I have used them a few times. Always have had a good experience. One funny story ........One time we needed the attic cleaned out, which meant the men were pretty much walking throughout the house. Just to be on the safe side (having a police officer in the family makes you extra aware of stuff) I decided to let them see my vicious dog so they wouldn't get any ideas about coming back at night. Only, my dog was not vicious, just HUGE. And he was afraid of everything, so whenever a stranger was around he would bellow his loudest bark which made him seem very intimidating. So when I heard them coming down the stairs I let the dog out of the room I was keeping him in and pretended to "hold him back". The guys rounded the corner, the dog started bellowing his barks, and the three guys literally bumped into each other trying to back up. I said "Oh, I'm sorry, he escaped out of his room. Let me just put him back" and then pretended like it was a big wrestle to get him under control. Just in case. ...... but based on their reactions I did sleep soundly that night haha.

My car currently has over 170,00 miles on it. It was the last car I got with my husband before we were divorced. I've been driving it and babying it until I could have enough money to buy another car. It's been 7 years with that car. I spoke with my financial guy this morning and I am going to take a chunk out of some stocks and buy myself a car! Not a new car, and nothing fancy, but it will be the first time I buy a car ON MY OWN! And I feel especially good about it because my ex was always terrible about managing money and no matter how much he made he always made me feel like we were on the edge of financial ruin. But I feel like I did this right. I waited, saved, and now I will have a decent car with no car payments. Just one more step in the right direction in my new life. 🙂

I have a theory on this (totally untested of course) ..... If aliens where to land in the middle of Times Square the panic would be awful and the country would fall into chaos. IF the government knew of the existence of aliens, what better way then to sloooowly disseminate information about alien technology, alien sightings, and then eventually admitting the existence with proof. Giving us the information in small bites in between all the other news to try and minimize the effect such news would have on the public. It's like the saying about the frog in the boiling water (if you don't know that one, it says that if you put a frog in boiling water it will suffer and die. But if you put a frog in cool water and slowly turn up the heat, the frog won't even realize he is being boiled alive and will just die.) Are we the frogs just having the heat turned up and one day we will be like "oh, there really ARE aliens!"? There have always been news stories about alien sightings, etc., but I feel like lately the government is starting to have more and more "experts" come forward to give credibility. IDK -- #thoughtsfrom3AM

Things being crushed by a hydraulic press. One Thanksgiving we put that on and watched it mesmerized haha

You are correct, I spelt it wrong. It is the Mandela effect

I don't know a whole lot about the Mandala Effect, but this one kinda freaks me out. Remember the Born in the USA album by Bruce Springsteen? The iconic shot of his back and backside (and not a bad looking backside at that!)? And do remember what was stuffed in his back pocket? DON'T CHEAT AND LOOK UP THE ALBUM!😁 Post your answer and then look up the answer below ....... When I look up the album cover now it shows him with a red hat stuffed in his back pocket. But I remember it as a red handkerchief! I would have bet money on it! I have asked a few people around me and they all answer a red handkerchief too. Cue Twilight Zone music haha

I agree with this. Cape Cod (or The Cape for us locals) is a wonderful area. Close to Boston, which is the perfect size city, in my opinion. With a short ride you can either be at the seashore or in the mountains. Plenty of farm land around. I read somewhere that the top three American vacation destinations are Hawaii, Florida, and Cape Cod 🙂

Ricky Lake used to shop at the same grocery store as I did. Steve Carrell lives part time in my area and I had a pic taken with him at a local pizza shop. Curt Schilling (pitcher for the Red Sox when they won their first World Series - the whole bloody sock thing) coached my daughter's softball team. His daughter and my daughter became best friends and she practically lived at their house. ** Funny aside -- when Curt Schilling was coaching the softball team they were 12 year old girls. You can just imagine. One game one of the girls, an outfielder, had done her hair in a cute bun and all the girls were commenting on it. Then, when she got out into the field she just kept fixing her hair. Finally Curt had to step out of the dugout and yell "Kaley, stop playing with your hair!!" They would make him crazy - he would have to drive them to CVS when they forgot their "feminine products" or tell him they couldn't run wind sprints because they had cramps. Poor guy -- I don't think the major league had those problems haha.

I truly appreciate all the feedback, even the frank ones 🙂 I don't want to rehash things .... that will just bring us back to the insane merry-go-round. I guess I just need to know that she won't lash out at me again, or that she won't do something hurtful again. Just like I don't want to rehash old arguments, I also don't want to reopen communications if she is going to be hurtful again.

I guess I need to rehash because I need to know if she has changed her mentality. It was always so awkward when she would come over because it always ended in fights. I am afraid to take a baby step with her if her boundaries are still all over mine.

For any of you who remember my situation, I have been estranged from my two adult daughters for about two years now. The divorce was hard on them and since COVID and Trump and all the fall-out from that, we have been estranged. It is like they just could not speak to me if I did not have the same opinion as them and if I did not get in line with everything they believed and wanted. They basically "canceled" me. It's been awful. *There are a lot of details I have left out because it would fill a book. Just assume that I am giving you a small, but true, accounting of the situation. I have tried over and over to acknowledge their feelings. Please don't judge the back story* They moved to California last summer (I am on the East Coast) so I have not seen them since then. We text for birthdays, etc., but that is it. We tried family counseling and that was a bust. I apologized for my part in the things they were not handled well. I think the counselor was seriously confused as to what the problem was because I kept acknowledging their feelings but they would still be mad because I would not change to be a Liberal etc. My youngest daughter (age 25) texted that she wants to talk tonight via Skype. She is coming to town this weekend and wants to get together. I think Skyping first is a good idea because I don't really know where here head is at and what the situation will be like, and I don't want our first interaction to be in a public place. My goal for this Skype is to speak to what has gone wrong. There are still a lot of outstanding issues that have caused hurt and severe disrespect to not just me but the whole family. I am hoping that once we can talk it out we can maybe move on to getting together in person. I am just not sure how to start the conversation. I don't want to come off like a bully and say "I want an apology" because that is not who I am and would be counter-productive. But I do want to be clear that this is not just a "chat" to catch up. I

Complete aside, but I just love Gone With the Wind! I probably have read the book at least 6 times over my lifetime and have watched the movie more times than that. I have come to understand Scarlett a little better. Also, the part where she has to help Melanie give birth, and then trek through enemy territory to get to Tara, and then what she found there .... I see why she changed so much. I find that as I reread certain books I get different things out of them depending on how old I am, my current situation, etc.

I didn't start this thread to debate about Nazis. I was just surprised that a topic like slavery would be so misunderstood in our modern age. And how the concept of "well, it wasn't THAT bad' can make for history repeating itself in bad way. That's all

I'm sorry, I did not mean to insult anybody. I'm sure there were a lot of Germans who did not agree with what was happening. My point was just that if you do not know the complete story it just simplifies evil down to something black and white and does not take into account the human nature of "tyranny by the majority" or the full scope of man's ability to be inhumane to man.

**I feel sorry for the topic title because I don't want to use the word "dumb" .... maybe ignorance? Either way, I really like and respect this woman. She is truly a good person so I am not trying to be mean, but I am a bit flabbergasted.** I work with a woman who is 60 years old. Currently I am re-reading Gone With the Wind. I brought up how the book would be viewed in todays "cancel culture" because it really depicts all the slaves as happy and just so dang proud of their well-to-do masters. There is one passage that says Scarlet could hear the slaves singing and chattering happily when coming back from the fields ... stuff like that. My coworker then says "Well, think about it. Maybe they were happy .... they got to work together as a family, in the outdoors! I could see a father saying to his family 'hey, this could be a good job. We can make some money that we would have otherwise not been able to make!'" She thought the slaves were paid to work in the fields. Ummmmmm .... the word is SLAVE. There were no choices or discussions about whether it would be a good job. And happily working together as a family?!?! outside?!?! What about the whole concept of coming over in slave ships?!? I didn't get into correcting her. I am just stunned. I remember once speaking with a kid in college about the Holocaust. He said that German soldiers were threatened that if they did not participate in killing Jewish people then the soldier's family would be killed and so no wonder they participated. I tried to say that being in the SS Army was considered an honor, and that they didn't need to threaten the German soldiers. I am not a huge history buff. I feel like I know the basics. But this type of misinterpretation of history? I just don't get it. IDK .... I guess this is where the phrase "those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it."

Haha no ..... I finally remembered! It is from the movie Get Out. A pox on my sister for asking me because she couldn't remember and making me crazy for 6 hours haha

I have this stuck in my head and can't place it....... it is something like "Top of the line, mighty fine!" I can hear the person say it, I just don't know where it comes from and its making me crazy!

Nantucket - 4th of July - ...... that could be a problem. Lots of traffic. I'm not even sure you would get a spot on the ferry for your car. I live about 10 minutes from the bridges that connect to the Cape and I would not go near them on holiday weekends If you are thinking about staying on the Cape, pick a smaller town that will give you the feel of Nantucket. A lot of the towns on the Cape are crowded. Stay away from Falmouth, Sandwich, etc. Pick smaller towns like Chatham or Dennis. And P-Town (Province town) is amazing, Oh, and when you tell people you are going on vacation don't say "we are going to Cape Cod", you have to say "we are going down the Cape" That's how locals say it haha.

Thank you to everyone who weighed in. I don't think we would do the screened in porch because it would make the inside darker. I think we are going to go with the gazebo. I love the idea of hanging mosquito netting and pretty hanging plants and sitting out there.

what was bad about the pull out awning? (if you don't mind sharing

We have a great, private backyard that I want to start enjoying more. When it is the summer time it is just too hot to sit on the deck, and stupid stationary umbrellas are too wimpy against the wind. I got a quote for an awning the can be pulled out and cover the deck - total project price is around $6500 I also received a quote to do a cedar gazebo in the backyard. There would be pavers that came from the deck to the gazebo and the gazebo would be on pavers also. The price also included mulching and planting 5 hydrangea bushes around the deck. - total project price is $9900 Which would you do? I am leaning one way but want to see if anyone has opinions or have "been there done that". Thank you!

My old I phone died (it wont charge) - how do I transfer everything from a dead phone? I did put in the SIMS card from the dead phone and got my contacts, etc., but not my pictures and videos

I am probably late to the game but ...... 90 day Fiance!!! The people ..... the situations ..... its just crazy. I fought watching for a long time because I thought it would be lame (which, it is, but a GOOD lame haha) until my nephew literally hacked my wifi from the couch, logged into Discovery Plus and started the show. I now thank him daily. Right now I am into the "Before the 90 days" series. Good stuff.

My oldest DD did one when she was 13 years old. She says it was the "hardest, worst thing that she has ever done that she loved!" I think that sums up her experience ..... while she was doing the program it was challenging and very hard. But when she was done she loved what she had learned and still today (15 years later) speaks of the things she learned and how it shaped her outlook on things.