Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Oct. 15th through Oct. 21st

October 14, 2017 JanF Community 109

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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– Page One of comments is here

  • Page Two of comments is here

51 Comments

  1. Another jacket day. But probably back to sandals tomorrow. Oatmeal, tea. And #45 has sunk even lower. I really can’t believe what he said to the widow of that soldier. That’s cold, even for a sociopath. Listening to Love & Peace (or Else).

    • no, Mr. President, death isn’t what he signed up for. But the people who voted for you — they DID know you are a snake. So, we are getting what they signed up for.

  2. Good morning, Meese. Another gorgeous day is on the way: it’s 38 F. now in NoVa under clear skies, going up to 69 F. During my sleepless, horrible night I noticed how startlingly clear and beautiful the night sky was, and how brilliant the stars. What’s the constellation with three stars in a vertical line? I’m a bit foggy on astronomy.

    Feeling pretty terrible after my awful night, but have coffee with Darling Niece and a good friend scheduled for this morning. This afternoon will visit the nail salon for a long overdue session.

    Haven’t looked at the news yet and don’t know whether I want to. Feel exhausted. Wishing all at the Pond a good day!

    • {{{Diana}}} – Healing Energy and the 3 stars in a line are Orion’s Belt – Orion is just about the easiest constellation to find because the belt is made of such bright stars. The belt part of Orion is visible even in Houston where the rest of him/it is not. moar Healing Energy

  3. Good morning, 50 and raining in Bellingham. I was restless after Ron left yesterday so I started sorting books and magazines knowing Sue would be here today to help me finish the task. How could I have layered in so many years worth of stuff into this house! The library is literally stacks of books right now, but by the end of today it should be cleaner and less cluttered.

    Ron has arrived in Fayetteville and sounded surprisingly rested after flying all night. He’ll enjoy visiting with our friends and hopefully the storage locker duties will be easily accomplished.

    Time for coffee and a peak at the news. My tRump angst seems to be growing so I’m being careful re what I read and listen to. Hope you all have a pleasant day.

  4. 47 when I walked in the door this morning but have been slammed with work ever since. At least it’s mostly sunny and heading for 76. Got 10.9 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d with this morning’s input is 163. We shall see what we shall see as far as energy production is concerned. And everything else I guess.

    I’m so glad we’ve got pros in DC – blocking what they can, snagging a goody here and there – because they know how to get whatever good there is available and where the strings are attached to jerk them on the bad stuff.

    Gotta get back to work. Need to update my Helping Humpday diary before it posts and carving out a few minutes to do that is being problematic. Just threw the community links comments into the DK Village when i took a quick coffee break and haven’t visited the Moose Village at all yet. sigh. I need to because the Village folks sent me a gift card for my birthday. That is so sweet and caring – I want them to know how much I appreciate it. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  5. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 46 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 68. Sunny skies are in the forecast.

    I was offline all day yesterday except for NPR news in my car off and on. It sounds like pretty much everyone realizes that 1) the shitgibbon is a lying sack of crap 2) the shitgibbon has no empathy and, really, no basic human decency 3) the Republicans love their president and do not see any harm to America’s institutions or our position in the world by having a reckless, ignorant man in charge of the executive branch.

    Diana! I was scanning the news and have not had time to read in-depth yet but I caught a bit of a story suggesting that Ralph Northam purposefully removed the photo of his black running mate from campaign flyers apparently because he was worried it would scare away the white vote. I hope that is fake news. If our party is going to run from people of color and women and religious minorities and LGBT, we may as well give up. No power is worth the loss of your soul and our diverse coalition should not be told to shut up and sit at the back of the bus because it might scare off the white folks.

    See all y’all later!

    • Jan, I HOPE that is not true. If it is, it’s reprehensible in the extreme. However, Justin Fairfax ran for Lt. Governor four years ago (losing to Ralph), so I don’t see why Ralph Northam would find it necessary to hide him from view.

      As I’ve said before, Northam is NOT my idea of a real Democrat (he voted for Dubya twice, which leads me to question his judgment), but he’s miles better than Thug Gillespie, who would be a Koch pawn. And Northam is prochoice. Call me a one-issue voter if you like, but I calculate that anyone who is intelligent enough to be prochoice is going to be sound on other matters as well.

      But like you, I hope it’s fake news. I’m certainly voting for Justin Fairfax! Believe me. The alternative is Jill (transvaginal probe bill introducer) Holtzman Vogel, a scurrilous scumbag if there ever was one.

      • Oh, I know that any Democrat will be better than the Republican. And it seemed odd because Black Politician Barack Obama is going to be campaigning for Dr. Northam this week. Once I get a bit unburied from projects that stacked up from being gone all day yesterday, I will start reading. Terry McAuliffe was not my favorite – too much lobbying money – but he is a Democrat and actually turned out to be pretty progressive.

        One thing I find ridiculous about Virginia, by the way, is that your governors only have one term. I like the idea of term limits for governors because I think they can get too entrenched; I wish Walker was not running for a third term, his victory might accelerate my leaving the state. But not allowing the voters to keep a good governor, and having a governor run on his record at least one time, seems like a bad idea. Why would you want a permanent lame duck governor?

        • Completely agree, Jan, it’s ridiculous about the one term and the off-year elections. The off-year is to keep people of color from voting. Ugh!

          Turns out the omission of Justin Fairfax was owing to the efforts of the laborers’ union, which is canvassing door to door for Northam and Herring. Fairfax opposes the construction of a couple of controversial pipelines, and that makes the laborers’ union unhappy. At least, this is the gospel according to the WaPo.

          • Thanks for that update! I was not able to get to the news accounts related to the supposed diss but I did notice that it was not trending when I got back online. We are a mess as a party right now! I hope we can come together for elections.

  6. Good Thursday morning Meese – coming up for air for a second – then diving back into writing for deadline.

    Just saw this tweet -kudos to EW for speaking out

    • I am not sure how the debt can be cancelled – perhaps some kind of bankruptcy plan is available. But something needs to be done. She is exactly right, they can’t have that debt hanging over them as this humanitarian crisis unfolds – money needs to go for rebuilding not for debt service.

      I saw this morning that experts are suggesting the death toll is at least 450 – that actually seems more likely than 48. And as much as I hate anyone decent having to be in the same room with Donald Trump, the governor of Puerto Rico will be meeting with him at the White House today and that will, if nothing else, keep Puerto Rico in the news. Yesterday morning there were no news stories in the AP feed, today there are a half dozen plus some from CNN.

  7. Good morning, Moosekind, and happy Thor’s Day. It’s too dark at 6:35 a.m. to tell what kind of day it will be, but it’s probably destined to be sunny and dry as a bone. It’s 40 F. at this hour, going up to 73 F. later.

    Darling Niece accompanied me yesterday to visit our friend in the neighboring town of Sterling. The friend had lit a fire in the fireplace—yes, it was that chilly at 10 a.m.—put on some music, and baked a wonderful Orange-Almond Custard Tart, which she served with hazelnut coffee made in a French press. We chatted and had such a wonderful time that I went around in a glow the rest of the day.

    Today will involve errands, weight lifting, and picking up children after school, Miss Pink Cheeks and our tenant’s little girl. They attend different schools but get out at different times. Tomorrow m’daughter from Austin is flying in to help us celebrate our anniversary. In three months she has transformed from a Cat Person to a total Dog Mom. She’s rescued a chihuahua puppy, a sweet little creature named Bella. Luckily, she’s leaving the puppy at home.

    Dearly Beloved still uses his cane from time to time but is often able to walk without it. He goes to the doctor once a week to get his leg seen to. The nurse-practitioner told him it would not heal completely until Christmas!

    Haven’t looked at the news yet. Do I want to? Think I’ll travel around here instead.

    • It is very exciting that you are having a big party for your 50th. Take lots of pictures for your family photo album! I have an extremely large family and when my folks had their 60th, it was the last time they had everyone together for family photos – there was always one thing or another that kept us from being together at one time again. It made my mother sad!

      • Thanks, Jan, I will. I’ve already privately instructed The Boyz to video as much as they can of Dearly Beloved with the grandchildren. After all, Grandpa is 87 and the youngest grandchild is two.

  8. One more day of “cool enough for shoes” then back to sandal weather. Is the Shitgibbon (bless the Scots for my favorite name for him) saying that he records his calls? Because…. wow. And does he realize how many tells he has about his lies? His body language is that of a 5 year old who broke the neighbor’s window. Turning up the music in my head — my boys really love remixes, this is one of You’re The Best Thing

  9. 50 heading for 80 and relatively clear. Got just over 10 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is sitting at 171.99 – but the system is not generating power at the moment so I need to scare up the phone number of the techie and have him check things out ASAP. I’m guessing there was a power flicker – they still haven’t fixed what causes the system to “arc fault” when trying to come back on after a power outage, they’ve just overridden the fault to turn it back on each time. sigh

    If one remembers that the primary and only universal purpose of the Rs right now is to freak out Dems it is not surprising they are perfectly happy with mad king donald. The more he hurts people, the more upset we get, and thus the happier the Rs are with him. They have no other shared agenda which is why they haven’t accomplished the major nasties each sect wants done, but they’ve used him as cover to try and pack the Courts against future civil and human rights law suits. That’s the most long-term damage they’ve done or can do unless the folks who think compromise and capitulation mean the same thing start compromising with each other. Ironic that what is giving good people enough time to overcome evil is evil’s unwillingness to compromise on who gets to destroy us – and how.

    I’ve got a bunch of travel things to deal with so need to get to work. Very concerned about my “urgent” list – nothing seems to be moving at all for them. There’s going to be a fundraiser tonight for Aji, which she needs. But I’m still smiling that the Villages sent me a camera and a gift card for my birthday(got them yesterday, birthday’s tomorrow). It’s a lovely thing to be part of a caring community. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  10. Good morning, 51 and cloudy in Bellingham. It’s breezy today but the big wind gusts have eased and no big branches blew out of the trees…whew!

    So I just learned that looking at the contents of a storage locker via Face Time can make one so inclined very dizzy. We made the decisions so Ron can now pack the boxes and make an inventory for the movers. Now I need to quiet my spinning head.

    Hope it’s a good day for all.

  11. Friday morning – 52 going up to 70 here in Saugerties

    It’s been a month -conditions are still horrid in PR

    • Trump’s contempt for anyone “not Donald J. Trump” is epic.

      He will not do anything personally but keeping this in the news will help encourage others.

    • Gods, isn’t he AWFUL?

      Bill in Portland ME had a link in his cheers and jeers diary yesterday to the Hispanic Foundation, so I donated through that. On Twitter someone named Chelsea Handler said she donated $1 million. Who is she?

  12. Good morning, meeses! Friday …

    It is 54 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 77. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.

    I have been too busy lately to follow the news but the story that had reached peak Twitter yesterday afternoon when I was able to set aside work projects was the one about how John Kelly soiled himself – and his uniform – in service of the shitgibbon. It was disgraceful how he went after the Khans for their daring to point out that the Republicans nominated an anti-Muslim bigot to be president and going after a grieving widow for daring to have a family friend who was a Democratic Party politician. Anyone who thought Kelly was being honorable and held hostage to his love of the country is full of shit. He embraces the hate and does not care about America’s institutions or America’s place in the world – the Republican Party comes first.

    President Obama was doing some campaigning for Democratic candidates for governor in New Jersey and Virginia. He was reminding people that “democracy will be on the ballot”, a warning that fell on too many deaf ears last November. Maybe people will notice what happened the last time they shrugged off his warnings and get their asses to the polls?

    See all y’all later!

    • “Former President Barack Obama, back on the campaign trail for the first time since he left the White House, has appealed for unity in America. Without mentioning Donald Trump by name, Obama said: ‘Instead of our politics reflecting our values, we’ve got politics infecting our communities.’ He went on: ‘If you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you won’t be able to govern them.’ ”

      Note to media: Republicans don’t want to govern, they want to control.

  14. Good morning, Moosekind, and it’s another grand immortal day in Northern Virginia! Blue and gold again, with a current temp. of 46 F., going up to 74 F. Tomorrow should be fair and even warmer, which is good—the anniversary party can spill out onto the massive deck.

    So excited because Daughter from Austin is flying up here this afternoon and will come to our house for dinner. She inclines toward vegetarianism, so we’ll have Moroccan Chickpea Stew (far more delicious than it probably sounds) with corn muffins, and for dessert fresh pears, cold cider, and walnuts in the shell. It’s fun to sit around cracking walnuts. It also involves very little work on the part of the cook. :)

    Before I get frantically busy Cleaning Up This House, I’d like to wish our dear bfitz a very happy birthday! Bfitz, you have won this year’s Nobel Prize for being a world-class sweetheart. Hope you have a happy day!

    And a good day to us all.

    • {{{Diana}}} – thank you and you’re doing pretty well in the world-class sweetheart category yourself! Enjoy your visit with family and have fun at your anniversary party! moar {{{HUGS}}}

          • Belated birthday wishes Sis – and thank you for all the work you do to take care of others – every day.

          • {{{Denise}}} – thank you for the birthday wishes and thank you for the work you do to take care of others. Folks frequently use the stone making ripples analogy but since I saw “It’s a Wonderful Life” I prefer calling them “George Bailey moments” – we do our small best in our given places in life, but what we do – although we won’t know most of it – can make large changes in others’ lives. Bless you. {{{HUGS}}}

    • Thanks Jan – if I can manage to get the office brush fires put out… – but I got a bunch of cards and ecards and I’m about to head off to coffee with RonK so definitely being a nice if hectic day so far. {{{HUGS}}}

  16. 57 when I got in, 60 now and cloudy. Lost a whole day of production yesterday when it was nice and sunny – did get it up and running about 5:30 so picked up 1/10 of a KWH – m-t-d is 172. No way we’re gonna make 300 this month. sigh. But we’ve just topped what the 2.5K system did for October 2014, so that’s good.

    I’m working on the “ignore mad king donald, pay attention to the Rs in Congress” rule. The former lives on attention so is always outrageous – but you can’t start a war or anything else via tweet. The Rs are trying to return us to those not so glorious days of yesteryear along about the 1880s and they’d love to go back even further. Them we need to watch and block.

    Aji’s fundraiser got enough to cover next week’s payroll and a bit more. A couple of other folks on my list have gotten help, too. That’s a wonderful birthday present. Lights stay on, larder gets filled – just wish I could say the same for P.R. but we’re doing as best we can without the ones who are supposed to be doing it. Prima facie evidence of why government needs to be the safety net – because charity however noble is not big or strong enough to handle it. But sending Healing Energy and Other Energy that we can at least get the critical stuff dealt with before too many more people die. sigh. But I will keep half my mind on the good things in celebration of my birthday.

    Need to check a few more things then get over to The Perk at Peabody Hall – RonK should be there shortly if not already (we said 10:00) Bright the day, meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  17. Good morning, 49 and cloudy in Bellingham. Sleepy morning for me, but I’m feeling rested so no complaints. The dizzy episodes I’ve been complaining about are concerning, but I’m doing the balance retraining exercises I learned last time this happened and with time, rest, and lots of quiet I should recover.

    Happy Birthday bfitz! I’m so glad you and Ron were able to meet for coffee this morning. Needless to say my thoughts are with you.

    Time to find some coffee and wake up my sleepy brain.

    • {{{princesspat}}} – thank you. I very much enjoyed the visit – and the card is lovely. I probably did most of the talking. (I usually do when I’m enjoying myself. sigh) I hoped he enjoyed it too. Take care of yourself, please. Healing Energy and more {{{HUGS}}}

  18. Saturday in Saugerties – 46 degrees going up to a typical fall in the Catskills sunny 76.

    Conditions still horrid in Puerto Rico . Shaking my head at some of these folks in Texas

    • I saw that article and the attitude perfectly describes Republican voters to a T: “I got mine, screw you” plus “brown and black people get too much free stuff”. They are awful in every way, deplorable, if you will.

      I saw that Google got its Internet service balloons aloft and are beaming Internet access to remote areas of Puerto Rico. It is not going to help people whose phones lost charge a month ago and who don’t have electricity but it will help people who are going to the outlying areas to help to stay connected. Some companies who will be rebuilding the power grid have made “landfall” and I hope that is a priority. Even FEMA seems to be helping more – maybe they got some of the career people there to help out so that they can keep the political guys out of there. We knew that the first set of natural disasters would be a test for a government run by a man who only cares about himself. It failed hugely. The thin-skinned Trump Administration has no capacity for quietly accepting the right of people to be sad and angry and not grateful in precisely the way their boss demands “they should be happy he threw them paper towels, what is wrong with ‘those people’!!??” Or like we just saw: “the grieving widow should be happy the fake billionaire, serial sex abuser, white nationalist in the White House called them – how dare she be sad that he was breezy and dismissive!!?!”

      Status PR: Water is up to 69.7%, electricity is at 12.33%, ports are completely open, commercial flights at 100%, bus service is at 100%. Under “tourism” it says that 58% of the hotels are open. Yikes! I hope tourists are not going there and stressing the drinking water system. I understand the need to get the economy going but there are people who need the resources more than any tourists.

    • I noticed that WaPo has a Twitter account that pushes hourly updates from status.pr: @pr_recovery. It provides periodic links to the post that shows the interactive graphic created to show progress (not just percentages).

    • Dee, this is yet another example of the loathsome Rethug schtik that decrees, “As long as I, personally, am okay the rest of you can go to hell in a hand basket.”

      Where’s this “Christian charity and love” they keep bleating about?

  19. Good morning, meeses! Saturday …

    It is 63 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 73. Mainly sunny this morning then clouding up with rain expected this evening.

    Yesterday was not a good day for human rights. The Appeals Court in Washington D.C. rejected a teenaged immigration detainee the right to an abortion. Everyone should pause and think about a government that forces a child to be a human incubator for a fetus. The berners won’t mind that their peevish non-votes led to this – women’s rights are not berner rights – but the rest of us should be seeking to find ways to get people to the polls to elect oversight on the Trump Administration’s “Justice” Department and slow down their stuffing the courts with the most awful people imaginable. A tweet storm landed in my stream the other day from a Republican bemoaning the ugliness of the shitgibbon’s rule and the damage being done to the party – while lauding how the courts will be filled with what he called “good men” willing to pervert the law in support of crushing working people, women and – really – decency. This is what will be difficult to fix when we regain power and I hope that judges considering retirement hang on for a while longer until we can take back the Senate or get it close enough to keep the worst of the worst out of the judiciary.

    The travel day and aftermath set me back on work projects so I will be busy catching up this morning. The Weekly Democratic Party Address is on tax reform and since that is not a burning issue for me – except that the Republicans are planning on taking $1.5 trillion from Medicare and Medicaid to pay for their cuts – I will probably not do the Fighting Back post until later this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

    See all y’all later!

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