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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It’s 60 heading for 89 and sunny. Yesterday we generated 9.4 KWHs and the m-t-d at 259.8 is not quite on track. As hot and dry as the summer was, apparently it wasn’t hot and dry enough for the wild cherry tree in the front yard to have dropped its leaves yet. But with the Autumnal angle of the sun, that’s what’s shading the PV panels in the afternoon on what otherwise would be good generation days.
The issues with my hands are starting to be enough to impede my mouse control abilities. Sigh. Winter is a’ comin’ in and all that. But it’s still warm enough to have bugs. double sigh. Off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Bfitz, is there nothing you can do to help your poor hands?
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 72 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 99. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Gosh, serial liar and lifelong con man Donald J. Trump inflated the value of his properties to defraud banks and insurance companies (and eventually voters)? Who woulda believed it??!!? He won’t pay a penny to anyone as a result of the lawsuit but it is possible that his New York businesses will be shut down, which would at least be at something.
I was glad to see that the lazy media is at mentioning that tRump lied to the UAW workers to get their vote in 2016. I hope the workers don’t fall for his con again – or the con of the Republican Party presidential hopefuls who said the quiet part out loud last week, that striking workers should be “fired.”
I have another busy day. One of my appointments yesterday begat a return appointment today. I am trying a different optical store for glasses after having been disappointed by the last one. The new glasses are not a very good fit either on my face or the prescription. So I am going to get a second opinion on the prescription and then decide what to do after that.
See all y’all later!
Good luck, Jan!
The second opinion revealed an error in the prescription I got a few weeks ago. The too-busy-to-take-time-to-get-it-right doctor who was testing my eyes as part the followup to another procedure got my astigmatism adjustment wrong. I will have the glasses redone (no charge due to a 30 day satisfaction guarantee) and gain some clarity! ;)
That’s good that they’re going to make it right! Have you considered Lasik, Jan? It got rid of my astigmatism and my extreme myopia overnight!
I finally got my cataracts removed this summer and now have IOLs (far vision only) so I am done with eyeball-related surgeries. I was not a good candidate for the toric lens so I will always need correction for astigmatism, at least in the right eye, and close vision in both. I have a nice pair of computer glasses that give me intermediate vision (the tri part of my old tri-focals) and bi-focal a reader that is perfect for when I work at my desk. Medicare will pay for my driving/TV watching glasses (far vision) which will also include readers. I can see well enough to drive without correction but not as clearly as I would like and I was getting some eye strain from squinting at the TV. The prescription I had gotten that was incorrect was from the optometrist doing the post-op followup and he clearly had no interest in spending more than the minimum time on a service that was included with the surgery. If asked, I will not give him a good rating. The doctor yesterday ran through a lot of vision tests that I have not had for many years and some I had never seen! The exam took extra time but I am hoping that this is the last prescription I will need for a very long while.
Thursday Meese. 45 here in Kingston, going up to 69.
Am keeping a close eye on storm that may hit Puerto Rico and USVI:
Frustrating to see people in Puerto Rico embracing MAGATism – they are voting against a better future.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 72 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 99. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast. Yesterday, when I was running errands in the middle of the afternoon, it was 104 on my car’s thermometer. I can usually avoid mid-afternoon appointments (that is when it is the hottest) but yesterday I could not. This morning I was greeted by pleasant 70s on my patio and the moon glow on the golf course. The moon is shining into my office window, high in the western sky at 98.6% illumination. She will be full at 3am on the 29th so she will be quite fullish rising over the Santa Catalina mountains tonight at about 6:40pm (moonrise is 6:04pm but she needs to clear the mountaintops.) The sun is rising due east and setting due west as we are at the equinox and the moons are literally(!) reflecting that fact with moons visible from my patio and office.
Joe Biden is in Arizona today and will dedicate money to a library to honor John McCain. I guess I see the political value of that but I am not pleased about honoring anyone Republican from the tRump era who did not turn away from trumpism including rejecting endorsing him or voting for him. It is a permanent blemish on their souls, completely unforgivable. I read an article (“Where’s the Trump Panic?”) yesterday by #NeverTrumper Tim Miller at the Bulwark who made this observation:
That is what is missing – adults in the Republican Party putting country over party and denouncing Trump and trumpism. And anyone who refused to or refuses to do that and embraces tax cuts and deregulation over the Constitution should not be honored, ever.
I still have a few projects to finish up before September 30th and times a wasting.
See all y’all later!
For all I respect Liz Cheney for her grit and honesty in recognizing the danger posed by, ah, Thing, the fact remains: she is a rich, uncaring Rethuglican who is against everything Democrats are for.
I will not lionize Liz Cheney as some have. She is from the Bush-Cheney faction of the party which got us into a war that destabilized the entire Middle East and led to millions of deaths and crashed the economy with tax cuts and financial deregulation – a crash that some people have still not recovered from. She was quiet while tRump ignored the pandemic and packed the Supreme Court with terrible people who hate women and despise people in need, when he embraced white supremacy and anti-semitism. I will give her credit for speaking out against Trump personally but there is no doubt that she longs for the kind of Republicanism her daddy and George W. Bush and Paul Freaking Ryan personified and would embrace it willingly if it simply had a different face on it.
Good morning. Did my walk. Good thing about downtown is it is well-lit and the pavement is all even. Anyway, in the office, eating breakfast. Goal for the day: remain upright until 4:45.
Posted
Good Thursday morning, Meese. It’s 54 chilly degrees F. this morning, with partly cloudy skies. Later clouds will move in completely, obscuring the moon at night, as usual, so once again I won’t see Her tomorrow night. Lucky you, BlogGoddess, to be able to see Her, and it’s cheering to know that you appreciate the sight!
Got to rush off to Costco Hearing Aid Center this morning to get my hearing aids cleaned. I’m hopeless at doing it myself. This afternoon there is the “Ashby’s Got Talent” show at 3.
Yesterday I did two ABYSMALLY stupid things so I was depressed when I went to sleep. Too embarrassed to tell y’all what they were. In the case of No. 1, I was desperate—but that’s still no excuse.
Saw on dk that the early voting in Virginia is overwhelmingly female and Democratic. That’s a little bit of good news. Dearly mentioned going to vote early but it doesn’t even begin until October 23 in our area, and even then it’s at a really obscure place. I’ll just get up super-early on Election Day and vote, then I can still hand out sample Dem. ballots if our precinct captain wants me to.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
60 heading for 90 and sunny. Only generated 9.4 yesterday and the m-t-d at 269.2 is not quite on track. If we don’t get a couple of 10+ days in these last 3 of September, we’re not going to reach 300 which will make this year last in 4K system production. sigh. Not that last year’s 300 was good. It wasn’t, but at least it was 300.
Baked cookies this morning and have the laundry on. I hope I get it hung out before the handyman shows up to work on the water-damaged exterior on the sunporch. Yard guys showed up yesterday. This is going to be an expensive week. Not an undoable week. Just expensive.
Far as I know everybody’s doing OK. Not good, but OK. Anyway, best get a start on my boosting day while the laundry’s still going and before I need to close up the house. Holding Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 56 and raining in our garden today. In home PT started this morning and the therapist is very good, lots of helpful advice for me and encouragement for Ron. This is a much harder recovery than he anticipated so he’s a bit discouraged. So grateful our daughter is still here to help. She returns home on Saturday but our son is recovering well from his surgery so he will be here as needed. I’m doing ok, but do get very tired as the day goes on. Best wishes to wll.
{{{princesspat}}} Healing Energy to you, RonK, and your family. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Friday Meese. 55 and raining here in Kingston NY going up to 57.
Puerto Rico
“My great “American dream” is to exile Jenniffer González to Florida.”
Good morning. Did my whole 1.2 mi walk, even did 3 running segments per lap. New U2 music this morning, so I am happy. Ridiculously bad sleep, but that’s ok. I’ve listened to the happy, bouncy new song about a dozen times, it’s now in my head and giving me energy.
Good Friday morning, Moosekind! It was drizzling when I went out before 6 a.m. to look for the Moon, which I understood would be visible at 5:58 a.m. No luck, of course. Perhaps tonight I’ll see it.
Got to make this quick, as I need to get ready to be interviewed this morning in the AV room in the Clubhouse next door.
Right now it’s 60 F. in Ashburn and cloudy. Next week it’ll be sunny and in the low 80s, or so they say.
We went to the Talent Show yesterday afternoon. There were a couple of boring bits, but mostly it was fantastic. I’m glad I dragged Dearly out to watch it. He needs to get out more, and he did laugh at the jokes. Next Friday we’re having lunch with a friend and next Saturday evening we’re having lunch with two of the single people here.
Not much else to say except that tomorrow I want a day of writing and laundry. Like the Wolf in Anne Louise Avery’s beautiful stories, my nerves get all jingle-jangle if I’m around too many people and too much noise for more than a short time. Anyway, it’s Michaelmas, so it’s time to think about purple flowers and apple cake and things like that.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 70 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 99. Sunny skies are in the forecast. I saw the fullish moon rising yesterday evening and saw her disappear over the rooftops to the west a short while ago at 100% illumination.
Wow, I just got an email alert that Senator Dianne Feinstein has passed away. It will be interesting to see if Newsom appoints one of the people contending for the seat or if he installs a placeholder. He promised a Black woman would fill the seat if he had a choice but does that upset the planned primary? In any event, thank you, Senator Feinstein, for your groundbreaking Senate career and your service. And for returning to Washington, clearly ill, to help us get the federal court system filled with decent people to counter the MAGAts.
I have a project that needs to get out the door now and will put a few stories into Pocket to read later.
See all y’all later
It’s 67 heading for 90 and sunny again today. We just barely generated 9 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d at 278.4 is not on track for 300 and losing ground. I’d trim back the trees that are now shading the system if tree work didn’t cost so much. But I don’t have a spare $1K (minimum) to get it done.
Aji’s mostly off xitter and mostly on bluesky. Bluesky doesn’t have DMs. Spoutible does but there are some problems. CB’s working on them so hopefully they’ll be more useable soon. I’m having problems trying to do my boosting stuff on multiple platforms. Oh well. Talk about a 1st world problem! Although what I’m boosting for – food, rent, healthcare – isn’t. More a 3rd world problem in a 1st world country that has the wealth but not the inclination to fix it.
I’ve sort of seen the moon – as in I wasn’t wearing my glasses because I was in bed – this morning at the full and the last few of not quite full. I’ve been sleeping with the windows open and as she gets far enough west for her light to come in my window she wakes me up. LOL. So I’ve thanked her and paid due homage. Then rolled over with my back to the light and gone back to sleep.
R.I.P. for DiFi. She did a lot of good while she was able. And hung on long after her health said she should and definitely not in top form to get as many good judges as possible put in place. Rest well. The work isn’t done but your part of it is.
Off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Saturday Meese. 54 here in Kingston, NY going up to 68 with more rain. So thankful the roof was fixed a day before this – we didn’t get flooding in our part of town thankfully – and flooding up here wasn’t as bad as what hit NYC.
Puerto Rico
The rain in NYC was ridiculous! Thank the goddess for the timely roof patch.
Glad you got your roof fixed before the deluge! Stay safe. {{{Dee}}}
Good morning. Watching the news — why people vote for people who have no interest in governing is beyond me. Nice to see all the tributes to Sen. Feinstein. Oh, hey — I’m hosting the music diary at the orange place tonight. 6pm central. (sneak preview — Sept. 13 was Positive Thinking Day)
To the right-wing, shutting down government is a feature not a bug. One guy claimed that was what he ran on and what his constituents want. The problem is that help from the government is so ubiquitous, low information voters do not realize that they are beneficiaries. And even when it tugs at their brains that probably they need the federal government, they don’t consider it more important than keeping their guns, protecting their christian privilege and hating people not like them. The Biden 18, Republicans elected in Biden+ districts who got elected to the House on lies, are going to be the collateral damage. But really, they hitched their wagons to the Republican Party’s deranged policies and they will tumble into the canyon when their “leadership” takes them over the cliff – no one should feel any sympathy.
Good Saturday moaning, Meese! Today we’re moaning about how last night was the LAST Super Moon until next year, and it was also the Harvest Moon. I hate when it’s cloudy without reward in the form of rain. It’s still cloudy this morning but They say it will clear up later. Right now in Ashburn it’s 65 F.
The interview on in-house TV went well yesterday. Rob did most of the talking, as I knew he would. (Men have huge egos.) However, the host made sure to include me in her questions. She’s a lovely woman. At the end of the program she disclosed that she has breast cancer and will undergo surgery next week. I must see about getting some flowers and a card for her.
This morning I am much exercised by the fact that some little yob, aged 16, felled the 300-year-old tree at Sycamore Gap. May the Goddess Coventina rise up and afflict that little bastard as he deserves.
Can’t BELIEVE how much rain New York received! OMG! (Please send some of it down here.) Do you remember the predictions of Edgar Cayce, the sleeping prophet? He said one day New York City would be completely under water. That makes me think of the drowned cathedral city of Lys of myth. It’s said you can still hear the cathedral bells ringing beneath the waves. Scary thought.
Need to do errands this cloudy morn. No rehearsal until Monday night, thank Goddess. This coming week is Banned Books Week, so there will be many interesting lectures to attend.
That’s all from me, I must scamper and get dressed. Yikes, it’s nearly 10! Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
I saw the story about the tree in Sycamore Gap. It showed the living tree in silhouette against the night sky and then the felled tree and stump. I have no idea what could cause someone to do that. Really, so much of what we find beautiful and want to admire is unprotected by nothing more than “I do not want to be a terrible person and destroy this.” I think we are losing that as a people.
I saw the moon rising over the mountains last night but not this morning as I decided to sleep in longer than usual. I am sorry you don’t see them! I wish my phone camera was better at taking moon photos or I would share them, however they just look like white smudges.
Writing at 2 p.m.—it has become quite lovely outside, as They said. Fresh blue sky and puffy white clouds, completely clear by evening. Perhaps I’ll be able to see Her if I stroll out at 9 or something.
It’s 62 heading for 91 and sunny at the moment. We had a little afternoon cloud cover yesterday and only got 8.76 KWHs. The m-t-d is 287 and unless a minor miracle occurs we will not reach 300. sigh.
Fineena’s body finally objected enough to her going as short on protein as she has been (a bagel for breakfast, 2 tomato sandwiches for lunch, and a serving of squash casserole for dinner comes to maybe 15g protein – maybe) so when she “treated herself” to broiled salmon from the fish bar at her grocery store (definitely “treated” – hot food so couldn’t get it with her SNAP), between lunch and dinner she ate a full pound of it. She does plan to make multiple meals with the rest. Just not as many meals as she’d originally thought. heh.
There was a little more work than expected to fix the water damage to the exterior wall of the sunporch but not enough to raise the cost. So that is good. I asked the guy for an estimate on weather stripping and recaulking to winterize the house since it hasn’t been done in at least 10 years. He’s going to get back to me on that.
I went to the Market this morning and ran across a retired instructor from the department. She and I agreed that the department is tanking and are both really glad we aren’t there any longer. And both wish our separate sources for info about the department were old enough to retire, too. sigh. Anyway, off to start my boosting day. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 70 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 95. Sunny skies are in the forecast along with very high winds and a fire warning. Yesterday there was a brush fire in one of the dry washes nearby and it did not take long for a small plume of smoke to become widespread smoke. The fire was within an area served by city water so it was not much of a danger but it was a reminder of how dry spaces can become burning spaces very quickly.
The press corps asking the White House why Biden is not talking to Kevin McCarthy about the shutdown shows where the low-information American voter gets their information from. The problem is not that the White House and the House Republicans can’t agree on a continuing resolution, the House Republicans can’t agree among themselves what they want! When you “govern” with a thin majority and 5 of your members literally want no government, you cannot possibly find a way to keep the government open. I fear this shutdown will be harsher and longer than most because the non-insane House Republicans have no path forward without Democratic Party help which will spell the end of their careers.
I let myself lay in bed for longer than usual as I have a fairly short list of projects I need to get through today (tomorrow will be the push). I am going to sip coffee for a while longer and read the news.
See all y’all later!
Good afternoon, 60 and light clouds in Bellingham today. Erica is on her way home so it’s just the two of us here now but we need a quiet day so that’s ok. Hans (oldest son) and Elsa have been here to go over everything so he can help me keep the care and med regime organized and he will now help with the driving and shopping. Ron didn’t expect his recovery would be this hard but he is adjusting and coping so given time he will be mobile and healthy again. The OT said 12 weeks before strength and more normal movement will return so we will settle into doing what we have to do for the duration. Best wishes to all.