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!
Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 61 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 77. Scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese
#OTD Birmingham bombing
64 going up to 80 here in the Catskills
Puerto Rico
Watching the news — one of the refineries hit in KSA is one my dad worked at. Not the one right where we lived, in Ras Tanura but he was sometimes called to Abqaik to work. We’ve now had over 50 days of 100+ temps. Next week, it’s supposed to cool down to the mid-90s. Today: get food ready for next week, and try again for the gym.
Sunday sermon
This story should make everyone both angry and determined. That the same groups who perpetrated this violence are still a large part of the American political scene – because a major political party embraces and promotes the hatred and bigotry of the former Confederate states to win elections – is disgusting. I am not sure what it will take to dilute the power of those states, they obviously are not shameable and there is no guarantee that the next generation won’t continue the hatefulness of their elders even as we see a budding rejection of the old ways as America becomes more diverse. It is just too easy to fall back on blaming The Other for everything bad in your life and cable news and toxic social media will fan the flames to make sure that a reasoned response to life challenges is impossible. :(
Sadly, all too true, Jan.
The overnight low was 65. We’re at 74 now and heading for 90. The folks next door had a bonfire last night so my house ended up full of smoke – giving me a mongo-huge headache that is just easing up now – and I had to close up earlier than I wish. Like before the house cooled down to under 70. It was close though. Close enough I baked cookies this morning. And the house now smells of cookies and not bonfire smoke. We generated 13.9 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 195 so we’re still on track for 400.
Staying away from the MSM entirely and twitter mostly. Flying visits to my TL to boost what I see but mostly boosting Aji’s stuff from her twitter page & Dee’s stuff from whatever Moose or DK diary I see it in. I wasn’t kidding 2 years ago when I said this administration would be – for white people which I am one – like Vichy France (& like Nazi-controlled France for BIPOC). I don’t need to see either the propaganda nor the specifics to know this. And reading either the propaganda or the specifics makes me sick and depressed. If I am to help our team get out of this I cannot be any sicker or more depressed than I already am reading what I do via Aji and Dee. The real primary season isn’t started yet. All of this is MSM propa-tainment – and we’re wearing ourselves out dealing with it. And spending all our money and resources dealing with it. Which is exactly why the Birchers/Nazis started it this early. But we’ll keep on keeping on. That’s what we do.
Got all my Sunday chores done. Now need more coffee and to go read Dee’s diary at DK. As late as it is, probably Aji’s stuff is up to boost, too. Step by step. One foot in front of the other. Keep on keeping on. Bright the day, Meeses.
Good morning, 58 and cloudy in Bellingham. Wind and rain woke me up last night, but Linda Ronstadt sang me back to sleep. We saw the new documentary about her life and career yesterday and really enjoyed it. We’ve listened to her music for years so seeing her sing the songs was a real treat.
We watched every episode of Downton Abbey, so seeing the movie this afternoon will be fun….
‘Downton Abbey’ movie review: Fans of the TV series, this one’s for you
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 63 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 81. Foggy now, mostly sunny this afternoon. Low to mid-80s this week – the nice weather appears to be over for the short term.
That Brett Keggernaugh lied at his confirmation hearing is not breaking news. That the FBI and “Justice” Department covered up for him should shock people but won’t. The Supreme Court has been rancid since Joe Biden and his pals pushed through Clarence Thomas’ confirmation. Add to that the fact that a president who “won” the election after his brother ratfked Florida voting mechanisms appointed two more liars while Democrats “saved their powder” thinking that a gentleman’s agreement on filibusters was some sort of rule. Followed by one of the seats being stolen from the only duly elected president in the 21st century and then another of the seats being given to a Republican hack because, really, nothing matters any more. But I think it is foolish to call for Kavanaugh’s impeachment because the last thing we need is for our party to be defined as the Impeachment Party as we head into a critical election. Impeachment is not the solution, voting and winning elections is. Turn it into “this is an example of what happens when we allow Republicans to run our country and choose those who will interpret our laws and Constitution – vote them out.”
A new work week means resetting my to-do list to reflect last weeks accomplishments and the catch-up work from the weekend. Fingers crossed that no unexpected projects insert themselves as they have the last two weeks – I need to start making some progress on things promised for the 3rd quarter.
See all y’all later!
Monday Meese
63 and cloudy here in Saugerties NY going up to 73.
Today is going to be a long grueling one for me. I’m speaking at an event at SUNY Binghamton today – for Latinx Heritage Month
The school is a 3 hr drive away from my house – students are picking me up at noon – campus events won’t end till around 10 PM so I doubt I will be home before midnight
When asked to keynote this – way back before summer – I made it clear to the students that I am not Latinx – they wanted me anyway
Puerto Rico
Good luck with your presentation and safe travels!
Congratulations on being asked to be the keynote speaker, Dee! We’re proud of you!
Hope all goes well and that your speech is a resounding success.
Only wish we could be there to hear it.
Have fun and safe travels. Wish I could be there.
Ah, Monday. Spent yesterday watching cozy mystery movies. Supposed to get near 100 today — heat index of 105 — but then it’s supposed to cool off because we’re hoping it’ll rain a lot of the week. Just please not Saturday. I’m still trying to decide if I should go to the book talk on Wednesday or my Democratic club meeting. I talked to the guy at church yesterday, so I feel like I should. But, it is my last chance to beg for donations for the Walk. (Not gonna buy the book, it’s $35, and I don’t really need yet another book about them. And one person buying or not buying won’t make any difference in the sales. Books with “compelling case that neoliberal capitalism is a religion” in the blurb are not gonna hit the bestseller list). Anyway, look at this gorgeous claymation video for Love Is Bigger.
Daily Kamala
Good Moon Day morning, Moosekind! Did y’all see the Harvest Moon Saturday night? We saw it from the hotel we stayed in at the beach. It’s partly cloudy in Ashburn at the moment, with wisps of white veiling the soft blue beneath, and the temp. at 9 a.m. is 65 F., going up to 90 F. We’re slated for cooler temperatures midweek but then we’ll have another couple of hot days. Everyone I know is ready for fall!
We had a relaxing time at the beach—oddly enough, it was ugly the day we arrived and ugly yesterday morning when we left, but Saturday was gorgeous.
Now we’re back to a busy, busy autumn. This Friday I’m hoping to start regular volunteer work at the HQ nearby. On Saturday the 28th we’re going to knock on 100,000 doors. We really have to take back the legislature to keep the state and the country from finishing its descent into hell.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and beyond. Princesspat, I’m envious that you’ve already seen the Downton Abbey movie! I’m longing to see it too.
The overnight in Fay., AR was 65. It’s just over 70 now heading for low 90s and sunny. At least at the moment. Yesterday we got 13.9 KWHs again and the m-t-d is 208 so still on track for 400. Which would be nice. The next quarter is the least light/least power of the year and we’re still just over half a megawatt to reach my annual goal of 4 MWHs.
I’m mostly staying off my TL but I did see the Kavanope uproar. Like this is news to anybody. I mean anybody – We Dems knew it and couldn’t stop the confirmation. The Rs knew it and deliberately rammed it through. Deliberately. Racism is the number one issue but misogyny is second. There’s a whole damn list of other (white men) who aren’t carrying Kavanope’s baggage. At least not up front and in everybody’s face. The Rs could have chosen one of them and stopped all the uproar. They wanted to show their power and they wanted to send a message to women. A message any sane woman would have taken as “fightin’ words” but the majority of white women don’t. Whether you call it Stockholm Syndrome or something else, the majority of white women will support the right of white men to abuse women. Even white women. The good things about an “Impeach Kavanope” movement are it’s very clear we have to have a Dem Senate to do it and that there really is recourse on that lost SCOTUS and 25% of the federal judgeships if we get it. Even if we have to wait until 2021 to actually do it. It makes the stakes higher for 2020. Of course the stakes for 2016 were even higher – prevent this mess in the first place – but the number of white leftists who don’t believe in the importance of the Judiciary (even now) and white nazis who like these judges…make a majority of white people. Maurice gave us the numbers back in 2015 – 40% white/70% Latinx/90% Black is what it takes to win the WH. & every single % white below that takes a much bigger % of Latinx & Black to make up for it. In some places the Asian-American vote can make up for it, in others the Native vote can do it – both those groups are also being suppressed by the Rs. We just don’t hear about it as much. So. We do what we can – and we shall see what we shall see.
I need to tour the internets. Also coffee when the cat gets off my lap. 😹 Then get my walk in before it heats up. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, Meesefolk; 63 when I got up and going up to a cloudy 77. From the looks of things, I will be able to cut and paste that sentence for the rest of the week.
My boss is an ass and managed to suck the last bit of professionalism out of me. He won’t know it, and even if he did, he wouldn’t care, but I no longer feel any need to be civil to him. I walked into work this morning and my workspace was basically gone. My desk was replaced with his and all of his stuff; it took me 15 minutes to find my old desk and file cabinets, which I needed because the keys I use to open everything in the morning were in them. The jerk couldn’t wait two weeks; he had to get his new space set up just the way he likes it and screw how that makes me feel.
To add insult to injury, in the course of rearranging file cabinets, he was forced to rearrange printers, and now none of them are working the way they are supposed to. I have always said I am ready, willing, and mostly able to fix any computer hardware/software problem I encounter, but I hate printer problems with a fiery passion. But here I am, with printers that aren’t working, because the dickhead I work for doesn’t handle them with care and just figures I’ll fix any problems. If it weren’t for the fact that I don’t want to risk losing my unemployment, I would be walking out right now.
I’m sorry to be venting like this, but I feel like I’ve been slapped in the face, and that does not make me happy at all.
Good day to and for all; at this point, I’m just going to try to salvage this one.
So sorry DoReMi. It hurts to be pushed out of a job and to be disrespected. When a corporate boss decided to do the same to me and the store manager didn’t protect me I know my time was over but due to complicated reasons I had to make the best of it for several more months.
The day I came back from lunch and found my desk moved to an inaccessible spot and my files all in the open I was furious and confronted the corporate guy in front of everyone. The look on his face when I detailed the dollar amounts of the sales in those files and that he had exposed credit card info I was trusted to manage was my sweet revenge. He tried to stall but I wouldn’t back down re who would be responsible, him or me. My desk and files were made secure and workable again, I completed the work the clients trusted me to do, begrudgingly accepted the store managers apology, and quit as soon as I could. It was years ago, but the memory still makes me mad.
Wow, that’s just horrible. At least I am the only one inconvenienced; if clients’ data was being compromised, I would be having much the same reaction as you.
Understandably!
Hope he got what he deserved from Fate.
{{{DoReMI}}} – worst I had was the boss “rearranging” the workload to basically eliminate my job then demanding my keys (I’d been the one opening and closing the office for over a year). I tendered my resignation at that point – but when I showed the reorganization plan to the unemployment people & told them about her demanding my keys they ruled that I’d been laid off. Good luck in salvaging the day. Healing Energy and more {{{HUGS}}}
Ye gods, what a rotten creep he is!
May karma punish him as he deserves.
I agree with you about printers – they are a Bermuda triangle of suckage. I think the problem is that it requires a true collaboration between printer manufacturers and operating systems and that is an impossible task. There are millions of ways to wreck a printer connection and usually only one good way to set it up. Windows 10 takes it to another level of hell because its Add a Printer Wizard makes wrong assumptions 99 times out of 100 and you end up with a bad connection that sometime can’t be removed – ever. Over the weekend, I spent 2 hours trying to clean up a printer that had been added incorrectly and in the end I had to give up and create something that will work but will always look wrong.
Dear Goddess, Jan! Windows 10 sounds like a horror show.
I’ve had a Xerox 6010 printer for years and it has never given me any trouble except for the last year, when it started leaving the occasional black smudge on the printout. When I buy replacement cartridges from Xerox, the company doesn’t charge for the postage.
The best part is that I don’t have to spend three hours a week on the phone with someone in India whose name is purportedly Pamela, but who is really called Pramila. After the fourth time in four weeks that happened, I ditched Hewlett-Packard forever and went with Xerox.
Good morning, 59 and cloudy in Bellingham. To my dismay I misread the dates for the Downton Abbey movie so I have to wait another week. Oh well, we cooked dinner at our son’s house and watched the new Ken Burns documentary about country music so it was a nice evening regardless.
The news this morning is all disturbing so I’m going to finish my book. I’m reading Edgedancer, a novella by Brandon Sanderson, and it’s taking me back into his magical world. I’ll read Oathbringer next.
Best wishes to all as we make it through another Monday.
Tuesday Meese
I’m barely awake – got in after midnight from Binghamton University
last night.
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 79. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
I was glad to see that Jerry Nadler is tamping down talk of a Kavanaugh impeachment. The optics of that are awful – we become the Impeachment Party instead of the Win Elections and Run The Country Properly Party. It is a ginormous distraction and gains us nothing. That Kavanaugh will have these charges dogging him for his entire career is the only solace. If Democrats ever get 67 Senators maybe we can remove him but until then, we can talk about the perjurer on the Supreme Court as a legacy of Republican politics and wait for Clarence Thomas to retire to take back the court post-2021.
I laughed at the news headlines this morning “Trump talks with allies about Iran.” We have no allies, tRump trashed them all and no one would ever help him wage a war to protect his buddies in Saudi Arabia. He blew it by rejecting the imperfect but pretty solid Iranian accord that the Obama Administration had put in place – now he has no leverage and no good options. Idiot.
Busy morning as I try to get some projects done before clients start work.
See all y’all later!
It did hit 100 yesterday, but the weather guy is sure it won’t today. It is supposed to rain this week — as long as it doesn’t on Saturday, I’m all for it. The Kamala Harris interview last night on Rachel Maddow’s show was really good. Slept really poorly last night, so I’m listening to energetic music this morning: Wild Horses
What are you holding back
I know you’ve wild horses enough inside of you
Good Tiu’s Day morning, Meese! At 9 a.m. the temp. in Ashburn is 71 F., going up to 75 F. The downward trend in temperatures is beginning, yay! We have mostly cloudy skies at the moment. In a little while I’m going for a walk.
Yesterday the first “Ashby Talks” presentation was held at 1 p.m. Three residents gave speeches for approximately 15 minutes each about subjects dear to them. The first was the editor of the quarterly, Around the Ponds, for which I write. He spoke about communications. The interesting part is that while employed by the CIA he prepared the President’s Evening Briefing for presidents LBJ, Nixon, Ford, G. H. W. Bush, Clinton, and W. Bush.
The second speaker was a woman who said by the time she was 28 she had six children. After getting them all through college, she was encouraged when her eldest child said, “Mom, it’s your turn to get a degree!” So she did, despite a few setbacks. She earned a degree in gerontology and was asked to join the American Council on Aging.
The final speaker was a tall man who mumbled so that I have no idea what he said. It was quite disjointed. Afterwards, I told the Resident Life counselor that I wanted to give a speech, so this will be arranged. I’ve got to read up on how to oil my voice so it won’t crack and how to divest the concluding paragraph of emotional content so I won’t break down and cry. (I have an unfortunate tendency to do that when speaking of emotional matters.)
So anyway, that’ll be something interesting to do!
The news is too depressing to contemplate, so I won’t do it. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
Ugh, I had an entire, long comment written, and then one of the cats decided to walk across my keyboard. She managed to close the window, and now she’s sitting on my arm, making typing challenging. Instead of trying to reconstruct everything, I’ll just stick around long enough to say thank you for all of the support yesterday. I was in a total funk, and your responses helped. On the other hand, hearing that so many of us have common stupid male boss stories is infuriating.
I have to run now; I have several responses to applications asking me to take those assessment tests that are all the rage these days. I really hate that gatekeeping is now in the form of computer software, but it is what it is.
Good day to and for all!
Low of 66 heading for low 90s again. Still in the low 70s but I’ll need to close up the house soon. At least it’s sunny again. We’ve been getting afternoon clouds though. Electricity generation is depending on how early the clouds move in. Yesterday we got 12.6 KWHs and the m-t-d is 220.85 – so still on track. Barely.
I don’t know if it’s the politics or just knowing how many friends of mine are in difficulties I can’t do anything about but I’m fighting the depression. sigh. Also a queasy stomach which doesn’t help.
The lawn guy has hired a helper. We’ll see how long that lasts. It doesn’t usually last long. It might this time just because the guy is desperate. A 40-ish Black man who used to have his own lawn service but all his equipment was stolen. He’s hoping he can get some good “end of the season” deals and start over next year. He did a good and complete job in 2 hours and we discussed some other work he might do for me later on. If he keeps going the way he’s started, I will be switching to him as soon as he’s got his own equipment again. But that’s for the future and heaven only knows what the future will bring.
Gonna read DoReMi’s diary and tour the internets while I have a cat on my lap. Then a walk and coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}