What are you doing today? (besides shopping)

Prepping for season 4 of Crime Scene Kitchen. "They" have not released the air dates, but I will be ready. ! (I am watching previous seasons in reverse order.)

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

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Dinner at the Capital Grille tonight with my DH, sister and BIL and Mama. Can't wait. My sister and I are doing the Generous Pour.

Did Malcolm-Jamal Warner really drown in Costa Rica?! He was doing good work via podcast in exploring many facets of black culture.

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

It is self-care day. Who knew?! Unexpectedly, and fortuitously, my little self was soothed and encouraged by S. K. Ali's award-winning Saints & Misfits. Universal experiences depicted here might be relatable for some readers while some points of variance are enlightening.

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

Spur of the moment 3 day trip to Florida to see our beloved Aunt. #1 and #3 going with me.

Having fun with furry baby loves. Puppy baby is so funny. He loves to drink water out of glasses and chase bees. Senior baby hides under the deck and bed from him.

That is so sad about Malcolm Jamal Warner. May he rest in peace.

Pepper escaped last night. She usually chills on the deck or under her favorite tree. I woke up this morning to the sounds of a very aggressive cat fight. I looked outside, and she was playing with her feline friend. I put some clothes on and headed outside. She was back on the deck, chilling.

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Has anyone seen walesmaven?

"I told myself to quit you; but I don't listen to drunks." -Chris Stapleton

Worked on 350k+ mile truck. Front differential (4wd) seal leaking. Removed cv axle shaft, pulled seal, pressed in new seal, reinstalled cv axle. Took most of the day to replace a $21 seal. Shop could do it faster on a lift, but would charge about $600.

Unfortunately, she's been MIA for some time

Trying to sleep while dealing with a 3 hour time change....sleep cycle is off.

Lovely day sightseeing, beautiful weather. I love California weather!

We all enjoyed a great seafood meal on the wharf.... then cocktails on the deck here at this
house overlooking the sea.

today is the rehearsal dinner, tomorrow is the wedding, then the weekend taking off for more exploring of this state.

This is blissful.

Hah. All my work/working out is almost paying off, haha. Had an unexpected opportunity to discover what the back will now do-- without overly annoying stenosis and osteoarthritis. This is important because too much trauma is counterproductive. Back use and minutes per task were on par with that of a workday which involves several merchandising gigs. At least I know that it will be possible for me to return for gigs which (presumably) will not overwork the back. Some of you merchandisers probably have your own lists of such locations.

Perhaps the back and I can earn some money again...

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

Maybe it should be "How are we all doing today? (besides shopping)"...

For crying out loud, I can't take all this winning we are doing today. On top of mystery shopping benefits, we have a stock market at all time highs (so are our 401K's), law and order enforced again, progression towards reduced regulations, SCOTUS wins, 30% higher jobs numbers than expected, gas at 4 year lows, border crossings down to net zero, illegal animals being deported en-masse, the Big Beautiful Bill reinstates the 2017 tax cuts, and now a trade deal between two of the world's largest trading partners (US and EU).

All this winning is drowning out the whining!

[www.youtube.com]

Can't wait to see how the stock market reacts on Monday.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2025 07:33PM by maverick1.

:-D silly game island news... when i started june's journey over, i forfeited all the game stuff i had acquired and always meant to rearrange someday... and when i visit other islands now, i see some of this great stuff presented in fabulous ways on other islands... so all is virtually well... unless you consider the 5 (five!) art supply stores on "my" island... tales of the island's underground tunnels and well-known fiction have given me the idea that 'and then there were five' could become 'six' and... could this be the mirror image, complete with artistic license, of an adapted Christie work?!

Seriously, now. It is early days in the replay and all I can do without buying stuff is explain what might be burbling just beneath the surface of Orchid Island. It is too soon for the latest round of zany research projects and intriguing mystery shops there, but in due time the wild and crazy explanations of island life will emerge. And then... ???

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

Lol at myself because of the old saying 'be careful what you wish for' and "my" game island.. i had whinged here because I never saw mystery shops for art supply mystery shops at actual art supply places which provide reimbursement for useful and relevant purchases. (I need art supplies in rl.) Now, there are abundant art supply stores on my game island. They provide their own bit of creativity. How to explain them, beyond the fact that the gives game pieces to gamers randomly? Just now, the game is giving me art supply stores. Obviously, there are mysteries and mystery shops for me to discover. So what if this is not like painting something? It is fun, the ideas are percolating, and because of the game design there is a new theme every month which contains the possibility of the random receipt of mutiples of yet unknown things which can be explained... bwahaha!

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

Getting my piano tuned as I type this. It's been about 4-5 years since its last tuning, so way past time. It's a Whittaker spinet that I've had for about 40 years now.

@guysmom wrote:

Getting my piano tuned as I type this. It's been about 4-5 years since its last tuning, so way past time. It's a Whittaker spinet that I've had for about 40 years now.

What do you like to play?

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

Preparing to fly across the US....as a passenger of course lol. I've never piloted a plane, but I enjoy talking to those who do.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2025 01:27PM by BarefootBliss.

@Shop-et-al wrote:

@guysmom wrote:

Getting my piano tuned as I type this. It's been about 4-5 years since its last tuning, so way past time. It's a Whittaker spinet that I've had for about 40 years now.

What do you like to play?

Well, I like playing many types of music. I play hymns at the piano at our small church on Sundays and Wednesdays. At home, I really enjoy semi-classical and some classical. Over the years I have taught and re-taught myself the Moonlight Sonata...I'll probably go back to that again in the near future. Right now, since this past May, I've been working on Jack Fina's Bumble Boogie, a piece he wrote in 1946, as a "Boogie" version of The Flight Of The Bumblebee". It's 8 pages of sheet music, which I finally have memorized. Now it's just working out the mistakes I make because it has to be played so fast!! But I'm getting there!!!

Here's a pianist by the name of Cory Hall on YouTube who plays the Bumble Boogie exactly as written in the sheet music. [www.youtube.com]
If you search Jack Fina on YouTube, he plays it also, since he wrote it....but he adds in some stuff that's not in the sheet music.

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2025 04:10PM by guysmom.

Thank you, guysmom. I had played Moonlight Sonata but not 'bumblebee.' That one sounds like a lot of fast fun! I like faster fun, sometimes... had to quit June's Journey again yesterday 'cos they keep slowing down the rate of rewards for task completion. At that rate, i could not finish tasks within my timeframe. So the wild & crazy island tales are replaced with the zippy fun bumblebee on piano. This will be fun!

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/30/2025 05:18PM by Shop-et-al.

Hah. Found a gig with sufficient reimbursement for (my choice of product) art supplies. Unfortunately, my shopper account needs some attention. Just need to update my shopper account now and hope to get the gig in a future round. This would be the start of something beautiful... linking one hobby-- mystery shopping-- directly with the painting hobby... will it work?

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

It's not often we do this, but we sold...

Well, contrary to a lot of left-leaning people on this forum, the US economy is doing fine after a course correction and its future looks bright.

Since AI requires energy to run data centers, a stock like Constellation Energy has increased above 54% so far this year. While we don't need the cash, we sold another small lot of shares. Locked in some profits.

Now we have to pay some taxes on a long term capital gain.

Please, don't follow us. Devise your own financial plan. You do you!

Mavi why do you think people are interested in your personal investing strategies? You don’t need to keep us abreast of this stuff. As you may imagine many people on this board probably don’t have stocks and may find your constant bragging about your supposed wealth off putting. In a nutshell - WE DON’T CARE.
Take a look at your previous posts to see how many times you have felt the need to bring up the fact that you’re rich, and don’t have the need to do this or that. Either you have OCD or you are woefully insecure. I’m just not buying that someone that successful would trade in what made them wealthy for earning a pittance in comparison by doing mystery shopping. Time is a commodity when you have better ways of earning money.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2025 03:02PM by Minime.

Stuck at home while my electrical panel is being upgraded to a 200 amp unit. It will allow for me to have an EV in the future if I decide it’s worth it. All of the incentive are gone now, including a free home charger, which is the one condition I would have in getting one.
Would never buy an ugly one from Musk. Yuck. I would want an SUV, and there aren’t many options. Loved the Kia E9 but at 70k and all of the theft issues with KIA, that’s not an option.

The constant fawning and bragging about material success - as my psych colleagues would have said - " a way to obtain self-validation"

or in my grandfather's language: you never see a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer lol.

As for me, I am resting today, doing a little laundry, might order some pizza. It's the first of the month- should I list all my sources of unearned income? LOL. I don't think so...self-serving, rude, all that.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2025 04:29PM by BarefootBliss.

How was your CA trip BF? What did you decide to do? I would like to see the Vanderbilt(?) mansion, or get a gander of Oprah’s ‘Tara 2’ spread. I doubt she’s offering tours though…unless you are a self proclaimed self-help guru. You could pass. Hell I probably could too.

Re Mavi/stock success ~ It’s a bit uncanny how successful he has been with the ‘10%’ gains when most people have been on a roller coaster ride this year. The most recent forecasting on the economy has been gloomy and stocks continue to be high risk. He likes to quote Buffet, who has shifted to interest on cash. Pretty sure he would never admit to heavy losses if he has suffered them and he has me blocked. Nobody is going to burst his bubble.

Thanks for asking. The trip was great....how do Californians stand that weather though? LOL.....70s, no humidity, full sunshine and a light breeze every darn day! LOL.
I am worn out, we covered a lot in 9 days....2 full days of wedding festivities, 2 days of wine tasting, lots of hiking and walking....driving the PCH, we did see the remnants of the fires....that was so upsetting....in some areas, it burned everything right down to the sea, we did a whale watching cruise off the coast, we went to Laurel Canyon to see the rock history there - what remains of it. I am the only member of my family who appreciates Mexican food, so I missed out on that part of the California experience. Other than that, California is a feast for all the senses. I kept asking myself why I haven't gone there more often...lol - you know there's the distance and expense...but it was great. Most enchanting for any east coast person has to be those parts where craggy mountains reach right down to within feet of the ocean.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2025 11:50PM by BarefootBliss.

Also today: wondering what kind of world I live in - where the govt appears to be making deals with a convicted human trafficker...and there's no outcry, no rage.
And here I thought most people cared about the welfare of children.
What a fool I am to believe that.

What am I doing today? Not worrying about a minor set-back in the stock market. Although, on paper, we had a "loss" of about $47K in the past 24 hrs. Concerned? Nope. The stock market goes up AND down, but on average goes up 73% of the time.

We are still above 10% growth for the year which is above the long term average. Most investors with 401K's that are mostly equities are doing the same. There is no crystal ball. You just have to stay in the market and have an investment plan. And a spending plan.

I no longer mind mav and the big bucks. In fact, I appreciate maverick1. Mav teaches us to wait. And wait. And wait some more. The longer term view is needed. But I feel for people who express (haven't seen this here) that every upswing and downturn in the stock market will make them or break them.

My garden in England is full of eating-out places, for heat waves, warm September evenings, or lunch on a chilly Christmas morning. (Mary Quant)

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/02/2025 08:32PM by Shop-et-al.

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