Donstar

"Do you follow politics?" My hygienist asked me this while he was scaling my teeth yesterday morning. I thought this question was very outdated. It once was a common question used to initiate a conversation but now belongs in the realm of, "Do you own a cell phone?" I could argue over the word "follow" being an unvoluntary or voluntary act but I doubt you will find anyone unable to have a current political opinion. Besides, who the he** asks a question like this when the person you're asking has your hands in his mouth??? I understand the desire to communicate but please keep the discussion where a grunt or a nod will suffice as a response! At least when my hair cutter talks about her ex and current boyfriends I am entertained!

I agree^^. Adolescence is a time of preparing for independence. Delaying this transition will be problematic for the child and parent. However, there is no guarantee a child will successfully navigate adolescence no matter how we parent. Most of us know an older couple who are housing a 30+ year old child in their basement/upper floor. These situations are typically financial arrangements to "help" the offspring. (There are multi-generational arrangements that are beneficial to all but theses situations are not that.) One of our 40+ year old children thinks help and money are synonymous and the bank of mum & dad is a lifelong resource. We will never succumb to the temptation to "take-care" of this child through sharing our home. Doing so doesn't help anyone.

Next door live two teens, 16 & 18. Soon after we moved into this house twelve years ago, we became ex-officio grandparents to these two. This past weekend we were asked to write a character reference letter for the eldest who is preparing for college. This request had us reflecting over this individual's history from the ages of 6 -18. S/he is a very nice individual and we had plenty of good to write about. What surprises us is the "not so good" stuff both of these children have missed. They were homeschooled by helicopter parents and their best friends are mum & dad. My wife and I had loving parents but our respective 6-18 years are riddled with lifelong lessons learned on our own and/or "the hard way". We don't know what we don't know but I feel sorry for children who are overly protected. The teen years are when poor choices often serve as valuable forgivable, never to be forgotten, lessons!

Unfortunately we're experiencing a shortage of Doctors and not everyone who wants a family physician can find one. This is a significant problem in less populated regions. I agree that you need to tell your Doctor if you're afraid of a particular test or procedure. Often, there are other ways to get the results they need.

We also have smaller walk-in clinics and hospital emergency rooms being heavily used by people who don't have a family doctor. Most people use these services for good reason even though their symptoms may appear insignificant. I come from a family of hard-asses who wait until there's blood or disfigurement before they'll see a Doctor. I would far rather be told I have nothing to worry about than I should have come in earlier. I had a brother, sister and sister-in-law who left their families to mourn unexpectedly and prematurely from dismissing warning signs. I get very testy when my senior friends say they're not feeling well but haven't told a medical professional. Your symptom may be warning you of something other than what you suspect. Also, Google can provide all sorts of ideas but can't replace in-person medical attention.

Wednesday night we had to make a visit to the ER. (We are ok) We spent close to three hours in wait time. What a place to people watch! When it was our turn, we were treated as if we were the Doctor's only patient yet s/he would have dealt with dozens of others before and after our visit. I can't imagine how ER staff can live a normal life after a shift. You need super human qualities to function in such an environment and it's definitely not for the paycheck!

Yes, the use is stated in the name.

My outside garage door opener quit the same week as my smoke alarm. I ordered a new one from amazon that appeared identical to the one I wanted to replace. When it arrived, I was disappointed to find that the new one was battery operated. Today I was going to return it and get one that was hardwired. This morning I woke up wondering if I made a wrong assumption. As soon as it was light out I went and removed the cover from the old keypad. I was surprised to find a no-name 9V battery on the inside. I put in a fresh battery and the control works as good as new. We have lived in this house for 11 years and use this point of entry on a regular basis. The house was 4 years old when we moved in so I suspect this battery lasted 15 years!

What about that annoying person who tries to tell you your door is a jar???

At first, I was wondering why this appeared on the Joke thread... then I chuckled. We elevate an activity or "technique" by giving it a name we have to look up. As kids, one of the first words we independently looked up in our hard copy dictionaries was "flatulate". Seeing the words fart or anus in print would bring chuckles. When you dove deeper, and searched the word anus, you stumbled upon words often used to describe a person, place or thing in language everyone understands.

There are some things I analyze in nauseating detail. My wife will automatically recoil when i open my mouth on certain topics. There are a few members on this thread who are undoubtably forbidden to mention the word "oil" in their homes! Here, ****** is definitely the root word of analysis

I pushed the test button on my new smoke alarm while Star(dog) was out for a stroll with her mum. Our canine companion will probably have heart failure if she ever hears the new alarm/voice combo in the middle of the night! She is in her senior years and will not experience this alarm's 10th birthday celebration! My wife and I also appreciate we'll be on the plus side of the average life expectancy charts and used this opportunity to share more of how we do our respective household tasks. Our 5 decades together have found us each with preferred household responsibilities. I believe we share the workload evenly but it is surprising how traditional our division of labour has evolved!

A couple of nights ago we awoke to our smoke alarm chirping every thirty seconds. It was telling us 10 years have passed since I replaced the last one. My dog forgot this happened before and that there was nothing to fear! She shook and panted until I restored order in her kingdom! It took a bit to get a ladder, remove the alarm and put it somewhere where the dog couldn't hear it. (They are simple to silence when you know how but that was a project for the morning!) Today, I installed a new 10 year alarm and showed my wife how to silence the beast in case I'm not here next time!

"Keep the air moving," is often heard from me even living in the PNW.

Being a landlord is tough. I rented out houses and rooms over the years with varied success. Most will vacate leaving the place as good as expected but some will leave you with a disgusting mess or with significant remediation costs. "Damage deposits" don't always cover the cleanup costs. The two middle aged children mentioned above living with their parents are slobs. Even sharing DNA with the landlords doesn't guarantee a good tenant!

We recently had an old couple move out of our neighbourhood into a seniors' home. They had an adult 40 or 50 year old son living with them. She (the mum) passed a week after the move. Rumor has it that this offspring was not nice to his parents and was a major financial burden on them throughout their senior years. I know of two other similar situations where middle aged children are living in mum & dad's spare room. I also suspect we have a middle aged child who would like to move in and be taken care of by mummy and daddy but this will never happen. I understand why and how parents succumb to this pressure. We hate to hear/see our children suffer and we have all seen disturbing images of homeless people. However, such arrangements do nothing to motivate the "child" to succeed. At best, success/failure of your child will be postponed. BTW We met our new neighbours who moved into the house vacated by the old couple. They are a recently retired couple in their 60's as well as their 34 year old son......

I like Elsbeth, Matlock(new version) and Hudson & Rex. They are light, entertaining detective stories that are easy on the brain.

Yesterday I received an email from a close relative that was not intended for me. I read some of it before realizing the mistake. It was a nasty letter from a man responding to a an ex spouse. Once I realized that it wasn't me under attack, I felt sick that two people I loved would treat each other with such disrespect. Except for a couple of high-school upsets, I've never had an "ex" but understand separation/divorce is an exceptionally emotional event. But, I don't believe I'd ever put such dirty laundry in writing. We all say things verbally in the heat of the moment that later we regret and try to diminish. Good luck when your partner has it in writing! My wife and I have a relationship spanning over half a century and we have pictures and letters reminding us of highlights we've shared. I admit we've had some heated verbal exchanges over this span of time but we certainly don't have memorabilia of such events!

I've had my cell # since '99. Boomers have witnessed tremendous growth in technology in their lifetime. It boggles my mind to think what my grandchildren will have to reflect on when they are in their senior years! Up until yesterday, my phone plan included 1GB of data per month. It wasn't that long ago when only a small faction of this limit would be used by the end of the month but is now inadequate. I added 10GB and am confident this will be insufficient in a short period of time. I suspect that soon free, unlimited connectivity will available for those of us fortunate enough to have such a luxury as a personal phone. People unable to afford one are at a disadvantage as a personal phone is close to a basic necessity, imo.

Medical sensation: Californian surgeons successfully separate teenager from smartphone for the first time.