Weekly Chat (Non-Osprey), 13 January 2019

HAPPY NEW WEEK!  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Bison deciding which road to take in Yellowstone National Park

National Park Service/Jim Peaco, photo labeled "Public domain" (copyright free)

  • Bless you for taking Duke and taking such good care of him!! Amazing transformation. I think you also rescued Daisy. 

    Thank heavens there are people like you in the world.

  • Annette- I didn't "cut the cord" but I did go down to basic cable which is only $25 a month versus the $100 plus I was paying for channels I didn't watch. Basic cable gives me the network channels (the ones that used to be free) and Public TV since I can't miss my Masterpiece shows. I am a bit addicted to the news shows like CNN and BBC and occasionally MSNBC, but I found I can live stream all of them on my laptop and I have Netflix and Britbox subscriptions for $7 a month each so I'm quite happy because I only pay for what I watch now. Just type in livestream CNN or BBC for instance and find one that is free and doesn't require a cable provider.

  • That's interesting bjane.   Do you have a smart TV that connects to the internet? I have to investigate hooking up my laptop to my not-smart TV too - I gather that if the TV has an HDMI connection, you can hook up your computer and watch streaming stuff on the TV via the computer.   We get PBS in the basic cable lineup and we watch BBC News on PBS.  How do you watch CNN, BBC, and MSNBC live?   I watched the Brexit debate and vote this morning live via my New York TImes subscription on my laptop, and I often listen to Radio 4's PM show the same way.  I doubt my OH would want to do any of that.  We have Turner Classic in our cable lineup and the Sundance, Indie and similar movie channels, which would be what we'd lose if we went Basic. The move channel choice is vast but dismal, so I'd be prepared to try that.   I see that Netflix is raising its rates.  It's available on our TV, but I don't see Britbox.   Sorry if I'm not making much sense.....   

    Heather/Lindybird: Are you finding the smaller, darker type easier to read?

    Our predicted storms once again fell short of expectations, but still, it did rain steadily, which is safer.  I'm not sure how all the people who were evacuated from Montecito feel about having to pack up and leave at 10 in the morning only to be let back in at 6 in the evening when many may have paid for hotel rooms....

  • OG - Thanks for news of Diane glad she is ok. Is 10 degrees here but from tomorrow we are in for 4 or 5. I'm also keeping my eye on the weather in Lerwick as my Daughter and I are off there on 27th for Up Helly Aa festival on 29th.

    Have a good day all!

  • Poor AQ.  Heat is so draining.  Hope it cools down a little for you, soon.

    Annette - the heavier typeface is a slight improvement, but I don't understand why it can't be darker.

    Just been to visit sis in law and my OH has fixed up a postbox for her, as her new, smart front door came without a letterbox. It's raining here pretty much all day. Think I'll just catch up on housework.

  • Harelady, that sounds so exciting: I'd love to go to the Up Helly Aa festival.  I look in on the Lerwick webcam almost every day, it's interesting.

  • I'm also thinking about AQ as she suffers the dreadfully high temps.

    HARELADY - My OH always wanted to go to  Up Helly Aa but we never got around to it. He had relations in Shetland and it would have been lovely to see them...

    ANNETTE - I am coping with the new typeface :-)

    OG - I am assuming that J had a bad reaction when he took the higher dose of anticonvulsants? Good that he is willing to try again.

    Not a lot happening here. Plumber coming to look at faulty loo flush, landscape gardener coming on Friday to advise about front garden. 

    I had to laugh this morning - Danish friends emailed me with details about their new granddaughter's christening. After the service there was a lunch, held in the pigeskole. I know that skole means school so imagined that it must be a kind of catering college (Danes as a nation eat a huge amount of pork). I thought that I'd Google the word just in case and found out that it means a school for girls...The other grandfather teaches there so he must have arranged to have it in the dining hall.

    I pay a ridiculous amount of money for satellite TV - have three TVs connected, two of them to the internet and more programmes than I watch. However, the grandchildren are always happy since they don't have all the packages. I just think that in the scheme of things it isn't too bad. That is why I shall never be rich....

  • Heather: How exciting to go to the Up Helly Aa festival.  Hope the weather is as good as it can be.  It's live on TV so maybe you can plant yourself near the camera and wave at us.  I agree there's a trade-off with TV packages.  We also have a telephone landline that my OH doesn't want to part with; I tend to use my cellphone a lot, which is another expense and includes a "family" plan that we need to look at. Sigh.  Not sure about that right now.    I was wondering about pigeskole......    :-)

    AQ; Have your summers always been this hot?  Oh by the way, I caught a glimpse (while roaming our vast and barren channel selection!) of a program called Truckers Down Under, which features some extremely rambunctious who guys who drive those huge truck trains back and forth across Oz.  What a red continent that is!  :-)  I drop in now and then if only for the landscape and to see if they're visiting your neck of the woods.

    Off to see what awaits...... Oh and of course, there's that vote in Parliament this evening.  

  • Annette-Don't need smart TV for live streaming, but yes you could use an HDMI cable. I just watch on my laptop and there is an option for full screen. I set it on a kitchen counter during the day.  I do have smart TVs. I watch Netflix and Britbox on my TVs at night. I think you could watch Netflix or Britbox on the laptop also. I think Diane watches a lot on her computer.

    Just type in live streaming BBC or CNN on your search engine and see what comes up. This is all through the internet and does not require cable. Do not use any that do require cable.