My Goodwills will take however much electronics you want to drop off and they’ll give you a donation tax receipt. FWIW.
Happy birthday swampy!
metal mouse and nellie, growing up in northern Indiana around a bunch of Poles, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, etc, there was store bought braunschweiger (however the hell you spell it) and there was butcher shop braunschweiger. I wasn’t a fan of either (not a liver lover) , but the grandparents and parents loved the stuff.
herald, I’m surprised that the Maine coon cat fit under the sofa. 
Yay for ripple’s mouse catching abilities!
Irked, came home, paid bills, et and am chilling. Tomorrow will be a bizzy day, but with any luck, I may be able to bug out a little early Friday. The old bat got chewed after last month’s beastly EoM and has had to field some of the larger variances this month. I have quite a few myself, but she’s whining and belly aching all over the place. My manager is just laughing. I knew I liked that man.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Yes, but it won’t be enough to use as a tax deduction.
Evening all. Not much to report, went out for a bite to eat at the Steak and Shake to find it’s closed to dine-in, so ended up at Jimmy John’s. Got some peel-n-stick caulk for the bathtub in the mail, so that gives me something to in the morning.
Rain is in the area, it was pouring at the main intersection near my house, but in the 4 minutes driving to my domicile it dried up completely. Rain is still popping up in the county, so we’ll see.
Everyone have a good night (or for our Brits and Swiss, good morning).
Another day, another sort. Making Indian-ish fish stew for dinner.
“I was supposed to have been a Jesuit priest
or a Naval Academy Grad” -Jimmy Buffett, We Are The People Our Parents Warned Us About
Thel, I had a beagle who once origami-ed me onto a pillow while I was asleep, so she couls spread out over 95% of the bed.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWAMPY!!!
The Marine Corps of the Roman Catholic Church.
I had a couple of aunts who were convent drop outs and one great aunt who was a nun. No priests in the family in my lifetime though.
Nelson, at 15 pounds, can take up most of a queen sized bed. He has, however, learned to move out of the way of the fat lady when she crawls back into bed after a bathroom visit.
Gibbs, at ~14lb, can take up a lot of space, but he’s generally afraid of our legs.
Vinnie, at 32 lbs, takes up even more, but he sleeps on his own bed here at the little house. At the big house, where we have a queen sized bed, he will get up with us for a little while, but usually jumps down and gets in his own bed after an hour or so.
Night.
Morning all.
No priests in my family that I’m aware of- we seem to be going for religious diversity more than anything else. One Aunt/Uncle are Catholic, another set is very involved in some Australian new age church group, one of my cousins went Jehovah’s Witness a few years back, and my remaining Aunt converted to Islam. Oddly, my Grandpa used to keep Ramadan, learnt religious Arabic and actually snuck into Mecca once, though he wasn’t Muslim and never had any contact with the Muslim Aunt (his ex-wife’s daughter by her second husband). My immediate family are all atheist, so I got lucky- I could sleep in at weekends 
Anyway, I’m not sure what the plan is for today. Tis N.O.S, but not too hot, so I might just go walkies. It’s ‘avoid the tourists’ season, so it does get a bit tricky to find somewhere quiet. Apart from anything else, I like going to nature watch and you can’t really do that when it’s busy.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 76 Amurrkin out and mostly cloudy (partly moony?) with a predicted high of 90 and pretty much rain for the day. Fine by us, as there are no plans to go anywhere and no where either of us must be. We can be the introverts we are meant to be. Don’t know what might get done today. May be nuttin’ gets done today. The fun of retirement! Sup shall be grilled chikin strips, sallit, and cheesey garlic bread. Easy to make and nummy!
Now I need more caffeine and rumbly tummy wants to be fed. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Thursday Y’all!
I guess I’m the only meanie who won’t let critters sleep in our bed. In fact, we lock our bedroom door because Taz can open it. The only time Higgs “sleeps” with us is when we visit FCD’s folks. And by “us” I mean me - she’ll either get between my feet/shins or she’ll plaster herself to my left side. And if I have to get up to pee, she’s ready to get up and play. Nope. At home, she’s crated all night.
My dad always implied that being a Marine was easier than being a Jesuit…
I need to throw my swimsuit and water shoes into a bag, then I’ll be ready to head to Mom’s. Before I go, I’ll hose down the potted growing things in the back yard, since it’s gonna be another hot one today. I have little green cherry 'maters on one plant, but no other 'maters yet - hope I get some! No blossoms on the cuke vines either, but there’s a nice-looking crop of basil. Anyway, it’ll all get watered in a few minutes.
Once Daughter gets herself and Roxy together, we’ll head north for the day. How much you hear from me depends on whether I post from poolside or not. 
Happy Thursday!!
I was raised Catholic but never gave the priesthood a thought. I have a cousin who joined a convent in Chicago. A few years later she was back home living with her mom with a baby boy. No one in the family was given any kind of explanation. I guess it was really none of anyone’s business.
My departure from the Church of Rome was rather tempestuous and maybe would be more appropriate for the Pit
Well, I don’t let the bees sleep in there…
Morning all. According to the weekly list this is blue Jeans shopping day, so I need to make myself moderately presentable and head over to the Duluth Trading store. Pricey, but since Levi’s stopped making the brand that fit me the best, I’ve had to look elsewhere and these were the best.
Changed a lightbulb in one of the overhead fans, which considering they are about 8 feet off the ground and need three steps up on the ladder, was a little exciting for 7:30am… But the thing is done.
I was raised Catholic (seems we have a few here), but like hippy, I fell away from the Faith in my late 20’s (but not quite as tempestuous) and consider myself an Agnostic A-religionist. Brother married a Lutheran lady and converted full-bore, he’s now retired and studying church doctrine.
Nut, it appears someone from your family is going to heaven…looks like you have most of the bases covered… 
No dog (or any other creature) to share my bed, which considering how much I move about in the night is probably a good thing.
OK, need to break fast (what used to be Carnation Instant Breakfast is now apparently Breakfast Essentials, so I’ll try it). All y’all take care.
Happy Thorsday!
It was a cool 70 degrees at the park this morning. My pups were rather lazy, but I think they are still worn out from yesterday. Not too many people there this morning.
Somebody new showed up, their beagle was kind of scared. Then he suddenly jumped up on the table and came over to me. He was nice until Echo came over, then he started snapping at her and almost got my fingers. Sorry puppers, if you want me to pet you, you can’t snap at my dog while I’m doing it. Especially when my fingers are in between you.
The sun will be shining all day and it’s supposed to get up to 93.
A good day to stay indoors.
My father was an altar boy, but no priests or nuns in my family. On my mother’s side, one of my uncles was a minister of some kind. I don’t know what kind of church, all I know is that they took the Bible pretty literally and they called each other brother and sister.
I can honestly say, I never even considered being a nun.
Both of my dogs sleep on the bed. Neither of them crowd me though. Ripple will get in my spot if I get up to pee, but as soon as I come back he moves. Echo will sometimes snuggle a bit before I go to sleep.
Adam only sleeps on the bed when he can have the whole bed to himself, except for one time I saw him and Echo sleeping together.
Don’t know what all I am going to do today besides irk.
Nikki used to sleep with me without exception, but lately she’s been exploring alternative spots. Guess I move too much, or cuddle her too tightly?
Last night, I decided I wanted a weird amalgamation of carbs: a grilled chz sammich, and mashed potatoes with gravy. They’re easy to make, of course, but I have … well, ezzactly none of the ingredients, so I stopped at the diner for pickup.
On a whim, I added a cream puff to my order, because insufficient carbs. The thing’s the size of my head!
So I’m having half a cream puff for breakfast now, after sleeping like the dead last night. Turns out, the best (and cheapest) “cure” for my anxiety and insomnia is to physically wear myself out almost to the breaking point.
I … have mixed feelings about the matter 
but the few people who knew me personally before I moved up here & started all these changes unanimously exclaim about how happy I seem, how healthy I look, etc.
But today and tomorrow are both Blessed Days Off so I can give my knees a break. Planning a short day trip tomorrow, to a local I’ve grown friends with. Sold him a few rats, and he’s got chickens (and eggs to give away!) and I think we’re gonna go halfsies on a bag of proper rat food - lab blocks from Mazuri.
They make specialized kibble for pretty much the entire animal kingdom. Need stuff for your rhino or elephant? They got ya covered:
Up, fed, and caffeinated. 76, heat index 75 (cloudy here at the house; foggy at the airport, where the weather stations is), predicted high of 87. Fortunately, the housemate had a friend whose family was getting rid of three dead or dying A/Cs. Housemate was going to salvage and sell the copper, but when he started dissecting them he discovered that the only thing wrong with them was that the filters were in dire need of cleaning. The friend said to keep them, as they’d already bought new ones, so one is now in our bedroom, one is in the loo, and the third one is in the back of the housemate’s van for now. (The house was built ca 1890, and most of the windows are too narrow for an A/C.)
I think there was a minister of some sort – Presbyterian? – a few generations back in my mother’s family. We went to a pentecostal church when I was a kid, but after I moved away from home I started describing myself as an Apathetic Agnostic (“I don’t know and I don’t care”), then a few decades later decided I was really an atheist. Lady SCAdian is Episcopalian; we were married at the county courthouse, but after she admitted that she (and her mother) would have really liked a church wedding, we had a second ceremony at the base chapel with a Lutheran chaplain officiating (longish story).
Nothing scheduled for the day except a blood draw…
No religious stuff in my family’s history either, my parents sent us to Sunday school but that was really just to give themselves a couple of kid-free hours in the week. I hated it and eventually started bunking off and never went back again. My brother fancies himself as a bit of a composer so he faffs about doing stuff for his local church choir - also as a means of getting a bit of time away from his wife, otherwise known as The Cabbage.
My can of worms has not yet turned into a barrel of monkeys, I’m not sure which would be worse. The worms are not back in their can either, but they’re learning to waltz very nicely now.
It’s getting a bit hotter here now, we’re supposed to have heatwave temperatures again for the weekend which means the idiot neighbours will be out burning things in the garden again. It’s not a barbecue, and it’s not a bonfire either, but it definitely involves shouting and beer. It’s a good job we don’t have guns at home in this country, I fear it would not end well!
Nothing much else going on here, I will be tuning into my friend’s weekly rock show tonight and then getting up early for a 7am session in the gym tomorrow. That will be followed by irk, and then the reward of Friday night cocktails.
Knocked off irk early today because I feel awful and my eye hurts. I hope I’m not about to get another optical migraine. I hate that I feel like I have to ask permission from TPTB to knock off. I don’t have to do that anymore. I have a job that treats me like an adult.
I’m currently Buddhist, but I was raised Lutheran, aka Diet Catholic. (All of the guilt with only two sacraments!) A Catholic former co-worker and I had a long conversation once about the terms Diet Catholic and Catholic Lite and which term best applied to Lutherans and which to Episcopalians. I trust swampy has opinions on this as well.
Samantha Cat sleeps on my bed cuddled up with me. This is how I know she snores. All of the tabbies are booted downstairs and locked out at bedtime, so they sleep with the Irish downstairs.
It has been entirely too muggy here. Irish Storyteller discovered that he can summon thunderstorms by starting to pressure-wash the house. He put his hand on it yesterday and the thunder started a-boomin’.