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?
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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.
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Good Moon Day morning, Moosekind! It’s a nice, partly cloudy morning here in NoVa, with a mackerel layer of cirrus clouds stretching across the pale blue-white sky. Current temp. is 31 F., going up to 55 F. later. Planning to do chicken with onions, sherry, and mushrooms in the crockpot for tonight’s dinner.
Today I have to get a new phone as the contract on the current one is finished. (Still foggy on how this Verizon stuff works.) My new driver’s license arrived in the mail and is so hideous that I’m going to carry the current one until it expires next Sunday. The picture on it makes me look like a ghost, even though I was still alive the last time I checked.
Nothing intelligent to say this morning except that living under Thing is like waiting for a boil to be lanced—dear Goddess, lance it already! I just want this to be over! So does everyone else—did you see the Internet news item recently that shrinks and psychologists are awash in appointments with stressed-out people? Doesn’t surprise me.
Wishing as good a day as possible to all at the Pond and Beyond! (And I hope Kim Wrong Un behaves today.)
Did you see the links to the photo albums I shared?
Yes, thanks, basket! If you look at “older comments,” you’ll find my comment on how much I enjoyed looking at them!
I saw it! :)
60s already heading for low 70s – some overcast but not as bad as yesterday – expect rain late tonight, maybe. Heading out to a meeting. Need to get over to DK before I do. Back when i can. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
No, I don’t need to get over to DK – bless you, basket for putting all the community needs and resistance stuff in the DK Village diary for me. lots of {{{HUGS}}} – now I really do need to get to my meeting. back soon., I hope.
How is your back, bfitz? Hope your visit to the chiro resulted in relief for you.
{{{Diana}}} – it’s much better. Only the pulled muscle is still bothering me and as long as I’m careful how I move (and don’t sit for too long at a time) that’s about the level of a bruise being pressed on. I’ve another chiro visit Wednesday – hopefully just to wrap things up.
{{{{bfitz}}}} – hope your meetings go well
Late starting but pretty well. We’re working on updating the office staff roles here – they’ve changed with the changing HR and Procurement requirements over the last few years. When I hand in my official letter, they’ll have to advertise for my position but we’re doing our best to make sure the other staffer in this office is the most qualified to get it. (It is only fair that she get it, she’s been the junior staffer in this office for 11 years, but fairness is not one of the hiring criteria any longer in the state of AR.) And if she’s promoted into my position, then they’ll have to advertise for hers. We’re trying to time this so the office will be at full strength (sort of funny to call 2 staffers “full strength”) when the university opens January 2, 2018.
The Dutch are about to deal with the Make Our Country White Again new world order:
Shocking! The zombie “welfare queen in a Cadillac” lie survives a trip over the ocean:
Wilders will not be able to gain complete power on his own and the other coalitions, so far, are signaling their resistance to him. I suspect that this all gets worse before it gets better.
Good morning, 36 and partly sunny in Bellingham. I hope I can focus my foggy brain well enough to understand the changes Comcast will be making to our system today. We need a new modem and installing it ourselves was to complicated so while Comcast is here some changes will be made so all the tv’s in the house receive the same signal. And the new remotes can be “voice activated”……a dangerous prospect for those of us yelling at the tv!
Tech challenges will continue tomorrow when Justin, our computer guy, comes to set up RonK’s new computer. His old laptop won’t turn on but I hope Justin can extract the data anyway and transfer it to the new machine. Justin has closed his walk in site and now works remotely or in the home. I think it’s a better business plan for him but it was nice when I could just take the computers to him.
Amazing….the Comcast tech just called and wants to come early so I’d best get out of my robe!
Tuesday Morning – 35 and raining here in the Catskills.
Digging through my closet to see if I have anything red I can wear tomorrow.
Loved this:
Have not yet gotten over teh stoopid from Ben Carson
{{{Denise}}} – when i saw what Ben Carson said yesterday my first thought was – idjit should be glad DOV can’t get in his face. When did he have a frontal lobotomy anyway?
Good morning, meese! Tuesday …
It is 50 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 46. Sunny skies are in the forecast. Last night a front moved through and brought a thunderstorm during the peak sleep hours. Right now winds of 20mph are battering the house and there is a wind advisory all day.
Monday news! Yikes. The Muslim Ban 2.0 was announced and while it fixed a few of the clearly unconstitutional things it was still rolled out with the statement of Rex Tillerson that it was designed to stop “Islamic extremists”. So the intent is to discriminate by religion and it will be no more legal than the last ban. Ben Carson thinks that Africans tossed into the hold of a ship are immigrants coming to America for a better life! And the Republicans finally rolled out their ACA repeal legislation and was widely dissed by both parties. It includes plans to drain the Medicare trust fund shortening its life by about 6 years – any old people out there who think they might need health care after 2024? If so, get on the phone to your congresscritters. The funniest part of the new Freedom From Healthcare bill is that it include 7 pages, 10% of the text, covering kicking people off Medicaid if they win the lottery. You can’t make this stuff up – addressing the zombie meme of a welfare queen gaming the system is more important than the 36,000 people who will die each year when the ACA is repealed. Right now the bill looks to be dead on arrival but the urge to kill grannies and the poors is very strong in Republicans so those harrumphing now may only be doing it for show. Keep your eye on what they do, not what they say.
Here is some good news: the Florida Supreme Court is considering allowing a vote on a constitutional amendment to end permanent felon disenfranchisement; and the Supreme Court ruled that racial bias in criminal trials is so unfair that stopping it overrides the long-standing tradition of not allowing jury deliberations to be looked at for appeals. Kennedy and the liberals teamed up on this while the conservatives on the court fell back on their typical dissent – that it broke with tradition and that tradition overrides getting it right.
See all y’all later!
Good morning, Meese.
MPLS/St Paul weather: short version, odd. Last night MN had its earliest tornado eva’ and some mention was made of possible over night snow or rain, high winds, (maybe frogs).
No climate change here!
Oh, dear, Ink! Doesn’t sound good.
Fortunately, they only reported a roof torn off a building and huge hail, etc. ;)
Here is the chart that people need to focus on and realize why the Republican Death Panels bill will kill Medicare. Besides the direct defunding of the trust fund, here is what happens to people aged 60-64 who make less than $40,000:
Many won’t be able to afford health insurance and will opt out hoping they can make it to age 65 without dying. But when those people get to Medicare age, potentially with a lot of untreated illnesses (just like they used to do before the ACA) they will slam the system hard. So the Medicare trust fund, already shrinking because the Republicans are defunding it, will be depleted even more quickly.
This is why you can’t repeal the ACA – it is connected to our entire health care system, not just the 10 million who have health insurance on the exchanges and the 10 million more who got the expanded Medicaid assistance. It made for a healthier America (and created jobs) and we are reaping those benefits now – we would lose much of what we gained if we make individual health care unaffordable.
Good evening/morning, Meeses. :) It’s been pretty quiet today as I was sick for a few hours (acid reflux + migraine) but recovered after a nap. Had some of my mum’s mee goreng (fried noodles) with tofu, mock meat, bean curd and lime which she made for the first time in a while.
Yum!
Basket, glad you’re feeling better! Poor you, that sounds like a real double whammy.
In Colonial Singapore, our British friends referred to the national dish, nasi goreng, as “nasty going.” Of course they pronounced “nasty” with the broad “a.” It’s weird that they were so insular, as the Brits seem to adore hair-lifting Indian food. London abounds in Indian restaurants.
Nasi goreng is one of many national dishes. :) There are several Malaysian/Singaporean restaurants in the Bay Area, and my favorite, Kedai Makan in Seattle. Their nasi goreng is to die for!!
{{{basket}}} – Healing Energy! I’ve had both independently and concurrently and they sux anyway you mix them. Glad the nap helped. So glad you are having a good visit with your mom. moar {{{HUGS}}}
{{{{basket}}} glad you’re feeling better!
Good morning, Meese! Cloudy here in NoVa with occasional drizzle this morning. Current temp. is 45 F., going up to a rainy 65 F. later. Baked mahi-mahi for dinner tonight!
Guess what, I finally got on Twitter! When I went to get the new phone, charming Andrew at the Verizon store downloaded Chrome for me. Later I tried my “DianaInNoVa” handle, still couldn’t get on, but managed it when I changed my password. Only had to change 1 digit, so I was very happy. Jan, thanks for suggesting the different browser, and what is your Twitter handle? I’ve seen Denise, Nurse Kelley, Jan4Insight, and many of our besties already. It’s like old home week.
Plans today include coffee with Darling Niece, followed by a joint visit to Michael’s to buy huge Easter eggs that we can fill with toys instead of candy for the Littles, and then a visit to Costco to activate the hearing aid app on my new phone. I lost the little remote that came with the new aids—blast, it was small and sleek—but the phone will be able to do the same thing. I’ll even be able to get messages from Mars without holding the phone to my ear! (That’s yust my little yoke.)
Do we only send “Hands off the ACA” postcards to Paulie-Poo, or are there others who should receive such postcards?
Hope everyone has a good day and retains his or her hair. I’ve clutched mine so much I’ll be bald unless Thing is impeached pretty soon.
Headed to find you on twitter :)
Yay, being on Twitter!!
Here is my handle: JanF_Blogs. Be aware that I will occasionally retweet something with bad words in it although I usually don’t initiate them. :)
The key to having fun on Twitter is to add a lot of people who you find interesting to follow and then curate your list as you go. For example, some people who I once followed got too re-tweety so I unfollowed and now hope that if they have a gem I see it because of another person’s retweet. It is a process and you can adjust as you go. Now that you are on, and we don’t have to deal with the basics, I can give you some tips – if you still need them!
I am not sure who to contact regarding the healthcare bill. My Democratic congressman and Senator won’t vote for it and my Republican Senator is a 100% party line voter so dealing with him is a waste. I expect that the bill will die in the House and they won’t need to deal with it in the Senate. If they do, I will decide the best tactic at that time. Ron Freaking Johnson had a Cease and Desist order put in place against someone who called his offices a lot so I don’t want to get too pushy too soon.
Hi Diana……I found you on twitter, yay! I’m Sharon K and am now following you. I need to follow Jan’s example and tidy up my twitter feed though as it’s become quite messy. But twitter is fast and easy reading, so I just keep following interesting people and hope for the best.
I love that I can follow news sites and get a steady stream of stories to read. BBC, ThinkProgress, TPM, WaPo, HuffPo Politics … all good stuff to read, save, skip or comment on. I follow The Hill but never read there because their site is filled with viruses but I often use them as a foil for my tirades. :)
I just tweeted and will post here – welcome to Twitter! I’m @nyankoframe and I am following you (Diana) and JanF :)
I think I’m following everyone – @beckythecyclist
Eating oatmeal, drinking tea. Trying to not drown in the ocean of appalling news of the Orange Menace & his family. Finished last book in a series yesterday, author had telegraphed a character’s death pretty thoroughly, still hit me hard. Early March is not a good time for me to deal with that subject. Listening to California: “I’ve seen for myself, there’s no end to grief, that’s why I know & why I need to know that there is no end to love”
I went to Fidelity yesterday & transferred the last of my mom’s estate into my name. Yes, four years later. It was the last thing. They said I really need to talk to a tax advisor. Problem is, I wouldn’t be able to pay them until we actually do whatever it is I should do with the money. Like, literally if I paid someone something, it would be from my grocery money. How do I even look for someone to help with that — and ask them to wait to be paid? Anyone have any ideas?
anotherdemocrat, do you have a Women’s Center or Legal Aid Society in Austin?
Here in NoVa, we have the Women’s Center, staffed by professionals who volunteer their time. I think sometimes they have a sliding scale for those who can afford to pay a little.
I’ve referred two people to that Center, including a young friend whose English is almost nonexistent, and both were able to get the help they needed.
So do try those first.
A thought: Students of dentistry sometimes practice on people for little cost, wonder if law students at TU do the same?
We have an “employee assistance program”, and supposedly one of the things they do is help with financial issues…. but I think I was asking the wrong questions, because they basically told be to find a CPA or H&R Block…..
Storm passed through last night in 2 waves, both accompanied by multiple hazardous weather alert phone calls and tornado sirens. Tried to catch a little sleep on the couch so I wouldn’t have to keep getting up to answer the phone. The alert systems keep ringing if not answered – like for 2 full minutes, wait a minute, and start over. Things finally settled down and I got back to bed around 2:30. No damage that I could see in the neighborhood, on the way to work, or on campus but I understand some people out in the county were hurt. Temps dropped a bit (mid 70s yesterday, around 60 today) but nice and sunny.
It is appalling as well as deplorable what the Evil ones of this administration are doing – and how many place and people they’re impacting. Small businesses are hurting because people are afraid to spend money. I talked to Sara R and Anne last night – they cleared $390 for February. They’re going to try for possible St. Patrick’s Day and definitely Easter pootie pad sales (not lower prices, just encourage sales) but we’re probably going to have to do fundraisers for Catnip Manor. Property and income taxes are due next month and they still haven’t their Pootie Pad website finished. (They didn’t realize how much of the KickStarter funding would go to taxes and fees – still about $1K short for Asterkitty to finish the site.) Jan4insight is having the same kinds of problems as is snoopydawg. And Aji says NDN Silver sales are just about dead. These folks shouldn’t need fundraisers! But I’ll keep trying.
Need to get to work. And more coffee. Bright the day and wind to thy wings, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
{{{bfitz}}} I hope they can make it. I hope everyone can make it…
me, too. And thank you for all your help and support on these – just started the last push/match for this phase of Aji’s house – http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/03/07/1640819/-A-House-of-Healing – Avilyn wrote the diary. Spring is coming and we aren’t dead yet, so maybe folks will ease up on the fear and start helping again. We must always be vigilant, must always Resist the evil R administration – but if folks just “hunker down” and don’t pay any attention to other members of our community, well, the evil R’s win. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Sounds like you got our storm line but at a different angle. Ours went through around 11:45pm then the second wave about an hour later.
That’s what it looked like on the radar – a slightly curved line that hit us first.
Sis – check your Kosmail
Checked – will see what I can find out and get back to you.
Glad you are okay – so scary!
{{{Denise}}} Thank you but actually more of an annoyance with all the phone calls and sirens keeping me from sleeping. I do a little “what if” thinking but I’m not really going to worry until I hear the “freight train” (which is what a tornado sounds like when it’s close) – then I’ll grab the cats and head for the coat closet. That’s the only space in my house that doesn’t have a window in it. Which is why I’m not going to worry about it until I hear it coming. Not spending my evening trying to sleep sitting up in a coat closet with two squirmy, noisy cats. LOL
Good morning, 37 and mostly clear in Bellingham. Yesterday’s snow has melted but I’m crossing cold toes and fingers and hoping for just rain today.
The Comcast upgrade went well……the tech was very good re explaining everything, my old Dell laptop is responding like new to the new modem, and even the older tv’s are easier to watch with the HiDef signal. And to my surprise, the new contract has lowered our monthly payment.
Timothy Egan, Thank Trump for an unexpected renaissance
I hope that the counter-revolution brings about real change and not just “good feelings”. There is so much danger in so many aspects of the Republican Unified Government – their budget choices, their poor shaming, their hatred of people not like them, their disrespect for the Earth. Some days the sense that we can’t survive what they are unleashing is overwhelming. Other days I can ignore it enough to get things done. But there is no happy place – a sense that we will win or at least not-lose any more. Maybe if we can win a few of the special elections and then hold our own in Virginia this fall I will feel better. It just makes me literally sick every time I hear “President Trump”. It is the nightmare that Hillary warned us about all through the general election – and now we will face it every day for 4 years.
my brain is so weird…… it is playing Bonnie Raitt’s Love Letter at me, really loud
FYI – for folks who’ve been helping with the fundraisers for Aji and Wings – we’ve got a new diary and a $1,000 match going. While there will have to be another one – sigh – due to the expensive electrical cock-up and Cree dying, meeting this match will wrap up this one. http://www.dailykos.com/story/2017/03/07/1640819/-A-House-of-Healing is the new diary. If you can get in and rec, I’d appreciate it. Thanks, bf
Also – to comment on the Healthcare changes – https://www.regulations.gov/comment?D=CMS-2017-0021-0002 – we’ve got until midnight tonight
Still can’t get used to the fact that Jake Tapper is doing journalism
Maybe he, and his bosses, realize that there is a niche for someone willing to push back against the bs flowing from TrumpWorld. Certainly no one else on CNN is willing to do it and MSNBC is almost all right-wing now.
It’s fine day here in sunny Costa Mesa, CA- 67 degrees.
Good morning, meese! Wednesday …
It is 37 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 45. Sunny skies are in the forecast. It is still windy but not as windy as yesterday when we had gusts in the 40s and 50s.
I am tying to figure out what “Day Without A Woman” means. No one really knows when I am working and not working (ha!) so staying home from work is not really much of a statement. I saw someone suggest that it means not spending money except at women and minority owned businesses. That I can do. I also went to the International Women’s Day web site and there is not much specific, we are being asked to #BeBoldForChange and choose an area where we will take bold action.
The wheels appear to be coming off the RyanCare bus but he is promising that his bill will get through the House. I know that no Democrats will vote for it and the Freedumb Caca (40 votes) say they won’t. It only takes 21 votes to stop the bill from advancing. A multi-million dollar ad campaign is being launched to support the House bill and soften resistance by pretty much lying. My guess is that the conservatives will fold like a cheap suit; I still think the best bet is a stop in the Senate. Susan Collins of Maine said she can’t support the bill, Rand Paul appears to be a no so we only need to peel away one more Republican to block. Rob Portman? Maybe – he won’t face angry tRump voters until 2022 but his governor, John Kasich, faces angry non-tRump voters next year.
See all y’all later!
Though I don’t always support AARP – it’s good to see they are getting into the act.
A lot of Republicans fall into this category
The #AgeTax will be terrible for everyone over 50 but devastating for people between 60 and 64. AARP reaches a lot of people and their ads will be critical to offset the lies being pushed right now. I hope they plan TV ads as well. We have to remember that most of the country is NOT on social media and the only narrative they will get will be what is told to them by Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC and the broadcast networks.
I won’t be able to afford the insurance policy I have now without the current supports. I would have to go to a high-deductible plan which means no health insurance and the potential to wipe out my retirement savings.
Good points – more details here
Republicans’ Obamacare Replacement Just Got A Powerful Enemy
I hope you don’t lose insurance Jan – this is so terrible for so many people. :(
Yikes, Jan, hope it never comes to that!
One of the things people tend to forget is that the ACA prevented a lot of medical bankruptcies. I would certainly not let my daughter die from a treatable illness or injury so I would rack up the bills and then risk losing my home and/or raiding my retirement accounts to pay the debt.
This go-around, I looked at the higher deductible insurance policies and they weren’t all that cheap. I am sure that RyanDontCare would include high-risk insurance pools that would let me go into debt in $25,000 increments. Thanks, a*hole!
Holding the Good Thought on the insurance. The simplest explanation I’ve ever come up with about ACA was that it forces insurance companies to actually cover you. Repealing or replacing it means the insurance companies go back to being able to pocket your money and deny you care. (If that’s short enough for a tweet, feel free to use it.)
Good morning Meese. Happy International Women’s Day!
Am rummaging around in my closet to find something red to wear – am not working today – but then I don’t work on Wednesday’s anyway.
Listening to Chaka Khan
{{{Denise}}} – at work but wearing red. looking forward to talking to you tonight.
Good Woden’s Day and International Women’s Day, Meese! It’s a flawlessly beautiful morning after a welcome evening and night of blessed, gentle rain. Current temp in NoVa is 48 F., going up to 62 F. later. Hubby will cook steak on the grill tonight as I’m on strike.
The health care bill is such a disaster I hope that people all over the country will revolt against it.
Re Twitter—thanks for the welcomes and follows, everyone, and Jan, thanks for the tip! I must say I’m not happy about having my real name out there. Why can’t they just show my Twitter handle? Of course I have no clue how to post a picture, a video, or even a link. Well, it took me a while to learn how to do that on the dk site too. Had just made up my mind to download Signal when I discovered that the Spooks know how to hack that as well. Now I wonder whether our TV is spying on us. If it is, the Spooks will just hear me uttering oaths and imprecations against Thing!
Have emails to catch up on today, and I still have to work out because this is one of my regular training days. I’m about to take on a child-minding job that will involve picking up a couple of sweet boys from the elementary school one or two days a month. The mother emails me with a question every two weeks so it’s all taking some time. I have a meeting with her on Friday morning.
Wishing all a good day. I consider that I encourage bold action by giving Darling Niece confidence in herself. (She began with very little.) She’s going to start courses to get her certificates in iOS and Web development in the hope of getting a job. Her son is in school now, so she’ll have less mothering to do. She’s already achieved a lot, losing 40 pounds in 9 months (last year) and completely making over her kitchen for less than $200. It looks smashing!
OK, off to find the elusive red t-shirt. If only one could remember where one puts things…
For what it’s worth, people on Twitter are reporting that Wikileaks’ announcement that the CIA could hack WhatsApp/Signal isn’t supported by the actual documents (in the leak) and is likely something they made up themselves.
You can change your Twitter display name – people do it all the time in solidarity with various causes. For example, after the 3rd debate, I was “Nasty Women Vote”.
Via browser-based Twitter, click on Edit Profile and the first thing that shows is your display name. Just change it to DianaInNoVa and save.
Oatmeal. Tea. I’m at work, despite the Day Without A Woman thing. I work in an agency that serves mostly elderly, all blind & disabled people. Leaving our phones to be answered by only the 5 men (including supervisors) would really hurt people — and like I said, about 70% of our people are elderly, they don’t know about this stuff. And yeah, it’s just books — but every day, at least one person tells me that the audio books we send them are literally their only thing. They can’t watch TV, no one visits them, our books are it. So, I’m here.
Brain is still playing Bonnie Raitt at me, but I’m posting a link to my Scottish friends, December. The lead singer is a woman, it’s a song in honor of a woman, and buying the single benefits a charity she’s involved with, Chernobyl Children, so I give you: Alison Stewart.