Unutterably Silly So what are you doing RIGHT NOW?

[Hitch]

Working on redoing our wills. Again.

This was easier when I had living relatives. Basically, everybody in my family is dead, including my younger sibs, which makes this trickier. I mean...urgh and blergh. It's all well and good if the operating assumption is that Mr. Hitch survives me, but what if he doesn't? And whilst it's all fine to name pet guardians, people have to FIND them first if we both happen to perish at the same time.

For those of us who are hermit-y, this stuff is a right PITA. Not to mention having to keep up with inheritance laws and tax consequences, too. Blehck.

Hitch

[Rumpelteazer]

I just bought tickets to the Efteling for Monday. Now it's hoping the weather is good (current prediction is 23-24C, dry and sunny) and no protesting farmer block the roads or the park itself.

In July and August the park is open until 9pm, so we plan on going a bit later, arriving around noon, having dinner at the park or close by and going home after rush hour.

I'm going to my sister's on Sunday evening. That way if we have to leave earlier than planned we can just hop in her car, instead of me having to race over to her place first.

[timebug]

Preparing to visit Aged Aunt and Uncle who will have their great grandaughter visiting them. She is two years old and it is now possible to have a real (if simple) conversation with her!

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Working on redoing our wills. Again.

This was easier when I had living relatives. Basically, everybody in my family is dead, including my younger sibs, which makes this trickier. I mean...urgh and blergh. It's all well and good if the operating assumption is that Mr. Hitch survives me, but what if he doesn't? And whilst it's all fine to name pet guardians, people have to FIND them first if we both happen to perish at the same time.

For those of us who are hermit-y, this stuff is a right PITA. Not to mention having to keep up with inheritance laws and tax consequences, too. Blehck.

Hitch

If you were in my state, I could help. I do on average an estate plan a week. Most for very elderly clients who have some of the same struggles. My unsolicited recommendation would be to pick a charity you are both passionate about. They are always an excellent fallback should you lack heirs.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

If you were in my state, I could help. I do on average an estate plan a week. Most for very elderly clients who have some of the same struggles. My unsolicited recommendation would be to pick a charity you are both passionate about. They are always an excellent fallback should you lack heirs.

Hi, thanks for the thought!

We're fine. He'll probably leave it all to his sibling's kids and I'll split the baby, so to speak--half to those same kids (in their 50's, lol) and half to a no-kill shelter and rescue here, or actually, a quarter to a horse rescue and one to a cat rescue.

It's just...I worry (because, hey, I do) that if we're both in a wreck, or the like, nobody will find the cats in time to keep them from starving and they won't know where to take them, when they do. So...I had to think about that and to whom to give the Will and codicil, so that if something DOES happen, they know to go, look, fetch and carry them to their Guardians. (We are incredibly lucky, in one sense--the lady from whom we obtained the cats, one rescue, one bred by her--and the vet that cared fro them for years--married each other, lol. AND--this is bizarre and if it were in a book, you'd throw it across the room, saying "oh, that's crappy writing, to build in a coincidence like that!--but of all the damned things, they bought a house a few homes away from us, literally, on the same main street. So, GREAT Cat Guardians and their little Pet trust is all set up. That part, all handled. It's just making sure that someone FINDS them that worries me a skoosh.

We do free feed--and that would keep them for...IDK, 1-2, maybe 3 days? And the water in their bowl, plus toilet water, another...3? But...I would hate to have them undergo that, if we can avoid it.

I wonder if there's a "cats at home" car thingy, or a "PetAlert" bracelet--when they pull your carcass out of the vehicle, someone sees that you have vulnerable pets that need care....

Hitch

[poohbear_nc]

*snip*

I wonder if there's a "cats at home" car thingy, or a "PetAlert" bracelet--when they pull your carcass out of the vehicle, someone sees that you have vulnerable pets that need care....

You can have names & phone numbers engraved on a Medic Alert bracelet - cat caregiver contact information.

[DNSB]

The last time my wife and I redid our wills, we got treated to a 30 minutes monologue on why specifying survival times was important. If the two of you died in a car accident, do you want your estate wasted on quibbling over which of you died first?

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

*snip*

You can have names & phone numbers engraved on a Medic Alert bracelet - cat caregiver contact information.

Pooh! I should have asked you first; I should have known you'd know. :-) My hero.

Originally Posted by DNSB

The last time my wife and I redid our wills, we got treated to a 30 minutes monologue on why specifying survival times was important. If the two of you died in a car accident, do you want your estate wasted on quibbling over which of you died first?

It's already specified, for that very reason. While it wasn't recent--about 60 years ago--we had a situation in my own family, with our main family trust, driven by that very issue. Not, oddly enough, what everybody thinks of--the old "two people in a car crash" scenario, but one sister died from cancer and the other, her sister, died abruptly from a brain aneurysm within hours of each other. (In our fam, for...a very long time, let's just say, the trustees are always female.)

The designated new trustee was different, depending on which died first, yadda and trust me, the family was NOT happy at all with one of those two choices. Thus, our family has a lot of very specific, very careful language in every will, in every family member.

Of course--sigh--I've just said that and lo....everybody but me is now dead. I look at the trust and think...why'd we bother?


Hitch

[DNSB]

Contemplating the specs and budget for my new laptop. Sadly, I'm not allowed to spend as much as I'd like (quelle surprise!) and so a few decisions have to be made. Do I really need a 4 or 8 TB NVME SSD or can I get by with 2TB? Note that I have multiple VMs on my laptop so storage gets eaten up rapidly. Can I survive with 32GB of RAM or will 64GB be a better choice. Do I want a 1920x1080, 2560x1440 or 3840x2160? A 15", 16" or 17" display? 1 or 2 Thunderbolt ports? Color is easy since our preferred vendors offer your choice between black and black for corporate laptops.

First world problems? Yep!

[Rumpelteazer]

Am I turning into my mother?

On Monday my sister and I are going to a theme park and I just made a list of things I want to bring with me. Which includes: snacks (for when waiting in line or for when we get stuck in traffic), water bottle (it's going to be warm), sunscreen, a small towel (we plan on going on a couple of rides where you get wet), a plastic bag to put the wet towel in. I'm considering bringing a packet of wet wipes, to clean of any tables we use and to use to freshen up during the day. And, of course, I'll bring my Kindle so I can read when waiting in line or when waiting for my sister when she wants to go into a ride I'm not interested in.

I remember when we were kids that my parent always rented a pushchair, not for us, but for the bag my mother brought with her with all the necessary items. I think most people rent pushchairs for that reason.

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Am I turning into my mother?

On Monday my sister and I are going to a theme park and I just made a list of things I want to bring with me. Which includes: snacks (for when waiting in line or for when we get stuck in traffic), water bottle (it's going to be warm), sunscreen, a small towel (we plan on going on a couple of rides where you get wet), a plastic bag to put the wet towel in. I'm considering bringing a packet of wet wipes, to clean of any tables we use and to use to freshen up during the day. And, of course, I'll bring my Kindle so I can read when waiting in line or when waiting for my sister when she wants to go into a ride I'm not interested in.

I remember when we were kids that my parent always rented a pushchair, not for us, but for the bag my mother brought with her with all the necessary items. I think most people rent pushchairs for that reason.

I don't think a theme park exists in the United States where you would be permitted to bring in your own food or drink. They want you to have to buy the overpriced junk food.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

Am I turning into my mother?

We all turn into our mothers.

That said, if you’ve got so much gear you need a push chair, you need to do a serious rethink.

[Rumpelteazer]

Originally Posted by astrangerhere

I don't think a theme park exists in the United States where you would be permitted to bring in your own food or drink. They want you to have to buy the overpriced junk food.

Bringing your own food and drink isn't a problem, they have picnic spots. A lot of schools go on their end of year trip to the Efteling, and a lot of kids bring their own lunch (mandatory at some schools).

The last time we went during early summer we saw a family who had rented a pushchair for their cooler. Which isn't a uncommon occurrence.

In a recent email from them they notified people that for summer they installed extra water point for people to refill their water bottles.

Originally Posted by issybird

We all turn into our mothers.

That said, if you’ve got so much gear you need a push chair, you need to do a serious rethink.

I'm not bringing that much stuff. But I'm trying to avoid having to use my bigger backpack instead of my regular one. So the wipes are probably out (unless I can find a smaller pack of them at the drugstore).

I can remember when I was a kid my mother brought a lot of stuff. When my sister was in diapers it was a diaper bag, but even after that she always had a bag full of things we never used and, of course, coats. Even when it was a heatwave my mother brought coats, just in case.

[Hitch]

Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer

I'm not bringing that much stuff. But I'm trying to avoid having to use my bigger backpack instead of my regular one. So the wipes are probably out (unless I can find a smaller pack of them at the drugstore).

I won't go anyplace w/o flushable wipes. For the obvious reasons--worse comes to worst, you can use them for MIA Toilet Paper. And yes, as you mention, you can use them for freshening, too. I have a wee zippable bag inside my purse with a collection/variety of them--some for things like cleaning tabletops and some for cleaning bottoms. :-)

I can remember when I was a kid my mother brought a lot of stuff. When my sister was in diapers it was a diaper bag, but even after that she always had a bag full of things we never used and, of course, coats. Even when it was a heatwave my mother brought coats, just in case.

Well, diaper bags are non-optional items, obviously. It's always, always women that are the donkeys and sherpas, isn't it? Even in business, even with lawyers, I've seen it repeatedly--it's always the females toting everything; the men will show up, MAYBE, with one litigation bag for files but the rest? Not a chance. If they have that much stuff, they either use a file cart (only if there is no option) or, a filecart with a paralegal to push it.

Hitch

[astrangerhere]

Originally Posted by Hitch

Even in business, even with lawyers, I've seen it repeatedly--it's always the females toting everything; the men will show up, MAYBE, with one litigation bag for files but the rest? Not a chance. If they have that much stuff, they either use a file cart (only if there is no option) or, a filecart with a paralegal to push it.

Hitch

As a female attorney, I am going to take umbrage on the broad over-generalization here. I have a litigation box for files and carry nothing but a messenger bag everywhere else, even to court. I have never had a paralegal carry anything for me, nor have I ever seen any of my male employees do so.

I've also never carried a purse in my life.