Wed Chat - Sept 4, 2013

Hi again Glenda. We're not trying to overwhelm, but we are in testing mode at the moment. There will be changes to come, but we will communicate them clearly, as well as share them with you before they happen. What we are going to do is introduce features that will make it easier for you guys to use the community.

Not to worry Jonathon.  I know that it's all still evolving and I can be patient.  Just know that my poor old brain is being challenged on a fairly regular basis here!

I am sad that all this change has driven some people away, even temporarily.

I miss my friends and I want to know how everyone is doing.

That's all.

I'm missing everyone too .

Spent yesterday stressing out about getting caught up on regular work plus get Board materials organized, copied and ready to send out. Focused completely on the Board stuff this morning and it's about ready to go. Yay!!! 

It's a gorgeous sunny day here but we're warming up again and will be in the mid-90s by the weekend. We got our 2nd electric/gas bill and it was significantly lower but still a bit over $400 . DH is keeping the thermostat a degree or two lower than we did at the other house because he thinks it's not cool enough otherwise. I find myself actually feeling chilly at times and turn it up when he's not home. He's paying the bill, so I guess I shouldn't complain but it just seems like a waste of $$.

I check in to see what's what but somehow I don't enjoy the whole experience like I used to.  

Cathy, I hope your weather cools down so your electric bill will go down too.  I don't know if that house in a lot larger than your old house.  Maybe that's part of the reason for the large bills.  DH and I are constantly at odds on the temperature setting.  It's a wonder we haven't worn out three or four thermostats with all the adjustments.  

My sister's dog has been diagnosed with cancer.  The dog is 12 years old.  She's still waiting to find out what kind of cancer.  It started with lameness in a rear leg and that led to surgery last week.  It's all kinds of sad and I am trying to help her without being too intrusive into her decisions.  She's pretty broken up about it and I cry when we talk though I try not to.  As self centered as it is I can't help but relive Twister's cancer ordeal though I don't say so to her.  

Jonathan, I know you're reading.  Don't forget we want our non dog related section back. :)  

I miss the more frequent, regular exhanges and posts we used to have, too.  And since I'm not on Facebook, I don't know what's up with the regular members who might be over there rather than here.  I keep thinking of people I've not seen around here as much (or at all), and I'm hoping they'll make their way back in time.

Cathy, I'm facing some deadlines and projects at work right now, too -- so I understand the stress when things are looming over you.  My usual early month tasks are hectic enough, but it's only the second time I've done them on this new system, and I'm still hitting obstacles that slow me down.  Gee -- new systems at work and the forum -- it's no wonder I'm stressing!  :-)

To make the pressure to finish things even worse, my Mom and another friend arrive next Tuesday (for 2 weeks!), so if I want to take some time off from work, I've got to get a bunch of stuff done in advance.

Sounds like ours isn't the only house with A/C wars.  I have to wear layers in the house because DH has it so cold sometimes.  We each change the settings constantly when the other one isn't home.  Not good for the system, I know, but soon we'll have the opposite problem with the heat!

Conversation on here has definitely slowed down.  Sad.  Hopefully it will pick up, I had mostly become a lurker, but I miss seeing what everyone is up to.  (Even when I was reading it a week or so late most of the time)

Busy here. T-stat wars are always in the office. At home, DS knows better than to touch the darn thing. I guess he likes his fingers. I don't have a/c, but heat is expensive enough in the winter.

Jonathan, my biggest complaint (today) is ancient threads showing up under hot topics. We'd be able to find current threads if they were actually shortlisted to the right. I don't like the threads showing up on the home page before you even go to the forums section.

I have a dentist appointment for cleaning in the morning.

We're already working on it as we are improvements to how the forums side of the site work. I'd love everyone to stick with us as we make these changes and improve them. I've worked on many projects like this and there is always a period when you think - whoa what is all this? - and then as you get used to the way things work and - importantly - as we figure out what people like and dislike, you start to get the forum you all dreamed of. As I've said, we could've made minimal changes, but even an upgrade (which we had to do, because the platform the old community ran on had stopped being supported years ago) would have involved significant change.  

@sharismom. Yes, we know that is insane. We just ran out of time to fix it before we started to test the site. We are going to be implementing a far better way of identifying hot topics. The reason they are Hot is because they have been viewed the most. Clearly, this is a function of time! It is right at the top of the list of ongoing fixes.

Jackie - I'm so sorry about your sister's dog. I read the FB post last week about him having surgery and wondered if it was anything serious. In the past, I'd have thought 12 yrs old was a good long life but that's how old Sassy was and she seemed so young. I tend to relive the heartbreaking experience whenever someone else's dog is diagnosed. Cancer sucks :(

Yes, the new house is 3100 sf and the other house was 1900 sf, so it's only logical that the bill would be higher. $600+ seemed insanely higher but $400 might be the new normal for us. I think I mentioned that we've got two AC units that are each about the size of a VW bug.

Last night I just happened to be looking at the bat cam when he/she came into the the alcove area to roost. It was super cool to watch. DH checked the attic and we know none are living inside, so now I'm all for them hanging out.

Hello! This is today's thread right? I see 2 Wednesday chats in the sticky notes (are you going to lose the sticky note look?)

Are you working on fixing the log in function? I originally thought it was a cookie issue but now I don't believe that it is.

Anyway, on to no forum related stuff: a thy is $400 combined electric and gas? How many sf? I have 1k sf and my water San gas and electric is roughly $150 per month in the summer. Keep in mind my ac only runs maybe 7 to 10 days per month unlike yours which is probably running every day. And I don't have a pool. You are making me happy I have such a small house in a mild summer location!

I'm still giddy over not having to type in code for paragraph breaks, as a side note.

Abbie and I are taking our building test tonight. It is in an old abandoned manufacturing plant and there will be live or dead inside, I won't know which. This building is old dark musty leaking and moldy which makes scenting conditions very difficult. I am still run down from this bug too but I hope we pass!

Julie, good luck with the Building Test tonight.  You guys will do great.

I'm sorry to hear about your sister's dog, Jackie.  I re-live the heartbreaking experience of losing Tonka whenever I talk to someone about their pet's illness/health, whether it's cancer or any other terminal diagnosis.  I think we can't help but be reminded of the emotions and pain we experienced when we hear someone else expressing them, too.  It's always beneath the surface somewhere . . . and sometimes (even years later) it bubbles up when something touches that nerve.  I'm sure your sister is grateful you understand.  Many people don't understand the pain of losing a pet unless they've gone through it, so it's helpful to have someone who doesn't think you're over-reacting or whatever.

Cathy, I'm glad there are no bats inside your house, and I'm glad you feel comfortable with their periodic appearance.  They really are cool to watch -- and they eat all the mosquitoes!  Boy, I don't want to think what we'd have seen if we had a web-cam/video in the rat areas! 

Success! We passed!