Quarantine and chill and kindness chatty clubhouse: Jump in and join the conversation! All is welcome!

[lynxstch]

No trick or treating going on in our area. Some of the local firestations are participating in a trunk or treat, but the annual Halloween parade was cancelled. We live in an area with no streetlights, so there are never any trick or treaters out our way, but there are usually a ton in town. Not this year
On another topic, I reached out to a DIS mod and a DIS admin about the popups appearing on the DIS and it causing jumping pages, loud sounds etc. He said that should not be happening , and he is reaching out to their Google ad reps and trying to get it stopped.
We are at a balmy 75 degrees. I talked myself out of mowing today, tomorrow they are going to finish the heat and ac, so it might be Thursday before I mow. But after I finish I am letting the mower run dry, cleaning it off, wire brushing the underside, putting lube on the parts that need it, and repainting some of the chipped areas and scratches. Then it's going into the storage shed until at least next April!
Have a great afternoon everyone..leftover pot roast and veggies for dinner here tonite.

 

[Snowysmom]

To be honest I am not a fan of Halloween. We do live in a family neighborhood with lots of young children. I suspect many parents will not take their kids out and maybe have socially distanced get togethers for friends and family. I would prefer to get comfy for the evening, especially Saturday evening, and relax with a TV show or movie. DH likes to hand out the candy so he is in charge. I will probably keep the dog company in the house especially if it is cold outside.

 

[AuntieMe3]

Happy Tuesday everyone...I almost said Monday... I kinda wish it was Monday because that would mean I have another day off tomorrow....Oh well. I hate when I get so far behind on posts. I'm going to have to go back a couple pages to catch up but I didn't want to go anther day without posting. I had a Saturday night with my sister and niece at Knott's Berry Farm Saturday, besides the fact that it was sooo hot(soooo sooo HOT), we had a lot of fun. It felt very safe with all the COVID precautions in place, I'm so glad we went and hope they have a Christmas one so we can go to that too. I'm on my laptop now but I'll post some pics from my phone when I'm done with this.

Poor hubby has been working everyday for 2 weeks. Friday, he came home from LA fairly early only to be asked to drive up to San Francisco that night for the weekend. He worked his booty off Saturday and was done earlier than expected Sunday morning so he was at least able to be come for the night before going back to LA. He got home right before I got home from my sister's in San Diego so we got to spend the evening together watching a scary show on Netflix( The Haunting of Hill House, anyone watch it?? ) before getting to go to sleep in our own bed together(worse part of him working away from home is sleeping apart...neither of us sleep while when seperate).

DD is off today so we're taking a drive later to drop off our ballots (hubby will do his this weekend when he's home) and then she said she's buying me dinner tonight....just tacos from Jack in the Box but I'll take what I can get.

Looking forward to a cooler weekend and hoping we can see our friends, who we haven't seen in a couple weeks. We miss them.

 

[apirateslifeforme]

@AuntieMe3, I was just going to mention that today I finished watching The Haunting of Bly Manor, the 2nd season of The Haunting of Hill House anthology (I guess that's what they're calling it). I loved Hill House. Had some great cinematography; there is one scene in particular that actually was shot non-stop and I thought it was done fantastically. Bly Manor was well done, too, but the story is very different (and the fake English accents are kind of cringe-y). I had to watch it on my own because my DH is a scaredy cat - after Hill House, he wanted nothing to do with Bly Manor

We're also still watching Haven. I'm enjoying the search for all of the Stephen King references in it.

After getting Josh onto the bus yesterday morning, my mom and I did a few errands. I had seen that Dollar Tree carries "Lego-but-not-really-Lego" people, so I wanted to get over there and get some of those sets for Josh for Christmas. I ended up getting him 3 5-packs, plus a 2-pack, and then some little "famous building" block sets (The White House and Empire State Building). I also got him a light-up pirate skull mask. They have great dress-up stuff at Dollar Tree and I like that it's all only $1. At Michaels I bought some unfinished picture frames for Josh to paint and decorate for Christmas gifts. When the bus arrived in the afternoon, I was surprised to see Josh sitting up front. The bus driver told me that there was a little problem with him and the other boys running in the aisle and not keeping their hands to themselves. She did say that Josh apologized on his own, though. To his credit, too, he was upset with himself and went to his room to cry for a while. He said his picture went well, he thought, and I've been anxiously checking my email and Shutterfly accounts to see if they've sent me the digital file yet (or do I have to wait until the actual photos arrive?).

Today he was allowed to sit in the back of the bus again with his friends and apparently they were all good. They did a bus evacuation drill this morning and she said they all did great. We got an email from the school that from now on, Wednesdays will all be "asynchronous learning" days, meaning that there will be no more live classes, only assignments being sent home. Teachers need more time to plan lessons, plus this will free them up for any students who need one-on-one assistance and also for parent-teacher conferences. I get it, I totally do...I have no idea how Josh's teacher is doing it. She's literally teaching 2 classes! On the other hand, my kid does NOT want anything to do with the at-home assignments! He complains about going online for the meetings during his at-home days as it is. In his mind, "Home=Play and Fun." This year is such a cluster. But there's no good solution. At least, none that I can think of.

I stopped at Target today, too, because in their ad, I saw a remote control Back to the Future Delorean that I know Josh would LOVE. I looked on their site and it said it was available in a certain aisle in our store. I went there specifically for that, only to find that not only has no employee even heard of the item, that aisle doesn't appear to exist. I quickly gave up and ordered it when I got home. It will be here on Thursday. Free shipping if you use your Red Card, so it's not like I spent more money. It's just that now I have to wait and it might arrive when Josh is home.

For Halloween this year, we're going to let Josh dress up (already bought him a Frankenstein's Monster costume) and we'll take a walk up our street to see if anyone is handing out candy. I've already told him not to get his hopes up. Someone in our neighborhood posted on Next Door asking if anyone in the area is going to be open, and only the lady who lives behind us answered. At Dollar Tree, my mom got some small Halloween ziplock bags, which she's going to fill with a few candies each and sit outside with them in case we do get some kids. We're also going to have our own little outdoor scavenger hunt for Josh - some of the candy baggies will be for him, plus we also got some "Lego" zombie people 3-packs at the Dollar Tree as well. It's a shame that this is happening in the year that Halloween is on a Saturday!

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Thank you, Lynxstch for PM-ing a Mod about the pesky ads! I still keep getting them, too

I'm also not a fan of traditional Halloween. In non plague years I have participated in trunk or treat at church. Even had there been no plague this year, I would not have done so. The cost for me in doing that is so expensive plus sadly (IMO) there is no Christian connection to the event which for me is not right because it is again part of a children's ministry at church. Maybe one year down the road that will change. My current church I have heard is doing a drive by trunk or treat this year. I am not positive what that means because the ad for it said "candy, costumes, and prizes" which to me sounds like any other year. To be honest since my county is still CA purple (strictest) not quite sure how this is even allowed. Closer to me, I do know there will be trunk or treat drive thru in a park. I hope those who go to any such event have safe fun. Thank you to all of you who do normally get trick or treaters for providing candy in a safe way

AuntieMe3, the cooler weather has been lovely! I'm sorry it was so hot at Knotts, glad you had fun anyway. I do look forward to seeing some Christmas especially pictures.

Good for Josh, Apirateslifeforme for apologizing on his own. I am sorry he had a rougher day. Hugs to you and all parents struggling with virtual school!

 

[AuntieMe3]

QOTD 10/17: What was/were the coolest birthday cake(s) you ever had?

My favorite birthday cake as a child wasn't a cake at all. When I turned 7, my mom forgot to get a cake. for the pool party we were having, so she just sliced a watermelon in half and put 7 candles in the shape of 7 in it and that was my "cake".

I made this fresh strawberry cake for my nieces first birthday and it was amazing. Definitely the best cake I've ever made.

What is/are your favorite soups? Do you like them to be homemade or just canned?

I'm not really a soup person...I mean like everything, I'll eat it if that's what being served but I won't specifically order it or make it for myself. I like tomato, potato cheddar, corn chowder, chicken tortilla(used to have a great recipe, can't find it anymore and can't remember how to make it. ), albondigas, which is a mexican meatball soup, and pozole, another mexican soup.

Send some cool air West toward me and AuntieMe3, please!

Hopefully it's coming....this weekend is supposed to be cooler than it has been.

As part of the fall scavenger hunt, just have to share these pictures my very talented stepson has painted. He is selling them like crazy!View attachment 533047View attachment 533048

Beautiful paintings, especially the one on the right.

What is going on for Halloween in everyone's areas?

Our county put out guidelines but I think everyone is going to do what they want, like they have been, anyway. Our area is not trick or treat friendly....no streetlights, no sidewalks, and houses are far away from each other. Years ago, the thing used to be drive your kid house to house and they would hop out to trick or treat. LOL Now that we have more developments around, those are the places people want to go to TrT. Hubby and I are going down to San Diego to my sisters to hang out with them. My 4 yo niece told me on Saturday trick or treating was cancelled....lol But we're still going to do some fun Halloween type stuff with her, decorating cookies, watch spooky(kids) movies, and if there are people handing out candy in her community, we'll take her around to a couple house....if not, hubby suggested each adult pick a door in the their house and she could "trick or treat" that way.

I was just going to mention that today I finished watching The Haunting of Bly Manor, the 2nd season of The Haunting of Hill House anthology (I guess that's what they're calling it). I loved Hill House. Had some great cinematography; there is one scene in particular that actually was shot non-stop and I thought it was done fantastically. Bly Manor was well done, too, but the story is very different (and the fake English accents are kind of cringe-y). I had to watch it on my own because my DH is a scaredy cat - after Hill House, he wanted nothing to do with Bly Manor

So hubby started watching the Bly Manor on Sunday, I asked if he had already watched the Hill House because my sister was just asking if we had seen it. So he switched to Hill House and started that with me, I am a big chicken so I was scared... We finished the Bent Neck Lady episode before going to bed and we'll watch more together this weekend. I was so scared that night, I made him turn on all the lights before I went down the hall to the bedroom.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

What a fun and great idea your DH had, AuntieMe3! Maybe each "door" could even be decorated a little bit?

 

[AuntieMe3]

Some pics...the first two are my nieces room. She LOVES Halloween so she likes to decorate her room.



These next ones are from Knotts...I thought I had more pics of the decorations but it was probably with my sisters phone.



Last pic is me, my niece and my sister sweating our booties off ....my sister and I wore our matching shirts. I bought my niece the same shirt too but she wanted to wear one of those sequin flip shirts she has. She's so stinking cute.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

Aww, your niece is adorable, AuntieMe3! It's also great to "meet" you a little more personally through your picture.

 

[PollyannaMom]

What is going on for Halloween in everyone's areas? Right now my town is still having trick or treat. We are putting a table at the end of the drive way...the kids can just grab it as they go by.

Same here. I plan to sit out on my porch and wave if we get anyone.

It's a shame that this is happening in the year that Halloween is on a Saturday!

Absolutely!!

if not, hubby suggested each adult pick a door in the their house and she could "trick or treat" that way.

What a cute idea!

On another topic, I reached out to a DIS mod and a DIS admin about the popups appearing on the DIS and it causing jumping pages, loud sounds etc. He said that should not be happening , and he is reaching out to their Google ad reps and trying to get it stopped.

Thank you!! I hope they are able to solve it. I was able to turn the sound off on mine, but now I'm noticing the shaking even more!.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

The ads are still present for me, too.

Have a great evening everyone!

 

[sparkle78]

“The warmth of other suns” book is sitting on my table to start soon. I’m on the last 25 pages of America’s first daughter about Jefferson’s . It’s interesting ,, but not as good as other historical fiction I have read.

QOTD: what are you reading or favorite show to watch at the moment ?

I believe the book question has been asked before and thanks again for several of the suggestions . I read a few of them. Here are a five I’ve enjoyed :
The orphan Train. By: Christina Baker Kline
The hillbilly elegy By: JD Vance
It’s always the husband. by: Michele campbell
The captains daughte or The admissions by: Meg Mitchell moore
Ice cream queen of orchard street. By: Susan Jane Gilman

 

[AuntieMe3]

QOTD: what are you reading or favorite show to watch at the moment ?

I haven't read anything in awhile....I've been having a lot of trouble concentrating while reading lately. I need to find something that really gets my interests to get back on track with my reading.

I'm rewatching The West Wing on Netflix right now.

So I've been complaining about the heat alot lately and it looks like I'll be getting cooler weather next week.

Crazy.....

 

[theluckyrabbit]

For everyone having trouble with those pesky ads and pop ups: Not very tech savvy here, but I can list what I've gleaned from the many other threads on the subject.
Try switching to Chrome or Firefox.
Try turning off Java. (Maybe only for this site and turning it back on for everything else?)
Get an ad blocker -- even a free version can help. Ad Blocker Plus works for many, but some have reported that this current bout of ads can get around it. For those with Safari or iOS, Ad Guard (even the free version) works well.
There is an ongoing thread on the Community Board and one on the Tech Support Board with some suggestions, too.
Hope everyone finds something that helps -- I know this is a very real problem.

And, may I say again how very much I appreciate everyone in this thread and the effort you all make to be kind and caring with each other! There are too many people who don't seem to have any idea that other people matter in this world, in real life or online. Coming here to see the interaction that continues every day is like a balm to the soul!

 

[lynxstch]

For everyone having trouble with those pesky ads and pop ups: Not very tech savvy here, but I can list what I've gleaned from the many other threads on the subject.
Try switching to Chrome or Firefox.
Try turning off Java. (Maybe only for this site and turning it back on for everything else?)
Get an ad blocker -- even a free version can help. Ad Blocker Plus works for many, but some have reported that this current bout of ads can get around it. For those with Safari or iOS, Ad Guard (even the free version) works well.
There is an ongoing thread on the Community Board and one on the Tech Support Board with some suggestions, too.
Hope everyone finds something that helps -- I know this is a very real problem.

And, may I say again how very much I appreciate everyone in this thread and the effort you all make to be kind and caring with each other! There are too many people who don't seem to have any idea that other people matter in this world, in real life or online. Coming here to see the interaction that continues every day is like a balm to the soul!

I am using Windows 10--using Chrome, using an adblocker (2 actually), and have tried disabling java. I have also tried on Firefox and Edge, and I am still getting all of the annoying ads, the loud sounds, and the jumpy pages. And this is only happening on the DIS boards None of us should have to be jumping through hoops to try and stop the darn things! I am hoping that Corey has reached out to Google, but as of this morning, the pop ups are still there, and the pages are still jumpy. It says they are powered by pixfuture. No idea what that is.

I have reached out to Corey again just now, to inform him of what people have tried to do to stop the ads without any success. We'll see what he responds back with.

 

[PollyannaMom]

QOTD: what are you reading or favorite show to watch at the moment ?

I am rereading the Harry Potter series, and have just started watching Once Upon a Time on Disney+

 

[theluckyrabbit]

I am using Windows 10--using Chrome, using an adblocker (2 actually), and have tried disabling java. I have also tried on Firefox and Edge, and I am still getting all of the annoying ads, the loud sounds, and the jumpy pages. And this is only happening on the DIS boards None of us should have to be jumping through hoops to try and stop the darn things! I am hoping that Corey has reached out to Google, but as of this morning, the pop ups are still there, and the pages are still jumpy. It says they are powered by pixfuture. No idea what that is.

I have reached out to Corey again just now, to inform him of what people have tried to do to stop the ads without any success. We'll see what he responds back with.

From the two quotes below: uBlock Origin was recommended and someone else did delete their adblocker and install uBlock Origin with success. Might be worth a try.
And the bottom quote explains what Pixfuture is and why it is causing so much trouble -- those ads! Ugh!

...

There are a couple options that are just objectively better.

• uBlock Origin is a great ad blocker and its code is open source. Being open source may not mean much to most users but it means that people who do care about such things can (and have) picked through its code and will raise a hue and cry should they spot anything shady.
• Privacy Badger is another open source option that is well regarded. I don't, but it is developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organization I trust...

ok I'm getting it too so I went to my friend Google. The video ads I am getting say powered by Pixfuture.

Pixfuture is an online advertising platform for video ads. It looks to me that in order to increase advertising revenue from the Dis, the admin maybe @WebmasterCorey @WebmasterDoc @WebmasterAlex have installed this advertising platform. Just like the Google Adsense Google Display Network ads, the video ads are triggered by location, search history etc. Thats why everyone sees different video ads. Maybe they did not realize how much it would impact user experience on Dis

 

[theluckyrabbit]

This message (and a big hug) is for everyone in this thread who needs to hear this today:

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

 

[sparkle78]

The West Wing one of my favorites .i love, Toby, josh and CJ. A friend who was a law student at Georgetown got to met the cast she they filmed the episode with Zoey’s graduation. So jealous. I rewatched the whole series 3 years ago, it Took a good 6 months.
Once upon a time, I watched the first several seasons, also a fun one.
Happy Wednesday everyone ! It went from high 40s the last two mornings, to a beautiful 60 degrees already when I went out for the newspaper.

 

[lynxstch]

From the two quotes below: uBlock Origin was recommended and someone else did delete their adblocker and install uBlock Origin with success. Might be worth a try.

I am hesitant to add ublock origin, since it says it can read and change all your data on websites you visit, and that it can change your privacy settings. I don't like programs that mess with things like that!

And the bottom quote explains what Pixfuture is and why it is causing so much trouble -- those ads! Ugh!

BadPinkTink said:
ok I'm getting it too so I went to my friend Google. The video ads I am getting say powered by Pixfuture.

Pixfuture is an online advertising platform for video ads. It looks to me that in order to increase advertising revenue from the Dis, the admin maybe @WebmasterCorey @WebmasterDoc @WebmasterAlex have installed this advertising platform. Just like the Google Adsense Google Display Network ads, the video ads are triggered by location, search history etc. Thats why everyone sees different video ads. Maybe they did not realize how much it would impact user experience on Dis



When I explained all of this to webmaster Corey yesterday, he is the one who said we should NOT be having those ads or those problems. That would kind of lead me to believe that either they haven't installed the advertising platform, or that they did, not realizing what issues it would cause. I am hoping that he can get with their Google ad reps and find a solution to stop them. As I said, I don't think as DIS users we should have to be disabling things like Java, removing our adblockers, or installing things like Ublockorigin just to be able to be members of the DIS community. All of a sudden this morning, I am still getting the ads, but not the sounds from it?