(Old) Get To the Chopper! A Bastille Day MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Started Typing: 11:43 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 12:14 PM ET

Yesterday’s lunch + matinee of Hairspray (the musical) was nice. :slight_smile: It was good to see my friend, the Thai food was yummy, and the community theatre production was good! They aren’t ready for Broadway or anything, but it really wasn’t bad at all for a local show. I’m willing to see future productions of theirs (the next one I’m interested in is a radio play version of It’s A Wonderful Life, in December). And during lunch my friend and I picked a date to go see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in DC; earlier this morning I bought our tickets for a late August matinee.

Work isn’t bad today, but it’s a random “slightly watery eyes and mild congestion for no apparent reason” day so I’d rather be home and slothing. Meh. My third meeting of the morning will be wrapping up soon, and after lunch I have meetings at 1:00 and 2:00. It’s making it hard to get in any kind of writing groove, which is required for the item at the top of my “to do” list, but hopefully I can focus and get some quality heads-down time after 3:00. Then there might be thunderstorms during the drive home, but that’s become par for the course.

That is awesome! :smiley:

Nice!

Thanks! :joy: It is definitely one of the more complex ones, but it was my favorite design of the ones I saw on Amazon without digging in too far. And thanks for the tip about pushing the pieces out of the sprues! I’ll build the Lego diorama first, but should be able to start on the wooden model this weekend. We’ll see how it goes.

I’d actually heard about that! I can’t remember how/where, but it was something on television because I know they showed some of the contestants. (Maybe there was a story I saw involving someone who competes…?) Anyway, some of those beards are amazing!

The local indoor jazz festival I go to every February changed hotels this year, and my biggest complaint about the new venue was that there was no longer anywhere quiet to sit/talk! The only place with seating – that wasn’t a conference room – was the hotel restaurant and bar, which had been an oasis at the previous hotel but this year the festival booked live music in there the entire weekend. Good musicians, but loud. There was simply nowhere to go to get away from the music – which, again, was always good, but sometimes you need a break and/or just want to talk with friends for a bit! It made the whole event kind of exhausting, and frankly it’s one reason why I might limit my time there in 2026 (vs booking a room and staying at the hotel all weekend, which I’ve done for the past 10+ years).

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We just had a lovely short visit to Spain (Astorga and Bilbao). I got to introduce my lovely wife to my friends who live right by the Camino, then the two of us headed north. We quite enjoyed the Guggenheim, including a terrific Barbara Kruger exhibition, then a 2.5-hour boat tour on the river.

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Hello-dy, folks! It’s Monday again. Over the weekend, we went to the Concours d’Elegance at Copshaholm, a fancy-named car show at one of the Studebaker family mansions that’s been turned into a museum. The Studebakers, and the car of that name, were a big deal in these parts back in the day. Inside the museum, we saw the Studebaker car that was in The Muppet Movie. It had a remote-control cockpit in the trunk for the stunt driver. Outside, there was a large array of vintage and antique cars. I had a good time, and I didn’t fall down.

Here in Elkhart, it’s 80F and sunny. There are foul air warnings out for all of Michigan, from the fires in Canada, but it’s safe to breathe here.

BooFae, when you’re in Brussels, don’t forget the Sprouts. :grin:

Taters, I once read about an FHA reg that required one tree and a few shrubs. I figger that’s why everybody’s house eventually has huge shrubs planted too close to the house.

LSLGuy, as a fan of Carl Hiaasen books, I’m aware that Florida is full of great ideas built in the wrong places. My dad lived in Bradenton for a while, so I learned that folks in Tampa are called Tampons.

I’m nearly finished with a jigsaw puzzle about the 1970s.

It’s time for lunch.

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Oy, veh, what a morning! Friday some data wasn’t behaving right. I tried to modify the program, without success. This morning I was successful fixing many or most of the records, but not all of them. I kept trying, and fixing the previously-unfixed ones messed up the previously-fixed ones. So I’m dealing with that. Then I start getting emails asking about Alerts someone we send data to is supposed to be sending. People who were copied didn’t need to be copied, and so there were several emails. I have emails with attachments that I’d sent to this company (including bold, red, requests to be notified when the data was loaded – which they never sent) and… [cut to the chase] I asked if we really wanted to offer this alert service. We’ve only got one member who uses it now, and I don’t know if the little bit of revenue is worth dealing with an unresponsive partner. So there’s the frustration of my program, and the piss-offedness of dealing with this vendor issue. Then I get an URGENT REQUEST to check out a legal judgement. Great. I have to call a government acency. :roll_eyes:

Just for kicks, I’ve gone over to Yahoo to see if they have horoscopes. They do:

You’d never complain about being too busy on any other day but today. For now, though, you’d just as soon go back to bed rather than face all those tasks, appointments, and meetings. It’s over soon.

:rofl:

Anyway… I can’t do anything on the vendor issue. El Jefe (former company president) knows someone at the vendor personally. I’ll see if he can turn anything up. There was a three-option phone tree at the county circuit court I called. I chose one, and was connected to a live person immediately. I gave her the case number, plaintiff’s name, date of filing, and the amount of the judgement, and was told that the information I have is correct. And she sent me a copy of the judgement so that I could prove that the line on the credit report is correct. As for the data, I’ve decided to start from scratch with the raw file. It’s possible I uploaded something incorrectly.

I can’t believe it’s ten o’clock already. (I started at six, as usual.)

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87F right now and headed to 90 or better by day’s end. Same for tomorrow. I think Wednesday will cool off and maybe give us some rain.

We went to Cabaret yesterday. It was a good production, but over two hours sitting in that seat about did me in, even with a break in the middle. It made exercise this morning somewhat of a torture session, but I slogged through it. Then crashed an hour later until Sadie came demanding to be fed.

I think dinner will be pasta with a bottle of Rao marinara on top, as anything else seems beyond difficult at the moment.

I just realized that Amazon sells White Lily flour! Made from soft winter wheat, so it’s lower in protein, making it the best biscuit/baking flour around. I ordered a bag.

26

Well, the data issue is sorted out. Failure occurred last week between the chair and the keyboard. :roll_eyes:

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PEBKAK FTW!

El Jefe viejo? :wink:

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Si. El nuevo presidente es ‘La Jefa’.

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Back from the evening show - a very very young guy did a show of Billy Joel songs. He said he was born after Billy’s last album was released, so, yeah, young. But he was quite good. He’s doing another show in a few days that’s a tribute to piano players in rock.

Just before the show started, the ship dropped anchor at Paamiut. Tenders won’t run till 8 in the morning. We’ll take a later one since the museum doesn’t open till 1. And we’ll walk around the tiny town a bit.

Tonight was our frou-frou dinner at the Italian venue. It was OK but not something we’d repeat, tho the bread at the start was really good! The scallops in my entrée had an odd flavor - not bad but not like any scallops I’d ever had. The mussels and calamari were good, as was my shrimp appetizer. The gelato was just ok.

Anyway, we’re in for the night. Chillage underway.

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As soon as I saw the title of this week’s MMP, I knew who’d started it.

Can we neck? I mean, MAY we neck? I mean mais oui, neck!

You know, I’d envisioned this whole dog-walking thing as being a set schedule: Rover, 9 a.m., Bowser, 11:15, etc. Instead, most of it is same-day requests. Yesterday, I got a text from my newest client’s person. she got called into work, so despite the fact it was 90º out and I wanted to take Sundays off, I took him for a walk. The dog’s name is Charlie. (I forgot his person’s name. I’m going to have to go with “Hey, you!”) He’s a sweet boy, a labradoodle with apricot fur, and VERY chill, until he sees a squirrel, when he becomes Attila the Hunter. Then he’s back to chill.

Today a woman in the complex stopped me and said she’s interested in my walking her dogs. I’ve heard about her: she’s a proselytizing fanatic with manic tendencies, plus her dogs are a handful. I might suddenly be too busy.

Today I had Maxie Boy. I honestly don’t think he’s 100% well. Last Friday, he wouldn’t play with toys and kept pacing. (He’d just been out.) I took him home early out of concern. His person said he hadn’t been eating. Today he ate breakfast and seemed more energetic, but the walk totally wore him out, plus he threw up, and again, no interest in toys. His person isn’t worried. I guess I shouldn’t be.

From last week’s MMP: Someone (JtC?) said something about ending a sentence with a preposition and how nellie wouldn’t like it. Au contraire! That whole silly dictum was never a rule and got started back in the 17th century, when someone–doesn’t matter who–decided that since in Latin, one can’t end a sentence with a preposition, it should be verboten in English, too. This has made for some awkward construction (“I have the Father’s Day gift but no father to whom to send it.”) but made a lot of supercilious snobs superciliousier. Those snobs brainwashed a lot of teachers as well as other snobs. The fact is, though, that this was NEVER a rule, and it’s perfectly fine to end a sentence that way. In fact, it’s better than writing a convoluted sentence. You heard it here last.

How does one win the championship? Is it based on length alone, or are texture, number of bird nests, and other factors weighed?

Don’t fight it. It’d be a nice change for the guards to have someone trying to break IN. (Warning: most of them probably think Bastille is a swear word.)

Whenever it rained, my mother would say, “Oh, good! A free car wash!” Pilot, just think of the money you’re saving! :slight_smile:

I don’t, either. They’re too much work on a shower curtain. :slight_smile: Also, they don’t work on my walls around the tub, as they’re pretend tile with indentations, but they also don’t show water spots.

Judging from the way they (and we Americans) have butchered foreign words, the Spanish may not mind. I think the real answer is probably linguistics. Maybe all the French words that streamed into English after the Norman Conquest convinced the Brits that French was easier to learn? Let us know what the speaker says.

Too bad you can’t trim a bad word into the foliage where he could see it.

Oh, thank you for saying so! My apartment was hotter than it was outside when I got up this morning, and I thought it was just my apartment. Not that misery loves company!

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I haven’t been there since they added the new building, but the collection was always amazing. Have you gone to the Auburn Cord Duesenberg
museum? I’ve always liked that one too.

Got more places eliminated (why, oh why, do they not mention in their listings that their one bedroom units don’t come with W/D connections?). Another thing that I’m finding are complexes that have some affordable units set aside, but they are always filled. I’m learning that anything with a drastic difference in price is one of them. Now, I’m having to check out another listing site. I hope that the one that Sis looks at Wednesday fits the bill. I’m so ready to get this show on the road.

I did get another box packed today.

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And a good late afternoon all. Been to the gym and have solved the NY Times puzzles for Monday (they are the easiest, they get tougher as the week goes along). Will get a Steakburger at Freddy’s here in a bit and then get down to some serious slothing. Haven’t opened the Nielsen ratings boxes yet, guess i can do that this evening. 90F outside so not doing anything out of doors (or AC) the rest of the day.

rocky, we don’t have a Green Eggs cafe, do have a Broken Egg Cafe and an Eggs Up grill, so maybe… And katmai, for those who don’t know, is a place where Brown bears go to fish…and on camera: Brown Bear Cam - Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park | Explore.org

Well, it’s all Greek to me…

wet one, bet the original pill bottle shows up somewhere tonight. Glad you could get a refill.

J-Bats, quite a collision, glad no one was apparently seriously injured, good on ya for trying to assist (and more importantly, staying out of the professional’s way).

Oopsie , glad to hear you had a fun Sunday.

Lily, I hope to visit Spain in April next year. You have me looking forward to it.

Knots, Copshaholm had me confused, I didn’t thing you lived in Europe, so I googled and it is in South Bend, IN. That sounds a little more reasonable.

Flyboy, glad to hear the problem was redeemable, and sounds like you worked things out on the rest, so take three ‘attaboys’ out of petty cash…

FCM, would have liked to been there, I’m a big Billy Joel fan (one of the few live concerts I have attended in my life was one of his). Enjoy Greenland.

nellie, thanks for the dog-walking stories, I always enjoy them.

red, they don’t mention the bad stuff because people won’t want to rent there, of course… Hope one of the places Sis checks this week is the one you need.

And getting close to 6pm so the traffic should be dying down so of to Freddy’s I go. Talk with y’all later.

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nellie - the presentation was about the defeat of the Spanish Armada, hence the preservation of English. He pointed out that if Spain had won, the American Revolution would never have happened.

Nearly 10 here and I had to close the curtain because the sun was reflecting from the mirror right into my eye. It’ll be weird having dark nights again. But since the curtain is now closed, we’ll probably sleep soon.

34

Howdy Y’all! I did a thing in honor of Bastille Day. I stormed the yahd with mowers, edger, and blower. I liberated us from havin’ possibly the worst yahd in da ‘hood. Vive La Grass! Then I stripped down to my drawers, hosed myself down and jumped into the cee-mint pond to cool off. Then I showered, shevelled, and quaffed a beerverage whilst sittin’ on the back porch and admirin’ my handiwork. Then it was time for nappage followed by day drinkin’. OYKW grilled the chikin strips and sup got et. I know how to live it up, I do!

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Did I mention that I ‘installed’ the air conditioner? I put the tower fan on the hearth next to it. Right now we only have the fan on, but the a/c is at the ready.

It was really pissing me off. I’ve never imported that file incorrectly, so it didn’t occur to me until this morning’s frustrations.

I got an email from the State of California asking for my sister’s valid driver’s license, and the trust’s EIN. I sent her the EIN, and copied the email from the guy who said her expired license would suffice. I noticed that she’d copied my sister, so I asked that California deal with her directly. San Diego is too far away from the Canadian border for me to do anything.

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Well crap, now I’ve got friggin Rex Harrison stuck in my head.

Was a pretty cool day at the museum, I showed some prototypes to some staff and they really liked them. Plus I’m doing some color and design things for a new kid friendly area. So got a couple more votes for which one to do.

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Hey everyone, I have news!!!

I’ve been seeing something that looks like poop around my container garden but all of the plants were fine.

Today I finally got around to asking and we have dog puke slime mold living in our dirt! It’s not harmful and won’t hurt anything, so I’ll just leave it alone. (I’m glad I didn’t taste it.)

I’m so juvenile that I’ll be bragging about that for years.

My new glasses are here and I’m pretty happy with them. I ordered the wide close-work area and kinda regret doing that, but otherwise they do want I want. Now that I know how well they work I went back and ordered a spare pair out of habit.

I don’t really need this pair, I can get by just fine with readers and sunglasses but I’m too lazy to want to deal with changing them out and bringing the other pair with me. That means I REALLY do not need a spare pair, but they are super cute.

I once lost a report. I never lost them, they were important and I referred to them often. I put them in a specific file folder in a certain way. Then I lost that week’s report and had no clue how to go forward, because I had never lost it before. I always did everything the exact same way, what the heck did I do.

That was two states ago, it’s been that long, but I still remember it. I certainly do understand your frustration.

You certainly do!

Hubs usually mows in the evening and I always enjoy sitting on the porch and watching him while enjoying my own beerverage!

About ten years ago, I had a friend who didn’t have hook-ups in her “luxury apartment” but had water and power out on her balcony so bought one of those portable apartment units and put it outside. Perhaps that might be an option?

I’m with you, though. I’ve lived without a w/d in my home for a while and it sucked. I will not do it again.

I would never.

If only because I don’t even know how to spell preposition or what it even is. I know poor long-suffering Mom tried so hard to teach me enough of that stuff to at least pass my classes, but it never stuck.

Plus, ya’ll have read enough of my posts to know that while I understand the written word quite well, my writing skillz would probably be matched with GG’s if only he had thumbs.

OTOH, I was playing an online game and got partnered up with someone random. We fought and killed and plundered - and chatted while waiting for the next chapter to load. After we killed the Boss and were splitting the plunder, partner told me that “was really cool, I didn’t know old people played Diablo, and you were really good too!”

Me: “What, what? Why do you say I’m old?”

Them: “You use grammar and punctuation and shit. Only old people talk like that”

Sigh.

I fondly remember those big back seats.

Those are both very good things, I’m happy you had a good time!

Yup. Hubs spent thirty years rebuilding cars after they had been crashed. He stopped hammering dents out of cars around 15 years ago. The molded plastic fenders were safer, but usually had to be repaired because the crumble zone had been compromised.

Remember when car seat belts had those molded plastic buttons to stop them from getting too tight? Well, I kept getting it caught in the door and broke it. Then it would pull up around my neck and make me go AWK, so I asked Hubs to get me a new button. He said he couldn’t he would have to replace the entire mechanism because seat belts couldn’t legally be repaired.

I didn’t want to replace an entire part because of a plastic button, so I sewed a couple of new buttons on and didn’t die.

I’ll bet you didn’t need to finish your coffee, did you?

I’m glad nobody was seriously hurt, but you gots to remember that adrenaline is a hell of a drug, that young woman will probably be hurting pretty badly tomorrow morning.

I’m so glad you had that to fall back on. I’ve been told that in case of an emergency, your pharmacy can dispense a small amount of that sort of drug without a prescription in hand as long as you know the proper dosage. (learned that when wildfires came between work and home)

Mother Nature got my revenge for me. They like to curl up together for their afternoon nap and were deep asleep when the thunderstorm formed right over our house. After their first upset, they couldn’t go back to sleep because the boomers kept happening. I was entertained.

We only got a quarter inch of rain out of it which was disappointing. I’ve gotten spoiled in the last year, I just love sitting on the porch and watching the magic sky water falling on the forest.

So, BFF and her hubs were over watching Thor: Ragnarok on our big screen with us. BFF hubs kept saying things like “that’s not how it happened in the comics” and I was all “WTF is Hela doing here, she’s the queen of the underworld, she doesn’t care what happens in Valhalla.”

Spoiler: Oden didn’t just fade away like that, his death was much more bloody.

Which explains why folks out there do not understand how mountains work. They would set their cruise control when leaving Phx and never adjust their speed until the got to Flagstaff. Florida and Maryland drivers always get a few bad words out of us when we are unlucky enough to encounter them on the road.

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REPLACED, not repaired!

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Hi all! I’m on the way down to Taipei for 18 hours. Then back to Japan.

SenBoy is participating in a sailing race and I’m there to help but got roped into being on the race committee.

He’s there practicing already and SenGirl will fly down from Hokkaido and meet me tomorrow in Osaka.

We be busy.

The house project is going ok. Still in the planning phase.

40

I had a good long nap, in spite of the upstairs neighbors vacuuming, Raleigh City Works doing accessibility curb improvements, and a couple of thunderstorms. Dinner tonight was an Old Fashioned, fried, and a spicy cheeseburger with corn on the cob.

It’s what makes Southern biscuits so perfect.

PEBKAC. At least it wasn’t an ID-10-T error.

[Gomez Addams]TISH! YOU SPOKE FRENCH! < MWAH! MWAH! MWAH! > [/Gomez Addams]

Indeed.