Octopus Overlords

My wife had a kennel when she was single. She would save the pups placentas in the freezer to feed new mothers as it helps them get started making milk.
One day she had a friend staying over who thought it was breakfast sausage and cooked it up and ate it with some eggs. Never knew .

Lol.

Plus, gross.

And that's when dbt had the idea to open the Mountaintop Diner/Birthing Center....

Man, that's hard to follow. How about knowing that 25 years ago this week, Dookie was released? Twenty-five-years ago. I mean, really.

Still a great album. Ive seen a lot of stuff 25 years old lately. It seems a blink to me unless I sit and study on it. 25 years. If only I could go back and do it all again. I miss Donna.

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Tue Jan 29, 2019 8:17 pm

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 29, 2019 3:10 pm Oh good. Another Windows update,more settings screwed up. I think I'm going to turn off auto updates.

Alas, that's easier said than done with Windows 10 (it typically involves either registry hacking or using the Group Policy Editor).

FWIW though, the free Windows Update MiniTool provides full manual control over Windows Updates even with Win 10 Home Edition, and allows you to choose exactly which updates you want installed.

Run, services.msc and find windows update, double click it and change it to manual.

I signed up for a Costco membership through work a few weeks ago. I thought this Saturday morning would be a good time to check out the store . Holy shit show! Lasted 5 minutes before walking out. At least I got my official membership card while I was there. I will go back on a Monday or Tuesday night.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 4:16 pm

Anonymous Bosch wrote: ↑Tue Jan 29, 2019 8:17 pm

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Tue Jan 29, 2019 3:10 pm Oh good. Another Windows update,more settings screwed up. I think I'm going to turn off auto updates.

Alas, that's easier said than done with Windows 10 (it typically involves either registry hacking or using the Group Policy Editor).

FWIW though, the free Windows Update MiniTool provides full manual control over Windows Updates even with Win 10 Home Edition, and allows you to choose exactly which updates you want installed.

Run, services.msc and find windows update, double click it and change it to manual.

That's no longer sufficient; one of the major Windows 10 upgrades made sure that Windows 10 re-enables the wuauserv service on its own, even if you do try to disable it using the Windows Service Manager.

Besides, turning off OS updates completely will leave your system vulnerable to exploits and malware. Bear in mind, plenty of Windows updates do include important security updates to rectify such vulnerabilities. Which is why it's preferable to choose which updates you want installed rather than completely disabling OS updates altogether.

I plan on updating Windows but I want to do it on my time. The last three or four times it's screwed up my settings and never let me know it updated, just left me with screwed up settings.
Just looked at my settings again and they haven' changed.

dbt1949 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 03, 2019 1:40 am I plan on updating Windows but I want to do it on my time. The last three or four times it's screwed up my settings and never let me know it updated, just left me with screwed up settings.
Just looked at my settings again and they haven' changed.

Rest assured, I do understand your frustration. That's why I suggested using the free Windows Update MiniTool, as it provides precisely the sort of control over Windows Updates that you're after.

And if memory serves, your Windows Update service will be re-enabled when you next restart your system.

Something has happened to my back and I cannot get comfortable due to extreme pain. My back was out like always for 2 weeks before Donna had the stroke. It got better then semi slipped again. But after that my right hip has KILLED me. Its to the right of my spine right at the pelvis . Theres a knot there and its sore to the touch but it hurts deep into my bones.

It used to be on the left side. Even now when I lay in bed on my back my left leg is instant numb'ish. But now that pain I had on that side is twice as bad and on the right. Donna had this on both sides due to her disability. Her muscles on both sides were knots the size of hen eggs. Mine is not that bad but its all the time. Laying down, standing, walking, sitting. Im constantly moving and readjusting myself.

A year or so ago when it started on the left Donna said I must be feeling just a tad of what she has lived with. I dont know how she did it. Its driving me crazy. And no meds so everything is amplified. If my little wife could live with it I can too. But Im considering a doctor or a chiropractor. Both I cant afford. My primary doc wont take my QMB so theres a copay. Dont think a chiro will take medicare. Just more on top of more. Im not sure how much stacked on me I can handle.

Doctors can't fix bones out of place. All they can do at the most is give you pain medicine.
Go to a chiropractor.

Chiropractors aren't medical doctors. Sometimes their manipulations are beneficial, and sometimes they're harmful, especially if you have an underlying medical condition. Physical therapy is safer and more reliably effective, if your insurance covers that.

From what you've posted, it sounds like you physically have a bunch of things going on. You didn't (seemingly) tweak your back shoveling snow or aggravate a problem from your high school football years. Its really seems like you need to visit a doctor and get a full physical, particularly if you've been masking chronic symptoms of any number of things with opioid pain meds for years now. If, for example, I was experiencing full-leg numbness, you can bet your ass I'd be at the doctor pronto. That is not good. I know you know all this and you're likely going to disregard the advice, but I'm genuinely hoping you'll go.

Its money right now. I have medicare as usual and they gave me QMB which is great...but medicare only pays 80% and QMB should cover the rest. But our primary care won't take QMB...he wont even take new medicare..Im just lucky were ...I ....am grandfathered in. I dont see what good QMB is if no one takes it.

I really have to go to a eye doc too. Getting to where I cant read anything. Even tv at the foot of the bed. I have no idea who to see. I was thinking Walmart but have been told to stay away from anything but a dedicated eye place. Seems online that my local Pearle Vision gets high marks compared to Eyear Optical. But also money.

Tomorrow Im looking at nearly $800 for the estate lawyer simply to follow the will and have the home and land put in my name. So silly....and costly. His fee is $500 I think and clerks fee is like $200 or $250...again not sure. It could be a LOT worse though. Ive seen lawyers fees of thousands of dollars. And then I have to pay $200 to property tax. Its $400 but we get a discount. Donna was also mad about property tax. She'd say you buy bread you dont have to pay on it every year. I agree its tough when you are poor and on a fixed income. Even with a discount.

So both those and some other little things with the funeral and home saving will eat most of the donations away. Or my entire Feb check...however you wish to count it. Then I have to pay a fee to redraw the bankruptcy agreement. It never ends.

This sort of feeds into our other discussions regarding monthly income and ownership of the house you're currently in. If you have chronic medical conditions and can't go to the doctor because your financials are tied up elsewhere, does that make sense? I know you've been fixated on a cell phone or an OTA antenna, but if your legs go numb and/or your kidney fails, I'm going to suggest your problems are much larger than what phone you possess or whether or not you can channel surf. Call your sister. Go through options. Lean on family - that's what they're around for and I'm pretty sure they want to help you. It's not about finding money to get through this month. It's about figuring out long-term solutions.

Poor ergonomics likely contribute to your pain as well.

At least don't see a chiropractor without getting a medical workup first, and don't do it at all without a doctor's advice. There's a real risk that chiro would make things worse.

My Mother was an x-ray technician for over 40 years. She was very against chiropractors due to all the damage she saw them cause. She called them witch doctors.

Z-Corn wrote: ↑Sun Feb 03, 2019 5:40 pm My Mother was an x-ray technician for over 40 years. She was very against chiropractors due to all the damage she saw them cause. She called them witch doctors.

I was trying to be diplomatic, but I agree with your mother. They are risky, especially for someone with underlying medical issues. If scientific medicine couldn't help me I would try acupuncture before I would try a chiro.

Physical therapists, OTOH, can work wonders.

...and that isn't accounting for the chiropractors who do the 'holistic' stuff on top of it (which was part of chiropracty from the beginning - the spinal alignment is intended to improve 'energy flow' or some such nonsense.)

They screwed me up good. I don't think much of them.

Chiropractic never was scientific. They are relying on Congress and FDA somehow legitimized them a century ago. They're just fancy massagers with delusions of grandeur.

mori wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 9:13 pm I signed up for a Costco membership through work a few weeks ago. I thought this Saturday morning would be a good time to check out the store . Holy shit show! Lasted 5 minutes before walking out. At least I got my official membership card while I was there. I will go back on a Monday or Tuesday night.

The lines are usually horrible on weekends. Go EARLY morning if you can. With business membership, you get to go in an hour before the general public membership.

In a rare move for me I watched the Superbowl,commercials,and halftime show.
Everything was boring. I only saw two commercials I liked.
And I didn't care for the National Anthem or America the Beautiful arrangements either.
I should have stayed on my computer playing Farm Together.

I joined Costco last year because it got me a discount on a laptop. The discount was just a few bucks short of the membership cost. Me and Wife went one day, stood in line to get the ID card, had a cheap and crappy lunch (I'm sorry, but their hot dogs aren't all that, and Wife doesn't eat dogs anyway), and then braved the store itself. We ate many free samples to supplement the cheap and crappy lunch. An earnest and knowledgeable young man almost sold us new cellphones. We marveled at huge televisions. But we didn't buy anything. We agreed that we aren't Costco people and never went back.

I can see where it would appeal to someone who's still in their acquiring years. Wife buys everything online and I just don't buy anything.

FWIW, Costco does deliver... To businesses. Order packs and packs of chips, bottled water, that sort of stuff, and they'll being it to your door or loading dock.

With that said, if you buy stuff that can be stored, Costco prices are cheap on stuff like large pack of vitamins, or basically any of the Kirkland brands. I used to buy their jeans a lot, and drinking water. And sodas and stuff. And their groceries and meat aren't bad either. I used to go there for motor oil and coolant when I had a car. Their optical and hearing aide department, as well as their pharmacy may be worth cost of admission as well. Just what they save on hearing aide is enough for a membership and more. And if you don't have prescription insurance, their pharmacy is 1/3 rd cheaper than most places outside, IMHO.

Indeed, it's worth remembering the maximum markup you're likely to pay for anything purchased from Costco is a mere 15%. Which can be a significant moneysaver, as long as you don't get lulled into overbuying (e.g. in the state of California, you'd be hard-pressed to find gasoline available any cheaper than from Costco). So for basic household items like laundry detergent, paper towels, printer toner, and so on, you can save a serious chunk of change by buying from Costco.

Kraken wrote: ↑Mon Feb 04, 2019 2:57 am I joined Costco last year because it got me a discount on a laptop. The discount was just a few bucks short of the membership cost. Me and Wife went one day, stood in line to get the ID card, had a cheap and crappy lunch (I'm sorry, but their hot dogs aren't all that, and Wife doesn't eat dogs anyway), and then braved the store itself. We ate many free samples to supplement the cheap and crappy lunch. An earnest and knowledgeable young man almost sold us new cellphones. We marveled at huge televisions. But we didn't buy anything. We agreed that we aren't Costco people and never went back.

I can see where it would appeal to someone who's still in their acquiring years. Wife buys everything online and I just don't buy anything.

I don't care for their dogs. They used to have polish dogs and before that Italian Sausages. For a buckfiddy, I could not complain. My membership has since expired, band I can't warrant price, per se. I was going to renew because it was an excuse to go shopping with my parents one weekend day a month and any time I spend with them is time well spent and productive time spent with them so much the better. It's both productive and gives us something to do in common.

The things worth buying are very worth buying. Their rotisserie chicken is all that. When Folgers or Quaker Instant Oatmeal goes onsale no one else' prices compare. Our CostCo has a spinach artichoke dip that is the best and not only will it make you eat too many chips but you dollop of that shit on chili and <ooph> so good.

I'm told their tires prices are awesome too but mostly I just went for their monthly sale. You can't match their sale prices on the limited items they put on sale. You can pretty much sale shop for better deals on their day to day prices though and you can do it without having to buy in bulk.

There's one near us. The lot is always filled with assholes making traffic-blocking illegal turns and running the traffic light put in specifically for them. I have never gone.

There isn't one near us, which is a large reason that I never made the effort to shop there. It's located in a faraway big-box retail plantation that's plagued with chronically heavy traffic. Maybe I could save $20 a month by buying large quantities of paper products...if I could fit them in my Miata. It's just not worth the hassle, and we don't consume that much paper anyway. An 8-pack of paper towels will last 6 weeks.

I'm not trying to talk anybody else out of Costco. If it's convenient and saving you money, go for it. It just doesn't work for me.

We don't have one. But then this is the home of Wal Mart.

I went back Monday night and it was not too bad. They tried to sell me on a Direct TV package through Costco but I declined. I think I now have enough laundry detergent to last me 5 years. Bought a humidifier as well and a few other dry goods that I had a need. I can see TP and paper towels will come from there in the future. Stayed away from the groceries this time except I bought some mochi ice cream. I did observe they had a nice selection of briskets for when I get the smoker out in the spring.

mori wrote: ↑Tue Feb 05, 2019 7:10 pm I did observe they had a nice selection of briskets for when I get the smoker out in the spring.

I contemplated getting a membership for this same reason but then a Gordon Food Service outlet opened up down the street within walking distance and they sell nice packer briskets and full strip loins and all kinds of big chunks of meat.

Not that I would walk home with a big chunk of meat. I would take the bus for that.

Now that the four of us are living in a larger house with my in-laws, maybe we should consider Costco.

I'm learning that a six-person household is all about economy of scale.

Leaving for Cuba in a couple hours.

Local weather while we're gone.

Yeah. That'll work.

Stay away from your embassy.

coop, keep the family safe.

Runner's World

In Frisco, Texas, police have issued yet another alert for an aggressive coyote following another attack on a runner.

On January 29, a man was running in the area of Eldorado Parkway and Tangerine Lane at approximately 6:40 a.m. when a coyote emerged from vegetation and bit him.

The victim was able to fend off the coyote, and was transported by a family member to an area hospital where he was treated for minor injuries, according to the alert.

Between October 26 and December 17, there were five other coyote attacks, all along the same two-mile stretch of Frisco’s Eldorado Parkway. Similar to the most recent attack, they all involved a single coyote aggressively approaching a single person or pair in the early morning hours.

But the bar is set pretty high:

A man running along a trail in Colorado who was attacked by a young mountain lion this week managed to choke it to death and escape, state wildlife officials said.

The man, whose name has not been released by the authorities, sustained serious but non-life-threatening injuries in the attack and was “doing well considering his ordeal,” Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials said Tuesday on Twitter.

The body of the mountain lion, which officials said was less than a year old and weighed under 70 pounds, was found on the trail near some of the man’s possessions and was taken to a lab for examination.

I couldn't even choke my house cats to death without being hospitalized.

...not that I've tried, or anything.