Get off my LAWN! "Grumpy Old Farts"

[1958Bassman]

Would that I believe we are about done with snow for this season.

It's three years ago March 28 I had the knee replacements done. And I know I watched it snow from my room in rehab in April. I'm scheduled for a three-year followup appointment on the 30th. All this entitles me to wave a magic card when I'm in the queue for the metal detector.

We were dumped on last month- had more than 24" on the ground for the first time since 2001 and after we got about 10", my two-stage blower decided that it was done after about 10% was done, so I had to struggle with my smaller snowblower that's not made for that depth. Then, the smaller one decided to become difficult to push, so I checked it- the scraper blade was almost gone and the bolts were scraping on the concrete, so I replaced it. The two-stage apparently needed for someone to tighten the carburetor's bowl. My driveway is more than 100' long......

Good times! good times...

 

[Charlie Tango]

It's three years ago March 28 I had the knee replacements done. And I know I watched it snow from my room in rehab in April. I'm scheduled for a three-year followup appointment on the 30th. All this entitles me to wave a magic card when I'm in the queue for the metal detector.

I have a magic card because of the AICD (pacemaker/defibrillator) and thought that I would be responsible and wave it the first time I took a plane afterward. Oh geeze, never again. They get all officious/suspicious, two of them make a big deal about taking me around the corner into another room, have me stand with my feet on the painted feetprints on the floor while they never so much as glance at the magic card I'm still holding and oh-so-carefully wand me with their little device before finally releasing me, all the while looking at me askance as though they're sure I still must be up to something. On the return trip I left the magic card in my wallet, removed belt, shoes and keys and strolled through the detector -- which didn't make so much as a chirp -- retrieved my possessions and got on the plane. If I ever fly commercially again, and I hope I never do, the magic card will only come out if and when I set off a detector device.

 

[GonePlaid]

I have a magic card because of the AICD (pacemaker/defibrillator) and thought that I would be responsible and wave it the first time I took a plane afterward. Oh geeze, never again. They get all officious/suspicious, two of them make a big deal about taking me around the corner into another room, have me stand with my feet on the painted feetprints on the floor while they never so much as glance at the magic card I'm still holding and oh-so-carefully wand me with their little device before finally releasing me, all the while looking at me askance as though they're sure I still must be up to something. On the return trip I left the magic card in my wallet, removed belt, shoes and keys and strolled through the detector -- which didn't make so much as a chirp -- retrieved my possessions and got on the plane. If I ever fly commercially again, and I hope I never do, the magic card will only come out if and when I set off a detector device.

I haven't flown commercially since 12/25/1970(!)and hope to keep my record intact.

 

[GwenOnBass]

I have a magic card because of the AICD (pacemaker/defibrillator) and thought that I would be responsible and wave it the first time I took a plane afterward. Oh geeze, never again. They get all officious/suspicious, two of them make a big deal about taking me around the corner into another room, have me stand with my feet on the painted feetprints on the floor while they never so much as glance at the magic card I'm still holding and oh-so-carefully wand me with their little device before finally releasing me, all the while looking at me askance as though they're sure I still must be up to something. On the return trip I left the magic card in my wallet, removed belt, shoes and keys and strolled through the detector -- which didn't make so much as a chirp -- retrieved my possessions and got on the plane. If I ever fly commercially again, and I hope I never do, the magic card will only come out if and when I set off a detector device.

The (at least, then) very, very bored security in both American federal buildings and county courthouses wave me through as I present my magic card.

I've been shaken down pretty hard at airports, but never shaken down hard on international flights. Once I was That Random Passenger for an enhanced shakedown at LAX.

 

[notJaco]

The (at least, then) very, very bored security in both American federal buildings and county courthouses wave me through as I present my magic card.

I've been shaken down pretty hard at airports, but never shaken down hard on international flights. Once I was That Random Passenger for an enhanced shakedown at LAX.

The Bionic Contessa
Thank goodness that the option exists. My wife is full of metal as well, and as of today, there may be need for another bit more.

 

[GonePlaid]

This kinda sums up my feelings these days:
https://www.teepublic.com/sticker/10022957-vert-der-ferk-retrocolor

 

[Deleted member 268085]

I savor my coffee (black) drinking. I like the feel of a proper cup or mug, the coffee aroma wafting up, the cautious first sip followed by an appreciative sniff of the aroma again before putting the cup down. I like the feel of the cup or mug's rim as I sip. It's a completely sensual thing, and that's even before I'm capable of speech in the morning. Getting that first half cup in me is a sacrosanct ritual. Only then will I tolerate conversation.

I like, approve of, and appreciate your perspective. But I think you're in the minority. Most coffee drinkers I see would prefer direct injection of caffeine. Puts a new spin on "drip" coffee.

 

[GwenOnBass]

The Bionic Contessa
Thank goodness that the option exists. My wife is full of metal as well, and as of today, there may be need for another bit more.

In a time that what was once the present but now appears to be the past (however that works) were combinations of press passes, and police passes. Of course the press passes were issued by the police, SO it's understood how that works. There are the rules as written, there are the rules as understood, and there are the rules that are subject to shifting and unstated agreements in real time.

The practical end of it meant getting rolled for prints, and photographed. The cards are displayed on lanyards, and different cards get you different places ... there are places inadvisable to go ... and it's simply amazing what lengths a good reporter will go to ... rules change ....

I should not have been greatly surprised to learn they don't use ink to get fingerprints now. It's about this time of year two years ago when I'm down at the cop shop again with paperwork for prints for another background check.

Ever had your fingerprints taken before? the sergeant asks. I know this game. Yes. Time my pause just right. When I worked for .... Cop thinks a bit. I mention the big boss' name. That was a long time ago, the cop says, and we both nod in agreement.

 

[Deleted member 268085]

This is what I've told a couple of friends in the Chicago area in winter - Get one of these and point it south. Notice how the truck is moving AWAY from the snow.
View attachment 4191509

That's what I did. Almost. I pointed mine east, a long way east, to the southwest coast of France. Sold my house. Gave away the furniture. Living in a VRBO for 2 months working on my long stay resident visa. Can't wait.

 

[gtmalone]

Does 'dry Cappucino' mean you chew on the grounds?

Asking for a friend

Tell your friend "yes".

 

[gtmalone]

I like, approve of, and appreciate your perspective. But I think you're in the minority. Most coffee drinkers I see would prefer direct injection of caffeine. Puts a new spin on "drip" coffee.

There was a commercial on TV a few years back, don't recall what they were selling, but it showed at guy work with his head stuck under the drip machine lapping up the coffee as it ran out. lol.

 

[Jeff Scott]

The wind is so cold today that my fridge doesn’t feel the need to run. Not a squirrel was seen this early morning in the woods. Got a wind burn on my face. The smaller birds also stayed in their nests, keeping warm was more important than eating at that hour. There were a few larger birds feeding after I whistled for them.

It’s supposed to be equally cold tomorrow. I’ll be breaking my car out of storage to go to the grocery. Nuts to this cold weather.

How cold could it be up and over yonder?

Mrs. Tango gave me the complete Far Side books for my last birthday and now I know that it is possible to have too much of a good thing.

Calvin & Hobbes, too.

We were dumped on last month- had more than 24" on the ground for the first time since 2001 and after we got about 10", my two-stage blower decided that it was done after about 10% was done, so I had to struggle with my smaller snowblower that's not made for that depth. Then, the smaller one decided to become difficult to push, so I checked it- the scraper blade was almost gone and the bolts were scraping on the concrete, so I replaced it. The two-stage apparently needed for someone to tighten the carburetor's bowl. My driveway is more than 100' long......

Good times! good times...

Have you not considered using your shovelle? We have a nice 2-stage snowblower, but a lot of times I just grab the shovelle and get some much needed exercise. Our driveway is longer, yet, plus the sidewalk, and sometimes I am the good smartass samaritan and do, at least, my next door neighbor's apron.

 

[Charlie Tango]

How cold could it be up and over yonder?

Calvin & Hobbes, too.

Have you not considered using your shovelle? We have a nice 2-stage snowblower, but a lot of times I just grab the shovelle and get some much needed exercise. Our driveway is longer, yet, plus the sidewalk, and sometimes I am the good smartass samaritan and do, at least, my next door neighbor's apron.

Something I have very much missed doing since The Bad Thing shut everything down is visiting heart surgery patients in the hospital as part of a nationwide program called Mended Hearts. I think it might be another year before hospitals allow volunteers to come back. [soapbox] Anyway, using a snow shovel is A Very Bad Idea for people who have had a certain number of birthdays, even if they haven't (yet?) found out they're a heart patient. Upper body exertion in the cold, such as shoveling snow, is terrifically taxing on the heart, and it's by doing just that that some folks tragically learn that they are, indeed, a heart patient. Goodness knows I shoveled tons when I was a youngster, but that came to a screeching halt 28 years ago, when I was but 40 and had a (given my family history, an almost-planned-for) heart attack and subsequent bypass surgery. The docs told me my snow shoveling days were over. Really broke me up, that did. When visiting patients, a good number of them say they worked out, were in shape, etc., couldn't understand why they had a problem. Well, because a chunk of plaque detached from the wall of a coronary artery and moved downstream and caused a blockage. Stuff happens. Remember the trenchant words of W. H. Auden:
As the poets have mournfully sung,
Death takes the innocent young.
The rolling-in-money,
The screamingly-funny,
And those who are very well hung.

Those of us who are "of a certain age" should not shovel snow. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, too. No snow shoveling for them after a sufficient number of birthdays, either. Leave it for the young. How awful would it be to survive Covid, only to die shoveling one's driveway? [/soapbox]

 

[GwenOnBass]

By cracky!

 

[Charlie Tango]

I have been a bit soapbox-ish today, both here and the other place up the hallway, haven't I?

Must be a twinge of the lumbago.

 

[GwenOnBass]

Mind the chilblains.

 

[StereoPlayer]

Something I have very much missed doing since The Bad Thing shut everything down is visiting heart surgery patients in the hospital as part of a nationwide program called Mended Hearts. I think it might be another year before hospitals allow volunteers to come back. [soapbox] Anyway, using a snow shovel is A Very Bad Idea for people who have had a certain number of birthdays, even if they haven't (yet?) found out they're a heart patient. Upper body exertion in the cold, such as shoveling snow, is terrifically taxing on the heart, and it's by doing just that that some folks tragically learn that they are, indeed, a heart patient. Goodness knows I shoveled tons when I was a youngster, but that came to a screeching halt 28 years ago, when I was but 40 and had a (given my family history, an almost-planned-for) heart attack and subsequent bypass surgery. The docs told me my snow shoveling days were over. Really broke me up, that did. When visiting patients, a good number of them say they worked out, were in shape, etc., couldn't understand why they had a problem. Well, because a chunk of plaque detached from the wall of a coronary artery and moved downstream and caused a blockage. Stuff happens. Remember the trenchant words of W. H. Auden:
As the poets have mournfully sung,
Death takes the innocent young.
The rolling-in-money,
The screamingly-funny,
And those who are very well hung.

Those of us who are "of a certain age" should not shovel snow. Heart disease is the number one killer of women, too. No snow shoveling for them after a sufficient number of birthdays, either. Leave it for the young. How awful would it be to survive Covid, only to die shoveling one's driveway? [/soapbox]

Well I’m not doing too well either..l was just outside shoveling a few bits of the garden...whew!

 

[beans-on-toast]

Well I’m not doing too well either..l was just outside shoveling a few bits of the garden...whew!

Mother nature created the snow, she should clean it up.

 

[StereoPlayer]

Mother nature created the snow, she should clean it up.

I was pushing spring as I say it. It was dirt I was shoveling.

 

[beans-on-toast]

I was pushing spring as I say it. It was dirt I was shoveling.

Not anything too nasty I hope.