MORNING ROLL CALL 2023.

[DaveMcK]

MORNING ROLL CALL 2023

Good morning to everyone on this first morning November 2023.

Happy Birthday to all of our November Birthday members.

[catwoman500]

Hey there, Peeps,

Air quality this morning seemed a little better when I went outside to bring the trash cans back. Yesterday was brutal. The air just stunk, and the visibility was bad. Glad I wasn’t the one driving to Washington Crossing. Schools were either dismissing early or having indoor recess and PE classes. Today only one of our schools was going remote because of the air and also adding to the mess is construction of a new middle school nearby which was raising loads of additional dust because we are so dry. I’ll take some of your rain, @Frozenoem! We need rain so badly!

We started out as a code red this morning, but I think it has been downgraded to a code orange now. It may get worse this evening before finally starting to improve tomorrow.

We were advised to keep all windows closed and stay inside as much as possible. I was coughing a bit before I even left the house yesterday, and by the end of the afternoon, my nose was a little irritated. Luckily, I have no breathing issues. We were supposed to eat in the garden yesterday, but when one of the girls got in the car said she was having trouble breathing, we decided right then to eat inside the inn. She has had lung issues in the past and uses a spirometer thing at home. Didn’t really have an opportunity to take photos yesterday, but on the way home we pulled off the road and took a photo of the park sign. 😸

You could actually look at the sun yesterday…it was an orange ball. When I got home, the sunlight coming into my house was orange. I thought I had left my sunglasses on! It was very eerie!

Of course, added to the Canadian mess was a contribution from New Jersey’s wildfires!

I was shocked that NYC had the worst air quality in the WORLD yesterday.

Hope all the rest of you are safe from these Canadian fires. Next door neighbors have a place on PEI, and they usually go from June to October. Not sure if they left, but I haven’t seen their car for a couple of days. Last year they came home early because of the hurricane that hit Canada. It’s always something.

Wem were here! So was George!

[Frozenoem]

@catwoman500 

You know I would if I could ,send rain or even snow melt. We’re back to Green and Yellow or low 14 to high around 69 for AQI throughout the state.

If you go out the Covid masks do help cut the particulates at least the ones that are reminiscent of bird beaks or early Poveglia masks.

@MsStretch 

Stay the heck inside today or try a mask if absolutely necessary, checked aqi and most states near you are under alerts.DC is closed to outdoor activities.

Check airnow dot gov for updates or download the app. Have one kicking around on cell for visits to Boston my lungs don’t like smog of any type anymore.

Froze

[LaDolceVita]

@catwoman500   Sorry about your air quality.  That must be horrid for people with lung issues!   I saw the news but thought it meant mostly NYC.  Makes sense that it covers a bigger area. I saved the picture, thank you!

[MsStretch]

@Anonymous , Right now, Willie Mae isn't talking to me. 😾 I accidentally stirred up some wasps and she was lounging on a chair on the deck.  All of a sudden, she took off.  I didn't think any got her, but she definitely got all huffy-puffy.

[MsStretch]

@Frozenoem , @catwoman500 , how is the air looking up your ways?  Pretty hazy down here in VA.  @DaveMcK , are you seeing any of this?  The sun is totally hazed out today.  In fact, there have been times in the past few days when I've detected a barely imperceptible smell of smoke.  At first, I wondered who the heck was burning something (there are plenty of fire pits around here), but I guess it's apparent now. @Anonymous , you got out of Dodge just in time.

Speaking of pictures of reenactments, that would probably be me posting them, @Frozenoem .  Especially during the sesquicentennial (2012-2015), since I basically followed the Eastern theater of the Civil War from Fredericksburg to Appomattox with 2 cameras and a videocam in hand. 📷📹 There were plenty of commemorative programs, living history, and YES! reenactments!  (I regret I missed Gettysburg, but I was working then.)  Wandering through the Union and Confederate camps and talking and interacting with the soldiers was great fun.  I was even offered and tried some hardtack (c-r-u-n-c-h yuck!) and fried corn.  And of course, I met most of the generals from both sides and had some very interesting and enlightening conversations.  But, alas... CW reenactments are all but gone now, except maybe Gettysburg.  They still do artillery and arms demonstrations, but not the same as experiencing the "heat of the battle".

@catwoman500 , I have even 'met' George Washington at his boyhood home in Stafford Co.  I was so excited.  (Like a little kid. 😁)  Quite the learned man.  

[LaDolceVita]

@MsStretch  Those reenactments sound like fun, I would love that!  We used to have historical reenactments here  years ago, don't hear about them anymore.  Went to several after moving to Ga.

[Frozenoem]

@MsStretch 

Last night was somewhere between yellow and orange haze courtesy of wildfires from Nova Scotia or Quebec.

Tonight it’s raining and only smell the wildfires in the plains.Have had to resort to an inhaler a couple of times in the last several days.It almost reminds me of 1968 NYC without the lasting smog alerts.

Everyone up here seems to heat with wood, and really the smell from wildfires is 20x worse, and that’s despite running hoses in brush fires at camp and away last summer?? In NH for friends’ camps.Or trail crew in the 60-70’s, when youthful or just crazy.

Had Honda trash pump did travel for pumping water from ponds to drench the roofs, and trees. Now, this year we’re trying new textile to keep siding from burning or log cabins and roofs. Goes up with many staples, brand totally escapes me.

Re-enactments thought it must have been you but, also did one or two Revolutionary around 2001 or 2003 in MA -Lexington or Concord, and same for whenever I was 21. Film didn’t go digital until 2001 or 3.Might have been all of the Marine Re-enactors in Charlestown .

Froze

[Anonymous]

(1 comment) Thought of you Froze @Frozenoem at Walmart today.

There was this RV in parking lot and of course I had to go check it out. HUGE!!!

Last week there was ANOTHER one and the owners were loading it up from their shopping cart.

So you know already what I did.

Yes, went over!

GRATEFUL they were OLD like me/lol 🤣😂

Anyway they were "friendly", a couple on their way to pick up "grandkids".....

So back to TODAY! 🙄

I ran into the CUTEST "furbaby" 🐕 with daddy. And YES, we had some "doggie" bonding. And guess what!! They belong to the RV!!!

Now that was mean't to be.

Hmmm, anyone into RV's? 🤔

Nicole 🙃

[Frozenoem]

Have had 4? RV’s one a converted Grayhound bus, owned with my partners for a cross country photo shoot. One a 40’ Class A, Followed by a Class C Travelcraft 27 foot, and last one was a Lance Truck camper that one was my favorite a 4Wheel drive that got 29 mpg, when diesel was relatively cheap.

Had a group here, “camping” which lasted 3-4 years??for newbies who grew weary of camping in tents on the ground in sleeping bags or on cots. There always one pesky rock in the middle of my back. Which was my best reason for switching up to RV’s.

Real beds and two dogs always with us, we’re our reasons for traveling by RV. The dogs were aging as were we.But after losing a transmission in Chester, PA and again in Lester, PA we opted for putting the Lance in the bed of pickup and driving that for 350,000 miles with no breakdowns.

Finally traded the camper for a boat, and bought a camp on 2 lakes, know the dogs loved both after renovations were complete.

Froze

[DaveMcK]

Yes I am a little late as it was a long holiday weekend so I'm posting now.

[Anonymous]

(5 comments) Nice job Dave @DaveMcK !!!

Nicole 🙃

[catwoman500]

Hello, Porch Peeps!

@Anonymous, @DaveMcK, @MsStretch, @Frozenoem, @LaDolceVita, and anyone else who is just stopping by.

June already? Hard to get that in my brain. Feels like I'm still stuck back in April.

Haven't even gotten my porch cleaned with the furniture still uncovered and ready to use. Getting harder each year.

Tomorrow, the 3 of my friends and I who have birthdays between 5/15 and 6/25 (me) are going out to lunch. We're going to a place I've never been even though I've lived in this area for 40 years, the Washington Crossing Inn.

Washington Crossing is a PA town on the Delaware River and it's where George Washington crossed the Delaware on Xmas night and marched into Trenton, NJ the next day to defeat the Hessian soldiers in a surprise attack. The Battle of Trenton, 12/261776, was the first major victory of the Revolutionary War.  (Just a tad of history for you all.) You can take the teacher out of the classroom, but you can't take the classroom out of the teacher. 😻

Hope you all are well. Take care!

[Frozenoem]

@catwoman500 

You could just buy or have SIL build you pressure treated chair )Adirondack style) or table for porch, that’s what we did in 1989 and again in 2005 at the camp.

 That way you can leave it out all year round, the picnic table at house hasn’t been moved (it’s heavy and resists all gales) only this year did we lose 3” of a 2x6, easy repair.The other table from Camp I made and it’s still going strong, my posterior called for Walmart type folding chairs vs a slab of wood for seating.

Decided it was better and easier to just sit on fabric folding chairs.YouTube plans for 2x4 chairs and tables at AnaWhite. The tables were my own design using an old mission oak table for idea.

Think the first table took $20 in PT wood and second was $30 with glue and screws. For first time homebuyers it was $400 for pre-built picnic table or $20 for wood, bolts and plan guess what we did.🤣

But can be left out year round and painted or stained or left to weather someday.I’m still waiting for the last one to weather.

Froze

[Frozenoem]

@catwoman500 @LaDolceVita @MsStretch 

I know I’ve seen pictures of re-enactments with in last 10 years, either here or somewhere else and perhaps by Stretch, or a Re-enacter that used to live in NY who I lost touch with.

Would gladly welcome new pictures, haven’t read my books lately on Revolutionary War lately, think they were packed and don’t know where anything packed is. Never, ever have a 40+ year old pack anything, if they’ve never left home(s) before.

They didn’t believe in labeling other than books👎🏻 or nothing at all. Had to rebuild floorboards in library before my back went out. 3 years later still wondering where the heck are my books.

Froze

[LaDolceVita]

@Frozenoem HAHA I don't know where " stuff" is packed either 😶.    I labeled nothing when I moved, thought I was lucky to be able to get stuff into a box and haul it here.  It can be like a treasure hunt sometimes.

[LaDolceVita]

@catwoman500 I would love to join you!!  Getting ready for that battle has been portrayed in so many movies!  Have fun and maybe post a picture for us.

[MsStretch]

@Anonymous , @Frozenoem answered your questions about Safari, but just to add, you can use whatever browser you want.  Safari is a Mac/iOS browser just like Chrome is Google/Android, Edge is Windows. I have five browsers installed on my iPhone including all of the above, but my default is Opera.

Also, just curious, are you using a browser to access your email?  Might be easier to just install the Gmail app or use the Mail app rather than go through the web.  There's an app for everything! 📱

@LaDolceVita , déjà vu, I remember the Books and Pets forums.  I guess the Community did away with a lot of them and consolidated.  I used to visit the Rock & Roll forum regularly, but it's all games now.  Yeah, they can be a fun diversion every once in awhile, but I quickly lost interest.

[Anonymous]

(1 comment) iPAD QUESTION FOR Froze @Frozenoem and Ms. Stretch @MsStretch (NO rush in responding).

Is it okay to continue to use Safari on it? 🤔

I really do not want Chrome on it but use Chrome on Android.

Heading FINALLY to go dig it up so I can ADD a "folder" to my "free" GMAIL email set up.

And DELETE a "folder" I NO longer use.

What a pain = can't do this on my Android GMAIL setup. 😭

Wonder IF this will ever change? 🤔

Hope you are well @catwoman500 🤎🤗

Thanks, Nicole 🙃

[Frozenoem]

As long as you continue to update your iPad it’s safe to continue to use Safari, you’ll receive updates to Safari magically.

Re: Gmail if you created the folders you can delete them, If gmail created the folders like Inbox Don’t.

Re: Maine creatures vs FL , I’ll keep Maine’s cheerfully, we don’t have any poisonous snakes, it’s too cold. Mosquitoes in the Everglades are more vicious than blackflies or our local skeeters.

Last time I tent camped in the glades, I had to use 100% Deet to keep the blighters at bay. The next time it was easier to ignore the tent and just bring the motor home.😎

Froze

[Anonymous]

(2 comments) Lol @LaDolceVita , I "snack" while I read, so.... 🤣😂

Nicole 😉

[LaDolceVita]

@Anonymous HAHAHA.  Do you really or is this just a funny?  BTW, I really did laugh.😀

[Anonymous]

(1 comment) DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE AARP FORUM(S)? 🤔

I do! 👍

This is my 2nd time joining this Community Board.

1st time was when I turned 50 BUT was still working = so NO activity here.

Then when I retired July 2020, got ACTIVE then p.ssed off and left (October 2021), didnot RENEW my AARP membership which had EXPIRED July 2021.

What folks may not realize, you CANNOT "delete" your Community Board Profile or the stuff you post. That stays on here FOREVER! 😱

(November 2022) This time, 2nd round - I ONLY "registered" to USE this Community Board. I get the SAME discounts through my Premiere (the most expensive plan, my Old Lady -2006 Hyundai Elantra) AAA. So NO need to sign up AGAIN for another AARP Membership.

And THIS TIME I stayed AWAY from Games and Awards. That is what had p.ssed me off/lol 🤣😂 Way too "busy" to be begging AARP to fix stuff and ranting.

This time I "explored" several forums, ran into some KARENS/lol. 🙄

Made a QUICK exit and never returned to some forums.

Nicole 🙃

[LaDolceVita]

@Anonymous  I used to be active in the Health & Pet forums. Met @Frozenoem  a long time ago asking questions on the Tech forum.  We had a Book Club sort of thing going for many years titled  What Are You Reading  and I still miss that.  We had huge interesting input from many well read folk.  I read all kinds of books which were out of my comfort zone and it was fabulous.  Now I am back to reading comfort reads  😏.   At least it does not make you fat.

[Anonymous]

(1 comment) Hey Dave @DaveMcK , I am looking forward to your NEW Morning Roll Call 2023 picture for JUNE.

Lol, maybe we can get Froze @Frozenoem to pose for you!/lol 🤣😂

Hmmm Froze (senior moment), did you post about finding your rx? I am "presuming" all snow should be gone by now? 🤔

Nicole 🙃

[Frozenoem]

No posing for photo’s from me , not happening. I did post my old log cabin photo’s with me up a cherry picker trying to remain in the basket at around 50’ up.

Rx was found and returned by 12 year old and parent,👍Unopened thankfully in very soggy packaging. The good bit is FedEx now delivers to my porch without nastygrams required.

The snow here is gone with the first temp’s in the upper 90’s presently enjoying 50-60’s for next week or two. Cooler temps in Summer or black fly season are welcome especially with most breezes blowing away state insect.

Which means flies can be dined upon by tree frogs etc. and not by all of the wildly waving citizens trying to escape the constant buzzing of nearly invisible black fly, mosquitoes and horse flies. Pinhead sized bugs that leave largest welts and have most in the woods slathering on Deep woods Off or Skin so soft. And spraying on Windex or Ammonia concoctions to relieve the constant itching for forgotten bites.

Hope all enjoy their weekend, I’m escaping to Rangeley area despite the rains, have appointment with solar array and new Lithiums not being lugged by me🤣.

Froze

[DaveMcK]

Memorial Day weekend had several challenges and beyond. Yesterday a contractor dug into the main water line here on our grounds.

We were without water for 4 hours so I did not get my morning shower until after lunch.

We met with our family at our oldest daughter's home for a pizza party on Sunday

 A local grocery store provided bratwurst sandwiches for our entire campus on last Friday noon.

It was part of a local fundraiser for different charities.

[MsStretch]

@Anonymous , usually feral cats will not randomly attack unprovoked, preferring to avoid contact, but who can predict what any cat can or will do.  Also maybe a mom protecting her babies? They haven't ruled out rabies, and that was my first thought.  Willie Mae only 'attacks' when you try to pet her with bare unprotected hands.

This reminds me of another cat I had.  I got Winston from a couple who had him declawed. 😡 Of course, Winston never went outside and he was a good ol' friendly cat, but he was a biter (no claws for protection, so he used his teeth).  You had to keep a side eye on him when petting to avoid overstimulation.  He bit my sister and she ended up going to the doctor.  Her arm got infected and I remember she showed up with a sling!  WTF?  She hated that cat and avoided him like the plague whenever she came over.

Willie Mae was another one who evaded capture.  We were getting desperate to get her TNR'd before she brought us another family, and she was on to all the tricks and subterfuges of a trap.  Finally, we trapped her in a shed.  She was like a wild and crazed ping pong ball in there. 😮 My neighbor suited up with a thick Carhartt jacket and leather gloves duct taped to his sleeves.  I was laughing so hard, I was worried I wouldn't be able to hold the trap door open.  (Vet only accepted feral cats in humane traps.)  I did have on leather gloves but I was only holding the cage door open.  He got her and she fought like the proverbial wild cat.  Once we got her in, she was such a good girl.  When I took the boys in, they howled and cried the whole time.  She was so quiet.  Eventually, all was forgiven. 😽 

[Anonymous]

(3 comments) 🚘🚗 That is SO AWESOME @LaDolceVita , you deserve it!!!!

Nicole 🙃

[catwoman500]

@LaDolceVita ...Congrats on the new car! When I got mine last summer, I, too, was overwhelmed with all the tech stuff. I still get confused when I try to use my cell phone in the car...it's the car that takes over the phone. I'm still talking into the phone like an idiot, but the phone goes off and the dashboard screen takes over. So confusing. I need one of those books like a "New Cars for Dummies!" 😸

[Frozenoem]

@catwoman500 @LaDolceVita 

If you can run a computer Vista? Or Mac ?, see know problem with either of you figuring out your New cars phones and smart dashboards. Least it’s not a used computer with too many Bluetooth phone settings. I Had to do a hard reset of my ex-wife’s used volt to make it see her new number and new significant others phone.

.@MsStretch @Anonymous 

I’ve only seen two crazed cats, one rabid feral and the other a Maine Coon beast, make that 3 almost forgot my ex’es aunts’ Precious 25 pounds of hatred toward everyone, except the aunt.

Went to see Uly today, perpetual care, even after 65 years is exactly that👍 Military did remember his flag despite being Civil War vet. 

Froze