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 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 (right before “Leave A Reply”) and use the Pages Tool, shown here with 3 pages of comments available.
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Good Wednesday moaning, Moosekind, although there’s really nothing to moan about except for winning the Nobel Prize for being the Queen of Procrastination. I’d better get something done this morning or all hell will break loose. It’s lovely and sunny, currently 49 F. advancing to 70 F. today in Ashburn.
Feeling a bit better from Ye Olde Colde today, but I did cancel my gym appointments for the rest of the week. The nausea I’ve been experiencing precludes my going anywhere, as does the headache that’s always there like a niggling something or other.
The fourth season of “The Crown” arrived by camel caravan from China a couple of days ago. It’s supposed to be universal format (please, Goddess, may it be so), so that anyone in any country can watch it. It’s in a single-diskette package as far as I can tell without opening it. I’m as sure as I’m sitting here that a Chinese video pirate sat up all night recording the episodes. The official DVD set won’t be out until November, which majorly ticks me off. My British friend is 87, doesn’t do Netflix, and is so far from home that watching “The Crown” makes her feel less lonely. Her American husband died more than 10 years ago. I like to cheer her up when I can. We haven’t had a meal together or morning coffee for more than a year because of The Plague.
Anyway, while we’re scouting the eye doctor’s location for my appointment tomorrow, we’ll drop the package off by my friend’s house. I do hope it turns out OK.
Today and tomorrow will be good drying days, which means I need to wash the dog’s beds and blankets and put them out to dry on the screened porch.
Okay, it’s 9 o’clock, which means I ought to skedaddle. I wonder how our princesspat is faring this morning. She had that colonoscopy, a most unpleasant experience. A doctor told me I was due for one in 2025, but when I informed him I’d be 81 years old in 2025, he said, “Aw, just skip it.”
I’m off! Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
Thanks Diana…..this one was hard to get through and my doc agreed it should be my last. The prep is just too hard for people our age.
Back from a dash into the office. just barely cool enough for long sleeves. Once again, I really should log off work early & walk. It’s cloudy, but not going to rain till the weekend, so I really should enjoy this weather.
It’s 61 heading for 69 and overcast enough I have the lights on. Temps will stay up around 70 until my bedtime (supposedly) tonight & tomorrow so no evening fires for a couple of days. Then back to winter next week. Meanwhile yesterday the clouds didn’t move in quite as fast as they said and we ended up with 9.9 KWHs with 118.4 as the m-t-d. Not on track to the meet-or-beat goal but definitely on track to cover usage and make up for the last few months of not covering usage. We shall see what the next several days of clouds and possible rain do to that.
My hands are better but not good. Not as many mis-fire transpositions but still trouble with clicking the mouse. So I’ll do my online chores as best I can with lots of breaks for things that don’t use index finger muscles. Or at least just index finger muscles. LOL. I baked a small round like a cottage loaf soda/batter bread yesterday during one of my breaks from the computer. Not bad with butter or as toast. Too crumbly to make a sandwich. But then I mostly don’t eat sandwiches anyway. Too many carbs I don’t burn even when I find a decent GF sandwich bread.
Heaven knows what the LW will find to complain about once the stimulus etc act is signed and the funds start going out. But they’ll find something. And some of the things they’re complaining about really, seriously, need to be addressed – last month. Like ICE. Biden is following the law to shut them down. They aren’t obeying and they’re getting support from RW judges to block Biden’s orders. He’s got to find a way to do this and once it’s done, it needs to be very public. Otherwise they are gestapo doing the RW/fascist bidding in the middle of our more-or-less democrat government – and setting a precedent for all the other departments the fascist have sleepers in. It really doesn’t matter who wins if the executive branch is actually run by birchers/KKK. But I don’t want anybody to know what he’s doing to shut them down until he’s done it. There are way too many sleepers in the “civil service” part of the executive branch. W’s daddy started placing them but W himself totally larded the place – ICE & EPA that I know of and a whole lot more I don’t know of – & of course twitler’s handlers gave him not just fascists but insurrectionists to add in. So. Loose lips sink lots more than ships. Wait until we’ve won before showing everybody our plans for how we’re going to do it.
Something just crashed that I need to go see about. No cats hollering so I’m assuming nobody got hurt. Then over to twitter. Healing Energy to princesspat & anybody else who wants it. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 39 and mostly cloudy in Bellingham. The dreaded C exam is over, and it appears all is well inside of me, but the doc agreed that this is the last exam as the prep is just to hard for people my age. I slept all day yesterday and well last night so I hope systems are returning to normal.
My thoughts are in the garden, but I need to tend to my desk and the laundry first. Best wishes to all.
Thursday Meese. 40 degrees here in Kingston NY – going up to 60. Still haven’t been able to get my husband scheduled for vaccine. Will keep trying.
Rescue Plan
Holding the Good Thought you get your husband scheduled soon.
Good Thursday morning, Meese! It’s another mild, bright day here in jolly old Ashburn. Incredibly, we have 64 F. already and will reach 76 F. today! Then tomorrow winter starts inching its way back in. Bummer.
A second person has expressed an interest in buying the paperback version of my book, so I’m hoping we can meet at lunchtime today so I can convey it to her. Lawks, I rely on Kindle so heavily I can’t imagine why others don’t like it too. Oh, well, different strokes for different folks!
Managed to get paperback copies of three slim books I particularly wanted. No one has seen fit to render them into Kindle, as the author is now dead. They’re children’s books but the subjects are so interesting that I’m really eager to read them. When I’m finished I’ll keep them over here in case a visiting grandchild is looking for something to read. I am reading my way through all the Mrs. Pollifax mysteries, by the same author, in order and enjoying myself thoroughly! I think I’ve already bought five books just this week!
There’s a fascinating Zoom meeting about to begin, so will simply wish everyone at the Pond a good day!
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 36 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 52. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
The American Rescue Plan is passed, Merrick Garland is confirmed and we are going to have another 100 million Johnson & Johnson vaccinations available – the Biden Administration is promising enough vaccine for every adult by the end of May. NOW we just have to hope people can hold off on filling churches and airports and stadiums for a couple months until enough people are vaccinated and the variants are beaten back. To get this far and then lose another 200,000 people because governors need to fluff up their #RepublicanDeathCult credentials would be murder as far as I am concerned. If we can safely reopen completely by Memorial Day, is it worth the lives of 10s of thousands of people to do it now? Our university system is asking students to forego traveling for “one more spring break” with the hope that campuses can stay open for the rest of the year. I hope they listen.
See all y’all later!
Warm & muggy here in Austin — currently 70 degrees. Didn’t get in a walk yesterday, maybe today. I really should appreciate the mild weather while we have it.
It’s 66 and pretty much gonna stay that way til around midnight. Not dropping far then. It’s cloudy although the sun has managed to find a few holes in the clouds this morning. Did that all day yesterday – enough to actually generate 11.4 KWHs, get 129.8 m-t-d. Unfortunately more clouds are moving in and they’re getting thicker. We’ll get to 130 but I doubt we’ll get much higher. The rain is supposed to move in around 2 pm so I’ll go do my shopping at 1. If it doesn’t take too long to get my supplements, I’ll stop by Thai Diner and pick up some Chicken Pad Thai for late lunch/early dinner as a treat.
We really have got to break up the RW propaganda machine. The Rs, with not one single one of them voting for the package, are now sending out email blasts and doing photo op/public announcements trying to take credit for it. And the em effers will get away with it as far as their base is concerned. We can’t blunt much less stop the lies if we keep giving them the microphone to tell them.
My friend came over yesterday – brought me some herbicide to try & see if spraying it on the cut rose-of-sharon trunks actually kills them – and got to vent about work. Just about daily I’m glad I don’t have to deal with that crap any longer & just wish she weren’t so far out from retirement. 7 years is forever under some circumstances and she’s in some of those circumstances. The place is worse now than when I worked there and it was bad enough then. But at least she’s got both her vaccines and is smart enough to keep masking and doing as much social distancing as she can. (But the university is about to start requiring they come to the office at least a couple of days a week. Because of course they are.) I’m still on a waiting list to get an appointment but (yes, our Guv is a liar) the pharmacy doesn’t actually have any vaccine yet. I’ll keep up the drill anyway even after I get it. Heck, I may mask when going out for the rest of my life. And probably will.
So. Stuff to do before I head off to the store. I’d go sooner but they’ve got a coffee shop and hot lunch site so they tend to be crowded from 8 until 2 – I’m pushing it a little by going at 1 but I don’t want to get caught in the rain. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Hiya, bfitz, here’s an article from a local columnist who has been looking into reasons why some people love wearing masks:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/here-are-the-people-who-love-wearing-masks-and-not-just-because-they-want-to-avoid-covid-19/2021/03/11/7c6ec586-829a-11eb-81db-b02f0398f49a_story.html
My son keeps pointing out that nobody even questions the rule about wearing pants. That his one-word response to the anti-maskers is “pants”. The wearing of pants is so accepted it’s not even on the list of things you have to wear to be served in a grocery store. The sign says “no shirt, no shoes, no service”. LOL. If we wypipo as a rule weren’t so short-sighted, selfish, and genocidal the signs would have been saying “no mask, no shirt, no shoes, no service” since about 1918. & it still wouldn’t have to mention pants because they’re a given.
Good morning, 35 and sunny in Bellingham. Seems like yesterday was one long nap so I hope I can do more today. Nice to see some blue sky outside my window.
Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 34 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 46. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
President Joe Biden’s first prime time address to the nation was both consequential and needed. As people have pointed out, the “mistake” that the Obama Administration made in not taking a victory lap for the ARRA in 2009, for not hammering home that the projects were because of a bill passed by Democrats with no Republican help, led directly to the 2010 election “shellacking”. I put mistake in quotes because it would be rational to assume that people would be grateful to the federal government for bailing their sorry Bush-voting asses out after he and his party crashed the global economy. But no one could have predicted the rise of the Tea Party and the fuel that inflamed it – the outpouring of white anger over the First Black President. Now we have the benefit of hindsight and we went big on this recovery bill – by refusing to let Republicans ruin it – and the Democrats are planning a “Help Is Here Tour” to make sure that the American people know who is helping them and who cares about their health and their getting back on their feet after the neglect of the past year. That Mitch McChinless is already sputtering about Democrats taking credit for what he calls tRump’s brilliant execution of the pandemic response shows that even he worries that his 2009 tactics won’t work – hi, Mitch, we see you and we won’t let you rewrite the history of the past year.
Is anyone else nervous about how House Republicans seem so anxious to tear down the fence around the Capitol and send the National Guard home? Sorry, GQP, we are not going to leave the Capitol wide open for your friends to return with “30,000 people but this time with guns” as the rioters vowed when they were driven from the Capitol grounds on January 6th. You clean up your messes first including the Colorado House member whose new videos include a threat to Speaker Pelosi followed by the sounds of gunfire. That should be illegal, by the way. The Speech and Debate Clause should not allow for death threats.
It is already almost the middle of the month and I want to get ahead of my to-do list. Now that the ARP is law and my Biden Bucks are on the way, I can focus on work again.
See all y’all later!
Friday Meese. 53 going up to 59 here in Kingston NY
Good to see Biden’s speech go over so well. Let’s hope more people decide to get vaccinated and wear masks.
Puerto Rico
By tying vaccinations to the return to normalcy, he does it exactly right. The economy will come back when vaccination rates tell people it is safe to travel, safe to eat in restaurants, safe to go in-person to stores, safe to send their kids to school, and safe to go to masks-required sporting events. I will be officially immune tomorrow (two weeks after my second shot) but I plan to mask in public places at least until September but probably through the end of the year. I would like to take a trip but will play it by ear and avoid places where the #RepublicanDeathCult is in charge.
Warm morning — 68 degrees already, up to 83 this afternoon. Attorney General is suing the city & county because we want to keep our mask requirements. I loved watching Biden’s speech last night, it is great to know there are people in DC who actually care. Someone said that empathy is Biden’s superpower and I think that is true.
It’s 58 heading for 70 and very overcast this morning. As in I have the lights on overcast. We generated 6 KWHs yesterday (m-t-d is 135.9) to almost no rain. It did start at 2 as projected but was so light I didn’t have to turn on my windshield wipers on the way home from the stores. Hold the Good Thought I’m actually in for at least 4 weeks.
AR – home of the lying em effers who kill for fun and profit. Along with the ban on trans kids playing sports, ban on trans kids getting medical transition treatment, an almost total ban on abortion, and a WASP male people-hunting license (“stand your ground” – wherever the eff a WASP male decides is “his” ground – law) apparently they want to stop people getting vaccines on the “why bother” meme. Where science is saying we don’t know how long the vaccine works but we’ve the data for 14 weeks and we know is works that long, AR is saying the vaccine only works for 14 weeks. My son told me this last night when we were talking. He’s now in the group that can get vaccinated – once he finds someone who actually has the vaccine – but if it takes 5 or 6 weeks to become immune and it only lasts 14 weeks, why bother? I double-checked multiple sources then called him back with the facts and asked him to please get the vaccine. He’s in food service for heaven sakes.
My hands are better. I think. Since I logged out early last night I know there’s a boatload of stuff for me to boost on twitter. We shall see how long my hands stay better. But the carpal tunnel has eased off even though the Raynaud’s hasn’t and it’s usually the combination of the two that messes me up. Anyway, off I go to find out. :) Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good Friday Morning, Moosekind! It’s a warmish gray day in Ashburn, 62 F. going up to 69 F., with the possibility of a shower at some point.
Today is my birthday! Although I feel 106, I’m actually only 77 now. Fifty-six years ago, on another Friday, March 12, when I achieved the dream of a lifetime and first set foot on English soil, I never envisioned being this old. Well, actually, I never pictured old age at all beyond thinking about the distant year 2000.
So I am feeling happy that today is my day, and my gift was an entire night’s sleep without drugs.
Went to the eye doctor yesterday. It appears that I do need cataract surgery, so must begin the infinitely tedious process of obtaining medical and insurance clearances. What a bummair! However, the cards and prezzies are definitely mitigating the “downer” effect of impending surgery.
The doctor did look a bit startled when I told her I’d rather be lined up against a wall and shot rather than ever wear glasses full time again. With my Lasik eye correction, I don’t even wear them to read. Only those with a childhood history of being called “Four Eyes” at school and feeling ugly every day of my life until I obtained my first set of contact lenses at age 15, can understand how I feel. When she said she couldn’t guarantee I’d never need glasses again, it was all I could do to refrain from bursting out with the song from “M.A.S.H.”:
Well, now that I’ve told you how I really feel, let me just say that I’m having a very nice day with assorted people sending videos and audios of themselves singing “Happy birthday.”
Elder Son, instead of using my name, sang “Happy birthday, Mr. President,” throatily, off-key. Uh, what? I do feel happy that we have a president who actually WORKS rather than playing golf and watching TV. And President Biden actually seems to care about us too. I can’t wait until the Fourth of July, when we can finally go to a barbecue at one of the children’s houses.
WIshing a good day to all at the Pond, and good luck with projects, catching up on sleep and walking, receiving good news about Puerto Rico (someone’s gotta have some), and getting some precious hours of sunlight.
{{{Diana}}} HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! 🎶🎶✨🎉🎊🎂🍨🎁💕💕🎶🎶
Happy Birthday Diana…..so nice to aging in good company!
Happy Birthday!!! I thought I remembered you being a March baby and almost asked you.
Sry I missed your Birthday Diana! Happy Happy!
Just want to tell you that my cataract surgery was the best thing that ever happened to these old eyes.
Mine is coming up (delayed by the lockdown). I am both terrified and excited – my eyes haven’t been able to be corrected for two years and I have been living with blurry – but they are my eyes and I need them!
Wow! I’m actually beginning to look forward to it, Dee. It’s all the doctor visits that go with that bug me.
happy birthday! hope your day is wonderful!
Good morning, 38 and cloudy in Bellingham. I did spend some time outside yesterday, just reading and enjoying the sunshine. I hope to do some actual gardening today. I knew this week would basically just be recovery and thankfully I am. It’s very boring though, so I’ve nothing new to discuss. Time for coffee and to see if my knees are willing to walk down the stairs.
Best wishes to all.
Saturday Meese. 30 degrees here in Kingston NY, going up to 47.
Breonna Taylor
That is so shameful and outrageous! I don’t know what to say.
Fire all the racist police, send the others to reeducation camp, and hire new officers.
Puerto Rico
Self-determination for Puerto Rico: A win for democracy, not Democrats
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 25 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 55. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
I was glad to see that Austin TX won the right to enforce their masking policy in the face of a lawsuit by the #RepublicanDeathCult running their state. The governments opening too soon are both frustrating and heartbreaking. I am hoping that the Toronto Blue Jays MLB team refuses to go to the Texas Rangers home opener where they are planning to be at full capacity. They say they will require masks but is there anyone who believes that they will be willing to – or able to – enforce those rules on 40,000+ fans in a state that doesn’t even believe that COVID is real? Deplorable.
As more provisions of the American Rescue Plan are made known, I can see why people are calling it “transformational” – there are a lot of little things tucked away in the $1.9 trillion that will make people’s lives better. I hope that like the ACA, when people see how the new programs and funding can make their lives better, there will be a clamoring to make many of the initiatives permanent “hands off my government help.” As someone said, if 2022 is going to be about health care, it is going to be more like 2018 than 2010, especially if the Biden-Harris Administration keeps promoting the good things.
See all y’all later!
Warm morning (68 already) ahead of a cold front & thunderstorms tonight. Today: groceries and maybe getting started on next week’s lunch. Meanwhile, watching the news, eating my almond butter sandwich