(Old) Did Everybody Retire In The MMP?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Welcome to the club. Sorry it was pretty much forced upon you but honestly, I think your mental health will thank you. And as one who retired from Fed then bopped around a few post-retirement jobs, it’s not a bad way to go. I hope you can get into RDOS mode comfortably.

Two loads of laundry are done, FCD mowed, and I made a quick run to the madness that is Food Lion. I got some pretty strawberries, some 'nanners, some fresh pineapple, and some red grapes. The last load is in the dryer, the ice maker is making ice, and I’m about to start cleaning and slicing the strawberries.

The nice lady at lost-and-found said no one turned in my credit card, so I’ll call the credit union and get that process started. Dammit. At least none of my automatic payments will happen for a couple of weeks, so there’s no panic with resetting those accounts. I’m so glad I made the spreadsheet with the accounts and dates paid - it’s so much easier to manage now.

OK, phone call then strawberries.

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Started Typing: 12:10 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 1:21 PM ET

Bonjour à tous!

This week’s training (about the submarine-based system that my program supports) was good, but it was a lot of info; my brain was pretty mushy by the end of each day. There was a lot of detail that I’ll never need to know again, but now I have a decent understanding of how the system works – which will be a useful framework as I continue to learn what the various parts of my customer and program organizations do. The best part was that the course was paced very well: there was plenty of time for questions and there were plenty of breaks, and we still wound up finishing at 3:30pm on both Wednesday and Thursday. And yesterday we wrapped up at 11:30am (I took the rest of the day off). The only downside is that now I want to go on one of the submarines. :grin:

(There are only a few with this system, and the nearest one is ~700 miles away…not happening any time soon!)

Yesterday morning my feet were a little sore, and I realized it was the first time I’d worn “real” shoes on five consecutive days since 2020! It was also the first time since 2020 that I’d worn a bra on five consecutive days…my boobs weren’t sore, though. :joy: This was also the longest I’d gone in five years without turning on my personal computer: it was nice to fire it up this morning and catch up on some personal administrivia. It was also nice to be able to sleep in: I was up at 5:00-5:30 each morning in order to be on the road an hour earlier than usual but I was going to bed at pretty much the same time as usual, so I’ve had an increasing sleep deficit all week. It caught up with me yesterday, which was why I took the afternoon off.

Neither the religious nor pagan Easter observations mean anything to me these days: I stopped believing ~30 years ago, and there haven’t been any little kids in my life in ~20 years. And it’s not a holiday when my brother and father and I get together: dad’s a church organist, and is exhausted by the time his final Easter service is done. WifeBFF traditionally likes to host a big-ish Easter dinner, but this year she’s still recovering from her shoulder replacement and my nephew is in TX. I still have tentative plans for a low-key meal with her and HusbandBFF tomorrow, though. :slight_smile:

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Hey, if you can deep-fry a turkey…

244

Credit card canceled - new one should arrive in 3-5 business days. Laundry is all done, folded, and stowed. The ice maker is still making ice. Strawberries have all been cleaned and sliced, and fruit for tomorrow is in assorted baggies sitting on the divided dish. I think I’ve earned some chillage. It’ll give me time to decide what we’ll have for supper.

245

Pizza to go sounds just right. A big enough one for leftovers for the grands tomorrow and cold for brekkies if you like that.

246

Unfortunately, FCD has to start a diabetic diet, thanks to recent bad food habits. And, frankly, we both need to eat better, so for the time being, pizza will not be an option. I’ll see what the freezer has to offer.

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Dang, I forgot that! Sorry. FWIW, several frozen pizzas made with cauliflower crust are carb friendly and lots better than no pizza at all. You can even gussy them up with extra cheese and favorite veggies. Spinach and all four colors of peppers and mushrooms being welcome on mine.

248

So either half the building called out for Easter, or the Rapture happened and I missed it. I was in Secondary sorting, then the 100 table sorting, then the 200 table sorting. All slap full, and all understaffed. So late starting on the damages and rewraps, I got out at quarter to 1. Spot is currently sulking and shunning me because he was alone for 20 minutes and was swatting at me, plus I yelled at him when he tried to put his foot in my water glass. Anyways, it’s vacation time, the laundering is sloshing, and this gin&tonic is tonic-ing.

Robot squash?

Sorry it had to end like this

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{{taters}}

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The baba is done and cooling in the kitchen. I’m salivating in the living room.

You and all the others have been betrayed by your country. It’s shameful and cruel, but the shame is on the part of that bloviating SOB in the White House. I’m apprehensive every time I go to the mailbox. Today there was an envelope from the Social Security Administration. It was with not a small amount of angst that I opened the envelope, only to realize I’d forgotten that I ordered a new SS card some time ago (I haven’t had one in 60 years, since I lost the original). We are all in fear of the next draconian measure to issue from that pit of vipers. I also spent about 40 years in government service, and I wish you well.

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IME there is minimal difference in the blood sugar consequences of eating a conventional pizza or a cauliflower crust pizza. Boy did / do I wish that was not so.

Taters: Sorry to hear it’s going to end in a sad way. I’ve found that most of my major life transitions have ended with a whimper and a door closing on my lonely butt. Not with speeches and a brass band. Or even a nice party.

That doesn’t make it easier to take, but you may find some small solace that you’re not alone.

252

Hi guys. I didn’t get deported today, go me!

I did have TV cameras pointed at me so if you see a short, lumpy Handmaid in WV, that was probably me.

Many folks there were happy and excited to be part of something important, but others looked more worried and resigned than excited. I saw a whole bunch of undercover cops. Had Hubs been thinking, he could have robbed every bank in WV today because all of the cops were at the capital or the university.

Do not be ashamed, you didn’t cause this nor did you deserve it. I don’t blame you, there comes a time when your health and well being is more important than trying to save a sinking ship.

I think it’s too late anyhow. We are past the tipping point and nothing will ever be the same again.

Oh, hey, you could take up TNR as a hobby. Start with your neighbor’s cats, fixed strays tend to stay close to the food bowls so maybe they will stay out of your yard.

First class has you sitting up in a glass dome with wonderful panoramic views. It is also adult only because your ticket includes a free glass of sparkling wine in the afternoon. You can also visit the cash bar down-stairs or the smoking car whenever you want.

Second class has regular square train windows that open about an inch, the above mentioned cash bar and smoking car, and is a favorite of mothers of young children because the booths have bench seats and they can corral the kids against the windows.

Steerage has regular bucket seats, the windows open and there is no access to the bar or smoking car.

I loved taking the train and bus tour, anytime we had out of state visitors I always made sure they had time for that. Mom got the first/second class treatment so she could have a glass of wine and then nap leaning against the window on the way back. Everyone else got steerage except his folks. They got second class treatment because we got into a strong discussion about “wasting my money” on first class.

SISTAH!!!

If Tiramisu is on the menu, I don’t even bother ordering dinner!

Funny TX story. Hubs hates TX. I don’t know why, I think it is funny. He starts complaining about everything as soon as we cross the border. He complains about the trees and the wordings of the signs and nobody can do anything right. Seeing as how we had to cross TX to get to WV, it was a vacation tradition!

He got pulled over crossing TX in a car with limo tinted windows and AZ plates while carrying a gun. Yeah, it was a bullshit stop, I’m sure the cop just wanted to see what color and how many passengers were in the car. While Hubs was handing Officer Friendly his drivers license, he also gave him his concealed carry permit and Officer Friendly just told Hubs to give me his gun!!! and then they both walked back to the cop car while he checked our plates and insurance before telling us to not follow so close and have a good day.

I always considered that to be a positive cop experience because it could have gone very badly considering who Hubs had as a passenger and what she was carrying. If anyone guess the answer is Jane who never travels without at least a quart pound of weed, you would be right!

Nope, that was just the icing on the cake as far as everything about Texas sucks, you can’t even drive across the state without getting pulled over.

So, today I overheard him bitching about getting pulled over in Texas. One time, more than 15 years ago. And he didn’t even get a ticket.

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We’re having Easter dinner at our house, as I understand it. Everybody’s bringing something. Mrs. Nott is making the fruit salad today. That’s when I’ll give 3-year old Robin his red clown nose, if it’s okay with his parents.

“How does a pizza sound?”
“Like a giraffe.”

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Jane: Texas. A place that sucks so bad that even Oklahomans are proud to not be there.

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Not sure. There are dozens of to-go slushie places in Bourbon Street. I just know it wasn’t a Fat Tuesday.

Regardless, I ended up having a really nice, if not terribly exciting, afternoon. And it definitely cured my New Orleans FOMO (though I wouldn’t have minded having time to explore more of the city).

Even with the delayed flight I was home before 11pm. Not bad. The Uber pickup area was a zoo, because Wrestlemania is in town this weekend.

Oops, thought I was done here but I never hit send. I probably have more to say but Mrs W’s birthday celebration has begun! Talk to you later.

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Texas has its good points, after all, shoe was mostly raised there and is a lovely, caring person now.

While I’m not too fond of Texans as voters, every single one I’ve ever interacted with have been as nice as could be. We were riding through on motorcycles and my Sportster threw a tail pipe and left me on the side of the road. Of course Hubs took off to buy parts and of course I refused to leave my Harley on the side of the road. That just isn’t done in biker culture. He would have sent me on his bike if my legs had been long enough to touch the ground.

He wasn’t gone for two minutes before people started stopping and offering help.

You guys managed to make me aware that tomorrow is Easter. I mean I know it is happening sometime soon, I see all of the candy and baskets in the stores, but we don’t really pay attention to it due to the no kids and no church thing.

I pulled some ham out of the freezer and will think about going to Food Land for a sweet potato tomorrow. I might drive to the parking lot and change my mind, you never know.

Happy Birthday Mrs W!!!

I only came back online to laugh at my daisies. They are such drama queens, when I got home I thought they looked like they might need to be watered, but came in and showered and changed then made a salad for dinner. (I put a hunk of cow in the crock pot before leaving this morning, I wanted to be sure he didn’t have to worry about dinner if things had gone south)

The next time I looked at the daisies, their leaves were all droopy, the stems were bendy and the flowers were all looking down. I gave them a drink and then served up dinner. Now that dinner is done and clean up has been done, the flowers are all looking up at the sun and the leaves are all perky and happy looking.

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I had pizza for supper tonight. Then ice cream.
I’ll probably celebrate Easter by eating a bunch of chocolate. But I do that often. :stuck_out_tongue:
I’ll try to hit up some after-Easter chocolate sales in the next little while.

258

Well, I’m back.

Games went OK, the U7 won and the U10’s lost, I refereed good and with two young assistant refs to help, and ended up assisting on a u10 game at 4pm to keep me busy. Home now and fully fed, so sloth can begin and I can catch up with the MMP. Still close to 80F outside and the AC is getting some work in, so that will make the electric company happy.

And now for the evening scroll…

JtC, thanks for the ornithology lesson yesterday. And how did you identify the undercover cops since they were, well, undercover? And thanks for the train tour.

nellie , cute story about Ms. Fog and the toddler. And cold cheese sammiches got me through the school day.

swampy, happy sea-parting and Vigiling. Enjoy what sounds to be a fine Easter dinner.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/AAb_AsDA1Bc Just a little further warming…

Sticky Buns, sorry about the stomach problems but yay! on the new phone.

FCM, home and in your own bed–priceless. But yeah, Dammit on the card.

Boo fae, you have the best weekends, I enjoy reading about them.

Pliot, sounds like things are progressing smoothly with GF.

Taters, happy almost-retirement. 42 years is a heck of a run (I did about 32), you have nothing to be ashamed of, you gave it your best through all that time, so leave satisfied in your accomplishments.

52, thank you for sharing that story; I can only imagine how traumatic that was.

Oopsie, I do hope one day you can at least go on-board one of the subs to see your work. I got to ride in a helicopter in the Philippines once that I had worked on getting for them through a Foreign Military Sales deal. Great memory.

red, sounds like Nelson may have had the best day of all…

doggio, enjoy vacationing from the Murphy-Dome…

MG!!, nice to see you around these parts again.

And I think I am caught up for now. Back later.

259

I’m guessing haircuts and shoes.

260

Hey EG! Its good to hear from you again. Thanks for the reminder about the sale candy, imma needing a couple of chocolate bunnies.

Did you know that roadrunners can fly. They would rather not and like to jump onto things and soar, but they can fly if they have too. We always made sure the our hummer feeders were at least 6 feet off the ground because roadrunners like to hang out under them and jump straight up in the air and snag hummers out of the air.

Not all of the cops were undercover, many of them were in uniforms. But, ya gotta remember that I spent almost 40 years committing felonies on a daily basis and have never once had an experience with Law Enforcement over them. I have an almost instinctive sense about people I don’t want to look at me.

The ones I spotted were all able to run, most of the uniforms would have been hard pressed to keep up with me if I was motivated to run. I pay attention to feet, you can’t run in sandals and you can’t really kick anyone in them either.

Yanno how you see circle indentations in people’s back pocket and assume that it is a can of chew. Handcuff circles are wider and have a little bump around the bottom of the pocket. Short hair always. Not military short, but too short to grab in a fight. No face piercings for the same reason. Earrings sometimes, but always studs or inserts, nothing hanging.

I’m sure pilot could share more on the subject, as I recall he did some of that sort of thing in the military.

Forgot to mention that the first class seats were narrow bucket seats, so not that comfy. But the view pulling into the canyon is totally worth the money so if you choose to buy that ticket, do it in the morning cause turning around to look at it from behind will crick your neck. Buy the bus tour with lunch included.

If you have the time and money, stay the night at the Grand Canyon motel so you can sit on a bench in the morning and smoke a joint while watching the most amazing sunrise over the canyon you will ever see. Or drink a diet Pepsi, what eveh.

Ninja’d!

Forgot to mention that they always seem to be checking things out like a paranoid pothead, eyes moving even if they were just standing there looking at a pretty girl.