That’s a long career! Congratulations on retirement!
Some of you car aficionados may have heard this one recently.
Well, that was a waste of time and gas. I missed a text telling me that the Dr was out today and I needed to call and reschedule. Dammit. It’s almost 20 miles to her office, so about 40 miles for nothing. Dammit. I’m double-scheduled with someone at 10 tomorrow - I plan to get there really early so I can be first, I hope.
I need to turn up the volume for my text signal - I didn’t hear it this morning. Dammit.
Your weather sounds much better than the sort we get here! Currently 77 ferrets/25 centipedes; heat index 78/26, predicted high 82/28. Tonight is supposed to drop to 63 and 17. Canadian smoke over the entire state except our county.
Another entirely RDOS day in progress. 
Apparently the upstairs neighbors moved out, because Maintainable is rolling around big bins upstairs, and the outdoor carpet has been defenestrated onto my porch.
John Wayne grade: rough, tough, and don’t take shit off of nobody.
Awwww.
But less frustrating than trying to deal with that knucklehead though the whole project.
Others have asked about this as well.
Unfortunately, the consultant was the one who got us the house and worked to make us eligible for some government subsidies.
We are in a small community so it’s hard to burn bridges.
That said, I simply can’t continue working with him so I need to find another way.
Shame that your { cough } project can’t continue, and that your { cough } upgrades won’t require his future services.
Such a shame. Oh, noes!
Gotta shove on some clean clothes, fetch Sprinkles and head in for another day of pizzas. And fried shit. Holy gawds, Muskegon, take it easy on the fried steak nuggets!
Have done some soccer stuff and eaten a second breakfast but that is about the extent of my activities today. Probably will go to the gym for an hour or two and then get ready for the soccer day.
FCM, you’ve already had a triple dammit day…some time off is called for.
And off I go.
Sending good thoughts. Hope both get better than expected news.
Where I live (Switzerland), I never see anyone wearing curlers to the store, or pajamas to get groceries. Or going out the door with wet hair, which I might do, but I don’t wear curlers (at all) or pajamas outside my home. I’ve seen all of them in the U.S. Yes, people are a bit more formal, and other countries a bit more so. But. She’s there to learn about your culture, your way of doing things. Be you. 
Which reminds me. When my Bologna-based coworker started working with us, we tended to use the chat function quite often. Later he confessed that he couldn’t understand me and first thought I was speaking German when I was actually speaking English. He didn’t have any experience with Americans, only British.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I lined up a different neighbor. So we’re good to go. And I don’t know how big of a bottle I would need for the two tomato plants. They get thirsty. 
Neighbor will be told she should eat the ripe ones.
Cookie, Sadie is a beaut! Hope she’s eating.
Are you able to work with a different consultant? It’s annoying to change, but it might be worth the bother.
Hope the new neighbor doesn’t come with their own big bins to roll around.
Weather’s being weird. Today was warmer than yesterday and they weren’t predicting rain, but the sky’s got that look. So maybe we’ll get something. If we do, it’s probably not much, so tomorrow I have to water something. Stopped at the store for milk and plain M&Ms. Got the milk, but they only had 4 types of M&Ms, and none were plain. So we’ll have to stop at the store near work. We almost always have plain M&Ms when we travel. Plus nuts and dried fruit. Our flight on Monday is 11 hours, approximately. We’ll certainly get fed, but it’s good to have other choices.
My pinky winky hydrangea is turning pink. I should prune the shrub next to it so it has more space to grow next year. Something for after vacation, maybe October? Yesterday I cut back the rose which is going through it’s second bloom. Also pink. I guess we’re in the pink. 
Last year, and previous years, I would walk three miles at lunchtime four, five, or six days a week. Then Winter came. Cold and wet is not fun walking. Then irk changed me from salaried to hourly, and I no longer have much leeway. Long story short: I got out of the habit. Lately, I’ve been trying to walk 2.5 miles; but there are always other things that need to be done, and I don’t do it every day. (And I’m still not back up to 3 mph average.)
Today I did something different. Instead of walking down the beach and back, I walked down and up the hill six times. It’s a .17 mile round-trip, and I made six ‘laps’ for a total of 1.02 miles in a little under 27 minutes.
I wasn’t aware this was a problem. Many’s the time I showered, shampoo’d, dressed, and dashed out the door before my hair was dry. Was I being judged??
Gotta figure out supper. I’m thinking omelets. Or not. Dunno…
That’s a good strategy. Can you walk to a grocery or something that combines walking with an errand?
The corner market is ⅔ mile down the beach.
Hi folks - quick (hah! I spent nearly an hour on this 
) ) update on midafternoon Tue.
GF & I had a wonderful reunion at dinner then an unexpected but very cuddly overnight at a hotel. We’ve both got the same goals & have sorted out a plan to still have our joint vacation in SF in conjunction with the memorial service, just with her coming out a day or two after I do. We both really hate being apart. She really is on the home stretch of an almost-year now of extra-heavy obligation. I’m a lot recharged after just one day together and we’ll have the next 6 mostly together as well. She’ll be here for sorta-late dinner tonight.
We could live anywhere in the USA, or any foreign country that would take us. But we’re both very happy with Greater Miami so that much is pretty well given. She lives in a gated country club community way inland by the Everglades. As she puts it: “Boring as f*** but a great place to have raised kids with all the privileges.” As a newly minted functionally single woman she has wanted to get away from there even before she met me, but it wasn’t timely yet versus her separation / divorce. Getting close now though.
I live ~40 miles / ~55 minutes away from her in a similarly ritzy but otherwise utterly different downtown eating / drinking / entertainment mecca near the beach. It’s a fun, lively, walkably great way of life here. Two of her posse-mates live near me, and in fact I first met her when the posse was at one of the local boyz-meetz-grrlz watering holes near my place. So the working assumption is she’ll move into this area whether we fully co-habit or just decide to live separately very near one another. Across the whole 6M population of Greater Miami there are a half-dozen areas similar to mine that we might choose, but there’s not a big impetus to pick one of the others versus stick with this one.
Speaking of ironing: I do have one, but rarely use it. It used to be used for every work shirt for the first day of a trip; the later days would get ironed at the hotel. Since I retired, not much gets ironed. Not because I’m willing to wear wrinkly clothes (I’m not), but because I buy things that (mostly) don’t wrinkle. Back in the day late wife and I referred to running a shirt or whatever through the dryer for 10 minutes then putting it on as “bachelor ironing”. I do a lot more bachelor ironing than conventional ironing. Works well enough. But … [cue ominous music].
A challenge I do have is I bought some satin sheets from Da Jungle. They’re cool and pretty. But they come packaged very tightly and very nicely creased. Which creases I cannot iron out, nor can I tumble-dry out. After a dozen or more wash & dry cycles and a couple of serious tries with the iron they’re almost as sharply creased as when I unpacked them.
Any Dolly or Donny Domestics out there have any advice to de-crease satin?
Snooze buttons: Never used one, and would be very displeased with a bed mate who woke me up with their alarm, only to turn it off and repeat the favor a couple more times that morning, much less every morning. Glad I never had to deal with that.
Crap! Ouch! Hope it resolves back to your typical situation soon.
Good news is your new job is a sit-down one. Being a teacher the old-fashioned way would not work at all.
Hooray! And warm thoughts for your afflicted friends.
Hooray for Nelson’s new status. And yeah, never-ending is about right after 2 months. But there is an end and it’s almost in hand.
FWIW, my late wife was Episcopal. And taught a bunch of their classes and led their bible discussion groups. Liberal politics, enough high church style to suit a recovering Catholic, no stupidity about women or gays, and plenty of in-depth learned theology if that’s one’s bag. No sign of fundamentalism. Very big on good works.
There are a few conservative semi- or in-formal splinter groups within the Episcopals. But not many. So the odds are in your / her favor.
Agreed. VanGo sounded pretty worried and miserable as he was closing up his shop, and now sounds like a whole new man on a whole new mission. Congrats on a great comeback! 
Proof positive there’s some real wisdom left in dear old Hubs! I like his take on that! 
Careful. IIRC there is “Diet A&W” made with the traditional nasty-tasting fake sweeteners akin to Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi. And then there is “Zero Sugar A&W” made with the new and improved sweeteners same as Coke Zero or Pepsi MAX / Pepsi Zero. IME the “Zero Sugar A&W” tastes very close to the real full sugar A&W. IOW, tastes great! Can recommend. It can be hard to find except in 16oz or larger bottles.
This.
Frumious: Izzy is coming to your part of the world to experience … your part of the world. And the kinds of people who inhabit it. Be yourself. You’ll all be happier when you all get past the “worried about first impressions” stage.
That catches me up to the end of Monday. I may or may not be able to keep up throughout this week. We’ll see.
Cheers all!
I agree.
Pilot, I wish you the best, and I hope you make the best of whatever happens.
Exactly!
And now we get the email that talks about first impressions.
Here are some ideas for a warm welcome:
A handmade sign with their name and a welcome message
Balloons or a small goodie bag with snacks and essentials
Their country’s flag and an American flag to hold for your first family photo
A welcome note in their native language
A comfy hoodie or shirt with your town/school logo
A favorite local treat or snack for them to try
A playlist of popular songs for the car ride home
A handwritten card from family members or pets (kids love doing this!)
I got posterboard (with a gold glitter border!) and markers for the welcome sign. I don’t want to bring anything except that, and a bottle of water, to the airport itself, because there will be so many things to keep track of already. I mean, I can just see the balloon getting away and soaring up to the thirty-foot ceiling…As for snacks, I was planning to stop at Sheetz and let her choose her own*. Oh, and I got flowers! But they’re on the breakfast-room table, not in her room. Because she’ll be unpacking, and the vase would be in the way.
I didn’t think of a flag! But I have so many stuffed animals, so I’ve got a bear in a full stars’n’ stripes outfit, holding an American flag, and I have a gondolier bear. Those will look good in a photo. I can use an online translator to whomp up a welcome letter. We don’t have any kids to sign a card, though. We do have pets, but c’mon. A t-shirt is a nice idea, but I don’t know her size or what colors she likes to wear, so that will be another choose-your-own. As for music, Mr. Rilch has that sorted!
My point being, we’re doing plenty to be welcoming, but we don’t want to make the first arrival, at the airport, any more hectic than it has to be. The real welcome will be to let her rest and eat and acclimate herself.
*Although, just in case she’s too tired to stop somewhere, but too famished to wait, I’ll have M&Ms and Combos. Those are good pepper-uppers, and they sure are American!
He was in and out of it (ICU). He did recognize me and talked briefly, so he still has some of his marbles. It was just sad to see someone who could just about pick up a refrigerator at one time and piloted heavy road construction vehicles so helpless.
I knocked out everything on my to-do list today, plus I packed up the mixing bowls, coffee mugs and glasses (except the ones I’m keeping out to use until I go. I’ll wash them at Sis’).
Supper was chicken ramen (past its prime) with some frozen broccoli nuked in with it. The pantry and freezer are almost bare.
Nelson is tolerating his e-collar fairly well. He’s healing, so we’re back to playing several games of fetch in the evening.
When my wife and I were married we lived in a one bedroom apartment in the same neighborhood where we met I was working for an asphalt paving company, mainly doing patch work in parking lots. It was a record hot summer. One day our job was for an apartment complex in a much better neighborhood. The day was a record high temperature and the heat that radiated up from the asphalt we were pouring made it even worse.
In the middle of the complex was there was a large swimming pool with pristine water just tempting me to quit my job. I got through the day and when I got back to our apartment in the 'hood I told my wife that we were moving. I drove her out there and, although she couldn’t swim, she liked the place.
The next day was Saturday so we went to fill out an application. The property manager was very busy, so I sat at a table to wait my turn. There was a guy sitting there already, waiting to pay his rent. I set my cigarettes and lighter on the table and he noticed the Boy Scouts insignia engraved on it. He asked what troop. It turned out we were a few years apart and in different districts but we still had enough common experience that made for a very friendly conversation. When the manager was done she turned to us and asked how long we had been friends. Jim looked at his watch and said “oh, about half an hour or so” She was amazed at the bond she had seen form.
We moved in to the complex a couple of weeks later. We lived there for four years, the last year of which I worked as a maintenance tech for teh complex. Jim and his family moved out after three years.
From that day in the rental office, Jim and I have been friends. It turned out that we had much more than Scouting in common. It has been a wonderful friendship.
What brought this out today is that Jim is now in the later stages of Alzheimer’s Disease and is being evaluated for transition into hospice care. I will miss my friend and brother…
Howdy Y’all! Laundry got laundered and put where it stays until it gets dirty again. Much RDOS inactivity then ensued. Sup got fired and et. It has rained off and on all day. Tomorrow looks to be more of the same. Thus is the news from swampland.
Die now I want plain M&Ms. That’s the only kind I like.
Frumious seems to me that’s a good plan. I want Combos now. Specifically the pretzel and nacho cheese kind.
Maybe I should add both to the grocery list. I would feel like a ten year old boy all alone and buyin’ groceries at the sto’!
The big thing to remember about powdered drinks is to always make them up the day before and let them “age” in the fridge.
I wasn’t impressed with the bottled gatoraid so am happy that the tablets are working so well. My doctor didn’t actually come right out and tell me to not drink over a gallon of water a day, he just reminded me that I am not in the desert anymore. I’m cutting myself back to no more than a gallon a day and will see how that works.
I also got out of the habit of swimming after my cataract surgery and then it got so hot that every time I went to the gym the parking lot was full so I would go back home and then forget to try again later.
Tara will be here in the morning to clean. If she’s OK with me leaving her alone with a strange man, I’ll start again tomorrow. (He’s a nice guy, she’s just afraid to raise her very soft and quiet voice when she’s trying to talk to him and he doesn’t hear her so she thinks he’s grumpy and comes to me instead.)
Hope the Dad call wasn’t too interesting. Interesting times for old folks often include physical damage.
As that is the one name out of many that you have brought up, I will make a motion that Frumious it will be. Absentmindedly waves gavel around in the air while the vote is being tallied.
Sometimes those are the best days ever.
I’m one of those people who change their sheets three or four times a week just for the enjoyment of slipping my clean body between them. Crisp ironed pillow cases are required!
To pilot, have you ever slept on satin sheets before? They are so slick and slippery that your pillows and maybe you will end up on the floor and the bed will never look neat because the sheets and spread will start sliding off as soon as you turn your back.
My ball gown is satin and velvet, I have it cleaned after every use but also have a steamer to freshen it up before use because it only gets worn once a year.
The steamer also works on drapes, but you have to go over thicker fabric a few times.
As long as I’m talking beds…shoe, I’m so happy my trick works for you too. Always listen to the lazy person
Less time wasted on changing the sheets means more time to enjoy cuddling your handsome black boy on the sheets
Some things don’t build up in your body, but if you don’t need to take them it wiould be one less thing to have to remember.
Considering FCD’s issues with walking, I would really encourage him to volunteer to walk the dogs at the local pet shelter. Remind him that he will be the one walking his dog and puppies pull on the leash.
Or foster until you find the fail. That would mean he would get to live with the dogs before making the commitment and you could still plan trips.
She certainly is a peach of a kitty!
Three cheers for government efficiency. DOGE is saving us taxpayers so much money!
You are so very kind! 
I’m really happy that I have a source for Ghiradelli chocolate powder now. Besides visiting the factory every other year being a happy childhood memory it really does make a difference in the taste.
Plus, now I hate Nestle and don’t like the taste of Hershey’s (too chalky tasting to me), and I think that vanilla crinkle cookies wouldn’t work nearly as well.
Are they breaded or just chunks of steak tossed into the deep fryer? Either way, they sound very artery clogging.
oops, gotta call mom, I’ll try to get to everyone else later this evening. If not MUAHH! 
I’m sorry that Alzheimer’s is robbing you of your friend.