Random 5 for May 19, 2024 – Smoke detectors, house color, good deeds, comfortable clothes, strange emojis

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It’s hard to see how faded the color is but the window box hidden by the tree is a much darker shade than the siding over the garage. The garage doors look blue but are also a different shade of gray. Nothing really matched.

That dang smoke detector – We were just settling into bed around 11 p.m. last night when the smoke detector let out a loud chirp. Really loud and long but then it stopped. The beloved husband got up and checked each one. All had the green light (which is good) so we have no idea what happened. Scared all of us including the cats half to death. I know these things save lives, but I wonder how many people get heart attacks from them. And why, why, why do they only go off at night. At least it wasn’t the usual 3 a.m.

My house is blue! – The outside house painting started this week. Picking a color was nerve wracking. The old color was a dark gray that had faded. It was so faded that each area had a different color depending on how much sun light it got over the years. Some of the other units are a Williamsburg blue. The brick is a frosted red with a mix of charcoal shades. Given my druthers I’d have pulled a tan shade out of the frosting for a light shade, but the color had to be something that the adjoining neighbors liked too. The blue is lighter than expected but works with the brick. Again, having my druthers, I would have picked a slightly darker shade of blue, but I like it. (Picture next week)

No good deed goes unpunished – The painters (a father-son team) are great. Except for severely trimming my one shrub (for access to the house) and stomping on my groundcover, they haven’t done much damage. They are almost done with our unit, so we decided to treat them to lunch. We buy premium hoagies at a store locally and thought that would be easy. The beloved husband could pick them up after an appointment mid-morning. They could eat anytime they took a break. No worries about being hot. They said they’d prefer pizza. That meant a special trip to pick it up at lunchtime. They thought it would be easier and cheaper but it was more expensive and time-consuming. A long time ago I worked for a guy who always said “no good deed goes unpunished!”

This one’s for Anita* – I was always a jeans person. It was my casual go-to. You can dress them up or work in the yard (different pair of course). They wore like iron. Then athletic wear came out. At first everything was tight and body hugging for exercise or yoga. Now they have different fits, and some can be dressed up. But the biggest advantage is that they are pull ups and very comfortable. They have stretchy waists that don’t require zippers and snaps yet don’t balloon out (remember those 80s elastic waist jeans? Yikes!). I wear them all winter. I have some with a fleece lining. They are so warm and comfortable. This past week I put on a pair of jeans. The first thing I noticed is that they are not stretchy. When I went to the bathroom, I had to undo stuff. I had them on for a few hours, then went for my athletic wear. I still like the look of jeans but… (*Anita is my niece who commented on how good it was to climb into stretchy pants after a robust holiday season.)

Emojis – This week I got a text message from a friend with a group of emojis. I had no idea what the message was trying to convey. They are so tiny on my phone, that I can’t really tell what they are. I know smiley face, the thumbs, happy cat and a few others. Some of the faces I’m not sure about. Are they happy? Sad? Is it funny? I should download an emoji chart to interpret. Does anyone else have this issue or is it age-related? I laugh when I think of the nuns in my grammar school teaching an emoji class!

So how was your week?

 

56 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 19, 2024 – Smoke detectors, house color, good deeds, comfortable clothes, strange emojis”

  3. I’m late on this post. I thought athletic wear was still tight for yoga. I never liked the way it looked or fit me. It’s changed for different fits? Where do you buy it from?

    As far as emojis go, I think it might depend on what device, but if you tap on an emoji it will tell you what it is. For example, this one tells me it’s a smirking face when I scroll my cursor over it on my laptop. 😏🤷‍♀️The second one is ‘woman shrugging.’ And I think you know this one. 😉

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    • I usually get my athletic wear from LL Bean or Athleta although Athleta’s sizes don’t always work. Bean has different styles and different fabrics. Not all are tight. I hovered and didn’t see any explanation!

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  4. Your emojis comment reminds me of a recent letter to the AARP magazine from someone who couldn’t understand what her grandkids were using. I’m like that sometimes too! We usually offer to workmen cold bottles of water and freshly made cookies. You guys went above and beyond with the food! – Marty

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  5. I was just thinking about your fish pond at the previous house yesterday – it always sounded lovely, but now all I can see is how much work it must have been to keep the pond and yard so nice. Your current flowerbeds are perfect welcome to your home.
    Blue is good ( and being “done” is good)
    I love the leggings – and even have the fleece ones, too. But here in the tropics, summer has arrived (we are lucky to have never lost power from that storm – and now the agriculture smoke is back. Oh, the eye burn) Dog walks are earlier of what little cool there is, but not sure how much longer I can keep wearing the LL Bean jeans ( mostly cotton – hard to find) or leggings (hot and mosquitoes nite right through) And on top of that, where my daughter lives, it’s no longer trendy to wear leggings/athletic pants around….so I told her, when looking for a “new” house for us there, tele what the ladies are wearing before I decide if that’s my spot HAHAHA
    Paw waves to the cats – may they have much amusement from the painters

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    • Oh well, I’m not trendy these days. I wonder what is in. I see a lot of really wide leg pants. I’m too short to wear those. BTW we still have the flannel sheets on the bed. They are coming off this coming weekend!

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      • I’ve risked a navy pair of wide-ish linen pants – hoping cooler for dog walking…we’ll see. I clearly remember this style before as I am shorter and all those wide pants only looked good on very tall, slender girls in college..oh the days of dreaming over the glamorous high dollar fashion designer shows…then being realistic. (Sigh, if we move, I’ll have to at least try to appear presentable not to embarrass daughter HAHA. They will have to pry leggings out of my hands, though…still clinging to the lovely image of Mary Tyler Moore and Audrey Hepburn with leggings and oversized sweaters! I can still dream…I’m old HAHAHA)

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  6. I don’t like getting a message that is a string of emojis. It’s not age-related, it’s related to effective communication, the need for it to be clear, hence one uses her words before employing emojis.

    I know how difficult it can be to pick colors, especially outside where there are many variables to consider. I bet your house is going to look great, you’ve thought it through.

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    • An emoji at the end is ok if it’s an easy to understand symbol. If it’s a string that’s supposed to be a message, I’m lost! The truth is that I was too busy to think the outdoor color through. I may have picked something a little darker. It’s on and it’s not ugly so I’m ok with it.

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  7. The older I get, the more I want comfort and could care less how things look on me. Too bad I didn’t feel that way when I was younger. I would spend an hour on hair and makeup! What a waste. Go athletic wear.

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    • I know! I think about all that time I’ll never get back fussing with my hair. Shopping was therapy so that wasn’t so bad. It was cheaper than an actual therapist! 🙂 (safe emoji I hope!)

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  8. I bet the house will look great after the painting is finished…..too bad some of your garden got stomped but painters have an eye for paint not plants I guess! Jeans – well, I still wear them but they must be stretch and fortunately that’s an available thing because otherwise I’d live in a nudist colony (just kidding). I’m guilty of using emojis but just the smile and the heart.

    Hugs, Pam

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    • I stick mainly to the smiley face, unsmiley face and heart! The weekend was rainy and the ground cover (pachysandra) is starting to pop up. I have some wonderful stretch knit jeans from LL Bean (that they don’t make anymore) but they still have zippers and snaps. When I was younger (much younger) one of my best friend’s mother always wore sweat suits. She was large so she didn’t look great in them and she loved her pastels. I often wondered why she wore them exclusively. Now I know.

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  9. I like the thumbs up and heart emojis. They’re the perfect thing when a conversation on the message app is winding down and I have nothing more to say.

    My house is blue too, sort of a stormy grayed blue. I had the hardest time choosing it, and even now, I don’t exactly love it, but I don’t see anything else I like more. I guess house colors aren’t meant to bring true happiness.

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    • Your house color sounds perfect. It’s what I thought I was getting but my shade is lighter and a little silvery (but still a midtone). I already don’t notice it. Emojis are perfect for when there is nothing more to say but you want to convey something.

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  10. I like the blue Kate – it is blue/gray in my opinion and is perfect. I look forward to seeing the finished painting project. I’m right there with you on the emojis as some of them are so tiny, it is difficult to tell what they are – squinting to tell what they are, so between the squinting and needing a list to decipher them makes me think it is an age-related thing for me!

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  11. Blue is nice for a house. My nephew did his blue. Looking forward to seeing your photos. I’m the same with emojis. It takes me a few minutes to figure out what they’re saying in message.

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  13. I love blue houses. Ours is blue. 🙂 That was nice of you and your husband to get the painters lunch- a bit rude of them to be so choosy.

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  16. I think I will give up on emojis after reading your post and comments about them. I can’t tell what half of them are anyway. I am sure your shade of blue will be fine but I understand it is a big decision. Have a good week!

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    • I spent a lot of time looking at the blue. Usually I buy a couple paint samples, put them on and live with it for a few days. I didn’t have the time. The guy at the end signed the contract ahead of us and the timeline was set. To be honest, I didn’t even look at it this morning when I went out. It’s like a roof, once it’s there you don’t dwell on it (unless it’s really ugly).

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  17. It’s a prerequisite according to Murphy’s Law that requires all smoke detectors go off in the middle of the night. I’m beginning to wonder if maybe time zones affects when they start screaming and terrorizing the 4-legged inhabitants here-mine always seem programmed for around 2 AM…shortly after I’ve fallen asleep. 🙃 (upside down emoji-you’re right some of the emojis are hard to decipher, especially in WordPress) Little is one thing, but teensy weenie is difficult to figure out.

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  18. Excited for the picture of your new exterior paint color. I kinda got lost with the athletic wear. Too hot here for any pants! I miss my jeans… but too hot. I am stuck some place between bermuda length shorts and capris. Not thrilled with capris. Your painters… I think, had it been me, I would have appreciated you provided lunch. We usually do something for the people that do work for us, if they have actually worked. They never turn down or suggest anything else. Emojis and the urban slang that pops up now when you google a word. Always careful to google and see if it is acceptable!

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    • “Too hot here for any pants!” gave me visions of being pantless. 🙂 I wear mostly capris in the summer. Since I like to be warm, I’m in joggers now until we see consistent 80s. They were very appreciative of the lunch but when I said we would get sandwiches, they were like “no, just a pizza is fine” not understanding that the sandwiches were easier for us. I wanted to let them know the day ahead of time so they didn’t bring lunches and also to be sure they didn’t have issues with processed meats. They could be vegans for all I know!. It all turned out ok.

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  20. Agreed on the smoke detectors. They only chirp at night and the rest of the time you can’t tell which might need a battery. Then add in carbon monoxide detectors… I recently had to call a neighbor over because I couldn’t find what was chirping in my laundry room and he finally found a carbon monoxide detector tucked away on a shelf I couldn’t see. I’ve lived in this house how long?

    I switched from mostly jeans to mostly comfortable yoga pants or dressier looking soft, stretchy pants after I messed up my knee. I could not handle standing on one leg trying to pull up, zip and/or button jeans. My balance still kind of sucks. It would be nice to have something that goes with everything like jeans do, however.

    I’m kind of afraid of emojis. The kids these days 😉 have assigned all sorts of meanings to them but then, how often do I want to slip an eggplant into conversation? But it would be nice to not be surprised when I pick out a cute expression on my phone and some weird face shows up. How old do you have to be to use a magnifying glass with your phone?

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    • You are the second commenter to mention the eggplant emoji so I looked it up! Yikes! I had no idea but yep there are times I’d like to use it. I’ve been in yoga pants for about a decade now with an occasional jean day. I have stretch jeans which I like but you still have the zipper and snaps. My snazzy jeans are not stretchy so that’s a whole other thing. I’m starting to resent zippers. Takes too much time I’ll never get back.

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  21. Looking forward to the new pictures. Every so often I have to google emojis and try and figure out if the laughing face I’m sending really means laughing…or crazy…or laughing at you…or stop trying to be funny… Apparently all the different hearts mean very different things, too.

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  22. Your smoke alarm must want attention here and there or something! What a misery that it goes off at all when not needed, much less at night. Maybe have afternoon tea with it or morning coffee sometime and see if it is just lonely! Looking forward to seeing the paint job. We’re picking colors for paint for the kitchen now. If there are 5 shades of grey, there have to be at least 100 shades of off white. Sigh.

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    • White is a toughie. My new bath is getting painted a warm white to go with the wood stained vanity and warm white tiles and flooring. I may put wallpaper in back of the vanity mirrors some day, then I’ll think about another color but not now.

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      • Our designer came over to do and helped up sort through too many colors and we picked the wall and trim color. Phew. I think that was the last decision we needed to make for the kitchen renovation.

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        • What is your main color? Except for accent walls, I tend to stay neutral. My bath may be boring to some but eventually I may put a wallpaper in back of the mirrors over the vanity. The rest of the color will be from towels and carpets.

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          • The paint colors are neutral, both wall and trim. There isn’t tons of painted area anyway, but with honey oak cabinets, and new granite counters, and the dark flooring, neutral was definitely the way to go. Our designed came over and helped us pick a good combo, thankfully. Way too many options out there.

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  23. Beyond the basic emojis, I wonder not only what some are supposed to mean but also if there are secondary meanings that could mean the jokes on me if I use them 🤣. (Eggplant emoji – I’m looking at you!)

    It is very true that no good deed goes unpunished – I see it happening to friends and it certainly has happened to me. Is the lesson supposed to be that you are to keep your head down and interactions with others strictly transactional? It seems that way to me but I don’t want to live in a world like that!

    I haven’t done anything with my front yard yet for exactly the reasons you mentioned, Kate. I have waited for the new roof and rain gutters to be done because I could just see workers trampling down any new plantings.

    Deb

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    • I may have to be a professional to prune the shrub. It’s at least 20′ tall so it’s not a DIY project. It needed to be done but they accelerated the project. As for acts of kindness biting you on the booty, you can’t stop doing them. Maybe next time I would be more “forceful” in what I’m offering. At the end of the day, they were happy and the inconvenience was small.

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