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?
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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.
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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 37 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 54. Partly cloudy skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Hi guys! 45 in chicago metro as i check out the second ncaa final four game. Going to be in the fifties all next week. Looking forward to checking in!
Hi Reese.
Hope your ncaa teams make you happy this year!
Good morning Meese
36 degrees here in Saugerties going up to 58 later – which will melt the snow from Friday – we have flood warnings here in Ulster county.
Will be listening to Rev Barber this morning while I do diary duty at Dkos
I could use the uplift since I am feeling distinctly un-spiritual towards a certain Vermont Senator
I am contemplating doing a special filter on my Twitter feed because it makes me crabby seeing his name! How insulated from reality do you have to be to think that embracing tRump voters is NOT dissing women and people of color? You cannot win a national election appealing to white male grievances alone. Even tRump didn’t do that – he appealed to white grievances and hoovered up the people who vote reflexively R. Good luck with dissing President Obama and attracting people who vote reflexively D into your coalition.
I saw a poll that suggested that 86% of the protesters since inauguration day were women. Well, duh!! Men saw the Access Hollywood tape and shrugged, women saw it and realized that the man running for president was a threat to our gains over the past 100 years.
Ha! White nationalism is bad but superdelegates are worse:
Of course jsfv disagrees that pvl45’s supporters are racists, sexists, homophobes and xenophobes – because he’s been there alrighty-dighty – he’s one, too. OK, he’s against chattel slavery (or says he is) but he’s perfectly happy with 2nd & 3rd class status of anybody not white male.
Hi, Meese!
Hi, inks!
Good morning, Moosekind, and a fair morning it is and all! It’s 38 F. in NoVa now, going up to 62 F. later. After breakfast I’m going out to Greenspring to visit my friends and hang out. The one who’s ill is not responsive to visitors, but we will visit her anyway to bring some flowers for her room.
Feeling a bit tired as well as worried that I’m getting yet another cold. Wonder whether being officially “elderly” means the immune system is shot to hell? Perhaps. Hope to get some writing done after I return this afternoon.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
Good morning, Meese! I had a blast at the two concerts yesterday (4 hours of Scott Joplin!!) and dinner with friends as well as the after-party, getting back to my hotel around 1:30 am. Meep!
I’m getting ready to go to Riverside Church, which is about a mile and a half away and very much accessible by subway. I had no idea it was near Barnard College! Will be meeting my cousin & her husband for brunch afterwards (they live in Poughkeepsie and took the train down last night).
For those who might not have seen it on Twitter yesterday, I posted a photo of me eating a cream cheese & salmon bagel in response to a request from DoReMI:
{{{basket}}} looks and sounds like you are having a great time. We expect a report on the over-all “being there” of Dr. Barber’s speech. :) and moar {{{HUGS}}
That’s very New Yorkish of you, basket! :)
Glad you had a great visit to New York!
We’re expecting thunderstorms today, moving into town around 10am. Local news has switched to all weather coverage. Contemplating not going to church. So I’m playing dreamy, drifty, spiritual, meditative Rise Up in my head. Neighbors are coming over this afternoon to help put up the curtains that I’m too short to do myself. (bay window, I have 3 sets of hooks & 3 poles, going to just put the curtain on the poll & put that on the hook) We’ll probably talk about the special assessment. I’m adjusting to the thought that I’ll never retire. An extra $15-20K of debt is life-changing. Sigh.
OMG, that’s a steep assessment. Gulp!
{{{another}}} – Holding the Good Thought for a better outcome. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and expect something in between. more {{{HUGS}}} and Healing Energy.
Good morning, 43 and a hint of blue sky outside my window. Our grandson arrives today for his spring break visit, the family will be here for Sunday dinner, and the grand girls will spend the night. So I’d best pull on my knee braces and hope I can enjoy the fun!
How I miss events such as this at the White House……
Hi Meeses – 55 and maybe going to 75, maybe – mostly overcast with occasional shafts of sunlight. I hung the sheets outside and everything else on racks in the house in case the rain moves in sooner than expected. But with the baking (cocoa-peanut butter muffins and a small ham) the house is already 72 and way too warm to build a fire to help dry the clothes. Got almost 18 KWHs yesterday – today is probably going to be less than 5 and maybe less than 2. sigh.
Need to visit the British Breakfast and also get over to DK to read Denise’s diary and deal with community needs stuff. And see if I can think of something else to do Resistance-wise. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, meese! Monday …
It is 45 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 52. The forecast calls for rain all day.
This is Gorsucks Week. The Republican Senate Judiciary committee will vote out the nomination, probably on a party line vote, and the full Senate will vote on Friday. We currently have 37 votes to block cloture – 4 more and Mitch McConnell will be forced to change Senate rules if he wants to confirm the nominee. Chuck Schumer says we have the votes (8 Democratic Senators have yet to weigh in) – McConnell says he will not hesitate to turn the Senate into “the House of Representatives with 6 year terms”. Good. He set the stage for this last year with his new unilateral rule about election year Supreme Court nominations, he can own the further diminishing in stature of his own institution. I suspect that as the orange shitgibbon’s legislation gets bottled up, he will kill the filibuster for legislation also. A political party so power hungry that they are willing to put the nuclear codes in the hands of a mentally unbalanced man with tiny fingers and tinier intelligence, will not hesitate to destroy the rest of government. When – not if – we regain power, he and his party will be relegated to backbencher status. Yesterday, Chuck Todd, in a complete break with his tradition of Lackey to Republicans, nailed McConnell by asking him if he wanted to make the “no nominations during an election year” a hard and fast rule. The sputtering “no” was epic.
Off to check the news to see what Secretary of State Kushner is up to.
See all y’all later!
Jan, I hope that’s on YouTube or something. I’d like to see that.
There is a video at the RawStory link!
Good Monday morning Meese
33 here in the Catskills – up to 60 later. Headed to school today – the official certified letter of termination arrived over the weekend – curses on Trumps head
Had a great day yesterday – loved Rev. Barber at Riverside Church on Sunday – will look for a video later.
Enjoyed the NCAA women’s final – watched with hubby.
Wonder what this week will bring in politics?
So sorry Denise! Hoping something comes along.
{{{{Denise}}}}
Blast Thing! Glad you were able to see Rev. Barber, Denise. It’s to be hoped you can get another job or gigs with the Speakers’ Bureau. Can you write a book and then go on a book tour?
I’m so sorry! Agree with you – curses on #45.
The women’s championship final was not as exciting as I expected it to be. It was clear that one team was ready and one was not. I couldn’t believe all the fouls for Mississippi State! At some point the coaches need to say “don’t do that anymore, it is not going to be called a charge.” Congratulations to Dawn Staley – a tough player and a good coach. I just wish her team was not in South Carolina and not called the Lady Gamecocks. Gross.
Sorry about the letter finally making official what you knew was coming down the pike. I hope you find something else worthy of your considerable talents! The trumpsters don’t realize yet what they have done to the country. We will be picking shrapnel out of our butts for years to come from this self-inflicted wound.
{{{Denise}}} – Well, I know you love teaching and you are so good at it – very much the school’s loss but even more your students’ loss – but the pay sucked. I think you’ll be much better off doing speaking engagements. Definitely holding the Good Thought in that direction. (Heck, your school surely has speakers from time to time – bet you’d make more at one speaking gig there than what they paid you to teach.)
Wise words, bifitz.
BfitzinAR.
{{{inkaudlay}}}
Hey, what if Dee made more money than Hillary with speaking engagements? Would the media be out to get her?
Ha!
Good morning Meeses! I’m on my way to Newark for my flight. Traffic is probably usual for NY on a Monday.
Will type up my thoughts of Rev. Barber’s sermon on the plane and post it somewhere.
Will look forward to reading it, basket!
Hi, basket.
Safe flight to you.
{{{basket}}} – safe travels home. looking forward to your post/comment/whatever on Rev. Barber’s sermon. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, Meeses!
It’s chilly (low 50s) this morning, had to switch out what I had planned to wear so I could wear real shoes. And long sleeves. Weird. I stayed up late (for me) to watch the season finale of Walking Dead. (If you don’t watch it because “zombies” — it’s not about zombies, they’re the obstacle/situation — the danger is your fellow human beings). Reading through the twitter reactions, and it’s amazing how people from all over the world watch the same shows now. There are reactions in Japanese (lots of those), French, Arabic, Portuguese…. The world is so much more connected than when I was a kid. Playing City of Blinding Lights in my head to keep myself awake.
Good morning, ink, basket, Dee, Jan, and all! It’s a fairish morning here in NoVa, with the current temp. at 47 F., going up to 61 F. later. It’s going to rain after the baseball game tonight, or so they say.
Feeling staggered by Secretary of State Jared Kushner’s visit to Iraq. Do you feel as if you’re living in a madhouse? I do. Like, it’s barely 8:30 on Monday morning and my head’s already trying to explode.
Was out of range most of yesterday, visiting my friend and being a listener. She’s in tremendous shock and distress because of the situation of her roommate, my other friend. We visited her in the rehab center yesterday, but she’s basically in some sort of Otherwhere. She tried to speak a couple of times but her sentences trailed off.
By the time I arrived home I was too tired to doing anything but sit and stare. Luckily, dinner was in a slow cooker so I didn’t have to do much.
Today is a call-Senator-Warner-day to ask him to filibuster. He barely won reelection last time, so I hope he’ll stick up for the women of Virginia. Also have errands and writing to do. Wishing everyone a good day! Or, as good a day as possible in the circs.
If Jon Tester and Claire McCaskill can find the courage to vote against Gorsucks, Warner should have no qualms.
The Kushner portfolio expanding to include pretty much everything that the yam is disinterested in but that he won’t trust to anyone else but family should scare the crap out of everyone. When do Republicans stop saying “this is fine”? I saw commentary suggesting that it would be when tRump got his SCOTUS pick sworn in – another good reason to block. That would always be known as the Russian seat.
Good morning to you, Diana in NoVa.
It’s understandable that you were so worn out yesterday, supporting one friend and grieving what you’ve lost with the other.
Save your dialing fingers, Diana:
Senator Leahy is also a no:
Senator Feinstein says she will vote no but did not say anything about the filibuster.
Yay! Did the dialing anyway, though, before I got the good news.
YOU probably tilted him!!!
Heh. :)
mid 50s since yesterday and probably gonna stay that way until the rain passes through. Not that we’re getting much, mostly drizzle (.2″ yesterday and .34″ so far today). Might get up to mid 60s should the sun come out. Hope it does. My best electricity generation is after noon anyway.
I’ve made phone calls when I could and sent online faxes to my bloody-red senators about “no confirmations until the Russian connection is investigated – no Russian moles in SCOTUS” – not that they care. They’re bloody-red Rs – ones a fascist (wants the country run by Waltons/Wal-Mart) and the other’s a Xtian-fundie/End-Timer theocrat. Meanwhile I’ll deal with my community needs stuff as best I can – which isn’t good enough, but it is the best I can. sigh.
Going to check in with the Village, then get to work. There are a few purchasing things and the hourly Payroll I can deal with now – got lots more needing doing but don’t have what I need to do it with yet. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 42 and partly sunny in Bellingham. Dinner last night was fun and noisy, but it’s quiet now because the grand kids are still asleep. RonK is taking them hiking today and then they will resume their annual Monopoly game. My sewing room is now the game room, with teenage tunes on the iPhone player!
I appreciate having this time with them.
More nonsense from the twitter in chief this morning. I’m going to try to ignore him and stay focused on my small world today.
Good afternoon fellow Meeses! It’s a cool 64 degrees here in Costa Mesa, CA.
I’m back home and waiting for my piano lessons to start (in about 40 minutes)! I just sent DoReMI a little write-up I did on my thoughts about Dr. Barber’s sermon yesterday. It felt like I was in college, writing papers all over again. :P
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 45 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 54. Rain this morning with skies clearing this afternoon.
The Democrats in the Senate (mostly) stuck together and will force Mitch McConnell to invoke the nuclear option to get tRump’s SCOTUS pick. Some people think he is bluffing; I don’t see how he can walk back the things he has said. I was trying to figure out which three Senators would break with leadership and I can’t find even one. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski break on women’s health issues but they are vested in the Republican leadership; Collins said yesterday she will “regretfully” vote to change the rules. I suppose this could all be posturing in the game of chicken they are playing – I guess we find out on Thursday when the cloture vote comes up. In any event, there were a lot of Tweets yesterday pointing out what I have been saying: if the threat of the rule change hangs over every confirmation vote, then there is no real filibuster tool. Rep. Adam Schiff pointed out that the Senate confirmation process was nuked last year – this is just the fallout. Well said!
The Freedom-to-Die Caucus and/or tRump and/or bored beltway pundits are trying to resurrect the RepubliCare bill. We need to stay alert because if they bring the bill to a vote on Friday – as rumor has it they will try – in order to give the orange shitgibbon a win – I am not confident that the Senate will reject the bill like they were going to do two weeks ago. Republican leadership may try to take advance of the disarray in the Senate to get something through.
I have the Russia stuff on “ignore” right now because there are more pressing things to focus on. The investigation will continue for months but the healthcare crisis is real now. The continued dinking around with House bill is scaring insurers away and the 2018 health insurance market is already in danger of falling apart. :(
See all y’all later!