Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Jan. 8th through Jan. 14th

January 7, 2017 JanF Community 90

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 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.

…

41 Comments

  1. Good morning, 31 and cloudy in Bellingham. I finally got some things done yesterday so I feel less overwhelmed this morning. Hope the feeling lasts! I see the dentist for a new crown this morning, then the lab for a coumadin level check, then home to work at my desk and the rest of my stacks of possibilities.

    Good news from my injured friend……her new Dr. is helping her with better pain and anxiety management and her in home physical therapy is going well. She still has several months of recovery but it’s a huge relief to see her feeling better and on her way.

    Progress in my sewing room as well. Patching the walls and repairing the rot in the floor has taken longer than we thought it would but everything should be dry and ready to paint today. Yesterday I decided the big purge I was trying to do is just to much, so I’ve got things organized to put away and as I’m working in room I’ll decide what to do with what’s left. Maybe I’ll just make things…..possibilities!

  2. Our overnight low happened around 9:30 last night when I went to bed – 42 then, 60 at what passed for dawn. Very overcast this morning but the sun is breaking through at the moment. Hold the good thought.

    Got totally slammed yesterday when the auto shop called – head gasket. Estimate is just under $1,700 for everything including taxes. Woof! And bless the folks at DK – I had 9 of them immediate ask if I needed help and suggest a fundraiser for me. I’m hoping I won’t need the help – and won’t actually know if I’ll need the help until the work is done and the charge hits my credit card (which I’ve basically locked down – no more charges on it until this gets through) so around the end of February – I’ve promised everyone that I will report back March 1st and let them know one way or the other. It really made/makes me feel good that I’ve got backup if I need it even as I hope not to need it.

    People are noticing what I’m doing over there which is also nice. Ice Blue’s well pump went out which may be fixable but if it has to be replaced she will also have to drill a new well as the pit well she’s been using for the last 15 years is against the new code – she was telling us about it in the Pootie diary – and I immediate asked if she needed to be added to the community needs list (and to get me a gofundme link if so). Both our comments were chosen to go to Top Comments, hers for the matter-of-fact description of how politics effects ordinary people and mine for my “kind-hearted offer of real help to a good person in need” – which tells me they know about my community needs list comments in the community diaries and approve of them. That makes me feel good, too.

    Anyway, I have work to do – all the harder for these blasted weather swings (I’ve got a “barometric pressure shift headache” and my hands are swollen which certainly is not helping my keyboarding abilities this morning) – but will check back later. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • Unexpected car repairs are the awful! We budget for a lot of things and have insurance for other things but a car repair comes out of the blue and has to be addressed. I hope things work out with your funding.

      • I will. Although if I do let people help me, I’ll feel guilty because the first thing I’ll do once my own finances are OK is start donating again. That kind of feels like taking folks money under false pretenses. But I certainly will let people know if I can’t handle it. At least I’ve had assurances from a bunch of Subaru owners that it’s well worth it as the car should last at least another 50K miles and maybe more after it’s done. {{{Denise}}}

  3. My friend is back in the hospital. She has had several seizures in recent days & finally went to the hospital. her October MRI was clear, the one yesterday…. there’s definitely something there & it has tentacles

  4. Good morning, meese! Wednesday …

    It is 18 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 30. Yesterday’s rain made driving hazardous when everything froze but the streets look fine now. Today we will have a bit of sun but then more precipitation expected.

    The headline on my NPR feed was “What a Day: 9 things that happened in 24 hours“. Indeed. Too much, really. I “watched” some of the Senate hearings on Twitter and saw the Russian story break. Too bad journalists who had access to that stolen information didn’t put it on the front pages and the airwaves 24/7 in the two weeks before the election. I don’t know if finding out that the election was rigged by a foreign power makes it easier or more difficult to deal with. We have no facility for “do overs” in our constitution and, regardless of what happens to tRump, there will be a Republican president. We can take comfort in the knowledge that his presidency will be damaged before it starts, his approval rating the lowest of any incoming president since polling began (37% approval), his Congress is in disarray, and there are a lot of people unwilling to accept the rollback of the last 8 years. We will not sit back and say “oh, well, I guess he’s our president”. #NotMyPresident #NeverMyPresident

    I have President Obama’s speech up in a tab and am waiting for the White House official transcript to be released and then will post it and view it. It came on past my brain time so I did not watch it live and don’t have time yet to watch it.

    See all y’all later!

    • I saw all over the Internets that it was quite an emotional speech. I am glad I didn’t stay up to watch it – I would have had a difficult time sleeping. Still waiting for the transcript.

      I am hoping to catch Cory Booker’s testimony at the Sessions hearing today. I see that Tehran Tom Cotton considers it a terrible breach of protocol for a Senator to testify against another Senator. I think it is a terrible breach of protocol to write a letter to a foreign leader telling him not to listen to the duly-elected President of the United States. The level of disrespect from these people to our president is something that I will never forgive or forget.

      Now, back to work. I got distracted by some shiny objects and now I am behind on my must-do project.

    • What a wonderful picture! Thanks for showing it, Denise.

      Going to cry when our calm, dignified, intellectual, compassionate, scandal-free president drives off into the future. And I’ll miss beautiful Michelle, roundly castigated by the Rethugs for her emphasis on a healthful diet and getting more exercise. She, however, has managed to soar above it all.

  6. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s fair here in NoVa, with pale blue skies and tentative sunlight, but judging from the appearance of the street outside we must have had an early-hour shower. It’s a balmy 39 F. at the moment, going up to 49 F. later.

    Stunned by the revelations from Russia and also very bitter. They couldn’t have come out with this before the election? But oh, no, emailghazi! I still blame the media and will continue to do so.

    Yes, we can resist. However, McTurtle seems to be barreling over everyone and everything in his quest for unbridled power. Never has the phrase “It’s okay if you’re Republican” been illustrated more clearly.

    As we never seem to go to movies, I’m reading Hidden Figures and am absolutely riveted by it. And much of it takes place in my own state of Virginia, which makes it even more interesting to me. Next on my list is Born Black, about a woman who overcame a deprived background to achieve her dream of a college education and a better life. Going to see if Langston Hughes’ book is on Kindle, because I can’t find the hard copy I bought.

    Wishing all a good day…filled with even more dread at saying goodbye to our wonderful president and watching Thing waddle into the Oval Office.

    • I didn’t realize that Hidden Figures was a book as well as a movie! Dumb me. I think I will go look for it. I don’t enjoy movies – their pace is not my pace – but a book can be set aside if something comes up. I admit I have not done much reading lately; I used to be a several-books-a-week reader but then the Internets distracted me. Time to reconnect with that old habit.

      • Jan, it’s so well written and interesting it’s more like a novel than nonfiction. I am really loving this book. And oh, joy of joys, the author uses “humankind” and “staffed” rather than “mankind” and “manned.” I feel included. :)

    • if you like Hidden Figures, add Rise of the Rocket Girls to your list, it is about the women at JPL – a multicultural group, even during WWII

  7. Today will be the warmest, sunniest of the week so of course I’m going to a movie. And to visit my friend in the hospital. I’m going to try to squeeze in a walk before the movie, but it won’t be the 5 miler I had planned. I have a presale code for U2 tickets, but I don’t know that I’ll even look at prices, because I can’t afford it. The weekend’s car trouble would have wiped out all the room on every credit card I have if I’d had to pay for it, so I can’t be doing things like buying concert tickets. But today will be nice. Sunny, 81 degrees. There will be something cheesy, and there will be chocolate.

    and this is the song that made me cheer last night — it was so perfect he walked in to this, it makes my heart soar

  8. Started the day at 60 and overcast, heading for 68 then slowly dropping through tonight and tomorrow to Friday morning’s projected 40 (and rain). Hope we get some sunshine with it. Cleared off yesterday enough to get over 6 KWHs – at the moment have 46 for the month.

    So many things seem to be going down right now – from people’s health to the mechanical necessities of our modern life (like cars and well pumps) to the very idea of a free society – I’m focusing on Healing Energy for everybody and everything everywhere. Golden Light of Healing surrounding the Earth just like Her atmospheric blanket. At DK the Village diaries are shifting into serious Resist mode (linked to Tuesday Chile last night – the opening essay was just so right on!) – we shall see if the bots will give up their botdom and join us. Meanwhile, I make my calls weekly and send postcards weekly on the political side and my community stuff on the Loving Kindness side. And focus on The Light.

    Got stuff to do at work and DK (my Street Prophets Helping Hump Day diary isn’t quite finished – posts around 3 central time) so I’d best get to it. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  9. Good morning, 25 and sunny in Bellingham, but the wind chill is 15……very cold for my tender joints.

    President Obama, last night. ….

    President Obama ‏@POTUS 12h12 hours ago
    Thank you for everything. My last ask is the same as my first. I’m asking you to believe—not in my ability to create change, but in yours.

  11. Morning, meeses. Thursday …

    It is 14 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 21. Flurries this morning and then the sun will break through in the afternoon.

    Well, they did it. The Senate voted to take away affordable health care from millions of Americans. They were just laughing at those of us calling in, pleading our case, begging for the right to health care. May they all rot in hell.

    I am listening to my president speaking – talking about the America that we are about to lose, an America that will be systematically dismantled over the next 4 years, the parts sold off to those willing to kiss the flabby ass of a vulgar talking yam.

    See all y’all later.

    • Fuck them – we have to fight and take this shit to the streets.
      I refuse to just whimper about this

      • I need to see that some of our pushback is working. So far it looks like they are flipping us off and laughing at our pain.

        I watched some of the confirmation hearings yesterday and watching the principled speeches by Cory Booker and John Lewis made me want to cry more than anything. I feel so helpless! It is the same stuff I’ve watched happening in Wisconsin since 2010 and we were unable to stop it.

  12. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s 53 F. on a windy, gray morning here in NoVa, going up to 63 F. today. The wind is howling like an obstreperous wolf cub.

    Blast the hides of those who voted against health care! I wish something awful would happen to the smug Rethugs. And nothing, not even nefarious financial activities and golden showers, seems to faze Thing and his followers. The world has gone to hell in a handbasket: I read that because of Brexit, there are no workers in England to pick the crops. I’m beginning to seriously wonder whether I should lay in a supply of emergency food.

    On a personal note, I need to plow on with getting the downstairs flat ready for the new tenants to move in on Sunday. Monday is a holiday, so I imagine they’ll be moving stuff in on that day as well. The tenant said they’d only be here for six months or so.

    Wishing all as good a day as possible in the circumstances.

  13. I’m loving sleeping in, Tuesday is going to hurt. Still record warm for the rest of the week, so I will get a walk in today. My friend’s surgery is Monday. I’ve got to get in walking not only to train for the race, but because of the massive amounts of chocolate & cheese I’m eating to deal with that & with the whole political situation. Deliberately playing Steve Earle’s The Revolution Starts Now, to get myself psyched up.

  14. Had a massive – like 25 degree – temp drop from 6:30 to 7:30 this morning. It was 67 when I got up and 42 when I left for work. My joints are not amused. Overcast so far today – getting driblets of sunshine so not on night mode, but not promising.

    As a nation we will survive. Many individuals will not. The Rs are evil. Period. Hurting and killing people because they can. Power mad. That’s evil. Killing the ACA before more idiot Rs find out it’s the same thing as Obamacare isn’t even going to bring them more wealth and power. In fact it’s likely to do the opposite. And we’d dang-well be ready to take advantage of that in 2018. They’re just evil. But I will keep calling and sending postcards. It’s my duty as a Democrat, a patriotic American, and a caring human being.

    Need to get some work done. Brain still doesn’t function as well as I’d like. Multitasking is difficult and having multiple issues with multiple steps that have to be set aside while each step goes through the approval chain is even worse. I’m spending way too much of my time picking up a piece of paper, checking to see if it’s ready for the next step yet, then putting it back down because it’s not. But this too shall pass. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  15. Any of you FB folks seen Nurse Kelley lately? I just realized she hasn’t answered an email from me since 11/10/16 – I was already getting a little worried about her and now I see it’s been 2 full months I’m getting a lot worried about her. Thanks and more {{{HUGS}}}

    • She and I regularly correspond by email. She is fine but shell-shocked like the rest of us.

      • Thank you. I do worry about her when I don’t hear from her. Shell-shocked is a good term for it. Kelley’s been trying for years to get me on FB and maybe after I retire I might have to just to keep in touch with her, but DK is enough of a time suck for me while I’m still putting in 40 hours a week at the University.

  16. Good morning, 23 and the full moon is shinning in my window this morning, and I’m starting to see the outlines of my old trees. I need to hold these moments close as a buffer against the worries of the day.

    I had a busy day yesterday, but with my energetic young housekeeper’s help Christmas is finally packed away, my house is clean, and most of the laundry is done. So I have a sense of calm and order, again a needed buffer to counter my dismay when reading the news.

    I need to pay bills and address the stacks on my desk today……seems like I just did that, but it’s a thankless task that never stays done!

  17. Senate “Comity” only goes one way, apparently:

    This is the Senate gavelling down Al Franken and Elizabeth Warren during their “NO” votes.

  18. Good morning, meese! Friday …

    It is 9 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 10. Mostly cloudy skies are in the forecast. Yesterday’s snow has been mostly cleared but there are still some icy patches from the standing water that froze overnight Wednesday.

    Yesterday, the president designated three new national monuments to preserve Civil Rights sites:

    As the country prepares to observe Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and National Park Service Acting Director Michael T. Reynolds today applauded President Barack Obama’s designation of three new national monuments to recognize the nation’s journey from the Civil War to the modern Civil Rights Movement.

    The President Obama also expanded the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southwestern Oregon and the California Coastal National Monument to protect natural and cultural resources and areas of critical biodiversity, including highly important wildlife habitat.

    Building on the Administration’s commitment to protecting places that are culturally and historically significant and that reflect the story of all Americans, President Obama today designated the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument in Birmingham, Ala., the Freedom Riders National Monument in Anniston, Ala. and the Reconstruction Era National Monument in Beaufort County, S.C. to honor historic sites in both states that played an important role in American civil rights history.

    (The Freedom Riders were a group of civil rights activists, both African American and Caucasian, who tested integration laws on the interstate bus system. The incident in Anniston was quickly reported in newspapers and shown on television screens across the country, shocking the nation and inspiring more people to join the fight against the injustices of Jim Crow laws in the American South. The Freedom Riders National Monument includes the former Greyhound Bus Station in Anniston and the bus burning site in Calhoun County six miles out of town.)

    Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument:

    See all y’all later!

    • I am elated to see the 3 new civil rights monuments – especially the one to Reconstruction in SC – a period which gets short shrift historically.

  19. Good morning, Meese. Owing to “a disturbance in the Force,” as Jan says, I was up and about at the appalling hour of 5:20 a.m. It’s a fair morning, 53 F. at the moment, going up to 55 F. later. Temperatures are expected to drop tonight with snow and freezing rain arriving in the wee hours, just in time to ruin everyone’s Saturday plans.

    Have tons to do today. The Giant Cleanup of my horrible office is proceeding very well, I’m thankful to say. Getting so tired of looking at pieces of paper and deciding whether they go in the Tax pile, Shred pile, Toss pile, or Keepsake pile.

    Also: clean the downstairs fridge, make the Slow Cooker Ham and Bean soup for tonight, try to put in some time at the gym as I may not get there tomorrow, finish moving stuff upstairs, make an applesauce cake with coconut pecan frosting in case the bad weather doesn’t happen after all and Beloved Nephew does come to tea tomorrow, and do panic shopping at the grocery store. Got a headache just from writing this.

    Wishing all as good a day as possible, considering the actions of the death-dealing Dementors on Capitol Hill. It’s Friday the 13th, a lucky day for Goddess worshippers but considered very bad by the opposing forces!

Comments are closed.