The General Chat Thread (2025)

Weather is a bit different here. Just got home from watching 12yo grandson harry play rugby in the rain and ❄️ snow.
They won 50 to 10..he scored 2 cracka runaway tries. They have moved him from flanked '(forwards) to the wing. I was quite chuffed when the coach moved him. I was also a winger.
Home now getting warm and betting on the 🐎 horses.

Russ
 
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rascal said:
3 deg c here atm high of 8 deg c. We left heat pump on overnight. Might get that white stuff? And yet grandsons rugby is on??? It's 9 am here I'm downstairs waiting on wife to come down . We will decide if we are going. ( i hope not)

Russ
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We're forecast that white stuff as well tomorrow and Monday. We don't get it at 1300m but anything falling 1,000m and above we get.

We had to let the fire die down today to take ash out of the stove. The woodshed is currently warmer than the house! We have to put it somewhere where the chooks can't get at it, it's the woodshed or the garden shed with the petrol containers in., so woodshed it is.

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I was looking for cheap plane tickets to Florida to attend my friend's funeral but of course they are ridiculously expensive due to the short travel window between now and then (I just found out the service is this coming Thursday). And then there's car rental, hotel, and food, and it's tourist season there so the traffic is awful, plus the car rental and hotels will be double what they normally are. I could manage to swing it, but I don't want to stay more than 3 days total (fly in the day before and out the day after), but I will feel obligated to see all the many friends and some family members who still live in North Florida (and some live 2-3 hours away from my hometown)...and I really don't feel like seeing people other than Clif's mom, sisters, and his son right now. And then there's the fact that my DH still can't drive and his ankle and knee haven't healed completely (he can't even go down the front steps and out to the mailbox) so I would have to have someone come in to help him and make sure he eats and takes his pills, etc. It's sad and I wish I could pay my respects, but I guess sending flowers will have to do.
 
JAS_OH1 said:
I was looking for cheap plane tickets to Florida to attend my friend's funeral but of course they are ridiculously expensive due to the short travel window between now and then (I just found out the service is this coming Thursday). And then there's car rental, hotel, and food, and it's tourist season there so the traffic is awful, plus the car rental and hotels will be double what they normally are. I could manage to swing it, but I don't want to stay more than 3 days total (fly in the day before and out the day after), but I will feel obligated to see all the many friends and some family members who
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JAS_OH1 said:
still live in North Florida (and some live 2-3 hours away from my hometown)...and I really don't feel like seeing people other than Clif's mom, sisters, and his son right now. And then there's the fact that my DH still can't drive and his ankle and knee haven't healed completely (he can't even go down the front steps and out to the mailbox) so I would have to have someone come in to help him and make sure he eats and takes his pills, etc. It's sad and I wish I could pay my respects, but I guess sending flowers will have to do.
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And maybe a phone call.? To explain your circumstances??

Russ
 
rascal said:
And maybe a phone call.? To explain your circumstances??

Russ
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Well I will let my friend's mom know I am not coming and send flowers, and she will let her grandson (Clif's son) and daughters know and some of my friends, if they ask. I have been talking to a few of our other close friends today.

My family that live in Florida don't know him, don't know he died, and don't know I was thinking about coming to Florida. And actually, since I don't hear from any of them unless they want something (usually information like another family member's phone number or address), I don't feel obligated to inform them of anything, really. They will hear from me on their birthdays and Christmas as always (if I didn't reach out first I likely would not hear from any of them, I rarely get happy birthday wishes because they are either forgetful or just don't care). Well except for my foster sister who lives near Tallahassee, i hear from her a few times a year. But the others don't really try to have a relationship with me and it does get a bit tiring to be the only person who makes an effort.
 
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airlines do have 'bereavement fares" - policies vary wildly - what "qualifies" and "proof required" also vary wildly.
one can ask . . .

and such a 'break' does not extend into hotel/rental cars . . .
 
JAS_OH1 said:
Well I will let my friend's mom know I am not coming and send flowers, and she will let her grandson (Clif's son) and daughters know and some of my friends, if they ask. I have been talking to a few of our other close friends today.

My family that live in Florida don't know him, don't know he died, and don't know I was thinking about coming to Florida. And actually, since I don't hear from any of them unless they want something (usually information like another family member's phone number or address), I don't feel obligated to inform them of anything, really. They will hear from me on their birthdays and Christmas as always (if I didn't reach out first I likely would not hear from any of them, I rarely get happy birthday wishes because they are either forgetful or just don't care). Well except for my foster sister who lives near Tallahassee, i hear from her a few times a year. But the others don't really try to have a relationship with me and it does get a bit tiring to be the only person who makes an effort.
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Families can be good or bad? Stick with the good ones. Thinking 🤔 of you and your friend.

Russ
 
CookieMonster said:
airlines do have 'bereavement fares" - policies vary wildly - what "qualifies" and "proof required" also vary wildly.
one can ask . . .

and such a 'break' does not extend into hotel/rental cars . . .
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They used to, and it generally was for immediate family members only. Southwest flies into my hometown airport directly from Cleveland with fairly short flights so I didn't bother looking at other airlines. SW apparently no longer offers bereavement fares but I am sure I don't qualify regardless. Not sure about United or American but if I flew with one of those airlines, I would have to fly into another city 45 minutes away. At any rate, my "friend from my late teens" death is unlikely to qualify with any of the airlines.
 
rascal said:
Families can be good or bad? Stick with the good ones. Thinking 🤔 of you and your friend.

Russ
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Yeah, you can pick your friends but not your family.

I have 5 siblings and a foster sister who my mom took in when she was 13. She's a few years younger than I am. She's pretty good about staying in touch. My oldest brother and one of my sisters are both pretty self-absorbed. My brother closest to me in age and my sister just older than he is are both really great and we stay in touch regularly. My oldest sister is really sweet but she lives in Seattle, Washington and I haven't seen her since mom's funeral 10 years ago. She is a kind person, but I don't hear from her as much I'd like. I need to make it out there, but it's over 40 hours by car and probably 6 by plane (I haven't looked lately). We will see what this fall and winter bring.
 
JAS_OH1 sorry to hear about your friend.
Perhaps you can have your own little goodbye on the day of the funeral.
I did that for a friend of mine. Played some music she introduced me too that we both used to dance around to, bought a bottle of the red wine we used to drink, looked at some old pics of us looking ridiculously young and full of beans, told the boys a couple of amusing stories about her. It was nice.
 
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