The New Coffee Room

@renauda Yes. If you google Kearl autonomous hauling you can see lots of video. Imperial’s entire fleet of haulers (Catepillar 797s) run without drivers. And, they are refuelled with robotics.
I’ll have to ask what type of other robotic operations are done with the oil sands. The guys on my street love talking to me of what they do up there.

@renauda I had a friend whose brother worked in Venezuela in the late 1990s. She was constantly worried of him given the violence and cartels, how they were surrounded by armed protection 24/7 .
I know a little bit more of shale than I do of heavy oil. But many of my neighbors are up in places like Kearl where it really does take advanced knowledge, skills, guts to get the sticky stuff from the ground, then hauled out. Do they use robotics with rigs in Venezula? How about autonomous operations like hauling? Has Venezula advanced over time like we have? I’ll have to read more of it. I agree with what others imply. I think the Texans will sit back and wait. There’s too much risk now.

The general consensus where I live, coming from the old and the young, is they’d rather freeze their butts way up north rather than go to Central America.

Where I live (city, urban), when seen, the bears are caught, then often relocated far away. Older bears are rarely euthanized. We’re quite accustomed to seeing the wildlife officers and bear containers out during berry season.
Saying this, cougars are a different story. Nasty mean, silent attackers, and if you hear them you’d confuse them with chirping birds (or so I’m told). We’ve friends who are building a cabin just south of YYC. They have a family of cougars who took up residence in the foundation. It’s about 2 years now and the house still isn’t finished. Those cats must remain close by though. I’ve seen video of deer walking across the path leading up to their place followed by 4 cougars ripping across afterwards. I’d be scared stiff to be out there.

I miss everyone who doesn’t post. I wish George and Jolly would just pop in to say hi. I can’t comment on subjects I know little about, but I do read most of what people write and link to, and this often sends me googling to learn more. I’m pretty thankful for TNCR. It’s way more interesting than my quilting forums.

He’s how old now? And he’s the one who watches T.V. news late into the night, right? Does he even day nap? Or does he just go, go, go? To me, this seems a dementia of some sort. Has anyone analyzed his posts? His gait? His speech? Memory, recall? Does he get worse at anytime of day? Like sundowning? I think he’s going downhill mentally, turning into the angry, aggressive, crazy type. Some just drift off, tune out, go aphasic, others do the opposite.

Well it’s clipped through. Getting colder now. Some neighbor guy has his ATV rigged up and plowed all our sidewalks. I guess they’re all getting ready for ice fishing season, all of them have their rails on their trucks. No doubt there will be skidoos ripping up and down the street soon. I think I’m going to cave and hire out for snow removal. I’m old enough now, can’t risk a fall, and a triple garage is so much more to clear. No guilt.

It’s going sideways here at -17. Meanwhile YYC is at -1. I didn’t tune up the snow blower yet this year .. heavy Honda piece of trash it is, yup.

@renauda Thanks for this. It’s coming fast. The temp difference between central AB and YYC is dramatic. I best find me a heated garage asap. It’s howling outside. My vehicle is old and exposed.

Same thing happened here with 3 pit bulls killing an elderly lady gardening. The dogs escaped from the yard.
I’ve my own issues with vicious dogs I’m sure I’ve talked about here. I remain scared stiff seeing any of these breeds, actually most off leash dogs.
This might be severe, but huge mandatory fines, possibly jail time for owners, and yes immediate euthanasia for the dogs. I’m all for breed bans too.

I’m not doing too well with it at present. Had to do some fiddling chipping ice from the block heater plug, then noticed my back tire was close to flat. 2 out of 3 places didn’t have working air. It cost me $2.50 and frozen finger tips to fill that tire.

I counted shoes in bins at the front door. I’m under 45 . I ditched 2 pairs of sad slippers, and some boots.

@89th .. Your kids’ areas look just as messy as ours did 25 yrs ago! I remember feeling relieved seeing similar homes, thinking this clutter must be a developmental stage of parenthood. And prior to being parents, we were very tidy and organized.

Lots of good wisdom shared from people here.

I won’t dive into my grown kid’s issues with ADHD, collecting, clutter, except to say, yup, very stressful. And yes indeed, clutter hurts relationships.

If I can offer anything to you @89th :
1). Try to chat up safety with your wife whenever possible. Especially with bathroom, laundry and kitchen areas. We had a kid and 3 cats climbing bookcases, counters, cupboards, appliances, squeezing into the weirdest spaces. My eyes couldn’t be everywhere all at once to intervene. Clutter on counters and in cupboards create real danger risks for fires, spills, tipovers, floods, electrical accidents, all that. As a pediatric nurse, I saw plenty. Please eliminate that clutter. Make firm safety rules for these areas. Safety is a real good reason for decluttering.
2). Do not succumb to renting storage lockers to relocate clutter.
3). Do not procrastinate long with decisions to sell or donate stuff. Procrastination compounds stress while clutter continues to build.
4) Keep tossing that toy crap out! Then expand covert maneuvers with other small stuff. Dirty little secrets. I love that. Continue and you’ll be miles ahead of others.
5) Of bigger household crap .. just ask someday. I’ve an entire repertoire of tips and strategies. A few dirty secrets too.
6) Of elders .. Are they a gift giving source of too many toys and kid stuff? Are they attempting to off-load heirlooms onto you yet? If so, can you and your wife agree to talk to them of it?
7) Also of elders .. avoid, if you can, being an executor or sucked in with their downsizing junk removal. It sucks so much from your soul, and especially your valuable time.
8. Remind yourself .. The kids’ clutter is different from my wife’s clutter. Yes, it’s all chaos. Yes, it’s all gross. But ask yourself who generates what clutter and why? Clean up kid made clutter sure. Have them see you do it & have them help you with it as they grow. Make no excuses for mom’s problem to anyone.
9) A safe room free of clutter, like your office, is a real good thing. Is it possible for your wife to have a safe room too? Even if her clutter migrates there? There are benefits for you not seeing her stuff. Think about it.
10) Don’t become like some parents who escape with booze to bitch alongside other parents. That’s not therapy. That’s just another problem.

I hope some of this is helpful to you @89th.

@jon-nyc said in An interesting question:

I’m a GenXer cut from WASP cloth and would never talk to a therapist about anything unless she were cute.

I’m a boomer. I wouldn’t waste good money on “therapy” .. & even if he was cute, 50, and served assorted teas and snacks. Heck, funeral homes serve up empathy and snacks for free after services. And I’m at an age where I’m going to these services regularly.

@Mik .. She’s typical of her generation of therapists (being mother of one). She’s likely had little exposure with those of “The Silent Generation”. If so, she’d have a little empathy (and maybe some respect) for how little information we boomers got of our own parents’ and grandparents’ health matters. This forms part of who we are and how we communicate our emotions. We learned growing up that “I didn’t mean to worry you”, or “We wanted to know for sure before we told you”, was often said for a reason .. a reason we boomers accepted and didn’t question. We accepted our elders wisdom and rationale for what they shared/didn’t, and I believe we had less anxiety than young ones today.
Case in point: My mom said little to nothing to my brother of dad’s last 24 hrs in hospital, up to and including dad’s death. Why? Little brother, after years of trying, finally had his interview for a corporate job at the place he worked. That interview happened the morning dad died. I understood. My brother understood too, later, after he was told.

Nowadays, I just think of Larry …

I’ve quit caffeine x2 before. Went with decaffeinated too. Odd, but first time I quit had wild, sometimes scary dreams when I switched over. But now, the decaf doesn’t affect my sleep. I couldn’t give up coffee completely. I just like its taste, esp. when it’s cold outside. I’m meh with tea.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.
Great pics @89th

@Mik I’m having flashbacks. Never again will I live in a place with sliding glass door on a tub.
I prefer full 1 piece acrylic tub-showers and large single shower units with non sliding glass doors (like for new builds). I dislike cleaning tile this much, and just use tile to the ceiling above and as an accent for surrounds. Saying this, I did do a stand-alone rectangular tub in the most recent master bath. For resale reasons only. I searched quite a while finding one that was long enough & shallow enough .. like retiree friendly. That area got half height large format rectangular tile on 3 walls. Good for hanging wet towels on both ends I suppose.

@89th .. Your updated kitchen is modern, yet your choices will endure through what’s trending now for a long time. Good design decisions.
I’m still a split sink person. I don’t know why .. maybe because I don’t use or wash many large pots? or cook much? Lol. No grate for me either .. I’m good with scratches. But I need that garburator. I’m a heavy gauge stainless girl too. In the most recent (2025) house build, I decided to heck with the tile backsplash and went full-on Vicostone (I sourced their hush-hush price list & chose an older thus cheaper neutral pattern for the island, counters and backsplash). I get so upfront stressed with interior designers & design decisions, then get easily bored afterwards with the color & pattern of tile. And I don’t want to spend $$ & time to upgrade. I also spent 3 decades worrying of sauce & grease stains on grout, so here, now, it’s full-on same-on backsplash & counters for me.