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 is HERE!
– Page Two of Comments is HERE!
Good morning meese, 51 with a high of 61. I’ve been scarce but have a moment to check in today. Will probably still be scarce though.
{{{basket}}} – you carry my thoughts with you, wherever you go. moar {{{HUGS}}}
It’s mid 40s heading for low 60s and the sun is shining. We got just over 6 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 296.5 so with any luck at all we should reach 300 by midday. Nice omen for both Aji’s biopsy today and also my older son’s 48th birthday. (Gonna have late lunch/early dinner with him to celebrate.) Prayers & invocations for the former definitely needed & wouldn’t hurt for the latter.
I heard back from my doctor’s office – seems my blood tests show I’m low on iron. They wanted to call in a Rx – I said “nope” – I’ve never had an iron supplement that didn’t make me sick. I guess I’d best add liver to my diet for a bit. I haven’t heard back from the mobile vet – the vet and vet tech are wonderful as far as the vet work is concerned. I’m finding their “office work” is not as prompt. Which is probably why his phone message gives the number for the Animal ER if it’s an emergency. Still worried about Murf (which seems to be kitty no. 5’s name) – he’s eating a little but not moving a lot and definitely hissing and not exactly growling (but not exactly not) at the Twins when they come close. The Twins want out in the morning but settle in relatively well after a bit when I don’t let them. Charlie and Cloud are a bit miffed – and needy – having all these young noobs in the house. I don’t have enough hands to pet 5 cats at a time. sigh. But we’re working things out.
Things are so very vile in the outer world and there’s so very little I can do about it. Boosting the signals I can boost. Sending a fiver here and tenner there, hoping the mickles will indeed reach the needed muckle. Helping who I can with what I can. And waiting. Waiting for the election season to officially get here (which won’t be until next year) and the Dem office opens again so I can feel like I’m doing something. Waiting for Stronger Together to get strong enough to block the evil and start the clean up. Waiting to hear if my friends and loved ones are surviving/are getting better. Waiting sux. But it is what it is and we shall forever see what we shall see. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 43 and raining in Bellingham. The sound of rain on the roof in the night was comforting and familiar, lulling me back to sleep. Rain makes the moss grow on the rocks and pavers and that’s a welcome sign of spring. I’ve been getting my pots ready so I can plant the few spring flowers I have later today. The weather needs to be warmer before I can plant the containers for summer, but for now I have some Japanese Anemones, pansies and violas, and native PNW bulbs. These plants will give me some spring color and then transplant into the garden. It’s nice to be outdoors again.
Best wishes to all.
Oh, princesspat! I wish I could still hear rain on the roof! That’s one of the things I miss most. Being deaf is okay during the day when I can use hearing aids, but the aids have to be removed at night.
I’ve always loved the sound of rain and even the appearance of it.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 36 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 57. The forecast calls for mainly cloudy with the sun breaking through occasionally – rain and snow will be part of the weekend forecast! Hey, March, you are supposed to go out like a lamb!! Nothing lamblike about snow.
I was pleased to see that people are pushing back on those suggesting that the Mueller Report exonerates Trump – the only people who have seen the Mueller Report are Mueller, Barr and Rosenstein. The Barr Letter, a report by a partisan hack selected for his job specifically to destroy any evidence that Mueller had found, has exonerated Trump. And the bottom line is that Russia installed Trump: Trump knew that Russia was helping him and whether he coordinated with them or not, he accepted their help and was “elected” president. That he is an illegitimate president will never change. Here is what we are left with, goddess help us:
He couldn’t have done it without a complicit Republican Party and we have to make sure that he and his enablers are voted out of office. Our job as it relates to the Mueller investigation is to advocate for the House committees to see the report but focus full fire on the attack on our health care. My favorite headline: “WTF Is Wrong With Them’: Republicans Horrified as Trump Goes After Obamacare Again.” WTF is wrong with them? They are idiots and they have always been idiots. Someone pointed out that if they would leave health care alone, they could probably win on racial animus and culture wars but taking away people’s health care is a third rail – everyone knows someone with pre-existing conditions and someone who benefits in other ways from the ACA.
Speaking of idiots, Bernie Sanders said last night that he would vote NO on the House bill that will be passed today or tomorrow which shores up the ACA. No incrementals for him! Single Payer or Bust! Then bust, you old fool. Go away and leave the field to the sensible Democrats.
Another Wisconsin judge struck down the Republican overreach in the lame duck session – not as much of it as the first judge but definitely the restrictions on the Attorney General (which was rightly called shameful). We have a Supreme Court election coming up on April 2nd (my vote is already banked) and I hope everyone realizes by now how important the courts are. If we hold this seat, we can take back the Supreme Court next year in an election featuring a Walker appointee that will coincide with the Democratic presidential primary here. W00t!
See all y’all later!
Wednesday Meese. 22 here in NYS going up to 49.
I’m still appalled by what Trump is doing to Puerto Rico. The new bill from Democrats, ACA 2.0 doesn’t mention PR or the USVI either.
Read the WAPO editorial:
Trump doubled down on his hate in a Republican lunch meeting yesterday, showing that he felt no shame that his opinions from the previous meeting had been widely reported! He is truly a vile piece of excrement.
Mike Godwin (of Godwin’s Law)
Woke up at 4:30 — there was some loud humming noise outside — so I got up & got downtown early & got in a walk. Watch says 1.2 miles. I still plan to to the HIIT workout this evening.
The political news is just…… I know they won’t succeed in killing the ACA, but they will hurt a lot of people until 2020 when we can end this nightmare. And defunding Special Olympics??? Almost too on the nose for Cruella DeVos. Ugh. Turning to Head Full of Dreams, which is a hopeful, happy song — and even if you don’t like Coldplay, listen to the 1st minute & a half, for the speech from the Great Dictator. But also this:
And you get a head
A head full of dreams
You can see the change you want to
Be what you want to be
Good Woden’s Day, Moosekind! It’s 36 F. this sunny morning, going up to 54 F., which is 10 degrees below normal for this time of year in this area. The woods across the way are wrapped in misty green. I love this time of year, when the Green Begins!
Feeling thoroughly disheartened that Kamala’s campaign is not getting the coverage it should by the male-dominated media. It’s amusing that Beto started sucking up some of Saint Bernard’s coverage and now Buttigieg (which means “herder of chickens,” according to my Arabic-speaking friend) is starting to suck up Beto’s coverage! Wish the three white male B-boys would knock each other out. I don’t include Biden because he hasn’t declared yet.
Future president Pelosi’s birthday was yesterday and as we all noticed, her birthday present was the proposed ACA repeal by the psychopath.
Bfitz, Mrs. Rassmussen, the superb cook in the Mary Lasswell series about three beer-drinking old ladies, made a molasses pie for a character who was anemic. She also fed the person lots of parsley because, she said, “Any fool would know parsley had iron in it from the way it made your teeth feel.” Ever since then, I’ve eaten the parsley when it garnishes my plate in restaurants. :)
I’m due for a fitness evaluation this morning by the leader of the gym, and this afternoon I have a webinar about editing one’s own book. I’ve pretty much edited mine already but I should probably print it out again and read through it.
Wishing all at the Pond a good day!
The herder of chickens is sucking up to Chik-fil-HATE for some reason – maybe to show that he can magnanimously forgive people who would like him dead? Well, he does not get to make that decision for everyone; if he wants to be a self-loathing Log Cabin Republican Lite, fine but you cannot be the standardbearer for Democratic Party values. We will have no kumbaya in 2020 – this is a death match.
{{{Diana}}} Glad things are greening up where you are. Yes, Mrs. Rassmussen’s molasses pie was basically a pecan pie that used blackstrap molasses instead of light corn syrup. I’ve been meaning to try that for about 40 years now. I just don’t eat that much pie. LOL. Thanks for the reminder though. I’ve got some blackstap at home and not really much of anything else that is high iron. Mrs. R was correct about the parsley too – and yes, I’ve always eaten my garnish every since I first read that book. (High Time 2nd in the series if you’ve forgotten.)
Have a fun day. moar {{{HUGS}}}
OMG, bfitz, you know about that series! A fellow Lasswell fan! Wow, this makes my day. Can’t you get some GF flour, make the pie, and then freeze slices for future use? Or take some to the office. Once I put rum in the chocolate frosting just for kicks and my family hated it. Took the cake to the office, where it disappeared in minutes. Those people would eat anything.
Yup. I’ve got 3 of the books – when my library was culling older books that nobody seemed to be reading they put them in the Library sale shelf but 3 were gone by the time I saw them. The original Suds in Your Eye, the 3rd One on the House, and the last Let’s Go for Broke. But I remember the plots and most of the characters of the other three even though I haven’t read them in over 20 years. As to the pie, maybe. I’ll have to think about it. I just downed a TBSP of molasses straight to start out with. {{{HUGS}}}
It’s mid 40s heading for mid 60s and mostly sunny at the moment. The wind’s shifted around to the southwest so much more pleasant outside. We generated a little over 20 KWHS yesterday and the m-t-d is 317 – with 5 days left in the month. As always, we shall see what we shall see – but I’d love to at least meet 2017’s 360. 😁😁
Aji had a long and painful day yesterday – and hasn’t a clue how long it will be until the results are in or what they’ll be – but ol’ bernie’s “no incrementalism” made her angry enough for a righteous rant.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
I’m still worried about cats. One of the twins is limping – fast as greased lightning but not putting any weight on the front left paw. He let me feel down his leg and the upper side of the paw and there doesn’t seem to be anything there. The fact he won’t let me see & fusses if I touch the underside/pads suggests that’s where the issue is. Meanwhile Cloud has taken to hissing and growling at Murf when they get close together. sigh.
I missed the vet callback & will have to try again but I had a lovely lunch with my son for his birthday – we went to the Khana Indian Grill & if he’s interested I most certainly want to take basket there next time he visits. ALL the entrees are gluten free (you do have to tell them no naan but they have a lentil cracker they give you instead). I had the chicken tikka masala – and need to remember to divide it and take half home next time. It wasn’t just that the serving was a bit more food than I normally eat in one sitting but also how rich the sauce is. But it was delicious. My son was riding his Harley – that he got just before Thanksgiving – and wearing his father’s leather motorcycle jacket. His dad got it in 1967 when he was in the Navy and got his first motorcycle. Son got it from his father on his 21st birthday but was too overweight at the time to wear it. He got it out of the storage box last weekend. Patched and polished to almost good as new now, he’s wearing it and enjoying himself.
Holding the Good Thought for everybody. Health, money, or both is lacking in just too many of my friends’ lives right now. And waaaaaay too many other folks I don’t/can’t know personally but deserve it just as much. I need to get back to work. Also coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 41 and sunny in Bellingham. Yesterday I decided this is officially my “puttering around” stage of life, and it seems to be agreeing with me:)
I’ve been slowly editing my closet so today I’ll take several bags clothes to the thrift shop supporting the YMCA. And I nearly have another large donation of fabric ready to depart. As you all know I’m sentimental so as I sort for donations memories come to mind and that slows me down, especially when it’s fun to reminisce. I try to move right through the upsetting ones!
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, Meesefolk; 25 when I got up this morning with a sunny high of 50. Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer, but with a 60% chance of rain, with more expected over the weekend. A little more lamb-y than Jan is expecting, but still more old, tough ram than cute baby lamby-kins. All the green sightings that are being mentioned by everyone here are still just a dream of things to come here.
I’m back to vibrating with anxiety over the Barr Letter, the prospect of our reps not seeing the original report and background materials, and the arrogance that is now the tRump and Republican response. I need to work off some of this stress; now that it’s not totally dark when I get home from work, I may start taking walks. I also need to get back in my sewing room. I have a simple tree skirt to make for SILs Snoopy/Woodstock Christmas tree that he puts up in his office, and I’m toying with the idea of starting a t-shirt quilt for the Kiddo using a bunch of her old theatre Ts. Any distraction would be good right now.
Good day to and for all!
{{{DoReMI}}} – anything that takes focus should help you get through this. The t-shirt quilt sounds very nice. I wish I’d done that with my theater t-shirts (well, I only had 10 of them – I wasn’t in theater for that long) instead of wearing them out. Healing Energy. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Can we just put Stacey Abrams in charge of everything?
Thursday Meese.
30 here in NYS going up to a springlike 56.
By executive order – Puerto Rico’s usually wimpy Gov. has banned conversion therapy. That’s good news. The bad news is that Puerto Rico’s legislature is gathering the votes to override his veto of the new anti-abortion law – which has been a major issue supported by the islands fanatical evangelicals.
Trump continues to withhold funding for food and recovery on the island.
In other PR news:
This bill will go no where – it will simply further confuse folks on the mainland who don’t understand the status issue. If PR became a state tomorrow – they would elect two new Republican Senators – since the PR government is controlled by right-wing Republicans in the Statehood Party.
Someone asked me “But how could these oppressed people of color have right-wing politicians in charge?”
I explained – the “people in charge” don’t consider themselves to be poc. They are ‘white’. They are elites. They are no different from r-wing Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.
On that note – need moar coffee
This is a horrifying thought!
I believe you have said in the past that there is no consensus on the island that the people want statehood. I wonder if that has changed as they see that being dependent on the kindness of whoever is in charge of the United States government is not a good plan. It seems as though any self-determination plan would require that they give up their U.S. citizenship which does not sound wise, either. What is the alternative to statehood?
The whole issue is confusing – there is a range of perspectives within the faction that is rejecting both statehood and independence.
Political Parties and Status
The most recent event – is the formation of a new party – made up mostly of disaffected members of the Populares (anti-statehood) group. They reject independence however. They will probably wind up being a spoiler group – ensuring that the right wing will continue to rule. There is speculation that if Carmen Cruz fails to win the primary for gov (which she will) that she will jump over to the new party and run against both the Populares candidate and the statehood candidate – splitting the vote. The new party has Bernie supporters in it. The Populares are pro-Hillary, pro-Democrats.
That is complicated! It seems like the best solution, if they are to stay a territory, is to have voting members of Congress and some electoral votes so that their opinions matter in real ways. The same with Guam and the Virgin Islands (I am still holding out for DC to have statehood which will give us two Democratic Senators.) For the United States to have colonies in 2019 should be embarrassing. And to treat them the way we are treating Puerto Rico is deplorable.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 46 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 55. Mainly sunny skies are in the forecast.
I was not the person in Wisconsin who won the $750 million lottery even though I did buy tickets (I generally do when it gets really large because someone has to win it, why not me?). I hope it is someone who wants to donate to those working to save our state from the Republicans. An appeals court stayed the order overturning some of the lame duck laws – I haven’t read the article yet but I think it involved some of the appointments to various boards. That makes some sense – that would be very complicated and confusing; Evers will have plenty of time to make his own appointments over the next 3 plus years. I hope they allowed the restoration of Attorney General Josh Kaul’s powers, though. We need a functioning DOJ.
I am going to go news-light today – I have had my fill of it for a while with the Barr Letter and Mueller Report and all the lazy reporting surrounding it. Today is opening day for baseball season. Every team except two (who played a game in Japan to open the season) is 0-0 and hope springs eternal. My team had a good post season run last year but all the prognosticators suggest that they will not repeat. That could very well be true! I just hope to be entertained.
A federal judge blocked the cruel Medicaid work requirements in Arkansas and Kentucky reminding us again how important the courts are. I wish the berners who voted for Jill Stein or stayed home had been educated by their god Bernie about how the two-party system works in America. Of course, he had no interest in educating them – if they stay dumb they will believe that it is not necessary to choose a party and that both parties are the same. :(
See all y’all later!
Cool morning — I needed a sweater. Ok, that would probably count as “warm” for most of you. No walk this morning, so I must work out this evening. So, Cruella DeVos didn’t just cut the funding for Special Olympics and services for disabled children — she gave her upper staff big raises. (you know there’s not a raise for the regular staff in that budget). And her justification.. ugh.
Anyway, here’s happy bouncy Heal Me.
Good Thor’s Day, Moosekind! It’s another beautiful, dry morning with a current temperature in Ashburn of 42 F., going up to 63 F.
After five days of having no trouble getting here, this morning I was greeted by the hacker message when I clicked on my Moose bookmark. Not sure whether I’ll be able to post this comment and, regrettably, I won’t be able to fierce anyone else’s comments. There’s a form at the bottom of this comment form that I’ll have to fill out.
Had the night from hell, despite wearing the yellow glasses all evening to protect against blue light. I’ve had three hours’ sleep, so Goddess alone knows how I’m going to get through exercise class and a birthday lunch with Darling Niece today.
Part of my sleeplessness may stem from the fact that after they realized the book has ended, my characters moved out of my head and I miss them. They’ve been with me for at least 18 months. It’s too soon for other characters to move in yet, the “house” has to be smudged. I never know what kind of story idea is going to move in next. Anyway, as soon as I finish this comment I’ll email princesspat and DoReMI to ask how they’d like their names to appear on the Acknowledgments page. My 24-year-old granddaughter, a privacy freak, wants to appear as “Anonymous Millennial.”
Had my fitness evaluation at the gym yesterday and it appears that I am a “fit” old bag! I hope to become even more so.
As for the Mueller report—merry Fitzmas, everyone!
Must start on the day’s chores, so will wish a good day to all at the Pond.
Darn, I was hoping we had gotten past the site login issue. Do you know how to make screen captures from your computer and email them? I would like to see the exact error message as sometimes they provide clues about the origin – I have no idea where the message might be coming from, the site, the hosting firm, your computer, or what. Without knowing who is issuing it, it is like searching for a needle in a haystack.
Let’s see – this isn’t a screen capture but I copied and pasted the error message. I also emailed it to you.
Hope this helps. And thank you.
OK – I’m back now. Thanks. {{{{HUGS}}}
Thanks for the detailed message! I think when I googled part of that message text last week it suggested it was from our hosting firm, the place that has the servers that run the web site software. They had two things to try but neither were pertinent because it related to the admin login which was just fine. The good news is that they have livechat support so I can get on chat with them Sunday morning and get some ideas of what to try next.
Thank you for all your work keeping us up and running.
I love Anonymous Millennial! So much so that now I’m thinking I want to be something Anonymous too. Anonymous Boomer? Anonymous Fabric Addict? So many possibilities…
OK, DoReMI, I’ll put you down as Anonymous Boomer unless I hear to the contrary.
Hi folks – not sure this will get through because apparently it’s my turn to be blocked due to massive bot attacks. If this is computer-specific, then it happened between noon yesterday and 8 am this morning. If not computer-specific then the hit happened after 6 pm yesterday.
Anyway, we got over 20 KWHs yesterday, the m-t-d is just over 336. It’s warmish (mid 50s heading for 70) and started clear but the clouds are already moving in. Front coming through and I’m pretty sure I’ll have a fire tonight. Cherry tree is starting to bloom so I devoutly hope we’ve had our last freeze for the year. Cats are pretty much the same. Murf isn’t eating a lot but he’s eating. He’s also not exactly integrating into the clowder but there’s been no fighting that I know of. Rennie and Freddie want owwwt! every morning but don’t do anything but say so – loudly – and paw at the glass. Charlie and Cloud aren’t really happy about a bunch of youngsters in the house but again, no fighting. Although Cloud does hiss at Murf when they get too close to each other. Freddie’s still limping but it doesn’t seem to slow him down any. Aji’s still waiting for biopsy results & my various friends with health issues and/or potentially facing eviction are also still waiting on events. (& all could use your prayers or whatever your Tradition suggests.)
Today – at this point every day – is a good time to go light on the news and concentrate on what we can do something about. Which of course includes not letting stuff fall off the radar the fascists are so very insistent does fall off the radar. Stronger Together was and is a very good slogan. But like “Yes, We Can” there’s a problem. Sure we can, we always could – the issue was “will we” the answer for which was mostly “no”. With “Stronger Together” yes of course, always true – the issue is “we’re only strong together” so do we have enough “together” to get it done. Again the answer has mostly been “no”. So we keep on keepin’ on and doing what we can. Which for me right now means getting back to work since that’s where I get the money I’ve been donating various places. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, Meesefolk; add me to the list of folks who were temporarily blocked but aren’t anymore. And thank you, Jan, for dealing with this stuff…if I had to do it, my stress levels would be off the charts, and my cuss volume would be at a level that even the most far-flung of us would be able to hear me. Like anyone who is bilingual, I’m proud of my mastery of Cuss, but that doesn’t mean anyone wants to have to listen to me go on and on.
I’m going to continue to minimize my time on twitter and just check for news that translates into action items. It’s time I get back into the swing of calling my rep/senators, which is something I’ve been neglecting since the midterms. And I really need to start paying attention to what’s happening in my state; with a D governor, the excesses of our legislature can be vetoed, but there are still problems to be solved. My RWNJ rep and senator need to be reminded of that. I’m sure they’d be happier if they could just regulate my uterus, but those days are gone for the time being…now they need to think about infrastructure and PFAS in the water and oh look, it’s not just Flint with a lead problem. So I need to be persistent in reminding them that they need to get to work.
Good day to and for all!
Good morning, 50 and cloudy in Bellingham. Looks like I’ve been spared the login in virus, but a cold sore virus is plaguing me! I’ve got meds to contain it but it’s not going away, grrrrr.
My car is loaded with donation bags so that will happen today, and then I’ll fill some more. Feels good to see some space in my closet and to have buried fabric visible again. Slow progress, but I don’t have a deadline so slow is ok.
Best wishes to all.
Schiff is among those who believe that “no collusion” simply means that Mueller felt he couldn’t prove it in a court of law. Plenty of evidence for the court of public opinion.
Well, Jan, the message bfitz reproduced for you is exactly what I received. Now, the funny thing is, I entered the Moose Pond “underwater”—that is, I clicked on the notification in my email of DoReMI’s White Center post, which brought me here. I was able to fierce a comment of hers too, without filling out a form. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m thinking I’ll get rid of my bookmark, which is what I normally use to get here.
Anyway, it’s a relief to get here.
Thank you! That you can enter the Moose Pond from a link is helpful information. I enter the Pond via the RSS feed (http://motleymoose.net/comments/feed/) and never use the login screen unless it says I am not logged in (then it remembers my user name and password so it is just a couple of clicks).