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 “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 25 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 48. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese
46 here in NYS – and it will not change later – will stay at 46.
Grrrrrrrr
PR
Good morning, Moosekind! It’s 45 F. here, going up to 54 F. later. Last night we were treated to howling gale-force winds and cold slashing rain when a cold front came through. Monty Beagle refused to go out for a late-night business meeting. This morning it’s still windy but it looks as if the sky is clearing.
Altogether it looks like a good day to stay home! However, today is our 51st wedding anniversary so we’ll be going out to dinner. We were given a gift certificate for a restaurant in Leesburg, Virginia, just down the road.
Whereas spot reports on Orange are reporting record turnout for early voting, the corporate-owned WaPo is whining that the Rethugs are regaining their edge and the blue wave is going to be pale violet, really. We’ll see, pundits. If only they’d all go live in Tasmania! That would be nice.
Still lots of catching up to do on correspondence, bill-paying, and whatnot. I think Daughter and her husband and dog are driving back to Austin today. At least I was able to see her a couple of times, so that was good.
Wishing a quiet day to all.
{{{Diana}}} Happy Anniversary! ✨✨???????????????????????????????? Hope you have a lovely dinner tonight and the weather clears up at least enough to make getting there and back relatively pleasant. (& Tasmania is too nice a place – Mopshell comes from there – to send those folks to. One of those already evacuated rapidly-sinking islands in the Pacific would be much better.) moar {{{HUGS}}}
Up, watching the news, got tea steeping. There is quite a lively discussion on the Twitter hashtag for the show before Joy’s (#uppers), and it’s a really good discussion show. Today’s agenda: nothing much. Thaw out some lunch, chop up some apples. If my neighbor doesn’t come down to do the ceiling, I’ll go to the Dem HQ.
Nice and sunshiny Sunday morning here in Fay., AR if a bit chilly at 38-feels-like-32. Humidity’s at 89% and the haze has pretty much already burned off. Still frost on the roofs across the street though. For my birthday we got 10.8 KWHs and the m-t-d is 172.1 which is slightly over the 2.5K system’s 171 in Oct. 2014. Also for my birthday my son took me out to dinner at Logan’s Roadhouse restaurant. The steak was very good, the staff very friendly, and if you like the “peanut shells on the floor” type atmosphere it’s a great place. They do birthday shout-outs there so we didn’t tell them it was my birthday. The really nice thing is they only have one TV per dining room so you can actually sit and not face one – and what they were showing, from the glimpses I got, was some sort of magical animated Michael Jackson dancing to change ghouls and assorted ebil beings back into nice humans who danced with him. ???????????? My son came in and visited for another 2 hours after we left the restaurant which is an even nicer present than the dinner out. I got physical presents in the mail, cards ditto, e-cards, and twitter greetings this year. A very nice birthday indeed. The molasses spice muffins I just got out of the oven are smelling up the house in a sort of prelude to the holidays. Now I just have to convince my hands they don’t hurt too much to wield the vacuum cleaner before I need to head out to the Dem HQ. LOL. Healing Energy to everybody shaped to the needs. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 41 and foggy in Bellingham. I think I have my Christmas sewing plans back on track, but yesterday’s progress was a growing donate stack because what I had planned just wasn’t right. Times and tastes change and my design skills need to change with them!
Our ballots arrived via the mail box on the porch, so we’re going to vote today. This election is worrying me so I hope voting will help ease a bit of angst.
Best Sunday wishes to all.
it was sunny & warm today, but there is still a lot of water:
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 34 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 55. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
I slowed down my news intake over the weekend – limiting it to news about our excellent candidates this year and muting out the naysayers. This morning I scanned my local paper and was glad to see a fair presentation of the policy positions of the Democratic candidates – quite a departure from norms for a paper whose lips are generally firmly attached to Scott Walker’s posterior. The bloom may finally be coming off the rose as the Republicans who gutted good government are being called to task. Cutting education by a billion dollars in 2011 turns out to not be a popular thing to run on when rural school districts are struggling to keep the lights on. Defunding road maintenance in order to give Republican donors not one not two but three ginormous tax cuts turns out to have consequences that Wisconsinites are reminded of every day. “Kick the bums out” seems to be winning; the only question is how deep it will go.
See all y’all later!
Monday Meese. 36 degrees here in Saugerties NY going up to 52.
I am still furious that the “progressive’s darling” in NY – Alexandra Ocasio Cortez running in a safe blue district has sucked up all the media attention while we are fighting a huge battle against millions of dollars of dark money and racist ads thrown at Antonio Delgado here in #NY19. A win for Delgado will help flip Congress blue and get rid of a horrid Republican – John Faso.
Joe Biden will be here to campaign for him on Friday.
NY Times Editorial Board endorsement:
Another thing I’m looking at are races no one in the media pays attention to – folks running for State Assembly and State Senate. For Puerto Rico – that is key. We have quite a few Puerto Ricans running for statewide office here in NYS
One candidate in particular that I learned about from a close friend who works with the Nurses Union missions to Puerto Rico – was Karines Reyes
The day count continues
Dee, I saw this headline in my New York Times email blast:
Gosh, why would they worry that federal officials would choose to “move on”? Maybe because they saw the federal response to Puerto Rico and realize that the government is run by a guy who tossed paper towels to Puerto Ricans who needed food, water and electric power? I don’t want the people hurt by Hurricane Michael to suffer but the sooner people realize that their anti-government rhetoric has real life consequences when the government is needed to step in and help after a disaster, the better.
Michael has been shoveled under a rug and dismissed. Sadly – I hope some of those folks affected will link their situation to horrid Trump/FEMA and vote – for Democrats
I have a friend who just got back from SC; she was stunned. She works for a medical supply distributor, and they were setting up parking lot dispensaries for hospitals that are unable to use their buildings. We had talked about the situation when on vacation together, and I pointed out that PR was still struggling. She texted me this morning and told me that, while she can’t guarantee how far the conversation will go, at her urging, the execs in the company are looking at revising and updating their emergency response initiatives, including for PR. Some of this is too little/too late, but I’m hopeful that this won’t end up buried on some high mucky-mucks desk, and some changes may come about.
So, 9 days out of 10, I wake up before my alarm; I’d even say 14 out of 15. But today,the day I really want to leave the house early? Nope. So I didn’t vote before work. Grrr. Still want to vote today, so I’ll stop getting all those texts. Anyway, happy Monday. Oh — the whole city is under a boil water notice because of silt from the flooding. 800,000 people. Yeah, that’ll be just great. Playing Empress to energize me & remind me that we are the majority.
Good Moon Day morning, Meese! It’s a lovely clear day here in Ashburn with sunlight gilding the treetops in the woods across the way. The long grassy slope down to the woods looked as if it had frost on it. Currently the temp. is 33 F., going up to 57 F.
Had a good night’s sleep because of the Estrella sleeping pill, so feeling reasonably perky this morning. We did not go out to dinner after all—our wretched Saturday night’s non-sleep experience left us feeling so tired we just couldn’t manage it. We’ll go another time.
Daughter, husband, and dog are setting off for Austin this morning. Another, thanks for the tip about boiling the water! Just texted Daughter. Of course, it’ll be a couple of days before they get there.
Today I’ll go to the gym, come home and make soup in the crockpot, then go to a postcard-writing party at 1:30. Yesterday evening, instead of going out, we went to the cafeteria-type restaurant in the main clubhouse and had the worst meal I’ve had since arriving here. Thank Goddess I’ve decided to give the slow cooker a workout!
Wishing all a good day and hoping nothing too awful happens.
Good morning, 42 and foggy in Bellingham. I’m sneezing and feeling like a cold is coming on so no pool this morning. I’ll try to get some exercise in the garden this afternoon, and hope to be in my sewing room this morning. I’ve got some foggy brain sewing I should be safe with!
It’s not ‘identity politics,’ it’s just who we are. Let’s vote that way
Barack Obama is coming to Wisconsin to help GOTV – visiting Milwaukee on Friday. I have not seen the time and venue yet but I am sure it will be a huge draw. We have a gubernatorial candidate who is boring enough to not trigger the Republicans and who might just beat Scott “I ran for president and screwed Wisconsin” Walker. We have Tammy Baldwin to get across the finish line; she is leading in the polls by double-digits but I won’t rest easy until the election is certified.
I saw something on Twitter that he was campaigning for the guy in Ryan’s district. I didn’t check the source or the details; it seems like an odd choice, if true. But knowing President Obama, he’ll craft a message that resonates beyond that district.
President Obama will be in town to GOTV for all the Democratic Party candidates and Randy Bryce is one of them. Yesterday, Bernie Sanders was on the UW-Milwaukee campus with Tony Evers, Tammy Baldwin and other Democrats including mustache guy. I am pretty sure that the only one he wanted to support was mustache guy – Evers is no bomb-thrower and Tammy probably once talked to a banker! I am still sad that Cathy Myers did not win the primary – she is a much better fit for the district. I hope she runs again in 2020 to take on the Ryan clone who will probably win CD01.
Funny how the tweet I saw was all about mustache guy…no mention of other candidates. ????
In BernieWorld, there are no other candidates except those who bow to him. Also at the event was Mandela Barnes, the Lt. Governor candidate. I wonder why? ;)
Good morning, Meesefolk; 39 when I got up this morning, with a sunny high of 54 expected. I got absolutely nothing done this weekend. The Kiddo was telling me about a blog she liked; the blogger has been writing about her restoration of a Queen Anne Victorian house for the past five years. I thought I’d give it a glance, and instead got sucked in thoroughly and read five years worth of posts. So much for raking up my backyard…
I got a text from The Kiddo at 9:20am; it’s their first anniversary, AND closing is done…signing paperwork for their paper anniversary seems fitting. The sellers have occupancy for another week, and then the move begins. I’m looking at all the furniture I’m storing for them and trying to figure out how much I can get in my car for the trip down; my conclusion is “not enough to avoid multiple trips.” I considered renting a van or truck and doing it in one haul, but rental prices for big vehicles are nuts. The bigger incentive to stick to my car is the thought of loading all of that furniture in one fell swoop, but I’m going to blame my decision on the cost rather than my back.
Good day to and for all!
Hi folks – I’m at work after having voted. My ballot was the first at the Washington County Courthouse ???? – I’ve tweeted out “y’all vote” so my ballot won’t be lonely but actually the line was starting down the hall by the time I left. Hope for the best while expecting the worst as far as AR is concerned. I didn’t vote in two races because no Dem or Green candidate. I’m not sure what I’d have done if the Libertarians had a chance – probably have voted for the Rs. I think. But since they don’t, I left those two blank. I follow the “Molly Ivins Rule” for protest or “conscience” votes/non-votes.
Anyway it’s 42 “feels like” 38 going up to the mid 60s and 95% humidity. We got 10.5 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 182 so if we get the same today and tomorrow ???????? we’ll reach 200 by Tuesday evening. I had a lovely birthday weekend – and of all the lovely presents I got – and I loved the presents and messages I got – the best was a comment my son made (closely followed by comment someone else made in a card I received). My son periodically comes out with some to-me-shocking Libertarianish opinions on things which we discuss (everybody within hearing range calls arguing) at length when they come up. Then, sometimes years later, I’ll hear him saying pretty much what I was telling him, which is always a good feeling in itself. Well, Saturday night just as he was leaving he commented on one of those topics and said that he used to believe thus and such but “from what you taught me I now know…” That is a present without price, that my son in his late 40s listens to me and after thinking about it accepts it as being teaching from me, that my “allyship” is being accepted/handed on. ???????? Healing Energy to everybody shaped to the need. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good for you, dear bfitz! Glad your son listens to you. Also happy to hear you had a great birthday weekend!
Bfitz, Aji, Bobby – a birthday trio – y’all rock :)
❤❤❤❤❤
Tuesday Meese
42 here in the Catskills going up to 57 with rain.
I’m in a NY state of mind …. this happened 10 minutes away from my house
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 41 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 46. Mostly sunny skies today, with a few clouds in the afternoon.
I am watching the early voting and am glad people are banking their votes (I will bank mine this weekend when I can vote with my daughter). I think by now, most people understand that having election day on a single day with long lines and delicate (vulnerable) machinery is a terrible idea. There are too many things that can go wrong. It is incredible to me that the blue states of the northeast are so backward about early voting – c’mon, New York and New Jersey, get with the program! Also, arbitrary registration deadlines are sheer laziness. I was reading a story about a person who is effectively disenfranchised because she moved to New York after their registration cut off and there is no way to legally vote in the 2018 midterms. She can’t vote where she came from or where she moved to – how is that fair? Democrats need to change the voting laws at the national level to make election day a holiday, have automatic registration for people who turn 18, and have in person early voting – with at least one weekend – a requirement. We need to knock down the barriers that make it difficult for working people to vote.
I wish there was a way to gauge how much the fear-mongering of the – now admitted – white nationalist president will gin up enthusiasm. Are people more motivated by fear than hope? I guess we will find out.
I am ignoring the rest of the news. It is frustrating to see what is happening and knowing that it did not have to be this way. Forty-five percent of eligible voters stayed home in 2016. I will never forgive them for what they did to our country.
See all y’all later!
I voted after work yesterday & it was awesome! There was a line — even with 20 booths — but people were happy & the staff were prepared, it took less than 30 minutes. And we beat the 2016 1st day turnout!
I’m back to listening to Head Full Of Dreams, because it’s just so happy.
and there’s also this:
Good morning, Meesefolk; 39 now with a sunny high of 48 today. I’ve been up for two hours, because the dogs had a restless night which means I had a restless night. Of course, they’re now snoring at my feet, and I’m awake…at least I got two loads of laundry done before the sun rose.
I am quite distressed by the news of the pipe bomb near George Soros’ home. I’ve never met the man (or received my check), but it angers me…a lot. One of my best friends from college is now the DC advocacy director for Open Society, and because of him, I keep track of a lot of what they do…which, to my way of thinking, is substantial and essential. Now I’m worrying about my friend’s safety; Steve assures me he’s fine and not overly concerned, but that’s not quite the same as being unconcerned. Add this to the list of things I never thought I’d have to think about.
Good day to and for all…!
Good Tuesday morning, Meese! It’s fair again and will be warmer in NoVa today: 42 F. right now in Ashburn, going up to 66 F. later.
Yesterday I read an amazing story about a 99-year-old WWII Norwegian resistance hero who had died. He and his fellow Resistance fighters skied to the Telemark region of Norway where the Nazis were processing heavy water for a nuke, and disabled it! Then they skied 200 miles to freedom in Sweden, ahead of the Nazis who were following them. You can read the BBC story here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45938874
Got a lot to do today. Wrote 10 postcards yesterday, which was good. There were a large number of people at the postcard-writing party: in fact, so many people showed up that some had to sit at tables outside the classroom. I love seeing my fellow Progressives doing things.
Trying not to get depressed by the constant adulation of Rethug voters, who are lovingly described by the corporate-owned WaPo. Turns out the “edge” Rethug voters have is because of absentee ballots. Virginia does not make it easy to vote absentee, you have to have an excuse. I like to vote on Election Day because I enjoy seeing my fellow citizens go to the polls.
High on the agenda today is getting a haircut! I look like Struwwelpeter:
Hope our bfitz will post the great photo taken of her yesterday by a reporter. As she mentioned in yesterday’s post, she was the first in line for early voting yesterday! I captured it if she didn’t and will be happy to provide it if necessary.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.