WTF-Beta

@Daniel Not just in the US. Canada has a similar housing crisis. I bought our house in 2011 for $150,000. The (conservative) estimated value today is $450,000. Nothing about our neighbourhood has changed. No new services or anything that would have increased the property value.

My kid and his girlfriend pay $2400 a month to rent a small two bedroom apartment in a nearby small city/large town. That’s almost twice my mortgage payment, yet even if they could save up enough for a down payment (while also paying that ridiculous amount in rent), they would never be approved for a mortgage because paying rent does nothing for your credit score.

I’m really sorry you are going through all of this. Having mobility compromised for any reason is so hard and to experience that setback must feel so discouraging. I hope things get better soon!

I have had an on and off migraine for the past week. No idea if it’s related but the frequency is higher than normal.

I just finished The Time Traveller’s Passport (only available on Audible). It’s a collection of six short stories all related to time travel. I picked it up because one of my favourite authors (John Scalzi) wrote the first story. I absolutely loved three, liked two, and hated (DNF) one. Not bad for a short story collection!

I know that this pasta company is made in the US (and the ones I have had have been excellent!) I’m currently not buying from them because I’m trying to support non-US companies here in Canada, but it might be helpful to US based folks here: https://www.sfoglini.com/pages/contact-us

Phew!! I was really worried about this going the other way.

@wtg Thanks! We had our typical small family gathering. It was lovely! In the past I have taken a day off at US Thanksgiving so Rob and I could do something but the last few years it has fallen on parent teacher conferences so I haven’t done that. I just checked and they don’t conflict this year so I might have to revive that tradition!

The storm was supposed to miss us but the models have been all over the place so I’m not surprised that it’s been snowing all day. Not much accumulation though.

@Axtremus you might enjoy browsing https://thekidshouldseethis.com/

Got mine today (Moderna) So far just a slightly sore arm, but barely noticeable.

Shiro - for what it’s worth I had my flu shot last week when I was already trying to recover from a cold. No side effects other than a bit of a sore arm for a couple hours.

I haven’t had my new covid shot yet - I’ll probably go in later this week.

I just saw this on social media: Nobody adds a ballroom to a house they plan on leaving.

We use tangrams in my classroom as part of our spatial reasoning work in math. I have always struggled with spatial reasoning so some of the kids are better at it than me!

That sounds absolutely terrible and I’m sorry you are going through it.

I met her when I worked at a bookstore where she was doing a signing. She was absolutely lovely and gracious and spent far more time than she needed to chatting with all of the folks (like me) who worked there.

For what it’s worth I also wear Hanes quarter ankle socks (in women’s size) and love them. I order them from Amazon in packs of 10 pairs.

My recent favourite (within maybe the last 10 years) are ambrosia apples. But they don’t store terribly well so they are best in the fall.

@AdagioM said in The fruit detective:

@dolmansaxlil I guess that’s why I can now tolerate jalapeños!

Speaking of which, I’m enjoying the cilantro/lime/jalapeño dressing in this avocado blueberry quinoa salad.

That salad sounds delightful! Saved! We have a corn blueberry feta salad with mint that we eat frequently in the summer. I love the idea of adding some quinoa to add protein and bulk!

Shiro I have a Sperax brand walking pad that is also a vibration plate. While I haven’t used the vibration feature myself Rob did tonnes of research before we bought it and it is very well reviewed (and relatively inexpensive).

Mcintosh apples deserve it. They are my least favourite, alongside red delicious. I’m worried Mutsu are also going to go away though - they are the very best apple for pie.

The other disappearing produce I’ve noticed (in my neck of the woods) is yellow sweet corn. It has all been replaced with peaches and cream, which I don’t find as flavourful.

I recently listened to an episode of the Sporkful where they talked about jalapeños and whether they are getting less hot. The answer was yes, and it turns out it’s because they cultivated one that was very mild but very flavourful and had a consistent heat to use in commercial salsa, where they just add pure capsaicin to meet the desired heat level. But those jalapeños weren’t really meant for consumers. Of course because the demand for them is so high, eventually they became the only ones available in most grocery stores.