The Coffee House

[snowbear]

The end is in sight. The tractor is at the front, and a tip cart behind that. I put the wheelbarrow behind the green cart and a row of boxes at the back. Tomorrow I’ll load the garden tools and kayaks and call the load done. I still have to go through the basement and sort good from bad.

MLSIL will hopefully get scheduled for her surgery on her Saturday DR visit, so I’ll likely go north on Sunday, and come back to finish the following week MLW has some things in her office that we need to pull out before she pulls the plug at the end of May.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

One of the oddest shows I've ever seen was "Hyori's Homestay" or "Hyori's B & B". Hyori was a major singing star and TV talk-show host is South Korea. She debuted as a member of a "girl-group" (I think it was S.E.S -- no, it was FinKL, correct Apr 9) and then went solo. Eventually she settled down with music producer Sangsoon and they bought a cottage property on Jeju Island. IU had just finished recording a new album and decided to join Hyori's as a helper (making beds, helping with gardening, washing dishes etc.) IU herself was already an established star at this point. So the show was about ordinary vacationers staying at Hyori's and also helping out, and meeting big stars who were cooking them meals etc. IU stayed for about two weeks and cameras recorded what happened. The resulting show was successful, and I think strengthened the careers of the various stars that showed up and did the work. Anyway, there seems to be a relatively new "re-edit" of the show with English subs. So if you're interested, here's the link (Be sure to turn on EN subs in your browser):

"[JTBC Voyage] IU's journey from a rookie barista to all-round employee ? #Hyori's Bed and Breakfast", posted May 24, 2019 by "JTBC Voyage",, [length of this part 16:42
NOTE: this is NOT the version I translated]

 

[CherylL]

Walking through the yard yesterday, puffs of yellow pollen were flying up, everything outside is coated with it. Hopefully we'll only get rain tomorrow and not the storms to cleanse the air.

This week has been hard, my best friend from college passed away after a brief illness. Tom and I were the same age, and share a lot of memories from school and in the years following. His wife (also a close friend from college) was supposed to start radiation for colon cancer yesterday, but with Tom's passing I haven't heard if it was delayed.

So very sorry on the loss of your dear friend.

 

[CherylL]

Finally saw the sun after days and days of rain. Hopefully can get in some yard work this week. Puppy Oliver strikes again. He broke a lamp shade when he ran lightening fast between the couch and the end table pulling the cord. He has chewed a coaster, chewed 3 big holes in Quincy's blanket, chewed Oscar's bed, and few misc items. Thinking back of 6 schnauzers only one has not done any damage. Quincy! The snarky face one.

 

[jeffashman]

Ugh! In just the past week, two bank accounts were opened in my wife's name. Those medical data breaches over the past two years have put everything out there, and some folks are taking advantage of the information. I told her to put a fraud alert out, I already have one. Honestly, I think it's time for a new unique ID for folks, one based on block chain that can't be hijacked quite so easy. And banks need to do a whole lot better at validating that the person opening an account is actually the person they say they are.

In other news, I tried my hand at making a Moroccan Fish Tagine. It turned out well, although I suspect that fresh cod would have worked better than the frozen stuff, but it was still good.

We've gone from running the heat to running the AC in a span of 24 hours, but I think the last of the cold blasts are done. There was a touch of frost on the lawn Tuesday morning, but none of the plants seem to have been worse for wear.

And for the kicker, I installed a storm door that was supposed to fit 31 1/4" to 32 3/8", and the doorway is 32 3/8", but the door is about 1/4" too narrow, so I had to do some finagling to get it to close properly. At least it works, but it's only a temp solution until I find out how they think it would actually fit the size they say it fits. Then of course, you have 2" is actually 1 3/4" in the lumber business, but that's another story...

 

[VidThreeNorth]

Ugh! In just the past week, two bank accounts were opened in my wife's name. Those medical data breaches over the past two years have put everything out there, and some folks are taking advantage of the information. I told her to put a fraud alert out, I already have one. Honestly, I think it's time for a new unique ID for folks, one based on block chain that can't be hijacked quite so easy. And banks need to do a whole lot better at validating that the person opening an account is actually the person they say they are.

I wish I had good advice about this stuff, but I don't. I think in my case, I should have closed my accounts and opened new ones.

 

[VidThreeNorth]

Re: Post Cranberry Almond Crunch:

I have seen this breakfast cereal around and I finally bought a couple of boxes. It's ok. It has crunchy flakes (probably wheat & rice), a small amount of granola, and candied cranberries. The cranberries are chewy and sweetened. One thing I remember is that cranberries are essentially neutral. They generally have no vitamins and little minerals. So basically, it's like eating milk and toast for breakfast. Oh well.

 

[terri]

Ugh! In just the past week, two bank accounts were opened in my wife's name. Those medical data breaches over the past two years have put everything out there, and some folks are taking advantage of the information. I told her to put a fraud alert out, I already have one. Honestly, I think it's time for a new unique ID for folks, one based on block chain that can't be hijacked quite so easy. And banks need to do a whole lot better at validating that the person opening an account is actually the person they say they are.

In other news, I tried my hand at making a Moroccan Fish Tagine. It turned out well, although I suspect that fresh cod would have worked better than the frozen stuff, but it was still good.

We've gone from running the heat to running the AC in a span of 24 hours, but I think the last of the cold blasts are done. There was a touch of frost on the lawn Tuesday morning, but none of the plants seem to have been worse for wear.

And for the kicker, I installed a storm door that was supposed to fit 31 1/4" to 32 3/8", and the doorway is 32 3/8", but the door is about 1/4" too narrow, so I had to do some finagling to get it to close properly. At least it works, but it's only a temp solution until I find out how they think it would actually fit the size they say it fits. Then of course, you have 2" is actually 1 3/4" in the lumber business, but that's another story...

That sucks about the bank accounts - don't know how this stuff can happen without alerting her practically while it was happening. Even if somehow a new unique ID could be created, it would only be a matter of time before hackers got to that, too. Honestly I think they love a challenge. We're chasing our tails at times.

We had some snow spitting overnight - nothing that stuck, and it's already gone. But being overcast and kinda rainy/icky, the temps will barely see the lower 40sF. Very chilly day. It's been chillier this April than in March, frankly - we hit the 70sF several times last month, and saw a lot of sunshine - giving hopes for a steady warmup. As it is, my hyacinth and crocus seem frozen in place - buds are there, green shoots higher, but nothing wants to open.

 

[SquarePeg]

@jeffashman et al

For free, you can set up on credit karma, and whatever that other credit reporting sight is called, to get an alert for activities related to your credit profile. New accounts opened, existing accounts closed, inquiries into your credit, credit limits being changed, late payments reported, changes to credit score. Not sure if new bank accounts would pop on there if no credit card associated. Something to look into. A good practice is to check your report monthly even if no alerts received.

I opened a new account recently online. I had to use that online ID Verify site to confirm it was me since I wasn’t there in person to show my ID.

 

[smoke665]

What's bad about the data breeches especially those in health care, is you don't have a clue where your provider is storing your data. It seems like every other month I get a letter from some company I've never heard of, from a state all the way across the country, telling me personal information was compromised. If I could line up all the free 2yr credit monitoring services to run consecutively I'd be covered till well after I'm gone.

It would help if they cracked down on the amount of personal information health providers were allowed to collect. My doctor, lab, pharmacy, hospital, doesn't need my social security number, nor all the other personal data they collect to treat me....they want it so they can track ne down if I don't pay.

The VA and other government agencies are moving to either a GovID or IDme, but who's going to keep that information any safer than Social Security numbers.

 

[jeffashman]

@jeffashman et al

For free, you can set up on credit karma, and whatever that other credit reporting sight is called, to get an alert for activities related to your credit profile. New accounts opened, existing accounts closed, inquiries into your credit, credit limits being changed, late payments reported, changes to credit score. Not sure if new bank accounts would pop on there if no credit card associated. Something to look into. A good practice is to check your report monthly even if no alerts received.

I opened a new account recently online. I had to use that online ID Verify site to confirm it was me since I wasn’t there in person to show my ID.

I have Credit Karma set up, as well as credit monitoring paid for by three different companies that didn't secure and encrypt customer data and got breached, plus through TurboTax, so I'm covered. But some folks... want to stay in the 20th Century and eschew those newfangled things. I know the fraud alert works, because when I went to sign the paperwork for my wife's new lease, I had to jump through some hoops, which I'll gladly do. I'm about to invest in one of those services that goes out and scrubs my data from data brokers and supposedly can scrub the stuff found on the dark web, although I'm not convinced that they can do that easily. Ah, the fun of living in the digital world!

 

[jeffashman]

What's bad about the data breeches especially those in health care, is you don't have a clue where your provider is storing your data. It seems like every other month I get a letter from some company I've never heard of, from a state all the way across the country, telling me personal information was compromised. If I could line up all the free 2yr credit monitoring services to run consecutively I'd be covered till well after I'm gone.

It would help if they cracked down on the amount of personal information health providers were allowed to collect. My doctor, lab, pharmacy, hospital, doesn't need my social security number, nor all the other personal data they collect to treat me....they want it so they can track ne down if I don't pay.

The VA and other government agencies are moving to either a GovID or IDme, but who's going to keep that information any safer than Social Security numbers.

I have several of those monitoring services now. I have the GovID and IDme, but having issues with IDme, because I ended up with two email addresses associated with them and can't do anything, and trying to reach an actual live human is next to impossible. I'd cancel and start over, but you have to be able to log in to do that, and I can't log in.

 

[smoke665]

@jeffashman "ain't technology grand" Back before all the tech and Hippa Regs, we went to a family doctor who treated us, family, friends and neighbors. All of our "medical records" were handwritten pages in a file folder that stayed in his office. If we needed meds, he gave us a handwritten slip that we handed to the pharmacist who filled it. The same limited amount of hard copy paperwork occurred if you went to the hospital. During all those "pretech years", I can't remember a single instance of ANY data or health information bring leaked. So how are we better off?

 

[jeffashman]

@jeffashman "ain't technology grand" Back before all the tech and Hippa Regs, we went to a family doctor who treated us, family, friends and neighbors. All of our "medical records" were handwritten pages in a file folder that stayed in his office. If we needed meds, he gave us a handwritten slip that we handed to the pharmacist who filled it. The same limited amount of hard copy paperwork occurred if you went to the hospital. During all those "pretech years", I can't remember a single instance of ANY data or health information bring leaked. So how are we better off?

Yep, I have my paper medical records from my 20 years in the military, and not once were they ever compromised.

 

[smoke665]

Seems that several states as well as Congress are kicking the can around on Daylight Savings. Some want to do away with it, others want to lock us into Daylight Savings year round. Personally I've never liked DST, I get up when the sun comes up and inside with my feet up when it goes down, the clock for the most part is irrelevant. However as others have noted on the subject I don't seem to get the same restful sleep on DST. Maybe if we were locked to one or the other year round my body would eventually accept it.