Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: August 27th

August 26, 2023 JanF Community 72

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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33 Comments

  1. Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    Morning low of 81 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 102. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Sunday Meese. 60 here in Kingston going up to 78
    Trying to wrap my head around yet another racist, targeted murder of Black folks – this time in Jacksonville…on the same day the March on Washington was being commemorated.

    Thinking about this:

    and this

    • Regarding the Dollar General shooting:

    • “Defend themselves and their families” from WHAT? Are hordes of nonwhite Americans trying to break down their doors?

      White supremacy is deeply stupid as well as lethal.

  3. Puerto Rico

    If confirmed by a federal bankruptcy judge, the plan would mean an increase in already high power bills for many people on the island if the new charge is approved by Puerto Rico’s Energy Bureau.
    […]
    Recent electric bill increases have been criticized by many on the island of 3.2 million people hit by power outages ever since the grid was razed by Hurricane Maria in 2017, with crews only recently starting to rebuild it.

  5. Good morning. Watching the news, enjoying my tea as it steeps. We have several days with rain chances coming up, but I’ll believe in that when I feel it. Today: church, making next week’s breakfast, parceling out pasta salad from the frozen big container… and I suppose my exercise will be dancing while I do that.

  6. It 75 heading for 85/88 and sunny at the moment. Last night’s forecast said it’d be raining right now. Today’s forecast doesn’t have any rain in it at all. Just clouds moving in shortly. Sigh. We generated a hair under 12 KWHs and the m-t-d at 376 is no longer on track for 450. But still on track to do better than last year so that part’s good.

    The kitchen faucet started dripping again 4 hours after my son left. So as soon as he can find another cartridge (Lowes only had the one yesterday), he’ll replace the hot water side. And hope that does it.

    Fineena’s persistence paid off and the guy showed up yesterday with a replacement microwave. He also finally finished the moving job – he’d left quite a number of boxes in her backyard for “staging” – staged or not, yesterday he brought them inside. And hunted around all the boxes and bags in the room where they’ve been stashed and found her jewelry box. So. The bed next so she can get some good rest and ease the pain in her back. And getting over the very bad/painful heat rash she’s got under her breasts so she can actually go out and run errands. She’s got the rent covered. Not sure yet about utilities, especially as she has insurances due next week. Step by step.

    I’ve done my Sunday chores, including putting 3 pints of milk in the freezer so it doesn’t spoil and making chocolate pudding for the next 4 days desserts. Head, back, and shoulders are protesting. I need to close the house up in a few minutes and then get on my boosting chores. To the music in Dee’s diary of course. Holding the Good Thought for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

  7. Good Sunday morning (it’s just barely morning at 11:49 a.m.), Moosekind! I’ve been doing laundry, cooking breakfast. I finished my short story (still have to check a couple of details), but when I woke up I decided I hate the last paragraph:

    She, Grace Ling, was not the same woman who had undertaken the mission. She was privileged now, one with the Great Spirit that always had, and always would, watch over the earth and all that lived on it.

    This bothers me because I, personally, do not believe in the Great Spirit of All (although a character in the story does), so I feel I’m being intellectually dishonest. And as for watching “over the earth and all who lived on it,” well, what about the dinosaurs? They certainly didn’t survive. And wars, race riots, and massacres? And what about our poor, dying, burning-up Gaia? How long will She last?

    I’m going to give myself a HUGE headache trying to get around this problem. However, I’ll think of something. I always do.

    Today we have 83 F. in Ashboring, going up to 90 F., and imaginary rain showers popping up all over the place (except here) today and tomorrow. At the moment we have sunny weather and blue skies streaked with white wisps of veiling.

    Jan, a Word question: the story format must have a heading with the story name and page number on every page EXCEPT the first page, which is to have only the story title on it. Well, how do I manipulate the stupid header with the page number? Should I add the title page and then follow it with a section break? It all has to be one file. These people are very exacting. The slightest infringement of the rules will result in disqualification.

    I’m trying to avoid the news for the most part. Could I PLEASE never, ever see that mugshot again?

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

    • There is a way to number and do headings that provides you with a way to do the first page differently than the second and subsequent pages. Look at Headers in the help. If you get stuck, let me know and I will post a more precise answer when I am back on my computer tomorrow (Monday) morning.

        • The first step is to go to the Insert tab and insert a header from the list. I would select the three-column header so that you can decide where you want to put things. That selection will put you into a tab named “Header & Footer” which should allow you to choose “Different First Page” to keep the document title and page number off the first page. The parts of the document are in Document Info for you to select.

          I hope that helps! Word is an extremely powerful word processor and there are a lot of formatting options available.

  8. Monday Meese. 59 going up to 77 here in Kingston.

    If you can – follow this Florida Rep

    Powerful, moving interview with Florida State Rep Angie Nixon:

    Puerto Rico

  9. Good morning. Got my walk in — and even a little running! Feels almost pleasant at 77 degrees. Anyway, in the office, getting ready for work. Hoping for a not-exhausting day.

  10. Good morning, meeses! Monday …

    It is 79 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 100. Mostly sunny skies with a very slight chance for rain in the late afternoon. We are under an excessive heat alert until Tuesday night.

    I am determined to get some projects done this morning and the best way to do that is to ignore the news.

    See all y’all later!

  11. Good Monday morning, Moosekind! It’s 75 F. here in Ashburn with cloudy skies. It’ll be like this all day, only going up to 80 F. Hey, there’ll be a full moon in two days! I saw the half-moon the other evening as I was strolling up to the fountain after dinner.

    The carpet cleaners are supposed to come today. Dearly did NOT get a time from them! Duhh…They can do something about the green barf stain from when the puppy barfed up grass and might have had a little accident in the dining area. At least, that’s what it looks like. What’s particularly annoying is that new apartments are being built even as I write, and they will ALL have laminate floors! So much less allergenic, so much easier to clean up! Well, first-world problem.

    Today I have a Friends of Bill meeting at 1 p.m. That’s coded language for AA. Haven’t been to an AA meeting in 40 years so I thought I’d go along and see what it’s like here.

    Also have to memorize the play today. We’re rehearsing at 7 p.m. I might try to make a temporary picket sign for my character. The other play, “DNA Dilemma,” is receiving favorable comment from the other members of the team. One said how nice it is to have a non-innocuous play, and another said it really hit home because his wife had been left on a doorstep shortly after her birth. She was adopted, of course, and apparently had a good life.

    I figured out a better final paragraph, I think. The first one wouldn’t have worked because how would Grace have known about the Great Spirit of All? The most important character believed in the Great Spirit, but Grace doesn’t. During the three-hour mission, though, Grace did change. By the story’s end, she felt like a different person.

    “As she handed her camera and the artifacts in her pockets to the other members of the team, Grace realized that she, Grace Ling, was not the same person who had crawled through the passage to the cave. She was now conscious of the life force that connected her to every being that had ever lived—-or ever would live—-on Earth, from the beginning of time until time’s end.”

    I’m still going back and forth about “time’s end” and “from the beginning of time until its end.”

    Well, enough. Got to look up the tensile strength of rope and cable, change “paleoarchaeologist” to “prehistoric archaeologist,” and find out about that stupid mine radio.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

  12. It’s 66 heading to 86 and even the heat index isn’t supposed to get over 90. And it’s sunny. Nice. We generated a hair over 12 KWHs yesterday. The m-t-d at 387.81 is on track for 440 and that’s better than the last 2 years. We might even reach 400 by end of day. We’ll get close anyway.

    Fineena is still in pain and still has the heat rash. She’s still got a whole lot of boxes and bags to open and things to be done before she’s settled in. But September rent is covered. She’s got the microwave and can cook now even when she’s not up to using the stove. She a couple of steps closer to having Direct TV (still looking for her 32″ TV – the 13″ TV she hadn’t thrown out is really too small for her to be able to see what’s on it). She’s got to replace the (missing) power cord to her laptop but she has hopes of actually having wifi soon which makes replacing the cord worthwhile. Step by step things are getting better.

    Looks like I’m going to be without hot water in the kitchen for a while. Lang tried to replace the cartridge on the hot water side yesterday afternoon and the “collar” that screws it in is broken. You could only tell when it was unscrewed and pulled out because it’s separating around the middle. A little more separation and it would have been 2 rings instead of one. I guess the only reason it wasn’t leaking more than it was is because the tap is about 25 years old and everything was sort of frozen in place. That was sort of panic making because he couldn’t turn the house water back on at that point. He tried Lowes but they didn’t carry the part. He had to get to work so I was several hours with the water shut off. He came back after work and capped the hot water line to the sink. So I have house water and the hot water to the bathrooms is fine. Had my shower and washed my hair last night. Just no hot water to the kitchen sink. But I only use it for washing the day’s dishes after dinner and the stove and teakettle are an arm’s reach away. No water is a serious problem. No hot water to the kitchen sink is a 1st world problem.

    Anyway, I just took the lemon-walnut muffin bread out of the over and had best get about my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

    • This! “the tap is about 25 years old and everything was sort of frozen in place.”

      I wonder how many things are like this! I’ve owned things whose parts were held together with rusted bolts and you knew if you removed the bolt you would never be able to fasten it in a way that would ever hold.

      Good luck on your sink repair!

      • Old stuff sometimes really is held together by rust and “gunk” that’s accumulated over the years. And can’t be fixed, only replaced once it absolutely has to be. LOL.

  13. Good morning, 63 and cloudy outside my window today. The smoke in the air is still making my eyes burn so I’m wishing for a few rainy days. Yesterday was busy and fun with Ava’s family birthday party. Our baking was a bit of a challenge but the pies were all tasty and appreciated. We gave her a Bluetooth turntable so it was fun to see her LP collection and to listen to a few of her favorite songs. I collapsed into bed as soon as we got home, and will have a quiet day today. Feeling grateful I can rest as needed. Best wishes to all.

  14. Tuesday Meese. I feel like I shouldn’t bother looking at the weather forecast here. They change it several times a day. Right now it says no rain and 63. I’m praying for folks in the path of the hurricane

    Puerto Rico
    Gentrification is advancing at full speed in Puerto Rico – “There are no laws that protect tenants, the law is pro-property”, That’s how we are, the reds and the blues, as always the people do not care. Only their pocket

  15. Good morning. I slept in, so thankful for my 2 wfh days. I’m going to log off work early and go to the gym this afternoon, see how 30 minutes on the elliptical goes. For now, I’m watching astronomy and getting ready for work.

  16. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 79 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 106. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast with a very slight chance for rain. The sky this morning was clear and the stars were bright – there was a slight breeze that was not quite cool but not quite hot. Last night the fullish moon was bright with a smattering of nighttime monsoon clouds around her. The moons that rise in the east are the best moons here because they are always framed by the Santa Catalina Mountains. Tomorrow night she will be full at 6:35pm MST which coincides with moonrise – fingers crossed that the skies are clear. I am going to ignore the fact that the heat dome warning has been extended for another day and that a new high for Tucson was set at the airport yesterday. Fall is on its way.

    I like the March 4th date for the tRump coup trial. It gives Republican primary voters one last chance to stop being awful people and to find a better standard bearer for their party. Certainly none of the current Republicans running are acceptable as presidents but there are some who would be terrible in the ordinary “Republicans hate people who are not like them” mode. We really really need to put down the fascism. If you have not used up your Philadelphia Inquirer clicks, you should read this Will Bunch article: Journalism fails miserably at explaining what is really happening to America. I saw it block quoted liberally but can’t read it.

    I have a hot project to finish this morning and I will put a few news stories in my Pocket and maybe have time to read them when I finish.

    See all y’all later!

  17. It’s 62 heading for 89, heat index will barely get over 90, and sunny. At least at the moment. Yesterday we generated 13.7 KWHs and the m-t-d is 401.5 with 3 more production days left. We shall see what we shall see.

    Fineena is still in a lot of pain and still has a lot of unpacking to do, but she’s managing at least a couple of boxes or bags a day. Henry’s either sick or acting out – he’s doing inside what he is normally quite good at doing outside. At least Fineena doesn’t have to worry about carpet. But she’s in enough pain already and really doesn’t need to be having to clean that up. With Aashirs nani’s help she’s just changed him back to his familiar food. We’ll see if that helps. If not she’s going to take him to the vet. Step by step.

    Aji desperately needs sales. As to all the artisans and vendors on my needs list. It’s been a really, really bad year for small businesses. Anybody in the bottom quartile. Trickle down from the wealthy never worked. Neither does trickle down from the middle class.

    I’m almost not noticing no hot water in the kitchen. LOL. I am certainly noticing cool evenings and not having to have the A/C on. I’ve gotten over 7 hours of sleep the last 2 nights. Nice. Anyway, I need to get the laundry going then get to my boosting chores. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}

  18. Good Tuesday morning, Meese. It’s another nugly day in Ashburned. The sky is overcast, the temp. 74 F. It might rain, or then again, it might not. Yesterday, as I walked to my first “Friends of Bill” meeting in about 40 years, 12 drops of rain fell. (For those of you unfamiliar with the term “Friends of Bill Wilson,” it’s code for Alcoholics Anonymous.) There were four women there, including yrs truly, and one man. That poor guy attends partly as an escape from his home situation. His once-brilliant wife has Alzheimer’s, and looking after her is very trying.

    Back to more cheerful subjects: while walking home my way took me around Fisherman’s Pond, and what do you think I saw? A blue heron, quietly standing on one leg and contemplating that night’s dinner. I was thrilled! The Pond smelt very pondish, that much I can tell you.

    Last night’s rehearsal was conducted in the presence of some very experienced people from the Drama Club. One was there to study our “blocking,” and the other was there to decide about lighting. I carried a small picket sign proclaiming “Change babies, not climates” in my role as a Raging Granny. Unfortunately, one of our characters had suddenly been taken to the hospital. OMG, I hope the poor guy is going to be OK.

    Had the energy to do a little research when I came home, but not enough to make the changes. I’ll do that this morning. I now know that the rope was made of nylon and that Grace’s communication thingy was a PED (Personal Emergency Device). She preferred to yank the rope, not trusting that low-frequency radio waves would penetrate the rock walls of the cave.

    Dearly rang up Stanley Steemer and they’re coming this afternoon, right at our bloody nap time! (First-world problem, of course.)

    That’s enough from me. Hoping everyone will get either the sunshine they need or the rain they need, and that the skies will clear so that I can see the full moon tomorrow night. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

  19. Good morning, 63 and cloudy outside my window today. I was awake in the night with thunder, lightening and heavy rain but the air is still smoky and my eyes are still burning so I’ll work inside today. Nothing interesting, just laundry and changing the beds but that’s ok. Best wishes to all.

  20. Wednesday Meese. Raining hard here in Kingston, 68 going up to 83.
    Watching Idalia – just checked in with my goddaughter in Waycross, GA – where Idalia is going to hit.

    Puerto Rico

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