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 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.
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It’s 30 and heading for 50. Sunny at the moment but the widget says clouds will move in soon. I hope the widget is wrong. Yesterday we generated just over 11 KWHs and the m-t-d is 72 – still losing ground but not nearly as much ground as the previous 2 days. It’s going to take a lot of sunshine to get back on track.
I’m not sure what it would take to get the world “back on track” toward any kind of decency. It’s been well over 3000 years in the “Old” World and over 500 in the “New” World since any peaceful, trading, more-or-less egalitarian cultures were running things. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. And it most certainly doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do whatever is necessary to stop the most egregious of kkkolonizer kkkulture actions such as Putin is doing right now. We should and we’d better. The costs of stopping him early are great but nothing to what having to stop him later would be. Hitler should have taught us that. (Should)
Everybody was alive and still hanging on when last I connected with them. As am I. (I managed my 30 minutes on the treadmill in 3 10-minute sessions yesterday but I’m not sure I’m ready to do that again today. The shingles rash on my leg is looking better but not feeling better. sigh.)
Anyway, off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Here’s a link to the unsung Alice Kober’s story:
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22782620?fbclid=IwAR0UFfSK1yzZvYxmM0hpzyVZka3Vnm6NmfkWw43-7WwbvNU7pvd0ep6TjsI
Good morning, 45 and mostly cloudy outside my window today. The broken pipe is repaired and some insulation work will happen today so hopefully it won’t be so vulnerable to freezing next winter. Gravel will be delivered tomorrow and winter mud will soon be covered over, yay! So today, after I finish my onerous desk work, I hope to find two replacement pots and spring planting can begin. Fixing the pipe made a bit of a mess in the garage, but being able to just wheel the shelves out of the way made the work easier. And now that I know where everything goes putting it all back together again won’t be very difficult. Small world problems and I’m grateful to have them. Best wishes to all.
Wednesday Meese. Light snow on the way here in Kingston NY which will probably turn to rain. I’m tired of winter… want to get out in my garden.
Finally!
Anti-lynching
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 25 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 34. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
On November 9, 2016, the American people, with help from a brutal dictator and the electoral college (a vestige of a compromise with slave-states), put an ignorant, mentally unstable malignant narcissist con man in charge of the most powerful country on the planet. The acts of white supremacists and misogynists – and people who wanted tax cuts – has led to nearly a million Americans and 5 million more worldwide to die of a mismanaged deadly pandemic and laid the foundation for a land war in Europe which could displace 4 million people and may possibly lead to a nuclear holocaust. Those people who voted for Donald Trump, and the political party who put tax cuts over people, should NEVER be treated as anything but the scum that they are. Goddess help us all.
I started this check-in two hours ago as I was trying to stay ahead of today’s projects and now I am out of time.
See all y’all later!
Cold morning but supposed to be nice this afternoon. But by Friday, the temperatures will drop through the day — and it will freeze overnight. It’s not the latest freeze ever but pretty late for us. I had folded & put away my plant coverings. Got permission to leave work early Friday to come home & re-bunch and cover the plants. And that’s the biggest news here.
It’s 28 heading for mid 50s today and sunny so far. We got just over 8 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 80.7 – more ground lost. We’ll see if we stand pat or even regain a little today.
The Anti-Lynching Act truly is a BFD – that it took so long is a shame. That it’s needed is worse than a shame. It’s a very bright spot in an otherwise very dark time. The Evil Ones aren’t getting everything their own way. As to the Ukraine, if we are very publicly not giving them fighter jets then we’d better be very privately giving them anti-aircraft. They’re fighting off invaders. They don’t need bombers or anything to take the war into Russia. Just the tools to push Russia back onto their own land and out of the Ukraine.
Jill had a good zoom meeting with the local SBA yesterday afternoon. Very promising. Another step on the path out of poverty. And that will allow her to pay for the other kinds of help she needs but can’t get now. Holding the Good Thoughts for easing pain and bringing energy and also money to Aji and Amelia and Fineena. And everybody really.
As with everybody else, I’m pretty much the same and am pretty much hanging on. So. Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good gray Wednesday morning, Moosekind! It has rained here in un-scenic old Ashburn, but that has turned into occasional drizzle. Monty didn’t like his first trip outside this morning in the dark. At the moment it’s 40 F., going up to 44 F.
Yesterday I did 20 minutes on the treadmill and a 20-minute row on the delightful machine. I hope all this exercise is doing some good.
This morning I need to look over the essays from my Writers’ Group. I have a tiresome lunch with someone I know from dailykos. Have an awful feeling she’s going to ask me to Do Something, but the answer will be no. I have enough on my plate with Part 2 of the retired Peace Corps people article, the taxes (which I still haven’t finished), and things like that.
This afternoon I need to visit the barbershop and the grocery store. The weather is going to be so bad on my birthday that I don’t think we’ll go out to dinner. I do need to get some carrot cake from somewhere, though.
Yikes, it’s already nearly 9:30! I need to totally start my day! Wishing a nice, peaceful day to everyone at the Pond and a good day to the defenders of Ukraine.
I remembered you being a March birthday – what day is it?
It’s Saturday, the 12th.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 14 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 25. Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast.
I saved a few stories in tabs to read later but, really, things are so bleak. I feel as though I need to bear witness to the Russian invasion of Ukraine but is it so filled with “gawd, we could have stopped this if we had taken a different path in 2014” and “how the hell do you stop the killing of civilians” that it is depressing. The only hope is that the happy face that the Russian foreign minister is putting on the negotiations is a ginormous bluff and internally Russia does not really want to default, risking their own populace starving and/or to destroy the planet by unleashing their nukes. I heard that Putin has an underground bunker system that is like a small city where he could live forever while the planet’s surface is uninhabitable. That seems unlikely given what we have seen about his Glorious Army but if he thinks it will work, he literally has no skin in the game.
Florida and Texas are in a race to the bottom to create a truth blackout for their students. Do people from California moving to Texas really want their children to be ignorant and repressed? And Disney, you can go straight to hell – “Don’t Say Gay” is an abomination and you give your support to it when you donate to Republicans in cash or in “things are dandy here in Florida!” lies. To paraphrase Diana, I hope the crusty curse of Cromwell befalls your manbits.
Busy day – I need to make one last trip to the eastern part of the state. I won’t miss the drive but I will miss seeing the lake. People who have never stood on the shore of Lake Michigan don’t understand what a spectacular body of water it is – oceanlike in its expanse, beautiful to behold.
See all y’all later!
Can you photograph the lake if this is going to be your last view of it?
We have quite a few photographs. It is the feeling that is incomparable. I have not lived there for over 20 years but I visited the city often as I still have clients there. I am hoping to find other grand vistas to soothe my soul after I relocate. :)
Thursday Meese. 29 and foggy here in Kingston, going up to 51.
Puerto Rico
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Cold morning, but tomorrow will be colder. In the office today. Hoping for some good news, like that Putin and his enablers have listened kidnapped and dumped on the steps of the International Criminal Court.
posted
I just got an email from Diana. She can’t get online. Email’s the online that works. No websites, no twitter. She’s done multiple reboots and everything else she can think of, but nothing. She asked me to let everybody know it’s freezing there but she’s OK. Except for not being able to get to the Moose Pond or twitter.
Thank you, dearest! I’m back! See below.
It’s 37 heading for 57 – not as warm as yesterday’s forecast said – and sunny at the moment. How long it’s going to stay sunny is anybody’s guess. One widget says all day, the other says we’re going to be mostly cloudy. I’m hoping for the sunny until the front moves in after dark. Yesterday we generated 15.1 KWHs – first time since last Fall – and the m-t-d at 95.9 has gained a little towards back on track.
The number of people I used to respect who think just because the U.S. has done and is doing a lot of truly evil and despicable things to other, smaller, countries that Russia hasn’t is legion. The number of things I’ve read them say that start with “Yeah, Russian shouldn’t have invaded Ukraine but America/NATO. . .” is rather disgusting. Ukraine is not stupid enough to believe “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” but they are wise enough to know “the enemy of my enemy has a vested interest in not letting my enemy get me – and my resources – to use against them”. Unfortunately, the enemy of Ukraine’s enemy is too effen stupid to understand that. Every single time we refuse to help Ukraine with what they need to fight off Russia, we’re encouraging Russia to not only take Ukraine but to keep going. Putin wants to recreate the old U.S.S.R. “Iron Curtain” hegemony – and use it as a base to push west. Looks like evil America/NATO is going to let him.
My hands are better. So’s the shingles. Sinusitis is worse. So far I’m managing my goal of 30 minutes on the treadmill per day. Even though it’s multiple sessions to do it. Tomorrow is supposed to be below freezing and snowing. So I think I’ll go out and top off the gas tank in a bit. Maybe get myself some BBQ while I’m out. Maybe.
Jill’s still being harassed by her husband – he keeps finding ways to charge stuff to her. She’s now got things set up so she catches it before it goes through and deals with it before the money comes out of her account but it’s still harassment. (The only was he can “prove” she’s incompetent and can’t handle things without him is to steal her money and muck up her accounts. Which has always been true and she’s only now coming to realize it.) Amelia’s been too fatigued to finish the rent. Hold the Good Thoughts she can manage today. Hopefully Aji’s doing better. She hasn’t said otherwise anyway. Nor has anybody else on their situations.
Off to twitter and Dee’s diary. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good Thursday morning, Meese. It’s very cold, 39 F., with weak sunlight and hazy white veils of cloud in Ashburn. Today is supposed to be OK, not great, tomorrow a bit better, and Saturday, my birthday, awful.
Had a very bad two hours between 7 and 9 a.m. when I couldn’t get to any websites or Twitter. It was terrible! Also rather inconvenient, as I’m in the middle of doing taxes. I did warm reboots, a cold reboot, everything I could think of until it finally occurred to me to ask Dearly to turn off the electricity to the den for a minute. Then I unplugged the main power cord from the Mac for a minute. Once they were back on, everything came up! Dear Goddess, I was so relieved.
I am saving up for a real computer. This Mac doesn’t file documents where I try to file them. It’s just totally out of control. Whine, whine, first-world problem, I know.
I need to stop gritching and run out to the store. At about 4:30 this morning I decided not to have a garden plot this year. I hate to let Miss Pink Cheeks down, but I’ll try to find her favorite tiny tomatoes at the farmers’ market. I just don’t have the energy or the enthusiasm to plant things any more.
Well, I do need to get on with my day—glad to be back! Hope everyone at the Pond will have a good day.
Good morning, 31 and sunny but so far not windy. It’s really cold when the north wind blows like it did yesterday. Our gravel/broken pipe saga continues, but should be done today. Our son thought he used a quick dry pipe glue, but oops, it wasn’t and the one he used needs warmer temps to set. And the wrong gravel was delivered so the fix is to just spread it and the company will deliver a clean load to top it off at no charge. So the mud may eventually be contained. Small problems in my small life, but manageable. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 16 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 28. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Overnight we will drop into the single digits and have negative wind chills to greet us tomorrow morning.
Yikes! Russia still had favored nation status allowing goods exported from there to not be subject to tariffs. Today, the western alliance will shut that whole thing down. I guess we will find out if the Russian people want to embrace their ancestral butthurt and see the west as disrespecting them or if they can get enough information to realize that their leader is a megalomaniac, bombing their Ukrainian neighbors in an attempt to rebuild the Russian empire. They are one of our last hopes to end this, the other being China deciding that embracing a war criminal is bad for their PR. By the way is anyone surprised that Deutsche Bank, who bankrolled America’s wanna-be despot, is happy to continue to do business with Russia? Bastids.
I have a bunch of little projects to try to gather into a to-do list. I started some things yesterday that I should finish before they escape my brain.
Diana, in case I am not around when you check-in tomorrow, Happy Birthday! I hope you can do something pleasant. When you are ready to go back to Windows and want to move to the cloud later this year, let me know and we can arrange to meet via email for me to help you to get the pieces in place. I think I should have time after Labor Day.
See all y’all later!
Jan, thank you so much for the offer! I’ll be sure to avail myself of it. This Mac is behaving so badly that Dearly wants me to switch now, but I need to get some projects done first. After enduring this chaos for 8 years I will have to relearn everything in a well-ordered system.
I’m investigating Yahoo as an email alternative and so far I like it quite well.
Cold morning and getting colder. They’re predicting 29 even in downtown. I’m leaving work early to bunch & cover my plants. Slept badly. Must tune out the news earlier, listen to my lullaby playlist.
Hi, another, if this isn’t the best idea I ever heard!
Must tune out the news earlier, listen to my lullaby playlist.
As tomorrow is my birthday, I want to be happy for one day. I’m planning to listen to Beatles all day, Goddess willin’ and the electricity don’t go off.
Friday Meese and another snow storm on the way – weather folks can’t decide how much we are going to get dumped on us.
Am deeply saddened by news of the loss of a friend/comrade.
Sad news, Dee, but I like the way you put this:
I’m going to leave explicit instructions to my family regarding my death. They are to say I died, not that I “passed away,” or “went home to be with the Lord.” What Lord? The universe cares nothing about human constructs.
I also hope they will neglect to mention my many faults of character.