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 (every Sunday morning). 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 now 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 and use the link.
…
Good morning, 61 and partly sunny in Bellingham. Looks like I forgot to check in yesterday. Thanks to a knee pain explosion and needing to be present for the grand girls it was a challenging day. I didn’t have the concentration to sew and they were end of summer cranky so went to the bakery for lemon cake and an attitude adjustment!
Our bookstore is always a good place for us to be as well. They had gift cards to spend so I found a chair and propped my leg on a shelf of nature books while they browsed. Then we stopped at our son’s house and they had fun helping him clean his front porch and redo the cushions on his porch furniture while I propped my legs up and watched. Then we came back here to the cool patio and read books and played a silly game until their dad came. And yes, I was legs up Grammie all day…..oh well, we laughed and and made the best of it.
Today should be an easier day for my creaky knees.
Sounds as if you made the best of an unhappy situation, princesspat! Hope your knees will be better today.
Morning all! Bright, sunny and hot here this morning – not sure we’ll get any rain today. I’ve GOT to get checks either to the bank or in the mail today – I’m probably picking the latter, I hate going out when it’s this hot.
Blue Tidal Wave sounds like the best political medicine to me – let’s hope we can deliver it! The Gainesville Hillary office is having a grand opening Thursday night, and if my leg pain allows, I’m going to go to show my support, and sign up for phone banking or maybe manning the office for a day a week if it’s needed. I desperately want Florida to go blue, not just for Hillary, but for all our down ballot races – we need to get the odious Rubio OUT! Not to mention our state legislature offices, in preparation for building a majority before we hit re-districting in 2020.
I also watched the Hillary and Joe rally yesterday – she was so great, she’s getting better at this as the campaign goes along. And Joe made the dangers of Trump to our global interests so plain and clear – he is great at it! I am also highly amused at the videos of Tim Kaine breaking out his harmonica at a stop in North Carolina – and singing along with the act as well! It was great!
Ok, everyone have a great day!
not only does this thread contain the best ever burn, but the comments about it are just as great (do not say to someone whose twitter bio indicates a PhD in astrophysics that the need to learn some actual science)
https://twitter.com/AstroKatie/status/765202013281857538
Good morning, meese! Wednesday …
It is 64 degrees in Madison on its way up to 84. Chance of thunderstorms all day. Last night a line of storms hit just in time to disturb my sleep. There is a nap in my future!
Candidates were campaigning in Wisconsin yesterday and, based on what I see on the front page of my paper, one was ginning up “law and order” and Protecting Police. I think they will find that the Milwaukee shooting doesn’t fit neatly into either of those right-wing tropes – the reaction was based on decades of unfair treatment but not all of it can be laid at the feet of the Democrats (and Socialists!) who ran the city over the years. One thing is for sure: too many guns, never mentioned by right-wingers, create a menace.
As a palate cleanser: Tim Kaine and Russ Feingold surprised Madison campaign workers with a visit yesterday. Kaine was in town for a private fundraiser.
Yesterday I read this feel good story from the Olympics:
The judges added both Hamblin and D’Agostino to the final despite times that would not have qualified them because the collision impacted their time. D’Agostino probably can’t run because of her injury but Hamblin will be there on Friday, competing. As our moose friend HappyInVT said on Twitter last night “Sometimes winners don’t get medals”.
See all y’all later!
Sportsmanship! It does exist.
Good Wednesday Meese!
I was up watching Olympic reruns pretty late last night.
Yay for Simone Biles and Aly Raisman
Love this clip of Laurie Hernandez
Prayers for the evacuees in Southern California and for flooded folks in Louisiana
Good morning, Moosekind! Missed check-in yesterday because I was attending a seminar at a hotel down the road. Very classy—coffee, water, a sumptuous array of breads and fruitl, and when we left they handed each of us an envelope containing $75 in cash. Learned to my dismay that the proposed retirement community won’t be available until five years from now, and it will be priced out of our reach.
Still feeling crushed after my doctor visit on Monday. Despite losing 16 pounds in four months and working out really hard (for an old bag) four days a week, my blood pressure and cholesterol are still too high. I have to go back on the nasty meds to bring them down. Feel as if I’ve given up bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, dessert, ice cream, and chocolate for no reason. (Even I can admit, however, that this is a very First World problem.) OK, that’s all I’m going to say about that.
Read a Michael Moore article published on AlterNet that made quite a plausible case that Trump doesn’t really want to be president (too much work) but is trying to upgrade his “brand.” Somehow, I simply can’t imagine his debating Hillary. I’ve tried, but even with an active imagination like mine, I simply can’t.
Also can’t believe that two weeks from now August will be over! We’ve got another hot, beautiful morning here. By mid-afternoon clouds will start piling up like featherbeds, and by tea time two of them will turn black. As a rule the clouds drift away by dinner time, but once or twice lately they’ve kindly let fall a little rain.
Off to cook a proper British breakfast for Dearly and Miss Pink Cheeks, then must fly around getting ready for the Coffee Morning visit of Beloved Niece and Nora’s cousin, Mr. B. Wishing a good day to all!
{{{Diana}}} sorry about the disappointing test results. It sucks.
Thanks, another. I’ve read many accounts of people losing weight and exercising and then throwing away their pills. Evidently not entirely true—at least, not for everyone.
Have you tried the Forks Over Knives plan? I know vegan might not work for you. But that is one where I read about people throwing away their meds all the time. And you can have chocolate.
No, I’ve never heard of it but I’ll Google it!
here’s a story from their site:
http://www.forksoverknives.com/forks-over-knives-changed-my-health-and-how-i-treat-my-patients/
It’s not true for me either Diana, but fortunately my BP meds don’t bother me and I take breaks with the cholesterol med so the side effects are minimal. It’s annoying to have to take daily meds, but given the importance of remembering my daily coumadin I use a weekly pill sorter and try keep it all as easy as possible.
Congrats re your weight loss!
Thanks, princesspat! Really—you take breaks from the statin? I might do that too. I can’t bear the idea of never eating grapefruit again. I love the stuff!
I don’t believe that Trump will debate Hillary. He is already setting up a lot of ready excuses and unless he has a total disconnect from reality, he must realize that she will be a different type of opponent than his 16 primary challengers.
One thing he totally lacks is the ability to take attacks in a cool detached manner. Remember “Please proceed, Governor Romney”? The reason you cannot imagine him debating is because no one can predict what he would do when Hillary questions his fitness. I hope that the TV networks have the guy with the bleep button ready.
Sigh. I wish I believed that – I think he will do it armed with Breitbart smears and his humongous ego.
It looks like I am not the only one who thinks he is going to let loose with an expletive to describe and demean Hillary. I am not sure it will be the c-word, though, I think the b-word is a strong possibility:
I think that there will be a mad rush for the exits when he does. “Crooked Hillary” is a playground taunt, the others are adult and will be disqualifying.
Big HUG for you this morning! Keep workin’ at it!
Thanks, Sister Dee!
Still raining. Minor flooding — not like our neighbors to the east. Woke up before my alarm, sigh. Gym yesterday was hard but fun. I love deadlifts. But there’s this horrible exercise that sounds/looks easy but isn’t: sit or stand against the wall, everything — butt, back, shoulders, flat against it & they have to stay that way. Put your hand up, like an “L” & slide it up as high as you can, to straight if you can, and repeat 10x. It is torture for me with my tight shoulders.
Short workday today, because dermatologist this afternoon. And got Democratic club meeting tonight. Must go & seek more AIDS Walk donations.
Where’s your donation page? I got paid today. Can help out a little.
here:
http://aidsa.convio.net/site/TR/AIDS_Walk/Walk2016?px=1002421&pg=personal&fr_id=1190
thanks!
Happy Woden’s Day – back to the overcast mornings, but still running in the upper 70s-low 80s for highs and mid-to-low 60s for lows. It’s as if this entire year just took the seasons and stacked them sideways or something. We went from a long, cool, wet Spring (I cleaned out my wood stove twice after the “last” fire in May and used the furnace right up to the end of May) into BAM! scary hot, humid, mostly dry Summer the first week of June and stayed that way through the 1st week of August. Then BAM! the 2nd week of August we dropped back into the temp range that should have been our mid-May to early-June morph into Summer or is possibly the early arrival of the mid-to-end of September morph into Fall. Goddess only knows what Fall and Winter are going to be like.
Seriously tired of the HDS from Left, Right, and Center – especially Left since they’re the ones who should be rejoicing in our most progressive candidate to ever win the nomination of a major Party. And I’m so glad there are places like the entire Moose Pond and the Hillary Appreciation diaries at GOS where I can get facts, civil discussions of real good and bad regarding the election, and do it among people who like Hillary. Community is good. :)
Anyway, I’m still fighting to get some stuff done that should have been done last week but is stuck in the approval chain. Gotta get to it. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
I too am happy to have the pond and the Hillary spaces at orange. I’ve had to stop listening to my local public radio station talk – which is still laced with resentful Bernie peeps.
I gave up on mine years ago. Being in AR, it was taken over by Rs as soon as they had to start taking corporate “sponsors”. sigh.
Good morning, 59 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. Despite my best efforts the yam is getting to me…reading about his campaign changes this morning is profoundly depressing. Even meaner and nastier people are now in charge of his message, such as it is. Apparently my filter needs adjustment!
Time for the pool soon, and then I’ll finish my part of the estate sale paper work. It will be good to have this part completed, but I remain surprised at the tangle of emotions I feel. Intellectually I thought I was prepared but emotions are messy and seem to have a life of their own.
I was executor of my mother’s estate, and I know exactly what you mean – you think you’ve got it all under control, and then, boom, all of a sudden you’re in tears over a legal document. Hang in there, and let those emotions out, will help you get through it all I think. [[hugs]]
It was shocking yet not shocking that the yam would pick a Breitbart “News” executive for his campaign. Every time I hear of Breitbart included as a serious news organization (lately sellout NPR has had them on speed dial), I want to scream. The end of journalism, the end of a free and honest press – really, that is what will finally destroy our democracy. If you did not watch this John Oliver clip, you should:
Morning all. Diana, so sorry to hear about your test results – I will say blood pressure is a tough one – my mother developed it in her 50’s, when she was in a stressful job with a terrible boss, and although she was not overweight ever, did a LOT of exercise, ate mostly vegetables, etc, she was never able to go off of her medication. Sometimes it just works out that way – she hated taking pills everyday, but they did allow her to function, even thru the stress of taking care of my dad in his final year of dementia. Maybe some stress reduction in your life might help? or yoga?
Hilarious that Michael Moore is now saying Trump is throwing the election – actually I’ve been saying that for a while too. Just 3 weeks ago, Moore wrote a piece about how Trump was going to win in November, because Hillary’s such a terrible candidate. Since Hillary is dominating now, it can’t possibly be because she’s a great candidate and campaigner, must be because Trump is taking a dive. Faugh.
I don’t watch Trump on TV, but reading all the comments on Twitter about his speech, it sounds typically vile – and there were chants in the audience of “America First!”, which of course hearkens back to the 1930’s rise of American proto-fascist movements led by Lindbergh and others. I agree with the President that Dems need to keep running scared, because this is about more than putting Hillary in the White House – crushing Trump and the Republican Party at all electoral levels is a moral imperative if we are to save the soul of this country. I’m not exaggerating, I really believe that – there was a poll result yesterday that said 65% of white voters would vote for the kind of white supremacy, anti-immigrant policies Trump is pushing – this country cannot go majority-minority soon enough for me.
Ok, got to write some checks and get them in the mail – I’ve been binge watching a series on Netflix, Stranger Things, which is creepy but very well done, but I need to only watch a couple of episodes at a time or I’ll start dreaming about it, which would NOT be a good thing! lol. Everyone have a great day!
The “Hillary is lucking into a bad opponent” stories are annoying but I really don’t care. She is running a good campaign and picking up a lot of friends along the way. People who were lukewarm and are now “forced” to vote for her to save the world from Trump are finding that a lot of her positions, and her calm approach to our country’s challenges, is comforting – and they are becoming fans.
I saw that bit on the 65% of white voters and it struck me that those folks would be a good start for a 3rd party which would be led by Trump. That would guarantee that the Republican Party would never have enough votes to win a national election again and we can concentrate on statewide and and congressional district races. We desperately need control of Congress to fix the damage the teaparty Congresses have done and get our agenda passed.
Hi, Geordie, that’s interesting about your mother.
H’mm, perhaps I have more stress in my life than I realize. I’ll have to think of something to do about it.
The dermatologist froze & scraped several things off my face & head. Lucky I don’t need the fluoroplex again, at least not yet. He said if the one on my temple comes back in a couple of months, I should use the stuff I have left over from before. It is nasty. You’re supposed to use gloves — and still wash your hands.
Good morning, meese! Thursday …
It is 66 degrees in Madison on its way up to 84. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
It looks like the Trump campaign has finally settled on a strategy: embrace what is called the “alt-right”, the white nationalist movement which includes the KKK and the New Confederacy, and win 30% of the vote. What is amazing to me is that the Republican Party is willing to allow this with their brand. You can’t have Grand Marshall Donald Trump running for president with an R after his name and pretend that the R after the names of those running for Congress and governor and state legislator is referring to something else entirely. Expect the campaign to get nastier – the lies are going to be thick. I suspect that those who believe that Hillary Clinton is a “lying killer” were not going to be part of our coalition anyway and any “persuadables” will still have to deal with the notion of Donald Trump controlling our military and managing our foreign policy.
Hillary has the right response:
If you missed the video of Trump’s attorney denying that Trump is down in the polls, here is the story with the video and transcript. Twitter had quite a bit of fun with it. Oh, and which polls? Yes, all of them:
See all y’all later!
Happy Thor’s Day, Meese! It’s certainly a good one here—we had actual thunderbolts, lightning, and heavy rain last night. The weeds loved it. It’s 73 F. right now, slightly less humid, and going up to 88 F. today.
Rushing around to get the house ready for the party last weekend and the accompanying shopping expeditions left me so tired I haven’t been to the gym in a week! Having Miss PC here cuts into my time too. Also have been too tired to read the blogs, which are usually a major attraction (or distraction) for me.
Haven’t had time to look at the news yet. I expect when I do, it’ll be bad.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and Beyond, with thoughts for the people in Louisiana and California. Are both becoming unlivable, even now in 2016?
Good question, Diana! Rude Pundit was not rude but very serious in a post yesterday about Louisiana.
Sadly, there are no red planets and blue planets – just one planet. And it is up to us, the Democrats, to save it for everyone because, really, the Republicans don’t give a damn about it. We can’t let the Republican Congress rule for another 2 years. I was wondering if maybe the Trump candidacy is a gift from the goddess, one last try to cover the Republican Party in so much slime, so much stench, that people turn away from it for a generation and we can save our planet from their shortsighted greed.
Let’s hope so, Jan!
Sore face & head from the freezing/scraping. It’s not that bad, just a little tender. Eating breakfast, drinking tea. There were 2 car bombs in Turkey…. Richard Engel hasn’t posted about them yet. The Trump campaign is so weird I can’t begin to keep up. Love the endorsement of Hillary by Baryshnikov, I’ve had a crush since I was probably around 9 — definitely pre-defection, because I already knew who he was.
Candidate for tweet of the day:
https://twitter.com/milesjreed/status/766069609476784128
Paul McCartney Tweeted a Hillary endorsement also.
Sorry about the tenderness, anotherdemocrat! Hope you’ll feel better soon.
Hiya Thursday Meese
Just came up for air writing for Sunday – got up at 2AM to finish and had technical issues but am now done. Am pooped – have not had anything to eat yet – so am off to heat up some oatmeal.
Morning all! Hot, hot, hot here, but what else is new.
I am hoping this Breitbart business will finally push the more mainstream media into calling all this “alt-right” stuff what it is – homegrown fascism. I think the theory that Trump is no longer really running for President, but instead laying the base for a right wing white nationalist media empire to essentially one-up Fox News and undermine the Clinton administration after the election is pretty close to correct. It’s really scary – and as I read on Twitter just now, all this stuff is going to turn out the racist extreme right vote like never before, so the rest of us had better show up in record numbers as well!
I’m going to try to go to the grand opening of Hillary’s office here in Gainesville tonight at 6PM – I’ll take a bunch of advil and hope my legs can take it, and that there’s a chair I can sit in! They’ve called me 3 times about getting involved – I’m pretty impressed with their organization, and I am determined to do something more to help than just give money this time! Trump Shall Not take Florida!
Ok, everyone have a great day – Diana, Denise, you guys get some rest!!! anotherdem, glad the face scrapings didn’t reveal anything terrible!
Not real fires so not related to Global Warming, but I’ve been putting out brushfires since I walked in the door so I’m late checking in. Overnight low 68 but overcast(ish) and only going up to 80 today. Rain predicted for around lunchtime – got just under 16 KWHs yesterday, sitting at 263 for the month.
We’re going to get the Hillary side of the entire 10 years of the AR Project plus Benghazi and emails compressed into 3 months of putrid from the Rs. Hillary shouldn’t have to face this, but she can. She won’t stay throwed and she’ll keep progressing even when she’s having to wade waist-deep in raw sewage. And she will win. Goddess please, she brings enough of the Congress with her to get done what needs to be done before the midterms – stuff that is so obvious, like what FDR did in his first term, the media can’t hide it and our people come out in droves in 2018 and again in 2020.
Gotta get back to putting out brush fires. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{Hugs}}}
Good morning, 62 and sunny in Bellingham. Looks like I’ve got a quiet day ahead. We expected Ava but the end of summer schedule changes are happening and she’s not here. So I’ve time for second cup of coffee, and Ron is headed to the gym.
Good morning, meese! Friday …
It is 70 degrees in Madison, on its way up to 86. By mid-afternoon, the heat index will be over 100 and there will be a threat of thunderstorms all day. The unstable air is ahead of a front that will bring a cool down for the next week, with overnight lows in the 50s and highs in the mid 70s.
Another pivot from Trump! So two days after saying “I yam who I yam” he says he regrets saying some things in the heat of debate. Nothing specific, just things, allowing the listener to pick and choose, I suppose. Included in this pivot is outreach to “African Americans” all of whom he thinks live in the inner cities. He will take care of them, bigly. Hillary, you see, doesn’t really care about the black people – she just wants their votes! It appears that he is trying to give nervous Republicans, probably about 20% of his 40% national support, something to point to when people look at them in disgust and ask how they can vote for a racist. We can call this the Dog Whistle Pivot, where he speaks in Ryan-code about “poverty” and how the Democrats create a cycle of dependence. It might get him a couple of points in the polls; it was certainly met with delight by the press corps who can now write their “comeback” stories and won’t be scratching around to find something to write about for the next few days. “Loser still losing” is not very clickable.
Big news from the Justice Department – they will end use of private prisons! The stocks of the private prison companies dropped 40% in about 2 hours when the change was announced. The expose by Mother Jones, real journalists doing real investigative journalism, was a big factor in this decision. Read Mother Jones’ account of what we will lose if independent journalism cannot sustain itself and we are left with click-bait. I am going to click on Subscribe and do my part to keep publications like that running.
I read yesterday morning about the three young black women who swept the podium in the 100 meter hurdle. I heard later in the day that apparently, in solidarity with vilified Gabby Douglas, they did not do “hand over heart” in the medal ceremony. The treatment of Gabby was horrible especially in light of the Olympic swimmers being found to have committed a crime and followed the time-honored tradition of blaming it on people of color. What she did was “treason” what the white male athletes did was just “rowdiness”. White male privilege, anyone?
See all y’all later!
Good morning, Moosekind! It’s a nice morning here, thin wisps of white cloud across a pale blue sky and weak sunlight. Currently 68 F.—imagine that—going up to 89 F. today. Jan, your cold front is going to wend its merry way to our area next week, giving us daytime temps in the 80s, thank Goddess! And I noticed when I got up at 6 that it was quite dark. Sometimes I hear cricket song when I go outside, which means that autumn is surely on the way.
Just read an article on Google News by Nate Silver about how the election might play out. Still feeling confused and wondering why I wasted my time. The election might go one way. Or it might go another way.
Yesterday was the first day I felt my normal energy return after rushing around all last week to get ready for the disastrous birthday party last Sunday. Still haven’t been to the gym because of Miss PC and catching up on neglected errands. Hope to start going back to the gym soon.
Miss PC, who had a tiring day yesterday, is still asleep and Dearly, who apparently was awake for quite a while last night, went back to bed so I’m going downstairs to nuke my Beastly Breakfast of steel-cut oats. They’re supposed to be better for you.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond and Beyond!
THIS!! “The election might go one way. Or it might go another way.”
The narrative has been pretty much set and now we just follow the bouncing polls and try not to get anxious. In about 6 weeks, people will start early voting. I am not sure that Trump can unring the bell – people have looked into his soul and said “uhn-uh”.