@pique said in I think I could be in love....: road noise I suspect this is very hard to gauge without spending a lot of time inside the house, at different times of day. In the house we are in now, we originally weren’t even going to ask for a showing because we thought it would have a lot of road noise from the road on the side of the house, and our agent even cautioned us about the possibility of road noise. We decided to check it out anyway, and of course you know the ending because we bought the house. During the day, at the showings, we thought it wasn’t noisy, but the last house we owned ended up being noisier than we anticipated and we didn’t really like that, so we were still kind of worried and felt like we were taking a chance. But living here, road noise did indeed turn out to be a non-issue. I believe it’s a combination of the distance of the house from that road, the construction of the house, and the double-paned windows. Well that and this road doesn’t get as much traffic as I thought it did. But even if traffic increases (which it probably will), I don’t think noise will become an issue. Our last house had its original (60 year-old) single-pane windows, which I think was the biggest cause. So obviously a big concern about any house you’re considering should be the windows. Lastly the only thing I would say is if you are thinking you’re going to move to the other side of the country, don’t wait. Cross country moves are exhausting, and getting settled into a new community is hard. You don’t want to do that after your health or mobility has declined.

No photo? I refreshed and it showed up. Awwwww! What a cutie!

@Jodi said in Trump calls Maine Governor Janet Mills a man in a mistake ridden call…: Mills referred to Trump’s opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, in a brief retort on X: “He better get used to recognizing women. He’s about to get beat by one.”. Love it!!

my old-timer is outer

There were people laughing about it. I can find the clips. It became, "a thing." I'm staring death down in the face right now so I won't go looking for them. Maybe one day people will stop underestimating me by thinking I don't have reasons for what I post, and that I can't back up what I say. But it's been decades now. I won't hold my breath. There was a metaphor used in the old days, at the OCR, at TNCR, and here, expressed in the form of a question-- "Is this the hill you want to die on?" I will die on the hill of objecting to Israel's occupation, genocide, and aggression, and I won't feel badly about it for a split second.

@Mik said in More brave new world stuff: Terrible idea. I'm sure it can be done but hopefully will be outlawed. Makes me think of the bumper sticker current awhile ago that said "When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns." Making something illegal doesn't always prevent someone from doing it. Big Al

medicare.gov has the new Part D premiums available. Wellcare has a zero premium plan (Wellcare Value Script) available in Illinois. Zero or low premium plans are available from Wellcare in many states. Some discussion about it on Bogleheads: https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=438783

Never had squirrel but I’d give it a shot!

Well, if the Golden Owl is gone, there is always the Maltese Falcon ... https://www.guernseys.com/Guernseys New/images/pugliese_maltesefalcon.jpg

@DougG There are a couple of pics (two piece bathing suit, not exactly a bikini) from the trip I took to Italy in the late 1970s, but mercifully they are buried in a box somewhere in the basement.

It's an evil, insidious drug. This is its nature when it's not used by doctors in medically appropriate settings. It's being mixed with several street drugs. People end up having experiences they weren't prepared for or dying. I've never been a "just say no" type of person and I despise fentanyl.

Jon: yes in the cosmic sense I suppose. But that framing takes away agency from all the people who make conscious choices to violate the law and wreak social havoc.

That's hard to read. A lot of the people at the uni where I previously worked head up to that part of NC on their days off, and as soon as it was clear what had happened at Chimney Rock, my facebook feed started filling up with photos that friends had taken while visiting Chimney Rock. And not just there, but all through that area. It was once of the most beautiful places and the scope and severity of the destruction... It reminds me of photos and video of the tsunami in Japan. The power of water is almost unthinkable.

From the article: Tobener [a tenant's rights lawyer] also said evicted tenant should keep an eye on the property to see if the owner returns to renting within five years. "The damages for wrongful eviction if the landlord returns to the rental business without offering it back to this tenant will be in the multiple hundreds of thousands," he said. After their forced move, each unit will receive nearly $25,000 for re-location assistance. $25k relocation assistance for each evicted tenant plus legal protection to prevent property owners from gaming the Ellis Act. Seems fair to me. After all, if we value power rights we have to allow property owners to evict. If we want to guarantee "no homelessness" for everyone then let's all pay more taxes and collectively fund public housing.

@Mik We have a neighbor who picks up every single motorized kid car or scooter he sees put out at the curb as garbage. He can't put his cars in the garage because it's full of them. And his huge storage shed has the overflow. After he fixes them, his two kids ( ages 4 and 7) ride them up and down the block. The scooter is a howler and can go that 15 mph or more that you mentioned. I saw the seven year old on it last week. I guess the only saving grace is that the kids wear helmets.