welcome back <3

also hi everyone ^_^

Hi , nice ears you got there :P

-waves- Happy August everyone. Summer is almost over here.

Sadly our pool died last summer and due to production shutting down we cannot get a new one. We FINALLY were able to splurge for a larger, more permanent one too. Not being able to vacation AND not having a pool is making it a not-very-pleasant time for the kids. We had hoped at the very least to be able to hop in the pool each hot day and have fun, especially since it is one of the few things the teenager prefers :p

-kicks covid in the butt-

Happy August -help you with the kicking- :P

Sorry to hear about the pool :( When will the new one get there? (PS - would you mind if I tagged along LOL)

I have to say, when we first moved into our new apartment here, I didn't think much of the pool. I figured it was nice to have but we were gonna end up using it once or twice. But we found out that it's actually super nice and we're swimming twice a week now, i.e. how often I wash my hair, basically.

I thought it'd be super crowded all the time, but actually it's usually completely empty late at night right before it closes. And it is so nice to float around for a bit. :P

That sounds really nice ! The local pool here is closed because of covid :P

In general, Vegas seems to be taking a bit more risk with reopening. I don't blame them, since the whole city lives on tourism/entertainment - closing down really hurt people's livelihood here.

So I have mixed feeling that casinos are open again and restaurants offer indoor dining. But at least with our pool, it's only open to the gated community. And I wouldn't want to go if there are more than one other group there anyway (or any loud teenagers lol).

The place was expected to reopen and have the pools available latest by mid-July but they weren't able to open, so we're potentially looking at no pool until next year. I definitely understand and it's a firstworldproblem but still blah :p And you're always welcome to tag along! :D

That is great! I am glad you have a perfect time to use it and take full advantage. It can be super relaxing and a great way to chill before the end of the evening. Color me green in envy ;)

Our beaches are technically open if you keep a distance but we have algae that blooms in the water (naturally) and when it is too high we cannot swim and sadly that has been the case for a few weeks now so even THAT option is being closed :p

We have been doing water balloons, sprinklers etc to cool off but the teen is 'too cool' for most of that now ;)

It really does make a huge difference! I'm ready for things to go back to normal for everyone, but I k ow we have a long way to go for that... Thank goodness technology is what it is today. I remember growing up on dial-up internet... no smart phones to be had... I don't use face time or anything like that, but I can only imagine how much harder social distancing would be without the ability to do these things so freely.

We actually hadn't played in over a year, and I had just deleted it a few days prior to the hubby suggesting we play for our anni just so we could do something. XD

Thank you, lovely. I'm ready for the world to stop melting for everyone!

Thank you!

That totally sucks. I would love to have a swimming pool, so I can't imagine the torture of having one you can't use!

Yeah I can understand how places that rely heavily on tourism would want/need to open first... I also have mixed feelings about places like those opening up (restaurants here have taken action with table distancing!),.... but at least for your pool is open only to the residents of the community, so that's good! Hope you take advantage of it!

How about the option of building your own pool into the yard? Could be easier to get one constructed in, compared to finding one online? Unless maybe you search Amazon?

That's a good thing to play for your anni! We usually go out for lunch or dinner, or order in XD

It's august.... -hisses and hides in a/c room wearing mask-

Yup, not one of my good months, seasonal allergies will be kicking up soon, and the heat turns my area into Satan's armpit. I have to wear masks around this time anyways, (hence why I was way prepared for the rona when it started in Jan, I had tons of masks for my allergy times) so I wonder how long till I get fussed at by someone who's against 'forced masks' and all that mess.

How's everyone else doing?

Oh I wish! Aha. We did look into it but building your own can cost about $15k-30k depending on how large. 15k is a pretty small one. The ones on Amazon cost over $1,000 and are much lower quality than the more permanent one we wanted. The one we want is about 2.5k so I figure at this point it's safer to hold out. All local stores are sold out of the ones I'd be willing to buy as a temp solution (which is basically all their stock). Lack of production has made it hard to find any and those left have been jacked up in prices. (Some that are usually 250-500 are over 1k now).

Oh I can relate! Especially to allergies, LOL. Have to bring Gremlin to the dentist tomorrow and had to forewarn them symptoms I had are due to allergies/asthma so they don't panic haha. Do people there actually complain about people wearing masks, to their faces? :( We have people who are against it but people usually keep their thoughts to themselves, minus those in charge of the doors ensuring people have them on.

We usually do dinner & a movie, then some shopping at places we only visit a couple of times a year. We ordered take out from the steak house we normally go to and played PoGo instead, lol. Take out wasn't nearly as good as it is in the restaurant, but it was still good!

Not long at all, I'm sure. It kills me when. Customers come up and complain about having to wear it while they shop... I wear it for 9+ hours a day while doing physical labor. You can manage for however long you're shopping. Grumps

Gremlin got a last minute spot at the dentist tomorrow so High and Low will be a little delayed. If you haven't already started guessing, you might want to start soon to try to win the highest streak!

haha thank you, you too!!

Let's give a warm welcome back to Unique to ! Great to have you back with us ❤️

I hope the allergies won't strike you too bad -hugs-

yay glad Gremliln got a spot at the Dentist! :D

I hadn't realized how expensive building a pool can be :o Yeah I suppose it's best to hold out and keep saving, maybe once they're all back into production you can afford a better one :)

@ Riashire Ordering in is usually not as great as going out, but it's still the second best option XD

I really cannot understand how people complain about wearing masks when they go out. Don't want to wear one? Then stay at home and don't go out LOL We're going to be using them for at least a year, year and a half, so better get used to them LOL

Welcome back to Unique!! Haha totally! I remember the dial-up internet days as well. But now - can't see your friends? Just spent hours hanging out on video chat together. Can't go to the theater? New releases are streaming online. I'm sure 10 years ago we wouldn't know what we were missing, but it sure is hard imagining life in the age of Covid without the technology today!

At least the restaurants we've seen all have fewer tables that are clearly more spaced out.

And lol, coming from China where many people wore masks day-to-day even before covid, it does seem like people in the US and other places are awfully fussy about it. :P I mean I get it - I thought they were uncomfortable too (esp when I was a kid and my parents made me wear them lol), but they work and we're saving lives here!!

Yes, table distancing is a real thing and that's really nice... especially here in Spain where people don't know how to talk softly and love to talk super loudly LOL

Yeah I guess people form China and some other countries/regions around there are so used to it (we even see their daily use on the Persona games - at least on Persona 5/5 Royal).... if you're going out for an hour or two, you can't seriously argue that they're THAT uncomfortable for you to NOT wear them. They can never stop and think of people who, like doctors, and store employees for example, have to use them 8+ hours a day, sometimes for 24 hours or more!

Whenever I go out and see people with face masks pulled down to the chin, or with them on their wrist... I get so upset, it's like they're being jerks on purpose by not wearing them (or wearing them incorrectly)... and the message is also that they don't care at all, but they're always the first to complain when the disease pops back and we have to go back to more restrictive measures sigh

Balloon Popping really does NOT like me :p No prizes yet and it's been a couple days xD

So.. on the topic of masks.

Sunday I was at Taco Bell and the guy in the drive thru in front of me had a "don't tread of me" snake, a coexist made completely out of guns, and a "We the People" stickers on the back of his truck. He got up front, the person in the window asked him to put his mask on. The guy paid, Person in the window again asked him to put a mask on.. and he cussed and then drove off.

Mind you.. he paid. He paid for his tacos. He paid $28 for tacos. And then he just drove off. Without the tacos. He even HAD a mask in his car, I could see it hanging from his rearview.

People are crazy, man.