samhexum

Got my 2nd shot today, so I can go back into supermarkets 5/14... I placed (hopefully) my last delivery order yesterday for delivery next Thurs (5/6). With Peapod (Stop&Shop's delivery service) you earn $1 grocery dollar for every $100 you spend. For my last delivery, I had $4 or $5 in credits. When I tried to add them to my order I got a ‘can’t process now, try later’ message 3 times. When I checked later, they’d given me $15 off my order. I earned another dollar with that order, but when I began loading the cart for the new order yesterday, it again gave me $15 off, then another $1 off when I applied the grocery dollar I’d earned.

https://www.brownstoner.com/real-estate-market/clinton-hill-brooklyn-historic-homes-pfizer-mansion-280-washington-avenue-enter-contract/ After Years on market, Remarkable Pfizer Mansion Enters contract

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April 2 The White Sox's Yermin Mercedes went 5-for-5 and teammate Yoan Moncada went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. The only other time since 1900 that teammates had done that was June 4, 2009, when Toronto's Adam Lind went 5-for-5 and Alex Rios went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. Moncada missed by one game of joining ex-White Sox catcher Ron Karkovice as the only players to go 0-for-5 with five K's on Opening Day. April 3 The Dodgers' Zach McKinstry hit his first career home run, and it was an inside-the-park homer. In 1992, the first career homer by Butch Henry, a pitcher, was an inside-the-park homer for the Astros. It was the only home run of his career. McKinstry hit his second career homer on April 11. It went over the fence. Marlins reliever Zach Pop made his major league debut, pitching a scoreless sixth inning. His second baseman in that game was Jazz Chisholm, marking the first time that Jazz and Pop have appeared in the same game in major league history. April 4 The White Sox's batting order included three straight hitters with first names beginning with Y: Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Grandal, Yermin Mercedes. That was a first by any team since 1900. A's rookie outfielder Ka'ai Tom pitched in his team's fourth game of the year. Tom pitched a scoreless inning against the Astros, but he gave up a hit, meaning a position player gave up a hit before he got a hit in his major league career. Tom was 0-for-5 career at the time that he pitched. The only position player we could find after 1950 that did that was Red Sox catcher Dusty Brown, who in 2009 was 0-for-1 in his career when he pitched an inning on Oct. 3. Music and baseball connected in Philadelphia. The Braves started Ian Anderson, who has the same name as the lead singer of the band Jethro Tull. They also used reliever Chris Martin, who is the lead singer of Coldplay. April 5 The Tigers' Robbie Grossman became the first player since 1900 to draw eight walks and have no hits in the first four games of the season. Over the past 50 years, the only player to get more than eight walks before getting his first hit of the season was the Orioles' DJ Stewart, who had nine in 2020. April 6 Phillies reliever Vince Velasquez walked four, struck out four, gave up four earned runs and didn't allow a hit in 1⅓ innings against the Mets. That pitching line had never been accomplished by any pitcher since 1900: 1⅓-0-4-4-4-4. April 10 Angels shortstop Jose Iglesias made three errors (only the second time in his career that he made multiple errors in a game), struck out twice and grounded into a double play against the Blue Jays. Since GIDPs became official in both leagues in 1940, he became the seventh player to do that, and second (joining Seattle's Dylan Moore) in the past 16 years. April 11 Ten days into the season, an individual player had struck out four times in a game 16 times. In every season in the modern era (1900-on) prior to 1957, there were fewer than 17 individual four-strikeout games in the entire season, including 12 in 1955. April 12 Royals reliever Carlos Hernandez faced three hitters, walked them all, but threw only 11 pitches. That's because his first walk was intentional, so it didn't add to his pitch count. April 13 The umpiring crew in Baltimore was Ryan Blakney, Ryan Additon, Brian O'Nora and Ryan Wills. Ryan, Ryan, Ryan and Brian. By one batter, we missed Seattle's Ty France facing the Orioles' Paul Fry, depriving us of the first France-Fry at-bat in major league history. The Mets became the first team ever to start a pitcher (Marcus Stroman) wearing uniform No. 0 in the first game of a doubleheader and start a pitcher (Taijuan Walker) wearing No. 99 in the second game of a doubleheader. April 14 The White Sox's Carlos Rodon became the third pitcher to lose a perfect game in the ninth inning or later on a hit batter but still end up with a no-hitter. Max Scherzer did it in 2015 for the Nationals, and in 1908, the Giants' Hooks Wiltse (he had a brother named Snake) lost his perfect game in the 10th inning when he hit the opposing pitcher, George McQuillan. April 16 In the 12th inning against the Padres, Dodgers pitcher David Price hit a sacrifice fly, the second RBI of his career (50 at-bats). The ball was caught by pitcher Joe Musgrove, who had thrown a no-hitter seven days earlier. Musgrove had to play left field when second baseman Jake Cronenworth was brought in to pitch. It marked the first time that a pitcher hit a ball to a position-playing pitcher since Sept. 30, 1984, when Shane Rawley flied out to left fielder Don Robinson in the third inning. It was the last game of the season, and Robinson, a good-hitting pitcher, started in left field. April 19 Albert Pujols, one of the greatest hitters of all time, grounded into a double play for the 400th time. Second on the all-time list is Cal Ripken with 350. White Sox DH Yermin Mercedes pitched against the Red Sox. It was the first time he had ever played a defensive position in his brief major league career (then 15 games). He became the first position player to make his debut in the field as a pitcher since Kerby Farrell of the 1943 Braves. April 20 The Red Sox became the first team ever to win nine in a row following an 0-3 start. Then the A's topped that by becoming the first team ever to win 10 games in a row (they won 13 straight) at any point in a season in which it started out 0-6. April 23 Royals pitcher Mike Minor is always good for a Quirkjian. His latest, on this day, might not have been on the level of his pitching matchups -- Minor-Leake, Minor-Sale, Minor-Fiers and Cole-Minor. But Minor faced the Tigers' Zack Short, the first Minor-Short at-bat in history. April 24 It took until this day before the Marlins made an error on the left side of the infield. At that time, the Padres had 13 errors from their left side. Astros pitcher Kent Emanuel pitched 8⅔ innings in relief in his major league debut. That was the longest relief outing in a pitcher's debut since John Montefusco went nine innings in 1974. And the pitcher Emanuel replaced in the game, Jake Odorizzi, has 62 career victories and has made 195 major league starts, and the longest start of his career was eight innings. April 25 Reds pitcher Jose Castillo gave up three runs in the first inning, making it 14 runs (11 earned) that he has allowed in the first inning. To that point, 23 teams hadn't scored that many runs in the first inning all season, including the Yankees, who had scored one run in the first inning. The Twins had allowed only two runs in the first inning but were 7-13 for the season. April 26 Twins rookie outfielder Alex Kirilloff had played in the postseason last year before he made his regular-season debut this season. And he got a hit. But it wasn't technically his first major league hit because it didn't come in a regular-season game. So he was still looking for his first official major league hit. He got off to an 0-for-15 start but finally got a hit on this day.

Is she any relation to Mare of Winningham?

NYC mansion with abandoned renovation relists for $25M An Upper West Side mansion is back on the market for $25 million — the same price it asked in 2019. The landmarked property, at 3 Riverside Drive, was once owned by broker and developer Regina Kislin, the daughter of Sam Kislin — a Ukrainian-born metals trader. The elder Kislin, a former member of the New York City Economic Development Board, also has decades-long ties to Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, and one of Trump’s late partners, Soviet-born billionaire Tamir Sapir. The younger Kislin bought the spread for less than $10 million in 1995. In 2017, the residence was bought at auction for $15.8 million — a dramatic drop from its original $40 million asking price in 2012. At 37 feet wide, the mansion is almost double the size of most townhouses. Built in 1899 by Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert in a French Renaissance Revival style, it features elaborate gargoyles and cherubs carved into its facade. Inside, however, the scene is less picturesque. The seller was part-way through a major renovation when he abandoned plans. But the mansion does come with “approved” plans by Italian architect Achille Salvagni for over-the-top details such as a “half-Olympic-sized” marble pool, a stadium-seating movie theater, a rooftop terrace, radiant heating throughout, an onyx-walled hot tub and bulletproof windows for the lower front of the house. The home, with some 19,000 square feet of space, also comes with approved plans for nine bedrooms and 11 bathrooms. It looks out to Riverside Park, the Hudson River and gets good natural light, according to the marketing materials.

https://nypost.com/2021/04/27/inside-abandoned-disney-like-village-made-of-empty-castles/ Haunting photos reveal hundreds of abandoned castles left to rot in Turkey Is this the creepiest place on Earth? Hundreds of Disney-like castles built for wealthy Gulf investors are now sitting empty. The haunting images are making the rounds online as developers struggle to revive the decrepit neighborhood — now the stuff of nightmares. Located in Turkey, the abandoned village first began construction in 2014, and was initially designed as a luxury community for foreign buyers. Known as the Burj Al Babas project, the village — located on the base of Turkey’s northwestern mountains — appears to be a diorama of miniature villas. The residences all look the same, with bluish-gray steeples and Gothic fixtures, calling to mind the castles in Disney films and theme parks. But hit by a devastating economic downturn in Turkey, the once-grand plan crumbled, leaving the mini chateaus hollow. They now join the ranks of the world’s creepiest abandoned dwellings. Its developers, the Sarot Group, failed to come up with the required amount of money to finish the project and sought bankruptcy protection in 2019, despite money that was left from the $200 million budget. The developers had intended to use the region’s hot springs to heat each home, claiming that the water had healing properties. “You can drink the waters, and it cures stomach ailments and kidney stones,” the Sarot Group’s CEO, Mezher Yerdelen, told the New York Times in a 2019 interview. “If you bathe in it, it heals skin problems, rheumatism, and slipped disks.” Homeowners also would’ve had the option to choose from three different layouts. The villas were designed to feature a jacuzzi on each level, and residents had the option to install an elevator and indoor pool. Buyers snapped up more than 350 of the houses, which are priced between $370,000 and $500,000, depending on location, Yerdelen told the Times. Of the more than 732 villas, about 350 were sold to Arab investors. By 2018, half the buildings were underway until Turkey’s economy took a major hit and many of the sales fell through. In October 2018, Turkey’s inflation rate reached 25% — the highest it had been in 15 years, largely influenced by the decline of the nation’s currency, the lira. “Our sales dried up,” Mezher Yerdelen added. Some customers canceled their agreements, some stopped their payments. Today, the village remains idle, with no plumbing, heating or any sign of human life. Thomas Brag of Yes Theory documented his experience exploring the village last month. “A lot of these unfinished abandoned projects, it always looks like they left halfway through a workday… like you still see some boots on the ground, and gloves, and construction equipment,” Brag . “There is still raw materials here that are valuable and that’s always the strangest part about going to half-finished construction abandoned places,” Brag added. “[i’m] thinking about what it must be like to be a construction worker here when they were doing this and then being told to just stop what you’re doing and then you just never really found out what happened to it.”

DEAR ABBY: I'd like advice on how to handle a problem that crops up every time family members invite me out to a dinner they are paying for. I know the rule of etiquette is to order an item that's the same or less than what the host is ordering, but I am often asked to order first. This means I have no idea what the payer's meal will cost. If it means ordering something on the menu other than what I'd rather have -- a burger instead of a steak -- in that case, should I offer to pay for my own meal? What if they won't hear of taking any money from me? Can I still order the steak since my offer to pay was refused? -- LIKES TO FOLLOW THE RULES DEAR LIKES: A way to get around ordering first might be to say, "I haven't decided yet. I'd like to hear what the others are ordering." However, if you would be uncomfortable doing that, and your hosts won't let you have a separate check, be a gracious guest and enjoy every bite of your steak dinner. "Lets all go a to a vegan place," and that way you know NOBODY will be ordering anything.

Where do you feel that tingly feeling you feel when you poo?

So you're a friend of Bill? I'm glad you've gotten your drinking under control! ???

I don't know what any of that means, but COOL! :cool:

DEAR ABBY: My daughter was accepted at a college of her choice in Pennsylvania that offered loads of grant money. Our out-of-pocket is about $6,000 if she gets a Stafford loan or works this summer to help with the $4,500 that would be the loan. My husband is insisting on a community college, which she doesn't want to attend. He constantly cites the fact that our house is in foreclosure and that he owes money to the IRS for his business, which is why things can't be. I think our children should be able to do things if they're workable. I encouraged them all through school to do their best and follow their dreams. My husband offered no assistance with homework or anything else. Any compliments they got for extracurricular involvement and excellent grades, he'd always say it was because of me -- and rightly so, but it was also them. Incidentally, our firstborn wanted to go to a particular college, but his father convinced him to go to the community college by promising he'd pay for it and get him a car. He never even taught the poor kid to drive. I offered professional driving lessons, but my son declined. Now my husband is using the same tactics on my daughter. Should I send her to follow her dreams against his wishes? You can't stifle them forever. -- ENCOURAGING MOM IN NEW YORK DEAR MOM: With the house in foreclosure and money owed to the IRS, your husband is right to be concerned. Sometimes the best-laid plans go awry because of circumstances beyond our control, specifically the volatile economic climate we have been experiencing. That said, I think you may be overdue to have a frank talk with your daughter about what she may have to do in order to supplement the grants being offered by the college of her choice. If she is willing to work over the summer and possibly beyond -- and considers taking out a student loan of her own -- she should be given the chance to live her dream. Suzy Orman: I hope your daughter is going to study something that will enable her to make a lot of money someday so she can buy her parents out of the poorhouse her stupid mother insisted they move into so she could get a degree and then go work in a McDonald's because no jobs were available. DEAR ABBY: My husband and I have been together 15 years. We used to be inseparable. He was my best friend. Ever since our daughter was born nine years ago, we rarely spend time together. Most of his free time is spent in the basement doing woodworking; I spend my time upstairs or outside. I don't think he enjoys my company anymore. I have told him this, and he says it's not intentional, and he loves me more now than ever. But it feels to me like we are growing apart, and I am very lonely. Because my daughter is who I spend most of my time with, she is the one who suffers my moods when I'm sad and upset with him. What can we do to be friends again instead of just parents? -- MISSING IT IN OHIO DEAR MISSING: Explain to your husband that you are lonely and need more of him than you have been getting since your daughter was born. Start exploring child care options and then schedule some adults-only date nights for just the two of you. This works for many other couples, and it may help the two of you renew some of the excitement that was there when you were child-free. Your daughter is a prime age for sex traffickers... (just sayin')

This week's episode was really good. It took place the morning after George Floyd's death... the firehouse's chief brought in a grief counselor for anyone who needed to talk. Initially, everyone was uninterested, but eventually they went to her, one by one. At the end of the episode they put up a note onscreen that the writer of the episode had donated her fee to a fund for racial education and that the episode had been enlightened by the experiences of... and then they listed some behind-the-scenes personnel on the show and all of the actors, so it seems that the writer spoke to each of them and included some of their real-life thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Several of the characters spoke about things from their childhoods, so I wonder if any of them were the actor's true experiences. Even if you don't watch the show, there's only occasional references to ongoing storylines, so you wouldn't be totally lost if you wanted to watch.