Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: Jan. 27th through Feb. 2nd

January 26, 2019 JanF Community 111

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings posts give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

Welcomings will be posted at the start of each week (usually Saturday night with a Sunday date). To find the posts, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

…

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.

…

  • Page One of Comments is HERE!
     
  • Page Two of Comments is HERE!
     
  • Page Three of Comments is HERE!
     

38 Comments

  1. Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …

    Morning low of -11 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 5. The forecast calls for snow flurries during the day and a possible winter storm overnight into Monday.

    Have a great day, all y’alls!!

  2. Sunday Meese.

    16 degrees here in Saugerties NY, going up to 43, with snow and rain in the forecast.

    Going to be watching Kamala Harris campaign kickoff in Oakland this afternoon.

    Puerto Rico

  5. We have nice weather — it rained yesterday but that’s gone, and it is cool enough for a sweater, but only just. Today: church, make next week’s tea, cook some veggies to add to the frozen dinners I bought. Tired of this cold — I’m getting better, but slowly. Still too wheezy to join my workout group. Heal Me.

  6. 32 feels like 28 and the sun is shining (YES!) – it may even get up into the 50s today. If so and the wind isn’t biting I may actually take a walk outside this afternoon. We got 9 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is just over 130. We’ll meet the 2015 total (2.5K system) by noon. We can definitely get over 150 if this keeps up – which I would greatly appreciate. I’m afraid I’m still going to be buying electricity from SWEPCO on the March bill. I got the February bill yesterday and I’ve only got 19 KWHs left in the “bank” and I’d have to generate 185 to not use them. sigh. Still, it won’t be much. It’s the principle of the thing, not the money. (Although I much prefer to send the money to Bobby or Aji or…anotherdemocrat for the AIDS ride.)

    Bobby’s fundraiser was successful enough to give him several month’s running room – hopefully that’s enough to get him out of the hole and back on his own feet as it’s exceedingly difficult to get him to admit it when he needs help and even more so to get him to take the help he needs. Aji’s main “good” news is she’s finally been diagnosed for the asthma she’s had most of her life and gotten an inhaler (which may take up to a month to show results). For everything else they need to keep looking. At least they are looking now. & demanding cash up front. Both of them need “Good Vibes” as Aji refers to it – they need the societal blocks in their paths shifted enough so they can get around those blocks and go on with their lives. As do a number of other folks I care about. Well, most of us do. But most of us have enough room to inch around the damn things. Maybe instead of Channeling Healing Energy I should Channel Block-Moving Energy. Except it’s kinda the same thing. Or not, depending on your culture and Tradition.

    I’ve got about half my Sunday chores done – need to wipe the paw prints off all horizonal surfaces, haul in more firewood, get my clothes ready for next week, make soup (Mexican-rice-refried-black-bean soup) for lunches next week. And coffee. Definitely need coffee. I think I’ll get that first and visit Dee’s diary while I drink it. Then get back to work. Healing Energy to everybody everywhere shaped to their needs. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  7. 43 with high of 68. I somehow picked up a cold/sore throat again :( Yesterday was a good/productive board meeting but I came home and slept for about 2 hours with aitchdee ordering dinner for both of us. Not sure if I’ll be going out today; I feel better but don’t want to push it, and on the other hand it would be a chance to try some pieces I’ve been working on in public and fine-tune my performance.

    • {{{basket}}} – rest a lot and see how you feel later in the day. If it’s a nice day getting out might be a good thing for you. moar {{{HUGS}}} & Healing Energy.

  8. Good morning, 39 and cloudy in Bellingham. Coffee is warm, nice music is playing, and RonK and I may recover from long night of tRump angst! Our family is all on the mend, but we are both feeling the responsibility of being able to continue being the family bank for major medical and dental bills. So many issues need to be addressed after tRump is gone I’m worried affordable health care will slide down the list. Our kids all have insurance, but for major procedures the deductible an co-pays are to large. And for self employed people the necessary recovery time is all on them. And finally, I’ll never understand why a serious dental infection isn’t covered as the medical emergency it is! grrrrrr…….thanks for giving me a rant space :(

    Fortunately life does go on and Ronk is writing a photo post featuring our winter week on Orcas Island, I have several sewing and gardening projects I want to do, and we’re making meatloaf for dinner. That’ll fix our little world!

    Best wishes to all.

  9. Good morning, Moosekind! Very late checking in this morning. Slept a drugged sleep (cold pills last night) and did not wake until nearly 8 a.m. It made a pleasant change. Yesterday, because of insufficient sleep, I got nothing done all day long, which was a bummer.

    The current temp. in Ashburn is 32 F., going up to 47 F. A heat wave! Although the sun came out and the woods looked beautiful an hour ago, the sky has clouded over again. I don’t think we’re due for rain until Tuesday night.

    Enjoying reading all the stuff about the Speaker of the House “winning” and Thing “losing.” I’m so afraid he’ll shut down the government again. Someone has said this may be the end of the road for Saint Ronnie Ray-Gun’s governing philosophy that government is the problem. Yeah, right. And now Thing has ensured that no government employee will get pay raises this year. If, one day, we get an all-Dem. government, I’d like them to revoke the billionaires’ tax break and give higher salaries to government workers.

    Miss Pink Cheeks just slays me. This child won’t be 10 until next month, mind. She apparently instructed her parents to buy an apartment here at Ashby Ponds so she could drop off her kids with them when she needs babysitters. LOL! Is that planning ahead, or what?

    Going to resume skimming the news. Very glad to hear about bfitz’ solar panel accumulation, new pioneer’s emergency funds, and basket’s improved health. Wishing all a pleasant Sunday with no news.

    • I don’t know that trump will be able to get away with another shutdown but I am going to assume that the sweet spot for tax returns will be 2/7 to 2/11. It will take two weeks for most agencies to reopen and for people to settle in with full bellies and debts paid. Then anxiety over 2/15 will start overloading the system. I hope that Democrats can come up with something that looks wall-like enough to provide a fig leaf large enough for Individual 1’s diminutive manbits so the government stays funded. Or that Republican Senators feel emboldened enough to get in McConnell’s grill if he doesn’t rein in his president.

  11. Good Monday Meese

    Spent much of the day yesterday watching the people gather to hear Kamala Harris in Oakland – then the speech itself.

    Amazing turnout –

    and I really liked the speech.

    The twitter attacks against her increase

    Puerto Rico

    • I also watched the entire speech! I thought it was a good speech. There were a couple of places that I heard strong statements that no other candidate will be able to deliver as forcefully – her passion when she was talking about race was not “manufactured.”

      Today I will spend some time looking for transcripts and her news releases. They are not on her web site but they have to be somewhere. I remember it took me a while to find Hillary’s as well.

      I can support her candidacy wholeheartedly and without reservation. I have to admit that, in 2016, some of my hesitation about supporting Hillary was because it meant defending Bill Clinton which I could not do. So there was always part of me held back, a part that did not want to have to overlook or defend Bill’s indefensible conduct. When his ginormous ego got in front of common sense with his tarmac visit with Attorney General Loretta Lynch – which led to her recusal and Comey taking over the email server investigation – it was everything I could do to not scream “you narcissistic fool, you just ratfked your wife’s election!” History will not be kind to him for his role in bringing on the Trump presidency. I am glad we have a candidate whose spouse is not famous and also not infamous..

      • Thank you. I’m gonna actually listen to this when I get a chance but I like reading the transcript. And it’s great to actually have it to refer to when the trolls start up with the “no policies” crap. Obviously they weren’t listening and probably had the tweet already written since before she declared – on auto-save or something so they can send it out every time a Kamala Harris tweet comes up. Deja vu again. But this isn’t our first rodeo and we know what to expect. I’m already blocking the trolls.

  12. Warm today — the weather people said the air is being squeezed in front of the cold front, so today is really warm, high around 74. Then in the morning we’ll need hats & gloves. It might even freeze later in the week — like, enough for me to cover the plants. Not thrilled about the rich white guy making an independent run for POTUS. Being good at marketing doesn’t mean you know anything about healing this country. Don’t know if the music in my head has any connection, Dark Switch by Snow Patrol.

  13. Good morning, meeses! Monday …

    It is 18 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 16. It is snowing and we have about 5-6 inches. The heavy snow is done – light snow the rest of the morning – but this afternoon it will start getting windy and the temperatures will drop. Schools and city/county government are closed – the last I saw, the university was planning on being open. I hope they changed their minds; even if most of the students are on campus, the instructors and staff aren’t!

    A quick glance at the news tells me that I should not have glanced at the news! Literally no one would be surprised by a wag the dog military adventure into Venezuela to distract from the Mueller investigation and that Individual 1 would start making more shutdown threats. If the Republicans let him shut the government down again, they deserve to be hounded and shouted at wherever they go.

    See all y’all later!

  14. Good Moon Day morning, Moosekind! It’s partly cloudy this morning in Ashburn, with pale blue showing through wisps of white cloud. The current temperature is 30 F., going up to 38 F. later. Four-letter-word may happen tomorrow: we shall see. A lot of the time it bypasses us in the DC metro area because we’re peculiarly situated in the meteorological pattern.

    Feeling better after another cold-pill-induced sleep. Trying to decide what to do with my morning energy today—get a haircut or go to the gym? Still have writing chores to do, so hoping to get those underway.

    Was dismayed by the “60 Minutes” interview last night. What is it about rich, entitled white guys that makes them think they’re the solution to the country’s problems? However, I have a good feeling that the primaries will knock them out. It’s work to run for prez, get your name on the ballot in all 50 states, and so on.

    Yikes, it’s 8:45 a.m. Time to eat breakfast and start the day. Wishing peace, quiet, and productivity to all at the Pond!

    • I didn’t realize that Schultz was the former CEO of Starbucks – I thought he was still running it. If he doesn’t drop his democracy-killing plan, he will be the former CEO of the former Starbucks – they probably sell 80% of their coffee in urban areas where people will be ticked that his entry into the race will all but guarantee tRump’s re-election.

      Speaking of clueless white males, Tom Brokaw sympathizing with people who don’t want brown grandchildren was ghastly. There is no apology or explanation that could make that right: it is clearly coming from his heart.

  15. 45 feels like 36 of what started out as a pastel morning before turning gray. (The horizontal streaks of pale blue and pink were beautiful – but I think cobalt turning to turquoise is more so. LOL) We got 9.6 KWHs yesterday, highest for month and year so far, bringing us to 139.9 KWHs for the m-t-d with 4 production days left in the month. So 170 is technically possible, 180 is not. sigh. As with everything else, we’ll keep on keepin’ on.

    For one’s tummy’s sake avoiding the news is a good idea. Checking a trusted site or writer after it’s had time to be sorted and sifted keeps one just as informed without the reflux attacks. I was busy yesterday afternoon and haven’t heard Kamala’s speech yet – just the tweets about it – but I’m already impressed. But then I already was impressed by her work as a Senator. I’ve been busily blocking the anti-Kamala trolls who are already coming out of the woodwork like the kockroaches they are.

    At work today – hope it stays warm enough for me to walk home because today’s gonna be the only chance this week. I don’t often go for walks just to go for walks. LOL. I like walking but my system wants a reason for it. Work is good for generating revenue. Revenue is good for helping folks pay rent, keep their utilities on, buy food & meds – and feed 3 little black kitties who’ve moved into my back yard. (Gonna have to do an extra Tractor Supply run – it takes a lot more food to feed 5 cats than 2.) Holding the Good Thought for online family – too damn many problems, serious and sometimes life-threatening problems, caused by this society even before the exacerbation of this Deplorable administration. Healing Energy to everybody everywhere shaped to their needs. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  16. Good morning, Meesefolk; 7 when I got up this morning with an expected windy, snowy high of 27. My neck of the woods is expecting either 8-12″ or 5-10″ or 4-7″ depending on the various forecasts; my guess is that we’ll get 5-6″ but the wind will make the drifting an issue for the unpaved country roads in my area. I’m taking a moment to be grateful that we live in the village; not only do we have paved roads, but we have village, rather than county, plowing; our roads will be cleared almost as soon as they’re covered. Too bad they don’t do sidewalks…

    I spent most of the weekend cuddled up with Lord Peter Wimsey and catching up with the MCU (Antman and Wasp) when I wasn’t doing the usual weekend chores. That’s not at all what I was “supposed” to be doing, but I can’t say I have any real regrets about it. If the weather clears up enough, I’m driving to OH next weekend with another load of furniture, so I probably should get motivated this week to finish packing some of the odds and ends I’m taking down…should, but no guarantees, since I’m not feeling any particular urgency beyond the furniture.

    And with that politics-free update, good day to and for all!

  17. Good morning, 38 and light clouds in Bellingham. I enjoyed working in my garden yesterday, and that’s where I’m going to be today. Being outside clears my mind and the exercise is good for me. Once the TMJ misery is stabilized I hope to return to the pool but for now light garden work will keep me moving.

    Best wishes to all.

  18. Good morning meese, 46 with a high of 64. I slept pretty well although now I have to rush for work. Oops.

    Got an email about a Gather of Friends next month to celebrate my piano teacher’s life. I need to think about what I want to perform (could be music or a short already written song/poem/remembrance)

    • {{{basket}}} – since you can play the piano, I’d go with a piece of music. That way if your throat closes up on you – as it would for me – you can still get through it. {{{HUGS}}} and Healing Energy.

  19. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 5 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 6 below. The forecast of dangerous windchills has led to another day of school closings (yesterday for the snow, today for the cold). Temperatures will drop into the double digits negative with windchills expected to reach -54 overnight. We are not expected to get above 0 until Friday. I have to travel on Thursday afternoon but other than that, I am in for the duration.

    Our freshmen House members will finally get a chance to start work with the normal activities of Congress put on hold while the focus was on ending the shutdown. They appear to be very excited and who could blame them – they have been working to that end for over a year! Devin Nunes is refusing to appoint people from his caucus to serve on the House Select Committee on Ratfking Our Democratic Elections so that committee can’t start work – and can’t do the needed work of protecting the Mueller investigation and recommending legislation to protect our 2020 election.

    The news is ignorable today and so I will put my head down and get a head start on end of month projects. Most of January feels wasted as it was spent on accounting projects and tax filing deadlines and very little productive work.

    See all y’all later!

  20. Tuesday Meese. 13 degrees here in NYS – snow in the forecast and subzero windchill.

    Stayed up past my bedtime to watch Kamala Harris Town Hall

    She got a great audience response!!!

    Puerto Rico

    • Thanks for the YouTube! I have it up in a tab now. I hate seeing anyone giving Jake Tapper ratings spikes but I guess she will have to be on a lot of TV shows with the killers of our democracy, won’t she? I will never forgive CNN for running unedited unfiltered tRump rallies in 2016 and lending him legitimacy. I still have a mental disconnect whenever I see him at the White House – it should never have happened.

      • The Town Hall was past my bedtime and as much as I like Kamala, I couldn’t bear to see Jake Tapper taking digs at her. His questions for Democrats are always “Gotcha!” questions, just like those of the late, unlamented Tim Russert. I can’t stand that guy or any other CNN or news guy.

        • I join you in not lamenting the loss of Tim Russert on our TVs. He gave Dick “Dick” Cheney a free pass to invade Iraq and destroy the Middle East for a generation because of his obeisance to “access journalism.” Tapper and Chuck Todd are cut from the same cloth.

Comments are closed.