Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Oct. 30th through Nov. 5th

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?

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.

34 Comments

  1. Good morning, Meese! It’s still gray here at 8:12 a.m. Not sure whether it’s clouds or whether it’s just that the sun hasn’t got out of bed yet. Forty-seven degrees at the moment, going up to 60 F. later.

    We didn’t have very many little visitors last night and some of the ones that did come were teenagers! Too weird. We have—hollow laugh—lots of candy left. Wonder how I can get rid of it.

    Wish hubby wouldn’t turn on the morning show, they always gloat because of the tracking polls. This morning Trump is 1 point ahead of Hillary? I think and hope it’s rubbish and that she has enough votes banked that this alleged “lead” won’t matter.

    So ashamed of the misogynist MSM! May they all disappear into obscurity. From what I read, people are even getting tired of watching footbore. Good.

    Signing off now to go eat my steel-cut oats that have quietly simmered all night in the crockpot. Then I’ll divide it among three little plastic boxes and freeze it when it cools enough.

    Hillary HQ called last night to make sure I was going to do my four shifts this coming weekend. All that walking, although tiring, is very good for one’s figure.

    Wishing all a good day and do try to avoid the “news” today. That’s what I’m going to do.

  2. Almost 70 at daybreak heading for mid 80s and more or less sunny. Only got 264 KWHs for October, breaking 200 for November is the goal. Got another day of the summery weather. Cool front supposed to move in tomorrow after dark. I gotta find out what I’m doing that’s using more electricity than last year. Enough more electricity that my system isn’t covering it. I hadn’t realized until I compared the current statement with the last two that I’ve been eating my “banked” KWHs since August. That can only partly be explained by lower production. I must be using more.

    I will be so glad when the election crap is over. I’m well aware the attacks on Hillary are not going to go away – at least not without the double miracle of taking (and holding) the House AND somehow getting the Media to actually be information rather than infortainment. But once Hillary’s in the White House we can get stuff done and not just talk about it. There’s so much that needs to be done.

    No trick or treaters for the 2nd year in a row. May not even try next year. Gotta get to work. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  3. Morning all. Still warm here, it’s like a broken record, although at least there’s a cool breeze so it’s very pleasant. I will have to run my sprinklers today or tomorrow, we’ve had no rain the past week and none is in the forecast.

    I’m close to saturation point on the election – I’m confident Hillary will win, but I don’t know if Comey’s dirty trick will have blunted the blue wave we need to get the Senate back, and more Dems in the House and down thru State races. I am worried about what will happen after the election with this bunch of clearly right wing FBI agents determined to bring Hillary down – they wanted to go after the Clinton Foundation with no reason other than malice, and I have no doubt they will work with House Republicans, if the Senate goes Dem, to gin up one baseless accusation after another against the new President. It’s going to be awful.

    Well, all we can do is work to get the vote out and if the Democrats (plus new Latinex voters esp in Florida and Texas and Az) just get out and do the thing, we’ll win. It’s still appalling to me that after all that has been revealed about Trump, he’s still got over 40% of the electorate firmly with him. Just shows how deep the roots of racism, nativism and sexism run.

    Here’s a tweet just for Jan – I find it hilarious! The replies to Walker’s tweet are particularly great lol.

    If you like the past 8 years, vote @HillaryClinton. pic.twitter.com/cQEtIgPsEz— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) November 1, 2016

    Have a great day everyone!

    • Sorry I missed that this comment got caught in the spam filter yesterday, Geordie! It has three links in it which makes it look suspicious. I will see how easy it is to loosen that rule.

      I saw the Scott Walker tweet and also the reactions to it. He is such a dimbulb! He lives in a Fox News echo chamber where the 57% approval rate of President Obama is never reported – and the great economic news is replaced with “Obamacare kills jobs”.

      I am still trying to understand how the Comey letter depresses the blue wave – it is not just you reporting that, I am seeing it everywhere. Is it because it energizes Republicans to vote? The right-wing voters who believe that Hillary should have been charged with something were already going to vote. I am very worried about the Republicans keeping the Senate, though, because it is now becoming clear that their intent is to never confirm a Democratic president’s Supreme Court nominee – or any judge for that matter. They discovered that the federal court system is the last place where citizens in red states can get justice and they need to kill it to finish off our democracy and reinstall a confederacy where you live by the rules of the state you live in and have no federal government.

      Our enemy is not just Trumpism, it is the Republican Party and it must be crushed. I think this is the year to do it and I have not yet given up on the blue wave.

  4. Good morning, 47 and cloudy in Bellingham. My sister is headed out for a long walk, RonK is going to the gym, but me and my creaky knees are staying put!

    We had lots of Halloween fun last night but overall election angst interfered with my sleep so I’m feeling foggy this morning. Time for more coffee and a respite from reading the news.

  5. Good morning, meese! Wednesday …

    It is 50 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 54. It is raining and will rain off and on throughout the day.

    A week from now, we will all be sleeping soundly, comforted by the knowledge that when given the choice between a vulgar talking yam and, Hillary Clinton, the most qualified person to ever run for the presidency, that our country chose Hillary.

    Stay away from outrage and anger and focus on the win.

    Tonight, Hillary will be in Tempe Arizona at 6:30pm MST and President Obama will be in Chapel Hill North Carolina at 12:30pm Eastern. Home stretch … leave nothing to chance.

    See all y’all later!

  6. President Obama yesterday in Columbus OH:

    He spoke about sexism:

    President Barack Obama on Tuesday called on men to “look inside” themselves and think about bias if they have any doubt about voting for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

    “To the guys out there, I want to be honest,” Obama told a crowd in Columbus, Ohio, at a Clinton campaign event. “You know, there’s a reason we haven’t had a woman president before.”

    He asked male voters to think about their potential biases against Clinton, who would be the first female president in U.S. history.

    “I want every man out there who’s voting to kinda look inside yourself and ask yourself, if you’re having problems with this stuff, how much of it is that we’re just not used to it?” he said. “When a guy is ambitious and out in the public arena and working hard, well that’s okay. But when a woman suddenly does it, suddenly you’re all like, well, why’s she doing that?

    If you want to get a sense of what we are up against, read this article from Vox. In order to elect Hillary Clinton, we will be pushing through some very powerful forces. But our coalition is strong … we can do it.

  7. Good Wednesday Morning Meese
    It has warmed up to 48 going up to 68 here in Saugerties.

    Problems logging in again. I think I am here now.

    I’ve been up since early – listening to music to lift the spirit.

    I wish Yara Allen – the musical voice of the Moral Mondays Movement had an album I could buy. I have heard her live at rallies – and listened to her on videos of the marches.

  8. Good Woden’s Day morning, Meese! It’s another gray day here, although we may get sunshine later. Currently we’re at 55 F., going up to 78 F. or worse later today. Salad tonight for sure, and possibly ice cream for Dearly Beloved.

    Feeling slightly encouraged by what I’m hearing about the Rethug crossover vote for Hillary in Florida—just wish it would also apply to Patrick Murphy for the Senate. How can Floridians vote for Marco “Think I’ll skip work today” Rubio? If he hates it that much, why is he running again?

    Feel as if I’m coming down with a cold, so might buy some garlic and make soup today. I used to eat slices of raw garlic when I felt a cold coming on. It seemed to work to a great extent, but of course no one wanted to come near me!

    Don’t have to let Younger Son’s dog out today, nor pick up Amazing Miss Pink Cheeks from school. I wanted to look after her next Monday and Tuesday so she could go to the polls with us, but now it appears DIL is taking off work those days.

    Busy day today—Darling Niece and I are having coffee at her house, after which we’ll take some things round to Goodwill. This afternoon I MUST put the badges on Miss PC’s Brownie vest (I’ve put it off since summer as I’m convinced I’ll get all the badges in the wrong place) and make molasses cookies. Tomorrow I’ll bake more pumpkin muffins and take both them and the cookies to Hillary HQ. Those cats must be living on adrenaline by now!

    Wishing all a good day!

  9. Still ridiculously warm. By the weekend, we’re supposed to have lows in the 50s, more or less seasonable. Sigh.

    Lawrence O’Donnell had good early-vote news from Florida. One poll was polling people who had already voted & 28% of R’s said they had voted for Hillary. Now, that’s just a poll & people can lie, but why would they — and even if it’s half that, that’s still something. If Trump loses Florida, that’s great for us. I’m hoping we can also win the Senate, so HRC can get stuff done.

  10. 70 at dawn but cool (not cold) front moving in so the high only upper 70s – hope the front isn’t bringing more cloud cover. I’ve had enough of that this year. Drought-dry plus 263 fewer KWHs over the same period last year since June. I do not like that combination!

    Our team is burgeoning with goodness (“America is great because America is good”). Just got to get into the position to be able to use that goodness. She’ll do it. Holding the Good Thought for the Congress – we can move many miles forward with Congress on our side. We’ll make progress without it, but it won’t be nearly as much (or nearly as obvious which will cause problems in 2018). Purposing a 1st (moon) quarter candle – still working on defining/focusing in such a way that it doesn’t restrict a good I’m not smart enough to envision but does get closure on the negative we’re wading through and give energy to getting us moving down the best path.

    Gotta get to work. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  11. Morning all! still warm here, sigh.

    I saw that report on O’Donnell last night, and just found it hard to believe, really, as I had never heard of the pollster. But someone at Daily Kos did some digging and wrote a great diary about the pollsters and their methodology that makes it sound pretty legitimate. I mean, I guess people could lie to someone over the phone about how they voted, but that doesn’t seem very likely. As they were saying on O’Donnell’s show, a lot of this could be Cuban-American Republicans crossing over, and then crossing back to vote for Rubio. I think it might also be a lot of Republican women who won’t vote for him – I guess we’ll find out in a week or so!

    I just read on Twitter – the last living Democratic President to pass on power to another living Democrat was…..Franklin Pierce! In 1856! Wow, I would have known that if I’d thought about it, but I never had thought about it. Yet another indication of the mountain Hillary is having to climb to win this election.

    Everyone have a great day!

  12. Good morning, 53 and raining in Bellingham. Yesterday was a very quiet day for me so I’m looking forward to going to the pool this morning and to some belated birthday fun with my sister this afternoon.

    My upper gardening project is slowly moving along……I found a lovely burgundy arts and crafts style pot yesterday, and when it is planted with a lemon cypress tree, evergreen huckleberry, a sword fern and some heather it will screen the back patio and stairs again. After it is in place I can add the other smaller pots. All the work is to heavy for me to do alone so I’m trying to be patient but I wish I didn’t need help!

    I’m know I’m not alone with election angst, so this article at The Atlantic got my attention……

    When National Turmoil Becomes Personal Anxiety

    Increasingly, the 2016 election is taking a toll on everyone. The turbulence of this time of national transition can cause anxiety that makes day-to-day life more alarming, but people’s existing fears can also be inflamed by what they see happening in the election. This creates a sort of feedback loop between personal and national anxiety. Social media and a 24-hour news cycle has made it difficult to avoid talk of the election, and Donald Trump’s candidacy in particular has given people many reasons to be anxious……

    Thanks to all at the Moose Pond for sharing my worries!

  13. Good morning, meese! Thursday …

    It is 39 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 61. The forecast calls for mostly sunny skies.

    The Marquette Poll, which is the gold standard for Wisconsin, shows Hillary ahead by 6 points but Russ Feingold in a dead heat with Ron Freaking Johnson. In a sign that the Clinton campaign is putting their resources into places with hot Senate races, they are sending Joe Biden to Madison tomorrow to rally for Hillary and Russ. If we cannot pick up the seat in Wisconsin, our path to the retake the Senate becomes more difficult. A Republican Senate means a blockade on Hillary’s cabinet and our federal court system. In Wisconsin, there are a lot of #NeverTrump Republicans who will vote for Hillary but they all want a Republican Senate. The Feingold-Johnson poll was taken before Johnson campaigned with Trump and before he announced that his focus upon getting re-elected would be to impeach President Hillary Clinton. I am hoping that did not sit well with the independents polled who generally disapprove of partisan gridlock. We shall see!

    Today, Hillary will be in North Carolina (one stop with Bernie Sanders), Tim will be in Arizona, and President Obama will be making two stops in Florida. Expect the president to go right at Marco Rubio like he went at Richard Burr in North Carolina yesterday. I am going to put up the speech shortly but here is a sample:

    I want to take a minute just to talk about Senator Burr. He and I came in together when we were in the Senate, and personally he’s a decent guy. I’ve got nothing against Richard Burr. But when I hear him say there’s not a separation between he and Donald Trump — that’s troubling. Either he actually means it, in which case he agrees with everything Donald Trump says; that what it says — that’s what you mean when you say there’s not a separation. Or he doesn’t mean it and he’s just saying it to get elected. That’s not good either way. You don’t want a senator who spends all his time saying, “Yes, sir, Mr. Trump. What do you want me to do, Mr. Trump?”

    This Tweet made me laugh out loud this morning:

    Tom Watson ‏@tomwatson
    “What a wild roller-coaster ride this race has been!”

    Election Day voting starts in 122 hours. Hang in there!

    See all y’all later!

      • Thanks, Jan, we saw Her last night when we bid goodbye to Babylicious and Younger Son. And did you hear that November’s Supermoon is going to be the biggest and brightest in 70 years? I do hope we can see it that night here in old DC.

      • It looks like photobucket is down so the old moons are going to be missing. I am moving the images to a different photo site for the rest of the waxing moon visualization. Durned technology!!

    • Jan, I hope when Feingold speaks publicly he will point out that presidents can be impeached only for high crimes and misdemeanors while in office, and that HRC hasn’t even been elected yet, much less governed.

      What a goddamn poisonous bunch the Rethugs are. Wish they were all cockroaches and I was wearing an iron boot to crush them.

      • Johnson’s level of stupidity defies fact-checking – where to even begin? I don’t necessarily want our government to be filled with lawyers but this shows clearly what happens when people with no understanding of the constitution are elected to public office.

  14. The Save The Day people are out with a video from Martin Sheen, but it’s only on Facebook, so I can’t share it. Maybe it’ll be on their site later. Anyway, drinking tea, eating oatmeal. Tired.

  15. Happy Thor’s Day, Meese! Just a few more days to tote the weary load of misogny, racism, sexism, and criminality associated with Thing and it’ll all be over! Temporarily, at least.

    It’s a fairish morning here in NoVa, with the current high 58 F., going up to 77 F. It’s supposed to change drastically after we receive a light shower this afternoon. Sigh. Starting November 9 I’d like three days of steady rain. We’re still in drought mode.

    Yesterday Darling Niece and I had such a good time over coffee at her house that after we dropped some donations off at Goodwill, we went to lunch at a vegan restaurant and then shopping at Mom’s Organics. Therefore I didn’t get anything done! Also had an unexpected text from Younger Son asking me to pick up Babylicious from day care, bring him here, and give him dinner. So I did that, only to find Baby wasn’t interested in eating anything but yogurt and applesauce. Bummer.

    Today I really must try to get some chores done because after walking around neighborhoods for four days starting Saturday I’ll be too tired to do much. Wishing all a good day!

  16. 65 at daybreak heading for 75. The promised rain doesn’t look like it’s going to show up but the clouds are most certainly here. sigh. The cool front is coming through, with or without rain, should drop down to the 40s by dawn tomorrow.

    I will be so glad when the election is over. And yet I know “Hillary Rules” will mean we deal with the same crap from the Media we’ve been dealing with for the next hopefully 8 years. If there is an entity out there who takes a kindly interest in this planet at all, said entity needs to give the election a push to Blue Wave. Hillary can make some progress without Congress – but very little on the global warming/energy front and nothing like what we need. sigh.

    Gotta get to work. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  17. Hiya Meese

    Coming up for air – finished my writing chores and can now read news and relez before sitting down to grade papers.and pay bills.

    Had to clean up damage in the housef rom last night – a bird got in and the cats and Amstaff doggie went berserk trying to catch it. They broke dishes, tore down curtains – hubby got home and managed to catch it and get it outside – much to the disappointment of the hunting crew.

    • {{{Denise}}} -My feeding station is just outside my back door (glass door) so provides “kitty TV” and every once in a while one will hit the door and really stir up the cats, but so far so good about them actually getting in. You definitely deserve to treat yourself for dealing with that!

  18. Morning all. Still very warm here, hoping for a slight cool down over the weekend.

    I stayed up until 3AM watching replays of the Cubs win in the World Series so I just got up and have not checked the news yet. I’m tempted to keep it that way, although I have POTUS’s speech in Miami streaming live on my other monitor. It was not a pretty baseball game last night, but the drama could not be beat – the last time the Cubs won a World Series, Mark Twain and Thomas Edison were still alive, and women didn’t have the right to vote. I so hope the Cubs will make the traditional White House visit next spring, to be greeted by lifelong Cubs fan President Hillary Clinton!

    I’m very worried about all these close Senate races – even Evan Bayh in Indiana who was supposed to be a lock. We need to keep Nevada, and pick up 4 more seats – that’s what’s going to keep me nervous thru Tuesday night. Also very concerned about these rogue FBI agents in the NY office, apparently, who seem determined to bring Hillary down – that will continue to be a big problem for her after she’s elected, and I’m not sure what can be done about it. Comey’s tenure at the FBI is turning out to be a disaster.

    Ok, have to go write my raid report for the WOW guild diary at DKos. Have a great day – Dee, sounds like a terrible mess, get some rest after all that!

    • I am worried about the Senate and hope that the polling is reflecting people no longer picking up their phones. Who the heck picks up a phone to talk to a pollster anyway? The way I see it, the only sure win right now is Tammy Duckworth in Illinois which gets us back to being 4 down. If we don’t have the Senate, none of Hillary’s cabinet, sub-cabinet, agency (SEC, NLRB, etc), or judicial nominations will make it through the Senate. The government will grind to a halt and President Hillary Clinton will be blamed for it. It is still better than a Donald Trump presidency but JHC, what a mess!!

      I could not root for either team in the World Series! My team is in the same division as the Cubs and we are rivals and the team from Cleveland, like the NFL team from Washington DC, can never get my support. But I was happy for Hillary. :)

  19. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 37 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 59. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Polls polls polls! Sick of them – especially sick of the polling averages starting to include every poll, reputable or not, in the average in order to keep alive the idea of a horse race.

    It was announced that Hillary Clinton and family will be in Philadelphia Monday night with President Obama and Michelle Obama for the pre-election rally. Pennsylvania has no early voting and it is a crucial state so this makes great sense. PLUS Democratic National Convention, reinvigorating the sheer joy from that event – what seems like 10 years ago – will be good for our souls.

    Today, Hillary will be in Pennsylvania and Michigan, Tim is in Florida, and President Obama is going back to North Carolina for two more rallies. Joe Biden will be here in Madison. Tomorrow, Hillary will be back in Florida.

    Encouraging news out of Nevada on early voting (not polls) seems to suggest that Latinos came out in force and that the state is no longer in play for Republicans. That would be excellent news because the path to 270 becomes easier with Nevada and if we can hold the Harry Reid Senate seat, we just need 3 more (assuming Illinois).

    Here is an article from the Atlantic that went viral yesterday in case you missed it: What Hillary Clinton’s Fans Love About Her.

    See all y’all later!!

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