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 to view previous pages, shown here with 3 pages of comments available and Page 2 circled.
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Good morning, 67 and sunny in Bellingham. I watered the garden yesterday, but will need to do some more today. After several days of hot sun the pavers and rocks around the patios retain heat so the plants need more water than usual. I’ve got laundry and desk work to do this morning so I’ll water again later today. Best wishes to all.
Wednesday Meese. 47 going up to 75 here in Kingston NY.
Looking at the election results in NYC on the R side (glad Yang got bumped on the D side – which I was sure would happen)
Puerto Rico
I was very glad to see Andrew Yang lose. I hope it sends a message to wanna-be Democrats – we are not the party of cranks and crazies, take your show somewhere else.
All I know about the NYC primary is Yang (and I’d see people tweeting about breathtakingly stupid things he’d say), and Wiley from her MSNBC appearances. I’m glad she’s doing well.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 63 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 77. Cloudy this morning and possible glimpses of sun later in the afternoon. Today sunrise was one minute later so the shortening begins. I am actually fine with the “less morning light” part of it, I prefer to work in the early morning dark – it makes it seem quieter. This morning I slept about an hour longer than I usually do as I am letting my body re-adjust to the time change. One hour is fairly easy but two hours is a jolt.
Senate Bill 1, the companion bill to HR1 the For The People Act, was blocked by Senate Republicans. I was watching some of the post defeat commentary on TV and I was surprised at how hopeful people were. Of course, no one expected it to pass, Republicans are vested in the strategy of shrinking the franchise as a way to retain power – they know that expanding their appeal is impossible because their policies are regressive and their candidates are deplorable. Rep. James Clyburn thinks a narrower bill might pass or might be used to change the filibuster rules to include constitutional issues, which the VRA did in enforcing the 14th and 15th Amendments. I had not heard the details of the “Manchin Compromise” (I just knew that Stacey Abrams was good with it which is all I needed). If the trade-off is voter id for all the other things, I think that is doable. We can fix the voter id issue with a strong ground game to get everyone an id – we can’t fix the lack of absentee ballot access, the loss of early voting and the strategic placement of polling stations that reduce access to minority communities, we need federal laws to override the Jim Crow state laws. Anyway, I am looking forward to reading the articles I put up in my tabs.
I think the vacation was good – I look at the accumulated projects and don’t feel total despair that I will ever finish them, my brain is instead formulating a plan. It helps that I did a pretty good job of organizing the to-do stack before I left, I don’t have to wonder what to work on first. I will organize notes from my on-site visit before the details leak from my brain and then go from there.
See all y’all later!
I’m glad the vacation did it’s job – let your mind rest, recuperate, and recharge. Healing Energy, as wanted. {{{HUGS}}} (also as wanted)
Well, it’s 77 degrees, with a heat index — even before dawn — of 82. Blech. Went to the gym yesterday, made it to 8 repeats again. Going to try for 10 on Thursday since I think the a/c as well as the motion of the treadmill helps. Anyway, today is just work. Trying to savor my remaining days of just working from home.
I remember once traveling to Houston for a meeting and waking up at 6am in my hotel room with the radio telling me that it was already 80 degrees and the misery index was in the upper 90s. I know that Houston has worse humidity than Austin – it is more like Florida – but it was shocking to not even have the respite of early morning coolness.
Weather people were just talking about how today’s UV index will be 12. I didn’t know it went that high. Basically: don’t go outside for even 5 minutes without both sunscreen and UV blocking clothing. Between that and the heat index later today being 105-107, I’d say just don’t go outside.
Stay in, stay safe. (& maybe talk with HR about working from home at least part time.) Healing Energy & moar {{{HUGS}}}
I thought the UV index only went to 10 but last week in Tucson, it was 11 during the hottest parts of the day.
Actually, the UV index can go as high as it wants to. The official upper limits are called “11+”. I saw a 12 today reported for Phoenix.
Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind! Wish you all could enjoy the kind of weather we’re enjoying in the northern part of a state named after the nonexistent sex life of a 16th-century British monarch. For starters, it’s 63 F., headed for a high of 77 F. For another, we have it ALL: blue skies for me, loads of sunlight for bfitz, and very low humidity for anotherdemocrat. We shall enjoy this today and tomorrow, then the ‘ot, ‘umid, and ‘orrible weather will creep in.
This morning we have a meeting with a bank branch manager to discuss a loan to make the improvements needed for the first-floor space in Younger Son’s house. Friday evening at six we will meet with Younger Son and DIL to discuss our options, boundaries, and ground rules for when we do move in.
Staying here at The Home is not an option unless we can grow more and more comfortable with not having anything left of our IRAs and even spending down our entrance fee. We’d get 90 percent of our entrance fee (which is the price we paid for the apartment) back if we leave.
But enough of this financial chitchat. I’ve some cleaning up to do. I asked the neighbors in my hallway if they wanted the two bottles of Riesling we have that we will never touch (they were Christmas presents in years past), and so far two have declined. If only one could find some Germans, ja! Worst case, I’ll leave them in the next door Game Room, with a sign reading “Help yourselves.”
Yikes, it’s already 8:30, lots to do so I’d better begin! Wishing a good, peaceful day to all at the Pond!
It’s 62 – I’m cold and my hands are not happy – heading for 87 and sunny so far. Yesterday we got the best for the month (I haven’t checked but I think for this year) with 22.78 KWHs and at 372.4 the m-t-d is gaining again. We shall see what we shall see. And I will do my best to enjoy the last relatively nice day (sunny, highs in the 80s but low humidity so they drop after sunset = nice) my widget shows.
We all knew the Rs were going to block anything to do with election security and protecting the franchise. That our team is united in pointing out who is blocking it and is also united in finding some way to do it without the Rs I find hopeful. Yes, voter ID is a problem. Especially if it’s left up to the states to define what’s an acceptable ID. (TX, if I recall correctly accepts gun licenses that they no longer require gun owners to have but not student IDs.) But we can work around the ID issue as long as people have access – be it early voting, mail-in ballots, number & location of polling places.
Jill’s on time out with her new twitter account. We can all guess who reported her for some apparently imaginary infraction of twitter rules. I say imaginary because the email she got informing of the time out left blank the field where the reason was supposed to be. Twitter. more helping abusers abuse their victims. Aji’s good news that she didn’t tell anybody Monday was there was a cancellation at the imaging place. She spent all yesterday getting her MRIs in Santa Fe. Now we wait upon results – Dx & and treatment. Karen called last night. While her specialists – including the gastro- guy – have been doing a lot of “it’s not xxx so not my problem” her PCP thinks they should check out her gall bladder for this continued nausea she’s been having. Otherwise, pain and fatigue and she can’t drive or safely walk from a parking lot to a building so she’s stuck at home with trying to find friends and services to get her food, dogfood, & meds. With someone dropping her off at the door then picking her up also at the door she can manage to get into her PCP’s office. Occasionally. Amelia is counting it a productive day when she manages a shower. Which she did yesterday. & the 1st Nations person Aji’s been boosting has about 12 hours left to raise the last $500 Canadian. (I’ll send one more boost out on that in a bit. But I’m really tapped out for funds now.)
Coffee – probably a lot of coffee today as I didn’t sleep much (sinusitis flare) – and trying to stay warm until the sun gets high enough to push out some heat. ???? Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 57 and cloudy in Bellingham. I successfully pruned and thinned the rugosa rose bush/tree that was shading the veggie garden yesterday but looking at my scratched arms tells me it was as difficult as I felt it was! I need to stay quiet this morning and lose my pruning shears this afternoon :) Best wishes to all.
Thursday Meese. 49 degrees here in Kingston NY, going up to 79. A really nice day ahead.
Puerto Rico /USVI
Yesterday I logged off work early and took a nap, I was feeling bad and realized that I only have a few weeks left where it’s not that big a deal to leave work early. Today, I had already planned to log off at 3:30 to go to the gym. And I figured a totally non-cooking, cool meal for next week: spring rolls. I’m getting shredded veggies & the wrappers; I just need to find some tofu that’s already cooked/flavored.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 72 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 77. Chance of thunderstorms all day.
The headlines are breathlessly proclaiming an infrastructure deal between the Senate and the White House. I have my doubts. Republicans have declared that pay-fors with any tax increases on the wealthy and businesses are out and Democrats have declared that tax increases on ordinary folks (gas tax and electric car fees) are out. So how do we pay for it? Plus the “promise” of taking up the non-bridges-and-roads items in the Biden infrastructure plan LATER is the stupidest Lucy with the football scenario ever. Hello, Democrats? Have you learned nothing about how Mitch McConnell functions? Shut it down, go to reconciliation, get the big bill done.
General Mark Milley’s reply to the “critical race theory” freakout was pitch perfect.
Too bad it won’t be heard by anyone in the Fox “News” echo chamber.
I am only lightly reading the news because so much of it is stupid. Kamala is going to the border because right-wingers shamed her into it? Puh-lease. Democrats in disarray because the Biden agenda is stalled? Well, yes, probably to the left-of-the-left who have no idea how legislating works and who must have everything NOW or they will take their votes and go home. People with brains just have half an eye on the sausage grinding. I have no patience for the stupid.
It got to be Thursday and I have two things that must be delivered tomorrow so I better get back to it.
See all y’all later!
It’s already 80 and I should have closed the house up but have been busy. Partly cloudy and muggy. Yesterday we generated 19.7 KWHs and the m-t-d is 392.3 so not on track but gaining. We shall see what we shall see.
I’ve got an in-home medical/wellness/annual visit this morning. The nurse practitioner just called to confirm – and said he’d be early so I need to get moving. Both my online stuff and removing another layer of cat hair and dustbunnies at least from the front room. sigh.
Aji had wonderful news. We don’t know what’s wrong but as best they can tell, it’s NOT the inflammatory breast cancer with it’s very short life expectancy. It’s benign whatever it is. That’s the next chunk of research and investigation. Because it is inflammatory and very painful and progressing. She’s gonna try pred to see if that will dial it back. Jill’s being harassed on FB – not sure who or how she’s mixed up in this, but she’s definitely an “attack the woman, the man’s always the victim” person who seems to have access to stuff that’s 10 years old. So a stalker as well. sigh. Nothing new with Amelia or Fineena or my friend.
Off to shut the house. & then to twitter if he’s not here yet. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Unpopular opinion: if you are being harassed on Facebook, close your account.
I agree. That’s why I didn’t open one in the first place. Although I seriously miss the contact with some folks I could have reconnected with once I was banned from DK. sigh. But yeah.
Good Thursday morning, Meese!
It’s another unimaginably beautiful summer day. We’ve a dazzling blue sky and golden light shining on the green woods across the way, with a current temp. of 71 F. It’ll go up to 79 F. later and we’ll keep on with the low humidity. One could hardly ask for better! It will compensate somewhat for the disappointment I suffered yesterday. Sigh. Oh, well, that’s life.
I’m in the process of getting ready to visit the eye surgeon at 11. My eyes are better but the near-vision eye, the left one, still isn’t all the way there. I’m still very conscious of the fact that one eye has been corrected for near and one eye for far. I shouldn’t be conscious of this at ALL. The monovision worked perfectly with my original Lasik. Must ask about this.
My fingernails are so long that I could claw Governor Abbott’s eyes out. That’s because my nail technician is on vacation. I don’t want anyone else doing my nails, so I’ll just have to be patient.
Meese, let me ask your advice. I’m still taking part in planning the Authors Festival on September 22. According to my calculations, we may well be out of here before Labor Day on September 7. Should I tell the other chief planner we’re moving before the Festival? I mean, I’ll have to tell him that I won’t be needing a table after all, and so forth. Sigh. I have a box of author’s copies of my book. Was planning to flog them at the festival but I won’t be able to now.
We knew we’d be moving out some day, we just didn’t think it would be quite so soon. The talk with the assistant branch manager yesterday went very well. The meeting with Younger Son and DIL is tomorrow. Just hope nothing happens to disturb it. DIL already has a tame contractor lined up to do the work on the basement, and Dearly and I are planning to look around appliance stores on Monday.
Must hasten off, Meese! Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
I don’t think I would tell anyone that I was moving until my things are in the moving van. There would still be time for the co-planner to be “notified” before the actual festival. If you plan to still take part in it, what does it matter?
I agree.
I don’t know that I’d be allowed to participate in the festival if we move out before the actual date. I wouldn’t be a resident at that time, and the whole point of the festival is, “Guess what! Here at the Home we have actual, published, writers among our residents!”
I hear and appreciate your advice not to let anyone know we’re moving until our things are in the moving van. That’s the problem with swearing someone to secrecy: they might mention it to their wife, and their wife might not be able to resist an “I know something you don’t know” opportunity. So, I’ll just follow your advice, which is seconded by bfitz, not to mention it until we absolutely have to.
My belief is that the fewer people who know your plans, the easier it is to change or alter them. In my case, very few things are locked in, I always have several contingency plans that branch off of every decision I am considering or have made. Then if I change my mind or slow down or accelerate the plan, I don’t have to explain anything to people whose business it isn’t in the first place!! Right now I am working on a downsize plan that will likely happen in 6 to 8 months but there are a lot of moving parts and gotchas. So I have identified the various bumps in the road and will stay flexible as I proceed.
If something happens and you don’t move in the time frame you are looking at, you don’t want to lose out on doing something you want to do.
That’s true! Very sensible way to proceed.
Good morning, 61 and sunny so it’s going to be a warm day in Bellingham. Ron and Ava are going to pick strawberries later this morning and I’ll do what I can to help our son install a new sink in the main bathroom. The existing pedestal sink is from the 1920’s but it cracked several years ago and to fix the crack the sink had to be refinished. Now the finish is failing and I don’t want to keep repairing it so I found a reproduction sink that is similar in style and the existing faucets should fit. Sure hope so!
The next few days will be quite hot so I’ll need to water the garden earlier than usual, but coffee in the garden while moving the hose is not onerous duty :) Best wishes to all.
They were talking on our news about how extremely hot it is going to be up there. When y’all are that much hotter than we are…. that’s something.
Friday Meese. 50 going up to 82 and sunny here in Kingston NY.
Puerto Rico
There was a story on the news about how it’s healthy to eat chocolate for breakfast (probably dark) so I’m appreciating the cocoa nibs in my overnight oats. Eating breakfast, watching the news — later today I’ll pick up groceries. If the local chain is going to have free curbside, I don’t see a reason not to use it.
Lawks, that’s interesting. I don’t like dark chocolate anyway but the idea of eating ANY kind of chocolate for breakfast makes me feel ill. My choco-bliss comes after a full dinner, which just shows how greedy I am.
However, when you’re too old for sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, ya gotta do something.
Good glorious Friday morning, Moosekind. It’s 66 F. in Ashburn, on another day to write home about. This morning we’re blessed with the trio of blue sky, sunlight, and low humidity, but this afternoon it’s supposed to turn sticky. The high will be 82 F., and that’s the last 80-degree high for a while. Saturday will kick off five hellish days.
Monty and I pranced out to the courtyard shortly after 5 to see the Strawberry Moon. No dice, in spite of the fact that we had a beautiful clear sky. Next, we tried the porch. Again, we couldn’t see Her. I feel cheated. Oh well, that’s a very first-world problem.
Today will be extremely busy with rushing around to tidy up this place, go down to the garden to pick whatever has ripened, then rushing to get ready for the Biography Book Club at 1 o’clock. Then we have to leave Monty by himself to drive to Fairfax for a meeting with Younger Son and DIL. Younger Son appears to have forgotten much of the financial help we’ve given him in the past, so I’ll be getting in touch with Vanguard and T. Rowe Price to get documentary proof. It’s too bad we haven’t done legal stuff in this family before now. However, this move is serious, so we’ll be signing a rental agreement.
Wishing everyone at the Pond a nice, quiet Friday.
We were able to see the fullish moon over the past few days but not last night.
Good luck with your legal meeting!
Thank you!
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 70 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 79. Just like yesterday, there is a chance of thunderstorms all day. We did get some which made the doggie sad.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as always, has our back. There will be no Lucy with the Football moment on infrastructure. The bipartisan roads and bridges infrastructure bill will be passed alongside the human infrastructure reconciliation bill. She said they will not vote on anything in the House until both bills arrive PASSED by the Senate. President Biden took it one step further – to underscore that these are side by side bills – by saying that if only the roads and bridges bill hits his desk, he won’t sign it. I am sure this is infuriating to Mitch McChinless so my prediction is that the bipartisan bill fails after he twists arms and the reconciliation bill will be modified to include the roads and bridges piece. Good.
Another good piece of news:
Joe Biden Is Confirming Judges Faster Than Decades Of Past Presidents .
Excellent! One of the things I will never forgive the Obama Administration for is their lack of urgency in filling the judicial appointments they had. No one – no one – should govern as though they will have power forever and leaving judicial vacancies for the tRump Maladministration was political malpractice. Joe Biden continues to show that he has learned from the mistakes of his Democratic predecessor.
I have been letting myself sleep until the outside noises and light wake me up and unfortunately that is making my mornings more hectic as I try to get things done before people start work. The problem is that I am not tired until 10pm and my body would like to get its 7 hours of sleep. I will give it another two days to sort itself out and then I am going to have to set an alarm.
See all y’all later!
Sort of cool breeze coming in the windows at 6:30, already closed up the house by 7:30. At least the A/C hasn’t kicked on yet. We hit 109 heat index yesterday. Temps never got above 92 but. . . Supposed to be pretty much the same today. Generated 17.8 KWHs yesterday – not losing ground but not gaining either – just about enough to cover the A/C being on. The m-t-d is 409.95 – maybe we’ll make it to 500 for June. The “meet or beat” was 575. Oh well.
Like generating electricity with a PV system needing enough sunlight to do a good job much less reach its potential, government needs enough people interested in doing a good job to reach its potential. Like this year’s sunlight, our govt hasn’t had enough of what it needs to do it. And not just this year for the govt. sigh. (Biden’s administration just OK’d another pipeline Indigenous folks have been fighting through Native lands. Or rather sided with the pipeline/fossil fuel company against Native people in another court case.)
Everybody seems to be pretty much the same. Hanging on. Some situations are getting better, some worse but nothing anyone can do except hang on.
And. . . 8:05 the A/C just kicked on. sigh. Coffee and twitter. And trying not to have to go outside for anything. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 65 and sunny with a high of 86 predicted. So far the bay breeze is cooling the house in the evening but it’s getting warm upstairs. I’m used to keeping down comforters on the beds year around but I think I’d best start looking for lighter alternatives.
The new sink “should” fit, but it’s 3″ taller than the old one so yesterday was a problem solving day and today we’ll see if the new and old plumbing parts will all fit together. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 72 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 73. Rain and thunderstorms are in the forecast.
Biden said the quiet parts out loud about the infrastructure deal which exposed that Republicans were planning to renege all along and were just waiting for an excuse (Lindsey Graham calling them bad names!). Good riddance, now do reconciliation.
A building in Miami whose foundation has been eroded by rising seas collapses? NOT shocking. This is the future that Floridians wanted by electing climate denying Senators and House members and governors.
I have a full platter of weekend work since last weekend was spent recovering from my vacation and little was done. NOW the piper shall be paid.
See all y’all later!
Good luck with the work catch-up, Jan!