OT - NO POLITICS Trick or Treat, Foliage, and possibly Snow Oh NO!!!!!

[Aussie Bruin]

The last few pages of this thread have highlighted the ups and downs that life has to offer pretty well. Sometimes there is a fine line between congratulations and commiserations.

The one thing that remains constant though from high to low is our reliance on and appreciation of other people. Whether it is having a 5 minute conversation with a stranger on the phone in their time of need or reflecting on forty plus years with the person you love more than any other or giving or receiving a simple kind word from an alias on an internet forum, it all adds up, it all matters.

It's easy to forget that as we get absorbed in our own lives sometimes but ultimately we are all in this shit together, one way or another so don't forget to reach out when life gives you lemons and to be there when they land at other people's feet.

Very well said! How are you and your family? I know you have number 2 on the way but I think not due until next year if I recall correctly?

Glad the Wallabies didn't play Ireland on their recent trip to Britain. That would have been a massacre! Your boys are playing some terrific rugby, ours, yeesh, not so much.

 

[Alicat]

We always make a point about saying 'NEVER FORGET' when something traumatic happens but time marches on.

58 years ago was a very bad day in US history.

My mom always talks about the sun having an odd ring around it that day.

As an Irish Catholic growing up in a deeply religious family, Kennedy was beloved. We always heard about a wonderful man he and his brother were and how they would have changed the country.

The adults also never held back on details so I learned early on what had happened. In a large family, there wasn’t any sugar coating.

I remember my teachers is 3rd and 4th grade having photos of him up next to the crucifix in their classroom.

I can’t imagine what it felt like for those who were alive then. For those who chose to share their where they were stories, thank you. It is so important to never forget these pivotal moments in our history.

 

[Deleted]

Very well said! How are you and your family? I know you have number 2 on the way but I think not due until next year if I recall correctly?

Glad the Wallabies didn't play Ireland on their recent trip to Britain. That would have been a massacre! Your boys are playing some terrific rugby, ours, yeesh, not so much.

Family is good, number two arrived last month, another little girl so I'm completely outnumbered now lol. Hectic but great times.

Yeah Ireland are playing well, I often wondered if I would ever see us beat the All Blacks and now we've beaten them three out of the last five!! Crazy. This time though we are fully aware of the fact that unless we produce this sort of form in a WC it will ultimately account for little so no one is getting carried away. These games are always tough for the southern hem teams traveling north nevermind throwing covid into the mix as well so I wouldn't read too much into these results.

Anyway hope all is well down your way. My sister in law and hubby have decided to move back home next year after 15+ years in Sydney. Be interesting to see how their kids transition seeing as they were born there. They better not declare for Oz if they are good with the oval ball!

 

[Troublesome 85]

Somebody looked like a princess this weekend

 

[McGarnagle]

We always make a point about saying 'NEVER FORGET' when something traumatic happens but time marches on.

58 years ago was a very bad day in US history.

A tremendous turning point in history that brings up an endless amount of what-if questions and alternate timelines. Particularly regarding Cuba and Vietnam, as Johnson & McNamara basically took the line of "continue what JFK started" even though both the embargo and the troop deployment were not intended to be long-term projects. And those incidents really shaped the entire last 3 decades of the 20th century.

As far as I can project, and it's all only speculation, it's not a case of things would've gone more smoothly if JFK didn't get shot (like you could say for Lincoln with reconstruction), but more of a case that the world would be unrecognizable today if JFK had lived and Johnson never acceded to the Oval Office.

 

[Fenway]

A tremendous turning point in history that brings up an endless amount of what-if questions and alternate timelines. Particularly regarding Cuba and Vietnam, as Johnson & McNamara basically took the line of "continue what JFK started" even though both the embargo and the troop deployment were not intended to be long-term projects. And those incidents really shaped the entire last 3 decades of the 20th century.

As far as I can project, and it's all only speculation, it's not a case of things would've gone more smoothly if JFK didn't get shot (like you could say for Lincoln with reconstruction), but more of a case that the world would be unrecognizable today if JFK had lived and Johnson never acceded to the Oval Office.

To me the bigger what if is RFK. Then Nixon would not have happened

 

[McGarnagle]

To me the bigger what if is RFK. Then Nixon would not have happened

My understanding is that at the time of his assassination RFK did not have enough delegates to overcome Humphrey in the convention because of his late entry and likely wouldn't have factored into the 1968 election. The extent to which his presence to campaign would've changed results is unknown but I don't think it changes the outcome. But I'd agree that possibly for 1972 and definitely for 1976/1980 he would've been a major player (and given his stance on the middle east - which is what got him shot in the first place, the 70s oil crisis which completely changed the world may never have happened).

 

[Don Cherry]

Somebody looked like a princess this weekend

Agree!!!!!

 

[Fenway]

My understanding is that at the time of his assassination RFK did not have enough delegates to overcome Humphrey in the convention because of his late entry and likely wouldn't have factored into the 1968 election. The extent to which his presence to campaign would've changed results is unknown but I don't think it changes the outcome. But I'd agree that possibly for 1972 and definitely for 1976/1980 he would've been a major player (and given his stance on the middle east - which is what got him shot in the first place, the 70s oil crisis which completely changed the world may never have happened).

The 1968 convention would have been ugly as RFK had the support of Mayor Daley. It is doubtful the Vietnam riots at the convention would have happened if RFK was still alive. Ted's life would have been altered as well as Chappaquiddick would not have happened.

Ronald Reagan might have become President in 1976 instead of 1980 and Jimmy Carter never becomes a national factor.

 

[sarge88]

I'll start with this --- I know I'm in the vast, vast minority on this -- but I dread Thanksgiving dinner --- I like turkey -- after that --- rolls, maybe. I won't eat anything mashed, (potatoes, stuffing, squash, turnip -- etc. all make me nauseous). So TG usually consists of turkey, maybe a baked potato, a roll or two and some green beans.

Given the above --- guess how happy I was about this turn of events --

We usually eat at my wife's aunt and uncles. This year they decided to go away over TG, but ---- they're going to have a TG dinner on Dec. 4th -- so we can "all celebrate together".
(correct me if I'm wrong here Diane, but we'd all be together if you didn't go away next weekend --- )

Yay.

Now I get to suffer through two versions of my least liked holiday and one of them smack dab in the middle of a Saturday in December.

Lol.

Family.

 

[eightspokedb]

.....indeed....never forget....

 

[Troublesome 85]

Agree!!!!!

was her birthday. Princess for a day but my queen everyday

 

[BMC]

We always make a point about saying 'NEVER FORGET' when something traumatic happens but time marches on.

58 years ago was a very bad day in US history.

Mom had just put my sister and I down for our afternoon nap (we were 10 months old). A deliveryman stopped at the house to drop something off and he had heard a quick bulletin on his truck radio that the President had been shot. He asked my mother if she had heard/seen anything about it. She hadn't & turned on the TV to see what was going on. For a long time it was the usual programming and then suddenly the network went live. Then a few days later came the killing of Oswald on live TV and finally the President's funeral, also on live TV. My parents always said the entire country was literally numb with shock. Nobody could do anything except watch the TV.

 

[Gee Wally]

PSA

 

[Kate08]

Just finished my thanksgiving errands.

bring on the carbs!

 

[Fenway]

For the better part of 2 hours, I have been dealing with a call center in the Philippines.

I finally asked to be connected to someone in the US to resolve a minor problem

Listen to music for 10 minutes and finally a woman answers. Only one problem

She was the operator for a car dealership in West Allis, Wisconsin.

 

[Ladyfan]

So I left my house in NH at 6:30 this morning to pick up my daughter at Logan. Traffic was bad as usual . I had just past the exit for Sullivan Square when something (looked like a large full garbage bag) flew out of the back of a pickup truck and went under my car (at 70 miles an hour). I heard a thud and thought it went out. I got to parking at the airport rolled my window down to get a parking ticket and smelled burning. I looked under and there was a huge pillow under the engine. I pulled and got part of it but it was stuck. I texted my daughter and called for help (I did not want to drive back to NH and have the car catch fire). The parking garage has a team to help and they were great. We got it out and looks like no damage.

Sigh...be sure to secure stuff in a truck.

 

[Alicat]

So I left my house in NH at 6:30 this morning to pick up my daughter at Logan. Traffic was bad as usual . I had just past the exit for Sullivan Square when something (looked like a large full garbage bag) flew out of the back of a pickup truck and went under my car (at 70 miles an hour). I heard a thud and thought it went out. I got to parking at the airport rolled my window down to get a parking ticket and smelled burning. I looked under and there was a huge pillow under the engine. I pulled and got part of it but it was stuck. I texted my daughter and called for help (I did not want to drive back to NH and have the car catch fire). The parking garage has a team to help and they were great. We got it out and looks like no damage.

Sigh...be sure to secure stuff in a truck.

So glad you are ok and there was no damage!!!!

 

[Bruinaura]

I've reached the stage in open enrollment where people just call me and ask questions that are answered right on the page they are looking at. And often in bold print. READ, people.

My other favorite is "do I have to do this??"

Yes, George. That's why I've sent you two emails both of which explicitly state that everyone has to do this. And since you've worked here for 18 years, you should know this by now.

 

[BMC]

So I left my house in NH at 6:30 this morning to pick up my daughter at Logan. Traffic was bad as usual . I had just past the exit for Sullivan Square when something (looked like a large full garbage bag) flew out of the back of a pickup truck and went under my car (at 70 miles an hour). I heard a thud and thought it went out. I got to parking at the airport rolled my window down to get a parking ticket and smelled burning. I looked under and there was a huge pillow under the engine. I pulled and got part of it but it was stuck. I texted my daughter and called for help (I did not want to drive back to NH and have the car catch fire). The parking garage has a team to help and they were great. We got it out and looks like no damage.

Sigh...be sure to secure stuff in a truck.

Tie down straps are mandatory in CT, you have to secure whatever you put in your truck bed.

 

[BMC]

For the better part of 2 hours, I have been dealing with a call center in the Philippines.

I finally asked to be connected to someone in the US to resolve a minor problem

Listen to music for 10 minutes and finally a woman answers. Only one problem

She was the operator for a car dealership in West Allis, Wisconsin.

Customer service is an oxymoron

 

[Don Cherry]

was her birthday. Princess for a day but my queen everyday

Well said!!!!

 

[Bruinaura]

I'll start with this --- I know I'm in the vast, vast minority on this -- but I dread Thanksgiving dinner --- I like turkey -- after that --- rolls, maybe. I won't eat anything mashed, (potatoes, stuffing, squash, turnip -- etc. all make me nauseous). So TG usually consists of turkey, maybe a baked potato, a roll or two and some green beans.

Given the above --- guess how happy I was about this turn of events --

We usually eat at my wife's aunt and uncles. This year they decided to go away over TG, but ---- they're going to have a TG dinner on Dec. 4th -- so we can "all celebrate together".
(correct me if I'm wrong here Diane, but we'd all be together if you didn't go away next weekend --- )

Yay.

Now I get to suffer through two versions of my least liked holiday and one of them smack dab in the middle of a Saturday in December.

Lol.

Family.

I think you may be the first person I've "met" that doesn't like mashed potatoes. I guess it's a texture thing?

When I was a kid, I hated for my food to touch. My brother would dump turkey, gravy, potatoes, corn, and stuffing all together on his plate and it always grossed me out.

But today I can eat a KFC famous bowl with chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, and cheese and together with no problem.

 

[Alicat]

I've reached the stage in open enrollment where people just call me and ask questions that are answered right on the page they are looking at. And often in bold print. READ, people.

My other favorite is "do I have to do this??"

Yes, George. That's why I've sent you two emails both of which explicitly state that everyone has to do this. And since you've worked here for 18 years, you should know this by now.



View attachment 483027

I feel you.

I've now resorted to sending employees the benefits guide and telling them what page number to find the info on. It is not my fault you didn't read your email or listen during new hire orientation.

My new hires lately seem to be losing their minds over having to wait 30 days for their 401K contributions to start. I've been tempted to snark back "well increase your contribution for a few weeks to make up for the waiting period". Fortunately for them I keep things professional.

 

[shelbysdad]

Customer service is an oxymoron

I always laugh when I call, get someone who is obviously not in US and English is not their first language and they answer the phone and with a very heavy accent says...

Hello.....my name is... (few seconds pause),......Taylor , may I help you.

I always imagine them looking at a list picking out a name to say....