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?
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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!
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 57 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 77. Mainly sunny, clouding up towards evening. I think there is rain in the forecast for the weekend.
I don’t have much to say about the news other than “GODDESS, NOT ANOTHER IOWA STATE FAIR!!” That the second whitest state in the country (“waving at New Hampshire“) is given such an outsized say in who our nominee will be is infuriating. That Joe Biden is loved there is no surprise – he is the worried old white people’s candidate in a state with a lot of worried old white people. I was glad to see that Kamala is still polling in the top three there despite her non-old non-white non-male status.
Trump is dismantling more of our national security apparatus with his latest moves. Forcing out Deputy DNI Sue Gordan (removing a strong smart woman checks three boxes for him!) will weaken our ability to respond to the cyberterrorism aimed at our elections as well as our ability to respond to other threats. Republicans seem willing to bet that any attacks will be against their opponents rather than against them. The death of expertise – in Trumpworld, we don’t need anyone who actually knows how to do anything. The adults have left the room just as the bad guys are crawling in the windows. :(
One of the papers I read had a headline that school districts are scrambling because Trump’s SNAP cuts will hit the School Lunch program hard, leaving a lot of kids without the only meal they could rely on. #CrueltyIsThePoint
See all y’all later!
There is no end to the depths of Thing’s depravity and utter lack of compassion.
I want Dems in charge for the next 30 years.
Diary goes up at DK in a few minutes, hope it gets some looks. I went to the gym yesterday, yay me! Most of the local news is about how really, incredibly hot it is. When Texas news stations are telling you about heat precautions, you know it’s serious. Pride is this weekend — they have to take extra care because of the crazy heat, and now security because this is us in 2019. Anyway, music is in the diary: Love Is Bigger, and This Isn’t Everything You Are (which I love, even though it makes me cry really, really hard).
and orange version is up, if anyone wants to rec it: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/8/9/1877764/-AIDS-Walk-Austin-is-just-6-weeks-away#comment_74642861
Good morning meese, it’s currently 60 with a forecast high of 84. I couldn’t sleep so did various things (writing checks, transferring money, etc.) and will feed the cats shortly. Funnily enough, I don’t think I had coffee late enough yesterday to cause my insomnia, it must be just leftover energy (I was at work until 9 pm except for a 2 hour break to get an oil change, during which time I was working) or perhaps something else. I think bfitz would know. :)
{{{basket}}} – working until 9 pm would certainly do a number on your ability to go to sleep “at a reasonable hour” – although who determined what’s reasonable about sleep patterns is another issue. But mostly with the heat of summer being what it is, your body wants to nap during the day and work at night. As anyone but “mad dogs and Englishmen” (& Americans who got it from the English) knows. You can – obviously – force yourself into the ordained schedule but your body doesn’t like it and will take any excuse not to comply. Healing Energy and more {{{HUGS}}}
Good Freya’s Day, Meese. Sure, and it’s a grand immortal day here in ye olde ugly Ashburn! (Aside from the beautifully landscaped Home for the Aged, Ashburn is the second ugliest place I’ve ever seen.) Anyway, at 9:30 the temp. is 80 F., going up to 89 F., no rain expected.
This morning I was supposed to help fill backpacks with school supplies from 9 to 11, but a received a telephone call at 8 a.m. advising me that mysterious forces had come in at 6 a.m. and filled them already. This suited me greatly as I’d been planning to blow it off anyway—I am under the weather with what they called “a Little Misery” in the convent. All I want to do is lie around. Breakfast was limited to applesauce and one slice of toast.
Mr. K. told us yesterday he wanted to go home, so as he was due to go home anyway, we took him back to his parents. The place feels so different without him! My husband would have reverently thanked Goddess for this if he weren’t an atheist—he finds being with The Littles exhausting. So do I, but they’re our grandchildren and I adore them. Still, it’s nice not to have to consider the needs of tiny people today, so I can simply rest.
The news continues to be so horrible that I may have to take a day off today. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
It’s been 73 since yesterday morning but the sun is out now (although we’ve got rain expected this afternoon) so it’ll start climbing soon. Heading for the mid 80s which isn’t bad. Only got 5 KWHs yesterday – not just not on track but not totally meeting my usage – so I hope we do better today even if we do get rain this afternoon. The m-t-d is 98 and will reach 100 today so getting to 500 is still possible but not very likely.
I just got off the phone with Bobby. He saw an off-grid PV system on Amazon and wanted to ask me some questions. We had a lovely talk and he’s probably on the phone with Casa Pueblo right now – they are about community systems but they’ve got the techies to tell him what’s a good thing and what’s not. This is for Don Feliberto of course. The really big and I think even more important thing is it looks like he’s going to move in with Don Feliberto. Get out of San Juan entirely. Don Feliberto has asked him several times over the last 2 years so right after Bobby gets off the phone with Casa Pueblo he’s gonna call Don Feliberto and ask if the offer is still open. I think it will be so very good for him to do this. I think his health – mental and physical – will calm down and get into some sort of good balance. He was even talking of doing a DK fundraiser for a small PV system (just enough to keep the lights & fridge going) – so definitely his energy is up and in the healthy range. And of course having somebody there with him will be good for Don Feliberto, too. So everybody cross fingers or paws or whatever.
The kitten-cats have been shredding one of my caned chairs so I need to clean up the detritus. Not something my little vacuum will handle. But first coffee. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 64 and raining in Bellingham. Lisa and her family are arriving soon for the weekend. Hikes and patio dinners are planned, so I hope the clouds clear soon. It’s also their 25th anniversary so I’ve been trying to find all their wedding photos and get them organized well enough to share. They don’t want a party, thank goodness, but seeing the photos, reminiscing, and sharing them with the kids is fun. I wish I were better organized re photos, but I’m not so it’s been a treasure hunt and a frustrating experience trying to get them into albums.
Best wishes to all on this rainy day.
Bobby just called back. The Casa Pueblo people didn’t laugh about the Amazon deal (which was polite of them) but they did suggest it wasn’t what he needed. The techie talked over what is needed and gave him a “lock-stock-and-barrel” quote about 3x as much – but it’s less than what I paid for my system and mine doesn’t have a battery backup like this one will. Whether or not he can raise that with one or more DK fundraisers along with any other sources he comes up with, he’s now feeling confident he can do this. And a bunch of that is planning to move. Not checking out shelters or scoping out “squats” and feeling like a failure. Feeling strong and caring and capable. Like this move is right – which it is. Crossed whatevers/Prayers/Invocations – whatever your Tradition indicates, smoothing the path energy would be very helpful.
Good morning, meese! Saturday …
It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 79. Rain is in the forecast.
The openly racist Republican president* posed with an orphaned baby whose parents were targeted and killed as a direct result of his rhetoric. It is vile and his party is fine with it because racism delivers votes. #VoteThemAllOut
I am going to go news light today as I try to get end of July accounting projects done. The Weekly Democratic Party address was delivered by Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and the topic is the commonsense gun control bills passed by the House and sent to Mitch McConnell’s legislative graveyard. The likelihood of the Republican Senate passing anything that would displease their donors is slim to none but it is important that Democrats keep pressing the case. I will publish the Fighting Back post later this morning.
See all y’all later!
Good Saturn’s Day, Moosekind! The sky is covered with a mantle of white cloud over the pale blue this morning and it’s coolish—62 F. It’s more like a September morning than a morning in August. We’ll have low humidity and a high of 87 F. before reverting to heat and humidity next week.
I might go back to bed right after breakfast. Woke up at 4:40, went back to bed but could not sleep. I’d hoped to do a lot of writing today. Yesterday I did a ton of laundry and today will be child-free, so there’s potential to get a whole lot of work done.
The news about Bobby is encouraging, bfitz! Not much to say except that I hope everyone’s plans for today will go well.
Up & watching the news. Pretty sure I’m not going to Pride tonight, it’ll still be in the upper 90s at 8, I really hate crowds….. Even though there is no love like wearing a PFLAG t-shirt or walking with your welcoming church at a Pride parade (seriously, if you want to be hugged by 500 people, that’s what you should do). Today: groceries & the gym.
It didn’t get below 70 overnight and isn’t supposed to until about Wednesday or so. Highs in the mid to upper 90s the next few days. We’ll see at which point I give up and turn on the A/C again. I’ve only run it 4 days so far this season so I guess I’m due or something. But I’d rather not. We at least got 8.5 KWHs yesterday so more than I used. The m-t-d is 106 so the 500 goal is still possible but getting less so by the day.
I got one more call from Bobby yesterday. Seems Don Feliberto’s daughter showed up (after no contact with her father in years, definitely not since before Irma) with 2 young men saying she couldn’t let him live like this so she was selling the farm to the 2 young men and taking him to FL. Don Feliberto basically bluffed them all out of there and then called Bobby crying, almost hysterical. So if he’s not there already Bobby should be on a bus right now with as much as he can pack in a carry-on heading up mountain. Don Feliberto is going to meet him at the bus station and Bobby’s moving in today so he’ll be there in support/to chase them off when they come back. Bobby said he’d work out how to get his bed and his animals while on the bus.
I just got back from Market (peaches, green beans, cucumber, cherry tomatoes) and the grocery store (milk, cheese, carrots, coffee, OJ, popcorn & canned cat food). I need to call Tractor Supply and see when the wood bricks come in – I can’t afford to miss the “early bird” with its $50 discount. Otherwise I’m kinda housebound with the sticky heat that’s doing nothing but getting stickier and hotter. I’m over 30 years out of TX and just can’t take it like I did when I was more used to it. LOL. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Oh no. Neither Don Feliberto nor Bobby need this added anxiety; I so hope the daughter doesn’t escalate this into something even uglier.
Bobby seemed to think it was bluff on the daughter’s part. She doesn’t own the farm. As best Bobby could understand, while Don Feliberto and his wife have been separated for about 40 years – & he’s paid the mortgage – they still jointly own the land. But he can’t be legally forced to sell. The daughter and young men were bullying and mildly threatening an old man recently out of the hospital. They will return to find that old man supported by a much younger man who did all the paperwork required to get the FEMA money that rebuilt the roof so knows exactly how things stand legally.
Good morning, Meesefolk; 57 when I got up and going up to 81 today. I was all energized when I woke up this morning, but remembering that I had to go in to work for a portion of the day sucked some of that out of me. I am hoping that I can get some catching up done today; the past few days, even weeks, have been a bit overwhelming, and I just want to get back to a slightly more normal pace.
Kiddo and SIL are coming up for a day next weekend for our joint birthday celebration. They’re bringing up their bikes so we can hit the nearby bike trail for a leisurely ride (my emphasis!), which is incentive for me to get a new helmet and saddle. I haven’t been riding for several years; I will either remember how much I enjoy it, or I will be so sore that I will have a new helmet and saddle and no desire to use either ever again. I’m hoping it’s somewhere in the middle.
Time to get back to work; good day to and for all!
Good morning meese. It’s 68 currently with a forecast high of 82. Hopefully it’ll be that cool in Sutter Creek, CA where I’m going for a ragtime festival. The past few years have been over 90/100 in the day. At least the Hotel Sutter has a misting station and an indoor bar. ????
{{{basket}}} you have fun at the festival. Misting station is probably good but easy on the bar considering that heat. Alcohol dehydrates and will totally make heat stroke happen sooner and harder. Music on the other hand is life itself ???????????? moar {{{HUGS}}}