Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Sept. 13th through Sept. 19th

September 13, 2015 JanF Community 147

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

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NOTE: The comments page will now split off after 20 or so left margin comments with the most recent comments on the current page. To see the older comments, scroll to the bottom of the page and use the link.

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62 Comments

  1. Sorry to be late…had to take my car in at 8AM…heard some weird noise while driving yesterday… and they discovered the rear brake pads were shot.

    I’m about 300 bucks poorer – but safer :)

    • I find it difficult to begrudge money spent on things like brakes and tires. But it sure hurts!

    • Brakes are important. I’ve had them fail on me in my life time and let’s just say that’s nothing I’d wish on anybody. $300 isn’t wonderful, but definitely beats repairing the car (or the people) should that happen. Glad you’re safer.

  2. Good morning, meese! Wednesday …

    It is 65 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 84. Mostly sunny skies in the forecast.

    Tonight is GOP Debate #2, The Winnowing. I am not sure how the four men left at the kiddie’s table think that having a debate amongst the 0.1% can be good for their campaigns. Graham, Santorum, Jindal, Pataki: together they don’t even get to 2% (Gilmore was left out after they literally found no support for him – he plans to livetweet!). President Obama said he can’t watch because he has to “wash his hair”; I will be “watching” via Twitter, probably paring down my follows for the evening so it is not like drinking from a firehose.

    The Republicans had their “show vote” … the one that Mitch McConnell said would allow an up-or-down vote on the Iran resolution after Democrats went home and got an “earful” from constituents. The vote was 56-42, 4 votes shy of the required 60 needed for cloture. So the deal is not just done but DONE since the deadline for disapproval was 9/17. The Senate will now take up a resolution to block easing of sanctions on Iran unless they recognize Israel, release U.S. hostages, and write back to Tom Cotton!

    Meanwhile, the deadline for a budget is September 30th and no work has been done on it. Harry Reid said he would support a continuing resolution (CR) but it had to be clean, a warning to the Defund Planned Parenthood, 20-week Abortion Ban folks who want to inject poison pills into the budget. Why do we have to do this every year? Oh, that’s right … people can’t be bothered to vote in the mid-terms. Sigh.

    Busy morning here … see all y’alls later!

  3. Happy Woden’s Day, Meese! Another lovely morning in NoVa, 52 F. now, heading for a high of 85 F. It’s wonderful to have the windows open. Next week it will be cooler, they say, and I’m looking forward to that.

    This morning we have the meeting that will give us a better idea of what’s going to happen. Do we move this year or wait until another apartment becomes available?

    Yesterday I washed, peeled, and sliced what seemed like a ton of apples, and tossed them into a lemon-water bath. After I had enough, I drained them, spread them on a cookie sheet covered with waxed paper, and froze them. Sometime today I’ll put them in plastic bags, write the date on the bags, and return them to the freezer. The apples are so unbelievably good that I shall have to make a pie today out of the remaining fresh ones—never mind the reducing diet I’m on.

    The news is, as always, uniformly bad. Wish we could do something to help the refugees in nasty old Hungary. I’m really surprised at that country.

    Denise, sorry about the financial hit. We have a similar one with the truck muffler. Jan, I’ll be watching the debate tonight starry-eyed, wondering whether pride goeth before a fall. Hope it’s a good day for all!

    • What a dilemma! “Do we move this year or wait until another apartment becomes available?”

      Certainly moving this year will mean less time to dwell on it … and no option to procrastinate. But it must be quite daunting to have so many things that have to be done. Will an apartment that is just as suitable come open next year or will you be risking losing it if you opt to wait?

    • I’ve got to remember about the freezing apples – I’ve never done that and we’ve got a really nice crop this year at the Market. You could do “stewed” apples – pie without the crust – or an apple crumble (butter, brown sugar, oatmeal) – or baked apples (nuts, raisins, a bit of butter, and a drizzle of maple syrup). Pies are nice but apples are very versatile :)

      If it were me, I’d move this year. Once I get moving, if I don’t complete the job it just doesn’t get done. My last conversation before I got carried out feet first would be about “one of these days…” But that’s me.

      Hungary isn’t any worse than we were when all those kids were coming over the border a while back. I don’t know of any people who will willingly sustain the sheer number of immigrants the wars and climate change are going to put on the road – even in the early phases (like now for example). I don’t like it. I don’t think it’s right, honorable, fair, or living up to anybody’s spiritual/ethical/moral teachings. A wise RC who’s name I don’t remember how to spell wrote that the next step in human evolution would be Homo Spiritualis. We haven’t made it.

  4. Sad this morning.

    Our elder cat Pombajira passed away in her sleep last night.

    photo ee708b27-e693-487b-a4ad-94ec4c7b9500_zpsaozaklsf.jpg

    I’m going to go to the animal rescue shelter later today to see about adopting a kitten.

  5. 2 miles again today. But wow are my allergies killing me. Even my eyes are drippy. But – yay me for walking 2 miles.

    Had a coach evaluate my stride yesterday. He said my posture was “perfect”, and everything overall was very good. I need to be better about choo-choo arms & not let them drop as much as I do — everything should be going forward.

    Earworm is Hozier’s Someone New – and you should watch this video, it’s the cutest thing ever. It’s a fan-made video for his 25th birthday. I’m deeply bummed that his slot playing at ACL Fest is at 8 on Sunday night both weekends. There is just no way I’m doing that. Maybe I’ll see him around town (assuming he’ll stay here for the week between??)

    • Good for you on the 2 miles. As to allergies, I have the reverse problem – rather than drippy mine set solid as a rock. sigh. Hope yours get better.

  6. 70 heading for 85 (heat index 95) in Fay., AR – clear at the moment. Next couple of days summerish – probably, hopefully not hot/humid enough for me to turn my A/C back on, but warm. My friend went home last night – I haven’t heard from her myself but she texted the Chair. Not having a cell phone sometimes keeps me out of the loop. sigh. Hope everybody has a good Woden’s Day. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. This is distressing. A young boy named Ahmed Mohamed brought a clock he had built to school to show his teacher and was arrested for a “bomb threat”. See: “Ahmed” + “black skin” therefore “clock” = “bomb”.

    During questioning, officers repeatedly brought up his last name, Mohamed said. When he tried to call his father, Mohamed said he was told he couldn’t speak to his parents until after the interrogation was over.

    :(

    • Please that there is a law suit in the making here. Especially over not letting the kid call his parents until they finished harassing/interrogating him. Until schools as well as cops get the message that this is not acceptable, it will keep happening.

    • OUTRAGEOUS! Just shows you how stupid the people are in Irving, Tex. I understood that several pale-skinned persons brought clocks to school but they had usual-sounding names, so they weren’t arrested.

      Hope young Ahmed goes to the White House, goes to the parade with Google, and gets accepted at MIT in a couple of years.

  8. Good morning, 57 and partly sunny in Bellingham today. BCH (blood clot hell) blew up my life 4 years ago this September so I’m feeling a bit reflective today. I had lunch with my son yesterday and we commiserated :( He’s putting the pieces of his life back together, but recovery from a BCH crisis takes time. It’s good to see his progress but I’m very sorry we share this experience.

    I did make good progress with my desk though……4 years of neglect means I can just shred most of the papers and create new files for next year. It will be a major accomplishment to have that part of my life organized again.

    • I remember that! Has it really been only 4 years? It seems much longer ago than that but I guess in Internet years 4 years is the blink of an eye.

      I am glad you came through BCH and are part of our daily check-in, princesspat.

    • 4 years is good. 5 will be better. And at least your son has your experiences to use as a guide. Not that it’s a good thing for either of you, but shared experiences are survived experiences.

    • Wonderful, princesspat, about getting the desk organized. And I’m glad your experience with the BCH is now just a memory. It sounds as if your life, apart from the recent sad event, is on a more even keel now. And I’m glad your son is recovering well.

  9. A nice interview by the Cap Times’ John Nichols with Russ Feingold:

    Reflecting on the deep divisions that have torn Wisconsin in the years since Walker was elected — divisions over once “settled” issues such as the rights of workers and farmers and small business owners, over whether to support public education and public services, over open government, over the University of Wisconsin, over the Wisconsin Idea itself — Feingold speaks passionately about restoring a sense of connection and purpose in a state that has been a political battleground for five long years.

    “I absolutely believe the people of Wisconsin prefer community and civility in our politics and our culture. I absolutely believe the majority of people of Wisconsin prefer bipartisanship to bickering,” he explained in an extended conversation with The Capital Times. “And the thing I am most sure of is that the people of the state have got to determine their own lives and futures — instead of multinational corporations and billionaires and multimillionaires who have no real sense of the progressive traditions of our state. So, to me, it’s a great challenge to turn around what has been one of the worst chapters in our history…

    “When I think of all the generations before us who have fought to keep Wisconsin a pro-environment, pro-university, pro-spirit of community kind of place, I just feel lucky to be one person who gets to help try to fix a chapter. Look, there have been a lot of bad chapters. Bob La Follette had to fight some awfully conservative, powerful, monied interests. A lot of progressives had to fight Joe McCarthy and the communist-scare stuff. This is our time to stand up and restore what most people around the world and the country regard as Wisconsin’s spirit of community and progressivism. So, instead of being worried, I’m excited about the chance to fix it.”

    This excitement, he says, is what has brought him back to electoral politics.

    I hope he will be able to overcome the big money big hate of Republican politics and get elected next year. We need Wisconsin politicians who care about Wisconsin, not ones whose every vote is cast only to please the national teaparty.

    • Russ Feingold is a good guy – I hope he makes it. If I can get my finances in order, I’ll send a few bucks his way.

      • He will probably appreciate that. Thanksfully he is not turning down the PAC and DSCC money this time (that was foolish, in my view) so he will not have to be a David fighting a Goliath in the ad wars.

        • It was foolish. We will never be able to change the corrupt system from the outside. The outside can sometimes force change, usually by successful “divest” movements (money again), but outside can’t implement change. I would love to see the issue of “buying” elections go away in my lifetime, but I’m not going to hold my breath. I’m glad Russ learned his lesson about that. You have to be in office to be able to get anything done.

  10. Good morning, Meese! Thursday …

    It is 67 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 82. Mostly cloudy skies in the forecast.

    I followed the GOP “debates” on Twitter for as long as I could stand it (maybe about an hour) and then gave up. I have a few news stories up that I will review to see if anything new or alarming was said but it sounded like the sameold sameold to me. I did happen to come across the report that Jeb! wants to put Margaret Thatcher on the $10 bill because, obviously, no women in the United States have ever achieved anything worthwhile. Sigh.

    In more important news, the attorneys for Richard Glossip in Oklahoma got a 2 week stay in his execution so that they could present new evidence that came to light. If they find that he is innocent and that he was one day from being murdered by the state, that would be good news for anti-deathpenalty advocates (“damned abolitionists” as they are called in Oklahoma). Illinois finally ended the death penalty when the Innocence Project cleared a number of people on death row of their crimes. You can’t undo an execution. It is cruel in any event but it is unconscionable when the possibility exists that the wrong person is being punished for a crime. Stay tuned!

    See all y’alls later!

  11. Good morning, Moosekind, and happy Thor’s Day! The weather? Rinse, repeat. Wish we could get some rain.

    Pardon me while I do surgery on my jaw, which dropped at the news of young Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest. I vented upthread. Now, to reattach the hair that I pulled off my head…

    Fell asleep during the debate last night. Carly seemed almost like a human being until she started bashing HIllary. Then I lost interest. Sameold, sameold, as Jan says.

    Things are happening at WARP speed around here! Today and tomorrow I’m going to Arlington to look after Mr. New Baby for a few hours; realtors are visiting today and Saturday; must knock down more apples; must hastily tidy terrible house, water the garden, and put the Freecycled armload of good books and bag of apples on the porch before I leave. Hope to have a little more time to visit this weekend. I’d like to read some of the front page posts. Have a good day, all!

    • I stayed up to watch almost all of the “debate” debacle. The thought that one of these crazy people could become POTUS will have me re-doubling my efforts to GOTV.

      The Republican Beast Pageant contestants spouted lie, after lie after lie – it was mind numbing to see/hear.

      • The reactions I saw on Twitter suggested that the debate did not reflect well on the Republican Party and that pivoting back to the middle, by any of them, for the general election will be nearly impossible. I am sure that Democratic Party candidates are salivating over the sound bites from this debate in anticipation of using them in campaign ads.

    • Fiorina served her purpose: she is needed on the debate stage to go after Hillary Clinton in the most vicious ways possible so that the boys don’t get called sexist. She did a “great” job! She is like most Republican women — in complete denial about women’s issues and how women in politics don’t have to win a pissing contest with the men (good luck with that!) in order to appear competent. She is no different than the rest of the people on that stage: wrong on every single issue, trying to win on fear and loathing. I am not sure how her angry woman demeanor will wear over time; I suspect I was not the only one who was put off by her. Millions of Californians can’t be wrong!

  12. Good morning Meese

    Have not named the 3 (yes 3) new kitties I brought home from the shelter yet – two are littermates and one is slightly older. They are all black – though the oldest one has some white fur at the neck.

    Just read this on TPM

    Mayor Of City Where Muslim Teen Was Wrongly Arrested Is Anti-Sharia Crusader – Ugh.

    Glad to see Ahmed Mohamed is going to the WH

    Handcuffed for Making Clock, Ahmed Mohamed, 14, Wins Time With Obama

    HOUSTON — Ahmed Mohamed’s homemade alarm clock got him suspended from his suburban Dallas high school and detained and handcuffed by police officers on Monday after school officials accused him of making a fake bomb. By Wednesday, it had brought him an invitation to the White House, support from Hillary Rodham Clinton and Mark Zuckerberg, and a moment of head-spinning attention as questions arose whether he had been targeted because of his name and his religion.

    As a result, a 14-year-old freshman at MacArthur High School in Irving, Tex., who is partial to tinkering, technology and NASA T-shirts and wants to go to M.I.T., found himself in a social media whirlwind that reflected the nation’s charged debates on Islam, immigration and ethnicity.

    “Cool clock, Ahmed,” President Obama said on Twitter. “Want to bring it to the White House? We should inspire more kids like you to like science. It’s what makes America great.” Mr. Obama’s staff invited Ahmed to the White House for Astronomy Night on Oct. 19, an event bringing together scientists, engineers, astronauts, teachers and students to spend a night stargazing from the South Lawn.

    • last night on Chris Hayes’ show, a theoretical physicist from MIT – his “dream school” – invited him to come there for a visit; and said her old profs at Harvard’s Center for Physics would also really like him to visit. I bet she arranges for a nice long visit over spring break, and maybe a summer camp nest summer? This is her, on twitter, with a link to the interview: https://twitter.com/IBJIYONGI

      There was also this:

      Chris Hadfield ‏@Cmdr_Hadfield 21h21 hours ago

      Hi @IStandWithAhmed ! I’d love you to join us for our science show Generator in Toronto on 28 Oct. There’s a ticket waiting for you.

      and the NASA mohawk guy had several cool things to say: https://twitter.com/tweetsoutloud

      • unless he’s coming to South By Southwest for spring break:

        Aaron Haley ‏@Ahaley 12h12 hours ago

        Would love to invite Ahmed Mohamed down to Austin for @SXSW #SXCREATE if anyone has a contact. @IStandWithAhmed #IStandWithAhmed

  13. Walked 1.6 miles this morning — but I think Map My Walk is off, because I’m sure I did as many up & downs as I did Monday…. Anyway, looking forward to “sleeping in” tomorrow, I’m not going to walk before work. I have an evening workout tonight.

    Skipped the debate last night. Chris Hayes actually ignored it, too. Spent a lot of time on the clock-making kid, the lack of Dem debates, Jon Stewart’s lobbying for benefits for 9/11 responders…. It was the show I used to love. Rachel started he show saying “I know you’re here because the Republicans are talking for 3 hours on that other channel” — and proceeded to talk about the effing Republicans. But she did have a heartbreaking report from Richard Engel in Hungary.

    So, so sleepy. Wish I could stop waking up at midnight, 3am, etc. Drinking very strong, icy cold tea. We’ll see if it helps. Happy Friday Eve!

  14. 73 heading for 90 this Thor’s day in Fay., AR – mostly clear but the humidity is creeping up so the heat index is likely to be close to 100 (hopefully not over). Supposed to get rain in the early hours of Saturday morning. Hope so. We need it. Hope it’s done by Sunday as it’s a laundry weekend – but if it’s a choice between rain on Sunday and no rain, I’ll take the rain and be thankful :)

    I visited my friend yesterday when I got home. She’s doing well enough to actually answer the door! The pain meds mostly keep her OK but drousy and she’s spending most of her time in the recliner in the den. They did have to do the more invasive surgery so she’s not sure exactly when she’ll be back at work but if she keeps going the way she has so far, it shouldn’t be much if any longer.

    Haven’t checked the news today. Probably full of the “debate” last night which I can get here or at GOS without messing with any other sites. heh. {{{HUGS}}}

  15. Good morning, 54 and cloudy in Bellingham. I’m surprised to be looking forward to doing more messy desk cleanup today. I’m not ready to tackle all the old medical papers but I do have them contained. I’ll do old bank statements and cancelled checks today. The old checkbooks are like a diary and it’s easy for me to refer back to them. So as I move more to online bill paying I have yet another remembering/learning curve to master.

    I also hope to visit my favorite garden shop. The owner closes the shop for the winter so she can rest, quilt, and visit her grand kids so I won’t see her again until next spring if I don’t go today. Hard to believe it’s time to plant winter pansies.

  16. Good morning, Meese! Friday …

    It is 66 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 74. Evening thunderstorms in the forecast. Yesterday late afternoon we had rain followed by several lines of thunderstorms: 8pm 11pm and 2am. It did bring cooler air for which I am grateful.

    Twitter was abuzz over two things last night. One was the claim by Jeb!Bush that his brother kept us safe. The image was a photo of Bullhorn Bush standing on a pile of rubble telling everyone he would “get the guys who did this” (note: he didn’t). At first I thought it was The Onion because, really, wth?

    Twitter was also abuzz over Donald Trump’s “President Obama is a Muslim” test, which he flunked (John McCain passed a similar test in 2008). The birther made this comment:

    We got a problem in this country. It’s called Muslims. We know our current president is one. We know he’s not even an American. (Trump: We need the question.) But anyway. We have training camps brewing where they want to kill us. That’s my question. When can we get rid of them?

    Instead of denouncing this comment (why would he? he is a birther, too) Trump said they would be “We’re going to be looking into that and plenty of other things.” Oh, and Bristol Palin said that President Obama should not be inviting Ahmed Mohamed, clock-building nerd, to the White House because it inflames racism. See, by being nice to a young Muslim who was wronged encourages others to stand up against racism and that might cause a white person to be uncomfortable!!! Stop, President Obama, before we turn into a nation of people caring about injustice!!!!

    Congress is bickering over a continuing resolution to fund the government. There is no hope for a budget by September 30th and without the CR, the government will shut down again. Some Republicans are intent on making the budget their Abortion Alamo while GOP muckamucks worry that this shutdown might finally cause people to notice that they are unserious about governing. Don’t worry, GOP! The press has more important things to report on: Hillary’s emails, Joe Biden’s non-candidacy, and The Donald. No one will even notice.

    See all y’alls later!!

    • Don’t worry, GOP! The press has more important things to report on: Hillary’s emails, Joe Biden’s non-candidacy, and The Donald. No one will even notice.

      You’re right about that. Unfortunately.

    • The only way the American voters will both notice and “Remember in November” is if the GOP shuts down the government in October of 2016. The original Lee Atwater “Arkansas Project” of non-stop attacks on Bill has been shifted to the “Hillary Witch Hunt” – we will see this as long as she is running and in office. It’s why I think she’s nuts for doing it even as I admire the sense of duty that made her decide to do so.

      • Bfitz, I am not even sure they would remember an October 2016 shutdown when they went to the polls in November 2016. This is the party that gave us Watergate … then they were returned to power in 1980. The party that gave us the Great Recession and endless wars … and they were returned to power in 2010. In fact, amnesia is a requirement to be a Republican because otherwise the cognitive dissonance would result in their heads asploding.

  17. Good morning, Meese. Just wanted to say a quick hello to all and a word of condolence to Denise for the loss of her beautiful Pombajira,

    Am super busy so won’t be around much but hope it’s a good weekend for all in our Pond and other Ponds Beyond,

    • Thanks Sis.

      I am now dealing with the new three – Ebony (female) and Eshu and Elegba – the twin little guys. The two dogs are freaking out – whining in a fit of jealousy because I am paying attention to the newcomers.

      Our elder cat is ignoring them.

  18. Good morning, Meese, and hope it’s a beautiful Freya’s Day where you are, as it is here. Feeling very depressed this morning for reasons it would take too long to explain, so will refrain from doing so.

    Hope it’s a good day for all at the Pond and Beyond!

    • I am sorry to hear this, Diana. I hope that whatever is depressing you resolves itself or you find some way to not let it trouble you.

      If it is not too hot, try to get outdoors and wrap yourself in the mother’s beauty. That always lifts my spirits.

      I wonder if there is something happening astrologically (like a Mars transit) because I feel like I want to scream at things. I should probably watch what I post online today.

  20. 71 heading for 90 heat index close to 100) this sunny Friday. The front is supposed to move in tomorrow morning in the wee hours bringing the cooler weather back. Unfortunately the rain chances have dropped below 50%, so looks like we’re facing another weekend of cloudy so low electricity production with no rain to compensate. Sigh. Like Diana I’m feeling a bit down – I think it’s the change in barometric pressure myself. Couldn’t face the hill walking in this morning so grabbed the bus – so instead of 40 minutes walking, 20 of it uphill, I only got 15 minutes on (more or less) level ground. Hope everybody has at least a pleasant day if you can’t rise to good heh. {{{HUGS}}}

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