This Happened

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Dec 21, 2021 10:42 pm

I have saved about $50 on gas in the last few months because Mike insisted that the particular rewards program he used was well worth it. I often end up having to buy my gas at another place but when I can I use this rewards program and in shocked that I am basically getting half price gas without putting any effort into trying to match my purchases to the discount. It just happens effortlessly. I need to put my parents on to the task of researching this and making a list of all the things I should buy for maximum effect. That's the kind of thing they might enjoy for real.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 7:34 am

What the what?!?!?!?

I spend alone 400 a month at the pump.

please SPAM me with this info! I need the savings

Post by **Mike** » Thu Dec 23, 2021 11:17 pm

Mando wrote: ↑Thu Dec 23, 2021 7:34 am What the what?!?!?!?

I spend alone 400 a month at the pump.

please SPAM me with this info! I need the savings

Live in an area served by my local grocery chain (you don't, sorry) and participate in their "fuel discount" program whereby certain items grant you a per gallon discount on gas (up to 20 gallons).

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Dec 24, 2021 12:28 am

Maybe there is a store in the area that does something like this? What do you have there, Kroger and Safeway and Piggly Wiggly? There used to be a grocery store called hinky dinky. Piggly wiggly and hinky dinky. These are just not the names that make me think of purchasing food.

Anyway what was the question? See if one of them has a gas station at the grocery store or a partnership with a quickie mart that gives you cents off the gallon. We have another grocery store chain here that does a similar thing, not sure if Mike has those stores or if that's just where we are, but they partner up with a quickie mart rather than having their own gas station. The really good deals happen from the store that has its own gas station and then when you buy certain things you get a penny off here or two cents off there and it adds up to this massive discount over a period of a few weeks.
I also noticed the gas does not last quite as long but hey, I am driving this ultra efficient machine now so it doesn't matter so much. Tahlvin I bet they have this in your area??

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Dec 24, 2021 4:21 am

There are things like that here as well. We don’t really use it. Of course, I work from home, and my wife is a stay at home mom, so we don’t drive much and only need to get gas a couple times a month.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Wed Dec 29, 2021 7:45 pm

Yes! In the past I went to gas station 1 and then COVID happened and no gas stations. Now that we emerge from the cocoon, and continue emerging despite omicron, I have found that gas station 2 and grocery store plan are Where It's At!

One has a car wash and I wish to go there but I find myself incapable of going to different grocery stores. I worry this is a sign of dementia. I have my way of going about in the grocery store and thinking about what I'm cooking, and it is CONSTANTLY being messed up by the dumb creativity of Store Management who want to move this and that around. KEEP IT WHERE IT WAS, FOOLS! I like the proportions and spacing of the aisles at my store and the position of the vegetables and it drives me insane to have to go to a different store with confusing new layout. Nothing is where it should be.

Speaking of dementia and problems, I have been dealing with a visual migraine so bad that I was literally incapable of seeing well enough to drive the car, due to the dancing Ultra Bright rainbow kaleidoscopes in my visual field, and then not even well enough to wander the house. This is bad. I cannot have this. Every so often something like this pops up and luckily not often. I can't shake the damn thing.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Thu Dec 30, 2021 7:08 pm

Some national chains like Bjs and Costco also target products for like 10c off per item. It takes a tiny bit of planning, but my gas is usually under 3, often under 2.5 a gal.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:39 am

Ingles does this and Kroger does too but without the volume limit. (both near me)

I was wondering if it was an app or something

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:53 am

Also I can attest to the fact that if you are using grocery store chain fuels you need to put a good fuel injector cleaner like B-12 chemtool or Seafoam in about once a month(if you drive a lot like me) because the fuel isn't the best and you will burn your valves and carbon deposits increase more rapidly...

Lots of debate on both sides of the cheap gas topic. I trust my Honda tech. He asked if we used cheap gas when he was working on the valves due to the buildup.... and of course there's just as many articles saying it doesn't matter... I do not blame anyone for using cheap gas. My wife does and I do not, but we drive very differently.

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/research-c ... amage-car/

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Jan 03, 2022 10:58 am

We always get our gas at the same local gas station (unless traveling), and get the higher octane gas because it doesn't contain any ethanol. So if we ever have issues that result from low quality gas, we know who to blame (unless we've been traveling recently).

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:28 am

Wow, non ethanol here is over 3.60 a gallon. I reserve that for boats, lawn mowers, and mixed fuel(2 stroke) engines.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:33 pm

To be honest, I don't really pay attention to the price of gas, and haven't for decades. But as I said elsewhere, for the past 11 years, I work from home and my wife is a stay-at-home mom, so we don't drive much. We normally fill up our gas tank only a couple times a month, and only that much because we like to get groceries from a particular grocery store that's about a 15-20 minute drive away. Our biggest issue with cars there for awhile was that we weren't driving the one vehicle much at all, so the battery kept dying. I had to put a reminder on my calendar to take it out for a joyride once every week or two just to keep the battery from draining all the way. We had to keep that up until our youngest got his drivers license, and now he drives that car to and from school.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Mon Jan 03, 2022 12:49 pm

The best thing about March to May 2020 was filling up the gas tank once.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Jan 03, 2022 2:06 pm

True. I honestly can't think of anything else better about it, because we were still in a period of chaos with the kids where we couldn't even enjoy any of the time off, and we didn't know enough about how the virus worked so I was hand sanitizing every single object that went into my parents' home while essentially holding them prisoner. Needing to buy gas like once was truly the best thing about it.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Jan 03, 2022 2:09 pm

Mando wrote: ↑Mon Jan 03, 2022 11:28 am Wow, non ethanol here is over 3.60 a gallon. I reserve that for boats, lawn mowers, and mixed fuel(2 stroke) engines.

Once in a while we fill a can with normal gas for this purpose, but most of our vehicles are designed to use any blend of ethanol so we always get at least 10%. Oh bad memories, bad memories. Pains. A friend of mine researches the stuff so we are probably more pro-ethanol than most bears you will encounter.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Jan 10, 2022 6:09 pm

Never mind, I was going to tell you about my hilarious encounter at the grocery store but then I became embarrassed. I was mean to the child (in other words the young man in his 20s) who put cans on top of my bread and apples. But he was mean to me first and more importantly he was mean to my bread and apples. I'm going to take some time to think about what I did and see if I can become a better person but I'm pretty sure I can't.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:14 am

We're a bit over halfway through a 2-month remodel of a large portion of our house (bathroom, kitchen, removing a wall to expand the kitchen, replacing flooring, replacing doors and trim). That has meant a lot of contractors coming and going, pounding and sanding, etc.). In addition to the general noise and inconvenience, I'm finding this also means we're having to replace or repair a number of unrelated things in the house. For example, the previously-seldom-used faucet in the basement utility sink, which is now where we wash our hair and do dishes, had the hot water handle strip because of overuse, so I had to replace the whole faucet. The workers unplugged our garage door opener in order to run their saws (our garage has just one outlet with two plugs, which are currently utilized by our temporarily relocated refrigerator and our garage door opener, so between the two they decided it would be best to unplug the garage door opener for an extended period of time). When it was plugged back in, the circuit board on the wall-mounted garage door opener fried, so I had to order and install a replacement for that. At least we could use the hand-held remote to work the garage door opener until the new wall-mounted unit arrived.

The latest SURPRISE GOTCHA was the handle on the storm door crapping out on us from over-use, with the door in the closed position. It seemed for an hour or so that the only way in or out of the house would be through the garage, and that replacing the latch mechanism would be a tricky exercise, since removing it requires that the door be open in order to access the screws needed to remove the mechanism. But thankfully, with a little finagling, I was able to get the latch to move just enough to open the door, then was able to remove the broken mechanism. Now we have a storm door with no handle or latch, but that can at least be pushed/pulled open and closed. And a new mechanism and handle should arrive in a week or so, hopefully.

Just wondering what the next big surprise will be!

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Wed Jan 12, 2022 10:31 am

Dead body.

bralbovsky · Post by **bralbovsky** » Wed Jan 12, 2022 7:32 pm

Overuse syndromes to watch for:
Sewer problems (paint, debris, increased traffic.) Keep an eye and some vinegar on your drains.

Flat tires. Fasteners in the lawn and driveway

Ventilation filter failure. Sawdust, etc will fill them faster, make sure to check and replace whatever filtration you have in the house because impeded airflow can stress the appliance. Your vent system in general might need a look after you're done. likely professional assistance isn't necessary, but some extra attention wouldn't hurt.

Depending on the traffic and your feelings about it, a last step might be re-keying the house.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Thu Jan 13, 2022 6:56 am

My students have been virtual since right before Winter break. They're coming back next week. I really don't like that.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Thu Jan 13, 2022 9:28 am

I'm feeling completely empty and broken today. I can't even seethe with self-hatred because I feel so listless.

I'm sick of platitudes.

I'm sick of never getting better.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Jan 13, 2022 10:24 am

So today was supposed to be freedom from Covid isolation day. But because my cough hasn't gotten any better, the doctor told me to test again today, and if it was clean, I could break isolation. It wasn't clean. So now I'm in isolation for another five days. In my room. Alone.

I got upset for a hot two minutes. Then I decided that even though it's not an ideal situation, it's not really that bad, right? I'm not going into the hospital for Covid (nor does it appear I will have to), no one else in my house appears to have caught it from me, and even though I'm in isolation, there's five NFL wildcard playoff games on Saturday and Sunday. And my office is here in my bedroom so I won't even get behind on my work. So all in all, it's not great, but it's not awful. Just inconvenient.

poorpete · Post by **poorpete** » Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:28 am

Hope all goes well with all y'all

Another five days sounds like one of them crisistunities
Isn't it in airlines tarmac delays they say "it's gonna be another 15 minutes" so people don't revolt? Being excited to leave and told you have to repeat your stint is no doubt tough.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:52 am

Except I dont have to retest after this five days.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:02 pm

Akiva wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 6:56 am My students have been virtual since right before Winter break. They're coming back next week. I really don't like that.

Do you feel more comfortable in the online mode? Do you still have to meet with them live, and do they all have a camera on?

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Fri Jan 14, 2022 7:02 am

Phoebe wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 11:02 pm
Akiva wrote: ↑Thu Jan 13, 2022 6:56 am My students have been virtual since right before Winter break. They're coming back next week. I really don't like that.
Do you feel more comfortable in the online mode? Do you still have to meet with them live, and do they all have a camera on?

I feel more comfortable with the online method because I am terrible at classroom management, and you don't have to deal with that anywhere near as much online. At least some of that is because most of the kids do nothing. I suspect a lot of them log in to Zoom, then ignore it and do something else.

I recognize that online is a bad choice for most students (including my own kids), but I hate in person teaching so much.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Jan 14, 2022 10:46 pm

It sounds like having to handle people in the classroom is one of the main problems you hate about teaching. I wish there was some way you could either keep the teaching and take away the "personnel management in unpleasant and highly-resistant conditions" aspect of the job. Or get rid of all of it and work in greater isolation from the humans. I am often fascinated by the different approaches and styles of teachers my kids have. Some of them seem to find it more effortless to maintain order than others, but none of their methods seem "natural" to me - I would have to force myself to learn how to do these things and I wouldn't like it.

Back in the hazy pre-pandemic days it used to be we'd go to events, full of chaos, and the teachers would clap.clap for order and all the students would suddenly settle down and clap.clap in response. I would sit there literally gaping at this whole sequence of events. I'm not even good at doing this type of thing with my own kids. I had (have) no methods. I would sort of treat them like tiny adults and they either caught on and responded, or no. Mostly yes, thankfully. It was like the Talking therapy, I tried to talk them into reason. My mom was like, there is no point wasting your breath talking. Do or do not do, there is no talk about it. I see this - I tried it. But it's unpleasant. To do this with OTHER people's kids? No way. I do not want to deal with other people's kids and their bad behavior. It would be like going to their house and doing their laundry or digging through their trash can. I would be better off training someone else's dog. Very rarely when my oldest kid was younger, or the middle child, some kid would come over and behave strangely and unpleasantly, and I'd be like, why are you doing this? This seems... bad. Please stop. Maybe they would or would not, but I don't know what else to do with them at that point. The kid is... not mine to deal with?
So the whole concept of having to maintain order among 15 year olds or whatever - I would not deal with it well. I feel like your response to this is totally normal. Why is there a need to manage them at all, you know? Why don't they just sit there and at least vaguely cooperate, like adults?

One day I remember vividly, I took my youngest to a birthday party where they run around in some kind of foam-padded cage for an hour and then settle down to eat cake. Except they did not settle down - maybe they were 7-8 year olds? All of them were shouting and restless and rude and at one point a kid got up On The Table, like the one where they were Eating, and some others attempted to follow him, and the staff had to intervene. My poor baby, during this process, he got up and came over and stood next to me, like he was using my body to block/hide from this den of maniacs. He was like, cake overrated, let's just get out of here. He makes friends pretty easily when he feels like doing it, and is not anti-social, but it was too much for his refined sensibilities. We were both like, gah, what a headache!
The same thing happened at a similar age, maybe 8-9 years old, my oldest went to a house birthday party for boy/girl twins from her class. It was one of those deals where the parents insisted on inviting everyone, and most of the kids came. They ran through the house like wild horses. It was astonishing. I was terrified. The screaming, the running, the general disregard for the fact that it was someone else's house! I picked up my kid and she was like, no, I did not do this, but they all did it the whole time! I was horrified but she was like, well, Shrug, what can you do? To this day that kind of sums up the difference between us, which is partly why she is better-adjusted to people and friends. I can't deal with that type of thing easily, I have to exit the scene somehow.

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Sat Jan 15, 2022 8:56 pm

There are 3 other teachers with the exact same students as me, and they handle the kids much better than me. So it can be done, just not by me.

And to top it off, social media reminded me of a person I wish I’d never met.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:49 am

Social media highly overrated but what do you do when it is pandemic season and there are whole swaths of people, family or friends you'll never see except by occasionally chatting with them through this means?
I think we have talked about other teachers before - are you ever able to observe them and see what they do differently? Are any of them approachable such that you could sit down with them and ask how they handle that first week of rule and groundwork setting with a group? My sense is that what they do in the first week really sets the tone in many ways.

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 3:49 pm

So it snows here finally. I go out to take pictures of the beauty and listen to the hushed sounds of the snow falling...then it's my turn and I fall down.

Only this year I am on blood thinners and I get this weird feeling that my sleeve is wet with blood.
I go back in and am chastised by my wife and I reply I'm 53, I'm not old...and nobody gets the reference...anyway there's no red fluids anywhere...just a weird sensation...however what I did have was a goose-egg-sized lump on my arm that took the brunt of the impact.

It was startling. I decided to stay home and use ice packs instead of having the urgent care tell me to do that.

Today...just a lot of swelling, but no goose-egg lumps...but the pain feels like my skin is being cut

anyway...here today ...gone any time afterwards

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 4:14 pm

OMG! I hope it all gets resolved - blood thinners are no joke! You should at least call doctor's office to see if they need to adjust anything under the circumstances, but good sign that the swelling went down. I developed a limited experience with this enough to know that certain foods can quickly impact your blood-thinness significantly - like be cautious with the kale, greens, spinach, broccoli or vitamin K foods?

Mando · Post by **Mando** » Mon Jan 17, 2022 9:04 pm

I am safe from green things

Akiva · Post by **Akiva** » Tue Jan 18, 2022 10:53 am

Phoebe wrote: ↑Sun Jan 16, 2022 10:49 am I think we have talked about other teachers before - are you ever able to observe them and see what they do differently? Are any of them approachable such that you could sit down with them and ask how they handle that first week of rule and groundwork setting with a group? My sense is that what they do in the first week really sets the tone in many ways.

I have talked to other teachers. It really seems that I know what to do but am incapable of doing it.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:04 pm

The more intense my work responsibilities become and the more I need to attend to them in detail, the more intense my husband's work responsibilities become and the more obviously he needs to put his before mine, and that's fine, but then don't schedule plumbers and workmen to come to the house and have me babysit them with the dogs when I cannot babysit anyone right now including my own self. I'm so tired and just want to get off the gerbil wheel for a while, you know? Let's just NOT do all this? Yet here we are, going to do it, and even more to come, even more is already scheduled for the future.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 9:09 am

The new appliances were delivered this morning. Yeah! They were all delivered, and all of them were exactly what we ordered (at least based on the model numbers on the outside of the boxes).

The countertops are also being delivered and installed. Yeah! Except they can't finish the one countertop today, because they opened the box that was supposed to contain our kitchen sink and found that instead of containing a sink, it contains hundreds of shattered shards of ceramic (or whatever material it was made of). Boo! Apparently it's common for the sink boxes to be manhandled in the warehouse, so that's the first thing the countertop people check when they arrive for an install. We already had to pick a different color sink than we originally wanted because the original color wasn't available in the style we want, so now we have to hope they have another sink in that style and color available, or that the delay means they'll be able to get the original color we wanted.

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 10:28 am

Pictures!

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 11:02 am

Apparently there is a sink in stock in the style we want and the color we originally wanted, so fingers crossed that it doesn't arrive broken! The designer said they've had sinks arrive broken before, but never as any as bad as ours, based on the pictures she was sent by her crew.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 1:01 pm

Not sure if I can get this to work with Google Drive, but here goes.

For reference, here's a before picture of the kitchen.

And here's a before-ish picture of the bathroom. (They had started the demo, which is why there are no doors or shelves in the closet to the left, and there are a few tiles missing on the wall.)

Here's what the new kitchen looks like as of a night or two ago. (Ignore the paper they put down on the floor, it's there to protect the new flooring while they're working.)

Another kitchen view.

The dining room and built-in cabinet (used to be same as the kitchen cabinets).

New bathroom.

New shower walls.

And of course, the broken sink.

The house was built in 1963 I believe, and had only one owner before we bought it in 2001. Their last big remodel was in about 1992. The only major remodel we had done to this area prior to the current project was the flooring: They had carpet in the dining room and linoleum in the kitchen, and we replaced that with a wood laminate flooring. The current project involved removing a wall at the far end of the kitchen to extend it into the room beyond, so the place was pretty much stripped down to the studs so they could rewire, re-plumb, bring it up to code, etc.

It was originally supposed to be done a week from today, but then got pushed back to 2 weeks from today. But now with the latest sink problems, it may get pushed back another week. We've been without a kitchen or a full bathroom for almost 2 months now. What I wouldn't give for a functioning shower...

Kyle · Post by **Kyle** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 1:55 pm

Wow. The cabinets are freaking awesome and a HUGE improvement. But all of that said, that change to the bathroom and shower is crazy amazing. I love the tile a ton.

Are you keeping the old laminate flooring, I actually think it looked pretty good in the before photo- and in fairly good shape.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:27 pm

That SHOWER!!!! All of it is good but the shower is Art-level.
The broken sink OMG! How did they manage to break it THAT badly?!

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:28 pm

Did not keep the old flooring. It looked good from a distance, but there were quite a few chips taken out from dropped objects over the years, and scratches. One problem we had was that it was so smooth, the dog would slide around on it a lot, and if your shoes were wet from rain or snow, you would slip and slide on it. The new flooring has a bit of texture to it that should make that less problematic.

We're real happy with the tile in the bathroom. And with the paint colors. The kitchen is a gray-green with a hint of blue that really starts to assert itself after the sun goes down, while the bathroom is a gray-blue that is accented well by the accent tile on the shower wall.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:38 pm

The paint color is really nice - it's cooling of the warmth in the wood, but without making it feel Cold - a soothing tone. I'm not sure what you would name this color. It's almost a "seafoam" but more bluish than greenish. Love it.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 4:46 pm

The kitchen color is evergreen fog from Sherwin Williams. We actually were looking all over the place for the right shade of gray-green-blue that we wanted, and then stumbled on that when it was listed as the 2022 color of the year on SW's website and fell in love with it.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Fri Jan 21, 2022 7:47 pm

Ohhhhhhh it is THAT color! I did not realize though had seen the 2022 colors! It looks a lot nicer in your photos - it looks bluer, and maybe it's the contrast with the wood or your lighting, but you put it in the right spot.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sat Jan 22, 2022 5:09 am

The picture was taken in the evening, when it was darker, so the blue stands out a lot more in that darker light. During full afternoon sunlight, it's more green.

Tahlvin · Post by **Tahlvin** » Sat Jan 22, 2022 5:22 am

Tahlvin wrote: ↑Wed Jan 12, 2022 8:14 am We're a bit over halfway through a 2-month remodel of a large portion of our house (bathroom, kitchen, removing a wall to expand the kitchen, replacing flooring, replacing doors and trim). That has meant a lot of contractors coming and going, pounding and sanding, etc.). In addition to the general noise and inconvenience, I'm finding this also means we're having to replace or repair a number of unrelated things in the house. For example, the previously-seldom-used faucet in the basement utility sink, which is now where we wash our hair and do dishes, had the hot water handle strip because of overuse, so I had to replace the whole faucet. The workers unplugged our garage door opener in order to run their saws (our garage has just one outlet with two plugs, which are currently utilized by our temporarily relocated refrigerator and our garage door opener, so between the two they decided it would be best to unplug the garage door opener for an extended period of time). When it was plugged back in, the circuit board on the wall-mounted garage door opener fried, so I had to order and install a replacement for that. At least we could use the hand-held remote to work the garage door opener until the new wall-mounted unit arrived.

The latest SURPRISE GOTCHA was the handle on the storm door crapping out on us from over-use, with the door in the closed position. It seemed for an hour or so that the only way in or out of the house would be through the garage, and that replacing the latch mechanism would be a tricky exercise, since removing it requires that the door be open in order to access the screws needed to remove the mechanism. But thankfully, with a little finagling, I was able to get the latch to move just enough to open the door, then was able to remove the broken mechanism. Now we have a storm door with no handle or latch, but that can at least be pushed/pulled open and closed. And a new mechanism and handle should arrive in a week or so, hopefully.

Just wondering what the next big surprise will be!

The one thing I forgot was the pocket door for the closet in our entryway! The thing stopped working years ago when one of the plastic wheels on the track disintegrated due to age, so we always just left it open all the way. When we had tile flooring installed in the entryway about 9 years ago, the flooring guy installed the tile into the closet and in front of the pocket where the open door was, meaning there was no longer really enough room to close the door any more anyways. When the works started the demolition on this latest project, they decided to close the closet door in order to keep dust from getting all over the coats and everything in that closet. With the bad wheel and the tile affecting the height of the door on the track, the door became so stuck in the closed position that at one point, I couldn't even fit my fingers through the gap, and it wouldn't budget a bit. I had to take the trim and door frame apart and do some physical gymnastics (accompanied by vast amounts of verbal cursing) to get the door off the tracks and out of the pocket. And do you know how hard it is to find hardware that is compatible with the existing pocket door track that was installed almost 60 years ago?! The original manufacturer went out of business long ago. Thanks to the internet, I was able to track down one place in Missouri that cobbles together a few pieces from other manufacturers to get something as close to the original equipment as possible. Using that, and sawing a half-inch off the bottom of the door, and performing an additional round of physical and verbal gymnastics, I was able to get the door back onto the track and into the pocket, and get the door frame and trim back in place. So the good news is that we now have a working pocket door on our entryway closet after all these years.

I'd love to replace the entire pocket door track and mounting system with a soft-open and soft-close door, and replace the hollow-core door with a solid, six-panel door in order to match the rest of the doors we just had installed. But replacing the track on a pocket door will likely involve tearing a whole in the wall, which is plaster rather than drywall (the house is 60 years old, after all), so that's not something I'm keen on doing right now. Maybe at some point down the road...

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:24 am

Having repaired pocket doors multiple times in homes built 40 or 50 years ago, I completely feel your pain on this point! Your resolution was indeed great victory! Anything you can do to fix that monster without having to completely rip it out is a victory.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:03 am

Somehow, for some reason, Lee Min Ho owns and has been wearing around a sweatshirt that says "Nebraska", indicating either that he has traveled to the US and not just in places you would expect like Los Angeles and New York, or he knows somebody from a random place in the middle of the country, or something. Something is up. Is this why my husband has started doing the dishes religiously, in an unprecedented and shocking turn of events that has never before been seen in this life, because he knows that his extremely effective rival on this earth might not stay on the other side of it always?
I have to wonder.
I would like to observe that personality tests are totally bogus and so is astrology (approximately on the same level of bogus) but Lee Min Ho and my husband share the same personality type (according to his own words, although he seemed to be joking when he said it, which implies a healthy appreciation for how bogus personality tests are) and astrological profile, and I also happen to be watching at a snail's pace a show in which he plays the King of a parallel universe. Maybe it's not just a fictional show at all. Wait a minute, here's a new and disturbing thought: maybe I have a counterpart as well.

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:13 am

All of a sudden I find myself saying the phrase "I'm stoked", which is not something I have ever said before and I'd like to know why the heck this has happened, since it has been happening a couple times a day now!

Phoebe · Post by **Phoebe** » Mon Jan 24, 2022 2:45 pm

I drove for a long way behind a car that had multiple people inside, and I am convinced that they were trying to kill some type of unwanted vermin that was either crawling or flying around the cabin of the vehicle. I was puzzled because there are few vermin running about like that here at the moment, and I doubt it was a snake or something because it was on the ceiling at one point and they were all whapping at the ceiling with hands and shoes in a panic.
And then we arrived at a traffic light in a fortuitous position for observing that this vehicle was from Florida.
And I say: go straight back there and take whatever is in the car with you when you go.