I sure hope so, Crankin. Being trapped indoors 24/7 while sucking on inhalers 4x's a day for the last five months has made me alternately feel like a caged animal, or a depressed lump with nothing to look forward to.
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I sure hope so, Crankin. Being trapped indoors 24/7 while sucking on inhalers 4x's a day for the last five months has made me alternately feel like a caged animal, or a depressed lump with nothing to look forward to.
We had an F1 tornado in my town last night. It didn't touch down on my side of town, but it was scary as hell being awoken by the emergency alert on our phones. Apparently, only one other person in my office took it seriously enough to go down in the basement, like we did.
There is damage, not terrible, but damage on 2 streets.
A few years ago when we were on a family vacation (in NH) a tornado touched down on Long Island in the town where my sister lives. I don't ever remember any tornadoes on LI before then. Fortunately it was minor with just tree damage, no damage to homes or businesses and no injuries. But it happens so rarely in that part of the country, I guess many people don't take it seriously.
I recall a tornado in southern NJ when I was in college in Philadelphia. The dorm where I lived was a 24-story apartment building -- I think I lived on the 15th or 18th floor. There were three similar buildings in the middle of an area with no other buildings, and that was surrounded by short buildings -- stores and rowhouses. So you could see for miles from the upper floors. One day I was standing in front of the window in my living room looking out at a bad thunderstorm, thinking how odd it was for the sky to be that shade of green and boy it really is windy out there. Then common sense kicked in and I backed away from the window. Later I learned that the same storm caused a tornado that broke windows at the Cherry Hill mall in NJ.
A couple of years later I moved to the Chicago area for grad school, where I rented an apartment over a restaurant. One day there was a tornado warning and I realized I had no basement to go to. If I had had to seek shelter, the best I could do was to sit in my closet. Fortunately I never had to resort to that.
Here in the DC area we actually have storms with tornado watches more often than you'd think, and a few have touched down in the suburbs with serious results. Again I have no basement to go to, since I live in a 2nd floor apartment. So my options would be the walk-in closet in my bedroom or going down the stairs in the main hallway past the building entrance to the basement level. The two main floor apartments have finished basements with doors leading out to that hallway, so I could try to knock and ask a neighbor to let me in. Or just stay in the hallway and hope for the best. One night before I went to bed there was a tornado watch, so I put my bike helmet and some flashlights in the walk-in closet in case I had to run in there in the middle of the night.
The worst storm damage in my area since I've lived here (more than 15 years) happened because of straight-line winds during a thunderstorm. Lots of trees were damaged, not just limbs blown off but trees snapped in half, and a bunch of cars parked in a lot down the hill had their windows blown out.
These are just some of the reasons that I avoid being outside during thunderstorms.
An update to this, with great news. The original x-rays of my friend's injury showed something on the femur, but an MRI two days later showed it was not a fracture. Her knee was injured but no surgery was necessary. She has to wear a knee brace, possibly for 6 weeks, but is able to put weight on it and can walk up to a mile for exercise and running errands.Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
Your friend is really lucky, NY.
So, update on the damage. 36 houses were damaged, but not lost. The Orchard House (Louisa May Alcott) and Longfellow's Wayside home were in the center of the area, but not damaged. Trees down, power still out in some homes, but should be restored tomorrow. We have a local, town utility company, so they are on it. Basically, the storm kicked up as it crossed the highway and landed on this area, about the time we had been given the all clear, then got a second warning that it was heading northeast. No damage at my old house, either.
My DIL in CA is in labor... my son called at about 11:30 this morning as we were walking to buy veggies at the farm. Things are progressing, according to him, and he will call when the baby is actually born. Since my DIL is a nurse, young, and supremely fit and healthy, I am hoping it won't be long. We don't know the gender of this one (they do), so I am looking forward to the news.
Edit:
Another girl! 8 lbs., 9 oz. As predicted, they went home from the birthing center, a few hours after birth.
Congratulations! She's beautiful!
What a gorgeous baby girl. Congratulations, Crankin!
We had a family Face Time call yesterday, when my son, daughter in law, and granddaughter were here for dinner and met their California cousin. They seem totally settled. My DIL here is so different, though they are doing well, too. I am excited to for our trip there, in 2 weeks.
How neat!! Gorgeous new baby.
Oh no, TE is closing... just saw this on FB. Thankfully, we have the FB page...
:( Oh no!Quote:
Originally Posted by Crankin
Oh Noooooo, thankfully we do have the FB group.
This forum has meant so much to me since I first tossed my leg over a top tube for the first time in my life in 2010, at age 50. The staff at the store have been very helpful, and members of this forum have almost become like family as we supported each other through so many different things in life. This forum will be missed, and I wish Susan and all at TE the very best as they consider what other adventures will follow.
What??? The forum and the business?
on FB they are saying the business only and the forums will continueQuote:
Originally Posted by Blueberry
From the home page:
For the past 18 years we've had the privilege of helping thousands of women discover the joys of cycling and triathlon. Its been an exciting ride watching the industry grow from just a tiny handful of women's brands and product lines in 1998, to the broad selection of women's apparel available today.
We are proud of the role we've played in helping women's cycling to develop, and trust that the brands we've worked with through the years will continue to listen, innovate and create the products that female cyclists need and deserve.
To our customers, we say a heart-felt Thank You! Your loyalty, support and feedback throughout our history are much appreciated.
We will be closing our doors on Wednesday, September 28th. For items that are not final sale, we will continue to provide refunds and customer support via email through October in accordance with our 30 day returns policy.
Tailwinds,
Susan
Susan Otcenas & TE Staff
In the facebook comments, Susan said that the forum would continue, with volunteers for moderators I think. I'm sure we'll hear more when she has the chance.
As I mentioned on another thread, I just placed my last order from them. And I am sad.
I am sad for Susan as a business owner and cyclist who lives out in action for the products...for real what she sells. It takes enormous energy and fiscal courage to be an entrepreneur for selling products one has a personal passion/belief. My partner gave me as a gift one of the specially designed jerseys. I asked for it as a hopeful :) gift. He had it shipped to a Portland hotel..where he was staying temporarily during a cycling journey.. I'm going to browse the catalogue more..
Budget cuts announced at work, now we're all waiting to find out who will be staying and who will be moving on.
<deep breaths>
Good luck, NY
Crossing fingers for you NY. Hopefully neither you, nor any coworkers who don't drive you nuts have to move on!
Thanks ladies. The project manager came to to my office a little while ago and I thought, here it comes, but he was just letting me know that he had finished meeting with everyone who was being let go. So I am safe. For now at least -- I won't be surprised if there are more cuts in a few months.
The good news is that there is another project with open positions, and many of the people who were cut can interview there with a good chance of being able to transfer. And due to office space constraints they might even end up staying at the same building where we work now.
I actually had been meaning to mention here that we had some reorganization over the summer and I've been working with a good group of people since then -- so things have been much better for me. Of course now we will reorganize again. We seem to do that more often than we used to so good or bad, nothing lasts for very long. And honestly we might end up with more budget cuts in three or six months. In the meantime I just need to focus on honing my technical skills so I will be in as good a position as possible when the time comes to move on.
Glad you're not on the cut list, NY. What a crappy situation for all involved.
Glad you were safe this time, NY. I lived through years of downsizing, "rightsizing" (horrible corporate-speak) and just plain layoffs at my company, and it takes a toll. So many of my friends and even my DH got downsized out of a job. Lots of people much smarter than me who just happened to be on a project that got cut. Somehow I survived 10 years of cuts and managed to resign when I was ready instead of when they decided to walk me out the door. Eight months after I resigned and moved to Belize, my manager and about half my department was laid off, so I feel sure that would have been me too. I am so glad I got to leave on my own terms. I hope that you are able to stay as long as you want as well -- but not a moment longer. :rolleyes:
Arrived home tonight to find a notice from the post office about a certified letter they attempted to deliver. Now who is sending me a certified letter? Looked up the tracking number, I can see that it's from NYC but no details about the sender. I don't think this is going to make me happy...
...and the post office has lost the certified letter. The incompetence at my local post office is breathtaking.
Oy! This is very disconcerting.
YIKES! Hope they find it and, yes, it's disconcerting...
BTW, the last certified letter I received was related to a mechanic's lien to someone who used to life at my address - years ago. Hopefully it's something like that, nothing that has a direct impact on you.
Wow, that is crazy, NY! I hope it was nothing important. I can't even imagine!
Not surprising at all. In Chicago I only got mail about two days a week. My dad once called me and said "honey, did you move?" because he had a letter returned stamped "Moved, Left No Forwarding Address".Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
For my neighborhood we have a regular retail post office and a separate warehouse where the mail is sorted for our zip code. Mostly I have to deal with the people at the warehouse, for vacation holds and stuff like that. And they have been consistently awful for the entire 12 years that I have lived here. In my two most recent encounters with them before this one they were downright hostile. I dread having to deal with them.
So yesterday afternoon the supervisor at the warehouse called and left a message that he had the letter and I could pick it up or he could deliver it. But of course by this time I was 25 miles away, at work. And by this time I had called their 800 number (help desk) to report a lost certified letter; the person I spoke with opened a ticket to look for the letter and said it could take several days for someone to get back to me. I did not have time to deal with picking up the letter today or sitting home waiting for it to be delivered. For now I am not calling the supervisor back and I'm not calling the help desk back to update them. I want the issue to be open in their system, for someone outside of this local facility to see that there is a problem. I think one reason the problems continue is that the supervisor tries to smooth things over, which means no one outside his facility finds out about them. So from now on I will call the help desk whenever there is a problem, so there will be a record of it.
As for the letter, my best guess is that I am being sued related to a 3-car crash that I was totally not responsible for. One of the other drivers' insurance companies took full responsibility, paid the entire cost to fix my car and sent me a check for pain and suffering. But a passenger in the other car (not driven by the person at fault) was injured and is suing. My insurance company has already sent them a letter explaining that I was completely not at fault but I fear it has been ignored. If I'm right, it will just be a waste of time and money. Whatever it is, it's already been a waste of my time and energy trying to get the stupid letter. So I'll worry about it next week.
Omg omg omg. The stomping loud upstairs neighbor with no rugs got a dog. I'm literally sick to my stomach. I can't live like this. I just can't.
That sucks, NY! I hope you can move on to a more peaceful place at some point.
Oh no! I know you've invested so much in your place with the new floors, etc., so you can't move. I just feel so bad for you as I would hate it every bit as much. Been there, done that, and could never do it again. :( :( :(Quote:
Originally Posted by ny biker
So, I have not brought this up since late last winter/early spring, but after a nice summer and early fall having lots of free time, DH is employed again. It was quite a journey for him. He started out applying for similar exec level jobs like he had, and then figured out he really did not want to be in charge of anyone for awhile. He even applied for one job working on alternative transportation (which got him to buy a new, hybrid car, albeit, one with AWD). After a few disappointing rounds of interviews, he will be working as a customer success manager for some of the biggest pharmaceutical clients of a company that makes software to meet upcoming world wide compliance regs for these companies and all users to make sure they are not buying/using fake medicine. One of the things he ran into was that a lot of people did not really believe he was looking to downsize and was fine with a lot less money. He developed a good "speech" to explain this, as you definitely can't say outright that you have enough money to do this, as people just see you as a rich azzhole. And a few thought he would leave if something better came along. It seems as if you did what I did, go back to school to do something totally different, that people get that, but no one gets downsizing in a related field, which actually makes sense when you are nearing retirement.
He will only be working with these large customers of his company, making sure things go smoothly. No sales and no managing for now. He did tell his boss he would consider managing a small team, once he learns the business. Just not 300 people all over the world. So, in 6 months, we have downsized everything, and now I can get back to planning for our next cycling trip, which is really all I want to be able to do (travel) before it's too late.
Hope he enjoys the new position, but I'll bet you money he ends up back in charge of a bunch of people... once a company knows you can do that successfully, they want that skill.
Congratulations to you and your DH Crankin, it sounds like he found a good place.
Anyone else in "nesting for winter" mode? Unsure why the coming winter is affecting me this way this year, especially as warm as it's been. Thanks to the evil, and multiple, 20% coupons from Bed Bath and Beyond they keep sending me I now have a new WARM comforter and flannel sheets. Then I almost totally rearranged my bedroom to get my bed further away from the window. It really DOES feel like I'm preparing my nest :cool: What's interesting is I normally do these types of things over my normal Christmas vacation.
Catrin, we're doing the same, but primarily because we got rid of all our cold weather stuff when we moved. Gotta say, the new LL Bean flannel sheets are a slice of heaven!
Crankin, hope your DH enjoys the new position! I know you must be relieved to have him settled again.
I love flannel sheets! We've had them on our motorhome bed for months as we've traveled to so many chilly spots (including a couple nights of temps in the 20s in Yellowstone in August...crazy to me). I can't wait, though, to take them off in Florida. It has been in the 30s for the past two nights here in NC, and I am already tired of winter chill!
Put the flannel sheets on the bed 2 weeks ago. Of course, then we had quite a few warmer nights, so I had to put on the ceiling fan.
We've had crazy weather, too. Up and down. Next Saturday is a predicted high of 38, the coldest yet. I have an all day conference, so no outdoor activity for me anyway.
I dream of downsizing in my job, if only I could afford it. But then again I already did it years ago when I changed careers and have turned down several promotions at my current job. Around here promotions mean spending all day in meetings, which would make me miserable and therefore bad at the job. This is one of the reasons I am stuck financially.
One of my relatives cashed in her stock options and left her high-level management job before she turned 50. She wanted to spend more time at home with her kids. After a couple of years she found a part-time job doing accounting, which was what she did years ago when she first got out of school, and she's perfectly content with it.
It hasn't been cold enough here for flannel sheets yet. But I have jersey sheets (like t-shirt material) which are sort of in-between flannel and regular sheets, and I expect to be putting them on the bed this weekend. Last spring I put lots of winter stuff into the storage unit -- clothes, boots, coats -- so it would be out of the way when I had the new floors installed. But the flooring I chose was backordered and then discontinued and I haven't been able to find anything I like since then. Yesterday I got it all out of storage again. At least I made it to November without needing any of it.
I was quite overwhelmed by the storage unit. I started putting stuff there a couple of years ago when I was getting ready for various contractors to do work in the living room and bedroom, because I wanted to minimize the amount of stuff they had to move around in order to work. So there are boxes of books and framed photos and all my wall art in the storage unit. But there's also plenty of stuff I really don't need. Every time I go there I either need something from the bottom of the pile or I'm adding something heavy that has to go under the lighter boxes, so I end up having to take lots of stuff out and rearrange it all. Yesterday I decided that my next trip there will be a purging trip. Some things that it made sense to keep a year or two ago no longer need to be kept. Some things with marginal sentimental value no longer have any value. And I have to get realistic about things that I keep because "I might use them someday." I think one reason I'm reaching this readiness to purge is that the next project, after the floors are done, will be to re-do my three closets in order to make them more efficient. I've already started to look at closet designs and it's making me really think about how much stuff I have and how little storage space there is for it.