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.
…
Good “morning”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 21 degrees in Madison WI with an expected daytime high of 32. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese. 23 here in Kingston, going up to 42.
Some editorial cartoons
Excellent cartoons, Sis!
Gods, is it TRUE that the Polish customs people are denying Black and Brown Ukrainian refugees admission to their country? Not to get rill ugly about this, but is part of the reason NATO and the rest of Europe are falling into line to support Ukraine is because Ukrainians are WHITE? Would they be so supportive if Ukrainians were Black?
I was struck by the whiteness of the Ukrainians and that is probably why you don’t hear Poland complaining (at least out loud) about the refugees massing at their border. It certainly became a political problem when refugees from Syria showed up in Europe.
Puerto Rico
Good morning, all. I got in a walk yesterday — it was cold & almost drizzling, but I got out there. 1.25 miles & not super fast, but better than nothing. I also uncovered the plants & folded up the covers because I’m hoping this is the last freeze. Today: housework, church, make next week’s tea and overnight oats.
Posted
Good Sunday morning, Moose Peeps! Sunny and 38 F. in Ashburn, windy this afternoon. Our temperatures will see-saw between the 40s and 50s this week. Well, it’s late winter, one really cannot expect anything else.
Drearily facing ANOTHER day of work on this article. If only one weren’t interrupted by household chores, personal chores, and dog-related chores. Both Dearly and Monty are asleep on the sofa while footy blares from the telly. I can’t remember when Dearly last spent a whole night in bed: his COPD drives him to the living room to sleep sitting up in a chair. Well, he should be cheering up as the day goes on. Tonight we’re having steak for dinner and he gets to grill it.
It’s hard to tear oneself away from the war coverage. I feel so cheered every time I read about the defiant (and successful) Ukrainian defense.
Going to try my **@##^% to get at least Part 1 of this article finished so I can bloody well do the other chores I’ve been putting off.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
It’s 26 heading for 50 and sunny. We generated 8 KWHs yesterday. With the m-t-d starting at 159, it’s very possible we’ll make 180 – if barely – by sundown tomorrow. A tiny bright spot in a darkening world.
I haven’t seen any news yet so I don’t know if Ukraine is still holding off Russia. But I hope so. I also hope EU – and our own military facilities in Europe – are moving supplies, arms, and ammunition to Ukraine as fast as possible. Prayers and supportive tweets don’t stop tanks.
Jill’s stalker is escalating. To the point the DV shelter psychologist is “concerned”. Now let’s see if they actually get her some help. About the only “good” thing is that as long as Ronald can work through Alida he’s not likely to make the trip back to NM and do the “job” with a tire iron. As happened in the notorious Santa Fe case. Lisa’s still recovering from the latest stressor. I haven’t connected personally with anybody else. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody everywhere.
I will be so glad when this rash finally goes away. There’s not a lot of it left, but what is left gets pressure on it whenever I sit properly. And if I don’t sit properly it’s only a few minutes before my back is hurting. Oh well. Today is the beginning of the 3rd week and I’m almost done with it. I think. Follow-up visit with the NP on Thursday morning.
Off to my various online “chores” – and Dee’s diary, of course. Then maybe a few more of my offline chores. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 47 and cloudy outside my window. I did go the the fabric store yesterday and was very disappointed to see a dirty mess, with no inspiration to be found. Both independent fabric stores have closed thanks to covid so I hope the Joann corporation makes an effort to improve the store here. I did get the notions and zippers I need and fortunately I can look at my own fabric stash for inspiration. Best wishes to all.
I am going to guess that JoAnn Fabrics, like all big companies who make their profit off their underpaid workers, can’t find people to work in their stores for minimum wage. And if the workers they do have are tasked with stocking and check-out, not cleaning and tidying. The business model of “pay your workers poverty wages and make them use the social safety net to survive” really belongs in the dustbin of history.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 23 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 43. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
After watching the weekend coverage of the Ukraine invasion, I think people need a dose of reality. It is heartening to see the resistance, it is wonderful to see the outpouring of support but it can’t be overstated that Russia has overwhelming force and can lay siege to Kyiv and wait out the world’s outrage. Putin is not going to stop if his “constituents” suffer, he does not give a rats ass about any of them including his oligarchs. Yesterday afternoon while digesting the news that nukes are now in play, I couldn’t help but think that a deranged former KGB psychopath who is sensing that the world is changing around him in ways he doesn’t like might set up a false-flag attack on Russia and use it as an excuse to nuke the European continent and kick off global nuclear annihilation. We worried for 4 years that tRump would nuke someone – instead of pulling the trigger himself, his self-dealing and corruption left Ukraine as the perfect target for Putin to attack in his bid to destroy NATO. Goddess help us.
The Texas primary is turning out to be a dry-run for the full disenfranchisement of people who need to vote by mail or who can’t stand in 10 hour long lines. The news said that 30% of the early voting ballots received were rejected because of improper id – holy mackeral! In a low turnout primary election, it is difficult to know who that favors. In a just world, it would lead to some of the people who voted for that monstrosity to be primaried out.
I avoided the CPAC news – life is too short – and finally had to turn off my TV when MSNBC kept showing Young Tom Cotton, ugliest man alive, from an ABC interview where he spewed the Republican Party line that Joe Biden somehow caused the invasion, ignoring completely the Republicans who voted for a fig leaf for their leader’s tiny parts and cut off military help to Ukraine because Zelensky wouldn’t lie about the Bidens. The Republican Party owns this by normalizing and idolizing a bloody dictator.
Last day of February! I could have used those extra 2 or 3 days that a normal month would have given me but it is just as likely that I would have squandered them. :)
See all y’all later!
Good morning. 30s this morning but warming up all week. I wore my new-to-me jacket this morning but won’t need it Thursday, the next day I come in.
Good Monday morning, Moosekind! It’s partly cloudy-ish with pale sunlight here in Ashburn this morning. At the moment we have 39 F. bone-dry degrees, on the way up to 48 F. There will be no rain until Sunday, whentemps are supposed to rise to 70 F.
Our two-and-a-half-day telephone hell is OVER! We got on my phone with someone named Ron at Consumer Cellular, followed his instructions, and behold, Dearly’s phone now has service! It was a bit unnerving having to extract the SIM card from the phone with that tiny wire thingy like a paperclip, but I managed it. I read off the final four numbers to Ron, he entered them on his computer, and by gum, Dearly had bars on his phone. The whole situation was more unnerving than you’d think, because my phone is synced to my hearing aids, and although I can hear people on the other end perfectly well, we have to quickly put the phone on speaker for anyone else to hear it. That was handicapping Dearly, because we weren’t always quick enough to press the “Audio” button.
Seldom have I realized how dependent we are on having a phone each. We have to text each other when apart, call the doctor, etc., etc. I am grateful for technological expertise on the part of others.
Daughter-in-Texas worked the early voting effort for tomorrow’s primary in Texas. She said the Republicans she had to work with were EVIL. She, Hubby, and the Chihuahuas have escaped to a beach in Texas, not sure whether it’s Padre Island or Port Aransas.
I have just about finished Part I of the article and now need to sort out the photos for the photographer. Even though I still have the other four former Peace Corps volunteers to write about, the summer issue deadline isn’t for some time. I need to get taxes and other stuff done.
Still following events in Ukraine with intense interest. I’m hearing that the 13 Ukrainian sailors on Snake Island are alive! In captivity, yes, but alive! They’re the ones who, when told by the Russian warship to capitulate, said, “F*ck you, Russian warship.” I love the defiance of Ukrainians!
As for Putie, he should be defenestrated forthwith.
Got to get to work, Moosekind, hope everyone here at the Pond will have a good day.
Monday Meese. 19 degrees here in Kingston, going up to 32. Had a marathon convo (5 hours) with mostly young folks in attendance in a Twitter space yesterday.
Woke up to DSA stupid
I certainly won’t watch Rashida.
Puerto Rico
OMG, those are awful potholes!
It’s 43 heading for mid 60s and sunny today. So far at least. Yesterday we generated 13.5 KWHs! Which still isn’t as high as is possible in February but it’s the highest we’ve had in a single day for months. The m-t-d is 172 and we’ll reach 180 before sundown. That’ not great by any stretch but it’s good – it’s about what I use in a month and maybe enough more to start banking for the future.
Ukraine’s flag is still flying. Every day that it is still flying is good. But I’m not a fool. It was called Blitzkrieg when Hitler took Poland in 4 weeks. Putin’s the only one who can stop this war and only Putin knows how much of what kind of pressure it will take to make him do it. Other than somehow cutting off his fuel supply. Even a dictator can’t fight a modern war without tanks, air cover, and trucks to move men & materials.
Nothing new with anybody that I know of. My hands – this is tremors, not pain – are not being helpful again today. Mouse clicks are hard enough. But yesterday it took me a full 5 minutes of trying to highlight and copy 2 sentences and a hashtag. I’m back on the NSAIDs for the shingles rash. Almost all that’s left of it is where I sit. sigh. Hopefully that bit will be gone soon.
I’ve got my end-of-month/beginning-of-month household account stuff to do. I’m going to get set up on twitter then do that in the hopes my hands will be more cooperative early rather than later. I hope. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 47 and raining. It’s dark and damp and I’m deciding whether to nap or to try to work at my desk. Such a dilemma! Another cup of coffee may help me wake up. Best wishes to all.
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 41 degrees in Madison with an expected daytime high of 43. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
I won’t watch the Biden State of the Union Address – sorry, Joe, your speeches are too long! I will follow Twitter for a while if I am still awake and may look for the actual words tomorrow morning. I do want to see Kamala and Nancy sitting behind the president and hope to see them both there for the 2023 SOTU. Fingers crossed that the mid-terms are not a Democratic majority extinction event!
I am trying to not be angry that white refugees from Ukraine – people who look like they were born in the American Midwest! – are being welcomed by the EU with open arms, while refugees from Syria and Africa and Afghanistan are forced into detention camps and treated like pariahs. I am certainly glad the Ukrainians are finding refuge while their country is being destroyed but the racism exhibited is so flagrant. In any event, the world is a mess and is going to get messier.
I did not get done what I wanted to get done in February and I blame Pope Gregory XIII and his ridiculous calendar that cheated me out of two days. Today, I will do end of month accounting work, drop some used equipment off at the recycler and plan March. I have some end-of-year scanning and shredding that I need to get done – I vowed to never let myself accumulate so much paper that scanning and shreddng became an onerous task. I have been pretty good about saving new things as PDFs but I still have a few boxes of things from The Old Ways that I need to get sorted. I got rid of an old desk that I have had for 45 years and which had not been used as a desk for at least 25 years, more like a horizontal filing cabinet. I replaced it with an 8 drawer cabinet on wheels and recovered floor space and flexibility. Progress!
See all y’all later!
Sounds like a plan, Jan!
When do you reckon you’ll leave Wisconsin? Before the November elections, you said.
How I agree that speeches should be shorter rather than longer. I have problems staying awake when someone drones on and on, even if I like the speaker.
Joe Biden’s speaking style is to repeat things for emphasis, to punctuate his speeches with “I really mean that” and other verbal tics that just add extra words. I think it is to sound folksy (he may very well be folksy) but I get impatient. Give me the pith!
The plans to depart are being formulated – I have a reconnoitering trip to take mid-month then everything can be locked in.
Happy Mardi Gras folks.
20 here in Kingston going up to 42
Puerto Rico
Good morning. Supposed to be gorgeous today — high in the 70’s. I may log off early & take a walk. Today is primary day, I hope turnout goes up, it was really low for early voting. Looking forward to the SOTU tonight.
It’s 41 heading for 71 – or higher – and sunny. We wrapped up February generation at 185. Not great but definitely not bad. The goal for March is 422 but anything over 375 is good. I got my SWEPCO bill and we “bottomed out” with 11 KWHs still in the sock and have added 8 more. From here until November it’s not just generating as much as I use in a month but filling that sock for the 3 to 4 months when I don’t. Sort of like a Christmas savings account. LOL.
The news sux. Other than Ukraine’s flag is still flying. So many innocent bystanders harmed/killed when the Evil Ones do their power grabs. And Ukraine isn’t helping herself with the racist crap. Many a people who were whole-heartedly on their side are now grudgingly on their side – and that lost enthusiasm could cost them their sovereignty. But we shall see what we shall see.
I’ve got to get my twitter stuff set up and get out of here. Aldi’s then Tractor Supply then Lowe’s. Hopefully early enough there won’t be too many people in the stores. I know most of them won’t be masked. sigh.
Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}