(Old) Airmail in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 16c/61f with a predicted high of 27c/81f and cloudy. Weather app says “Probably not a good fucking beach day.”

That’s a very nice idea, and I’m sure she will appreciate being able to see the places you talk about.

Sticky_Buns I hope you are feeling better today!

Oopsie I’m sorry that the ex-employee caused you so much stress, and glad she left her stuff with Security so you don’t have to hunt her down.

VanGo I hope the museum visits go well, and you enjoy your time away.

I’m happy that you shared it with us too - you know we’ll all be happy for you :slight_smile:

Yesterday was not quite as melty as the day before so I managed to keep the windows open all day. Even better, I did not have to venture outside so no need to close the house up for anything. We had a massive thunderstorm in the early hours of the morning, I even got out of bed to watch the rain coming down - it was a proper toadsoaker! Things have dried out again now but there’s a nice breeze so the windows are open again. I am off to the gym this evening, and also need to make some campus food.

I had intended to be on campus today and Friday, but after a discussion with the minions, we are splitting campus days between us. I have to go in on Tuesday next week as our Very Special Student has her last exam that day, and I need to be there in case anything goes wrong. I am hoping it doesn’t but she’s a difficult person and there are a lot of things that could cause problems.

Today though, I have a minion meeting and the taught team huddle so that’s my day…and the gym this evening. I’m just finishing a cup of tea so I think I’ll move my car out onto the street when I go down to make another drink, that way I’ll be ready to head straight to the gym when it’s time to leave.

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Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 72 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 85 with rain beginnin’ this afternoon. I think I might go handle candle and other duties over to the church house this mornin’ just to get it done. Tomorrow could possibly be a stormy day and I would rather not get out in it if’n I don’t have to. Sup shall be my world famous Eyetalian chikin, peas ‘n carrots, cheesey broccoli rice and rolls. Borin’, but it’ll feed.

Oopsie glad the appointment went well and the crown isn’t botherin’ you too much. Good to know the stuff was returned. Hope you are able to fill the vacant position soonest.

VanGo BTDT re the laptop but no charger. You are not alone. Enjoy the museum of science!

JtC hooray for fireflies, aka lightnin’ bugs!

Mollie so glad for the affirmation you got from your therapist!

Nuts we get dragonflies around the cee-mint pond. I love to watch 'em. Every once in a while one will land upon my float and kinda hang with me for a minute or so. I always feel so special!

BooFae hooray for the tstorm and cool down. Also hooray for a bonus irk from home day.

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

Happy Thursday Y’all!

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I know of other businesses that do this and I don’t understand. How is an on-line payment more convenient for them than opening envelopes, manually applying the payment to the accounts, and making bank deposits?? Oh, wait, you’re paying for your convenience…

Anything within a reasonable drive that you’ve always said “I’ll need to go there someday!” Maybe some kitschy tourist trap, just for fun?

Today started around 66 Ferrets, and the outlook thru Sunday is NICE!! Sun but not stoopit hot. Huzzah!

Our plan is to get the boat paperwork straightened out, then get the emergency bilge pump hose replaced. Maybe hang the curtains, too. Then, who knows?

Onward! Happy Thursday!!

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Morning all. Another 6am wake-up, but 7 hours sleep without a bladder alert so should be doing OK. Only necessary job is to put the neighbor’s bin back by their house after the garbage guys do their things (they are on vacation in Upstate NY). Outside of that the day belongs to me and it looks like a good one, 71F heading to 88F and only a 1-in-4 chance of rain (65% chance for tomorrow, however).

Mollie, one more step on the road. Good for ya!

doggio, Best wishes to the Hurricanes, but Vegas looks pretty tough…

Nut, I don’t see many fireflies around here, albeit I’m seldom out in the dark look for them.

boo fae, will look forward to your report on Very Special Student next week…hoping it is a positive one with no hassles.

swampy, good planning with the weather, unfortunately the Kroger 4X fuel points are only on Friday, so hopefully can dodge the raindrops. Which reminds me, I need to check the digital coupons for some extra stuff.

FCM, nothing worth a day’s drive comes to mind right now, I went to Mobile and New Orleans a couple years ago, haven’t been to Mammoth Cave in years so maybe look thatway..

And onward into Thorsday. Been an hour since I medicated so will have an apple and maybe a snack to assuage my hunger. Take care all.

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They have different variations of it, which can be confusing. Things like canned goods can be ordered like any non-perishable item, like socks. Fresh foods can be ordered through Amazon Fresh, or more recently, through Cub Foods. Sometimes there is a delivery fee if you don’t place a large enough dollar order, and sometimes not. I pick and choose, as the delivery fee can be hefty. It’s all kind of stupid on my part, as I can certainly afford local prices, but sometimes you just have to go for the better deal: $2.50 for a dozen eggs is about half what our local grocery charges, and I don’t have to drive anywhere.

It’s a little cooler today. Only 64F at 0700, so I’ve got the windows open. The AC crapped out again yesterday, so it was 80 in the apartment. The fans helped, but sleep was restless.

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My walking alarm once again thought I was close enough to being awake at 4:30. Once again, it was wrong. I snoozed it for twenty minutes then checked the radar. It was all clear and 70º. I got on exercise clothes and then got Chloé while Mrs Magill got dressed. I opened the front door and it sounded like it was raining. I figured it was the sprinkler, Chloé and I went to the dry side of the driveway, so she could do her business and got soaked. We went back to the front porch, and I re-checked the radar. Clear. We decided that Weather Underground was smoking crack, and we climbed back into[1] bed and caught another forty-five minutes of shut eye… kind of. Chloé was very excited that both of here peeps were on the bed with her, so there was a bit of rolling around, especially since I was lying in her spot.

I have my contact consultation this morning. Molly, the contact specialist, will probably tell me to keep doing my thing with the one in my left eye, but we’ll see.

After that, we’re off to the Band room to supervise high schoollers as they put away the now dry flags. I’ll also grab some tent leg sandbags for my church table at pride fest next weekend. The city fire marshall said we’re not allowed to stake the tent legs and that they have to be weighed down. I suspect that’s because it’s been so dry that driving stakes would be very difficult. Or maybe sandbags are easier to visually inspect. Who knows?

  1. On to, really - the bed was already made ↩︎

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I have an alarm clock made for people with hearing loss. It has a LOUD buzzer (optional,) a flashing light, and a furiously vibrating puck to put under the pillow. I can turn off the buzzer the night before and have the puck wake me up. That way, I can get up without waking my wife until the coffee is ready.

JaneTheCane, I’m a bit confused. How does one “improve the world for” fireflies?

I read a thing about an anti-mosquito device that blurs the line between science and science fiction. It scans the area to locate something with the appearance of a mosquito. When it finds one, it hits the critter with a low-powered laser, which is just enough to kill the skeeter. It’s said to cost about six hundred dollars and change. The developer said he had a hard time getting anybody excited about it. Originally, he was targeting locusts. When he switched the target to skeeters, he found that folks in the USA really, really hate mosquitoes. We’ll see how that goes.

It’s going to be pleasant outside today, so we’re going to open up the house.

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I have a similar device… several actually. They scan the area with a high frequency sonar, and eliminate mosquitoes. I put up a bat house last spring.

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Happy Thursday!

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. I need to go to the post office today, then do a bit of packing to spend the week at Sis’ dog/house sitting.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

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I woke up with the symptoms of a sinus infection trying to emerge. My sinuses to do not like the recent heat. It’s a lovely day, sunny and 77F and low hoomidity. I will dash to the barn to make Ariel’s feed Baggies. She gets a different feed than the barn serves, plus spirulina and dried dandelion root. I make Baggies with her feed and supplements so the guys can just dump the Baggie in her feed bin. This is far much more than ANYONE who isn’t a horse person wants to know.

JtC I would get excited about fireflies aka lightning bugs being in the hedges. I used to love seeing them when I was littler kid. About 10 years ago I realized I never saw them any more. I also love dragonflies.

I plan on spending the rest of the day being a major RDOS. Maybe a load of laundry. I’m reading 3 books so I will spend time with at least one of them. Plus napping.

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Good morning.

It’s 59F and sunny outside. We’ll have plenty of sunshine, with an expected high of 80°F.

I’m glad the appointment went well, Oopsie.

JtC, although we have fireflies here in my state, they are not the variety that light up. They are occasionally/rarely seen on the eastern side of the state.

Boo Fae, best of luck with Very Special Student. Keeping my fingers crossed that all goes as it should.

Well, the meeting with my mother’s care team went as I expected. She’s not ready to leave the SNF, and her cognitive issues are a problem and concern for all of them. Prior to this meeting, I kept trying to explain to my sister that the reason mom seemed more with it before the infection is that she was at home, had her routine, and most of it was muscle memory. The care team confirmed that to her yesterday, without my even bringing it up. Mom is also physically weak. For example, she cannot pull herself out of the bathtub, even with grab bars, and remains at risk of falls. She is not allowed to walk unassisted, even with a walker.

She’ll be there for another two weeks at least, and if the cognitive thing doesn’t improve, she’ll need 24-hour care. This is a problem. Neither my sister nor I can be there 24/7. Medicare doesn’t pay for that either.

She can’t apply for Medicaid until her assets fall below the 2000 a month threshold. Despite years of working a low-wage job and merely collecting Social Security upon retirement, she has managed to save a nice sum. However, money would be gone in less than a year with assisted living costs. We’re also being told she would have to sell her house and use those proceeds to pay for assisted living before we could even apply for Medicaid for her. What a shit show. For now, the plan is to try to get her home, but if I’m honest, I don’t see that happening, and I’m not sure how we’re going to deal with her. She can’t live at my house; I have a two-story house and rambunctious dogs. And, the history with my mother and me wouldn’t be good for either of us.

She wants to go home, and she made that abundantly clear after the care team left. We want her to go home, BUT, she has finally accepted she will probably need to go to some sort of assisted living situation eventually. I think it’ll be sooner than anyone wants, and I do feel bad for her. But it’s a safety thing. She is not as active as she was, because she’s afraid of falling. So, she sits around all day watching TV, unless someone comes to take her to lunch or dinner. Her mind isn’t really being exercised, even though I encouraged her to do puzzles and read. She’s stubborn and wants to do her thing. She doesn’t fully listen because she’s already formulating a rebuttal as soon as someone starts talking to her, so she doesn’t grasp the full gist of what is being explained.

I think assisted living would be the best option for her, rather than a nursing home or adult family home. The reason I think this way is that she’d have her own room/apartment, would have to go to the dining room for meals and activities, and there would be community. It’s also a higher level of care than an adult family home. She doesn’t like her current roommate, and frankly, I wouldn’t want to share a room, either.

I dunno, I think we should see an elder care attorney to help us sort out requirements concerning her house/finances and Medicaid.

I was exhausted when I got home yesterday, and didn’t do much of anything. Even though I knew all the above would happen with my mom, it still kind of hit me. My sister kept crying during the meeting. And when I was telling my husband what was going on, he seemed entirely dismissive of my concerns. That just frustrated me, so I quit talking about it.

Lawn care and gardening will happen today. A shopping trip tomorrow, maybe, Costco on Saturday to pick up salad ingredients, as well as some dessert for the memorial service.

And, if you all scrolled past all the Mom drama, I fully understand. It’s a lot, and something some of you have dealt with, I’m sure.

Take care of yourselves.

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I just had my contact consultation. She was mostly happy with my solution of putting in the old contact. She gave me a sample of zero diopter multi-focals to try. Apparently, it takes a several weeks for your eyes to settle after cataract surgery. You may be doomed to the readers lifestyle for only a few weeks.

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Fireflies spend most of their growing life in undisturbed undergrowth and fallen leaves. People move in and plant lawns and then mow them and put the clippings in the trash. They also “clean up” the leaves in the fall.

My deadhedge is branches and sticks neatly arranged in a 6ftX2ft area. There are some leaves and pine needles in there but it isn’t a compost pile so I’m not constantly dumping things on it. It just exists to be home to insects and maybe birds if I’m super lucky.

I think I’ve seen advertisements for those, or something much like it. Hubs got very excited about it until I pointed out that he didn’t like to go outside. He thinks he’d spend more time outside if he could watch skitters get zapped with lasers.

Do you love listening to them at night? Our place came with a bat house on the back of the shed, there is a nice pile of composted bat poop out there that Harry and I use in our gardens.

I used to read about them when I was a kid and thought they must be wonderful. I was in my mid-thirties when I first saw one in the wild and was instantly charmed. I love sitting out in back listening to the bats and frogs while watching the fireflies. Its my own little slice of heaven.

We also get a lot of dragonflies, but we live a block or so from a major river so we also get all of the biting insects they eat. Worth it.

The hummers are back in force again which is also delightful. There are days that I spend more time enjoying the wildlife than I do stitching :slight_smile:

Please don’t do that. Just stop right now!

I’m interested in Ariel’s feed Baggies, I would have never would have thought that horses would need their own pill containers.

Our next door neighbor (not cat-sitters mom, the other one) is 86 years old, blind and has severe mobility issues. Meals on Wheels comes by once a day, partly for food delivery and mostly just to check up on him, he has a housekeeper/cook come over once a day to tidy up and make meal sized portions he can microwave. He also has someone come over in the morning to help him get dressed and again at night to help with undressing and bathing.

He pays for some of this out of pocket and medicare pays for a portion. Maybe something like that could work for your Mom for a few years?

Also, may I suggest you call your state’s Adult Protective Services and ask for advice on finding carers and financial aid. If your state still has a department in charge of licensing and regulating nursing and care homes, call them as well.

There were a lot of resources back when FIL was living with us in AZ, but that was pre-trump and times have changed a lot since then.

You have my sincere sympathy, this is not going to be your favorite time of life.

That’s infuriating. Your building is home to a lot of very heat-sensitive people, good AC should be a priority.

I do hope you get some relief soon, I’ve been reading about the heat wave over there and folks and critters are really suffering.

And once again, I’ve been rambling on while time keeps ticking. I’m heading off for a bone density scan, here’s hoping all those years of taking calcium supplements has paid off.

Have wonderful afternoons everyone!

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You have ‘Well technically’ fireflies? They should join the Dope, they’d fit right in!
[[Hugs]] for the Mom stuff, that sounds.. not fun on every level.

I was wondering if you got the storms BooFae, was watching them on the weather radar yesterday, hoping one would pop up near here. We rarely get a proper storm up here; I don’t like the heat but I like the stormy bit it causes… So long as I’m not out in it.

I am not a fan of lawns JtC. Never quite got the point. I’m gradually removing all the grass here (there’s not much) and replacing it with more interestin’ plants, with a pile of dead stuff hidden under some bushes at the back. It’s a tiny postage stamp by US standards, but it’s full of wee burdies n stuff.

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So the TPTB got a clue and put me clerking the irreg belt. Which was fine, except they were running a person shot of what they needed, so I was loading for the 200 and 300 boxline, loading carts for Purple 46 and 54, and dragging Delayed Delivery stuff to Pink 76. And any time I had to put a sort label on something, I had to let it go to the end of the belt, label it, then drag it back up the belt. Plus that mean and 200/300 stuff came down to the end of the belt, so that had to be dragged up as well. As well as drag 5 daughter carts and a small push cart down to Purple 46. When we got that wrapped up, I had to do th pickoff for Pink 74-78, sorting those packages to the right trailer. Then I had to help with the damages. After that, I did my Senior Day shopping. I’m tired after all that. And they are still painting the building, by the time they finish it will be time to change the color again.
I miss seeing fireflies.
From last night:
The Case Of The Unexpected Pizza
As a thank you for Roomie babysitting Lulu, the happily incontinent Pom, my fried C ordered pizza for Roomie and I. She did the online order to deliver to the apartment, and let Roomie(who was at work) know, but forgot to let me know. So I sent away a pizza that I knew nothing about. A couple of calls from Roomie got it back. But apprently the driver told Roomie that “an old man” answered the door. Old Man?!? If I ever have him as a delivery guy again, I’ll tell him to get off my lawn, then beat him with a walker.

Squeezing the stone for more profit.

< The Caped Crusader appreciates this >

{{{{Taters}}}} that’s a heck of a situation to deal with.

I want to grow some grass in a small planter, so I have a lawn to tell people to get off of. BECAUSE APPARENTLY I’M A CRANKY OLD MAN NOW. < ahem >

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When I bought the postcards for the postcard exchange, I bought one for my mother-in-law and one for my parents as well. MIL just moved into an assisted living facility last week and has to adjust to her new circumstances.

Fun thing, the website for the facility is now blocking our IP address, with the comment, “Blocked because of Malicious Activities”. Guess they don’t like foreigners.

SIL had two moving trucks of stuff moved from MIL’s house to her place. One truckload went into the empty house, and other one is staying as a pod. So much stuff, which now has to be sorted. Hubby’s hoping that some of his school papers might show up - no one knows what’s been in those boxes for > 40 years.

Weather forecast did mention rain, but it changed again, so no rain, but we have a bit of a breeze which is quite nice.

Need to figure out how to tell when the strawberries are ripe - I keep picking them too early.

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Afternoon all. This has been a slothful day, even for me; I did vacuum the carpets and organize the dishwasher but have made no move to do my daily gym stuff. Temperature is up to 85F so staying indoors is not a bad thing, but do need to be moving a little bit. We’ll see when I finish this report.

cookie, I keep my place around 77F, but then again being single I don’t wear anything but the bare necessities around the house. Even so the AC is working pretty hard today.

Mollie, yeah, spring weather is hard to track, it can be sunny here one minute and 20 minutes later pouring down rain.

Knots, I think I mentioned I have an old-fashioned alarm Robot or human? (why it says Robot or Human I do not know) that can reach me, hearing loss or not. And laser beams for mosquitos…surely we live in an age of miracle and wonder…

wet one, take it easy and feel better soon.

Taters, I feel for you, had much the same thing with my dad (albeit my brother and SIL did most of the heavy lifting as I was out of country). Hope it all works out as best as possible. And if Husband won’t talk about it, we’re hear to listen. Always.

JtC, when the Apocalypse finally descends I am seeking you and Hubs out, will work for food but at least for people who have some sense and compassion.

Nut, been mowing my lawn for 25 years and looking forward to the day I finally move to an apartment and don’t have to worry about it no more.

doggio, so the driver was some ‘young’n’ who didn’t know nothing about anything?

Dicey, I have stuff from my Dad’s place that I haven’t looked at in 25 years. Other items are on the wall as a reminder of my parents. Stuff is what you get in life, even if you never use it.

OK, I WILL get up and I WILL go to the gym now…I think.

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That’s a similar situation with my dad. He has a woman who stops on her way to work to assist with his compression stockings and safety check and again on her way home. He has a bath lady who comes in three times a week and a cleaning lady. He’s still able to do his own cooking and laundry. He quit driving a couple of years ago, so he hires an Amish taxi (they’re pretty common where he lives) to go to medical appointments. Baby Sis orders his groceries online to be delivered. He figures that he spends ~$1800 a month for this, much less than assisted living or a nursing facility.

(((taters)))

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We are in full agreement. My plan when we bought this place was to have a row of fast growing shrubs planted along the fence line and then have the grass ripped up so I could start a native wildflower chaos garden. There were going to be a few blooming trees but mostly shrubs and posies.

Then hubs bought a riding mower anna finish mower anna string trimmer anna edge trimmer anna grassb blower. :crying_cat: The man who used to only go outside to get in or on a vehicle has transformed into Mr Lawnmower Man. I keep hoping he’ll get bored and let me take over like normal, but it took over a year before I could convince him to stop bagging his clippings.

Hubs practiced for that role all of his life, he’s a happy guy now :slight_smile:

May I suggest using gloves and dust masks. You probably don’t have the hantavirus concerns we had back in AZ, but that much paper stored for that long is going to be very messy. I hope you find some good stuff in all of the detritus.

Common sense isn’t always a given in my case anymore :rofl:

So I’m back from getting my bones looked at. They had me lay on a gurney under a thing that moved a big plate back and forth over my body. There were no blinking lights or chirps or chimes so I am not sure that it actually did anything.

Hubs came with me because he wanted to run into Kroger, no reason to make two trips, but I think the real reason is that he knew I was going to want a medicinal Margarita after the trauma.

The rest of the day will be filled with sloth and bird watching. The summer wars are in full swing nowadays, I can hear their battle cries every time I walk out the door.

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Working from home this afternoon so taking advantage of the quiet to try to get some continuing education hours done (required for my license). I’m way behind on the number of hours I like to have done by this time of the year, and I don’t want to roll into December needing a ton of hours still. But I’m cheap and don’t want to pay (some companies charge a ridiculous amount per hour) so I’m at the mercy of whatever free webinars are being offered.

Taters I’m sorry it sounds like things with your mom are going to be difficult for the long-haul. I hope you’re able to find some good options.

JtC you’re my lucky charm - I saw a lightning bug for the first time last night in my new backyard!! I don’t want to do a traditional lawn and now I’m excited that there’s already some bugs back there to start with!

I’m still not certain if it’s the neighbors or the garbage guys that are on vacation in NY :joy:

OMG I might need this in my life - is it quick enough to keep people from getting bit? Mosquitos absolutely swarm me and I can’t sit outside without bug spray on. Which I don’t like dousing myself with chemicals so I end up not sitting outside much…

Wait I need to know more about this. A quick google says it’s a taxi service for Amish people - is he Amish? Or is he hiring an Amish person to chauffeur him in their horse and buggy? (I really kind of hope it’s the latter because that would be kind of awesome)