(Old) FA LA LA LA LA Decking The Halls In The MMP

[swampbear]

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 30 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 58 and N.O.S. for the day. Provisions shall be procured this mornin’. I am also makin’ a batch of beef/veggie soup. We’ll have some for sup along with cornbread and the rest will be put into containers and into da freezer. That’s enough productivity for one day. The rest of the day shall be in sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, and day drinkin’.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, alas and bother, I suppose I must needs purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. How I suffer!

Happy Hump Day Y’all!

[FairyChatMom]

And today is starting out at TWENTY-ONE-IDIOTIC-DEGREES!!! So we’ve got another chilly one. Starting Thursday, we’ll see 50s again, but Fri thru Mon we’re promised rain on and off.

SIL from TX will be here Tues, and I need to give her a weather warning - I’m not sure how she’s fixed for warm clothing, but it’ll mostly be 40s to low 50s while she’s here, and below freezing several nights. And one of those evenings, we’re planning to go to an outdoor light exhibit.

I got an email from my car guy reminding me I need tires. Yeah, yeah, I know. There’s another $800 to add to VISA. It’s so unfair that I don’t have a long lost wealthy relative to bestow a buttload of $$$ upon me. Heck, even a wealthy stranger would do. I’m good with that. Anyway, I’ll need to make an appointment to get that done - probably mid-December.

And I’ve got a delivery from Amazon coming today - actually 2 orders that they combined into one delivery, so yay! Some gifties for the kidlets, some stuff for BIL’s new apartment, and some stuff for us. I’ll need to get to the credit union for 4 fairly crisp $50 bills - the grands and my niece’s kids are all getting a contribution to their savings/college funds in lieu of toys and clothes they don’t need. But they’ll all get LED flashlights shaped like animals to unwrap from us and plenty of other crap from other relatives.

FCD will be talking to the leasing folks about BIL’s apartment - dunno yet when they’ll have a lease ready. He’s getting a subsidized apartment, so there are some hoops to hop thru. I think today’s appt is about making sure they have all the documentation so they can determine what his rent will be and when he can move in. It’ll be a relief to have this all behind us.

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

5% was actually information I could use and keep.

I don’ know if even that much of our mail is of value. Tho we did get 2 checks last week - a small refund from our boat insurance for an add-on we didn’t want, and a larger refund from the Hyundai dealer because the title and registration fees were less than they’d expected. So those were worth opening. Mostly, tho, as I walk from the mailbox to the kitchen, I pass the recycle can, and most of the mail goes right in there.

@purplehorseshoe

Then again, my current calendar is still on October after being flipped there directly from July, so I’m clearly not getting a lotta use out of it.

The last 2 or 3 calendars I was given were never used. I don’t have a convenient place to hang one and, frankly, Outlook is on my computer and easier to use. My daughter even had a calendar made of pictures she’d taken (she’s a pretty decent photographer) and I have no idea what became of it, to my everlasting shame.

Plans for today - um - don’t freeze? Tobias and I will hang in the basement. After lunch, we’ll go to his house and I’ll put him down for a nap. With luck, Daughter will get home early and so can I. I just counted - I have Tobias 9 more times, counting today. Whatever will I do with myself? First thing, I’m going to get my kiln fixed and organize my studio so I can play in clay again…

But that’s for next month. For now, Happy Wednesday!!

[NinthAcolyte]

G’mornin’, kids! 20 degrees out this morning and everything is glittering with diamond-dust frost, I love it.

Yesterday afternoon I was in the middle of a meeting and happened to look down at my phone… Right as I got an email inviting me to a second interview for the Library Technology Manager job!!! Took a truly heroic effort not to scream out loud, I tell you true. I excused myself to go lose my shit in the bathroom and respond with my time-slot reservation for the interview, speaking of which…

… it doesn’t seem to me like they can possibly be interviewing more than one other person? Because I responded to the email practically immediately, and the reservation system only had two time slots available. There can’t be more candidates than there are time slots, right? And maybe there’s not even another candidate, and they just gave me a choice? Idunno, I’m probably overthinking it. I’m good at that. Anyway, I’m scheduled for Tuesday the 5th at noon. Monday night after work I’ll drive down to Minneapolis and crash with my friends down there for the night, then I’ll call in sick to my current job in the morning and go interview. The job/interview place is in Woodbury, which seems to be suburbs just east of St. Paul.

Holy shit though, kids. Looks like this has a reasonable chance of actually happening. The person who had the position previously was on the interview panel, and the reason he left is that he got promoted to Assistant Director of the county library system, so… It’s a “manager” job title, a significant pay bump (though a lot of it will get eaten by higher rent,) and potentially a path to much bigger career things. The only ways librarians make decent money are to either hyperspecialize (law, medical libraries) or go into admin, and it looks like I might actually get there.

We shall see. Could be they are interviewing someone else and I’m a backup choice, that happens. Getting way ahead of myself. But it’s more steps toward something better than I’ve had thus far!

Shoe, there’s a lot I miss about working with the public but, uh… That kind of person is not one of them.

[The_Stainless_Steel_Rat]

Good morning all. Spent a bit of time on the phone with the PNC credit card people, and after some confusion (90% which was on my side), I think I have everything worked out. May still cancel their card, the two-step verification they use for my home computer login is a bit of a pain, but we’ll see. Not as cold as yesterday, 37F heading to near 60F and still dry, although it may get wet here Thursday night-Friday morning. Nothing much on the agenda so I will have First meal in about an hour or so and then decide when the swimming and sauna will be.

Niner, all appropriate (and a couple inappropriate) appendages crossed for a successful interview. Just go in with confidence in yourself and forget about any potential competition. Best wishes.

Shoe, I was reading the website “Not Always Right” before clicking into the MMP, and your story went right along with theirs…hang in there and enjoy the extra cash for the hours.

FCM, stay warm. My family (all grownups) get Amazon cards for Xmas and I think Chewy cards for their pets this year. Hope this apartment for BIL works out.

flyboy, so there’s two slices left over for the rest of us??

Sari, soounds like Sah-son did a good job on the jury, I expected him to have issues but being quiet and listening is a skill I think the legal profession wants in it’s jurors. And yeah, finding a right place for everything helps keep the inventory under control, Best of luck. And fingers crossed for a smooth closing.

OK, need to be about the morning internetting and then breaking my fast in a bit. All y’all take care.

.

[Sahirrnee]

Happy Hump Day!

No dog park this morning, no f’ing way I was going out into 22-degree weather.
It’s supposed to get close to 60 later this week, I’ll go outside then.
No daycare either, because I forgot to reserve a spot for Echo.

Today, I need to make some phone calls. Such Joy and Happiness there.
I need a secretary, and a chauffeur, and a cook, and a housekeeper.
I’ll pick up where I left off on changing my address. I guess I should deal with the MVA too. I have to create an account to change my address with them. Such bullshit.

My son is still wired from jury duty.
I hope he doesn’t get called back this week

I’m looking into getting a walk-in tub.
My bathroom door is a pocket door and is only two feet wide, so that will cause some additional work. Then I thought maybe I would put it in the tiny bedroom next to the bathroom. The access panel to the plumbing is right there. Then I saw slide-in tubs. One type is like a walk-in, only with a wider door so you can slide directly onto the seat. The other type is like a raised bathtub that you can lay down in. It will fit through a two-foot-wide door, and uses less water than a typical walk-in tub.
Anyway, I thought if I put the walk-in/slide-in in the tiny bedroom next to the bathroom, I could make it like a little spa room/retreat for myself.
It’s a thought anyway.
No decisions made yet.

Did you know you can get a two-seater walk-in tub?
I can think of only one reason to have a two-seater tub, and if you need a walk-in tub, you probably shouldn’t be getting frisky in any bathtub.

One thing I’ve been wanting to get done is to close the joint account with OAOASO. He hasn’t used the account in months and there are only a few dollars in there.
Wouldn’t you know, he used it yesterday.
I haven’t even talked to him in over a year. It’s time to clean up all the loose ends and be done with it. His phone is still on my account and he hasn’t paid me for more than a few months, so time to turn that off.

I’ve started on my list of goals for next year. Other than putting my son getting his license on the list, and adding a patio and awning, everything else is about me. Getting back into some sort of shape, and dealing with some health issues.

[Baker]

@scareyfaerie

I haven’t been outside so no idea how cold it really is out there, but it’s sunny so that will help thaw out the car.

The record low temp in Topeka was -26F and it was a bright sunny day in January. I remember it well, shudder.

[Misnomer]

Started Typing: 10:22 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 11:24 AM ET

Good morning, all!

I live close enough to FCM that our weather tends to be similar: it was 22°F when I turned off my cell phone alarm (at 7:10am), and the expected high is 40. At least it’s sunny…?

My new coat is now supposed to arrive today, which is fine with me. As long as it gets here by Tuesday afternoon. In other shipping news, yesterday I got a notification that the LEGO jazz club set – which I ordered on 11/18 but was on back order and not expected to arrive until early February – will be here by the end of the week! Woot! My kitchen table, aka the assembly area, is currently covered with decorations: I usually undecorate on New Year’s Day, but I can see doing so a few days “early” so I can get started on the jazz club that weekend. I definitely won’t undecorate before Christmas, but as December progresses it will get harder and harder to wait…

Last night’s volunteer org monthly general membership meeting went well, though as expected I was fairly out of steam by the end of it (a +12-hour day, including a workout). It was the last one of the year, because next month there will be a holiday party in lieu of a meeting. And we’re having a fundraiser today: anyone who lives near a Panda Express – any Panda Express, anywhere in the U.S. – can place an online order for pickup or delivery, and part of the proceeds will go to the branch. I’m planning to have sweet and sour chicken for lunch. The cleaning ladies just arrived*: they usually take an hour, so I figure I’ll place the order in about 30 min. I’m not sure how long the delivery will take, but I want to make sure the cleaners are gone before the food arrives.

*Which reminds me that their next visit will be the one for their holiday tips…gotta get cash sometime in the next two weeks!

@purplehorseshoe

Finally get her to tell me what toppings she actually wanted (all four of them … B.O.P. did not, in fact, want everything) and to top (heh) it all off, she STUCK us with the pizza e.g. never showed up.

Wow. Yeah, let’s be a moron and have an attitude about it and not bother to pick up/pay for the food.

@FairyChatMom

The last 2 or 3 calendars I was given were never used. I don’t have a convenient place to hang one and, frankly, Outlook is on my computer and easier to use.

I definitely rely on my Google Calendar for appointments and reminders and things, but I like also having a big calendar on the wall above my desk for easy reference: I put removable stickies on the days when the cleaners will be coming and on paydays, and it also helps me keep track of the current day/date (I cross off each day before I go to bed). The style I use also has small grids of the prior month and following 10 months at the bottom, so I can just glance up to see what day of the week a future date falls on. I always buy one for my cubicle, too, even though I’m hardly ever there (because when I am there, I like to have it).

@NinthAcolyte

I got an email inviting me to a second interview for the Library Technology Manager job!!!

Woo hoo!!

@Sahirrnee

I can think of only one reason to have a two-seater tub, and if you need a walk-in tub, you probably shouldn’t be getting frisky in any bathtub.

Hahaha!

[Johnny_L.A]

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

flyboy, so there’s two slices left over for the rest of us??

For now…

[JaneDoe42]

@Sahirrnee

I’m looking into getting a walk-in tub.

We have one and my main advice is to remember that you have to stay in the tub until it is fully empty, so you will want a towel rack or holder close enough to reach. Ours only takes 75 seconds to drain, but those are very long seconds when your shoulders are cold.

If you use moisture alarms* the tubs all have removable panels so you can put one by the pipes. The panels are not so thick that they will block the sound if the alarm goes off so no worries about putting them back on.

*if you are like us and put a moisture alarm next to your water heater and forget about it…leave a little note or something on the water heater door so you might remember what that ungodly noise is at 0’dark thirty am.

@scareyfaerie

surely what you really mean is that Family Dollar put their stacks of boxes so close together, you can’t get an adequate swing on the cane

Oh, I like use the hook end in crowds. It is the perfect size to hook around someone’s neck and fling them to the side if they are blocking my way to the restroom!

@purplehorseshoe

I have the wrong size hoop for one of mine (I had the right hoop, but it was old and crappy, and I bought the wrong size replacement)

This is the wrong month to go into either of those places! What size hoop do you need? I might have one I could send you.

Have you ever looked at stretcher bars? They are easier to store than hoops and once you have a good collection, you can usually come up with the frame size you need out of your stash. The only reason I still have hoops is because I haven’t found anyone to give them to…

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

doggio, I imagine Spot will get used to the contraption in 5 or 6…years…

Hubs has an electric recliner and it has a small child/animal sensor that stops the foot rest from going down if a cat is sleeping under it. GG will move as soon as he hears the foot rest move, VBC will just sneer and stand (lay) her ground. She managed to trap him in his recliner for a couple of hours because I was porchinating and couldn’t hear him yelling for help. Now he naps with his phone handy.

[dogbutler]

So it only took Midnight 30 minutes past our start time to un-FUBAR things. We were short on the midnight Smalls run, so I was clerking and teaching Blueberries to bag up the preocessed packages. Shaggy was there, but putting packages with “300” on them in bags marked “300” stressed him out. Between that and his laziness, the Sup sent him to unload the traiker, in hopes the suffering would drive him away. And as usual the Surepost thing led to a mess on the 300 slide. So another 12 hour day. Naptime!

@Sahirrnee

I will not even tell you how many rolls of TP there are in this house. There are 12 containers of disinfecting wipes though, and 6 tubes of toothpaste in the box, and about 20 bars of soap, and 7 bottles of body wash of the kind I use.

You may already be on an FBI watch list, in the “Prepper” column.

@purplehorseshoe

Same, lil’ buddy. Same.

To be fair if you trusted someone, then suddenly woke with your genitals missing, and part of your ear load scimitared off, you’d have some mild trust issues, too.

@NinthAcolyte

Looks like this has a reasonable chance of actually happening.

< stabs “hire Niner” on Library Hiring Manager voodoo doll >

[pullin]

Morning everyone – been away for a bit, but will try to keep up.
39F here in N Tejas, and supposed to be 62 later. Normal early winter here.

A lot of things happened since I last posted – I had fetched a sibling from the airport after being refused a flight for insufficient ID. It did not work out well. Next time my phone blows up with a series of “Emergency!” texts and call, I will just smash it to bits.

There’s a reason we’ve not allowed any family members to stay at Casa Pullin for 20 years – and we were reminded why. A calm, fun Thanksgiving was ruined by the incessant snooping and constant mindless chatter – to the point the kids fled back home and we were counting the hours till it was over. I actually did the Gandalf bit while my youngest was hurling things into her car to escape: “Fly, you fools!”

Sigh… but it’s over and I need to buy more wine (we drank more in those 4 days than we do in months).

On a happier note, we have been looking for a new dog, and went to see a puppy at the shelter. Just to look, mind you, we weren’t going to bring one home immediately. And you know how that worked out. She’s sleeping at my feet as I type. She’s learning house-training pretty well, and is goofy and loves to chase balls (like, forever). I’ve had more exercise in the past few days than in a normal month. Thankfully we were firm in our decision that she doesn’t sleep in our room, and kept that rule for two whole days. Sigh…

Today is just more doggie stuff, training and spending time outside (lots of walks). Gotta buy a doggie-gate at Walmart today, since we’ll need to leave her in the kitchen during doctor visits, etc.

Today marks two weeks since the eye-surgery, and all restrictions are removed. It’s also the one-year “anniversary” of my truck wreck, which was responsible for a lot of upheaval and change around here (that we didn’t want).

Say hello to Lucy:

[Seanette]

Well, at least there’s been a positive event in all the stress. Lucy’s adorable!

[Baker]

So cute!

[rocking_chair]

lucy has an adorable dignity!

[Chefguy]

Exercise class this morning. Lots of leg work, which is good for the knee, if uncomfortable.

Brekkies was a mini-frittata with eggs, sausage and cheese. Stuck it under the broiler for a few minutes. Breakfast pizza, if you will.

It’s warmed up to the 30s today, so I went out and gassed up the car. That’s probably all the excitement for today.

[purplehorseshoe]

@pullin

Say hello to Lucy:

Those ears! And the tiny white toe tips!

[LSLGuy]

Hi folks a bit after noon here on a day of high clouds and relative cool. Was 59/15 when I got up predawn, now 69/21, and NWS thinks it’ll warm up to 76/25 but I have my doubts.

Doc yesterday was nominal, then lazed about the afternoon. Last night was craft tacos and excessive just the right number of margaritas. The evening was cool and the walk home a bit long, so once home I made a rum + eggnog, but microwaved it to hot. I’d never tried that before. Can recommend for anyone suffering from winter’s chills. But be smarter than me and make it in a coffee cup, not a highball glass. The glass gets real hot and is also hard to hold onto with an oven mitt! D’oh.

Today was up well pre-dawn, then eventually had early morning golf, home now, and lunch next. Followed by dancing lessons at a nearby studio. Took the plunge on that. Should be fun. Dinner is TBD.

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

Got the rest of my stopped mail, about 70% of it was various groups asking for money (to the shredder), 25% were ads to get me to buy things (shredder is gonna be working overtime)

Why would you bother to shred that stuff? Your address, in and of itself, is not a secret. Junk mail, whether addressed to me by name or to “occupant” goes in the trash.

@purplehorseshoe

@JaneDoe42

@Misnomer

two 2024 calendars

Oops! I forgot to order one, thanks so much for the reminder!

Ah, shit, me too.

Then again, my current calendar is still on October after being flipped there directly from July, so I’m clearly not getting a lotta use out of it.

I’ve not owned a paper calendar since maybe 1995. Seems a pretty useless invention to me since the invention of self-syncing calendars on phones and PCs.

@purplehorseshoe

Finally get her to tell me what toppings she actually wanted (all four of them … B.O.P. did not, in fact, want everything) and to top (heh) it all off, she STUCK us with the pizza e.g. never showed up.

Of course she didn’t show up. The pizza didn’t have “everything” on it like she wanted. She knew that silly woman answering the phone totally screwed up her pizza!

Depending on which four toppings she said she did want that pie might have been a decent snack for the crew. Or is that verboten?

@purplehorseshoe

sitting on my butt with a purring cat, a half a joint, and some snax, that’s A-O.K. by me.

Sounds like the ideal end to more work hours than expected.

@FairyChatMom

SIL from TX will be here Tues, and I need to give her a weather warning - I’m not sure how she’s fixed for warm clothing, but it’ll mostly be 40s to low 50s while she’s here, and below freezing several nights. And one of those evenings, we’re planning to go to an outdoor light exhibit.

All of that is typical fall / early winter weather in at least north TX / Dallas area. I’ve trudged through a lot of snow in Dallas over the years. She’ll have the gear unless she’s from down around Houston. Long as she remembers to bring it.

@NinthAcolyte

Yesterday afternoon I was in the middle of a meeting and happened to look down at my phone… Right as I got an email inviting me to a second interview for the Library Technology Manager job!!! Took a truly heroic effort not to scream out loud, I tell you true. I excused myself to go lose my shit in the bathroom and respond with my time-slot reservation for the interview, speaking of which…

Yaay!!!11!!1!!!

@pullin

Today marks two weeks since the eye-surgery, and all restrictions are removed. It’s also the one-year “anniversary” of my truck wreck, which was responsible for a lot of upheaval and change around here (that we didn’t want).

Say hello to Lucy:

Hooray for eyes & Lucy!!! Boo about the truck crash, but you knew that already.

Cheers all! Humpday forth!

[JaneDoe42]

Part 2:

This morning was surplus produce and we got bagged salad (restaurant sized, some is in our fridge, some will go to NF tomorrow and I’ll run the rest over to the chicken guy tonight), eggs that I will probably float just because, cantaloupes, onions, bread and a lot of dinged canned veggies. I’m not afraid of dinged cans, but we don’t eat canned veggies so those got slipped into TC friend’s box.

My big plans for today are to make some mini-frittatas for hubs to have for breakfasts. I should probably bake up a pound of bacon as well. The interwebz say to add a small amount of water to cooking bacon to help render the fat and make the bacon crispier. I’ll probably try that with a few pieces to see how they come out. I’ll report back later today.

@FairyChatMom

I need to give her a weather warning - I’m not sure how she’s fixed for warm clothing, but it’ll mostly be 40s to low 50s while she’s here

Are thrift stores an option? They have their winter clothing out now and she or you can re-donate after she is done using it.

@pullin

Say hello to Lucy:

I love her cute little white toes!

I’m so glad you are finally done with the eye surgery and can start going about your normal business now. Especially since you have a LOT of walking to do nowadays!

@FairyChatMom

@purplehorseshoe

Then again, my current calendar is still on October after being flipped there directly from July, so I’m clearly not getting a lotta use out of it.

The last 2 or 3 calendars I was given were never used.

I use them as mini-journals. I have more than 30 years of daily temps and like to pull a calendar out of the bin at random just to see what we were doing that year.

I use outlook to remind me about daily stuff.

@NinthAcolyte

Right as I got an email inviting me to a second interview for the Library Technology Manager job!!! T

GO YOU!!! You are going to rock their world! Congrats!!!

[Misnomer]

I had not ordered from/eaten Panda Express in a very long time…maybe ever, actually. So today I learned that (a) they don’t have sweet and sour chicken (at least, not as a stand-alone entree), and (b) when they say “small” they mean small! Like, cute lil 3" x 2" containers! Luckily I ordered two entrees, thinking I’d have one later for dinner. So, I had both Kung Pao chicken and orange chicken for lunch. The former wasn’t great, but I could see ordering the latter again sometime. And I’ll know to get a “medium”!

When it was time for the fortune cookie, I broke it in half – my usual method – and absentmindedly popped the first half in my mouth. Then I noticed that the cookie was chewier than those things usually are, and I looked at the half that was still in my hand. Yep, I ate the freaking fortune.

@pullin

Sigh… but it’s over

Here’s hoping you won’t have family guests for another 20 years…

@pullin

Say hello to Lucy:

OMG!

@LSLGuy

Seems a pretty useless invention to me since the invention of self-syncing calendars on phones and PCs.

Useless to you. Thanks for ignoring my paragraph on the subject.

@JaneDoe42

pull a calendar out of the bin at random just to see what we were doing that year.

I use my online calendar that way. Future calendar items might include tentative plans, but every so often I “clean up” past entries and delete anything I didn’t attend, etc. I’ve been using Google Calendar since March 2007, and sometimes it’s fun to look back.

[Johnny_L.A]

What with an 8-day cruise, two weeks of COVID we got on the cruise, a week of not going out, cooking Thanksgiving dinner, and generally not being motivated, I haven’t been going on my daily walks. I did get out on the 17th for a short one (2.5 miles) and only averaged 2.9 mph. Today I finally went out for my usual 3.1 mile walk. Good news, I went on a 3.1 mile walk. Bad news, I only averaged 2.88 mph. (I usually average 3.1 mph.) But it’s a start.

As I started off, I had David Tennant’s voice in my head, doing an exaggerated – and mocking – Scottish accent. ‘Ooh! It’s farty degrees ootside! I dunna need a hooodie!’ Well, it was a good thing I didn’t wear one. I started warming up after the first mile. Speaking of David Tennant, I was wearing my ‘Crowley glasses’.