USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Hossfly]

And here's today's puzzle to entertain our early risers in the morning. (Or our chronic night owls tonight.)

Four and seven are shut valves, so it is nine or five. Nine has the lowest open valve, so it will fill first.

Nope. The spigot entering nine is closed off.

7

7 is closed off. Only cup 5 has an open passage for the coffee.

You win a seegar!

​

 

[Nosmo King]

Another door on the Advent calendar has opened and it's time for a Nosmo King Christmas story.

In 1968 at this time of year, our country was in the grips of a flu epidemic. It was the Hong Kong flu and it hit my family the week before Christmas. Mom, Pop and my baby brother were all down with it. All the classic flu symptoms ravaged my family. Everyone but me. I was about to turn 12 and already a Boy Scout with the rank of Star, working hard for the required merit badges to earn Life. I just earned my First Aid badge and was therefore duly pressed into nursing duties.

I climbed the steps of the Big House ferrying tumblers of orange juice and boxes of Kleenex to my family sweating in their beds. They ate broth and apple slices when they could eat anything. Meanwhile I cleaned the saucepans I provided to them the vomit broth and apples into. I mopped bathroom floors with straight doses of Lysol. I washed up dishes and then returned to their bedsides with more stuff to ease their discomfort.

Before too long supplies of aspirin and tissues and fruit began to run low. Pop phoned Uncle Alex to resupply us under our dire circumstances. I sat by the front window and watched Uncle Alex's Buick Park Avenue slide into the driveway. The patriarch of the family got out of his car with a tiny package from Sevy's Pharmacy just a few blocks away. He set the white paper bag on the doorstep, turned on his heels and went back to his car without knocking on our door. Alex must have thought that we were lepers, not flu sufferers.

I opened the door and called to Uncle Alex. He was closing the car door and gave me a smile and a wave then tipped his Adam's hat and started his engine. Alex was married for more than forty years at that time, but Uncle Alex and Aunt Helen were a childless couple. Accordingly, he brought supplies fit for two people. A small bottle of Bayer Asprin, which was mostly cotton back then, and a small bottle of cough syrup, enough to soothe two people with two doses each. Bless him, but Uncle Alex was not the man from whom to seek help for a family down with Hong Kong flu.

Now, I don't want to cast myself as the hero of the day. While I was responsible, I was only as responsible as your garden variety twelve year old. I called Sevy's where I was a known customer after school. Sevy's had a good candy counter and a better ice cream freezer and I could be counted on for a daily input of their cash stream of fifteen cents, sometimes as much as a quarter.

I told the pharmacist about our flu outbreak. He told me to come right over. "I'll be right back!" I shouted up the staircase. What Mom and Pop thought given that scanty information must have been terrifying. I coasted down the hill and pumped my way up the other side on my Huffy bicycle tricked out with butterfly handlebars and a banana seat.

Four blocks south on St. Clair Avenue lays Sevy's. Mr. Lewis (one of Pop's Friday Night poker buddies) smiled as I came into the store. He gave over with a CARE package chock full of medicines and supplies. Vick's Vaporub, aspirin, cough syrup, two ice bags, tissues, nose sprays, vitamin C capsules and, in the bottom of the bag, my favorite Bun chocolate and peanut clusters.

Later that night as my family dosed in fretted sleep, I watched the Apollo 8 astronauts orbit the moon and read from the Book of Genesis. Christmas came and went and eventually everyone got better, thank you very much! New Year's Eve found me in bed with body aches, nausea, a stuffy nose and a full blown case of the Hong Kong flu.

 

[Nosmo King]

And here's today's puzzle to entertain our early risers in the morning. (Or our chronic night owls tonight.)

Four and seven are shut valves, so it is nine or five. Nine has the lowest open valve, so it will fill first.

Nope. The spigot entering nine is closed off.

7

7 is closed off. Only cup 5 has an open passage for the coffee.

You win a seegar!

​

Ah! Look at that little vertical line right at the 90 degree turn!

 

[Foxfyre]

And here's today's puzzle to entertain our early risers in the morning. (Or our chronic night owls tonight.)

Four and seven are shut valves, so it is nine or five. Nine has the lowest open valve, so it will fill first.

Nope. The spigot entering nine is closed off.

7

Nope there is a block in the pipe to 7.

 

[Foxfyre]

In a widening effort to introduce more fiber into my diet, I have taken to eating a bowl of cereal for breakfast. Now that I have time to prepare and eat a breakfast, my toe is in the water, but I have not gone for full immersion and clumsy stabs at waffles or crepes.

I bought a variety pack, probably the most expensive way to buy cereal. Of course the variety pack does deliver on why it's named. Corn flakes, puffed wheat, rice crispies, and raisan bran. What I had to wonder is, has anyone ever followed the directions on those little individual serving boxes and cut the "H" shaped perforations in the cardboard then slit that wax paper pericardium containing the cereal? Has anyone every been brave, or foolhardy enough to dump milk into a cardboard box and slop up a couple spoonfuls of CocoPuffs? It looks like the type of thing a kid would do like Edmund Hillary would climb a mountain: because it's there.

But that does not make it a good idea? Wisdom is imparted concerning hydrodynamics even unto a toddlers. Is it prudent to hold a half cup or more of milk between your palm and your lap with only a slim piece of wax paper and a sheet of thin cardboard?

We kids knew about packaging and the perils there of when we would smack a bar of Turkish Taffy on the sidewalk to break up the bar of rock hard candy. Thus making it possible to get a piece into one's mouth, but dicey where any loose baby teeth might be clinging onto growing gums. That taffy wrapper was one tough hunk of packaging. Compared to the aluminum foil,wrappers on, Hershey Kisses, Turkish Taffy was surrounded by Kevlar.

I can't bring myself to eat cereal with milk out of a box--that is an option sometimes provided at the breakfast bar in a lot of motels. I am sure the box is designed to contain the milk, but it is so unnatural to me it is also unappetizing.

For fiber my go to cereals are mini wheats which have about as much fiber as any of the heathiest rated cereals out there. Ditto for grape nuts. And while plain old Cheerios have about half the fiber the other two do, they do have significant fiber and are rated among the healthy cereals.

But my primary source of fiber is grinding a couple of tablespoons of flax seed in the coffee grinder and dumping the powder into a smoothie or cereal or whatever.

Speaking of Grape Nuts, I saw this and thought it was funny:

Grape Nuts are good if made like oatmeal (use milk instead of water) otherwise one's jaw becomes sore after two spoonfuls........

Naw, I want my grape nuts in milk and sweetened with something, but I eat them while they are still crunchy. I don't find them tough at all and I am at the age I prefer soft or tender crunchy foods.

 

[saveliberty]

Speaking of Grape Nuts, I saw this and thought it was funny:

Since when do dogs care if they throw up?

 

[saveliberty]

Today was the first day working in the post office I am assigned to. It takes seven minutes to walk there at a normal pace. While I see there is a lot to learn, I also felt I contributed today and can already do some basic functions of the job. Everyone was very nice and helpful. Going to meet the Amazon truck at 5 am tomorrow, so it will be a short night.

 

[Montrovant]

Speaking of Grape Nuts, I saw this and thought it was funny:

Since when do dogs care if they throw up?

It's cats that don't mind throwing up....and do it regularly.

 

[Foxfyre]

I

I would except that I have so much softwear, including favorite games, that I think might not run on anything other than Windows. And I am firmly from the school of not making things more complicated or harder than they have to be.

I have a zillion tons of software that only runs on windows 98, as I used to load down software free from hackers sites.

There were stories going around claiming Win 10 could (and would) identify and block one's ability to download pirated software, there are some going through interesting gyrations to claim Microsoft doesn't care about pirated software on our computers.......... Also (yes this one is confirmed) Microsoft can remotely lock you out of your computer though I suspect it's only for helping law enforcement at this point.

OOH ER ! its a good job I gave up trying to download pirated software then.
On another front, ever since the latest update to windows 10 It takes ages to start up the computer and it restarts itself a couple of times before settling down.

Was that just one occurrence or has it happened multiple times since the update?

It happens every time. The windows update seems to have caused a problem. But its not much of a problem because the computer does start up eventually. It just takes a while and restarts a couple of times.

I just got a Win 10 update, about five minutes total including the reboot. No issues. I have had the really long ones sort of lock me out of my desk top or it refused to load properly but it eventually rights itself. I have found Win 10 to be a very user friendly and stable operating system, not quite as intuitive as the old Windows but more so than Win 8.

 

[Foxfyre]

Speaking of Grape Nuts, I saw this and thought it was funny:

Since when do dogs care if they throw up?

It's cats that don't mind throwing up....and do it regularly.

That's true though both dogs and cats vomit easily which probably saves them from a lot of issues from bad food.

 

[Michelle420]

Friday cant come soon enough!

 

[Foxfyre]

Friday cant come soon enough!

The end of your tunnel?

 

[Foxfyre]

I think we need an update from peach174 . She hasn't posted in awhile.

Good night darlinks. I really do love you guys.

And we continue to pray and/or send good vibes and/or positive thoughts and/or keep vigil for

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Nosmo's mom,
Rod, GW's partner,
Kat's sister,
Boedicca, her dad, brother, and family,
Sherry's Mom for treatment to be successful,
The Ringels in difficult transition
Dana, Foxfyre's friend recovering from heart transplant
Mr. and Mrs. Gracie in difficult transition
Saveliberty for positive resolution for difficult transition,
Mr. and Mrs. Peach174 for full recovery from setback,
Strength and stamina for gallantwarrior in his relocation project,
Ringel's injured shoulder and general wellness,
Drifter in difficult transition,
And for our students, job hunters, others in transition.

And the light is left on for Noomi, Freedombecki, AgainSheila, Esthermoon, and all others we hope are okay and will return to us.

Don't forget that the Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow night. Up to 120 meteors visible per hour.

 

[Kat]

ewwwwwwwww I just ate some cho covered cherries, and then come in here, and see a bunch of posts about cats and dogs puking. Now I want to puke.

 

[Dajjal]

I
I have a zillion tons of software that only runs on windows 98, as I used to load down software free from hackers sites.

There were stories going around claiming Win 10 could (and would) identify and block one's ability to download pirated software, there are some going through interesting gyrations to claim Microsoft doesn't care about pirated software on our computers.......... Also (yes this one is confirmed) Microsoft can remotely lock you out of your computer though I suspect it's only for helping law enforcement at this point.

OOH ER ! its a good job I gave up trying to download pirated software then.
On another front, ever since the latest update to windows 10 It takes ages to start up the computer and it restarts itself a couple of times before settling down.

Was that just one occurrence or has it happened multiple times since the update?

It happens every time. The windows update seems to have caused a problem. But its not much of a problem because the computer does start up eventually. It just takes a while and restarts a couple of times.

I just got a Win 10 update, about five minutes total including the reboot. No issues. I have had the really long ones sort of lock me out of my desk top or it refused to load properly but it eventually rights itself. I have found Win 10 to be a very user friendly and stable operating system, not quite as intuitive as the old Windows but more so than Win 8.

My computer took ten minutes to start up today and it did another update before initialising. I just hope it has been a fix for the damage the last update caused, which took about twenty five minutes to download.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I have really got to try coming by more often. After reading through about 30 pages, I finally made it to the end. Unfortunately, my lengthy commute, short daylight hours (sunrise around 10:15 am, sunset: around 3:35 pm), and the fact that my power system needs help. I'm going to hire a professional to design what I need and then I'll booby trap the system so my partner cannot mess with it. I don't mind lantern-light, it's more natural than the 12V leds. Lanterns also contribute to warming the house.
Funny that it's been snowing in places that rarely have snow and it's been melting here. Heck, it's raining outside right now.

You really don't have to read every page but you are brave to do so. Snow seems to be coming and going in strange places this year. How much longer do you plan to commute? All winter?

I'll commute until I can afford a job that pays , less or one that pays a certain minimum. In two years my current security clearance expires and that is the time plan to retire from what I am doing. I'm still likely to work just not as hard as I do now. I like reading as much as I can, I just have to refrain from responding to old news.

 

[Foxfyre]

There were stories going around claiming Win 10 could (and would) identify and block one's ability to download pirated software, there are some going through interesting gyrations to claim Microsoft doesn't care about pirated software on our computers.......... Also (yes this one is confirmed) Microsoft can remotely lock you out of your computer though I suspect it's only for helping law enforcement at this point.

OOH ER ! its a good job I gave up trying to download pirated software then.
On another front, ever since the latest update to windows 10 It takes ages to start up the computer and it restarts itself a couple of times before settling down.

Was that just one occurrence or has it happened multiple times since the update?

It happens every time. The windows update seems to have caused a problem. But its not much of a problem because the computer does start up eventually. It just takes a while and restarts a couple of times.

I just got a Win 10 update, about five minutes total including the reboot. No issues. I have had the really long ones sort of lock me out of my desk top or it refused to load properly but it eventually rights itself. I have found Win 10 to be a very user friendly and stable operating system, not quite as intuitive as the old Windows but more so than Win 8.

My computer took ten minutes to start up today and it did another update before initialising. I just hope it has been a fix for the damage the last update caused, which took about twenty five minutes to download.

The updates are annoying in that the computer updates but then there is a second sometimes lengthy reconfiguration of the computer because of the update. I hold out hope that the wonks who figure out how to do that stuff will come up with something less annoying in the future.

I got my first computer in the 1980's--a Compaq Presario 486--that was slower than molasses and extremely limited in what it could do. It came equipped with probably the original Windows operating system. The computer and monitor cost more than $2,000. The dial up internet through AOL cost me $3/hour above and beyond their base fee after the first 3 hours/day that were free. As my engineer son was helping me set it up and get going with it, he was so impressed with it and he and I agreed it was all the computer I would ever need.

I now am working with a computer that is lightning fast with plenty of RAM and huge hard drive and does everything I need to do. It cost me a little over $200 (Black Friday special.) The only thing it doesn't have that all computers do these days is wifi but the Xfinity modem sits on my desk and I can easily hard wire into that.

Windows too has advanced so very far since that original computer, I hold out hope it will get better too. Or the new operating system like Linux will be more user friendly re the software it can accept and will leave Windows in the dust. I don't expect that to happen in my lifetime but you never know.

 

[Dajjal]

OOH ER ! its a good job I gave up trying to download pirated software then.
On another front, ever since the latest update to windows 10 It takes ages to start up the computer and it restarts itself a couple of times before settling down.

Was that just one occurrence or has it happened multiple times since the update?

It happens every time. The windows update seems to have caused a problem. But its not much of a problem because the computer does start up eventually. It just takes a while and restarts a couple of times.

I just got a Win 10 update, about five minutes total including the reboot. No issues. I have had the really long ones sort of lock me out of my desk top or it refused to load properly but it eventually rights itself. I have found Win 10 to be a very user friendly and stable operating system, not quite as intuitive as the old Windows but more so than Win 8.

My computer took ten minutes to start up today and it did another update before initialising. I just hope it has been a fix for the damage the last update caused, which took about twenty five minutes to download.

The updates are annoying in that the computer updates but then there is a second sometimes lengthy reconfiguration of the computer because of the update. I hold out hope that the wonks who figure out how to do that stuff will come up with something less annoying in the future.

I got my first computer in the 1980's--a Compaq Presario 486--that was slower than molasses and extremely limited in what it could do. It came equipped with probably the original Windows operating system. The computer and monitor cost more than $2,000. The dial up internet through AOL cost me $3/hour above and beyond their base fee after the first 3 hours/day that were free. As my engineer son was helping me set it up and get going with it, he was so impressed with it and he and I agreed it was all the computer I would ever need.

I now am working with a computer that is lightning fast with plenty of RAM and huge hard drive and does everything I need to do. It cost me a little over $200 (Black Friday special.) The only thing it doesn't have that all computers do these days is wifi but the Xfinity modem sits on my desk and I can easily hard wire into that.

Windows too has advanced so very far since that original computer, I hold out hope it will get better too. Or the new operating system like Linux will be more user friendly re the software it can accept and will leave Windows in the dust. I don't expect that to happen in my lifetime but you never know.

I can't remember what year I got my first computer, but it was an original first generation IBM that I purchased in a junkshop. It was £75 and when it first came out it cost thousands. It only used Dos (disc operating system)
and I had to type in the commands. It had a green screen and no colour or mouse. It just ran text.
I took the lid off it and was immediately impressed with the quality of it, and when I saw the video card and drive cards were plug in, I realized it was upgradable and I soon upgraded it to an XT. I spent the next few years buying computer parts building them and selling them so I could get the money to buy a better system. It took me a few years to upgrade to a 486 with a colour monitor.
Since then I inherited some money and my current computer is one I had built for me a couple of years ago.
It has a 19 inch LCD monitor and easily downloads videos. But even so it is now too slow to run the latest video games like doom 4.

 

[Dajjal]

 

[boedicca]

I think we need an update from peach174 . She hasn't posted in awhile.

Good night darlinks. I really do love you guys.

And we continue to pray and/or send good vibes and/or positive thoughts and/or keep vigil for

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
Nosmo's mom,
Rod, GW's partner,
Kat's sister,
Boedicca, her dad, brother, and family,
Sherry's Mom for treatment to be successful,
The Ringels in difficult transition
Dana, Foxfyre's friend recovering from heart transplant
Mr. and Mrs. Gracie in difficult transition
Saveliberty for positive resolution for difficult transition,
Mr. and Mrs. Peach174 for full recovery from setback,
Strength and stamina for gallantwarrior in his relocation project,
Ringel's injured shoulder and general wellness,
Drifter in difficult transition,
And for our students, job hunters, others in transition.

And the light is left on for Noomi, Freedombecki, AgainSheila, Esthermoon, and all others we hope are okay and will return to us.

Don't forget that the Geminid meteor shower peaks tonight and tomorrow night. Up to 120 meteors visible per hour.

Thank you for all of the prayers. It's been awhile since I've provided an update. My brother is doing well, so happy to see him healthy again.

My dad had a massive heart attack last night. I'm rather in shock about it. He's hanging on right now, but so feeble. Unlikely he will recover. After months of being intellectually ready to lose him, emotionally it is horrifying. I'm so sad.