(Old) 24 Hours of Labor- A Labor Day MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
261

Unfortunately that’s not an option for me. The nest is behind some siding, and they’re getting in and out through the mortar channels in the brickwork. My only option is to have a professional tear into it, or to get some foamy spray and spray in those channels so they can’t get in or out and soak in the foam.

Yep, unfortunately. And I’m not exactly in a position to afford a ton of stuff, so I’ve had to cut back, clip coupons, and find other ways to save for what a year ago would have cost me nearly half of what I pay now.

Guess I shouldn’t be sad then, and I can’t say I’m surprised. Shrinkflation is currently going hand in hand with greedflation.

The mac & cheese is very good, as well as the spaghetti and meat sauce. THey used to have an excellent chili, too, long ago.

I don’t mind sultanas in a byriani, but otherwise, I can’t deal. Just doesn’t work for me.

262

54F this morning, so it looks like that slow-moving warm front is finally making its way in.

All puzzles puzzed. I need to make a quick run to the grocery for a few things. We’re out of snacks, which just can’t happen.

Sadie has been barfing lately, pretty much all liquid and it stains really badly. Not sure what’s going on here. Perhaps this food is too rich? She’s become addicted to playing and I wonder if the excitement is too much for her. I’m going to back off of that for a bit and see if things improve.

A quiet weekend for us shut-ins. I have a short follow-up with a doc on Monday to make sure my problem hasn’t reared its head again. My youngest comes over next weekend with his squeeze and his two girls. We’re going to make lumpia together, which will be fun. I’m going to give him the rest of my mother’s silver utensils with hopes he will pass them on to his daughters at some point. They have little monetary value, but most of them date back to the 1800s. I’ve been able to bracket dates for some of it, using a combination of family tree information and silversmith dates. I want to explain to his girls where the items came from and why they are heirlooms.

I haven’t made byriani in years. Gonna have to remedy that.

263

Mornin’ all - a smidgen after 12 noon as I start driveling. Yesterday was too much fun and today is a day of lazy listless recovery. I feel exhausted, not sick. But I figured if the weekend was going to mostly be a bust I’d really finish it off by getting my flu shot.

So I hit CVS’s website this morning and the first available appointment was in 15 minutes. I had not yet sheveled, so that time didn’t work. So I picked one 45 minutes hence, sheveled, and walked the ~5 minutes over there. No crowds, no fuss, and 15 minutes later I was shot and back outside. Then I walked across the street to eat breakfast and now have walked home.

Here in FL you can get the new COVID only if you have a doc’s prescription. My well-baby visit is Tue this upcoming week, so that’s when I’ll get my scrip and then my plague shot.

It’s a warm gray day and there’s much rain about the metroblob, just not right here right now. I sense a nap arising.

Cookie Good luck w Sadie.

264

It’s a wonderfully chilly morning here, which I will enjoy as much as possible as we are headed back into the upper 80s and 90s until late next week when things will hopefully cool off again.

I am dog/fish/house sitting for my sister and BIL this weekend. They have three large dogs that are Stage 5 Clingers so while they are very sweet, it’s a bit suffocating when they all want to lay on/next to you on the couch. They also have a saltwater fish tank and that’s been quite enjoyable to just sit and watch while sipping a glass of wine. It’s a small tank but all of the critters are quite industrious and always busy. It’s also so symbiotic too - they all need the others to do their thing to keep the tank a healthy and happy place to live. I’ll try to snag a photo tonight if I think of it.

I’m far too behind to respond to everyone, so hugs (particularly for those dealing with loss anniversaries) and boos as appropriate…

Coppertone congrats on the job! It’s got to be a relief to have something lined up.

Nellie why are you having to strip the wax off the floor?

Van Gogh that is some serious side-eye from Peach! Hope you made it up to her, she’s a seriously cute pooch.

:joy: :joy:

boofae have you tried hairball food? I used to have a longhair cat that struggled with hairballs, and switching his food made a huge difference.

FCM a cat that horked up on tile instead of carpet?! Is she okay?! Sounds like a vet visit stat - no cat has ever willingly chosen a surface other than carpet!

Oh Misnomer, I am so sorry to hear about Bailey :people_hugging: That is the hardest decision to make, my heart hurts for you. It doesn’t make it any easier, but you are doing the best thing for her.

265

So at various points I was loading in Blue 128, 100 Bottom Blue, 200 Bottom blue, and 100 Bottom Red, with an interlude on the 200 Sort Table. Next CBA I hope we can get in building mileage. Now I’m clean, the clothes are in the dryer., and I got the N.C. State game on, and drinking a Yuengling.

Sounds like an ultra downer version of the Mamas And The Papas “California Dreaming” :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

Does it involve doing a Full Metal Jacket style screaming followed by heaving the minion into a pit of PSWSLS, pour encourager les autres?

To bad you can’t get children’s Quaaludes anymore.

You’re a RDOS. It’s not like you’re gonna get sacked for unsanctioned goofing off.

{{{{{Oopsie}}}}}}

266

Better a day too soon than a day too late, but man, that shit never gets easier.

You gave her a good life, and much joy.

267

Kudos for your bravery. There is never anything easy about making this decision. I hope you can get your old vet. Many :people_hugging: to you in a difficult time. It’s so painful, but you’re doing right by Bailey in her time of greatest need.

268

It’s always hard to let a pet go, even when it’s the right thing to do. I’m sorry.

These here FURminators are da bomb. We have no cats at the moment, but when we did, that and a dab of hairball goo cut down the yorking. I even take ours over to the neighbor’s when I’m cat-sitting.

I have run the vacuuming robot, which my lovely wife has named Ruby. Cleaned the kitchen, more or less. Later, I’ll clean the guest bathroom and fold the laundry, but that’s a night task.

269

Oddly enough, this is the second time she’s done that! I dunno… Seriously, tho, I am keeping an eye on her. Taz did more frequent horking before his demise, and she’s older now than he was then. Dealing with geriatric critters is not fun.

I’m finally free of grandspawn. After a substantial lunch (them kids have healthy appetites!) we went to the waterfront park in Leonardtown. The playground is small, but nice, and there were some but not too many kids there. Plus the breeze off Breton Bay was great on such a hot day. And they have a couple of nice restrooms, which is good, since Tobias announced that he had to poop. Classy kid, that one!

Daughter and SIL met us there, reclaimed their kids, and I came home. Now that I’m in the cool and quiet, I’m thinking I’ll watch a little BritBox and crochet for a while. I should also think about making supper, or thawing supper. Or we’ll just forage. Mostly, I’ll enjoy the quiet.

270

Back when I was married to HL and had access to her daughter and the foster Horde I used to really enjoy visiting and dealing with all the seething energy. But the noise was positively exhausting. When HL and I got out of daughters’ house and closed the door on all that we’d look at each other, nod & smile, and not say a word for the 30 minutes home.

Then we’d be ready to go back to conversing or whatever. But not before.

271

They have all the good pie flavors. Hope they taste good.

That reminds me. I walked past the football (soccer) fields the other day and there was a team of young boys, maybe around 7-8. They were all doing standing quad stretches, but they weren’t balancing very well. So each boy had a partner so they could help each other balance. Very cute.

:purple_heart: :purple_heart:{{{shoe}}} :purple_heart::purple_heart:

Poor Muffin. Must be stressful for her - and certainly not easy for the rest of the household.

:people_hugging: Just because it’s the right decision, it doesn’t mean that it’s easy.

Today was working on the to-do list. Started getting the garden ready for fall - trimmed the roses, cut back the ground cover and cut down all the volunteer lilac bushes.

My coworker gave me part of a huge zucchini which had been hiding in her garden. I made zucchini bread last night, and will make at least two more, maybe three, and still have enough to make zucchini pancakes.

But for now? Time for bed.

Night!

272

Nobody hit the Parboil lottery yet, so it’s up to 1.8 BBBillion, with sales to folks who don’t usually play it. Every Kwik-E-Mart, gas station and grocery store has more people than usual milling around.

A “skein of geese,” eh, Rocker? That usage is new to me. I thought skein was yarn. I tried picturing flying geese with yarn, but it sounds messy. I would have guessed “chevron” for geese, who are organized in their flying. A flying group of starlings is a sussuration, if I remember right. They’re seemingly disorganized, but if something spooks them, they turn in unison.

I once met an old guy who stood in his driveway all day during the starling migration. He had a board with a rope attached to one end. every minute or so, he’d pull up the roped end and stomp it back down. The bang sounded enough like a shot to spook the starlings away from his house and car. Now, that’s a dedicated starling-hater!

Nellie, I hope your SIL heals up nicely.

I’m gonna post this now. I might have more later. I’m caught up to 3 days ago.

273

:people_hugging:

This is the hardest part of loving the four legged ones. They just do not live long enough.

274

My car was ready less than an hour after this morning’s post: no additional work was recommended! Yay! I thought for sure I’d need brakes or an alignment or something, but all is well. The guy did give me quotes for new tires, which he thinks I’ll need in another 5000-6000 miles (i.e., sometime in early 2026): I have performance all-weather run-flats and want to stick with them, so when the time comes they ain’t gonna be cheap. But I’m glad I can start planning for it now.

Bailey and I have an appointment with our vet for first thing Friday morning; just to get his concurrence, and discuss next steps. I can’t express how much I appreciate everyone’s good thoughts and kind words! :face_holding_back_tears: I hadn’t intended to drag y’all through this with me…I know several of you have lost beloved pets all too recently….but it really does help. My BFFs and my boss know what’s going on, but otherwise only my ex knows. I don’t think I’ll tell anyone else until after Bailey is gone.

Something to know about me is that I’m a planner: I always remain flexible, but thinking ahead is my MO — especially in the face of stressful/emotional events. So I find myself drafting emails, making lists of the things I’ll donate to the rescue I got her from, etc. I recently had the idea to write a human-style obituary for her (to be shared on FB as an image in lieu of a long post); in a way, I think that exercise will be helpful. When the time comes, I’ll share it here.

Around here, renting a single-family home almost always means that general grounds maintenance is my responsibility. I have to keep the grass cut, the hedges trimmed, etc. If one of the big trees were to die my property manager would take care of removing it, but small trees/big shrubs that are simply annoying are mine to deal with (if I want). :slight_smile: It’s that way with maintenance in general: everyday stuff is up to me, but anything major — an appliance, etc. — would be on my landlord. I also pay for all utilities, including trash and water. I prefer it this way, as it gives me the most control over the house and property (and therefore how I live) that I can have without owning them.

I also belong to the Stouffer’s appreciation society. Frankly, for mac & cheese (and fettuccini alfredo) I prefer Lean Cuisine — the “regular” versions are a bit too, I dunno, cheesy for me — but for everything else I’m all Stouffer’s. I have a few boxes of the spaghetti and meat sauce in my freezer right now…as well as pepperoni French bread pizza…and maybe some macaroni and beef. :grin:

275

Poor Sadie.

I’m jealous. I hope that you and the grands have fun with this.

More RDOS today. I did manage to get some boxes out. That will be an ongoing thing until they’re gone. I’m actually loving having time to both keep house, play around in the studio and go through the pics and genealogy stuff.

276

Instead of foraging, we went to Salsa’s. Which means I have another meal of Pollo Fiesta in the fridge. Their serving is 2 meals for me.

It’ll definitely be an early night tonight, probably with Mel. I’s tahred.

{{{oopsie}}} - I’m a planner, too, so I get ya!. I think that helps and it prevents too much wallowing - at least it does for me. I know you’ll have tons and tons of good memories to cushion these tough days, too.

277

I am back to baking bread;


278

@LH75 That looks amazing! Recipe please?
I mostly use yeast in pizza dough, but I have always wanted to make bread.

The dog is now running amok. Dashing around with no purpose, zoomies.

279

Catsitting is done. I left a copy of the Cat-a-Log I kept. (I apologize. I started calling it that years ago, and now it’s engrained on my brain.) I’m going to miss going over there and playing with him.

Stupidity. Utter stupidity. Years back, I decided the fake-wood luxury vinyl would look more like real wood if it had a high gloss, so I used a wax like people used before Mop ‘n’ Glo came out. I thought it looked great. Stripping it was hard work, so I switched to a brand I thought would remove itself, like Mop-and-Glo, but I didn’t strip the wax first. Turns out I was just adding more layers. They stopped making it, so I bought a different brand that recommended stripping the old wax first. You know the rest.

I’m now thinking I may have damaged the flooring and will have to 'fess up to management, which would be expensive and embarrassing and which makes me feel like crying. I should be labeled “Not safe for vinyl floors.”

I talked with my sis-in-law. She’s doing better. She can’t remember a thing about the accident, what the docs said, the transfer by ambulance, or any of what happened, but hopefully that’s just from the pain meds.

It rained a little this morning, and we even got a thunderclap. I hoped it would rain out tonights Very Loud Puppet Theater, but it was just a short shower.

Oopsie, please let us know what the doc says. I know how hard this must be, having done it myself, but easing her passage is the last and most loving gift you can give her. Big hugs.

**Another alcoholic beverage of yours I had to look up. Keep it up, and I’ll pass the bar exam without studying.

Hippie, wonderful loaves! I can smell them from here.

I LOVE that name for a vacuum robot! When I was a kid I named Mom’s vacuums Alda (the upright) and Hilda (the squat, pink canister). It’s nice to learn your wife does the same.

Does anyone else remember the House of Pies?

Yay, Bob! Maybe he’s running a race against himself.

280

This is incredibly easy. The SDMB does not allow posting videos, but here is the link:

https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=yePMpoyXwys Fix the extra space between www. and youtube