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?
…
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.
…
– Page One of Comments is HERE!
– Page Two of Comments is HERE!
Finally had to turn on the A/C yesterday mid-afternoon. I don’t like heat rash. I had the A/C set at 80 and it kicked on immediately…of course I got cold or at least my hands did. I turned it off again before I went to bed & opened the house up. It’s 74 right now so I’ve got another hour of airing out the house before I’ll close up and turn it back on. Hopefully there will be enough coolth in the house that it doesn’t actually kick on until mid-afternoon again. Just hanging on until Monday. That front is supposed to bring some maybe rain but drop the temps – especially the overnights. I really don’t care how hot it gets in the daytime as long as we get nights in the 60s (next week we’ve got a few in the upper 50s forecast) because that’s cool enough for me to manage indoor comfort without the A/C. But if it doesn’t get cool enough at night that doesn’t work. sigh. So I’m glad I have the A/C – I lived most of my childhood and youth without it. (Not just at home. They didn’t air condition the Houston schools until after I graduated.) And chunks of my adulthood as well – yeah the 3 years I lived in Madison (July ’89 – August ’92) the last week of July it would have been nice but not necessary. And of course in San Francisco (early ’80s) the idea was ridiculous. But summers in Fayetteville were uncomfortable w/o the A/C I didn’t have even in the mid-’80s. Systemic climate change we as dominant/dominance society members are responsible for – and to survive the change at least at the moment the answer is to do more of what caused it. Meanwhile we generated 21.7 KWHs which is more than I use even with the A/C on and the m-t-d is 314 so still on track.
My twitter changed formats last evening. It sucks. basket said something about logging out, deleting twitter cookies, and logging back in – see if that will get the old format back. I haven’t tried it because I’m not entirely sure about how to log out of twitter and I definitely don’t know how to delete twitter cookies. sigh. Nor if the bookmark or link or what that is at the top of my screen will just go right back to the new format if I did. sigh. I really wish to heaven these bright boys with their bright ideas would give us an “opt out” option. Not just warn us they’re about to eff up everything we’re using but allow us to say “no’. The only reason I’m on twitter at all is to keep in touch with friends and help boost their stuff. And that’s the only reason I don’t just say “eff ’em” and stop using twitter.
So. Coffee would be good. Checking the sucky twitter format tweets/replies/messages and stuff like that is gonna require a lot of coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Twitter is not requiring me to use the new format yet but I know it is coming. I saw a preview of it and it looks dark but not a lot different. I guess I will eventually find out!
Someone told me it’s the “twitter app” format being forced on everyone. Well, there’re reasons why I don’t use apps and that’s one of them.
Ah, the Twitter app! I don’t use their app because it is awful. I use an app named Tweetcaster on my phone; it won’t change, then. I do open the Twitter web site from my desktop.
Good morning, 60 and partly sunny in Bellingham. After several hours on the phone Comcast is sending a tech to help Ron recover his missing email folders, install the new router/modem, and check the cable wiring to our house. Ron can access the missing files from his iPad but not from his computer so the data is not lost but why the folders are “missing” is a mystery. It happened once before and then magically fixed itself so I hope the tech people can figure out why it’s happening again.
I’m going to be in the garden this morning, hoping some garden therapy will help me accept the new house being framed on across the street. The design is very contemporary and to my eyes at odds with the 1920 houses on either side. And sadly, the tower/loft sticks up like a middle finger in what used to be a view of Bellingham Bay from our living room windows. I may have to plant another tree or two :)
Time to find my coffee. As always, my best wishes to all.
I hate that so many builders disregard the neighborhood in favor of bigger and “better.” My uncle and two of my cousins were/are architects, and while their designs were often quite modern, they respected the neighborhood. If a client wanted ultra-modern in an historical neighborhood, they either dissuaded them or persuaded them to have a traditional-ish exterior. Some of their best designs, from my perspective, were when the outside looked quite like it belonged in the neighborhood, but the inside was a complete and total surprise.
And the selfishness of claiming a view all for oneself is pretty common these days from what I’ve seen. I grew up in a town on the shores of Lake Erie, and the big, old houses overlooking the lake had enough property on either side that a view to the lake was still possible. Now, a lot of those big, old houses are being replaced by new, bigger houses, lot size be damned. Instead of driving along the lake road and seeing lovely houses and glimpses of the water, now one just sees houses. It really detracts from the overall loveliness of the village, but from what I’ve heard, the powers-that-be aren’t all that interested in zoning restrictions which might limit the property tax revenue. Last time I went back, I did see one new construction that seemed aware of its neighbors. It was a house built by one of the guys responsible for bringing Swiffers to the market (everyone in the town calls it the Swiffer House). He built an enormous mansion, but a great deal of the upper stories are wall-to-wall glass, so anyone driving by can still see into and through the house to see the lake. The overall architectural style is not really my cup of tea, but I give the architect and owner high marks for considering the value of the lake view for all, not just the owner. (https://schillarchitecture.com/bay-vue/)
The owner grew up in the family home next door and inherited the house and “garden lot” when her parents died. Her parents were adamant that the extra lot would always be a garden, but they are gone now, the family home is sold to new owners, and a very large house with a rental unit and the obnoxious view loft/tower is becoming a reality :::sigh:::
I did call the city re view/height regulations, and the plans all meet code requirements. When the city official said “…….view mitigation depends on the good will of the builder” I knew there was no chance of appeal. And now I know why she (the owner) has been evasive.
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is an unprecedented 81 degrees at 5:30am in Madison with an expected daytime high of 82. A front will move through the area today bringing storms and keeping the temperatures from getting into the upper 90s. Yesterday, on my back deck in the direct sun, the thermometer showed 101 with a 122 heat index. I am not sure what the official temperature was, I was out and about for a short while and all I know is that it was very hot. There was a power substation explosion that knocked out electricity for about 14,000 people near downtown Madison yesterday morning. By mid-day they had power to half the homes restored and by the end of the news day, most of the power had been restored. From what I understand, the university opened up the Kohl’s Center as a shelter for those without air conditioning.
I am going news-light this weekend as I have work projects and family events. A quick scan of headlines suggested that Trump did his Charlottesville Pivot – after “disavowing” the racist chants he incited in Greenville, he is now defending them. That works for him because the lazy complicit media will report the “disavowing” as the final part of the story because they don’t want to return to the slow-news-day model that existed pre-Trump. Clicks=cash. Deplorable.
See all y’all later!
Good Saturday morning, Moosekind! It’s a clear day that’s going to be another hottie. Currently it’s 79 F. in Ashburn, on its way up to, ah, 98 F. Tomorrow the temp. is projected to reach 99 F.
Jan, I saw the news of the explosion in Madison on the evening broadcast yesterday. Yikes! Glad to know (1) you weren’t near it, and (2) that power has been restored now.
Yesterday we old ladies did not tramp around the lovely gardens. We did walk by something that looked like a boxwood maze and saw many tall, lovely, colorful flowers as we went to the “tea” place, but that was it for the outdoors. As it was, even the house tour (the place is largely unairconditioned) was too much for some, so three of the women went back to the one space where “unattended” visitors were allowed to foregather and had a pleasant chat over bottles of cold water.
The house is 200 years old so it smelt musty, as most old houses do, but it was interesting. We received FAR too much history from the guide, who breathlessly recited every known fact about the house and its long-dead inhabitants. As for the “tea,” the less said about that the better. When will my compatriots learn that herb tea at 11 a.m. is not “tea”? If anything, it’s “tunch.” (First-world gripe, sorry.)
Today will be a long, dreary day of housework, beginning with hiding all the mess in as many closets and empty storage spaces as I can find. The carpet cleaners came yesterday so the place does, mercifully, smell less like dried dog pee. M’daughter told me not to exhaust myself cleaning but of course I shall.
So, I’ve found out how to keep tomato sandwiches from becoming soggy, I know to blot the cucumber slices on paper towels before incorporating them in the bread, and so forth. After my hubby returns with our one car, I’ll run out to buy pink and yellow roses to brighten up the living room.
Wish I knew whether fatigue is normal at my advanced age or a personal failing, but have no way to find out.
Dee, the WaPo FINALLY had an article about PR yesterday! Long overdue, of course.
Wishing a good Saturday to all the Pond.
Saturday Meese
83 already here in Saugerties going up to 96 with rain and thunderstorms
Wanted to share this tweet on the protests in PR
So if the terrible Republican governor resigns, who will step in? Is there any hope that he will be any better? At a time when Puerto Rico needs strong moral leadership to help the people and the island recover, this is a serious blow. #RickyRenunciaYa indeed.
Up & watching the news & Le Tour. There was a terrible crash in yesterday’s individual time trial, a Dutch rider — who had won a stage earlier in the race — crashed into a barricade & was bleeding so badly that bystanders grabbed banners off the barricades & wrapped him in them. Very sad. He’s ok, but staying in the hospital for a few days. Today’s plan: groceries & the gym, and watching NASA TV.
It’s 74 but the heat index is 80 already and I’ll be closing up the house and turning the A/C back on shortly. Yesterday the compressor kicked on at 12:45 and I’m expecting it to do so about the same or earlier today. I mostly wanted to give the cats a little more “window” time. They can stand on the window ledges with the windows closed but they can’t sit or lie on them unless the windows are open. We generated 22 KWHs yesterday so still producing more than I’m using even with the A/C. The m-t-d is 336.6 so still on track. So that’s good.
Ya know, it’s not that it’s hard being a caring person but it really takes your energy and spreads it out all over the place. The haters can have their targets and can focus their energy just on that target Destruction is easy. Killing is easy. Building & helping others to build is hard. And when the haters have destroyed so very much, well, there’s a heck of a lot of building needing to be done – and in every direction we look. Sometimes it pulls the plug on our energy basin just looking. But together. Only strong together, very strong together. We can do it – but first the hard work of getting the power and the tools to do it with. Eyes on the prize is still very true – but the means to that end is winning elections at all levels.
Just got back from Farmers Market (peaches & tomatoes) and the grocery store. They had some lovely boneless pork sirloin chops on sale. Tomorrow or Monday I’ll haul out the electric grill & cook them along with a month or so’s worth of breakfast sausages – then freeze what I don’t have planned eat this coming week. One of the greatest blessings of “civilization” is refrigeration for food. Also meds of course but I don’t have that particular need, thank all that’s holy. (Blessings this Deplorable administration has been denying the people of Puerto Rico for 667 days now.) So. Coffee and internets. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
I was right. A/C kicked on at 10:20 – I will be soooooo glad when this heatwave is over.
Good morning, 57 and sunny in Bellingham. Garden therapy, solitaire, and a lite news regime are helping me feel more rested and less worried about our tRump infected country. I know avoidance isn’t a long term solution but for now it’s helping me stay relatively sane and happy so today will be the same!
Best wishes to all on this sunny Saturday.