That would be a hard no for me....the pushiness. I believe the fee rate is month to month so I don't have to commit for a long period, but even the on-boarding is such a commitment for me. I know most people go 3-5 times a week and it would have to be no more than 2-3 for me due to my endurance training on top. And I am quite happy with my mostly-vegan, whole foods diet, TYVM. I know the head trainer at our gym is vegan because one of my friends asked for one of my veggie burger recipes to share with him. But if he is pushing that, it is NOT working on my friends! Lots to think about.

That would be a hard no for me....the pushiness. I believe the fee rate is month to month so I don't have to commit for a long period, but even the on-boarding is such a commitment for me. I know most people go 3-5 times a week and it would have to be no more than 2-3 for me due to my endurance training on top. And I am quite happy with my mostly-vegan, whole foods diet, TYVM. I know the head trainer at our gym is vegan because one of my friends asked for one of my veggie burger recipes to share with him. But if he is pushing that, it is NOT working on my friends! Lots to think about.

That is a really good point. I will be asking some questions.

There's a food obsession? I can state that the people I know have never mentioned that and eat pretty much everything. It's the fun I am hoping to capitalize on. If it's fun, I'll keep at it. I'll even keep at it if it's not fun but I get to see my friends more! I might not keep at it on 90 degree days with no AC.....

Thanks for sharing! I know weight training would enhance my endurance training. That along with pushing 50 and worries over osteoporosis has me pretty motivated, but dragging myself to a gym on my own is just not going to happen. I know a few things already. The "on board" training is 8 sessions before you can join classes and it is one-on-one with a trainer. I have 5 close friends in it, 3 male, and none of them have ever mentioned competitions nor have any been injured. The head trainer is very picky about form and my friends report that they all do modifications for many of the exercises. The only bad thing I have heard is that there is no AC in the gym and it has been in the 90s this week so there has been a lot of complaining about that! But I have heard so many bad stories from the general public that I just don't know what to think.

Ugh. No one has any positive things to share? This is pretty much what I have heard. I have had gym memberships in the past specifically to do weight training but it just never sticks. I hate driving somewhere and going indoors to do something boring so no matter my resolve, I end up quitting. The CF gym here is within walking distance and having a class would make more accountable. But I do not want to risk injury.

This is kind of a spin off..... What do people know about CF? I have several friends who are heavily involved and are nudging me to try it. I am very active already and run, bike, ski, or swim for at least an hour a day and I am currently training for a marathon. But I do no weight training and have wanted to add that in. CF seems like it might be a fun way to add weight training, especially since I would be able to go with people I know. Years ago, dd was interested in doing a CF class for teen athletes but her coach warned us away from it because he thought the injury risk was too high. And I have heard others say that the emphasis on speed and competition is a problem. But my friends report that the local CF is not like this and there is a big emphasis on form and appropriate levels. What are your experiences?

I have always wondered about this!

I lost my taste around day 10 and it is still altered 3 weeks later. I was pretty surprised because I assumed I was in the clear by that time. I am now 90% back but a few things are still odd. For instance, I cannot detect spiciness....which as the household cook who cooks primarily by taste has made for some interesting times around here. Beer and wine taste terrible too which luckily is very easy to avoid. I assume I had some variant of Omicron being this late in the game.

I've only been a member since 2012 but lurked well before that for homeschool tips. I don't post much and am now retired from homeschooling with my dd in college, but I don't think we would have made it all the way through without the help and support I got here. We literally have no local acquaintances that homeschooled in high school. The help I got from asking and mining from the high school and college forums was invaluable. While my (and dd's) friends were supportive, there was literally no one to ask about anything. I still check in periodically to see what people are talking about and probably will forever, LOL! I have learned a lot from reading, and occasionally participating in, threads about everything from covid to shopping carts. And my opinions on some key issues have been changed by the perspectives of others here.

It is up to each district in my state and ours would not allow it. We tried to convince them as I was not sure why they had that policy. Was it paperwork? Was it not knowing how to allow it? It turned out in our case that our district is hostile toward homeschoolers and will not do anything they are not legally obligated to do to help homeschoolers. We learned this was absolutely true when it came to AP and SAT time. After doing a deep dive, with the coach of the sport helping us, we found that the district was never going to budge. The policy was based on having terrible experiences with "entitled" homeschoolers in the past. I never knew exactly what went down but when the superintendent basically said he would do everything within his power to prevent homeschoolers on athletic teams, we knew it was over. So, you might learn a lot from that conversation.

That's a relief! It is normal and it wasn't caused by us! My deaf cat is still afraid of the vacuum but only if she is awake and sees it. She will nap right through it if she is asleep. If she is sleeping on the floor, she feels the vibration and takes off. My "kitten" is not the brightest. She is also deathly afraid but thinks she is protected if she is under the covers.

Make them in your pie pans then remove them once cool and put into boxes. The recipients can then put them in their own pie plate to reheat or just reheat on a cookie sheet.

I have five. Dh and four friends. The four friends are the female sides of four families that are our "chosen family" so dh has the male sides of that as well. We do just about everything together and some of these friendships go back 25 years....basically picking up spouses as people got married. I could almost include the male sides in my number but there are a very few topics that I would not share with any of them. We have been through affairs, deaths, major illnesses, etc..... We have basically moved into each others' houses during bad times. We also celebrate almost everything together as well as vacation together. There is pretty much nothing that is off limits. We talk almost daily and see each other in person multiple times a week. We all live within walking distance. Our kids think this is "normal" until they learn that it is not. I have no one in my family like this. My sibling and in-laws are just too distant, physically and philosophically. My mom has dementia, but even before that we were never close.

There is also the fact that we only know what we know. We have enough unknowns about Covid's long term impact as it is. Adding yet another wildcard into the mix is something I'm only inclined to consider if the benefits are substantial, which does not seem to be the case with Paxlovid for low-risk, vaccinated people. Like the vaccines themselves. I would normally not jump at new vaccines but there was a clear immediate benefit both to me and the rest of humanity, so I was willing to get it. I am saying this as someone who is on week 4 of Covid. I tested negative five days after my confirmed positive and even seemed almost well but then "rebounded" (never testing positive again) and still have impaired taste/smell, a terrible cough, and a host of other symptoms that is making my life miserable. Would Paxlovid have made this better? Or worse? I just don't know. It was not an option for me anyway so I didn't get to make that decision. But at least I am only working with one variable, Covid, should this become long-term.

That's good to know. I believe the cat we had did have gingivitis. I have no way of predicting if she would have had worse issues without the cleaning and extractions. But she was quite old. I did not think to ask about other options but I for sure would if faced with the same choice with another 15+ yo cat. What about domestication makes dental cleanings necessary versus animals in the wild? I am now having visions or lions and wolves lining up for their dental cleanings...... Is it diet? Longer lifespan? If a pet is fed high quality raw food, for instance, would they be less susceptible to dental problems?

That link was helpful. There is a 101 type link within it that attempts to explain what a blockchain is and how mining works. I am still pretty confused and maybe the technology is just over my head. The miners are "validators" that prove transactions and get paid for it. This is what requires the computers. But I don't understand what they are doing to prove or validate. How does one ever get cryptocurrency? If I wanted some, how would I actually get it?

I have had four cats in my lifetime. They live forever. The two that have passed were 18 and 22. I have an almost 19yo that is so healthy the vet said he would not believe her age except that he has been her vet the whole time. And what we call a "kitten" that is 3 years old. The older living cat is now deaf. The two cats of yore also went deaf in their later years. Do old cats just go deaf or is it something about the owners? We do have musicians in the house so there is live instrument practicing. And we do play a lot of recorded music, sometimes (rarely) loud, but not too loud as we do live in a dense neighborhood. We are not loud movie or video game people. Some cats have purposely left the room when an instrument is brought out but none seem to avoid or notice recorded music. One interesting thing is that our current deaf cat and one of the past ones really REALLY mellowed out after they went deaf. Our current one was a stray we brought in as a young cat and she was always spicy and not really into pets or lap-sitting and is now the loviest cat ever. The deceased one was very affectionate but also super nervous. Once she went deaf, she completely chilled out and even enjoyed going outside on a leash, which she would never ever consent to when she could hear.

I also had a cat that had a lot of problems after her one and only dental cleaning.....which also resulted in the removal of many teeth and a quick decline in quality of life. We have never had it done with any others. If there was evidence of pain and/or obvious decay, we would consider it but general cleanings just does not seem like something any animal should have done.

What are the computers doing?!?!?

More impact that the printing, shipping, keeping track of, etc.... paper/coin money? But I still don't understand what the computers are doing!

Can someone explain this to me in very little words? I have googled it several times now after I hear some sort of news story and I just don't understand how one can "mine" something that is basically invisible, and I also cannot understand how this has an environmental impact.

Odd mishap with an edit.

I just went to get an oil change with a car I have owned for two years. Dh usually handles oil changes these days but it is not like I don't know my way around a car, normally. I even used to change my own oil. And until this car, I had a string of cars that required frequent fluid checks so I was always under the hood. But today, at the oil change place, I could not find the hood release. It is in an odd spot and the mechanic had to point it out to me. How could I own a car for TWO years and not have ever once opened the hood?!?

I got it four weeks ago after avoiding it for two years and I am still in pretty rough shape. Several people were very much exposed and somehow none got it, including dh. We didn't even try to isolate since we had been in such close contact for the days I was symptomatic but still testing negative. So, there is hope!