Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Feb. 3rd through Feb. 9th

February 2, 2019 JanF Community 105

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 (usually Saturday night with a Sunday date). 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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  • Page One of Comments are HERE!
     

  • Page Two of Comments are HERE!
     

30 Comments

  1. Another record warm morning. Sandals & capris, in February. Cold front coming Thursday though. I signed up to get a text when Stacey Abrams starts her speech, so I don’t even have to have the TV on while the monster speaks. Speaking of speeches — the snippet from the Great Dictator at the beginning of this song is the kind of thing I wish our POTUS would say: Head Full of Dreams.

    <blockquote>We all want to help one another, human beings are like that.
We want to live by each other's happiness.
Not by each other's misery.
We don't want to hate and despise one another.
And this world has room for everyone, and the good Earth is rich can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
Greed has posioned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.</blockquote>

    https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=speech+great+dictator

  2. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s partly cloudy in Ashburn today. Much of the snow has melted away because yesterday was so warm. This morning it’s 40 F., going up to a high of 65 F. I normally don’t like these temperatures in the dead of winter, but this is just so convenient for getting rid of the snow.

    My plan for the day is to visit my friend at Greenspring, 30 miles away. Today’s the only day I can do it. It’s going to pretty much kill the day, as I won’t be back until 3:30 at the earliest and an hour after that we’ll go down the hall to dinner. If we go horribly early, our chances of being seated will increase.

    Dreading the thought of doing our taxes. We normally get a large refund because of (1) Dubya’s stupid tax cuts, and (2) the “automated” companies such as TIAA-CREF and Unisys are incapable of calculating the correct withholding. Thus, TIAA-CREF takes as much tax money for the state as it does for the Feds (wrong), and Unisys takes enough for the Feds and a teeny amount for the state (wrong again). Just coping with all this after I retired in 2006 consumed a solid week of telephone time, so after that I just gave up. Now, we might actually owe! That’s going to kill us financially. I might have to get a job.

    Well, anyway, no more about that. I shall watch the SOTU on C-SPAN and Stacey Abrams’ rebuttal. Someone on dk made a really funny comment that every time Thing lies, Madame Speaker might leap to her feet, eyes blazing, behind him. The commenter remarked that it would be a really good lower-leg workout for her. I think I’ll do the same, I could use a lower-leg workout!

    Wishing all a good day at the Pond and our racist Virginia governor a bad day in Richmond.

    • I am done with taxes and will be taking mine to the post office tomorrow. I do not trust eFiling because I am an IT person and I know the terrible things that can happen once that much personal information is transmitted SOMEWHERE. I thought about doing it electronically this year to try to beat the next shutdown into the IRS queue but I started clicking on the steps and when it said “upload an image of your drivers license” I stopped, clicked back 4 times and chose “Mail-In”. There is too much you can do with that and I am not interested in dealing with a hacked life – it would cut into my nap time! I am getting a federal refund and, shockingly, a state refund. I have no idea why but I have to trust TurboTax to know what the new rules are.

      I don’t want Nancy Pelosi to react in any way other than a grandmotherly eye roll where necessary. I can’t believe a speech by Individual 1 will elicit many standing ovations – unless he were to announce his resignation! – so that should mean Stacey will be on time. Like I said, I will probably be asleep when it is live.

  4. Winter is marching back in. It’s 46 at the moment although it’s still supposed to get into the mid 60s today and I still plan to walk home again, the day doesn’t have the “soft” feel of Imbolc. It’s overcast at the moment but supposed to clear off later. I hope so. Yesterday was lovely and the walk home was very pleasant. We got 10.86 KWHs and the m-t-d is 28.6 – if we could keep that up…but we’re not gonna. The system’s server is down so I won’t know what the heck we get or don’t get until the SolarEdge people fix it. The inverter will save the data up to 30 days so I’m not worried about getting it eventually. Just another irritation on a gray day.

    Northam’s a Deplorable who has done some good things. That doesn’t surprise me – I’ve worked with many of those over my life. Including when I was on the Quorum Court – one of the most entitled “I deserve it, those people are stealing it out of my pockets” anti-government except for me effers on the Court supported public transit. (Mind you it was because his sister needed it.) Northam still needs to resign. Meanwhile I look forward to reading Abrams speech tomorrow morning (no sound at work) & hopefully listening to it tomorrow evening.

    I need to get back to work. And more coffee. Sending Healing Energy to everybody everywhere to their own shaping. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  5. Good morning, Meesefolk; 34 when I got up, and 34 now. Also grey, but that’s barely worth mentioning anymore…grey is the new normal, I guess.

    So there’s a speech tonight? It sounds like I’m going to get some sewing done after all. I would like to watch the Speaker’s demeanor during the speech, but muting the tv isn’t enough to avoid exposure to the Yam. I’m sure if her body language becomes newsworthy, there will be memes on twitter almost immediately. I’ll probably catch Stacey Abrams after the fact too; it just seems like a good night to keep the tv off altogether.

    Good day to and for all!

    • I think it would be difficult to miss the orange-faced fool on news, Twitter, or on any channel you might be trying to surf past. Best to shut it down and catch up tomorrow. You are right,, there will be a Nancy Pelosi meme tomorrow if there is any reaction to Stephen Miller’s speech that is worth noting. Maybe a new Twitter account, a companion to Nancy Pelosi’s Red Coat but Nancy Pelosi’s Raised Eyebrow. :)

  6. Good morning, 18 and sunny in Bellingham. Schools are closed again today due to icy roads so I’ll call the grand girls. If they walk to the top of their hill we could meet them on the main road. They live on the north side of town and the higher elevation means they have more snow than we do.

    I cleared the decks in my sewing room yesterday and then took a long nap to recover. So today I can finally use my cutting table as it’s intended. After so many years of production sewing I’m finally learning how to do relax in that room!

    Best wishes to all.

  7. 35 with a high of 46 and cloudy. What’s that you said about being gray all the time, DoReMI? 😂

    Going to be a long day at work today culminating in an 8 pm meeting. Joy. Best to get some breakfast in and then go to work.

    • {{{basket}}} – breakfast is good. Also take time out for a decent lunch & dinner (or at least nibble on nutritious snacks throughout the day). Healing Energy and more {{{HUGS}}}

  9. Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …

    It is 23 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 32. Freezing rain today giving way to snow tomorrow then deep freeze on Friday. Mid-January to mid-February has always been the most difficult period to get through in this part of Wisconsin. Usually if we can make it to March, we can coast – an occasional storm, a few colder than normal days but not the unrelenting winter.

    I just watched Stacey Abrams’ SOTU response and I want her to be in charge of everything!

    This will stay with me for a while:

    We only had one car, so sometimes my dad had to hitchhike and walk long stretches during the 30 mile trip home from the shipyards. One rainy night, my mom got worried. We piled in the car and went out looking for him, and we eventually found my dad making his way along the road, soaked and shivering in his shirt sleeves.

    When he got in the car, my mom asked if he had left his coat at work. He explained that he’d given it to a homeless man he’d met on the highway. When we asked why he’d given away his only jacket, my dad turned to us and said, “I knew when I left that man, he’d still be alone, but I could give him my coat, because I knew you were coming for me.”

    I am not going to read the news because I don’t want anything to harsh the buzz from that speech. Edit: I put the speech up in a post on my site so that I can read the transcript at my leisure: (Stacey Abrams: “Together, we are coming for a better America.”)

    See all y’all later!

  10. Good Wednesday morning Meese

    The Orange Pendejo mentioned not one word about Puerto Rico last night.

    I’m pissed – again. Gonna go put up a diary.

  12. Another record warm morning. Capris & sandals. Cold front coming tomorrow — Friday’s high will be in the 40s. I ignored the speech last night, and Stacey Abram’s speech started too late. Hope it was good. Gonna play Head Full of Dreams again.

  13. Good morning, Moosekind! Sitting here, sneezing away—allergies again. We’re expecting rain later today in NoVa but at this hour (7:50 a.m.), it’s partly cloudy, with a hazy pale blue sky. The current temperature is 40 F., with an expected high of 55 F. Quite a change from yesterday’s record-breaking high of 74 F.!

    Hoping my niece can make it for lunch today—this will be the fourth Wednesday in a row that we’ve tried for it—but am waiting to hear.

    I tried to stay up for the SOTU but had to retire. Couldn’t take it. Will have to read Jan’s transcript of Stacey Abram’s speech later.

    My poor friend, whom I visited yesterday, seemed very frail. She has considerable breathing issues and has to use an oxygen concentrator, whatever that is, several times a day. She remarked that she doesn’t see much point in going on. Didn’t know what to say. What does one say?

    Anyway, I have some chores to do. The doctor gave me a long list of meds I have to buy at Costco and two appointments to make, and I still have a couple of writing projects for the Communications Committee, so my day will be full.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and to all the women in Congress!

    • I’m sorry about your friend. I talk to elderly people without a lot going on in their lives – several times a week, people say that our books are the only thing they have. I never know what to say.

      • I think maybe just being there is enough. I went through a period of being a happily-married single parent (The Hubby was transferred, and we made the decision not to sell the house and move again since he was retiring soon), and I would sometimes call Lands End customer service late at night. I always ostensibly had a question, but really I was lonely and in need of adult conversation. One phone call I just admitted that to the rep and apologized for “using” her. Instead of hurrying me off the phone, she started a real conversation with me and talked for me for at least 30 minutes. I will never forget that kindness; just thinking of it again makes me teary-eyed.

        • Thanks, DoReMI. I’m going to try to write her once a day because she seems to really like my letters and frequently tells me that I am her best friend.

  14. 32 with high of 50. I woke up early to let someone in who will help my roommate get ready before she goes to the doctor. Not sure if I’ll manage to get any more sleep so I might as well stay awake.

    Today should hopefully be a bit less of a long day, but we shall see what we shall see. (a bfitz-ism)

    Good day to one and all!

    • {{{basket}}} – I hope your day goes better today. Healing Energy & more {{{HUGS}}}

  15. Good morning, Meesefolk; 30 when I got up with a high of 37 later today. Until then, it’s rain-sleet-ice-ing outside, and I drove to work wondering what the hell I was thinking being out on the roads. For the most part, they were well salted, but I had my eyes peeled for black ice.

    I ended up going to bed well before Stacey Abrams came on, so I’m happy to see her speech here. I can’t imagine what Individual 1 found to say for 80 minutes; President Miller must not use an editor for his speechwriting. I did note with amusement that a Nancy meme was found and is being used on Twitter; “fk you” clapping is my new favorite thing…until the next Nancy meme appears.

    Time to get to work; I’m expecting a slow day, because my clients are smart enough to stay home on days like today (unlike me). If I can clear my desk promptly, it gives me most of the day to read the book that just happened to make its way into my purse. Good day to and for all!

  16. It’s 59 and overcast in Fay., AR – heading for 66 but supposedly raining most of the day. In reality it’s drizzled a few times but no actual rain. Just humidity high enough to soak your clothes if you’re out in it. sigh. The PV system is on but that’s about all you can say for it. We did get up to 9.8 KWHs yesterday before the clouds moved in. So the m-t-d is 38.9 which is good. Especially since I’ll be surprised if we get even 5 each (& maybe together) today and tomorrow.

    Thank you Jan for the link to the Abrams transcript. I don’t have speakers at work and I really do want to read it before I hit my TL on twitter today. LOL. I’ll listen to it tonight when I get home. I haven’t a clue and don’t really care what the Deplorable-in-Chief said. The state of the Union is Deplorable and will be until we can get the majority of them replaced with decent people. Closer to home as it were I’ve online family facing hard times and the little I can send them is akin to lighting a candle in the darkness. It’s moral support but it’s no way gonna get them out of the pit they’ve fallen into. So I also Channel Energy for their shaping. I guess it’s just as well that it takes a lot of arcane Energy to make a mundane impact. Goddess only knows what we’d be knee deep (or neck deep or over our heads) in if it “magic” were easier. But…

    I need to get back to work. After more coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • It reads well but Stacey also has excellent delivery so I recommend that you watch it when you get home. I did not watch the PBS YouTube version that I posted here so I hope it is complete. I watched it off the CSPAN link but I know some people can’t view it (you have to be subscribed to cable).

  17. Good morning, 20 and partly sunny in Bellingham. Looks like a few more days of cold temps and light snow is forecast, so I’ll be in my sewing room. My pesky TMJ responds to the cold air is a rather painful way so I’ll stay warm and busy indoors.

    Best wishes to all.

    • Princesspat, didn’t your TMJ ever clear up? Are you able to eat actual food or just soup? That must be extremely difficult to live with. I’ve had it from time to time but it only lasted a day or two.

  18. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 25 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 32. Winter storm warning in effect with freezing rain this morning followed by snow, 1-3 inches expected. I’m ready for that early spring the local groundhog predicted!

    I enjoyed “researching” the Nancy Pelosi Sarcastic Hand Clap meme that came out of the SOTU – I couldn’t dig too deep into it because some involved hearing tRump speak and seeing the orifice on his face simulate bowel movements which triggers me. I guess his speech was pro forma with the biggest takeaway that – #JustLikeNixon – he wants the investigations of him, his family, and his businesses to end. Sorry, Not Sorry! It will only get worse as his business associates and personal friends are swept up as well. Resign now and take the guy with the Q-Tip head with you so that President Pelosi can begin to clean the swamp.

    The reckoning involved with trying to turn a red state – and the seat of the Confederacy – blue is that at some point you have to come to terms with the racist past instead of just hoping it does not burble up. I think maybe “Proud Son of Virginia” should be a disqualification for elected office in that state until the generation who thought it was funny to be blackface and dress like the KKK have cleared out of the system. It is sad, though, that it means putting a Republican – whose party embraces the Confederacy and Jim Crow and voter suppression – into the governorship. It shows how thin the veneer of decency is when it is built on a cesspool of racial animus.

    See all y’all later!

  19. Thursday Meese. 40 degrees here in NYS going up to 48.

    Haven’t really looked at the news yet, have been at my keyboard since early this morning writing for deadline.

  20. Another warm morning — 72 now, but a cold front is coming today and it’ll be 40 degrees colder tomorrow. In the morning, it’ll feel like the 20s. Austin winter. Anyway, the political horror show continues. Today will be a Beautiful Day even so.

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