rgbstock
4 Letter Words
1. krayker16 July 2010, 13:45 GMT +02:00
You can only change ONE letter, AND/OR rearrange the letters currently available. The first word is:
WINS
8282. Ayla877 May 2013, 7:24 GMT +02:00
I'm really curious what the guy with the infra red eyes will find out. He will have seen a lot of houses in comparison, but then, you have no intention to live there for hundred years, so what the heck. If you
chat
with him he surely can give you an idea about the greatest risks, and if you can generally afford to sleep well in this house, which is all we need to hear.
That coal mine could mean that you will finally get a large cellar, LOL
You can be really lucky when the three monthly inspections of your property are a thing of the past. We don't have that over here. It would be legal, but it isn't practised.
It certainly feels nice to begin to make some plans, and I also have the feeling the garden is large enough that you can plant something but not too large to make too much work. I remember the garden of my mother which we had to care for when I was a kid. We had to drive there for half an hour because it was in a remote district of Berlin. This city is quite large, you know. We spent the weekends there only, so the weeds had time to grow again during the weekdays. 400 m² of weed in my memory, I hated it. Grew faster than I was able to cope with it. Blisters on my hands from raking the grass. Gardening was never a hobby of mine.
Christine, I'm happy that Ed and Willem are visible on Facebook now. Perhaps they were just hiding while they were asleep? ;-)
What a pity that they have no use for the wheel yet, but perhaps you are right and they are just a bit too young.
Perhaps you can provide us with a little video of the digging Ed?
8283. xymonau7 May 2013, 11:52 GMT +02:00
I think infra red detects termites better. We have a huge termite problem in this country. I have no idea how bad it is elsewhere. Since our oldest homes, particularly in this State, were all timber, on timber stumps, you can imagine the maintenance that has to happen to prevent damage. According to the real estate agent - only marginally better than a used car salesman
chap,
if you ask me - the infra red can detect problems in tight corners better than traditional methods - whatever those are. However - I couldn't get the original people to answer the phone today, so I phoned another company. They say they can do the inspection by Thursday. Then I remembered I have an important meeting Thursday afternoon. I'm waiting for them to get back to me re the time. I will call the meeting off if I have to, although I'd prefer not to.
So - no more developments today. We seem to be so busy at work right now.
So you had a garden on another plot of ground away from your home? I've never been a gardener at all, but I think I have learned a little from the potted plants I've managed not to kill. I don't particularly enjoy the process, but it's always nice to grow some tomatoes or pick fruit from your own tree. I'm going to plant some pawpaws at first. they grow like weeds here, and I like pawpaw (papaya). Also, they will bear the first year. And a passionfruit vine. That's if my hands hold out! LOL
Christine, I looked up the difference between gerbils and hamsters today. It was interesting to see the differences. Most little rodents look alike to me. But gerbils certainly have a better reputation. and they seem to have a habit of sitting up more. Is that right?
8284. Ayla877 May 2013, 14:13 GMT +02:00
I suppose the traditional method to detect termites has to do with holding your finger into those corners and see if something bites? Or you play on your
harp
and listen carefully for the applause? But I have no idea what you do if your musical taste doesn't match with that of the termites. Then they wouldn't spend applause and that would fool you because they are still there. We only have spiders and little bugs crawling around here to keep Mia (and Christa) busy.
Thursday is another public holiday over here. We have three public holidays this month, which certainly makes it the most unproductive of all months, but I still like those public holidays...
Allotment Gardens have quite a little tradition here in Berlin. Important for the recreation and to feed the poorer families who grow their own veges there. Equipped with small wooden houses where it is possible to sleep over the weekends, these garden colonies are indeed on separate grounds from where the people usually live. Mostly on free areas alongside railways and places like that. Here are some English descriptions and photos:
http://www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/umwelt/stadtgruen/kleingaerten/index_en.shtml
Now, with the population of Berlin said to be rising a lot more and more over the next years many of those gardens are threatened because more apartment buildings need to be built in their place (which causes a lot of protest amongst the gardeners).
I have made quite a lot of photos in nearby garden colonies
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mfjvzkY/
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mfjtXJ0/
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mjyVgMy/
It will be nice to hear more about your own pawpaws. You will have to make some photos, too. These models can't run away and you will have all the time in the world to catch them in their best poses...
8285. Groningen8 May 2013, 11:28 GMT +02:00
Michael you make me laugh!
I'm happy you can see the pictures on FB.
And gerbils are way cooler than hamsters ;-)
hamsters are nocturnal animals; gerbils are active day and night
gerbils have tails that are as long as their bodies, they use the tail to keep their balance; hamsters have a tiny tail (worm)
gerbils are social animals they groom each other and have wrestling matches
and gerbils have personalities
Ed and Willem are my third couple and all of them have been (are) unique: some are shy, some are really cuddly and with Oscar I always had to be on guard because he bit me and those teeth are razor-sharp! But Oscar was always friendly to Alfred.
If I was a gerbil and a huge hand lifted me out of my home, I would bite too
The extra straw and rolls seem to work well, Ed has made three tunnels for fast travel and for slow mode they prefer "swimming".
warp
8286. Ayla878 May 2013, 14:03 GMT +02:00
Oh, it's nice to hear that I make you laugh. We should savour every occasion to be happy...
It really sounds that you had a very good choice with Ed and Willem, and they can be lucky to have such a nice and caring home. A home where they don't even need to
wear
security clothes when they travel at warp speed.
http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1383845
I had to wear this during our fire protection trainings here in our office when I had to guard all my colleagues outside to our collection place (without biting them).
8287. xymonau8 May 2013, 14:59 GMT +02:00
I will get back to looking at the garden colonies. I think I've heard of these before - maybe not in Germany, but elsewhere. We do have community gardens in various places, but the land isowned by the city or privately, usually. No-one would be allowed to sleep there, but people can go and grow stuff.
I am feeling a bit let down tonight. The building inspection turned up too many problems for me to deal with, so I declined the home. I've spent a fortune just getting to this point, but it's okay. At least I don't have a white elephant of a house to deal with. I'll continue to look around, but there won't be much that I can afford AND pay off in 10 years. That motorhome might be all I can manage. *sigh*
ears
8288. Ayla878 May 2013, 15:38 GMT +02:00
Oh, I'm so sorry to
hear
that, Dez. What a dissapointment. But I think it is better to have this early warning and take the results of the building inspection serious. In this case you would have needed too much money to solve all those problems, that would really have been of no good. So it's better to keep your eyes open and see what other opportunities arise.
8289. xymonau9 May 2013, 8:27 GMT +02:00
Thanks, Michael. I am disappointed, not about the house itself, but about not getting into my own place. This is why I never get elated until something has happened. I am very satisfied that I made the right choice. I have begun looking at toher properties online, but they may be out of my price range. Oh, well, it's fine. That means I may stay in Brisbane for an extra night this weekend.
I also finally gave all my potential donations to charity. I had a bag of things sitting in my "junk" room for a long time. Beginning to clear things up, I made the trip and got rid of them. I'll try to keep the impetus happening. If I can get my current place
real
tidy, then even if I never move, I'll feel better.
8290. Ayla8710 May 2013, 10:48 GMT +02:00
You saved yourself a lot of trouble with that house, a right choice indeed. A bottomless pit wouldn't have made you really happy, and I would have liked to see you happy...
So keep looking online for alternatives, maybe - like a prince charming - a new possibility is coming your way. It's always possible that someone has to change houses for professional reasons and this gives you a new chance to make a good
deal
We looked quite a while for our flat before we found it and finally had a chance to move. So be patient. The opportunity with this house came around quite fast, too.
Charity can be happy already, that was a good start...
8291. xymonau12 May 2013, 14:36 GMT +02:00
Wow - I'm tired from the trip. I have a script for some milder nasty drug I'm supposed to start. I have decided, based on the doctor's warning re anaphylaxis, that I will take the first one tomorrow at work. If I collapse there I'm better off than at home alone. I don't believe it will happen, but I'm hedging my bets. This stuff is likely to make me feel sick all the time. yay... But if it eventually eases the pain, that's good. I have started reducing the cortisone. Since I now resemble Toad of Toad Hall (Wind in the Willows) around my cortisone-puffed jowls, it's not before time. I hope it will go away. Nasty drug, but it stopped the pain for me. The good doctor is off on a holiday, and won't be back for two months. It seems I have to have an optometrist look at my eyes because the new drug can hurt your sight. Why do they give it to people, then???
Never mind. I'm tired and cranky and need to get some sleep. I saw my granddaughters on Saturday, and my son and his partner. We had lunch, and it was nice. The trip back was pleasant enough, with the rain stopping as I left Brisbane. There is some lovely countryside on the way, but nowhere to pull over to take photos. You'd be hit by passing cars, even if your car would fit on the narrow edge with a sheer drop that is most of the Bruce Highway towards Brisbane. I don't mean it's mountainous. they just build up the roads, then they don't put safety rails on the sides. You can drive straight over the edge with drops of anywhere from a few feet to three metres or so. I know we have hardly any money to service thousands of kms of roads, but safety rails would be nice.
As you leave Brisbane, there is a bit of a vista in front of you. The highway is fairly straight, and off in the distance you can see the prehistoric shape of one of the Glasshouse Mountains. It's beautiful, and strange. Here's a rather poor painting of the odd little mountain you see, although the image of the painting is not what you see on the highway.
http://www.sunshinecoastart.com/images/fullsize/glasshouse_mountains.jpg
and
http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/glass-house-mountains/about.html
I always want to find somewhere one day to take some photos. Wild Horse Mountain seems to be where you can see them all, but I never go there, either. One day...
8292. Groningen12 May 2013, 16:48 GMT +02:00
One day I fly away
tadatadadadadada
old song old memories ah
last Friday Willem escaped; but I caught him quickly, pfew
I was going to make some changes in the tank and decided to put the gerbils in their transport box http://www.gerbil.nl/webshop/gerbil-transportmandjes/115-aladino-medium.html
I put in Willem first and as I was holding Ed, I saw Willem moving outside and behind the box
these Houdinies only need 10 seconds!
Luckily I had put the box on top of a chair and Willem hesitated at the edge just long enough to capture him.
Meal
8293. Ayla8713 May 2013, 9:18 GMT +02:00
You have a funny doctor who gives you a choice between living with pain or feeling sick all the time and then goes to a holiday for two months. But I hope the medics are worth their money and you can cope well with the side effects... I wish they could prove to be just perfect to finally
heal
you...
Great to hear that you had a nice trip to Brisbane, and the Glasshouse Mountains are a really marvelous sight. What a pity that it is so hard to stop at nice places ant enjoy the outlook. Not only would those safety rails be a really good idea, some resting and parking places would be fine, too. You can find them at more or less regular intervals on our motorways. It helps to prevent accidents from drivers who are too tired from being too long on the road without any interruptions. And since the drivers are important tax-payers these little concreted lay-bys are a good investment.
Christine, Willem seems to be an adventurer with great curiosity. You'll have to keep one or two eyes on him... There you had your free dose of adrenalin. He really cares for you so that you doesn't need so much coffee...
And what changes did you make this time in the tank? I find it very nice of you to come up with new ideas from time to time to keep them busy...
8294. xymonau13 May 2013, 14:57 GMT +02:00
I'm really glad you didn't lose Willem, Christine. I once left a window open when I let the birds out. One landed on a grille on the window and could have flown outside. It took all my self control not to panic and walk up calmly and close it. I felt sick afterwards.
I can only hope for pain control and stopping any deterioration in its tracks, Michael. I didn't take the first tablet today. I woke up with a sore throat, and wasn't sure if I should. I phoned the chemist and they said it should be okay, as it's a mild immuno-suppressant. the other drugs are far more potent. Naturally, I hadn't taken the bottle to work. So I'll start tomorrow.
Yes, highways elsewhere are very civilised. They are in some places here, too, but a large area with a small population to pay taxes means a compromise in quality sometimes. We have only 21 million people in the whole country (or maybe it's slightly more by now). Given that we're almost as large in area as the US, that's a lot of highway to
seal.
8295. Ayla8714 May 2013, 13:00 GMT +02:00
This cat, Nicky,
http://www.rgbstock.com/photo/mfjxeRm/
one day managed to balance on the outside of the window ledge and the window got shut by the wind. All that happened in the third floor so she could easily have fallen deep onto the ground. Luckily Christa stayed calm, reopened the window and let her back in. Then it was her moment to feel sick afterwards... Perhaps she even went
pale
We all have our share of experiences with our pets, but we surely still won't miss them...
Did you take your first tablet now, and did all go well, or do you have two heads now?
We have 81,902,743 people in Germany if I have counted correctly. Well, the number is from the middle of last year, it takes some time to count all of us, we are too hectic, still no speed limit on many highways... I think some speed limit is healthier because it helps to prevent accidents. The area of Germany is 352,022 km². Your nice little continent covers an area of 8,500,000 km². So your population has a lot more of space for each inhabitant. That makes it understandable that the taxes are not enough for safety rails everywhere. I've got my final income tax salary statement for last year shortly and this time I have to pay them another 470 Euros. They are never satisfied with what they get from you obviously...
8296. xymonau14 May 2013, 16:07 GMT +02:00
Don't get me started on taxes. We pay more than 40% here, and it's such a rip-off. I had to pay some last year - not much, but it should have been taken out. The wealthy can
leap
into a zero tax situation with clever financial manipulation, and they are allowed to get away with it.
Yes, I now have a second head. The tablet was a bit rough on my stomach, and I'm not sure if I can tolerate it. It was a half dose, too. Tonight my face and neck were bright red. I don't want to look like that all the time. We'll see...
How are you and Christa? I hope you have both been well.
What a daredevil cat. they never seem afraid of heights, do they?
8297. Ayla8715 May 2013, 13:27 GMT +02:00
It is so unfair that the wealthy can
lean
back and let all the others pay the taxes. This should not be legal at all.
I hope you can get accustomed soon to those tablets. Sometimes this happens. Are there any advices to preferably take the pills before or after meals? This might help your stomach a lot. Otherwise it might add up worse. Three heads today, four heads tomorrow... Then the day might not be too far away where it is dangerous for your colleagues to look at you because that might turn them into stone... but no, Medusa didn't have to do with the number of heads, it is more like when I wake up every morning: hair comes alive and creates funny "hairstyles" by moving in all directions... Sometimes hard to tame...
Christa and I are fine, thank you. I'm having a day off tomorrow to see my alternative practitioner. Ayurveda helps to tame the migraine a little bit, too. It also helps to make me more calm and less hectic, which feels quite good. When I'm back from there I will have some new photos to upload. On Friday my GP wants to see me empty-stomached for a routine blood test. This means long uncomfortable hours because I always get out of bed very early and they will see me not before 9:00.... I suppose my stomach will roar loudly till then and everybody near me will be frightened...
Perhaps when you have seven lifes you think differently about taking risks?
8298. xymonau16 May 2013, 23:27 GMT +02:00
At this time the new tablets haven't done too many bad things. I double the dose next week, so there might be a change then. They do make me really tired, though.
I went to the optometrist yesterday for a baseline eye test. I discovered I have cataracts and cloudy lenses, plus pressure in my left eye. Nothing severe, and age-related, but the pressure is a worry. I am going back in two weeks to get some proper glasses. I had been wearing glasses all day yesterday and my vision was already blurry from that, so it wasn't a good time to be tested.
It was good to have an answer regarding why I can't see at night. He said the light is being diffused everywhere through the cloudy lenses.
He also said I should wear sunglasses. I hate them! I'll have to go and buy some, I guess.
I hope you survive the fasting for the blood test. I always hate those. We tend to have a morning routine, don't we? What does the Ayurveda practitioner do?
nail
8299. Ayla8717 May 2013, 8:04 GMT +02:00
Good that the tablets don't feel too bad anymore other than making you tired. If you have a choice between pain and feeling tired I suppose you would choose to feel tired.
You always told us that your eyesight is not very good, so it is certainly good to make those tests regularly. Proper glasses might help to relieve your eyes so that the pressure may get better. Cataracts and cloudy lenses should be carefully observed. I can understand that you don't like sunglasses, but when they are helpful to keep stress away from your eyes it might be better to be nice to your eyes. Lost eyecapacity is a treasure you can't get back, and it degrades so slowly that you won't really notice it until it is too late. To slowly get blind would be horrible for me, and I have the bad feeling that my migraine stresses the eyes too with higher pressure during the attacks.
I'm nearly over with the fasting, keeping me busy with work and with writing four letter words... So I won't
fail
with this morning's challenge and I hope the blood test results will be okay.
The Ayurveda practitioner only talked to me, feeled for my pulse (which also shows a fine measure of being able to observe people and then draw conclusions from what you see). Then she prescribed me some more herbs and some healthy dietary supplement. Not for loss of weight, but as a compensation for the hard migraine pills I'm taking which are quite stressful for my liver. We will see if it makes me feel better. The general effect of the ayurveda treatment has been quite good, it really has calmed me down a lot. Obviously it has good balancing effects, but don't ask me about any of the details why that should work the way it work. They have own theorys about energy balances which I don't really want to know too much about, I only want to feel as good as possible. That's all what counts for me.
Christa was happy that you liked so many of her drawings. She considers to draw again if she finds the time to do so.
8300. xymonau17 May 2013, 8:42 GMT +02:00
Christa does beautiful borders. She is very artistic. I'd love to see more of her work. I have never really sat down and gone through your gallery. I will one day. You both have some excellent images there. I would love to be able to draw like Christa. When I was younger, that was what I liked to do. I was never creative, though. Always had to get ideas from elsewhere. Nothing has changed! LOL
I agree that it's not the process, but the results that count with your health. If something is helping, stick with it.
Yes, I should have been having my eyes checked regularly, but I've never been into self care, and always end up doing things after the wheels fall off the bus. I was a bit horrified about how blurred my sight was. Most of what I was "reading" was guesswork as opposed to being able to see it.
Re medication, I'm not sure fogginess and tiredness always balances out. Obviously being basically disabled with my hands means I have to do something drastic. But I have always disliked feeling not quite in control. That's why I don't drink. I find it an unpleasant feeling. Still, I have been dealt a good hand compared with others, and I am very happy I live in a country where good treatment is available and that I have the income to afford what I need. And I don't envy you your problems with migraines.
I have to come in to work at some time on the weekend. I hate it when that happens. LOL
I'm wondering if Willem and Ed have managed to outwit Christine and escape yet. :0)
8301. Groningen19 May 2013, 18:30 GMT +02:00
:D
Ed and Willem are behaving themselves and ...........
Willem has run in the wheel a little bit yesterday! I know, pictures or it didn't happen
but I was so happy when I saw him trying out the wheel that I didn't want to disturb him.
Last week I put out the wheel and gave them extra straw and carton rolls (even pizza boxes) and they where happy digging around. Then yesterday I decided to try the wheel once more and this time I hung the wheel; will show pictures sometime ;-)
I'm getting to know their personalities Ed is much more curious and social, Willem is more shy but if I sit still he walks around and plays.
I've noticed this week that Ed's
tail
has three different colors brown, sweet!
8302. Ayla8720 May 2013, 9:06 GMT +02:00
Yes, Christa is very artistic and I hope she will find the time to draw again. But your graphics are very inspiring, too. I always wonder where you find the time to do them. Of course we all need inspirations for our creative works, that goes for the greatest minds in the world. My photography also was a great learning process and I'm still not at the end of it (and still get a lot of rejections).
I go to the ophthalmologist regularly once a year. Last year my eyesight was definitely worse than the year before and I'm sure it is a side effect of the migraine and/or the heavy pills against it. What's even worse: the optician explained to me that the degree of sight loss compensation on one side has now already reached the maximum capacity which is possible for glasses, so I hope it won't get any worse. I'm also heavily into guessing instead of being able to read all those tiny letters. I really suppose the best possible glasses as early as possible is the only form of relief you can give your eyes so that they won't be stressed more than necessary.
Did you switch to the higher dose of your tablets now, and did tthat work well?
If I had such a luxurious home like Ed and Willem where I would even be petted with pizza boxes I don't think I'd have a reason to run away.
That's great gews that Willem has now discovered the wheel for himself. When he makes a new hobby out of it it won't be long
till
he begins to run marathons, you will see. I suppose this running does make you addicted quite fast...
8303. xymonau22 May 2013, 9:24 GMT +02:00
I've been a bit unwell the last few days. I did increase the dose. I'm not sure if they are causing me to feel sick or if I have a virus, but I'm getting bad headaches. My throat has been a bit sore, so perhaps it's just that. We'll see. I had two days off work, and I hope I'm going to be well enough to go tomorrow. I cut back on the cortisone again this coming Saturday. I am so fat from it. I'm still gaining weight, although it has slowed a little. I'm really uncomfortable.
I'm sorry to hear about your eyes, Michael. That is not good news, so I guess you just have to hope it doesn't deteriorate further. I hope your other eye stays stable.
I don't spend a lot of time on many of my graphics. It's all smoke and mirrors, really! LOL Some images take a long time. but I have so many that I made in the past, just sitting on the computer, and I will often upload some of those. they were made in times when I had far more time to waste. I don't watch television, so I guess those potential hours are spent doing things on the computer, including graphics.
I think it's fascinating that little rodents of all kinds like running in wheels. I wonder if they really think they can get somewhere or if they understand it's just a bit of fun and exercise? Ed is quite the fashionista with his striped tail. I hope Willem discovers the wheel soon. You're good to them, Christine. I hope they know how lucky they are.
tilt
8304. Ayla8723 May 2013, 8:18 GMT +02:00
Oh, that's not very nice of your head to ruin your days. My migraine should be sufficient for all of us. So I hope that virus or whatever it is will
lift
off and go away very soon and stop bothering you. When you can cut back the cortisone I think this will make you feel better, too.
My eyes are inspected really closely with a laser camera once a year. The photos look quite ugly, they show every swollen vein in my eyes (swollen by the high blood pressure), and the comparison year by year shows any changes in very early stages. The only thing which is difficult to measure is my eye pressure because I always shy back from those instruments and then the results are not very reliable.
Christa and I watch about three hours TV every day, but mostly not live TV. We prefer to pre-record the series, films, shows and documentations we are interested in (which are mostly screened at ridiculous times) and then watch them when we want to. So we are our own programme directors. I suppose it's those hours which you can spend on the computer and on your graphics.
Maybe a wheel gives you the impression your happy little home is an endless place because you can run on and on?
8305. xymonau23 May 2013, 8:44 GMT +02:00
Michael, are you talking about the shot of air thingy? (I don't know if there is any other test for it since I've only ever had the one.) The Optometrist never warned me, so I jumped back at first. I thought something had gone horribly wrong. Before you laugh, the roof of the shop had this "bang! bang! bang!" going on contantly. He said it was rain in the ceiling of the shopping centre and no-one would fix it. It was quite maddening and very loud - so much that I had trouble hearing his quiet voice. So when this blast of air hit me, I thought in the split second that something electrical had failed because of the rain in the ceiling. LOL It isn't pleasant, and very hard not to react to. I think our reflexes are super fast with anything to do with the eyes. And for good reason.
Yes, the medication I'm on is definitely giving me the headaches. I didn't have as sore a throat today, and I went to work, but late in the day my head is splitting again. I have nothing to complain about when compared to your migraines, and I do not envy you one bit. I am hoping they will die down a bit as the symptoms will abate with most people. Otherwise I'm definitely sending the pill bottle to the bin.
The cortisone isn't bothering me as much and I lower the dose Saturday again. It's the weight gain that is disgusting. Oh, well, when I can't fit through the doorway any more, I won't be able to get to the fridge, will I? :o)
flit
