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 Friday morning, Moosekind, after the Night from Hell! We were under a tornado watch for much of the evening. We didn’t lose power here and the heavy rain didn’t start until 8 p.m., so probably the little ghoulies and ghosties were able to trick or treat.
The weather has changed radically: it’s bitterly cold (43 F. now, a drop from 62 F. this time yesterday), and windy. Little rosy-gold clouds are sailing across a baby-blue sky and the treetops are tossing in the wind. Today’s high will be 52 F.
Couldn’t sleep last night. Finally, at 12:30, after being awake for an hour, I got up and read until 4:30. Then I went back to bed. This is not good. I’m supposed to attend the Writers’ Group this afternoon from 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Going to try to make it in an upright position until lunchtime, after which I plan to sleep again. Today is the beginning of NaNoWriMo. I can’t help thinking of my Witchy daughter and son-in-law: she born August 1, which is Lammas (and our own Sister Dee’s birthday), and he born November 1, which is Samhain. They are not Pagan but they are typical Austin liberals and very tolerant of others’ religions.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
LMM making the world a better place:
Something about 29-feels-like-23 says “winter’s here” ???????????? At least the sun is shining. ???????? Once it starts coming through the porch windows I can let the kitties out there. Heck, now we’ve had a hard freeze & the bugs are either dead or dormant I might even let them outside for a bit. Maybe. Yesterday we got a bit over 9 KWHs and finished off the month at 242.5 which isn’t as good as I wanted but that’s life. I always hope for 200 for November but haven’t ever made it. The closest I’ve gotten was 199 KWHs in 2015 – but the oak tree has grown/spread since then. I’ll keep hoping anyway.
Now that Amelia’s finally got her meds again, she’s able to think and plan. She’s reserved the new motel room for a month – that gets the best rate of $82.50/night including tax (definitely better than the other motel) – and has paid for the first week since her own money just came in. She’ll be going to her FB circle of friends for the rest. People have to pay the motel directly and they have to specify dates (so call the motel & get what the next needed dates are, then go online and complete the 3rd Party Authorization form with their credit card and those specific dates) which is why she can’t do a fundraiser over at DK – even presupposing enough folks over there remember her to get the job done. But now she can think again, once she’s got the month covered she can get to work with the housing authority and also actually finding a safe apartment who’ll take section 8 vouchers. Holding the Good Thought for her situation. And Aji’s whole situation which needs sales mostly to fix – enough sales will cover their winter expenses, house repair expenses, Wings’s surgeries (which have been needed for years – his knees are bone-on-bone), and her own medical nightmare. And Fineena’s cataract surgery Monday specifically on top of her whole situation. There are other of course. I visited DK yesterday afternoon and in my ‘stream’ saw 3 I used to help all the time. I just can’t any longer. With anything. Not even a hugs and encouraging word. I’m a ghost there. So I “channel” what I can and try to be OK with that.
I’m gonna go back to hunting for the wood bricks I got from Tractor Supply. Not another pallet. I can’t afford that. But these are the ones that do best. The other brand is harder to start and harder to keep going. The main problem seems to be my closest Tractor Supply hasn’t been able to get their full order in. They ordered 183 pallets and got two, one of which went to me. Bless them. Meanwhile…internet and coffee are the plans. Healing/Helping Energy to everybody who needs it and accepts it, to their shaping. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
I’m sorry for the …… I don’t even know what to call it, “situation” I guess, at DK. It makes no sense to exile someone who never did anything but try to help people.
Thank you. Actually that unfortunately was the point. They don’t want people helping people. They’ve never liked the communities – only Kos himself did – and they have always objected to any kind of fundraising except for their chosen candidates. But we grew some beautiful communities anyway. And helped a bunch of folks, still helping a few. So that’s something to hold in my heart even though I can’t do it any longer. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 33 and mostly sunny in Bellingham. A quiet morning for me, and that’s good because I’m sneezy and aching. I’ll stay close to a tissue box today.
Best wishes to all.
Good afternoon, Meesefolk; it was 36 at some point late this morning and is 37 now. I’m not quite sure how we’re going to make it to the predicted high of 43 at this point.
We had a power outage last night starting at 10:49; Hubby was watching a horror movie and was quite distressed to have the power go out 11 minutes before the movie ended. I was less distressed since I was mostly hiding behind the book I was reading and trying to ensure I wasn’t going to have nightmares. The power just came back on about an hour ago, so the house is finally heating back up…pups and Hubby are buried under blankets on the couch still. Fortunately, all of this happened well after trick or treating ended; it was raining and cold as it was, and no lights would have added to the kids’ misery. Instead of the normal 300-400 kids, I only had about 100. Even though I cut back and only bought 15 bags of candy, I have 5 left. I’ll probably freeze them and take them to SIL next time I visit…assuming I show the slightest degree of willpower before then.
I applied for a job with an assessment screen today; I don’t know if I’ll land in the field that gets asked to take it, but I did appreciate that the company states up-front their process AND their rationale for why and how they use the screens (they don’t have an HR department and funnel the money they would spend on HR salaries into the pay of the employees; they don’t use the screens to eliminate applicants but to rank their order for interview requests). It’s pretty transparent for a company that is known for being a bitch to work for. Because of their reputation, I hesitated for weeks about applying, despite the fact that their rate of pay is pretty much my definition of astronomical. But I finally talked with an acquaintance who used to work at the place, and what she described isn’t really that much different than many places I’ve ever worked. Bosses that expect you to do the work exactly as they specify? Try doing anything remotely creative (or even as simple as changing the margins) on a Naval Warfare publication. A steep learning curve with a ton of data to learn? Ask me about the time I had to prove, by taking a test, that I could identify/knew 200 trees and shrubs and 150 perennials by their Latin species/subspecies names. And really, even after realizing that I was holding back for reasons that didn’t necessarily apply to me, I’m also realizing that there’s such a thing as being too picky. The Michigan economy is shaky (the Ford engine plant near me is shutting down and moving more than 600 workers, which will hurt in my preferred geographic search area), and I need to find something before everything crashes and burns.
Good day to and for all!
Good luck on that job possibility – I hope you at least get an interview!
That’s exactly the reason I won’t watch horror movies or read horror novels. I’ve been known to walk in my sleep after reading them, so that sort of thing is out for me.
Good luck on the job hunt!
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 37 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 34. It is snowing now and will be most of the morning and into the afternoon – not much accumulation expected.
Day One of Full House Approved Impeachment Inquiry passed uneventfully – the republic did not crumble, Herr Twitler was still tweeting increasingly deranged nonsense. As someone pointed out, impeachment (and removal if it were to come to pass) does not nullify the 2016 election as Republicans claim it would. I wish! Donald J. Trump will still have been president for 3 years – the bills he signed into law will still be laws and the awful people he appointed to the courts do not have to resign their seats. There would still be a Republican president, kids would still be in cages, the earth will still be burning up, and the Affordable Care Act will still be under attack. Undoing the Trump years will take more than one Act of Congress, it will take a Democratic president, a Senate majority to work with the House majority and the courage to kill the legislative filibuster to restore small d democracy in America. And maybe a couple of Senators from DC?
It should shock exactly no one that the puristas in the Democratic Party put themselves out on a limb and sawed it off. Medicare For All is dead – it should have been strangled in its cradle – and those who embrace it are finished. When the dust settles, after the first four nominating contests, a white male will have won Iowa because WHITE and MALE, a white son or daughter of New England will have won New Hampshire because WHITE and NEW ENGLANDER, and the nominee of our party will be whoever came in 1st or 2nd in South Carolina and Nevada. I still hope it is Kamala Harris and I think her decision to cede New Hampshire was wise – the only people upset, from what I can see, are the butthurt “First in the Nation” people who want everyone to visit their homes and tell them that their furrowed brows are important. They aren’t – the beliefs of New Hampshirites do not reflect the values of Democrats in the rest of the nation. The beliefs of Iowans don’t either but I understand why Kamala is still competing there – the optics of finishing out of the top 5 there would not be good. There is still time. I wonder where the Beto supporters will go after they finish being sad.
Chairman Eliot Engel of the House Foreign Relations Committee did the Weekly Democratic Party Address calling out the buffoon in the White House whose incoherent foreign policy is making the world safe for tyrants and dangerous for everyone else. I will publish the Fighting Back post later this morning after I get the weekend’s projects organized.
See all y’all later!
Saturday Meese
37 going up to 52 here in the NY Catskills.
Was elated to see Kamala Harris knock it out of the park in Iowa – though I doubt that will change her erasure.
Seems the powers that be want a white ticket.
Directly from the Harris Campaign’s YouTube.
“You are going to need someone who can go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump – Iowa, you’re looking at her!”
Ugh, another old white guy with a mediocre record and a habit of putting his foot in his mouth?
Will vote for Biden if he’s the nominee but…I won’t be enthusiastic. He’s not tough enough to defeat Thing.
Puerto Rico
Kamala2020 from Onomastic
Ono is on a roll. :)
Another morning in the 30s. Funny how 68 degrees running the heater feels cold, but 70 degrees running the a/c really doesn’t. Anyway, I put in for some vacation time & I have Monday & Tuesday off. And next week, it’s Tuesday & Wednesday (making that weekend a 5-day one), and something the 3rd week of the month, I forget what. Anyway, I don’t have to do much this weekend. Because of a twitter discussion with U2 friends, song in my head is You’re The Best Thing About Me.
I don’t know if I’m getting old or just lazy but I couldn’t face going to the Market in 29-degree weather before the sun was even over the hilltops. Maybe next week after the time change. There are only 4 more Saturdays of the outdoor Market. I’m not buying as much stuff from the Market these days anyway. Other people need the money that’s the difference between the very-much-worth-it $4/lb fresh green beans and the OK-they’re-edible $1/lb frozen grocery store green beans. I haven’t even managed to get to the grocery store yet although the sun is very much over the hilltop (although not over the treetops). Yesterday got the month off to a reasonable start – for November – with 8 KWHs. Sufficient “good” days could easily take us to 200 – but there’s not much wiggle room this time of year. It takes a week of good days to make up for 1 bad day – and there are only 4 weeks in the month. We shall see what we shall see.
I hope Kamala makes it. The Birchers/fascists start the campaigns so early for the express purpose of running our candidates out of money. Castro made it this time with a last-minute push (that Kamala’s people joined in on – but we can’t trust his people to do the same for Kamala) even though he’s being even more erased than she is. Mostly because they can’t find much to attack him on. Most of Kamala’s little coverage is attacks – Russian bots and bernie bros by whatever name. Basically they’re “Hillarying” her. No coverage of substance, ignore except for attacks of mostly made-up crap. She’s the one candidate who is always polite to the other candidates at the very least and usually appreciative of them. We’ll see how many of the various candidates who drop out throw their weight behind her.
Amelia is making lists and making plans. She managed to go out and run errands yesterday including grocery shopping and some laundry. What a difference having her meds makes! Aji’s managing, as she always does, in pain and very depressed. Rs always trash the economy and this group is doing the R thing – normally Wings is elbow-deep in commissions. This year not a single one. He’s working on stocking up for the holidays and everybody’s praying there will actually be holiday sales. Fineena’s got cataract surgery Monday & sees a back surgeon in about 3 weeks. But Bobby’s OK. And it’s wonderful Dee’s husband is close by now. Definitely holding the good thought he gets home soon.
I really need to do my grocery shopping soon. And coffee. But Murf’s on my lap so I guess I’ll tour the internet until he’s off. heh. Healing/Helping Energy to everybody who needs and accepts it, to their shaping. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 36 and will be mostly sunny in Bellingham. The mornings are darker now making it even easier to linger with coffee and internet reading. As I suspected the basement painting project is stalled because our son has a work project with a tight deadline and Ron and I are not the speedy painters we used to be. The mess in my laundry/command central space is unsettling but I’ve got no choice but to cope. As we move into the holidays my need to be ready and organized is being challenged!
I’m still sneezing but not aching so much this morning so that’s a bit of good news. I’m going to try to stay in my sewing room today and ignore the rest of the world. Best wishes to all.