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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Wednesday Meese. It’s also take out the trash day here in Kingston so just came in from dragging the bins to the curb – brrr – it’s 26 right now, going up to 44.
Puerto Rico
The group said that it protests “to demand transparency in the matter of electricity generation and against the privatization of the most important asset in the country: the Electric Power Authority.”
Regarding tourism, is it okay for regular tourists to visit the island, for example to San Juan, or does it stress the recovery? My daughter is looking at Puerto Rico for a warm weather vacation – she likes that she will still be in the United States and that the vaccination rate is so high there. She would have a pretty small footprint – plane, hotel room, beach.
There are mixed messages – the government is encouraging tourism – activists want tourists to stay home.
One thing she should be warned about – in spite of the high vaxx rate – cases are now soaring on the island – I’m looking for more data about why
Cases are soaring everywhere – Omicron is creating a surge and places are talking about lockdowns again. I hope it is just positive tests and not people getting really sick. The last thing one would want to do is go for a vacation and need hospital care in a place where the hospitals are struggling because of the neglect they are suffering.
Good morning. Back to work today, at least it’s from home. I watched home remodeling shows yesterday, and Captain Marvel. Today: work. And I’ve got to watch some more Disney stuff before my month is over.
It’s 64 going to 68 and cloudy enough I need the light on. sigh. We generated 2.8 KWHs yesterday, definitely not on track for 180, bringing the m-t-d to 75. So not quite the 2.5K system generation for Dec ’14 – even this cloudy though we should reach that today.
I got the labs yesterday afternoon. Everything “in normal ranges” except I’m pre-diabetic (I know, have been for 50 years) and my LDL cholesterol is high (I know that too, have been for several decades). The bone scan is scheduled. For March 7, 2022. So. I’ve switched from calcium carbonate to calcium citrate, as of today I’m dividing my “dosages” so I’m never taking more than 500 mg at one time, trying to avoid everything that neutralizes stomach acid (including the Alka-Seltzer cold remedy that’s been helping the sinusitis), and wondering if there’s any way I can change when I drink water and still get enough water by the end of the day. At least according to an online search I just did, Ibuprofen tends to increase stomach acid, not neutralize it, and doesn’t seem to have any interactions with calcium so I can keep taking that. I hope. I know I need to add exercise to this regime but from a pandemic point of view my neighborhood isn’t safe to walk around in and I haven’t/can’t replace my treadmill just yet. I’ll to what I can.
I may need to get milk today but I’m going to try and hold off until tomorrow as I’m doing an Aldi’s and Tractor Supply run in the morning. Don’t need anything yet but I will before we get through the “holiday season” and the last thing I want to be doing is grocery shopping the week of Xmas or New Years. Anyway I can pick up milk on the way home.
As far as I know, everybody and everything is hanging on pretty much as they have been. Which doesn’t mean people are in good spaces nor that things aren’t actually getting worse. Holding the Good Thoughts.
Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 39 and cloudy. Erica and her family arrive on Friday for a visit so I’ve got the dining room ready for a Christmas lunch on Saturday. I’m using the same set up as I did for Ava’s party, just a different menu. And the fresh flower arrangements are holding in the cool garage, whew! My family has all been stressed with work and school so they appreciate their time here and I’m gratefully icing my knees!
Best wishes to all.
Thursday Meese. 44 going up to a fall like 59 here in Kingston NY.
Caribbean Matters will post at 8:30 now regularly, instead of 8AM
Puerto Rico
Record warmth here in ATX. 73,heading up to the 80s. But a cold front is coming this weekend. Just realized I need to order groceries for the holiday week. Going to make risotto with vegetables again. Last time it was a little dry – do y’all think it would be better to add vegetable broth or a can of cream of mushroom soup?
Vegetable broth!
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Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 32 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 37. Sunny skies are in the forecast. We had very high winds last night with windows and patio doors heaving but the storms and tornadoes stayed north of us. It sounds like Iowa got hit pretty hard but the Mississippi broke the line up a bit.
At one point yesterday, it sounded like the Senate had agreed to set aside the Build Back Better reconciliation bill to focus on the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. I was okay (but not thrilled) with this because I think the VRA needs to be strengthened NOW to get ahead of 2022 legislative changes planned in MAGA states. When I opened the Internet news this morning, it sounds like Kyrsten Sinema was feeling neglected and wants to blow up the VRA. :::sigh::: The Senate is broken – instead of the saucer that cools the hot tea of the House they are the graveyard for our democracy. Blast them!
I have a few errands to run today and I need to get some projects out the door first. It seems like once I walk away from my desk, my motivation to accomplish anything leaves with me.
See all y’all later!
Good Thursday morning, Meese! The weather in Ashburn is gorgeously fair, 52 F. on its way up to 67 F. before it crashes during the night or something. Who knows?
Never made it here yesterday because of getting organized to drive to Greenspring to see my friend. Fortunately it was a fine, dry day (like today), the roads were not crowded at all, and the visitors’ parking lot was so empty that I could park badly and not even correct it.
My friend and her aide came down to the Visitors’ Lobby to chat with me. S. looks as frail as a winter leaf, is in a wheelchair, and tethered to an oxygen machine. Any time she leaves her apartment she has to have that, which is why she can no longer eat in the restaurants. We had a great chat, then after an hour we went to her flat to continue our discussion. She’s too incapacitated to serve up any drinks or food, so I just had to deal with my hunger pains until it was time to leave. She has COPD, osteoporosis, and I don’t know what else. I think she would just as soon pop off.
Dearly is visiting his doctor to see what can be done about his worsening COPD, and I’m preparing for changing the sheets, making the bed, baking mini-loaves of Applesauce Cake with raisins and pecans, and perhaps working on my newsletter. After they cool, I’ll shove the mini-loaves into wee plastic bags, then put them into holiday-themed small gift bags, along with Clementines, peppermint bark squares, and walnuts in the shell. For the diabetic, I’ll substitute scented sachets for the mini-loaves.
I used to have delightful Christmas elves to help me distribute these to the neighbors in our hallway, but alas, they’re still in school.
It’s up to me to take the dawg out for a walkies, so I’d better get with it. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
Ha, I love when this is available: “the visitors’ parking lot was so empty that I could park badly and not even correct it.”
I have found my parking skills have deteriorated a bit over the past year or so – I blame it on my eyes but it is probably just being inattentive as I am focused on other things. Sometimes I return to my spot and see that I could have pulled in two foot more, not dangerously hanging out in the driving lane but it just looks silly that I am not snugged up to the front. I am very attentive to staying in the lines, though, as I don’t relish having to get in through the passenger side door and crawl across the car to get into the drivers seat. I had to do that back in September because I parked poorly in a nearly empty lot only to find out that it had filled up while I was in a very long line in the store.
LOL! I’m the world’s worst driver, I’m the first to admit. My spatial perception is awful too.
It’s 46 heading for 60 and starting to (sort of) clear off. We generated just over 5 KWHs yesterday – 80 is the m-t-d. Doesn’t look like we’re gonna make 180. We shall see.
I’ve done my shopping – I’m going to have to “bite the bullet” and invest in an air popper. Or stop eating popcorn as my bedtime snack. The bagged popcorn I’ve been getting at Aldi’s has gone up to $3/bag. sigh. Got my chicken breasts, oatmeal, and cheese as usual and also a small turkey breast that was on sale. (Not much of a sale, but still.) Got catfood and litter and fatwood firestarter at Tractor Supply. And milk at Braums. I should be good with what I got last week at Harps to last until after the New Year. I hope.
More drama with Jill. Her son got in trouble – not bad trouble, just enough so he’s not allowed to travel to NM for Xmas. And seems to be blaming her. (Boy’s been hanging around his father too long.) I haven’t heard from anybody else. Aji’s power’s out – has been since yesterday morning. Same ol’ same ol’ with politics. Been watching the Senate kill good legislation Nancy Pelosi shepherded through the House for the entirety of her times as Speaker. Same ol’ same ol’ with global warming. Watching folks go OMGHOF over stuff they’ve been warned would happen – for 4 effen decades – if we didn’t change things just makes me sick.
Running way behind here and sorta behind on twitter – lots of phone and cat interruptions. The house cleaner managed to fit me in today so I need to get everything off the floors before she gets here so she can clean them. Happy, happy. Joy, Joy. Anyway, bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 42 and cloudy. I’ve rested the morning away and my knees are grateful. Time to get busy now with errands, laundry, housekeeping, and maybe a few Christmas cards. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 21 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 30. Mostly cloudy with a chance of flurries overnight. I hope it stays flurries and doesn’t accumulate – I have a driving trip to make on Saturday afternoon and bad roads would make it a longer trip than I would like.
Build Back Better is on life support and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act is dead – Manchin will not budge on his demands that BBB be pared down even though his own constituents will be harmed by the Child Tax Credit ending and there is no bipartisan filibuster carveout possible. People decry the 50-50 Senate but really are missing that Manchin has a lot of stealth support: besides Sinema, the two Delaware old white men and some other wealthy Senators who put comity over constituents. It must be very frustrating for progressive Democrats to serve with them. As for voting rights, someone pointed out that even if we fix ballot access, we still have the problem of bad actors refusing to count the votes and/or refusing to certify the counts if they don’t like the results. So the VRA might not help – Democrats should have cared more about the federal courts and not let the deadenders bern them all down.
Omicron – spreads faster but is less deadly? Goddess I hope they are right. People right now seem to be “to hell with it, I am going to do the things I enjoy” – I would be right with them but I am not even sure I know what I enjoy doing any longer! I do like watching sports but have not had any interest in in-person sports for quite a while. I would like to unmask, it makes grocery shopping a little more tiring breathing through three layers of paper. It is depressing that almost 200,000 people died since July 1st when the vaccine was readily available to every adult. People are stupid but it is not possible to just ignore them like we used to be able to because they are spreading a deadly disease.
Friday! I need to get a few weekday-only errands run this morning after I finish some accounting work. I was going to do them yesterday but got caught up on a thorny issue at a client’s site. It is not resolved yet but it has been documented and passed along to someone who possible can resolve it.
See all y’all later!
Good Friday morning, Moosekind! It’s 58 F. with very cloudy skies in Ashburn at the moment.
I woke up at 1:30 for the usual reason, was unable to go back to sleep, and at 3 a.m. said to hell with it and just got up. I am about to go back to bed to snatch what sleep I can. This is so tiresome, especially as I have plans to have lunch with Darling Niece today. I plan to give her the gift bag I’ve assembled for my great-nephew, as it’s unlikely we’ll be able to see each other at Christmas. He is an 11-year-old movie buff who wants to be a director one day! I’ve obtained a couple of books of the “Directing films for kids” variety.
Hope everyone at the Pond will have a good, productive Friday while I’m snoring away.
Good morning. Warm ahead of an overnight cold front = high today will be 80, tomorrow 69 & that will be in the morning. I added veggie broth and artichokes to my grocery order, that should make the risotto juicier.
Friday Meese. 49 going up to 54 today here in Kingston, but we have snow in the forecast for tomorrow :(
Puerto Rico
It’s 52 heading for 61, so dark the lights are on and the PV system isn’t. Rumbly thunder and rain most of, if not all of, the day. Yesterday the sun came out early enough that we got 6 KWHs – the m-t-d is 86.24 and is not likely to get much higher today. sigh.
I think I need to add a B complex to my supplements. None of them are balanced but I found one that looks as good as it’s gonna get doing an online search. The co-op carries the label but I’ll have to call them to see if they carry that actual product. If so, I’ll go get it – or ask my son to pick it up since he lives over by the co-op – when the weather clears up. If not I can order it through Amazon. It’s under $18 for 30-count bottle through them. Not counting shipping, of course. (But hey – If I buy a larger size or buy the popcorn popper at the same time I’ll get over $25 and get free shipping.)
Aji got power up last night. There’re 2 days’ worth of her tweets I need to go boost. Amelia’s still exhausted. Any one single task takes days of rest to get up the energy to do, then days of rest to recover. That’s what living with ME-CFS means. Jill’s upset because her son can’t come for Xmas but otherwise got some positive possibles lining up. Other folks, well, still dealing with crap, including medical and financial issues. As is the nation. And the planet.
This year’s dumped cat is a beautiful tabby with white paws. I hope to heaven he or she has been fixed. I’ve put a “box cave” on the carport but I don’t think it’s being used. But the little cat is “cat-loafing” on top of the folded throw I covered it with. Sigh. Off to twitter. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 33 and cloudy in Bellingham. My house is quiet and I’m slow and sleepy but I don’t have an urgent to do list so I can ease into my day. I hope Erica was able to finish her grading yesterday so they can have an easy travel day today. RonK is making a cheddar cheese chowder for tonight so supper will be ready for them when ever they arrive. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
My computer weather widget crashed but I think I remember it being 25 degrees when it was last working. The high will be “normal highs for a mid-December day”, if I recall, so mid-30s. The forecast had called for flurries last night but it is not flurrying now and no sign of any snowy things on the grass.
“Florida Man gets 5 years for throwing fire extinguisher at Capitol Police.” Good. Maybe with enough headlines like that, people will realize that these guys were not just “tourists” visiting the Capitol but criminals who attacked law enforcement and ransacked a federal building. And if the January 6th committee does a good job, people will also realize that members of Congress and people in the tRump White House and DOJ whose salaries they paid helped organize and promote what happened that day. There should be repercussions and I hope it is criminal charges against lawmakers because with the state of “democracy” right now, it is not possible to punish them by having them voted out.
Dueling courts again as the 6th Circuit overrode a lower court judge and reinstated OSHA’s vaccine mandates. It will probably end up at the Supreme Court where there seems to be a majority in favor of vaccine/testing mandates – it is possible that they were just waiting for a really important one to demonstrate their allegiance to the #RepublicanDeathCult. The Republican Party wants a Jonestown-like devotion to their anti-science anti-vax policies in order to regain power. In a just world, their constituents would all die miserably and the vaccinated majority would not just hold but expand the power of the Democrats to keep us all alive.
I will be leaving for a weekend trip so I need to do all the “I am leaving my office, what should I back up and take with me?” things that I usually do.
See all y’all later!
Saturday Meese – snow in the forecast here in Kingston today – hope I can get to the pharmacy before it starts
Woke up to see tweets of Kamala putting this dude in his place
Puerto Rico