MMP and Chill - Winter is Here

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

Morning all. Slept until nearly 8am and then futzed around the internet for a bit, so getting to my weekly contributions a bit later than normal. In keeping with the title, it is 32F outside now and may not make it to 40F, so for N. Ali-bama that is pretty cold. It is due to get back to the 60’sF later this week, but for now the middle-weight jacket comes off the hanger and gloves become mandatory. Will be off for the usual Moanday shopping and sammich run when I finish this missive, so will judge for myself how chilly it is.

The two most dreaded words when I lived in Northern climes was ‘windchill factor’.

Piper, happy Remembrance Day (like that title better than Veterans or Armistice Day).

I can recite (I will not call what I do signing in respect to Mr. Lightfoot) the entire “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” from memory.

FCM, hope the appointment and shopping go as planned.

VanGo, lovely pic, she looks rather fetching in her outdoor wrap.

Pilot, doesn’t seem like a year has passed since you got divorced; I guess time flies when you’re having fun (and sounds like you had lots of fun this weekend, wink wink, nudge nudge…)

Doc, welcome back and it’s always good to hear from our lost sheep. Now, tell us everything that has happened to you in the last couple of years… :wink: :grin:

Yanks, does not sound like a good fishin’ day to me. Better find some indoor activities to keep you active. And I’m lucky to find out if someone is sick or hurting from my family, just distance (not just mileage).

Taters, glad the bikes performed as expected. May have to look into them too.

And time to get dressed and head out for Kroger and Jersey Mike’s for the standard Moanday morning routine. Have a good week all.

22

It does. Me too. I’m irking today, having the occasional chuckle at things I do that our database people don’t or can’t do. And we got rid of our FTP server, so they’ll need our ShareFile consultant to set them up. I’ve spent many years getting our members used to sending their data to a distribution address instead of directly to my address. So the person/dept. at National can just be added to it.

23

Not here. It was 46F when I walked Nelson this morning, both of us in jackets.

Welcome back doc!

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP.

I called the PCP this morning and they can get me in tomorrow. I’m so ready to feel better.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

24

At 10:04am Eastern Time Zone, it’s 24 degrees F out there. We didn’t get a lot of snow yet, but the prognostication is more snow starting at about 3pm. Guesstimating snowfall is tricky work, and they say 4 to 12 inches. Today is trash day, but it’s going to have to wait until next week.

Welcome back, Drsunflower1! I don’t see your name on my list of MuMPer nicknames, but that will take care of itself, soon.

Pullin, I once saw a friend playing with a remote-control toy boat, and I got a brainstorm. What if you used one of those to troll a spinner-bait to catch fish? Would it work? Would it be a legal way to fish in my state? How big a fish would it take to pull the whole rig underwater? That’s as far as I got. That was before the new-fangled flying drones of today.

25

Good morning! I meant to post yesterday, but the day went kerfluey before I even got out of bed. First Ms. Dog’s person called to ask if I could walk her (Ms. Dog), as the chimney repair guys were going to be there making loud noises. I guess they work whenever they can get a dry day, Sunday or not. Then Charlie’s person texted me to ask me to walk him. Poor Charlie is a bit under the weather, so we went slowly and uncharacteristically for him, stopped often for requested hugs and scritches. He’s not sick sick, but is clearly subpar. He wouldn’t eat Good Boy Treats and gave me the sad eye when I left. (The cat: Screw him. I’m not sick. Gimme.)

Then my sister-in-law called to rant again about her DIL. It was a very long call, but I think progress was made. It won’t stick until it’s been repeated a few times, but it’s a start. She’s going to lose her son and grandkids if something doesn’t change.

In between, my son called. He and my daughter are discussing Thanksgiving but haven’t figured out for sure who’s coming when. At least they’re both coming, and there’ll probably be an overlap.

Today while I wait for my WY friend to call me back, I’m going to clean out a closet and clean the balcony, as I moved plants but haven’t swept, put away the chair cushions, etc.

BooFae, I still enjoy the cranky weather reports. Why am I always surprised to see the British spelling of kerb? Do Canadians and Aussies spell it that way, too? I guess we at least share a strong bond in mucking up indigenous names (along with the French).

Dagnabbit. BRB.

26

Yeah, and I want a self-dusting house. Guess we’re both gonna be disappointed! :wink:

Depends - did you bring snacks?
I crack me up!

Turns out I didn’t have an appointment after all. At least not according to the office. I’d looked around for the card before I left home and couldn’t find it (no surprise - it was from a year ago) but I swear I had one! Anyway, I’m now in the book for Dec 11. My Aldi stop was good, too.

I’ve had lunch and once I’m done here, I’ll bring in my plants and do a coupla chores that require tools (screwdriver and pliers!!) Then maybe I’ll head out and dig up some compost. I put my new plants out on the porch but I may set them in the garage overnight. That or cover them. Still thinking on that one.

I was considering a pot of soup for supper, but we had soup yesterday. Maybe fish? I shall continue cogitating.

27

From last week:

They can use the road tunnel, which opened in 1980. Before then, after the pass closed, cars rode on car shuttle trains through the railway tunnel.

Awwww. Good thing she’s got clothing to keep her warm.

Welcome back!

Last night’s concert was fun - the opening act was Indian Folk Metal which was surprisingly good. Bought 3 shirts and a hoody, so when we got home, started a load of laundry. Also had to wash my jeans - I went to point at something and forgot I had tequila in my hand. Oops.

Weirdest thing we bought today was eggnog from Luxembourg. Supposedly it has rum aroma, so that might be a bit strange. Luxlait

Tomorrow morning I have a fasting blood test. Excitement never ends.

28

Hey, July is consistent. Consistently unpleasant, but consistent.

29

Hello my peeps Mumpers! It’s been a while since I could pop in (although not near as long as Drunsflower1! Welcome back).

The last couple of months have been… a lot. One of my uncles unexpectedly passed after a short hospitalization. He was like a father to me and it’s been a struggle to cope and process. The regrets over things unsaid and undone has been incredibly sharp, and it will be quite a bit more time before those edges dull. To make things worse, there ended up being a ton of drama stirred up by his mostly-estranged daughter who made some terrible accusations about the rest of us before she returned to her home many states away. I dread her return when his celebration of life is held next year.

BUT I did get to visit northern Michigan in mid-October and it was a badly needed break. The fall colors were just stunning - I don’t know that I’ll ever see such intense fall foliage again! I also spent a day in the Upper Peninsula, an area I never thought I’d have the opportunity to visit. Overall what a beautiful piece of the world and I hope to return at some point.

I’m looking forward to the next couple of months. I’ve got some time off I plan to piece-meal out before the end of the year, and I’m ready for a good turkey meal with all the sides!

30

It was a low volume day. Of course, if you get stuck loading eight package cars, and get 75% of the irregs, it doesn’t seem that was. I’m a tad sore and tired. It was 50 and windy when I got out. I got gas and did my Aldi run, and had soup for lunch. Now it’s time to nap till game time.

Yay!(it seems like you plan more than teach, though).

Congrats!

Well, as the big freighters go it was bigger than most…

:heart:
I remember Spot’s first snow.

Chili also pairs well with a MMP.

Welcome back!

Beats freezing your tuchus off on a cold beach.

yay!

31

Good to see you, and I’m sorry for your loss.

32

Evening all, hi to those reappearing from the ether!

Didn’t get much done today- I was attempting to prepare for a meeting I’m supposed to have tomorrow where I discuss the plans for my thesis, with my thesis committee.
I haven’t heard anything at all from one of the two of them and the other sent me an email invite calling me by completely the wrong name, then right before I left today sent me a ‘reminder’ email that I haven’t sent him the updated plan yet and I need to do it before the meeting. I haven’t sent an updated plan because :
a) there isn’t one and
b) no-one has asked me for one.

The closest thing to a request for an update to the plan already sent out was a note in a previous email from him asking that if I made any changes to the original version to email them him rather than uploading them to the official page, as he’s having issues accessing it (which was an odd request anyway as you can’t alter submissions after the deadline, which passed weeks ago).

He may mean he hasn’t actually been able to download the version submitted, but that’s very much not what was said and I have no idea what he actually wants.

You may have guessed that this is not a meeting I am looking forward to.

I’m trying to make myself feel better about it being dark by about 4 (though it’s surprisingly not very cold, we’ve still not even had a proper frost, I still have cosmos flowering) by picking out some apple trees to get delivered over the winter. I think I’m going for a few small ones I can grow as cordons, rather than one big tree like I originally planned, which means I get to pick a few types out. There are so many apple varieties out there, and I’m bad at making choices, so this may take a while.
For a start, there’s the trade off between picking ones that I’ve tried and like, ones I’ve never tried but sound great, and ones that just have weird names.
Why is there an apple called ‘Gavin’?

33

We are doing our best to keep you in business.

I was just at the post office and got serious sticker shock over the price of regular ol’ ground shipping.

We delivered cookies to the old farts home and one person recognized me as a fellow cultist. I should have guessed, he had a small post card sized print of the King in Yellow hanging on the wall by his TV. I’ll probably stop in for a visit again soon, staff says he doesn’t get visitors.

Its still snowing and the temp has dropped to 30F so it is starting to stick. Our new windows and insulation seem to be doing the trick. The temp is stable and there aren’t any cold spots so we are happy about that.

We are done going out for the day and if it gets too messy, we don’t really need to go anywhere until Wednesday.

I am sorry for your loss and also sorry about the drama. Some people just are not happy unless they are screaming.

We moved here to WV last year and were here for the color change, but I didn’t really see it because of my cataracts. I’ve been making hubs drive when we go out so I can focus on all of the pretty colors. You are right, its just stunning!

I looked at the site. It suggested adding rum for a more festive flavor. :rofl:

Soup. This is diffidently soup weather. We are having Mexican Tortilla soup tonight.

That does sound like quite a day, I do hope Charlie is feeling better today. I’m glad your kids are coming to visit, tell them to drive very carefully, the idiot drivers come out during the winter months.

Well, that’s about all from here so I think I’ll stitch for a while. Stay warm everyone!

34

Chili is FCD’s supper request, so I pulled a bag out of the freezer for him. I don’t do chili, so I’ll figure something else out.

I used to feel like a slacker of sorts because I never had any desire for an advanced degree. They I see stuff like this, and I realize I dodged a bullet! Plus in the jobs I had, an advanced degree really wouldn’t have meant anything - the joys of being a gummint worker. But good luck to you! I admire your drive!

Yeah, sounds like you had more pressing things in your life than hanging out here in the clubhouse. I hope we can provide some much-needed respite from your real-life drama.

Otis is a real piece of work. I went to the leaf mulch pile behind FCD’s shop to get some compost (it’s nice and dark and rich-looking!) And I noticed that behind his paint shed (which is next to the shop) a bunch of the PVC that was stored beneath had been pulled out. That’s in addition to the length that’s in the middle of the yard. That dog…

Anyway, I have a half a cart full of compost - it’ll be plenty for my plantings. And I’ve decided it’ll happen on Weds - tomorrow will be too cold for digging and watering and generally getting all wet and muddy. Weds won’t be a whole lot better, tho I will wait till the sun is fully shining on the area where I want to plant. That’ll help a little. Maybe tomorrow I’ll drive over the leaves again. There won’t be any mulch/vac this year. FCD is too busy with boat stuff and I can’t deal with the mulch/vac trailer alone.

Which reminds me - I need to make an appointment next month to get our gutters cleaned. All the leaves should be down by then. I’m glad I saved the website - I can’t remember the guy’s name. Getting, um, vintage is a challenge.:wink:

35

The phone call was to schedule the MRI for my back. It’s December 15th. I also scheduled labs for my annual physical (aka “Show up or no drugs”). Why does the doc demand that the labs arrive a full week before your appointment? What’s he gonna do in between, consult the WHO? The labs are tomorrow, and the appointment is a week from tomorrow, so he might not get them until 6 days before the appointment. It’s at a lab I don’t like, as they goofed up something on me once, but whatever.

I will, thanks! They have to go over the pass, which is always iffy this time of year. My son-in-law is driving, and they have a good car and chains, so hopefully they’ll be all right.

Taters, sounds like a great ride, sore tush withstanding. 20 miles! I’m impressed! How far can they go between charges?

From the last MMP: maybe this fuchsia is an accidental hybrid or something. The entire plant droops and has blooms except for this one bloomless stalk. I measured it this morning, and it’s now about 40" tall. Maybe it just wants to check on Bella, the kitty upstairs.

lily, I think I forgot to say last week that I’m angry at your employer. What a way to treat employees! Maybe you and flyboy should threaten them with the Army of Mump. That should provoke weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth

Drsunflower1, welcome back! Is your mumper name sunflower? I have a memory like Swiss cheese some days.

VanGo, what a cutie! She really does have an intelligent twinkle in her eye.

Oh, good. It’s time for some answers! I hope it’s easily diagnosed and treated,

So rum scent but not flavor? I see that the maker suggests adding rum. I wonder if that would make it smell twice as powerful.

Just in case you need a new earworm to get the Edmond Fitzgerald out of your head, here’s what goes through my head when someone wants chili.

36

swampy, enjoy your day of high RDOS! And I agree with you about the snow.

Van Go, Peach should be a doggie clothing model. She wears them all so well!

Piper, congrats to your Roughriders. Glad you enjoyed the game after all your hard work earlier in the week!

Drsunflower, welcome back. :slight_smile:

yankers, I can appreciate your frustration with the older relatives. I’m glad more relaxing activities are included in your day.

Your inaugural bike ride sounds like it was perfect, taters. May there be many more perfect rides ahead.

I’m glad you don’t have to drive in the snow, JtC. Have you had any experience with that? I learned in my distance youth in Boise and put the entire population there at risk for awhile. Don’t miss it, never will.

nellie, I hope Charlie feels better soon. A dog who is not interested in treats is almost always a dog who is not feeling great. You are a saint to deal with your SIL. I hope your efforts to save her from herself are successful.

52, my condolences on the loss of your uncle. Family drama is the worst. At least you got to enjoy the fall foliage of northern Michigan!

Happy planting and gutter cleaning, FCM. It’s great knocking those chores out, isn’t it?

Not exactly warm here, but we’re kind of dodging the ultra-cold winter temperatures so far, as well as the snow. For as long as I’ve lived here, it’s the first week of December that brings the below-freezing temperatures and snow. Not always, but often. Fortunately, the snow is usually of the type that falls and is gone within a couple of hours. Twice in 21 years, it was deep and stuck around for 2 weeks.

So long as the power holds, I don’t mind being snowed in. Even if the power goes, I can manage fine, but it’s not fun. The “adventure” factor wanes after the first time. Schlepping loads of wood from wood shed to house through abundant snow is good exercise, but not much else.

I had a wasted morning today, which annoys me. I got a notice yesterday from the vet’s office that Ollie’s appointment was for today, not tomorrow as I had written it in my calendar. There was no opportunity to call them to clarify the date without making us late to this morning’s appointment. It’s a 50-mile round trip and Ollie needs time to, ahhh, prepare before any journey.

So naturally, we get there and find out the appointment is for tomorrow, as I had calendared it. Grrr. We get to have the same fun tomorrow as we had today!

As noted, it is soup weather. Happily, my friends sent me home with a container of their excellent clam chowder, which I will enjoy for lunch today. And I may build the inaugural fire today in the wood burner. It’s not really cold enough for it, but the wood burner appreciates the opportunity to ease into the season. Plus it will cozy up the place.

We’ll see.

37

From what I’m reading here, this early snow is pretty widespread. Honestly I cannot remember ever getting any significant snow this early in the season, and having it stay on the ground for days! It will disappear over the next few days, but still, very unusual.

It’s probably related to the fact that the ENSO (El Nino Southern Oscillation) is in a La Nina phase, meaning that equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures are below normal. This is a major system that affects global weather. It’s expected to wane and move toward neutral/normal as the new year progresses, so it won’t necessarily be a miserable snowy winter – at least, hopefully not all of it!

38

From your lips to Og’s ears!

39

Probably what’s known as ‘reversion’- a localised mutation that leads to growth more similar to the wild type. Best known when variegated plants put out a non-variegated bit. It’s probably best to cut that stem out, as it sounds like it’s more vigorous than the rest of the plant; if you leave it be you may get fewer blooms next year, as it can take over.

Drive nothin’, I’m just too weird and chaotic to get a proper job.

40

it is getting cooler in philly, the drop and winds should happen tonight. we had quite a storm last night. i’m gonna get out the medium winter coat tonight. and the radiant heater for the bedroom… i know it is cold 'cause lager has been sleeping in the bed and not the bathroom sink.

i’ve been watching the polar bear cam in churchill manitoba. nice and snowy there and ice is forming for the bears. the bay needs temps in the teens to really freeze up.

i hope gg, is happy with the bed now, jtc. lager was rather miffed that i dared to change the sheets without him. i saw he was sleeping hard and took my chance. i had most of the bed done by the time he noticed. i did let him sleep on the old sheets for a bit.

peaches looks adorable in her winter wear. what a cutie!

welcome home, drsunflower1.

rainy days and mondays here.