An Inaugural 2021 MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
201

Afternoon all. Back from indoor soccer after refereeing 3 games and coaching one (we won 6-2). Feel pretty good right now, but haven’t sat back in the comfy chair yet, so may yet doze off. Temps made it to the mid-50’sF today, but rain is forecast for tomorrow. Just as well, can stay in and watch the tackleball.

BBBoo, I have been to St. Petersburg (cruise, we stopped there for a day) and it is no bargain anytime of the year–in other words perfect for that pair. Off course they can visit the Winter Palace and pretend they live there…

2bob, glad you got your shot. No idea when we’ll get ours in Ali-bama.

gotti, that’s a record worth setting. And also sad that so many need it.

red, glad you got the guy off the mountain and in your place…

OK, need to take off the ref uniform and sweats and try to look like an average gentleman of leisure. All y’all take care.

202

Hey, everyone. No offense to anybody’s sensibilities, but

SWEET BLOODY JESUS MOTHER FUCK!! IT’S SNOWING!!

No, you don’t understand. I live at 2700ft. We aren’t supposed to get snow flurries until Monday night, and then only for an hour. Not in the middle of the afternoon 2 days early!

OK, not like its sticking or anything. Big wet clumps coming down, but a lot of them. I definitely didn’t expect this today.

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No snow here today in Le State of Le Mitten. Blue sky and glaring sunshine all day. Guess it put folks into a moderately good mood, as there were fewer crab-cakes than yesterday.

Mmmm. Crab cakes. { drool }

Well, dinner was instead courtesy of Taco Hell (… um, ole?) because they’re cheap, and conveniently on my way home. I’ve changed into PJ pants & warm, dry socks :socks: and have Plants vs Zombies open in another app.

Tonight’s joint is of the “Animal Mints” strain, which if you’re familiar with cannabis naming convention is gonna be a relative of last night’s “Orange Kush Mints” preroll.

Dammit! Now I want seafood, though. { pout } I also wanna save up a few bucks for a brief massage (I’m tense and sore, and frankly starved for hyooman contact) but am sorely tempted by the thought of a six-dollar tray of salmon rolls from the local joint.

Decisions, decisions.

It’s a Saturday night and they’re likely swamped. I’ll call 'em and if they’re too busy to pick up on the 1st coupla tries, well, there’s my answer.

204

Good on ya gotti, but like metal mouse, it’s sad to see so many in need.

Got the groceries bought and Nelson got to play with the new neighbor dog, Molly, for a few minutes this afternoon. Panera fixed supper. I like their menu, but for a salad, a cup of soup and a cookie, it was nearly $20. That’s more than sit down prices at most of the average restaurants around here.

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Well I’m pretty much over the plague except for my right side hurting occasionally which apparently is a known thing but no one knows why yet ,

my brother worked at Panera for a few years … and I find their advertising to be a crock, as they never mention the baked goods part … I mean they used (maybe still do ) to sell brownies (among other things) as big as dinner plates … sure it was 6.50 apiece but 4 people could split one …

maybe it was just where he worked at but they never attracted much of the healthy eaters … but they did have good soup and sandwiches … and I ate a lot of the unsold baked goods whilst i was there

206

Nothing new to to report. Too young for any shot yet it’s a cluster anyway. So I shall just stay in and be a hermit for however long it takes. I am sick of work, sick of people, sick of it all.

Depressed doesn’t even describe how low I feel.

Sleep is a wonderful thing. Seems are I want is sleep.

Don’t know if I did report my annual blood tests all showed I am alive, with normal ranges of cholesterol, not diabetic and have lost weight. Said I was doing ok. My BP was 100/60 which seems awful low to me but the nurse said~no it’s great. Told me I should check it often and keep a chart and maybe get off the meds next time I’m in. Personally, I think she read the damn spagnnamometer wrong. Not trying to spell it right, too lazy to look it up don’t even want to know how to pronounce it.

207

Sushi? Or some other kind of salmon?

and my maybe-some-snow flurries turned into 3’’ when I wasn’t looking. And up to 8’’ more by Monday night.

208

100/60 is ok, but sure wouldn’t want to go any lower. And in the mean time, watch out for light-headedness when you first stand up. Keep yourself hydrated also, again to prevent lightheadedness leading to a fall (can you tell that happened to me and I’m a nurse and should know better…).

It’s sphygmomanometer but none of us say that if we don’t have to. Call it a blood pressure cuff, or, as we do, a cuff.

209

My Shatterday.

As I said, we didn’t get up until 8 bells. Shatterday is traditionally the day I make freshly-grated hashbrowns, bacon, and eggs. Mrs. L.A. said she only wanted scrambled eggs with no salt or pepper, and toast. So I made eggs and 9-grain toast with strawberry jam. I made myself an omelette with sausage, mushrooms, and American cheese. It was almost 10 before we finished breakfast.

Mrs. L.A. decided to take a nap around noon. As she headed off to bed, I put on jeans and a denim jacket. I went out and move about 20 heavy-ass logs to the front yard. It took about an hour. Then I went to the hardware store and rented a log splitter. (You may recall that these logs were too big and/or complicated to cut with an axe, sledge hammer, and wedges.) I got the splitter around thirteen o’clock, and finished making firewood at 16 o’clock. So I got a good three-and-a-half hour workout today. I’ll move the firewood into the back yard and decide where to put it mañana.

I warmed up y tom kha gai for dinner, and made cream of mushroom soup for the missus.

I’ll sleep well tonight.

210

Derp. Yeah, sushi rolls, with avocado. Six of 'em for $5.25 (round up for tip) “Alaska Rolls” are one of my favorite little treats now. I figure as far as indulgences go, it’s a healthy one.

They did pick up the phone (after, ah, repeated tries. What I wants, I gets.) so I just had to pop over & patronize a local business. :wink:

Now there’s a frozen/baked chicken snack about to come outta the oven (look at me, eating lots!) and then it is bedtime for my tired old ass.

The ratties got flax seeds & mashed potato flakes (great “baby food” for the littles) AND bran cereal, so they’re all happy little furballs & there’s a big to-do of rattling water bottles now.

Oh, and I found some new-to-me instant soup options at the grocery store, so I have some (hopefully tasty) new snacks to look forward to trying out over the next couple of days at irk.

Good night, Mumpers. :slight_smile:

211

Cleaned the fridge, and watched 3 hours of battleship videos. It’s 32 here, but no snow. Having a Negroni, and making Asian BBQ stirfry for dinner.

Gesundheit!

UAE. Orange golf course and no extradition treaty

{{{{{{Butters}}}}}}

.

Glad you’re improving. But if it was the left side, it would be your diodes.

Shoe, Teeter has $5 sushi Fridays. I like the salmon/tuna sashimi combo.

212

Evening all. Big Bowl O’Sallit has been prepared and consumed, so the digestive system won’t require attention until around 11am tomorrow (Texas Roadhouse will handle that). Staying awake is getting harder, the soccer workout today is beginning to catch up with me.

doggio, I lived in the UAE for 4 years ('99-'03). He’d better not stiff the air-conditioning folks there, especially in summer…

shady, glad you’re doing better.

{{{Butters}}}

flyboy, that’s a work day right there. Hope the muscles don’t complain too much tomorrow.

red, glad Nelson has a new friend. Never have eaten at Panera to the best of my memory, their menu has never appealed to me.

OK, gotta hang in there until after 10pm. Used to be the threads in the Pit section could provide reading for hours, but it’s gotten much more boring there lately…wonder why…

213

It was a different sort of walk today. I walked to Tar-jay, World Market, and the grocery store (total: 5 miles). I got some new placemats. My son and his wife called. We had a nice, long chat while I did all that, and I didn’t have a crying jag until afterward.It was almost dark by then, so I put on my light-up wristbands so motorists see me. A guy standing at the intersection with a light board (“Jesus is the light!”) complimented me on my wristbands. I’m in with the in crowd, baby.

shoe, glad you’re eating well. I had a craving for pad tai yesterday, so I planned to walk to the Thai place to get some tomorrow, but now the craving is gone, and I’m back to “Food is yukky.” It’ll pass. Question: how often do you have to clean the ratties’ cage? Is that indelicate? When I read about the bran, my mind went, uh, to the gutter.

Moooom, I love salad, but for a birthday dinner, I wanted you to have something special, preferably with a candle you could blow out. I also wanted Pin the Tail on The Donkey, but I’ll wait for next year. You’re inviting me, right? :slight_smile:

ETA: flyboy, glad the missus is doing so well. Your use of military time makes me feel I ought to salute. Please tell me, “At ease” or I’ll stand at attention indefinitely.

214

I took three ibuprofen.

I could say something really naughty about ‘standing at attention’.

ETA: It’s supposed to start snowing in the wee hours, followed by rain in the afternoon. Looks like I’ll have a cold and wet day of moving those deconstructed 20 logs to the back yard tomorrow.

215

Glad you’re improving shady!

{{{butters}}}

216

Morning, mumpers! It’s cold and very white outside! It was frosty when I went to bed just after midnight, got up this morning and there’s a pretty good covering of snow. The weather app says “The shitshow happening outside is a complete fucking catastrophe” and promises me -1C/30F up to 0C/33F, cloudy with heavy snow. Yup, I can see that, thank you very much…

nellie we are unlikely to get rid of Bogbrush the mutton-headed mugwump in a general election for a few years. The best we can hope for is either a vote of no confidence, or something more colossally stupid than he’s already managed which leads him to resign. Even if he resigns, it just means he’ll be replaced by another one of the tory toadies, so there’s no real advantage to that either.

{{{{{Butters}}}}}

Glad to hear you are recovering, shades, just take it steadily and don’t rush into things!

flyboy good to hear that Mrs LA is also recovering well, sounds like she knows exactly what she wants to get her through it.

gotti well done on the food distribution, you are a good soul for doing it, but sad that so many families out there are in such need.

Nothing to report here, it’s white outside, I’m not going any further than potentially outside the front door to put the contents of the recycling box into the recycling bin. We have two old recycling boxes that the council used to collect before they decided on wheelie bins instead. But they never took the old boxes back so we store recycling in them until they’re full and then transfer it to the bigger bin outside. Our recycling gets collected every fortnight, it alternates with the domestic waste bin - which is currently the most exciting thing that happens around here apart from a weekly trip to the supermarket!

217

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 49 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 62 and kinda sorta partly N.O.S./cloudy for the day. Looks like a day where the sun will shine upon us for a while then get cloudy. Rinse/repeat. Today we shall deheathenate virtually at ten a.m., followed by a zoom Annual Meeting of the church at eleven. Folks will also be able to in via the book of faces. It will be a mixture of pre-recorded reports as well as live questions and answers. Three new members to the Vestry shall be voted upon as well. The vote part was done electronically with a link sent out on Firday for folks to go to and vote. There is also a phone in option. Anywho, all votes must be in by ten a.m. this mornin’ so the vote counters can tally and report results durin’ the meetin’. This should be innerstin’ to see how many folks tune in and participate. Also, there is a drive by happy birthday celebration for a member who turns ninety this afternoon from two to four at her home. Said member is receivin’ in home hospice and is quite excited to have people drive by to wish her a happy birthday. We shall participate, of course. The plan is to go do that and then go grab some takeout from somewhere TBD to bring back to da cave. Thus are the plans of the day.

shades glad you are in recovery. Take it easy and you’ll get there!

flyboy glad Mrs. LA is recoverin’ as well. Hope you’re not too sore today.

gotti great job with the food distribution. Fantastic of you to do that, but as others have said, sad that so many people are in need.

{{{Butters}}} just continue to take care of yourself, OK?

MetalMouse hope you recover from yesterday’s activity.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then I suppose I must purtify and make myself presentable to be seen both virtually and later on IRL.

Happy Sunday Y’all!

218

Honestly, I never really cared much about my birthday. Maybe it’s because with 5 kids, my folks couldn’t afford to make a big deal - they never threw parties for us. We did get to pick what kind of cake we wanted and what we wanted for dinner, plus we got $3 (which was a lot of money in the 60s!) Anyway, it’s just not a big deal for me, unless it coincides with a special life event, like qualifying for Medicare or Social Security! :rofl: But thanks for the good thought anyway. And we are going to Red Robin to get my free burger today, so there’s that.

No white stuff around here, thankfully, and I don’t expect any. There’s a chance on Thursday, maybe, possibly, if you believe in that sort of thing. We shall see. But in the meantime, it’s cold - like chilled to the bone cold. So I’m loving the pellet stove greatly.

Hugs to all who need them, and, what the heck - {{{HUGS FOR EVERYONE!!!}}} I tend to be OK with being by myself, but this extended mostly-seclusion is getting to me. But let’s all stay safe till we get shot! I was going to suggest a Mumper Zoom, but since I have neither camera nor microphone for my computer, I’d be on the outside looking in, and that’s not much fun. So never mind.

Today is National Compliment Day!! Share the love! Can’t possibly manage to do everyone, but I’ll start with a few:

BooFae - I crack up at all the titles of your peerless leader. Even if you’re just stealing them, you pick some great ones. I need to work Bogbrush the mutton-headed mugwump into a conversation somehow.

nellie - you impress me as a kind, caring person and I wish you were close enough that we could hang out.

MetalMouse - I admire your dedication to kids and soccer. I’m sure they appreciate it, even if they don’t realize it.

swampy - you old fart! I lurves you more than my luggage!

OK, more later. For now, I need to read the Sunday funnies.

Happy Sunday, all!!

219

Afternoon all!

Good to hear you’re on the mend Shady
Happy belated birfday Moooooom!

I went to pick up the last of my junk from Bristol yesterday- the stuff I really, really could not fit in the car however good my car tetris is. Today’s job is trying to somehow squish it in the room, which is bigger than the car at least, but it still involves some creative cramming. The forecast says white stuff is imminent, but no sign as yet- as I don’t have to go further than the car anyway today, I’m fine with it falling- I don’t think we’ll get more than a sprinkle, and I doubt it would hang round long anyway.

I think we may have some disagreements about heating in this place- I’m hanging round in jeans and a short-sleeved t- including going outside wearing that- and had the window open earlier, several housemates are huddling, dressed in everything warm and fluffy they own, around a heater on full blast and complaining about the cold… Hmmm.

220

Yeah, we got a dusting of the white stuff overnight here, too. In fact { squints outside } looks like it’s still comin’ down. :snowflake: Guess that’s it for blue skies & blinding sunshine for a while.
{ shrug } Fine by me.

Today is { double checks } Sunday, which is a shorter workday and also differently staffed - everyone is there from Open to Close, rather than arriving at staggered times - so opening & closing duties go more swiftly.
Many hands make light work.

I’ve accumulated some household trash m’self and since I’m up before my alarm (Sundays also start an hour later - can you tell I like working this shift?) I shall bestir myself into dumping all that out & dragging the Big Bin ™ to the curb, so that Future Purple doesn’t hafta deal with it after work in the dark.

Speaking of, the days are getting noticeably longer in the evening! It was dark before I got off at 5:30 p.m. for a while there - yesterday there was a lovely sunset to enjoy instead.

I think some morning O.J. is in order, then off to irk. All y’all have yourselves a good day!