CHIT CHAT in VOLTVILLE

[Tail11]

Awsum - looks good!

Rabbit - I live in the foreclosure capital of the country. We were on the top for quite some time. The housing prices always go up around us in the surrounding cities, but good old Stockton always brings up the rear. At the height of the housing frenzy, I would have gotten close to 450K for my home. Now, I'd be lucky to sell it for what my original purchase price was. So, for me I still have a little equity in my home but not a lot. I feel your pain, believe me.

One of the reasons why my home was burglarized was because they used the foreclosure next door to me as a staging area. If any of you have a foreclosure next to you, always be vigilant about security. buy an alarm system!

Lizzie - you make me so tired with all your accomplishments!

DW - I love that picture of the squirrel! I used to love to sit on my parents patio and watch the squirrels run up and down the trees. In the winter, my dad would fill the bird feeder every day to feed the squirrels and the birds. He agreed that they needed food too.

I'm going to try to get outside the house today. The most I've been out was to roll the garbage carts out last evening. I haven't even checked my mail! I want to take Whisper to the park for some fresh air and for us and for me to get up and walk around a bit.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

 

[awsum140]

Real estate used to be, and I stress "used to be", a safe investment or so the general line of thinking is. I guess I'm too pragmatic about it. When you add in the taxes paid, improvements made, maintenance performed and all the other little things you do to a house you own and live in, there is hardly any, if any, true profit on the investment. Real estate as a commodity can be profitable, but it is no different than stock, and that is legalized gambling, buy low and sell high.

We bought our house as a foreclosure for well under market value at the time. Now, it's dropped 25% from our purchase price. We're not "underwater" by any stretch, but it is discouraging to see what is happening with real estate and the economy as a whole. The unemployment report that came out today looks really good, until you find out that over 200,000 of those jobs that were added are all part time - as in less than 27 hours per week to avoid "Affordable Care Act" requirements. The law of unintended consequences continues to rule.

 

[SandySu]

I just got back from visiting Penny. I let her out on the lawn to graze while I did another extensive grooming. Lots of hair came out, of course, but she's looking pretty shedded-out on her shoulders.

I took a cut-up carrot for her, and she ate a few pieces, but she isn't as thrilled by carrots when all that grass is in front of her nose, so after I finished with Penny, I took the few pieces I had left into the pasture for her pasture mates. They are all hard to catch to one degree or another, though Ali, the little Appaloosa mare, is pretty reasonable about it. If I just look in Wrangler's direction, he leaves. Flame, a chestnut Arabian gelding, is interested but not sure. Last Friday, he gave the barn owner an awful time trying to catch him, so I decided I'd make a sort of project out of getting him easier to catch. This is a "sort of" project, not a real project, because I'm doing it informally, don't really care if I succeed, and no one knows I'm doing it. So the other day when I visited Penny, I went out to her pasture with the leftover carrot pieces and asked the others, "Who wants carrots?" Wrangler, a black & white pinto gelding looked interested, but when I extended my hand with the carrot in it, he ducked away, and Flame hesitatingly came up. He stood, sort of wild-eyed, with nostrils extended, thinking about the carrot. Finally, he took it. I had another piece, and this one I held closer to my body so he had to be nearer to me to get it. Finally he took that one. I reached up to pet his neck, and he dodged away, but then he let me pet his rump. I said "Good boy" and walked out of the pasture. That was Wednesday.

So today, I went into the pasture and asked, "Who wants carrots?" Wrangler left. Flame looked hesitant, but he was thinking about it. Ali came right over and took the carrot and let me pet her. I made a big fuss over her. I still had one other carrot piece, and I offered it to Flame, but while he stood thinking about it, Ali moved in and the carrot was gone! Flame looked really sad. I told him I was sorry, but he has to move faster, if he wants a carrot. While I was fussing over Ali, Flame looked speculatively on. Then I went over to Flame, who wouldn't let me pet him again but I petted his rump, and this time I ran my hands up onto his back, rubbing and shedding out loose hair, which must have felt good. He let me pet his neck, so I went to his other side and did it there. He was unsure of that at first, but when he saw I was just petting him, he relaxed. When I left today, he stood looking at me over the fence with a considering look in his eye, as if he was thinking hard about what went on. I notice Arabians do that. They really like to think about things, watch and see what happens, etc.

I'm making headway with Flame, but the true test will be, after he's comfortable with me touching him, to get a halter and lead on him. At that point, I think he'll take a step back in his progress. We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll take a currycomb out to the pasture and groom him a bit. I think he'd like that, since he's shedding. If not, I bet Ali would enjoy it, and Flame can look on and think about it.

In the car on the way home, I heard the most extraordinary music. I'll share, though many of you may not like it. It sounds sort of operatic, but I'm not real fond of opera, and this piece really got to me. It's also modern-sounding, and I'm usually not too fond of all those dissonances, but this one, again, is an exception. After the piece ended, the announcer said the composer was just 19 years old when she composed it. She was a child music prodigy and came from a musical family. I never heard of her before and didn't even know how to spell her name. It's Boulanger, but in French that end is like A, so was it Boulangé, Boulanget, or Boulanger? How do you tell? I can't hear any difference in pronunciation, though maybe there's a subtle difference I can't detect. Anyway, here's the music.

 

[marlou]

Or you can order it from Amazon, along with practically anything else in the world you can think of to buy. But look how much it costs! Shopping around might turn up a cheaper venue, but watch out when you compare prices that you consider shipping costs. Here it is on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Nescafe-Classic-Frappe-Instant-Coffee/dp/B009JRBW7U

I'd give it a try if I could just order a cup in a Greek restaurant and not have to buy a whole can of it just to see if I like it.

I found a 200g can (7.05 oz.) for $14.68 on Amazon and ordered it. I have Prime so the shipping was free. While in Greece I drank their iced coffee and loved it. Hope this is the same thing.

 

[SandySu]

I found a 200g can (7.05 oz.) for $14.68 on Amazon and ordered it. I have Prime so the shipping was free. While in Greece I drank their iced coffee and loved it. Hope this is the same thing.

I think, as Kon said, you have to make it right. Maybe he can give you some guidelines, but this article -- Frappé coffee - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -- mentions a couple of ways to do it.

 

[White Rabbit]

Housing down, Stock Market Record UP,UP,UP The market is really a scarey place to be right now (my opinion only), rembering 2008, but the pundants seem to think we are in the beginning of a spectactular market considering that recession in Europe has bottomed and their economies are rebounding as is ours. A lot of today's rally was from traders who were shorting stocks and when the market started strong, they had to cover their positions and get out. Whether a true rally is starting who knows. I play this game every morning and it is becoming harder every day to make real money. Still loosing my shirt in Apple, but it is coming back slowly.

Got some Vape mail today, spending spending spending. This vaping thing is an expensive but enjoyable hobby. Got a free sample of bannna cream along with my normal flavors and more nic juice.

 

[awsum140]

Stock market = BUBBLE

 

[Konstantine]

I found a 200g can (7.05 oz.) for $14.68 on Amazon and ordered it. I have Prime so the shipping was free. While in Greece I drank their iced coffee and loved it. Hope this is the same thing.

When it arrives i'll give you instructions.

 

[White Rabbit]

Stock market = BUBBLE

Supposedly "experts" are saying maybe not. Previous bubble included housing and lots of individual investors plowing tons of dollars into the market. Now housing is not a bubble factor, the economy is slowly improving (world wide) as are company profits. Stock valuations are still fairly low, and most of the market volume is from hedge funds, traders, and mutual fund managers, not individual investors who have billions sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what happens. Your true bubble will be when individual investors push stock prices and valuations to levels we saw in 2007. At the previous market peak, most funds and investors were 90 to 100% invested. That is the time to get out. That being said, it is speculative to make a call that individual investors are now ready to push the market higher. Once burned twice warry. Personally I am hedging my bets and keeping somewhat liquid at this time.

 

[awsum140]

I'm calling it a bubble because the interest rate is so low in other investment areas that ALL the investment money is moving into the stock market. When the interest rates rise again, as the inevitably will, the market will fall as the money move back out. It's just a question of when that happens based on how long the Fed keeps printing more money. That isn't to say that money can't be made short term, but investing in the market for the long haul is a very risky strategy right now.

 

[White Rabbit]

Israeli War Planes Bomb Syria I guess Mr. O got our surrogate to do our job, but no doubt we will be blamed again.

While I was watching this news, I was multitasking and reading about a Vamo that almost blew up due to juice dripping from the drip well onto the circuit board. I finally decided it was time to do the O ring fix and after about 1/2 hour of carefully pulling up the positive post, I put on a new O ring. BUT found it was just too much, so I had to pull it out again and remove the old ring, reinstall the new O ring and push everything back down into the body of the Vamo. Everything went OK but it is tedious work. I violated my own advice in fixing something that was not yet broken, but now I hope I don't have to worry about it.

 

[SandySu]

Good night, everyone. Another spring picture for the evening.

 

[Renolizzie]

Good Morning, Volties.

Cafe Verona coffee is on.

War - so depressing. Hope we don't get into another one.

The economy - so depressing.

Oh well, life goes on

Hubby is home today and we are going to work together to get some stuff done around here. Looking forward to having some help and my handsome man home for the weekend.

On the list, planting potatoes. He can operate the shovel and I can put the potatoes in the ground and cover them up.

On a lighter note, our first hummingbird has arrived. I'm sure it is a black chin. I mixed up some sugar water, cooled it with ice cubes and got it hung up just before dark so he could have a sip or two before he sent to bed. I see he is out here this morning.

 

[Konstantine]

Don't count on it!

 

[abracadebra]

Speaking of furry friends... did you find that unexpected houseguest that Alice brought in? Is it still missing in action?

lizard was found dead...next issue, I saw alice playing with something in the yard...it was a snake skin...found the rest of the skin in the garden shed...there a 6ft plus carpet snake ..found out its feasting on the chickens next door....alice could be next on the menu...

 

[awsum140]

Thanks for the coffee, Lizzie! A second cup (actually a third) after paying my bills went really well!

Yeah, the economy is depressing and so is war. We, in the general sense, do have some control of sorts over the economy, but outside forces influence war such that it sometimes cannot be avoided.

Bo is having real problems with his left front leg. Last night he fell when he went to bed, it seemed to give out on him. Our regular vet hasn't proved very insightful about what might be going on and he's getting worse in spite of muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories. I'll be calling another vet later today that we used when he ended up having his spleen removed. They are, in my opinion anyway, the best around but they are more of an emergency/trauma specialty place rather than a "regular" vet. Hopefully, we can get him in this afternoon and get a real diagnosis.

 

[JoAnnW]

Good morning everyone. Thanks for the coffee Lizzie. It goes so well with my RY4. Nothing else satisfies me for the first vape of the day.

Wow! Hummingbirds in the garden! How cool is that.

My Spanky had his bath yesterday and now I must say there really is a cute little Cavalier under all that stuff. He loves his groomer and gets so excited when we pull into the parking lot. It had been 3 months since his last visit and she said he is the only dog that she does that actually goes to sleep during his bath and hates when its finished.

I felt pretty good when she said I had already done most of the deshedding so she mainly just had to trim and shape his coat. Now thankfully he won't be dragging stuff in the house after our walk.

Sandy. You should enter SI's "May Flowers contest" with all your beautiful flower photos. Share them with the rest of ECF!

 

[SandySu]

lizard was found dead...next issue, I saw alice playing with something in the yard...it was a snake skin...found the rest of the skin in the garden shed...there a 6ft plus carpet snake ..found out its feasting on the chickens next door....alice could be next on the menu...

What are you and/or the next-door neighbor going to do about the snake? I assume someone will kill it to save the rest of the chickens, if not Alice, too.

 

[JoAnnW]

lizard was found dead...next issue, I saw alice playing with something in the yard...it was a snake skin...found the rest of the skin in the garden shed...there a 6ft plus carpet snake ..found out its feasting on the chickens next door....alice could be next on the menu...

OMG! 8-o I certainly hope that doesn't happen! Alice is too quick for that... At least I certainly hope so...

 

[SandySu]

Thanks for the coffee, Lizzie! A second cup (actually a third) after paying my bills went really well!

Yeah, the economy is depressing and so is war. We, in the general sense, do have some control of sorts over the economy, but outside forces influence war such that it sometimes cannot be avoided.

Bo is having real problems with his left front leg. Last night he fell when he went to bed, it seemed to give out on him. Our regular vet hasn't proved very insightful about what might be going on and he's getting worse in spite of muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories. I'll be calling another vet later today that we used when he ended up having his spleen removed. They are, in my opinion anyway, the best around but they are more of an emergency/trauma specialty place rather than a "regular" vet. Hopefully, we can get him in this afternoon and get a real diagnosis.

I hope Bo's leg problem can be diagnosed and treated successfully. Sending vibes.