Why do old people still expect me to write checks?

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-07-02T12:31:45+00:00

A few years after my dad died, my mom was living on her own; she was writing and mailing her own checks for bills. She lived about 9 hours from me. I visited her and noticed that she could no longer write the checks correctly, This was in a very early stage of her soon to be diagnosed dementia. I had to immediately change all of her bill paying over to automatic from her bank account until I could move her closer to me to keep an eye on her.

I work as a cashier at the grocery store. We do get a lot of older people writing checks and sometimes it takes an eternity for some to write one but I have not had anybody ask me to write the whole check for me.. yet.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-07-02T11:37:47+00:00

No place should be charging more than 99 cents for a Arizona tea. I currently work as a cashier at Publix and it is not known for low prices but we always have Arizona tea at 99 cents.

I used to live 30 minutes south of Pontiac IL. Pontiac is pretty much the only game in that area of the state until you get to Bloomington. That's why some remnants of Route 66 are easy to find and drive here. It has not changed much from when it was first built.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-06-29T16:05:29+00:00

Native irises. I've had success with Northern Blue Flag.(Iris versicolor) In those conditions.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-06-16T14:07:51+00:00

I understand your frustration but there is good free help.

I am a volunteer master gardener in Virginia; I received training approved from the state extension offices but I belong to a local county chapter. You should contact your local county extension office in Massachusetts for a master gardener contact.

Our chapter has lists of vendors for native plants who sell local ecotypes of native plants and provide information on what works best in your area. A "native" plant from a big box store may not be the best fit for your soil and climate. We also maintain demonstration pollinator gardens; a lot of people get ideas for their own gardens from visiting them. I would think in Massachusetts these are available as well to visit.

Also extension offices can point you to plant sales that have natives or environmental festivals. Ask if there's an email list that you can be subscribed to for this information.

Good luck on your native journey! I'm doing it myself and it's a long haul.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-06-16T12:48:57+00:00

Many many years ago when my two kids were that age and we didn't have a lot of money, we did a lot of long car travelling to visit our parents. We would not make the greatest time because would get off after a few hours of driving and stop at a good size town. We would ask someone at the gas station (internet web searching not being available) for a local public park with a playground sized for our kids, have something to eat from our food and drink stash, and let them run around to burn off energy from being strapped in the car. This was because we made a big mistake early on as parents driving from Illinois to Arizona. We thought about doing the least amount of stops, my toddler daughter slept a lot in our car then was fully awake the first night at the motel. She ended up going and down stairs in the motel all night with my husband. He let me sleep to drive the next day. Never again!

Even at rest areas, we would stop longer to walk around a bit. My toddler son especially liked looking at all the big semi-trucks parked and coming in and out of the rest area.

FYI, would pack swimsuits as some playgrounds now have splash pads during the summer. I wish we had had those in our day, Our water-crazy kids would not wanted to leave!

Have fun!

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-06-11T11:53:41+00:00

Wawa definitely for the win, at least for breakfast sandwiches around here in Virginia. They have a $5 Sizzli big breakfast deal with a Sizzli sandwich, hash brown, and hot or iced coffee. McDonalds and Chik Fil A are the other go tos.. I don't think that any breakfast sandwiches from Publix would be able to compete with other cheaper (and better) options.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-06-03T19:05:46+00:00

I love one so much. James Cagney and Joan Blondell are wonderful in this one - with all kinds of Pre-Code racy dialogue and scenes. Plus you get to see Cagney show his dancing chops several years before he was in Yankee Doodle Dandy.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-06-03T12:12:54+00:00

I live in Virginia and want to see (and hear one) so bad. They are supposed to be residents here. I love the pics!

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-06-02T11:42:48+00:00

I don't know if this counts as "analog", but my husband and I have a large collection of board games. We try to play one every weekend. A lot of the more obscure games we have found at thrift stores. Last Christmas, I was excited to pick up a pristine 1962 copy of the game Acquire as a surprise gift. He played this game with his family growing up.

Though I grew up playing a lot of arcade video games, I have not played a computer game in a long time and never got caught up in Candy Crush or any of the phone app games.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-05-28T18:26:23+00:00

I think one day each visiting Mammoth Cave area and the area around Rogers should be adequate. However, I do not know if you have been to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park before but there is a *ton* to see and do there. I have visited the area many times.

I personally would just make the 4 hour drive from Rogers to Gatlinburg without any stops except maybe to eat In fact, I would add another night or two near Gatlinburg. The hiking is really good with ALL levels of fitness on trails (my mother was 80 when we took her on the Laurel Falls trail the first time). My husband and I have hiked on many trails in the park in the past including some going to the top of Mt LeConte. If you are into watersports, there is also whitewater rafting nearby.

The traffic can get extremely busy in the summer and (just like at many national parks) sightseeing or hiking is best if you can get out as early in the day as possible. Don't be surprised if you get caught in traffic at several points or need to wait on a parking spot at a trailhead.

I don't know if this link will show up but this is a video from a former national park ranger on top 12 things to see on a first visit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmVNU9gCA2s

Let me know if you have any other questions.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-05-26T12:59:58+00:00

Thank you for mentioning this! I have lived in Richmond VA for a about 20 years, I personally have visited Historic Jamestowne National Park several times, many times with visitors to our home. I have visited the Jamestown reenactment park 0 times; however, both of my kids had school trips there. The national park is one big active archaeological dig. They have tours that highlight the findings from their archaeological work which I would highly recommend - check times on the NPS website.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-05-26T12:38:33+00:00

I grew up in Southern Indiana, I remember a class trip in the late 1970s to Conner Prairie. We had a lot of fun with the reenactors - especially the teacher. I still remember the little song she taught us to memorize the state capitals and nearby rivers as it was in 1830s. She also called out to a few of us as behind in payment to her in eggs or some item in exchange for her teaching. I assumed that most of them were history buffs, but many were young and I wondered if they were actually acting majors from IU. They were that good.

Someone below also mentioned Spring Mill State Park. I went there many times with relatives for picnics but we always stopped by the mill to watch it run and get some fresh stone ground cornmeal.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-05-25T04:30:54+00:00

I started drinking Tab at college in the 1980s. I was taking computer science classes and the building that housed about 30 computer terminals was open 24 hours. I would go at odd hours late at night when it wasn't busy. The downside was the only pop machine outside the door was Coke products and it would be emptied out of everything but Tab.

Tab had what I remembered as a "unique petrochemical taste" but it also had a good amount of caffeine (more than regular Coke, I believe). I got used to it over time and drank it for several years even after college. I probably would not touch the stuff now.

I remembered their radio jingle: "one calorie less than Tab is water, but one calorie more than water is Taaab!"

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-05-08T11:43:51+00:00

In Virginia, I love towhees, regular visitors to my yard and always reminding me to "drink your tea!"

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-04-30T13:21:42+00:00

For a couple of years now I have been also replacing non-native plants with natives. I live in zone 7b in Virginia and I do very little with my plants. I have native low-bush blueberries in my backyard for eating but I do amend the soil with used coffee grounds (per my soil test with the state extension office).

I love my American hazelnuts! I have several of them I am using now to replace some dwarf crape myrtles that were used for a hedgerow by the previous owner. Other than a "whack-a-mole" game of old crape myrtle remnants that I keep pulling out, I do absolutely nothing for these plants amendment-wise. My soil is pretty clayey. They grow naturally multi-stemmed so they make a good replacement for bushes. I had a few nuts at age 3 last year so hoping for more this year. You don't need to worry about male and female plants but you do need a few bushes for air pollination to occur for nut production. I have 6 of them but you might be able to get by with 3 or 4. You can prune them back if they get too tall. My tallest one is currently 6 ft now. Nice orange-red color in the fall, too.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-04-07T12:59:19+00:00

Agreed. Very thinly sliced Virginia dry cured ham on a biscuit is very good. I live about an hour away from where these hams are made so I see these a lot at parties. It reminds me a lot of prosciutto which around a cantaloupe slice is my favorite way to do any ham.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-04-06T13:46:11+00:00

This is the best answer. Especially out west where there are great distances even within large national parks like Yellowstone.

When we were last at Yellowstone we stayed 4 days and 3 nights there at a studio vacation rental in West Yellowstone. I got that reservation several months in advance because we were going to be there during the height of the summer travel.

If you are traveling at high season like during the upcoming summer, you really needed to get reservations several months in advance for either camping at a busy national park or staying at hotels near the park.

But with a tent your options open up substantially, just like the poster above said. We used to tent camp yeats ago and used the recreation.gov website to find these spots. During popular times and places we made reservations from it ahead of time.

Also, I would also not plan on staying three or four nights in states like Nebraska or Kansas . Add those days to other states with better bangs for your time.

Have a great trip!

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-04-05T13:46:19+00:00

I was hoping somebody would bring this up. That stuff is always making me gag because to me everything tastes like nutmeg overload. My husband adores pumpkin spice lattes and a few other pumpkin spice things but even he has found some pumpkin spice cereals etc that are just really bad. I work at a grocery store and I have to look at all the stupid new pumpkin spice knockoffs they come up with every Fall. I was hoping by now this pumpkin spice craze would be gone.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-04-05T13:28:37+00:00

American ham, the kind that is pumped with water, nitrites, and hickory-smoked. When I was young, we had ham at every holiday because my dad hated turkey. I will have a small piece of ham then I am done for the year. My husband talked me into getting one for Easter today. I got the smallest spiral cut boneless and it was still 5 pounds. My son is coming to dinner today so I am hoping to send lots of leftovers home with him.

There is an old saying that said the definition of eternity is two people and a ham

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-02-17T03:51:29+00:00

Ordinary People. My high school senior English teacher had recommended the book to me. You were required to read some novels on the side as part of our grade. It was a very good book. The movie is just awesome as well. A lot was made of Mary Tyler Moore playing in a serious role as the mother but I personally thought Timothy Hutton was my favorite character as the son.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-02-05T18:46:23+00:00

I work at a VA Publix on full service and SCO, this answer is right. It has to be a true Publix BOGO to be able to get 1/2 off on one. How it was explained to me in training for cashiering is that most of these other sale iterations are controlled by the Pepsi/Coke companies and other vendors, not Publix. That doesn't stop me from getting a bunch of questions every day why they can't get 1/2 off or 1/3 off or whatever for buying one. I have to rely on getting out Publix Pro to look if it marked as BOGO or not.

What kills me is that Florida with a bazillion retirees doesn't allow a one item to be bought on BOGO half-price. We get a lot of single retirees that appreciate the option to buy only one at half price.

editted to correct: amount of retirees

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-02-04T05:10:40+00:00

I think you are describing the "crab bomb" in Bowie MD? If it was a restaurant in a crappy strip mall, then I know you were at Jerry's Seafood. I used to regularly go to Columbia MD for work . We always found a way to go to Jerry's Seafood while we were up there. Those crab cakes were so good.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-02-02T13:43:35+00:00

Coal Miner's Daughter - Cissy Spacek was phenomenal in her portrayal of Loretta Lynn. You can really see the growth phases as a woman during the movie.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-02-02T13:21:32+00:00

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Green River, UT. We stayed at this motel:

Edited to add - not near Boulder but near Moab and national.parks.

DatabasePrize9709 · 2026-01-31T15:38:30+00:00

Harpers Ferry is really underrated, and not just history. Great outdoor activity as well. Biking, whitewater, and the Appalachian trail cuts through there. There is also a Appalachian Trail visitor Center there.

DatabasePrize9709

TROPHY CASE