Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: May 31st through June 6th

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 (every Sunday morning). 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 and use the link.

51 Comments

  1. Morning Meese

    (yawn) 47 and raining here in Saugerties

    Overslept cause was kept awake by frantic doggies during last nights thunderstorms

    Need coffee

  2. Good morning, Meese! 63 F. here on a showery gray morning, going up to 66 F. today. Just finished drinking early morning tea in bed, came across the hall to my office to escape the Caitlyn-Jenner-photo-shoot hysteria on GMA. Those twits wouldn’t recognize real news if it walked up and slapped them in the face. The George announced the entry of Lindsay Graham into the POTUS race but has yet to mention Bernie Sanders.

    I almost wish Bernie would get the Dem. nomination just to make the Village’s head spin around completely.

    Summer is here! How do I know? Because I have little itchy bumps all over my hands and forearms. That’s life, I guess. I refuse to be a prisoner in my air conditioned house all summer. My late mother hardly set foot out the door in the summer because of her allergies.

    In fact, we turned the a.c. off last night. Hope it’ll be a good day for everyone in the Pond and Beyond!

  3. Good morning, Meese.
    It’s going to be in the high fifties with rain to keep things messy.
    Took a quick glance at the news and was saddened to read about the cruise ship disaster. Am now about to read about the Patriot Act but need more coffee. Am also going to see if I am as smart as my brand new smart phone.
    Will check in later to see how everyone is. Hope that it is a good day for all.

      • iPhone. I had one of those clamshell things for years and never used it. Not sure why I got a new and fancier one but I did

        • My kids insisted I get an iPhone so I could be part of the family text message conversation. At first I just carried the thing around and pretended to know what to do with it! But now it’s important, full of pictures, memory trails of messages, phone numbers and email addresses…..a full diary of my life. I shudder to think of losing it.

          I’m due for a upgrade but I keep waiting because I know there will be a new learning curve when I do.

        • Have you read the Moose on your smart phone yet? The WordPress site is much easier to use via mobile (it actually renders differently for mobile so that it does not overwhelm your phone display). The old site used to jump when I tried to post and so I could only post the most basic things. Or I would give up in frustration.

          This is quite 21st Century of you, Portlaw!! :)

  4. cool-ish for June, mid 60s going up to upper 80s, nice for here for this time of year

    Walked again this morning. 1.28 miles. I think I’m gonna take tomorrow off from walking. You need a rest day. Down to 1 earworm, U2’s California. Sleepy despite bouncy music & tea.

  5. 68 heading for 78 (I’d bet around 83) and sunny at the moment for which I most certainly thank C.C. this Tuesday morning in Fay., AR. I finally found that old letter to the editor – in a paper file I created when I left the job whose computer I created that letter on :) – so as soon as I’ve retyped it (and get a few minutes of spare time) I will attempt to post a diary both here and on teh Orange. Got a chiro appt today – hope this adjustment “takes” – I haven’t had to do more than two visits back to back in years but this is my 4th in 4 weeks. Hope everyone’s day goes well. {{{HUGS}}}

    • Let me make sure you are “Author”ized on the new moose. There is also an FAQ called FAQ – How to Compose a Post in WordPress which is very light on specifics but does have a couple helpful hints.

      As an Editor, I can help you get it into the right spot for display and fix any html glitches. Just ping me.

      • I don’t even know where to start. Maybe I should just post a link to the DK diary and let you do what you wish with it. Or not. Whatever you want me to do.

        • Post the link. I will import it for you and then you can look at what I did and publish it.

          Sometimes it is easier to see one that has been moved than to start one from scratch.

          • Here it is. I’ve had queries over in DK about the stats I used (25% pregnancies from rape) that I lost the citation for so if anybody here has better/more updated data, I’d love to hear it. I wrote the letter more or less in response to the report that said that – but we’re talking over 10 years ago. Thanks

            http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/06/02/1389885/-Whose-Choice

          • The comments in that diary are a perfect illustration of why I won’t post on the GOS. I should have remembered my rule of “don’t read the comments” but I was hoping you had found the citation for the 25% figure that you would be able to plug into the Moose version, so I scanned them.

            I will put it in your draft posts and you can decide if you want to add/change it before you post it. Drafts are visible via your Dashboard (My Moose). When you are in Edit, you will see a Publish button.

          • As to teh comments over at GOS, I know what you’re saying but it was really only one commenter and the Peeps came in and pretty much shut him (I assume him from the content and tone) down. My first diary over there to get double-digit comments. Maybe someday I’ll write one that gets triple digits. :)

          • You should do the Pootie and Woozle diaries! I would regularly get triple digit comments. Although a lot of them were mine since it is de rigueur to answer every person who shows up personally, preferably with an LOL cat. :)

            It doesn’t matter, by the way, the exact number of turds floating in the punch bowl. It only takes one to ruin the flavor.

          • The diary has been ported to the Moose. Just click on My Moose (in the top menubar) and you will see it in your drafts. If you are fine with it, just click Publish.

          • OK – I went in and added an author’s note about the stat in question and then published it. Thank you so much for importing it – and giving it a picture! :) I really appreciate your help and hope everybody thinks well of the diary.

          • I hope that picture is okay! We try to put a Featured Image on every post to liven it up.

            All I did, by the way, was click on the Text tab on the Compose Post screen and copy and paste the diary html code in there. I put in the MORE tag (to split the post into above the fold and below the fold). I think you will be able to do the next one without Editorial intervention. :)

  6. More on the slave ship. This should never, ever, be forgotten
    From an editorial in the NYTimes

    This era is often reduced to an abstraction in contemporary conversation. But the news that a team of researchers discovered the wreckage of a Portuguese slaving ship off the coast of South Africa puts the modern world in touch with the depravity of the enterprise. It also brings forth the images of captives lying shackled together on their sides, like spoons in a silverware drawer, in the filth-ridden holds of the ships that ferried human cargo across the Atlantic for more than three centuries.

    Twenty-four days later, the ship encountered violent winds and broke up on reefs not far from Cape Town and 100 yards from shore. The crew survived, but half the Africans died. Those who survived were sold again within days.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/opinion/finding-a-slave-ship-uncovering-history.html?ref=opinion

    • This: “This era is often reduced to an abstraction in contemporary conversation.”

      It is an era that the “just get over it!” people need to read more about. They need to live it and breathe it and decide if it is something they could just “get over” if it happened to their ancestors. And people like Ben Carson, who should know better, should stop saying that Obamacare is slavery. Here is the best comment I ever saw on the Internet:

      things that are like rape are: rape. things that are like the holocaust are: the holocaust. things that are like slavery are: slavery.

  7. Good morning, it’s 53 foggy and raining in Bellingham. A good day to sleep in, so I did! I hope it’s a good day a my desk as well. I got a very slow start yesterday…..enough to know I’d best tend to business and not be distracted by the internet.

  8. so the thing on my nose is a basal cell carcinoma

    the dermatologist is contacting my pcp to get a referral for the surgery – he recommends Mohs & really doesn’t seem worried, so I won’t be either. But I will be blasting U2 really, really loud from my car driving home. Because Bono always makes me feel better. And…. chocolate…. I need chocolate

    • I had one years ago before they even did Mohs and it was just fine. I have since have had many friends who have had Mohs and they are just fine, I think it’s great that they caught it so soon. It sounds as though you have a great doctor. But chocolate and U2 sound like very good medicine. Let us know how you are.

    • You’re getting our old weather. We have another day of it.

      Good luck at the doctors!

      • just check-ups – since I have to take thyroid replacement meds – they have to be monitored, as do my eyes with the glaucoma meds.

        Today is hubby’s birthday – have to go get him a card from the dogs and cats and me :)

    • wanted to add that the biopic being shown, What Happened, Miss Simone? is not the controversial one starring Zoe Saldana – which has been roundly denounced by all and sundry

      The “other” film “Nina” directed by Cynthia Mort has Nina in an affair with her gay male nurse ….. which anyone who knew him or her knows is a lie

      The other film – cast Zoe Saldana – who they had to put in blackface to portray Nina – and it still didn’t work.

      You can read response to the castigated film here

      http://www.ninasimone.com/2012/10/an-open-letter-to-anyone-who-cares-about-nina-simone/

      I wrote “Portraying Nina Simone” about this for Tuesday’s Chile a while back.
      http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/11/13/1160667/-Black-Kos-Tuesday-s-Chile

      I am saddened each semester when I ask students about Nina Simone and they have never heard of her.

  9. Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …

    It is 55 degrees in Madison on its way up to 78. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.

    The Senate passed the USA Freedom Act, the surveillance replacement for the PATRIOT Act, and the president signed it. The good news is that this time there was debate and instead of passing 99 to 1, it passed 67 to 32 signifying, perhaps, that Freedom does not have to come with blinders. It ends the bulk collection of phone records and preserves the roving wiretap, an important tool. Cheney and his demon spawn will not be happy.

    The passing of the bill, by the way, was a stinging rebuke to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell … a reminder to him that he really does not have a majority he can bend to his will in the same way he had a minority he could make do his bidding. Governing is hard!! Who knew?

    See all y’alls later!

  10. Good morning, Meese! It’s 55 F. here under gray skies in NoVa, a real “misty, moisty morning,” going up to 65 F. today. This is the kind of showery day that calls for homemade chicken noodle soup in a crockpot, accompanied by hot rolls and butter, and warmed fruit pie.

    Not getting much done, even at night after Baby goes home. Today I can take him home at 4, though, and since dinner will be a no-brainer, I might get some writing done tonight.

    I’m not supposed to walk in falling rain, not with these battery-powered hearing aids, so it looks as if once again I’ll be driving Miss Pink Cheeks to school.

    Wishing a good day to all in the Pond and Beyond! I’ll be back later to see how everyone’s doing. Hope the Mohs goes all right, anotherdemocrat. Portlaw, that’s great about the iPhone. I love mine, even though I’m old as the hills.

  11. Good morning, Merry Meese, or I hope you are all merry.

    It’s in the fifties, headed for the sixties.

    Went, last night to see a play about apartheid, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, by Athol Fugard. It was somewhat difficult to understand since the lines were in English, Xhosa, Zulu, and Afrikaans (and, of course, how difficult it must have been in South Africa) but the brutality and horror of apartheid were very clear and am still haunted by it.

    But now it’s time for coffee, news, and the challenge of the iPhone!

    Hope it’s a good day for all in the Pond and beyond.

  12. Had an awful night’s sleep. I don’t think it was the skin cancer thing, at least that wasn’t in my head any of the time I spent awake. Skipped walking today – the idea when I set my alarm was to sleep 30 minutes later. Irony. Anyway, eating breakfast, drinking tea. Have When Love Comes To Town in my head – was blasting it on the way in to work. Not just a happy song, but exuberant. Still really sleepy.

    Austin weather — the weather guy this morning was talking about how “hot” it will be at 91. Which, yeah it’s only the 2nd time this year we’ve been that hot, but it’s June & this is Texas. 91 is by definition cool for here & now.

  13. Was 70 when I logged in, 76 now they say heading for 82 but my bet is 87. Sunny for a change, which I’m loving. I’m having the kind of day than in traffic of yore would overheat the engine – start, inch forward, stop. I’ve got to get hourly payroll in but don’t have everybody’s hours yet. Have a couple of days of purchasing things to do – the purchasing system has been down the last two days and just came up. Also have some travel things to deal with. Happy happy.

    Speaking of happy – Happy Birthday to Mr. Dee. Holding the good thought for anotherdemocrat. And I really wish I could eat that lovely dinner Diana conjured up – gluten free means no noodles, no rolls, and no pie crust. I’m OK with what I’m doing, but sometimes… Portlaw you have more intestinal fortitude than I have – not gonna see/read any more than I already know about apartheid. And thanks again Jan for helping me get my first new MM diary out. Good energy to all. {{{HUGS}}}

  14. 56 and cloudy in Bellingham today…..and way to late to say good morning. Family phone calls started early today but we’ve got things settled. All my kids have busy mid 40’s adult lives now, and as we all know that means challenging decisions to make. I’m glad they feel they can talk to me about the important issues in their lives and I try hard to listen and give wise advice, but my head is swimming now. It’s going to take a few rounds of solitaire to settle down!

      • I play Free Cell at work – basically if I’m not winning at least 66% of the games I’m playing I don’t do anything with payroll or budgets until I am. :) At home I play Canfield with an honest-to-goodness deck of playing cards (Bridge size if I can find them – my hands are too small for poker decks to be comfortable).

      • I do play Free Cell, and thanks to Windows 8 I’m playing the daily challenges so I also play Spider, Klondike, Pyramid and TriPeaks. I tell myself it’s good for my brain :)

    • My kids are in their 40s but generally don’t tell me anything harrowing until a year or two after the fact when it’s obvious everybody survived in reasonable shape.

  15. Good morning, meese!! Thursday …

    It is 65 degrees in Madison on its way up to 81. Clouds this morning, sun this afternoon.

    So apparently, Ted Cruz has had a “bit” in his stump speech that makes fun of Joe Biden. Of course, you would think that he would remove it on the day before Vice President Biden buries his 46 year old son. You would be wrong! That is because one characteristic that clearly separates Republicans from the rest of humanity is their lack of basic decency … along with any empathy or sympathy for the sadness or discomfort of others. That, coupled with the Duggars defending their son (“It wasn’t rape! He just wanted to touch them!!”) led to one of the best Tweets I say last night:

    Kaili Joy Gray ‏@KailiJoy
    [redacted] you, Ted Cruz. [redacted] you, Duggars. [redacted] you, everything.

    And would someone tell Martin O’Malley to shut the heck up! “George Appleby, O’Malley’s state chairman in Iowa [called] Sanders ‘honorable and interesting” but said that ‘I’d be very surprised if Democrats nominated a 73-year-old man.'” And I would be even more surprised if they nominated a rude man who has an inflated sense of his own attractiveness. Youth is not everything. Here is a Bernie Sanders quote that shows that with age comes maturity:

    Sanders has instructed his inner circle to concentrate on the economy rather than Clinton’s Iraq vote, even though that is one front where their records differ. “We don’t want a campaign about something that happened 12 or 13 years ago,” [Sanders political consultant Tad] Devine said. “It’s got to be about the next 10″

    I need to go rant some more in bfitz’s post.

    See all y’all later!

  16. Good morning, Meese.

    It’s going to be cloudy, in the sixties, with the possibility of a shower or two.

    Haven’t checked the news. Have busy day ahead. I am having my knee fixed week after next so have to run around getting all sorts of tests and stuff done.

    Will check back later but hope it’s a good day for all in the Pond and beyond.

  17. Good morning, Meese! Gray and raining again, 55 F. right now, going up to 64 F. I won’t complain about the rain because in July and August the grass will be brown and dry instead of its current dazzling emerald. Feel as if I’m living in England! Must say all the flowers are looking perky.

    Still didn’t get any writing done–just feeling “bleh” in the evenings. However, this is the last day of baby care until next Tuesday, so perhaps I’ll perk up along with the flowers. Will come back later if possible to see how everyone’s doing. Portlaw, good luck with the knee, and Jan, I agree about O’Malley. “An inflated sense of his own attractiveness” fits O’Malley to a T—brilliant!

    Hope it’s a good day for all!

  18. Good morning Meese – cloudy and muggy

    Have a meeting today with one of the artists who is helping prepare for a major exhibition on The Young Lords this summer in NYC – at the Museo del Barrio and the Bronx Museum.

    Am pleased that that will be doing a special section on The Women in the Young Lords, on Thursday, July 23, 6:30pm to 9:00pm.

    Hope anyone who is in NY area will get a chance to see the show and hopefully come to the panel.

    • That’s terrific. Wish I could go but not sure what state I will be in after my knee surgery. When I had the last one done it was a very very long recovery. If I am mobile, will be there!!!

  19. Staying home today. I’m really tired, need a rest. (btw, tried to call in at work & 15 minutes of calling 4 supervisors in my department — not 1 was in). I will get a workout in today. And a nap.

    Austin weather – on the cool side of normal for June, low 90s & sunny.

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