Water Cooler Chit Chat

[namazu]

The wifey and I have been spending evenings watching episodes of Schitt's Creek, which we are finding to be amazingly funny.

We've also had this queued up and have been meaning to watch it, but haven't gotten to it yet.  Glad you're enjoying it!

[apl68]

Checked through a large book donation that has spent some days in quarantine after it arrived on our doorstep in three huge boxes.  The bulk of it consisted of nearly 150 volumes of Reader's Digest Condensed Books.  Which we have absolutely no use for.  Before the epidemic shutdown a patron had asked about trying to get some Condensed Books.  I saved her some of the more presentable ones. 

[lillipat]

Some water-cooler conversation sounds good on a grey gloomy afternoon here.  I got so involved with a messy situation involving a couple of faculty members that I missed our afternoon WebEx with the VP of HR - oh rats!  Say, is the berry-infused water holding up?  Sounds delightful about now.

[mamselle]

Do you have a book sale? (Under normal circumstances, that is...)

They might sell.

Oh, yeah, and some strawberry-mint water for me, for sure!

M.

[Anselm]

Hey guys!  How about them Cubs?  At least they are not losing now.

[hmaria1609]

Glad folks like my flavored water suggestions! One summer the local organic grocery store offered a large beverage dispenser of flavored water and self-service cups for customers to enjoy while shopping. There was a core inside in the dispenser for adding fruits and the like. I was thinking of that as I posted.

Checked through a large book donation that has spent some days in quarantine after it arrived on our doorstep in three huge boxes.  The bulk of it consisted of nearly 150 volumes of Reader's Digest Condensed Books.  Which we have absolutely no use for.  Before the epidemic shutdown a patron had asked about trying to get some Condensed Books.  I saved her some of the more presentable ones.

The Friends group at my library got those as a donation too but recycled the lot of 'em.

[apl68]

You can't hardly sell those old Condensed Books anymore.  Books By the Foot, which sells books in bulk to people who need help filling up their shelves (Incredibly enough, there seem to be such people), lists old Condensed Books at $29.99 per foot--for good-quality ones.  It seems to be their least expensive category.  If that patron does indeed want them, we're prepared to offer a far better price than that.

[secundem_artem]

Glad folks like my flavored water suggestions!

Can you flavor my water with an ounce and a half of The Famous Grouse?

I managed to score a large bottle of hand sanitizer in the local hardware store, so I'm calling this a good day.

Had my first email from a student that "The technology doesn't work, what should I do??"

I started with that old standby - Did you try turning it off and then back on again?  Danged if that did not work.  So far the online stuff has been time consuming but fairly painless. 

So how's by you?

[polly_mer]

You can't hardly sell those old Condensed Books anymore.  Books By the Foot, which sells books in bulk to people who need help filling up their shelves (Incredibly enough, there seem to be such people), lists old Condensed Books at $29.99 per foot--for good-quality ones.  It seems to be their least expensive category.  If that patron does indeed want them, we're prepared to offer a far better price than that.

I'm amused at the idea of needing to buy books for decoration to fill empty shelves.  I've never had that problem; if anything, I'm trying to figure out where to put more shelves.

I do have one fabulous birthday memory of about 20 years ago now when we visited a Goodwill that sold books by weight.  Mr. Mer held my feet as I dug through the big bins to get the books I wanted.  Apparently, that wasn't a common sight and people made comments.  Let them comment!  I got a great deal when we were broke during grad school.

[arcturus]

As I sip on my berries and mint infused water - thanks hmaria1609! - I can't help but think about the census taking place tomorrow in my nearly empty college town.  The long term consequences of sending our students home will go beyond the immediate economic and cultural downturn, as our progressive blue dot will now be an even smaller pool in the big red ocean.

[hmaria1609]

Other fruits for stocking the water cooler: Watermelon, pineapple, apple, lemon, and lime

[smallcleanrat]

Cheerful, thanks so much for starting this thread.

Hmm...what can I contribute?

Is anyone else having a hard time figuring out a good exercise routine? Staying home all the time means I'm not getting in as much walking as I usually do. Also, both legs are injured so certain exercises like squats or pretty much anything that requires bending the legs are not feasible at moment. I can't do much walking anyway because the pain sets in and the muscles seize up after only 5-10 minutes.

I'm doing PT exercises at home to regain some mobility, but that can takes weeks to months to be significantly effective.

What are some good aerobic/strength exercises that don't involve much leg action?

[Puget]

Cheerful, thanks so much for starting this thread.

Hmm...what can I contribute?

Is anyone else having a hard time figuring out a good exercise routine? Staying home all the time means I'm not getting in as much walking as I usually do. Also, both legs are injured so certain exercises like squats or pretty much anything that requires bending the legs are not feasible at moment. I can't do much walking anyway because the pain sets in and the muscles seize up after only 5-10 minutes.

I'm doing PT exercises at home to regain some mobility, but that can takes weeks to months to be significantly effective.

What are some good aerobic/strength exercises that don't involve much leg action?

Good to see you at the cooler!

I like to do arm exercises with a cheap set of resistance bands (just looked and it looks like you can still get them cheap and quickly on Amazon). They usually come with a sheet of exercise to try, and I'm sure there are many videos online too. They come in different resistance strengths so you can start easy and work your way up.

I've heard there are also lots of places offering free yoga and other sorts of home exercise classes online right now, though I haven't tried those.

(I'm assuming there is also a tea and coffee station set up here by the water cooler, and am going over to make a cup of tea now).

[mahagonny]

Cheerful, thanks so much for starting this thread.

Oh, cheerful is a good sort. I take back everything I thought about this thread. I thought it was going to be like another 'post your one-offs' backbiting hangout.

[mythbuster]

My mother is doing seated yoga though with a you tube video. Maybe you could try that?