(Old) An Air of Finality in the last 2024 MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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That sounds great! I’d go look if it wasn’t sadly a solid mass of cloud without a gap in the last 2 days and (grey, miserable) daylight…

Stuff’s OK here, for a given value of the word. I can’t remember where in the chaos I was last time I dropped by, because time lost all meaning a while ago. The Pee Aitch Dee is still progressing- now over halfway through in a temporal sense, if not in terms of actually having data. So car it’s been one of those ones that- assuming I finish- will be told to another students as an encouragement (in the ''someone else got past this absolute disaster" kind of way).

Went to Spain for a week for Christmas with some friends, which was nice. They have real daylight there, sun even.

It didn’t make coming back to deal with my own chaos any better though. I need to fix up my car stuation for a start. The car that is currently road legal is at work and cannot be driven- it I start it, it just revvs up to the max within seconds even with no feet on the pedals. It needs to go to the car doctor, but all of them except the pricy emergency ones are shut for the holidays, and as I plan to sell it anyway, there’s no point in spending lots.

I do have a second car at home, purchased a few weeks ago, cos I realised the first was a bit of a lemon, but it’s really expensive for me to insure a second until I get rid of the first car, due to our arcane system, so I currently have 2 cars and can’t drive either of them. I’m stuck home with a rotten cold anyway right now, and there’s a supermarket within walking distance if I get stuck, but I do need to get it sorted soon.

Other’n that, still making veeerrrrryyyy slow progress on the house renovation.The car situation isn’t helping, as I was planning on multiple trips to the dump this week. Oh well.

Have I missed anything essential while I’ve been away?

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Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. ‘Tis 43 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 59 and N.O.S. I have been bzzy a bit this mornin’. The blackeyed peas are in the slow cooker with a ham hock. What? I did that before coffee. That was effort. Folks will show up around eleven for the traditional Bloody Marys and warm artichoke dip. JDD and partner are bringin’ the dip and mix. The big feast will be at one and hopefully everyone will be gone by three.

The fireworks were not too bad last night. We were long sound asleep before midnight, but no appreciable ka*booms close to da cave.

Nuts sorry for all the car woes. Hope it all gets sorted out soonest. I thought about a Pee Aitch Dee, but decided it was not worth the bother.

Coppertone glad you got to go to church and have some nummy quiche as well.

MetalMouse I am sure the whole state of Alabammy is in mournin’ today. Well, except for the Awbern fans.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then purtification must commence as I suppose one must look presentable to host.

Happy Hump Day Y’all! Happy New Year,

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Aw, c’mon - there’s no such thing as a hijack in the MMP. In fact, it’s generally pretty amazing if the topic is mentioned after, about, half a day?? Here it’s more like… SQUIRREL!! :rofl:

I hope to see the aurora some day. I heard (the day after) that it was visible when I was on a cruise near the Arctic circle, but alas, I slept thru it. Maybe some day…

You mean besides the ridiculous number of photos of my grandkids??

Speaking of which - we had some very loud thunderboomers move thru last evening and Tobias didn’t like them. So he did this:
Imgur
What you can’t see in the pic is that the bottom half of his bed is absolutely full of every stuffed toy he owns and a few of Roxy’s. And notice the firetruck next to his pillow pile - he likes to sleep with his cars and trucks.

As predicted, I was not awake at midnight, but I did wake about twenty minutes after for some reason. And I lay in bed thinking I heard voices - not that someone was in the house, but maybe a TV was left on. I got up and listened from the hallway, but didn’t hear anything, and once back in bed, I figured out that when the recirculating fan in our HVAC came on, my brain translated the sounds of moving air in a quiet house as soft voices. That settled, I fell back to sleep. Till about 2:40 when I woke again at my bladder’s bidding. Then shortly after 5, FCD got up, so I gave up and waited for my turn in the shower. All told, I might have gotten 5 hours of sleep. Dammit.

No plans for the day so far. It will be our last relatively mild day for some time. Chance of some snow on Firday. The meatloaf is thawed, so it will become supper, or maybe lunch. One way or another, it will be baked today. Other than that, we’ll wing it.

Happy New Year!

124

Happy birthday, Cupcakes!

Afternoon, mumpers, and happy new year! It’s currently 6c/42f with a predicted high of 10c/49f and cloudy. Weather app is confused, and says “Best day ever! Oh fucking wait. I was remembering another fucking day. Forget I said anything.” It’s cloudy and grey outside, and we still have a weather warning for strong winds.

The girlies are the same, they love a fresh layer of litter in the trays. It’s like an invitation to get in there and make a new mess for me to clear up.

That’s always a good sign - I hope the fluids and probiotics sort him out and he’s soon back to his usual self.

Welcome to my world, except mine has an extra bus in the mix for good measure. Great when it all lines up but miserable when the trains are screwed (which is more often than not).

I’m glad she’s decided to come out and enjoy the space, especially when it means she gets more scritches! When we first had the girlies, they hid out under the bed for weeks before decamping downstairs and hiding out behind the sofa instead. Now they’re running around like they own the place.

Good to see you back again! It was wild and windy up north, our Edinburgh family posted pics of their dog looking very unhappy about the amount of snow in the garden!

What a fabulous way to start the year!

We had a relatively quiet new year, stayed at home and watched a couple of films. Turned over to live TV for the fireworks in London - watched a couple of minutes of that until the awful “performance” started then went back to the film instead. There were some fireworks here but not as many as we’ve had in previous years. They usually go off every hour as our immigrant communities celebrate new year when it reaches wherever they came from :slight_smile:

No big plans for today, it’s my last day off work so one of today’s jobs will be preparing food for the next couple of days on campus. I’m not looking forward to getting up early and trekking to the office - the longer I am off work, the less I want to go back. Retirement would be lovely, but I really can’t afford it so back to the grind I must go.

125

How long a commute would it be if you drove? Public transportation has never been an option for any of my jobs - well, except when I was a teen and I took the bus from the suburbs to downtown Baltimore. Plus trains are pretty much non-existant except in the cities that have Metro systems, and I never lived or worked in any of them. Cars have been a necessity for the my entirety of my working life.

126

Back up my usual 4 hrs later for a bio-break. It snowed while I was asleep. :snowflake:

I’d love.to see a good Northern Lights show before I die.

127

We didn’t get so much as a speck, despite being even further north… Bah. If I’m stuck in anyway due to having a rotten cold, the car and the lack of public transport today, it may as well be pretty out there.

I did stay awake- barely- until midnight, at which point lots of things went bang and I went properly to bed.

128

And a most happy New Years Day to all. Didn’t make it to midnight but did hear some early fireworks, so I guess some folks celebrated. 42F going to 48F later and maybe a little sunshine later in the day, according to the Weather Wizards, but no rain so there is that. Nothing much on the agenda, many places are closed or are closing early, so will probably sloth around the house. Need to do the end-of-the-financial check, should be in good shape but some major expenses (travel, new car, house) are probably coming in 2025 so need to be ready for that. Got my January Retirement Check, went up about $130 a month so I have a little extra cash on hand.

I have seen the Southern Cross but still have yet to see the Northern Lights, but one of these days (or more likely, nights…).

FCM, lovely picture, I usually have assorted clothes and newspapers on my bed when I go to sleep, so I am simpatico with the Tobester. And yeah, when some folks moan about how terrible it is in the US of A these days, I tell them to check out the 14th-17th Century sometime… (BTW, I think you were reading Barbara Tuchman, IIRC; I can recommend “A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century” that she wrote.

Nut, thanks for the catch-up (no mustard)… Keep Piling it Higher and Deeper, I’m confident you’ll get’er done. Never been to Spain but it’s on my bucket list. And had a car once that if you pressed on the gas pedal just right it would go to the floor…made driving real interesting…

Coppertone, glad you could make it to Church, know how important that is to you. Keep feeling better.

flyboy, the gym scale checked me in at 202.2lbs at the end of the year, so we’re both doing good (albeit your eating a lot better than I am… :wink: :smiley:

Shoe, extra pizza for the cops means good response time if you need them for real one night…at least that is how I have heard it works…

swampy, enjoy the day with friends.

boo fae, your already well into day one of 2025, sounds like it’s back to work tomorrow (my condolences…)

Have a good day everyone.

129

Happy New Year everyone.

It’s 38F and overcast outside. It’ll remain cloudy, and our expected temperature is 47F.

Welcome back, Filbert!

The fireworks started around 3:30 yesterday afternoon. :roll_eyes: Large, loud, sustained explosions through to midnight. Maisie was terrified. This is the first time she’s reacted to fireworks this way, so I was unprepared. I did give her some calming drugs around 7:30 or so, but it was too late, so everyone had a rough night.

Batboy, I’m glad the new job has been a positive experience.

Belated birthday wishes, Baker.

I don’t have special plans for today. I don’t even think we have a meal planned for dinner. We’ve been eating prime rib soup these last couple of nights. We’ve treated NYD as a day of rest for many years, usually cleaning up the last of holiday clutter or chilling out.

Work wasn’t as bad as expected yesterday, but many people are still on leave, so it’ll be full next week. It’s back to work for me tomorrow.

Given how little overnight sleep I received, I slept in a little. I will get a second cup of coffee and maybe work on putting away holiday decorations. Or not, I may find something else to do.

Hugs and good wishes for all of you.

130

Day of rest? Cleaning up? Something here doesn’t compute… :wink:

I’ve been lazy so far, apart from making breakfast and loading the dishwasher. FCD has said he wants the meatloaf for supper rather than a larger mid-day meal. So be it. I may or may not get motivated to clean the guest bathroom. There are marks from the shower chair in the tub - just scuffs - and every time I see them I think “I should scour this bathroom.” Maybe or maybe not today.

I think I may read for a while.

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There is no sense of urgency in the clean-up. It’s sort of like a guilt-free day. I don’t have to do anything productive, but if it happens, that’s okay.

We once again exceeded our data limit :roll_eyes: I don’t know why this is happening suddenly, but it isn’t right. We haven’t changed our viewing habits or computer habits. But, since I don’t want to pay nearly another 100 bucks a month for internet, I switched my plan to unlimited, costing approximately 30 bucks more a month. For November, I exceeded our plan by over 300 MG, which would have cost me 70 bucks. Since it was the first time, they gave me credit. But, I exceeded again by Saturday, so I just bit the bullet and changed the plan.

My husband has gone back upstairs to sleep some more, and Maisie followed him. She LUUURVES sleeping on our bed. Buster is under my desk, his legs wrapped around one of my legs, and his head leans against the other leg.

I think I’ll do some online shopping. My daughter’s birthday is on the 4th, and I need to send her a gift.

132

I just had some alleged sweet cherries that I bought at Food Lion the other day. I swear, they were virtually flavorless! There were maybe 2 that gave a hint of how they should taste, but mostly, nothing. So either I’ve completely lost my sense of taste, or Chile grows flavorless cherries. Wonder if it has to do with the long journey they had to take…

Ok, I think I should read for a while. If I can stay awake.

133

Happy Belated Birthday, Cupcakes!!

Also, Happy New Year, Dope!

We went, we saw the lights last night, we went home and ate dip and pie for dinner last night. We did manage to make it until midnight, then I promptly went to bed since I’m working this morning. Things are quiet - they seem too quiet, so I’m trying not to get excited. Have a couple of meetings shortly, then may clean my sorry self up.

One way or the other, I’m napping today at some point.

134

Happy New Year! Let’s hope it goes better than expected.

Three flakes of snow this morning and temps are plummeting, down ten degrees (17F) since I woke up and wind chill is in single digits.

NYD breakfast was a fried egg sandwich and a yogurt cup and coffee. The wife is jonesing for a baked potato for dinner. Wants beans on top if it, for some ungodly reason. She gets these. . .enthusiasms. . .from time to time. And no, she’s not pregnant; that would be a true miracle involving a star in the east and three bearded street people showing up at the door.

135

We had no evening fireworks, so it was quiet when I went to bed. I slept right through any midnight explosions, but woke up at 1:30 for a bathroom break. I could hear music in the distance, and it wasn’t the boom-chukka-boom-chukka bass of a typical party. It sounded like loud singing and wailing. It went on until 3:30 a.m., after which I could finally go back to sleep.

It’s cold and clear today, and I’m looking at live video of the crowds gathering for the Rose Parade and crossing my fingers that they don’t attract another murdering car psycho like Bourbon Street did earlier this morning.

136

I turned off the lights at 12:03 am. I haven’t seen the new year in for decades. I’m taking my friend to lunch today cuz it’s her birthday.

137

Wonder if you might want to change your router password or set it to another channel. Sounds to me like you’ve got at least one extra user. Pretty sure your router software will at least let you see what devices are using it (might even be able to block ones you can’t identify as yours).

138

Well, don’t they? :stuck_out_tongue:

Happy new year!

I managed to see in the new year, mostly because one of my neighbors across the fence was throwing an outdoor party, complete with mariachi band, firecrackers and gunfire at midnight. Oh, well, at least it was all done shortly after midnight.

The black eyed peas are simmering in the crock, turnip greens on the stove and before dinner time, I’ll put some cornbread in the oven. Other than that, I’ll do some mending and mess around in the studio all day.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

139

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off today. Spot and I shall spend the day lounging around in opulent poverty.

If there was no hijacking, the MMP would go “poof!”. Welcome, and glad you had a good lightshow.

We’ve gone 800 days without any accumulation.

Hope you can get through the cold and the car woes, Nut.

Ancient Egyptians worshiped cats as gods. The cats have not forgotten.

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Started Typing: 10:59 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 12:35 PM ET

Happy New Year! :confetti_ball: It’s sunny and a tolerable 45°F, but windy. I haven’t seen gusts like this since last year.

(I’m here all week! Tip your servers! :joy:)

I wasn’t sure if I’d stay up until midnight, but I did! I was in bed, watching my iPad: Max livestreamed the CNN broadcast, and I tuned in right before “Imagine” and watched the ball drop. There were minimal fireworks in my 'hood, with the biggest display – which I could see from my couch – happening an hour or two before midnight. All in all, I can think of worse ways to end a year/start a new one. :slight_smile:

The news out of New Orleans is horrific. At around 10:40am I put my iPad on the desk next to me and started the NBC livestream on Peacock, in anticipation of the Rose Parade coverage. Some news program was on, but I never watch network news so I lowered the volume and prepared to ignore it until the parade started…and then an on-screen graphic caught my eye, and I realized they were talking about terrible breaking news. Like teelabrown, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for the safety of everyone at the Rose Parade right now – everyone everywhere, really.

I was asleep by 12:30am, and might have slept through the night for the first time in a week if Bailey hadn’t started barking at around 2am…and didn’t stop until I finally got out of bed 30 min later. Usually, if I just ignore any middle-of-the-night barking she’ll stop after 5-10 min. Turns out she’d been incontinent in her sleep, and I needed to clean up her “spot” so she could lie down again. My poor doggy! Of course, once I was up I needed to pee, and when I finally went back to bed some coughing started. I was probably awake from 2am-3am. Once I fell back asleep, I didn’t open my eyes again until 8am. I got ~6.5 hours of interrupted sleep, so while I’m actually definitely feeling better I’m also kinda tired: I’m one of those people who really needs 8 hours, plus I’m still dealing with the tail end of this cold. Happily, I have nowhere to go/nothing to do today. :slight_smile:

I finished the Lego U.S. Capitol Building on Sunday, and after some arranging and rearranging I decided to display all of the “architecture” sets together:

https://i.ibb.co/zsMhZHX/2024-12-30-for-MMP.jpg

Late last night I realized that Fallingwater is missing from the group, so this afternoon I’ll do some further futzing. It’s a small set; I should be able to make it work. And, moving it there will free up even more space on the Lego Corner shelves (link to album of all sets and displays). :grin: Until this morning I had no idea what my next set would be, but I’ve decided to get Pac-Man: I’ll hold off on ordering it until I’m able to get together with my BFFs, just in case they got me a Lego gift card for Christmas.

They still only take 10-15 minutes: what takes time is waiting in line, and even that is usually only bad near the end of the month (when inspections are expiring). If I’d gone earlier in December, the whole thing – from walking out of my house to walking back in – probably would have taken ~30 min.

It’s just a safety inspection, so they do look for somewhat obvious things – but, honestly, I kind of appreciate that Virginia requires them. Burned-out headlights and cracked windshields, etc., are safety issues, and it’s sort of comforting to know that no one could drive around like that unnoticed for more than a year at a time. It’s a little insulting to have to pay $20/year on top of my annual personal property tax, but oh well. I’ve lived in Virginia for 26 years now…I’m not leaving the commonwealth any time soon. :slight_smile:

What happens if you fail a safety inspection, in case anyone is curious.

You get a red “failed” sticker on your windshield, and have 15 days to fix the problem. You can go back to the original inspection station and get a reinspection of just the issue that caused the failure for $1. You can’t get more than two reinspections in the 15-day period: you then need to get a new complete inspection, for another $20. Police can pull a car over just for having a “failed” sticker, and you can be ticketed for having defective equipment. There’s never any restriction on being able to drive the vehicle, though: theoretically, someone could drive around with a “failed” sticker forever. At least the big red sticker would serve as a warning to the rest of us. :wink:

HA. :joy:

Oooooo, that’s a good point…now I wonder if some of the “early” celebrations here were due to that reason!