The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

[MySmallWorldof4]

Finally settled in this Sunday evenin’. So, about this weekend...

View attachment 390109

Our lil’ sis has been divorced for almost 4 years now. They tried counseling, to no avail. In the end it was amicable, and she is the custodial parent. A coupla’ years ago she met a nice man with full custody of his 2 kiddos, as his ex wife has dependency issues that have yet to be properly and fully addressed.
They got married on Friday.
That is the family event we were tryin’ to get to in Lafayette, LA.
Actually, the reception on Saturday, as the ceremony on Friday would only be attended by our folks and his, and their 2 best friends.
I teased her that they are a “Cindy” short of a “Brady Bunch”, and she laughed so hard...!!!!!
According to all weather reports, we pretty much knew we probably weren’t gonna’ make it to Louisiana, but, BIL invited us to stage at his house in Houston, as these storms are dynamic and predictions can change hourly.
Plus, DWifey and youngest DD could then take MIL (niece is in Idaho with her mother for the summer) to a routine doc appointment at 8a Friday mornin’, and we could still get to Louisiana in plenty of time if weather forecasts changed for the better.
So, off to Houston the 7 of us went in 2 vehicles Thursday evenin’.
We checked the weather first thing when we got up early Friday mornin’ at BILs House in Houston, and the forecast had not changed...probable 15-20 inches of rain with high winds, power outages, food and gas shortages, flooding, etc.
At that point we called it off.
I called my sis and she was sad, but, fully understood under the circumstances.

So, DWifey and youngest DD took MIL to her appointment, and then we planned to head to JSC to tour since we hadn’t been there in about 15 years when our DDs were in Girl Scouts.
Oldest DDs 28th birthday was also on Friday, so she wanted to do something, and she absolutely loved, as did I, JSC when we were there all those years ago...!!!!!

Then, crazy happens again with MILs
doc.
I think I posted about this when the same thing happened about a month ago, but, can’t remember...?
Back then, when youngest DD and DWifey drove all the way to Houston to take her to another routine appointment, the doc said she only had about 12% kidney function, and either needed to start dialysis or go into hospice, as they couldn’t/wouldn’t do a kidney transplant at age 84.
The doc called 911 to get an ambulance to take MIL from her office to a local hospital ER.
DWifey rode in the ambulance with completely frightened MIL, and youngest DD followed in her vehicle.
The EMT that was driving the ambulance had also done the initial exam on MIL when they arrived. He told DWifey that if he thought MIL was in any kinda’ grave danger, he wouldn’t be drivin’, he would be in the back tending to her, as he was the lead EMT. He asked about a UTI, and guess what...?
Yep, that was all it was at the ER.
The whole time with her not feelin’ or lookin’ sick in any way.

Friday’s appointment...similar song and dance. But, this time DWifey and youngest DD said NO WAY. But, the doc insisted they at least take her to a local hospital ER for some lab work.
They thought they were going to get some blood drawn and then head back. Nope, when they got there, the folks said she was to immediately be admitted to the hospital.
That’s when DWifey and youngest DD said “No, we’ve been through this before. We’ll wait for the lab results and go from there.”
And, guess what...? Yep, y’all guessed it...lab results normal for her age, and nothin’ crazy goin’ on, except with her now ex doc...!!!!!
“God Complex” doesn’t even cover it...

OK, so I’m not “summing up” very well, but, this all coulda’ been A LOT longer, believe me...!!!!!

Anyway, the rest of us at “Base Camp” knew that MIL was fine, and oldest DD still wanted to do somethin’ for her birthday, so we (oldest DD, SonIL, Emy, DS, and my ol’ bad self ) headed to JSC for the afternoon, and it was BEYOND AWESOME...!!!!!!!!!!!

We never made it up north to Fredericksburg, TX. like we planned later the next day, as BIL wasn’t feelin’ well. So we just drove home early yesterday afternoon.
But, we met at mass earlier today, and visited a new, to us , winery in nearby Georgetown , TX.

Again, sorry for the bad attempt at “sum up”, but, that was really the best I could do in this case without leaving out pertinent details, as it was all just such a wacky weekend...!!!!!!!

Just a little winery teaser...!!!!!

View attachment 390140

I’ll post more pics of JSC, Buc-ee’s, the winery, etc., tomorrow...!!!


Alrighty gang, I’m out for now and back to the grind tomorrow...!
Sweet dreamin’/mornin’ to one and all...!!!
Laterrrrrrrrrrr...!!!!!!!!!!!

What an awful doctor! I have no clue how he could come to the conclusion that your mil had minimum kidney function unless she had specific lab tests completed and then analyzed. I mean UTI’s are pretty easy to diagnose and that a hospital would want to admit her prior to any lab result as well is kind of insane. Anyway tell your mil to try and eat cranberries regularly. Glad you dumped that doc.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Been a wild couple of days...when I woke up on Friday morning, I had no idea I'd be signing a lease by that afternoon to move one of my stores to a new location!

This has been a long time coming. We outgrew our first location about two years ago. Parking became a huge issue, and sales have been hurting.

I had been looking for almost a year, but this time I got that gut feeling that this was the right place. The owner of the plaza loves records, and really wanted us in there, so we struck a very favorable deal. Today I met the owners of the craft beer place in the same plaza that I didn't even know was there, and Brian and I had a great time with them (after painting all day!) We're already planning events together. Bonus: the new spot is easily walking distance from our house, although I would most likely drive (always hauling something lol.)

There is one downside - I'm a little nervous about what might happen with my current landlords, with good reason - but I'll save that for another post. Keeping this one happy LOL.

It's going to be a heck of a busy next couple of weeks!!

Good luck at the new place. Hopefully sales will now skyrocket.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

I understand midnight fridge raids but 2am ones Couldn't the gremlins at least be quiet while doing so

I think my son is becoming nocturnal. Our fridge makes a dinging noise if the door is open too long. That was at 3:30am.

 

[MinnieM123]

I think my son is becoming nocturnal. Our fridge makes a dinging noise if the door is open too long. That was at 3:30am.

Middle of the night food is often even more tasty.

 

[MinnieM123]

Been a wild couple of days...when I woke up on Friday morning, I had no idea I'd be signing a lease by that afternoon to move one of my stores to a new location!

This has been a long time coming. We outgrew our first location about two years ago. Parking became a huge issue, and sales have been hurting.

I had been looking for almost a year, but this time I got that gut feeling that this was the right place. The owner of the plaza loves records, and really wanted us in there, so we struck a very favorable deal. Today I met the owners of the craft beer place in the same plaza that I didn't even know was there, and Brian and I had a great time with them (after painting all day!) We're already planning events together. Bonus: the new spot is easily walking distance from our house, although I would most likely drive (always hauling something lol.)

There is one downside - I'm a little nervous about what might happen with my current landlords, with good reason - but I'll save that for another post. Keeping this one happy LOL.

It's going to be a heck of a busy next couple of weeks!!

This is amazing news! I swear, never a dull moment in your life. This new location sounds promising and especially with more parking for patrons. (Lack of available parking can kill a business.) Sounds like you have some nice business neighbors, too. (Fingers crossed you can work out something with the previous landlord.)

 

[MinnieM123]

Finally settled in this Sunday evenin’. So, about this weekend...

View attachment 390109

Our lil’ sis has been divorced for almost 4 years now. They tried counseling, to no avail. In the end it was amicable, and she is the custodial parent. A coupla’ years ago she met a nice man with full custody of his 2 kiddos, as his ex wife has dependency issues that have yet to be properly and fully addressed.
They got married on Friday.
That is the family event we were tryin’ to get to in Lafayette, LA.
Actually, the reception on Saturday, as the ceremony on Friday would only be attended by our folks and his, and their 2 best friends.
I teased her that they are a “Cindy” short of a “Brady Bunch”, and she laughed so hard...!!!!!
According to all weather reports, we pretty much knew we probably weren’t gonna’ make it to Louisiana, but, BIL invited us to stage at his house in Houston, as these storms are dynamic and predictions can change hourly.
Plus, DWifey and youngest DD could then take MIL (niece is in Idaho with her mother for the summer) to a routine doc appointment at 8a Friday mornin’, and we could still get to Louisiana in plenty of time if weather forecasts changed for the better.
So, off to Houston the 7 of us went in 2 vehicles Thursday evenin’.
We checked the weather first thing when we got up early Friday mornin’ at BILs House in Houston, and the forecast had not changed...probable 15-20 inches of rain with high winds, power outages, food and gas shortages, flooding, etc.
At that point we called it off.
I called my sis and she was sad, but, fully understood under the circumstances.

So, DWifey and youngest DD took MIL to her appointment, and then we planned to head to JSC to tour since we hadn’t been there in about 15 years when our DDs were in Girl Scouts.
Oldest DDs 28th birthday was also on Friday, so she wanted to do something, and she absolutely loved, as did I, JSC when we were there all those years ago...!!!!!

Then, crazy happens again with MILs
doc.
I think I posted about this when the same thing happened about a month ago, but, can’t remember...?
Back then, when youngest DD and DWifey drove all the way to Houston to take her to another routine appointment, the doc said she only had about 12% kidney function, and either needed to start dialysis or go into hospice, as they couldn’t/wouldn’t do a kidney transplant at age 84.
The doc called 911 to get an ambulance to take MIL from her office to a local hospital ER.
DWifey rode in the ambulance with completely frightened MIL, and youngest DD followed in her vehicle.
The EMT that was driving the ambulance had also done the initial exam on MIL when they arrived. He told DWifey that if he thought MIL was in any kinda’ grave danger, he wouldn’t be drivin’, he would be in the back tending to her, as he was the lead EMT. He asked about a UTI, and guess what...?
Yep, that was all it was at the ER.
The whole time with her not feelin’ or lookin’ sick in any way.

Friday’s appointment...similar song and dance. But, this time DWifey and youngest DD said NO WAY. But, the doc insisted they at least take her to a local hospital ER for some lab work.
They thought they were going to get some blood drawn and then head back. Nope, when they got there, the folks said she was to immediately be admitted to the hospital.
That’s when DWifey and youngest DD said “No, we’ve been through this before. We’ll wait for the lab results and go from there.”
And, guess what...? Yep, y’all guessed it...lab results normal for her age, and nothin’ crazy goin’ on, except with her now ex doc...!!!!!
“God Complex” doesn’t even cover it...

OK, so I’m not “summing up” very well, but, this all coulda’ been A LOT longer, believe me...!!!!!

Anyway, the rest of us at “Base Camp” knew that MIL was fine, and oldest DD still wanted to do somethin’ for her birthday, so we (oldest DD, SonIL, Emy, DS, and my ol’ bad self ) headed to JSC for the afternoon, and it was BEYOND AWESOME...!!!!!!!!!!!

We never made it up north to Fredericksburg, TX. like we planned later the next day, as BIL wasn’t feelin’ well. So we just drove home early yesterday afternoon.
But, we met at mass earlier today, and visited a new, to us , winery in nearby Georgetown , TX.

Again, sorry for the bad attempt at “sum up”, but, that was really the best I could do in this case without leaving out pertinent details, as it was all just such a wacky weekend...!!!!!!!

Just a little winery teaser...!!!!!

View attachment 390140

I’ll post more pics of JSC, Buc-ee’s, the winery, etc., tomorrow...!!!


Alrighty gang, I’m out for now and back to the grind tomorrow...!
Sweet dreamin’/mornin’ to one and all...!!!
Laterrrrrrrrrrr...!!!!!!!!!!!

Yikes! Even just reading the above, I couldn't keep up with all the activities from your weekend. I'll be you'll be thrilled to get back to work today -- so that you can get some REST?!

P.S.: What a story about MIL's health issues. She was lucky to have family members there who could advocate for her.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Middle of the night food is often even more tasty.

I think that was his just before bed snack. Explains why he is getting up so late.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

P.S.: What a story about MIL's health issues. She was lucky to have family members there who could advocate for he

She totally was!

 

[Goofyernmost]

I've seen other versions, but they are all more....fake looking I guess....like, cartoon drawings of lapels and such. I liked that this one was a bit more realistic looking. Schools here don't do Christmas programs with songs and such like we always did in the US when I was a kid. Instead, they have a sort of pot luck dinner in their classroom with just their class and teacher. And they are supposed to dress nicely, but DS doesn't like wearing slacks or jeans...he says they itch. And I couldn't find any nice button down dress shirts at Christmas, so this was a good substitute, and I bought him a new pair of black sweat pants that weren't faded or anything, so you couldn't really tell unless you looked closely that it was a tshirt and sweatpants. Though I doubt I'd have tried to get away with it in a formal setting. I'm surprised the cruise line employees let the guy in!

Well, unlike myself, he was one of the cruise regulars. God's way of telling someone that they have to much money. There were a number of them on that cruise. Loud, obnoxious and demanding and oh so arrogant. They knew the name of every crew member and were always in the front row seats at the shows. But, what the heck, I was enjoying my cruise and I was not about to let that crowd interfere with my fun.

 

[Goofyernmost]

What an awful doctor! I have no clue how he could come to the conclusion that your mil had minimum kidney function unless she had specific lab tests completed and then analyzed. I mean UTI’s are pretty easy to diagnose and that a hospital would want to admit her prior to any lab result as well is kind of insane. Anyway tell your mil to try and eat cranberries regularly. Glad you dumped that doc.

I use a double whammy of that Cranberry thing and have Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice about every other day. I can tell the difference in "ease" every time. Maybe just a coincidence, but, I don't think it does any harm so why not.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Well, unlike myself, he was one of the cruise regulars. God's way of telling someone that they have to much money. There were a number of them on that cruise. Loud, obnoxious and demanding and oh so arrogant. They knew the name of every crew member and were always in the front row seats at the shows. But, what the heck, I was enjoying my cruise and I was not about to let that crowd interfere with my fun.

Good for you. Glad you didn’t let some entitled people ruin your fun.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

I use a double whammy of that Cranberry thing and have Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice about every other day. I can tell the difference in "ease" every time. Maybe just a coincidence, but, I don't think it does any harm so why not.

Pomegranate is really healthy too. Great for the colon.

 

[MinnieM123]

I use a double whammy of that Cranberry thing and have Cranberry/Pomegranate Juice about every other day. I can tell the difference in "ease" every time. Maybe just a coincidence, but, I don't think it does any harm so why not.

Pomegranate is really healthy too. Great for the colon.

My doctor advocates for drinking lots of water -- said it's the best thing to cleanse out your system, and also to lubricate the joints in your entire body. (Nothing wrong with the juices mentioned above -- just adding the comment about water, too.)

 

[Goofyernmost]

Pomegranate is really healthy too. Great for the colon.

Yea, and it is also considered a very good general antioxidant.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

That sounds quite exciting, I'm interested in seeing how this all turns out.

Spoiler

as in pics of the craft beer place

I only took one, and it's on my phone. From their FB page:


That's just the front part. If you followed the bar to the left, there's a side part with tables. They are "giving us" a table, meaning we can decorate on the wall next to the table however we want. They are talking about doing a "vinyl night" on Wednesdays, which is already BOGO night. We would lend a turntable and a few starter records, people can bring their own records to play on the turntable. Thinking about that.

(Fingers crossed you can work out something with the previous landlord.)

Congratulations!! I hope it doesn't cause problems with the current landlords. When do you open in the new spot?

The landlord thing: We've mostly had a decent relationship. I was their property manager for a few years. They have a history of playing hardball at first, but then coming around to see reason. I'm hoping for that. They've never "gone after" anyone who broke the lease while I was property manager, but it was never more than a few months before the end of the lease. (People would lose their deposits and just consider it rent.) I have 11 months left.

When they replaced me as prop manager (because I opened my second store and couldn't be on property as often) I had just signed a two year extension. I objected to that (as I'd no longer have the PM deduction) and they said I could break the lease if I wanted, and that the lease was more to protect me than them.

But several months ago, when I suggested shrinking the store (it's technically two units, so going from two to one) they balked. They wanted replacements before letting me out, and suggested the rent on the remaining unit would go up.

Recently, their realtor told me they had someone interested in one side, and as of today, that side will be empty. On Wednesday, he told me someone else was interested in the other side, but they wanted it August 1. I said let me try to figure out if I can get both sides cleared out by then - it would be a pretty huge task, and I had nowhere to go yet. (The place I was originally going to move to months ago couldn't wait any longer and took in a different tenant in the meantime.)

After signing with the new place on Friday, I immediately called the realtor to let him know I could be out by 8/15 at the latest, possibly 7/31, thinking that would be awesome (since he had a second interested party.) But he said, "Oh, that deal fell through." Then he got pretty surprisingly adversarial about it, saying, "Don't put me in the middle of this, Tony" and to talk to the landlords. (In the meantime, I told the property manager, since it was late on a Friday.)

I picked up the trailer and moved some stuff into the new location already that same night - to continue emptying the unit that needs to be empty today.

Other than sheer luck, there is no realistic way to perfectly time someone moving in, and moving an established record store out in the blink of an eye. There's going to be a gap. I have a feeling they're going to make me pay for the gap by keeping my deposit and/or last month's rent. (Considering I just put down another first, last, and security unexpectedly on Friday, I'm broke for the summer lol. And have to spend on labor and fixtures to get everything set up.)

This is a crazy timeframe, but I'd like to get out of the old place completely by 7/31, and at least soft opened in the new place before I leave for New Orleans (business trip) on 8/4. Yes, today is the 15th. LOL. Have to go down to the City and do all the paperwork this morning (licenses, etc.) and it looks like Wednesday will be a big moving day, moving hopefully about a third of the inventory - leaving the current store functional in the meantime.

Good luck at the new place. Hopefully sales will now skyrocket.

That's the idea. I just did my June sales tax last night, so the numbers are fresh in my head. The old store took a dive from 2017 to 2018, beginning around March 2018, and averaging a 20-30% drop for most of the rest of the year. 2019 has seen an improvement (with effort) but usually not back up to 2017 levels.

Meanwhile the new store opened in late 2017. Both stores did great at the same time for months, so I did not think one was cannibalizing the other (they're 10 miles apart.) But to use June as an example: old store down about 32% from 2017 to 2018, up about 15% from 2018 to 2019 (so still below 2017.) Meanwhile, new store beat old store's 2017 in 2018, and grew a full 45% from 2018 to 2019. Old store hit the ceiling, new store is way better and still at the floor. **I need two of those** LOL.

I paid attention to what made the new store work better and tried to incorporate it into our "new old" location: relevant neighbors, big shared parking lot, more foot traffic, a big, open floor plan, expanding certain genres, etc.

Very, very good feeling about the new place. Getting it to work the way the previous new place does would change everything. Plus Brian's recent promotion, maybe in a year we could finally be "not struggling" as much.

Just trying not to lose +/- $3K on my way out the door. Or worse if they don't get tenants for a year. (New tenants are coming in several hundred dollars a month higher than what I was paying, so I don't see a downside for them. It's just a matter of if they want to be hard headed or not.)

 

[Goofyernmost]

My doctor advocates for drinking lots of water -- said it's the best thing to cleanse out your system, and also to lubricate the joints in your entire body. (Nothing wrong with the juices mentioned above -- just adding the comment about water, too.)

I know this will not be popular, but, I think that as a society we way overdo the water thing. I have a theory that unless you measure urine output, and that would be gross, a lot of the excess water consumed just stays in our cells waiting for a time to be needed, but, since most of us don't live in a desert, we almost never use it up. And we maintain a whole lot more water weight.

I remember I was overweight when I joined the service. At the time they were desperate for new recruits, big war and all, so they had a program where you could join up, use up some of your in service time, becoming a lean mean fighting machine. It was called MREP, or Medical Remedial Enlistment Program. What they did was eliminate the need for will power in the weight loss process. It consisted of 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon of an intense non stop series of military exercises done in maddening sequence followed by a brisk 1/4 mile run in combat boots, over and over and over again for those three hour intervals. We existed on around 1000 calories per day, one canteen of pee warm water per day, ending with a weigh in and then out to practice marching and the other details of military life. All done during the balmy summer months in Amarillo, Texas. Anyway I told you all that to tell you that my first day I lost 26 pounds. As they explained to me was all water weight. In 7 weeks I lost 89 pounds. I'm starting to be winded just typing this out. The good part is that I never really put more then 10 pounds on for over three years, then I got stationed 20 miles from home and spent most of my off duty there, including nights. Big mistake.

 

[DryerLintFan]

I know this will not be popular, but, I think that as a society we way overdo the water thing. I have a theory that unless you measure urine output, and that would be gross, a lot of the excess water consumed just stays in our cells waiting for a time to be needed, but, since most of us don't live in a desert, we almost never use it up. And we maintain a whole lot more water weight.

I remember I was overweight when I joined the service. At the time they were desperate for new recruits, big war and all, so they had a program where you could join up, use up some of your in service time, becoming a lean mean fighting machine. It was called MREP, or Medical Remedial Enlistment Program. What they did was eliminate the need for will power in the weight loss process. It consisted of 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon of an intense non stop series of military exercises done in maddening sequence followed by a brisk 1/4 mile run in combat boots, over and over and over again for those three hour intervals. We existed on around 1000 calories per day, one canteen of pee warm water per day, ending with a weigh in and then out to practice marching and the other details of military life. All done during the balmy summer months in Amarillo, Texas. Anyway I told you all that to tell you that my first day I lost 26 pounds. As they explained to me was all water weight. In 7 weeks I lost 89 pounds. I'm starting to be winded just typing this out. The good part is that I never really put more then 10 pounds on for over three years, then I got stationed 20 miles from home and spent most of my off duty there, including nights. Big mistake.

The forced fitness the military something i miss, lol

 

[DryerLintFan]

Over the weekend i fostered a stray kitten who followed someone i know home. He was underweight, covered in poop, had worms, and had at least twenty fleas we pulled off him. At first he was somewhat aggressive and hissed when i came near him. But then i gave him a can of wet food and he became the most snuggly cat ever met, and purred so long it kept him awake

The rescue i work with found him transport to a cat rescue up in Akron and started medical treatment for him. He's going make someone a very lucky cat owner ❤❤

 

[DryerLintFan]

Oh and i learned that you don't have to potty train cats. You just put down litter boxes and they instinctively know what to do with it. I watched this guy go from pooping all over my bathroom to only using a litter box in 0.0 seconds. That's apparently normal and cats just do that. Makes me feel better about getting a younger cat if A every outgrows her allergy.

 

[John park hopper]

I know this will not be popular, but, I think that as a society we way overdo the water thing. I have a theory that unless you measure urine output, and that would be gross, a lot of the excess water consumed just stays in our cells waiting for a time to be needed, but, since most of us don't live in a desert, we almost never use it up. And we maintain a whole lot more water weight.

I remember I was overweight when I joined the service. At the time they were desperate for new recruits, big war and all, so they had a program where you could join up, use up some of your in service time, becoming a lean mean fighting machine. It was called MREP, or Medical Remedial Enlistment Program. What they did was eliminate the need for will power in the weight loss process. It consisted of 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the afternoon of an intense non stop series of military exercises done in maddening sequence followed by a brisk 1/4 mile run in combat boots, over and over and over again for those three hour intervals. We existed on around 1000 calories per day, one canteen of pee warm water per day, ending with a weigh in and then out to practice marching and the other details of military life. All done during the balmy summer months in Amarillo, Texas. Anyway I told you all that to tell you that my first day I lost 26 pounds. As they explained to me was all water weight. In 7 weeks I lost 89 pounds. I'm starting to be winded just typing this out. The good part is that I never really put more then 10 pounds on for over three years, then I got stationed 20 miles from home and spent most of my off duty there, including nights. Big mistake.

I remember Amarillo TX well in May and June hotter than he!! and jack rabbits as big as dogs. If anything I needed to gain weight back then --wish now I could loose it. What a place