What are you doing these days?

[BaileyB]

And, we are back in lockdown. For the next three weeks, but I think that’s optimistic. It’s pretty much expected that schools will switch to virtual learning next week. It could always be worse, but it feels like a blow tonight. At a time when vaccine is rolling out, it’s hard to believe that we are in a worse place then we were both last spring and last fall. 

My little niece is struggling. She made a competitive baseball team and they were just getting their season started - now everything is cancelled. My sister-in-law told me today that she really struggled last spring with no school and no sports. So - we’ve created a book club! I’m going to deliver a book to her tomorrow and we are both going to read the same book at the same time. We are then going to video chat every week and drink pop and eat snacks while we chat about the book and life. Hopefully it helps to pass the time and stay connected. 

Edited May 8, 2021 by BaileyB

[Gaeta]

@BaileyB: That sucks! Sorry to hear. We are ahead of our vaccination schedule, the 3rd wave has not hit us, that curfew at 8 pm really saved us. We are re-openning terraces June 1st.  The only cloud at the horizon is a week ago those 30K anti-mask people walking downtown with no masks of course. These people came from all over the Province then went back to infect again their region. Makes me so mad. 

[BaileyB]

^^^ Agree. We had a similar, smaller protest. It makes me really angry too. 

We currently have a case before the courts - seven churches are attempting to ask the court to dismiss public health measures that do not allow for larger church gathering size. That makes me angry - what a waste of time and resources.

[BaileyB]

And today, the schools moved to virtual learning. Happy Mother’s Day everyone!! 🤣🤣🤣

[Happy Lemming]

I just put my Evaporative Cooler back together for the summer.  I take it apart right before winter and bring the pumps inside, so they don't freeze and break.

I gave all of the parts a good cleaning and lubricated all of the bearings.  We've already hit 100 degrees once this year, so I needed to get ready for the summer heat.

[Happy Lemming]

I'm researching tankless hot water heaters, today.

My current (50 Gallon Tank) hot water heater is limping along on "life support" and isn't long for this world.  I'm thinking about replacing it with a "tankless hot water heater" sometimes called instant hot water heaters. 

I'm wondering if anyone on here has a tankless hot water heater and if they like it??  Pros vs. Cons??

Thank you in advance.

[basil67]

@Happy Lemming  If you're talking about the ones which are gas fired, we've got one and I love it.   Meets all my needs for washing, cooking, showering.

Cons:

1. The spark which kicks it into life is powered by electricity, so no hot water if you have a black out.

2. it's not great if you've only got a slow trickle of hot water going through.  Hubby tends to have luke warm showers in summer and the hot water flow isn't enough to keep it running faultlessly.  The rest of the family have never had an issue, just hubby and his blech showers. 

I'd highly recommend it.  

 

[Happy Lemming]

1 hour ago, basil67 said:

@Happy Lemming  If you're talking about the ones which are gas fired, we've got one and I love it.   Meets all my needs for washing, cooking, showering.

 

Thank you...

I don't have gas, so the one I'm looking at is powered by electricity, but it is basically the same as the gas fired one.

It is very rare that I lose power here, as the power lines are underground, here.  On the rare occasion I do lose power it is usually back on in an hour or so.

Glad you like it, I think I'm going to order the unit I'm looking at and try it. 

[Happy Lemming]

I dyed and cut my girlfriend's hair this afternoon.  I've done it before.

I'm actually getting quite good at it... I guess this is a "Pandemic Acquired" skill I now have.

[Lotsgoingon]

Tomorrow I'm going to my first indoor social in 15 months. Everyone has to be vaccinated, and it's a small group of people (and all the folks invited are highly pro-vaccine). Nevertheless, it shall be interesting. 

[Eternal Sunshine]

Just found out that our lockdown will extend for another week. Looks like another winter locked at home. It's beyond depressing, especially since I will be soon fully vaccinated but regardless, everything will be closed and I will waste another year of my life. If Australia keeps going with this complete lockdown and restricting movement to 5kms over handful of cases nonsense, I will seriously consider moving overseas.

I was so excited to start a new job in a few weeks, actually an on-site role. I already picked my outfits for the first week but it looks like it's back to WFH drudgery of pyjamas and endless days staring at the same walls.

[Woggle]

My state will be fully lifting the mask mandate after June 15th and we can't wait to just go out and breathe again.

[Angelle]

14 hours ago, Woggle said:

My state will be fully lifting the mask mandate after June 15th and we can't wait to just go out and breathe again.

Ours lifted today, but I'll still be wearing my mask, because I need to get vaccinated. I also don't trust a lot of people in my State, after the past year. 

[pepperbird2]

The kids here went back to school for in person classes. It's kind of a mess here right now. Last Friday it was announced that all students, except for two those in two areas ,would go back to in person classes and the rest would be online. that was the same messaging monday morning. On monday afternoon, suddenly all students are going back in person today (thursday) . Not much one can do about that except make the best of a confusing situation.
The weather is nice again, and were sitting at between 25 and 30 degrees celcius now. Patios have reopened, and everyone made a beeline for a chance to enjoy a meal out of the house. Students are hurting due to a lack of summer jobs, but there's hope that classes will be back in person in the fall.

[Gaeta]

On 6/3/2021 at 11:21 AM, pepperbird2 said:

 Students are hurting due to a lack of summer jobs

Send them our way. 

Terraces are now open, inside seating as well, bars, gyms. The problem is my Province suffers from a serious shortage of staff! 

[RecentChange]

My entire family, and my social circle has been fully vaccinated for at least a month now. 

It feels so good to be getting back to normal. We had people over for a BBQ  last weekend, so nice to see faces and share hugs again!

I am still masking in public places out of courtesy, but honestly ready to be DONE with it. Very few cases in our large county, and 75% have had at least one dose of vaccine. 

Otherwise, still thrilled with my pandemic job change, working from home has been lower stress and more productive. Not to mention a money saver. So far 2021 has been a breath of fresh air compared to 2020.

[jah526]

Finished binge watching all 7 seasons of Orange is the New Black. Now my life has no meaning. 😑

[Happy Lemming]

I just finished ripping out my old dying hot water heater and installing a new tankless unit.

I want to give a thank you to @basil67 for the heads up about the shower temperature.  I'm able to set the hot water temperature on this new unit and dial in the exact temperature "V" likes for her showers.  She gets a constant water flow at the exact temperature she likes without any fluctuation.

[Happy Lemming]

I just logged on and viewed my electricity usage from the first test of the new tankless hot water heater.  It uses significantly less electricity than my old tank hot water heater.

I'm really happy that I upgraded to that unit.

[jah526]

4 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

I just logged on and viewed my electricity usage from the first test of the new tankless hot water heater.  It uses significantly less electricity than my old tank hot water heater.

I'm really happy that I upgraded to that unit.

Do you find that it takes a long time for the water to heat up? It does for mine. I installed a potassium water softener last year because the water is so hard where I live. Took some getting used to, but now I don’t have to try to scrub off hard water stains everywhere.

[Happy Lemming]

2 hours ago, jah526 said:

Do you find that it takes a long time for the water to heat up? It does for mine. I installed a potassium water softener last year because the water is so hard where I live. Took some getting used to, but now I don’t have to try to scrub off hard water stains everywhere.

I found the "heat up" time similar to my old tank hot water heater.  It's a long run from the heater to either bathroom, so I was used to a "wait time" before jumping in the shower.

My water isn't that hard, but I can't use a water softener as it would foul the media/pad in the Evaporative Cooler (that I use to cool the house). 

I don't really have any problems with hard water stains.  I do like using "Bar Keepers Friend" cleanser for cleaning the bathrooms, maybe that keeps my stains to a minimum.

[hajk]

6 hours ago, Happy Lemming said:

I found the "heat up" time similar to my old tank hot water heater.  It's a long run from the heater to either bathroom, so I was used to a "wait time" before jumping in the shower.

@Happy Lemming we had similar "wait time" problem, so our friend installed a water pump to help speed up the hot water to our bathroom located about 30 ft away.  No more "wait time" or wasting clean water.

 

Edited June 20, 2021 by hajk

[Happy Lemming]

I'm going out (today) searching the thrift shops today for a piece of furniture that I can turn into a vanity for the guest bathroom.  I did this in the master bathroom.  I found a beautiful old entertainment center, cut off the top, covered it with marble and placed a drop-in sink in the center.  It came out both functional and beautiful. 

I have some leftover granite from my kitchen counter project that I can utilize (as a vanity countertop) in the guest bathroom.  I've already found the drop in sinks I want to use for this vanity, so I just need to find the right piece of furniture to modify.

[Happy Lemming]

I just finished cleaning the carpets.  It really is amazing how much dirt and dust accumulates (even with regular vacuuming).

I really didn't think the carpets were that dirty... until I emptied the dirty water tank on the carpet cleaner.

I've been on a cleaning kick lately, don't really know why... I guess I'm doing my Spring Cleaning in July.

[Happy Lemming]

I did some digging in my files this morning and started gathering up the required documents to get a "Real ID" (for domestic flights in the US).

In my state, it appears the deadline May 3, 2023.

My girlfriend and I are going to try to go down to our local Motor Vehicle Department to get this take care of (in the next two weeks).  We are looking forward to some trips in near future and would prefer to have this "Real ID" process behind us.