anyone past 50 on here?

[ryn2]

2 hours ago, Deja Vu said:

We're back to lock down now due to the rioting and burning. It's moved to where I live from Minneapolis and St Paul. Both cities have shut down everything and now I hear everything in my town is also shut down. National Guard and FBI are here too. Nothing is safe anywhere.

A friend of mine lives in Minneapolis right near where the guy who did the worst of it lives.  Scary times... and such an awful thing!

[ryn2]

(and all you have to do is look at the comments on most any urban news story and you can see we have made no progress at all)

[Autumn Sunrise]

@Deja Vu I saw that news story about the cop who killed a black man, and it made me feel terribly sad . . . and angry! How can black people ever feel safe if this is the way white cops think and behave? Don't they swear an oath to protect the people they serve - and not just white people? And how did we ever come to such a way of thinking anyway? I say "we" because sadly we still have many racist people in Australia  I just don't get it. In this day and age, with all the scientific knowledge and education we have, how do we get to thinking that we can treat some people worse than animals, just because they aren't "white"? If that's being white, I'll take black any day!

[cdrdash]

1 hour ago, Gentle Giant said:

@daveb I thought about antenna TV too. But not sure if we’d be able to pick up much in our area or at all. Also I think my mom would like more channels. Do you use an antenna on your roof or set up inside your house?

 How can your cable company ditch cable and still be a "cable" company??   I have Xfinity cable TV.  They have added streaming capabilities but the cable is still there.  

 

AT&T keeps trying to get me to try AT&T TV.   I have no idea if it is any good but something to look into if they serve your neighborhood.   I only have AT&T for my cell phone service and landline phone service.   AT&T are really trying hard to get me to bundle internet/tv/phone, but I like my Xfinity TV and internet services just fine.

 

Cathy

[Deja Vu]

41 minutes ago, ryn2 said:

A friend of mine lives in Minneapolis right near where the guy who did the worst of it lives.  Scary times... and such an awful thing!

Yeah, his home is being guarded by a long line of cops (or maybe they are National Guard, I can't tell). Streaming live right now.

[Deja Vu]

Update: here is the link to the USA Today article about my nephew: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2020/05/28/george-floyd-video-sparks-outrage-police-records-detail-even-more/5275079002/?fbclid=IwAR30vB-OBeBhsiUOMA9nMb9Z0BdX45HWi03B0yzKSpzjQhdhTlQO87j4xR4

 

Today he was contacted by two more news organizations PLUS CNN that wants to interview him on live TV tomorrow. He's worried about that ---  I don't blame him.

[ryn2]

23 minutes ago, Deja Vu said:

Yeah, his home is being guarded by a long line of cops (or maybe they are National Guard, I can't tell). Streaming live right now.

I think they are Nat’l Guard from

what she said.  Apparently he keeps trying to order food delivery and no one will go near his place.

[Skycaptain]

At least the outrage over the killing means it's unlikely to be hushed up. Go back a few decades and it would have been brushed off. I don't blame companies for refusing to deliver to the (as he's not been found guilty by a jury yet) alleged culprit. I'd have thought arrest and remand would have been a more appropriate action though. 

 

On a happier note, they're allowing small family groups to meet up outside now, which means that we should at least be able to have a picnic and hike at both my parents birthdays in June. 

[Myssterry]

8 minutes ago, Skycaptain said:

At least the outrage over the killing means it's unlikely to be hushed up. Go back a few decades and it would have been brushed off. I don't blame companies for refusing to deliver to the (as he's not been found guilty by a jury yet) alleged culprit. I'd have thought arrest and remand would have been a more appropriate action though. 

 

On a happier note, they're allowing small family groups to meet up outside now, which means that we should at least be able to have a picnic and hike at both my parents birthdays in June. 

Even better, they aren't just family groups, so those without family close  by aren't being excluded from everything automatically.  *People without close family matter too.*

[Skycaptain]

If anyone is feeling brave there's a thread about the Minnesota situation started in hotbox 

 

https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/198025-riots-in-minnesota/?tab=comments#comment-1063810760

[Muledeer]

Thanks to @Mz Terry, I have been enjoying the birdsong at sunset and dawn in a new light.  Last night's "evening chorus" was a spectacular performance.    There were at least five different kinds of birds either belting out their own songs or having conversations, against thebackdrop of the roaring Bear River that is running high and swift with the snowmelt runoff from an unusually warm Spring day.  I watered my garlic garden by hand in the warm evening sunshine, just taking it all in and enjoying the moment.  There were mosquitos, but they were not opressive.  The dog was in her kennel so I could fully enjoy a truly spectacular evening.  I took her for a short walk after sunset.  

I slept with an open window for the first time last night, and enjoyed the cool mountain air and the rushing sound of the river.  Penney was awake and active at 0500, so I got to enjoy the "morning chorus" of a few loud robins as I put her outside.  Made a pot of coffee and having my second cup and the sun is coming up as I type this post.  I have the day off work and plan to spend the weekend up here.  The trees are just breaking into leaf and the weather will be sunny and warm.      

[Deja Vu]

Update: Today the offending officer, Derek Chauvin, has been arrested and charged with Murder 3 and Manslaughter. More charges likely to come as well as federal charges. The other three not yet but evidence is that they will be. Meanwhile our cities of Minneapolis and St Paul have been burned unbelievably. 170 business destroyed in St Paul, a police precinct destroyed in Minneapolis and many others too. Worst of all is the many businesses destroyed provided essential services to a neighborhood that is lower class and individuals may not have resources to go elsewhere. Pharmacies, grocery stores, and a new housing unit for affordable housing completely destroyed.

 

My nephew has now been contacted by several news organizations who learned about him from released police records about prior complaints against Derek Chauvin. He will be interviewed on CNN Monday. Here is one of the stories: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/tasneemnashrulla/minneapolis-derek-chauvin-history-of-complaints-george-floyd

 

[Tunhope]

I read your earlier usatoday link @Deja Vu Nothing changes. 

[ryn2]

27 minutes ago, Deja Vu said:

Worst of all is the many businesses destroyed provided essential services to a neighborhood that is lower class and individuals may not have resources to go elsewhere.

This is always the sad part of riots.

[Deja Vu]

13 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

If anyone is feeling brave there's a thread about the Minnesota situation started in hotbox 

 

https://www.asexuality.org/en/topic/198025-riots-in-minnesota/?tab=comments#comment-1063810760

I read part of it... and then I couldn't take it anymore. It's really hard for me because I live here where it's all happening. We see and hear things here that others don't see - including the demonstrating in front of the building where I work. I see the burning buildings and read the anguished posts from my friends who live in those neighborhoods and are hiding in their homes. The breadth and depth of the rioting and destruction is beyond belief. The stores and businesses closing and boarding up within even 25 miles of Minneapolis mean that nobody can get food, gas, medicine, or anything. The main highway I take to the wound center was shut down in both directions today while the police investigated a murder on the highway, and arrested several people. I cancelled my appointment - can't get there from here. 

 

And, I hear the mistakes being made in reporting by the news organizations, including CNN. And I work for the government so I'm not even an outsider.

 

All the people who are passing judgment without knowing the facts... I have to bite my tongue to not jump in and try to explain what's REALLY going on. It's really painful to read lots of the comments. 

 

George Floyd was murdered probably around the same time my friend Robin died. So this week has been traumatic beyond belief. 

[ryn2]

One of the things I learned working EMS is that even well-intentioned, apolitical news is full of factual errors.

[ryn2]

3 hours ago, Deja Vu said:

George Floyd was murdered probably around the same time my friend Robin died. So this week has been traumatic beyond belief.

I’m sorry...

[daveb]

I can't avoid Hot Box, but I'm trying to avoid the controversies and the news (helped earlier today by AVEN being painfully slow for me and constantly timing out when I tried to navigate around ).

 

I guess my overall opinion is we need some change for the better in the US (as we usually seem to).

 

Today is another hot one here (relatively). So I had a root beer float for "dinner".   

[Semisweet]

5 hours ago, Deja Vu said:

this week has been traumatic beyond belief. 

It does sound like the week from hell, and an awful lot to process. 😥 😥

 

26 minutes ago, daveb said:

we need some change for the better in the US (as we usually seem to).

There’s always been a disconnect in this country between its professed ideals and its realities. But it seems magnified these days to the point of wondering how we can ever truly get past the neverending divisions, prejudices and inequalities. 
 

On a far lesser matter, what I thought was a home modem failure proved to be a more complex problem that will require running new cable wiring into my home. Several neighbors have reported similar issues. Only a temporary workaround allowed me to get my office work done today. Eleven weeks of working from home completed, and heaven knows how many more to go... 

[ryn2]

9 minutes ago, Semisweet said:

There’s always been a disconnect in this country between its professed ideals and its realities. But it seems magnified these days to the point of wondering how we can ever truly get past the neverending divisions, prejudices and inequalities.

So true.

[Skycaptain]

Anyone suffering from slow, or non-existent connections to AVEN, the staff are aware, but the tech team have to fit this in around their regular work, and the problem is proving to be rather elusive.

[Myssterry]

Had a nice little trip out to a garden centre/pet supplies place near me, combined with a visit to the farm shop nearby and a sit and chat with a friend in her garden.  We kept at least 2 metres apart, I brought my own flask of coffee, I didn't enter the house.  She is self-isolating but keeping busy with her cats, a little online book keeping, and her garden.  I begin to wonder when those who cannot go out at all at the moment will ever be able to again.  She or her family had bought a mini-greenhouse which she is busy growing veg seedlings in and she was excited when her order of pots for the tomato plants arrived.

 

The stores I went to were quiet, very well-organised and felt safe and actually quite nice to visit.  I was lucky and there were no queues.

[Semisweet]

 

I Just learned that two former work colleagues have died, both of them 60-something women (of bad cancers).  That really hits home as this 60-something woman thinks about the future and am reminded, even more than usual, that it’s not guaranteed.

 

This weekend looks lovely after a stretch of high humidity, so it’s a perfect day for a walk. Hopefully it won’t be too busy out there; my area seems to be emptying out more on weekends now that beaches have reopened within driving distance.

[ryn2]

That’s too bad, @Semisweet!  I’m sorry.

[newgirl]

Question for USA members who love to travel:

 

Is there any childfree members in their 50 who loves to road trip travel only and has time to travel( retired, SSI,SSDI and or  social security) .I'm looking for fellow  asexual travel buddies once  coronavirius is gone or controlled

[Kelly]

1 hour ago, Semisweet said:

I Just learned that two former work colleagues have died, both of them 60-something women (of bad cancers).  That really hits home as this 60-something woman thinks about the future and am reminded, even more than usual, that it’s not guaranteed.

 *hugs*

 

I am just 61, but my plan is to live to 70 without yet getting Alzheimer's (my mom and her mom had it, so...). I have already had COVID-19 and survived, so I am on a roll.

[Semisweet]

@Kelly, there’s a lot of Alzheimer’s in my family too (though not the early-onset kind) and that’s also among my concerns for the future, especially as a single person. Separately, I hope you’re doing well after your bout with the virus!

[cdrdash]

1 hour ago, Semisweet said:

 

I Just learned that two former work colleagues have died, both of them 60-something women (of bad cancers).  That really hits home as this 60-something woman thinks about the future and am reminded, even more than usual, that it’s not guaranteed.

Sad news.   May they rest in peace.    I have 10 months before I join the 60-something women.

[Skycaptain]

@Semisweet, sorry to hear that news 

[cdrdash]

I hurt my right foot last Sunday.   At the time I thought it was OK but after two more days of doing walks/hikes on it, it was super sore.  So I have decided to ice it and give it a rest for several days and for this weekend go on bike rides.   Riding the bike does not seem to stress the hurt part (right heel near achilles tendon) and it gives me the exercise I want.  Here are pictures from my bike ride today:  https://photos.app.goo.gl/paemm6mmkiQMZ27P7 .   Light rain was predicted today but it seemed to stay in the Santa Cruz and Diablo mountain ranges and not come to the valley.   I stayed dry the entire bike ride!  The nicest thing was the super hot weather in the mid week left!