DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Senoufou
Date: 27 Aug 23 - 02:34 AM

Our village is having an event on 9th September called The Lyng Fling. (Village is called Lyng). It includes several activities including selling your unwanted 'clutter', which interests me. (A bit like a car-boot sale, but on the Village Hall field, with tables provided)
We have some stuff we could sell, including lots of clothes that no longer fit. Husband is fatter now, and I've lost weight. We have a portable clothes rail to display the clothes on, so we could probably sell the lot. Or maybe we could swap our clothes hee hee! I could wear all his sporty football tops and he could wear my capacious flowery summer trousers.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Aug 23 - 11:54 AM

With more virtual decluttering it has been the Clash of the Titans this weekend - Microsoft versus Samsung. A couple of weeks ago I told the tablet to store images from the tablet to my Microsoft OneDrive account, and after that my phone stopped uploading my phone photos to OneDrive. It seems Samsung set up its own nested files in OneDrive and wants to park things there. I spent time earlier this year sorting out my Camera Roll in OneDrive so the current year is loading there and past years are in their own files. So a new three-tier Samsung file is a pain in the backside.

After research I disconnected the two accounts then reinstalled, and in the end I left a Samsung folder on the OneDrive that I labeled "Samsung - Don't Use" and have turned off Samsung's sync ability to OneDrive. I also turned it off in the tablet where this started. For now I'll manually move photos from the phone to Camera Roll. I pay for OneDrive so there is no point in shifting to Google or DropBox for phone photo backup. But damn, that Samsung software is pushy. What is frustrating is that until now, the Samsung phone automatically updated the photos in the Camera Roll file.

The library app "returned" the audiobook I was listening to; with fewer trips to the gym it's taking longer to read. There's a wait list so I'll get it back in a couple of weeks. I'm at the gym more this week and with so much foundation watering at the house I'm changing my routine at the gym and showering there. Might as well use a little less water at the house. This morning I dug around for some flip flops to wear in the shower—is athlete's foot a thing any more in public showers?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 27 Aug 23 - 02:06 PM

Oh, do wear those flip-flops in the shower, athlete's foot is still a thing! Keep a grocery or other bag in your gear bag so you can switch out pool/shower flipflops with your street shoes, keep dirt off everything else.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 28 Aug 23 - 12:19 PM

Trouble with most flip flops is that they're slippery. It looks like aquasocks are on clearance this time of year (at Academy Sports). Part of this is also me edging closer to using the pool. With each part of the gym I use it means more stuff in the gym bag.

Dorothy - how is Robin doing? Has he finally cleared out the lung congestion? For those of you in northern areas, are you getting out sweaters or changing the bedding yet? We're entering hurricane season in the south, so far hitting way south Texas and parts of Florida. No sweaters yet. And in the fall tornadoes can be more active.

Time to research a new dryer - it tumbles and blows but there is not heat. The old one was purchased in 2002 and I've done some repairs but the heating element is a bigger deal. If the thermostats weren't working it would get too hot, but with no heat it's the element (my rudimentary diagnostic information). A new element costs $180, plus the installation service call, but I looked at my most recent Consumer Reports PDF about dryers (from 2017) and even then new dryers were costing a lot. Maybe a repair is worthwhile. Home Warranty folks will be consulted before I call the repair guy. I'm fine with keeping the old one in service for as long as possible.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 28 Aug 23 - 04:15 PM

I turned off the bedroom fan last night, but that’s as close as I’ve come to changing seasonal gear.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 29 Aug 23 - 12:39 AM

Three loaves of mango bread are cooling; this soda bread is one of those wet ones, lots of oil (even though I reduced it and used applesauce for half of it), and more cake- than bread-like. Too hot to try now.

As hot as it has been outside I keep the thermostat in the house pretty warm (80), so baking that bread was enough to bring up a sweat because I didn't push the air conditioning down to compensate for the oven. Not a great time of year for baking.

Laundry is drying on hangers and a few pieces are on the clothesline outside; must call to see about the dryer repair. It isn't just that the dryer needs repair, it means in preparation I have to empty everything on that side of the room around it. Shelves, donation bin, and a bonus: on the other side of the doorway into the laundry room is where my gardening cart sits, next to the potting bench, both in the way of an appliance being moved in and out of the house.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 29 Aug 23 - 09:53 AM

My volunteer job as choir librarian is perilously close to full-time this week, with preparations for the onset of the singing season. Just for shits and giggles, we are also auditioning pianists for the job of choir accompanist, so I have to prepare repertoire packages for them. Because of various human frailties, the new music for this season was not ordered until only a couple of weeks ago, so I'll be numbering and sorting copies right up to H-Hour. I am not best pleased, but things could be worse and I decline to get wound around my axle. Yet.

Today I will visit the library's basement quarters to get two file boxes full of "Messiah" scores and 80 copies of "Now Is the Month of Maying" by Thomas Morley. That'll be a bit of an upper-body workout plus plenty of stairs. Tomorrow, one of my Board colleagues will drive all the way from London to bring me three more batches of new music, 80 copies each. A fourth batch proved to have a printing error and will be delivered late -- sometime next week. First rehearsal is 11 September.

Stratford is enjoying a classic late-summer week of golden sunshine without steamy heat. The humidity is still way high -- the basement doors are too swollen to shut properly -- but night-time low temperatures are now dropping below 10 degrees Celsius, so the end is in sight. The downtown streets are still full of tourists and theatre-goers -- God forbid that a townie should wish to dine out on a Friday, Saturday or Sunday -- but we're all grateful for the money they spew around town. The theatre festival and the restaurants are why Stratford has nice things.

On Monday, I will be sixty-nine years old. It will be Labour Day, a statutory holiday, so most of the shops will be shut. Monday is also the day when the theatres are dark, so the restaurants also take their day off. Consequently, whatever celebrating gets done will take place on Saturday, when my theatre buddy Alden proposed we go out for dinner. Our reservations are depressingly early, as the rest of the diners will have tickets for something with an eight-o'clock curtain, but that's life in a tourist town in the season.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 29 Aug 23 - 10:46 AM

Dupont:

Came back here on Tuesday, with a stop for muffins at the Hidden Gold Mine. Trying to bring the house back to a Dorothy state from the chaos of the Robin state. Every single piece of cutlery was in the sink and had to be washed, washed again harder! and then again. We agreed this would not happen again! The dishes were in a controlled state. I guess a month is too long to stay away!

Robin was still coughing badly - I washed bedding twice to avoid re-distributing whatever germs... Then decided things were improved sufficiently. His bro is also coughing and has been to clinic but no meds? R finished his anti-biotic, is coughing less but still exhausted. His cough is similar to the one I still have after ?? years from the mold at the Mill - not surprising as he got it from cleaning a dreadful building. It is in the lungs and, I believe, may never go away completely. Sometimes I do not cough for a few hours or a day or two and think all is well, then it starts again - the plague of my life. A part of me is glad he now realizes what I have gone through.

So! Basically, I came back for the Chateauguay Valley Antique Association (event). Spent a wonderful weekend of visits with people, sold enough pots to make it a "success", listened to live Country music, had a tent for the first time and... It POURED rain on Sat - a couple times! Rita (next door) and I provided shelter for all who could fit! Met a whole bunch of Rita and Dan's family - they were having a family event later. Interesting genetics! Terrific positive energy!

This is my fav event of the year - Such a wonderful community of people volunteering and selling stuff/junk/treasures. The auction took 2 days this year and R was there for most of it! Came away with a whole bunch of stuff - some for re-sale and some just because he was "helping the auctioneer" get a bid and ended up being the only bid! A beautiful Victorian love seat and chair that I am trying to figure a place for them - if only he would get rid of the UGLY ones ...

Wore a jacket all day Sunday! I never put that warm layer away! Was glad I thought to grab this light jacket on the way out the door from Beaver! This weather is just fine for me - cool, damp, sometimes sunny.

So, inch by inch, I regain energy, find us food, cook very little, weeded the gardens a little, watched a squirrel sit on the porch railing to groom then went into the large pot of cherry tomato plants to eat one and left the rest... Last eve, I opened back door to go pick in the garden and startled to two rabbits, apologized and went out later to pick the few new cherry tomatoes. We had about a quart each of Sat and Sunday, took them to event and gave most of them to Rita and family, who declared them delicious. (I do not eat raw tomatoes.) We have a pumpkin (not watermelon) slowly turning orange; guess I will make pumpkin pies.

Got a new credit card, sent to local bank after someone got the number and tried to buy stuff where I NEVER would. I got two phone calls which I immediately hung up and phoned VISA to tell them and was told everything was fine. An hour later, card was declined at two separate stores. Phoned VISA and... All is well.

Big happening was a young woman stopping to look at pottery and mentioning that her... was a potter - Kingsport, Newfoundland! "You are related to Ruth... !!!!???" (My friend who died suddenly in October - a total trauma.) We both started to cry and share our pain of loss, and I was able to find out how the widower and son are doing! Then, the "cousin" of one of Canada's top potters bought a bowl!

Then I sat and dealt with renewed grief. Ruth choked (I did not ask) a few hours after I saw her, and Fred, vibrantly alive at a folk music event. I was so elated to see her and thinking how wonderful it would be to visit now that we were "post Covid). BOOM!

I have a small pic of her on my bureau to which I say, "Good morning, Ruth!". Erin has it on her wall to greet in the morning. A more beautiful human than Ruth - equal perhaps but not more... She was the epitome of loving, sharing, giving, helping, caring...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 12:38 AM

Dorothy, I like the idea of you and others with a photo of Ruth - a mentor and friend.

Charmion, I am amazed by the amount of work that goes into your choir program and its rehearsals. I don't suppose any of them have asked for PDF copies they can load on their tablets? It would mean a lot less paper. (About 20 years ago we had the tech reviewer and now CBS Sunday Morning presenter David Pogue at my university - for his talk he requested a Steinway piano - I was prepared to read music and turn pages for him, but he had his music on a tablet he set on the music stand and didn't need any help.)

Watering plants and feeding cats for a friend over the last week has involved trying to keep plants alive under horribly hot conditions last week on Thursday through Saturday. She gets back in town tomorrow and I expect to hear questions about the curled brown edges on a few large plants - and I'll point out that they're still alive and that's about all I could manage.

Checked the mail in the post office box today. Fourteen months out from the ex's retirement and I'm still not getting a portion of the pension. The OPM folks are not just slow, they're glacial. There will be a lot of decluttering once they finally let the eagle shit.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 05:02 AM

Well I think I’ve gone as far as I want with the svg charts now. I’ve changed the co-ordinates from using margins to position a plot (it can handle multiple plots of different types in a chart as well as multiple charts per html page) to X1,Y1,X2, Y2 areas as I found the former difficult to handle as a user. I’ve sorted out (particularly with the pie labels) text alignment/positioning and made things a bit more user friendly. This would create a basic pie chart.

  require('pie.php');                                     //include file needed for pie charts
  $chart = new ChartBase(350, 300);                       //create new chart 350w, 300h
  $chart->setBackground(220, 255, 255);                   //chart bacground color rgb
  $pie = new Pie();                                       //create new pie plot
  $pie->setValues(array(50,10,40,25));                    //add values for slices
  $pie->setLegend(array("Red","Green","Blue","Orange"));  //add legend
  $pie->setTitle("Testing pie chart");                    //add title
  $chart->addPlot($pie);                                  //add pie plot to chart
  echo $chart->plot();                                    //draw chart, output to browser

I’m not sure what I’ll try next. I suppose I could see how I get on with a Javascript/ canvas version of the charts but maybe it’s time to try to think of something else.

Dad has taken well to his return to spending his daytime out of bed. He’s just come through on his wheelchair to say good morning to me. I don’t think we’ve any extra visitors today but it can get confusing just with the regulars. Cavel (care company) see me 4 times a day, mum twice a day and I think it’s 3 times for dad. They may send one or two person teams out. They always combine visits for mum with one for me but may or may not make a separate visit for dad. Then there are the district nurses who change a dressing on my back.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 07:30 AM

Stilly, there are two reasons why choirs still use music printed on paper.

The first is copyright — PDFs circulate and reproduce faster than bunny-rabbits, and the copyright owner doesn’t get paid. Ever.

The second is singers’ notes — the conductor wants the crescendo to begin precisely here and the ritardando to end precisely there, and he doesn’t like the forte marked for that passage so please change that to mezzo-forte. And don’t you dare breathe before bar 78. Tablet technology has yet to evolve to that level of subtlety, but every chorister has a pencil (never a pen!) tucked behind an ear.

The musicians who use tablets are soloists, like your piano guy, or people who don’t require a tight ensemble to make their performance work. Without a very tight ensemble, a 70-voice choir is a braying mob.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 04:10 PM

Just my own observation:
I recently attended a concert including a string quartet,
which means chamber music.
All four players had tablets, not scores,
on their music stands,
and they had those little things you click with one foot
in order to turn the page.
This was a thing I had not before seen in chamber music.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 04:52 PM

I hadn't considered it, but I can see how if a conductor is making adjustments on the text for the performance that would need paper. It is possible to mark up PDF files, but that would require every performer have a level of familiarity with the software (and everyone having a similar version and device).

Today's batch of stuff to the e-waste collection station has left the garage, added to what my ex had in the trunk already, including a boxed old keyboard that announced it was "Internet Ready!"

Tomorrow is predicted to be only 99 (after that it goes up again). Just as well because the dogs will be in the backyard for a while when the dryer repair person is here. This evening I need to clear stuff out of the way to be ready.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 05:02 PM

I bet the players in Keb's string quartet use paper scores for rehearsal, marking them up liberally, and then scan the marked-up scores and transfer the PDFs to tablets for the performance so they can turn their pages with a tap of their toes.

If I could eliminate the sound of flapping pages from our concerts, I'd do it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 30 Aug 23 - 05:04 PM

Another thing: my iPad cost more than a thousand bucks (Canadian, admittedly) several years ago. Ain"t no way a concert choir that does classical music can afford to outfit all its singers with tablets, even devices that aren't iPads.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 23 - 12:19 AM

My and everyone having a similar version and device was a nod to that problem - working affordable devices with comparable software and charged batteries. No batteries with paper. :)

My cat-sitting assignment was to end this evening, but after feeding the cats dinner I texted her saying they were taken care of and please let me know when she gets home. The answer was that she's returning late tomorrow. Not what her document calendar shows and not what she paid, but I can't let the cats starve for a day so I'll juggle my dryer repair appointment and cat feeding (means I have to get up really early, because the A&E—used to be Sears—folks make you block the entire day and they'll arrive at some point between 8am and 5pm.) Not even a four hour block like the cable company insists upon. I scheduled this for Thursday instead of earlier to not tangle with the three-runs a day for cats. But I'm back in the car anyway (nod to Jurassic Park).

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 31 Aug 23 - 11:09 AM

Three runs a day to feed cats? That's a needy cat-household! I hope your compensation covers fuel, at least, if not time. And I'll bet you're washing dishes as well as clearing the litter-box.

I don't expect my cat-visitor to come more than once a day.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 23 - 12:51 PM

Health issues dictate so many trips. It used to be 2 trips. The littlest guy was in pretty bad shape for a while, but now gets a midday medication that can't be given with the other meds in the morning and evening meals (has to be an hour before or after those meds). Sometimes when I have errands I stop by for that medication then swing back an hour later for the dinner meal without having made an extra trip to and from my house. Every third day there is an injection of a steroid that seems to have made a big difference for him. They are her children.

I'm still struggling to get the phone to upload any photos now. Damn Samsung, I never should have let the tablet upload screenshots, it messed up the phone settings also. Now there are stray files in my OneDrive account and it's backing up old stuff that is already in the system. I don't want to delete photos from my phone to get the phone to stop uploading, but that seems about the only way to do it. If you delete things from the "synced" Samsung folders it will by default delete them from the source folder, so you have to manage to tell it not to do that.

Dryer repair person has been and gone, my wallet is decluttered by $500 and change, and the home warranty will cover $350 of that. Sears will lower the price if I buy their year warranty for various appliances, but that would be a warranty on a warranty and the Sears one would be used before the Home Warranty (I asked). It is too much to have duplicates, and the Home one covers more things. Nothing completely covered, but takes a chunk out of the bill. It doesn't matter what type of appliance you have, though, it depends on if a new one can be bought cheap, so their replacement cost would cover the cheapest dryer at Lowe's, not the Consumer Reports best buy at Lowes. I'm having this dryer fixed and costing myself about $200 instead of taking their $350 and spending $400 more to get the better dryer at Lowe's. It's all a matter of logic and math. There is no new feature in a new dryer that is an improvement on how the old one works. It's a box of hot air, it has a moisture sensor that works, end of story.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 31 Aug 23 - 09:04 PM

Dupont:

Would be a peculiar day that such a sum would be spent on a repair in this home! Remember my fancy stove: I would happily have paid a repair person to come but NO! R took it apart to see if he could fix it. Then "borrowed" a new stove from his cousin and trashed our wonderful stove. (This is his house; I have no rights. Beaver is mine to cherish.)

Our matched set of Maytag dryer/washer (RED!) was purchased at a home auction- no doubt for a very low price. If one needs repairs, I would have to have a conniption fit to get it repaired or ...get a new one! R would prob come home with one he found in the trash! My plea that "I will pay for a new one!!!" would be disregarded as a whisper on the breeze.

Said cousin is moving this week. I wonder if he has a stove??? ???Will R pay him for the one we have so they can buy a new one????

I thought I had done well to get through that very tiring weekend but yesterday I slept all day; and last night also. Save for two meals of veggie stew and some time on internet. Today
I started cleaning up the plants on back deck: re-potting some and clearing up stuff. The plastic "shed" is not waterproof. Useless for the job of storing garden stuffs on the deck. I shall try to empty it and request it be moved to garage where it will stay dry!

Also weeded in the back garden and checked our one lovely pumpkin which I think is ready to come in. The squash plants have been blooming beautifully but it seems that someone has been eating the blossoms!

The front yard is blooming nicely and I think we can get through to winter without another lawn care visit! It will be challenging to bring in the Canna which have, of course, grown more roots. Fall has definitely arrived. I could just compost some but it is not in my nature to so that ---- as I repot more geraniums than I might have house room! The red flowers are so cheery! And we have, somehow, managed to kill all the Af violets save one!

This week's "chuckle": R brought home some fabric to be washed - which I did ...Then realized I washed it a couple months ago and gave it to him: "take it to town and give it to someone." This time the set of sheets is going to a thrift shop!

Lest you think our life lacks interest: He came home on Tuesday with the wonderful news that the police had taken his pick up truck off the road permanently! They would not even let him drive it two hundred yards to his property (city). It is scrapped - with a fresh tank of gas $60! The scrapper will get it. R was prepared - has another old truck on hand! I am glad and sad: I remember the evening we drove out into rural QC to look at a it and came back with that lovely clean truck. It was beautiful! And the wonderful old farm house and the nifty people we met! It has seen hard times and we cannot blame the police at all!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 31 Aug 23 - 10:45 PM

Dorothy, that truck must have had a lot of moving violations to be stopped the way it was. The tank of gas may be a short-term annoyance, but it sounds like it might have been a good move. Down here in Texas older vehicles get a special protected status and license plate to go with it. My daughter-in-law has a vehicle she imported from Japan that doesn't meet modern emission and safety standards, but it is registered as an antique. She takes it to shows where people with similar cars meet. Trucks in Texas are king - too bad R didn't send it down here.

I'm following the practice that BatGoddess started ages ago and celebrating the birth week and month - I'm a couple of days younger than Charmion (I was born on Labor Day in 1954; her birthday lands on Labor Day this year). I had a small windfall after a job went a day longer than expected so I bought some last-chance ribeye steaks and will pick up a bottle of my favorite single malt Scotch to extend the celebration over several days or a couple of weeks. During my life I never imagined what it would be like to be this old, but this age in my lifetime isn't the same as this age in my parents' lifetime. I'm not sure that I can describe the difference, but I can feel it.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 01 Sep 23 - 10:44 AM

My aunt in the Townships was married to a very interesting man (my Uncle Tom) who insisted on repairing expensive machinery himself, despite the mediocre-at-best results. He firmly believed that, if the device would run at all, it was okay.

Including the family car, after a roll-over on black ice that stove in the roof and bent the frame, among other bad things. Tom managed to get the vehicle back on the road, but declined to spend any money on it. The non-functioning windscreen wipers were a major problem as Montreal has winter, and rain all year round, but that did not move Tom to consult a garage. Finally, Aunt Pat took to driving slowly past police stations and patrol cars in the hope that a cop would look twice, react appropriately, and order the poor old crate off the road.

I don't know if her plan worked, but eventually (i.e., not nearly soon enough) the rolled car was retired to a scrapyard and a replacement was found. It was just as small and nearly as rickety as its predecessor, but at least its windscreen wipers worked.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 23 - 10:47 AM

My across-the-street neighbor is in his 80s; he's out puttering in the yard this morning. We've waited out this heat and finally the mornings are tolerable these days though the afternoons are still over 100^o. September is so welcome.

And I realized that for the math on the dryer I left out a charge - if I hadn't had the dryer fixed, had opted for cash to buy a new dryer, I'd have been out the $100+tax service charge to come to the house for the diagnosis. The home warranty participation would have been shrunk by that much. #HigherMath

Shirts are on hangers on the line on the porch and the sheets and towels and small stuff are on the clothesline behind the garage. For any other appliance failure I'd have someone out right away; for the dryer this time of year, it wasn't urgent.

A big declutter planned for today - I've set up to give the dogs baths. I use a hose in the back yard with a leash fastened to the patio cover post to keep them in place. Loop one end around the neck and they know not to pull. They don't love the bath but they're so frisky when it's finished.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 01 Sep 23 - 12:44 PM

The phone is connected by cable to the computer and I'm copying phone images into a file where many years of phone photos reside. A jumble together (filed by phone, and most of them by now broken into yearly folders for each phone). If I put folders of photos onto OneDrive from the computer it is of no interest to Samsung, it isn't part of their filing architecture, though it will open those files if I navigate there in the app.

The time has come to clean the kitchen. Too much stuff spread around so the horizontal surfaces are again almost unusable.

No luck at Academy Sports as far as aqua socks (at the end of the season they're out of most sizes), and I looked online to see if several other places might have them locally. Nope. I don't usually buy shoes online unless they are exactly the same make and model as something I already own, but this time I had to go to Amazon. Even sizes only and no widths, but it should work. I bought a brand I recognize the name brand of; many of their offerings come from startup or off-brand places. These are by Body Glove, a company I've bought from before for other products.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 01 Sep 23 - 09:55 PM

Dupont:

No moving violations at all but it was one dreadful mess - just looked like it was due to fall apart but kept on running- with lots of repair time by the gang and, once in a while, Canadian Tire. So glad to see it gone. R knew it would happen but squeezed the last possible bit out of it. Some people can have a car for 20 years and it still looks almost new... It was a 1986 Ranger. People (men) thought it was amazing. I refused to travel in it. My 15 year old Scion looked 100% better when the engine died.

Today - Major de-clutter. We went to the Mill - R, Joe in Big truck and myself in car. One heavy pottery wheel had a ride to the back yard here. And the guys helped me clear a large section of former pottery. I was totally unable to conceive of where/how to begin. Most went into a nearby section of the building. The trash/myriad broken and flawed pots will be trashed. Kind of traumatic; I did make a lot of pots there before the mold got me. Tomorrow R and I are going down to do the next part - moving buckets of glaze and bags of glaze materials And kiln furniture, scales........

Then we lunched at Subway and I went off to an orchard - good strawberries and apples, and then the bakery for goodies and a Greek salad for R; it was to be repeated - Excellent!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 02 Sep 23 - 06:56 AM

Woof its envigorating sweater weather this morning. Our dog loved the shower probably because of the water temp. At 7 AM there is enough light to get out and about. No more 5 AM first light.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 02 Sep 23 - 12:42 PM

Happy Birthday, Stilly and Charmion!!

SRS, we are blowing on virtual candles and wishing you a cool and pleasant autumn.   For Charmion, safe and happy travel to the Getaway.

I have to report that I cannot get to the Getaway this year. The skin cancer saga drags on, and I will be having staples removed from my scalp that week.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 23 - 02:29 PM

Patty, we missed hearing about the skin cancer. Reminds me I've been meaning to see a dermatologist "just because," and at my age, hopefully head off anything they might see that I don't detect yet. I hope the one excision gets the whole thing! Are you in Utah now?

Dog baths postponed until today, I'll begin soon. Materials accumulated for the activity (towels, leash, squirt bottle with dilute shampoo) haven't caused alarm so far. Not that they are alarmed, but none of them are fond of that first squirt with the hose. I have to get everyone into the yard and cover the dog door or they'll dash into the house soaking wet and shake off in there. I'll take a bag of treats out with me, to lessen their unhappiness.

This morning I awoke thinking I needed to start trimming in the corner of the yard where my outdoor potting bench sits; as a result, I've worked on cleaning the kitchen. Oh, well. I may still get to that corner, the day is young.

Oh, and Patty, my pool shoes arrived today, they fit, and are in my gym bag. Thanks for that tip!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: pattyClink
Date: 02 Sep 23 - 04:13 PM

I usually just get small basal cell cancers that are quickly handled in the dermatologist's office, but lately have 3 that require the "Moh's Procedure" where it's rounds of cutting/checking under the scope.

I perhaps need to move to a twice-a-year checkup from the annual one I had been getting by with.

If you or family are prone to skin cancers, then a regular checkup is a great thing, but I'm not sure you need to get one unless you have some spots you're concerned about.

Am now in Mississippi where my doctor(s) are, not the greatest time of year to be here weather-wise, hoping the 'dome' breaks down soon.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 23 - 06:33 PM

When I was a teen I had several large moles that the dermatologist removed just on general principles. Over the years I've had a couple more removed, but I haven't had that type of mole so much as the usual age spots that still probably need a check. Mississippi is probably as miserable as Texas is this time of year. We're not much closer than Maryland, but if you feel the urge to get out of town and want to drive over for a few days, let me know, you'd be welcome (I have three dogs who are friendly but hairy, so there is an allergy warning to issue.)

I did get to the corner to trim the grass and worked my way down the driveway as far as the extension cord would let me move. The swept up trimmings and some old tomato limbs that had been stacked out front have been tipped into the compost. When I finish my glass of iced tea the dogs are next on my list of things-to-do.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Sep 23 - 07:06 PM

I'm reminded of a school friend washing her dogs. One was a Great Dane & stood patiently in the wheelbarrow, lifting it's leg up as required. It's amazing what images emerge from the depths - & I can't even remember her name, or her other dog!!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Sep 23 - 10:33 PM

The dogs are washed and there is a pleasant scent of fresh damp dog in the house this evening. I washed Cookie first because though small and the easiest coat to clean, I knew she'd be hard to catch later. Pepper loves the continual banter about how pretty she is and how shiny she'll be and what a good girl she is - and offers kisses any time I get my cheek close. Zeke is now deaf, so he can't hear the talk, so I had to keep getting his attention and offering pats and kisses next to his ear. Maybe he can hear me a little bit if I tell him he's a good dog right into his ear canal.

I offered treats every time I finished washing someone (so I could grab the next collar for another bath) and they love to be bribed. I used to wash the dogs more often until the vet said they really don't need it. My pitbull would hop into the tub when I asked her to.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 09:11 AM

I complete my sixty-ninth trip around the sun today, and Environment Canada has a heat warning up for Perth County. Gag me.

It’s a stat holiday, however, so energy prices are as low as they ever get in Ontario. So I guess I’ll do the wash, which takes place in the nice, cool (in fact, rather chilly) basement.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 10:08 AM

happy actual birth-day!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 11:16 AM

Welcome to the week of overheated birthdays. The triple-digits are dug-in here and despite a tease of "rain" that was actually a visual representation of humidity for today, there are good reasons world-wide for not actually lighting that many candles.

As hot as the afternoons still are, the quality of light changes noticeably this time of year and the mornings are cooler and after dusk becomes tolerable. I've started a several-day job of trimming the tall mostly-dead grass around the front yard and piling bulky waste, with a head start in today's trash by stuffing the can with a couple of clunky metal items (trash pickup is only deferred for Thanksgiving and xmas holidays.)

I hope in a couple of weeks to have small plants to transplant into beds and then in October harvest a few squash and cucumbers. I waited too long, but I may still get something. I've enjoyed fresh pickles all summer made from early summer cucumbers.

Sears has sent me a reminder every day that tomorrow they will arrive to fix my dryer. Clearly they're as excited about the prospect as I am! And a reminder myself to pay the home warranty bill. This year I will have recouped about half the cost of it with the dryer repair, better than the usual no-participation from other insurance policies (no claims means another year of pure profit for those companies. Legalized gambling in all of its complexity.)

Jon, if you've finished with your svg charts, what is your next project? Do you have a record of where all of your files and accounts are? Passwords? I keep meaning to tidy my records and discard the documents from old accounts that no longer exist. My daughter knows where all of this is kept, but knowing where and sorting are two huge different things.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 12:40 PM

I didn’t stop with the charts although I thought I would...s I’ve added horizontal bar charts. The latest example page is here. I also had a look at 3d pie charts and stumbled on this site where the chap really has gone to town with his php generated svg charts. I looked at the xml in one of his svg pie charts and that gave me an idea to try although I’m not that pleased with my result.

I don’t know what I’ll try next. I downloaded loads of weather data files from CEDA using “bulk download” link but the files don’t contain much data and I don’t think I’ll bother with it.

I doubt there’s anything anyone would want on my computers but a brother could look through the files if he wished. The photos were an exception that I have dealt with.

I kept my passwords in a book that got lost when I was in hospital . I’m just noting passwords, PIN      numbers, etc. in a text file on my laptop now and I’ll give brothers a print out when I next see them.

I’m feeling too hot today but the temps wont be closet to yours. According to the ”extremes page I made using the met data, the hottest in the UK yesteday was St James Park at 27.8C

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 04 Sep 23 - 04:14 PM

Small password books can too easily go missing. I helped a friend replace hers in the past - tedious! I have printouts from new sites that are usually screenshots of the account with the information to logon in place (from the screen shot or handwritten) and those are kept in two 3-ring binders. I can go back and easily update passwords and add notes without running out of space on the alphabet page in a little book. Big, but hard to lose. Not taking them anywhere either.

Today has been one for puttering and researching. I've identified the replacement LED light for my upright freezer (it simply shows that it is on and plugged in) and downloaded the manual and schematic. I also browsed through some sewing videos on YouTube, things I'm thinking about trying. And the kitchen is on its way to being much cleaner, with a goal to clear the counters, the peninsula, and the breakfast table.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 12:43 PM

Dupont:

Suffering from excess heat -only on its way to high 80s but, for me ... I am barely functional. Will soon give up and go upstairs to the BR and turn on A/C. Then go for some groceries while the room cools. SO grateful for A/C in car!

Yesterday, I drove to the orchard for more strawberries ARGHHH The season is over. Pears will be ready in a few days but I am going back to Beaver; might be back in time for some pears. Which reminds me that I have not noticed my little pear tree in a long while! I will look when I go out to shop; I hope it has survived; I started it from seed from one the their pears 3 years ago. (The slight inclination to jump up and go look does not survive the way I feel.) Yesterday's trip of 2 hours in the country netted two tomatoes!

R informs that our beautiful laundry equipment set was $800 at the auction. Everything in that home was top quality. He installed them.

Further to the truck: it looked rather like it had survived - just barely - a demolition derby. Very few spots lacked a dent of some size!

Oh yeah, Hope both SRS and Charmion had fine birthdays!

I have managed to pull a few weeds each day. I brought the pumpkin onto the porch as the stem had dried out. Yesterday I sorted the pottery stuff that was in car, put some in plastic bins which I could leave outside until next trip which made room to re-load the pottery left from last week - quite a bit - to take back to Beaver for the Carriage House/shop. There is more to go in the car for the trip, on leaving day, as yet undetermined.

A'shopping I must go. And check for pear tree...

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 01:58 PM

Today I got the flu and RSV shot. The FDA will approve the Covid variant vaccine next week so getting the shot will be up in the air for weeks.

I was wondering, What if artificial intelligence had a conscience?
Would it be ashamed of its creator for the bias and prejudice over meaningless things like melanin and gender?

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 02:06 PM

Dupont:

Little pear tree is about a foot tall, has nice green leaves, and is protected by a "tomato cage"!!!

Produce store is only about 15 min away. We shall see how good their Quebec strawberries are; they do not look as shiny. Supper will be 100% Quebec produce and chicken breasts.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 02:45 PM

Thanks, Dorothy!

I am held hostage by the Sears scheduling system. The tech told me last week that he is not able to see his full day's appointments in the morning so it isn't until midday (coming up soon) that he can notify customers when he will be there. So I have waited here this morning when I could have been out at my volunteer gig.

The kitchen is looking better and I've been clearing around the little dining table. In the corner beside the table is a bin for paper recycling, but I've stopped putting mail in it, I'll stick with paperboard and corrugated cardboard. Those seem to be what interest the recyclers the most. I have some jars to fill with things that have been in the freezer (to kill any eggs that might have come along from the store) - beans, flour, pasta, dog biscuits, it all goes in there for a while. All of this happens because there is storage in the Hoosier Kitchen next to the small dining table, as well as my upright freezer. If I ever redesigned this kitchen I'd move the peninsula and extend the cabinets and counters, etc. For now, I use a piece of antique furniture for a lot of useful storage.

I'm waiting till later in the month to get the flu and COVID boosters. And don't confuse this thread for MOAB. :)

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: keberoxu
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 03:42 PM

All Dorothy's pear tree needs now, is a partridge . . .

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Dorothy Parshall
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 04:40 PM

Dupont:

Little pear tree is not yet as large as a partridge!

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 06:29 PM

The Sears tech texted at 3:30 to say he was overbooked, and would come tomorrow. I. Don't. Think. So. He already killed one day. Put me down for Friday.

No pear trees, but I have some little oaks and a redbud tree in pots here that I've struggled to keep alive this summer. I lost a couple, and all are crisp around the edges. Two are destined to go to other yards but they didn't want to try to keep them alive until a good time to plant.

More progress in the kitchen but the six things I put on my little list today went totally undone because of the cancellation (and subsequent trip out - that I cancelled). I've changed the date to tomorrow to try again. Saves a postit note.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 05 Sep 23 - 09:24 PM

Yesterday I identified a spot on the soffit where mice or squirrels or anything else can get in through a gap on top of the brick wall (due to settling of the house as the foundation shifts). I'll mix some mortar and drag the stepladder over and fill those crevices to keep them out, but far enough up and back so that when we've had some rain the mortar won't mess up the soffit as the house shifts again. I've also started using a battery-operated transfer pump to empty water out of a rain barrel that I've never completely set up the way it needs to be—it sits in front of a bay window where the splash off of it has rotted a bottom piece of wood. That needs replacing and a repair under the window casing. These are two of a lot of small repairs to perform this fall, but I will wait until the daytime temperatures are better. It looks like next week we'll be closer to "normal."

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 06 Sep 23 - 09:07 AM

Nothing of particular interest happening here except the last day of the current heat-wave, which no Texan would consider particularly warm but hey, this is Ontario. I have kept to home since church on Sunday in the interest of not melting into the sidewalk.

Consequently, I have had time to do the laundry and actually put it away.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 06 Sep 23 - 11:00 AM

Well I’ve had a go at a Firefox/Chrome extension to replace the Mudcat reply text area with a ( trumbowyg) wyswig editor. After some struggles, I managed to get the box in (see this png image but it won’t post or preview although the output the editor produces look fine. I think there’s some conflict between the extension code and the Mudcat code. I think I’ll just count this as one of my failures.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 06 Sep 23 - 10:04 PM

Do you use any of DaveRo's Mudcat tools? There are threads about them.

I made batch of birthday cinnamon rolls this morning and took some for dessert at lunch with my daughter and ex; sent some home with the ex and took some to neighbors. Giving most of them away means I won't eat them all by myself, but most of my calories today did come from rolls.

This evening I pulled a couple of painted tin bread boxes from the top of cabinets to dust and clean (the one over the top stove needed more work, it has been there for years.) I'll send photos to the kids to see if they're interested in one or both. I have to keep doing this to involve the kids in the decluttering of family antiques.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Jon Freeman
Date: 07 Sep 23 - 10:41 AM

I did have a look at why the editor wouldn’t post. The cause is Mudcat’s sloppy html. The post form      is part in and part out of a table for starters. It works somehow for normal posting but when the extension does its bit, the box we put the replies in doesn’t get sent with the rest of the data. I probably could work round that but I think it would take more effort than I want for what’s only a one off experiment.

I’ve got Dave’s browser tools installed on Firefox.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 08 Sep 23 - 12:31 PM

We're at the last of the "heat dome" this week, the forecast from the weekend on includes a chance of precipitation and much cooler temperatures. But yesterday and today ERCOT asks us to not use as much power in the afternoon and early evening, so helping a friend set up a new computer in the second floor of his townhouse was a sweaty job.

Before setup we decluttered a couple of towers and some small devices that were in the kneehole of his desk (in my SUV now, headed to the city recycle center soon). The most recent computer and monitor are set aside for "just in case," the rest can go. We bailed out paper and a gazillion old plugs and extension cords (a couple of cords I should have cut in two right there - they are fire hazards). I made a list and back home last night rounded up a new mouse pad, a couple of newer power strips, and a headphone and mic thing I bought for my laptop but never used. And since during yesterday's setup we misplaced the cable and power cord for his external hard drive, I have the same model here so found a spare power supply (12V - 1.5Amp) and a USB cable - mini-B plug Type-A receptacle - from the stash in my closet. He came over this morning to pick them up since I have the dryer repair this morning. I think you could say we have both decluttered. The power strips would have gone on Freecycle or Facebook. (I've updated 2 of my power strips to have USB charging ports, retiring the others.)

There are clunks and tinny bumps coming from the laundry room as the service tech reassembles the dryer, rounding out a busy week of appointments. The dogs are in the yard and it's in the mid-90s, so they're ok. It's this afternoon's 108 that no one needs to be outside for. This afternoon we'll stay home and putter. I want to do some sewing.

Subject: RE: DECLUTTER * Health/Home Ecologic-Innovation *2023
From: Charmion
Date: 08 Sep 23 - 02:18 PM

I have a new-to-me library table. It’s teak, and the clever Danes who built it circa 1960 had dining in mind but so what — it will be great for sorting music. The six-foot folding work table has retired to the garage. It can go outside for messy jobs and patio dinners, but only if it’s at ground level — too heavy for me to move downstairs by myself.

The shipment of freshly reprinted sheet music that was supposed to arrive on Wednesday is now two days late. I am highly displeased.