Just need to talk to my friends (209)

Lorita

Carl, we've been to Pea Ridge. Isn't that the place where there is a long wooden fence that zigzags with a big, open field beyond it?

I was in the kitchen just before dark, looked out the window toward the barn and saw one of our big, white cows going into the barn!. Unusual so figured she had her baby in there. I went out to fill the water tank and looked in the hallway and she wss at the north end of it with her new baby nursing. Probably had the baby last night or today and left it in the barn to gain strength while she grazed.

Yesterday I saw Daisy, black white faced cow with a new baby, probably a day or so old. They were away from the others with mom grazing and staying close to her baby while he explored. I'm glad it is cooler for the new babies. Hot weather is too hard for them.

About time for bed. Good night, sleep tight.GPs have already gone to bed.

GothicGremlin

One more thing from our SF trip — I went into a bookstore and saw the cutest book on gothic parenting - Goth Parenting: The Dark Joys of Raising Baby Bats. So incredibly cute. So incredibly goth. Good advice and really funny. Some of the chapter titles: Sisters of No Mercy - for sibling fights. There's a band called Sisters of Mercy. There's a chapter titled What to do when everyday isn't Halloween. There's a song called Every Day is Halloween. There's a chapter titled The Birthday Party, for kids' birthday parties - which was a band fronted by Nick Cave. A related chapter references She's in Parties by Bauhaus. Some of the text in a chapter giving advice to gothic parents for when their baby bats leave the nest reminds them to know when to say hello and wave goodbye. There's a song by Soft Cell called Say Hello, Wave Goodbye.

If any of my gothic friends were having kids right now, I'd buy the book and give it as a gift, but most are my age or a bit younger, and if they have kids , they're in their teens or twenties - so not as useful. Still, cute book.

Carl46

GG, that is such a cute concept for a book, you just want to buy it and find someone to give it to. Did you like Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell?" Maybe from fighting depression most of my life, I really like sad songs turned into anthems, like "Total Eclipse of the Heart."

Lorita, do you know what we call a GP on a hot day? A hotdog 🌭

It's 11:30 and I'm sacking out. Good night!

Iris L.

My town had a free Jazz Festival this afternoon. It was groovy and we'll attended. The only drawback was that I had to wait over an hour to get a brisket sandwich from the food truck.

Iris

Mint

Good morning

Lorita

Morning , 71 degrees and partly cloudy with a breeze. Do wish it would stay like this. Watered the plants and am filling the water tank. Girls are across the pond grazing. One baby wandered up to the.House from the south pasture , probably looking for mom. He disappeared so hope he saw them.

Hot dog for sure, Carl. They're outside enjoying the coolness for a while.

Cannot get those poor cows out of my mind this morning. There are awfully cruel people in this world.but they will get theirs. Time to turn off he water. Enjoy the cooler weather.

eaglemom

Good morning.

You are right Lorita, what is wrong with people? In ten zillion years I'd never think of doing that to an animal. Your soft tender heart is hurting for sure. Sometimes I think the news doesn't need to cover every story, this is a prime example of one that they could have skipped on reporting.

We attended the funeral service yesterday. It did indeed turn out almost like I thought it would. When I described it being a formal service, I meant a full church service. We always dress up for a funeral, I just think it's what your suppose to do. (That's how I was raised.) It truly was a church service with a very brief (no more than 5 minute) mention of Anna. After the hour and fifteen minute service, the family was escorted out for a private internment. It was very different from any funeral I've ever attended. But it was spot on for attending church.

Carl it sounds like a nice day for you and your son. I'm glad you get out together

I need to water before the heat sets in. Let's be safe everyone.

harshedbuzz

Good morning.

It's a beautiful morning here. Sunny, warm with a slight breeze.

Jerilynn— I am kind of surprised you don't already have Crocs. They're great for doing chores outdoors that are messy. I've had mine since 2010 maybe; we used to wear them at scout camp when it rained. I balked at the price and the design and yet here I am still mucking about in them. I don't have any Jibbitz myself but always get a kick out of them. What sort of designs did you pick?

Eaglemom— I am glad the funeral is behind you. That's not the sort of thing you want hanging over your head.

Carl— I find as more practices go paper-free what few notices you do get via snail mail are marked thusly. I think it "Final Notice" is a terrible way of reminding folks that the practice won't be sending multiple bills. There's got to be a better way to express the sentiment.

I kind of don't get the whole cosplaying historic soldiers thing unless it's meant to instruct children either. My community does a big reenactment of the Christmas Day crossing ahead of the Battle of Trenton. There is always much posturing around the roles of the principals.

Lorita— That is a terrible story.

Gothic G— I can't say I have a favorite rest stop at this point in my life. I have a few of the Jersey Tpk and Garden State Pky I actively avoid. Also South-of-the-Border.

I know of a couple Dead Heads who named one of their children Owsley after the band's sound engineer.

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It's trash day tomorrow. My goal for the day is to clean off my desk. I know I have some blank checks here somewhere and I'll need one for the dentist tomorrow. DH is getting a crown and there's a surcharge to use a credit or debit card. I'm catching up on laundry.

I had dinner with friends last night. Their DD and SIL came as well. SIL is dealing with a dad who likely has dementia and a mom who isn't making much sense either. The older brother was named POA but the younger would like to revisit the documents which weren't drawn up by an elder law specialist and not in their current state. The brother get along really well and are on the same page. SIL has already taken over tech support. Evidently dad got scammed to the tune of $100K last month. The scammers also go contact information and passwords from both mom and dad's accounts. It sounds like a nightmare. It also sounds his mom's approach is very like my mom's was. Frog in the warm pot of water defending her spouse. Ugh.

HB

jfkoc

It is oh so easy to get scammed!

Lovely soft rain last night.

Nothing on my agenda so I think I will paint.

tigersmom

Good afternoon, rockers. I don't wear Crocs, but yesterday I saw a standard, cinnamon-colored poodle out for his walk in… four green Crocs. At first i thought, only in New York. But then i Googled crocs for dogs and learned this is a thing. They are sold out. If your dog wants crocs, you have to get on a waiting list. I am not making this up.

https://www.crocs.com/p/pet-crocs-boots/211352.html

Lorita

I don't wear Crocs but do wear Dawgs. The girl who delivered my groceries yesterday was wearing Crocs. They look the same but straps on my Dawgs were a like wider.

My first poodle was Pierre and I got green boots for him to wear in the snow. He was really high steppin'in them.

tigersmom

Lorita, you and Pierre were ahead of your time. What color was he?

Iris L.

Tigersmom, I saw a standard poodle wearing rubber boots on a day that was raining, I don't know if they were Crocs. I love my own Crocs.

HB, I recently a young man on the spectrum but he is not working. Did your son participate in a program to enable him to work?

I'm tired today after the Jazz Festival.

Iris

jfkoc

I learned from a neighbor that poodles are hunting dogs. She had 4 who were "field competetors". The fancy cuts were to cut resistance in the water.

GothicGremlin

Carl - I loved that album, Bat Out of Hell. I still have it, on vinyl, even. It's been awhile since I've listened to it, I should give it a re-listen. When I think of Meatloaf though, I think of Rocky Horror Picture Show. He had a great role in that as Eddie - and a rockin' song - Hot Patootie (it's safe for work). I was one of those kids who went every week and dressed up for it.

Iris - That groovy jazz festival sounds like a perfect thing to do on a summer day.

eaglemom - I'm also glad the funeral is behind you. And I'm like you, if I have to go to a funeral, I dress for it. It's all a matter of respect - for the deceased, the family, and if in a church, for the church.

HB - Yeah, it's pretty weird having a favorite rest area, but I've done that drive between Seattle-SF so many times, I know the good places to stop and the places to avoid.

Ugh, about the scammers. Are they doing credit freezes?

tigersmom - crocs for dogs, who knew?

Today's going to be a quiet day - I'm caught up on everything and ready for the upcoming week. Right now it's kind of overcast, but it's supposed to clear up this afternoon, giving us sun and temps in the high 70s. I'll take it.

harshedbuzz

Judith— The scammers sent an email saying his Norton Security wasn't active and to call a number provided. He did and the "customer service agent" talked him through allowing them to access his computer remotely. They got everything on there.

Normally, the dad will ask his son tech questions (son is the head of technology for a large school district), but dad was up in the middle of the night and felt a sense of urgency around this. Dad was also up trying to call the VA at 4:30am as well.

Tigersmom— In this heat, maybe the Croc protect his paw pads.

Iris— My son has so-called high functioning ASD previously called Aspergers Syndrome. He's reasonably bright; he has a BA currently and is retooling to attend nursing school. In a lot of ways I see his challenges as being as much about a delay in social and emotional maturity as anything else. In middle school his Vineland testing showed him to function at 2/3 his actual age in social skills and emotional regulation. That percentage gap has remained. At 31, he's more like a 20-year-old. There isn't a whole lot of support/programming for adults like DS where I live.

I have a friend in San Diego who has a son a few years younger than mine who is looped into the Regional Center for job assistance. This kid has a BA and an MA in archeology, but the RC job coach sends him out on food service interviews. It's like they have a one-size-fits-all approach to assistance.

DS got this job networking with fellow volunteers at a different railroad. He always wanted to work there. When he was about 6, he told me he would clean toilets to work there. LOL, a week after they hired him, he came home laughing that his wish had some true— he cleaned the bathrooms. Sadly, I don't think he'll ever have a job he enjoys more than this one even on the days he's Red Cap and in charge of the "passenger amenities" aka toilets.

HB

Carl46

I think I'd buy shoes for a dog too if I had to walk it on concrete in August.

Scammers like to contact you in the middle of the night, in hopes you'll be sleepy and your guard down. I got a text last night about 3 AM about "unpaid tolls on my EZ Pass account." I haven't driven on a toll road in years and have no EZ Pass account, plus I know this is a popular scam, so no problem for me. That makes two scam texts this week, plus an unknown number from the unanswered phone calls. A man at lunch this week spoke of a friend who recently lost $70,000 to a scammer. Fraud is a multi-billion dollar business.

Carl46

Tying those cows and leaving them in the sun is just like crucifixion. Death in three days or less from dehydration, a very painful way to die.

Some idiot tried to save a bus fare the other day by putting a 2-year old girl in a suitcase. The bus driver saw the suitcase moving when he placed it in the luggage area below the seating area, found the child, and called the police. One more woman in jail, one more child in foster care. The girl was pretty hot but otherwise OK, thanks to the driver.

Darwin said humans and apes have common ancestors. However, no ape has ever acknowledged the relationship.

JeriLynn66

DH put the Jibbitz on for me 😂

jfkoc

Formal Crocs….wonderful!

Carl46

Thank goodness, I was afraid the shoes were his.

Lorita

Hi, Stormy and I just got back from taking down the trash and picking up the mail. I have been tying to see the white cow with her new baby today. The girls were close to the road so we drove around thinking we might see them. The grass between the road and perimeter fences is so tall I couldn't even see the pasture plus the road is lower than the land. The county hasn't mowed any. The only mowed area I saw was along the north side of the farm. They probably came back to clean up some more and mowed.

I went out to the barn and there was a little black calf laying in the hallway so that may be hers. He didn't run from me so he is new. Will try to watch when they come up.

I heard on the news that a three year old boy was left in a car for five hours and died in Alabama. So far 15 kids have died that way this year. How can someone forget that a child or pet is in the back? Years ago we saw a dog left in a car in the summer at WM. We called the Police and waited til they came. The owner came out about the time the Police arrived. The dog was okay.

Pretty shoes. Are there different styles of Crocs?

Iris L.

Thanks for the background information HB. The young man I met recently is 18 and apparently is already enrolled in a program; he recently was graduated from high school. He seemed to be nonverbal, but the adults told me he is nonverbal with strangers (me). He was only here for a brief visit.

Iris

JeriLynn66

🤣, So: the Crocs. Lorita, there are approx. 20 styles of crocs from the ones I bought to sandals, slides, tennis shoes, wedges. There is even a style category for people who wear them to work: healthcare, first responders, etc. And a "Croc Club", which was news to me. HB, I haven't ever bought a pair because with my neuropathy I was afraid I wouldn't be able to walk in them. I have lost the sensation that allows you to wear a flipflop or slide. Or a wedge for that matter. But the strap on this pair enables me to wear them. DD texted "Never in a million years would I have thought you would wear Crocs", lol. With the price I paid, I won't be wearing these to the barn, lol.

And yes Lorita, sadly the child was in the custody of the Dept of Human Resources - the agency that supposedly protects children. DHR contracts with a company to transport the children to/from visitation with family, court, etc. The worker transported the child to visit with his father, then forgot him when she picked him up. She has been fired. This is what passes for "protective custody" in our State. It's sad, frightening, shameful and infuriating. And I don't know what I can do to make a difference. As I listened to the news report, the first thing that came to my mind was "where is your checklist?" - a simple tool to perform a safety check after each encounter, required to be conducted, documented and co-signed with another human being. I've emailed our Senator and the Govenor since the link to Child Protective services was inoperable. I plan to follow up with a phone call today. It won't help this child, but maybe the next. Shameful.

I'm sorry if it seems I am dwelling on the unpleasant lately. I'm gonna go sit on the front porch and think a while about what I can do to make a difference.

Y'all have a safe and peaceful day.

harshedbuzz

Good morning. I hope people are holding up under the barrage of heartbreaking news. My thoughts go out to our dear member Eloise who was struggling mightily last night. I did flag it for suicide ideation, but I don't think the site is monitored over the weekend. I hope she found a way to safety.

Gothic G— The son-of-the-scammed had locked their credit a few months ago; they got money from bank accounts which had higher than usual balances in anticipation of a trip to Italy which they are currently on. The older son and his children were supposed to be on this trip, but I don't know if they are as dates were changed and the oldest grand is starting college soon. If it's just the wife and husband things could be ugly.

This is one of those situations where I seriously side-eye the wife (mother of SIL). Your husband is wandering the house, yelling at someone at the VA at 4:30 in the morning and she's acting like that's not a concern. Yikes! I shared with SIL that in dealing with dad's dementia, the difficult party 9 times out of 10 was my mom. Dad and I had a terrible relationship, but she was the challenge at every turn. Poor guy. He and his wife work very stressful jobs and have a middle-schooler and now this.

Lorita— I really question how someone can forget a child in their car. The vehicles I rented in the last year all had alerts to remind the driver every time you turned off the ignition. One of them dinged madly when I'd put a bag of groceries on the back seat.

Iris— The old adage If you've met one person with ASD, you've met one person with ASD is so true. From what I know, non-verbal doesn't necessarily mean lower IQ. Sometimes it is anxiety-driven selective mutism. The son of a friend was like this. He was a really bright kid— a wizard with computers.

This was not a part of my experience with DS. In fact, one of his jobs at the railroad is to provide the voice for the station announcements and the recorded narration on the train. He also wrote the scripts for them. He spoke early and often. He had 2-word phrases around 6 months and sentences by around 15 months. Once when he was about 18 months old, he'd climbed onto the counter and spilled a hot mug of tea on himself. The pediatrician grilled me on it (I was loading the dryer in the next room) and scheduled a recheck for a week later. A different pediatrician saw us at that appointment. She walked in and in a sing song voice asked him "Baby, what happened to you?" And he answered, "I spilled hot tea on myself". She was kind of surprised and brought a nurse in to hear him.


Jerilynn— We had a few instances over the years where a bus driver would park their bus with a sleeping kindergartner on it. They instituted a final walk-through on the checklist and it hasn't happened in a decade.

Yeah, I'd not be mucking the stalls in those sparkly things. Your Jibbitz are very festive. A couple of the techs at mom's retina specialist are big into Jibbitz; one of them has all manner of foods on hers. McDonald's, Chik-Fil-A, ramen, pizza slices, the works. It's something different every 8 weeks and mom is always curious to see what new things she has.

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It's DS's birthday. He wants to go out for pizza. One of his favorite places shuttered last week and the other two are closed. I made a reservation at a trendy place about 30 minutes away via Open Table, but now I see the town's website lists them as closed Mondays. I'll call later to sort that out later. I need to pick up his cake and wrap the little Hallmark train ornaments we got him. I already funded a vintage Lionel model last month as his gift.

DH is getting a crown today. I'm not sure what he was thinking making an appointment for dental work on a day he knew we'd be going out. He started fussing and I said if his mouth hurt, he could order something soft like a cheese platter or pasta. I also need to touch base with his cardiologist's office. He's scheduled for a contrast MRI stress test on Wednesday that the doc said he'd need a pre-authorization for, but we haven't heard anything. I'm trying to get that sorted out. Maybe the letter will come in the mail later. I have a call into the office and hopefully they'll call me today. He needs to start preparing tomorrow and I don't want to go into the city for nothing or get billed because it wasn't approved. Fingers crossed. I see the eye doctor tomorrow, but that's easy— vision test, AMD/cataract screening and a new script for eye drops.

Be well out there today.
HB

Lorita

Morning, didn't sleep well last night so not doing much todsy. Did make three trips out filling the water tank. Girls are already in the barn. Saw the two newest moms and their babies. They're keeping them just inside the hallway at the south end. The white cow's baby is black, her others were white so.black.finally dominated.

I watered the plants I.have on the tree stump and saw the biggest black and yellow spider I have ever seen. I know it was three inches long! Fed Rusty and.his wife. Need to get more sunflower seeds.

Someone.is going to have their hay cut today - saw the mower going north. May be the section east of us. I miss seeing our meadow cut and baled. Charles and I enjoyed moving it up to the house. I brought it in once or twice by myself, two.bales at a time. I miss having a tractor.

Darwin thinks he has a water leak so his neighbor who works for the water district is coming this afternoon to.check. Today will probably be the last cooler day for a while-.hate for it to get so hot again. Think I'll finish my tea and take a nap. Enjoy the day.

Oh, by the way I have about ten feet of autumn clematis that's beginning to.bloom.on the.north yard fence. Wasn't sure what kind of vine it was until now. Grasshoppers are back but not too many yet. The drought killed all of the honeysuckle. Miss that wonderful smell.

harshedbuzz

I guess today is my turn to be the family frontal lobe.

I finally chased down an answer about DH's test Wednesday. He's looking for an excuse to reschedule which is counter to my desire to do this while we have an easy opening. The call back came while I was in the shower, naturally. It looks pre-authorized on their end— we have a report time and place as well as prep instructions.

I got back in the shower and not a minute later there was a knock on the door asking about the checks. He was rummaging on the desk because I told him I'd left one there for him but he didn't recognize it "because it was beige". Dentist gives a 15% discount with "loyalty club" and cash/check payment.

I called to invite mom to pizza with us this evening for DS's birthday. She didn't realize it was his birthday. She thought it was the 5th and thought today was the 3rd. She went through a whole litany of dead family members with August birthdays in a bid to prove to me that "She isn't losing it". She was very upset that she didn't get DS anything and asked me to get him a $150 gift card to Chipotle. I can do that when I pick up his cake. He'll be very happy with that as a gift. While I had her on the phone, I asked what she gave my older niece (niece mentioned not even getting a card which is odd) for her birthday and was told she didn't know what to buy her which is a legitimate issue with a girl who takes wonderful care of herself. I suggested a White Flower Farm Gift Card and had that sent out.

These people…

harshedbuzz

And 5 minutes after I posted, the insurance company sent me the authorization electronically. Woot!

JeriLynn66

Cruising Tim’s Ford Lake looking at properties we can’t afford, lol. Overcast, windy and cool. It was to be a relaxing day EXCEPT:

As soon as we got here DH’s Tattoo Artist granddaughter calls to ask if we can meet her at the Courthouse this afternoon for her to get married today. Why yes, of course we will drive 35 miles back home to drop the boat, shower, change and drive 35 miles back again Princess 👑🙄 And we will. Total miles today: 140.

HB I also flagged that post and have received communication from Maria they have reached out to the member ❤️.

DH has cardiac stress testing tomorrow.

OK, let’s get this boat loaded up for home!

Carl46

New cars may have back seat alerts, but the old cars driven by poor people, such as those who work for the State as contract workers don't. Drivers have to form habits of looking every time they get out of the car, whether there's a child with them or not. My father drove a utility truck with no rear door for many years, and he always walked behind the truck to look in when he went to drive it. Once in a blue moon, there would be a child in there nosing around, and he didn't want them jumping out as the truck started moving.

There is no excuse in the Alabama case. The driver forgot the child because he/she stopped to shop before taking him back to foster care, leaving him in the car. Charges have been filed.

My father also had the habit of pulling the ignition key when he turned off the engine, so he never left the keys in the vehicle. He taught me to do that, and one of my dates feigned anger when I did that at a C-store. "You don't trust me at all, do you?"