A couple of beers and cocktails in. Happy vacation to me!
Talk amongst your selves.
First! Woot!
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 19c/67f with a predicted high of 30c/85f and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “Except for the clouds and the fucking arseholes, it’s a decent fucking day. I really wish the fucking arseholes would leave.”
I have a cup of tea and I’ve just scoffed some yummy sourdough toast. No vacation for me, that comes next week when we’re off to Belgium. Instead, I have a meeting this afternoon to discuss the changes we want to make to our team structure, I need to do the grocery shopping, and I’m off to the gym tonight.
Second.
{ sad trombone noise }
ETA my idiot cat is safely back home, and imma brush my teefies and go plop myself in my blanket cocoon.
Hooray for vacation, doggio!
Hooray for kitty coming back home, shoe!
BooFae, I just couldn’t say ‘hooray’ for a meeting…
Today’s current drama: my mom is still in the hospital but might get out as early as this Wednesday. MusicMan has officially started a new job and is at orientation this week. I have accepted a new job which is going to start out as part-time and I’m going to talk to my old boss this morning about staying there part-time because I do like many parts of the job and my coworkers, but I’ve recognized, mentally, that I cannot handle the job full time. Oh, and perhaps the most fun coming up is that due to kidney issues I may have to quit taking lithium which I have been on for around 22 years. Not gonna lie, that really worries me.
But.
There is good news! I’m going to hang out with my best friend and another friend as well this afternoon! I don’t think I’ve seen them since last year. Then Annie will cuss me out for leaving her alone when I get back home. Oh, and she may not be the only one doing that as I’ve officially told the neighbors not to mow my yard anymore which it makes me sad to have to do it, but I want to keep everyone safe.
Morning everyone, just returned from a short vacation. Or, as we RDOS’s refer to them, “a trip”. Just a weeklong camping/fishing journey with my dog. For some reason my wife preferred staying home in the air conditioning with wine and take-out, rather than dealing with heat, sand, wind and smelly fish. Wimmin’s be weird I guess.
In pullin-based news: My daughter has been on an archeological dig in Greece this summer, and spent the last few days dodging wildfires. She’s sent scary pictures of the huge orange balls-o-flame as they worked their way closer. As of now, they’ve changed direction and are moving away from her and her crew. She’s in a different hotel and is safe for now.
My son’s current route has him flying to the airport at Glacier National Park. He told me it’s mostly on instruments, as the wildfire smoke is so thick they can’t see much visually. Yesterday he realized his copilot didn’t bring N95 masks and was coughing a lot, but he had extras and shared them.
This week’s plans are to watch people clamber over our house and replace the roof. It was a total loss after the last hailstorm, and we wanted to wait until we’re sure the spring storms have completely given way to the heat. I don’t want to replace it twice in one year – yanno? Texas has a full 4 seasons: Mud, Hail, Furnace, and Football. We’re finally in “Furnace” and storms are less likely now. It’s only gonna hit 102F today, so it’s not really bad. For some reason, everything above 105 really bothers me now. And I’m an Arizona transplant! And I should laugh at anything below 115, but I’ve grown acclimated to the cooler weather here in Texas.
Oh well, hope everyone has a good week, and Doggio enjoys vacation!
Mor.. uhh… afternoon.
I failed to blow the rain down to the midlands sorry, it’s all wet and rainy here today.
No holidays here until this obnoxious thesis is writ. Hopefully, when it’s done I can head off somewhere nice to relax for a bit, though it does rely on me finding some new rat-sitters, as my previous ones have all graduated and left. I will also need to start the job hunt at that point, which I’m just not even thinking about yet.
I’ve finally managed to collect the prescription I’ve been after for 2 weeks (online registration system for requests was down, two different receptionists told me they’d passed the request on)… It wasn’t urgent urgent, but it was getting pretty annoying.
From the last MMP:
Do you really attend a church or is it a buffet in a building with a steeple?? 
Today starts with 71 wet Ferrets - I think it rained on and off all night. No weeding, as rain is supposed to continue on and off all day. I’ve decided to attack the mess that is our garage, since pellets will be delivered in the next month (I hope!) It’ll probably be hot and icky work, but what else can I do today???
Oh, yeah, today we’ll get our delivery from Chewy, so I need to have space for that, too.
BIL will be having surgery on Aug 31 and he’ll be losing his larynx along with the cancer - at least that’s the hope. My sister said he’s down to 109#, which ain’t much for 5’7".
I know I bring this up every year, and I’m doing it again. Aug 3, 1973 was my first day at boot camp. I was 19 - barely more than a baby! What a ride life has been since my arrival in Orlando that thunder-stormy night!
My mom will be bringing me a variety of iris when she comes in 2 weeks and I’ll be adding them to the new beds in the back yard - it’s an appropriately sunny area and it’s a spot where I can enjoy them, assuming the idiot dog stays away from them.
For now, on to surfage before starting chores.
Happy Moanday!
Morning all. 69F and sunny this morning. Looks to be a less brutally hot week. Every day is a holiday when you’re retired.
We need to get appointments for ourselves for wellness checks. It’s been over two years since the last one and I want to know what the bloodwork says. Also, the wife wants to take Sadie to the vet to look at her runny eyes. I keep telling her that Sadie’s eyes are clear and that this is not an abnormal affliction, especially for a former shelter cat who may have been exposed to feline herpes. But to keep the peace. . .
Breakfast will be a croissant sandwich and a fruit bowl. I may make a frittata for dinner with some Italian sausage I have.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 75 Amurrkin out and rainy with a predicted high of 85. The rain is supposed to stop in a couple of hours and then it will be cloudy the rest of the day. Sounds like a good day to stay in da cave, as is my wont. We brought home some fried chikin from Sunday brunch which will form the basis for sup. I am thinkin’ maybe peas 'n carrots, some kind of rice dish and rolls to accompany.
I am a RDOS and as such am on permanent vacation. Hope you enjoy your week off doggio.
shoe glad the prodigal cat is back.
sticky_buns looks like a lot is goin’ on there! Hope you like your new gig and that MusicMan is happy in his. Hope all goes well with your mom. Enjoy the visit with your friends this afternoon. Annie will eventually forgive you. You are, after all, the provider of food, treats, and skritches.
Yanker I am with your wife on this. My idea of campin’ is a hotel room that faces the woods. Glad daughter is safe for now. Have fun with the roofin’. I can’t imagine how roofers stand the heat, but they do.
MOOOOOOM food happens only in the Parish hall, cause we are civilized and such. However, from time to time some folks do need to be told not to bring in food and drinks to the church itself. You’d think that would be a common sense thing, but some folk ain’t got that and need to be told.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Hey! It’s Monday morning again. Here it’s 63 degrees fair-and-square, with Apache fog. I’ve had a big mug of coffee, so the gears and escapement wheels inside my skull are beginning to move.
I have to clean my eyeglasses and go find the rest of breakfast. I’ve already had a yogurt and a mandarin orange.
Mornin’ everyone.
It’s 50F and partly cloudy outside. Actually, I think it’s smoke haze. Today is supposed to be sunny with a daytime high of 81F. Smoke from the Central and Eastern Washington fires started drifting over to my county last night and will become progressively worse. Nothing like what those folks who actually live over there are dealing with, but still it’ll be hazy here.
Shoe, I’m glad Monkey made it home again. Silly kitty!
Yanker, I happen to like camping, and I’m a girl. I haven’t gotten to camp in a good amount of years now, and I genuinely miss it.
Doggio, enjoy your vacation!
Sticky Buns, that’s just a lot of stuff, but I hope both you and Music Man like the new gigs, and I hope your mother is released.
I checked in with my friends who live over in Spokane Valley. They are safe, but the pics they sent from their backyard are pretty scary and impressive.
I spent yesterday watering, pruning, and deadheading, and even cut flowers to put in a vase. I don’t often do that, because for some silly reason, I just prefer to enjoy them outdoors. However, cutting them promotes more flower growth, and the dinner plate dahlias get droopy on some of the weaker stems, so I have to cut them before they break.
Today I need to get some artificial tears, some bed pillows, dishwasher pods, and a couple of other items. That’s about all I have on today’s agenda, besides some general tidying up.
Okay, I better get going. I need a shower, but I think I’ll peruse unaffordable real estate and talk to myself about what a stupid layout that home has, and wonder why someone would pay 1.3 million for a house with laminate counters, and a 5000 square foot lot
Take care of yourselves!
Good morning all. Stayed in the sack until 7:15am so should be rested and ready for the new week. Big thing on the agenda today is my Dentist Appointment at 11:30am, so need to get gas, sammich, and shopping done before that. Temperature is only supposed to reach 83 ferret heights today, but will warm up during the week.
I got two vacations in this year, the April trip for the sailing cruise and last month back to some places I used to live and things I used to do (with Cedar Point and Mammoth Cave being the highlights). With youth soccer starting up this week and going to November, I don’t think any other trips, outside of going to see my Brother for Thanksgiving and Xmas, will be on the agenda.
doggio, enjoy the vacation, lord knows you’ve earned it.
shoe, glad the Return of the Feline occurred.
Sticky Buns, all the best for your Mom and for the new jobs you and Music Man have. Hope the de-lithium-izing doesn’t have any adverse effects. Enjoy your friends!
Yanker, glad daughter is OK, that must be both exciting (the work) and a little terrifying. And the new roof will be a bit noisy to install, but it’s fairly amazing (at least to me) how fast they can accomplish it.
FCM, hope BIL makes it to the surgery, and then survives it. A quick BMI calculator says he has a BMI of 17.1, which is severely underweight (normal average is 159lbs according to them).
And I’ll have to look it up to be sure, but I think I started my Government career on August 17th, so this will be my Government anniversary month too!
Cookie, I try to get a wellness check once a year and a quick review when I renew my prescriptions every 6 months, so I concur it is time to let the vampires feed.
Knots, never heard that term before, Googled it up and it is there, according to AI:
I presume you mean the first one…
Taters, may the shopping be successful. About all that I have is my weekly supply of apples, I had Fuji’s last week, so either Envy or Cosmic Crisp this week–we’ll see what the prices are like.
And onward into the week. Have a good one all.
Good morning, all! it was 70ºF this morning with dew point of 70º. You could say it was sticky this morning. You could also say that water is wet… just like the air this morning. Chloé and I let Mrs Magill sleep in. She was up late repairing Band Uniforms. I have no idea what they’re going to do without her next year.
I managed to talk my Dads group into trying Call of Cthulhu. Now I just need to prep a scenario. Everything I’m reading and watching indicates that CoC is a lot easier to prep than D&D, since it is primarily about investigation and role-playing rather than exploration and combat.
Yeah - It’s bad enough that I’ll be going through a second puberty. Add in a second adolescence on top of that, I’ll be insufferable.
Hooray! Lojack that cat, stat!
Okay - this is the coolest sentence I’ve read all day.
And this is the second coolest. I hope your kids stay safe.
And now I have Aerosmith in my head.
I used to scoff at people in RVs. Real camping involves a tent. Then we rented one, and there was a massive thunderstorm. I realized that I was dry. I’m with the RV crowd now.
I love Galas, Fujis, and a local variety, Dixie Red.
Yay!
Not having had a big dog for a few decades (and never one Otis’ size), about how much does he eat?
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted, infused and fixing to do KP. I need to make a quick Aldi run once sheveled, but otherwise, RDOS.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
i’m “meh” about nuts in brownies. i do like actual chunks of chocolate in my cookies. i really enjoy chocolate cherry brown bread. sooooo good, so hard to find.
i don’t mind almonds, pistachios, cashews or macadamias in chocolate. not fond of peanuts.
the usual shopping trip on saturday. i scored another gothic mirror from michaels. now both sides of my bookshelves have a dark gothic vibe. i did get 3 pepper corydoras, they didn’t have any pygmies. the peppers are big enough to attract the attention of the betta (shiro) i got approval to have a fishtank in my area, so i might bring in the peppers into the office. depends on shiro’s behaivour.
thinking good thoughts for baker’s wee pupper.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. I slept in till 0830. Never did that before. I need to go to Teeter and Aldi for a few things, and stop somewhere for lunch.
I camped once. I’m with the Wimmin on this one.
Glad the kids are surviving the smoke and fires.
I caught a clearance on the Cascade Platinum ones last week, and now I have a year’s supply.
< adds Fujis to list >
When we lived in Jax and a particularly bad heatwave came thru, the local TV station was interviewing folks who worked outside, including roofers. One of them declared that their job was especially hot because, being on the roof, they were closer to the sun. Um yeah, 93 million miles minus 30-ish feet? Sure. Now, explain snowy mountain tops…
I’ve thought the same about places where I worked when I left, but yanno, my absence didn’t much affect things. Face it, we are none of us irreplaceable. How humbling is that?
My apple of choice, with Fuji in second place.
He goes thru a 40# bag in 7-8 weeks, but it’s augmented by occasional wet food or veggies. So 3-4 cups of kibble a day (divided among 3 meals) staying on the lower end if it’s augmented, and a denta-stick every morning.. Plus he gets various treats thru the day. But NO TABLE FOOD!! It was a challenge to break FCD of that habit. He always let Higgs lick his plate and shared other bits of non-dog foods.
And speaking of Chewy - FedEx just dropped the box off, so I need to drag it into the garage.
Taking an early lunch break because I’m all sweaty and icky from working in the garage. I hauled a bunch of boat stuff and the components for the dust collector that’s been collecting dust down to the shop. He bought the dust collector parts months ago - maybe he’ll assemble them before Christmas?? I’ve organized my little tool box - the common items I need in the house to save me from going to the shop for a screwdriver or pliers. I’ve been sweeping, too - lots of leaves and dirt is being cleared out.
I need to make space for 3 tons of pellets. The question now is - where will we put our trikes? Probably the basement.
BTW, Alexa is pretty cool. FCD forgot his phone, but we have an Echo on the boat and he just did a “drop in” to let me know he forgot his phone and to tell me he’s running some errands on his way home. Much as I distrust AI, I have found Alexa to be very helpful in a lot of ways. Yeah, we can get along without it, but it’s so cool to be able to say “Alexa, turn on the bedroom lights” as I’m walking down the hall.
OK, enough slacking. There’s a particularly messy corner of the garage that still needs attention.
When I worked in an office, I got permission to have a betta at my desk.
Lil’ guy became the unofficial mascot, and every morning when we’d come in, he’d do the “Hi! Feed me!” dance, which quickly just became part of our routine.
When I was gonna be off for a coupla days, there was a (polite, gentle) push between my co-workers over who would get to feed him in my absence.
Woke to Monkey curled in my arms like a stuffed toy. 
I wish. I can’t keep a cat-safe collar on him (he can magically shed them within minutes) and while he is allowed out for semi-supervised ramblings, this was a “shoot out the door as soon as it was cracked open” scenario.
Eventually - this ain’t our first rodeo - he remembers where his food dish (and in this case, water bowl - it was a very warm day for someone wearing a black fur coat) are & comes back, but my worries are cars, and dogs. Mostly cars, the roads here are terrible but in front of my house is smooth & well-maintained (it’s an LEO/ambulance route) so local folks use it as a speed strip to show off their testosterone.
But he’s safely back home, and I have two whole days off in a row, so imma be productive cook a homemade breakfast curl up with Monks and snooze a bit more.
Yeah, it’s a good wellness check and preventive measure. I’ve just been lazy about getting it done. Not a good idea when one is pushing 80.
I want to tell everyone how wonderful they are in the old MMP for the well wishes and prayers for my dog Mauser. He is not improved and I was supposed to take him to his own vet today but I had to cancel as I can’t get hold of the person who would help carry him. But my own clinic called back and were so great, as they gave me four numbers for local clinics that do house calls. So tomorrow morning sometime the vet will come, and it’s good because I know the place and it has a fine reputation. I hate to let Mauser wait but if you heard how he cries when he has to move I think a house call will be best. I don’t give a flip about the cost either, if he has to go then I want it to be as easy as possible on him.
My love and skritches to all the other Doper’s pets out there. I bet a Doper Pet Fest would be fun, I love looking at the picture thread.