I have a friend from the '80s/'90s, a singer who used to be a backup singer for Pink Floyd who tours Europe and who spends a lot of her time at her home in Rome (I think) who loves Italy. She says Tuscany or Sardinia (where she has a contact) are both great.
hippie I’m so sorry; sincerest condolences, that’s so tough. 
You know you really haven’t been off that long. Sometimes a layoff can be therapeutic. I’ll bet you’re back to 600+ in no time.
I really think a call should be put in to your City’s building safety/rentals department and request an inspection for potential code violations. The HVAC system and elevators can be health and safety issues so the inspectors can hopefully compel the management to truly fix them.
Were you watching the 4 Nations Face-Off? Hubs was. USA won 6-1. Yay!
Busy day. Was up earlyish; didn’t stay in bed too terribly long checking sites on the Ipad. First I was dressing to go out and shovel but when I looked out the front window, oh my freaking goodness, someone had shoveled the sidewalk, the walkway up to the porch, the porch, the driveway approach and the first foot of the driveway. Not 100% sure but we think it was the young man who grew up next door rather than the young man who moved in on the other side when he was in his late 20’s. Will have to find out then find a suitable gift for him; probably something to make cocktails with.
Made 2 types of cookies for Valentines Day: M&M cookies using only red m&m’s and cut out cookies using various heart shaped cookie cutters and one cupid cookie cutter.
After baking the cookies, I went out and shoveled most of the driveway. Then I decorated the cut out cookies. Next went to the pet store to get a cookie for Bella and also bought a squeak toy for her. When home, I wrapped the squeak toy for Bella, a pair of alpaca socks for daughter and a windshield cover to keep snow and frost off for her friend.
Packed up what I thought was everything including Hubs and pierogis and drove to daughter’s house. I didn’t even come in the house, just waited for Bella to get her halter and winter ‘coat’ on then we went for a walk. Daughter fried the pierogi, sauteed a lot of onion and baked spaghetti squash which was then dressed with butter and pepper.
Everyone enjoyed their presents, particularly Bella, although she was hoping there was more treats than just the one large dog cookie. When I was getting out the cookies, I found I had left the m&m cookies at home. Drat. So, I said, well can you come over on Sunday and I’ll give them to you then. Couldn’t have worked out better.
Real estate taxes are due tomorrow, Krogering is on deck and I have another errand or two to do so tomorrow will be busy as well. Oh yeah, need to make gluten free cookies for my BF whose birthday is Saturday and wrap her presents.
Good night all. 
Paternity leave?
Sshhhh. Don’t tell my mother.
Wander the stoner aisles sometimes. They still make all kinds of crap that’ll tickle your nostalgia.
I think you can still get Coooo-oooookie Crisp!
… what kind of restaurants?
ETA I see the query was answered, but … that’s still a new one to me.
IKR.
You and your distressed brethren/sistren shall be relieved to learn that before work I did indeed successfully procure a six-pack of beer the important stuff.
Crisis temporarily averted.
That should hold me for a coupla weeks.
Crapped out on the salad today. Just wasn’t feelin’ it … who’s surprised?
It’s sitting in my car, since the great outdoors is basically a refrigerator anyway.
That is SO COOL.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.
yep
Well, quite a few of them played tonight, but they did not commit any penalties against me or Spot.
Both are important(and I buy both in bulk).
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 0c/33f with a predicted high of 3c/37f, and cloudy. Weather app says “It’s overcast, cold and fucking stupid outside”. It’s definitely cloudy, but I have no reason to go outside so can’t speak for the rest. It’s fair to say that out there is where stupid is usually found!
I’m glad La Jefa has seen sense and realises you don’t need to be doing that long drive all the time. A back-up plan to run away to Italy sounds good too.
I get the impression that salad is not sparking joy in your life 
Fabulous! I’m glad that you got the job, but sad about the eventual circumstances. Fuck cancer, indeed.
Sadly, not for very long before my shoulder started to really hurt. A lot of fidgeting, repositioning of cushions and then I managed a bit more!
Moooom sounds like you are having A Day. I hope things get better for you.
Very quiet here at the moment. I had a very lazy day yesterday, did very little of anything except going out in the evening to fetch 'im indoors from the station. He is a very frustrating person sometimes - he changes trains in Big City Station on the way home so i asked him to let me know when his train left that station as I know it’s only around 20 minutes from Big City to us. Instead, I got a text saying his incoming train was 10 minutes late (although he didn’t say what service it was so I have no idea what time it was meant to get in), then another telling me it was very slow, then another telling me he’d got to go halfway across the station for the next train, and eventually one telling me he was on the local chuffer and giving me an arrival time. All I needed was the final text!
Anyway, got him safely home, watched some tellybox together and I went to bed. Woke up in the early hours to hear Shadow miaowing. It wasn’t his usual miaow, and sounded a bit odd. I heard it again a bit later, so I went downstairs to sit with him for a while. Went back to bed and got up at a sensible time to feed and medicate the mogs. Shadow had moved from the sofa and was sitting on the living room floor, so I took him into the kitchen for his food.
I gave him some tinned salmon. Usually he’s got his face in it the second the bowl goes down, but today he sat there for a couple of minutes, turning his head to look behind him several times. Eventually he did start eating so I made a cuppa and came back up here. Went to make a second drink and he’s still sitting in the kitchen - that’s not usual either. I carried him back to the sofa, and again he kept looking behind him. I think I might be spending quite a bit of time downstairs with him today, just to see what’s going on. It’s probably nothing but it’s not normal for him.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 43 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 65 and N.O.S. We shall be bears who brunch at The Mayberry Cafe. It’s sorta down home cuisine, but a little frou frou. We haven’t been there in a long time, so thought we’d enjoy a change of routine. That will be today’s main need to feed. Then we will go to the Food Kitty as Poopsie products are on sale. The rest of the day will be spent in high RDOS inactivities.
BooFae hope Shadow is OK.
Now I need more caffeine and then, alack and alas, I suppose I must purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. Woe is me!
Happy Firday Y’all!
ETA: Oh yeah, Happy Valentine’s Day, I suppose. Eat chawklit!
{{{hippie}}}
I hope that Shadow is ok, BooFae!
That was my memory from the last 100 or so posts which showed up since I posted last. My work spree is over, which is ok as it was getting to be a bit much near the very end.
The new washer is awesome! It’s a top loader because my mom has POTS and bending over can make her very dizzy sometimes. It’s soooo much better than our last one. I can get 3x the amount of clothing in it than what I got in the last one in a single load.
Today is going to be finishing up the backlog of laundry and also finishing putting the laundry room and kitchen back together. Then I think I’ll back one of the packages of sugar free cookies for MusicMan for Valentine’s Day.
Thank you all for your support. We will miss them but life must go on.
Now for the trivial stuff that happened while dealing with the tragedies. This all started last Wednesday:
- My electric griddle decided that it was through being non-stick in the middle of grilled cheese sandwich night. We have had it for quite some time. I put it in the big trash bin and planned to get another.
- The beaters for my hand mixer somehow attacked each other while mashing potatoes. It is impossible to fine replacement beaters, but hand mixers are pretty cheap. Into the big bin it went and we added a hand mixer to the list to be replaced.
- The printer stopped printing cyan. Not much of a real problem except for quilters. We need our blue! Again the printer had worked for a long time so into the big bin it went and the to be replaced list got longer.
We found all of this at Target Sunday and our to be replaced list was filled. Tuesday I set up the new printer and got it talking to all of the devices. While I was doing that the “descale” light on my Keurig came on. Once the printer was working I started this process. Somehow I got distracted and at the end of the descale process when I was in the final rinse stage I pushed the “brew” button before I added water to the reservoir. Before I could shut the process down, smoke came out of the top. Into the big bin with it and another trip to Target.
No we have new small appliances which in a few years will all fail at once.
Busy day ahead. Besides the usual laundry, we’ll be giving the old mower to Dave’s for parts. Then we’ll go pick up the new one and find space for it in the shed, which shouldn’t be a huge deal - it’s not all that much bigger than the old one. And I thought there was something else - it’ll come to me.
A chilly day ahead - not getting out of the 30s. Rain/snow tomorrow, 60+ degrees on Sunday with rain, then another polar plunge. We don’t need more precip at the moment - our yard is squishy from all the snow melt - and it’s not all melted. So by Moanday, it should be a veritable swamp, tho not a bear-friendly swamp. 
At least not a Jawja bear swamp - much too chilly for southern bears.
There’s definitely something off with our pellet stove. Despite the deep cleaning yesterday, this end of the house won’t get above 71° - usta be it’d approach 80° if it was set too high. I hate to have to call for repair, but I fear we must, lest it die completely. Dammit.
Oh, and Happy VD!! 
US plays Canada today. Expect loud booing of the US anthem.
They do have regular elevator and fire inspections by the appropriate people. The HVAC system doesn’t require that sort of rigor, as far as I know.
Janethecane, you could get one of these. (Impossibly long link. Search “tablet holder stand.”)
It’s 3F here, but that’s above zero, so that’s positive. Heading to a sunny 24F, later. We’re working our way through the GS cookies. Now we’re on Thin Mints. Happy Valentine’s Day to you and those you love. 
philly is in insane mode. there have been people on the parade route since yest. in tents. most started gathering in the wee dark hours. noticeable crowds starting around 3am.
there are 3 people in the office. one has left to join the crowd. i’m at home watching on tv. looking at the coverage the crowd is more dense on my side of the art museum. the other side has some open pockets. my side is largely residential, so they pack in. the other side’s residential is 4-5 blocks away with scattered apartment buildings. that side takes a bit to fill in.
it is a cold day in phila. low thirties with 28 mph winds.
Actually according to my schedule, there’s no game today and US vs Canada and Finland vs Sweden are both played tomorrow, Saturday. And I don’t think booing anthems is very nice. And not very many hockey fans are to blame for our current government, either.
Boo away, we deserve it.
Boo fae Ursala Kitteh does that periodically. She doesn’t like to be held and won’t sit on my lap, but still she can get emotionally needy. So I stay close to her and give her lots of pets.
Last year I owed $12,000 in taxes thanks to nobody telling me how much to withhold from my 401(k). Did you know you have to pay taxes on Social Security? I upped the withholding on my 401(k) and have 12% held out of Social Security. I better not owe anything this year.
I had about a double vision a few weeks ago. The ophthalmologist said it was probably due to either aging or my seven day headache but still she wants an MRI done of my head to rule out a stroke. So my fourth MRI in two months will be done in March. I know I didn’t have a stroke, but we must do what the doctor orders
Oops, you’re right, it’s tomorrow.
Started in AA where the founder, Tom Monaghan still lives, second one was in EL, then the chain expanded and expanded. Surprised there wasn’t one in your college town.
swampy you and OYKW deserve a little frou frou for Valentines Day. 
I’m fine with the booing; I’d boo as well except I’m kinda numb; we’re going down the tubes.
TWPTB say its 10* but feels like 4* so I have on 3 layers on both my arms and legs, 5 layers on trunk as I have on a T-shirt and another short sleeve shirt as I’m heading out to go pay the property taxes and do some Krogering.
Happy Valentines Day to all mumpers 
Good morning all. Made my Firday Kroger run early before school started so that is done, got a few things and some Valentine Heart Snickers to give the soccer kids tomorrow. Then came home and had an apple, a Snickers, and a Diet Pepsi, because I had several healthy breakfasts in a row and it was time to be contrary. Looks beautiful outside, all sunshine and blue sky, as long as you don’t look at the thermometer 28F now). Not much else planned for the day, might consider a load or two of laundry but that can wait for the weekend.
The Medical folks put the test results on my system, everything looks normal so we’ll see if the output goes down on it’s own.
Cat Glove, nice of the neighbor, whoever it was. When I get the chance, I put the neighbors garbage bin back next to their house where they keep it, so that’s m good neighbor deed.
Just checked the Kroger site and yep, it is still a thing…
boo fae, guess he doesn’t want to leave you in breathless anticipation of his arrrival… 
And Shadow is sensing something, be interested to know what it is…or do cats hallucinate?
swampy, enjoy brunching.
Sticky Buns, nice that the new washer is performing it’s duties well.
Hippie, never shopped at Target for small appliances, but I’ll think of them next time I am in need.
FCM, hope the pellet stove is salvageable at reasonable cost.
rocky, enjoy your home, because you’re probably not getting out of it until the parade ends…
wet one, I get withholding on my stuff, this year some interest on an investment got credited and that cost me, but agree, hopefully next year will not be so… 
And I think MRI’s are the price we pay for getting old; have had 2 in the past year after none for the previous 20.
And that’s all for the morning report, will try to catch up later this afternoon. Take care all.
No doubt; I just never heard it called that before.
I got hit with a hella tax bill last year, too. Told S.M. what happened (when I was pretty much shut down one day at work) and she said she’d have whoever handles payroll change my withholdings.
Ye gawds, I hope that happened.
Trying to sack up the courage to make an appntmnt. with the friendly tiny accountant office up the street for next Blessed Day Off, to go do that process again.
There’s a fee, but frankly, the last time I attempted to do my own taxes I filed in November so it’s worth the $ out for the peace of mind of knowing both that it’s done, and that it was done correctly.
… for all three versions of my taxes, because Michigan is slightly insane on that count.
A refund would be nice, but at this point, I just don’t wanna hafta pay mo’ money.