#40: He simply makes me smile when I see him.

[jmh123]

I finally talked to keepingfaith earlier this evening. It was great to hear her voice. As KAndre mentioned, she's at her sister's house. Her sister has satellite TV and a generator. That makes keepingfaith very happy. She’s had sporadic cell phone reception (more out than in) so making calls has been difficult at best. We’re going to have to teach her how to text.

She did take a trip to her home. Her house is still there and looks good. She will have to do a lot yard work to do with tree and fence clean up, but her house is sound. A tree fell right in front of the door so she had to machete her way in.

That's good news! Thanks for letting us know. Can't wait till all our peeps have electricity and internet again--probably nothing like how they wish they did.

From CH:

Some good news on clayzedover from gcd4clay at CV:

Hi Everyone, I would like to give an update on CLAYZEDOVER. She is doing FANTASTIC! I just saw her today and she is in a Rehabilitation Home and is doing great. She looked and sounded wonderful. She is working very hard on her therapy and the therapist is very satisfied at her progress. She has a GOAL and of course it is CLAY related. Her goal is to be a Spamalot for his Birthday and I have no doubt that she will do it. We are working on getting her Internet set up and if that works out well she will be back to posting on the board and I think that will work wonders along with her therapy. Can someone please post this on CH. I will give another update next week.

[Couch Tomato]

Yay, thanks for the news on Clayzedover!

I haven't been on this site for several days.

I think this is some sort of hanging offense.

She did take a trip to her home. Her house is still there and looks good. She will have to do a lot yard work to do with tree and fence clean up, but her house is sound. A tree fell right in front of the door so she had to machete her way in.

PerusingOne, I think you have quadrupled your post count in the past week.... a few more hurricans and you'll no longer be a dog walker :F_05BL17blowkiss:

[djs111]

Peony asked:

what does djd111 stand for?

I dunno.

PSA - I am just kidding around!!!!!!!!

thanks for those HUGE pictures!!!!!!!!!!

[jmh123]

Hi JMH! :F_05BL17blowkiss:

I haven't been on this site for several days. Wow, I picked the best time to log in!

Good to see you here. LonelyNoMore has seen my personal collection.

[Couch Tomato]

Does anyone know a direct link to clayzedover or a way to send her a small token from FCA?

AIG...so what happens if they go under. What happens to my life insurance policy. I guess I should pay attention to what's going on in the world.

[jmh123]

Does anyone know a direct link to clayzedover or a way to send her a small token from FCA?

AIG...so what happens if they go under. What happens to my life insurance policy. I guess I should pay attention to what's going on in the world.

According to CNN, your life insurance will be fine, because it's a different part of the company or different funds or something. I'd still look into it to get more information. It's important to know where the funds are invested, what kind of policy you have. Variable rate mutual funds are probably going to take a big hit, and of course, many stocks. If it's a straight life insurance policy, not an annuity, you should be fine, I think.

[goldarngirl]

Does anyone know a direct link to clayzedover or a way to send her a small token from FCA?

AIG...so what happens if they go under. What happens to my life insurance policy. I guess I should pay attention to what's going on in the world.

Got this from a CNN news alert

The Federal Reserve says it is taking over crumbling insurance giant AIG in an $85 billion rescue plan

.

So they are looking at trying to help. I would imagine too, that there are some form of back ups involved depending upon the size of the policy (at least there are in Canada) so I would assume that there is some coverage against an insurance company going under.

Possibly something on line would give you an idea.

[HeidiHo]

It seems illogical to comment on people making mountains out of molehills when you yourself make several lengthy posts on that given subject....

Seems I am not the only one around here who needs a lesson in joking. See, I used this to make sure people would see I was kidding!

I often don't believe emoticons, based on history. I'm not inclined to believe them now. They're so convenient - they are often used to soften nastiness (so no one will get mad at you), and not to indicate humor. I try to be funny such that no emoticons are necessary. Of course, I occassionally fail, as do others. Especially when work beats the funny out of me.

Iseeme, if you are exhausted defending yourself and it’s not fun – that’s on you. You can’t change (and don’t have the right to change) the way people react to YOUR words.

Here is a serious question - have some not been on message boards before Clay? Have you experienced a non-Clay minority opinion? I know some people have been on Star Trek boards and others have been on baseball boards.

Girl, this is rhetorical, right? <g> It’s obvious that some haven’t spent time on boards that get seriously nasty.

I ask this because some piddling disagreements seem to be taken as attacks. Now I have seen attacks, very professional level attacks (political boards). I also have been posting on message boards since before the first big brother show. It used to be on the Cnn chat, which I don't think exists anymore, then on the big brother boards where I learned about community and how fitting in does not mean that you have to change your opinion, just ways of stating it to show that you can accept others opinions while keeping your own. This brings me back to inflamatory words again, such as stating only one opinion is allowed, duh, no, if that was true, this would be a very different place. I don't think there is anyone on any board I have not disagreed with at one time and a lot of the time I was in the minority opinion, frequently holding the single opposing opinion, yet I don't think anyone was joining against me.

Amen!! I was on usenet in the first year of the X-Files and that was more brutal than most here would believe. You learned quickly there that some of the “discussion” tactics used here would get you run out of town on a rail. If you wanted to take part in the discussion you had to “man up” and take responsibility for your words, own them and fight it out or leave.

Hurray, Desertrose posted. I was concerned about you – you were the only one who hadn’t checked in so far!! PerusingOne – thanks for the info on my former roomie, Keepingfaith!!

Does anyone know a direct link to clayzedover or a way to send her a small token from FCA?

AIG...so what happens if they go under. What happens to my life insurance policy. I guess I should pay attention to what's going on in the world.

According to CNN, your life insurance will be fine, because it's a different part of the company or different funds or something. I'd still look into it to get more information. It's important to know where the funds are invested, what kind of policy you have. Variable rate mutual funds are probably going to take a big hit, and of course, many stocks. If it's a straight life insurance policy, not an annuity, you should be fine, I think.

I suppose I should be putting every extra cent in my 401K and similar accounts so that when this turns around I come out ahead???

[jmh123]

I suppose I should be putting every extra cent in my 401K and similar accounts so that when this turns around I come out ahead???

It depends on how your 401K is invested. If it is invested in mutual funds and/or stocks, and you're getting a variable rate, I wouldn't add more money to it yet. I'd change the structure of those investments first, to something really safe and solid and non-speculative. I am not a financial professional, so that's just my opinion.

[playbiller]

I have had some success in international investments,but even those can give you a spectacular down turn.

I am concerned that the US is bailing out so many companies in so many ways. With the war, that should have never happened (was I the only genius to predict we were going to break a country then be obligated to fix it?), and stupid tax breaks and incredibly wasteful spending on no bid contracts to good friends with no repercussions when they steal/waste billions upon billions of dollars - where exactly is this money going to come from? - and then the country is going to say it can't afford social security and Medicare so old people should die.

Or is that just a bit too political a statement for main?

Just opened a statement today and found a mutual fund lost 25% this quarter - thousands of dollars in value.

[merrieeee]

Just a quick post to say hi! We are now in Oklahoma. They say we might not get power for a month so we decided to take a vacation in OKC. I had a lot of debris but no real damage. The romance of candlelight can get tired really fast. No cable or internet either and the phones went off yesterday. We could get spotty cell phone coverage if we stood out by the pool, on one leg with the phone held directly over head!!!! At least I had hot & cold water. Had to throw out two freezers full of defrosted food, before it stank up the place...yuck!

Oh and the Nutella was wonderful!

Glad all of my fellow eHP's are OK.

[FearofH2O]

Even if a company goes under there is a priority in how the remaining assets are distributed. In the case of AIG, they sell a bunch of annuities, so the these would be a top priority. But if there are not enough assets to pay back these annuities , they would get a percentage of the amount of the annuity. The shareholders are the last ones in line.

I don't think it's political to say that the government screws up. Both parties are conceeding to this view. Supposedly the deregulation of Wall Street led to this mess. It's funny how the deregulation of the airlines and the cable industry have had the same results.

What really irks me is the hierarchy in these companies who take obscene salaries and benefits despite knowing the financial condition of their failing company. My husband worked on Wall Street many years ago. One of the traditions there is the year end bonuses which often exceeded one's salary. Thirty years later it is still the tradition. :15:

ETA: Looks like the Federal Reserve is loaning AIG the money.

[jmh123]

Just a quick post to say hi! We are now in Oklahoma. They say we might not get power for a month so we decided to take a vacation in OKC. I had a lot of debris but no real damage. The romance of candlelight can get tired really fast. No cable or internet either and the phones went off yesterday. We could get spotty cell phone coverage if we stood out by the pool, on one leg with the phone held directly over head!!!! At least I had hot & cold water. Had to throw out two freezers full of defrosted food, before it stank up the place...yuck!

Oh and the Nutella was wonderful!

Glad all of my fellow eHP's are OK.

Hey--so good to see you posting again! I'm glad you had a place to go, where you can have essentials like hot water and internet.

[playbiller]

Hey Merrieeee - this is a nice time to Visit NYC as well - some good plays there now.

[liney23]

Just a quick post to say hi! We are now in Oklahoma. They say we might not get power for a month so we decided to take a vacation in OKC. I had a lot of debris but no real damage. The romance of candlelight can get tired really fast. No cable or internet either and the phones went off yesterday. We could get spotty cell phone coverage if we stood out by the pool, on one leg with the phone held directly over head!!!! At least I had hot & cold water. Had to throw out two freezers full of defrosted food, before it stank up the place...yuck!

Oh and the Nutella was wonderful!

Glad all of my fellow eHP's are OK.

merrieeee.... thanks for checking in! Desertrose, too! So wonderful no one got hurt and no one's important others got hurt!

Couchie... got my pins! Cindilu... LOVE them!

The shuttle is picking me up at 6:10am (UGH!!!) for my trip to Maui. Not sure when/how often I'll have internet connection since I do not have a laptop, so will be hunting cheap computer places to stay in touch. Why did Clay pick my vacation time that I planned last January to re-open in Spamalot??? Huh??? Good thing... :013085001176249046:

[Lotus]

lotus said:

Good one djd111

Thanks! But you realise I will now feel obligated to refer to you as nasturtium or perhaps phlox.....

Oops!! A thousand apologies.

I was posting while my grandsons were having a snack and so was not paying full attention.

what does djd111 stand for?

BWAH! and she does it twice!!!!

And JMH always such a nice quiet person. Hmmmmm

Oh djs111 (this time I cut and pasted your name)...the grandkids are gone, I am pooped and obviously almost brain dead.

[ausdon]

Well, I never said it still wasn't hellishly expensive, LOL. I hardly consider 129.9 a bargain, but it's better than 138.6!

I filled up today because it's Tuesday, and that's when petrol (gas) is cheapest for the week here.

So...

Today,. I paid 138.9 per litre.

Yesterday it was 147.9.

And tomorrow it will probably back up to over 145.9 per litre.

I can't wait for solar-powered cars to be widely available and partially fueled (as a backup) by another renewable resource that won't impact on our environment and won't have us chopped at the knees in terms of our reliance on oil producing nations.

How many litres to a gallon?

Good to hear everyone is ok.

[Lotus]

How many litres to a gallon? 4.546 litres to an Imperial gallon and 3.785 litres to a US gallon.

Good to hear everyone is ok.

[bottlecap]

more days until

SPAMALOT - SIR ROBIN'S RETURN!

Chickens quake in fear!

[aikim]

Good Morning Everyone,

2 Days until "Spam, Wonderful, Spam!

10 Days until Clay is Partying with Paula!

31 Days until The BAF Gala!

37 Days until Clay is Roasting Matt Lauer!

Everyone have a great day!

Kim

[Kareneh]

Well talk about your WTF? moments....here I am siting over here in Baku, Azerbaijan using the local music video channel as background noise while I do some homework, and right after Christina Aguilera finsihed singing "Ain't No Other Man", There he is...just like she conjured him up with that lead in.....Clay Aiken on my TV screen! They're showing the "Without You" video. And I am gobsmacked. The end.

I guess I need to watch the music video channel more often. I was using soccer games. Silly me.

Glad to hear that all are well after the hurricane. I hope things return to some semblance of normal for you soon! I guess I'll get to see some of the aftermath since it's only 2 weeks until I am down there myself. It should be interesting, I have a bunch of stuff that HAS to be done when I am down there, I hope the two days I allotted is going to be enough. The car needs to go in on a recall, needs to be inspected and registered. I'm also supposed to clean out one of our storage units and get rid of all the stuff in it. Maybe

Love the countdowns, bottlecap and akim.Is it really only 2 more days until Spam? WOW!

[FearofH2O]

Good morning and "Oh what a beautiful morning". Too bad I don't sing.

I watched Paula's Party last week and she said that this week she was having Michelle Obama as a special guest. I wondered if this was a new episode added in ( never saw a mention before of her as a guest before) and if this would move the other episodes back a week?

My other thought was that this must be a pretty good gig to reach certain demographics, I had heard it reaches a young audience, so Clay was wise to appear on it, as the morning shows havve an older demographic.

Glad to hear everyone affected by Ike has checked in. But no power for a month? Yikes! I went batty when we lost it for five days once. Have a nice long vacation merrieeee. Everyone else, be safe; I hope you have lots of food and good books.

[luckiest1]

jmh123, thanks for bringing over the update on clayzedover from CV. So glad to hear she is doing well!

Lotus, thanks for providing the litres to gallons info. Saved me from having to look it up, because I can never remember the exact number. I just know it's close to 4 litres to a gallon.

Aikim, thanks for your countdown. Nice to see it filling up with stuff! Can't wait until the reports start rolling in on Friday night....

[claytonic]

How many litres to a gallon?

4.546 litres to an Imperial gallon and 3.785 litres to a US gallon.

Good to hear everyone is ok.

Thanks Lotus, I didn't even know there was a difference between Imperial and US gallon!! So the tomayto/tomahto issue lives on in other areas too... oh and I was watching the Finale of SYTYCD (which was screened here just a couple of hours ago), and Cat, the host, said "eeeether", instead of "iiiither". I thought the English (i.e. Cat) said "iiiither"? No? Where's that Merrieeee when she's needed???

[annabear]

more days until

SPAMALOT - SIR ROBIN'S RETURN!

Chickens quake in fear!

EEEEEEEEE!!! Love your countdown, too, bottle! I can't wait to get the reports of Sir Robin's return in 2 days!

Glad we finally heard from everyone & that they're safe and sound. No power for a month, merieeee???!! I'm a wimp. The 36-40 hours I was without was more than enough for me. I don't like camping, even when it is in my own home. My mom still has no power and no phone at her house, yet right across the street they do! She does have gas for the water heater, so she has hot water at least. She may come down here if it's still out by the weekend.

I have finally been sucked into getting a Facebook account by my daughter and a few friends, and I've been spending far too much time setting it up and getting familiar with it. But it's helping me kill the time until Friday!

Hee! I got sucked into Facebook, too. A friend & I were just talking the other day about how it's like being in jr. high again - we really are 12!! .P.S. I'm not ignoring you, FromClaygary - I just haven't had time to get sucked back in over the past few days to update!