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 to view previous pages, shown here with 3 pages of comments available and Page 2 circled.
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Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 39 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 63. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
I am starting to think of Senator Manchin as the Steve Bannon of our party. Disruptive, selfish and sowing chaos.
Hi, addisnana! Sorry I missed your post – it was stuck in the Comment Moderation queue and I have been negligent in viewing it. Let me know if you want a Moose account and I will set one up for you.
And, yes, Manchin is not helpful at all. Rich white male using his power to feather his and his family’s nest – at the expense of people in need.
Sunday Meese. 48 going up to 61 here in Kingston NY, sunny and no rain, after a night of bad thunderstorms
Puerto Rico
Did my walk/run this morning, only 3 90-second running segments, but you have to expect some loss after taking off. Currently eating breakfast & watching the news. Today: in-person church, cook for next week. Probably a nap.
Black Music Sunday
It’s 42 heading for 72 and sunny. Yesterday we generated 10.67 KWHs which is apparently about as good as we’re gonna get. M-t-d is 135, sort of on track for 250. Which would at least get 2021 out of last place.
My hands are cold. And hurt. I have gotten a few of my Sunday chores done. We’ll see how many I manage over the course of the day. I got a long rip in the fabric in one leg of my flannel pajamas. Not something I personally can mend. I’m debating cutting the legs off and making them sleep shorts – the elastic is still good (& most of my sleep shorts are in the “replace the elastic or throw out” state). I think I’d manage to hem the shortened legs by the time next summer gets here. I think.
Still happy that Bobby’s covered, that community came together to keep him housed. Still mad as hell that LUMA and the housing authority are getting away with it. Especially the housing authority. They are the ones he’s supposed to report this sort of crap to for help, not them do it themselves. sigh. Things are not getting better for anybody else. Which truly means they’re getting worse. Because that’s what happens when things can’t be dealt with timely. They get worse. But at least at the moment none of my friends/friendly acquaintances is hungry or facing eviction.
Need to deal with something and get coffee. Then over to Dee’s diary & twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 54 and raining in Bellingham. I clipped ivy growing around the back steps yesterday and finished reading book #2 in The Winternight Triology. I’m now reading book #3, The Winter of the Witch and will finish it today. I’ve really enjoyed the books.
Best wishes to all on this quiet Sunday morning.
Monday Meese. 44 going up to 55 here in Kingston – with rain. Was hoping we would not get more rain – my yard looks like a jungle – haven’t been able to mow.
Please send some prayers for my goddaughter’s family today
You have them.
Thank you.
May the murderer get the punishment he deserves so there will be justice for Kay and her little girl.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 37 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 70. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Quick hi and bye! Stay out of trouble all y’alls! :)
Good morning. It cooled down a lot. Enough that I’m wearing long sleeves. And shoes. Actual shoes. That’s my personal “it’s cold” – when I can’t wear sandals. Working in the office today. Sigh.
Well, 47 is warmer than 37 – but it’s still cold as far as I’m concerned. Going to 72 and sunny. Evening fires are keeping the house warm enough the heat hasn’t kicked on. My hands and feet are cold – that’s the Raynaud’s – but the rest of me is OK. We generated 10.27 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 145 with just under half the month to go.
In the warm weather none of the cats want lap time. Pets and skritches, yes. Laps, no. But now the weather is cooler Cloud and Rennie especially want laps. Rennie’s on my lap right now. (How he and Freddie can look so much alike and have such different personalities! Freddie thinks cool weather is go outside weather.) The towel cupboard has also become prime real estate. Bobbie’s sleeping in it at the moment. My son thinks my sinusitis is the cats. I told him that could be correct. But dumping or euthanizing these cats ain’t gonna happen. (But I may see if an antihistamine helps any. With my “usual” sinusitis, antihistamines make it worse so I haven’t tried one in years.)
Aji and/or Wings will have to spend several hours today sitting on hold listening to recordings tell them to go to a website they’ve been to and doesn’t help. Whatever little jerkwad who managed to “vacuum” Wings’s debit card data made Google Play several hundred dollars richer (they didn’t block the card even though the theft was reported – & you know they aren’t going to reimburse Wings for it) buying games with Wings’s Social Security while Wings was unable to report the data theft or block the data from being used. (Neither can be done online. They’ve got to talk to a real person for this.) So the original theft is all on the thief. The continued theft, the blame for that is shared between thief, Google Play, and SSA for not blocking/stopping it. Several hundred dollars – about half his monthly benefit – now to be made up via sales or donations or a combination thereof. Aji didn’t need this – she still hasn’t managed to set aside the $1200 for the eye doctor visit she seriously needs to make (Lupus meds she’s currently on could harm her eyes, that needed to have been tested over a month ago.) Everybody else pretty much the same, pretty much hanging on.
I’m “getting up with the sun” which this time of year is about 7:30 – even having been retired for almost 4 years, that feels weird. Anyway, coffee and off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Online payment options are dangerous and it is sad that there is no safe way to transfer money between parties for payments. My advice to anyone who needs eCommerce is to always keep your personal accounts completely separate from your business related accounts. In any event, no one should ever be given your Debit card because they can drain your account and there is no fraud protection like there is for a credit card – they can literally drain your account and you have no recourse. I had the need to open a business account at a new bank last week (I am ticked at my current bank) and the banker asked me if I wanted a Debit card for my account. I looked at him like he was insane and asked “why on earth would anyone want a Debit card on a business account?” He agreed but said he had to ask.
I hope Aji and Wings can get things sorted out.
Unfortunately this is another of the “beat the poor” things. Wings’s Social Security goes to a “prepay” debit card. They do have separate cards for separate things but (as far as I know), no bank or credit card since the fallout of the ’08 crash.
Yes, the poor get screwed on money things. And if they are homeless it is even worse – everything requires a physical address to sign up for. It seems like the bright people at Treasury could devise a cash payments banking system alternative that cares about poor people.
Good morning, 48 and cloudy in Bellingham. The garden is very soggy so I hope we have less rain today. I was hoping to leave the patio rugs in place until after TDay but it’s too wet, even with the umbrellas and shelter cover. So today I’ll put them over the veggie garden fence, spray them until the water runs clean, and hope they will dry enough to move into the garage for winter. Last fall was dryer so keeping the patios set up for outdoor meals was easier, but this year I’ll need a different rain plan.
I’ve started working with the old needlepoint canvases again, and have one more to wash and block to size, then I can sew them into pillows. I’ve found all the trim and backing from my stash, just need to buy a few zippers. I don’t know what I’ll do with so many pillows (9 and counting) but I’ve wanted to finish this project for years and it feels good to finally be able to do so.
Best wishes to all.
Tuesday Meese. 42 going up to 66 here in Kingston.
Watching more ugly police action against protestors in Puerto Rico.
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 45 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 72. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast. A front is moving through and the highs later in the week will be in the 50s.
Sad for Colin Powell that his legacy will be lying to the American people in service to his party. He is not the first Republican to trash himself on the altar of partisanship and he will not be the last. The Republican Party needs to be burned to the ground and the earth salted where the ashes lie.
I will have to get tapped into the news again – I think Congress is not even in session but I frankly don’t know! I have Saturday, October 23, as my “return to normalcy” – I hope nothing changes that.
See all y’all later!
Did my walk/run this morning, it was really hard. No idea why, pleasant morning — just barely cool enough for long sleeves. But it was just hard to run. And then I went to get blood drawn, I have a physical in a couple weeks. Anyway, breakfast & news, and I should log in to work soon.
It’s 56 heading for 74 and sunny. We generated 9.97 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 155.26 – maybe on track for 250. We shall see.
It is a pity that Colin Powell, when given the choice between support the constitution he swore to uphold & defend and support the president, chose wrong in the most important decision of many more people’s lives than his own. That was the point where I said “nope, no good republicans”.
Rotten sleep. Groggy. Slow. That’s how my day started/is going. Amelia’s sick again – not sure what it is and until she can manage to get back to the doctor (it’s right at 2 years now) we’re not going to know. Jill’s having nightmares at night and obfuscation in the day time. I haven’t connected with anybody else yet.
Coffee might help. I hope. Tomorrow I’m supposed to get my booster. I suppose that counts as a birthday present. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Where are you getting your booster, from a clinic or from a drugstore? I have been putting off my booster until my big project is done because I can’t afford a minute of downtime. I should get an appointment for next week.
Drugstore. A very quiet and small one sharing the building with the clinic I go to (when I go at all).
Good morning, 42 and partly sunny in Bellingham. The leaves are changing color overnight now but they are not falling from the trees. When they do drop it’s going to be a garden full of leaves! I was outdoors most of yesterday and the patios are now better arranged for the record rains we are having this fall. I think we can be outdoors now and stay dry. The summer furnishings are all clean and put away so I’m feeling quite tidy this morning :)
I need to tend to my desk today, so time for coffee and to wake up my sleepy brain. Best wishes to all.
Good Tuesday, Meese, I’ve missed you all! As I told our bfitz earlier, I’ve been living at top speed since Friday and when I haven’t been doing that, I’ve been trying to catch up on sleep. We’re having a beautiful blue and gold October afternoon, 73 F. right now in Ashburn with the winds out of the west at 10 mph. I love this time of year!
On Friday night I was supposed to tend the three sisters from 5 until 10 p.m. Their father left dinner for us all, which was delicious. The girls agreed to play the nursery rhyme game for a little while, wearing crazy hats. I managed to get the three of them together so I could take their picture. I then texted it to their mother so she could enjoy it during dinner. They’re so tall now! S., the middle one, is sweet and home-loving. She made brownies while the youngest looked on. We watched a movie, “Tuck Everlasting,” that we all love, while the brownies cooled. After that we played “rotating stories.” Each person began a story with a couple of paragraphs, then passed it to the next person to take up the story, and so on. The results were, needless to say, hilarious!
The parents ended up not getting home until midnight. The show had begun half an hour late and was still going on at 11 p.m. The garage closed then so the parents left to come home, and then the father drove me home—luckily I live only 10 minutes from their house.
It was 12:30 before I was able to go to sleep, and I knew I’d be tired from getting up early the next morning. “If I can just get through the next few hours I can then come home and collapse,” I told myself. Suzi Weinert, the most well-known author here, picked me up to drive to the public library, where all the tents were set up in the parking lot. The organizers gave us coffee (terrible, by the way, but they meant well), and pastries. After looking them over with a wary eye, I picked the least sugary.
The festival was great fun. I didn’t sell many of my books, but I had the pleasure of meeting a whole bunch of Witches from Winchester! I had stopped by their table to look at their offerings and the young lady was taking such an interest in my pentacle knuckle ring that I finally asked, “Are you one of us?” in a rather significant tone. “Yes,” she said. My eyes widened, I took a step backward, and flung out my arms. “Merry meet!” I said. “Merry meet,” she, her mother, her stepfather, and a young man (boyfriend? brother?) all replied. Just think, the apple capital of Virginia is home to Witches I had run out of cash to buy books by that time, so I took her card and promised to look up her books on line.
The rain we hadn’t had all week was about to hurl itself at us—the wind had been knocking over our exhibits all morning—so we hastily packed up and left. I did collapse after I reached home. I could barely move. On Sunday I managed to stagger about, but after cooking breakfast and tidying the flat so the dog-sitter wouldn’t be too appalled, I was just barely able to leave with Dearly on time to go to Elder Son’s house. He’d asked us to dinner. As usual, he did a wonderful job of cooking and a pleasant meal was had by all. As we prepared to leave, six-year-old Ethan, for reasons best known to himself, kept saying, “I think I may be pregnant.”
“Where is this coming from?” we asked ourselves, but we could not make it out. Sunday night I had a rotten night, so I was barely able to get up and go with Dearly to vote yesterday morning. After I voted I tottered out of the voting room, my American flag mask still in place, and remarked to the two people in the hallway, “Isn’t it wonderful to live in a country where we can–” At this point I was overcome with emotion and could not finish what I was about to say.
“–ote early?” agreed a nice lady who was standing in the hallway, also waiting for her husband. “Early voting is the best thing since sliced bread!”
Why do I always get so choked up by the act of voting and by listening to “The Star-Spangled Banner?” It’s weird.
Anyway, I cooked a nice spaghetti dinner because no way were we going to eat the godawful stuff available down the hall. Because I was still tired, I went to bed at 8:30 to watch the Diana thing on CNN, and took a sleeping pill afterwards.
The result was I had a decent night’s sleep, which gave me the energy to meet with a fellow author this morning. She needed some advice regarding a project she’s about to undertake. She was kind enough to ask if I had a book or books in our library here. I told her that most of my books to date have been ebooks, but that I do have two on the Authors Shelves” in the library. Pray Goddess she never checks one out! She is a very religious woman, the widow of a Lutheran minister and the daughter of one. She wouldn’t like my books at ALL. (If I ever finish the Roman one you may be sure I won’t let anyone in The Home know about it.)
So that’s what I’ve been up to. Sorry for inflicting this interminable screed on you, but I just wanted you to know what’s going on. Tomorrow I shall be quite quiet.
Hope all the meese at the Pond are having a good day!
That was meant to be “—vote early?” I didn’t catch it in time to correct it.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 54 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 70. The forecast calls for showers off and on all day. Lovely!
I just checked in on the budget reconciliation negotiation. Yikes! I think it is important for Democrats to do exactly what they are doing – choose to remove funding for popular programs like free Community College that Manchin and Sinema don’t want to pay for because of their allegiance to Big Pharma and Big Oil. Make them sweat and set the stage for Sinema getting the Big Boot in the Democratic primary in 2024. Free Community College won’t die – it will just be delayed for a while, like when we pick up a few Senate seats next year and kill the filibuster.
I have a bunch of errands that will have me driving around in the rain today. As all good Aries do, I have a list. Yesterday’s list had 6 items and 4 got checked off. Today’s list is those two from yesterday plus three more that have hard deadlines and one that I hope to be able to get to.
See all y’all later!