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. Got my walk done, getting ready for work. The special sessions will be interesting, the House passed 2 bills & adjourned so the Senate has to just accept what they passed or Abbott has to call a 2nd special. And the Senate has to figure out what to do about the Paxton trial. It’ll be a fun summer.
Do you think that Paxton’s wife will recuse herself? She is a beneficiary of his graft – she should actually be a co-defendant.
She’s not going to recuse. She’s known about his mistresses for years, she doesn’t care. But you’re right – as a beneficiary of the graft she shouldn’t be on the “jury”
Good morning, meeses! Wednesday that feels like a Tuesday …
It is 63 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 88 (feels like 84). Sunny skies are in the forecast. We will have cool mornings and warm sunny afternoons for the rest of the week and into the weekend. I hope to get a hike in at least one of those days.
Chris Christie? Gawd, it is going to be a long primary season. All these Not Trumps running are hoping that the twice impeached twice indicted former president is convicted of a serious crime in 2024 – AND that his base cares. There is no restriction that someone can’t run from a prison cell and we already know that no level of depravity or criminal behaviour will turn the base away from him.
It sounds like the Republican revolt against McCarty is going to be all sound and fury. The only requirement is that a majority of his majority vote for the deal – Hakeem Jeffries has already signaled that he will not provide a majority of the votes needed. For all the people saying “ha ha Biden pulled a quick one” there are others who need to remind those gleeful idiots that Joe Manchin’s pipeline is going to be built, the IRS will be unable to go after the biggest Republican crooks and COVID recovery money that cities and states were counting on being able to use will be clawed back. Real people will suffer – this was NOT a win, a win would have been keeping the House and not having to deal with the extortionists. Was it better than expected? Yes. Was it a victory, hell No.
I turned yesterday into a lazy day and I need to get a few things done while it is still May.
See all y’all later!
Good Wednesday morning, Moosekind! Can’t believe this is the last day in May:
Right now in Ashburn we have sunny skies and 58 F. , going up to 81 F. Yesterday I felt peculiar, with stomach pains. I didn’t get out for exercise, just did my Writers’ Group assignments and then lay around. I hope I’ll feel like walking or at least treadmilling today. Conducted a texting marathon with Daughter yesterday. She has bronchitis and does not feel at all well. She went to the doctor, who was so nasty to her that she plans to switch rather than fight. We had a pleasant few minutes engaging in nasty remarks about the internist’s manners toward customers.
Other than that, Dearly and I are about to go out, he to Kaiser to have blood drawn, me to get my hair done. I hope we’ll have enough strength to make it to the grocery store to get a few things.
One of my writers did such a fantastic job on the required assignment that I feel sure the Director will choose his piece for her campaign literature. The required assignment was to write 250-300 words about why we need the Benevolent Fund. It’s to help residents continue living here if they run out of money. Some people lose their money through no fault of their own. Remember Enron in the year 2000? 401(k) plans went to zero. The community uses the BCF to pay the resident’s expenses, rather than turning them out into the street to die of cold and starvation.
This is a good thing, as most people living here are too happy to die. Even yrs truly has become reconciled after 5 years. Admission: Dearly and I are where we need to be. And what happened to my unfortunate sister and my unfortunate aunt will not happen to us.
Well, that’s enough from me! Wishing a good day to all at the Pond.
It’s 69 heading for 82 (at least) and sunny at the moment. Widget says clouds and rain later today. It said the same yesterday. We got the clouds, although not as badly as forecast, but no rain. We generated 17.9 KWHs and the m-t-d is 477 – with a miracle of clear skies we could actually reach 500 which of course we won’t but we most certainly will reach the 480 goal and very possibly will reach 490 that would put 2023 in 4th place of overall May system production.
I’ll be grateful that, as Jan said, the deal wasn’t as bad as it could have been when & if it passes and Biden signs it. There’s no way I’m going to celebrate it as a good deal or a marvel of negotiation. It’s not.
My friend took an extra day off yesterday and came over to visit. I always enjoy her company but there’s not much of what we talked about that was enjoyable or encouraging much less fun. From the ungodly mess at work that I am so very grateful I’m no longer a part of to her family’s health to her own health, none of it was good, just “somehow we’ll manage, we always have” sort of stuff. And I didn’t have much of anything better to offer. But we still enjoy each other’s company. And moral support.
Off to twitter & spoutible to do my boosting chores. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Thursday Meese. 51 going up to 91 here in Kingston which is much hotter than a normal June 1 day up here.
Puerto Rico
Good morning. In the office, walk is done. So, last night I replied to a tweet by Tom Morello about the Brooklyn Library making banned books available to all kids across the country. I said hey, this isn’t the whole country but the Houston Public Library lets anyone of any age in Texas borrow their ebooks. And he retweeted my reply! I got an rt from Tom freaking Morello. (musician, activist, super cool, thoughtful guy, has probably a million followers) So I’m trying to not have a nervous breakdown. That’s my Thursday — how are you?
Here it is:
{{{anotherdemocrat}}} – you did good!
That’s so cool!
I’m trying to not freak out too much.
That’s really something! Congrats!
Posted
Good Thursday morning, Meese. Dearly is driving me berserk listening to unhelpful loud music on his iPad. It’s interfering with my concentration. Let me point out that when I want to listen to music, I use my earphones so as not to disturb him. Blearggh.
It’s 63 F. going up to 86 F. today. We still have smoke from Nova Scotia wildfires, but it’s not as much as yesterday. I had a bad night, so didn’t feel strong enough to go out with the Walking Club. Perhaps I’ll try on Saturday morning. The deadline for articles is June 4.
My voice is still gamely trying to make it back. Tomorrow it will be 11 weeks since it went missing. I really hope it’s back by Summer Solstice. I need to start researching an Interfaith ritual for that.
What else—oh, Elder Son called yesterday, asked me to child-tend on June 20, told me he’d accepted an offer for a new job and will start on Juneteenth, and said he’d prepare a barbecue for us on Sunday. Lovely! June 20 happens to be primary day, but I can vote early in the morning before I drive the 30 miles to Arlington. Elder Son’s job is so abstruse that I can barely make it out. All I can tell you is that it concerns energy supply and demand. The company HQ is in New York, his favorite city in the world. I’m proud of him for getting a new, better paid job at his age: he’ll be 53 in a month.
Did y’all watch “The 1619 Project”? We recorded it and watched the first hour. It seemed to be all over the place. I just couldn’t seem to grasp the narrative thread, if there is one. I should read the book. Nicole Hannah-Jones is a beautiful woman, and the stories of the people she interviewed wrung our hearts. It kinda makes me want to send all white people to a different planet. We stole this country from the Natives, then proceeded to import Black people to work in brutal conditions for no pay.
Well, that’s enough from me today. Wishing a good day to all at the Pond!
Good morning, meeses! Thursday …
It is 57 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 82. Mainly sunny skies with a few clouds off and on. Yesterday it clouded up quite a bit and there was a cool breeze – no rain, though.
The debt deal is through the House and arrives at the Senate. A deal was cut in the Senate so that Republicans could offer amendments and have them voted on in exchange for voting for cloture and not putting a hold on the bill. Rand Paul plans to introduce an amendment to end Social Security and Medicare (it will cut them 5% every year until they disappear) – it will be interesting to see how many sign on. I am guessing it will be like the Vote-A-Rama for the reconciliation bills – when all the amendments are done, if any of them pass there will be an amendment to cancel them all and go back to the original bill. Obviously nothing but the original House bill can be passed and sent to Biden – there is no time to start the cycle over again before Monday when Janet Yellen needs to sell new bonds. I wonder how the votes in the House will affect anyone politically – I guess we will find out.
I am trying to get things done so I can quit early so I better get back to it.
See all y’all later!
It’s already 76, I just closed up the house, heading for 86 and sunny. My hands are loving it. Yesterday we generated a bit over 18 KWHs and wrapped up May with a very respectable 495.6 – yay! The best we’ve ever done in June is 575 so that’s our target. (The worst was 376 in 2017 when the system was down for 2 weeks.) Last year we did 525 and I’m happy with anything over that.
I’m steaming potatoes while it’s relatively cool. I’ll decide later whether I want to turn the lot into potato salad or save some back for making hash if I want a hot meal in the evening. I need to take the storm panel off the transom window on the sun porch today. Keeping those windows closed in hot weather is not a good idea. Otherwise, it’s just a normal boosting Thursday. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Happy that you ended May with 495, bfitz!
Good afternoon, 63 and partly sunny. I had a hair appointment yesterday morning, then dropped some books by for my friend to read. She is recovering from the last chemo session, Hoping to be strong enough for surgery in about a month, and then hoping to recover from that so she can have more chemo. She is a strong woman but this is really hard.
I’m going to a local chain store today to buy some inexpensive plants so when the deer eat them I won’t be as upset as I am when they eat my carefully chosen garden shop plants. I’ll grow a few nicer plants on the porches where they are safe and that will have to do this year. I miss seeing the color of flowers growing in my pots so I’m going to have to adjust to the reality of sharing my garden with the deer and just make the best of it. Best wishes to all.
Oh, gosh, princesspat, I feel for you. My dear English friend, who loved to garden, has just about given it up because of the deer. There’s a friend living in upstate NY (Rochester area), who has two families of deer traipsing through her land every day. She can’t keep any nice plants either.
They’re wonderful to look at, but their habits are certainly hard on the humans!
Friday Meese. 58 going up to 92 with rain. I’m headed out this morning around 8AM to an all day ceremony for the initiation of a new priestess.
Puerto Rico
Good morning, meeses! Friday …
It is 64 degrees in Tucson with an expected daytime high of 86. Sunny skies are in the forecast. June begins cool but will heat up (likely 100 by next Tuesday). June is our hottest month with the average high 102 and the average low 70. July is not really far behind that – the average high is 100 and the average low is 75. The heat is bearable but I will really miss my morning lows in the 50s and 60s. I have no regrets about my retirement location choice – I don’t miss days-long thunderstorms and tornado threats and subzero cold for days and weeks. And I live in a state that hangs the Pride Flag at the Capitol even when it invites violence.
The debt limit bill was passed and just needs to be signed. It is incredibly sad that Republicans with their faux tears about our children’s “future debt” are able to trade away our children’s real future – a planet that doesn’t burn up. Joe Manchin got his pipeline, a lot of environmental initiations halted – the time our children and grandchildren have to live before the hellscape was shortened to please people whose only goal is to own the libs. Tragic.
I have two things that need to get done today so that I have a good start on the weekend’s work.
See all y’all later!
Happy Friday! I got my walk done. Didn’t run much, I’m feeling really tired. Yesterday when I got home, I ate just enough to take my evening vitamins and forced myself to stay up till 9. Still had a really restless night. And of course, I’m up early to do my walk & be in the office.
My upstairs neighbor asked if a friend of hers could take some cuttings from my aloe vera. I said yes please — take all you want. All the pots are overgrown & they still keep having babies. Yesterday when I came home, she was there, and she’s not just taking cuttings, she’s cleaning them up, clearing out dead “branches”…. Doing a lot of work. I told her thank you, and she can really have all the cuttings, baby plants, anything. I feel like I owe her more than that, because it’s work I’d never have been able to do. But what can I do? I talked to her for a few minutes, then said that I really have to go in, it was a long day at work. Any suggestions for how to thank her?
A nosegay of flowers? Or bake some lavender shortbread cookies. That’s what I’m taking to the cookout on Sunday.
Oven is broken, no baking for me. Maybe a microwave recipe…
Happy Friday indeed, Moosekind! I didn’t feel up to much this morning, so we had cinnamon rolls (out of a can and baked) for breakfast. Today happens to be National Doughnut Day, but we didn’t have any.
It’s also my New Orleans niece’s birthday. She’s 39! Mah Goddess! When she was a baby they’d put her in a baby seat in the kitchen and she’d watch the coffee perking. Her eyes were as dark as coffee beans too. Poor child, she woke up with a sore throat yesterday and feels awful. Luckily, she has taken the day off.
It’s 66 F. with polluted air in Ashburn, going up to 90 F. A cold front will slide through tomorrow and—it’s to be hoped—clear out the pollution from the Canadian wildfires. The mythical rain should clear out by 8 p.m., so perhaps this time I’ll be able to see the full moon. What’s the June moon called, anyone know?
Having coffee this morning with the delightful English friend mentioned in “Drunken Ladies,” whose real name is not Felicity. Haven’t seen her in quite a while.
Heading off to Amazon to order a copy of “Don’t Let Them Bury My Story,” by the sole survivor of the Tulsa massacre in the 1920s. Can’t believe I lived in that Goddess-forsaken city for four years and no one ever mentioned it! True, I was in the Ancient and Medieval History class, not the Modern History class, but you’d think the newspaper would have mentioned it.
Wishing everyone at the Pond a good day! I’m glad about the bill passing!
It’s 74 going to 86, humid, and sunny at the moment. I closed up the house immediately after turning off the fire under the oatmeal. Kitchen window last to let the heat out while I was doing the rest. Yesterday we generated 18.2 KWHs so we’re at least on track for beating last year. If that’s all we do this year, I’ll still be happy with it.
Wretched sleep last night. Something in the air probably although I don’t know what. Nothing obvious anyway. So I’m moving slowly and zoning out a lot. Oh well. I’m not having to match wits with 9th graders any longer – actually haven’t had to for over 25 years – so I’m good. Being slow and zoning out doesn’t really hinder my ability to boost stuff. Which I’d best get to. Holding the Good Thoughts for everybody. {{{Meeses}}}
Good morning, 60 and sunny outside my window today. I was in the garden all afternoon yesterday, just doing some general clean up while trying to come to terms with the damn deer. I didn’t buy any new plants but I think a plan for attractive planters with few flowers is coming together. So far they don’t eat sword ferns so I may just fill the pots with them and hide a few inpatients under the fronds. Best wishes to all.
Saturday Meese. Yesterday’s ceremonies went well – even though it was terribly hot – we now have a new baby Priestess dedicated to the Orisha Oshun
Today is going to be much cooler here in Kingston – 61 going up to 67. Today is my husband’s birthday – he’s 72.
Puerto Rico
{{{Denise}}} Yay! for new priestesses! & Happy Birthday to your husband. ????????????????????????????????????????????????
Sis, glad about the new priestess and happy birthday to your hubby!
Good morning. Slept in, going to pick up groceries. I have lunch & dinner cooked so I don’t have to cook this weekend. Going to get in a walk, but no other plans.