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What's Up in July? - 2018


Echo

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Time for a new thread! Right now, I'm still at work, sitting next to the windows and watching the streetcar roll by as everyone is getting off work for the day. Ah, and there's the Ride the Ducks tour bus (a land/water tour bus)! It runs through the neighborhood where I work, mostly because it's the home of Amazon, so interesting to the tourists, but when they drive by and I'm out on the sidewalk, it makes me feel like an animal in a zoo! :unsure::lol:

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Just back from a lovely week in Cornwall, fab weather and managed to get to the beach and go for a paddle in the sea a few times.  Back here now and getting back into work, sort of :hide:

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Not having a great day today. BF and I got in a fight this morning while he was taking me to my bus stop. He's regretting the move and is having trouble adjusting to waking up so early to take me to the bus. I've offered to take another bus to the express bus that I take to get to Seattle, but he's worried I'll burn out. It's so frustrating. Now he's ignoring my texts, even though I got the pleasant surprise of being allowed to leave 3 hours early (as an early start to the 4th of July holiday tomorrow), so I'm not feeling good about anything. :(

 

Aside from that, it's been a funny day. Cold and hot at the same time (cold and breezy in the shade, and hot in the sun), my shoes were hurting my feet, so I went to the Goodwill store down the street from my office and got a pair of sneakers, socks, and two tops for around $25. Now my feets are comfy! :)

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20 hours ago, Madeleine said:

Just back from a lovely week in Cornwall, fab weather and managed to get to the beach and go for a paddle in the sea a few times.  Back here now and getting back into work, sort of :hide:

 

I'm glad you had a lovely holiday :)!

 

13 hours ago, Echo said:

Not having a great day today. BF and I got in a fight this morning while he was taking me to my bus stop. He's regretting the move and is having trouble adjusting to waking up so early to take me to the bus. I've offered to take another bus to the express bus that I take to get to Seattle, but he's worried I'll burn out. It's so frustrating. Now he's ignoring my texts, even though I got the pleasant surprise of being allowed to leave 3 hours early (as an early start to the 4th of July holiday tomorrow), so I'm not feeling good about anything. :(

 

Awww, I'm sorry to hear that :(. I hope you and your BF make up and that he will adjust to life there.

 

13 hours ago, Echo said:

Aside from that, it's been a funny day. Cold and hot at the same time (cold and breezy in the shade, and hot in the sun), my shoes were hurting my feet, so I went to the Goodwill store down the street from my office and got a pair of sneakers, socks, and two tops for around $25. Now my feets are comfy! :)

 

Wow, that's an awesome deal! :)

 

I had a dentist appointment this morning and gladly everything was okay :) (though there are two areas that need a bit more attention). I'm so glad!

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19 hours ago, Athena said:

Awww, I'm sorry to hear that :(. I hope you and your BF make up and that he will adjust to life there.

 

Thanks, Athena! We did make up, and after a long talk, he's feeling better about our move here. Except he's currently trying to water the front lawn, and we just discovered that the front spigot doesn't work. :wacko:

 

Today's the 4th of July, so today is dedicated to hotdogs, parades, and fireworks. We were going to go to my brother's house for the hotdogs and fireworks, but BF came down with a terrible migraine, so we've ended up staying at home. We've ordered a pizza, we're watching TV, and we should be able to see our town's official fireworks later from our yard. :doowapstart:(<--- closest I could find to a sparkly smilie)

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4 hours ago, Echo said:

Thanks, Athena! We did make up, and after a long talk, he's feeling better about our move here. Except he's currently trying to water the front lawn, and we just discovered that the front spigot doesn't work. :wacko:

 

I'm glad you made up and that he's feeling better :). That's a shame :(.

 

4 hours ago, Echo said:

Today's the 4th of July, so today is dedicated to hotdogs, parades, and fireworks. We were going to go to my brother's house for the hotdogs and fireworks, but BF came down with a terrible migraine, so we've ended up staying at home. We've ordered a pizza, we're watching TV, and we should be able to see our town's official fireworks later from our yard. :doowapstart:(<--- closest I could find to a sparkly smilie)

 

I hope you had a nice day staying at home :).

 

Happy (belated) 4th of July to those in the United States who celebrate it :).

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Hey y'all!!!

 

Hope everyone's enjoying their summer (or winter). It's hot, hot, hot! Yesterday the nation celebrated the 4th of July. We don't. Hubby worked and got holiday pay. I've been keeping my youngest grand diva for the past 1.5 weeks. The latest drama in DD's life has been the need for her, hubby, kids and dog to pick up and move AGAIN. This was after only moving into their other house 3 months ago. The landlord failed to disclose that the cooling/heating unit didn't work and that's why the last tenant broke her lease. In certain parts of the US not having AC isn't a problem, in the deep south where temps reach triple digits, its deadly. Instead of fixing the unit, the owner has decided it to let them out of the lease (they only wanted it fixed). Why? Because she can't afford to fix it. Who the bloody hell rents out property without the ability to make repairs? All the trouble the property manager went through vetting them, he didn't think to vet his client.  Long story short, they are being sued (owner and property manager) for damages and moving expenses. They will be liable as its their fault the lease was broken. A complaint has been filed to the Better Business Bureau and the South Carolina Real Estate Commission (they oversee agents and managers) and generally, got his name on it crap list. 

 

As her hubby had to leave right after finding them a new place and my hubby and son had to work, the house was too hot to stay in, we had to make the move quickly. While doing the move, I also kept the kids (6 of them) at our home while she worked through the packing. Then we rented the Uhaul and did the move pretty much on our own (me and dd). Hubby was able to help us get the big furniture on the truck and unloaded and then it was on us. We did it and now she's settled in her new home with working AC, a large property that they can purchase if they choose and her brother's girlfriend lending a hand. 

 

It's been a busy couple of weeks.

 

Next on the agenda is getting the three boys ready for their trip to Virginia on Saturday. Haircuts, packing, shopping, ugh! BUT they deserve the trip and a nice get away!

 

I've managed to keep up with my gardening and house work so when I'm actually able to sit and enjoy, it won't be to do housekeeping. I plan to do a bit of reading and sitting on the dock.

 

What are you up to?

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It sounds like you've been pretty busy!

 

I'm doing okay, going through a busy week but hopefully next week I can rest some more.

 

I wish everyone a happy weekend soon :)! (though depending on where you live and your situation, it may not be weekend for another day or it may be weekend already).

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I feel exhausted just reading your post Virginia!  Hope things are more settled for all of you from now on, the place without the AC sounds a nightmare, and I hope the guy finally gets some sort of punishment for being such a bad landlord.  What a nightmare.

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Yes, I hope things get more settled for all of you soon Virginia - no AC in the sort of heat you have is plain ridiculous. It's pretty hot here too at the moment - 29 degrees today and set to reach 31 tomorrow. That's a little too hot for me. I will be glad to get to Lithuania next weekend where it's a little cooler. I will miss the cats though.

 

They continue to settle in well with us, although they too are suffering a bit with the heat. There is a little bi of rivalry beginning to go on as they start to establish territories, but it's all normal and healthy and not much to worry about. 

 

Coran and I were going to go to London Pride tomorrow but she has to take her friend Sarah to an appointment in Kent and I didn't really want to go on my own. The thought of sitting on the tube and dealing with all the crowds in those sort of temperatures doesn't really appeal anyway, so I expect I will have a quiet day at home getting ready for next week.

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Virginia, that landlord sounds nasty! I've dealt with crummy landlords before (including have to sue one), so I definitely know what that's like! I hope the heat breaks soon in your part of the country. It's been fairly mild here, only got to about 85F yesterday, but since no one has AC around here, it can get a bit hard. It was 79F in our house last night, so I barely slept. :icon_eek:

 

Yesterday was a tough day. We got word at work that one of our co-workers had died in a motorcycle accident the night before. I didn't know him hardly at all (I'm still the newbie), but everyone here was devastated. Some folks from the central office are here today to offer help to any employee who needs it. I couldn't help but think about my uncle, who was killed several years ago when he was hit by a car that was speeding...it still feels like yesterday, but it was 8 years ago. The kid who was driving was barely punished, which still makes me angry.

 

Everyone seems to be dealing with it OK today. At least it's Friday, and we can all look forward to spending time with family and friends over the weekend. We're celebrating my mom's 72nd birthday at my parents' house tomorrow with the whole family. Then on Sunday, BF and I are doing some new house shopping, going to the hardware store and to IKEA. :yahoo:

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17 hours ago, Talisman said:

Yes, I hope things get more settled for all of you soon Virginia - no AC in the sort of heat you have is plain ridiculous. It's pretty hot here too at the moment - 29 degrees today and set to reach 31 tomorrow. That's a little too hot for me. I will be glad to get to Lithuania next weekend where it's a little cooler. I will miss the cats though.

 

They continue to settle in well with us, although they too are suffering a bit with the heat. There is a little bi of rivalry beginning to go on as they start to establish territories, but it's all normal and healthy and not much to worry about. 

 

Coran and I were going to go to London Pride tomorrow but she has to take her friend Sarah to an appointment in Kent and I didn't really want to go on my own. The thought of sitting on the tube and dealing with all the crowds in those sort of temperatures doesn't really appeal anyway, so I expect I will have a quiet day at home getting ready for next week.

 

I'm sorry you couldn't go to London Pride. I'm glad the cats are settling in well :). I hope Lithuania will be a bit cooler for you and that you have a great holiday :).

 

16 hours ago, Echo said:

Yesterday was a tough day. We got word at work that one of our co-workers had died in a motorcycle accident the night before. I didn't know him hardly at all (I'm still the newbie), but everyone here was devastated. Some folks from the central office are here today to offer help to any employee who needs it. I couldn't help but think about my uncle, who was killed several years ago when he was hit by a car that was speeding...it still feels like yesterday, but it was 8 years ago. The kid who was driving was barely punished, which still makes me angry.

 

Everyone seems to be dealing with it OK today. At least it's Friday, and we can all look forward to spending time with family and friends over the weekend. We're celebrating my mom's 72nd birthday at my parents' house tomorrow with the whole family. Then on Sunday, BF and I are doing some new house shopping, going to the hardware store and to IKEA. :yahoo:

 

I'm really sorry about your co-worker and about your uncle :(.

 

I hope you have fun with your family and friends this weekend :).

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Sorry to hear about the co-worker, Echo. It must be quite a difficult situation for everyone there. :(

 

I'm mostly full of World Cup fever at the mo. I wasn't really interested in it at all on the run up, but now that it's here and it's been good entertainment and most importantly, England are progressing, I've kinda got sucked into it. :lol: 

 

Annoyingly, I'm booked in to go to the theatre on Wednesday night, the night of England's semi-final, but I'm glad there is a good reason for me to be annoyed about the clash, rather than it not matter because we didn't get through. :)

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Yes, I am sorry too about your co-worker Echo. I know you didn't really know him, but you are still working there and so of course are still affected.  :hug:

 

I know what you mean about the football Madeline - I am not a football fan either, but have got a bit sucked into this one too. I am one of just 2 women in a team of about 8 or 9 men at work so that may be a reason - plus of course all the clients are all talking about it as well. They will probably watch it on the big screen in the ballroom on Wednesday I expect. It's great that England have got through to the semis whether you are a fan or not and can only be good for the country, especially with all the uncertainty and doom and gloom going around at the moment with Brexit and of course Trump's impending visit.

 

It's a shame in a way that we didn't get to Pride yesterday but I think it would have been too hot anyway for both of us. I will miss Trans Pride as well this year as it clashes with my holiday. Coran was going to go with another trans friend, but she is still recovering from her surgery and so doesn't feel up to it. Brighton Pride is I think the weekend after I get back so perhaps we will try and get to that instead. I will miss the Ride London this year as well, as it's on the day I get back - the roads will be closed from 8am to 5.30. Luckily my plane gets in at 6.40 so Coran should still be able to come and pick me up! :)

 

The cats are getting bolder each day - Billie managed to escape from an open window the other night which caused a bit if drama, but she stayed in the garden and we got her back indoors safe and sound. Becky in the meantime has been exploring he kitchen - she also went outside for the first time yesterday as we left the front door open to see if they would. Billie was asleep and not really bothered but Becky went out on the doorstep for a few minutes before running straight back in the house! They really are adorable and I love them to bits. :kiss:    

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On 7/7/2018 at 11:53 PM, More reading time required said:

I'm mostly full of World Cup fever at the mo. I wasn't really interested in it at all on the run up, but now that it's here and it's been good entertainment and most importantly, England are progressing, I've kinda got sucked into it. :lol: 

 

Annoyingly, I'm booked in to go to the theatre on Wednesday night, the night of England's semi-final, but I'm glad there is a good reason for me to be annoyed about the clash, rather than it not matter because we didn't get through. :)

 

Good luck at the hospital!!

 

23 hours ago, Talisman said:

The cats are getting bolder each day - Billie managed to escape from an open window the other night which caused a bit if drama, but she stayed in the garden and we got her back indoors safe and sound. Becky in the meantime has been exploring he kitchen - she also went outside for the first time yesterday as we left the front door open to see if they would. Billie was asleep and not really bothered but Becky went out on the doorstep for a few minutes before running straight back in the house! They really are adorable and I love them to bits. :kiss:    

 

So cute :singcat:.

 

After the busy week that was last week, I look forward to being able to rest a bit after today's appointment.

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I literally took a week off work because I was sick of going out in the heat. It's been 22-28 degrees every day for 4 weeks now. Ireland is officially suffering from 'a drought'. There's water restrictions in place and dead grass everywhere, because we're just not equipped to for this kind of extended heat. It's meant to go on for another 10 days. Cracking up.

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37 minutes ago, Nollaig said:

I literally took a week off work because I was sick of going out in the heat. It's been 22-28 degrees every day for 4 weeks now. Ireland is officially suffering from 'a drought'. There's water restrictions in place and dead grass everywhere, because we're just not equipped to for this kind of extended heat. It's meant to go on for another 10 days. Cracking up.

 

I'm sorry to hear you've not been feeling well :(. We've been having hot temperatures in the Netherlands too and it's also dry here (though I don't think there are as severe water restrictions here). I hope it's going to get cooler soon with some rain, but I think the hot dry weather will last a bit longer unfortunately.

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7 hours ago, Nollaig said:

I literally took a week off work because I was sick of going out in the heat. It's been 22-28 degrees every day for 4 weeks now. Ireland is officially suffering from 'a drought'. There's water restrictions in place and dead grass everywhere, because we're just not equipped to for this kind of extended heat. It's meant to go on for another 10 days. Cracking up.

 

I know how you feel - the sweat has been running down my back on and off for most of the day - which is really unpleasant. I tend to feel the heat more than most anyway, so this weather for me is not good news. The temperature in the swimming pool at work, which I cleaned at 8.30 this morning must have been close to 40 degrees - goodness knows how people swim in that! I will be glad to leave the country at the weekend and go somewhere cooler for a while, but I will miss the cats like mad. 

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Thanks, everyone, for your kind words about my coworker. There's still a lot of sadness around the office today, and anxiety, as the team he was a part of was just notified that the "large e-commerce client" we all work with has decided to go with another vendor for their work scope, which means they will either need to switch to a new team within our company, find a new position with our client's organization, or be absorbed into the company that is taking over their scope. This on top of the loss of their colleague has them all reeling.

 

Our weekend was kind of stressful. We spent Saturday with my family at my parents' house, and having everyone together can be intense. We came home feeling stressed out. And we found out that my two brothers are going on vacation together (with my older brother's wife and son) to California, and the only time they thought to bring it up was when they asked BF and I to feed their cats. So not only were we left out of the plans, they decided last minute to ask us to take care of something they should have planned for. :angry:

 

We said no. :lol:

 

I feel sorry for all of you who are experiencing the heat wave! As I've gotten older, I've become less and less tolerant of the heat. We've had a few heatwaves and droughts in the PNW, and they are no joke. Here's hoping for some relief soon!

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That really sucks and I can't say I blame you for saying no. 

 

As for the heat - it has been a bit cooler today (about 23 degrees) but the heat is set to come back tomorrow. It's the poor cats I feel sorry for with those thick fur coats.  

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This week has been crazy and possibly the noisiest I can remember - helicopters flying over in pairs on Monday (presumably rehearsing for le Trump's visit), then the RAF 100 flypast on Tuesday (which was great), then the football on Wednesday (I didn't watch it but everyone here was very excited, shame they lost but at least I won't have to listen to endless singing of the 3 Lions song for a while now!), then yesterday more helicopters as le Trump flew in (actually saw it fly over as we were in Regents' Park at the time, along with various other military hardware), then today it's been the protest march so we had the protesters go past before, but helicopters have been circling nearly all day and still are although they're long gone, presumably to Westminster.  It's so noisy it's driving me mad.

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I might have gone up to London for the Trump protests today if I hadn't had to work and wasn't going on holiday tomorrow. Taking time off today was impossible though as it's the 80th anniversary of the charity that I work for tomorrow so there has been a lot of organising and preparation to do - including cleaning. If I wasn't going away tomorrow then I would have got roped into volunteering tomorrow as part of the celebrations, so it's just as well that I am!

 

I will be visiting 3 different countries this time - starting with Lithuania before bussing to Latvia on Thursday and then on to Tallinn (Estonia) which I fly back from on 29th July. The flight from Luton to Vilnius is at 7.40 tomorrow morning so Coran and I are driving down there tonight to stay overnight. Coran will then drive back again tomorrow morning where for the next 2 weeks she will have sole responsibility for the cats. I will miss then like mad over the next 2 weeks. :kiss:

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20 hours ago, Madeleine said:

This week has been crazy and possibly the noisiest I can remember - helicopters flying over in pairs on Monday (presumably rehearsing for le Trump's visit), then the RAF 100 flypast on Tuesday (which was great), then the football on Wednesday (I didn't watch it but everyone here was very excited, shame they lost but at least I won't have to listen to endless singing of the 3 Lions song for a while now!), then yesterday more helicopters as le Trump flew in (actually saw it fly over as we were in Regents' Park at the time, along with various other military hardware), then today it's been the protest march so we had the protesters go past before, but helicopters have been circling nearly all day and still are although they're long gone, presumably to Westminster.  It's so noisy it's driving me mad.

 

I'm sorry to hear it's so noisy there :(. I saw some footage on the news of what was going on.

 

19 hours ago, Talisman said:

I will be visiting 3 different countries this time - starting with Lithuania before bussing to Latvia on Thursday and then on to Tallinn (Estonia) which I fly back from on 29th July. The flight from Luton to Vilnius is at 7.40 tomorrow morning so Coran and I are driving down there tonight to stay overnight. Coran will then drive back again tomorrow morning where for the next 2 weeks she will have sole responsibility for the cats. I will miss then like mad over the next 2 weeks. :kiss:

 

I wish you a very happy holiday, hope you have fun :)!!

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