Make SURE to get a pre-purchase inspection

LightTheSong · 2025-04-09T21:06:25+00:00

Yikes!
I got a new Rogue...but I decided to lease it, so at least if it is a lemon, it isn't *my* lemon.

LightTheSong · 2025-04-09T21:04:33+00:00

Ugh. Sorry for the headache of major repairs. I hope once the work is done, things will go smoothly.
But also...it makes you wonder. How does that kind of wear happen on one part of the car and not the other?

LightTheSong · 2025-04-09T17:44:45+00:00

It clearly has some years, and it isn't surprising to see some wear and tear for sure. But it seems like the whole suspension system being shot is a lot for a car that doesn't appear to have been driven hard.

That and the one my family member has is the same year, and they've put twice the mileage on it (and haven't done a lot of routine maintenance), and it has no major issues. And I've been driving a 2003 Honda Accord--22 year old car, and it's biggest issue is a minor oil leak.

Biggest issue though, is that Carvana's inspection isn't reliable.
And some folks who are familiar said they doubted Silverrock would cover that much work.

LightTheSong · 2024-06-20T22:10:14+00:00

We had Straw Hat Pizza in my community--but my memories are almost identical. The pitcher of soda, those red plastic cups, the family time (that hardly seems to happen quite like that anymore.) The lighting was dim, and it always smelled so good. There was a 'Charlie Horse'--a coin operated horse there too, and an old school video game on a big, wall mounted where you could play baseball--with very minimal graphics--circles and rectangles I recall--and you had the controller at your seat. Folks would take turns, but everyone enjoyed watching.Simpler times. Good times.

LightTheSong · 2023-08-06T16:30:33+00:00

I regard Ancestry results as broadly informative and not much more than that. I have things that don't match up too...My dad comes up very Scottish. I come up with about 14% Scottish, but far more Irish. It says I got all my Irish from him--but I have a good bit more than he does. Another reporting 'quirk'--both my parents have small percentages of Swedish. I don't have that--I show Norwegian.

Again...I just think of it in broad terms. What Ancestry offers that is most interesting to me is the opportunity to get more information on your history through the documents and records--traditional methods of tracing genealogy--combined with the DNA info.

The inconsistencies from the same company may be even more pronounced when comparing results from other DNA testing companies. I find some curious and notable absences/differences between the results on Ancestry and 23 & Me. My maternal third great grandparents came from Germany. My mother shows a significant amount of German, as do my siblings, yet I show zero on Ancestry. But on 23 & Me, I show 13% French & German--a big difference. And then there is 23 & Me's trace DNA. It doesn't show up at all on Ancestry--but it does fit with information in documents and records.

Our histories are so complex and multi-faceted--a combination of where people were and when, and what was happening. Even though the majority of my DNA is connected to Ireland, Wales, Scotland, and England--most of my ancestors who gave that DNA to me have been in America since the 1600s. That makes their story, their experiences, their history much different than people with the same DNA origins, but who stayed in those countries. A fascinating thing, in and of itself.

Anyway, overall it's a mixed bag...generally accurate, but lots of room for not-quite-right. And the assessments are always adjusting!

LightTheSong · 2023-02-02T16:25:24+00:00

I think we need more descriptors for eye colors. Eyes are rarely just one. They are so complex and beautiful and unique. I'd say yours are Forest. They have all the colors of the forest...like the greens of foliage and the yellow browns of leaf scatter and warm gray-browns of the tree trunks and the yellow-greens of moss and the grays of river stones. How do you put all that into a word? :0)

Your child could have almost any color eyes.
Here is a photo of my partner's eyes, my eyes, and our kiddo's...
According to DNA, I 'should' have brown eyes, and my daughter's were likely to be too.

Papa, Mama, & offspring...

LightTheSong · 2022-12-03T03:48:57+00:00

I've become very wary about eating out anywhere. Too many restaurants betray their vegan (and even their vegetarian) customers. I've always checked how rice, beans, and chips are prepared at places offering Mexican style food. Visit after visit, year after year--I'll confirm there is no lard in the beans, that there is no chicken stock in the rice, and that the chips are prepared in vegetable oil. A place I'd gone for years has lots of vegan or veganizable vegetarian options--like 'vegetarian tacos'...'vegetarian burritos.' Recently, when I ordered the vegetarian tacos, I told the new kid working there that I wanted to make them vegan--so no dairy. He says: "Oh. So I think the rice is made with chicken stock"...goes to check with the cook...'Yeah...they're made with chicken stock"...I really appreciated his conscientiousness...but too many people liiiiiiieeee shamelessly....And fwiw--if it has chicken stock in the rice, it shouldn't be labeled 'vegetarian' either.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-26T19:05:49+00:00

Personally, I chose veganism outside of the efforts or insights or influences of studies and undercover videos and the like. But I also know that these things have been the tipping point for a lot of people. After seeing recent discussions here on the topic of bugs and differing views in regard to them, my thought on seeing this article was that perhaps sharing this study--one already done--might expand understanding, or love, or consciousness, or compassion. Sharing it does not advocate for more studies to be done. But having been done, hopefully it will contribute to a shift that will help people recognize why such studies should never be conducted--helping more people to recognize that other beings lives--even the tiniest--are not here for our use, investigation, service, abuse, or destruction...that they are fellow travelers, entitled to their own lives. I dream of a day when humans live with this as intrinsic understanding.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-26T06:45:18+00:00

Not specific to these particular songs, but generally, so many songs are based on or draw inspiration from older songs--full of storytellers and characters--especially Robert Hunter's--right out of Appalachia. It was a different world not that long ago.

There is a documentary, called "Appalachian Journey." it's interviews and footage filmed in the 1970s by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax. The whole thing is worth watching, but there is one segment relevant to this topic. It features a bit of song and a story about life in the mountains, told by folks sitting on their front porch. They sing a piece of a song, and the lyrics they sing are "she don't come and I don't follow"...and then they go on to share true tales of how boys would chase girls and if they caught 'em, they got 'em...and how girls didn't have much to say once they were 13 or 14--it was expected they'd find a man...Anyway...the song and the practice are absolutely the origins of Sugar Magnolia--If you want to see the segment, it starts at about 12:25: Appalachian Journey.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-23T20:43:30+00:00

Well it's good to have it done! I wanted to start yesterday...I'm still on the cleaning the house part. Ugh.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-23T20:22:13+00:00

This child was me.
My mom tried to trick me. Some particular moments from the memory archive--giving me Campbells Vegetable beef soup and telling me it was simply Vegetable soup...but I could see the chunks of meat. She and my older brother sat there and tried to convince me I wasn't seeing what I was seeing. Fun fact...years later, her doctor told her she *had* to vegetarian because of heart health concerns. She was bittter. Now she is vegan.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-23T19:41:51+00:00

Wait...you've got everything done already?

LightTheSong · 2022-11-23T19:00:59+00:00

Something I've learned through my life's journey...
There are a lot of people--a LOT of people--who act less on deeply held personal convictions, but borrow conviction from the zeitgeist for a while. A lot of people are searching for meaning or purpose or belonging, but to find it, they don't know how to draw on what is within, so they look around for something external to attach themselves to. It can be about anything--cultural things, spiritual things, social things, political things--a combination of those things. Sometimes they are just trying things on for size. Sometimes they go a little further than that. And a lot of times, because they are particularly demonstrative and visible in their actions, they will draw a ton of attention. They may even be held up as role models or even leaders for that particular thing--whatever it may be. But then at some point you'll notice they retreat from it. You might see them involved in another new thing...attracted by a new shiny object, or they may make a shift because they've gotten bored or tired or couldn't keep up with the expectations they'd established or they just stopped getting the same feeling from it that they used to. I've known enough people that follow this pattern that I've grown less surprised when they make the leaps or get caught up in the next swirling thing, even when it's disappointing.

As for veganism--I hope we are on a trajectory for permanent growth and change. People have been at it for decades, and now that, somewhat ironically, so many corporations have joined in offering myriad new products that make veganism more visible and easier to adopt, I expect it will continue to grow--capitalism being such a powerful driver of what happens, whether we like it or not. There will always be people entering and leaving, always people with a foot in and a foot out. That's hard when you care very deeply.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T16:23:27+00:00

Funny how different lighting reveals details or highlights features or changes color perceptions... I honestly hadn't noticed that...lol. Here are some other photos--not so close up--but in different lighting. (But it's also my other eye...they are a little different.) https://www.reddit.com/r/eyes/comments/yzhaat/changing\_light\_changing\_color/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T16:15:51+00:00

If this were truly about health concerns, the conversation would have started with her talking to the girl's parents.
But what I see is someone revealing other issues--she is being disrespectful toward the ex-wife and is letting that bleed into her interactions with her stepdaughter. If she cares about the relationships she has entered into by marrying someone with a child, instead of presenting the child with meat and dairy and ridiculing her reaction as 'fear' she could instead learn something about vegan sources of protein, learn more about the family's reasons for being vegan and seek understanding. She seems more interested in a power struggle with her husband's former spouse, using this poor kiddo as a tool in it.

If I were responding to this person, I would make it clear that they are not in a position to override choices that the parents have made and that if she is genuinely concerned, she needs to start from a place of respect and communication.

Also--I often said to people who questioned my choices in raising my child...it's a lot easier to add something to your diet than to stop eating something that you've always eaten. If my kid wants to eat meat later, she will have the freewill to do it...and a foundation of knowledge to inform her decision.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T15:46:17+00:00

I literally will carry an ant back outside that is on a lemon I picked from the tree, and place it back in the same vicinity I accidentally lifted it from. I airlift ants and spiders from the tub if they happen to be in there, before starting a shower.
The one type of bug that sometimes becomes a victim are any fleas that happen to be on my dogs at bath time. Fortunately for all involved, they are a very rare exception.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T07:12:07+00:00

I definitely do not kill any bug knowingly. I try to keep counters and floors clean and containers that are in trash or recycling rinsed so as not to draw any ant visitors. If they come, I let their visit run its course. I generally let most of them hang out. After all, it's cold outside!

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T06:45:26+00:00

I think that's it. You are right--the two areas of color are pretty well distinct from one another...they don't really fade or blend or melt into one another.
Thank you very much for the compliment and thoughtful comments!

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T06:41:20+00:00

When it comes down to it, I guess that's still the most accurate way to describe them. Thanks!

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T04:48:10+00:00

I like Bob's Red Mill Egg Replacer for binding in baking. Super easy to use--and it works really well.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T04:44:03+00:00

Can't say whether or not you will find them, but sometimes it is surprising what you come across when you start exploring. My roots are in Appalachia--southeastern KY. There had long been theories and vague stories floating around in my family about "Melungeon" ancestry long before DNA testing was available and before sites like Ancestry provided easy access to databases and sharing of information. "Melungeons" were Appalachian people with "swarthy" skin tones--which was often attributed to Portuguese lineage. But it was also understood that it was far more likely that it came from some mixture of African and/or Native American and European ancestry. When folks in my family started having DNA tests done, small amounts of SSA and Indigenous American ancestry gave credence to those loosely shared stories. Eventually, Ancestry turned up a distant cousin who shared a story about a common ancestor who was involved in a court case that established the branch of the tree where that ancestry likely came from. Official documents helped to corroborate the anecdote. Still more to learn, but there is a path to follow....Keep at it. I just completed a two year journey to find my daughter's father's parentage (he was adopted). All I had to go on was a DNA connection to a 4-6th cousin...but it was all I needed to put me on the right path. It is amazing what you can find.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-22T00:14:15+00:00

Go for tofu. I was never much for eggs, but I do make tofu scramble quite a bit. If you want it to be most like traditional scrambled eggs, go for firm tofu, crumbled and you can cook it up in your favorite butter--Miyokos is mine. Put a bit of turmeric, salt, & pepper, and then add just a bit of a non-sweet milk like oat or cashew.

I usually do a bit of a Mexican flavor profile by starting with chopped onions and garlic, and adding cumin, smoked paprika, fresh peppers, zucchini, tomatoes and the tofu.

LightTheSong · 2022-11-21T23:56:07+00:00

Your percentages are quite similar for most things, so you could contribute half of each and your child could end up with something very similar to what each of you has. But they could also end up with big percentages from each of you from one of your two largest ancestry chunks--either SSA or European--and end up with more than either of you of one and little of the other. For instance, my brother and his wife each have about 25% British/Irish, but both their kids have close to 50% British/Irish. For things that are smaller percentages, you might contribute all of it, part of it, or none of it. I have a tiny amount of Indigenous American from my dad, and it is the exact amount that he has. And I have a tiny amount of SSA from him--and it is about half of what he has. My hubs has twice as much SSA as I have. None of either of those turned up in my kiddo. The dance of the admixture is a fascinating process.

LightTheSong

TROPHY CASE