Yes. Sooo hard.
I’ve mentioned here before but back about 20 years ago my next door neighbors had a 21yo son in college. He came home for a 3-day weekend, felt ill / flu-ish Friday night, was admitted to the hospital Sat around dinner time and died in the wee hours of Sunday. Viral meningitis.
I lived there about another 10 years and his parents were never the same. They weren’t basket cases, but all the spark was gone from their lives and their eyes.
yes. a childhood friend was in a crash in his early twenties. it is such a punch, it seemed like it was ages before his parents could take a full breath after that hit. it took years and years before his parents could speak of him without tears or a voice crack.
Thanks, everyone, for your concern for fachverwife. She reports that she’s doing fine and hurts less today than yesterday.
Today is a normal Monday. Teaching, then rehearsal. Weather is beginning to feel fall-like, but I’ve said that like three times already this year, followed closely by temps in the 80s.
To you and FCM: Thank you for posting that! I’m officially hooked and will add that to my morning routine 
I am also a Schechers fan.
T
I took the truck and went by way of the convenience center - 4 bags of recycling, plus a lot of cardboard boxes, plus a sack of cat poop and a big sack of household garbage. It wasn’t crowded there, so it was a fairly quick stop.
Turned out Kohl’s just has skechers on their website, not in store, so I went to DSW and got a pair. The cashier kept trying to sell me some kind of cleaner or protectorant or something - “But they’re white shoes!!” Yeah, I know, and they’re just shoes. I’m sure I have something at home that’ll work if I need to clean them.
After, it was a stop at Aldi, where I got a few extra items and forgot the damned pickles!!! Oh well. As I was driving home, it occurred to me that SIL had 2 friends at work who might not have any place to go for Thanksgiving, so I texted him and said he could invite them if he wanted to. Looks like I’ll be cooking big after all. But since we’re doing a grazing buffet, I don’t have to sweat trying to get everything on the table at once. If some things come out a little later than others, no biggie.
I found a good recipe for flounder - I’ll make that for supper along with broccoli and maybe corn? I’ll figure it out when I get to the kitchen. I made a cuke-onion salad, tho it’ll be better tomorrow than today.
FCD and I are going to plan one meal a week out - probably breakfast or supper preferably some place that doesn’t serve strictly fried food. We’ll see if it knocks us off our meal program too badly.
And I see by the clock that I need to head to the kitchen.
Those things are delishush. And a good way to power through a 9-hour shift. Ask me how I know.
I use a (cleaned) doob tube (plastic thingie they sell joints in) to hold a day’s amount - if I just graze mindlessly straight outta the bag, uh, bad things can happen - but I’ve gotten a few sideways glances for popping that open. Weed legal state, people know the sound.
This is why I come back here.
Oh, that poor dear.
I’m sorry about the housekeeper’s son, pilot.
Good to see you back shoe!
I dropped the Halloween cards at the post office and swung through Aldi (same shopping center). A few weeks ago, I saw that they had grain free dog food there for about a third the price that I’ve been paying for Nelson’s chow. I tried looking up the ingredients and nutrition online, but couldn’t find it, so I took a snapshot of both the last time I was there. The ingredients / nutrition label for salmon / sweet potato kibble was almost identical to what I’ve been ordering from Chewy all of his life, so I picked up a small bag. I put some down for him when I got home and he scarfed it down. I’ll wait for 24 hours to see if there are any digestive issues, then start mixing it in with his regular until the regular is gone. This will save a lot of money if it works out.
Once home, I made some Thai chicken - ginger - veggie soup that hit the spot. Now for chillage.
Well, we got one elevator back. The other one is still dead, which likely means the company will have to order the part from Botswana or someplace else that has the one remaining part available for this old piece of equipment. Trust me when I say that one elevator is not nearly adequate for this building’s needs. Hell, sometimes both elevators can’t keep up with demand.
Good news: I got the replacement credit cards in the mail today. The bad news: the Mastercard I applied for sent me a letter saying that they can’t approve it because I’ve frozen all my credit reporting agencies. Yeah, no duh 
. I’ll try to unfuck it tomorrow when I’m in a better mood.
My direct supervisor has been out, so I don’t seem to have a proper way of reporting my rib injury worker’s comp claim. The next level of bureaucracy is proving unhelpful. “Just go to the doctor, we’ll sort it out later.” For a museum with only 30-ish employees, you’d think things would be easier.
While I was running the condo we got into that dilemma.
The 4 elevators were originally 1970s relay-driven equipment. Updated in ~2000 with solid state non-computerized controls. Which were dying of old age by 2020 while I was running the show. Frequent hard to diagnose failures and for which parts came only from Botswana. Lotta resident anger.
A full brain transplant to modern computerized controls upstairs, plus modern call buttons on all floors plus modern control panels in the elevators ran about $300K. Each. Ouch. And it was an all-or-nothing upgrade.
Hope your management can bite the bullet & upgrade your systems.
Be careful. There are time limits associated w worker’s comp claims. You blow the deadline and they’re able to say “Sorry charlie.” Your HR staff might not be that mean, but their worker’s comp insurance co certainly will be.
All the systems in this building are over 30 years old. A lot has happened with electronics in that time period. I have no idea what has been done to the elevator system over that period, but I’d suspect it wasn’t extensive enough. I know that at one point prior to our arrival here, they were down to one unit for six months while awaiting a part.
Howdy Y’all! Been home a while from men’s night but needed some chill time. Smaller crowd this time but a good time was had by all. As usual, we solved all the world’s problems but no one listens to us. One newish member to the group and to the church decided that I was the one to ask a bunch of questions he had about the Episcopal church. I encouraged him to come to the Wednesday gatherin’ and sit in on the group our Priest is leadin’ as it’s basically an “Episcopal 101” discussion. I answered some of his basic questions as best I could. I also told him that Baby Priest loves to sit down one on one for this type stuff and even encourages folks to make appointments to do so.
Doc visit went well. He confirmed that I am indeed still alive. I had suspected as much. I got the flu stab. So far, so good. If I have any after effects it will be tomorrow. Seems to be that way with me.
Pilot how awful about gf’s housekeeper’s son!
I read all but retained little, so yays, boos, hugs, trouts, chitlins, and how you doin’s all around as needed.
Think I will take some Tylenol and give myself Autism as a preventative against feelin’ ick tomorrow and go sleepy bye.
Up from naptime, having the usual cheeseburger, fries, and Old Fashioned. And late night hockey.
Pilot, that’s awful. 
That’s good.
So now he knows the proper ratio of rye to vermouth in a pitcher of Whiskcapalian Manhattans?
And from early-morning reportage to the late-night final. Been a rather busy day here at Casa Rat. Got the two loads of laundry done and dusted and then took the Durango out for it’s last shop-n-sammich trip. After consuming the Jersey Mike’s #3 it was time to UBER over to the dealership. Got a ride, fittingly enough, in a Honda CR-V Hybrid with a very chatty lady who told me about her 4 kids (and 11 grandkids) and we had a great time so I tried to raise her tip from the $9 I had the option to give in the app to $12, but goofed and ended up tipping her $21! But what the heck, I was spending big money today so why worry about piddling things like that.
The car transfer went pretty smoothly, they did talk me into an added warranty for the computer/electronics for 10yrs/100,000 miles. Probably won’t need it but since this is the first year for the Hybrid variant there is always the chance for a bug in the system and I could afford it. Also ordered running boards, have had them on all my SUV’s in the past 25 years and they are due to be installed on November 3rd. And finally drove away, after figuring out how to start the damn thing. It will require a fair amount of reading and on-board programming before I am comfortable with it, but it handles good and looks fine (see my Facebook), so we’ll see if I outlast it or it outlasts me…
Was still awaiting the replacement title for my Durango so I could sell it, it has been approved but no date when I would get it. Just for the heck of it I went back into my safe-box to check again (for the 3rd/4th time) and guess what I found! So I have an appointment tomorrow at CarMax and hopefully will walk out of there with a check for about $7,000. We’ll see.
So after all that excitement I finally made it to the gym in the (very) late afternoon and exercised enough that I didn’t feel guilty going to Burger King for a Double Whopper w/cheese for dinner. Said burger has been inhaled and I am now planning for tomorrow, which will be Carmax/Uber home/license bureau/insurance office and I’m sure I will think of something else that I need to do. Glad these car-buying urges only show up every 8 years or so, it can be trying.
So, how was your day? 
Well, got about 25 messages to wade through to find out, so best to be about it.
Taters, glad son did make it home and both him and the pups are happy about it.
boo fae, sorry for your friend’s loss. Tis a pity pets can’t live as long as we do.
Pilot, sad thoughts about the tragedy suffered by the housekeeping family; I never, ever drive anywhere without my seat belt on. And damn, sometimes we forget just how fast life can be snuffed out, even it this medical/technological time…
Lucky, all my comics these days are on-line, Girl Genius, the Whiteboard, Freefall, Spacetrawler, Drive, Carry On, and Batman: Wayne Family Chronicles Only time I read a ‘mainstream’ comic anymore is some Bloom County strips in Facebook.
Trieste, you’re welcome.
shoe, between you and doggio, I am now intrigued by chocolate covered espresso beans and may have to look for them…and I see Kroger has them…hmmmm
red, hope Nelson’s digestive system like the Aldi brand as much as you like the price.
cookie, glad they got one elevator working so your not in a Big Bang Theory situation. Good luck on the credit conundrum.
VanGo, welcome to the wonderful world of bureaucrazy…hope someone in a responsible position decides to be…responsible for once.
swampy, glad you are still alive. The world would be a much less interesting place if you weren’t.
And that’s all from an eventful and not particularly routine Moanday here in N. Ali-bama. Will be heading off to Slumberland sooner than later, so catch all y’all on 2sDay.
And just to finish off an perfectly non-routine day, I just got an e-mail from Paypal that some type of litigation has paid off and I am to receive the munificent sum of $18.16 to my Paypal account. I will endeavor not to spend it in one munificent spree…
And it’s after 10pm, so signing off now.
Happy Monday, chums.
My morning routine is pretty…routine. After brushing my teeth, showering, etc., I have a bowl of oatmeal with fruit–either blueberries or apples, nuts, and milk. I usually do the NYT Spelling Bee while I eat. If I’m dog-sitting, I do breakfast and the Bee after taking bowser for a potty walk.
Today was my last day of kitty-sitting. Now I have three critter-free days (supposedly), then I have both the cat and his brother the labradoodle for several days. That is, I’ll have the dog, and we’ll go over daily to take care of the cat.
I’d better not post here about the protest Saturday. I posted in the dedicated thread, but this part isn’t political. Someone in that thread (can’t recall who) suggested using something softish as a sign holder, like paper towel tubes. Well, you’d have to have a small sign for that, so I decided to use a wrapping paper tube. I had to reinforce it heavily with duct tape AND use a clear ruler as a splint, but it worked. After the protest, I walked home, with cars honking and people waving on the way. About 3 blocks from home, my pole collapsed like the Before picture in a Viagra ad. There was no more honking and cheering. I felt like someone should play Taps, or maybe The Best of Limp Bizkit.
Pilot, I’m so sorry about the housekeeper’s son. Every parent’s nightmare.
This hits way too close to home. I had a student who complained of a bad headache, so I let him put his head on his desk. It sounded to me like a sinus infection, which was what it turned out to be. He stayed after class to talk for a minute, and I wished him well. It was the last time I saw him. After school, his doc confirmed it was a sinus infection. That was on Wednesday. By Friday, it had become meningitis. On Saturday he was life-flighted to Children’s Hospital in another state, where he died a few hours later. He was 15.
I won’t go into how the admins at that time f*cked the whole thing up royally, causing additional and unnecessary suffering and confusion. OK, changing the subject because I’m apparently still ticked off over that part.
Well, THAT’S good news. I hope she feels even better tomorrow.
Why is it called “the convenience center”? It doesn’t sound very convenient to me. And do they have a dedicated cat poop bin? Or does it get thrown in with dog poop?
VanGo, hope the rib situation gets sorted and you get some pain relief.
Same! Well, that and the floor show.
Swampy, I hope you don’t feel poorly tomorrow. Did OYKW get jabbed, too, or will he be able to bring you chicken soup and Archie comic books?
What kind of sammich did it get?
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 10c/51f with a predicted high of 14c/57f and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “Of all the fucking cloudy days, tihs one is a complete wankface. At least it’s not that fucking cold outside.”
I am so sorry to hear that, it must have been a shock for her and the family.
Good to see you here today, shoe!
It’s always good to have these things confirmed by a professional! Also helps to know that the doc is capable of getting the basics right.
Happy new car day! I bought mine nearly six years ago and still haven’t worked out what all the buttons do. I know how to drive it, and where the important stuff (petrol, oil, water, screenwash) goes, and where the heater and CD player are. What more do I need?
After irk yesterday, I made food for today on campus. I had some leftover melon to chop up, and made some overnight oats for breakfast. I made chicken curry for dinner and have a portion for lunch today. Then I gathered up all the rubbish and shoved it in the bin, and hauled the biiiiig bin out to the kerb for today’s collection.
Today I am on campus on a not-usually-on-campus day. One of my depts has an in-person meeting and I have to take minutes for it, so I had to come in as they aren’t having these as hybrid meetings. Annoys me because it disrupts my routine and I can’t have my preferred swap day at home because there’s something else in-person that I need to be here for. I has Teh Grrrrr!
I have two other online meetings today too, one of which I need to prepare some info for so I am going to get on with that next, after another cuppa. For those who are interested, Drama Queen Minion is in the office today (same reason as me) and is still sulking.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 48 (BRRR!) Amurrkin out and cloudyish, with a predicted high of 81 and sunny. I feel a little ick but it’s been worse in the past, so I predict I’ll survive. A shower might even perk me up. Perhaps I shall loll on the sofa and watch stoopid stuff today. Sup will be sallit and majik intartoobz pizza due to a gnawin’ and a cravin’.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Tuesday Y’all!
Mornin all - About 0615 as I start a brief drivel. Been up about an hour caffinatin’ & balconatin’. Dead dark, a few clouds and stars visible, a very light breeze, and presently a comfy 80/27 on the way to 88/31. As typical, in Fall the humidity drops a lot more than the temperature does. About ideal conditions. Should be a day of few puffies and somebody somewhere will get rained on for a few minutes. But probably not me.
Definitely want to spend some outdoor time today. Beyond that it’s a day of no obligations and no plans. IOW, a perfect day.
Thanks to all for the support for GF & housekeeper. GF was able to finally get through to HK and they did a joint Mom commiseration. They both have kids about the same age and although this story hits real close to home for every Mom everywhere, it gets GF in the gut particularly.
Turns out the man’s job was overnight highway construction worker. So was probably used to regularly driving short distances along the highway construction zone during his shift and skipping his seatbelt. Which habit may have been his downfall. Damned shame.
Last night I had a multi-national dinner, walking first to the tapas place for their Monday special of various mondatitos. Then down a couple doors past the Indian place to the Hofbrau for cheap brats mit kraut. Then home to try to watch football & baseball, but it got sleepy early in the baseball game, so went to bed. And thus up happily early today and well-rested.
Sorry to hear that swampy’s been ill. Good to know he’s on the mend today.
I hope the sale of metalmouse’s Durango goes well. Titles are to some degree a bearer document, and I hope his application for a fresh paper title didn’t already invalidate the one he found and will try to use today.
Dayum. {{Hugs}}. It’s one thing to hear about it involving someone you sort of know. Quite another to have been part of their final illness, and to know them well.
Be careful out there everyone!
And a happy Toosday to all. Cheers!
It’s more convenient than going to the landfill, plus it’s free to take your household trash there. ($10 or more for a load at the landfill.) And the landfill doesn’t take recycling. There are (I think) six convenience centers around the county so in most cases, they’re closer than the landfill. And there are no separate poop containers - it all goes in the same huge dumpster thing. But they do have separate places for batteries, used oil, electronic devices, fluorescent tubes, scrap metal, and probably stuff I’ve forgotten. Plus unofficially, people leave things that can be reused next to the dumpsters, so free for the taking. I got stuff for the kids there a few times - all it needed was a good scrubbing.
Does the floor still show? I thought the new carpeting took care of that…
Last night I loaded Tubi on the TV. There’s a series on the English/British monarchy that I wanted to rewatch. It goes from the first to almost the last (It was made before Charles got his turn.) I don’t’ know why it is I find that all so interesting. Maybe because of all the drama that surfaces along the way. And marriages for political alliances. And how it’s decided who gets to rule next when there’s no heir. Anyway, I watched 2 episodes before sleep took me.
Well, sorta took me. I’d start thinking and my brain would kick into overdrive - it was around 2 when I finally dropped off. Then my bladder woke me around 5, dammit. I tried for an hour to fall back to sleep. One thing that kept me up at one point was when the furnace kicked on - the sound of the air moving thru the vents was as if a radio was on. I’d have sworn I heard music and talking. But when the blower turned off, it was silent again. I dunno - weird.
FCD is going to the boat again today - he’s going to hook up the wiring to the generator. Unfortunately, when the yard guys disconnected things, they didn’t mark any wires - they just took pictures. ??? So using the photos and the generator manual, he’s going to reconnect everything, rather than leave it to them to remember what they did. We don’t need them trying to remember at $185/hr.
I’ll take Otis on a long walk today in an attempt to tire him. And I want to make a run to Food Lion - the flounder I got was really good and today’s the last day of the sale, so I want to get a couple more packages. I’ll make a list and see if I can come up with $50 in stuff again.
And I think I’ll change the bedsheets, because why not? The rest of the day will be an adventure.
Happy Tuesday!!