

I'm glad you're feeling better, Dorothy, and I'm glad Charmion was able to wrest the savings cash from the banker without a tax hit. Reminds me, I have to file a protest, the IRS sent a goofy reason for why they recalculated my taxes. Human error on their end and I have a refund coming.

Mosquitoes are bad here this year, and they seem to come into the house with or on the dogs through the dog door. As it gets hotter and drier they'll begin to lower in number, and I'm putting mosquito dunks everywhere around outside the house.

Summer crankiness is setting in, though it should improve once the humidity drops with even hotter days. I've made the bed with the "summer setup" of sheets and one thin blanket that can be pulled over top on the off chance that it cools overnight. This is it till September.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 10:41 AM

I have booked my second jab. The Vaccine Fairy visited the Huron-Perth Health District, and suddenly supplies are generous enough to extend to all who received their first shot before 9 May.

How do you spell relief? Today, I spell it N-E-E-D-L-E.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 11:23 AM

You're already 3/4 of the way there, the second one is a booster. Good job, everyone! I saw in the NY Times this morning that over the weekend was the first fully-filled event at Madison Square Garden, where the Foo Fighters performed. If they were good enough to see off David Letterman on the occasion of his last show they're good enough to escort New York City back to full-speed-ahead concerts. The article said it was before a "fully-vaccinated audience." That ought to temp a few people to go ahead and get the vaccine.

Trash went out to the curb early today since I missed the last couple of weeks. And now that it's really hot they start coming by really early to finish their rounds before the hottest part of the day.

I finally figured out how to turn off the new Windows/Microsoft "News and Interests" icon thingie that was showing up on the bottom right toolbar. Don't you just love it when they foist new settings on you? That was the best feeling declutter of the morning. The other computer declutter I've been working on is Dropbox. I use the free version of it and it is now threatening me daily with the message that it is nearly full and I should upgrade. I need to stop paying for services, not add another one. I'll turn off Flicker's paid account this year - every time you turn it on there are the lovely photos that convince you to pay, but I don't use it except for backup, and Google and Dropbox and Microsoft already do that. I have seriously too many photos backed up around here. So I'm pitching out big clumps of photos from Dropbox. (I periodically load phone photos into the computer via cable also.)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 05:53 PM

I am still trying to convince my iPhone that I don’t want anything to do with Siri, not now and not ever. Apple are building it into many of their applications, and I want them to stop. Until it can hold an actual conversation, I will never sit alone in the car, or at my desk, or any other place, and holler “Hey, Siri!” into the empty air.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 06:07 PM

Beaver:

Once again I have no idea what these "apps" or whatevers are! Except maybe Siri; I might ask once every couple months how to get somewhere or get a phone number; maybe that is Siri!?

Nice visit with electrician friend and his wonderful partner. He admits to not putting the wires back together the last time he was here! Arghhh! I could have had it ALL fired. But it was a great visit and he took another project to work on for me: trying to get the seat for the other wheel in the correct position so I don't feel as though I am sliding off. (He welds also) This is actually a seat for an alternate but identical wheel. I suspect Lynn will keep him on track. She wants to take pottery lessons, so when I get back!!!!

So glaze firing one is cooking. I had to change the fuses -again! So, checking it every half hour just in case. Maybe sometime this master electrician, retired, will consider helping upgrade the system so it does not blow fuses with fierce irregularity. WOW, would that ever be a de-clutter!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 07:10 PM

Dorothy, your electrician didn't finish the job? I hope the wires were "put back together" before he moved on to other things!

I passed my final eye exam with flying colors - vision is 20/20 and I now can have the corrective lenses requirement taken off of my driver's license. I told the PA that I wanted to address lenses for the computer screen and the music stand on the piano. I was in luck, this PA plays piano and knew what I needed, set up the big eye tester thing with the 1.50+ setting and held up something far enough out like music would be to look at - yes! The 2.0+ I got right after the surgeries are fine for closer work, but the lower number will cover a greater distance. Any of them will work around the house. I think the fact that I got walking-around glasses (blank on top with bifocal lenses) with the photo sensitive feature surprised the optometrist, but I do feel naked without the glasses so if I'm wearing them indoors and out, they might as well have the features I am accustomed to.

After a trip to Costco I now have dedicated pairs of 1.50+ glasses for computer and piano and I also got blue blocker reader lenses for the computer at night to see if that helps get me to bed any earlier. Top off the purchase with a box of bottles of artificial tears and it makes the bag of avocados look like the odd man out on that trip to the store.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 09:19 PM

Its great when a plan goes right! Good for you.

I have a new plan to invest in Biogen. There may be scam in play but we we won't know for sure for 9 years. By that time Biogen would have made 1/2 a trillion dollars. You see they have been given an expedited FDA approval of a new Alzheimers drug. Most people who would get the drug are on Medicare. Biogen will charge each patient 56,000 dollars a year.
Since Congress says that Medicare may not negotiate any drug prices this will become the largest expendature on a drug be it vaccines or opiates combined a hundred times over.
The drug is suppose to remove those amaloid plaques but that may be a correlation and not a causation for dementia.
Even if future Congressional action is taken against the astronomical price, I will get clues when to sell.
If you have ever noticed I have unique perspective when stars allign and opportunities present themselves. This could be the answer to help my special needs son. While not every song is a hit this strategy has a great beat.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 09:50 PM

Depressing that congress doesn't let Medicare negotiate on drug prices (so much funding of political candidates comes from drug companies) and congress hasn't lifted the draconian requirements that the post office pay forward it's medical insurance costs in a way to break that bank. My stocks are in well-rounded moderately-aggressive mutual funds.

Rain in the forecast tomorrow; if we get a good soaking I have a lot of stuff to catch up on in the yard work.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Donuel
Date: 21 Jun 21 - 11:59 PM

It looks like events are about to create a push comes to shove moment.
If this is a Medicare fraud con game it is the grand daddy of all time
On the other hand what if it is the cure for Alzheimers. The initial trials pointed to no. A second trial changed everything. I'm curious if not suspicious.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jun 21 - 08:43 AM

Today I go in for tooth repair that I put off for 6 months.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 22 Jun 21 - 11:01 AM

I remember putting off dental work. It's never a good idea; if it cost too much six months ago, it may well be worse now and therefore more expensive.

Dentists here are considered providers of essential services, even at the worst of the lockdown. That was one thing the Ontario gummint got right.

Now that my second jab is scheduled, I'm planning a trip to visit Edmund's sister and her family, including Niece No. 1 and her three rambunctious little boys. Yesterday I retrieved Edmund's laptop computer from the local Digital Wizard, who cleared it of all Edmund's content and updated the operating system. I packed it up today for the kids, along with Edmund's iPad, which isn't the latest model but should still be useful. Only the eldest boy, age 8, is in full-time school, but the others are hot on his heels. And who knows when we might find ourselves back in lockdown, and the schools gone virtual again?

I will also make the long haul to Ottawa before the end of the summer. Brother No. 2's birthday is 31 August, so that makes a good target date. While I'm there, I can visit Nephew No. 2 (plus wife and two daughters) and deliver more nice, useful stuff that I don't need.

Nephew No. 1 lives on the West Coast somewhere and I think I've met him exactly once, so I don't feel obligated to cut him in on the spoils. Also, has no children and he's old enough that he may well have reached the stage of looking around the house and wondering why he has so much stuff.

Niece No. 2 is at the nest-emptying stage of life but has yet to figure out her next act. I have no idea what she needs or wants, but I guess it's time to find out. As for Nephew No. 3, he's still young and footloose enough that stuff is more of a problem than a solution. He's the one who fits Edmund's bike -- and I really hope he can take possession of it soon.

My plan is to have the basement clear enough by winter that I can put an exercise bike and a padded mat down there without blocking the gangway.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 22 Jun 21 - 09:59 PM

Beaver:

Yep, turned off kiln 30 minutes too soon last night because I got worried and did the math wrong. So, this morning, I unloaded it but things were not quite right. I loaded the car to leave, drove to the gas station and came home; it bugged me, so I put everything back in the kiln - some was OK but not quite. And messaged R that I would not be there until Weds. His shot is Thurs. Happy to note that kiln went off tonight at the correct time in the correct way so I can unload tomorrow and redo the sorting and reload into the car the few things I took out. And hit the road for Chateauguay where, the TD bank phoned to inform me, my new credit card awaits!

I felt so much better after I made this decision to redo the kiln. Went to hardware for extra fuses and chicken manure for the rhubarb as yesterday's visitor told me mine needed to be fed! It is fed! I do love it here; the hardware staff are consistently wonderful and the young woman who offered to carry it out for me - I just handed her the key in case it was locked, while I paid and met her coming in as I went out, retrieving key and finding manure where I asked her to place it!!

Oh, the electrician: dear Michael was chagrined that he had forgotten to put things back together. But all is well now and I hope he and lynn (rhubarb expert) can get the seat for the wheel sorted. I never mentioned that the long wait had cost me getting two more firings done. A gift horse! And it really is not important. I can do them next time. There is plenty at the shop with what will be done tomorrow.

Also, I might not have found the energy to glaze more as my post-shot energy level was VERY low, otherwise everything would be glazed and wrapped (to stay clean until firing time. Instead of just organized on trays and wrapped.

Charmion: keep in mind the possibility of an after effect of your second shot.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Donuel
Date: 22 Jun 21 - 10:12 PM

Two teeth finally repaired and one more visit to a surgeon to go.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 23 Jun 21 - 09:15 AM

Everyone warns me about the vaccine hangover, but thanks for the thought, Dorothy.

After the first one, I had a sore arm for about 48 hours. That was it. But the public health docs say to maintain lockdown behaviour for at least two weeks after the second shot, so I have no plans to engage in any demanding activities.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 21 - 11:00 AM

After the second vaccine I was just tired, but my tiredness could have been from low thyroid, so I'm not the best example to go by. You can take Tylenol or Motrin after your vaccination. There is a crazy rumor going around that if you mitigate the symptoms your vaccine won't "take." Bollocks.

I finished mending hoses yesterday, after Cookie's destructive arrival at the house in September of 2019 when she chewed through the end of one hose and made two big gashes in another one. If I have hose mending kits on hoses I retire I always cut off and keep the mended section and I had a couple of those under the potting bench in the sunroom to take apart and reassemble on the newer hoses. I needed more, but instead of heading to Home Depot I headed to the greenhouse in the back yard where I have lots of stuff stashed that came here with the greenhouse when I bought it from a friend (it's a PVC modular thing.) There is an old coffee can on a corner shelf and it was full of goodies for this job. I tested both hoses and now the job is to figure out whether sprinklers, soaker hoses, or both to take care of the garden plots. (I do need to head to Home Depot for more gaskets.)

I am advancing through the remote trainer/phone app exercise routine I've started via my insurance company, and yesterday moved my activity to the bedroom with the door closed or I'd have been swarmed by dogs while on the yoga mat. The app keeps telling me that pain is good, it's informative, and I'm thinking "yeah, but you haven't had chronic bursitis ache 24-hours a day" so am going to find the pages the PT gave me about stretches targeted at reducing that pain. Stop it before it starts, I hope. I also have a tube of Volaren the PT recommended.

Don, the worst pain I experience at the dentist is paying the bill. Even with dental insurance, it doesn't cover much. And why do HEALTH insurance companies insist our eyes and teeth require their own insurance? Because they figured they couldn't make billions a year if they insured eyes and teeth also?

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 23 Jun 21 - 11:38 PM

I've completed 2 weeks of the short daily exercise sessions using strap-on sensors (thigh and calf) as part of the Hinge Health program made available through my insurance program (the BC/BS part from the university - I don't know if any Medicare support companies use it). I can feel a difference, and it is easy enough to operate. I use their app on my phone most often but the kit comes with an 8" tablet (this one by Lenovo) that has the app pre-loaded. I guess I have a new tablet since I generally do it with the phone. The exercises address already problematic joints - knees, hips, elbows, shoulders (hence the name "hinge.") I joined because of the hip above the replaced knee. I don't really want to have to do another big surgery like that if I can avoid it. Anyway, I give more detail because for all of is it might be worth looking into. The sensors calibrate to the phone each time they start up, everything is rechargeable with standard micro-USB (phone type) plugs. You connect with a PT who monitors your work and have monthly conversations, more if needed.

Meanwhile, the newly repaired and laid-out hoses worked as needed in the garden this evening, the tomatoes, eggplant, okra, and peppers are set for a few more days of heat. I still haven't mowed the front yard, I will eventually.

I still need to take down the tattered patio cover and put something else up. And who knows - I'll look into the cost of a new insulated sliding glass door. That would be a total joy, and make the rest of the work go faster to enjoy the restored look of the patio. I'm thinking this project can come next after one I hope to finish by fall. Ducks lined up and all of that.

Linn has been posting almost daily photos out of her back window for several months, and I have to admit that her current summer shots are the most lush and happy to look at. If I fix the patio, it will have a better look, should I choose to adopt a project like that. (Every time I look at her woods I think about how my woods compare out my back door.)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 24 Jun 21 - 11:37 AM

Today, the investment company finally made the last transfer of Edmund's savings. Whatever ploy it was the lawyer cooked up, it worked. And I've been to Kitchener for my asthma needle. It's nice to get it over with first thing in the morning, although I have to set the alarm clock to ensure I get up in time to hit the road at 0730 hr.

Stratford is gradually opening up. The actors are rehearsing performances that will be mounted in tents on the theatre grounds and the restaurants are serving diners seated at patio tables on the pavement outside their doors. The farmers' markets and shops deemed not essential enough during the lockdown are back in business. People are eating ice cream in the street. A new beer garden is packing them in on Waterloo Street. I finally secured a fresh supply of Lap-sang Sou-chong tea.

I went to the Bell Telephone store in big mall at the east end of town the other day. The only businesses still operating there are chains and franchises, most notably Canadian Tire; all the small local enterprises have dried up and blown away. The best downtown pizza joint changed hands when the Greek family that owned it went back to the old country to take over the business of a close relative who died of COVID-19. My favourite diner managed to keep all its staff, for a wonder, and they greeted me with glad cries when I showed up for the first Sunday brunch after the lockdown was lifted.

The ban on hairdressing is still in place, and the only people who don't look scruffy have barbers in the family. I almost don't care when the US-Canadian border will open; I just want a haircut!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 12:22 AM

Good news on the final cash transfer!

Vet $tuff is coming my way - the bills are high when I have to buy the pet Rx from the vet; my UK company still hasn't opened up for business across the Atlantic (once the flight schedules are back to "normal" and the mail goes easily, I expect this to stop being a problem.) Even though the dogs are on heartworm meds, an annual test is required. Bugger. But the oldest dog hasn't been in for a while so he has an appointment in a couple of weeks.

I'm finding the exercises in the Hinge program to be easier after a couple of weeks, and if I do them almost every day that also helps. It hasn't contributed to any weight loss, though, and I think the thyroid needs another tweak before that will happen. With the heat and a wonky thyroid comes water retention.

Since friends will be over in the morning for breakfast I've been picking up around here. It's so nice to be able to sit across the table from someone in the same room, no mask, and just visit. Such a luxury that I always appreciated, but now doubly so.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 01:15 AM

Our neighbour who gets petrol for me, told me that our standard petrol is changing from E5 to E10 (“super” 97+ octane, where available, remains E5). This meant nothing to me so I’ve been looking it up and found mixed messages. The couple of machinery shops I looked at don’t seem to like E10 but Briggs and Stratton (our lawnmower engine) suggest it should be OK. Husqvarna (our trimmer and leaf blower) are OK too but make more of a point of stressing the importance of fresh fuel. For my part, I’ll start putting a stabiliser additive in the fuel.

How much ethanol is there in the stuff that attacks fuel pipes on your petrol strimmer, srs?

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 01:56 AM

I got a new network tv tuner (HDHomeRun Duo) yesterday. This behaves nicely straight off with mythtv and I hope may also improve reliability as the sat tuner card (or its software) does crash occasionally.

I’ve also removed the USB dongle used for live tv on mum’s PC and (while I’ll probably leave the coax in place), don’t think I need an aerial cable in the study now. That and I’ve modified the mythtv settings:

I’ve got 1 of the 2 dvb-T/T2 (on the HDHomeRun) and 1 of the 3 dvb-S/S2 (on the TBS card) available tuner ports reserved for recording only with recording priority given to the dvb-T one. The other ports are available for both live viewing and recording with suitable priorities set.

I put kodi on my Android phone and that is working for live tv via its mythtv plugin.

Oh well, it was something to play with on yet another rainy day...

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 12:04 PM

Dupont:

The firing was fine! Unloaded, stickered the ones for the shop, reloaded the car. Brought the plates for Erica, left a box of pots for the shop and messaged Pat to let her know they were there, along with a couple bags of books, quart jars and egg cartons - she knows folks who can use them.

Picked up new credit card, stopped at the library, and arrived here before 4 pm, in time to water the neediest plants, put food in frig and sort out some of clutter. Stack of glass storage containers in drainer - R ate the food and washed! Clothes to laundry, one load now washed, dried and sorted, another in washer.

R has no drivers license due to too many points: it would help if he opened mail, if he stopped at stop signs, did not use cell... I was in a mood about it but managed to control my "12 years of this foolishness" fury. (more like a lifetime of it, but I was not around; he is untrainable!) He did not get home until after 10 on Weds; E had to drive him/he fell asleep/... Thurs, I offered a good supper but please get home by 9! E drove him - 9:15.

He had second shot yesterday NO reaction! So I drove him to work this am. Maybe today he will look into recovering a license... Maybe not.

My bits of energy yesterday went into watering plants. catching up on friends on internet, watching youtubes of kd Lang, music and interviews; I find her and her career interesting. Thinking of a young musician we love and wondering if she might also have a career near to that. Would the stress break her as it has others... kd seems to have a certain strength of character.

All those bags of soil in the back yard are producing: there will be tomatoes (3 noticeable striped ones so far), yellow beans, some sort of squash, a few potatoes, possibly corn but something seems to love the sprouting green stuff! Basil in several pots on back porch so I can go out and snip some...

The soil in front - a whole truck load NEEDS some nutritional additives! The parsley and oregano are doing OK - just OK!

There is dead heading needed - and a nap too! Not too hot but we NEED rain. Town has a water use alert on - And a River running through it! I took a couple gallons out for the larger tomato plants - enough to soak them. Cannot produce tomatoes without water!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 25 Jun 21 - 07:01 PM

It’s raining in Stratford, and likely to keep at it for the next week. At least, that’s what Environment Canada says.

The two pissed-on Afghan rugs are back from the cleaners, and Watson is inspecting the big green Bokhara with forensic care. Fingers crossed … He does seem to be more comfortable now, and the litter box is just a few steps away instead of downstairs ….

And the house looks like itself again. It’s also cleaner, because I washed the hardwood. Cat hair by the bale!

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Jun 21 - 11:53 AM

Jon, if I could get gas without Ethanol for my mower and other equipment I would. You can buy 1 gallon metal cans in the Big Box stores but it is something around $7 a gallon, the gas pump is $2.789 per gallon right now. But for all of the trouble that changing out fuel lines is, it might be worth it to buy the gallon can. And I always add fuel stabilizer to the gas can when I fill it.

The vet's office set me back a pretty penny for the heartworm medication and the oldest dog has to go in for a heartworm test next week before they refill his. Nevermind he has been on the meds all year long. And there is the question of getting vaccinations every year for things that they were probably set up for life with the first or second. Do these count as boosters, or overkill?

Mowing today. Finally.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 202
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jun 21 - 09:16 AM

Watson the cat is digging a hole to China in the litterbox, now located in the ground-floor loo at the far end of the kitchen. This is a great sign because it means he is unlikely to piss on the parlour rug again.

Hot and steamy in Stratford, with thunderstorms in the forecast. On the one hand, such conditions make long walks unpleasant, but on the other hand I don’t have to water the garden.

Yesterday, the Province of Ontario announced that haircuts are permitted again! Just as I was beginning to look a little too much like William IV.

I have delivered three large bags of unbreakable kitchenware to Goodwill: plastic food-storage containers mostly, and some pots with their lids firmly taped down. I found a salvageable U-Haul box of the almost 2-cubic-feet size stashed behind the furnace, and by the end of the week it will be packed with odds-and-sods china: nearly a dozen coffee mugs, four dinner plates, five salad plates, some bowls that I either don’t need or don’t like, and a large Pyrex casserole that I have not used even once in 25 years.

For the first time, I’m thinking of selling certain personal items on Ebay. Fancy shoes by Jon Fluevog that I can no longer wear — apparently Fluevog fans are such enthusiastic buyers that there is an established market for gently used pairs. I will weep salt tears when I part with my Fluevog boots, but they’re immaculate and I will never get my wonky foot into the right one ever again.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Donuel
Date: 27 Jun 21 - 09:22 AM

I remember when the only health insurance was a big family. Then the polio vaccine came along. Quarantine signs were everywhere.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 21 - 11:14 AM

I've sold shoes and clothes on eBay; sometimes they were shoes I found on a great sale and simply turned around and listed them, other times they were shoes that turned out to be not a very good idea and were gently worn. Leather handbags, Levi Jeans, vintage designer clothes, curtains, bedsheets—it's surprising what sells on eBay. Good photos and measurements are a must.

The tomatoes are taking on a pinkish cast, finally. I need to get some mozzarella and more basil - it's time for Caprese salads!

A few weeks ago I was playing with the puppy, dropping the laundry basket over the top of her. In the process the rim broke, and it doesn't stay put with duct tape. My super glue was dried in the container and it costs as much for a new cheap basket as to buy more glue. I decided to toss that one (of two) into the recycle bin and not replace it. I have other large containers that can be used in the laundry room; I usually have a basket on the washer to catch items needing washing but I've replaced it with a plastic tub that can do the same thing. I've tossed a rubber bath mat that was a good idea (versus the PVC ones that off-gas for ages) but when they start to rot there is no recovering them. I'll probably get another PVC one and let it lie flat in the garage for a while to get the smell out. There are two bathrooms here and I don't want to swap one mat between the two rooms, but noting that maintaining the status quo out of habit often times means keeping more stuff in the house than strictly necessary.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 27 Jun 21 - 11:16 AM

I'm not sure why Donuel is introducing this topic in this thread today, but it's on my mind, too.

I was born in 1954, before the first polio vaccine was approved for use in Canada. My parents (born in 1919 and 1929) were thoroughly frightened of epidemic diseases and had us needled whenever shots were offered, accepting whatever was available. No picking and choosing for us.

Tuberculosis was then treatable, but not easily, and it was a "reportable" disease. That meant anyone found to have "open, active" TB was basically arrested and held in a provincial sanitarium (that was the term of art for a TB hospital) until they were cured (proven by PPD test) or dead. No appeal, no kidding.

I remember quarantine signs for scarlet fever and red measles.

I don't get "vaccine hesitancy", or public toleration of it.

As for health insurance, I remember a lady at church whose daughter was born with spina bifida. "Marilyn nearly put us on the road," this lady said to my mother. She meant it literally. My mother had a lung problem that took forever to diagnose, including invasive biopsies, and I don't remember a single day of my childhood when money wasn't the big thing we always had to worry about. Not the Commies, not Strontium 90, but getting to payday without going into the hole. I remember the unionization of the federal civil service, which brought group health insurance into our lives, because it meant that, for the first time, my parents could take a holiday and we might eat something that cost more than 29 cents a pound.

So I don't get opposition to "Medicare for All", either.

Whatever Americans might believe, Canada did not sail effortlessly into the universal (for citizens and permanent residents) health-care plans we have today. Here's a website about the knock-down-drag-out fight we had to get there.

I think we would have a similar struggle to introduce compulsory immunization against COVID and its variants, and I hope our governments toughen up and do it anyway.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 21 - 01:14 PM

You've characterized it perfectly, Charmion. The "hesitancy" is a sign of privilege, that others will get the shot so they don't have to. And using Tuskegee as an excuse is a dog whistle, not a good reason. We know better now (at least with vaccines.)

It's really hot but I'll be in and out the front door to continue working on the plants and rough patio off the front porch. It's time for some vinegar and orange oil mix to kill grass and other weeds around the edge and that have emerged from the pea gravel between the rocks and broken concrete. And while I'm at it I'll bring some of the fine mulch I got from chipping pine branches yesterday to put in the potted plants. They dry out in a hurry without some extra help.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Jun 21 - 10:37 PM

Fireworks are starting up, we heard a couple of loud Boom!s tonight, and a Thundershirt is on order for Pepper.

This evening I took down the vertical louvered blind over the back sliding glass door and the space looks so much larger now. And uglier. It is totally fogged, not just weeping, but it looks like it has been sandblasted. I have insulating drapes I'm pulling in front of it (especially until I get the patio cover replaced to stop all of the evening sun, though the trees are starting to do some of that work for me now.)

And this brings me closer to the package deal that I am considering for this summer - replacing the sliding glass doors and fixing the patio cover to give the whole back of the house a nicer look. It won't be Andersen windows, that would be overkill (as nice as they are) - I need a right hand door installed correctly so I can put a piece of wood in the track to keep someone from opening it from outside. As it is now, the original builder installed it backwards, so someone could put a plank of wood in the frame outside to keep me from opening it.

The old blinds still work and look good (dusty), so they'll be wrapped up in plastic and donated to Goodwill. I could offer them on Freecycle, but I don't want to fool with answering questions about size, installation, etc.

We had a little spit of rain, barely enough to wet the bottom of the bucket sitting out on the patio, but enough to make the air incredibly humid. Trash is out, laundry finished, dishes washed and/or in the dishwasher. Feels like a Sunday night.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 10:32 AM

Yesterday I cooked.

A potful of minestrone — black beans, kale, large can of tomatoes and three litres of chicken stock; on a sofrito of bacon lardons, sliced garlic and shallots, diced celery and carrot, and dried thyme and oregano; and flavoured at the end with shredded basil, chopped parsley and a dollop of Worcestershire sauce for umami. I gave half of it to my bubblemates so I would not be still eating it at Christmas.

I also made a Cantonese stirfry of thinly sliced flank steak and tomatoes that provides two servings over brown rice (which no Cantonese person would eat on a bet). That was last night’s supper and will be tonight’s.

And then I filled the Instant Pot with chicken stock ingredients, brought it to pressure, and went to bed.

Slowly but surely, I’m working my way through the contents of the freezer. I have only six raw chicken carcasses left of the case I bought a loooong time ago from the butcher at the farmers’ market, so that’s three more batches of chicken stock. The Cantonese stirfry accounted for one of three remaining pieces of flank steak. The minestrone will be four or five easy meals, and it cleared the veg bins.

Today’s agenda is an hour or two of tunes and a meeting of the choir executive on Zoom. Here’s hoping that I’m still full of tunes-generated endorphins when the meeting convenes.

It’s still hot and humid in Stratford, with rain in the forecast all the way to Friday that dampens Canada Day plans already suppressed by the public health authorities.

Full-page advertisement in the Toronto Star today: “Ontario is the only jurisdiction in North America where indoor dining is still closed.” Placed by a professional association called Restaurants Canada, it goes on to point out that Ontario businesses have collectively lost Cdn$10.3 billion, outstripping the rest of Canada combined. (Incidentally, Ontario’s economy is bigger than that of the rest of Canada combined.) It also says that “we” have hit all the targets set for re-opening.

I can almost hear the eyes rolling at Queen’s Park. Who’s “we”? Have the restaurateurs checked every health district in the province, from Moose Factory to Toronto, Thunder Bay to Cornwall? Methinks not.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 10:34 AM

I "slept on it" as far as the idea of replacing the back patio door, and realized overnight that any measurement I take of the existing door hardware won't be accurate until I take off the trim on the top and sides. Ugg. I'll remove it carefully and label each piece to return to the same place, and after a new door, will probably have to trim down each trim section of paneling that fits up to the edge of the door. The replacement door will probably be 72" x 80", not the weird 71" x 78" I'm getting when I measure with the trim in place.

We're due some rain today but it isn't here yet. Maybe I can get some work done in the yard before the deluge.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 12:49 PM

"It’s still hot and humid in Stratford, with rain in the forecast all the way to Friday that dampens Canada Day plans already suppressed by the public health authorities." Also supressed by the pall cast by the findings of First Nations on the sites of former assimilation facilities (AKA "residential schools").

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 12:59 PM

That kind of finding is also likely evident at Indian Schools in the US. It seems to be taking a little longer to get the ground penetrating radar into place down here. Especially at Carlisle, there were many burials.

Good move on the cooking, Charmion. I'm just to the point of starting to freeze this year's garden output, so must continue to draw down the old stuff. I'm hoping for another lunch soon with my usual group (who haven't been together since about 18 months ago) and if I plan well I can use freezer contents for the meal.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 04:42 PM

Yeah. That, too, Andrew.

Stratford doesn’t have much of a government footprint, but the flags are at half-mast at the police station, the courthouse, the town hall, the armoury and the war memorial. What we do have is lots of churches, and many of them have children’s shoes lined up in pairs on the front steps. The Anglicans let the shoes be, but the Catholics aren’t exactly cool with that form of protest.

I guess the rustling in the air is chickens coming home to roost.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 06:54 PM

It's crow, Charmion, and we had better get used to a steady diet of it.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: keberoxu
Date: 28 Jun 21 - 08:24 PM

When the crows come home to roost,
tarry not beneath the trees. In fact,
better not even venture beneath the crow trees
to begin with.


I was living in Albuquerque, New Mexico, when arsonists
burned down the Indian School campus.
If they ever worked out who committed the arson, I didn't hear,
and that was decades ago.
Whoever did the job was fairly professional about it.
One entire city block for the majority of the campus buildings.
Not only is that area rather thickly settled, but across the streets
there were things like that art museum for Indian art,
and the old school chapel that became its own little
Catholic parish.
Nobody torched the Queen of Angels Indian Chapel, as
I had feared they would do.
Also, Interstate 40 goes past that campus
(the east-west limited-access highway which
rendered Route 66 obsolete).
And although, as I observed in my car,
I could drive on Interstate 40 and literally watch
the Indian School campus in flames,
there was no danger to the highway itself
and nobody closed off the highway.

About unmarked graves, however,
if there were any of those in Albuquerque
then people were remarkably quiet about them,
and I knew a bunch of Indian School graduates.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion's brother Andrew
Date: 29 Jun 21 - 12:41 PM

There have been at least four fires at Roman Catholic churches (and at one disused Anglican church) on First Nations reserves in B.C. since the announcement of the discovery at Kamloops. No one seems surprised and, although the fires have been classified as "suspicious," one has not heard the same clamour for arrests one would have heard had the churches been elsewhere.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Jun 21 - 10:52 AM

Dominion -- oops -- Canada Day is tomorrow, and Environment Canada has backed off its forecast warning. We had the rainpocalypse yesterday, about suppertime.

I think there may have been a lightning strike on part of the power distribution system, perhaps a transformer. The lightning bolt and the ferocious clap of thunder were simultaneous, so the hit was very close, and I saw a big white flash through the trees to the northwest. The power went out for about two hours.

It's still hot and close today, but marginally cooler. I shall make a potato salad and a lentil salad this afternoon, and buy the snazziest Boston lettuce I can find for a green salad that I shall assemble tomorrow. Spit-roasted chicken with the relatives, who have announced a plan to secure a key lime pie.

My lower gut has been punishing me since Monday, probably for over-indulgence in cherries on Sunday. I'm still a bit uncomfortable but probably safe to venture out for an undetermined length of time.

As the province gradually opens up, the gym owners are now the most vocal howlers as the hairdressers and restaurateurs grab the lifelines thrown to them by the province. Their professional association (i.e., lobby group) has taken centre stage in the Toronto Star's grievance coverage -- "Everybody else is opening, why can't we?"

Well, I've logged a lot of time in gyms over the years, and I for one am not ready for a weight room full of large guys forcefully huffing out the air from the very bottom of their lungs with each rep of their routine. In fact, the risk factor is probably close to that of unprotected choral singing, perhaps the most dangerous activity an aging lady can indulge in these days.

Meanwhile, in other news, no unmarked cemeteries have been found in the last few days. Wait for it ...

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 21 - 11:31 AM

Any of you in climates where you don't usually need (so don't have) air conditioning, set up a cooling place for yourselves. A box fan, an oscillating fan, whatever you can manage, needs to be nearby. Keep a spray bottle of water and find a chair that won't hold in your body heat. Sleeping on a cot versus a mattress, also, will help dissipate heat. Wear light cotton clothes and spritz yourself with the mist or spray and let the fan evaporate the moisture.

If it gets too hot, head to your local library or other public facility set up as a cooling center. This morning the news reported at least 100 elderly individuals dying in interior BC due to the extreme heat - it apparently hit 119^o, hotter than ever registered in Las Vegas of Mojave Desert fame. My son and his roommates live in Seattle, but all three hail from really hot climates (Arizona and Texas) so should know how to stay comfortable in this unusual weather. (My mother would never come to Texas to visit from April through November.)

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Donuel
Date: 30 Jun 21 - 12:35 PM

Old tricks like open fridge and chair work.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 21 - 03:01 PM

That open fridge is terribly hard on the fridge contents and it isn't meant to try to cool a room.

The dentist office today was brutal. I'd waited 9 months instead of 6, partly because of COVID, and partly because I now need to take a megadose of amoxicillin an hour prior to the appointment, and don't want to do it too often. My former dentist retired in April (I went to offer good wishes and took him several bedding plants for the garden he would have time to tend). The office now is a different world. The woman at the front desk is looking a little frazzled, another one is missing (I'm guessing she retired?) and the hygienist who I usually see wasn't there. The dentist didn't offer to come take a quick look, like my old dentist, nothing but a really rough cleaning. It felt like a contact sport. Afterward, I asked at the front desk where the other hygienist is and made a note—I think they've probably had that question more than once lately. That other office is at lunch right now, but I'll call and find out if Donna is there and set my next appointment with her. The ironic thing today was that during my long wait the retired dentist came through the office to pick up something and was greeted with great affection by all, including me. But he left again. :-(

There are now a half-dozen tomatoes on the windowsill in various stages of ripeness, minus one I took to my daughter yesterday (with dozens starting to ripen in the garden). I probably shouldn't eat one tonight, my mouth being tender will feel that tomatoey acidity more than usual. Chef's salads, Caprese salad, BLTs, cubed cucumber and tomato with cubed feta and balsamic dressing, lots of ways to consume tomatoes. That's before the canning starts.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Jun 21 - 11:55 PM

An appointment with the new dentist is made and I'll fill out their online forms to make it official. If only other changes were so easy. Wrenching, but easy.

It's hot enough now that I feel a sense of accomplishment in simply managing the usual stuff around the house - laundry, dishes, meals. The question of showering at bedtime or in the morning arises (because if you shower at night you're going to be sweaty again by morning, but showering twice a day is a bit much, while showering at bedtime means you will sleep much better . . .)

Dinner tonight was a salad with half of one of my really large tomatoes arranged on top. The whole fruit weighed in at 8 ounces. You can make friends and influence people with these kinds of tomatoes. :) I took one to my next door neighbor, along with the few okra I've picked so far. She can take just 3 or 4 large fresh pods and make herself a little bowl of "bowled okra" (boiled is pronounced that way by folks who grew up around here) to go with her lunch. Her husband doesn't like it that way, so if she doesn't have enough to share, she boils it. #Smart

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: JennieG
Date: 01 Jul 21 - 02:49 AM

I am using up some Stuff which has been in the pantry and fridge for *cough* a while, and making date and maple syrup muffins. Except that it's not muffins, it's a nine inch square cake.

The recipe says it makes 12 muffins and you eat a whole muffin whether or not you need a whole muffin, don't you? So my nine inch cake will yield more servings than those 12 muffins would.

I shall report on the taste when it is out of the oven and cool enough to try.

Subject: RE: De-clutter & Fitness in a Pandemic: 2021
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 01 Jul 21 - 09:28 AM

It's been mostly updating computers for me over the past couple of days. The Windows 10 ones (dual boot on my laptop and a hardly ever used tablet of dad's) took ages (probably not helped by it being ages since I last updated) to go though with lots of errors and retries before everything got updated. I then decided to get rid of the annoying Avast Free which popped up messages on my lap top every time I used Window and I guess I must have installed ages ago but can't remember why... That gave me another fight in trying to get Defender AV to run - loads of web searches and KB articles before I found the solution... Anyway, all's OK now.

A little task for today is do agree on a location with mum and screw a small safe to a study wall. It's probably something we should have thought about a long while ago. There's not a lot but there are things that shouldn't really be left lying around for anyone to casually pick up.

And I've added yet another camera to the system. We had got a cheap stand alone baby monitor for the bedroom but, even after I tried adding an IR light, its night vision was poor and mum could complain that all she saw was fog if she looked in on dad at night. I've put another of the Annke POE ones in there instead.

Anyway, the weather (cool but damp and muggy when it's not raining) looks as if it should improve mid next week so I should be spending more time outside soon. First task will be mowing again...

Lots of flowers on my tomatoes now so hopefully not too long before I start getting some fruit.