Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: March 5th

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 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.

37 Comments

  1. Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    Morning low of 46 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 64. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Sunday Meese. 32 going up to 48 here in Kingston.
    I’m sleepy – got up really early to continue to answer comments in my rant diary at Orange from yesterday morning!

    Puerto Rico

    • I didn’t comment, the whole thing just makes me sad. Which doesn’t seem comment-worthy.

  3. Good morning. It got into the mid-80s here yesterday, and I’m confident enough that there won’t be another freeze that I spread all my plants out. This morning: tea is steeping, watching the news. Katie Phang had an interesting story about a woman who went to Alabama to help with the Civil Rights protests and was murdered by klansmen (who were of course acquitted). Will walk this afternoon.

    • Read it, listened to some music, it’s fabulous!

      Our Sister Denise has two knock ’em dead diaries on dk, the Ma Rainey diary and the rant.

      I keep a very low profile on dk nowadays. Don’t often visit, don’t often comment. It just seems too dangerous. Also, some ugly stuff has been going on.

  4. Good Sunday morning, Moosekind. Well, here I am, having taken nourishment and started sitting upright.

    Miss Nora came over Thursday night. She and I worked very hard on Friday. She crawled under the bed and found a ton of pandemic-era toilet paper–—oh, excuse me, bathroom tissue—and we cleared out a whole plastic storage box of clothes hangers. She tied them together in bunches, I wrapped them up in an old tablecloth, and will take them to the dry cleaners.

    She said she was good at vacuuming, so she vacuumed the entire flat! Wow! We also cleaned out the front hall closet. We threw away a lot of old, travel-sized makeup because she said it was “expired,” and decided which shoes and garments to pass on to Darling Niece to sell on Poshmark. I paid her for three hours’ work and told her to come back any time. I loathe housework, so this was very helpful.

    Saturday morning we took her out to a nice breakfast at Virginia Kitchen (the first time in YEARS) before returning her to her family. She was to attend a volleyball referee workshop at noon on Saturday. If she earns her qualifications, she can referee games and receive $15 per game.

    After we dropped her off and returned home, Grandpa and I were comatose. We completely lost any mojo we ever had. I spent the day sleeping and reading. Dearly spent the day sleeping and watching telly. In the evening we watched Kenneth Branagh in Henry V. As always I adored the St. Crispin’s Day speech. Dearly’s comment was, “Well, he tried, but he wasn’t as good as Olivier.” Dearly’s class at Kingston Technical College was taken to see Olivier perform in Henry V in 1946. Harrumph! I enjoyed the way the 1989 Henry’s blue eyes blazed at the perfidy of the French. I also liked that very tall herald.

    Oh, well, enough of that. It appears that Florida, besides being full of Villages and DeathSantis, not to mention stupidity, hurricanes, and cockroaches, now has a big problem with pythons. Thank Goddess I don’t live there, I’m squeezed enough between chores and inflation.

    It’s 46 F. and sunny on its way up to 60 F. Might go for a walk today. I need to get control of my appetite, have been gobbling everything in sight. I can’t be preggers, so it must be plain, old-fashioned greed.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!

    • Florida! Indeed, the olds who chose to move there are not very wise. It seems like the tradeoff of no state income taxes but a government run by truly terrible people is a bad bargain. It is really a roll of the dice that you will never need government help for the rest of your life when you move there – it is the ultimate I Got Mine Screw You State.

      • True. And hurricanes that blow your house away!

        I lived in the tropics once, and sometimes wonder whether I could ever live in Singapore again if the opportunity offered itself. I wouldn’t need a car, that’s for sure, the transportation system is so excellent. The monsoon storms, called sumatras, are terrifying to behold, though. During the first one I experienced at age eight, I was convinced we were all going to die.

  5. It’s 65 heading for 71 (or so) and sunny. Yay! Yesterday we generated 13.8 KWHs and the m-t-d is 28.6 – not on track of course but good and gaining.

    My son came over and fixed the toilet for which I was/am very grateful. He’ll be back today with produce from Sam’s Club after he leaves the gurdwara. I’m so glad he’s got the Sikh community to be part of. I’m not sure if nothing’s really going on with anybody (as in any new crises or upsets) or if I’m just not noticing. The latter is unfortunately quite possible but I’m hoping it’s the former.

    I’ve done my Sunday housework chores, am in the process of eating my breakfast, and am about to head over to twitter & spoutible. {{{Meeses}}}

  6. Good afternoon, 48, cloudy and three deer are eating the new growth on the hydrangeas outside my window. I’m just waking up from a nap and am to sleepy to chase them away so I hope they leave a few leaves so the bushes can grow more.

    Lisa and her family were her for lunch today so we were at the bookstore cafe. I feel so fortunate to have so many fine family meals together in that cozy comfortable spot. I had to scurry around this morning to get the house presentable though. Amazing how much better everything looks when clutter is put away, dead flowers are no longer featured and bathrooms are clean! Now I need to do some laundry and tidy the desk so I can work there tomorrow. Best wishes to all.

  7. Monday Meese. 37 here in Kingston, sunny, going up to 48.

    Puerto Rico

    SAN JUAN — In Puerto Rico, March 2 marks the anniversary of when, in 1917, the U.S. Congress granted U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the islands. But for some Puerto Ricans, American Citizenship Day is a grim reminder of the unequal citizenship rights that deny them access to federal disability benefits because they are residents of Puerto Rico.
    Supplemental Security Income, or SSI, is a monthly payment system meant for low-income U.S. citizens or nationals who are disabled or above the age of 65. It is available to people living in the 50 states and Washington, D.C., but not to people living in U.S. territories like Puerto Rico and American Samoa.
    “The program was created for the people, not the land they live on,” Abraham Rivera Berríos, the first person to sue the U.S. government from Puerto Rico for being denied access to SSI in 2019, told Latino Rebels.
    Abraham, 72, filed the lawsuit on behalf of his son Emanuel Rivera Fuentes, 36, who has been confined to his bed for years due to cerebral palsy. Since then, Abraham been joined by other Puerto Rican plaintives seeking SSI benefits from the federal government.

    FEMA announces that it has already awarded $672 million to restore highways in Puerto Rico

  8. Monday. Ugh. Got in my walking — 1.3 mi though I don’t know what I did different from Friday….. I added a few more running segments, but still didn’t reach a mile till 24 minutes. But it is my routine so I’ll keep doing it. Anyway, welcome to the working week.

  9. Good morning, meeses! Monday …

    It is 46 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 66. Partly cloudy skies this morning with a chance of rain. There are clouds over the mountains this morning. We hit 70 yesterday but it was a bit breezy so chilly unless you were in the sun. Next week we will start seeing some upper 70s and the potential of some 80s.

    It is eye-opening that Republicans are willing to overlook that their party’s leader literally fomented an insurrection in an attempt to circumvent the Constitution of the United States in order to stay in power. It means that they will stop at nothing to regain power. People who ignore that and think that the Republican Party will return to normalcy need to get their heads out of their asses NOW and do everything to keep the White House, win back the House and retain the Senate. If tRump or any of the mini-tRumps win, that will usher in the end times. Look no further than Florida for the MAGAt’s blueprint for governance and the way they will treat the electoral losers.

    The ProPublica and NPR articles exposing that Native America remains were treated like props for teaching and tickets were sold to view them when they were unearthed on land taken by white “settlers” is disgusting. If the graves of white people were exhumed and their bodies displayed in museums or poked at by students, there would be hell to pay but in anything-white-people-do-is-okay America, it will be a few days of stories and most people will shrug and call it no big deal. We will never fix what ails America until we have a majority of people acknowledging the humanity of non-white peoples – dead and alive.

    A new week! I am ready for it. My upper respiratory ailment is finally cleared up and I am getting good sleep. With taxes done, I am ready to put 2022 in the rear-view mirror and enjoy my first full year in the Old Pueblo and the first year since 2020 when I won’t be moving. I will be moving my off-premise belongings into a smaller less expensive storage unit (in the same facility) now that I have a good handle on what my needs are. The things that are left in the apartment all have places to be and there are just a few boxes of documents that need to be sent off site – things that need to be retained but are scanned and archived if I need to look at them. I might purchase some shelving to add some vertical height to the storage unit but I will wait until we complete the move to decide.

    See all y’all later!

  10. Good Monday morning, Moosekind. It’s 43 F. in the middle of nowhere, going up to 60 F. later. One would think that’s warm enough to go for a walk, if it weren’t for the fact that the wind is so cold and strong it tries to blow one’s wiggie off.

    Today I have to find two photos to illustrate my disability article (our photographer for the quarterly quit), read through the essays the writers have written, and start on the taxes. In a minute I must use the hot water I’ve carefully poured into a clean jar to use in the Neti pot. Ever since I read about the man who died from a brain-eating amoeba in Louisiana, I’ve had the horrors. He used tap water in his Neti pot. But mah Goddess, I clean my teeth with tap water! I’ve been known to drink it when in a hurry. We usually drink the Brita water in our fridge. Presumably our ice is made from tap water.

    Let it be said, I am officially freaked out. Yesterday I did bestir myself sufficiently to get a pedicure. Hate them but they need to be done at least every four weeks.

    Off to get dressed, stressed, and start my day! Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

  11. It’s 65 – which is warmer outside than inside – heading for 75 and sunny. At least for now. The widget says clouds later. I hope a lot later. Yesterday we generated another 13.8 KWHs. The m-t-d at 41.8 is slowly gaining.

    Sinusitis flare in the wee hours but I drifted back to sleep about 6. Hands and back are still a bit grumpy about yesterday’s cleaning, especially the vacuuming part, but mostly OK. More daffs and the spirea and Bradford pear in my backyard are both starting to bloom. The wild cherry in front is just barely starting to leaf out. I keep telling them we’ve got a hard freeze coming this weekend but they don’t believe me.

    Everybody seems to be trucking along. Off to do my boosting chores. {{{Meeses}}}

  12. Good morning, 37 and sunny outside my window today. I see the dentist this morning so I hope the implant tooth that fell off last week will be replaced. It’s super annoying to have what feels like a gaping hole in my mouth, and it’s really hard to chew.

    I really enjoyed being with Ryan yesterday. When he was a little boy he would talk endlessly about what interested him, and now he is doing the same with his massage therapy studies. Nice to see him engaged and excited about what he is learning and planning to do when he is licensed later this summer.

    Time for coffee and a quick shower. Best wishes to all.

  13. Tuesday Meese. 34 here in Kingston, going up to 38 and the weather map shows snow, which is confusing.

    My husband is back in the hospital for observation – had what seemed to be another seizure yesterday around 3PM.

    This news is disturbing:

  14. Puerto Rico

  15. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 54 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 70. Mostly cloudy skies this morning giving way to mostly sunny skies this afternoon. The clouds were hiding the full moon this morning but I saw her at 99.9% illumination last night.

    I will continue my light reading of the news as I focus on organizing my 2023 projects. Now that February and end of year accounting work is done, it is time to look ahead. A lot of coding projects got set aside last year because they generally take big chunks of time which I found it difficult to find because of my long personal to-do list. I still have a few personal projects but they are smaller and less urgent. I also want to “find” time to visit some of the places of natural beauty nearby now that I find I can tolerate driving trips again. Last April was a blur and we missed taking advantage of the perfect weather and being able to do a lot of the things that we wanted to do because of things we had to do.

    See all y’all later!

    • I am reading about yesterday’s Twitter outage – which I missed because I no longer peruse my Twitter timeline during the day like I used to – and the outlook is gloomy. The computer code that runs the product is precarious and one change can break a dozen other things. Normally, a change would be tested but Twitter is now being run by 550 engineers and there are simply not enough people to do in-depth testing and keep the platform running. So essentially Twitter is beta testing their changes on the millions of people who are using the program every day. The Twitter purchase by Melon will be studied for years to come in business schools for how to kill a brand and destroy a company. I wish someone would figure out how to make Mastodon more usable – when Twitter finally crashes and every embedded tweet disappears from billions of web pages, we are going to wish we had an alternative.

  16. Good morning. Yesterday was exhausting; I don’t know how I used to be 5 days in the office. I’d have called in sick if I had to go in today. Instead, I’m getting ready to wfh. Going to shave some time off lunch and walk later this morning. For now, eating breakfast & watching astronomy.

  17. Good Tuesday morning, Meese. ‘Tis another ugly day in Ashboring, 41 F. Today will be hideously windy, starting at noon. If I go outside with a bouquet of balloons I’ll be blown away.

    Dee, I’m sorry to hear your husband is back in the hospital. Hoping for the best outcome.

    As I suspected it might, the disability article I wrote has stirred up some Feelings on the part of the Powers That Be. I bet the old bastids are going to censor it. One old git had the audacity to suggest the article contained misleading or false information.

    EXCUSE ME? I was quoting directly from the people I interviewed, who live with the reality every day of their lives of trying to get from one place to another on their EMVs, in a place that wasn’t designed for them. These people literally cannot walk. They’re not using EMVs because they’re lazy. I can feel my blood pressure beginning to rise like a rebel army in the hills. Wonder whether I’ll be expelled? We’ll have to go live with Younger Son.

    Have almost finished reviewing the essays my writers have produced. The theme was an experience they’ve had that made them think, “I’m glad that’s not my life,” or, “I wish that were my life.” The essays are wide-ranging geographically, from Finland to Bangladesh to India to Jordan. Most interesting and educational!

    Tomorrow I have to see a plumbing doctor. I would love being old if it weren’t for two things: not enough sleep, and parts breaking down in the body.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and to Denise’s husband.

    • Thank you – he is home! They changed his meds and we will see how that works. They are also having him do in-home pt which insurance covers.

  18. It’s 49 heading for 62 and off-and-on sunny. I’m hoping for more “on” than the widget’s showing. Yesterday we generated right at 13 KWHs and the m-t-d at 54.7 isn’t on track for 300 much less 400 for March. With 3-1/2 weeks to go we can still do it, but it’s gonna take a lot of sunshine.

    Our temps have inched up again – no freeze last weekend, no freeze this weekend although “original” 10-day out forecasts had shown both. This is going to be a very buggy summer. sigh. That’s the thing I hate about summer. Bugs. As long as it cools down enough at night so I can sleep, I love summer heat. But I hate summer bugs.

    As of last night everybody was trucking along. Not better but thankfully not worse. Once I’ve read everybody’s comments here, I’ll be off to twitter & spoutible to check on folks there & do my boosting chores. {{{Meeses}}}

    • Someone told me that Spoutible was going to allow for voice authentication of accounts for people without cellphones. I will be checking my email so see when that might be in place. I would not mind having another Twitter replacement option queued up but right now I can’t Spout or reply.

      • Holding the Good Thought. Spoutible is similar enough to twitter as far as I can tell to make it a good replacement. It seems to be gaining the kinds of folks who make the news. I think. I saw one of the Castro brothers there the other day anyway. (Sorry I don’t remember whether it was Julian or Joaquin.)

  19. Good morning, 37 and mostly cloudy. So I was wrong re my missing tooth…..it’s not the implant tooth, it’s the adjoining one and now it needs to be pulled as does a lower molar on the other side of my mouth, yikes! I’ll never understand why care for an infection in the mouth isn’t covered by medical insurance. And then there’s the replacement costs. Oh well, I’m fortunate to have options even if I don’t like them.

    Best wishes to all.

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