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, meeses! Saturday …
It is 28 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 32. Snow starting later this evening with an expected accumulation of 3 inches or so, more to the west and south.
The second best news I saw yesterday was that Biden appears to be ready to move past “we can do a deal with Republicans, they are decent people” to “we gave them a chance, they thought they could roll me because I am a nice guy, we will do this ourselves.” The very best news was word about the Johnson & Johnson single shot vaccine. A hundred million single shot doses with 72% efficacy and which also show signs that those who do get infected don’t get sick enough to be hospitalized and don’t die is exactly what we need. The two-shot vaccine can be reserved for at-risk groups who are easier to gain access to for the second shot and the J&S can be for everyone else. Dr. Fauci, in the COVID-19 presser yesterday, said that this kind of vaccine can be produced in the BILLIONS. The government had ordered 100 million to be delivered this summer. By the way, these briefings are a great antidote to the orange menace’s “drink bleach” briefings.
It does not appear that President Biden will be doing the Weekly Presidential Addresses, at least not yet. They have a long history, dating back to FDR when he was governor – his Fireside Chats – and then into his presidency. Reagan restarted them in 1981 and they continued until tRump got bored and ended them in 2018. Maybe a “tradition” re-started by the man who showed Republicans the blueprint for running on white nationalism and ended by the man who was the culmination of that strategy can just end. If nothing presents itself, I may post the COVID briefings which include Dr. Fauci and Dr. Rachel Walensky from CDC and are moderated by Andy Slavitt. They are crisp and informative and certainly relevant. First I will need to see if they provide transcripts!
I have to spend my limited desk time on critical projects so I better get back to it.
See all y’all later!
Here is the relevant tweet regarding Biden’s determination to help the American people:
Saturday Meese. 10 degrees here in Kingston NY, going up to 28.
Have several things to do today – going to an outdoor photo shoot supporting nurses who are protesting the closure of our local rehab facilities – then have a zoom panel with a group of old folks (me included) talking to young folks about organizing.
Puerto Rico
Good morning from Austin where we’re once again having the kind of weather people move here for. A cool morning, then a sunny afternoon in the 60s. Just keep in mind that our summer is freaking hot & lasts 6 months. Today: watch the news, pick up groceries, go for a walk.
It’s 50 going to 56, dark and drizzling. Which it’s supposed to do all day. sigh. Yesterday was sunny enough to give us 8.5 KWHs before the clouds moved in. We’re at 168 so we’ll get 170 before the end of the month but 180 is doubtful.
This house is too big for me. It’s designed for a family of 3 or more. And for a family of 3 or more it’s a fairly decent space. But it has to be a family or at least folks who don’t need/care about a lot of privacy. The heating/cooling is of course designed to do the whole house which means, as with “one size fits none” there’s no space in the house that’s actually comfortable. In summer it’s not nearly the problem. Especially for just me because I don’t like the A/C anyway and use it as little as possible. In winter I don’t like it at all. (But solve the comfort issue with fires in the evening.) For just me, riches would be a house half this size – and the rest of the “footprint” catio so my boys could be outside and still be safe. My house, while not the worst by any means, is an example of 1st-world waste and that part I don’t just dislike, I flat-out hate. But it’s good shelter and it’s paid for. And that is what allows me to give/pay forward even though my only income is my Social Security. Love-hate relationship with my house. sigh.
Things are getting better. Slowly. So very many people need help now that it seems too slow. But considering where we were a month ago it’s really not. That doesn’t help people dying because they’re homeless or have no food or potable water – or their COVID shot. Aji’s Patreon last night is entitled “Liar” – and the post goes on to say that “hope is a liar”. She’s right. But hope also gives us the heart and energy to keep going. I also have a love-hate relationship with hope. But as with boosting stuff on twitter because even though it probably won’t help it might so I do it, so it is with hope. Hoping probably won’t change anything but it might, so I keep hoping. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 46 and cloudy in Bellingham. t****blues are still giving me nightmares so I need to find an antidote today. Hoping I can find the energy to bake some cookies and invite our grand girls over for a visit. We haven’t used the outdoor shelter yet so it’s time to build a fire and see how cozy we can be.
Signing off to keep my gloomy mood from spreading! Best wishes to all.