Building an ark in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
261

You wouldn’t be stepping on any toes. If you haven’t yet, go for it!

This story made me laugh, especially the part I bolded.

{{{ huggzz }}} for Nellie and for butters. Fresh pain, old pain … it still hurts.

I have one load of laundry in the dryer. Contemplating a second load, but then, I’d have TWO loads to put away!

… or to leave sitting around in my living room.

Ah, yes, and Monkey is currently a Naked Cat, having ditched his breakaway collar sometime yesterday. This is a rough neighborhood & a cat that’s not obviously owned by someone isn’t safe anyway … today being Halloween, black cats are especially vulnerable to idiots & their “pranks” so he’s staying inside today, much to his vocally expressed displeasure.

We’ll see if Wal-Mart has a shortage/supply chain issue with kitty collars in a bit!

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Virginia! Less than 3 hours to go.

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{{{nellie}}}

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Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off today. Making some chorizo breakfast tacos.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Safe travels!

{{{{nellie}}}}

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Happy Sunday!

It’s been a messy few days, and I have been a bit of a bitch.
Well, okay, more than a bit.
Although from the looks of it, it has been way messier for some of you.
Nothing major for me, just all those small irritants that pile up.

Supposed to start getting really cold in the mornings this week. Supposed to be 28 degrees Firday morning. I am not looking forward to that.
I hope you bring some Florida heat with you on your way home FCM.
Have to find a place in the house for Mike the palm. He looked pretty close to death there for a while until I put him outside. I figured out that he wasn’t getting enough sun. Now I have to think about which window is a good one. The dogs have claimed most of them.

One of the things in life I have a hard time with, is when there is conflict in a group of friends. Everybody has annoying traits; you overlook them as you hope they will overlook yours.
I always feel like I have to fix it, and of course it is not my place.

Dealing with multiple deaths in a short period of time is hard. OAOASO had to deal with 17 (18 if you count his dog) deaths in 19 months and he has never been the same.
Sorry for your loss Nellie.

I know what you mean by winter laundry VanGo. One pair of pants takes up as much space as three pairs of shorts, and the material is heavier too.
Laundry is what I will be doing today.
And getting stuff out for the cold days coming. Time to plug in the hand warmer and dig out the toe warmers.
I got some new boots that are waterproof and fur lined, and not as clunky as my snow boots.

{{{Butters}}} I hope you enjoy your time at your son’s place.
Yes, my son finally got a job, as an order picker. Pay isn’t too bad and the benefits are good. My friend interviewed him and hired him. She was his boss for a while, but she went back to day shift. He is learning to speak up, and is considered to be a model employee. I think his shyness helps with that, as he doesn’t get caught up in all the gossip and drama.

Hope all goes well for you wife Cookie, and good luck with the surgery Obi.

No Halloween celebration here tonight. Too hard to deal with trick or treaters with my dogs wanting to check out everybody who comes to the door. Since we seldom use the front door, my dogs associate it with goodies, like pizza delivery or jungle boxes with treats.

Fun story Shady.

Sorry if I missed anybody.
Y’all have been busy.

Guess I should get started on finishing up the laundry, and getting all the winter stuff out.

266

Good morning, everyone.

The hike was most pleasant and a bit of a workout in some places. We started out on one trail, but my hiking partner decided there was too much water running over the trail, so we turned around and found another trail.

The weather was gorgeous and there was just a bit of a nip in the air when we started out in the morning. However, the sun was out and when it hit the fir trees and sap, the air just smelled lovely. It’s my favorite smell in the world.

Yesterday’s hike proved to me that I can get out and start my walking/running again. Unbelievably, I’m not sore at all, which is a surprise given how steep some areas of that trail were. It also showed me how just a few months of not running or walking has weakened my stamina. I’m embarrassed to say I really struggled in a few spots on the trail and had to stop a few times on one section of the trail that a seemingly never-ending series of very high steps. I finally figured out I just needed to go at my pace and not worry about keeping up with my hiking partner. All the same, I had a great time and was very happy to be out and about in nature. I think we left at the right time, though. The trail was becoming crowded and I really don’t like to see a bunch of people when I hike. The area we went to is near a population center, and the two trails we took were considered moderate, so that means more people.

I need to get in shape for the more difficult trails because I’d like to get back out on them again.

nellie, I am very sorry for your loss. That is really sad.

I’m glad you’re home, or very near to it, FCM. I’ll bet you and FCD sleep the sleep of the dead tonight.

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That sounds harrowing. (May I ask what the acronym stands for?)

Heh. How (in)appropriate!

Death by a thousand papercuts.

Pleased to report that Monkey is no longer a naked cat. (So swampy you can let go of those pearls you’re clutching.) They had a TIE-DYE collar, so of course, hippy me had to snatch that up.
See photo illustration, below.

I’m annoyed that he keeps going into the neighbor’s overgrown jungle of a yard (I’m sure that’s how he got rid of this last 2 collars) so to better keep tabs on him today, I left the bell on it. (HATE the noise, so I’ve always taken them off.) Poor Monkey has never worn anything jingly before, and it’s clearly annoying the shit out of him.

Alright, it’s a Blessed Day Off today, and this joint ain’t gonna smoke itself.
(Nor are these dishes gonna wash themselves, and this laundry won’t stuff itself into the appropriate drawers… :roll_eyes:)

http://imgur.com/a/YRLuGI2

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OAOASO
On Again Off Again Significant Other
It was a rough time for him.

Cute collar.
Adam lost his, we found it laying in the air intake that’s in the floor. I never put it back on him.

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Merrylande. Almost home.

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{{{{hugs}}}} for nellie.

271

Frühstuck has been eaten: pancakes, maple syrup, and bacon for The Missus; and keto pancakes, sugar-free syrup, bacon and 2 over-easy eggs for me.

The roofers are unloading their truck. Occasionally they’ll make enough noise to trigger the howling skeleton dog in front of the front window.

272

Alright, I have been more productive than yesterday, that’s for sure.

  • Both litter boxes are clean.
  • Many dishes have been washed.
  • A small but not-insignificant amount of laundry has been folded/put away.
  • The kitties got to eat/roll around in catnip (“wanna get hiiiigh?”) and just now, split a squeeze-tube of gooshy treat (“squeezy crack? squeeeeeeezy crack?”) and got some outdoor time under closer-than-usual supervision.

The neighborhood trees are starting to show their autumn colors. :fallen_leaf: :maple_leaf:

Now the door’s closed against an increasingly chilly wind, I’m weaving some cross-stitch, and listening to "Wait, wait … " on N.P.R. while refereeing two very bored cats.
I feel like one of those white-trash absentee moms, barely looking up while grumbling, “Stop that! Be good, dammit!” over and over.

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nellie my deepest condolences. {{{hugs}}}

taters I’m glad the hike went well. It sounds lovely.

Not too much on the list for today. 'Beamette has to decide whether finish her costume or not. That’s about it.

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Thought I posted that I’m home. I’m home! Been here just over an hour, and I finally read thru the posts that I missed. I didn’t mean to come across like I was ignoring anyone - I just had to minimize data usage on the road, hence short and sweet posts.

And now I’m exhausted, so everyone take hugs, the perfect all-purpose expression of friendship, sympathy, joy, and gropage, as you prefer. :wink:

Taz has been vocal and needy. I haven’t seen Ziva yet - she’s not in her usual hiding places, but there’s no odor of dead cat and the litter box has obviously been used by both cats since yesterday, so I’m just assuming she’s found a new hiding place. No doubt she’ll emerge eventually. Higgs is glad to be home, as are the two humans.

So glad to be home…

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Thank you for letting us know. :slight_smile:

I’ll take the groping! :wink:

Always fun to determine household head-counts that way.

Pro tip: shake treat bag and/or crack open a can of gooshy food.
That makes every cat I’ve ever known materialize out of thin air into the center of the room. (“What?”)

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Sorry, I meant to include linky for anyone else who wants to listen:

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She’s weird - it doesn’t work on her. But if I’m sitting quietly in my recliner, she’ll mosey by. So later…

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Pixel is staring and me and whimpering. I’ve fed him twice today. I think he wants the forbidden food, ie the non-kidney diet. He should not eat that, so I’m trying to distract him. No luck yet.

My sister’s FiL is not recovering from his heart attack. They are taking him off the machines later today or tomorrow. The family is doing FaceTime good-byes.

Chocolate eaten today is calorie free, right?

279

Absolutely. All of it.

280

Glad all and sundry are home, safe and accounted for.

I’ll take a double helping of friendship and therefore joy, please.