anyone past 50 on here?

[cdrdash]

After a nice holiday weekend, I arrived at work to find major network problems.   There were a few problems at first at 7 am but I was getting some stuff done and then kaboom, the whole network seemed to collapse.  By 11:00 a.m. there was absolutely no internet and even our phones were not working.  I feel sorry for the network folks who are I imagine super stressed with all of us clamoring for our internet back!    I decided to head home for lunch and return in an hour or two and see if they have solved the problem.   I'm a bit amazed by how much the internet being down is preventing me from doing my work.  If it is still down after I go back to work, I do have something I can read this afternoon: the rather boring requirements document for a computer program.  It is something I have to  read eventually so I might as well get it over with.

 

Cathy

[daveb]

Had something like that at my old job. There was some construction work of some sort going on, and someone accidentally dug up some cables with a tractor. They said we were going to be offline for the rest of the day. There was some work I could do without the network, so I did what I could. And then had an early quitting time.

[Semisweet]

Pretty much all the tasks at my job that were still done manually or on paper just a few years ago have now been digitized. Nonetheless, I tend to print out a lot of files, in part as a backup so that I’m not twiddling my thumbs during the inevitable system/internet outages. I also find you process information differently looking at a screen or at a hard copy, so I prefer to do some of both anyway.

[cdrdash]

1 hour ago, Semisweet said:

Pretty much all the tasks at my job that were still done manually or on paper just a few years ago have now been digitized. Nonetheless, I tend to print out a lot of files, in part as a backup so that I’m not twiddling my thumbs during the inevitable system/internet outages. I also find you process information differently looking at a screen or at a hard copy, so I prefer to do some of both anyway.

 I did happen to print out my requirements report as I do prefer reading on paper to reading on a computer screen.  However, if I had not printed it out, my computer was fine so I could have read the report on the screen.  It was just the network that was down.  The network came back up at 3:30 p.m.   I stayed till 5 p.m. to make up for my long lunch.  I usually leave work at 4:00 p.m.   Oh, and another thing I like about print outs is I can write on the paper with comments and circle things and cross things out etc.  I have tried to do that online but I find it difficult to use the tools MS Word supplies to do that sort of thing.

 

Cathy

[daveb]

I saw a small deer in my neighborhood, just a couple of blocks over from my house, when I went out to the grocery store this morning. It's not too surprising given the greenery and stuff here, but it was the first time I had actually seen one.

[Skycaptain]

We have plenty of deer around here, chiefly because adults have no natural predators. 

[Custard Cream]

37 minutes ago, Skycaptain said:

We have plenty of deer around here, chiefly because adults have no natural predators. 

Same here. Some local people who back onto woodland hate them as they have a tendency to get into gardens and munch all the plants. 

[Myssterry]

I had coffee out with a friend today in town, at a charming French style café, run by a Frenchman.  The pastries were lovely and made by his wife who is his partner in the business.  I hadn't been there before, so it was a lovely discovery.  Afterwards I bought some plants from the excellent florist's and some nice food from M&S.  I like to go into town once every week or two and support the local businesses - the High Street is in such trouble in the UK.

[daveb]

10 hours ago, CustardCream said:

10 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

We have plenty of deer around here, chiefly because adults have no natural predators. 

Same here. Some local people who back onto woodland hate them as they have a tendency to get into gardens and munch all the plants. 

Same in many parts of the US. When I lived in Pennsylvania they tried to encourage hunters during hunting season, since humans are about the only predators still around in many places and even the ones who hunt seem to be dwindling or at least not numerous enough to keep the populations in check. There was also big problem with encounters between cars and deer, usually to the detriment of both.

[ryn2]

13 minutes ago, daveb said:

Same in many parts of the US. When I lived in Pennsylvania they tried to encourage hunters during hunting season, since humans are about the only predators still around in many places and even the ones who hunt seem to be dwindling or at least not numerous enough to keep the populations in check. There was also big problem with encounters between cars and deer, usually to the detriment of both.

This is all true where I am as well.

[Skycaptain]

We just cull them. There is a parallel discussion going on in "should we reintroduce extinct species in PPS" In Britain we cull roughly  500tonnes of useable venison every year, but most of it ends up as pet food because we don't buy it from butchers and supermarkets 

[Tyke]

1 hour ago, Skycaptain said:

We just cull them. There is a parallel discussion going on in "should we reintroduce extinct species in PPS" In Britain we cull roughly  500tonnes of useable venison every year, but most of it ends up as pet food because we don't buy it from butchers and supermarkets 

which is strange because it has a reputation of being a very lean and healthy meat. But it is always expensive!

[Skycaptain]

34 minutes ago, Midland Tyke said:

which is strange because it has a reputation of being a very lean and healthy meat. But it is always expensive!

Yup, it's the best native meat in Britain 

[daveb]

4 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

We just cull them.

Who does the culling? It's one reason hunting is encouraged in some places. Some organized culling would probably raise a variety of objections here (on the basis of animal rights, taxes, etc.).

 

Switching to a different topic - I am making a bit of progress on getting some stuff done to my house. Getting schematics and other info from the structural engineers so I can apply for a building permit to get the foundation under the garage repaired/shored up, and lining up a house painter to come and give me an estimate on Monday for painting the exterior. Still not seeing any houses for sale that I would really want to make an offer on, so I'm not sure I will still try to sell mine. I may just get it fixed up and stay here for a while.

[Skycaptain]

@daveb, the culling is done by a mix of gamekeepers and licensed hunters. Given the rigmarole needed to acquire and keep a single-shot hunting rifle and ammunition, there aren't that many.

Worse was clubbing seal cubs to death in order to preserve fish stocks. However this was outlawed by public pressure. 

 

Hope you have less hassle than others have had getting that building work done. 

[teatree]

Per our previous discussion some pages back about typos....

 

I buy Sunbursts, which are little yellow tomatoes. There's always something printed on the inside of the peel-back lid. This time it was:

 

The sweetness is

in the in details.

 

Oops.

[AceMe]

I am here. Age 60+

[daveb]

14 minutes ago, AceMe said:

I am here. Age 60+

Welcome and  !

[ryn2]

35 minutes ago, AceMe said:

I am here. Age 60+

Welcome to AVEN!

[Skycaptain]

@AceMe, welcome to AVEN 🎂 🎂 

[Tja]

Welcome, @AceMe! 🍎

[Semisweet]

12 hours ago, teatree said:

The sweetness is

in the in details.

That’s a classic for sure, @teatree. 

 

@AceMe, welcome to this lively group.  A number of others of us on this thread are not only 50+ but also 60+. 

 

Good luck with your house projects, @daveb. They should be beneficial for your property value whether you stay there a while or end up selling after all.

[daveb]

2 hours ago, Semisweet said:

Good luck with your house projects, @daveb. They should be beneficial for your property value whether you stay there a while or end up selling after all.

Thanks!

Agreed. At this point I'm leaning strongly in favor of staying, but that may be because of the poor showings in the listings. My agent said she would send me listings for house at a higher asking price so I can see if that makes much difference. Once I get my house fixed up more I can also raise my asking price.

[Tyke]

8 hours ago, daveb said:

Thanks!

Agreed. At this point I'm leaning strongly in favor of staying, but that may be because of the poor showings in the listings. My agent said she would send me listings for house at a higher asking price so I can see if that makes much difference. Once I get my house fixed up more I can also raise my asking price.

You seem to be much happier where you are since your sister left. I wonder if she might be thinking that you maneuvered her out ...

And yes, it must be right to get any repairs done before you sell

[daveb]

5 hours ago, Midland Tyke said:

it must be right to get any repairs done before you sell

Not just repairs, but fixing up in terms of things like painting the exterior and possibly replacing the carpets.

 

5 hours ago, Midland Tyke said:

I wonder if she might be thinking that you maneuvered her out ...

I don't think so. She knows the hassle I've had trying to sell the house and lack of good houses to buy.

[pickles.]

Great news, @cdrdash! The 5-mile loop between Multnomah and Wahkeena just re-opened! 

 

I wish I was going to be here to do it with you!

[pickles.]

3 hours ago, daveb said:

and lack of good houses to buy.

My friends/neighbors who are looking for a house have told me that it's a very hot market right now!

 

They must be looking for something different than you.

[daveb]

1 minute ago, pickles mcgee said:

My friends/neighbors who are looking for a house have told me that it's a very hot market right now!

 

They must be looking for something different than you.

Hmmm

[ryn2]

Where I live there are far more buyers than sellers right now.  It’s a great time to downsize into a rental (or move away) but a lot of people aren’t listing because they have (good) reason to believe they won’t be able to find something themselves.

[cdrdash]

2 hours ago, pickles mcgee said:

Great news, @cdrdash! The 5-mile loop between Multnomah and Wahkeena just re-opened! 

 

I wish I was going to be here to do it with you!

YAY!!  Thanks for telling me the news.  

 

Cathy