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”, Motley Meese! The week begins …
Morning low of 50 degrees in the Desert Southwest with an expected daytime high of 78. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Have a great day, all y’alls!!
Sunday Meese. 45 here in Kingston, going up to 66 and sunny.
Georgia
Black Twitter
Truth!
Puerto Rico
Good Sunday morning, Moose Peeps! We’re getting ready to start breakfast on a rather nice-looking Sunday morning. Right now in Ashburn it’s 53 F., heading for a high of 87 F., the sky is pale blue and cloudless, and the sun is slowly gilding the misty green woods across the way.
Not much to say except that without the sleeping pill I didn’t have a good night. Hope I don’t sleep through the play this afternoon. There are all these “oughts” to deal with: ought to start work on my writing chores. Ought to exercise. Ought to clean up my office. We’re cooking at home tonight, thank Goddess.
Are others concerned about the high cost of groceries? We allow ourselves many little luxuries, such as imported English chocolate and tea, plus lots of fresh fruit, on the theory that since we no longer take vacations we should at least enjoy ourselves at home. My eyebrows have long ago disappeared into my hair because of sticker stock at the grocery store. We may be eating a lot more vegetarian meals, like Spanish omelet, salad, and cantaloupe this summer.
Well, that’s all for today, f-f-f-olks! Wishing a nice, peaceful Sunday to all at the Pond.
I think the high price of groceries – and the high price of a lot of things – ties back to energy costs. We got more dependent on fossil fuels rather than less dependent and now that there are shortages, we are paying the piper. We knew this was going to happen but when people don’t plan for the future they have to reckon with whatever the future brings – and it is going to be harsh.
Good morning. Didn’t do much yesterday (well, 3 loads of laundry — but the washing machine does most of the work). Eating breakfast, watching the news. I hope the French do the right thing today.
Black Music Sunday
Well, it’s morning. The sun was shining. It got over it. Yesterday we generated 15.4 KWHs and the m-t-d is 316 – that’s 20 short of what the 2.5K system did in 2015 and 89 short of topping the “newest new normal” grouping of cloudy years that seem to have started with COVID. We’ve 7 days left. Maybe we will and maybe we won’t get that 89 more.
The little dog is now in the care of Fayetteville Animal Shelter. If he’s chipped and just lost, he’ll be going home probably today. If not, which is unfortunately more probable, he’ll be checked out by a vet and presupposing he doesn’t have something really bad, will go on the city’s adoption site (they aren’t part of the PetSmart program any longer) along about Thursday. I’m planning to check Friday. And if he’s not there I’m going to call and find out why not.
NM is burning. And unless a miracle occurs and the 1200-year drought breaks, it’s not going to recover. Aji’s safe. So far. But that could change in an instant. One spark in the wrong place – from anything – and, well, the state’s a tinderbox. Aji’s health is still lousy, and she needs money to address what can be addressed, but as far as the fires are concerned she’s OK. Lisa’s fatigue and a certain amount of pain are in overdrive from the activities early last week. Jill’s managing. Hurting, physically and emotionally, but managing.
I got more sleep than expected but that’s still under 6 hours. I’m moving very slowly today. I’ve managed the bathrooms and breakfast and that’s it. Besides my usual twitter stuff, I’ve got treadmill and vacuuming (and all the prep before I can vacuum and putting it back after I vacuum) still to do. I’m going to set up on twitter now but I’ll be late to Dee’s diary. I’ll get there – can’t miss BlackMusicSunday – but I won’t be where I can hear anything for a while so I’ll wait until I will be.
Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Glad Aji is safe – praying for all those who are facing fires
Good afternoon, 55 and sunny in my garden today, but I’m still upstairs hoping to recover from working in the garden yesterday. I have wanted to do the cleanup under the hedge for several years but haven’t, so this year I decided it was time. The task is done, I’m pleased with the result, and I hope my knees will recover. So frustrating to finally have both the time and the knowledge re what I want to do and to now have very real physical limitations to manage. Oh well, life does go on and one does not become older (and wiser?) without some limitations. Best wishes to all.
Supposed to be a stormy day. I brought my raincoat to the office, therefore we’ll probably barely get a sprinkle. Working in the office today. Hope the world can hold it together for another day.
Good morning, meeses! Monday …
It is 57 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 88. Sunny skies are in the forecast.
Thank the goddess that Macron won re-election – a France allied with Russia would have been a nightmare for Europe. I should say a bigger nightmare – they are already facing a crisis with a literal madman holding them hostage over oil. The best solution to global threats by strong men is to end the dependence on fossil fuel; we, meaning the western world, could have been energy independent decades ago if we had continued on the path outlined when gasoline prices spiked back in the 70s. Instead, we chose to drill baby drill and now we have handed a potent weapon to people like Putin. Goddess help us.
It is Monday and I need to get to it.
See all y’all later!
To this I can only reply:
Men.
They are so stupid, uncaring, and corrupt.
Monday Meese – 47 going up to 67 here in Kingston NY. Husband and I get our 2nd Moderna shots this morning – yay!
Puerto Rico
I need to get myself an appointment for my second booster. People are recommending Moderna for booster #2 because it is better for the newer variants. I just don’t know when I can afford to be out of it for what might be a couple of days.
Good gray and gloomy Monday morning, Moosekind. It’s supposed to be sunny this afternoon. Right now in Ashburn it’s 56 F., allegedly going up to 78 F. The rest of the week will be cold and gloomy. So much for the bright new season of April! Hope the lusty month of May will be better.
Yesterday actually was bright and beautiful, quite warm too—84 F. Took the dog out for his morning walk and saw two adult turtles, three teenagers, and a baby turtle happily sunbathing on the warm rocks in Fisherman’s Pond. Mr. and Mrs. Mallard rested quietly on the pond surface, while their offspring poked vaguely at suspected worms on the grassy slope leading up from the pond.
Today I hope to catch sight of a couple of birds with terrific wing spans who keep flying about. I thought I glimpsed white heads. Could they be bald eagles, feeding a couple of nestlings? I think that would be great.
Yesterday two packages were delivered to me from Amazon. I happened to be having a nap at the time. Without asking me, Dearly ripped them open and placed them on our tiny dining table. When I arose and came into the living room, I thought the dog had savagely mauled the packages. It turned out to be the “try before you buy” dresses I’d ordered from Amazon. You have to return the clothes in perfect condition, unworn, in the perfect packaging, or pay for them. One fit, the other did not. I suppose I’ll have to pay for both items now. Luckily, they’re not expensive. They look like elongated t-shirts. I looked so bulgy in the one that fit that I’ve ordered Slimming Undies to wear underneath it. Is this more than you really care to know? Sorry.
Yesterday I went to the play put on by the Acting Society. The first one was ghastly. It was a commercial play that the Society licensed. It was so corny and 1930s that I wished to Goddess I’d never left my lovely, comfy green recliner and my book to stalk to the theater and watch it. The second one-act play was written by a resident who lives upstairs on the fifth floor of my building. It was brilliant! Very funny (I actually laughed), well acted, and the sets were very well done. People keep asking me to write a play but I sweartagoddess, I don’t even have time to work on my novel, let alone a one-act play. Perhaps I’ll think of something as time goes on.
I told Dearly I refuse to walk the dog this morning, so he’ll have to. I need to get on with my own work. After a yummy breakfast of Banana Bran Muffins with walnuts and two cups of covfefe, I’m ready to start. Had a good night’s sleep because of DRUGS, so feel quite happy.
Wishing a good day to all at the Pond. Glad M. le President Macron won. Marine Le Pen is like Bernie, she’ll never go away.
So what are people planning to do when Elon Musk buys Twitter and lets the nazis – including tRump – back on the platform? There are no alternatives to that type of social media. A multi-bajillionaire is immune to boycotts, he planned to end all advertisements anyway.
I’ll stay there as long as the folks I connect with are there – or I get booted for doing “fundraiser” boosts/tweets as I was from DK. (This is a prime example of why there needs to be a balance of regulations and “freedoms” – to keep the evil ones from using those unregulated freedoms to destroy the entire free system.)
I’m not going. Twitter has allowed me to connect with folks on the island – and gain supporters for PR. So, I’m staying. Will discuss in Black Kos today
I think it depends on what kind of filters can be put on my timeline. I can block “adult content images” – maybe they will allow me to block nazis and assholes.
I have thousands of people blocked – used block chain for a while – but am back doing it manually. I also have the bot sentinel app
Apparently the deal will take some time before he actually assumes command. A lot of people will leave then. I’ll hate to leave it as Twitter is so very convenient. There’s something called Counter Social (but it may be run by a racist), and yesterday I opened an Instagram account.
It’s mid 50s heading for 65 and sunny at the moment but the clouds are already starting to move in. Yesterday we got 3.9 KWHs and the m-t-d is 320.26 – it’s possible to reach 400 in the 6 days we have left in April. It’s not likely. (We also got 3″ of rain which we can use but I wish I could send it to eastern NM anyway. They need it more.)
Everybody’s alive and at least as well as they were yesterday. Which in some cases isn’t saying much. Seriously holding the Good Thoughts for those in pain or peril or both.
I’m late checking in because once I boosted Dee’s Puerto Rico tweets Aji’s post of Wings’s newest work (a serious masterpiece of silverwork – at a serious worth-it-but-can’t-afford-it price of $2500) caught my eye and I got sidetracked. I don’t wear cuff bracelets anyway but I can certainly appreciate the beauty and crafting of it. But all my usual order of doing things is out of order. LOL. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Tuesday Meese. 51 going up to 61 here in Kingston with rain.
Puerto Rico
Made an error on yesterday’s poll – so reposted it
Action
Reproductive Rights
Support Puerto Rico in a tweet TODAY at 10 am Eastern Time. PS693 seeks to restrict almost all pregnancy terminations after fetal viability, substituting the medical criteria for such definition as well as for what constitutes a medical emergency. #NoAlPS693
Good morning, meeses! Tuesday …
It is 61 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 91. Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast.
I think the best headline I saw about the Musk Twitter takeover was one that suggested that Elon Musk will not enjoy running Twitter as much as he thinks he will. It is one thing to be King of Twitter but he will soon be sitting on top of a dungheap if he takes away all the rules and let the nazis and literal criminals back on the platform. If he follows through with his plan to require personal identification for every account, I will leave the platform. I am not anonymous to allow myself to be a bad actor, I am anonymous to protect myself and my family from harassment – there are a lot of truly awful people on Twitter. Plus, I would never give any identification to a multi-bajillionaire who intends to use people as playthings. If it stays mostly the same, I will add filters so that people can’t tweet tRump and nazis into my timeline and will unfollow anyone who does. Life is too short.
I woke up with great plans to get ahead of the curve and instead spent 45 minutes researching toothpaste since I can’t seem to find my current brand any longer. I hate when that happens. NOW I need to get in gear.
See all y’all later!
Good morning. The rain yesterday was nice — super heavy at times, it was loud even inside the big office building and we’d all go to the windows where you could barely see out. Anyway, today I’m home. Joined Counter Social yesterday, along with several million people. The Twitter deal hasn’t gone through but I want to have a space when the psychopath ruins it.
I will have to do some research on that (Counter Social) platform. Do you know who runs it? I would like something that has private group options, ways to gather with like-minded people. Do you remember the old Google Groups (called Wave)? That was a very usable forum and then Google ended it. It is what happens when your social media is controlled by profit seekers.
Google also had a little widget called “Sidebar,” which I loved. You could get weather temps., headlines, the Dow Jones averages, and so forth on it. However, the real attraction was that it kept flashing up photos from my hard drive. I’d forgotten some of those pictures but really enjoyed seeing them again.
Then Google ended it and the company has no feedback mechanism. Neither has Trader Joe’s. Both simply ignore the customers. Bleargh!
Lots of folks I follow are raising issues about Counter Social
Thanks Dee. When I first joined Twitter I read Jester, but his content got “mean” and his followers made me feel unsafe so I stopped following him. I was relieved when his content left my twitter feed so his new platform prolly won’t be one I’ll be comfortable using.
Thanks! Saved me from doing the research.
Sigh. Not deleting anything yet. But Counter Social is a lot less user friendly than Twitter. The feed is rightly called “firehose”. The sale hasn’t gone through, there’s time to see what’s what.
Good Tuesday morning, Meese! It’s a nugly day in Ashburg, 60 F. now, 68 F. later. Rain is expected at 2 p.m., or so they say. When I see it, I’ll believe it.
Yesterday I attended 45 minutes of a Beach Boys Tribute Band concert in the building next door. This is the Home’s way of showing appreciation to everyone who volunteers here. Before Covid, the appreciation was expressed in much more pleasing terms—coffee and cakes at little tables in a large room. This band meant well but they were SO LOUD! Some of the oldsters really started groovin’ to the music, waving their arms as in a mosh pit, dancing, snapping their fingers and clapping. Most of them, however, were half-asleep, as was I. The Powers That Be should know better than to schedule a concert right at the beginning of naptime!
Anyway, I made it back to our comfy sofa in time to have a bit of a nap, after which it was, of course, time for tea. I then did half an hour on the treadmill in the gym, after which I went to the clubhouse to pick up dinner. I had such a nice compliment while there. Mrs. T., formerly of the Raging Grannies and now head of the Knitting Club, told me her husband LOVES the writers’ group I lead. She said he’s really excited about the assignments and just can’t stop talking about it. He teaches karate here at the Home a couple of times a week. I told her he was a delight to have in the group.
It’s time to start my writing. Wishing everyone at the Pond a good day without too much aggro.
It’s 46 heading for 68 and sunny. Yesterday we generated just over 18 KWHs and ended the day at 338 for the m-t-d. So reaching 400 is still possible. Not likely, considering the forecast, but possible. And at least we’ve edged beyond what the 2.5K system did in April 2015.
I got 4 hours of sleep in 2 chunks so my brain is not super sharp, or even slightly sharp, this morning. It didn’t help to be met with multiple piles/pools of cat barf when I left my room this morning. At least I didn’t step in any of them. My hands are trying to decide whether or not they want to mouse today. So far, so good. I was going to do laundry but I think I’ll put it off until tomorrow.
I haven’t checked twitter yet, just boosted Dee’s tweets from here, so I don’t know how anybody’s doing. But nothing much has changed over the last week or so except the wildfires in Aji’s area. She’s still safe as of last night. Prayers up for rain, no lightning and no winds. I guess I’d best get over there and start my stuff. Bright the day, Meeses. {{{HUGS}}}
Good morning, 47 and mostly cloudy. Every joint in my body hurts today so no gardening allowed! I enjoy the work but apparently I need to be more careful. Several small trees I’ve grown in pots didn’t survive the cold winter so the empty pots are looking very bare and I want to replant them but not today. Best wishes to all.