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[Jane]

mbarnum, in case you weren't joking HOUSE & MONEY VIBES!!!

[Jennifer]

It is very cold here today!  I think it is around -25C with wind chill. Not freezing. But not pleasant either!

[Druxy]

We woke up to find that we had no cold water in our master bathroom this morning.

Hopefully, once the temperature rises, it will thaw out...without any major damage.

 

~~~No Water Damage for DR Druxy!!~~~

Everything appears to be back to normal.  Faucets are running.  There appears to be no permanent damage.  [Fingers crossed.]

[Jennifer]

I really like shellfish. My favorite is lobster and shrimp. But I also like crab!

[JMK]

We're back from our second tour of La Mini-Manse .  We think we will make an offer.  It does have the troubling leak in the storeroom, but the listing agent is convinced it's the "water feature" in the front yard malfunctioning.  The kids really liked it, which is half the battle.  It turns out the house doesn't automatically come with the pool table and HDTV's, though the listing agent thought the sellers would be more than happy to leave them there.  That said, in making plans today we thought it made the most sense to have the pool table taken away and my grand piano can go in that space, which would have a view and be right next to the office.  I would like the one HDTV that is already mounted on the river rock fireplace to stay, so we'll leave that in as part of the offer.

[Jane]

We woke up to find that we had no cold water in our master bathroom this morning.

Hopefully, once the temperature rises, it will thaw out...without any major damage.

 

~~~No Water Damage for DR Druxy!!~~~

Everything appears to be back to normal.  Faucets are running.  There appears to be no permanent damage.  [Fingers crossed.]

good news.  they are probably fine.  i've had water freezer without permanent damage.  if tonight is as cold again, leave the tap dripping a wee bit so it doesn't freeze again.

[Jane]

We're back from our second tour of La Mini-Manse .  We think we will make an offer.  It does have the troubling leak in the storeroom, but the listing agent is convinced it's the "water feature" in the front yard malfunctioning.  The kids really liked it, which is half the battle.  It turns out the house doesn't automatically come with the pool table and HDTV's, though the listing agent thought the sellers would be more than happy to leave them there.  That said, in making plans today we thought it made the most sense to have the pool table taken away and my grand piano can go in that space, which would have a view and be right next to the office.  I would like the one HDTV that is already mounted on the river rock fireplace to stay, so we'll leave that in as part of the offer.

the boys aren't arguing for the pool table?  we had one in our basement when the kids were in high school.  it was nice because their friend like to go to our house to play.  in fact one night as we were going to bed, & both boys were still out, bryan's friend stopped by with a friend to play.  he had seen craig who told him it was ok & he would be home shortly, as would be bryan.  it was funny letting him in & going to bed, kind of nice too. 

[Jane]

From Jennifer:

do both of your insurances pay for most of the costs?

That is one very good thing about living in canada. Ambulance and hospital costs = 0.

Everyone’s insurance, if they have insurance, is different.  After I pay a fairly high deductible, and the procedure is approved, my insurance pays 70% of the bill.  If I use a medical provider within the insurance plan the bill is often reduced to an agreed amount.  The insurance companies have set amounts they will pay for different services & if a health provider takes the insured patient than they also agree to accept the payment plan.  After the accident I paid out so much in bills beyond my deductible that I reached a new level & several of my bills were 100% paid.

It is a new year & I have to pay everything until I reach my deductible.  I still get the discounted amount agreed between the health care provider & the insurance.  Sometimes they are the same amount or just a few dollars different.  Other times they are hundreds of dollars different.  The amount differences on some of the bills from this accident are way beyond anything I’ve seen before.  I have never been so grateful for the discount. 

[Jane]

Jennifer, do you have any control over which doctors you see?  I was very lucky I knew the reputation of the practice of the surgeon on call.  If I hadn’t wanted him to do the surgery I had the option to get someone else, not that that would have been easy under the circumstances.

[JoseSPiano]

Good Afternoon!

Well... I'm supposed to have dinner tonight at a semi-fancy restaurant in Chelsea tonight with some semi-fancy() people, so I'm going to start getting myself ready now.  I'm feeling much, much better than I did this morning, but still just a bit "cautious", so I want to take my time getting myself together.

Laters...

[bk]

JMK, having been to your lovely home, which is quite large, I have to finally ask the question what is this obsession with moving to so much larger quarters?

[Matt H.]

Is there an echo in here?

[Matt H.]

The day could look more beautiful or be colder for this part of the country. Barely got to 30! Brrr. I went outside to get the mail, and it was just chill-inducing. Went immediately into my bones, and I just shivered. And that took about five seconds.

[Matt H.]

Since I had the time, I went ahead and watched the remaining two episodes of THE MENTALIST so I could put that box set on the shelf. The first was about a murder at a troubled youth wildnerness camp. The murderer I remembered, but it always surprises me when he's identified.

[Matt H.]

And the the season finale was another Red John case with a blind woman hlding important keys to catching him and his accomplice. It was a satisfying end to the season, well, except for the final shooting which seemed very contrived.

[Matt H.]

I did watch the 30-minute making of documentary before putting the set away. Always enjoy hearing Simon Baker and Owain Yeoman talk in their natural accents.

[Matt H.]

I also had time to watch the first episode in season one of ROME on Blu-ray. Very enjoyable, and I just watched it straight through. There seem to be bonus threading documentaries attached to to the show which I'll investigate when I fire it up again later tonight.

After I complete my work project, of course.

[Ginny]

Back from my Mom's, where Rob and I packed up her computer and sewing machine for moving.  She'd saved the original boxes and all packing material for each and that made our job easy.  I'm getting very nervous (as is she) about fitting all her stuff into that studio apartment.  The furniture will be OK - my niece did a helpful scale floor plan - but all those boxes.  She only has 2 closets and not very many kitchen cupboards.

[Matt H.]

I'm going to head downstairs now to start work on my review project for today. Hopefully, I'll be finished by 8 and can watch more episodes of ROME (or something else if the mood strikes me).

WBBL.

[Jane]

Back from my Mom's, where Rob and I packed up her computer and sewing machine for moving.  She'd saved the original boxes and all packing material for each and that made our job easy.  I'm getting very nervous (as is she) about fitting all her stuff into that studio apartment.  The furniture will be OK - my niece did a helpful scale floor plan - but all those boxes.  She only has 2 closets and not very many kitchen cupboards.

i hope you don't end up storing many of these boxes.

[Jane]

we had a beautiful morning & now it is threatening rain as the temps cool down.  we had some drizzling while we were out walking.

[Ginny]

Back from my Mom's, where Rob and I packed up her computer and sewing machine for moving.  She'd saved the original boxes and all packing material for each and that made our job easy.  I'm getting very nervous (as is she) about fitting all her stuff into that studio apartment.  The furniture will be OK - my niece did a helpful scale floor plan - but all those boxes.  She only has 2 closets and not very many kitchen cupboards.

i hope you don't end up storing many of these boxes.

DR Jane - there is a very good possibility that we, at least, will store her big plastic storage bins that contain her Christmas decorations.

[Jane]

not bad if that is all you have to store.  GOOD LUCK!

[JMK]

JMK, having been to your lovely home, which is quite large, I have to finally ask the question what is this obsession with moving to so much larger quarters?

And I don't think you ever went downstairs, LOL.    It's not so much that we're actually out there looking for a much larger home, it's just that that's what has ended up appealing to us.  The reasons for wanting to move are manifold, including the mini-development of McMansions next door (which IIRC weren't here when you were), our semi-White Trash new neighbors, et al.  We do want the boys to finally have their own separate bedrooms and I wouldn't mind having a bit more space generally.

[Druxy]

I just finished watching THE SEARCHERS on DVD.  It's the 50th Anniversary edition and I viewed it on my 52" LCD TV.

I know that several of you, including BK, have criticized this transfer of the film, but I thought it looked terrific.

And, the movie is, of course, the best western that either Wayne or Ford ever made.

I'm not trying to throw down the gauntlet here, but what is wrong with the transfer?

[Jane]

jmk, how big is your current home?

[JMK]

jmk, how big is your current home?

A little over 2900 sf, but we basically just live on the one floor, so 1450+ of "everyday" space.

[Jane]

5,000 sq feet is a lot of home to take care of.  it would be nice, imho, if you found something closer to 3,400-4,000 sq. ft.  obviously it isn't out there & if this is your home i'm sure you will use the basement area.

[bk]

Throw down the gauntlet, baby.  The transfer, which is also on Blu-Ray, is VERY sharp and detailed, that part is great.  What's not great and what is, in fact, a travesty, is the color.  It's completely off and looks nothing like it should.  Skies are greenish instead of vivid Technicolor blue, and there's just way too much yellow in the transfer - everyone looks like they have jaundice.  You know you're in trouble right from the main titles, where the bricks are golden - they have never been golden EVER - they're grayish.  I have owned IB Tech prints of this film in 35mm and 16mm and I know exactly what it should look like.  When I was complaining about this loudly on every DVD board, someone who agreed with me put the images in Photoshop and took the yellow out of the transfer and added blue - that's all it took and we had a perfect image.  I posted those here back in the day. 

[bk]

I've written about five pages, and I'll probably write another three or so.  I'd intended to get all the writing done before dinner, but I had so many bloody interruptions, including having to read through and make notes on the new rewritten scenes of the long musical - they were really not good, and so that took a long time.  I had to proof the new release packaging (which I'll announce here this evening at midnight), and do a couple of errands and whatnot, as well as package up a bunch of orders.