Sudokuaholics Anonymous 9A

Good morning all,

Tami, in certain areas of Ottawa clothes lines were banned, but I believe all those orders have been rescinded. Those same areas have rules about colour of houses - they have to be earth tones. Anyway, I hope you have a good day at school.

Off to have my coffee outside before the rain hits. Yes, rain, AGAIN. It's supposed to rain until at least Thursday. Plus the temps are cooler than usual for this time of year. It's only 10C right now. This has not been a good September so far weather-wise. At least there are no hurricanes, fires, flooding, etc. here, so in that way we're lucky.

Which reminds me, I was reading an article about the storm lashing Haiti and how millions still living in tents 8 months after the quake are now having their "tent village" battered. 8 MONTHS??? What happened to the aid??? I am indeed a lucky person (and I'm not being sarcastic)!

Suzy - that weekend 15/16 Jan 2011 is the following - my birthday 16th, my son's 40th - actual b/day 18th but his 2 celebrations - 1 x family and 1 x friends are that weekend - the family one will be here on the 16th and the friends one the night before but I'm inheriting his girls for that night. Also Maddie is 10 on the 9/1 but they will be away until about the 13th so her burthday party will have fit somewhere in that weekend as well. Phewww!! Clear as mud??

A busy time for you then CynB.

Actually, Suzy - IF we can afford it we will be heading south between Xmas and New Year but not as far as Sydney or beyond. We have friends who now live just south of Port Macquarie - so I may get to have coffee with Viv and John at Cafe 66 if I'm lucky - how about heading up there and meeting us???

I am happy that I can give back some of the support I have recieved from my Sudoku family.

Oh woweee CynB. What a great idea. Would love to see you both.

Back for a mo - came to check on my flash player update.

Cyn, that time of year sucks around here at the moment - Ally has performances... Coffee at Cafe 66 would be wonderful though! One day you will have to travel all the way down here - we have a spare room at the moment, if you don't mind paint on the carpet....

Theresa, I think the government should rescind all those orders in the US too! It would be unheard of here... people would rebel!

Tami, it rains a lot here too... except when there is a drought. People get their clothes dry in between.

Reading here of all the problems we all have or have had, just shows me that no matter where in the world we live we all have similar problems. Over here in the UK we have a show on tv about relocating to Australia. It shows one family(per show) who are contemplating emigrating just what they can expect as to housing, work leisure etc. It doesn't tell them that jobs are just as hard to find.

Paint on the carpet can be covered by a rug Suzy.

Ah, is there anything better than that first cup of coffee of the day, except maybe the second???

I'm happy to say that at this moment my hubby is working and getting paid for it! For the last 6 years it has been hit and miss whether or not he got paid. Some people think that running your own business means that you are 'raking the money in' sometimes that is far from the truth. you have to make sure that your employees get paid first, then if there is anything spare then you get paid.
I was fortunate last year to go to Florida for a holiday. We managed this by having saved Airmiles for many years so we got half price flights and we stayed with a lovely relative. Our previous long haul holiday was paid for with an insurance policy I had taken out before I met Richard. I knew that if we didn't use it on this holiday, it would just disappear in everyday living. Next years holiday, hopefully, will be funded by some investment ISA we took out when we had savings.
When Richard and I got married we spent money like it was going out of fashion, if we saw something we fancied we bought it. Nowadays we still live comfortably, but we don't spend as much doing it. It does help that the kids are older and have their own income.

Hi Theresa, you snuck in there. How's the weather today?

Brenda - is that a Phil and Kirsty show? We had one series with just Phil but now they're advertising one with both of them. Love Kirsty -she and Nigella are my ideal women!! These supermodels can go away - those 2 women are real!
Unemployment here is not at the levels I've seen it, say in the late '80s, but the available jobs are applied for by thousands of people. Never a reply or a thanks but no thanks. There were weeks where Colin would apply for upwards of 30 jobs and hear nothing and his cv was 'impressive' according to the people who did see it. I'm convinced that nobody even looked that far. And the money being offered is a pittance. What Col is earling per year now is the same as what he and I were earning, each, in 1997 - admittedly in better, more responsible jobs. One job offer was for $16/hour. Col told his employment consultant that he wouldn't get out of bed for that!! (He got away with saying it too!)

No the program was fronted by Nadia Sawahla.
You get the same here Cyn. My son was applying for jobs and never hearing back from them, even if he had had an interview he didn't hear anything from them saying that he had been unsuccessful. Fortunately he is working now, but still looking for a better job with more hours and more money. his job pays minimum wages which here is £5.80 ph($9.57 Australian) Fortunately he doesn't have a lot of overheads so he is ok on that money.

TAMI, I have only an 8 foot long clothes line. I put wearing clothes on coat hangers and hang those on the line. I can get a whole washer of shirts and pants on there that way. If it is bad weather, I hang on the shower curtain rod, and put a fan blowing into the bathroom. Could you do something like that in your garage if you had too?

Now, for the sheets and towels, I use the rail on the ramp that hubby made when I had a broken ankle and used a wheel chair. Not sure what you would use for those.

Broni, we are very happy you have no major dramas at the time. Just enjoy, you have had your share and more.

CynB, what a lovely buffet you put out, since there are no calories in cyber buffets, I will have one each, thank you please.

Suzy, I know it was difficult having to explain the whole Ebob saga to distant kin. I do think your Mom and hubby have a good thought on this, Ebob is the one with dramas.

BTW, I love the his and her chocolate!! My kind of solution. Men just do not understand a woman's need for chocolate.

ROLANDA, glad you are safely home from holiday. Was the weather good? Lots of R and R? Did you do anything interesting or unusual?

GAIL, sending thoughts, prayers and good wishes to you and Scott also. Hugs dear friend. AND wish I could do more than that.

Victoria, antics of both Mother and MIL sound ominous, waiting to hear what is going on.

OK, all I can remember for this page, I will tackle page 364 later. I have sat too long, time to move around.

Hi Brenda ... cool and wet until Thursday at least. Oh well, there's always next year!!

Brenda, the salaries I hear about in the UK sound very low to me. But it is in pounds rather than dollars and I have no idea of the cost of living so really can't compare. After having lived in the US I do know that the exchange rate is a meaningless measure. Hubby earned the same in the US as he does here, except in US$ instead of AUS$. Somehow it seemed to go a lot further over there than it did here. For example, a Happy Meal in the US was about $2, but here it was $5. A box of cereal in the US was less than $3, here it was about $7. An expensive (i.e. comfortable) pair of shoes was $60, here is is $180. I was buying 8 litres of milk for the same price as 3 litres here. Long winded way of saying that even though the salaries SOUND low, I don't know if they really are.

Hi MizT,
I feel very spoiled with my clothes line! One day I will have to measure it, but it is huge even compared to typical Aussie clothes line. The people next door have one half the size for 9 people. They have to wash every day. I can wash once a week, minus sheets and towels, and fit everything on one line. I also strung some rope under cover that fits one large load. I am so spoiled!!

Not one line, sorry it's late, fit it all on the one hoist was what I meant.

I only came here to log off and I'm running off at the mouth (or fingers). Sorry everyone!

Hugs to you all!

Suzy, I realise that cost of living is different in different countries.
Petrol is £1.19 ($1.96) a litre which works out at £5.40($8.91) a gallon
Cheap loaf of bread £1
Happy Meal (had to look that up as I don't like McDonald)is £2.19(43.61)
Houses here in Stevenage is £221,000 ($364608)
Cheapest flat is over £100,000. Rents start for a one bedroomed flat at £500 a month plus taxes and utilities.
I know from my niece that clothing for children is cheaper here. I don't look at really expensive shoes, but I have to pay minimum of £35 just to get some to fit me (big feet)

I can't give facts and figures... sorry... but I do know that the cost of living in Kentucky is probably the lowest in the US. That includes low property taxes and very low insurance rates. Does that SA commune sound better and better?

FUNNY IH sighting just now!!!!! ... The predators just got one of his sheep, so he had to drive through a gate and across a pasture to pick up the body (his fault -- he locked them out of their night pen). He's still driving the freezer truck for the plant, and had to open a gate to drive through... instead of putting the truck in park to shut the gate behind him, he left it in drive. He shut the gate and looked up, and..... the truck was driving itself slowly across the pasture! It was hysterical watching him run after it and jump into the moving truck! A person of normal intelligence would have put it in park before stepping out.

Heidi, too bad you didn't catch it on video and you could have put it on Youtube!! I'm chuckling just thinking about it.

It made me chuckle too Heidi. If he had a couple of more working brain cells then he might have remembered to put it in park.

This is why I maintain that PhD stands for Pig-headed Dolt.

Heidi, the one I've heard is Piled Higher and Deeper.

Good Morning all!
Brenda, here in Brisbane the average house price is around $420,000 (if you can find a house under $400k it is a bargain and snapped up immediately). Petrol this week is around $1.25 per litre, cheap bread is $1.29 but average bread at the supermarket is more like $3.50. Rents start around $350 per week and a 1 bed room unit would cost $250,000 and up to buy.

The great Australian dream is to own a house on a quarter acre (1000 sq metres) - well, most of our young people can't afford a $350k mortgage and houses are now being built on lot sizes of around 450 sq metres. I think the dream is fading rapidly.

We joke about which of our children will move in downstairs with their partner but it is probably quite feasible. Luckily we have a large house (or unluckily when I'm cleaning it).

Having said all that I still think that Australia is the lucky country. While I'd love to come visit you all, I can't imagine living anywhere else but here.

I believe the exchange rate for Canadian and Australian dollars is pretty close. A small house in our area will cost $200,000. Rent for a one or two bedroom apartment starts at close to a thousand a month, usually utilities are included. Bread is around $2.00 a loaf. Gas right now is under $1.00 (I believe today it's 93 cents per litre).

In the mid 80's we bought a double so we could get the rent from the other side to help pay the mortgage. Then early in this decade my daughter and hubby were looking to buy, but banks were denying them because they didn't make enough money. So we sold them a half interest in our house and they are now paying off the mortgage. This way they at least on paper own property. It gives them a leg up and now hubby and I no longer make mortgage payments.

Mother antics.
I said that my mother has told us she will start looking around at retirement complexes next year. Why wait? Why not start looking now and when you find one you like, put your name down?
I'm afraid it's just a ruse. She really doesn't want to move. She has lived in the same house for the last 45 years and that's it. Part of the problem is that she doesn't know what to do with all her things. I've told her not to worry as all she needs to do is take what she wants and we will have a garage sale of the rest. We've even discussed cleaning things out now but it is all too much effort for her to even think about.

We think we will move her from that house to a nursing home. She suffers from osteoporosis which is slowly bending her and making her walk sideways.
She had a pendant so that if she had a fall, she could press the button and an ambulance would be called. She never wore it (I don't like things around my neck), and hated that every month she had to test it. She was forever getting letters about it. That was the end for her and she sent it back to them saying she was moving to a retirement complex.
My mother is a very stubborn lady and everything needs to be done on her terms. She listens to here friends and neighbours more than her family. They are saying "Why do you want to move? You have a low set house, you're comfortable etc". Guess what! They are all moving to retirement complexes.
It is just so extremely frustrating.

Mother rant over!

Morning all,
Brenda, it sounds like your house prices and rents are about the same as the prices in my home town, which is a half to a third of the Sydney prices!! I can't imagine that!

Vicki, I lived in the US for 10 years and loved it! I'd go back.

I should add that if we could get my mother to move she would be a lot closer to us. I could see her more often and help her with more things than I can when she is an hours drive away.

If she has an accident then I'm just too far away to be of any help. My brother is also over half an hours drive from her.

Off to a Lion's Club meeting in a little. I have to hop in the shower first.

Vicki, we moved here from the US to be closer to my mother. She moved 700km away! That makes it sound like she moved because we did - lol! A lot more complicated than that...

Vicki, I understand what you're going through as we went through the same with my mom years and years ago. We finally got her house sold and she moved into an apartment about a block from my house. She wasn't there long as she progressively got worse. We got a doctor's order that it was no longer safe for her to live on her own, and thus managed to get her into a series of nursing homes. That was a very bad period for me.

We have a heavy rainfall warning in effect for the rest of today and tomorrow, with the possibility of thunder boomers. I am so sick of the rain ... if anyone needs any, please feel free to take as much as you want.

Off to eat the stuff that I flung! Catch you all later.

Vicki - when my parents house had to be 'cleaned out', we called in the entire family, all our kids (10 in all) and their partners. We went through it, sorting everything and everyone took what they wanted. Then we filled a large industrial skip, took 4 loads to the dump in utes and trailers, and had a garage sale for the rest. What was left over, we invited the Salvos to come and collect. My parents never threw out anything, every pay slip, every bill they paid, every letter or card they received was all packed away neatly. Although extremely interesting, we had to toss most of it - it was sad.

Well, I know what I was doing 38 years ago today - giving birth to my baby girl, Karin! How did that much time elapse?? She's on holidays down at Tallebudgera at the Gold Coast, not far to drive, but I won't go down there - too much traffic and we celebrated on Sat night. This will be only the second of her birthdays that I have not seen her - the one, 14 years ago, I was in Greece.

Cyn, please pass on wishes to Karin for me! 38 years old... wow! You're not old enough so she must be adopted...

At least your parent's house was neat... mine on the other hand... which leads me to my next activity....

Cyn, luckily my mother isn't quite that much of a hoarder but she does have cupboards stuffed with ornaments. She also has the equivalent of 5 wardrobes full of clothes - one person couldn't possibly wear that many. She just has lots of stuff she doesn't need or probably even want. It's just too difficult for her to even think about sorting out.
I'm always getting into trouble for throwing things away. She wanted me to keep a gold lotto entry because it was dated 31-12-1999. You know - it was the last day of the century. Sorry, I just couldn't understand why you would make a fuss of that.

Vicki - maybe if you held it in the family, passed in on and on, it might have some value at the turn of the next century! Like $5 for novelty sake! Hehehe!
Suzy - Thanks, I will tell Karin. I used to tell people I was a child-bride when they said I didn't look old enough, these days I certainly look old enough to have a 38 and almost 40 year old.
About my parent's house, I should have said that Mum's part was tidy, Dad's garage and workshop!!! Another matter entirely.