June chitchat

[flatcap]

Yes, Bilbo was my roommate until a few years ago. I never new his exact age, but the vet estimated that he was 16.

I miss him a lot, but I don't think I will ever have another cat. I couldn't take care of one properly, and it's best that I not pretend that I could. It wouldn't be fair to the cat.

[agate]

I totally understand. I said that when a resident cat died some years ago but I have a terrible weakness for cats and agreed to take on an 8-year-old half-Himalayan who was too skittish to get along with the other cats in my son and DIL's household, and she was well worth knowing. I kept her until she died a few years ago but a number of times she'd have had far better care if someone more able-bodied had been in charge.

Since she died, I've steadfastly resisted any and all cats. It's sad but true that I just couldn't get an ailing cat to medical help fast enough and there would be times when the cat would need attention desperately but wouldn't get it. Also, vet bills are mighty high.

AND it's wrenching to watch a pet suffer and be unable to help. The stress would affect me so badly that I'd mess up the cat's care, do something stupid or clumsy--because that's the way I am when I'm the slightest bit tired.

[agate]

Virginia, I hope you won't mind if I mention that you haven't been heard from lately.... Inquiring minds....

[flatcap]

This is not in reference to Virginia's activity on the board, but I often look at Who's Online and either see screen names I recognize of people who are quiet and not posting, or other screen names I haven't seen before who are also tight-lipped. I have done the same thing myself. I was a lurker for a very long time before I signed up.

Now that I am here, I am trying to stay out of the shadows, but at the same time I don't want to make it seem like I want to take over the forum by posting at every whim of mine. I do wish there was more activity here.

It has been great to see soul hop in. I hope he keeps participating.

[flatcap]

I went looking for retro emoticons today and found this forum with a bunch of them: Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

All you have to do is right-click the emoticon and "Copy image address."

Then, you can paste the URL here in the image dialog box and post it.

Have fun.

[agate]

I clicked on "Copy image" for this.

And clicked on "Copy image address" for this one. Same.

[agate]

This is not in reference to Virginia's activity on the board, but I often look at Who's Online and either see screen names I recognize of people who are quiet and not posting, or other screen names I haven't seen before who are also tight-lipped. I have done the same thing myself. I was a lurker for a very long time before I signed up.

Now that I am here, I am trying to stay out of the shadows, but at the same time I don't want to make it seem like I want to take over the forum by posting at every whim of mine. I do wish there was more activity here.

It has been great to see soul hop in. I hope he keeps participating.

I often look at Who's Online too but it should be borne in mind that people who have opted to be in "invisible" mode won't show up in Who's Online. There could be hordes of (real) people here who aren't known about.

[flatcap]

I clicked on "Copy image" for this.

And clicked on "Copy image address" for this one. Same.

Thanks! I have a way of doing things like Rube Goldberg might, so it's good someone is watching out for it.

[Virginia]

I am around, but have had extremely busy week. Hopefully, I'll get back this weekend. Hello to everyone.

[agate]

There you are!

I was hoping you'd have some words of wisdom on the subject of ironing boards but my post about it probably came along when you weren't here.

I went ahead and bought a pricey ironing board because I was just having too much trouble handling my old one. It's been a problem for years, and I don't know why it never occurred to me that there just might be smaller, lighter-weight ironing boards out there.

So now I have one. It came today, and I put it through its paces. I now understand part of the reason for the high price. Their design has been improved, and they're now safer than before.

This one came with an iron rest. In fact most ironing boards seem to have them now. I didn't want one because I had had one years ago and disliked it so much that I removed it. But this new one is better. The iron sits at an angle down inside it so it can't possibly be tipped off. And it's possible to hang clothes hangers from the iron rest too.

I'm very thrilled with this ironing board. I had to take the old one out to the "free table" that this building has once a month, and that was a project. I went into the supply room and got the dolly out and put it on the dolly and carted it, along with my rollator, to the community room where the free table is. This caused some comment among passersby because I was steering the dolly with my right hand and hanging onto the rollator with my left. Very odd sight, I'm sure, but with this walking boot on one foot, I'm just not stable enough to get along without the rollator when doing a tricky balancing act with an ironing board.

But I was so very lucky from then on. A neighbor helped me with the transport job--she was Ukrainian and didn't speak much English but we communicated. Another neighbor came along who wanted the ironing board right away. She is a Romanian lady who used to live next door to me, and she's very nice. I was particularly glad that she got the ironing board because she seemed so happy to have it. It was basically in good shape--just not right for me any more.

So that is my update on the ironing board saga. Probably nobody here goes near an ironing board, and so this has been a really boring story. Many people tell me they never iron anything. I seem to live in some ancient time.

Speaking of ancient time, is everyone aware that a new dinosaur has just been found? Kind of impressive-looking if you like spiky critters:

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register...

[flatcap]

On a literally related topic, ankylosaurs were among the most heavily armored dinosaurs, if not the most. Apple TV+ did a series called Prehistoric Planet covering dinosaurs, posted excerpts from it on YouTube, and put them in a playlist (fifteen ~5-minute videos). The narrator was David Attenborough. The first excerpt is on ankylosaurus.

Only registered and activated users can see links., Click Here To Register... on YouTube.

Enjoy.


ETA: Congrats on your new ironing board!

[Ikoiko]

I haven’t ironed anything in more than 30 years.

[flatcap]

I hadn't thought of that until you mentioned it. I believe that last time I ironed a shirt — I don't think I ever ironed anything else — was when I was in high school more than fifty years ago. I wonder what the record is.

[Virginia]

Agate, I might just have to look into that lighter weight ironing board. Mine is old and works fine, but I am sure a little smaller version would be an incentive to not let my ironing stack up. I just always change the cover and hadn't thought of looking at new ones.

Ikoiko doesn't have to worry about ironing since her bf does it for her. Makes me think of Ann and Peter. I wonder if that is still his happy place.

[agate]

Ah, you non-ironers! I actually don't mind ironing and find that many of my clothes need ironing--not just a need for a touchup but seriously wrinkled clothes emerging from the laundry even though I smooth them out and hang them up promptly so as to cut down on ironing.

flatcap, if you've ironed men's shirts, you can iron anything else. I recall learning to iron men's shirts from my mother so that I could take over the task of ironing my father's shirts. Far more involved than most other ironing.

Ikoiko, congratulations on getting out of ironing for so long. But think of the joy of seeing those wrinkles get smoothed out! And of hanging up a bunch of freshly ironed garments all ready to wear!