Silliness So what are you doing RIGHT NOW? - Page 2833

Bilbo1967 · 10-30-2019, 11:59 AM

Packing for my first trip in a manic lead up to Christmas.

On Friday I leave for a week's work in Manila. On return, I'm in the UK, but away from home, for two weeks in Bristol. When that's finished, I have two weeks work in Mexico City, followed immediately by two weeks in Newport, Wales (again, far enough away from home to necessitate staying away).

Then it's my Christmas break

issybird · 10-30-2019, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bilbo1967

Packing for my first trip in a manic lead up to Christmas.

On Friday I leave for a week's work in Manila. On return, I'm in the UK, but away from home, for two weeks in Bristol. When that's finished, I have two weeks work in Mexico City, followed immediately by two weeks in Newport, Wales (again, far enough away from home to necessitate staying away).

Then it's my Christmas break

Do your frequent flier miles belong to you or to your company?

Bilbo1967 · 10-30-2019, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

Do your frequent flier miles belong to you or to your company?

Me

issybird · 10-30-2019, 06:02 PM

I'm manning the door for Trick or Treat (which for some insane and unfathomable reason is always the night before in this area) and I'm going to run out of candy.

It was supposed to rain and my neighborhood is already poorly lit with winding roads and no sidewalks, so I figured I'd get few takers and bought accordingly, so as not to have a lot of candy left in the house. Instead, it's 61F and dry and a perfect night to be out. Dang. Not that I grudge the kids a nice night, but I wish I'd anticipated this.

Hitch · 10-30-2019, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm manning the door for Trick or Treat (which for some insane and unfathomable reason is always the night before in this area) and I'm going to run out of candy.

It was supposed to rain and my neighborhood is already poorly lit with winding roads and no sidewalks, so I figured I'd get few takers and bought accordingly, so as not to have a lot of candy left in the house. Instead, it's 61F and dry and a perfect night to be out. Dang. Not that I grudge the kids a nice night, but I wish I'd anticipated this.

The big-ass change jar that you have sitting in your bedroom or entryway, where you plop all that change from pockets and wallets, is your friend. I keep about $100 worth of change there, 24/7 for all sorts of silly crises and it bails me out on Halloweenie after Halloweenie when the wee T&Ters outnumber the candy I've acquired.

Hitch

astrangerhere · 10-31-2019, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

I'm manning the door for Trick or Treat (which for some insane and unfathomable reason is always the night before in this area) and I'm going to run out of candy.

It was supposed to rain and my neighborhood is already poorly lit with winding roads and no sidewalks, so I figured I'd get few takers and bought accordingly, so as not to have a lot of candy left in the house. Instead, it's 61F and dry and a perfect night to be out. Dang. Not that I grudge the kids a nice night, but I wish I'd anticipated this.

Our HOA had a nice system this year. They gave everyone who is participating for kids signs to hang on the door. That way we can control the start and stop time of our kindness. However, the weather down here on the Hill looks like it might be rather nasty, so my wife and I will be parceling out the M&M and fruit snack packages out in our lunches until Christmas.

Rumpelteazer · 11-01-2019, 04:35 AM

I had ordered a couple of things from Amazon Germany, which would be delivered on Wednesday between 6pm and 9pm. I get an alert at 9pm that the package was delivered. It wasn't. Yesterday I went around to various neighbouring cafés and restaurants asking if they got the package (no) and I waited if DHL would bring is. It has happened before that something was signed off as delivered and wasn't until the next day. But that didn't happen either.

This morning I messaged Amazon, preparing for an email exchange with me confirming, again, that I checked with neighbours and them telling me I have to wait a week to see if it was going to be delivered later (my experience with Dutch webshops). In the automatic reply Amazon promised to contact me within 12 hours, which is fast, most Dutch webshops take at least 3 days. But within half an hour I got a reply that they'll resend my order and if I have any questions to contact them. All before 8am. Great customer service.

astrangerhere · 11-01-2019, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I had ordered a couple of things from Amazon Germany, which would be delivered on Wednesday between 6pm and 9pm. I get an alert at 9pm that the package was delivered. It wasn't. Yesterday I went around to various neighbouring cafés and restaurants asking if they got the package (no) and I waited if DHL would bring is. It has happened before that something was signed off as delivered and wasn't until the next day. But that didn't happen either.

This morning I messaged Amazon, preparing for an email exchange with me confirming, again, that I checked with neighbours and them telling me I have to wait a week to see if it was going to be delivered later (my experience with Dutch webshops). In the automatic reply Amazon promised to contact me within 12 hours, which is fast, most Dutch webshops take at least 3 days. But within half an hour I got a reply that they'll resend my order and if I have any questions to contact them. All before 8am. Great customer service.

I can't help but wonder if that comes out of the delivery driver's pay. I would hope that they would use insurance, but I suspect that is not the case.

I had a piece of fitness equipment delivered from Amazon last week (BikeErg to go with my Concept2 Rower), and the order told me it had to be signed for. However, I was about 10 minutes late, and the driver just texted and asked if he could "sign it through" for me. It was too big to steal or haul off, so I said sure, but I hope it made is day less stressful.

Rumpelteazer · 11-01-2019, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I can't help but wonder if that comes out of the delivery driver's pay. I would hope that they would use insurance, but I suspect that is not the case.

I had a piece of fitness equipment delivered from Amazon last week (BikeErg to go with my Concept2 Rower), and the order told me it had to be signed for. However, I was about 10 minutes late, and the driver just texted and asked if he could "sign it through" for me. It was too big to steal or haul off, so I said sure, but I hope it made is day less stressful.

It was delivered today, in a very squished box. Luckily nothing was damaged. My father asked him if this was the package that was supposed to have been delivered two days ago. The deliverer mumbled something about how his manager told him to scan it. I'd rather have DHL send me an email that for whatever reason my package has been delayed, than that it's signed off as delivered when it isn't. You can't call DHL, they refer to the sender of the package. I was able to cancel the re-order.

Last week I got my big light pad. I checked the status and it should have been delivered two hours earlier and I, Bianca, had signed for it. GLS I could call, the lady at customer service called the driver and told me he was on his way now. By the time I got downstairs he was there and mumbled something about delivering it to the wrong address. Funny that someone with my name signed for it... I did send an email, because I just didn't believe the story. Never heard back from them.

Rumpelteazer · 11-06-2019, 03:36 PM

Family Thing update:

Initially the verdict was delayed until mid January, iirc. Then at the end of September we got an interim verdict, to help us decide whether or not we wanted to pursue the agreement we almost had with my uncle in the summer of 2018 (no, the interim verdict was better than that agreement). Then we got a new date for the final verdict: mid December. Our lawyer already warned us that there would be high possibility that it would be delayed. But today we got an email from my aunt who had been told by her lawyer that we have won the case! The letter from court states that they agree with the interim verdict and as far as they are concerned the inheritance, what's left of it, can be divided. We haven't heard from our lawyer, she get the snail mail late in the day and when my father called her she was at court. We'll hear from her tomorrow. No word about the possibility to appeal, which my uncle still got (but it will be very expensive and that type of appeal will not look at the verdict, only if the court made mistakes).

It's weird. Now the question will be if we will set in motion the sale or if we're going to wait until the window for appeal has closed. Knowing my uncle he won't say what his decision will be until the last minute on the deadline date. We'll have to discuss it with both our lawyer and the solicitor taking care of my grandmother's estate.

TBH I wouldn't be surprised if more lawsuits will follow: my uncle still has to pay back several thousand euros into the inheritance which he used for paying his lawyer, sex dating sites and his own insurances. I expect he won't pay that back without a fight.

The news hasn't yet fully sunk in. That might take a while, I expect.

badgoodDeb · 11-06-2019, 04:04 PM

Yay!! I hope it stays as good as it sounds. Maybe hearing it from your own lawyer will help it to sound official.

astrangerhere · 11-07-2019, 10:56 AM

Preparing for an unusually large court docket next week.

Rumpelteazer · 11-07-2019, 02:32 PM

My father spoke briefly with our lawyer today. She was also very happy for us. She was thinking of sending a letter to my uncle's lawyer to ask if my uncle was planning to appeal or not. My father told her not to bother, we don't trust my uncle. He might say he won't but then on the deadline date we find out he will appeal. Even if he told us he won't without us asking we wouldn't trust him. He has three months, until early/mid February, to appeal. What's those three months on six and a half years.

Our lawyer was between appointments and it was busy in our store, so the phone call was short. On Monday my father will have a longer talk with her, over the weekend he'll talk to my aunt about what steps to take right now.

Still can't believe it and I'm basically waiting for the next trick my uncle's going to pull.

Bilbo1967 · 11-22-2019, 05:29 PM

Just finished packing for two weeks in Mexico City, flying out tomorrow.

I sent two weeks there about 18 months ago and really liked the city, so, other than being away from home and family, I'm quite looking forward to it.

Rumpelteazer · 11-27-2019, 09:23 AM

I just booked my reading retreat for January. This time I've booked a cottage in a vacation park I haven't been to before. It's got a bus stop walking distance from the park where buses to sever bigger two stop.

I've got a luxury cottage for two. Which means I have free wifi, a better bed, a sauna (which I won't use) and a combination microwave/oven instead of just a microwave. It also has a fireplace, I can order groceries online, which will be in the cottage when I arrive; I'll stock up on firewood so I don't have to start my vacation lugging bags of wood around the park.

10-30-2019, 11:59 AM	#42481
Bilbo1967 Not scared! Posts: 13,424 Karma: 81011643 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Midlands, UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10, Huawei M5 10	Packing for my first trip in a manic lead up to Christmas. On Friday I leave for a week's work in Manila. On return, I'm in the UK, but away from home, for two weeks in Bristol. When that's finished, I have two weeks work in Mexico City, followed immediately by two weeks in Newport, Wales (again, far enough away from home to necessitate staying away). Then it's my Christmas break

10-30-2019, 06:02 PM	#42484
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 20,225 Karma: 222235366 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: H2O, Aura One, PW5	I'm manning the door for Trick or Treat (which for some insane and unfathomable reason is always the night before in this area) and I'm going to run out of candy. It was supposed to rain and my neighborhood is already poorly lit with winding roads and no sidewalks, so I figured I'd get few takers and bought accordingly, so as not to have a lot of candy left in the house. Instead, it's 61F and dry and a perfect night to be out. Dang. Not that I grudge the kids a nice night, but I wish I'd anticipated this.

11-01-2019, 04:35 AM	#42487
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,100 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	I had ordered a couple of things from Amazon Germany, which would be delivered on Wednesday between 6pm and 9pm. I get an alert at 9pm that the package was delivered. It wasn't. Yesterday I went around to various neighbouring cafés and restaurants asking if they got the package (no) and I waited if DHL would bring is. It has happened before that something was signed off as delivered and wasn't until the next day. But that didn't happen either. This morning I messaged Amazon, preparing for an email exchange with me confirming, again, that I checked with neighbours and them telling me I have to wait a week to see if it was going to be delivered later (my experience with Dutch webshops). In the automatic reply Amazon promised to contact me within 12 hours, which is fast, most Dutch webshops take at least 3 days. But within half an hour I got a reply that they'll resend my order and if I have any questions to contact them. All before 8am. Great customer service.

11-06-2019, 03:36 PM	#42490
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,100 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	Family Thing update: Initially the verdict was delayed until mid January, iirc. Then at the end of September we got an interim verdict, to help us decide whether or not we wanted to pursue the agreement we almost had with my uncle in the summer of 2018 (no, the interim verdict was better than that agreement). Then we got a new date for the final verdict: mid December. Our lawyer already warned us that there would be high possibility that it would be delayed. But today we got an email from my aunt who had been told by her lawyer that we have won the case! The letter from court states that they agree with the interim verdict and as far as they are concerned the inheritance, what's left of it, can be divided. We haven't heard from our lawyer, she get the snail mail late in the day and when my father called her she was at court. We'll hear from her tomorrow. No word about the possibility to appeal, which my uncle still got (but it will be very expensive and that type of appeal will not look at the verdict, only if the court made mistakes). It's weird. Now the question will be if we will set in motion the sale or if we're going to wait until the window for appeal has closed. Knowing my uncle he won't say what his decision will be until the last minute on the deadline date. We'll have to discuss it with both our lawyer and the solicitor taking care of my grandmother's estate. TBH I wouldn't be surprised if more lawsuits will follow: my uncle still has to pay back several thousand euros into the inheritance which he used for paying his lawyer, sex dating sites and his own insurances. I expect he won't pay that back without a fight. The news hasn't yet fully sunk in. That might take a while, I expect.

11-06-2019, 04:04 PM	#42491
badgoodDeb Grand Sorcerer Posts: 8,501 Karma: 64095689 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Harrisburg outskirts Device: Palms, K1-4s, iPads, iPhones, KV, KO1	Yay!! I hope it stays as good as it sounds. Maybe hearing it from your own lawyer will help it to sound official.

11-07-2019, 10:56 AM	#42492
astrangerhere Professor of Law Posts: 3,639 Karma: 65526796 Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Chapel Hill, NC Device: Kobo Elipsa, Kobo Libra H20, Kobo Aura One, KoboMini	Preparing for an unusually large court docket next week.

11-07-2019, 02:32 PM	#42493
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,100 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	My father spoke briefly with our lawyer today. She was also very happy for us. She was thinking of sending a letter to my uncle's lawyer to ask if my uncle was planning to appeal or not. My father told her not to bother, we don't trust my uncle. He might say he won't but then on the deadline date we find out he will appeal. Even if he told us he won't without us asking we wouldn't trust him. He has three months, until early/mid February, to appeal. What's those three months on six and a half years. Our lawyer was between appointments and it was busy in our store, so the phone call was short. On Monday my father will have a longer talk with her, over the weekend he'll talk to my aunt about what steps to take right now. Still can't believe it and I'm basically waiting for the next trick my uncle's going to pull.

11-22-2019, 05:29 PM	#42494
Bilbo1967 Not scared! Posts: 13,424 Karma: 81011643 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Midlands, UK Device: Kindle Paperwhite 10, Huawei M5 10	Just finished packing for two weeks in Mexico City, flying out tomorrow. I sent two weeks there about 18 months ago and really liked the city, so, other than being away from home and family, I'm quite looking forward to it.

11-27-2019, 09:23 AM	#42495
Rumpelteazer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 5,100 Karma: 24047426 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Utrecht, the Netherlands Device: Kindle Paperwhite Signature Edition	I just booked my reading retreat for January. This time I've booked a cottage in a vacation park I haven't been to before. It's got a bus stop walking distance from the park where buses to sever bigger two stop. I've got a luxury cottage for two. Which means I have free wifi, a better bed, a sauna (which I won't use) and a combination microwave/oven instead of just a microwave. It also has a fireplace, I can order groceries online, which will be in the cottage when I arrive; I'll stock up on firewood so I don't have to start my vacation lugging bags of wood around the park.