Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Jan. 5th through Jan. 11th

January 4, 2020 JanF Community 97

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!
 

 

41 Comments

  1. It’s 28 or thereabouts and sunny in Fay., AR this Tuesday morning. The last of the fully sunny days in the 10-day forecast. So I hope we get above 7 KWHs today. Not holding my breath or anything. We got a hair under yesterday and we’re at 33.7 for the month right now. The likelihood of us getting to 200 for the month is fading more each day. sigh. But we’ll get something and the light is coming back. So far generation plus credit is keeping ahead of use. We shall see what we shall see.

    Praying for Puerto Rico. Nature doesn’t hold off and wait for Decent political administrations. Which sort of shows where political administrations rank. But I wish she would have this time. And oh I hope Puerto Rico’s wretched power infrastructure will be replaced with microgrids soon. Among other things. Just. Healing/Helping Energy to everybody who needs it to their shaping.

    I had a bad night (sinusitis – our pollen explosion isn’t as bad as Austin’s but we’re still dealing with one) and my back is giving me trouble. Minor problems compared with my various friends, never mind Puerto Rico, our southern border, and the Middle East but still problems. I’m hoping ice, Ibuprofen, and coffee will help. I need to vacuum and to the laundry today. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  2. Good Tiu’s Day morning, Meese! Whereas when I woke up at 7:30-ish (yes, a good night’s sleep because of Zzzquil), the sky was partly cloudy, it’s now completely cloudy. The current temp. in Ashburn is 39 F., but it’s supposed to drop before four-letter-word starts falling this afternoon. I mixed up the weather forecasts yesterday when I logged in here: problem is, when four-letter-word threatens, the weather dudes just can’t stop talking about it because it’s such a rare event here. One to three inches are expected.

    Yesterday was so sunny, although rather windy and chilly, that I actually walked outside for half an hour. I’m skipping the town hall meeting this morning because I still have to work on writing the article. It’s better when I can listen to music, so I do that.

    Not much to say except that I feel despondent because of the looming war. Also despondent that I have to support an aging, not-very-with it male candidate in November. However, as Howard Dean says, we can’t let the “perfect be the enemy of the good.”

    Wishing a nice, productive day to all at the Pond.

  3. Good morning, 49 and cloudy in Bellingham. I seem to have settled into winter and my version of hibernating. It’s good for my pesky knees and solitaire games but I’m not getting much of anything else accomplished. Oh well, walking and sleeping with less leg pain is a welcome relief :)

    Thanks to our grandson Ron and I have been watching The Witcher series on Netflix. Ryan has loved playing the game and reading the books so it’s fun to share some of the experience with him. A fantasy break from tRump reality is good for us too!

    Best wishes to all on this quiet January morning.

  4. Good afternoon, Meesefolk; 28 when I got up and currently 43, our expected high for the day. It’s grey again. The grey has been constant, and I find myself thinking, “Wow, I really need to wash my windows” multiple times a day before I realize it’s not my windows, it’s the weather outside. (OK, yes, it wouldn’t hurt to wash my windows, but mostly I’m reacting to the grey.)

    I just got off the phone from a second interview, and it was a disaster that I may have salvaged. I knew when I applied for the job that it was a stretch (part HR and part payroll, and I have no current HR experience), but this interviewer stressed that this job is more like 75% HR stuff. Anyway, I was tanking badly to start and knew it, but it was like watching an iceberg appear on the horizon and being unable to steer in a different direction. Even when I was asked to talk about something my resume wouldn’t make obvious about me, I blanked and rambled about being an animal lover until I could find my footing. SMH! It’s embarrassing to even admit, but I was that rattled. I finally dug deep and the last 50% of the interview went much better, and I went into full sales mode, which meant translating my obvious weaknesses into mere unrevealed strengths. Still, I’m not sure that’s going to be enough, particularly if the competition actually has the skills that I lack. Sadly, charm and wit are not enough. ;D I did realize that part of what was throwing me was the lack of visual cues. I’m far more reliant on body language than I had realized, and it was only reading my body language that helped me to get it together (shoulders tensed up to one’s ears…not a good sign). Anyway, despite a very positive first interview, this second interview has left me going back to the want ads with a vengeance.

    Good day to and for all!

  5. Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …

    It is 12 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 19. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Yesterday it was in the mid to upper 30s – tomorrow it will be 45 and rainy! Yikes!!

    I was alarmed – as most people were, I suspect – at the Iranian missile attack on our military base in Iraq. My daughter asked what World War III would look like (would her classmates have to go to war?) and I frankly had no good answer for her. I told her that in the “olden days” (pre-Trump), military people would game plan different scenarios based on their assessments and that unfortunately Trump fired all those people and is just deciding everything on his own. That was not comforting to her! She also worried that Trump as War President would get him re-elected and I told her that Barack Obama was elected in part on anti-war fervor and while a war would excite MAGAts, it is also likely to bring together people on the left against Trump. I still believe that we outnumber them and that if we get to the polls, we will win. Anyway, this morning, things seem to have settled down and it is possible that cooler heads prevailed and convinced the orange pustule that Iran needed to do something to retaliate and that we can call it a draw. I am not sure how long that will last – “cooler heads” have a way of being pushed to the side. I laughed out loud at the headline “What Trump Thinks About Iran”. Good lord, people, by now everyone should realize that he doesn’t think about ANYTHING – he reacts to whatever his NPD tells him is an attack on him personally.

    I am ignoring the impeachment story because in the absence of real news, the speculative headlines are just click bait. Nancy Pelosi will release the articles of impeachment when she has squeezed maximum impact from holding onto them. My own speculative headline is that Mitch McConnell will try to start the trial without them and Chief Justice John Roberts will refuse to be part of the charade. Then she will release them after she has shown the country that 1 and 1/2 branches of our government are functioning properly.

    See all y’all later!

      • She always says “fellow Americans” – as she should. There were a lot of tweets floating around that fail to make that point.

  7. Wednesday Meese. 33 going up to 39 with a little snow – here in the NY Catskills.

    I feel terrible. Want to go back to bed – had 4 teeth extracted yesterday but have to go back to dentist for follow up today :(

    • Poor Puerto Rico! It has suffered so much, from Nature and virulent racism on the part of the orange puffalump. Wish there were something we could do.

    • Yikes, that’s a lot of teeth all at once! Good luck – I hope they have some good pain meds for you.

  8. Cold morning, but this afternoon it will reach the 70s, and the weather guy said tonight will be a record warm overnight. I’m starting to worry about our warm, dry winter. Working on diaries for Friday & Monday. Friday’s will be about the AIDS Ride, Monday’s will on DK, be about my congressional candidate (unless anyone wants me to also post it here?) — the DK K-Hive has moved on from supporting Harris to the down-ballot races. Worried about the Iran situation, wishing more people knew that we share the same blood.

    I could be you, you could be me
    Two raindrops in the same sea
    You could be me, I could be you
    Two angles of the same view
    And we share the same blood

    • Could you crosspost the DK K-Hive diary here? I heard that the K-Hive has been repurposed to be GOTV for downballot races – good for you! Feel free to post anything related to congressional races here.

  9. Good Woden’s Day, Moosekind! We have a powdered-sugar morning here, with white limning the trees and frosting the grass. It would be even prettier if we didn’t have a gray sky, but as of this writing—eight-thirty a.m.—the sky is clearing.

    Whereas we received one inch of snow and Bristow, Virginia, received four, Fairfax and Loudoun counties have closed their schools today. The roads are like an ice skating rink.

    Currently the temperature is 30 F., on its way up to 43 F. “Cloudy and windy” are the watchwords of the day. Glad I don’t have to go out in it!

    Still have work to complete on the article and I’ve just realized I have a Friday morning dental appointment, which makes it even more imperative to fulfill my obligations.

    The Chief Raging Granny here asked me yesterday evening if I’m going on the Women’s March on the 18th. I replied that as much as I’d like to, I know I’d be one of those lining up to use the disgusting Porta-Potty and miss the march altogether, so no, I’ll stay at home. I’ll do the usual vigil in front of the NRA on the 14th, though.

    Anyway, that’s how things are on my patch of the Pond today. Wishing a good, quiet Wednesday to all at the Pond.

    • I have been reading – with joy – about the legislative session starting in Virginia with the new Democratic majority. Some changes I heard about a few days ago are absentee voting rule changes and getting rid of the ghastly Lee-Jackson Day and instead having election day be a holiday. How I wish our state would kick the Republican legislature to the curb but we are so gerrymandered, it will never happen. The people who could break the gerrymander – young people who don’t agree with their ahole parents and grandparents – are leaving the state rather than helping the rest of us flush the MAGAts. :(

      • That’s sad, Jan. Wisconsin used to be one of the most progressive states in the union. I remember how in 2011 the first thing I did every morning was check the news coming out of Wisconsin. All those people demonstrating at the State Capitol building did my heart good.

        It’s so sad how Wisconsin has deteriorated. When you retire, are you moving to a blue state somewhere?

        • I am leaving my options open on where I might live. Madison is a bit different from the rest of Wisconsin so it is not awful living here and there is a lot going on with the university just down the road. As long as I have clients whose hardware I need to manage, it will be difficult to justify moving out of state. That number is shrinking by attrition – I have not added any new hardware clients for years. In any event, I will be here at least through 2022 when my daughter is projected to finish her state-subsidized education.

          • Madison, Fayetteville, Austin – blue dots in red states – relatively OK to live in but disheartening to know what the state as a whole is doing. sigh. But blue states have their “red dots” which are more like red blotches. As Dee knows all too well. sigh.

  10. Sunny at the moment in Fay., AR although that’s expected to change by this afternoon. Depending on the widget you believe it’s either 48 or 46-feels-like-40 heading for 60. Warm-ish for the next couple of days while the rain moves in, then freezing and snow for Saturday. Which might – maybe – shut down the honeysuckle (& its fungi) again. It’s totally leafed out now. Which is almost as bad for my sinuses as cedar.
    Which is also sporing although not anywhere nearly as badly as anotherdemocrat is dealing with in Austin.
    Thankfully the trees haven’t joined it because I expect us to get a few days of serious hard-freeze cold in February. That would kill leafed-out trees. Probably won’t phase the honeysuckle at all, aggressive invasive that it is. We did get a bit over 7 KWHs yesterday giving us 40.9 for the month so far. We’d need to be at 49 to be on track. sigh.

    There were so many hysterical but unsubstantiated rumors on my TL yesterday I stayed off it more than usual. I can semi, sorta, comfort myself looking back at history – seeing where it rhymes, reading the day-to-day lives of folks during wars, remembering my mother’s stories – and knowing that wars come to an end and more people than not survive. As hard as colonizer culture from waaaaaay back has tried to destroy them, most cultures survive. But that doesn’t help at the individual level. And we don’t know, can’t know, what a nuclear war would leave – although Hollywood likes to put out guesses – because there’s never been one. And please, anything out there who gives a damn about life on this planet, keep there from being one. Meanwhile, we can only keep on keepin’ on. One foot in front of the other. Deal with what our hands find to do, from the dishes to marches/volunteering in campaigns, whatever. And pray.

    I’ve some stuff I need to deal with (Charlie just barfed up his breakfast. sigh) and definitely need coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  11. Good morning, 40 and raining in Bellingham. I’m sleepy and unsettled this morning so am avoiding the news. Whatever happens is beyond my control so I may as well wait and see what happens next!

    I’ve nearly got all of Christmas put away and I’ve made a good start with getting the desk and our finances ready for a new year. I did have an unsettling conversation with our financial consultant though. One on hand he is very positive re our retirement fund and on the other he gave me a scary warning re how a market downturn would effect our fund and suggested we make some adjustments. Unfortunately doing so will impact our families health insurance so those are hard choices for me.

    Lots of tRump related worries in the night. Reality is that my house is calm, my family is well, and my knees are improving so I’m going to try to focus on the small picture today. My best wishes to all.

    • {{{princesspat}}} whatever happens we can only do what we can do. Only deal with what’s at hand, on the small picture. There will always be things within reach that also help the bigger picture but we will never know which ones they are because the picture is so big it’s beyond the scope of our vision. People of good will – like you – will always be casting the bread on the waters without knowing exactly where it’s going or who it’s helping. It goes somewhere and helps someone, of that you may be sure. Holding the Good Thought on your financial situation as well as health situation. Healing Energy and moar {{{HUGS}}}

    • H’mm, princesspat, that’s a scary thought. I keep expecting a downturn in the stock market, although yesterday it was higher than ever.

      When I finally get this blinking article written and sent out for verification, I’m finally going to write the blog I’ve wanted to write for ages, about adjusting to life in a home for the aged.

      Downsizing and moving to a community like this is a tradeoff: I’ve concluded the right answer is, what’s the most important to you? There are aspects of life here I like very much and other aspects I don’t like at all. I didn’t know I was going to miss our house as much as I do. Admittedly, I’m one who has a very hard time letting go of things, but when I drive by the house I still think of as “our” house, I resent the way they’ve un-landscaped all the landscaping we expensively put in, and how they’ve chopped down one of the apple trees.

      It all goes back to making lists: on one side, “For,” and on the other, “Against.” I did that and came out on the side of “for,” but I’m still assailed by doubts.

  12. Thursday Meese

    20 degrees here in Saugerties NY going up to 31.
    I survived having 4 teeth extracted. Can finally eat some soft food today.

    Puerto Rico

    • Dee, hope they prescribed some pain pills for you! I once had three wisdom teeth pulled and it took about a week to recover from it.

      Poor old PR. How horrible it must be to have sleep out in the street because it’s too frightening to sleep indoors. I feel so sorry for the people. Chef Andres is over there, helping. He is such a good man. Why he hasn’t been awarded a Nobel Prize is a mystery.

  13. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 25 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 45. Showers expected throughout the day.

    I did not watch or listen to the tRump “address” yesterday because he is too gross and I despise his voice and his face and everything about him. I will watch his televised resignation address (but only on tape delay lest it be a trick!), everything else I can read about if it is important. I wonder who convinced him that a ground war with Iran was a bad idea – my money is on Pence who is a terrible human being but who actually had a son in the military and knows the stakes. The headlines suggested that tRump’s Fox News “cabinet” was not too keen on starting a new Middle East war so that probably helped. I wonder how they sedated him Tuesday night – he seemed ready to drop a nuke on Tehran and blow up friends and foes alike.

    Nancy Pelosi’s impeachment strategy is not supported by Senate Democratic leadership which tells me she is on the right track! I have no respect for Senate Democrats – the team of Schumer and Durbin is a joke. There is only one Democratic leader who understands strategy – and I’m with her.

    It feels like the 2020 primary is already over and it is just a matter of dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s. Certainly, my interest has waned. I saw a poll aggregation out of South Carolina and Biden and the two left-of-the-left unelectables were trending up, Mayo Pete was up a little, and Bloomberg dropped to 0.0. Biden was at 36% which was a big lead over Warren and Sanders. You wonder where those two candidates’ voters will go after Super Tuesday when the rubber meets the road.

    I am getting closer to having my 2019 accounting projects to a place where I can set them aside and do something productive again. I guess it is only 9 days into the new year but it feels later, maybe because I can feel the to-do stack lurking! :)

    See all y’all later!

  14. Warm, warm day — like, April weather — ahead of thunderstorms tomorrow night. There’s even a chance of large hail & tornadoes. Great. Working on a diary for tomorrow about the Ride, and one for Monday about my congressional candidate. And today is my Friday — taking a very long weekend for my birthday, not coming back to work till Wednesday.

  15. Good Thor’s Day morning, Moosekind! It’s 24 F. and frosty-clear in Ashburn this morning, with an expected high of 39 F. today. Because our side of the building gets very little sun, the little bit of snow we had is still whitening the ground.

    Governor Northam addressed the state of the Commonwealth last night, but the TV stations didn’t carry it. I gather from the WaPo that it was a good speech. He’s been trying to redeem himself, and in that respect I think he has largely succeeded. I feel very encouraged that more women—and particularly, more black women—than ever before have been elected to our lege and appointed to important positions. The Democrats will pass important legislation this year. I’m glad I helped turn it blue, however small my contribution.

    Our beloved RBG is cancer-free! She has overcome three different kinds of cancer. I hate that insidious, horrible disease.

    So looking forward to finally finishing this article and sending it out for verification. I woke up at 5:30 this morning because the herbal sleeping aid isn’t as effective as the Alzheimer’s-inducing sleeping aid. Yesterday evening I freaked out when the local news channel ran a story about how three meds that I actually need are the same ones that bring on Alzheimer’s. After running around checking the ingredients in several of them, I’ve concluded I’m not really in any danger from Allegra, which is the most effective antihistamine I’ve found so far. Zzzquil is off my list forever.

    Well, that’s enough from me. The coffee is now made, it’s time to eat breakfast and cart out the rubbish. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

  16. It’s 54 heading for 58 where it will stay until tomorrow then go up to 65. Temps won’t start dropping until tomorrow around dusk. Overcast enough I need a lamp to clearly see my keyboard but not so overcast that the PV system is completely off. It’s even generating in 3-digits of watts per hour. ahem. Rain’s supposed to blow in this afternoon. And I do mean blow. I had to retrieve my trash can this morning from the neighbor’s yard. Yesterday stayed sunny longer than predicted and gave us the best production day thus far at 7.56 KWHs and brought the monthly to 48. I’ll be surprised if we make it to 50 today. sigh.

    My personal opinion is that twitler will go away as soon as the fascists/Birchers can figure a way to blame it on Dems. They want to get rid of him this year and have Pence in place as the incumbent with the legal possibility of running 2 terms of his own. Which would happen without a major economic downturn/Depression on Pence’s watch. Once twitler is out of office all the energy currently mounting to get rid of him will go away. Poof! And the evil ones will have completed the non-military takeover of our country. The grand experiment will have had its run and died without ever having attained its goals. I’d so much rather a sound defeat of Rs up and down the ballot in November. But hey – maybe I’m wrong. It would be nice to be wrong abut what I’ve seen coming for the last 50 years.

    My “folks” are surviving. Some more comfortably than others. Nobody’s reached thriving yet. So I’ll keep praying/invoking/channeling Energy to that end. I need coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  17. Good morning, meeses! Friday …

    It is 28 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 36. The forecast calls for freezing rain this afternoon followed by a winter storm overnight into tomorrow. I am hoping their forecast is wrong and that the storm stays below us because I have to be on the road tomorrow and the trip can’t be put off. I have a travel window of 8am to 2pm. I am hoping that if it does comet through that the worst hits overnight and is cleared by 10am – fingers crossed!

    Nancy Pelosi’s House voted to curtail the Oval Office occupant’s power to start a war with Iran. The legislation will go to the Senate where that version will die. Some Senators “got angry” and had “plans” to pass “something” but they will cave like they always do. tRump would have vetoed it anyway but it would have been nice to get Congressmembers on the record as supporting a new ground war in the Middle East – the last one went so well!!

    It is beyond sad that an errant missile may have taken down a commercial airliner in Iran. I think it is fair to say that those people would be alive today if the orange orshole had not pulled out his tiny dick and waved it around so that John Bolton and Tom Cotton could admire it and exclaim about its bigness. It should be a warning to everyone that the Middle East is a war zone – plan your travels accordingly.

    It is still January Busy here but I am making some progress so I best get back to it.

    See all y’all later!

  19. Good Freya’s Day morning, Moosekind! Quite overcast and ugly here in Ashburn today, with a current temp. of 37. We may or may not get a shower and a high of 54 F.

    Speaking of showers, I’m on my way to take one, after which I must get ready to leave for the dentist 10 miles away. This afternoon is the Writers’ Group from 2:30 to 4, where we will read aloud our accounts of “unusual travel experiences.” I think riding an uncomfortable camel through the ruins of Petra qualifies as unusual.

    I’ve just about completed all my writeups except the one about the Baptist minister. I need to get a handle on it, though, because the writeups are due out to the interview subjects today.

    Got to get going—wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

  20. AIDS Ride diary will post at DK at 8, hope it gets some attention. Most Austin news is anticipation of severe storms this evening. I have to go get my driver’s license renewed today. Must charge up my kindle.

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