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Yes, I live in North AL, at Lake Guntersville. It’s 45 minutes from Huntsville and we go there fairly often since it’s the closest big city.

When we moved here in 2020, one of the first things we did was go to the Space Museum. What an awesome place! Who would have thought NASA started here with Wernher Von Braun?

I got my first hint back in 2018 when I was living in California but working in the South Pacific. My radar operator was an awesome young man who was extremely bright. One day at breakfast, I asked him where he was from and he said, “Huntsville, Alabama!” I was a little dumbfounded because he didn’t fit the mold of what I thought a Southern gentleman looked or even sounded like. He had no detectable accent.

Anyway, to make a long story endless, two years later, Ruby decided we should get out of California and move to somewhere on the Tennessee River. She had fallen in love with the river. We found a place on Lake Guntersville (which is on the Tennessee River) but it’s not in Tennessee it’s in Alabama. We love it!
I checked out a satellite view, it's indeed a place to fall in love with.
 
That is very sad about the dogs. A German Shepherd (that I believe belongs to one of the town judges) went into my friend's yard and killed the fluffy black kitten. Now I wish I'd brought it home. Not the first time the dogs have done that and the local pound won't pick up the judge's dogs no matter how many pets they kill.

My ideal distance from neighbors is that I don't see or hear them and they don't come anywhere near my property. The Grumpy Cat meme "Like a good neighbor, stay over there" comes to mind. The older I get the more antisocial I get.

Got hit with exhaustion again for no apparent reason. Had that feeling that I wasn't getting enough oxygen even though nothing impeded my breathing. Fed mom and the kitties and took my wallset out of its box to make a little more space in my bathroom. Was hoping my friend could help tomorrow but he broke a tooth and might be in too much pain.
 
I just realized that the Allman Brothers got their start at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. Duane lived in a tent in the FAME parking for for a while before he was heard. I always wondered how come the name Muscle Shoals rather than Mussel?
 
Someone probably misspelled it when making the street sign.

I got up and measured all of the screw locations I could find to write down so I hopefully won't run through any of them when putting up cementboard. Put plastic in the tub and taped it up and used painter's tape. Wrote the screw locations on the tape. I'll make an info sheet as a backup just in case the tape gets moved or I can't read the writing on it. I'd put the plastic sheeting back up if my left arm was cooperating. It's still giving me grief.

Went for Walmart curbside pickup but they were out of one of the things I wanted. Have to go back in for an appointment to talk about my A1C levels and such. It was 34°F when I went outside earlier. Its warmed up but still chilly enough that I have cats and dogs piled on me. When it warms up a bit more I need to give Fippy a bath. We got rid of his fleas but he's got some sort of skin irritation and dandruff.

Later on I'm going to see if my brother can help me lift a sheet of cementboard to put it in the tub so I can put some aquadefense on the edges. Takes more lifting on the left side and his left arm is fine.

Friend isn't able to help because he's in too much pain from his tooth breaking.
 
Fixed some popcorn. I've used the HotPop microwave popper for 14 months now. I like stuff that works as advertised. That goes for my Kreg pocket hole jig and my Bonavita coffeemaker as well. I did pour over coffee before getting the Bonavita but I got lazy and for over five years now let the Bonavita simulate pour over.
 
I still need to get a Kreg jig one of these days.
Went for my appointment and made it a couple minutes later. Waited until they called me into the back. Put me in a windowless room with fluorescent lights that felt too warm. After about 15min past my appointment time the lights in the room started to dim and then brighten. I closed my eyes and started playing music on my phone. 20min in someone poked their head into the room and snapped at me to "cut that off" and then grumbled something else as the door closed. Normally the other side of the office has music playing already and I play music on my phone to drown it out. Lights started flickering and triggered a migraine. I kept waiting and started feeling worse. At 35min past my appointment time I was starting to feel nauseous. I gave it another 10min and felt like I was going to hurl & my vision was going blurry so I got up and left. Told the clerk I got a migraine from the light in that room and would reschedule. She asked about date but then realized I couldn't think clearly so she said I could call and she apologized. I went out to my truck and turned the AC on to blow on my face (that sometimes helps when I'm feeling nauseous). Nausea started to subside so I went to the post office for mail and then Walmart for stuff Mom requested and to pick up my RX. My naprosyn when in a 50 pill dose was over $200. I had a theory that it needed to be in multiples of 30 in order to trigger the Singlecare discount. I was right. 60 pills = $13.50. Got my meds, got Mom's crackers, grabbed some rotisserie chicken, and headed home. Headache was mostly gone by the time I got home. Dissected the chicken and ate some, let Mom know I got her a salad, watched a program on DVR about historical sites around the world re-created in crappy CGI. Then I took a nice nap.

For the record, I've waited 2 or even 3 hours past appointment times before, but I didn't develop a migraine so I'm usually more patient, but this time I just had to get out of there.

Tomorrow I take my friend for a dental appointment. I had to find the number for him because he didn't remember the name of the dentist's office-- just the name of the actual dentist.
 
Eddie, I'm probably a 7 or 8 on the 1-10 coffee snob scale (I'm too snobby for Starbucks or Keurig, not snobby enough to buy a Chemex or spend >$20/lb on coffee beans--actually at $5/lb I've found Trader Joe's preground light roast to be the ideal daily coffee, though I often keep a more expensive whole bean roast on hand for special occasions) and honestly I enjoy the whole pourover ritual each morning, even with my $10 coffee grinder, mismatched plastic Bonavita funnel, and glass thrift-store carafe.

However, one of the barbarians I live with protests having to perform this ritual on days when she wakes up first, and has been lobbying for a coffee machine. Have you found yours produces an indistinguishable flavor from pourover? If so can you provide more details about the model you use?

Zannej, that sucks about your appointment. What was it for? I've noticed some aspects of the healthcare system seem to have degraded in terms of customer experience, but it could also be that I don't remember the before-times well enough to make an honest comparison, because either it was before I had kids so I didn't interact with the healthcare system much, or I was a kid myself and so long ago that my memories are hazy. But these days it does seem like you sit in a waiting room forever, then they call you back into an exam room and you wait and wait, then an LPN or whatever comes in and does a few things and then leaves and you wait and wait, until finally a doctor or RN comes in and sees you for 3 minutes. Like, if they only took 3 minutes with the other patients too, then what was all that waiting for?

Seems like a ripe opportunity for improvement if someone is able to make it work. I've heard these long wait times are mostly caused by the electronic medical records systems doctors and nurses have to use for charting. (I.e. Epic. @shan2themax can you weigh in?) Even just a more transparent system to let patients know when they'll be seen would be nice; you could wait in your car and get a text a few minutes before you need to walk inside, something like that.

Yesterday I took advantage of the sunny/not-freezing weather to grill burgers, so I got the sausage for the jambalaya and the chicken for the fettuccine alfredo both done as well. The burgers were awesome, and what I snuck/tasted of the other items is promising too. Come to think of it, it's a meat-heavy week for us; usually we just have one or two dishes with meat and this week it's like four.

Oh and the kids and I took a walk in one of the new developments and discovered this cool little path we never knew was there, that took us by a little pond we never knew was there either. Along the way they described their dream houses to me. That was fun (and hilarious).
 
Can you look for some of the food trucks? I'm not sure if that part of AL has them, but North AL (Huntsville area) have many of the food trucks these days. I hear good things about them.
Funny thing...right after I read this, I spotted a food "Trailer" parked by a strip mall in town. It was a good looking trailer with "Tacos" printed on the side. We had just eaten at Los Arcos otherwise, I would have stopped and checked it out.
 
I imagine DVDs and Blu-rays are still a better choice for people who don't have super fast internet, or who don't want the hassle of having to sign up and give their credit card info to a streaming service just to watch a movie once in a while.

I still keep a collection of prized DVDs on a shelf near the tv. I hardly ever watch them (because I hardly ever watch movies/tv in general) but when I want to it's very convenient and I don't have to feel like I'm going online shopping first. The path from "I feel like watching X" to actually watching X is like 2 steps, opening a case, popping in the disc, and pressing one button, and doesn't require internet or the release of any personal data. (Also there's a little ritual around it which is nice.)

Also a few of my DVDs are slightly obscure and I don't trust they'll always be available to stream. None of them were very expensive and neither they nor the DVD player (which I've had for 20 years and still works perfectly) take up much space so at this point it's basically a better quality, more reliable, and effectively free alternative to streaming.
 
I just realized that the Allman Brothers got their start at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, AL. Duane lived in a tent in the FAME parking for for a while before he was heard. I always wondered how come the name Muscle Shoals rather than Mussel?
Yeah, I can't comment on the spelling but it's amazing how many big names recorded at either Fame studio or the Muscle Shoals studio. Of course, one of my favorites is Lynyrd Skynyrd's, "Sweet Home Alabama," which mentions the Swampers who were the Home studio band that backed most of the acts that recorded there.

Ruby and I have taken the tour of Muscle Shoals studio twice but haven't done the Fame studio tour yet. It's an hour and forty five minute drive from here but a fun thing to do when people visit from out of state.

"Sweet Home Alabama" was a response to Neil Young's song, "Southern Man."

I saw cotton and I saw black
Tall white mansions and little shacks
Southern man, when will you pay them back?
I heard screamin' and bullwhips cracking
How long? How long? How?

Southern man, better keep your head
Don't forget what your good book said
Southern change gonna come at last
Now your crosses are burning fast
Southern man

Lynyrd Skynyrd said this,

Well I heard Mister Young sing about her
Well I heard ol' Neil put her down
Well I hope Neil Young will remember
A southern man don't need him around anyhow

Sweet home Alabama
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet home Alabama
Lord I'm comin' home to you

Now Muscle Shoals has got the Swampers
And they've been known to pick a song or two (yes they do)
Lord they get me off so much
They pick me up when I'm feelin' blue
Now how about you?
 
I'd say the medical office is dependent on how large an area you live in to some degree.

Alot of MDs also see patients in the hospitals you have calls from there asking for orders, then I sirance companies call, then patients call and have questions, etc.....


However, I go to a facility that has all kinds of different disciplines within it and I have never been there for more than an hour total. It's a well oiled machine. However, that leaves little time for thorough education, assessment and such.

With all that being said, I have never worked anywhere other than in the hospital since graduating from nursing school.
 
I imagine DVDs and Blu-rays are still a better choice for people who don't have super fast internet, or who don't want the hassle of having to sign up and give their credit card info to a streaming service just to watch a movie once in a while.

I still keep a collection of prized DVDs on a shelf near the tv. I hardly ever watch them (because I hardly ever watch movies/tv in general) but when I want to it's very convenient and I don't have to feel like I'm going online shopping first. The path from "I feel like watching X" to actually watching X is like 2 steps, opening a case, popping in the disc, and pressing one button, and doesn't require internet or the release of any personal data. (Also there's a little ritual around it which is nice.)

Also a few of my DVDs are slightly obscure and I don't trust they'll always be available to stream. None of them were very expensive and neither they nor the DVD player (which I've had for 20 years and still works perfectly) take up much space so at this point it's basically a better quality, more reliable, and effectively free alternative to streaming.
Good points! Does RedBox take Crypto Coin?
 
Eddie, I'm probably a 7 or 8 on the 1-10 coffee snob scale (I'm too snobby for Starbucks or Keurig, not snobby enough to buy a Chemex or spend >$20/lb on coffee beans
I don't remember ever having Starbucks, when I lived near Seattle I would always have Seattle's Best or Tully's, not necessarily by choice, just what the gas stations had. I have heard SB is low quality, probably generated by people that order it Black. In that instance, the SB workers probably put on Riot shields and enter the code for "He isn't ordering the normal pound of Sugar or Pumpkin Spice ultra frappe mocha ginger woojie wajjiie that disguises the taste! All They Thems to their stations!!!"

I have seen several articles over the years about Keurig and Moldy internal part issues. I still use a standard drip machine, run vinegar through it every once in a while, but my snobbery eliminates all pre ground. I have to have whole bean and I have a manual Burr grinder because someone thinks that's a good idea. I also have a Moka Pot that I use, which cuts the Coffee bean use in half and is much stronger.

If you haven't gone the Moka Pot route, I suggest the larger size Grosche in Stainless Steel. Lots of Moka Pot brands are cheap Chinese and they are coated with whatever chemical they use.
 
My Bonavita is the 8 cup thermal carafe. I didn't do a real comparison as my transition from pour over was gradual. In the beginning I liked Chemex mainly for appearance but I never purchased one. I opted for a Tricolator and stuck with it until the filters I was using became unavailable.

I used whole bean dark roast and a hand grinder. I never splurged for a pour over kettle so my greatest inconvenience was doing the pour from a regular kettle. My first compromise was to switch from the hand grinder to a Braun electric grinder. Then I just gave up and went to ground coffee (mostly Folgers Back Silk). I tried Braun 10 cup drip coffee makers and maybe went through three of them before they quit making them.

I was reading reviews and was almost ready to try the $29.95 B&D as it achieved the proper brewing temperature according to the testing agency. The B&D didn't really appeal to me w/respect to appearance and since it is always in view I decided to try the Bonavita based upon reviews by more snobbish testers. It has held up for over five years though I do see some heat crazing on the water reservoir where the hot water path passes near that edge. When it fails the basket and carafe are a natural for pour over use.

Somewhere in between all the above I tried the Starbucks Utopia Barista (see below) but it's cumbersome and hard on the filter. I kinda rebuilt the filter as they didn't seem to be readily available. I suspect even the $29.95 B&D might deliver a proper cup of coffee if grinding whole beans and using the hot plate only briefly.

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I think everyone would like to tar and feather the people responsible for Spam. Also, the unwanted emails.

I will take it a step further for the people that invented the stupid picture game that takes 3 times to work when signing into sites. If I sign in with MY PASSWORD, and haven't reported fraud or anything, then IT'S ME... Nope, I get the game where I have to check all the boxes with traffic lights... Doesn't work... Next is all boxes with Bikes... Nope... Now it's check all crosswalks until there are no more... That usually ends it.

For the team of geniuses that came up with that idiocy...

Handcuffed to a chair in a cage, covered in Brown Gravy... The only visitors... Wolverines high on Angel Dust.

THE END.
 
I see on those captchas there's usually an option for blind people. I'll bet those are simpler; click when you hear the same letter repeated twice or something. I'm gonna try it next time and let you know.
 
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