Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Aug. 12th through Aug. 18th

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.

 

Page One of Comments is HERE!
 
Page Two of Comments is HERE!
 
 

 

25 Comments

  1. Good morning, Meesefolk. Grey, rainy day today; it’s been alternating between mist and steady downpour, and if the weather maps hold true, we’ll being having thunderstorms later today. It’s Figure 8 races at the fair tonight, which is always a big draw, but I’m hoping the weather keeps some folks away. Yesterday was the Demolition Derby, and just getting home took an extra 45 minutes. There’s only one north-south road into my village, and it was backed up, bumper-to-bumper, for 5 miles before hitting the village boundaries. Despite using all of the back streets possible once I was in the town, it still took 15 minutes, rather than 2, just to finally pull into my driveway. I’m going to see The Kiddo in OH this weekend so I’ll miss the weekend headaches, and I can only hope that, for the sake of his blood pressure, The Hubby stays inside.

    I made it clear to some new-to-politics local candidates that I was not up for pavement-pounding this cycle, but somehow this has translated into a whole slew of one-on-one meetings over the next few weeks. It’s suddenly occurring to some of them that experience IS helpful, and while I think my experience and training is fairly limited, they do not. I need to review my training materials from ’08 and ’12 (thanks, Obama!) and see if I can distill the lessons for them. It’s a good thing my Grinch mode only extends to The Fair, because I was trying to get this point across months ago with some of these folks, but they weren’t inclined to listen. Because they weren’t running for national offices, they were uncontested in the primaries; suddenly, they’re realizing that they have a Republican opponent in a very red area. I’ll do what I can, but the time for training and team-building was months ago. I’m going to hope that their enthusiasm and willingness to work hard overcomes some of the self-inflicted wounds. The tiny Dem Club in our area is stepping up in a big way, so that should help a lot. But I’m not above admitting that there’s a part of me that is silently screaming inside that waiting until 80-some days before the election is not the best time to start organizing your campaign. Hmmm…maybe my Grinch mode isn’t as limited as I thought!

    • {{{DoReMI}}} – these noobs are like the folks who want to “learn to play Jazz by ear in 6 easy lessons” – they are big on ranting and small on working. But I know you’ll do your best for them because even they are better than Rs. moar {{{HUGS}}}

      • Those that have contacted me are willing to work, but inexperienced enough to have not realized that reinventing the wheel is unnecessary. Part of my “plan” is to put them in touch with other candidates who aren’t quite so green. For example, the lines of my state House district has a lot of overlap with the county commissioner district. The county commissioner district candidate is new, but he’s not new to politics and knows lots of people. If the state House district candidate is willing to contact him, they may be able to either campaign jointly or at least share contacts.

        It does look like a lot of what I will provide is messaging guidance. Not one of them could tell me what their elevator pitch is, and that’s a problem. I know they have issues they care about, but it’s a matter of refining their long, rambling responses into something that is tighter. Fortunately, sales training is something I’ve had ad nauseum, and this is all basic Sales 101 stuff, with the candidate being the product. It’s just downright bizarre to me that my name got passed around. I can only think that it’s because I project confidence about politics and process (oh, if they only knew!), and confidence sells.

        • {{{DoReMI}}} – confidence is a light that can be overshadowed by a brighter one (someone with more confidence in their own experience) but shines like a “good deed in a naughty world” around those who have little or none. What you are doing, planning to do is good. I hope they listen. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  2. Good morning, 61 and still hazy in Bellingham. A slight breeze is blowing and the marine air is starting to move so breathing issues should improve today.

    I’m slow and sleepy today, hoping coffee will help stir my thoughts. Take care everyone.

  3. Seems to be summer again – it was 80 by 9 am when I was out getting a tire fixed. Fortunately a slow enough leak that I could drive the car to the tire place rather than having to get someone to pull it, take it there to be fixed, then put it back on. I am long beyond the days when I could do that myself even if I had another vehicle to make the trip with which I don’t. Anyway, it’s heading for 90, heat index close to 3 digits, and sunny for a change. Already have over half as much electricity generated as the whole day Tuesday. The m-t-d is 224.6 KWHs – 500 is iffy but I’ll keep hoping.

    The danged cold is irritating but nothing compared what other folks are going through. And of course we just lost Aretha Franklin. Except we didn’t. She and her music will always be with us. She shaped our lives – at least when we let her. I doubt she’ll spend much time resting before getting back to work on that other plane, but I hope what rest she takes is peaceful. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  4. Good morning, meeses! Friday of what seemed like a very long week …

    It is 70 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 81 (heat index 93). It is raining now and will rain most of the morning. It stormed yesterday afternoon into the evening; it was mostly finished by bedtime – there were a few lightning strikes in the distance that were far enough away to not be noisy.

    Fox News putting up a photo of Patti LaBelle in their “tribute” to Aretha Franklin is exactly what one would expect and pretty much describes how black people are treated by Republicans and their propaganda channel. Interchangeable, disposable, not worthy of even a 2 second google.

    I was pleased to see the many tributes to Aretha Franklin in my Twitter feed and spent the morning reading and retweeting and remembering. The inauguration, where I learned about The Hats from Dee, and the Kennedy Center Honors program in 2015 were my best memories (I having never been that tapped into contemporary music so the early years were all new to me). It was nice to pause the 10 minute news cycle for a while, in the trump era there is always some new outrage being reported and most of them are of little value and can wait. I was pleased to see that the $92 million fellatio that the military was going to give tRump was postponed until 2019 – it shows that public outrage is still a potent force.

    The latest projections show that Democrats will pick up around 35 seats. Do not believe the projections, in my opinion that is how we lost 2016! The only polls that matter are the polls on voting day where we cast our ballots. We have a lot of excellent issues to run on – healthcare, gun violence, living wages – there should not be any segment of our voting bloc not energized. I was pleased to hear from my daughter that kids her age voted in their first elections (primaries) and are excited about voting this fall.

    Another busy day – I am still not caught up and another project inserted itself into my schedule. The good news is that it is Friday and I can look forward to two days without client emails and phone calls and another chance of getting caught up.

    See all y’all later!

  5. Good Freya’s Day morning, Meese! It’s ten past seven so the sky is lit up, with the sun struggling to break through a layer of white cirrostratus clouds. We’re to have a fair morning but will have thunderstorms in the afternoon. Currently it’s 70 F. in Ashburn, going up to 92 F.

    This morning I have a meeting at 10:30 re the formation of a political book club. One of the women at the July Progressive luncheon wants to start one. I wish we could all read Malcolm Nance’s book.

    This morning Dearly Beloved has business in the old neighborhood, and on his way back will pick up Mr. Preschooler so he can have a sleepover at our flat. We’re going to Elder Son’s house for dinner tonight, so we’ll see Mr. Just-Turned-Three as well.

    Yesterday I went to a meeting of the Communications Committee. It was nice to meet most of the members. I’ve agreed to take on some proofreading, editing, and even some writing for the quarterly publication, Around the Ponds. At the end of the meeting I innocently asked which word processing software was used to edit the articles. Dead silence. At last someone said, “How do you edit something online?” “Why, track changes, of course,” I said. More silence. “We edit on paper,” someone said.

    Gods, how nineteenth century! One of the “major achievements” I listed on my resume in the days when I worked for a living was instituting online editing. This saved a couple of production cycles of editing–making changes–proofreading the changes–back again for more corrections, and so on. Oh, well, mine not to reason why.

    Keeping up with the news is too depressing, think I’ll take a step back today. Wishing all a quiet Friday with no news freakouts!

    • Ha! Be careful what you sign up for! Once those kind of organizations find a tech-savvy member, they tend to overwork them. I have been in charge of newsletters (then websites) for various groups and organizations (including HOAs) over the years going back to the early 90s. It can be fun – until it isn’t. Or until people have opinions about formatting and style that run counter to your own excellent taste!!!

      I will not let the news depress me. I am enjoying the Omarosa fk-the-trumps tour – not for the salacious details, they don’t interest me, but for the intense discomfort they seem to be causing. Every time a new detail comes out, people are reminded of what an immensely unqualified and truly deplorable person Trump is and how stupid the American people were to give him power.

      • Thanks, Jan! Yes, well, there’s one member of the Communications Committee who neither owns nor uses a computer. Yikes! My husband got his first computer at age 70. He’s now on his third, a laptop. He also uses his iPhone for texting, photos, and calling, as well as Kindle on his iPad, and he’s 88. Some folks get it and some don’t.

        Luckily the committee is big enough that I don’t think I’ll be overworked.

  6. 68, 100% humidity, heading for upper 80s and probably a 3-digit heat index again. Got 17.5 KWHs yesterday. Won’t today unless it clears off. The m-t-d is 238.7 – 500 is still barely possible but not likely. Live in hope. I’m about to head out the door to work. We shall see what we shall see. Healing Energy to everybody, shaped to your need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Last day of my vacation. Has been very nice doing nothing, not talking, etc. Today: maybe I’ll finally fix my shoe shelf that fell apart however many months ago. And maybe ice cream.

    • I like this framing; it says to me that he understands there are slogans, and there are also other ways to meet the desired goal:

      I support Medicare for All and similar universal healthcare programs.

      I hope he picks up a whole bunch of those 22% undecided!

  8. Good morning, Meesefolk. I’m headed to OH after work for a weekend of play and joint birthday celebrations, which is going a long way towards easing my weeklong grumpy mood. We’ll be going out for tea and scones at a place in town which I love: http://www.asterisksupperclub.com/experience/ , and we’ll be going to a Penzey’s nearby since I’ve only shopped for their spices online and want to visit a store. Saturday night we’re going to play a round of Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective which is one of my favorite games; we have yet to “beat” Holmes, but then, he isn’t solving mysteries while imbibing in adult beverages. It will be the first visit I’ve made in ages that doesn’t have a work-purpose. No costumes, no helping pack, no wedding-related tasks, just pure, simple fun. To say I’m excited would be an understatement. Now I just have to get through the workday.

  9. Good morning, meeses! Saturday …

    It is 64 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 81 degrees. Foggy now with a chance of thunderstorms then more fog overnight. Sounds like my head these days!

    I am discouraged about the Manafort trial as it now looks like he will get off and the message will be that no crimes will be punished as long as you have powerful friends. The message from the vulgar talking yam to the jury yesterday was clear and if there are any trumpers on it (pretty likely) they will not vote to convict. So hung jury and, when the government attempts to re-try him, a pardon of the “good man” who is being “treated badly by the government.” This is how it is done in authoritarian governments: the friends of the dictator are safe from the rule of law which makes more people want to suck up to the dictator. In our case, the dictatorship was created by the cowardly Congress, eschewing oversight and sacrificing our democracy to stay in power and funnel tax dollars and government assets to their donors. :(

    My own Senator, Tammy Baldwin, delivered the Democratic Party’s weekly address and the topic is the new junk policies that the Trump administration is allowing on the market, a return to the bad old days when people could pay premiums for insurance that did not cover them if they got sick or injured. Of course, now we will pay for their illnesses and injuries because – so far – is it still the law of the land that you can get emergency medical care even if you are uninsured or underinsured. Our costs of medical care will go up as will our insurance. That people would want to buy these policies is amazing to me but then I still can’t believe that 62 million people voted for Donald Trump.

    See all y’all later!

  10. Good morning, Meese! Gray and gloomy this morning after the night from hell. Dearly and I were awakened at 2 a.m. by a thunder-and-lightning show that went on for a solid hour. It was like a derecho. Plenty of rain came with it as well, as my potted plants on the screened porch attest. Luckily our four-year-old grandson slept through the whole thing.

    Currently it’s 69 humid degrees F. in Ashburn, going up to 85 F. The storm was fairly mild last night in Arlington County, where we enjoyed a wonderful visit and dinner with Elder Son, DIL, and our three-year-old grandson. Elder Son grilled steak and corn, DIL roasted asparagus and made a salad, and then Elder Son made Bananas Foster for dessert. Dearly Beloved and I really miss grilling during the summer on our patio at Barky Manor. We’re not allowed to grill here.

    We are going to take our overnight guest and his sister out to breakfast, pick up the dog from his boarding facility, then come home and take it easy. I have lots of desk work to do—just hope I can get it done. Somehow, laziness takes over.

    I can’t think about politics this morning, too tired from our unrestful night. Wishing all a good day!

    • This seems to be a common malady!! “Somehow, laziness takes over.”

      My best intentions inevitably turn into “I think this can wait until tomorrow” – and that is how my to-do list never gets to-done.

  11. Hot, sticky — we don’t have any fires but we do have Saharan dust. Today’s plan: grocery shopping & getting breakfast ready for next week. One of my Facebook friends is having a very tough time, I’m worried about him. Sending out Heal Me for him, hoping he can find a way out of his situation.

  12. 73 heading for 86 and we shall see about the heat index. Rained like billy-o yesterday, only got 9 KWHs and the m-t-d is 248. This being the 18th, it’s very unlikely we’ll reach 500 but I keep hoping as long as it’s possible. Which it is. Barely. So far it’s sunny if a bit hazy today.

    Did the Farmers Market for the 1st time in 3 weeks – my egg supplier is out of eggs. Fortunately I had 2 left so there are muffins in the oven as I type. (Molasses spice.) I’m thinking about making soup as well. Yesterday at work was relatively boring – which is usually good – classes start next week so I may work more hours than originally planned, depending. I don’t have my permissions to enroll students yet so all I could do is take notes. Hopefully Monday I’ll get them and can get those kids into their classes – or at least look at the classes to see if the there’s room to put those kids into those classes. I’m living an “old normal” – the difference mostly being I’m on twitter instead of DK during my coffee break and lunch times. 😁😁😁 It feels really strange and really familiar at the same time. Sort of like going back to an old neighborhood after you’ve been gone a few years. Anyway. Still have some stuff to do to get totally back on track from the trip so I’d best get to it. Healing Energy to everybody as needed. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  13. Good morning, 58 and partly sunny in Bellingham. The air is still hazy, but breathing conditions are easier. I was outside yesterday afternoon and evening and it was relatively comfortable.

    Today will be busy as Ava will be here this afternoon to help me bake her birthday cake. I have an old favorite recipe for a pound cake with mini chocolate chips so I hope the gf version will be as tasty. The frosting will be a chocolate ganache, topped with sea salt caramels. I have all the ingredients and she has the vision. Should be fun!

    Her family party is tomorrow so her dad was here yesterday to borrow some tables. And that meant a reshuffle in the garage, and an even bigger one in the basement. I suggested the tables now live at his house and he agreed……small progress towards having less stuff!

    Time for coffee. Take care everyone.

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