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 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 (right before “Leave A Reply”) and use the Pages Tool, shown here with 3 pages of comments available.
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Good morning. Working till 3:30 today. When we go back to the office, it’ll be hard to go back to 5 8-hour days. Anyway, it was nice to see 2 friends yesterday and have my walking/running analyzed. He didn’t have any immediate criticisms, except I move my arms up & down too much instead of forward. I actually slept okay last night — think I only woke up once or twice. For now, watching Le Tour. I’m amazed they’re still going, very few people have tested positive, no teams have had to leave. The race director did, and he’s now in isolation, watching from home. A couple of days ago, on a mountain stage there was a huge crowd — like old days huge — and they were in the riders’ faces just like the old days, and not everyone was wearing masks. That was scary.
Hi, another! I hate how the spectators get right in the cyclists’ faces. That bothered me years and years before COVID. Guess what, this very morning the WaPo said cases in France had spiked way upward.
Working from home—do you like it? During my work career I sometimes came in on Saturdays at 8 and finished a day’s work by 1 p.m. No meetings, no chats with coworkers, no lunch! I was often amazed by this.
Yes, I always hated those stages where there was barely room for the riders to….ride between crazy, drunk, screaming people. This year, the organizers should have had security people there. And Phil Liggett has commented on the state of COVID in France.
I love working from home. Was just talking with my supervisor yesterday about how hard it will be to go back, if we ever do. It will really mess with my workout routine, for one. And I’ll miss music. And I was there Monday for a couple of hours, and the guy in the cubicle next to me (he’s mostly working there)hums & sings “to himself” – I’d forgotten about that. Ugh.
Fall arrived on a – relatively speaking – chilling breeze yesterday afternoon. It’s 61 heading for 77 and overcast. We’ll be back in the low 80s tomorrow. Not sure about the sun. But for today, it’s Fall. We generated 6.9 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 120 – not on track for day or month but at least more than I use. Barely.
Yesterday was successful in that I got everything I went out for from both Aldi’s and Lowe’s. So that part’s good. Since I was there during “senior shopping” everyone was masked (one of the Lowe’s staff wasn’t covering his nose though) and there weren’t very many customers in the stores. Some folks really do not do social distancing. If they’re too close and I back up, they follow me. sigh. But that’s easier to deal with than the folks who basically ignore the fact you’re there at all or push by to get around you. The folks at Great Clips were much more aware – of masks, of cleanliness, of as much distancing as is possible getting a hair cut. (& my head doesn’t itch any longer. That part is very good.) But I’m still not gonna be able to keep my “outs” to every 2 weeks. Heck, right now I’m not seeming to keep them to just once a week. double sigh. Still working on it.
Nothing seems to change except to get worse with the climate, nation, and my circle of offline and online friends. But we keep doing whatever we can find to do. Keep slogging until we get through. There is a through. Where it is and how soon we can get to it is another issue but there is one. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good Friday morning, Moosekind. Overcast and breezy here in Ashburn this morning. It’s 73 F. right now, going up to 81 F. later, with a possible stray shower. Rinse, repeat.
Yesterday, although we had several downpours here, we didn’t receive the unusually heavy rain that occurred in DC and the Maryland suburbs. One creek rose 4 feet, another 8 feet, and there was massive flooding.
This is a dogless morning as Monty is at the vet for routine cleanings. I’ll be able to focus better, so will write some more on the short story. Getting the document set up according to contest rules was horrendous. If I ever get a new computer—this laptop is 6 years old, but Macs never die—I want better file management software and a better word processor, even if I have to pay for dismal old Microsoft Office.
Still reeling from the revelations of yesterday. This country is in such a mess! October 17 can’t come soon enough! That’s when we’re going to polls in person to vote, carefully protected as usual. I read that people who eat out in restaurants have a much higher chance of getting COVID. We usually ate out in nice restaurants only on our anniversary or for birthdays, but that won’t happen this year. In fact, Dr. Fauci has warned that we’re going to have to hunker down this fall. We will therefore stock up on milk powder, paper towels, cleaning wipes—if we can find any—and Kleenex.
Hoping to work on my short story some more. Have to research life in Franco’s Spain for this one.
Have a good Friday, Meese, and let’s hope we get a much-deserved REST from bad news.
Good morning, 61 and really smoky. The fire close to Erica is mostly controlled so that’s a relief. We’re all having trouble with the ashy smokey air though…..the sky is a yellow haze this morning.
Wildfire news updates, September 11: What to know today about the destructive fires in Washington state and on the West Coast
My best wishes to all on this longing for rain day.
{{{princesspat}}} Holding the Good Thought for rain to damp the fires and clean the air. Healing Energy & moar {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 61 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 68. Rain expected throughout the day.
It is good to see that Senate Democrats are looking seriously at killing the filibuster. President Obama gave them “permission” by calling it something left over from the Jim Crow days – a way to give the Southern Democrats, sons of the Confederacy, veto power over meaningful reform. Now it is the Republican Party, the new Confederate standard bearers, who will be bent on blocking all that is good when Democrats take back the Senate. Just like the Electoral College, designed to give slave states veto power over the popular vote, the anti-democratic Senate – where Senators representing 20% of the population of the United States can veto good legislation – needs to be reformed. It starts with ending the filibuster and gets locked in when decent people become a majority in every state, not just the blue states.
College Football Saturday won’t be the same without any Big Ten teams to watch. I am glad, though, that our school – and our conference – is doing the right thing and following the science not the almighty dollar. It is no shock that Ohio State is pushing hard to get the conference to change their mind – to them sports is king, they show it in their recruiting practices and their graduation rates. Maybe they should put some money into science courses?
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand delivered the Weekly Democratic Party Address but it is about a paragraph long and doesn’t sound “fighty” enough to be a Fighting Back post! I think I will put up Joe Biden’s speech from Michigan about his Made in America plan. I hope that Michiganders realize that they were lied to by the Orange Pustule and that Biden has a real plan not a heaping pile of steaming bulldung.
I need to get a few things done first so the post might not be put up until tomorrow.
See all y’all later!
Saturday Meese. 47 degrees (brrrrrr) here in Kingston NY, going up to 73. I have the heat turned on for he first time this year.
Break up with Trump
#RompeConTrump
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I might do my walking this afternoon, it’ll probably be cool enough. I was going to walk during AM Joy, because the host is going to interview Rudy Giuliani, but today’s Tour stage is just too interesting. For now, I’m flipping back & forth between Velshi & Le Tour. It’s good to see that 99% of the crowds along the way are wearing masks.
Good Saturday morning, Moosekind!
It’s 66 F. in Ashburn and “sprinkling” outside on a very gray day. Despite that, we’re putting Monty in doggy day care and going for a “sanity drive” in the country. We’ve already booked the day care, so I don’t want to cancel. Besides, September is the month we’re most likely to find apples. Pretty soon it’ll all be pumpkins, which we can’t use.
While we’re out the temperature will climb to 76 F. We’re going to stop at the grocery store on our way back to pick up a roast chicken for tonight’s dinner. I’ll make the leftovers into a chicken pot pie.
Not much to say except that work proceeds on my short story. Thank Goddess I have a learned friend who advises me on Spanish phrases and whatnot. I’ve read so much about Seville that I’m beginning to wish I could go there.
Yesterday’s mail brought a letter from Miss Pink Cheeks, who asked wistfully when the next family reunions in England and Texas will take place. I had to tell her, “After COVID goes away.” My cousin Jennifer Martin in Austin, who turned her garage into a neighborhood library for her children, is becoming famous! She’s been interviewed by KVUE-TV, appeared on Good Morning America, and Ellen DeGeneres has expressed interest in doing a feature on the library. I think Jennifer touched a nerve in people who are desperate for a “good news” story, especially one concerning schoolchildren.
Wishing everyone a good day and lots of rain—beneficial, non-downpour rain—to the Pacific Northwest and California. I mourn for these states, usually so beautiful and inviting. My friend who lives near San Fran wrote that she can’t go out because the air quality is so terrible. Princesspat, please stay safe!
Thanks Diana…..I’m safely ensconced from fires and bad air, but boredom may become terminal!
Good to see Keith back, and this is an interesting theory about Trump’s weird statement
It’s 67 heading for 82 and overcast. It’s supposed to clear off this afternoon. We shall see if it does. It sorta did yesterday – but late afternoon. We generated 8.95 KWHs, almost half of it after 4pm. The m-t-d is 129 and considering the time of year, not possible to do the meet-or-beat goal of 459. Getting to 400 is possible but iffy right now. But we’ve only gotten 2 days so far this month that didn’t at least generate what I use so at least that part’s good.
If the Rs weren’t playing Calvinball I’d be of two minds about getting rid of the filibuster. I remember it being used to stop some of the worst of evil legislation when the more racist/genocidal party (by whatever name) was in power, it being the last defense of the minority party and vital to keeping a balance of power. But over the last several decades it’s been abused when the Rs weren’t in power to block all good legislation and to help them get back into power – and pretty much ignored when they are in power. When your tool becomes a weapon used against you, destroy it. Even if it means you won’t have that tool to use when you need it.
I got some postcards to do for one of our state lege candidates – not my district but every Dem sent to Little Rock helps. Of course my hands are not happy with me. I managed to do 40 of them yesterday and hope to do 60 or more today. They need them back to sort for “bulk mail” by Wednesday. Not that there’s a bulk mail rate involved here but doing it means USPS doesn’t have to and that’s a concern right now. I’d like to have it done by Tuesday just to be on the safe side. I don’t know if my little 180 postcards will make a difference but they’re certainly reminding me that growing old sometimes sux. I have trouble getting the label off the sheet. I have trouble getting the stamp off the roll. And I have the most trouble writing the 2 sentences and “thanks, bfitz” on the message part of the card. But no HQ to staff this year so I’m going to do my best at what’s available and this is available.
Nothing new – or at least nothing good new – with my family/friends offline or online. Or with my ability to help any more than I already am. Not that it has to be me. I don’t care about that. But somebodies out there who haven’t stepped up already, given what they can already, show up and do what’s needed to get everybody back from the edge and stable. Meanwhile I need to do my “internetting” then get to doing postcards. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
This:
We just have to work hard to always have one branch of government. The Senate can’t do anything on on its own, it needs both the House and the presidency. Maybe without the filibuster, we can pass legislation that reforms voting rights so we aren’t in this pickle again. If we had fair honest elections, dishonest red states couldn’t suppress the vote. I’ll take our chances.
We don’t have a whole lot of choice here. So yes, we have to work hard and always keep one branch (or at least House) of the government. Because there will be absolutely nothing we can do to stop them if they get all three branches of the government. As they well know and why they are working on just that. Work & ????????????
Good morning, 55, cloudy and a bad air warning in Bellingham. RonK tried walking by the bay, thinking the marine air would be better but it wasn’t. I tried to be in the garden because the sun was shining and the high haze looked “safe” but my burning eyes told me it wasn’t. So we both stayed indoors and are thankful for the new doors separating his study from my sewing room! I started gardening in June and have ignored the pile of projects I had underway, but they are still there waiting for me. Feels good to have the room back in order and to have a sewing plan.
Best wishes to all on this quiet September morning.