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. Watching Le Tour — today has a lot of cobblestones, they’re lucky it’s not raining. Wfh, I got a lot of background work done yesterday. Will do that again today. I’m hosting Bookchat tonight at the orange place. Wrote about comfort books, it posts at 7pm central.
section of cobblestone:
Do they ride on that? Yikes!!
11 segments. There were several crashes, lots of dust. In one of the towns, a hay bale they put in front of a traffic thing was slightly off & caused one. The yellow jersey almost changed hands – an American boy (he’s just 25) is in 2nd by maybe 5 seconds. Today’s stage winner didn’t even have a contract for the year until February, he was in tears at the finish.
What I hate to see is the ghastly people stepping directly into the path of the peloton so the cyclists have to slow down. How absolutely lacking in sportsmanship that is, not to mention good manners.
several of the “contenders” were in crashes today
Oh, how nice! My comfort books are Marion Chesney’s Regencies and M.C. Beaton’s (same person) mysteries. Sometimes I get SO fed up with the atrocious grammar of modern British writers that I have to reread books published before 1980. The other day I was reading a book and the writer used the word “sneaked” rather than “snuck.” Automatically awarded her 12 gold stars for that usage.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 71 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 99. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
I was watching the parade shooting coverage yesterday afternoon to see if there would be any response besides “thoughts and prayers.” Nope! The only thing that would make sense is an assault weapons ban – as of now not every violent/unhappy young man has one so perhaps we could stop the carnage from spreading. The NRA’s lapdogs have said no so that is the end of that. It sounds like the murderer’s father co-signed for him to get his gun permit despite two violent episodes in the past – we need Illinois to charge the father as an accessory like Michigan did. The only way to get parents to take an interest in their children’s dangerous behaviours is to charge them for enabling their offspring to get weapons. By the way, any newspaper or media outlet that says “7 people lost their lives” should be shunned. Seven people were brutally murdered. Don’t gussy this up.
I have some errands to run later this morning and need to get a project organized so that when I come back I have a plan in place to finish it. I have been trying to get in to see a dentist for my 6 month checkup since mid-May and have been frustrated by cancelled appointments and reschedulings and then literally being removed from the schedule with no explanation (which I found out when I showed up for what they told me was my appointment time!). Today I am trying a new dental group – fingers crossed that they have me on the schedule when I show up!
See all y’all later!
Oh, Jan, mistreatment by doctors and dentists is SO annoying! I have to see a doctor tomorrow. Actually, it’s the doctor’s PA, the doctor herself isn’t available until August. I’ve had to wait so long that the ear infection has cleared up owing to prescriptions supplied by two different doctors WEEKS ago. Duh.
I couldn’t find a doctor here – pretty much everyone uses FNPs or PAs as their primary care physicians. I don’t really care, seeing a doctor is not important – I would rather see someone who has time to talk to me about my health care needs.
The dental thing is annoying – the dental practice that lost my rescheduled appointment never apologized and never offered an explanation. I found out later that they have a bunch of ads on TV which has to be expensive. You would think that if you are spending mega-bucks on TV ads that you would want to encourage new patients, not drive them away with your incompetence. I suspect that when I said in the questionnaire that I was not interested in cosmetic dental procedures or teeth whitening that they decided I was not a cash cow. Or maybe they are money laundering operation!! ;)
Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind! At the moment we have 82 F. in Ashbuggy, working up to 88 F., with imaginary thunderstorms starting at 2 p.m. In the meantime we have a beautiful pale plue sky with white patches of cloud moving slowly across the blueness, and pale sunlight that looks more silvery than gold. There is just something about the month named after Gaius Julius Caesar that really gets me. It’s a rare feeling of happiness.
Rotten night’s sleep, which means I’ll have to take a cup of tea with me to the Legacy Letter Writing group at 1:30 p.m. One of the things I want to write in my legacy letter is not to envy others for their looks, wealth, or talent. We cannot possibly know the secret sorrows and problems people have. Another thing is to be consciously grateful for what we do have and to make life better for others.
When younger I wanted to be Pattie Boyd (thank Goddess I wasn’t), or Annette Funicello (thank Goddess I wasn’t), and various other persons. Oh, well, enough of that.
Today the meeting will be about our obituaries. Mine is kind of funny. I do like to stir the pot and get people’s blood pressure up, if possible.
Wishing a good day to everyone at the Pond and a terrible day to the Rethugs.
It’s 79 heading for 100 but I did manage to have the house open and airing out for the half hour I was out getting milk. Yesterday we generated 20.46 KWHs and the m-t-d at 86.37 is back on track for reaching/exceeding 500.
I seem to stay tired and depressed a lot lately. True there’s a lot to be tired and depressed about. But I used to feel like I was doing some good, some little bit to make things better, that better was a possibility. I’m still doing what I can but better seems to be in another world. Oh well, like everybody else I’ll keep on keepin’ on as long as I can.
So I’m off to twitter to do just that. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 68 and partly cloudy. RonK wants to prune some plants growing along the front of the house today so I’ll help him, ready or not. I’ve got a growing plan in mind for those plants and he’s not a mind reader! Oh well, best to focus on plants and not the overwhelming bad news today. Best wishes to all.
I just found out they’re doing some utility work down the street and tomorrow morning my electricity will be shut off for a few hours. I’ll be late checking in. The only “real” news I’d be sharing that I know of is that I had to put Murf to sleep today. He collapsed yesterday afternoon, stopped eating last night, stopped drinking this morning. Clearly it was time. Poor guy. He was tossed out when he was about 6 months old and “lived rough” for 15 of his approximately 18 years. It’s surprising he didn’t go completely feral but I guess enough people kept putting out food and petting him over the years. I gave him 3 years of good food, comfortable surroundings, and out of the weather. And rubbed his jaw as he liked so much until the end. We did it in the spare room on the catnip pad he spent most of his time napping on. The other cats were under the bed so they knew and aren’t as freaked out as they’d have been if he’d just disappeared. It’s good that it was so quick for Murf. Kind of a jolt for me though.
Sorry to hear about Murf. It is always difficult to lose a pet even when it is clearly best for them – watching them struggle you know it has to be uncomfortable. :(
Thank you. He was managing pretty well with a little help from me holding his food and water at a comfortable height for him to eat and drink. Then suddenly the minor neurological problem he had became a major one. And yes, that was hard to watch.
{{{bfitz}}}! Oh, poor you! And poor old Murf. At least his last three years were happy ones with you. You are truly Saint Cat-rin. You know you did some good, making an animal companion happy. Bless you and bless his memory.
{{{Diana}}} He did have 3 years of comfort and caring and security and dignity. He was a sweet cat.
here’s my Bookchat diary
Thursday Meese. 59 going up to 83 here in Kingston.
Looks like BoJo is out in GB. Good riddance.
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 72 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 103. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
One wonders if Joe Biden will get credit for lower gas prices or only blame for higher gas prices. I am sure that Republicans have all their god people praying that inflation stays high because if the economy is not an issue, they have nothing to run on except the promise of more abortion restrictions, more guns, and stupider children.
I spent too much time yesterday away from my desk and I need to get back to project work.
See all y’all later!
Good morning. Not and getting hotter, they’re talking about excessive heat warnings this weekend. But at least England is rid of BoJo. Got to find good news where we can, right?
Caribbean Matters posted
Good Thursday morning, Meese. It’s gray, humid, and damp here in Ashburn. As I expected, yesterday’s imaginary showers were strictly imaginary, but it evidently rained a bit toward sunrise. When we woke up there were raindrops on the windowpanes, and out in the courtyard the patio and tabletops were wet. Right now it’s cloudy and 73 F., on its way up to 81 F.
Feeling quite cross this morning as far as the domestic front goes. Monty barfed dark green vomit on the carpet when he rose from his bed, which is surrounded by a large sheet of acrylic he could have barfed on. Then my computer rejected my password: the same password I had used early this morning to sign on, the same password I have used since the Nightmare with Big Surly, Apple’s last operating system but one. (Only one more week until I can order my Lenovo ThinkPad!) Anyway, I turned the bloody thing off, waited a few minutes, then turned it back on. It accepted my password this time. I wondered whether some wild-eyed fanatic in an Internet cafe in Rabat had interfered with my password, but I have no way to know or prove that.
Yesterday in the Legacy Letter meeting I read my obituary aloud to the few who attended. I thought it was funny, but after listening intently, one member of the group said, “The Washington Post is not going to accept that.” Rilly? We’ll see. I’m going to email the deathnotice people right after I sign off here.
What else—must look for a skin healing spell as my poor darling Miss Pink Cheeks has been afflicted with periodermatitis. Some days it’s nearly gone, some days it flares up. I can’t imagine what’s causing it.
The stupid doctor’s office I’m supposed to visit has texted me every day since Monday to confirm my bloody appointment and emailed me twice. I’m so sick of it I texted in all caps, HAVE ALREADY RESPONDED TO TEXT AND EMAIL TWICE. I feel stalked. We’ll see what kind of people they are.
Off to do laundry! If I change the sheets today that’s one less thing to do on Saturday. Wishing everyone at the Pond a good day.
Medical providers seem to all be using these “stay in touch constantly” services which are annoying and stalkerish. The medical group that my PCP is in sent me a link via text to update my medical history in advance of an appointment. As if I would use my PHONE to connect to a secure site to enter personal information!!??! No way in hell. Also, it was stuff I had entered on another system and they said that the two systems “don’t talk.” Anyway, I had them send the link to my computer (where I have several layers of security) and I entered the information there. It turns out that most of the information I had entered before was there, just a few things needed to be updated. I fear that the next generation of people who are building technology (and training others to use technology) might not be very good. :(
Well, it’s 87 heading for 101. Heaven knows what the heat index will be. Yesterday we generated a hair over 20 KWHs and the m-t-d at 107.6 is on track to surpass 500 for the month. Just as well with these temperatures. (The “bad” summer of 2005 July usage was 25 KWHs per day rather than the 17 for more “normal” A/C use months.)
My son and I did the Tractor Supply run while the power was down. At least I assume the power was down while I was gone. It was still up when I left just before 7 and was up when I got back at 8:45. Tractor Supply has changed its operating hours. They now open at 8, not 7 – so we went and had breakfast at IHOP. Taking out lives in our hands as nobody but us were masked. At least it was almost empty. Only 2 other tables had people at them. But the staff isn’t masked either and they get a lot closer than 6′. As we were eating a rash started developing on the inside of my left arm. It started at shirt-sleeve height and moved down to my wrist by the time we left. When I got home I washed my arm thoroughly and applied topical Benadryl. We shall see what we shall see. Probably contact dermatitis since I get that all the time – usually from some plant or another I didn’t even realize I’d brushed against. But just about everything makes me nervous these days. I’m going to skip the treadmill today. I don’t want to tempt fate by overheating/getting sweaty while I’ve still got it.
Guess I’ll get over to twitter and DK. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
So sorry about the contact dermatitis! Hope it disappears quickly!
Update on rash. It’s seeming to settle down. I’ll retreat it with topical Benadryl in another hour. Since it seems to be responding to topical treatment, I’m going to say it’s dermatitis and not viral in nature. I hope.
Scathing, hilarious thread on BoJo:
Friday Meese. 65 going up to 88 here in Kingston. Was just out in the garden and discovered several of the new plants have “rust” Ugh. A pain to get rid of.
Puerto Rico
She’s a Trump loving Republican:
Good morning. Not going to get below 80 all weekend, heat advisories already out, weather guy said probably an excessive heat warning for Sunday. I hate guns. That is all. I’m going to listen to some happy Snow Patrol while the office is still empty.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 77 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 102. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
I was laughing at the story of the rise and fall of Boris Johnson – it would be funnier if his actions had not damaged a once great nation and an ally. Sadly, in America the political party of our own disgusting completely incompetent and ill-suited former president did not look at him and his actions and demand he resign or force him out of office. Mike Pence would have been a terrible president but within the normal range of terrible Republican presidents, not a “willing to overthrow the government in a bloody coup to stay in power” Republican president. We now know that as long as one party is filled with craven assholes willing to do anything to stay in power and rule as a minority, our Constitution’s protections against a corrupt “monarch” are toothless. Sucks to be us.
I am going to quickly scan the news and then get back to my neglected projects. I have been low energy this week – I need to get on a fixed schedule for regular exercise and I keep putting off starting it. Maybe today I will go over to the fitness center, pick out a compatible machine and just do it.
See all y’all later!
Good Friday morning, Moosekind. It’s very overcast in Ashburn at the moment, with a temp. of 73 F. climbing to 89 F. later. Monty has disrupted breakfast by demanding to go out to eat grass. Why, so he can barf up more green vomit on the carpet? Dogs! Tonight and tomorrow morning the weather eejits are predicting 4 inches of rain. Rubbish.
Yesterday I went to the ENT and after answering most of their EXTREMELY intrusive questions on paper, I was finally allowed to see the PA. She looked inside my ears and became so distraught that she summoned an actual MD to have a look also. He said my right inner ear is DEFORMED and the left eardrum has a hole in it. They are demanding a CAT scan, which I suppose means I’ll have to trot up to the fifth floor to borrow Gwen’s cat and teach it out to scan on my phone. In the meantime the PA prescribed ear drops. When I saw how much they were, I decided to learn Portuguese and move to Portugal, where health care is free. So far my wretched left ear has cost me $451.
Re my obituary: I think it’s funny, my fellow writer here thought it was original and fantastic, and I could not accept that the WaPo death announcement department would not publish it. I rang and finally got an actual human on the phone. She said it is very, very rare to for them to publish a death announcement in the first person, but they have done it in the past. They’d want to see it, of course (presumably so no vitriol or swear words are in it), and for the person concerned to leave very detailed instructions that this is what she wants. So I’ll do that.
The dog is driving me insane. I have to get ready to meet Darling Niece in about an hour. She has to pick up the future Steven Spielberg clone from summer school at 1 p.m., so we’re changing our lunch to coffee at Barnes & Noble at 10:30.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond, and a rotten day to all Rethug pols who think it’s a good idea to force a 10-year-old to give birth rather than flinging the man who raped her into jail for life.
It’s 85 heading for 100 or so. Overcast. It keeps saying it’s gonna rain but so far just clouds. I hope they clear off soon. Yesterday they started moving in towards evening. We generated 19.6 KWHs which is a bit over the minimum to stay on track (for a 500 month) so we gained a bit of ground. I hope we don’t lose it today.
A sign of Murf’s rough life outside – the one thing that got him excited, rising up on his back legs and making a happy litte “squirp” sound – was fresh water. That’s what he did most mornings when I was rinsing his water dish and refilling it before holding it under his nose. He didn’t react that way for anything else. Just fresh water. Murf had his priorities right. (Which is more than you can say for the majority of white people.)
Nothing seems to be getting better (except maybe BoJo’s resignation in Britain – but his party is still in power) and some things are getting worse. Not for me. At the moment anyway. Thoughts and prayers don’t seem to be doing much and I don’t have any money to spare. Money can’t buy rain in a drought nor decrease the temps in a killer heat wave nor ease someone else’s pain anyway. But it can’t hurt to keep doing the thoughts and prayers. So I will.
Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 64 and partly sunny outside my window today. I’m enjoying a quiet and relatively comfortable morning. I don’t know why arthritis flares as it does, but I’m grateful when the flare eases and I can walk with less pain. I’ll be careful today and hope it lasts.
Our son is slowly recovering from the lung infection but he is really mourning his Heidi dog. He will have another cat scan and see both the infectious disease and lung doc next week. He is working a few hours a day now, then it’s home to rest.
I took my sewing machine to a new repair shop about 3 weeks ago and will pick it up today. This shop specializes in repairing and maintaining older machines so I’m looking forward to having mine back in good working order again. It’s a 30+ year old mechanical Pfaff so parts are hard to find but I love how it sews. Computer machines sew for you, but this machine sews with me and I don’t want to replace it.
Best wishes to all.
{{{princesspat}}} Healing Energy to your son, you, and all your family. moar {{{HUGS}}}