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?
…
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.
…
Wednesday Meese.
67 going up to 94 with rain here in Kingston, NY. Another muggy miserable day. I’m allergic to air conditioning so will spend much of the day sitting under a fan.
I’m really sick and tired of red rose twitter – they spend their time going after Democrats instead of Rethugs.
Fans help. Some. Anything that moves wet air is good. But yuk! If I had any coolth down here, I send some up to you. But my day is going to be pretty much like yours, weather wise. (The widget says cooler but the widget lies.) Shared misery & all that. Wish we could sit on the porch together with cookies and iced tea & just visit. ????
Puerto Rico
A big story in Puerto Rico right now is a covid outbreak in a small (35-40) congregation whose pastor preached to them that the vaccines are the Mark of the Beast. There’s been 23 cases, 9 in the hospital, 4 dead including the pastor. https://t.co/CN2Ab34h2U
— midnucas #FueraLUMA ???????? (@midnucas) June 30, 2021
Is it okay to not feel sad about the death of the anti-vax pastor? I feel somewhat sad for those who believed him and followed him to the grave and very sad for their children who were dragged to the COVID spewing services and may get sick. At this point, the deaths are choices being made by people who have access to information and can make decisions.
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday …
It is 68 degrees in Madison with an expected high of 82. Sunny skies with the chance of a thunderstorm moving through the area. Summer is back – we will have 90s by the weekend.
Yikes! A Republican billionaire is paying to send South Dakota National Guard troops to Texas? So a rich guy can buy himself a piece of the US Army to do his bidding – how can that be legal?
I was pleased to see that Rep. Jim Clyburn is helping elect non-bernedout House members, specifically in OH 11, Marcia Fudge’s old seat. The stated goal of the berners is to destroy the Democratic Party because “both parties are the same”, they should not be given free rein to do that. We need left and center left Democrats, not far-left whackos who have no real party affiliation.
I am going to ignore news of Trump Org legal peril news (it will go nowhere, he is Teflon) and tRump rallies because life is too short.
I think I got most of my June chores done – I have a few followup emails to send then I can move on to a busy July schedule of scanning, shredding, recycling, dumping. The pandemic year left me with a bunch of dead electronics that I could not recycle and stacks of things waiting to donate/sell/dump. I was talking to someone yesterday about “the past few years” and that having the pandemic year makes it hard to assign numbers to them. Was 2018 three years ago or two years ago? Numerically 3 but mentally maybe just two? Anyway, accumulated junk from whenever – begone!
See all y’all later!
We got some rain yesterday, and it’s actually going to be cooler this afternoon. This morning it’s still mid-70s & humid, but they say it won’t get as hot later. For now, I’m eating breakfast & watching Le Tour. No crashes yesterday, but a super dramatic finish with a stage winner who almost wasn’t even selected for his team this year. Today is an individual time trial; really a day for cycling fans. Today I’m just gonna work. And listen for the rain so I can run outside & drag some of my plants into it.
It’s 75 going to 85 (heat index not supposed to get above 90) and sunny at the moment. The forecast shows clouds and rain later today. I’m hoping much later. Like maybe shoving it off until sundown. Not likely of course. The widget currently shows it happening in the 2 pm – 4 pm peak generating slot. We did get a nice 20.6 KWHs yesterday and if we can just pick up another 10 today we’ll reach 500 for the month. Still very much in last place for a working system (I did have hard-to-pinpoint & time-consuming-to-fix equipment trouble in 2017 and generated less than 400 that year) but more than I used even with intermittently running the A/C. So I’ll call it good.
Steamed some potatoes that were about to go bad this morning. I’ll decide later whether or not I’ll make potato salad out of them or do something else. Fighting the fatigue monster myself a bit. I’m hoping the sunshine will help. Step by step, day by day. Things don’t seem to change. So we hang on. Crises can’t last forever. Of course changing them out for new crises doesn’t help. Keep on keepin’ on and all that.
Coffee, then to twitter. At least I can do that even when fighting the fatigue monster. And truly, compared to Amelia’s or Aji’s fatigue monsters (or Jill’s crises), I’m fine. So. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Hope your day goes well, bfitz!
Good morning, 64, mostly sunny, and a bay breeze is moving the air so the fans are turned off, yay! The intense heat was exhausting but I slept for about 10 hours last night so I hope I have some energy today. We were diligent with watering so the garden didn’t suffer but the indoors needs some attention.
Thanks to our son’s perseverance the new bath room sink is finally in place and all hooked up. We thought replacing the old sink was the easiest option and now that it’s done it looks like it was always there but getting it done was not easy!
Best wishes to all.
Good news about the sink, princesspat, and glad to hear about the breeze.
Ten hours’ sleep! I’m so envious. How did you do that?
Good Wednesday afternoon, Moosekind! It’s 95 F. here in Ashburn, on its way up to 98 F. It’s another hot, beautiful day with cloud shadows temporarily dimming the hot glare of the sunlight.
Went to the foot doctor this morning and received rather mixed news. Yes, the toe is looking somewhat better. It has progressed from an ulcer to a superficial ulcer. However, IF I want to avoid surgery, I must not use the treadmill until Lammas, must soak the foot every day in water and baking soda for 15 minutes, wear wide-toed shoes (I do anyway), and stay offa them feet! Gods. I’m going to look like Jabba the Hutt, only not as attractive, with this is over.
Yesterday 30 excited oldsters boarded one of our little buses for the drive to Hillwood in DC. Pedro, one of my favorite drivers (he shares my liking for Mozart), was driving. To tell you the unvarnished truth, I enjoyed the drive as much as, if not more than, the visit to Hillwood itself. As we bowled along I-66, I saw a young woman in a Mercedes convertible with the top down, singing along with the radio as she drove. This cheered me. She evidently was having a good time on that beautiful day!
It was exciting to drive into DC, leaving perfectly bloody Ashburn 30 miles behind. Ashburn, let me tell you, is smack in the middle of nowhere, as well as being the second ugliest place I have ever seen. I had a window seat on the bus, so I looked at the hot, dazzling blue sky, as shiny as an Easter egg, and at the glorious sunlight pouring down on the deep green woods of high summer. We lurched along Foxhall Road, lined with houses whose prices start at $2 million, all of which had half moon-shaped driveways sweeping up to and past the front door.
Finally, we reached the estate. I’m glad I never attempted to go there by myself—climbing that hill in a motor vehicle was quite intimidating. Once there, the security guards treated us like a bunch of escapees from a leper colony, despite the fact they knew we were coming. Eventually, alles vass gut. We climbed out, trembling, paid our $15 each, and dispersed to the parts of the estate we found most interesting.
Needless to say, I was a basket case afterwards. However, after a night’s sleep, I’m functioning again. Wishing all at the Pond a good afternoon!
Thursday Meese. 68 and only going up to 76 with rain here in Kingston NY. Yay!
Am really angry about Phylicia Rashad cheering for released rapist Cosby. I went to Howard with her, and her sister and frankly – didn’t want to see her become a Dean there.
Weak sauce statement from Howard
Positive action:
That’s pretty gross! He was not vindicated – he was convicted of rape and he got off on a technicality made available to him because of his wealth and celebrity. The Philadelphia prosecutor when the case came up initially issued a news release saying that he would not be charged because rich celebrities don’t get charged. That got twisted into an “offer of immunity” by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and despite three other courts saying it was not any such thing, they agreed with the rich celebrity. That anyone associated with any institution of higher learning is too stupid to understand what happened is unconscionable. #ShunRashad
Puerto Rico
It’s great to see Secretary Cardona there! Elections matter, electing decent people to office matters.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 64 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 79. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
It is beyond infuriating that serial rapist Bill Cosby was released – and released to claim vindication as one of those “oppressed by the justice system.” No one is shocked to find out that a tRump lawyer who was once a prosecutor in Philadelphia was instrumental in convincing the state supreme court that Cosby should walk. Garbage finds garbage. I hope that everyone talking about this mentions that he was not found innocent, he was released on a technicality and one that only a rich male would have access to. Deplorable.
Hannah-Jones will get her UNC tenure! This headline made me laugh out loud: “UNC trustees approve tenure for Nikole Hannah-Jones, bringing end to campus controversy.” Bringing end to campus controversy? VERY unlikely. Cue the right-wing sh*tshow …
Nancy Pelosi’s House will investigate the January 6th insurrection and they will subpoena people who will testify – on TV – about what led to the riot and how it was fed by trumpers in and out of Congress. It will run past the end of the year and remind people in 2022 which party cares about democracy and which wants a trumpian dictatorship.
Today is the last day of the Supreme Court session and all eyes will be on Steven Breyer – will he retire so that a Democratic president can pick a younger Supreme Court Justice or will he hang on and leave his seat open if he dies when there is a Republican majority in the Senate? I think out of all the reforms that they are considering for the Supreme Court, the one that puts term limits on SCOTUS is the most important. A lifetime appointment sets up a ghoulish court watch that dishonors what is left of the integrity of the court. “Vote for me and I will replace the justice that is sure to die soon.” Gross.
Okay, July beckons – a new month with plans to execute.
See all y’all later!
Good Thursday morning, Meese! It’s 73 F. in boring old Ashburn, on its way up to 82 F. There is an 80% chance of rain today. Harrumph!
Weighed myself as usual this morning and when I saw the numbers I almost screeched. Not acceptable! I’ve worked out that since the new gym is a mere 5 minutes away, I can walk there to use the sort-of rowing machine/weight lifting machine while sitting down. Then I may try the elastic bands. Problem is, of course, one is not supposed to lift weights every day.
We’re going to look at Younger Son’s new house at 4:30 today. I also have a Communications Committee meeting at 3 p.m. I’ll have to walk there, which takes 8 minutes, but it’s so much faster than the shuttle I’ll just have grit my teeth through the pain.
Otherwise, this looks like being a very busy day, with errands and household chores. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
{{{Diana}}} Healing Energy – for physical and other issues. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Thank you, dear bfitz!
Good morning, it’s less hot here. Not gonna call an overnight low of 75 “cool”, but it is better than we’ve had. I’m watching Le Tour, hoping for another crash-free day. Only 16 of the 23 teams still have all the riders they started off with.
It’s 73 going to 82, raining, and so dark the lights are on and the PV system isn’t. We did generate enough yesterday to end June with 502.8 KWHs. Definitely not great but better than I expected earlier this month. And it is enough to cover usage and bank some. July certainly isn’t off to a good start. (Perhaps the sky is weeping on “Canada Day” for the families of the First Nations children whose bodies are finally being found. My heart does.) June is the month with the most potential light and therefore generation but July is close. The goal is 563 but anything over 500 is good.
Aji got really good news yesterday. Her doctor had a cancellation and they grabbed it. Her doctor has ruled out any kind of breast cancer. Especially not the inflammatory dead-within-2-years breast cancer. They don’t know what the heck she’s got. It could be something never seen (or at least never diagnosed) before. Doctor joked that Aji would get to name it. But it’s obviously inflammatory and probably auto-immune connected. So expensive tests coming more or less immediately and the treatment depends on what the test show. But the “no cancer” is just such a relief. Wings told Aji it was the best birthday present (today’s his birthday) he’s ever had.
Fineena got her puppy. Named her Harriet. Best medicine ever. Fineena said she got a decent night’s sleep for the first time in forever with Harriet snuggled up to her. Dogs can be expensive – and of course there are always people happy to tell poor folks who get one that they shouldn’t – but they’re a heck of a lot less expensive than drugs. For a person who gets emotional/mental support from having dogs, having them is the healthier choice. Jill’s got Court today. A judge is going to decide whether or not a “dying man” who’s healthy enough to run away from his caregiver stealing her Disability along with everything else he could his hands on, continually tries to hack into her accounts (bank and online “store” like Amazon), and has sic’d a stalker on her is healthy enough to be held accountable for the felony theft part of that. Not the actual trial yet. But the hearing will determine whether or not there will be one. Amelia got a very much needed new A/C unit in her room and that’s enough excitement for her. Especially since “rent” is due on the 6th and we haven’t gotten a single donation from her fundraiser tweet.
I’m glad my life is quiet. Boring is good. I hope everyone has as productive a day as you wish but otherwise boring. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 64 and cloudy in Bellingham. The house has finally cooled enough to turn off the fans and I may need to close some windows. The slight breeze is bringing marine air it feels like a more “normal” July 1st.
Now I need to decide what to do re the blow up pool. It’s deep enough for me to do some of the leg exercises I used to do at the PT pool, but with cooler temps the water is cold and yesterday’s wind left pine cones and fir and cedar needles floating in the water. We’ll use a bucket to bail out the water today and then decide.
I’m too dismayed re the SCOTUS decisions to even think about what may result. And while the Jan 6th commission is good news the fact that it’s needed at all is overwhelming. I watched the video from the NYT last night and felt such deep sorrow. So I’ll keep my focus small today and water plants with my pool bucket. Small pleasures! Best wishes to all.
Friday Meese. 64 going up to 73 and more rain – looks like it will be raining with thunderstorms here in Kingston for most of July. Idiots started fireworks last night – my dogs were freaking (on top of the reaction to thunder)
Spent most of yesterday dealing with a “touch-up” to my left eye cataract lens – they get a cloudy film over time, and the left one needed a cleanup laser session. Eyedrops 4 times a day for 6 days. Sigh. I shouldn’t complain – thanks to my surgery I no longer need glasses to drive.
I did not realize that “touch-ups” to the cataract lenses are a thing. I wondered what they would do if things got smudgy over time, it is good to know they have a procedure.
Neighborhood fireworks! I despise them. There is no comforting my doggie when the booms start. :(
Play Beethoven’s Ninth to him. It may take his mind off. The owner of Healthy Hound Playground always plays classical music to his boarders there to take their minds off the firework noise. Poor Monty has sweated out many a Fourth in that establishment.
However, here at the home the walls must be soundproofed or something because we never hear anything, except the occasional screeching of fire engines and ambulances along Gloucester Road, which runs right outside our campus.
Thanks for this info, Dee, and hope the touchup will help you. I may need one as well. Yes, aren’t the drops BORING? Still (shrug) ya gotta do what the doc says. However tedious the process of cataract surgery and its aftermath may be, it certainly beats going blind!
I’ve been told by people how marvelous their vision was after cataract surgery. So far I haven’t noticed anything marvelous, except that the occasional double vision has gone. The near vision eye is still wavy. I’m very conscious of the fact that left is Near and right is Far, whereas after my initial surgery in 2004 I wasn’t aware of it at all after the first 24 hours.
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 55 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 75. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
The Supreme Court decision yesterday destroying the last section of the Voter Rights Act was disheartening. The Republicans have the courts to protect them from the consequences of the unattractiveness of their policies and their politicians and Democrats are left with upping their GOTV game. I hope that Manchin and Sinema are watching, Sinema especially. If only Republicans are allowed comfortable access to the franchise in Arizona, the party that she pretends to be part of will face challenges that may not be able to be overcome. We need the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and we need to make it SCOTUS proof.
I was laughing at the news reports of the criminal charges filed against the Trump Org and their CFO. Their lawyers were saying “everyone does this and we have been doing it for years – no one is every charged plus no one charged the banksters in 2009!!” Yes, that is true but sorry that is not a defense. We all know that outgoing Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance has coddled white collar criminals for years, he has let the members of the Trump Crime Family skate so often that he had an ice rink installed at his office for them! This time, we have a New York Attorney General who stepped in – and one who won’t let criminals off the hook. By the way, the fact that the Trump Org kept a spreadsheet with the untaxed perks so that they could track the total compensation to employees is Pure Trumpism – he would want to have it tracked how generous he was to his employees and how much he was “saving” in taxes. Plus he felt safe knowing that white collar criminals are rarely punished. tRump will not be charged personally but his business is toast – people who had been afraid to stop doing business with him now have an excuse.
See all y’all later!
Eating breakfast, watching Le Tour. Today is the longest stage they’ve had in many years, so lots of good TV for me. Plan for the day: enjoy working from home while I watch guys riding their bikes.
And wow it is really hot in France today. One of the guys following the riders in a car hung a thermometer out his window to check the heat reflected from the road – 114 degrees!
Yikes! & they’re riding in that? ????????????
Good gray Friday morning, Moosekind! It’s a “nugly” day, with the sky covered by a layer of puffy gray cloud. It may or may not rain this morning, although it’s perfectly all right if it doesn’t—we had so much yesterday we nearly summoned The Ark to rescue us. Hope that kind of rain is not going to show up on St. Swithin’s Day. Anyway, here in Ashburn we’re at 69 F., going up to 79 F.
Today is Elder Son’s birthday. He’s 51. I can’t believe it! I asked him what my little grandson wants for his birthday, which occurs on Lammas Eve. He said the boy wants a Maserati driven all the way from Sweden by a Swedish nanny with overdeveloped mammary glands. Sigh. I’m sure that’s what he wants, not his soon-to-be-six-years-old son!
Anyway, the big news of the day: Yesterday we met Younger Son, DIL, and Nick, their long-suffering realtor (he’s seen them through four home sales already, this will be his fifth) at the house. Meese, let me be clear: moving in with them would NOT have worked!
One of my friends believes “everything happens for a reason.” I don’t believe that, although there are times when I’m strongly tempted to do so. This house is an example of my chief architectural horror: everything is absolutely open. Rather than walls there are waist-high half-walls that aren’t even solid, they have spindle supports. It’s true that there are lots of glorious windows that go to the ceiling to let in the light. But in my opinion, with no walls and doors, just one big space, the result is one big mess and lots of noise. There’s a tiled sunroom where they plan to put the dog.
Do not even inquire about the colors on the bedroom walls. “High on pot were those who painted,” I thought when I saw them.
The quarters we would have occupied are on the first level, accessed by staircases at either end, with NO doors and NO privacy. We couldn’t have got our furniture into the space, and as for buying $3,000 worth of appliances for a kitchenette, forget it! Dearly and I were standing outside the upstairs kitchen, looking down at DIL and the realtor moving about in the room below, and we shook our heads. No, no, and no again.
In a way it’s a relief because DIL doesn’t like me and that would have worn on my nerves in time. She’s polite enough when she wants me to do her a favor, of course.
Oh, well, enough of that. I’ll just have to get a job. I want to work from home, from 9 to 1, for $80 an hour. If you hear of anything, please let me know! :)
Have lined up a dog sitter for Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon, so we’re cool there. I’ve too much on my plate to worry about politics, other than to feel sick when I think of those six mofos on the Supreme Court. May Goddess afflict them all with intractable constipation for their decision of yesterday.
Wishing a pleasant, or at least tolerable, Friday to all at the peaceful Pond.
{{{Diana}}} Not good for your plans but so very much better to find out now. Holding the Good Thought for “best outcome” for you. Healing Energy & moar {{{HUGS}}}
It’s 71 heading for 85 but the humidity is supposed to be low so no heat index difference. We got almost an inch of rain yesterday and it’s overcast at the moment but it should clear off soon. We generated 6.59 KWHs yesterday – lousy for a month where 25 is possible – and we’re certainly not on track for 500 but there’s a lot of month left.
The fascists, the Evil Ones, are being evil because they want to be. They can’t be shamed and they laugh at people bragging about “tearing them a new one” – they’ve gotten enough power to play Calvinball. And they used that power to stack the Courts with judges who think WASP males have the gawd-given right to play Calvinball. And I do not know what we can do about it at this point. But I will trust that folks who’ve been in politics and government to a degree I have not will find a way if there is one.
Jill got the “good” judge for the preliminary hearing – there’s a restraining order on her husband and on the online stalker he sic’d on her. Said stalker was flabbergasted that following and harassing someone on 4 different platforms plus destroying her playlists on YouTube was not just illegal but a felony. Hoping for court date about 2 weeks from now. Everybody else is pretty much keepin’ on keepin’ on. Nothing new that I know of. Still rejoicing in Aji’s good news from earlier this week though. No cancer. Period.
I grilled 7 weeks worth of breakfast sausages this morning. Taking advantage of the coolth and all that. (As I did during yesterday’s rain when the temps dropped to 69 – baked a pan of orange-molasses-walnut muffin bread & then a pan of chicken tenders.) Need to keep an eye on them until they’re cool enough to put in the freezer. Little Bobbie Cat likes to play hockey with them. Coffee and off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}