keefer

@Lucky, @tassojunior, and @azdr0710 - THANK YOU! for all the suggestions... this week my sister is handling over responsibility to me.... definitely a lot of laughter since arriving, next week I settle in to normal routine and then get to see if travel outside the square defined by the house, Costco, and Fry’s is on the cards... heading back to the card table to get my arse beaten again; lucky we’re playing for pennies or my savings would be gone by the end of this trip

Flew in from London last night and already settling into life in Mesa.... gym at 6am, Panera’s for breakfast, three hours of majong, some make it yourself pizza place for lunch, trip to Costco as they forgot something yesterday, a boisterous round of triple-play, and about to collect some of moms friends for the early bird dinner special (which allegedly I get free)... this is more exhausting than my full time job....

Flying into Phoenix Tuesday to spend four weeks helping my mom (91) prepare to move to Virginia to be closer to family. Besides having four weeks with mom without distractions of partners or siblings, I'm looking forward to a break in what felt like an endless London winter, looking forward to a month eating healthy and using the local gym, and a month without distractions of work. That said, the retirement community is in Mesa (east of Phoenix). If I mentally time travel forward I know I'll look back (on what's about to come) as a wonderful time with my mom at this time in her life. But at this moment looking forward in anticipation I'm wondering if I'll manage a week before going insane. Any recommendations for diversions in Mesa itself, or does one have to trek to Phoenix or Vegas for bars and/or other diversions ?

no need for china patterns, if it was a true relationship you'd simply need a serrated knife to cut the tub in half... that said, I'd recommend you sit and have smelling salts to hand... they're bringing it back https://www.benjerry.com/flavors/dublin-mudslide-ice-cream

not the least bit fussy, but there's a good chance I'd sell my soul for a tub of Phish Food or Cookie Dough...

To be honest, after the week I've had (and month I'm about to have)... someone offering me an unopened container of Ben and Jerry's would probably be the most extreme turn-on I've had this year...

Though I've had a few private chats with various members, have never met anyone... and always wondered if the London contingent would one day be up for a meet at one of the London pubs..

And it wasn't very long ago that a strategically placed hole in sweats was a major conversation starter in your finer class of seedy venues...

we discussed burial/cremation options while updating our wills last year... I told my husband I was still thinking about where he should scatter my ashes and asked if he had any preferences... without missing a beat he replied "... Hampstead Heath... if there is an afterlife I want it to be fun..." for those who don't know, quite a notorious gay cruising ground since, well, forever... unfortunately if that's an option for the afterlife I'm doomed - as all the venues from my youth are now closed...

I've always been fond of Sagamore Hill -- it was Theodore Roosevelt home and the summer white house. It was biking distance from home when I was quite young, and thus almost always a destination during the summer months... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagamore_Hill

I concede London Transports choice of fabrics is more 1950's than Rodeo Drive or 5th Avenue, and possibly chosen by someone who has less fashion sense than I (as if that's possible)... But as a consumer I tend to applaud their use of fluid resistant (or highly absorbent) seating -- at the very least to prevent finding any surprises left behind by users travelling home after a night of heavy drinking

And then we have the (absolutely fabulous) cross-London Elizabeth line... the trains are unbelievably long, internally joined seamlessly as one long tube without separation... Canary Wharf to Soho in four stops (~15 minutes) and then on out to Heathrow... (images picked from google)...

clearly to protect from those glaciers descending from the north :-)

Snow, ice, and freezing fog descended on London today... tomorrows commute will be a joy... for now just putting another duvet on the bed....

I’ve been to Chicago, that sounds like normal summer weather

Just refilled water bottle, hit vending machine for a few granola bars, and bracing myself for homeward commute; after two decades living in Colorado I shudder to think how London will cope if we get a centimetre of snow this winter... warm fire and glass of scotch to be the reward if I survive the commute home

Temperatures dropped below freezing last night causing chaos with public transport... stuck on stalled train for an hour, followed by lengthy walk down to Greenwich.. am now sitting comfortably on a boat cruising up the Thames (clipper).... two more stops before first coffee

"... maybe..." which I ultimately learnt was their polite way of saying no...

never jog while drinking martini's? From an email/hygiene perspective - this is probably the best pattern I've found. The second best pattern is one I use with my global teams - whenever anyone comes a cross a short-cut, tip, work-around, anything that is collective hive knowledge - historically we used to document on a write-once/read-never wiki; over the past five years we communicate the trick by sending concise mail with <tip> in subject line (e.g., <tip> mail filtering)... everyone saves/expands on tricks as the years tick by; and must save us 10-15% of resource time per year, and reduces new hire learning time by 25-30%, as the most important rules, tips, tricks, fixes are always to hand.

a very old geek taught me that trick... redirect all mails with the @ character in the senders email to SPAM folder unless the senders email was in a predefined list of accepted addresses... it works a charm to catch real SPAM and company-wide test spam... also taught me a valuable lesson that one always should listen to old geeks... they existed before ones and zeros were invented and know what they're talking about as they invented both the problem and the solution....

my phone is almost always face-down and muted on my desk (at home) ensuring an almost permanent do not disturb feature... also to the great annoyance of my husband who will often need to text to find me when we're out shopping together and I've drifted off... win win 😇

Remember you're talking to a mostly gay crowd.... 😉 simply replacing 'skirt' with 'kilt' -- is sufficient to allow us the satisfaction of Scottish men we've known and lusted after...

Between covid, lock-downs, elderly parents living with us, monkey pox, and a million other factors - I'm fairly certain I'm again classified as a virgin, and want to correct that before I add retirement to the mix... but would be happier if I was fully vaccinated... Any UK-based members have luck getting one or multiple doses of the MonkeyPox vaccine ? If yes, could you advise how/where/when (or private message me)?