I’m not sure I’ll be allowed. The physical therapist was talking about when he was a kid, it was easier to split wood (with an axe) in freezing weather. Might have to try that. As it is, I’m guessing we have ⅔ cord or more of firewood; so no hurry on the remaining logs.
Man, it just started RAINING! Biq squall. Coming down hard. The dog skeleton on the porch started howling.
I am SOOOO tired. I automatically walk when I’m on the phone. My brother called and then one sister, so I got in a couple of miles. On top of a short night, I’m wilted. I decided to have a mini martini to relieve stress. Then I have to figure out dinner.
Sari, as I was walking to the gym, i thought, “Here I am, complaining about one or two small things, when Sari has 10 or 20 times that frustration.” It put things in perspective.
Oh, thank you! 
You could pick me up, and then we could just keep driving. I hear Belize is nice this time of year. 
2gig, that’s amazing! It’s not often things happen faster, easier, and cheaper than expected. Yay!
shady, wow, that was one smart kitty!
flyboy, nice jack-o-lanterns! I saw a video where this woman was using a hand mixer to get all the stringy goop out of the pumpkin. Apparently it breaks them up or something. I thought about trying it, but I don’t have a hand mixer, and I’m not going to be here on Halloween. Oh, and she carved a hole in the BOTTOM of the pumpkin so she could set the candle on a flat surface and set the j-o-l over it. Anyway, yours are great–much better than I ever did.
Evening all. All the “S” stuff was done, shopping was easy, sammich was good, swimming was 925 yards in 30 minutes, sauna was 25 minutes (and 271.6 lbs on the scale), and Soccer had only 4 players show up but was fun anyway. Culver’s Butterburger took care of dinner and watched some tackleball until it got boring.
2gig, talk about a run of good luck. Hope you love the new driveway.
Sari, hope new dog begins to settle down. Maybe socialization at the kennel will help him settle in.
flyboy, hope the fingers keep improving.
quietly, need to get my Halloween stuff–probably at the last minute–always end up with too much, which is good for the kids but not for my teeth.
nellie, take good care of that friend…she’s a friend indeed.
shady, lovely story on the cat and glasses. Mine have been affixed to my face for so long I wouldn’t recognize me without them.
Sunny, sounds like the move will be much less stress than if you had to DIY.
Nettie, glad you and lip are doing well.
FCM, I have my A/C topped up every year and a HVAC inspection, they call me to schedule it, give me a date and morning or afternoon options, and call before arriving. Think that’s the professional way–sorry you have the problems.
OK, between soccer and swimming, weariness is now arriving, so bedtime is near. All y’all take care.
It’s a good thing they are so cute. The cats I mean, I’m sure your daughter is well past the age of needing to be cute lest she die.
I am really happy that you are feeling well enough to try to teach American to anyone. One of the things that helped me learn Japanese was watching dubbed American TV shows. Watching the lips speak American while the voices were speaking Japanese really clicked with my weird brain. I don’t know it that is something you can suggest to your students due to availability.
Oh, oops…yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what she said. She told me about the couple she bought the piece from and their hand fed kiln which is when my eyes started glazing over like swampies when I’m talking about thread.
I love pottery and I enjoy knowing a bit about it, but my brain isn’t big enough to hold all of the trivia I am fed on a regular basis.
What vegetables? Hubs tried air frying asparagus once. He also tried air frying cauliflower. I was not impressed either time.
I’ll take Snoring Downstairs Neighbor for a hundred, Alex.
I’m sorry you had such a start, it is really hard to go back to sleep after something like that.
Hello darkness, my old friend…
It got colder last night, I’m going to have to strip the tomato vines pretty soon, like tomorrow. Even ripened inside, home grown tomatoes are better than store bought.
Ouch about the box, I read ahead and saw that you don’t have any visible marks which is a good thing. I once had a sleeping cat roll off the headboard onto my face and am here to tell you that nobody believed me about how I got a black eye and scratches all over my face. After a while…like the second encounter…I just started making things up about a bar fight or secret agent business. Folks seemed to believe that much easier.
Can you have geese? Or chickens? They don’t take a lot of room and can be herded. They also don’t like being barked at, Cerby would need to quiet down a bit to keep his herd calm.
I know what you mean, our home makes all kinds of strange noises when I’m alone. It doesn’t make those sounds when hubs is in bed asleep because just being in the house is enough to quell the noises. Come to think of it, I don’t hear them when he’s out in the yard either.
Maybe we are just listening hard for the welcome sound of our loved one coming home?
Thank you for doing your civic duty. Jury duty has never been much fun for me either so I’m glad I haven’t been called lately.
We have gotten three trick or treaters every year since we moved in. The little boy across the street will be over before they go to town and the two girls on the other side of the poor abused stop sign will come over before they go to the Valley.
We don’t have sidewalks or streetlights and most parents don’t want to walk house to house in the cold. This has caused an issue because we can’t just buy extra large bars to eat ourselves, so we have to buy a big bag of Hershey’s fun bars, give each kid a big handful and lie to ourselves about putting the leftovers in the freezer for next year. It’s tradition after all.
So, Mom wanted to go to Phoenix on Thanksgiving for a MENSA gathering. OK, I said sure, lets do it. Then she didn’t want to go. Then she did. Then she said she would let me know. So this morning she called me and told me I had to make reservations today because that was the deadline and that she was going to lunch so I had to do it.
Phoenix is a pretty big place and has three Garden Inns, none of which was showing the event. I waited for her to get done with lunch and asked her to forward me the email which she did. By this time there were a whopping 6 rooms left and all of them only had one bed. Yes, we could share a bed…but I get restless legs sometimes and really don’t want to inflict them on her.
I booked a king suite with a pull out bed. It has a balcony so I can sit out there and get stoned then veg out in the couch until morning.
As we are checking in on Thanksgiving day, dinner provided (hubs has been invited but didn’t want to leave the cats alone over night because they would get scared or something), and because I know that I will be given a turkey and I thought that hubs shouldn’t be deprived of cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for us so we will be eating turkey again on the following Tuesday.
I just used my metal Coleman spoon.
I thought about that, but decided not to. I am going to put some holes in the bottoms to let the rainwater out.
Aw, shucks. I do the same one every year, and I still haven’t matched the first one. The other one was a quickie that took like five minutes.
I’m in.
Nice!
flyboy nice Jack-o-lanterns!
I have to say the packers from the moving company were amazing. The entire house and the garage packed by 3:30. I am stunned. Tomorrow they cart it all over to the new place. I am so grateful that I can afford to pay for this help.
That was my reaction when we moved into this place. We will probably move one more time and will certainly pay other people to do the heavy work.
I realized that I had forgotten to mention that this morning, Hubs managed to fall off our mobility ramp and we are pretty sure he broke a rib or two. I remembered about it just now because I heard him moaning when he got up.
Of course he hasn’t been to a doctor, but I do kinda agree with him about this. Nothing that can be done about broken ribs except suffer and heal. I’ve been out looking at the landing for our ramp and cannot see how he managed to fall face first unless his arms have gotten so bad he couldn’t grab the rails when he tripped.
I’m in for the road trip too. I’ll bring the cheese and sun screen because all of you kids tend to forget that the sun isn’t really your friend.
Happy St. Crispin’s Day! Carpe Diem, and go crush a French army!
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heavechant incantations at the SSLAW
The good news is that it doesn’t start the clock again. General elections are held usually every five years. The current shower of idiots first met on 17th December 2019 and will automatically dissolve on 17th December 2024, following the rules of the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022. (This replaced the previous Fixed Term Parliament Acts of 2011).
There are a couple of other ways to get an early election, it involves votes of no confidence in the government which require a majority of MPs to vote for, or the PM and party can call for an early election. That’s not going to happen because Sunak’s party know they aren’t guaranteed a win, so they won’t call an election if there’s a chance they will lose. Lastly, the monarch has the right to dissolve parliament but that’s such a rare thing to happen…I’d be really happy if Charlie decided to do it though!
I’d call that an amazing day! Score for you!!!
Normally, these guys are great, but apparently, like many places, they need more techs. And since we mostly heat with the pellet stove, it’s not a huge deal. Plus the system is not quite a year old - it darn well better not be having issues!
This year is our 19th Halloween in this house, and the 18th where we’ll keep lights out and curtains drawn. I know there are kids in the neighborhood - I see the school bus stop in front of our house - but I pretty much never see any kids, tho I occasionally hear them. In any event, Higgs would go bat-crap crazy with the doorbell going off all evening and Taz would try to escape - it’s just not worth the hassle. Plus the last thing we need is leftover candy…
MIL’s sister and BIL will be coming the Sunday before Turkey Day and leaving on Turkey Day. They’re getting a hotel near MIL et al, but we’ll be doing dinner here on Wednesday. My daughter will borrow a couple of tables and some chairs from her school and we’ll set them up in the basement (there’s not enough space upstairs.) There will be 11 of us, counting the babbies. I’ll smoke a turkey and roast one. Daughter and I will share the making of the sides. And I think I’ll invest in really nice paper plates to minimize dishes.
This afternoon is supposed to be nice, so I’ll be taking the kids to the playground before giving them back to their mother. In fact, the next few days will be mild with sun - I dread when the weather is not playground-friendly, but we’ll deal when the time comes.
FCD is taking his brother to SS today for something. Other than that, just another day in paradise.
Happy Tuesday!!
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 50 degrees Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 82 and N.O.S. for the day. Today is laundry day. I can hardly contain myself! Other than that the usual sloth is in store. Sup shall be my world famous Eyetalian Chikin, succotash, smashed N.O.T., and rolls.
Gigity good deal! Enjoy the new driveway.
JtC hope the hubs ribs are better soonest. OUCHIE!
MOOOOOOM some good quality paper plates for Turkey Day is a good idea. That’s what I do when there’s a crowd at da cave to feed.
We don’t get trick or treaters here, so no candy is bought. Might see if’n I can score some the day after, however.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Tuesday Y’all!
Now I need more
Good morning, everyone.
It’s currently 47 degrees with an expected high of 52 along with rain most of the day.
Good score on the driveway, 2gig!
If I didn’t have this crud, I would have driven you, nellie. I am glad you managed to find a ride.
Yes, the crud still reigns supreme in this household. 
I am highly annoyed. I’m giving it one more day, then I’ll have to concede and call the doc. I’m sick of the drip and the cough, and nothing tastes good. I did go into my office yesterday, but I wore a mask, stayed in my office unless I had to take a bio break, and wore a mask outside of my office at all times. I hadn’t been there in a couple of weeks, and things needed doing. Hardly anyone is there on Mondays and only two people came to my office anyway. They stayed at my doorway while talking. My son has the same thing, and like me, he tried to power through the first week or two, then had to give in and call in sick last Friday. Yesterday, he reported he was still sick, although I don’t know if he worked or not. He’s a remote worker, so he wouldn’t have had to report to the office.
I haven’t given out candy in many years now. When we did, some years we ran out before the kids ran out, and some years we had way too much candy left over. Unless the grandkids come down to trick or treat, we won’t be giving out candy this year either.
That’s all the news from around here. I hope you all have a good day.
I haven’t even thought about Thanksgiving. My daughter and son-in-law usually do Thanksgiving since I do Christmas, but I’m not sure if they’ll be here or in Missouri for either of the holidays. I guess I’m just sort of an anomaly, but I couldn’t care less about Thanksgiving. I’m not a turkey fan, and growing up I spent Thanksgiving at family friends’ homes or in San Francisco as part of conference I attended every year in high school. That was fun, but the holiday itself means nothing to me. My husband and kids like it though, so we went to the in-laws while the kids were growing up, then I hosted for several years. It’s a lot of work, especially when you have to work the next day, which I often did.
Morning all. Up early and good thing too, because there was a knock on my door about 8am and it was a guy from the water department, he said my water meter wasn’t working properly and needed to be changed. So he did and now I have something that appears digital instead of the old analog moving numbers, but I’m not going to get on my hands and knees to check it out until I’m dressed properly for it. I wonder if it’s because my bill was so high for awhile (due to leaks) and hasn’t been very active lately. We’ll see what the next bill brings me.
Gym today is all that is definitely planned. Rain is supposedly 100% guaranteed for the afternoon, heading for 77F but I suspect that’ll cool down when the rains come.
Taters, take care.
I usually buy Halloween Candy, have about 35-40 trick-or-treaters but end up with leftover candy all the time…will work on my willpower this year.
Usually head up to Brother’s house for Thanksgiving, need to give him a call and arrange the days. They are leaving Xmas day for my Nephew’s place in Kansas, need to decide if I want to add 800+ miles fo driving to go see him.
Sunny, movers are pros, they can get stuff done you’d be amazed at. Hope the transfer goes well,. unless you paid for it they don’t unpack, so that might take a bit longer…
JtC, Glad you were able to find room. You get a deal with the Hilton Garden Inns, or you just like them better (they are good places, I like them).
Ok, need to find some sustenance and decide when to head off to the gym so I miss the coming tunder-boomers. All y’all take care.
I get few trick or treaters so the debate is do I buy candy I don’t like and hope a boatload of kids come, or do I buy what I like in anticipation of leftovers?
Well, that was an unpleasant phone call. The state of Merrylande claims we owe something over $31K in business taxes and penalties dating back to 2020. I just dispatched an email to our accountant with a big WTF??? Not happy.
On the plus side, Tobias is napping.
I woke up with the donwannas, so I didn’t. Mental health day for me.
metal mouse The water meter thing is probably unrelated to the leak. Many water districts are switching over to digital meters. They can be read with a hand-held device from outside the house, so it cuts down on labor costs for the utility.
FCM Good luck with the tax crap.
Happy Tuesday, everyone! TOday’s excitement includes getting the itch shots (long walk, bus, short walk; reverse), walking to the pharmacy, and going to the gym. Last night my sister called (second call) about something, so I didn’t get to dinner until after 8 pm. And I dreamed I had a class with 40 kids, no seating chart, and 3 new students. Gee, do you think I was feeling overwhelmed?
I had to turn my heat on. I like to go until 11/1, but 61º indoors is too chilly, even for me. It’s competitiveness, not frugality. No stinkin’ weather is going to make me turn on the heat before November! Arm wrestling with Mother Nature, if you will, with an entirely predictable outcome.
We only get a very few trick-or-treaters because there aren’t many kids in the complex, and the gates lock at 6. This year, I’ll be at son’s house, so I’ll get to see kids there. I do love seeing the excited little faces.
Thank you! Knowing you’d have to drive here and then to Federal Way, I’m especially touched. And I think a few days on the beaches of Belize would cure you of The Crud.
JtC, oh, your poor hubs. I hear rib fractures take a really long time to heal. SMH over the irony of falling off a mobility ramp.
MetalMouse, that’s a loooong drive for Christmas. Still, la famiglia e tutte. (Family is everything.)
The second option, always the second option.
FCM, the state called you? Or was the awful phone call the one to your accountant? I’ve never heard of tax news coming via phone call, so I assume you got a letter?
flyboy, thanks for the heads up. May we band of brothers (and sisters) live to tell our stories for many St. Crispin’s Days to come.
That was dogbutler. 
(But I did share it to El Jefe and FB.)
It’s (ostensibly) sound-activated, but I guess I’m too quiet. The rain was loud enough to set it off though. (Or else maybe the rain was hitting it.)