Week-long Welcomings from Moosylvania: July 21st through July 27th

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!
 

 

44 Comments

  1. I’m pasting this here because dear Goddess, I want this to work, but also Ihave the awful new Twitter & I want to see how posting tweets works

    • Success! Although I have to admit, I may be the only person on Twitter who isn’t particularly bothered by “new” twitter. I’m not sure why the changes were necessary or even if they were an improvement, but I don’t find them any more or less intuitive than the last version. Like I said…l’m mostly alone in this opinion!

      • It’s not that the new twitter is any more or less intuitive than the old twitter. I don’t find either of them intuitive. But the old twitter had my “toolbar” in a discrete & neat row across the top and the “trends for you” (and other stuff I’m not interested) in a narrow column along one side. What I’m there for – to read the tweets – took up the greatest portion of horizontal space meaning more visible tweets to the screenload. Now the “toolbar” is a column taking up a totally unnecessary bright-white background third, the ‘”trends & who to follow” column is another totally unnecessary third, leaving only a third of the screenload for what I’m actually trying to read &/or keep track of. It’s even worse if I’m monitoring somebody else’s page/tweets – their avatar used to be across the top & if you were at the “tweets with replies” the pinned tweet didn’t show so you got their latest tweet where you could see it without having to page down. Not any more. And the site you were visiting noted when there was a new tweet. Not any more. I have to keep refreshing the site and then scrolling down to see it anything new has posted. Meanwhile the only thing flagged at the tab is my notifications no matter where I am. That’s just the format change. When I’m on my TL, the damn thing now autoloads new tweets making the screen jump around when I’m trying to read the old ones which messes with my eyes big time. (& I can’t even find my own tweets or tweets with replies page to be able to make sure I’ve tweeted something out or add an “oops” correction if I misspelled something or left out a very crucial “not”. sigh.

        • Someone said there is a way to make it revert to the old format. I am not on the new format yet so I have not looked at their set of instructions to see if it indeed works as they say it does. Here is what they said to do:
          1. Click on the MORE (on Bottom Left Panel)
          2. Choose Settings and Privacy
          3. Choose About Twitter
          4. Select Directory (opens in New Tab)
          5. Click Home Tab
          6. Don’t hit refresh, let it Auto Refresh
          Let me know if it works.

          • It works sort of. As long as you don’t have to hit refresh for anything it works. The minute you refresh (like for a “twitter glitch), you’re back to the “new & improved” twitter. & you can’t get the old format at all for anybody else’s page. Thanks.

          • & apparently as soon as it autorefreshes you go back to the new twitter. I guess the only way to hang onto the old format is to keep the “about twitter” up in a separate tab & reclick Directory & home every time it switches back. sigh.

  2. Good morning meese, it’s 70 with a high of 95 today. After the cooler weather of last week it’s back to warm temperatures. Saturday, when I plan to go to the CA State Fair (I have a free ticket from donating blood), will have a high of 104 degrees. The Fair has misting stations and covered benches though, so it should be relatively pleasant although crowded. Certainly less humid than when bfitz and I were at WDW last August in Orlando.

    • {{{basket}}} – stay safe in that heat. Like wear a hat and stay hydrated. The misting stations should work much better in your dry heat than they did in Orlando’s very wet heat though. Have fun & moar {{{HUGS}}}

  3. Good morning, Meesefolk; 57 when I got up with a sunny high of 77 today. If every day was like this (with occasional evenings of rain), summer would be pure bliss. Even the pups agree; they’ve been outside for the past hour and are showing no signs of wanting to come back in.

    It looks like the Mueller appearance is going to be even more of a bust than I originally anticipated, but the part of me that likes fantasies wishes Mueller would be so pissed off by the DoJ guidance that he goes in with a f*k it attitude. The realist in me knows that won’t happen and is disturbed that they found a career employee to write the guidance that is so clearly detached from [what used to be] the law.

    Good day to and for all!

  4. Good morning, 61 and partly sunny in Bellingham. My grand children make me smile. Ava wants to plan a sewing day, Ryan will be here tomorrow to work in the garden with me, and Ava and Ron are going on a Land Trust hike together on Friday. The kids are all older now and their lives are busier so when they request time with us we feel very fortunate.

    I’m feeling slow and sleepy, but it’s time for coffee and to get my day underway regardless. Best wishes to all.

  5. It’s 64 heading for 80 and sunny. Very pleasant indeed. I just moved the last of last year’s firewood onto the porch so that whenever the firewood guy starts bringing this year’s wood I’ll know which is which. I walked up the block and borrowed a lawnmower for my friend. I was thinking maybe I’d do some of it for her. Chest was tight and I was starting to cough by the time I got it home. I still might of course. We’ll see how far I want to push it. I’m expecting my grandson & his stepfather today with goats – finally getting something done about the fenceline I paid to have cleared last year – I might see if grandson is willing to do a minor mowing job (it’s the small fenced front yard and the parts in the back that the lawn tractor couldn’t get). Meanwhile – no A/C again today. Yay! Yesterday it didn’t clear off until after lunch time so only got 14.5 KWHs but without the A/C that’s about 2x what I use in a day so it’s good. The m-t-d is 394 with this morning’s driblet – we should reach 400 by midafternoon.

    The Deplorables are getting more deplorable by the minute. We are clearly already in fascist territory. And other than keep this on the radar, donate a bit here and there to groups like ACLU and RAICES and work on winning elections that may or may not be actually honest I seriously do not know what to do. Well, pray. I do that a lot. Try to damp down the nightmares. I do that a lot too.

    Well, keeping on keeping on is also a thing. Coffee and a muffin square. Tour the internets & boost stuff. Keep holding the Good Thoughts. Keeping my “beloved others” in my heart and my “neighbors” next to it. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

      • In AR? Surely you gest. No, but they do “bank” the credit for up to 15 months. During a hot summer when I’m running A/C a lot or if we have a very cloudy winter month and I use more than I generate, the banked credit covers the shortage. I haven’t paid more than the intertie connection/maintenance fee since April 2015. Of course after 15 months if there’s still anything in that year’s bank, they keep it. It’s a – ahem – present of about 200 KWHs I give to them every year. {{{HUGS}}}

  6. Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …

    It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 81. Sunny skies are in the forecast. The air conditioning will have to go back on this afternoon but I should be able to keep windows open this morning.

    Today is Mueller Hearing Day. I hope that once his testimony is completed that House Democrats will move to the impeachment investigations. If they frame this as needing to dot the last i and cross the last t then they can quiet the screaming mob. If they still refuse to open an impeachment inquiry then I may very well join that mob. Yesterday, Trump declared his belief that Article 2 powers meant that he could do “whatever he wanted to do.” It is time to reclaim the Constitution and shut that whole thing down.

    Busy morning here as I have a hard deadline and people arriving from out of town which will complicate my work schedule.

    See all y’all later!

  7. Record morning low — 67, brrrr! Tonight is movie night at church: Won’t You Be My Neighbor, I’m looking forward to it. Though, I will miss the Mueller postgame, and the evening replay of Le Tour. Glenn Kirschner will live tweet the actual testimony, so I can follow it while I’m at work, and I have a tab open to NBCSN’s Tour coverage, so again I can follow that at work. Yes, I will actually get some work done.

    Today’s song: If There’s A Rocket Tie Me To It

    I break, you don’t
    I was always set to self-destruct though

    • Ok, I have tabs open for the twitter feeds of: Glenn Kirschner (who said he’ll live tweet), Elie Mystal, and Joy Reid. And one tab where I’m going back & forth between Ari Melber & Clint Watts. I think maybe I’ve got the hearing covered.

  8. Good morning, Moosekind! It’s a fair morning with low humidity and no chance of rain. Good. That means I can put the cushions back on the porch furniture. It’s 63 F. right now in Ashburn, going up to 82 F. Nice!

    Waiting for Mueller. This will be a day blessedly free of the demands of a five-year-old. Much as I adore Mr. K., his incessant chatter is rather wearing to the nerves. We’ll pick him up after dinner to keep him until tomorrow night, when we’ll take him home again. DIL works at home Wednesdays and Fridays. I’m getting paid for this, by the way.

    Hope Mueller will be on C-SPAN as I can’t bear the voices of “pandits”—journos who pander to the Rethugs.

    Stealing food from the poor, stealing children from the parents, stealing the parents’ freedom, stealing the trust of citizens in governmental institutions—I’m exhausted and overwhelmed. I feel like that all the time. Sometimes I wish I could take a mind-altering substance to forget it all, but unfortunately that’s not an option.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

    • I refuse to watch any cable news – they are all destroyers of democracy. Even MSNBC cuts live to tRump’s lies when they really don’t have to. I will sadly have to miss the Judiciary Committee hearing (I caught some on the radio while I was running errands and it sounds like they are setting the right tone) but may be able to sit and watch some of the Intelligence Committee’s questioning on CSPAN.

  9. It’s a bright and sunny morning in Fay., AR – crisp and chilly at 56. I needed a quilt last night. It was very nice. Heading for low 80s but I’ll probably be able to keep the house open most of the day – just close the west windows/curtains once the sun actually gets to them. The kitty-boys so love open windows. Actually the Twins would like to go out. It’s a grand morning “to be up and doing with a heart for any fate” – but it’s the “any fate” that keeps me from letting them out. My hands are not happy. But that’s no surprise. Hopefully they’ll be OK by midafternoon. We got 20.8 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 413.8 so definitely still on track for 500 or better for July.

    I have so many friends, so many people I truly respect and usually agree with (or form my own opinion from things they say) who are passionately driving for impeachment. I wish I could agree with them on this. I still think it’s a trap. I think the owners of the MSM are allowing out information about stuff that’s been going on for years as if it were new. I think whoever’s got charge of twitler’s public appearances & utterances is allowing the crazy to really show to lure us into that trap. Every day that Pelosi & the House Dems continue with investigations but don’t call them impeachment hearings they double down. We can’t remove him and a “vindication” by Senate acquittal I am afraid will be followed by death camps. Even if we could remove him, it won’t get one kid out of a cage or release one dollar to Puerto Rico and other disaster-struck areas. But it would take the spotlight off what the Rs are doing as a party. So everybody would dance in the streets congratulating each other on how we won – & the Rs would complete the process of “permanent” fascist power. By the time “real” (meaning WASP supremacists) felt it, well, the ones who weren’t in favor and a part of it would/will be in no position to say or do anything about it. And we would/will only get our country back by the combined efforts of the rest of the world. If possible. Right now we’re being driven to get rid of the “evil master” so we’ll be grateful for a “good master” – totally not seeing that both scenarios leave us at the mercy of a master. We have to take the whole R party down. Letting ourselves believe that the totally incompetent as well as evil person is anything more than a figurehead, that getting rid of him will do a single thing to stop those who installed him in that position…They’ve given us a strawman to fight and laugh as they watch us do it.

    I shall take my Cassandra self off to get coffee and play freecell. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

  10. Good morning meese, it’s currently 65 with a projected high of 100. I am going to try and get an early start to my day and hopefully get more done at work before coming home.

  11. Good morning, 62 and partly sunny in Bellingham. I’m trying to watch Mueller’s hearing, but my mind keeps wandering and the whole sorry spectacle makes me sad.

    Yesterday was fun with Ava. Instead of sewing we sorted a box of family photos with my sister, so it was a trip back in time for us and a history listen for Ava. I was especially happy to find the photos of my mom’s college years. Nice to see her looking so young and happy.

    Our grandson arrives via Amtrac tonight so we’ll work on a gardening project tomorrow or he will help our son clear tools and construction debris from his remodel project. He is restoring an apartment on the third floor of a 100 yr old building and the stairs are very tight. So if he is ready Ryan’s help will be welcome.

    Best wishes to all.

    • I saw that on a breaking news email that came overnight! Last night on Twitter, he was being reported as ready to resign and then had changed his mind. Apparently, the legislature cranking up impeachment proceedings changed his mind back.

      A fresh start for Puerto Rico!

      • His replacement is no better – folks already protesting her

  12. Good morning, meeses! Thursday …

    It is 64 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 82. The forecast calls for sunny skies with clouds moving in during the late afternoon.

    Robert Mueller went on TV and answered questions about his report. He clearly stated that tRump would have been indicted for obstruction of justice if not for the OLC memo about sitting presidents. He clearly stated that tRump could be indicted when he leaves office. He clearly stated that the Trump campaign accepted help from Russia and that Russian interference likely propelled tRump into the presidency. I am not sure how this became a failure for Democrats. There was not expected (by sensible people) to be any “blockbuster testimony”, no previously unknown “smoking gun” – the purpose of the hearings was to condense the report down to a set of facts that could be used to launch an impeachment inquiry, spoken directly from the mouth of the man whose team investigated the crimes. House leadership said that they have a few more i’s to dot and t’s to cross (some court filings) and then they will be ready to begin. I am not sure I get “White House gleeful” and “Democrats devastated” from that. I hope day two brings a few more measured headlines because, sadly, headlines are all that people read.

    A federal judge blocked the latest attempt by the Trump administration to overturn statutes by issuing rule changes related to asylum. Despite tRump’s claims that Article 2 powers mean “the president can do anything he wants”, there are still a few holdouts in the court system willing to block his lawless actions. Gawd, I wish we had not lost the Supreme Court for a generation – we could have used a stop on the awful Circuit Courts re-configured by Mitch McConnell to destroy everything we hold dear.

    Yay, Puerto Rico! Looking forward to hearing more about what happens next. The governor’s resignation even pushed Mueller news off the scrolling headlines.

    See all y’all later!

  13. Lovely cool morning — in the60s in town, 59 at the airport, so that’s an official “coldest ever” for July. One more day of the wonderful north winds, then the hot wet south winds come back. And I wonder what kind of pollen blew in, because my allergies are killing me. Anyway, I watched Won’t You Be My Neighbor last night & it was great. Made me wish he had been able to reach even more kids. So today’s song is definitely Head Full of Dreams. Especially this version with the speech from The Great Dictator.
    And you get a head
    A head full of dreams
    You can see the change you want to
    Be what you want to be

  14. Good beautiful Thor’s Day, Moosekind! At a quarter to six, when I took The Mont-ster out to the courtyard for a business meeting, there was a waning moon in the clear sky and the air was so cool and bracing it might have been September. How blessed to have such weather!

    Was so nervous yesterday while watching the “festermony” on the Hill that I ate a whole bag of white cheddar popcorn and then set to work on the trail mix. The Rethugs showed themselves in a very ugly light when they screamed and ranted at a decorated Marine.

    Mueller looked as if he hadn’t slept in a month. Of course it’s nervewracking facing an entire room of hostile questioners, but he looked really out of it for a while. I noticed with glee that the Dems pointedly thanked him for his service in Viet Nam and mentioned his war medals. Of course Thing, who was too busy sexually assaulting women to have time to go to Viet Nam, has never received a medal in his life nor will he ever do so.

    Currently it’s 70 F. here, going up to 85 F. today. Pleased to report that Mr. K. ate all his breakfast. He informed me he was looking forward to attending kindergarten because apparently no one there takes naps. Trying to get this kid to work on his workbook is like wrestling with a polar bear: one knows who’s going to win and the winner won’t be Grandma.

    Other than that, looking forward to a peaceful day here. I found the interview notes I was looking for, so that makes me very happy.

    Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.

    • I can’t watch Congressional hearings unless I have a mute button at the ready. The Republicans are so complicit in the destruction of our democracy; it is not even Party Over Country it is Party Over Everything – common sense, decency, logic. I only listened to a snippet on the radio and decided to wait for the written commentary.

      Robert Mueller was retired, he came out of retirement to run this investigation and had to listen to his integrity trashed for two years. I don’t see how he wouldn’t have lost faith in a lot of the institutions of government and his choice of friends. If I were him, I would be tired too.

  15. Good morning meese, it’s 72 degrees right now and very pleasant. The rest of the day won’t be as pleasant, with a predicted high of 100/104 (depending on who you believe) and an excessive heat warning in effect. However, since I’ll be indoors at work for most of the day I hope the evening will have cooled off a bit.

    Hugs to all meeses.

    • {{{basket}}} – the drier your air, the faster the temps drop in the afternoon & especially after dark. So hoping your air is dry enough for them to drop like a rock once the sun gets “over the yardarm” or whenever you get off work whichever comes first. moar {{{HUGS}}}

  16. It’s 64 heading for low 80s and sunny in Fay., AR – still need the quilt on my bed. So novel for July. Such a lovely respite from the usual end-of-July heat wave. We got 22.6 KWHs yesterday, 2nd highest day for the month, and the m-t-d is 436.8 so still on track.

    I avoided Twitter as much as possible yesterday – always avoid the MSM. It wouldn’t have mattered if Mueller had testified twitler murdered somebody and he knew where that body was, the MSM would have portrayed it as “Dems in disarray” and “President gleeful” – they pre-wrote the headlines when twitler was installed. They just reuse them for every occasion. That’s what they’re paid to do. If twitler were younger and smarter I’d be more worried about him taking over America. But he’s not so I’m totally worried about the shadow cabal, the evil ones who own the MSM as well as the R party, who’ve been working behind the scenes for decades. They worked with Russia. They installed twitler in office. They gave the Rs the list of judges to install. Once they own the Courts as they own the R party and the MSM they might even come out of the shadows. But probably not – why make a target of themselves? As long as they work in the shadows nobody will ever mount a fight against them because nobody believes they actually exist. Except me apparently.

    Meanwhile, thanks to basket (bless him), I have the old twitter format back. It took an upgrade to Edge and an extension of some kind – you know I haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, right? – but he remoted in and fixed it all for me. sigh. So now I can go back to worrying just what the content is and not worry about the format hurting my eyes. (Well, hurting my eyes any more than any other computer screen/program.) So. Coffee & the internets. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}

    • I finally got the new format and it is not the horror that everyone says it is, probably because I don’t use it much – I use it once a day to check my mentions and use my phone for the rest of my interactions. I do wish they would move the toolbar back to the top where toolbars are supposed to be. Maybe they will do that someday but I will not hold my breath. People have been complaining about Twitter for as long as there has been a Twitter and I have yet to see them respond to any user requests unless they are from Nazis.

      • Checking it once a day, yeah, not worth worrying about. I use it to boost Dee’s & Aji’s tweets as well as a few other folks I’m following so I’m on it several hours a day. The new format hurt my eyes even more than the old format and the damn thing auto updates the TL and jumps all over the play in the process which is even harder on my eyes. (I agree with you about who twitter pays attentions to – as well as the stupidity of making the toolbar a column taking up a third of the screen.) So I’m exceedingly grateful that there is a workaround and more so that basket remoted in and put it on my computer. I wasn’t on twitter at all when I was on DK – my head seems to only be able to handle one platform at a time. LOL.

        • Apparently what they were trying to do is make the desktop website look like the mobile web site (which does not have toolbars over the top). This is a common option for lazy developers who do not want to code to every browser. I agree that coding to every browser is difficult – it has given me quite a few of my white hairs – but it is unfair to take away the advantages of using your desktop. And as you discovered, very unfair to people with sight issues. I remember when DK changed to one of their many upgrades and lost a lot of people because of browser biases. Their response was “get a new computer” which did not go over well with the disability community, many of whom were already on donated computers. That is one of the (many) reasons I decided that blogging as a vassal under an authoritarian regime was not for me. :)

  17. Good morning, 60 and partly sunny in Bellingham. I’m slow and sleepy this morning. Watching Mueller testify yesterday stirred up a night of tRump angst. And unfortunately the muscle spasms our grand son is struggling with means his visit is postponed. A double dose of worry! Oh well, I’ve got lots to do today regardless.

    So time to find some coffee and get busy. Best wishes to all.

  18. Good Friday morning Meese. 62 degrees here in Saugerties NY, going up to 86. Looks like we will be back in the 90’s midweek, which is normal for this time of the year.

    I have a very long day in front of me. Leaving home at 10 AM to meet my sister from the Young Lords who is driving me into NYC to start the prep and run through for tonight’s event at the Schomburg, which won’t end till 9PM – I’ll get home around midnight – and be pooped.

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