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Guzzle said:
When I was a kid it seemed nothing ever changed. Now it seems that everything is changing all the time.

I hardly recognize my NJ home town & the address at which I first lived may not exist anymore.

I stand corrected, it rents for $1200/mon.
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Yeah, I moved out of my first home when I was 10, then went back to see the town when I could drive and it had exploded. It took a while to find my way back. As a kid I only rode my bike 8 blocks each direction or so, but there wasn't that much left in the town. Also, as an 18 year old, the street and nearby park were tiny, but they were gigantic just 8 years earlier.

The Tree I "helped" my Brother plant in the front yard now blankets the entire front of the house and half the neighbors, since the owners have no idea what to do with it apparently.
 
I heard that there was a huge fire or chlorine burning in NJ recently. You ever been to Clifton or Paterson areas? I think the house my father was born in (Clifton) is still around somewhere.

Chocolate looks good!

I went back to see my father's house in Clifton back in the late 90s. The owners at the time did not like us taking pictures and looking. We told him my dad was born in the house and he told us to f*** off. LOL. Sadly, both rolls of film from that trip got lost by air force photo lab.

Visited the house my Mom grew up in years back. I remembered seeing it in the 80s, went back in late 90s and the open fields were gone and filled with cookie cutter houses. I would get lost in those neighborhoods where every house looks the same.

I've looked at some of my past homes on google earth. Can't get a good view the house on Golden Shower Ln bc it's on military housing on Guam so they don't allow closeups. My apartment complex on Peck Hay Rd in Singapore was torn down and replaced with an ugly building. The plum tree in front of my house in California is gone. House in Virginia had numerous changes-- a gazebo was installed on a deck, they added a side garage entry and driveway, and the backyard looks a LOT smaller than I remember it. Swingset is gone and there are houses where forested area used to be.

It's chilly, cloudy, and damp today. It's making me sleepy. I'm trying to fill up a walmart cart for curbside pickup tomorrow or monday. I washed dishes and cooked corned beef hash and eggs for Mom. Got the eggs to her satisfaction this time.
 
Had a cousin in Clifton & had to live in Paterson for a while with an iron-fisted aunt & her wimp husband. If I had stayed in Paterson, right now I'd be dead or in jail.

The house in NJ has been remodeled & expanded. The new owners, two women, did not tell me to get lost.

I still go to HS reunions & the one-time Prom Queen & I exchange Christmas cards.

At one reunion I learned that a curvy but not bright girl in my class apparently traded sex for tutoring & when she graduated she dumped the guy.

By now 1/3 of my class has probably died, even the good guys.
One classmate dropped 200' off the GW Bridge & did not survive. Another killed himself. And another one does seem to be mobbed up. The odds are 5 or 10% were gay.


I mostly didn't hang around with my classmates & they didn't mess with me.

Ay, yi, yi. . .:(
This account kind of sounds like out-of-the-ordinary but it might not be.
 
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"Golden Shower Ln"... Military humor at work.

Well, I had a whole bar of the Erythritol Coffee Chocolate, 2 ounces, and about an hour later, this was the conversation...

Guts... "What did you eat"?

Me... "Chocolate"

Guts... "We know Chocolate, we are familiar, and we recognize the Coffee as well. Both have VIP parking spaces and Coffee is our CEO. I will ask again, what did you eat"?

Me... "Chocolate with Erythritol".

Guts... "So, you think combining Erythritol with Coffee and Chocolate was a good idea"?

Me... "Sure".

Guts... "Didn't think of running that by our Board of Directors, kind of an ask for forgiveness instead of permission thing"?

Me... "Yep".

Guts... "Well, since we will pay for your mistake, so will you. We hope you didn't make any plans tonight, but we really hope you did".

So, basically I nailed the recipe for 17 (2 ounce) bars of a potent laxative with a residual Fart Fan runtime of 20 minutes.
 
Yup. Golden Shower was where they put people they didn't like.

Oh man, I guess that combo together just did not sit well. Yikes. I hope it passes quickly. At least you have a humorous way of describing it. Reminds me of reviews of Haribo Sugar Free Gummy Bears.
 
Replaced a worn wall outlet. Then a different breaker tripped but it was not related to my doings.
 
Somewhere I have a photo of my 1975 Triumph Spitfire with only the antenna sticking out of the snow. Those were the days. :)

Caught our mortgage company now declaring our new mortgage payment to be higher than if we'd paid the escrow in one lump sum & I know they cashed that escrow check on Jan 6.

They do this every year. If this were an honest error, half the time it would be in our favor.
 
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If there is any Mullein tea plant growing on my property, I don't know about it. Not even sure what it looks like.

Woke up feeling cold but legs were sweating. Dogs and cats were piled on. It's usual for my room to be cold but not for Mom's room but hers was cold too. I checked the thermostat. Low setting is 64 but temp was showing as 56. I messed with the thermostat to turn it to heat mode. Then I started smelling burning/smoke. Sort of like the smell when the timber company does "controlled burns". I turned the AC to "off" mode but it wouldn't turn off. So I went to the breaker and shut off all of the ones I know affect the AC. I alerted my family that there might be a fire, and got my brother to get the ladder and hold it for me while I checked the attic. Unfortunately, I'm too unbalanced and stiff to really climb up there so I used a flashlight, but ladder isn't tall enough so I couldn't see much. I took video but it didn't get much either because it got stuck focusing on stuff nearby instead of farther away and the flash wasn't strong enough to see things farther away. Smell diminished somewhat after I turned things off. My brother is being a condescending snot saying he knows what burning smells like and it just smells to him like a heater working-- mind you, when he first woke up he said he smelled something burning. The cover for the attic access fell and I couldn't get it to go back up. I'll have to put it back up later when I'm not so winded.
 
It's not uncommon to get a burning smell the first time a backup resistance element kicks in for the heating season. Also the fan will stay on for a bit until the element cools.
 
On the phone, using very poor German, I told the putzfrau in Germany that our cleaning lady is "with child" but it "was not me."

It took her a full 10 seconds to get that meaning. I assume she knows about Ahhhnold. And it seems "that was him."
 
Eddie, if this had been the first time it had kicked on this season, I could understand a little burning, but it's gotten down to the 20s in past weeks and the heat has kicked on without a smell. I may be overreacting, but I've had multiple friends lose their homes to fire before. I want to err on the side of caution. With this thermostat, turning to OFF hasn't worked in years. It used to cut fans and such as soon as I turned it to off. But now it won't respond to OFF at all. I can wait over 30min and it still stays stuck in fan mode.

When I warm up enough I'm going to change the filters again. I really don't want AC people coming over right now when the house is such a mess and I'm not feeling so great. I wish I was flexible and thin enough to climb into the AC compartment to look for any dust or lint that could be causing the smell. I'll pour bleach down the condensate line as well to see if that does anything. I doubt it would have an impact though.

I just set up a pickup order for later today.
 
Guzzle said:
That seems to count as a phobia, but it may not be disabling.
Still, nobody needs more anxiety nowadays. :(
Click to expand...

I drive over one of the bridges multiple days a week. I dont even give it a second thought..... until there is snow and ice and/or the temps are freezing. Then I am irrational. When I was little even when it was warmer outside when we would visit my grandmother about 90 minutes away, if we were on the parts of the road close to the river I would attempt to hold my breath as long as I could see water. In addition to the flooding. I also grew up listening to stories of "the silver bridge" falling into the Ohio River when my mom was a teen
She had gone over the bridge about 15 minutes before the collapse. I was always super anxious about these 2 things as a child (and a lot of other things). My mom always thought I was just being dramatic.

Anyhow, I have a horrible headache and stomach ache today, so I can't go to work until I talk to employee health and get tested for Covid. I will try to find a link for the bridge collapse.
 
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I don't think it's totally irrational to worry about being on bridges when it there is ice/snow. I always had a thing about heights. I hated when we would drive up winding mountain roads. I was always worried we were going to miss a turn or lose control and fly off. I would have to close my eyes.

I hope you get feeling better soon.

Replacing filters and cleaning the hell out of the grilles worked. I hadn't cleaned the grille in my brother's room in a long time since it's in a dark corner and I can't really see it. I had to ask him to point a light at it for me so I could see how filthy it was. I should have worn a mask bc I got tons of dust up my nose. I had to sweep up trash and all the crud that came off the grille. Took me about 10min (I had to take some breathers as bending isn't good for me and I eventually had to get down on the floor when my back was giving me trouble). But, got them cleaned, fresh filters & breakers back on and heat is working again.

I made yellow rice for Mom. Came out with an odd taste & smell and can't quite place it. Almost like mold, but the pot was clean (I washed it right before use). She was ok with it bc she asked for seconds. I'm going to nap until it's time to go get my pickup order.

I've got bit of a headache so I'm hugging my cat and listening to his purr.
 
So there is a real basis for your fear.

If large, fast moving trucks with drunk drivers crossing the bridge during snow & ice never broke thru the guard rails, for decades, I'd be reassured.
But you are not me.

We do carry a hammer in each car for breaking out the elec. windows in the event of submersion.

There are proly videos on Youtube for handling this event.
I haven't watched them; the hammer & the guard rails & the low cross-section profile of our cars is enough for me.
 
It probably has nothing to do with rationalization. It may be similar to claustrophobia which I sometimes (fortunately rarely) experience.
 
Some phobias do have some basis in rationality, but then go beyond rational thought. I don't really think it's irrational to be wary of icy bridges as they really can pose a threat. Claustrophobia can make sense- especially if you've ever nearly suffocated before. I don't think my Mom has, but she is claustrophobic.

Got my nap in, picked up my order, rushed in the door to put stuff away and made it to the bathroom before my bladder could explode. Came back out and organized things a little better. I'm about to take a cough drop because my bronchial tubes don't like me right now.
 
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