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, meeses! Wednesday, the Ides of March …
It is 59 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 61. Overcast skies with rain expected. I saw the moon early this morning in the southeast sky with the last quarter waning (and now officially a crescent) with a few clouds around her but not obscuring her.
Well, who could have predicted that a bunch of privileged white males, narcissistic tech bros, would not know how to run a bank and would make a complete hash of it? Who needs “risk analysis officers” when you have the best brains evah?? The shareholder lawsuits have already started and I hope that the people who ran these “banks” – and did not bother including any of the Federal Reserve warnings about the kind of investments they were making in their annual reports – are made penniless. I am sick of banksters getting bailed out and sick also of people saying that “taxpayers will not be on the hook.” Bullcrap. Anyone who has investments and who has money in banks is going to pay a price – just because it does not come from taxpayer funds means diddlysquat. Fees will go up, investments will lose value. My credit union sent me a nice note reminding me that they are not assholes and inviting me to move more money there. I think I am going to do just that. I found out that my rent increase will be much smaller than I had budgeted for and so that money can be tucked away for a year.
Today was another busy morning and I have a number of things I need to do before I step away from my computer.
See all y’all later!
Good morning, 39 and sunny outside my window today. Yesterday was busy so I’m weary this morning but it’s nice to have the house feel clean and in order again. I’ll work at my desk this morning, and have a few errands to do this afternoon. Best wishes to all.
Thursday Meese. 26 here in Kingston going up to 54 which should melt the snow still on the ground.
In case you missed it – MVP Harris was on The Late Show
Good morning. Had an awful headache yesterday. I’m at the office, got my walk in — hoped walking & fresh air would help. Still don’t feel great. But I’ve already walked 1.25 mi, so there’s something. There’s a lot of U2 content out today, and more tomorrow. But I swear I actually do feel bad, not trying to go home because of it.
Good morning, Meese. Talk about the Ides of March being a terrible day: yesterday at 5:30 p.m. my nephew called me. He rarely calls or texts, so I knew it couldn’t be good. It appears that a police detective had called him as he was driving home from work with the news that his mother, my sister, had been found dead in her apartment in awful circumstances.
Right now we don’t know any more than that, so as soon as we are allowed to go to the apartment, we may find out more. It may take three months to receive findings from the medical examiner. Anyway, it is horrible news. So far we have told only my children. My nephew and his younger sister, who lives in New Orleans, are both in floods, of course.
And today is our 5th anniversary of moving here. This same nephew helped us move our boxes in here and his wife, Darling Niece, helped me unpack.
Living here is like living in a village where you used to know, or at least recognize, practically everyone, but with new buildings going up it’s impossible to know everyone. I will say that it’s nice to have people my own age to do things with: the Progressives, the UUs, the Biography Book Club people, the Raging Grannies, the publications gang, and the writers. I didn’t have that before.
But I will never stop missing nice hardwood floors instead of nasty, allergenic, smelly carpet, having a garbage disposal that actually ground things up, windows that opened all the way, and a wood-burning fireplace. It’s a tradeoff. And at the very least, if I stay here, I will never die like my poor sister and be discovered days later. Here, a security guard flips a little lever on the front door of every apartment at night and in the morning goes around to see that the switch has been flipped back—that’s how they know you’ve opened the door and are still alive.
Back at the ranch, with all this occupying my mind: today is liquids only, tomorrow the horrible event in the afternoon. Hope it doesn’t wear me out too much because I need to help Beloved Nephew and Darling Niece. Sigh.
That’s enough from me for today. Sorry to throw all this bad news at you. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
How awful! I hope your nephew can find peace as he deals with his mother’s death.
Yes, the tradeoffs of having an apartment versus a house are something I think about often. I do not miss the financial uncertainty that comes from owning something that needs costly repairs (and tax levies) which I can’t afford and which could literally be worth nothing if when I am ready to sell no one wants to buy it. I am also glad I emptied my house while I was still relatively young and now only have stuff that fits into 1200 sq ft plus a 5×7 storage unit. I can’t imagine doing that when I am 80! I have been looking at some of the build-to-rent options in the area to see if having a house and a yard – with all the community amenities like a pool and fitness center within walking distance – might feel better. I do regret that when people come to visit I can’t offer them a place to stay. I will keep that on a back burner.
You made a smart move, very smart. Dearly keeps trying to tell me we were “struggling” when we lived in the house, but as I didn’t deal with that part of the finances, I didn’t quite take it in.
I’m so sorry about your sister! Sending all the good thoughts to your family.
Thank you, another! My sister was a Texas girl, born in Mineral Wells.
{{{Diana}}} I’m so sorry about your sister. She’s OK now, but the jolt to the family, the pain of sudden loss, well – Healing Energy to your whole family. That is the bad part about living alone without community. And of course where you are really points up the good part of having community, whether or not you live alone. moar {{{HUGS}}}
Thanks, bfitz! We are working through this together. We’re all still processing it, we just don’t know what to think right now. I’m writing the death notice so at least my beloveds will be spared the pain of trying to focus on that.
So sorry to hear this Diana – sending prayers for strength during this time of family pain.
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 52 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 63. Partly sunny skies with a slight chance for rain. I saw a few stars in the breaks between the clouds this morning. Yesterday it rained all day but I was able to sneak a couple of walks in.
I am enjoying how the Republican “establishment” is aghast that Ron DeStupid is siding with Putin and calling the unprovoked attack on the sovereign nation Ukraine a “territorial dispute.” Have they not been paying attention to how their party – under their chosen leader Donald J. Trump – has cozied up to Putin and has been trying to get out of the NATO alliance? You can either be allies with Europe or you can be an ally of Putin – you can’t be both. Yes, it is expensive to help Ukraine but it is less expensive to stop Putin there than after he rolls his tanks into Poland and Finland. We have sanctions in place and they still have a reasonable chance of working but not if Putin thinks that all he has to do is wait it out and get a Republican president so he can continue his quest to reconstitute the Russian Empire.
I got sidetracked to a completely unnecessary drama yesterday and I have to try to get my head back into organizing my to-do list. I have will have company in town this weekend and need to get some things done so that I am not distracted by them.
See all y’all later!
It’s 56 going to 60 (then dropping like a rock after dark) and overcast enough to need the house lights on. sigh. The clouds did move in yesterday afternoon. But not until after we’d generated 11.6 KWHs. Not great but the m-t-d of 136 was still gaining. It’ll lose its gains today.
Just before he died Ronald managed to sucker several “payday loan” type companies into making him loans – so far the total’s up to $11K – and they’re all coming after Jill for the payback. Tough noogies. He was on cancer drugs so not considered compos mentis for signing those contracts in the 1st place and they can’t legally touch Jill’s Disability in the 2nd. Which they are aware of and once Jill lets them know she’s aware of it too, they retire grumbling. Heaven knows what the man did with the money. He didn’t have a bank account, just one of those reloadable debit cards. And whoever has that card, it isn’t Jill.
As far as I know everybody else is pretty much same ol’ same ol’ – which isn’t good but at least it’s not getting worse. At the moment. Any, off to do my various online chores. Holding the Good Thoughts. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 34 and sunny. Due to an unfortunate mix up when booking tickets my sister has had to cancel her visit so the family party planned for Sunday will now happen on Easter instead. To be honest I think it’s for the best. She isn’t feeling well and neither am I. We did get most of the shopping done yesterday so I’ll freeze what I can and use the rest.
Diana I’m so sorry about your sister. I know you are unsettled at times with living where you are but as you note there are many advantages. You and Jan have done the work of preparing for the next stage of life and that’s a big accomplishment. Ron and I, on the other hand, are still enjoying the comforts of home but are increasingly aware of the costs of doing so. And as Jan said, making a move in our 80’s is daunting.
Best wishes to all.
Friday Meese. 34 going up to 57 with rain here in Kingston NY.
Puerto Rico
ohmygoshitscold. Ok, 45 degrees might not sound cold where some of y’all are, but yesterday it was 65 & I walked in short sleeves. Today: big warm fleece, hat & gloves. Still did my 30 minutes. Yesterday was a long & complicated day — we are short staffed to begin with, and several people were out. I didn’t feel great but I stayed. But I swear, if my stomach gets upset at all, I’m out today. For now, I’m here, wearing lots of green. Some of my ancestors killed some of my other ancestors over this.
Caribbean Matters posted
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 46 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 64. Sunny skies are in the forecast. I saw my stars over the mountains in the early morning sky outlined by a few streaks of clouds. The clouds are gone now and the waning crescent is very pretty in the southeast sky.
You can tell from the articles in my newsfeed that news organizations are struggling to find clickbait as we are not quite close enough to 2024 to make every article about the presidential race but they really really want to do that. I am glad that DeStupid’s Ukrainian blunder is still in the news and sad to hear that banks which are run well are having to use “their” cash to bail out banksters at banks run poorly. It will harm us. I finally got through to my bank and moved some money to where I can deposit it at my credit union. It is not a lot but it would help supplement my income if my bank’s money was not available for a short period of time.
The good news is that March Madness – the Women’s NCAA Basketball Tournament – has started and I have plenty of games to watch. Yesterday, I was entertained by a First Four game where a scrappy St. John’s Red Storm team beat Purdue in a back and forth game that came down to defense with 0.3 seconds left. Today, the Arizona women’s team, a 7 seed, will play at 9am local time. Also too, my Badger Women’s Hockey team will play in the semi-final round of the Frozen Four. It is a good time of the year for a sports enthusiast like myself!
See all y’all later!
My husband is a women’s basketball fanatic – and he’s having a ball watching – We were both rooting for St. John’s!
It’s 30 going to 49 and sunny again. Yesterday we generated 2.9 KWHs (and we only got .5″ rain for over 24 hours of clouds). The m-t-d is 139.7 – definitely lost ground. Still not on track for even 300 which would be the worst the 4K system’s ever done.
Amelia/earicicle was supposed to have dental surgery yesterday but the dental surgeon chickened out and worked on several other teeth instead. I don’t know more than that because she was too tired to tell me by the time she got home. Aji’s physical condition is getting worse. She’s almost typing one-handed these days – her left hand. Nothing new that I know of with anybody else.
My son will be here soon to take me to Tractor Supply. I’m out of wild bird seed and I opened the last of my kibble this morning. So I’ll be late getting to my online chores – twitter, spoutible, & Dee’s diary at DK. But I’ll get to them. Holding the Good Thoughts. {{{Meeses}}}
Good afternoon, 54 and partly sunny outside my window today. I’ve had an busy phone day, talking with my sister and rescheduling her visit, and with my friend who started her chemo yesterday. Then our son and Elsa stopped by for some busy puppy fun. And now I have ice on my face, hoping to reduce swelling so my tooth will stop throbbing. If this doesn’t help I’ll see about getting a different antibiotic.
It’s late in the day to be starting my day, but oh well. Best wishes to all.
Saturday Meese. 40 going up to 47 here in Kingston.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. It is cold — I’m using the heater, in March! But at least my headache is gone. Ginger soother worked on my stomach issues, too. Getting groceries later & will make pasta salad for lunches for the next couple of weeks. It is weird to be planning my walk for the warmest part of the day, normally that’s long gone by now. Lucky for me there’s so much new music to listen to — Hozier put out 3 songs yesterday, including this gorgeous ode to heartbreak. (“If there was anyone to ever get through this life with their heart still intact, they didn’t do it right”). And so many interviews and a Tiny Desk concert from NPR from my boys to watch on youtube. My day is totally booked.
Good morning, meeses! Saturday …
It is 46 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 66. Sunny skies with increasing cloudiness in the late afternoon.
The current state of abortion rights is the very definition of chaos. Wyoming has banned abortion pills (after the governor consulted his bible, apparently), Utah closed all their abortion clinics, but North Dakota’s Supreme Court kept the injunction in place on that state’s abortion ban, saying that it may be unconstitutional. Women who can’t travel for abortion – or who women who are laying on a gurney in the emergency room dying from a pregnancy that is killing her but is no longer able to find a doctor willing to risk imprisonment and loss of license to treat her – are going to suffer terribly and die. Thanks, Bernie Sanders. Your narcissism and refusal to rein in your ignorant followers in 2016 led directly to this. May history not forget the villains in this man-made disaster.
The Arizona women’s basketball team (who I have claimed as my own!) advanced in an exciting first round game and the Badger Women’s Hockey team won the semifinal in the Frozen Four and will play for the championship on Sunday. It was a good sports day, for me. Now I will turn my attention to finishing some accounting work.
See all y’all later!
It’s 29 heading for 40 and sunny. 2nd day in a row. We generated 16.15 KWHs yesterday and the m-t-d is 155. So we gained back a bit. Hoping we do it again today.
Yesterday was expensive. $227 for the cat and wild bird stuff, $45 for the HVAC filters. Then I treated myself to an I-HOP “gluten-friendly” breakfast-for-lunch/dinner (take out, of course) which was $16 with tip. But I won’t need to do the Tractor Supply run again until mid May and the HVAC filters won’t need to be replaced until mid June. (April’s big expense will be supplements.)
Basket emailed & tweeted that Harper/aitchdee’s body will be cremated Monday at 5:30 am Pacific time. (They had to wait a month because she died intestate and has no near kin. Partners/Significant Others don’t count.) So it would be nice if folks could do a moment of remembrance then.
I don’t know what’s going on with anybody else. I guess I’d best go see. & do my boosting/twitter chores. Holding the Good Thoughts. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 36 and sunny outside my window today. We had a St Patrick’s day moment at a local bakery yesterday and are cooking corned beef for Sunday supper…..holidays are all about food for us now. Ice and tylenol has helped dull my aching tooth pain so I may do so sewing today. I have a lovely floral fabric that would look nice as a tablecloth on the low center table in the living room and as a runner on the dining room table. I’ve wanted to do this project for years so I’d best get started!
Best wishes to all.