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, Meesefolk; 70 when I got up this morning and going up to 82. It rained on and off for most of the night, and despite my widget showing lots of sun, so far it’s grey skies as far as I can see. After today, the temperatures start going down again to what I consider to be peak comfort levels…too bad I’m going to be heading to hot, humid NC on Friday!
The possibility of finding work with my former employer is not going to pan out. Despite what he told two people who talked to him on my behalf, when I talked to the manager yesterday, he told me there were no openings now or any likely in the spring. I suspect what happened is that he did a bit too much assuming; the woman who was making noises about retiring was probably doing just that…making noises but without any real, immediate intent. It was disappointing, but I think I’m less upset than my friend who still works there and had a conversation with the manager. He did take my name and number and promised to keep it posted on his board in case things change (and yes, keeping a scrap of paper pinned to a bulletin board is very much the height of high tech in the nursery business!). In the meantime, I submitted my resume for one job yesterday afternoon (working with folks to guide them through applying for Section 8 housing) and found 3-4 more jobs to apply for before I leave for the family wedding. I am realizing that my willingness to consider some types of jobs has diminished over the years. I’d rather work at the local convenience store than subject myself to environments described as “highly demanding” or “fiercely competitive.” I can do fast-paced. I can embrace multi-tasking. But if a workplace or industry are highly demanding/fiercely competitive, someone who hasn’t yet learned the value and efficacy of a cooperative, team approach can have the job.
Good day to and for all!
Just thinking about this is exhausting! “environments described as ‘highly demanding’ or ‘fiercely competitive.'” I have never been one for those kind of environments – I am a technician at heart, happy to sit at my desk writing programs and designing networks. Projects or clients that I had to “fight for” almost never turn out well, my business has been built by word of mouth and providing excellent service once in the door. Over the years, I have had to “fire” clients whose view of my services differs from my view of my offerings. No, I will not give you my cell phone so you can call me at midnight if an email bounces. No, I will not change my triage methods and bump your low level problem when I have a server-down.
I hope you find something that suits not only your talents but your work style.
Good Tiu’s Day morning, Moosekind! It’s raining lightly here in Ashburn. Just checked my phone to find it’s 64 F. here, going up to 77 F. later today. I cannot believe it’s 89 F. and sunny in London! It’s 2 p.m. over there as I write. In Amsterdam yesterday it was 87 F.: this does not happen in Northern Europe! OMG. People will be ripping off their heavy coats, fainting in the street, and demanding lemonade. (Aside: when we travel on the Tube in London I’m always impressed by the ugliness of people’s clothes. Dark, drab, and unfashionable in the extreme.)
DoReMI, you said:
I hear you. Emails offering me jobs as a proposal slave still ping into my Inbox. No way—I’d rather child-tend than do that. Anyway, if you don’t happen to see my DM to you on Twitter, please know if you’d like any help with your resume. I ran a resume business out of my house for 10 years before I decided to get a full-time job with bennies again. It would be a way to thank you for all the help you gave me with my manuscript.
Just invited my charming Irish neighbor to tea. If she says yes, I’ll have to kill myself cleaning up this place today. Had another night from hell, so I suppose I’ll have to go back to wearing the yellow glasses two hours before bedtime, even though I’ve set all my devices to “Night Shift.” One would think that would help.
I may not pay much attention to the news today or tomorrow unless it’s something disastrous. Or should I say, especially disastrous? I’m still behind on desk work.
Wishing a good day to all at The Pond!
G’morning Meeses. Fay, AR is pretty much like what DoReMI’s having in MI except a few degrees cooler. And supposed to be even cooler tomorrow – especially just after dawn – so I think I’ll save my baking until then. Toast is just fine for coffee breaks. Actually toast is just fine period. It’s just that GF bread is so expensive.We got 15 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 351 so if we can average 10/day for the rest of the month we’ll reach 400. We shall see what we shall see.
Somebody tweeted out a pdf transcript of Kamala’s section of the Native American presidential forum – I managed to be on my TL at the right time for a change – and I saved it down. Read it to make sure I hadn’t missed anything. I have no idea why Kamala doesn’t point out when asked about the letters requesting denial on the land-to-trust applications that there were 137 applications in 2010. Her office wrote, at the request of the Governor’s office, 15 letters requesting denial. The way the question keeps being phased there’s the assumption – never corrected – that she sent letters on all applications. Of course Jerry Brown throwing her under the bus back in 2015 helped set the “ebil anti-Native Kamala” narrative. But that doesn’t surprise me. Bosses getting caught out doing something they don’t want to admit to have traditionally blamed it on somebody else in their organization (“I don’t know anything about it…”) – especially when the boss is a white male and the person being blamed isn’t. My research on Kamala and Natives is going slowly. Mostly as best I can figure out because she included Natives in each category of issues rather than setting up a “Native” program. She’s specifically listing Natives, not lumping them in with “minorities”, and when there’s something special/different required because of Treaty Right she mentions that – but all her stuff is by issue category. Health, housing, income, environmental safety, water…and that makes it harder for me to find – and harder for some (more than one) of the Native folks I’ve “talked” with to believe. Considering that other than Mark Charles and possibly Julian Castro, Kamala is probably the one person most likely to actually bring Natives in at high, possibly cabinet, level and actually honor sovereignty and treaty rights – well, they’ve been betrayed and murdered at every turn. When you’ve got RGB ruling the “Doctrine of Discovery” is valid case law…Trusting anyone in the system ain’t gonna happen.
Fingers ache this morning. Humidity is at 100%. Makes typing very slow. Gonna probably to more reading than writing today. Not that I do much anyway. Or maybe listen to soothing music and play FreeCell. Wish I could sleep in the day time. The storm last night – complete with weather alert phone calls telling me we had a thunderstorm in our area (!) – messed with my sleep and I’m a bit groggy. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 57 and sunny in Bellingham. The view blocking house across the street is now getting roofing shingles so I hope it will appear less hulking than it does now. I wish the shingles were a blue grey and the whole thing would just disappear into the horizon!
Sleepy morning so I’m letting the news of the day move along without my attention. Time for coffee and music. As always, my best wishes to all.
You beat me to check in!! 75 degrees in the middle of the afternoon here.
See you tomorrow!
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 72, mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
Every time I think I can’t be more outraged by the cruelty of the white supremacist in the White House, I realize that the depths of his assholery has not yet been plumbed. Blaming Puerto Rico for being in the path of a hurricane? And then lying about the money sent there for past hurricanes? Goddess, I hope Puerto Rican voters in Florida go single-issue on Trump and deliver those electoral votes to whichever Democrat is running for president; they – and we – deserve a decent and functioning federal government.
An interesting story is starting to form related to the House’s legal action forcing the IRS to turn over Trump’s tax returns. Deutsche Bank may have some copies of tax returns Trump and his company used to apply for loans. If the filed tax returns and the ones provided to Deutsche don’t match, that is bank fraud. I hope that their alliance with Trump takes down Deutsche Bank – and makes Anthony Kennedy’s son unemployed and unemployable. There should be consequences when you ratfk the Supreme Court. I am still waiting for someone to uncover how an appellate court judge with no inherited wealth managed to pay off millions in debts. #ImpeachKavanaugh
And speaking of which, Susan Collins is “sad” that her vote to confirm the man who will repeal Roe v Wade lost her some support. Well, Senator Collins, millions of women are “sad” that your vote has placed their lives at risk and that many of them will die because you are first and foremost a Republican. Thank goodness we have an excellent candidate in Maine and Collins’ time is coming to an end.
Busy day of catch up here. See all y’all later!
Wednesday Meese
65 going up to 82 with rain. I have about 15 people here – all working on preparing the barn/studio for major ceremonies and drummings we are holding starting Friday and continuing through Sept 7th.
They are young and strong so I don’t have to lift anything – it’s just disconcerting to have so much activity here when I’m used to just the dogs, cats and roosters :)
PR
Got in a 20 minute walk this morning. You wouldn’t think 77 would be noticeably cooler than 80, but it really is — it is less humid which is funny because we actually have rain chances the next few days. O’Donnell’s bombshell…. I really hope it’s true. Not that it will make a difference to the truly brainwashed, but maybe it will wake some up. Here’s Empress — with a beat a little to fast for me walking, but it’s energetic & positive, a good one for walking.
Good Woden’s Day, Meese! It’s overcast this morning and 70 F., going up to 81 F. with rain this afternoon. I woke up with sweat on my nose because it’s so humid. Ugh.
Last night I realized that I either have to lose 10 pounds or turn into one of those slow-moving, overweight elderly leaning on a wheeled frame while slowly pushing it forward. Accordingly, I decided on a sugarless breakfast of a hard-boiled egg and toast: however, it turned out so badly I had to give the egg to the dog. Better luck next time.
Got 20 minutes to get ready to pick up my friend and drive her to the lawyer’s office.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
It’s 63 in Fay., AR and sunny. It’s supposed to get up to 83 today but if I close up the house in another hour or so I shouldn’t need the A/C. Which is just ducky dandy since the oak tree leaves/shade are keeping production down to 15 WHs even on a sunny day – one that without shade would be getting 20 or more. We did get that 15 yesterday and the m-t-d is 363 so 400 for the month is very possible. IF we keep getting sunny days.
Nothing new, not really, anywhere. Dorian is only a threat and not a “normal” heavy storm/light hurricane because Puerto Rico was never rebuilt after Maria (& Irma), Aji’s only got financial stresses because the U.S. govt does not now and never has honored the treaties – and who knows whether or not she’d still have all the physical issues if she hadn’t been battling the financial ones all these years (& had actually gotten timely treatment for things she’s just finding out she has). Fineena, Melissa, earicicle wouldn’t be hanging on by threads of a safety net with holes in it big enough to hide a Mack truck and a non-existent healthcare system. Tricia and maureenmower would not be dead. We’re fighting the same battles on the humanitarian front over and over and over again – because a lot of em-effin’ racists won’t vote for or approve any program if they even think BIPOC will get a single dollar from it. Meanwhile the fascists put in a clown to keep everybody’s attention occupied while they finish up the job of taking over the country. As to impeach? How else will they get an un-electable Christofascist in the WH? sigh.
Meanwhile it’s my brother’s 64th birthday. I’ll try to call him tonight. Where he lives the reception is lousy so I don’t always manage to get through. I did send him an email this morning with a funny birthday GIF so at least he’ll know I remember and am thinking of him. My younger son and family will be coming up tomorrow. I’m not sure if they’ll be here early enough to visit or if that’ll have to wait until Friday but they’ll be here and that’s a good thing. I definitely won’t be online much once they’re here until they leave. So. Need to get the gingerbread out of the oven. Then coffee and internet. Bright the day, Mooses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, Meesefolk; 61 when I got up this morning with a high of 77. The forecast on Saturday in NC (AKA Wedding Day for my nephew) is 86 with similar humidity. I really hope the bride is not wearing a traditional wedding dress or at least has more stamina than I would have under the circumstances!
I did hear from my nephew this morning that the CWA strike has ended, although they’re still without a contract. The strike was called over unfair labor practices; basically AT&T sent someone to the negotiating table who had no authority to make a deal. It was purely done as a delaying tactic, because AT&T was gambling that a strike in right to work [for less] states wouldn’t happen or be very poorly honored by union members. When the CWA called the strike, more than 20,000 members walked out, and the current estimate is that only about 200 workers scabbed.
I’m so proud of my nephew right now. He started out as the product of his upbringing, which is basically RWNJ, and was initially not happy about joining the union as part of his job. But he listened. When lunchroom talk turned to union issues or just general political issues, he listened. The more he listened, the more he learned, and over the past 5-7 years, I’ve watched him transform from a good ol’ boy redneck (his description) to a good ol’ boy redneck union stalwart, shop steward, union lobbyist, and social justice advocate who is still listening, still learning. It drives my sister and BIL crazy; it makes me tear up with pride and admiration.
Good day to and for all!
3 cheers for your nephew!!! {{{HUGS}}}
I just got off the phone with Bobby – Dorian is mostly going east of Puerto Rico proper – sun’s shining right now and just the mildest of breezes – but is heading straight for the Virgin Islands and then some of the smaller islands that are part of Puerto Rico. So Bobbby’s OK – he said they didn’t even cut the power as they do when storms hit to prevent folks being electrocuted by downed power lines – but prayers (or whatever) for the folks on the other islands in Dorian’s path are still very much needed.
Good morning, 63 and sunny in Bellingham, with a high of 78. Summer temps are back, so that means I need to water the garden today. And I should work on finishing the salal pruning so I can plant the new plants waiting along the path. RonK finished building the paver/river rock pathway and has planted a few ferns so now it’s my turn.
Our sister in law has a difficult cancer and is suffering so our hearts are heavy. Ron hopes to go see his brother soon, but they have requested we keep visits low key so the rest of us will send cards and flowers. Cancer can be a dreadful painful disease :::sigh:::
Time to find my coffee and gardening clothes. Best wishes to all.
Thursday Meese
62 going up to 82 in the Catskills
Watching Dorian coverage – got a call from Vieques – they are okay.
USVI got hit as did other islands in the Caribbean which are mostly ignored by Us press.
Dorian – Puerto Rico
Dorian USVI
There is no penalty too harsh for the Republicans who elected Trump and then sat back and watched his cruelty continue unabated. Republican members of Congress could mitigate the damage being done by the Stephen Miller Administration but they choose not to because to incur the wrath of Trump means the end of their political careers. Hello, craven asshole Republicans? Too late – you lashed yourself to this presidency and your careers are over; some will suffer sooner than others but the piper will be paid, the chickens will come home to roost and karma will be very unpleasant. Count on it.
Rs are evil, not craven. Twitler’s doing exactly what they put him in the WH to do. Give them cover while they pack the Courts and defund every protective agency (like FEC) we’ve got. They aren’t worried about losing power. They’re using him to distract everyone while they arrange to stay permanently in power. They’re delighted he’s so evil (& crazy) because he’ll make Christofascist Pence look reasonable. And everyone except actual victims of those christofascist policies, who will be victimized for being whoever they are that makes them victims of christofascist policies, will go back to “business as usual”. We’ve got one chance left – this election and securing our election process if/when we win – and Twitler’s insane tweets about doing unconstitutional, illegal, unethical, and stupid stuff are distractions from working on winning. The Rs, especially the core cabal started with the John Birch Society back in 1958, are counting on that.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 54 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 81. Chance of thunderstorms this morning which I suspect is what is bringing in the warmer weather. It never got above 70 here yesterday and I had to wear a sweatshirt!!
I only have time for a quick scan of the news. I was glad to see that Dorian appears to have missed Puerto Rico. Florida is in its path but Florida has two Republican Senators and a Republican governor so they will be fine under the Trump Rules for disaster aid.
The DNC debate is down to 10 – and one night – thank goodness. I am glad to see Gabbard gone, she only got on the debate stage because right-wingers and Russians puffed up her numbers. When the threshold is 130,000 unique donors, it becomes more difficult to game the system because that’s a lot of people; pretty easy to reach the total dollar threshold, much harder to amass an army of assholes.
I am horrified watching what is happening in England – how in the hell can it be possible for a Prime Minister to simply suspend Parliament so the he can do whatever he wants? I have a few articles up in tabs to try to understand how that works but JHC on a cracker, I hope we don’t have something similar here!!
One more day of catch up and then I think I can settle back into a normal routine. The long weekend should help.
See all y’all later!
Good Thor’s Day, Moosekind! This morning at six it was 59 F. in Ashburn, so I wore a raincoat over my dressing gown when I took the dog out. Sunlight is now gilding the tops of the trees in the woods across the way. Our high today will be 84 F., which is nice, but next week will see another heat wave. I hope it’s the last of the season.
Very grateful that PR was spared, but feel terrible about Vieques and the Virgin Islands. In one of Dee’s tweets there was this intriguing description:
What? Can you “direct” romance? How exactly is this accomplished? (Note to self: travel to this resort, find out what’s going on, write a racy novella.)
Yesterday I drove my dear friend to the lawyer’s office for the second and last time to finalize her will. I don’t envy the executor of it, as going through probate takes a year and is literally no fun.
We had a long, chatty lunch afterwards, went across the street to browse the merchandise in our favorite New Age shop, and then I took her home. The sky was black by the time she went to her front door, with raindrops already spattering the windshield of the car. I drove home through a cloudburst, but luckily it’s a 10-minute drive from her house to The Home, so I made it OK.
Well, I’m so faint with outrage about the revocation of birthright citizenship I hardly know where to look, I really don’t. It’s too bad about Kristen Gillibrand, although I’m glad she tried.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
I had the worst night’s “sleep” last night…. I know my watch doesn’t catch all the times I wake up & even it has 15 sleep interruptions. I set the thermostat to 73 & even so, I was hot. Called in sick to work. Now eating breakfast, drinking tea & watching the news. Going to spend an hour at the gym today, maybe longer — thinking of 30 minutes each on the bike, elliptical & treadmill. For now, I’m listening to The Blackout to help keep me awake.
When the lights go out
And you throw yourself about in the darkness where you learn to see
When the lights go out
Don’t you ever doubt
The light that we can really be
{{{another}}} – Healing Energy and I hope your exercise plans help. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Here in Fay., AR it was 65 around 4 am according to the weather widget. It’s 69 now and heading for mid 80s. Sunny at the moment. Yesterday was a sunny and better production day than I’d thought possible with the oak tree shading the panels until after 1 pm (cherry tree afternoon shade isn’t nearly as dense so not the problem) – we got 17.2 KWHs which isn’t the 20+ we’d have gotten with no oak-tree shade but better than what we’ve been getting. The m-t-d is 380 and we’ve got 3 days left in August so over 400 is a real possibility. Depending on the sun of course.
Tweets are not policy, law, constitution amendments, or even orders to anybody – military, non-military, private sector – anybody. A tweet cannot overrule the 14th amendment nor the 1790 law protecting citizenship of children of U.S. citizens born out of the country. Nor can it cause the military to invade or drop bombs of any kind anywhere. Tweets didn’t cause the evil situation at the border – whoever filled out those signed blank E.O.s did. Tweets haven’t caused the defunding of our protective and safety net programs and departments. Moscow Mitch and his cohorts in the Senate did. We are seeing the culmination of long-planned and implemented evil. We only stop it if we stop it not think taking down the rabid squirrel they turned loose in the neighborhood will do the job.
Aji’s saying if sales don’t pick up she’s gonna have to cancel all her medical stuff again. They’ve got to get the house ready for winter. If they don’t repair the relatively minor damage from grifters putting the wrong stuff in wrong before then, next spring they will have major damage. Not replace some plumbing and plastering but replace the north wall. Not refinish and reseal the doors and other woodwork but replace the doors and woodwork. But it’ll be 2 years out on 11/10 since Aji had that first near-death episode (triggered by being caught in a mist cloud of sealant “they” said they weren’t gonna use and wasn’t supposed to be sprayed) and they still haven’t Dx’d it yet. Now that she’s got a decent doctor who actually listens to her – and tests based on what Aji says – Aji’s being vindicated about things that have been wrong with her since she was a kid. (& have done permanent damage because they’ve never been addressed before) which is good, sort of. But the issue that presents like a heart attack but isn’t, that’s still up in the air. Also the lumps on throat and liver that may or may not be cancerous. All expensive to Dx. All expensive to treat. All should have been done in Dec 2017. All being pushed out again because Aji and Wings tried to do the right thing – build their house using local businesses – and were ripped off every single time. They’ve had to replace the wiring, the septic system, some of the plastering, now the plumbing and repair/refinish the wood (doors, deck, window/door sills, etc). Well, what is, is. But it ain’t right!
Didn’t manage to talk to my brother yesterday but he did manage to text/email that he’d gotten my email birthday greeting so not great but good. Anyway I need to tidy up a bit. My son and his family will be in town this evening. I expect unless it’s too late they’ll come over for a short visit and we’ll all go out to eat together. Not that tidying up will do much good with 5 cats. sigh. And the cats are at least part of the reason they only do short visits at my house. The youngest grandson is allergic but he loves cats. Can’t keep him from rubbing his face in the fur of whichever cat he catches. So we limit the opportunity. And I still need to tidy up a bit. LOL. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Sorry about the screed. One drawback of being banned at DK is I don’t have any other place to sound off. Hope everybody’s day goes better. I’ll work on good when we get better covered. 👍🌞😁
Good morning, 62 and sunny in Bellingham. Working in the garden soothed my t/Rump angst yesterday, but knees need a rest today so I’ll have a legs up morning and then work with my 2 x’s a month housekeeper this afternoon. Three more beds to go and then the house will be back to normal.
I wish I could just focus on Wa State politics and give the national news a rest, but I can’t seem to do so. If I could I would worry less and prolly sleep better! Danny Westneat, at the Seattle Times…..
For Washington state GOP, it just keeps getting worse
I hope that electing tRump becomes the Republican Party’s extinction event in more states. Your state’s Democrats always had some power so coming back was a bit easier. In Wisconsin, the gerrymanders were done so tightly that we have no hope to get a fair legislature until the 2022 elections at the earliest. Even then we might not – the Republican legislature is looking at an end-around plan to repeal the Governor’s veto power over any new maps they draw after the 2020 census. And since they control the Supreme Court for at least another 5 years, that body will be a willing accomplice in the shredding of our state constitution. We lost our federal gerrymandering lawsuit thanks to the SCOTUS seat stolen from President Obama so there is no hope there for fairness. :(
Good morning, Meesefolk; 55 when I got up and heading to 81 today. That’s warmer than was predicted earlier in the week, but very low humidity and nothing like I’m going to be dealing with in NC. I’m bringing two different outfits to wear to the wedding, because even though it’s supposed to be hot and humid during the day, I’m not sure how fast it will cool down in the evening when the wedding is. It’s a good thing we’re not flying in, or I’d be paying additional based on baggage weight!
I’m meeting up with a DK Villager for Saturday breakfast, and two of my nieces just asked if we could get together during the day. I was surprised; I always forget that it’s mostly my BIL and nephews that are political (and therefore view me as somewhere between pariah and spawn of satan for being a Dem), and my nieces are mostly not. I guess that’s what happens when you are raised by a flaming misogynist who treats females as his personal serving girls. (Who me, dislike my BIL? Where did you get that idea?! :D ) Anyway I found a cute little town that is midway between my nieces, the wedding location, and where Joker from DK lives, so I’m hoping they’ll meet me there after Joker and I have breakfast. If my sister wants to come along, it’s close enough to be an easy trip…and one her husband would allow her to make [yes, really]…but far enough away that he won’t be tempted to come along.
I really can’t decide if I’m looking forward to or dreading this trip.
Good day to and for all!
May you have easy travel and a wonderful time with your relatives!
Friday Meese.
59 here in the Catskills going up to 85
The munchkins have descended on my home – had about 12 here yesterday prepping for a week of ceremonies.
In case you haven’t seen it – this should make you smile