JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: It's Friday! No, it doesn't mean I'm released from my life of too-many-pets bondage. But it does mean I'm reaching the end of the week with just enough gas in my metaphorical tank to roll down hill into Saturday. So instead of my thoughts, I'm sharing my questions:
1. What is is with those yards filled from door to sidewalk with Halloween decorations? I mean, yes, I get the idea, but... where the heck do people store those skeletons and monsters the rest of the year? I have an entire closet plus some space in the attic reserved for Christmas - how does anyone manage to keep decorations for both holidays?
2. Also thinking of fall decor: why are pumpkins so expensive? I saw a photo of an attractive fall front porch display I thought I'd try. I have nice branches and bittersweet; all I needed was some interesting gourds. Imagine my shock when I priced them out at the local farm stand and realized I could get an overnight at The Parker Hotel in Boston for the same price. C'mon, dudes, they're inedible; we know those giant squashes are just compost-in-waiting.
3. Why do I always fall for the sale-priced grocery item that's JUST about to be unappealing because the weather is changing? I had to toss a hermetically sealed package of kielbasa that I bought in the summer. Turns out all the dishes I use the sausage for are, you know, cold weather meals. Now I've got two containers of mixed salad greens about to decompose in the veggie drawer of my fridge, because it was 78F/25C when I bought them and now... it's too cold for salad. Is this a me problem?
4. This is a little out of the ordinary, but why are people who work in the ER (aka the ED) so attractive? No, I don't mean in The Pitt, and I'm not saying that because the last time I had to go in for an emergency I was given excellent drugs. At Maine Medical Center, 85% of the doctors, nurses and techs look like LL Bean athletic wear models. Are people just better looking in Maine? (Feel free to say yes.)
5. I was filling up the car the other day and used my loyalty card for an extra five cents off, and I was suddenly reminded of my youth, when my Mom would get a water glass every time she bought a full tank of gas. Really nice amber ones, too - very seventies. We all know you can get glasses at the Dollar Tree for $1.25 each, which means they must wholesale for something like forty cents. Why don't they do those gas station giveaways any more?
6. Does anyone know what the heck Bruno Mars and Rosé (yes, I had to look up the artists) mean when they sing, "Meet me at the A.P.T. uh huh, A.P.T. uh huh," etc. Is it a store? The initials of a nightclub? Does it have anything to do with AI? Speaking of which...
7. Am I the only one who would pay a monthly subscription if I never had to see or hear anything about AI again?
8. Finally, and I think I speak for all of us of a certain age, when you go to buy readers/cheaters why do they never have sample glasses you can put on to determine how much magnification you need? I can slip on sunglasses before I buy - even expensive ones! - but check out the differences between 1.5 and 2.5 at TJ Maxx? No way, those 3 for $9 babies are staying sealed in plastic. I feel there may be some age discrimination at play here.
Okay, dear readers, you have my questions. What are the answers?
1. Not a clue . . . maybe they have a shed in the back yard to store them in????
ReplyDelete2. Everything is expensive these days . . . .
3. I’d have eaten them, even if it seemed to hot/cold for that meal . . . but that’s just me.
4. Isn’t everyone attractive in one way or another?
5. And there used to be green stamps that you could trade in for all manner of stuff . . . .
6. APT ["apateu" in Korean] is a Korean drinking game . . . and, yes, I looked it up . . . .
7. I will happily join you in hearing/seeing nothing about AI ever again . . . .
8. Since I’ve worn glasses my entire life, I have absolutely no experience with those readers . . . I guess packaging them like that means you may end up buying more than one pair . . . .
Joan, on the more than one pair of cheater readers: my mother would buy them in multiples and strew pairs all around the house…always to one “at hand”. Elisabeth
DeleteApateu! That's why it sounds so odd when they sing it! Thank you, Joan!
DeleteYou’d be surprised at how many people rent storage units for years to store all their extra crap.
ReplyDeleteFarmers have to make a living like everyone else.
I would eat “off-season” food, but then I don’t switch out my wardrobe either. Everything is accessible in my closet and drawers all year round.
Luckily I have not spent enough time in ERs to know what they look like for comparison
My first set of dishes and glasses was from the grocery store acquired a few at a time with purchase of groceries. Growing up we got a dishwasher with S& H Greenstamps. It wasn’t built in. You hooked it up to the kitchen faucet with a hose that pulled out.
Have not heard that song and have no clue what APT is. I do know that in pickleball ATP is a great shot you make around the post.
I just assume everything is AI now and just move on.
I wish I could see well enough to just need off the rack cheaters. Maybe one day cataract surgery will get me there.
Brenda, I never think of storage units, and I should - I have a friend who until recently rented TWO of them!
DeleteSalad mixes are so expensive, I fall for the discounted ones too. My solution: cook your lettuce! Lettuce/greens can be cooked into Chinese stir fried rice or soups. I've had them at Chinese restaurants before but they're simple to make at home. Soup is just chicken stock, lettuce and onions/green onions. For Western dishes, I love lettuce and pea soup with mint.
ReplyDeleteI love the lettuce in soup trick - it has saved me from throwing away so much. Turns out I love when other people make me a salad but don’t like doing it for myself so much.
DeleteLinda, that's a brilliant idea! Thank you!
Delete1. I have no idea. I bet either attic, basement, or garage
ReplyDelete2. Even the little itty bitty ones are expensive
3. Because it's on sale, that's how they get us
4. Thinking about it, I think it's because we're in pain and they are helping us and that seems attractive
5. I remember the green stamps or other stamp-like things where we got good quality items
6. I know who Bruno Mars is but who is Rosé? I googled it and it could be apartment but I suspect it's the Korean drinking game.
7. I hear you. I now put "-ai" when I do google searches
8. Been wearing glasses since forever, so I don't know anything about needing readers
Dru Ann, you may be right - maybe smiling, helpful people when we're in pain DO seem better looking!
DeleteLaughing, laughing, laughing!
ReplyDelete1) Last week on Rt. 11 we spotted a twenty-foot articulated skeleton walking a moose-size skeleton dog. Best Halloween decoration I've ever seen. Perhaps medical professionals own the house and they keep the bones in a bone box off season?? As for me, if it doesn't fit in a Rubbermaid storage box on the garage rafters, it ain't happening.
2) Wondered the same thing at the Hannaford yesterday. So much for my fall themed centerpiece. At least I can gather the ingredients for the winter one right outside my door! (Pines, pinecones, birch bark, holly berries)
3) I'd have used the kielbasa if it was frozen. As for salad - agreed. I only buy spinach or kale this time of year. If I'm not eating it, it's great in soup.
4) Seriously? Interesting.
5) Here in the frozen north, attendants still pump your gas, wash your windshield, and check your oil. No glasses though. Remember dishware in laundry detergent boxes? My mom had a full set of winter wheat.
6) ?????? No idea!
7) I'm afraid A.I. is here to stay. I'd pay for an email subscription that omitted scammers!
8) Two words - Dollar Store. Last time I was in one, they had the spinning rack of cheaters you could try on AND the little printed list that helped decide just what strength.
Dollar store! Thank you, Kait, I'll try there next time I need cheaters.
Deletetoo funny Julia--you had a lot to say for someone who's just barely making it to the weekend:)
ReplyDeleteAs Ross used to say, "Talking's never a problem for you, Jule." :-)
Delete1. All of those empty and supposedly abandoned stores that Spirit Halloween uses for about six weeks of the year are actually discount storage spaces the remaining 46 weeks of the year.
ReplyDelete2. In a word: tariffs. Yes, pumpkins are seldom imported and tariffs don't apply, but Big Pumpkin doesn't think we know that.
3. You are at fault here for being a slave to random seasonal culinary prejudice. Throw off your shackles and have a full Thanksgiving dinner in May and Cadbury Easter Eggs in November. (Stale Halloween candy works best 365 days of the year.)
4. Dilaudid works wonders. Also (and this is based on anecdotal evidence only), 63% of men fron Maine date sheep, so anything else would look like a vast improvement.
5. For this, you must blame OPEC, most of whose members come from the Middle East. They keep jiggling the price of a barrel of oil willy-nilly. If they ever get their act together and stablize prices, you will be able to receive the free gift of a camel for every ten fill-ups.
6. According to Wikipedia, as referenced in the song, A.P.T. is a popiular Korean drinking game, but who believes anything from those Wiki folks nowadays. Personally, I think it may stand for Acute Paranoid Tigers, or Absolute;y Perfect Tangerines, or Awfully Pestilent Tomatoes, or Adorably Pretty Thighs, or...
7. Soon everyone will be paying for that subscription because it was created and managed by AI.
8. You have a choice here. Do you want your glasses sealed in un-openable plastic, or do you want your eyes sealed in the same? You must choose one: It's in the Discount Store Book of Rules and Guidelines (available for viewing at the Customer Service Counter if you ask very nicely).
Class dismissed.
Jerry, you made my day here!!
DeleteJerry, we need to hand over the funny blog posts to YOU!
DeleteHappy Friday! No idea about the giant Halloween decorations! And I know what you mean about the price of pumpkins. I remember getting Green Stamps or Blue Chip Stamps at the gas station and saving up to get something I wanted (like the cutest little orange desk lamp I took to college). Can't help ya with the salad greens - I eat it year round, and mine has been homegrown for a couple of months now. Why ditch the frozen kielbasa now that it's stew season? Also can't help ya with the APT thing.
ReplyDeleteYES on paying for zero AI. And, like Dru Ann, I've been wearing glasses since third grade and my closeup correction is built into them.
Also, about the ER folks - when I was in there for many hours in July, I had some distinctly UN-good looking professionals (barely) helping me. I guess those Maine good looks don't rub off on Newburyport, or maybe it's the horrible working conditions. I will say my late nephew Christopher, an ER nurse practitioner in Wyoming, was exceedingly handsome.
DeleteI should have specified - I had to dump the kielbasa because it was in the back of the fridge so long it had become a science experiment. I guess those packages aren't as hermetically sealed as the advertise...
DeleteWell, as the reigning Halloween queen around these parts, I can answer for myself: bins and racks in the basement. We have three (okay, four) times as much spooky, skeleton-y and orange/black/purple/poison green stuff as much as the (boring) red/green/sparkly stuff at this point. However, we do not have any of those 20' Bony Maroney guys, and I have been seeing them staying up year round the last couple years. Probably because, where do you put them? However, it's fun to see what they're up to in their "off season", wearing sports caps and jerseys, etc.
ReplyDeleteI blame Martha Stewart.
Why would you need to throw away frozen sausage? Puzzled.
You're onto something with #4. The single most handsome man I've ever seen in real life was in the A&E in Oxford. Swoon.
My family also had a set of Winter Wheat from detergent boxes, and Mother collected towels the same way. As a young married in the early 1970s I collected nice glassware from the Sohio stations. Now you're lucky to get water-free gas. I am still waiting for the $1,000 it cost me to put a tank of Sunoco gas in my old BMW. Don't ask.
APT? News to me. Also, Rose'? Who?
Go to Costco for your glasses. A pack of five, with cases, for $20. Nicest cheaters ever, and they have a chart for you to use.
Oh, and AI is the Devil. That's all.
DeleteYes, on those "free" things in detergent boxes. My mother used th0se glasses for the rest of her life. The towels weren't worth it at all!
DeleteFrom Karen: my mom actually prefers thin, scratchy towels!
DeleteAll excellent answers, Karen! I didn't specify - the kielbasa was fresh and living in the fridge well past it's expiration date, as I found out when I grabbed it and discovered it was more mold than meat. :-(
DeleteAh, Julia, I have some, but not all answers.. (In spite of my first supervising attorney who called me “oh, wise one”.)
ReplyDeleteOn kielbasa: too spicy, too fatty just don’t eat it or buy it.
On salads: leafy greens are good for you all year around. And since they are available all year around now, keep eating. Although, perhaps curb your enthusiasm for buying as they move from main dish to side dish. Or lean into spinach or chard that can be cooked.
Attractive ER personnel: it is the drugs they give you.
Give away glasses at the gas station. See your question on Halloween decor storage and your lamentation earlier this week on space for the changing seasonal clothes. Where would you put the glasses?
Cheaters: last bought cheaters 20 years ago, cataract surgery fixed that. But as I recall the displays had little charts showing letters in various magnifications. No, not the same as trying on for your eyes, but at least a vague idea.
Ah, with these and other weighty questions, we should still try for a good weekend. Elisabeth
Elisabeth, this is my strategy: by offloading knotty questions to others, I clear my mind for a happy and care-free weekend!
Delete1. Halloween skeletons and ghouls - $500.00 Cdn at Home Depot! Besides the question on storage, how can anyone afford 1 let alone a yard full? Sarcasm here – are these the same people who ‘take advantage’ of the Food Bank?
ReplyDelete2. Pumpkins – send me a self-addressed pre-stamped envelope, and I will send you a few dozen). Best crop of our year! I can include a bucket full of tomatoes both red and green as well – free! Did you know ‘used ‘pumpkins with no wax in them are usually welcomed by farmers with sheep or goats or by wildlife centers – they are used to feed the animals and goats and sheep love them. It feeds them good nutrition and vitamins when they are pregnant, which is usually this time of year. (Personal experience).
3. Kielbasa + boiled potatoes + sauerkraut + caraway if you like it (I don’t) + yellow mustard for condiment – put in frying pan – eat. You will be buying kielbasa all winter. Apparently, you can make soup out of salad greens – I have not tried it. Try Mexican salad – taco stuff on lettuce. Hot and cold on one plate.
4. No comment. Hope to not need to test the premise.
5. One grocery store around us offers ‘free’ stamps to put toward their current gimmick – frying pans, glass wear, other stuff. Then you can BUY the item that you didn’t know you needed at a so-called discount price. Nope, not happening here. Their prices are all a lot higher than Walmart, so dbl no. I will take the free glasses – Jack brought a set from his childhood that are Expo 67 glasses – we are not allowed to use them. I hand wash them once a year (so the paintings won’t wash off in the dishwasher).
6. Huh?
7. Prove it – are you sure you are not AI now???? I don’t know who to believe any more as it seems you have to weigh the pros and cons of anything you read. By the way, has anyone noticed that audiobooks have an anti-AI clause at the end of the book? It used to be something about copyright.
8. I get my glasses from Amazon – found a brand and I like them. (you can test at home to see what you like and send them back, which I did). They last about 6 months until the lenses go wonky. Jack loses his long before that. 3pr for less than $30.
Margo, between Linda's suggestion of stir frying the green and yours for taco salad, I think I've found the cold weather solutions I need!
Delete1. Julia, it's a puzzle! The inflatable decorations deflate, but they're still pretty bulky. I only decorate inside, these days. We dine out on Halloween, so we are not putting invitations in our yard for trick-or-treaters.
ReplyDelete2. Bears around here are making off with pumpkins, so, not inviting them here either.
3. I agree with everyone else that the salad greens can go in soup or wilt them into a stir fry. As for the kielbasa, it would have been in my freezer until a recipe called for it. I have some out-of-season stuff in my freezer all year round.
4. I think it's the George Clooney Effect, but I could be wrong. I have a little cousin who is an ER doctor, and she is an athlete with blond hair and blue eyes. So, go figure.
5. I remember gas wars back in the 60's where competing stations dropped prices to $.17. My first set of dishes came from a gas station. At every fill-up I got a plate.
6. Not even curious.
7. It's insipid like artificial flavoring. What's real? I might subscribe, then again...
8. I get my glasses with real prescriptions. I have no experience with readers.
Judy, I took a look at the price of those trick-or-treater sized bags of candy and was profoundly grateful I live on a country road where we never get any kids. I can't imagine what the bill is going to be for folks in busy suburban districts!
DeleteI think I'm just going to stick with question 1 for a moment. Here in war-ravaged Portland, unfortunately the undertakers and funeral directors have fled for the friendlier confines of McMinnville or Corbett. Our poor long-suffering residents have taken to displaying the remains of their fallen combatants in their front yards. Some of the fierce warriors truly seem larger than life! I pray that at some point they receive a decent burial.
ReplyDelete2. No gourds for me, although it is amusing to see the pumpkin-seed filled coyote scat after the coyotes have gorged on all the pumpkins.
3. Trying not to waste food! It's hard.
4. ER work is physical and vigorous. I'm sure they burn calories just working. I do have fond memories of the muy guapo urgent care doc I saw in Cuernavaca once.
5. I remember the gas station give aways.
6. No clue.
7.AI is here, and is helpful sometimes, but I am wary.
8. I only buy expensive all in one glasses from the eye doctor's office. Ugh.
Gillian, we salute the long-suffering citizens of the Other Portland. Any of us who saw how, despite the constant deadly carnage, you pursue your traditional pagan funeral rites with mourners dressing as animal spirits and dancing the deceased to the next world, could not help but be impressed.
DeleteYesterday, I saw a Halloween ghoul that was two frigging stories tall in someone's yard! Good grief. I was wondering about storage and construction and... just... WHY? I feel I've done well when I hang up a few wreaths at Christmastime.
ReplyDeleteSame here for Christmas, Annette, although I also like the tiny white lights around the door frame on the deck.
DeleteFrom Karen: a friend's son has a business putting up massive Christmas displays, especially the ones with light curtains and trees covered in lights. It's so lucrative he takes off six months of the year.
DeleteAnnette, I hate to sound like I'm a million years old, but when did Jack O'Lanterns on the porch and cut outs of ghosts and witches taped to the inside of the windows become shabby and outdated? Do we really benefit as a society from two-story tall ghouls?
DeleteJulia, don't despair. The Boy (23) and The Very Nice Girlfriend (22) love carving pumpkins and think it's the best Halloween decoration ever. Biodegradable!
DeleteJust shaking my head over most of your questions. I didn't realize how little I really know about what is happening nowadays. As for cheaters, the ones I bought in a grocery store, I was able to try them on and check out how well I could read a tiny bottle of aspirin. But that was 5 years ago, so maybe things are a lot different now. I wear prescription but keep the cheaters on hand for my son who doesn't think he needs glasses.
ReplyDeleteJudi, your son sounds like my mother. Despite getting an actual Rx from the optometrist, she insisted she "only needed them for driving" and would keep them in her car!
DeleteLaughing, laughing, laughing!
ReplyDelete1. I have some white Mums in a Jack-o-lantern pot on the front porch. My husband put a little pumpkin on the post that hold the mailbox. That’s it for our Halloween decorations. I have seen a blow up dragon that I love, and I would want it for Christmas.
4. Seeing some friends from Portland tonight. All attractive so yes.
5. Glasses from the gas stations, and sometimes “china” as well. In Kentucky my Mom had 4 sets of dinner plate, salad plate, and bowl with a lovely flower like a wild chicory on it for years! And my first set of “china” came from our grocery store, the BPM.
7. Amen, Julia, amen!
Asking about AI wasn't really much of a question, Suzette - I was pretty sure everyone would agree with me!
Delete1. It puzzles me as well. Storing Christmas stuff is bad enough.
ReplyDelete2. Markup for the holidays.
3. Salad is an all-year thing for us. As is sausage.
4. I've usually been in too much pain to notice physical attraction when I'm at the ER.
5. I remember those. What we had when we were first married!
6. No clue.
7. Outside of work, yes. At work, I can't avoid it because it's part of my job (I work in high tech).
8. I remember one place had a chart of what the words would look like at each magnification. Target? I made a choice based on that, bought one pair, and when they worked went back to buy more.
Markup for the holidays makes sense, Liz. I'm going to start a movement to decorate for Christmas with pumpkins and gourds. I bet they'll be dirt cheap come December 1!
DeleteJust like Christmas wrapping paper on December 26. LOL
DeleteJulia, interesting questions and many interesting answers from everyone - much to think about.
ReplyDeleteHope you have a great weekend. Sounds like the dogs and cats keep you busy - but the grandpups will go home to their "parents" soon - that's the nice part!
Fingers crossed, we make take a trip up the coast for a quick visit with the new baby tomorrow, Anon!
DeleteLOL, my husband has had a couple of visits to that ER, and yes, we both noticed the staff was all attractive. But my being a retired RN, I may be a little bit biased! A.P.T.? Not a clue!
ReplyDeleteNow I'm wondering if there's some subtle encouragement during med school/nursing school, CT!
DeleteI hate to tell you this but as a needlepointer, I know people who have Easter and Valentine decorations--pillows, stand-ups, etc. and where they put all of that, I have now idea. It is all cloth and thread so has to be carefully stored. I have one Nativity scene that I needlepointed and display every year and one other that I made and sent to my namesake great niece. All this exterior stuff is crazy! There is one house here in Atlanta which is famous for its Christmas display. The front yard is entirely covered in blow ups. I mean entirely.
ReplyDeleteWe are now in a condo so I am out of the pumpkin on the front porch business.
We eat a salad with our main course every night. Got to get veggies in my husband somehow.
I'll tell you who are dynamite looking, the vets! I went with a friend to the Vet School at UGA for an expensive operation for her dog, and we could have been in a movie set or a runway show.
My father won a set of stainless steel for being the 100th customer at a filling station which went with my sisters and me to every first apt.. we had . Great knives, forks, spoons !
No idea
No Ai here I hope
My grocery has readers you can test with a chart at the top of the rack. They work fine.
Atlanta
Atlanta, you're right about the vets! Every one of the doctors at our local clinic are good-looking. Maybe being an animal lover just makes you more handsome/prettier?
DeleteThere are a lot of great answers here already! I'm just going to comment on 3 and 5, and share a quick story related to 1.
ReplyDelete3. I have been known to fall into that trap, but in recent years do a better job of managing my cooking to use up what I have purchased. But if the kielbasa was still hermetically sealed, there is every reason to believe you could have just frozen it for later use.
5. I suspect with all the gas price wars over the years and the constant volatility of pricing, they have determined that people respond more to the various loyalty programs that give them cents off their gas purchase than to giveaways. I use the points program of my grocery store, Kroger. I carefully use coupoons to maximize points and sometimes get as much as a dollar a gallon off on fillups.
1. My husband just told me yesterday that a friend of his shared this story with him. He and his wife are inveterate Halloween decorators. A few years ago they bought their current home, met their neighbors, and learned that their nextdoor neighbor absolutely HATES Halloween. Hates everything about it. He told hubby that he gently explained that big Halloween decorating was their longtime tradition, and that in fact they pulled back a little compared to their instincts, but they were going to fully decorate the yard. He said he and his neighbor manage to stay on friendly terms in spite of this large point of contention, but it's always a little tense this time of year.
Oh, no, Susan, I've never heard of a Halloween hater next door to a large-scale Halloween decorator! At least it's not like some of the Christmas decor nightmare stories I've heard, with neighbors shining their light show through your windows and playing carols 24/7!
Delete1. We live in a neighborhood that decorates so much for Christmas that people (and tour buses, really!) flock to our area every December. I don’t want to do the same for Halloween, although I noticed last night a couple of blocks away were aglow in orange lights. (Two years ago a trick-or-treater, probably a tween, rudely asked, “Why don’t you decorate for Halloween?” I wanted to say, “Do you want the candy or not?”)
ReplyDelete2. I haven’t bought a pumpkin since my son went off to college so didn’t know they are so expensive. Everything else is nowadays, despite promises to the contrary, so why not pumpkins?
3. Unless I’m buying it to be used that night, kielbasa and its sausage brethren go straight into the freezer. I am, however, extremely guilty of having bags of salad or salad fixings go bad in the crisper drawer.
4. Thankfully, I have only been to the ER once or twice in my adult life and I was more impressed with how NICE everyone was! (One of the nurses turned out to be someone I had babysat when she was little so maybe that’s why because she and I were chatting about our families and everyone else probably caught the vibe.)
5. I remember blue chip stamps and gas station giveaways. We still have four steak knives from a gas station. I took them as a practical, sentimental souvenir when I cleaned out my parents’ house. (And yes, we have a full set of steak knives we bought if we ever have more people over for a barbecue.)
6. I had no clue but have read the correct answer above. Still haven’t heard the song.
7. I can’t wear cheaters (astigmatism) so don’t know. My question is why did my distance vision suddenly go downhill in the past 12-14 months? The weird counterpoint is that I don’t seem to need my reading glasses now. I’ll see the eye doctor in December for the answer.
And now I’m off to jury duty. — Pat S
Pat S - me too! I made it all week without being called, but got called in today. Happily the courthouse is just a 5 minute walk away.
DeleteLisa, I didn’t pay attention and got all dressed and ready to go when I read the fine print (actually, it wasn’t small; I just hadn’t read the actual instructions). I was supposed to call in last night. I had thought it was weird to go in on a Friday when the courts are usually doing administrative work. But you got called in (I mean really got called to report!) on a Friday so who knows? But now I’m sitting here all dressed with makeup on and all I want to do is go back to bed. Getting up at 6 a.m. is a shock to my system now that I am retired. Unless I’m heading for the airport on vacation! Hope it goes well for you, Lisa. — Pat S
DeletePat, I've been called for jury duty for the first time in my life! I have a JD and am a (lapsed) member of the Maine Bar, so I don't know if they'll take me, but I'm exited for the opportunity!
DeleteHappy Friday!
ReplyDelete1. Not a clue. Several guesses: closet or garage or storage shed or all of the above
2. Haven't noticed the price of pumpkins since I did not buy a pumpkin. May I ask what the difference is between this year and last year?
3. Regarding sale items, I try Not to buy things that will expire soon. I have an uphill battle because often the produce becomes stale or wilted so I try to use up the produce while they are still fresh. I've seen some items with "use within 7 days", meaning use all of it up within seven days.
4. Perhaps because Maine has more hygge like conditions and it is close to Canada. Perhaps the benefits of good health care growing up? Does everyone in Maine have health care coverage? Are there more family farms? Perhaps better nutrition? Do more people walk/ bicycle / run / ski in Maine!
5. Reminds me of when I was a kid and we got something free with a purchase of a meal at McDonald's. Perhaps not quite the same thing as water glass from Gas stations.
6. No clue regarding who Bruno Mars nor Rose' are. I did not know who Bad Bunny was. I thought Bad Bunny was a cartoon character until a friend explained to me who Bad Bunny is (a singer from Puerto Rico)
7. This is new to me. I have seen "ad free" subscriptions, though. I have not seen anything where you pay to have no AI.
8. No idea how to answer this question about readers / magnifiers.
I’m going to jump around here:
ReplyDeleteAs long as the kielbasa had been in the freezer, I would have still used it.
I eat salad all year round, not just in the warmer months. I also drink hot coffee, hot tea, and hot chocolate all year round, and I eat soup all year round. (Ice cream, too.)
I keep seasonal decorations in boxes in a corner of my bedroom. I gave very little storage. I have a storage room in the basement but I’ve decided that it’s no longer safe for me to carry large items up and down the stairs. Someday that room will need to be emptied out. I’m keeping emptying that storage room, stored in the background of my brain for now.
DebRo
I wish I was more of a 'year round' eater, DebRo. Maybe it's because This Old House has no AC in the summer and is chilly all winter long (unless I'm near the woodstove) , but I crave cool foods when it's hot and warm foods when it's not! I do, however, drink piping hot tea all year.
Delete“Have” very little storage
ReplyDeleteI've not needed to go to the ER myself but will keep it in mind if I ever need to go find a new man. I do remember a hot ambulance crew who came to assist my sister ages ago.
ReplyDeleteGenuinely laughing, Pat!
DeleteThanks for the chuckle, Julia! All I know about the enormous Halloween decorations is that I see people complaining on our Next Door site about having theirs stolen. Ouch! Trader Joe's is the best place for pumpkins, but I stuck to the mini ones this year. I hate throwing the big ones in the trash and don't have a handy goat to pass them along to.
ReplyDeleteDebs, how on earth could you steal one? Some of them look like you need a crane to put them up!
DeleteThese questions are great! A house I pass recently put giant - and I do mean HUGE - spiders walking up the front of their house. Besides the creep factor, I wondered where they put them the rest of the year. Do the legs fold up? I actually mulled this over for days.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Edith, I miss the green or yellow stamps you got at the grocery store that you could save up and "buy" items with the stamps. Plus the glasses at the gas station. I also remember a mug from Exxon?? Putting a tiger in my tank?? Do you recall purchasing a full set of Funk and Wagnall encyclopedias at the grocery for discounted prices? Maybe that was a regional thing?
I gave up on the lettuce and salad fixings because once I got them home, I really didn't want salad any longer. Salad has become a "treat" when I go out to eat.
I used to love the cheaters until I had cataract surgery and now have one eye for distance and one for near. I was really concerned about my eyesight the first time I tried to use my cheaters post-surgical. Took a bit to remember my "new" eyes didn't work like the old ones.
Having spent lots of time in various ERs and I can say it is hit or miss on fine looking folks. Somehow, the difficult news always went down better if the doc was a cutie. -- Victoria
"I actually mulled this over for days." Victoria, I am SO glad I'm not the only one!
Delete1. They have a double garage for which they only use one car (or none). They might have an extra little building, the ones you buy already put together, for which they store decorations, especially large ones. Oh, and they are far more organized than I could ever dream of being, carefully marking and storing tubs or boxes for ease of access when needed.
ReplyDelete2. I don't buy pumpkins for decorating our front porch anymore, so I had no idea of their high prices now.
3. My weakness used to be the near-to-expired cheese basket in the cheese department at Kroger's. I'd buy a few items that sounded interesting, because they were marked down, and more times than not I'd forget about them after I put them in the refrigerator. I don't do that anymore.
4. People must be better looking in Maine. My experience is ordinary-looking doctors and nurses and technicians.
5. Oh, I love the memory of getting glasses at the gas station. I have a set of eight poinsettia glasses that were actually gathered before my time (I think). I have them in the china cupboard and I so want them to stay in the family. If my daughter doesn't want them, I'll ask one of my brother's kids.
6. No clue about A.P.T. I am familiar with Bruno Mars.
7. A.I. is a sore spot for me, as I will miss out on millions on land for a data information center when I years ago sold some land cheap to a family member because another family member needed the money. I don't sit around thinking about it. It is what it is, and I did what I needed to do for someone else when I did it.
8. I was supposed to still be able to read without my glasses after my last cataract surgery, but since my macular degeneration went wet in the other eye, things are not as I'd hoped they would be. Someone suggested readers, and, yes, I bought a sealed package not knowing what to get, and no, they did not work. I will continue to explore this problem. I do have an appointment with my ophthalmologist soon, and I plan to ask him about the readers.
Kathy, I had cataract surgery as well, and still needed readers because I opted for high-quality distance vision. I'm sorry about your macular degeneration - I understand there are a lot of new treatments out there that can slow things down. Hoping your appointment is productive!
DeleteLOL! So many great questions, alas, I have no answers. I can testify about the ER, though. H2 works in the ER and gets hit on regularly from patients and patients' family members. Like firefighters are also unusually good looking, it's clearly a thing.
ReplyDeleteYes! Firefighters! We write about attractive cops in our mysteries, but honestly, firefighters have the men in blue beat hands down.
DeleteAs I told the student who asked if the fire fighters who rescued us from the flooded Ren. Faire site were cute, "Anyone who saves your life is, by definition, cute." Thinking back to my two trips to the E.R., I do think the staff were all pretty cute -- maybe because it's a job for the young and strong?
ReplyDeleteI've been told the big skeletons disassemble easily. My pumpkins are pretend, but the niblings are bringing some to cut in a bit.
I just had cataracts removed, and the eye doctor recommended 2.5 -- the pair I got there are like bifocals and very handy, only $20. I've since order cheaper "spares" -3 works well for the computer, and 3.5 is handy for ready teeny-tiny print. For the first time since 4th grade, I can navigate the world sans glasses. Legal to drive unaided. Shock!
*Nibling = offspring of one's siblings, all the nieces and nephews and undecideds. I'm on a mission to get this useful and inclusive word in the dictionary.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteYou had me laughing!
1. I was thinking the same thing. I live in Florida and it's the same thing here. However during my recent visit to Massachusettes and Maine I was blown away on the obsession of those giant skeletons. Is that a New England thing?! Haha
2. Insane prices. I go to Hobby Lobby for fake ones.
3. I have too many Tupperware but they seem to lengthen the time for fresh veggies, etc.
4. Haha
5. I remember those. Even the fast food places gave away glasses. I have the Burger King star wars collection from the 80s.
6. apartment. My 20-year-old had to tell me.
7.YES!
8. Everything seems to be older for seniors aside from the little discounts we get for eating at 4pm!
I enjoyed your blog today! Thanks
Cindy Martin
6.
3. I hear ya on decor. Hobby Lobby is where I go for a more inexpensive porch decor selection.
3.