USMB Coffee Shop IV

[beautress]

Thats the reason I need a land line...

There is life after land line. It only hurts for a couple of months, and by then, I was reminding myself to make a distinct note (as in ta-ra-ra-boom!-dee-yay) where I would lodge the celular this time.

 

[Dragonlady]

LOL. It's pretty much the only reason we have one. That and the fact that we don't hear as well on our inexpensive mobile phones as we do on our land line phones.

I have to message a friend or my daughter, to call me on the laptop.

There is life after land line. It only hurts for a couple of months, and by then, I was reminding myself to make a distinct note (as in ta-ra-ra-boom!-dee-yay) where I would lodge the celular this time.

I haven't had a land line since I left Toronto, but I recently had need for a land line to send faxes. I have a fax, but nothing to plug it into. The cheapest land line is $50 a month here. In the past 6 months I've sent 3 faxes which I can do from the Avondale (7-11 type variety-store gas bar) or the library. Cost me under $10. I'll stick with that.

 

[Dajjal]

Me too. I constantly have to use my land line to call my mobile phone to know where I last left it.

I have found out it costs five pounds a month to run a mobile phone, and as I would hardly ever use it its not worth it, therefore I will not be bothering. I only paid £20 for a cheap phone so its not much of a loss. Maybe I will use it as a paperweight.

 

[Dajjal]

British Telecom, from whom I rent a landline is going digital in the next couple of years. So I will have to buy a digital phone then. I assume that phone will have a screen with text. Therefore I will not need a mobile phone when I go digital.

 

[Foxfyre]

British Telecom, from whom I rent a landline is going digital in the next couple of years. So I will have to buy a digital phone then. I assume that phone will have a screen with text. Therefore I will not need a mobile phone when I go digital.

Don't know what it's like over there. We have had digital phones for decades now but none have screens for texts.

 

[Montrovant]

I have to message a friend or my daughter, to call me on the laptop.


I haven't had a land line since I left Toronto, but I recently had need for a land line to send faxes. I have a fax, but nothing to plug it into. The cheapest land line is $50 a month here. In the past 6 months I've sent 3 faxes which I can do from the Avondale (7-11 type variety-store gas bar) or the library. Cost me under $10. I'll stick with that.

I don’t recall what service I used to do it, but you can send faxes online. I needed to fax things a few years ago, so I scanned the documents onto files on my pc, then used some service to fax them for free (or maybe for a very minimal fee).

 

[Dragonlady]

This post is for you FoxFyre, because I know you're a skating fan:

Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier won the World Pairs Championship yesterday. A truly heartfelt congratulations to them. Watching your Nationals this year I asked my friends "When did American Pairs get GOOD?", because it's been a long, long time since there's been an American team on the podium. They skated brilliantly and with joy. That's the way you win it. Skate better than everybody else!

And now the gossip. During the ISU Broadcast of the Pairs, the longtime Eurosport commentators Nicky Slater and Simon Reed had an unfortunate "hot mic" moment, wherein they referred to 2-time World Champion, and Olympic medalist, Megan Duhamel, "that ***** from Canada". The ISU edited the clip to remove the offense, and they FIRED Nicky Slater and Simon Reed, and banned them from ever working for the ISU again.

This is the same ISU which has routinely slapped the wrists of judges caught cheating and manipulating scores and returned them to the judging table of the highest level competition. The guy caught fixing the Ice Dance Judging at the 1998 Olympics, was judging at the 2002 Olympics. The "French Judge" from the 2002 Olympics served a 2 year suspension and was back in 2006. But the commentators are banned for life on a hot mic moment.

I adore Meagan Duhamel. I've been a fan since she was 14 and won the Junior Ladies Champion. What Nicky and Simon said was terrible, and she is not a *****. Anything but. However, I would much prefer that the ISU treat cheating judges the way they just treated Nicky and Simon.

OTOH, the chief beneficiary of this gaffe may be a recently retired British skater who's been doing a bit of fill-in work for the ISU this year and has been a big hit with fans. He's filming the Finale of Dancing on Ice - a British reality TV show, like Dancing with the Stars, only it's ice-dancing, and wasn't available to take over this week.

 

[Foxfyre]

This post is for you FoxFyre, because I know you're a skating fan:

Americans Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier won the World Pairs Championship yesterday. A truly heartfelt congratulations to them. Watching your Nationals this year I asked my friends "When did American Pairs get GOOD?", because it's been a long, long time since there's been an American team on the podium. They skated brilliantly and with joy. That's the way you win it. Skate better than everybody else!

And now the gossip. During the ISU Broadcast of the Pairs, the longtime Eurosport commentators Nicky Slater and Simon Reed had an unfortunate "hot mic" moment, wherein they referred to 2-time World Champion, and Olympic medalist, Megan Duhamel, "that ***** from Canada". The ISU edited the clip to remove the offense, and they FIRED Nicky Slater and Simon Reed, and banned them from ever working for the ISU again.

This is the same ISU which has routinely slapped the wrists of judges caught cheating and manipulating scores and returned them to the judging table of the highest level competition. The guy caught fixing the Ice Dance Judging at the 1998 Olympics, was judging at the 2002 Olympics. The "French Judge" from the 2002 Olympics served a 2 year suspension and was back in 2006. But the commentators are banned for life on a hot mic moment.

I adore Meagan Duhamel. I've been a fan since she was 14 and won the Junior Ladies Champion. What Nicky and Simon said was terrible, and she is not a *****. Anything but. However, I would much prefer that the ISU treat cheating judges the way they just treated Nicky and Simon.

OTOH, the chief beneficiary of this gaffe may be a recently retired British skater who's been doing a bit of fill-in work for the ISU this year and has been a big hit with fans. He's filming the Finale of Dancing on Ice - a British reality TV show, like Dancing with the Stars, only it's ice-dancing, and wasn't available to take over this week.

I have refereed basketball and volleyball games and swimming competitions, served as debate judge numerous times, and take such responsibility seriously. In my never to be considered humble opinion (ha ha) I think any judge who violates the trust put in her/him by deliberately falsifying scores or ruling dishonestly should not just be suspended for a time but should lose that privilege forever. But that's just me.

As for the hot mic thing, that was really unfortunate and probably was uncalled for. I can't really judge fairly though not knowing what the relationship or circumstances might have been. Lots of stuff go on behind the scenes in many of these cases that we don't see on television and never know about.

 

[Dragonlady]

I don’t recall what service I used to do it, but you can send faxes online. I needed to fax things a few years ago, so I scanned the documents onto files on my pc, then used some service to fax them for free (or maybe for a very minimal fee).

I normally scan to PDF and email, but in this particular case, I needed proof of delivery which the fax provided.

There's a fax app you can get for your smart phone, but it's subscription based and $15.00 a month or something similar. So I passed on that one as well. This is the first time in 6 years I needed a fax so an occasional trip to the Avondale is no big deal.

I have refereed basketball and volleyball games and swimming competitions, served as debate judge numerous times, and take such responsibility seriously. In my never to be considered humble opinion (ha ha) I think any judge who violates the trust put in her/him by deliberately falsifying scores or ruling dishonestly should not just be suspended for a time but should lose that privilege forever. But that's just me.

As for the hot mic thing, that was really unfortunate and probably was uncalled for. I can't really judge fairly though not knowing what the relationship or circumstances might have been. Lots of stuff go on behind the scenes in many of these cases that we don't see on television and never know about.

Same here Foxfyre. I know how hard these kids work and how much it means to them. Plus the cost!!! Why would any parent want to spend all of that money and have their kids work hard all of their lives for something they will never be allowed to win?

 

[Oddball]

Saturday morning!

Yes, I believe Bugs is a stinker.

Let the cartoon begin!

 

[Dekster]

I don’t recall what service I used to do it, but you can send faxes online. I needed to fax things a few years ago, so I scanned the documents onto files on my pc, then used some service to fax them for free (or maybe for a very minimal fee).

Depends on your provider and plan. Some will let you send or receive 5 or 10 pages free then charge you per page. The regular bottom tier plans are like a few bucks a month and jump up to 100 pages. I looked into them not long back. I want to keep a number I have though since I have it printed on everything and to port an existing number to them usually puts you into a higher premium plan

 

[Foxfyre]

We have 4 in one printers - print - copy - scan - fax. When we were running our business we had one line dedicated to the printers just to use for faxing and it didn't cost us anything other than the cost of the line electricity and depreciation on the machines. And we faxed a LOT. Now we just have one land line and I haven't figured out how to use it to fax as we normally just scan and email things.

 

[Dragonlady]

OK, there are a few if's, and's or but's, involved but my surgeon's office called today, and the target date for my knee replacement surgery is May 4th. I'm so happy that my actual surgeon is doing the job, since there was talk of putting surgical teams together to get caught up. I don't want some "fill-in" surgeon. I want one the top othopedic surgeons in the Province. I made a point of asking for this man.

I have an appointment with the surgeon on April 7th. They'll need a clearance from my Cardiologist, plus they'll be doing their own tests on my general health before surgery. He might want to see me before signing off.

I need to organize home care for the first couple of weeks after surgery, at home, until I can get around on my own. I'll do a big shopping before I go to the hospital - restock the pantry. And make sure I have lots of prepared meals in my freezer.

Lots to do.

 

[Foxfyre]

OK, there are a few if's, and's or but's, involved but my surgeon's office called today, and the target date for my knee replacement surgery is May 4th. I'm so happy that my actual surgeon is doing the job, since there was talk of putting surgical teams together to get caught up. I don't want some "fill-in" surgeon. I want one the top othopedic surgeons in the Province. I made a point of asking for this man.

I have an appointment with the surgeon on April 7th. They'll need a clearance from my Cardiologist, plus they'll be doing their own tests on my general health before surgery. He might want to see me before signing off.

I need to organize home care for the first couple of weeks after surgery, at home, until I can get around on my own. I'll do a big shopping before I go to the hospital - restock the pantry. And make sure I have lots of prepared meals in my freezer.

Lots to do.

Is this a knee replacement or repair? I think you may have said at one point but I can't remember which.

 

[Foxfyre]

One of our closest friends went into Hospice this week. He is one up there in years and has been in declining health for some time but was still active, sharp as a tack, loving and wonderful until suddenly his body starts shutting down. Now he is awake and responsive but can no longer stand or even sit on his own and it's just a matter of time. One of my fondest memories of him was right after my surgery in 2014 and he was driving his wife (one of my best best friends in high school) and me to a mini reunion in Santa Fe. I was still dealing with a very bad frozen shoulder syndrome rendering muy left arm pretty useless and not all that strong yet after my surgery, and he was delicately trying to push my rear into the back seat of his crew cab truck--pretty high and difficult for me to get in. I still laugh thinking about it. It is really sad that we're losing him but his wife assures me he has a great attitude, is peaceful and comfortable. She is handling it with the aid of a full time Hospice nurse at home. Second marriage for both but they have been married a long time.

 

[Dragonlady]

It’s a replacement, Foxfyre. I may be looking to Beautress for rehab tips.

The electricians arrived early this morning. I had to get dressed before letting them in.

They turned off the power and then opened up the electrical panel. The head guy looked at the open panel and said “Holy shit” in a voice that told me he’d never seen anything like it.

By tomorrow night, I’ll be able to use my new microwave!!!!

 

[Foxfyre]

It’s a replacement, Foxfyre. I may be looking to Beautress for rehab tips.

The electricians arrived early this morning. I had to get dressed before letting them in.

They turned off the power and then opened up the electrical panel. The head guy looked at the open panel and said “Holy shit” in a voice that told me he’d never seen anything like it.

By tomorrow night, I’ll be able to use my new microwave!!!!

It’s a replacement, Foxfyre. I may be looking to Beautress for rehab tips.

The electricians arrived early this morning. I had to get dressed before letting them in.

They turned off the power and then opened up the electrical panel. The head guy looked at the open panel and said “Holy shit” in a voice that told me he’d never seen anything like it.

By tomorrow night, I’ll be able to use my new microwave!!!!

Looks like they're actually going to correct at least some of the problems. That's great. As for the knee rehab, it is one of the more painful I hear but like the hip replacement, the pain is only temporary and then gets quickly better. Those of my friends and kin who have had that surgery did very well though those that went into it with a determined attitude to do the rehab and get through it in good shape did a lot better. The one who didn't never quite got the full function that she could have had.

 

[Dragonlady]

Yeah, I've heard that one a LOT, Foxfyre. I'm a good patient. And very determined to get back out on my bike as soon as possible. I'm planning on getting out on my bike as much as possible between now and then to strengthen my legs.

One of my friends had a knee replaced last year. She did some "pre-surgery therapy", and she said the recovery was fairly quick. But she's a few years younger than me, too. She's still working full time.

I am so in love with these electricians. I had heard good things about this company, but holy cow! They changed the electrical panel, and completely rewired the apartment, covering all of the work order items and a few extras besides, because the work order brings it up to code, but their standards are higher.

Where they truly won my heart was when they were changing the plugs with reverse polarity, which one of the assistants was doing. He told his boss that the "TV plug" in the living room tested as OK and that really surprised me. Nothing has killed my electronics faster than that plug. So I said "Are you sure? That plug killed my home theatre system.".

Without responding to me, the head electrician said "Brandon, take it apart and check to be sure". Then he said to me "It tested OK. We're going to check it to be sure". When they took it apart it was all kinds of wrong, and had extra wires connected to the plug. A few of them. I was so shocked that the man believed me. In all my life that has never happened. I've always had to convince the mechanic/tradesman/guy I hired I had some idea of what I was talking about.

We had some discussion about the sewing room power bar. 2 sewing machines, TV, cable box, iron, table lamp, and in the summer, a window air conditioner, all plugged into the only wall outlet in the room. I'm careful not to have everything on at once. I said I'd really love another outlet in the sewing room, and he replied "I'm sure you would, and I'd really like to give it to you, but there's no wires, so there's only so much I can do".

As a bonus, they took out the old baseboard heater in the living room, and installed a brand new one. Now I have some backup heat until the Landlord fixes the furnace. The old baseboard heaters work but they are so old they're scary, and they were so full of dust I was afraid it would catch fire when I turned it on.

They finished today, and I used my new microwave at suppertime.

 

[Foxfyre]

Yeah, I've heard that one a LOT, Foxfyre. I'm a good patient. And very determined to get back out on my bike as soon as possible. I'm planning on getting out on my bike as much as possible between now and then to strengthen my legs.

One of my friends had a knee replaced last year. She did some "pre-surgery therapy", and she said the recovery was fairly quick. But she's a few years younger than me, too. She's still working full time.

I am so in love with these electricians. I had heard good things about this company, but holy cow! They changed the electrical panel, and completely rewired the apartment, covering all of the work order items and a few extras besides, because the work order brings it up to code, but their standards are higher.

Where they truly won my heart was when they were changing the plugs with reverse polarity, which one of the assistants was doing. He told his boss that the "TV plug" in the living room tested as OK and that really surprised me. Nothing has killed my electronics faster than that plug. So I said "Are you sure? That plug killed my home theatre system.".

Without responding to me, the head electrician said "Brandon, take it apart and check to be sure". Then he said to me "It tested OK. We're going to check it to be sure". When they took it apart it was all kinds of wrong, and had extra wires connected to the plug. A few of them. I was so shocked that the man believed me. In all my life that has never happened. I've always had to convince the mechanic/tradesman/guy I hired I had some idea of what I was talking about.

We had some discussion about the sewing room power bar. 2 sewing machines, TV, cable box, iron, table lamp, and in the summer, a window air conditioner, all plugged into the only wall outlet in the room. I'm careful not to have everything on at once. I said I'd really love another outlet in the sewing room, and he replied "I'm sure you would, and I'd really like to give it to you, but there's no wires, so there's only so much I can do".

As a bonus, they took out the old baseboard heater in the living room, and installed a brand new one. Now I have some backup heat until the Landlord fixes the furnace. The old baseboard heaters work but they are so old they're scary, and they were so full of dust I was afraid it would catch fire when I turned it on.

They finished today, and I used my new microwave at suppertime.

I've never met you in real life, but from what I have gotten to know you here, I think you don't have a lot of quit in you and you'll do fine.

 

[Foxfyre]

Our friend I mentioned on Monday passed away peacefully at home today. He was Hombre's 42 partner every Thursday for the last 6 years. Quite a bit older than us--in his 90's--but sharp, smart, funny, interested in everything, active and able up to the last few weeks when his health took a steep downturn. He will be greatly missed.