BOLD:

Hope all our Chorrolite Fathers had a wonderful Father's Day!

Just had coffee with ice cream and custard.

Yes; custard on the ice cream

Coffee and rhubarb* pie with custard!



* - Yeah I don't know how to spell that.

As of last night I am the happy owner of this (old but awesome) little convertible!

https://images.autotrader.com/borderscaler/...A.1600x1200.jpg

WOO HOO !!!!!!

Congrats, mALX! Nice wheels. Is that by chance a Saab?

Cool car mALX! Congrats! What kind is it?

Not bad at all. I can't imagine what it must feel like to travel roadways in a car with more than a few isolated patches of paint left on it. (That actually doesn't bother me in the least, though the rust spots do, especially the one forming on the roof.)

Same, lol

I'll agree with the "old but awesome", but a convertible isn't "little" if there's room for a second row of seats.

@Acadian - Yep! That is the one

@Khajiit - It is a Saab 9-3 SE. And it does feel little to me; (compared to my son's Mazda6 that I've been borrowing for years) = but you are right Ghastley; it probably qualifies as mid-sized.

@Decrepit = Well, it doesn't have any rust; but the headliner in that convertible top is drooping down pretty badly in two places; and it smells like a diesel mechanic was living in it with all his tools = so it probably still qualifies as a hooptie; just a cute one, lol.

If I keep backing into things; it won't be cute long. With the top up, I couldn't see to back up = backed into something three times immediately after buying it, lol. So probably the next pic you see of it, it will fit your description of the paint peeling; (etc) lol.

Wow, a beautiful car! A good choice!

This particular convertible model is rare in our parts, but can be seen from time to time. Limos and wagons are still quite common. I had a Saab 9-5 around 8 years ago. Although the car was only two years old, I got it for a very low price, because its owner told me that he had problems with it. I urgently needed some car, because my Renault broke down, so I bought that Saab, regardless of known problems, and also because I didn't have much money. But the owner was correct - it was too faulty to keep in the long run, I sold it in about one year's time. Regardless, older Saabs (like yours, mALX) were known to be more reliable compared to later models.

Oh, that is a beautiful car, Lopov!

I just joined a "Saab Club" filled with long time Saab owners; so hopefully I'll get some great care advice on there and avoid too many headaches with it.

My backing up mishaps from last night? I got to see them in the daylight today, urgh. Two big gouges in the paint ; one with a long scratch. The third one just scratched the bumper.

Sweet ride mALX. You are going to be one hot mamma tooling around with the top down.

Lol, I hope so!

Congratulations!! What a pretty car!

Wow, mALX! What a nice little Saab convertible!

*

@Grits - Thanks Grits! It might be the prettiest car I've ever owned; but that won't last with me behind the wheel, urgh!



Mirocu - I actually thought of you when buying this car; plus it actually kind of does look a bit like a perched black crow with the top up!


@Everyone - Of course, I didn't hear about Saab going out of business until the day after I got home with my purchase, lol.

Despite that bad news, I did find and join three Nationwide Saab lovers clubs; so despite their bad rep = these cars are VERY loved by their owners. I am looking forward to learning the owner's tricks to keep them running and finding (what I now learned are) obsolete parts, lol.

It is actually running beautifully so far; and one of my former neighbors works on foreign cars; so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this was a good purchase despite Saab being closed down.

Today at 1 AM my daughter got a brother. We named him David. 19.7 in, 7.5 lb (50 cm, 3400g). We pronounce it a bit differently than in English speaking countries, namely like this.

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Listing to the pronunciation, the second "D" can almost be mistaken (????) for a "T". Which might be due solely to my wretched hearing.

Thanks! You're right, the second D is pronounced as "almost" T. I couldn't find our proper pronunciation, but it's more or less the same in German.

WooHoo! A hearty congratulations to you and Mrs Lopov on the new addition to your family!

This is Awesome news! Congratulations to you and your family; and a joyous welcome to David (LOVE the German pronunciation!)

Congrats on the fresh spawning!

Congrats to Lopov and his family! So when can we expect one of your signature shots of your newest character creation?

Congrats to your new creation, Lopov!

I found a new emoji lol.

Thanks all!

They're coming back home today.

What wonderful news!! Congratulations to the Lopov family! Welcome to the world, David!

Congratulations! It's so exciting!

I can share in that with you, Lopov. Yesterday my mother found out that my second nephew (brother to the oldest) is giving her another great grandchild in February. She already has two (twins) from the first nephew, already nine months old, so this is exciting news for her. Unfortunately, both young families are in AZ, and Mum can't travel alone anymore due to vision and hearing issues.

Thanks Grits and haute! I'm happy for you haute!

Thanks though I've been here for 39 years .



.

Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day!

I’m sure those of you who are owned by black cats appreciate them every day, but today give them extra hugs and treats! And here is the black cat that started it all . . . (Just skip the ad in the beginning LOL)

Khajiit wishes he had a black cat!

I do too! Does a black and white Cow Cat count as half a black cat?

As many of you know, I've been staying home since the start of the nationwide shutdown due to immune deficiency issues. I am still employed, though my WFH training is still on pause. In the mean time, my employer has provided us with the opportunity to self test for COVID-19 weekly with a nasal swab test (which detects the presence of the virus, not antibodies). I just got the first kit today, so I have to collect the sample and get it back out in the same day. Not a problem, as there are plenty of FedEx drop off places around town here.

I talked it over with my immunologist, and decided it was a good idea to participate in it after three employees in my store (which reopened back in June) tested positive, two of whom are asymptomatic. Better to be proactive with one's own health, and since it's a weekly test paid for by my employer, I may as well take advantage of this.

For the past few days I've been experiencing decreased sense of smell, though I suspect it's related more to allergies and subsequent nasal congestion, it's better to be sure, right?

So off I go to poke my nose on both sides and drop it off in the nearest box. Oh, and pick up my free coffee from Panera's while I'm out there (they're offering curbside pickup which is a godsend).

Free coffee and Covid tests. Can't beat that!

I'm so glad your employer (Apple, right?) is taking good care of you. Oh, and Panera too.

I’d say he/she/they probably feel like an all black cat at heart, so, sure!

Boss died last night after two years of illness. Whole day has been off and this weekend is already ruined. His dad told us this morning before work.



I feel so bad for his family.

So sorry to hear that, 'Rocu. I have lost a boss to illness, and it's both sad and upsetting. Sad because this was a person you knew and worked with/for, and upsetting because you don't know what will happen with your place of employment. My prayers with you and your work family!

Aww, sorry to hear that, mirocu.

Aw, I'm so sorry to hear that, Mirocu!

Last week has been rather eventful for me and my mom, considering how things have been for the last four months or so. My aunt, my mom's sister in law and best friend, passed away last Tuesday night. She had been suffering from senile dementia for the past few years, and no longer remembered my mom, but still she could have a pleasant conversation with mom via phone. Then I find out that in addition to glaucoma and dry eye syndrome, I have another issue with my eyes - conjunctivochalasis. It's a condition where the membrane covering the whites of my eyes, instead of laying flat and smooth, is folded and puckered up. It is making my dry eye so difficult to manage, especially in the left eye. So my corneal specialist says I need to have surgery on both eyes to remove the excess membrane and to make things flat and smooth again. It won't interfere with my vision, but he wants to do one eye at a time, rather than do both eyes together. I think it's because the left eye is so bad, he wants to make sure it heals without complications before he does the other. So it will be two outpatient procedures 4 - 6 weeks apart. Only problem is it's going to be at a hospital that's about an hour drive from me, rather than at the local one that's just five minutes down the road from me. So who ever drives me there and back will have to give up a sizable chunk of their day.

haute... Sorry for the complications, but glad to hear they have found the problem. Maybe it will also help the dry eye syndrome? Or at least make it more manageable. Prayers and good thoughts. Please keep us updated.

Condolences on the loss of your aunt also.

As treydog said, sorry to hear about the loss of your aunt.

I hope the twin surgeries go well with smooth recoveries and favorable results.

Oh dear, Haute! I am so very sorry for the loss of your Aunt; and especially for your Mom because she is losing the best friend and companion of such a long duration.

Could the dry eye syndrome be Sjogrens, by any chance? If so, it should be diagnosed as such and monitored carefully because it is an autoimmune syndrome that usually pairs with other things (Scleroderma, Lupus, Rheumatoid Arthritis; etc). They can diagnose it with a Titers test to determine high sensitivity antibodies for the various autoimmune markers; and can then monitor which ones are showing high Titers and give you whatever specialized medicine is best for any of those you might test positive for. (and tips on how to best manage them).

I hope this surgery improves your eye condition; and that you recover quickly and without any complications from it. You poor dear; your health has been giving you problems for too long now!

So sorry to hear about your aunt.

Cyber-eyes cannot come soon enough.

I second both of these. Good luck Haute!

My so called father's vacation began today, which means that I'm home with my wife and son for one month. Well, with my daughter as well but she's already going to kindergarten. The father's vacation is right that every "new" father has - we can be at home in one piece like I'll be, or divide the 20 paid days as we want over one year's time.

When I won't be busy playing or taking care of my son, I'll learn German, because as I already mentioned a few times, I want to start working there sometime in 2021.

Ha! Acadian. THANK you. Been along time all, hey! I'm back.

Arcry! Welcome back!