Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: July 4th

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?

NOTE: The comments page will 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 (right before “Leave A Reply”) and use the Pages Tool to view previous pages, shown here with 3 pages of comments available and Page 2 circled.

39 Comments

  1. Good morning, 60 and partly sunny in Bellingham. What was going to be a busy July with visitors changed yesterday so I had to mentally shift gears. My sister’s husband needs her help preparing for a cancer surgery so she will be staying home. His prognosis is good but he’s really uncomfortable so it’s the right decision. And my daughters mil has had a stroke so her husband is in New York with his family and Erica is on standby in Oregon, waiting to see what she needs to do. They were going to all be here next week and while I long to see her she needs to stay home too.

    Jan. I should be doing what you are doing but without a deadline I do a little sorting and donating and then I stop. The lines at all the donation sites are long so Ron is fine with a slower pace. I want to sort some more fabric donations today but I’ll see what happens.

    Best wishes to all.

    • If I don’t set a deadline, I will never finish! Two of the deadlines are soft but they will be followed by a hard deadline so I am treating the earlier ones as hard deadlines. I do have contingency plans if I reach the hard deadline without finishing what I need but they are more costly and cash will be short.

      I never thought about lines at the donation sites! I think I can get an appointment at the electronics recycling site but I better do that sooner rather than later in case they go out a ways. I should also contact the donation sites directly to see how far out they are scheduling pickups. I don’t have a pickup truck or access to people with muscles so I will need to hire people to move the heavy stuff to the curb and will depend on pickup services.

  2. Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …

    It is 68 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 70. Rain expected off and on all day.

    I was delighted to see Nikole Hannah-Jones refusing to be a fig leaf for the white supremacists controlling the University of North Carolina board. No, not every student or faculty member there is a white supremacist but the school’s offer of tenure after it was clear that the board is enthrall to trumpism would have given them a win. Howard University is the perfect place for her and her new program! Sometimes good things happen when bad people act badly. I watched her and Ta-Nehisi Coates interviewed on Joy Ann Reid’s program last night and it was wonderful to see two brilliant writers and thinkers making such a strong public statement about academic freedom and the treatment of people of color in America. From the AP interview:

    “I wanted to send a powerful message, or what I hope to be a powerful message, that we’re often treated like we should be lucky that these institutions let us in,” said Hannah-Jones, who earned a master’s degree from UNC. “But we don’t have to go to those institutions if we don’t want to.”

    I let myself get distracted by a shiny object yesterday and now I need to put my nose back to the grindstone. A project that I thought would require a simple click-then-done has turned out to be more complicated and I need to get a solution in place to roll out later this week.

    See all y’all later!

    • Shakezula on the reported “damage to the university’s reputation”:

      Maybe a university that puts a person through hell by allowing fugly misogynoirist dickholes who want to kick America’s history of slavery and racism under a rug to stick their nasty little paws in the university’s tenure decisions doesn’t have a reputation to damage? Just a thought.

  3. Wednesday Meese. 66 going up to 90 with thunderstorms here in Kingston.

    Woke up to the news that Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise was assassinated


    This comes soon after the murders of activists and journalists

  4. Puerto Rico

    Twitter suspends Puerto Rican account for calling an American “gringo”.

    Even in Hollywood they use that word to sell their movies in Latin America, will it be that they will suspend this industry. I say no more

  5. Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind! It’s 87 F. here in Ashburn at 10 a.m., on its way up to 94 F. with a possible thundershower later on. The sky is a hot, hazy blue.

    Had an awful night. This is absolutely the worst cold I’ve ever had. If it weren’t for the fact that my temperature is 97.9 and I still have my senses of taste and smell, I’d think it was Delta. As it is, I canceled my lunch date and just rescheduled my dentist appointment, which was going to be tomorrow. Going back to bed for the day shortly.

    Hope everyone will have a good day. I’ll think of you when I’m snorting Vicks Mentholatum and feeling my head to see if it’s still there.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond. See you tomorrow!

  6. It’s 76 heading for 90, yeah the heat index is back, but at least the rain chance is under 25% and it’s more or less sunny. Yesterday we generated 18.697 KWHS & have “caught up” – at 102.7 m-t-d we are on track for 500 for July! YAY! (Meanwhile it’s already starting to feel sticky and I’ll need to close up as soon as I post this.)

    Doing laundry today. Need to remember to put on mosquito repellent before I hang it out. sigh. I did donate blood yesterday. Another YAY! My hematocrit is 14, so very good. My weight was surprisingly 112 which is OK – it’s at the low end of my healthy range – but certainly not what I expected. I’ve got to get better about remembering to eat. Even the checklist doesn’t seem to be doing it’s job right now. I decided to treat myself with a pizza since the donation was successful. So I called my son, the only pizza person I trust to be careful making a GF pizza. Which he did – but he also paid for it. So a double treat. (The last 2 slices will be lunch today.)

    Totally infuriating was the number of unmasked people – including at least 1/2 the staff and most of the donors – at the blood bank. There’s a sign about following CDC guidelines but I heard the front desk person assure someone coming in that she didn’t have to wear one. No question or comment about whether or not she was vaxxed, just nope. Don’t have to mask. I was doubled masked. And did my 15 minute rest before leaving out in my car. The CDC should have known better. Joe Biden should have known better. There are well over 600K COVID deaths that are TFG’s fault. But the next lot will be laid at Joe’s feet. Of course if the republican death cult weren’t to determined to use COVID as a bio-weapon it wouldn’t matter. And Joe’s plans would have worked. But he’s known these people for over 50 years.

    I haven’t checked on anybody yet. But Jill’s ride fell through (already overcharging her but he dumps her for “better” gigs whenever one comes up because he can – the only other offers come from sex abusers), but she’s doing what she can via internet. Lisa’s hoping to have enough energy to go grocery shopping today. Everybody else is pretty much where they were yesterday morning. sigh.

    Off to close the house, get more coffee, do some twitter stuff, & then hang out the laundry. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. Good morning, 60, cloudy and windy in Bellingham. I was in my sewing room yesterday, but a short rest became a long nap so nothing else got done. Oh well, I seem to need the sleep so I’m grateful I can. Apparently I was more focused on a company agenda than I thought I was because now that the visits are off I’m having trouble adjusting.

    I need to focus on my desk this morning, and work with my housekeeper this afternoon. Cleaning this house in one day is becoming to much for her so we need make some adjustments. I both need and value her assistance so I will be flexible re her schedule.

    Best wishes to all.

  8. My work computer would not bring up MM this morning, no matter what workaround I tried. It said “not found”, no matter the browser or even if I typed out the whole address, or anything I tried.
    8 hours in the office. I forgot my allergy meds. I did have really good luck getting people I’d had trouble reaching — people I’d even called from the office before. Now I’m resting & watching Le Tour that I recorded. They climbed Mont Ventoux – a “beyond category” climb – twice today.

    • Sorry you couldn’t get in! We haven’t moved – I hope your work computer is not blocking us.

      • My Firefox is supposed to be the same everywhere, but neither FF nor Chrome would bring it up. Weird.

        • What I meant by “block” is that our site may be on a list of dangerous websites that your business Internet services monitor. For one thing, the connection is not secure because don’t use the “https” just the “http”; we don’t do eCommerce so there is no need (in my mind) to go 100% secure. We could also be blocked because we talk about politics.

  9. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 57 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 69. My weather widget appears to be crashed but the forecast from my unreliable cell phone weather app says clouds, no rain.

    No time to do more than scan the news. No loss, it is filled with tRump again because he is crack to the news sites that are desperate for clicks and eyeballs without the 24/7 shitstorm he produced for them. I did notice that the bipartisan infrastructure plan is pretty much dead now that the lobbyists for tax cheats have told Mitch McChinless that any vote to expand the IRS budget so that they can go after tax cheats will not be tolerated. Fine. Shut it down, Joe, and tee up the reconciliation bill. We can’t wait for the kabuki dance to finish.

    I got distracted by recycling/junking research this morning and now I am behind!

    See all y’all later!

  10. Good Thursday morning, Meese! It’s ugly outside today. The sky is covered with a puffy-looking, bluish-gray layer of cloud. Old Elsa is expected to visit around 1 p.m. Right now in Ashburn it’s 74 F., going up to 84 F.

    Yesterday we had a surprise preprandial thunderstorm, with thunder, lightning, and about 15 minutes’ worth of heavy rain. I was pleased because I felt too ill to walk to the garden to water it. I should really try to get there today before the rain starts at lunchtime, to pick whatever needs to be picked.

    Felt so terrible yesterday that the EMTs came around, took my blood pressure, etc., and put me in touch with a doctor at the medical center here. I have an appointment with him at 9:30. I typed out a long, boring list of symptoms to present to him. It’ll save time.

    Not only am I ill, the poor dog is ill. Dearly took him to the doctor on Tuesday. That individual’s printer spat out a long list of something or other concerning Monty. I read through it, but by the end I was no wiser than before. There are two medicines to administer, but poor Monty is extremely lethargic, not like his usual self at all. We moved one of his beds from my office to the living room, so he can rest in the company of his hoomans.

    Well, now that I’ve bored you senseless with my complaints, I will sign off for the day. Bfitz, I’m sorry your weight isn’t where you expected it to be. I wish I weighed 112! As it is, I’m losing weight because the thought of food is repugnant.

    Wishing a good day to all at the pond.

  11. Well yesterday was interesting. Very productive — I reached several people who I hadn’t been able to for months. But my back was/is unhappy & my shoulders feel like rocks. Took aspirin, rubbed muscle cream where I can. Wish my old doc hadn’t retired, I could call and ask for a prescription for a muscle relaxer. The new (it’s been 7 or 8 years, but he’s still the new guy to me) guy will make me come in. Anyway, today: work from home yay! Might run at lunch for a farewell for a co-worker.

  12. It’s 71 heading for upper 80s with a heat index in the mid 90s. Sunny at the moment. The widget says rain this afternoon. Not even a 50% chance but we’ll probably have clouds anyway. We generated 20.2 KWHs yesterday and 122.65 m-t-d is on track.

    Hopefully our folks in DC will finish this round of Calvinball shortly and get what we need through via reconciliation. This is our 2nd & last of those for this year so they’d best have everything they can think of that will pass the parliamentarian in it. We’re not likely to get much of anything more through the Senate. Except judges and heaven knows that’s important. Especially considering the plethora of voter suppression laws being passed right now.

    There’s a whole lot of not good stuff going on with various folks I try to keep track of and help. I’m getting overwhelmed just thinking of it all. Especially considering how little I can do about any of it. Of course getting something like a half hour’s dozing – not even really sleep – isn’t helping any. Blast sinusitis anyway.

    I need to do an Aldi’s run. I’ll find out in a bit whether or not they’re still doing “senior hours” now we’re supposed to pretend COVID is over. As my state surges in cases and the COVID unit in Little Rock just reopened. I don’t need to but I think I will do the “short” Tractor Supply run as well. Then I can hunker down for at least 4 weeks. Maybe 6.

    I definitely need coffee. Then get over to twitter and do what I can for the next half hour or so before I leave for Aldi’s. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  13. Good morning, 60 and mostly cloudy in Bellingham. I’ve had a morning of family phone calls, giving support as best I can. Now I need to get to my desk because that didn’t happen yesterday. Best wishes to all.

  14. Good Friday morning, Moosekind. Surely I can’t be the first to check in today? It’s a beautiful day in Ashburn, 68 F., going up to 87 F. with thunderstorms. We had a nice little thunderstorm yesterday around tea time, which greatly relieved my mind. It saved me from having to water the garden.

    Yesterday I went to the doctor. Actually, the first person I saw there was some kind of intern. Her accent was so thick I could only understand one word in ten. I presented her with a list of my symptoms, carefully printed out, but her command of English was not good, so perhaps she didn’t read them. Just asked questions about my symptoms!

    Then she asked me repeatedly whether I was depressed, whether I was happy, did I have friends and a social life, and that kind of thing. Then she got to work with the instruments. “Your lungs are wonderful!” she said. “Your ears are wonderful! Your nose looks good! Your throat looks fine!”

    By this time I was becoming more and more pissed off. “Do you think all my symptoms are imaginary?” I asked sharply. She didn’t want to answer that. Know ye by all present that I feel so sick I can hardly eat. For lunch yesterday I had iced gingerale (which I normally wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole), and a big slab of chilled cantaloupe. Could not eat dinner except for a popsicle, which I later regretted. It didn’t taste nearly as good as I had thought it would.

    Male medical personnel often think their female patients’ symptoms are imaginary. Mine, however, are not, and I have two huge wastebaskets full of used tissues to prove it. However the physician’s assistant, a delightful man named Gonzales, said I had the “beginnings of an upper respiratory infection.” The beginnings? Sheet!

    So here it is, Friday morning, and we’re all still ill. Still have no energy and no desire to eat anything except, rather oddly, a few Doritos. We happen to have some because the bag came with the lunch from the deli. OK, that’s enough about that.

    Still wondering, when I have a thought to spare, why the Stupids in certain states continue to refuse vaccination. They’ve been told. We’ve all been told. They can see people around them going to the hospital and coming out feet first. Why, then, do they refuse to believe?

    Luckily it’s Friday so at least the political stupidity should stop for a couple of days. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

    • {{{Diana}}} Lots and lots of Healing Energy to you (& your household) – & a less self-centered, “Dx’d you by your age, gender, ethnicity, & weight before you came in & not letting symptoms change it” type of medical person next visit. moar {{{HUGS}}}

      • Thank you, bfitz! {{{Hugs}}} That person seemed to think I was a depressed elderly woman who wanted attention so made up all these symptoms. There’s nothing imaginary about my coughs and my roiling stomach. Even my husband is surprised by my behavior—refusing COFFEE, dinner, and toothsome breakfasts!

        • Unfortunately there is also nothing imaginary – or even unusual – about dismissive medical people who base their diagnoses on the patient’s age, gender, race/ethnicity, and weight. sigh. I hope you’re feeling better now. moar Healing Energy.

    • Goodness gracious, how unpleasant for you! I hope that whatever you have just needs to run its course, clearly no one wants to help you. Do you have your own doctor you can go see – it is obvious that the “doctor of the day” is not much help.

      I don’t know what was more horrifying about the articles I read last night about the hospital system in Springfield MO that is literally shut down because they can’t care for patients: the fact that they are overrun or the statement by Mercy Hospital system’s CEO that they now plan to require healthcare workers to get vaccinations. THEY WEREN’T BEFORE???!! So a person going to the hospital could get cared for by a non-vaccinated healthcare worker? JHC on a popsicle stick, those health care providers should be shunned. And then fined and shut down.

  15. Happy Friday! I’ve got to get some exercise, both just because “exercise” and I think it will help my back. Just some gentle stretches & easy stuff for the back; but I’m concerned about how much & how long my back hurt from that one day in the office. And it’s weird, because I didn’t have back pain in B.C. times. Well, not like this anyway.

  16. It’s 76 heading for low 90s and we’ll see where the heat index goes. The air already feels heavy. At least it’s sunny. Widget says afternoon clouds again. Yesterday we generated 18.36 KWHs and we’re starting today at 141 for the m-t-d. Still on track for 500.

    I did sleep last night but I’m groggy as all get out today. Makes it hard to put together a coherent greeting and I think I’m gonna stop trying. 😁 Good Thoughts/Energy to everybody. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  17. Good morning, 57 and partly sunny in Bellingham. Nothing new from me today and I’m bored already so I need to find something fun to do. My house is clean, the laundry is basically done, my garden is watered, and I’m restless!

    Best wishes to all.

  18. Good morning, meeses! Friday …

    It is 70 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 72 with clouds and maybe some sun.

    Per news reports, the people who are getting COVID-19 – and the more contagious and more deadly Delta variant – are now “sorry they did not get the vaccine.” Goddess help us. I hope that their stories are widely disseminated in the media (instead of their covering the latest tRump “presser”). The ones who thought the virus was no big thing and were just too busy/too lazy to get vaccinated – as opposed to being politically indoctrinated – are reachable. Let’s get them shots.

    I am hopelessly behind today, having let myself get bogged down in projects that are not the ones I should be working on. I am going to shut everything down and do a reset and hope that tomorrow I can get back on track.

    See all y’all later!

  19. Good morning, meeses! Saturday …

    It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 75 (but muggy). Mostly cloudy with a possible glimpse of sunshine.

    Republicans are claiming that the Biden Administration’s push to vaccinate – including door-to-door cajoling – is a plan to “take your bibles.” Yes, go with that #RepublicanDeathCult – let the virus shrink your constituency more and more until it becomes extinct; Darwin would approve.

    I have a busy day of sorting and shredding and recycling prep to do. Most of my work projects can wait – I have one project that I need to finish today and then I can concentrate on the clearing project. My goal is still July 31st and I have used up 1/3 of the allotted month of July. Am I a third done? I really don’t know because right now the stacks of things are moving around a lot. I will have a better handle on it next week when the stacks actually leave the premises.

    See all y’all later!

  20. Saturday Meese. 64 going up to 81, cloudy and muggy, here in Kingston, NY. I was hoping it wouldn’t rain tomorrow, but it looks like I’m out of luck. Tomorrow is my initiation birthday – which we priests in our tradition celebrate with food and music. Looks like I won’t be able to use the porch/patio and yard. Sigh.

    Puerto Rico

    PUERTO RICO IS LIVING IN HELL: Breakdowns leave more than 12 thousand customers without electricity in three municipalities
    (Reminder – those are accounts not people – that could be up to 50,000 people)

    • Very Happy Initiation Birthday! 🎶🎶🎉🎊✨🍨🎂🎶🎶💕💕 (I know cake & ice cream aren’t the foods you celebrate with but those are the most “birthday” emojis I could find 😁)

    • Dee, sorry about the weather for your initiation. If it’s any comfort, weather people often get things wrong. Perhaps you’ll have good weather after all. I remember one summer day when I was taking Miss Pink Cheeks to day care, there was an 80% chance of rain. It never did!

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