.
Since our correspondents in the warmer zones can’t carry the Garden Chats through Northern Hemisphere meteorological winter on their own, it’s been suggested that we have some alternative Sunday-over-adult-beverage-of-choice Chat topics:
(a) Photography questions / tips. While everyone eagerly awaits the return of Alain’s wonderful On the Road posts, there are commentors who have questions for the more skilled photogs among us. If anyone wants to submit topics in advance (best equipment for specific needs? best settings for shooting pets / action / landscapes?), I can post them on Sunday morning and let the rest of you give advice.
(b) Household projects / repairs. Yesterday morning, several early-bird regulars swapped tips about cleaning antique roof beams, refinishing stonework, and repairing bubbles in veneer. It was suggested this might be a good alternative for Sundays. If there’s interest, I’d be willing to dedicate some Sunday chats to such topics.
.
Apart from mutual aid, what’s on the agenda for this particular Sunday?
***********
Speaking of striking photography and houses that will need serious fumigation one day…
The National Tree Lighting ceremony was beautiful this evening – but hard not to notice the empty seats. #Christmas #DMV #USA pic.twitter.com/oKMrnnBekG
— Steve Rudin ABC7 (@SteveRudinABC7) November 30, 2017
The thing with this picture is it could be a sign of Trump's historic unpopularity, but it's equally possible that it's an example of this White House's inability to do anything competently. pic.twitter.com/ym3NK9ANro
— Schooley (@Rschooley) December 1, 2017
.
SFAW
“Historic unpopularity”? FAKE NEWS!!! I counted AT LEAST 12 million skillion people attending the
Chanukah BushChristmas Tree lighting!! That’s something like 50 GAZILLION times the number of people that attended that colored guy’s event!raven
No one better than Ozark!
raven
It’s almost 18 feet up to the gutters on our “new” addition and I’m just spooked to get on a ladder to clean them. Our painting dude had one of his guys do it last year, he just walked around with a blower up there so I may have to go that way again.
JPL
Does this help?
Donald J Trump
MomSense
@raven:
Painter dude is the way to go!
PPCLI
Those empty chairs are there to commemorate the casualties in the War on Christmas. Lest we Forget.
rikyrah
Good Morning, Everyone ???
MomSense
@JPL:
Twitter was abuzz yesterday because of a tweet the lawyers say was an admission of obstruction of justice.
Patricia Kayden
@JPL: I wonder why Trump’s attorney hasn’t told him to shut the hell up about sensitive issues on Twitter. He keeps digging himself deeper in that proverbial pit. He must know by now that his tweets can be used against him.
OzarkHillbilly
Somehow or other the ad blocker disappeared from firefox. No doubt I had something to do with it tho I haven’t been anywhere near it in at least a week when I temporarily whitelisted a site. Now I’ve got all this shit popping up and the computer is running slower than molasses in winter. Not sure how long I can tolerate it and my computer gal won’t wake up for at least another 3 hours.
HeleninEire
@raven: When my Aunt was 93 years old she asked me to help clean her gutters. So I dutifully show up at 10:00 sharp on Saturday morning, as instructed, only to find her up on the ladder with the job almost completed.
So….if 93 year old Aunt Bertha can do it, so can you!
satby
@raven: hire someone. Way cheaper than falling off a ladder.
satby
@rikyrah: Good morning ?!
Citizen_X
@Patricia Kayden:
Nobody puts President Baby in a corner.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: But where’s the adventure in that?
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
Trump is also tweeting about Clinton’s emails.
I’m sorry I went and read that. It’s not funny any more.
Baud
@rikyrah: Good morning.
satby
So yesterday with two markets went off pretty well, considering I only had 24 hours to get it organized. My friend and her family manned my market booth while I went to the bazaar and had so much fun they can’t wait to do it again. They did pretty well selling too, so I paid her a bonus.
Just a fun day, but after getting up at 4 am to prepare more products, setting up and taking down two booths, and selling all day, I fell asleep in my chair at 7 pm. Party animal, I am.
Citizen_X
I look at that picture and the first thing I think of is the light pollution. Why are they trying to light up the sky? Are they expecting Allied bombers?
Amir Khalid
Re Schooley’s tweet:
¿Por qué no los dos?
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: dude’s almost Cole level of accidental injuries over the last few years, figure he should outsource.
OzarkHillbilly
On the Mueller investigation: “There are many shoes to drop,” she said. “Basically it’s raining shoes right now and at the end of it, everyone’s gonna be barefoot. There’s more to come.”
-Associate Dean of Yale Law School, CNN political analyst and ex-FBI Agent Asha Rangappa
Raven
@HeleninEire: I broke my back in 1974, spent 2 months in the hospital, had rods installed on my spine, another 8 months in a full body cast and another 6 in a brace. That was after fracturing my left leg in 18 fragments in 8th grade. I finally got the princess to a free to not put lights on the roof, cleaning the gutters way the fuck up there seems pretty dumb. This is the addition.
https://flic.kr/p/AcP1Fd
satby
@Citizen_X: and it adds to the diminished capacity defense they’re probably planning.
Baud
@satby: That’s great, satby.
satby
@Raven: I’m with you. Some things are better left to the more nimble. And in my case, left to the more nimble and slender.
Amir Khalid
@Patricia Kayden:
They almost certainly did. But we all know how der Scheißgibbon reacts to advice.
satby
@Baud: it was a relief.
Vaca soon, right? We should do a countdown clock, because people keep asking you ?
Raven
@satby: And playing scared is a sure fire way to get hurt.
Raven
@satby: Oh good, there are non-stop sales events here for the next three weeks.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): I almost can’t blame him. There was no reason the country should have been obsessed with emails last year. Why shouldn’t he continue to draw from that well?
?BillinGlendaleCA
@satby: Cheaper, yes; but nowhere nearly as fun!
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@satby: Glad to hear things went well.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: Heh.
@satby: When he gets to my level the outsourcing should begin. (presently nursing a sprained foot I acquired 2 weeks ago while taking pictures of my house at night when I misstepped and fell about 2′ off a retaining wall)
JPL
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): Well if the justice department would just lock her up, he wouldn’t have to tweet about it.
satby
@Raven: ?
Raven
@satby: they are so fleeting, we’ve been back for 5 days and it seems like we never went. Oh yes, GO DAWGS!!!! YOUR SEC CHAMPS!!!
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
@Baud: He’s saying she “acid washed” her emails. My god, the man is ignorant.
Baud
@satby: Today is my last day here.
Raven
@OzarkHillbilly: I wish I had anchors installed when they put the roof on.
satby
@OzarkHillbilly: I think you guys are running neck and neck in the self inflicted injuries race.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: Responding to your comment about the new phone, the transition has not gone well.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: OH NOOOOOO.
Baud
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): The people in his administration are falling like flies, while Hillary still walks free.
satby
@Baud: ???
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Raven:
I thought you were Army.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: There’s obviously no justice in this world.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Sorry to hear that. That is one thing Apple does pretty well, although you have to use iTunes to do it.
Raven
@satby: Machine Gun Mike was driving the van when I broke my back. It wans’t my fault but lying with my head to the front on a mattress in the back of a van wasn’t too swift.
satby
@Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady): thanks!
@JPL: I know, right?
HeleninEire
@Raven: Jesus. Bertha never had a sick day in her life. Only went into a wheelchair at 98. Lived to 7 days before her 99th birthday. I retract my statement. Carry on.
Raven
@?BillinGlendaleCA: With strong Navy roots.
laura
@Baud: I miss you already. Take your time going, but hurry back…
Gvg
Speaking of home improvements, I stumbled on one I probably want when I next redo a roof. You can have a safety line hook installed on the peak of your roof with flashing under the shingles. The last few roofs of houses I have owned have been steeper than I am comfortable with as opposed to my first roof I got up on with little concern. Now that I have seen pictures, it just seems so obviously useful.
satby
@HeleninEire: your aunt was my grandma?
I put that all down to the legendary stubbornness of our foster people.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: It’s generally quite easy, just use Smart Switch; it just didn’t work for me. I ended up copying everything on the old phone’s internal memory to the sd-card and copying that to the new phone and restoring the apps from a backup.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: I do like that Samsung still has SD cards (and a headphone jack).
Baud
@satby:
@laura:
The feeling is mutual.
satby
@satby: wtf? Strike foster, my Kindle must be hung over. Who knows what mischief it gets into when I fall asleep early.
satby
@Baud: you know, your Baudettes will pine for you in your absence (or are we Baudies, I forgot which we settled on).
OzarkHillbilly
@Raven: What you really wish is that they had installed the new high tech automatic gutter cleaners that haven’t been invented yet. I know I do.
Ohio Mom
@Raven: The addition is gorgeous. Who picked the colors?
JMG
Roofs and electricity are two things I have always been willing to pay competent professionals to handle, even when I had little or no money to spare. No confidence in my ability not to kill or maim myself, and I think that’s an accurate assessment.
Did put up outdoor Christmas decorations yesterday, but as we have no outdoor outlets, this is confined to a few wreaths on ground floor areas and one wreath with lights near the front door on an extension cord from the garage so I get no handyperson credits.
mai naem mobile
I watched Fox and Friends and they have Rachel Campos Duffy filling in for Abby Huntsman. Anyhoo, Rachel was going on and on about the FBI agent who got removed from the Mueller investigation that it made me wonder if her hubby is caught up in the email stuff – if his campaign used the DNC leak stuff. Things that make you go hmm hmm.
Kay
Trump tell-all books don’t have the same appeal as tell-all books about other people because we all knew he was a giant mean-spirited asshole based solely on his public behavior. You hear he screams at aides, takes no responsibility for anything and lies in interviews and you’re thinking “of course he does”. They’ll have to up the ante to sell these books. What he does in public daily is actually worse than any of the “insider” stuff.
satby
Last two nice weather days today and tomorrow: mid and high 50°s.
And I have to work at that J-O-B ?
Then the weather is going to turn colder, and looks to be colder than average for the rest of December. Figures.
Debating putting a few strings of lights out over the mass of evergreens in the front, if I can get it done during the nicer weather. Haven’t bothered to decorate since the girls were here.
satby
@mai naem mobile: I had to look up who she was. But, Republican hack who has an agenda when she “reports”, dime a dozen.
Humdog
I did not see Barron in any of the tree lighting photos. I feared the lights may cause problems for a child with sensitivities and it made me sad to think how his crap dad may treat him I don’t want to feel bad for any Trumps, dang you empathy!
OzarkHillbilly
@satby: I haven’t bothered to decorate since… Well, ever.
Kay
I got a new(er) washer and dryer from my MIL when she went into assisted living so putting it in I noticed the water lines to the sink in the mudroom could no longer be shut off- the water hadn’t been shut off for decades so the valve froze open or something – anyway- the lines were stuck “open”. I had a plumber come in and while he was there he replaced the plumbing because it’s from the 1940’s and they have better materials now. So also “because he was there” I had him remove the old sink thinking I could just drop a new one in. The sink was all dented and stained so plumber took it away. Except sinks are standard sizes and this one wasn’t so now the sink is gone and I have this hole in a stainless steel counter and no sink fits it. So my son has a welder friend and he makes me an insert (for 26 dollars, which seems ridiculously low- he has a shop- I have no idea how he’s making any money) and now one of the standard kitchen sinks fits. You wonder when they went to standard sizes and if people in the 1930’s just had access to 400 sizes of sinks – like “36 1/4, 1/2, 3/4” along with “36” :)
OzarkHillbilly
@Humdog: He didn’t pick his parents.
debbie
@raven:
Hire a college kid.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: The kid was lamenting on our hike that she didn’t have time to put up her tree Thursday night and then couldn’t Friday(hike) or Saturday(work); guess it will be today.
OzarkHillbilly
@Kay:
He charges non friends triple. I know I do. Really, the $26 just covered the materials. Smile, say “Thankyou.” and send as much business as you can his way.
debbie
@Baud:
I’m very saddened to read this but hope you have a great time! Don’t forget us!
Spanky
@Raven: I was just going to bring that point up!
Not to mention our inner ears are not what they were 20 years ago. I’ve noticed a definite decline in balance. Progressive lenses account for some of it (and DON’T get on a roof while wearing them!), but the ears are aging along with the rest of us.
debbie
@Kay:
Your plumber must love you!
JMG
@Kay: When we had our kitchen remodeled a few years back, it caused a month’s delay to find a sink with a drain hole that’d fit the old garbage disposal we wished to keep because of its awesome power. So the change has to be after the early ’70s anyway.
Quinerly
@Baud: And how do you propose that I break this news to Poco? You didn’t even bother to send him an email.
OzarkHillbilly
@?BillinGlendaleCA: My trees are up year round. ;-)
Kay
@OzarkHillbilly:
I will. It’s really nice, the insert. It’s perfect. His shop is in the middle of nowhere so it must be professionals or word of mouth.
I was explaining it to him and about midway thru 5000 words he was like “I got it” took the cardboard template I made and walked away back into the shop. I was thinking “well, he doesn’t really understand this complex problem” but I was too embarrassed to follow him into the shop because he was clearly done with this conversation :)
Feathers
I have a home improvement question – any tips/methods for removing lightbulbs which have broken off in the socket? I have one that I’ve just ignored, but now the other bulb in the fixture is out, so if I’m pulling out the ladder, I might as well deal with both, seeing as I’m trying do do more adulting.
Also, watched the new BBC America Dirk Gently. Was better Doctor Who than some of the Moffatt Who. Which makes sense because the Dirk Gently novels were written to use up an Adams Doctor Who script which never got produced. Didn’t really catch the Who the books back when I read them, but probably because I didn’t know. May well buy the second season on Amazon if I can’t catch up over Christmas at my parents house.
ETA: the Dirk Gently recommend came from someone here – thanks!
MomSense
@satby:
Baudies!
Quinerly
Light fixture unplugged/circuit off and a potato.?
Oops…responding to Feathers.
SFAW
@debbie:
OK in theory, not so OK if the kid falls.
People who do that stuff for a living generally have insurance (and should not be hired if they don’t).
OzarkHillbilly
@Feathers: Turn off the switch**, use a pair of pliers to grab the glass part sticking up in the center of the bulb and unscrew. If the glass center part is missing as well, grab the bulb by the exposed metal edge and unscrew.
**this is very important- the switch is supposed to be wired into the hot leg of the wiring, but if an idiot did it (as opposed to an electrician) it might be wired into the neutral leg. if you have ANY doubts, flip the breaker/pull the fuse before going anywhere near the bulb with a pair of pliers. Your heart will thank you.
rikyrah
@Quinerly:
Morning to Poco and the tribe??
David Evans
Now I’m binge-watching Mary Chapin Carpenter. Just what I need. Her smile on “Passionate Kisses” is wonderful.
MomSense
Oh my dog, Susan Collins’ performance on MTP this morning was pathetic.
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
Rubber-handled pliers? (Well, insulated, I guess.)
SFAW
@MomSense:
Summary? I’m assuming she lied, or at the very least misled.
MomSense
@SFAW:
Well chuckles actually played her comments against deficit spending and increasing the debt from the Obama years and then asked her about her vote now in light of how much the tax scam will add to the debt and deficit. She then referenced studies in a vague way that supposedly predict huge revenue increases etc. I want to see those fucking studies. Believe me.
MomSense
@SFAW:
Oh and McConnell’s guarantees about Medicare were “iron clad”.
debbie
@MomSense:
Because his expression never changes and he looks the same whether he’s smiling or frowning, you should know McConnell was sneering when he guaranteed Medicare.
M31
@Feathers:
if there isn’t much or any glass left make sure the power is off then use a pair of needle nosed pliers — put it in the empty socket and then expand to grip and turn
SFAW
@MomSense: @MomSense:
You’re forgetting that deficits don’t matter when a white man is in the Oval Office. But I like how she refers to the Lying Turtle as the reason for her backstabbing her constituents.
“Iron clad” guarantee, huh? What, that he’ll do his level best to destroy it?
Anti-American motherfuckers, all of them.
I wish Zombie Ed Muskie would come back for her.
tamiasmin
Schooley: ”…an example of this White House’s inability to do anything competently.”
Whaddya mean? Those empty chairs are lined up beautifully.
MomSense
@debbie:
Did she even bother to check to see if McTurtle scribbled Medicare protecting provisions in the bill?
MomSense
@SFAW:
They are anti American, anti Democratic, anti compassion.
Denali
@Raven,
Up here in the frozen north, there is a company called Leafgard which makes gutters with an overlap which keeps out the leaves. Voila’ – no more roof climbing or paying others to do so. They are more expensive, but well worth it in my opinion.
SFAW
@Denali:
I’m sure raven will go put them up ASAP. (Sorry, couldn’t resist. I know you were trying to be helpful. I’ll say 10 Ave Marias.)
raven
@Denali: They have very mixed reviews
Karla
@M31: Yes, that worked for me with a lamp when my turning the bulb unscrewed just the glass part.
MomSense
@SFAW:
Ed Muskie was a wonderful person. His DIL was my art teacher in elementary school. I met him when I was a little girl. I was looking for bugs and worms at the marsh when he came over to see what I was up to. I saw him there a lot. My parents were pretty shocked to find out my best friend and I were bird watching with him and his wife.
Raven
@M31: a potato works
OzarkHillbilly
@SFAW: They help, but sparks will still fly,
NotMax
@OzarkHillbilly
A ha-ha wall?
Librarian
@SFAW: if she’s still in DC, she must be afraid to go back to Maine.
glory b
This is just a general yes please to a home project/improvement open thread.
SFAW
@OzarkHillbilly:
Yeah, but only between the non-organic parts.
I guess an alternative would be using non-insulated pliers, barehanded, while you’re holding onto a ground rod. (Not that the ground rod would be easily accessible, of course.) ETA: This was a joke, don’t try this at home, etc.
Daddio7
I do not understand this obsession with mob photos. Trump won with a majority of votes in the right states. Empty chairs or streets mean nothing, move on.