Thread Drift

[shootingstar]

I think our family has experienced our share of natural disasters this year: me and a major river flood which costed our city area several billion $$$ dollars this summer. A sister in Ontario was out of electricity for 4 days in summer due to Toronto's flood (not as damaging as Calgary's) and again now out of electricity at Christmas for several days for same sister during Toronto's ice storm which causes electrical blackout for over 80,000 residents. She has 2 young children.

[Crankin]

Why do I get sick on every holiday, vacation, etc?
I've been fighting my usual winter allergy/sinus/bronchial thing for about 10 days. My eyes were itching so much yesterday that I actually wore my glasses *outside of my home,* something rare, despite the fact I like my expensive progressives. Been taking Claritin for days, nasal rinse, eating extra citrus and ginger. Feel better this morning, but no great.
Going to the office to tell them I am resigning! Perfect day to do that.

[Dogmama]

Crankin - I'm with you. Have been sick for almost a week with a BAD cold. Actually stayed in recliner for five days. Last time I did that, I had just undergone a cervical fusion - eight years ago! This sux.

[lph]

Some people are more desperate for the snow to arrive than others

http://www.osloby.no/nyheter/Her-er-...l#.UteoXtGA2cw

In Oslo it gets cold well before the snow arrives, and outdoor activities for kids can be a bit limited when the ground is rock-hard. So this kindergarten went and bought their own small snowmaker, like commercial ski resorts use. It's all in Norwegian, but the video clip is cute and self-explanatory. Those kids look fit to burst :-)

[malkin]

Brilliant!

[lph]

For anyone with teenagers - ouch, this is good:
http://nymag.com/news/features/adolescence-2014-1/

[OakLeaf]

My car's iPod input has been going intermittently haywire for a year and a half. Very often, like three to ten times an hour, it'll cut out momentarily and then resume playing. Four or five times, it's just plain refused to load the device, gotten stuck at some step of loading. Our small-town dealer has tried several times to run it down, but when it won't malfunction in their presence, it's been tough. They told us to just bring it in without an appointment ... but if we're in the car, we're going somewhere and don't have time to stop at the dealer! Last time, it quit working for days, then miraculously started working again ten miles from the dealership.

Today it quit again. The nearest Toyota dealer, a much bigger dealership than the one I usually work with, was just a mile from my destination, so I went there when I was finished with my appointment. Their electronics specialist was in the house, he knew exactly what the problem was, a known issue on some cars of that model year, and the part has been ordered under warranty.

With all the big things that have gone very badly over the past two years, it just makes me inordinately happy to have this little minor annoyance on the way to being resolved. I feel like celebrating!

[malkin]

For anyone with teenagers - ouch, this is good:
http://nymag.com/news/features/adolescence-2014-1/

I only read the first page...AND maybe this is something new, but only because these parents are paying attention to their teenaged kids.

When I was in high school in an affluent southern California suburb, the parents were involved in their own world of extra-marital affairs and drug experimentation and whatever else and only paid attention to the kids when absolutely necessary. Siblings and friends provided general support and took care of transportation--especially those late night too-drunk-to-drive rides. Parents were reserved for events involving tow trucks or law enforcement.