Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Apr. 21st through Apr. 27th

April 20, 2019 JanF Community 116

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 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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– Page One of Comments is HERE!!
 

  • Page Two of Comments is HERE!!

 

33 Comments

  1. Good Friday morning, Moosekind! This morning when I took the dog out to the courtyard at six o’clock I could see we’d had rain, although it wasn’t raining then. We’re expecting heavy rain this afternoon, so I’m glad I’ll be back from my errands.

    Right now it’s gray outside, with a current temp. of 54 F., going up to 69 F. My plan today is to go to the laundromat in Reston to get the two dog beds washed, then visit Darling Niece to catch up on family news.

    Must find a way to deal with the awful leg cramps I’ve been experiencing this week. They’re really bizarre. I even Googled to find out, but apparently there’s no cure. Just tried some Asper Creme on the worst one.

    That’s enough about my little miseries. With regard to politics, Rod Rosenstein is a total git, I hope the B-Boys knock each other out, and Thing sounds increasingly demented on Twitter. He can’t even type a coherent sentence in English, judging by the last one I read.

    Wishing everyone a good day and I hope we all have a good weekend with no bad news.

    • {{{Diana}}} – it’s not a cure so once you’ve got a cramp do whatever you can to stop it, but make sure you’re getting a minimum of 1200 mg calcium and 800 mg magnesium daily with your largest calorie and protein meal of the day. That’s prevented my leg cramps (mostly) for years now. Healing Energy & more {{{HUGS}}}

    • Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, in an early 2017 Congressional hearing, called Rod Rosenstein a man of integrity but I have yet to see anything other than slurpy Trump Fealty. His speech last night where he praised Trump and called out people who questioned why he seemed fine with those who allowed Russians to ratfk our election – and poised to allow 2020 to be ratfked! – was morally repugnant. His face will be pasted next to Bob Barr’s as an example of Party Over Country. I am sure that he has a job waiting at one of the Republican fancy pants law firms where he will cash in on his loyalty.

  3. Slept in, got to get ready for tomorrow. I have thank you e-mails to send, put the bike rack on the car, stuff to pack up and tonight’s dinner kickoff. And groceries, make tea & I hope there’s lunch in the freezer I can put in the fridge to be thawing. So a very busy day. For now, I’m eating breakfast & watching the news. Here’s Chocolate from the Snow Patrol concert. Just a happy, goofy, nonsense song.

  4. Welp – the power went down just as I was giving a final read to a rather long checkin comment that I don’t think I even can much less wish to recreate so…a much shorter version. It’s chilly enough this morning the heater’s kicked on a couple of times but will be in the mid 70s in a couple of hours. We got 12 KHWs yesterday after the rain cleared off. The m-t-d is 396 so we’ll clear 400 today, probably by 2 if it stays as sunny as it is right now. The trees leafed out practically overnight so shading the house (not needed at the moment but good in another month) and cutting into morning production. The cats want the windows open at least since I won’t let them outside. That ain’t gonna happen while the heat keeps kicking on. Murf is eating the kitten chow quite nicely but I have to be with him. The vet’s “dropping by” (which I hope means is not charging for a house call) this afternoon with a mild steroid for him – we’re hoping that will help the pain and thus the fussiness.

    Nothing new anywhere so prayers & invocations are still helpful. I hope. Anyway I need some coffee, then get over to read Bobby’s diary. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  5. Good morning meese, it’s 53 with a high of 86 today. If it’s going to be this warm this early in the year I am not looking forward to summer nearly as much.

    Nothing much to report here other than I finally entered for the Old-Time Piano contest over Memorial Day weekend in MS.

    • I was mostly radio silent yesterday, and I just now noticed that you had @d me on Twitter about the contest. I did some reading on the website: from Joy-Belle Squib, the golf playing granny, to the after-parties at Shakey’s Pizza. It sounds like it’s quite a bit less homespun than the original contests in IL. Do you see that as a positive or a negative? At any rate, I hope you have fun with it and share your joy!

      • I only started taking part in 2010 and continued until 2014, skipping 2015 through 2017. They moved to MS for 2016, IIRC. It was a much needed move because the volunteers who had been helping run it in Peoria were aging out and there was a high probability of the contest having to wind down. It didn’t help either that the Pere Marquette, for many years the festival’s venue, was closed for multi-year renovations and there weren’t that many other good venues in Peoria. The contest piano… less said the better. :D

        The MC and several of the organizing staff continue so there’s still slightly off-brand humor on stage and the contest is still run smoothly. Oxford is much more of a university town than Peoria whicb is both a good and bad thing.

        After that long-winded description I think it’s a good thing that the contest is now officially sponsored by a university’s music department, with much better (and larger) venues and pianos, and the live web cast which allows all contestants to be shown and have videos uploaded, not just those that a particular person thought were interesting.

  6. Good morning, 45 and sunny in Bellingham. Our patio is now open for the season, and Ron and I are both weary from the effort. The weather forecast keeps changing so I’m still planning for lunch to be indoors with visiting and snacking outdoors while Ron grills the chicken. So I’ve got a party prep day ahead, and Erica and her family arrive tonight. It’s a busy family weekend, ready or not!

    Best wishes to all.

  7. Good morning, Meesefolk; 46 when I got up and topping off at 61. Most of the showers have moved through the area, but what we had were somewhere between heavy and torrential. The forecast for the weekend is dryer but quite a bit colder with highs barely making it to 50. It sounds like it may be a good weekend for indoor projects.

    I’ve been keeping quite busy after my visit with the Kiddo and SIL this weekend. They had been looking for period-authentic ceiling lights for their house and scored in a big way on Monday. They found three matching overhead lights and two sconces, unrestored, for a price that was so reasonable (cheap, actually) that they confirmed it twice, because they kept thinking a digit had been left off the total. These aren’t glitzy, sparkly chandeliers; they’re cast metal with polychrome paint, and unlike most unrestored lights from the 20s and 30s, most of the paint is still intact. Kiddo asked if I wanted to help with both researching the history of the company that made the set and with best practices for restoration; these are precisely the sort of straight-forward research projects that make me unaccountably happy. (It’s also, sadly, the usual story of industry in this country; in short, we made things, and then we didn’t because mass-produced crap from China was cheaper.) I also stumbled across two more unrestored lights from the same company on eBay that I’m bidding on, because they’re being offered for pennies on the dollar. They are in much worse condition than the ones Kiddo has already purchased, including one that is completely coated in spray paint, but if bidding doesn’t send the price too high, it’s worth the gamble. Fully restored, these lights sell for anywhere from $350 to $850, so if we can end up with five, plus two sconces, for less than $300, it’s worth the time and effort to restore the finish and even spend extra to have them professionally rewired instead of doing it ourselves. And the look will be so much better than Big Box store boob lights and everyone-has-it ceiling lights. So yeah, I’ve been paying way more attention to the life and times of Edward R. Riddle and his company in Toledo than current events.

    Good day to and for all!

    • Good morning DoReMI. That sounds like a great project!

      On an unrelated note, a new Agatha Raisin is coming out later this year. Guess what I did?

      • LOL, I haven’t continued with Agatha. I got distracted by real life and then realized I hadn’t read any Peter Wimsey ever, and then there was reading original Nancy Drew for a series of posts that still haven’t happened, and basically, if it was shiny, I was distracted by it!

        It has been fun, and while I look forward to helping with the actual restoration, that will be as worker bee rather than Lead Restorer. I told Kiddo I could provide toothbrushes and elbow grease, but the rest was up to her. The best part is that these are not MUST FINISH NOW types of projects; it’s not as if they are without lights. So she can take her time and work on them as it’s convenient, although they are planning a big party for October and would like to have the LR and DR lights replaced by then. That’s very, very doable.

  8. any of y’all that are on FB or Twitter: I was in the lead on social media points & I’ve fallen behind. If you could like & share my posts about #HCRA2019, I’d appreciate it.

    • Another, would gladly do so if I knew how. I see you on Twitter, but I don’t remember any messages about HCRA2019. Do I need to “follow” hashtag #HCRA2019?

  9. Early morning “hi” before I leave for the Ride. Will be posting pictures on FB & Twitter, and here when I get home.

  10. Good morning, meeses! Saturday …

    It is 39 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 36. We are under a winter storm warning with mixed precipitation this morning and snow this afternoon. Current forecasts call for 4 to 8 inches of snow.

    I am going to try to go “news light” this weekend so that I can get some projects done. I looked at my calendar and notices that this is the last weekend in April! How did that happen?!!?? I have to dig up my notes on what I have promised clients for April and see if I can make a dent in the list.

    Congress is in recess so there is no real news from the Speakers office and it is the Senate Democrats week to do the Weekly Democratic Address – which means that the video can’t be found unless the individual Senator giving the address promotes it. A quick google found nothing. So I will leave Rep. Debbie Dingell’s address up as the front page Fighting Back post, add a comment and call it a day.

    See all y’all later!

  11. Saturday Meese. 48 and April showers here in Saugerties NY – going up to 50.

    Puerto Rico

  12. More fallout for Sanders in this scathing review of his appearance at the She The People Conference

    Bernie Sanders Has a Black Woman Problem, and That’s Going to Prove Impossible to Get Beyond

    During an appearance Wednesday at a presidential candidates’ forum sponsored by She the People, a group that looks to push more women of color to the polls, Sanders was booed, heckled and looked a lot like he’d just bought a white women into his pro-black mother’s house, The Washington Post reports.

    Sanders gave canned answers and struggled to win over the crowd of informed women, who have not only proven to be the backbone of the Democratic Party but have also proven to continuously show up and show out.
    During one of the more polarizing moments, host Aimee Allison asked Sanders what he would do to fight white supremacist violence. Instead of approaching the question head on, Sanders decided to dive into his usual “I marched with Dr. King” speech, which is becoming Sanders’ standard “some of my best friends are black” response.

    “I know I date myself a little bit here, but I actually was at the March on Washington with Dr. [Martin Luther] King back in 1963,” Sanders began, and the women in the crowd began groaning, one person even shouted “We know!”
    “And,—” Sanders tried to continue, but the crowd was still jeering when Sanders, a full-fledged white man no matter how leftist he believes himself to be, wagged his finger at a room full of women of color. I couldn’t see the crowd, but I’m assuming that loud noise I heard from the clip was the collective snatching of earrings being taken off simultaneously as hair was pulled back from their faces.

    Sometimes, it pays to know when to leave. It’s OK to only remember the noise that the door makes when it closes.

    • This is what got me: “wagged his finger at a room full of women of color.” You simply can’t fix that level of old man cluelessness – by the time you get that old it is baked in. I suspect that no one will drop out until after the June debate – for most that is all they really want is to be on the debate stage – but I hope his campaign collapses soon thereafter. We will need time to clean up the mess he made and focus on getting a Democrat nominated and elected in 2020.

  13. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s a beautiful day here in Ashburn, with a clear blue sky and loads of sunshine. A little before six this morning I took the Badly Behaved Beagle* out to the courtyard and found the weather was coolish and very windy. Apparently it’s going to be blowy all day—the legacy, one supposes, from the tornado warning we had yesterday. I didn’t see anything but rain and wind in Reston after I left Darling Niece’s house, but I sat in a strip mall parking lot until it felt safe to travel back to Ashburn.

    This morning it’s 50 F. in Ashburn, going up to a whopping 65 F. today. Still, that’s better than what Jan and DoReMi are getting!

    At 10:15 another member of the Communications Committee and I plan to interview the lifeguard at the swimming pool here. He’s a very interesting, hard-working man. This article is for the summer issue of Around the Ponds, which will cover the Ashby Ponds Olympics. (Miss Pink Cheeks would like to participate in this, but she’s about 52 years too young to qualify.) On Tuesday at 10 I have scheduled an interview with the woman who started the art gallery here. Would you believe she ran into opposition? As if paintings could offend anyone!

    I think staying away from the news is a good idea, although I couldn’t keep my big mouth shut on Twitter this morning.

    Wishing a pleasant Saturday to all at the Pond and Beyond!

    *
    The little brat did another revenge pee on the carpet in my office, which I hope Dearly Beloved is going to deal with today, and when we were at dinner last night he got into my flight bag, which I’d unfortunately left unzipped, tore out the “little bag of liquids, pastes, and creams” that Heathrow insists airline passengers use, and took it to his bed to chew over. We were only gone an hour and a half!

  15. Weather is very confused today in Fay., AR – mid 60s and sunny when I left for the Farmers Market, the heat just kicked on as I’m typing, cloudy enough to randomly cut off the sun (having both sunny & cloudy as I’m typing this). Nothing much at the Market (that I eat anyway) – lettuce, asparagus – & Spring flowers which are lovely but not edible. Too chilly for strawberries – and my “regular” strawberry guy isn’t going to have any this year anyway. sigh. But yesterday we got 23.2 KWHs and the m-t-d is 419 so that’s good. Murf is on my lap at the moment. He ate most of his kibble this morning which is also good. I have to grab his dish and put it up once he’s finished (try to anyway) or Freddie will finish it off. That little kibble thief is going to be fat as a butterball if I can’t find a way to keep him from swiping other kitties’ food.

    I don’t do a media blackout exactly as I pay attention to information via tweets from folks I follow, mostly not via my TL, but avoiding the propaganda machine is much better for my tummy. Which needs all the help it can get. Evil people being evil. Right now we protest the evil – & block what little we can. Right now we plan and work on electing enough Dems to undo what’s possible and clean up as best we can. It’s not good enough – can’t bring dead people back to life or “cure” PTSD of hungry abused kids living in cages or under leaky tarps or… – but it’s what we can do so we do it. Still no word from anybody on anything. I wish Aji could deduct 1% from the bill for each day beyond “normal” time to get the results. At this point that rather nasty 2x what she was scout’s-honor-promised biopsy bill would be about 30% less. Actually I wish the 100% healthcare most wypipo think Natives get was actually true. (Along with other not-honored treaty rights.) sigh. Anyway. More coffee and heading over to DK for Kamala2020 (thank you, Dee, for posting Bobby’s tweet/link). Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  16. Good morning, 46 and mostly cloudy in Bellingham. A chilly breeze is blowing so it’s good we have an indoor/outdoor plan for today. Erica and her family arrived last night so our busy weekend is officially underway.

    Time for coffee, and as always, my best wishes to all.

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