How do we feel about fireworks in the MMP?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
101

Back from toddler-wrangling. Daughter and SIL gave us their anniversary dinner leftovers - half a dozen steamed crabs! I honestly can’t remember the last time I had any - at least 7 or 8 years ago. These were quite good - more like Baltimore style than the salty recipe more common in this county. YUM!!!

FCD has another meeting in the morning. I’m not sure what I’ll do - maybe a load of laundry? Maybe I’ll run to the thrift store and see if I can score some bigger onsies for Future Tobias. We’ve got his first few months covered, but if he’s like his sister, he’ll outgrow everything way too fast.

MetalMouse - I got an email from Amtrak about a 14-day circular tour of the country starting in DC. It goes to Chicago, Seattle, LA, and New Orleans, then back to DC. Unfortunately, impending knee replacements mean we won’t be going anywhere till maybe April… maybe… But it sounds like a fun trip.

102

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 71 Amurrkin out and partly cloudy with a predicted high of 89 with a chance of rain this afternoon. It’s a lot less of a chance than tomorrow so maybe we can accomplish mowage this mornin’. I’m sure it’s really wet out as it rained a bunch late afternoon into early evenin’ yestiddy. It needs to get done, however. Oh and smoker shall get fired up for ribs and chikin boobs. We shall have a little soiree on Sattidy out at the cee-mint pond weather permittin’. Sup shall be majik intartoobz pizza as there is a strong gnawin’ and cravin’ for pizza.

wordy I concur with seein’ Rock City if you have the chance. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but growin’ up, the main highway goin’ toward Chattanooga was U.S. 27. Needless to say it went through a lot of rural areas where one would see barns with “See Rock City” painted on the roofs.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tujmmy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.

Happy Thursday Y’all!

ETA: Happy Canada Day Canadian Mumpers!

103

We’ve got flash flood warnings for later today and into tomorrow - rain is supposed to arrive this afternoon. About time! I’ve watered a few times, but I’d rather Mother Nature do it for me. :wink:

Daughter and Roxy are coming over this morning so I can finish the one preggo dress. I took it to her house last night and forgot to bring it home. Plus I’ve got one of her maternity dresses from last time that she wants altered or something - we’ll figure that out. Then we’ll head to the thrift store to check out babby stuff.

Speaking of the most amazing toddler in the world, we were watching one of her shows (one that actually teaches stuff!!) and one of the characters said to another “You’re my best friend!” Then Roxy came to me, gave me a hug, and said “You’re my best friend, Busi!” Does that melt your heart or what?? Or is it pretty sad that a 3-y/o has a 67-y/o BFF?? Actually, I thought it was rather sweet that she understands the concept.

I left basement lights on all night - in my defense, I’d turned most of them off and the 2 that were left on are closest to the door. Since I washed the windows, lots of light was coming in anyway, so I guess I didn’t notice… dammit. I hate when I do that. At least they’re fluorescent, so not huge energy consumers.

One of my BILs is going to be evaluated for a liver transplant. Frankly, I’ll be surprised if he lives long enough to get one. He’s (IMHO) an alcoholic and a heavy smoker for many years and considering all the visits to the ER in the last 2 months, I think he’s probably dying. I’m pretty sure my sister is in denial to some extent. But it’s a pretty stark reminder that we’re now the generation that’s dying off, as our parents, for the most part, are all gone. The Grim Reaper is holding up a sign that says “You’re next!” What a happy thought. :stuck_out_tongue:

Yeah, Happy Thursday! Send ice cream…

104

By the way, welcome to July!

105

The marine layer never dissipated yesterday and I was extremely grateful. It was very comfortable outside and never got much above 72 degrees around here. Todays temps call for mid-70s and partly cloudy too. It’s a stubborn marine layer that will be present until next week except for Saturday and Sunday. Again, I’m grateful. Saturday and Sunday will see temps in the mid-80s, maybe warmer if the marine layer truly dissipates. Meanwhile, there’s no rain in sight and I’m really concerned about fireworks around here. I have to say, this has been the best year in as long as I can remember, in terms of people letting them off for a solid month before the 4th. However, now that we’ve hit the 1st of July, I’m sure it’s going to get a quite a bit noisier.

I’m sorry to read about your BiL, FCM. Speaking as an ex-smoker (over two years now!), I can attest to the difficulty in quitting. I still really want a cigarette every so often and really miss the first cigarette of the morning with my coffee. However, I know if I give into temptation, I’ll be back to smoking again. I don’t miss the cost or the lingering smell in my clothes. I wasn’t a heavy smoker, and I smoked outside or in the garage with the door open, but still, I could still smell it. Both my husband and I gave up completely cold turkey and I’m still amazed that we’ve both stuck it out with not a single sneak cigarette. I hate the weight gain too, but I guess it’s better than black lungs.

I just need to get through today and then my long weekend begins. This makes me happy.

106

Morning all. Will shortly break fast and then do the Great July Grocery Shopping, since there is rain and tunder-boomers predicted for the afternoon and evening (“promise” say the weather folks, ignore we said a 75% chance of rain Wednesday and none fell…). Will try to make it through the day with no nappage.

FCM, my mom smoked all her life, and never was able to quit. It was a lesson, though, neither my brother or I have ever smoked and outside of beer or the very occasional wine, we don’t drink.

OK, onward into the day. All y’all take care.

107

Taters - I know quitting is tough, and I know my BIL did quit a few years back. My sister hasn’t said, so I don’t know if he’s still smoking and drinking - I’m guessing not, just from what I know of him. For my sister’s sake, I hope I wrong.

And in other news, I think we have an HVAC issue. I was just out pulling some Virginia creeper that was starting to creep up the side of the house. I noticed the compressor was making sounds like it wanted to turn on, but the fan wouldn’t blow. Dammit. So I just got off the phone with our HVAC fixers and they’ll be here tomorrow. (they’d come after hours today for $130, vice $85 tomorrow.) If we weren’t expecting rain this afternoon to cool us down, I’d bite the bullet on the higher fee. Worst case, we can hang out in the basement where it’s still cooler.

Always something.

108

@Taters

I agree with all of this. I was a pretty heavy smoker. I don’t miss the cigarettes so much but even after all of these years I do miss the cigars. I know that if I give in to the temptation even once I will be back to two packs a day and cigars in probably a week.

Stay strong!

109

Happy Thorsday!

No dog park today.
It’s a gloomy, rainy day.
By the time I picked my son up from irk, the rain was pouring and my lone friend at the park was waiting for the downpour to stop so he could leave.
My two are pretty tired today anyway. Daycare wears them out.

They got some stuff done while at daycare, some shots and heartworm tests. When I got the receipt the word ALERT was typed next to Ripple’s name. I thought it was a comment on his disposition.
No… it’s a warning.
Ripple doesn’t like the vet.
If I can go in with him, he’s fine. During the lockdown I had to take him in for an ear infection, and I had to wait in the parking lot. After a while a tech came out and asked me to go in. As I’m walking down the hall, I hear this dog going off, barking and growling and snarling, and I thought, wow, that dog sure sounds vicious.
It was my Ripple, my sweet boy. As soon as he saw me, he was happy and wagging his tail. I got the muzzle on him and he was able to be examined.
Now that I can go in with him again, he shouldn’t be a problem.

I had to have my license renewed by August 15, MetalMouse. It expired last year and I had 90 days from the re-openings to get it renewed. Then, because it had been expired for over a year, I had to get an extension before renewing so I didn’t have to retake the driver’s test. All that was done while I was there. Just an extra step they had to do.
I had to wait outside for a bit, they will only let so many people in at a time.
We are all asked if we have an appointment, and it you don’t have one you can’t go in unless you are doing something at the kiosk. Some woman in front of me didn’t have an appointment but since she was renewing her registration, she could do that at the kiosk. Instead, she got into the service line, and was told once again that unless she has an appointment she has to leave. Once again, she was told she could renew her registration at the kiosk. Then she starts pulling out all the other stuff she needs to do, that can’t be done at the kiosk and just stands there staring at the mva employee and says she wants all this stuff done. She gets told again, not without an appointment. Then she says, but I am already here, why do I need an appointment.
I wanted to smack her lol.
The website says you have to have an appointment, every email you receive says you need an appointment, every snail mail you receive says you need an appointment, there is a sign as you pull into the parking lot saying you need an appointment, there is a sign at the door saying you need an appointment, they tell you at the door you need an appointment, they tell you at the service counter you need an appointment, and you are going to stand there, holding up the line, pulling out more papers, and act as though you don’t understand the words, you need an appointment.
And it’s the story of my life that these people are always in front of me.

Honestly, with the price of cigarettes, I don’t know how anybody can afford to smoke.
Around here though, everybody drives over to WV to get them where they are somewhat cheaper.

110

My youngest sister finally quit, for that very reason.

111

I got up 10 minutes ago, and am ingesting caffeine. Yesterday was a road trip. Our destination was Brady’s Oysters in Westport, 236 miles away from the house. But first, breakfast. We went to Tony’s Just A Bite but they were closed, so we went across the street to Peace Arch City Café & Bar. By 0900 we were on the freeway. Stopped in Ferndale for fuel. The trip down was great. It’s rare that i drive between Everett and Seattle without traffic (being able to use the HOV lane helped), and even rarer that I go south of Seattle (well, now Burien). The only hitch was we needed to find a rest area and couldn’t. Went to Starbucks in Aberdeen.

When we got to Brady’s we just wanted to buy everything. In the end, Mrs. L.A. spent almost $100 on 1 pound of frozen razor clams, a pint of shucked medium oysters, half a pound of Dungeness crab meat, half a pound of calamari salad (really good!), a half-pound piece of smoked salmon tip (the bony end), and a styrofoam cooler. From Brady’s we went out to a marina and hiked the very weathered (and in some places rotting) elevated paths/fishing bridges. As we sat near the end, we saw a seal. Mrs. L.A. was like, ‘Oh! Look!’ The seal was like, ‘Oh, hello!’ and then it dove underwater. It dove and surfaced several times as fishing boats were coming into the marina.

Next we drove to Hoquiam, where Mrs. L.A. lived 18 years ago. We eventually found her old house, and she was pleased that it seems to be well taken care of. We wound up at Billy’s Bar & Grill in Aberdeen. She had clam chowder and some sort of drink, and I had a salad with chicken, bacon, eggs, and almonds. And a pint of local(-ish) IPA.

The trip home was pretty nice, except for a long, slow slog through Tacoma. Goo was happy to see us when we got home around 20:45.

112

Over it. It’s fun to go out to a field and set them off, but otherwise, don’t care.

What was funny to me though was before Pennsylvania law changed in 2017, there was always a huge fireworks store at the PA/MD border on US15. You had to show them your ID at the register because only out-of-state residents were allowed to buy anything that wasn’t ground-based, and you were expected to travel immediately back over the border after your purchase. Except they’re 100% illegal in MD, too. :smiley:

113

I watched my Mom quit smoking and un-quit smoking probably a dozen times over the years. So while I never understood the appeal of starting in the first place, I can appreciate the power of the addiction. Then I watched her lungs slowly fail and finally give out altogether last year. Needless to say, I am not a fan of cigarettes.

I got a Jury Duty summons the other day. I’m not one of those people who always tries to get out of it (it’s an important civic duty), but it happened to be for a week I’ll be out of town next month. They allow you to push it back up to six months without having to give a reason, and you get to pick the week. Figured I probably won’t have any plans for the week of January 3rd, so I made the switch.

Flyboy, sounds like a nice little adventure. At my age, I’d never drive that far and back without an overnight stay. Kudos to you for all that windshield time.

114

It did sound like a nice adventure, @Johnny_L.A.

115

I do not celebrate Canada Day.

As for fireworks in general, I like looking at them, but I hate the noise. And amateur fireworks are scary, especially since I saw a near-accident with them once.

116

Afternoon, mumpers! It’s been a hellish week so far and tomorrow doesn’t look much better. Work has been exceptionally irksome although nothing like the Hades Annexe (nettie, I really hope you get out of there soon).

I am so ready for this year’s exam session to be over, it’s been a definite case of too many cooks this time round, and I’m really starting to lose patience with some people. My boss has commented that it must be very bad when even I start to get pissed off with things!

Hope all you overheaters over there are getting some cooler temps by now, ours are starting to go up again but not to any ridiculous levels. In other news, 'im indoors went to get a covid test yesterday which came back negative so he’s all set to go to Scotland tomorrow to see his mum for the first time in about two years. I will be at home, alone, without adult supervision until Monday evening! Woo and hoo!

117

Another inferno. Then I had to load the pig with the Sumitomo Electronics load(Sumitomo must be Japanese for “anvil”). The Irrreg supervisor was honked that they sent one of the ladies instead of me to help. Sorry dude, Mongodogbutler only pawn, in Game of Life.

I celebrate, because I keep being mistaken for Canadian.

Awwwww

And when I quit smoking in 1997, i was outraged paying $12 for a pack of Camels. Now that’s 2 packs.

118

And I’m back from the Great July Grocery Shopping, only needed two stops to get everything on the list and it’s all put away nicely. 82F out and muggy, but still no sign of the rain they’re promising (down to a 79% chance now).

doggio, obviously your bosses need to clone you…

FCM, Roxy is sure a sweetie…of course, she’ll probably tell the dog he’s her best friend tomorrow, kids being fickle and all . And hope the HVAC is an easy fix.

boo fae, glad 'Im indoors gets to see his Mum, and of course you won’t do anything we fellow Mumpers wouldn’t do, would you?

flyboy, sounds like a nice 1-day trip, even if it was expensive.

Wheelie, I’ve never been summoned in all my 68 years to jury duty. Not exactly sure why not, but we’ll see if it happens someday.

Sari, you ought to publish that story in Not Always Right (Newest »), it would fit right in there.

Alrighty, need to be constructive…right after the NY Times (I pick it up at the Publix once a week or so just to read a good paper). All y’all take care.

119

SWMBO originally suggested we make the return trip around the Olympic Peninsula and take a ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville. ‘We’ decided we’d better not. Heading toward Olympia, we came to the Port Townsend cutoff (much shorter than going around the Peninsula) and she said that the original plan would have required a two-day trip. Why drive through trees in the dark when you can’t see them?

I’m making Dungeness crab-and-cheddar omelettes for breakfast. They’re about done.

120

I brought my lunch today (roast beef on pita with gouda, grapes, and chips) and Thank God. The offering in the cafe is a hot dish: green tomatoes stuffed with tuna. I would starve to death rather than eat that. I like tuna salad cold, not hot. I like tomatoes cold, not hot.