#21 Practical Matters for Phsically Challenged Gardeners

After two weeks of trouble breathing I went to the doctor in Loretto yesterday. He's 75miles away but he speaks a lot of English and has access to labs and X-ra y stuff as well as an EKG. Didn't need the EKG as he discovered I have pneumonia. I'm already much better and should be able to do my Santa gig on Christmas. Tony did the driving yesterday. I think I'll be OK for Christmas.

Resting and drinking orange juice. Not much different from when I don't have pneumonia.

hugs, katie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xam01uaj6Vg

Do you guys remember this?

Oh, Katie, I am REALLY glad you went to the doctor! Be careful, lady. I am not sure we could live 75 miles from the nearest doctor. And we certainly would have trouble being that far away from the pharmacy, Christmas wouldn't be the same in Mulege, MX without you doing your Santa bit. Pneumonia can be scary.

There are doctors closer but this one has immediate accress to labs and xrays. Also to EKGs but he decided I didn't need that.

Woke up today at 5am and found an email telling me I had lost a day somewhere and it was Christmas Eve not the day before. Tony and Anita - my helpers - both came to work and we got all the pre-Christmas stuff done in a couple of hours and I was able to let them both leave early, bearing money and other gifts.

I am now having something of a meltdown. I lost the battery cover to my computer mouse so I'm having a nervous breakdown. Fortunately, the part of me that controls rants and throwin things is keeping a lid on my acting out behavior,

I'm doing laundry instead.

I'm really having trouble dealing with the endless problems here.

katie

Here's the official TTC Christmas card with original greeting. Because I care enough to send the very best! :D

It's Christmas.
Hope you have other friends.
Know people with more means than ends
They have real jobs.
They get a real pay
They can afford the holiday.

As for me what you see is what you get.
Times are tough.
Things are hard.
So all you're getting IS this Christmas Card!

Have a great day. Have a wonderful Holiday.
Peace. Out.
TTC & Zoe & Wise Cactus

Wow gang....
Sorry to hear everyone isn't doing well, is sick and having problems. :(

It has been positively artic here. The highs have only been in the low 50's and for the last 2 days and for the next 8 our night temps are going to range between 26 degrees and 34. BRRRRR! Freezing my ya-ya's off!


My family in Ohio has been warmer than we are. Amazing right? I've covered my plants every night super well and with multiple layers but they are still looking miserable and thirsty. They haven't been watered since November due to all the rain and dipping temps at night and even though they're thirsty now I haven't watered them all December because we keep dipping into the freezing marks and below! Cold and water are a bad mix for any cacti/succulent.

Looking forward to mid Jan when it stays above 37 at night and I can give the plants just a tad of water to help relieve them until Feb when I can water them somewhat more.

Well, despite everyone's not doing so well, I hope they still have managed to find some X-Mas cheer and happiness and a little positive something to celebrate.

I also hoped everyone liked my heartfelt X-Mas greeting. Hey, what did you want? Shakespeare in four minutes?

Let me know how you all continue to do and please take care. I have to go bundle up my cacti then myself.

Peace. Out.
TTC

Merry Christmas, Agave and everyone.

[What does your husband think of your DG involvement? I remember my husband and kids were a little concerned when I started rushing online every day before breakfast. :-) ]

Some of our (between the two of us) six kids were together with us for Christmas. I used to find Christmas VERY stressful, and it seems to be much easier than it was say, 2-3 to 10+ years ago. Which has got to be an improvement, right? But then I have to go visit my father, my kids have to go visit their father and Ray's kids have to visit their mother, which is unpleasant and stressful in every instance.

Agave, it's colder there than it was here until yesterday! This weather is UNBELIEVABLE. But then in a few hours it chilled right up and got to be December-like. I hope your weather gets back to normal for you.

And I hope the rest of you all are doing ok. Jim and Kay are busy with family things, no doubt, Katie is feeling better we hope and Bets? Anyone else reporting in ?

Hey Gang,
Goood Morning :D
Hope everyone had a lovely X-Mas and is more than ready for the new year. I am simply because we're supposed to warm up by the 4th! Still colder than average day temps but at least the nights will be 36 and above so I won't have to cover the plants.

The poor things look so stressed and depressed. There's a few I actually had to dig up and bring indoors for the winter. Imagine that! My one Agave may not make it even though I brought it in. I may have done this a little late in the game. Both of my small Madagascar Palms died. :(

The weather is surreal all over the country! Just crazy. Nah...no hole in that ozone right? Were' freezing now and I dread what Summer has in store for us (groan!)

D.H. is really happy I have plant pals (as he calls all of my DG friends!) and doesn't mind the time I spend on the computer in the a.m. Usually I am up for 2 hours before I even get to you guys!!!

I get up between 4:30 and 5:30a.m. I was always an early riser, more so since we moved here and the sun comes out earlier than most places. It's also cooler and lets me get more of my outside work done when it is hot (already need a morning shower so I might as well get dirty first).

I don't disturb him because he doesn't get up until 9:00 or 10:00a.m.
Zoe gets up between 6:30 and 7:00a.m.
I enjoy the 'sacred freedom' of my mornings.

That is cool everyone in your family got together as much as they could and made it relatively stress free. Best kind of holidays ever. :D

As a kid of divorced parents I personally found splitting the time was stressful for my brother and I. Neither of us had problems getting along with the respective step parents and our parents 'got along' it was just all the shuffling about that was bothersome and never felt 'quite right' in terms of holidays. Then of course there was the squeezing in of grandmas and grandpas and other relatives on both sides. I found it more exhausting than enjoyable.

What a pity Ray's kids are more 'stressed' than just bothered or tired. :(
Takes the joy out of it for everyone.

Dave and I are weird with holidays. We 'forget' kind of because we both have had so many jobs where we were required to work them and just found time to celebrate on other days and in other ways. Most of our friends are the same way as they do similar work or have unusual schedules.

I spend about 2 days chasing my friends around either on the phone or on the computer because they're spread out all over the U.S.! Another reason I'm on the computer every morning! :)

Neither Dave or I have children so we have no obligation to 'create' a holiday or atmosphere for them. Add to that both of our families live out of state (Oh thank God!) we pretty much have free-form holidays, do as we want and indulge our whims. We're also not fans of how commercial its become now. It has changed so much from when we were kids. At times it feels hollow despite our efforts.

In a way we like our holidays though because they're pretty cool and very unusual. We're fine with it. We just forget (oops) that other people have 'normal' holidays and families.

I still love to get up early and talk to my plant pals!! :) DH never minds and is happy I have them.

Hopefully Jim and Kay are o.k. and things are working out positively in terms of their girls. I do think of them.

I hope everyone is well and/or recovering and feeling better. I've been a lot more tired than usual but have managed to stay vertical this month. :D Keep fingers crossed as there's a still a few more days. If I can manage this will be the first time in a long time that I will have gone 1 whole month without a seizure! :D

Bets...have you recovered from your one woman party or did you manage to pick up some groupies along your way out that night?

O.K. guys,
Talk to you all later.
Peace. Out.
TTC

Hello,

Anyone still out there and are we all still talking?

I had a REAL good birthdaY DINNER DO-OVER! (Actualkly, a late lunch celebration as I can't see well enough after dark to be able to walk from the parking lot to my apartment) After I ordered and while i SET UP MY cupcakie (I put a red& white candle in the red velvet cupcake, on the small plate my waitress brought me) The waitrewss brought over a bill somebody had sent ov3er for me.....it paid for my dinner, so I tipped the waitress generously! My steak was cookewd to perfection and the baked tater was HUGE and fresh out of the oven!! The WAITRESS KEPT free yeaST ROLLS supplied: also hot right out of the oven. After I ate my fill (there were aLOT of left-overs. . I'll get to THEM later), I lit my candle and held my cupcake while I very silently msang"Happy Birthday" and then made a wish , blew out the candle and ate my cupcake!

Afterward, I was too tired to go OUT to a movie . . . so while I ate my leftover salad for supper (it was HUGE after they had finished adding all mthe non-lettuce stuff!) I streamed (warxched) a movie I'd ordered. Afterwards, I ordered a birthday present for myself: a day/time clock I'd had my eye on for a Christmas gift for Granny (she frequently asks me what day it is. . . if she behaves before it get here, I just might go ahead and give it to her).

The next day, I reheated and finished eating all the left-overs: steak ( plus got to gnaw the T-bone. . something simply NOT DONE in public), yteast rolls and honey butter. potatoe skins! MMMMMMMM

Granny apparebtly de3cided her sad, apologewtic"Have a nice birthday" as we left my original birthday dinner was sufficient, She haS never mentioned my birthday again nor gave me a belatged birthday gift.

On a sad note, my garden helper died on Christmas. He was my friend amd he didn't want to die de4spite the pain . . which he didn't have to endurwe his last week, thanks to a morphine self-administed pump.

On another note, I finished ordering all my seed for my sunner 2016 gardens. I Can't wait to start indoor growing (February 1). Tomatoes, petunias, celosia, marigolds, chinese asters and synfkowers!

Meanwhile, my lenten roses are blooming. These are the two latest blooming ones: one stalk from hellinbore hybridus 'Double Yellow Wedding Ruffles" and two stalks from H. hybridus 'Ice Follies' , all in a vase I have on my breakfast table. (Outdoors, these plants are continueing to vbloom.)

Bets, :D

So happy your b-day do over was a raging success! How kind, generous and wonderful of someone to have picked up your dinner tab. Now, I do hope you stopped by to thank them on your way out or maybe sent them a drink? Isn't it wonderful though when people are so kind? Goes to show you the phrase, 'the kindness of strangers' DOES still have some meaning in this world, even today.

Your meal sounds heavenly! Looooove me some T-Bone steak too. Probably my favorite. I've made good friends with the butcher at my meat counter in the local grocery store. If I don't like what's on the shelf he'll cut something for me. :D I found after complimenting him once or twice to his manager for the excellent service the butcher is more generous to me. (The little 'how are we doing' cards always asks for your name and 'experience' in the store). Now when I ask him for steak instead of the T-Bone he'll cut me a porterhouse and charge me a T-bone price! )LOL) :D Goes to show you again the phrase, "Catch more flies with honey than vinegar" is true also!!!

And yes....I don't gnaw on the bone in public either...now at, that's a different story! :D Isn't that what eating at home is for? Food is fun, so enjoy it. Glad you did enjoy your meal and your left-overs too.

Granny is Granny and the woman is going on 100. I wouldn't take it too personally. I don't think it is her age so much as it is her generation. I know people 95, 91 and 88 and they don't apologize either. They grew up in a time when children were seen not heard, parents were always right and they do not apologize to their children or those younger. So I wouldn't take it too personally although it doesn't make it any less nice.
I usually get around the three I know by saying, "Well, in THIS CENTURY people surprise me. You know, people these days...I don't know... they are so nice and respectful to each other compared to generations ago." That usually manages to get them to adjust their attitudes.

Sorry you were too tired to catch the movie. :( But one at home is just as nice. The movie theatres don't let you lie on a couch when you're there. Plus you didn't have to look around or over someone's head to see, freeze (why are those places so darn cold), have your shoes stick to the bottom of the floor, sit next to someone whose sneezing/dripping (they always sit next to you) or have to put up with someone's little kid kicking the back of your seat and/or talking.

Unless DH gets free passes from work we never go out to the movies. We do the same thing and just watch them on t.v. I don't know if you like Downton Abbey but the final season is starting either today or tomorrow. I've got to check. I've watched all the seasons so I'd like to finish up with that.

The clock sounds like something I could definitely use too. I can never keep track half the time of what day it is. I always know the date but not the day. (eye roll).

I am really sorry your helper died on X-Mas. I know you feel his loss but at least he was pain free and he was home with people around him and friends. He's also living a new life now and I'm sure he's loving it. He's happy.
I'm weird in that, unless it is the most needless and senseless of deaths like murder or suicide or drug overdoses, I try to think of funerals not in terms of my own loss and grief but more in terms of the passing person's release, rest and passage onward to a better place.( I'm stuck here! Think about this a minute.) I try to feel happy about this rather than sad.
I know you'll miss him though and for that I am sorry.

Glad your roses are blooming. :D They're really beautiful. It is a rarity to see anyone grow roses here. They like the heat but not our intense sun and they need a lot of watering. Your choices for seeds sound wonderful and I'm sure you'll have a beautiful garden come spring. Looking forward to the pictures.

Me, I can't believe our cacti are still growing and blooming during the day but at night we are covering everything due to the severe cold. Tomorrow should be the last day that I will have to do this. As of the 2nd the temps at night will be back up to 37 and into the mid 40s. That's normal. The days have been cold though. Yesterday it was only 53! Brrrrr. The days are still going to be in the low 60s-upper 50s which is about 8-10 degrees cooler than our norm. I'm just happy the plants aren't going to freeze anymore. :D

Nothing special planned for tonight. Just happy DH is home with me and we can just hang out, cook out on the grill, have a glass of wine and watch t.v. Probably won't even make it until midnight.

Hope everyone else is well and happy.

Wise Cactus says, "The best party in town is always wherever YOU are."
Peace. Out.
TTC

Happy New Years one and all.
Wise Cactus and I wish that it may it truly be happy, healthy and full of fun.

Peace. Out.
Hugs,
TTC.

Lenten roses are their common name, but they most DEFIANTLY are not roses: they\ir charactistics and flowers do not even come close to a rose's. Someone once posted that he had Naked Ladies in his yard . . but he did NOT have unclothed females!!!! lol

The Christmas rose is like a sibling to my lenten roses (Helleborus sp.) but it looks more like a flowering cactis-like plant!

I wish to pose an ethical question to y'all and get feedback. Just WHEN is it morally acceptable and ethical to refuse medical treatment to someone, because the treatment is expensive. . . . their medical insurance won't pay for it. . . their elderly and are probably going to die in a few more years anyway?? In addition to my friend and garden helper who fell into this morass, I have an elderly neighbor who must undergo daily dialysis: she needs a kidney transplant yet her insurance won't cover it. . yet her insurance DOES cover the expensive daily dialysis solutions/drugs. . . She has too much income to be accepted by Medicaid (who WOULD pay for a transplant) yet after she pays for her necessary frequent ER visits by ambulance and uncovered medical costs, she must live in subsidized housing. . . . . medicaid DOES pay for someone to come in weekly to clean her apartment! And get this kicker: my friend, she and I are all retired government workers with security clearances!

Sometimes the sheer inhumanity makes my blood boil and rave & rant about the UNFAIRNESS of it all!!

That is all. It's safe to come out of the underground bunkers.

Good Morning gang :D

O.K. Bets...
My answer is divided into 3 parts of how I look at this question based on what I know from a business law class I had in school and my summation is based on being an Epileptic and my experience with the government, having had a Military Intelligence job and a T.S. clearance.

Three parts:
Legal is legal. That is laws. They must be abided by unless they are changed through a lawmaking process, amended, or...(ahem) you find a way to get around them without getting caught.

Moral is moral. That is one's own personal beliefs based on their religious beliefs or lack of them. It is spiritual and entirely personal. No ones are the same even if they fall under the same religion. There are different sects (Ex. look at how many types of Protestant, Catholic and Judaism there are).

Ethical is ethical. The other two, personal experiences and one's own conscience, heart and mind, social, family, political and cultural beliefs determines this. It is what you believe is 'right' and 'wrong' based on the shaping of your life due to the above. It is even more individual and personal than your legal and moral views. We all have shades of gray.

For example it is legal to shoplift? No. Is it moral? No. Why? Is it 'ethical' to you. If your electric is shut off, you can barely pay the rent and you shoplift a pack of hamburger from the grocery store to feed your kids is this 'ETHICAL?" It isn't legal. It isn't moral from a religious standpoint. BUT in your personal heart and soul would you let legal and moral guide you to determine if this is 'ethical' or would you feel different based on a personal belief that contradicts the other two?

On a personal basis this is hard to answer without getting political. My summation and ruling if I were in the situation your friend was in would be......

In my opinion...STRICTLY AG SPEAKING...
Is it legal...Yes in terms of the health insurance. You signed up for it. You agreed to the terms and conditions. You pay the premiums. Unless YOU support an alternative to how things are presently done...not mentioning the name/type of medical system...and support the kind of insurance/health care like the rest of the world has EXCEPT US, Iraq and Iran then it will not change.
This will remain legal because people here don't want it. They resist it. They have done everything in their power to dismantle what is trying to be established in order to move our country towards the health care system that the rest of the world has. Me personally I would switch to this alternative health care no one likes.
So yes, this behavior will always be legal and unfavorable skewed towards those who can pay large amounts of money to maintain their health versus those who may have to die, lose their homes or go bankrupt because they can not. We have a tendency presently to view the poor and the needy as being selfish and greedy when it comes to our tax money. Not being rich I would switch to the alternative insurance so my treatment would get covered and pray the healthcare didn't get dismantled.

Me personally...STRICTLY AG SPEAKING...unless we jump on the world bandwagon and 'agree' that our healthcare needs to be like theirs then I would wish and tell my family to deny me treatment or that they would do the same. No matter how much money my family had I would personally hate to see them lose it to make drug companies and hospitals (now a business) rich while they grew poorer.

Is it moral? Personal. Can't speak for that person. What is/was the dying person's wishes? Was it stated in a living will or some other such document that dictates care if they can't care for themselves that this is what they want? Did they make their views one way or the other known to family?
Did the dying person perhaps say right now to their family, "I rather leave the money to you so you can pay off the home or the kids college education rather than keeping me malingering around especially since my life is coming to a close and even if I was healthy I may only live 5 more years."? Is the dying person simply ready to go now?
We don't know the answer to these questions because they are based on their morals. We don't know their morals. We only know ours.

For the health or life insurance company to make this determination in my opinion is an abomination against God. I can't get life insurance because I'm an Epileptic which they rank 5th most deadly, with cancer being number 1. Why insure me if there's such a high probability that I could easily die and they'd have to pay out and they know it? Thus I can't purchase life insurance and leave the money for my husband or family. Nobody will insure me.

STRICTLY AG SPEAKING...I think how your friend is being treated is not 'moral'. It is immoral. I am a Buddhist and we believe in doing what is right and appropriate at the time. We don't have thou shall and shall not. We have thou should and shouldn't and they are all based upon doing what is right, appropriate and ethical at the time based on ones own beliefs and the possible rewards and/or repercussions you may face thereafter.

My beliefs within the tenant of my religion makes me feel society, health care, insurance, drug companies, and providers are immoral. I believe they and our government (REGARDLESS of what initial is at the end of the president's name) are immoral because they allow these things to happen and profits above health continues.
This goes against my personal morals.

MY VIEW ONLY...I do not feel that society as a whole is 'moral' regardless of their religion. None of them---NOT A ONE---practices what they preach or what is literally written in their books when it comes to our 'obligation' in regards to the responsibility we must each individually bear towards caring for and helping our fellow man, being responsible for others, and improving the human condition if we are to truly---really, honestly and truly--- call ourselves a member and follower of our religion.

Is it ethical?

So for me I would opt to drop my insurance and switch to the one nobody in this country seems to like, or go without insurance and let myself go so my family may have a future due to what I could financially leave them to help them OR I would review my ethics and see how I could 'get around' the problem.

MY ETHICS---SOLELY AG SPEAKING
My ethics would prompt me to find a less than legal and not necessarily text book moral way around the situation.
I would withdrawal all my money from the bank, give it to my family, declare bankruptcy and basically let the government take care of me. They'd have to feed me, give me health insurance THAT WOULD cover my needs, let me live where I could afford and as far as having to pay my debts back...can't get blood from a stone. They'd get $10.00 a month. I AM paying my debt. If they refuse payment they are legally releasing me from my obligation. :D

I served our country for 3 years but do not qualify for any treatment with the V.A.
When I got sick with Epilepsy my name did not get bumped to the top of the list.
No government aid because I did not qualify, no Congress person helped me.

Let's talk about a law I would like to enact: CONGRESS IS A PART TIME JOB SO PAY AND TREAT THEM LIKE IT!!!
Congress was never intended to be a full-time job. If your go back to the Constitution and the founding fathers they had full-time jobs and Congress was part-time.
Our Congress basically works part-time BUT gets a ridiculous amount of paid vacations, holidays, expense accounts, personal aids, free lunches, gifts from lobbyists, etc. Do part-time people get this at work? NOPE. Strip Congress of it.

Congress works part-time but gets a full-time salary and health care that is free.
Do part-time workers get this? NOPE. Strip Congress of this. Pay them hourly, no over-time and no health care. Make them pay for their own health care like part-time workers.

If you walked off your part-time job because you didn't get your way and your 'boss' said NO, would you get fired? YEP. So fire them if they do this. Would your boss hire someone new to replace you? YEP. So if they walk off the job they're fired. A new senator/representative takes their place.

If you're a part-time employee and you violated company rules, ethics and policy and procedure would you get 'written up'? YEP!!! So write up Congress. If you got written up 3 times would you get fired. YEP!!! So fire Congress when this happens.
No fraternization.
No drinking on lunch.
If you work 4 hours you get a 15 minute break. If you work 6 or 7 hours you get a 20 minute break. If you work 8 hours you get 1/2 hour for lunch and 2 different 15 minute breaks or you get no breaks and 1 hour for lunch.
I say make them clock in and out!!!

Can you drink on your lunch at work? NOPE. Then why should they? Can you deduct your meals? NOPE. Then why should they? Can you deduct your clothing, shoes, hair cuts, etc.? NOPE--unless it is something not wearable outside of work or special equipment. So strip Congress of this.

If you were caught in a blatant lie, stealing, cheating, misallocating money and defrauding your employer or boss would charges be pressed against you and the company seek to punish you to the fullest extent? YEP!!! So do the same with Congress. How many of them would be sitting behind bars?


Do part-time employees get pensions for life, and 401-Ks? NOPE. Strip Congress of this.

Do part-time employees have access to the best medical care, the premiere doctors and hospitals and immediate approval for social security if they become disabled? NOPE. Make Congress jump through the same hoops as the people they represent. Why are they special? Why should Congressman X get a kidney before Jane Doe? Put his name at the bottom of the list just like every other person.

Can you live on a part-time job? Most of us the answer would be no. So we'd have to have a second job. Treat Congress like the military reserves. When called to serve you go and your regular job is secure and you can return to it. When your few months in Congress is done you don't get a government pay and go back to your other job. When you go back to your part-time job you go back to living off of that pay. You don't get paid from Congress because you're not working in Congress!

Now....how much money would this save the average tax payer?
How much money would doing this go towards lowering our national debt?
If things were like this how fast do you think Congress would get things done and 'listen' to their people?
How fast do you think things would change for you and I and to our benefit?
Uhm....yeah! Thought so! If things were like this we wouldn't be in the mess we're in and nobody would be in your friends predicament.

And my husband can't understand why I love our country and am grateful to live here but the longer I live here, the older I get, the fact I have an illness and am disabled, the more I begin to think about dual citizenship and jumping the border in the other direction!!! (LOL).

So that was my soap box rant for the day. :D
Hope you all enjoyed it.
Peace. Out.
TTC

Agave, most of the becoming poor so Medicaid would pay for everything parts have to be done years ahead of time. Ie you can't give your fortune to your 8-year-old daughter and qualify for Medicaid. Assets transfer is a thing and it has to take place years before. I don't know all the details, but there are people who do know them. Ask a LAWYER before you take Agave's advice.

In my state, I get Medicaid forever because the SSA decried me too disabled to work. Not in every state, just in Massachusetts. Every time we travel, we risk being away from Massachusetts when I need some medical care, because we would be liable for the 20% Medicaid doesn't cover.

Ethical vs. moral vs. legal: Agave sums up pretty well. The human impulse to leave things to your family, or to sacrifice for your kids, is institutionalized. When they're talking about you when they say "you have to prove you will still be alive in five years before we will buy you a power chair", it doesn't feel good.

The old notion about the tribe moving on and the very old and very sick lying under a bush to die is romantic, but when the society says "you there, you're too old and too sick. Crawl off to die and let the younger folks take over!" it feels immoral and unethical.

I don't know what I think. Mostly, I try to keep MY nose clean, and to stay in Massachusetts, where the state finds me worth perpetuating. We have thought also about relocating to another country (probably a warm, tropical island). The biggest problem is that our kids and grandkids are all in this country, but also that we would pretty much be at the mercy of whatever medical system they have in our new country.

It stinks to think about one's health so much!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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This message was edited Jan 20, 2016 10:59 AM

Good Morning all :D

Yes, agree....ask someone who knows. Wasn't dispensing advice just simply saying what I would do...in my opinion only...and from what I learned in a class many...many...many years ago. Most likely the information may not be up to date.

These were just ideas. I was just warned that having things in place...like their names on your accounts and they acting as your legal financial guardian (ie. the person who ...ahem...writes your checks for bills, groceries, etc.) may be something you want to consider now. If the money is in their name and you are declared 'incapable' of doing this yourself by them because you have no money and can't manage and they have power of attorney then most likely your money can't be taken away. AGAIN CHECK!!! You'll also have to trust your family a lot! (eye roll).

That's disturbing Carrie that you have to worry about things state to state. I never thought about whether or not I would have to but I don't plan on moving and I don't travel. One: can't afford to. Two: It is everyone else's turn to come visit us. We've been to see them. They haven't been here in 8 years.
Three: I don't want to have to deal with doctors, hospitals, and medical issues in another state should I have a seizure where I do get hurt badly. It is complicated enough dealing with it here. I couldn't imagine this out of state.

They hound me every 3 years to prove I can't work, drive and am a menace to myself. Really weird thing is they don't want doctor's opinions, or pictures of damage I do to myself physically (got plenty of that), they want 'eye witness' accounts from people who know me who have seen me have seizures. They'll take their 'word' and what they put down on paper but NOT what a medical professional says or pictures in living color show. You figure it out.

I'd love to move someplace else. The problem is it would have to be someplace where I could afford to live better than here and that would accept us. It isn't so easy to go run off to Europe and Canada anymore. I looked. A lot of them require you to have a skill that is so unusual that few people possess, or contribute a huge sum of money (Canada it is $800K!), speak the language fluently, and you/your spouse if capable of working often can not OR are relegated to menial labor jobs for the 1st 4 years until you can obtain citizenship so you better have lots, and lots and lots of money to live on until then!

I looked at places like Denmark and Norway which have the best healthcare in the world. It is 'free' but you get a year of no work then they find you something you can do in exchange for life-long fee care even when you are elderly. That is everyone in their country. If they find you work you have to take it. If it is 100 miles away you move!! It isn't obligatory it is mandatory!!! It is the law that is why you get your health care free, because everyone contributes to it in one way or another.

It also takes a long time to get citizenship there so you better have some bucks saved up. Social programs aren't available until after you are a citizen but when they are you can expect the best in the world and in a quantity and quality like you've never seen or known the likes of or thought could exist.

Thus I've looked at going South of the Border and keeping dual citizenship! I can afford to live in Mexico, I speak, read and write enough Spanish to survive, communicate and get around well, and to live as I do now would cost 1/3. I could OWN the same home for 1/3 of what mine costs and I am paying a mortgage on! Also I could still get my S.Security (have to check the details yourself on 'dual citizenship'.). There are American doctors with practices there as well as right over the border in San Diego and neighboring towns.

So for these reasons as I get older I begin to think and muse about this possibility. Don't know if it will happen but would like it to. As it is I don't have a pot to hold water or a window to throw it out of. So yes, I stay in AZ, don't leave the state and live frugally.

I often joke with my husband saying handguns and bullets are cheaper than medical bills. If/when I become too problematic and my care costs more than I'm worth and I have no quality of life I'll buy one and blow my brains out and release him from all obligations and spare him a life of poverty. Of course I'd make sure he was gone out of the house for a day or two visiting friends and took the dog with him!

I would have gotten my uncontested 'divorce' a year before this and taken his name off of all my bills and expenses and be legally 'residing' at a friends because my mail and stuff and body are there and I 'live' there....but nobody can dictate where I spend my time, days and nights and with whom.

So if I get along with my 'ex' and want to visit him as a friend daily or spend a night there with him because I (ahem) 'am not well enough to come home that night', I can.

I just don't 'live there' and neither does my stuff. Besides I lost most of my 'things' in our divorce settlement (furniture, electronics, kitchen stuff, etc.).

I'd also have given him most -all of the money in my 'accounts' in the divorce settlement, BUT he'd agree to pay me alimony (I'm disabled and can't work remember?) in exchange and help me with medical expenses if need be even though I wasn't on his insurance he'd help me with my bills. That would be 'agreed to' in our divorce.

Any possessions or things I had left in life I would leave for him in my will!!! Ooops... (ahem) I forgot to change my will! Smack forehead! Coincidentally so did he!! Oh, and neither of us remarried.

Now NONE OF THIS is legal advice, suggestions or avocations of things you or anyone else should do. It is just AG personally and how AG would find her own ways to deal with AG's issues.

Isn't it sad when you're sick, poor and have to plan your future in a way that your family and loved ones can still eat?

So let's change this rather morbid subject.

Anyone with me on initiating that citizens' sponsored bill of "CONGRESS: Give Them Part-time Pay and NO Benefits for THEIR Part-Time Work and Play!" ?

Peace. Out.
TTC

I see the Powers That Be deleted my post. C'est la vie. Is it any wonder there's a large "Silent Majority"?

Well, the powers that be have made it so all posts appear as if bold-face Italics font. It makes it easier to read, but I keep making a mental note to take off the bold-face.

They deleted a post of mine and sent me a sad email about why. As if mentioning ATP is the problem here!!

I'm having a heart problem. Had pneumonia, now an enlarged ventricle. Will be making the long trip to La Paz for tests tomorrow mornig,

Don't come here often, it's too frustrating. Very happy at the other site. It's not DG but neither is DG.

katie

Cha..Cha..Cha...Changes, trying to face the strain....
Remember the song "Changes" by David Bowie? Great song.
Realized I haven't been leaving my songs for the day.

Woke up in a good mood and just ignore the things that irritate me (Like BOLD ENLARGED FONTS) and my husband's ape like friend coming over for foot ball that think's we have an inexhaustible grocery budget.

Anyway....
Happy music songs for the day. Get up, gotta dance, snap your fingers, tap your toes, smile songs:

Rick James: You and I (probably my all time favorite he did)
Rick James: Give It To Me Baby
Chaka Kahn & Rufus: Tell Me Something Good

So there you go and enjoy.

Wise Cactus says, "If you don't like the way the party is going, then put on some new music and create a party you do....they'll join in if you start dancing firs!"

Peace. Out.
TTC

I'll be on Sizzling Agaves if anyone would like to talk. Not that there's much talk there either. I also have D-mail.

Hope everyone is well?

Peace.Out.
TTC

OMG my 9 year old grandson was just diagnosed with type 1 diabetes! We rushed out to be there (in Texas) with him and the family. So we're back now. :)

Where is everybody (and is the bold, italic thing PERMANENT)? I guess it's easier to read than the too faint type, but it is a little alarming. Can you still bold it? Can you make it even bolder? Yes, you can make it bolder still. That's good, I guess. Ack. the preview showed up as bold and less bold, but what posted to the thread was just bold.

This message was edited Jan 11, 2016 2:02 PM

Hey Carrie, :D

Sorry to hear about your grandson. :( That's terrible. Is he well now? Is he going to be alright? I sure hope so. Poor kid. Let me know what the doctor says.

As for everyone they're on a different channel in a different zone if you know what I mean. So until Jim and Kay come back (?) it is you and I. That's not to say I don't do some cruising over on the other channel too. Don't feel too bad my one forum Sizzling Agaves is dead. No body as in not a one person is there anymore. :( They are on the other 'place' which is o.k. because I catch them there.

I do miss our old gang and our talks. So for right now I think it is you and I . Hey, at least you don't have to talk to yourself right or be completely alone?

It looks like the bold type is here to stay but who cares. I mean if this is the worse thing we've got to deal with or be aggravated by then we're doing good right?

Personally I mourning the loss of David Bowie. What a shock. I spent yesterday paying musical tribute to him from Diamond Dogs, Ziggy Played Guitar, Changes, Ashes to Ashes and all the way up to the current stuff. He will be missed by me.

Wise Cactus said, "A song only ceases to be heard when you cease to sing it."

Wise Cactus IS very wise isn't he?
Peace. Out.
TTC

So the bold/Italics is JUST this forum, as far as I can tell, which is REALLY STRANGE! I can't figure out why this forum should have different code than the rest of the site. If we asked for it to be different, it would take forever for it to be implemented.

We (writers) did hear from Terry finally. She said "busy doesn't begin to describe it." Whether that was the end of that and now she will catch up, or it's going to be just as bad for another month or, so we'll have to wait and see. I will Dmail Melody to let them know (officially) about the bold/Italics, though.

Oh yeah, grandson will be fine. He (and his family) are learning about blood sugar and injection sites and fun stuff like that, but diabetes management is LIGHTYEARS ahead of where it was previously.

Hi Carrie, :D

I did post a reply the other day but it obviously didn't post. I am glad to hear your grandson will be o.k. Thank goodness it is manageable. That is one thing that is a relief. It isn't a perfect science but diabetes causes and the treatment is pretty well documented and successful. Let's be glad for that.

Whatever about the bold italics. I think maybe since we're disabled perhaps they believe we're blind too? (LOL). Again if this is the worse thing I have to deal with I'm doing good.

My health has been o.k. thankfully! Had two big seizures but both times my husband was home to literally catch me so no collateral damage was done.

I did call Jim and Kay yesterday and just left a message on their voice mail/answering machine. Told them it was TTC/AG and was just letting them know I missed them, was thinking of them, hoping they were all well and that I hadn't forgotten about them. I said I knew they were busy with family matters but that hopefully we would hear from them soon. I left my phone number. I haven't heard from them.

Have you?

Are you doing well? What have you been up to.

Me, I'm waiting for the sun to come out so I can get out and go do something in my garden for real. It is cold right now even though the rain has stopped and it is gray half the day. This isn't motivating to shoveling rock and laying brick for raised beds. Sigh....I think 2-3 more weeks.

I have to bundle up and walk Zoe. It is important to her even if it isn't to me. So...off I go.

Peace.Out.
TTC

Yes, diabetes is horrible and awful BUT as you say, it is certainly manageable. Boo for your seizures. We're waiting for the sun to come out also; shouldn't be more than two more months!!! Today started rainy but I think it will end snowy. Snow is pretty and peaceful at first,then slushy and dirty then freezes into hard ruts. So far it is just quiet and pretty.

Are you on Facebook? I will check for Jim and Melissa over there.

Both of them last posted on Dec. 5, and nothing since then! Hmmmm.http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/the-twelve-plants-of-christmas.

Oh, oh, my Christmas article got published yesterday!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/the-twelve-plants-of-christmas

This message was edited Jan 16, 2016 12:00 PM

Hi Carrie, :D

Congrats on your X-Mas article!!! YIPPEE!! Good job on getting that done. You must feel real proud of yourself as you should!

No, not on face book by choice. I read your post about snow and it seems so odd now that I've been away from it for so long. I had to sit and go..."Oh, it IS January."

If it is any consolation our sun is still struggling to come out and giving us a hard time about it. The nights are now in the upper 30s and low 40s. Our days are still below average in the high 50s and low 60s.
Summertime though...UGH! Don't even want to think about it.

I presume you're well? I have been...quick knock on something wood. Really glad to hear your grandson is going to be o.k. also. :D

I know Bets in on the 'other' site and I haven't sent her a personal e-mail. I should. For what it's worth you can come over. It is free. I'm there and I'm here. I don't have an active forum here but I still enjoy the newsletters, plant files and just browsing. I'm here until May or June. It doesn't cost me a penny there...so...shrug shoulders...whatever. I divide my time between the 2.

I went because the 2 core members I had asked me to come over to their succulent and cactus forum. Hey...those 2 were my Plant Pals since day one here at DG so I did hate to be without them.

Jim and Kay still haven't contacted me so I'll just send them a card.

Let me know what else is new.
Peace.Out.
TTC

My father died on Saturday, so that has been taking a lot of attention....moving his stuff out of the nursing home, writing a thing for the paper, blah blah blah.

I thought I figured out why the font changed, but now I'm not so sure. I think it has something to do with html tags (the < commands you enclose with carats) but I'm not completely sure. It IS just the forum, which is too strange.

Carrie,

I'm so sorry about the passing of your father. That is so hard and such a bummer. I know what you mean about having to do all that work. Do you have help? I hope so.

Well, try to have a good day. Cant' do much for you except offer to talk if you'd like. I have to go put on a pot of chili for dinner but I'll be around in the evening or tomorrow a.m.

Take care. Flowers are for you. :)
AG

Oh my gosh!!! Up thread, on 1/1/2015, I said HAPPY NEW YEAR, like that, except I put < b > and < i > to make it bold and DIDN'T put < / I > < / b > to take off the bolding. That used to be fine; it would automatically revert to plain font. Currently the system doesn't remove the bold command just because your post is over; it applies it to all the subsequent posts on the same thread on the same page. I don't think it's better or worse, just different. So now, it's imperative that you close the commands for html formatting because they get applied to EVERYONE. So I will.

Hi Carrie,

That's funny! Since I'm a computer 'tard I don't do anything that requires me to learn something new thus the reason you see nothing in bold now from me. I am one of those people who really don't care what 'format' or 'font' the posts are in as long as I receive them, can read them and reply to them. (shrug shoulders). I guess I'm less picky than others because I have a lot less computer knowledge.

Heard from Jim on my DMail. :D
He's been having trouble posting. Sigh. Eye roll. Did he contact you? I'm hoping so.

How have you been feeling? How are things going with the cleaning up/ clearing out of your dad's house?

Not much new with me except that Wise Cactus said, "Spring is the time for a new thing!" So I went and got some plants. :D Only problem is I have no clue where to put them as I have a load of brick sitting in the back yard and nothing built! (LOL).

Hope you have a great day.
AG.

Speaking of 'new things' here's a picture from the piece of Dragon Fruit that Jim sent me. It really isn't plastic!

Yeah, I heard from Jim. My father used to live in a room, many of the contents are in my living room. :(

Hi Carrie,
Talked to Jim and Kay today! They called me. :D How nice. They canceled their memberships which explains why you/we can't see anything they post other than "We can't post." . They're supposed to be on ATP but I don't know what forum. I'm hoping they'll send me an e-mail there and we can chat. Perhaps we can get Bets involved in it and you moved over and then start our own forum again and resume as we were?

I'm glad it is just a room you had to clear out and not a whole house. That makes it considerably less tiresome of a task in regards to the physical. It stinks everything is in your living room but at least you can go through it as you please and at the pace you like rather than feeling obligated to hurry up due to having to put a house up for sale or because a landlord is being demanding.

Anyway, I'm o.k. Just tired. Did some planting and tending to plants today. Have some planting the next day. Need to weed my neighbor's lawn and plant for her. She's 85, sharp as a tack and works part-time as a dispatcher for the police dept. but she had back surgery and can not bend so I take care of her yard for her. Why not? I'm out in all of mine anyway. Plus she carts me around if I have a need to go somewhere.

So that's what I'm up to.

Take care,
Talk to you soon.
TTC

Oh, that's really sad, if Kay and Jim canceled their membership. Darn it. Canceling is a lot harder than just not renewing.

Actually, his nursing home was sort of anxious that we move the stuff out of his room. They had it all carefully boxed up.

That is even a matter of some debate. The contents of his trash can were carefully intact, inside his little waste can, in a box. It's possible that the winning lottery ticket could have been in his wastebasket. I mean, the aides there are not in charge of sorting trash. If he had had a powerball ticket worth 1.5 billion in his trash by mistake, we would have been happy they didn't empty the trash. So I think I understand.

Good Morning Carrie,

Sorry I didn't get back right away. I've been busy planting and doing 'logistics' in my front yard. You know there's no sun here for 7 hours in winter but it is here for 7 hours in the day frying everything. O.K. the plant is only so big now but in 2 years it is going to be 8 times as big. O.K. all 'these' plants get more water than 'this' but 'this' fits here but I can't put it here so that means something has got to be moved. Blah, blah...blah! Spent the day doing the plant shuffle.

Still have to get some work done now on the back yard in terms of finishing raised beds. That way I don't have to fuss with the front yard anymore and can concentrate on the back. Eye roll, sigh.

Well I am glad the nursing home made a large part of your tasks easy. I think what it may be is that the aides can not legally go through or clear out or dispose of anything in his room so the entire contents were just boxed including the trash for the same reason as you described as above. Their view is most likely you have no idea what he may have written on papers, or phone numbers or anything else that they see as valueless but could wind up being infinitely valuable to you for some reason.

Also I think it may have something to do with the law and his possessions. The trash was in your dad's room so it was his possession. If they removed it or it contained some evidence of foul play as to the reason he died then the nursing home is in trouble.

And of course places like that are always anxious you remove the family member's things a.s.a.p. They are a business and want to fill the space again. Your dad was lucky he has you and a decent place to go.

I often wonder what will happen to me if I'm elderly and Dave goes, vice-versa or both of us as we have no children and no money. It was the reason why I never cared to own a home. By the time we own it we'll be in our late 70s. Who knows how long we'll be here. We have nobody to leave it to. From my aches and pains this morning from simple gardening I wonder how we will be able to do the work to fix, maintain, and clean (to my standards) the place as we hit our 70s and 80s.

This is why I never wanted a home. An apartment or condo always suited me just fine. There are plenty of nice ones in plenty of nice neighborhoods where you don't have to worry about these types of things. Even if I had hit the 1.5 billion lotto I still would have bought the house and rented it out THEN found a nice very spacious and large condo with a yard in most likely San Diego or Mexico. Or most likely I just would have moved to Norway.

Anyway, here's the two beds I have done. One is about 7 feet by 3 and 4 layers high. The other is 4 feet by 3 and 3 layers high. You can see a very small pile of brick next to it. I am planning to add on a small, perfectly square one built off the side of the one bed. I think it is probably going to be 2 feet by 2 feet and maybe 6 layers high.

The one after that I think will be about another one built about 4 feet by 2 and maybe 4 layers high. I'd like that one on the left by the prickly pear.

I'm trying to do various interconnected beds that vary in height and width and I'd kind of like to create a bit of a 'maze' like structure. Originally I had plans for 7 beds. Uhm...we'll see after bed number 3. Lots of work since these bricks are actually mortared together (Quickcrete in a tube), the cracks filled in and then they are filled with soil and topped with stone.

Yes, it is unfortunate Jim and Kay canceled their membership but they didn't like what the website did. I didn't like it either but every web site no matter whose has a page that says they have the right to and please read for upcoming changes and formats. My feeling on the whole 'mutiny' thing is when you joined did you 'read the fine print' of the contract that said this or just hit subscribe? If you don't read then why get mad when things change? Their web site, their prerogative and you 'agreed'. Kind of stupid to feel mad and like you got blindsided when you didn't 'read'.

Facebook, ATP, Nasdaq quotes page all do this and will without taking a 'vote' from their members. Nasdaq is world wide stock market quotes NOT A CHAT ROOM...and free but they changed their website! When I went to look up stocks and get flash and info quotes I hated it but I also shrugged my shoulders and dealt with the changes.

BTW what did you mean when you said "cancelling is a lot harder than just not renewing?"

Peace. Out.
TTC

I am not positive what I meant (my short-term memory is pretty bad now, which is why I often don't answer all your points in a longer post), but what I think I meant is that if you don't renew your membership, you don't show up as a subscriber anymore, but Armagia showed up as canceled. I thought that canceling was different from just plain not renewing. I guess it used to be you could Dmail back and forth with someone who was a member and not a subscriber, but now it seems like you can't.

I JUST WENT AND CHECKED AND THEY CHANGED IT!!


I'm serious, yesterday Armagia showed as canceled (I don't even know what that is) and today it says "joined in 2008." So that's all better now.

I was poking around a site about consumer law called nolo and it is owned by Internet Brands too! It seems they bought a lot of "brands." They bought nolo in 2011.

The reason I was poking around nolo (it's from the Latin nolo contendre) was I already had the first lawyer conference since my father's death and I wwas checking up on something he said. In Massachusetts, Medicaid can put a lien on your house and then pay itself back out of the price of your house after you die. But it can only do it after you hit age 55 for the cost of services you use that Medicaid paid since age 55. I first heard about this when I was a lot younger and thought "remind me to think about that someday." But then I TOTALLY forgot about it. My father's lawyer--I guess he's my lawyer now--wanted me to put stuff in a trust so I would maintain my Medicaid eligibility. Well, it's not Medicaid eligibility that's the issue! It's protecting my estate so it doesn't all go to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts!!!!

First of all, I have to figure out which is Medicaid and which is Medicaid. Like my prescriptions are Medicare part D and then Medicaid pays whatever Medicare doesn't pay. So I don't really think carefully about how much my prescriptions cost, as long as I'm not paying them myself. Can they do that though? Can they say to my kids (say I die at age 79 like my father), after I'm dead, "your mother took gabapentin in 2016, when she was 55. It cost $500 worth for Medicaid to pay for her pills every year from 2016-2041 means $12,500 of gabapentin? I take a lot of other pills too, and I might rather put $12,500 in a savings account. (Now I sound like one of those libertarians who want to privatize Social Security.)

This message was edited Jan 25, 2016 5:53 PM

YIKES in regard to the medicine thing.
I'm the wrong person to ask about Medicaid and Medicare. I'm on my husband's Blue Cross and Blue Shield so I only have part A which is free. I have nothing taken out of my check for the others. If I did, by the time I paid for it, dental, eye and another policy to cover what they didn't I would have less than $400. a month to live on. But naaaah....we didn't need that C.O.L.A. did we. Greedy, sick, perverse, government $^&@ *s! And my husband doesn't understand why I would move out of this country in a heart beat with no remorse what so ever.

All I can say is "I feel the Bern!" I have his "Bernie for President" sign taped in my front window facing the street. We aren't allowed to put any type of sign in the front yard per HOA so I taped the thing on the inside of my living room window where everyone can see it front and center!

From my personal experience I know if you get S.S. or any kind of SSDI it is best to own nothing, have nothing and put nothing in your name! When my grandmother died because she would not put the house in my mother's name they made my mother sell it and give them the money for it to pay for my grandmother's last few months of nursing home care even though my grandmother wasn't in a state nursing home.

My brother who is only 50 just got SSDI because he ran his hand through a metal press at work (He's a machinist). It was the employer's fault and a safety violation. He did get SSDI but the moment he found out he got worker's comp they started deducting that from his check! He even had to pay some money back.

Another reason I told my husband I didn't want to own a home. If he dies I don't want it taken away from me even though his life insurance policy would pay it off completely. He would have to put the house in a friend's name so this wouldn't happen. Presently I have nothing in my name. I 'own' nothing on paper. We keep our bank accounts separate, always have, but since I got ill his name has gone on mine so if something happens he gets all the money and can say it is 'his' account. I don't have one. I don't own anything.

As for meds I'd get them from Canada if I were you. I'm fortunate in that the three I take all come to $10.00 each with my husband's insurance.

As for your estate...that's dicey. If you leave it to family the government could come back on your family if they feel you owe them or are entitled to money they 'think' they deserve. Do you have a TRUSTED family friend that you know would do what you asked? If so leave everything to them since they are not a relative and can't make them pay for you/your bills and have your friend turn around and give all the money and home to your kids as a 'gift' about a year later.

Or have your kids start a 'non profit' agency on paper do a minimal amount of work each year for it and in your will leave all you have to the 'non profit' organization and not your kids. :D They call this stuff money laundering, but you didn't hear that from me.

Personally I'm beginning to think that the best thing to do is cash! Get a safe and put your money in it. Leave enough in your bank account to only pay your monthly bills and a little extra. Put your house and car in the kids' names. That way if you croak you have NO MONEY and NO HOME and NO ASSETS to be sold. Can't get blood from a stone right? What money? To pay back the government what? Oh...that's right, there's only $4,000.00 in the bank account. Here government...take it. BTW there's $150,000.00 in untraceable and non taxable cash in a safe in the corner of your basement for your kids. If you really want to get even with the kids for all the aggravation they caused you in life DON'T give them the combination! (LOL)
Don't worry...they will get it open. Trust me. They will.

If you have mutual funds or stocks get with an INVESTMENT BROKER and talk to them about how to keep this out of our greedy, money grubbing, government's hands too.

And I don't care who likes me or what anyone thinks of me. I'll say it loud and proud, "I hate this country." I can say it al the louder because I'm a veteran, "I hate this country." Did I mention I hate this country? Well I do. I'm not rich and I'm sick so I really, really, really hate this country.

I've honestly been contemplating hopping the fence in the opposite direction and moving to Mexico. You can live like a king on what I have here.

Peace. Out.
TTC

Hi Carrie, :D

Hope you're doing well. Just thought I'd check in with you and see. I'm doing o.k. Dave is sick. I'm fine so far. Just tired from small seizure (eye roll...sigh...no damage.)
Heard from the gang at Amargia on my Tree Mail over at ATP. That made me feel good. Told them I hang out to keep you company. :D

They miss you too. We were going to get our forum together over there relatively soon and see if we can get the old gang back together again.

In the mean time let me know what you've been up to. Not a whole lot exciting here. Just, clean, cook, wash, iron, walk Zoe, garden, write, growl at the TV and news.

All in all just happy and not much to complain about.
Have a good day.
AG.

WOW! Never seen anything like that, here or anywhere else! http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1413860/

I am fine, still a lot to do with my father and all.

Not being able to write....it's like I'm tongue-tied.

Is scraps there? BetNC? IO1? I know Katie and the Armagians. There are other people too who wandered in and out. Probably everyone is on the real names/screen names thread. Psych/poolrunning/Shari (her name was about bluebirds but I can't remember it)?