Thank you! 
Happy birthday flyboy!. May you have a great day, and good cake.
happy birthday johnny la!
happy birthday paintcharge!
lager is more of the “get off my lawn” elder. he would love a spot in the building where he could watch people going and coming. he would be “that” neighbour.
koritza would like to watch from above and hunt.
scareyfaerie, your muffin (or miffin) reminds me of my uncle’s cat martha. she only liked and responded to him. she hissed and would strike at my aunt. when my uncle passed, she chose my cousin, never warmed to my aunt. perhaps muffin is a single human cat?
when my uncle chose her at the shelter she patted him as he walked by. the people at the shelter were shocked, she only hissed, growled, or clawed. never patting. martha is famous in our family! everyone has a martha story.
I know why for me. Hint: it was Nelson. He was up and down and scratching. I got up around 0300 to give him a peanut butter taco with benedryl tucked into it. I’ve checked him over for fleas and none were found, so it’s like the skin allergies that he inherited from his mother.
Is there somewhere you can put it where she can reach, but Trevor can’t?
Happy birthday flyboy! 
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. Today’s agenda is trying, once again, to set a retirement date at the irkplace.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
She won’t come out when he’s here, so that’s not a problem. My memory is the issue. He’s not here all that often, and she can’t climb very high, so I just need to remember to put the feeder on the floor after he leaves.
They’re on their way - about an hour later than I expected, so a slightly shorter day for me. Yay.
Hey, guys - remember me? Just popping in to see how everyone’s doing. I haven’t been in in a few months and missed you guys! I feel like I’ve missed a TON, but I hope y’all are doing well!
Good morning.
It’s currently 53°F and mostly cloudy. Our high temperature is expected to be 72°F, and mostly cloudy skies will change to partly cloudy skies this afternoon.
Happy Birthday, VanGo!
Happy Birthday, Johnny!
I’m sorry about the job, Coppertone. Hopefully, you’ll find one that suits you. Unfortunately, using a computer is often a requirement for most jobs, including training. Perhaps you could practice on a library computer.
Good luck with the interview, Sticky.
My old boss sent me a job posting for a state job yesterday, “in case I was ready to get back to work”. The position was for labor relations. I told him I wasn’t, but thanked him for keeping me in mind. We caught up briefly and then went about our day.
I am meeting my friend T after she arrives home from work to walk and help her with watering her plants while she is away on a trip. She offered to pay for my gas and time, which I found ridiculous, and I told her I would refuse the payment. I don’t mind; she doesn’t live all that far from me. I’m up early most mornings and can take care of it in the morning unless there is a scorching heatwave or something.
I spent yesterday planting the slope behind all my planter boxes and pots. I only have to transplant some plants I already had, and I’ll be done. However, I still need many more plants up there, so I’ll have to get some more. I’m going to get a White Gold Bleeding Heart, maybe two of them. I already have a couple and have had them for years in the bed below my great room window. I love how the leaves turn from green to lime green, then gold. They’ll look great in the shade on the slope and are considered shade plants. I’ll fill in with some more fern varieties, to include Himalayan Maidenhair Fern, which spreads.
I planted one yesterday and want more. I still have some Rubeckian and dianthus to transplant, along with a huge Hot Lips Salvia. Those plants already existed here. The salvia and dianthus were removed from a raised planter weeks ago and are still thriving in their cardboard boxes with regularly soaked root balls. I divided the Rubeckia some weeks ago, and it, too, is just a mass of plants attached to a huge root ball/dirt system sitting in a cardboard nursery box. I’ll probably move those up to the front yard. Those things need to be cut and divided every year, or they’ll take over. The side yard is the perfect spot for them, since there isn’t much of anything there.
I transplanted a pannicle hydrangea, which had been living in a pot for two years (Strawberry Shake), Queen of Hearts Siberian Bugloss, and Jacob’s Ladder. It’ll take some time to get everything in there, but I’ve got a start. In addition I planted some two types of ornamental grasses; Lemon Zest Hakone Grass (yellowish) and Lime Green Hakone grass (green with cream or white stripes). They contrast against each other quite nicely.
All in all these plants have greatly brightened up my slope already, It’s mainly shady, so it’s nice to see it come to life.
Now that I’ve blathered on about all that, I guess there is much else to say. I need to do some laundry and roll suck the house. My son is coming this weekend, and I’ll need to prep for that, too.
Hello, overlyverbose! Good to see you!
Take care of yourselves!
I would LOVE to see pictures of your garden! I just finished my planting as well - trying some flowers for the first time (usually I just keep a kitchen garden).
Happy birfdays to all recent orbiters.
Hey, overlyverbose, welcome back from your sabbatical. Did you have an MMP nickname before now? Several options come to mind: Yacker, Babbler, etc.
We did make it to the Raptor Center, which does good work. They have a very well-equipped vet center that works on injured birds and that is funded by the University. A lot of birds have to be destroyed, of course, as the injuries are too severe, but they do have a fix-and-release program as well. They have some permanent residents: owls, bald eagles, etc. that can’t be released as they’ve never learned to hunt and are habituated to humans, which is always a problem for animals.
This is a Kestrel that is a permanent resident:
All morning activities have been done. I was going to go to Costco for a few things, but it occurred to me that I have no reason to pinch pennies. The cost savings are fine, but the aggravation of going there, finding parking, and dealing with brain-dead wanderers in the store isn’t really worth the effort. So I think my Costco days are over (sound of taps playing in the distance).
OMG, these kids can EAT! Both of them had 3 tortilla wrap sammiches. Yeah, they were small tortillas, but the had cheese and lunchmeat on them. Plus Tobias had 2 mandarin oranges. Kids is expensive!!
We’ll leave about 30 minutes from now, drop off Trevor, and head for the pool. It’s hot and muggy and I guess the water will be refreshing and not ice cold… 
Welcome back, wordy!!!
I have done computer training for many jobs. This laptop kept messing up though.
Thanks for the birthday wishes! You know… I’ll never be as young as I was a minute ago.
Catmom and the cats gave me a card. I also got a bottle of Jimmy Choo ‘Man’ cologne and a Ukraine coffee cup.
So I was on the 200 Slide today, with forays to the 200 and 300 Sort Tables. I did my Senior day shopping. They are currently doing the install for Google fiber in the apartment. Spot is not happy.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY FLYBOY
Wordy!
< tacklehug >
Started Typing: 12:54 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 3:52 PM ET
Belated happy birthday, vango!
Happy birthday, flyboy!
Happy Doperversary BBBoo! 
I still love my new job, but sometimes the days are nonstop: I boot up the laptop in the morning, and next thing I know it’s 4pm! It’s mostly a good thing, it just means that time tends to fly. I can’t believe it’s Thursday already.
Yesterday afternoon I got my first common access card (CAC). My appointment went very smoothly: I arrived 15 minutes early, and was out of there 10 minutes later. The guy issuing the card wasn’t unfriendly but he also wasn’t up for engaging with me (likely his hundredth customer this week), until the very end when he gave me the card: I stood there for a second and looked at it, and with a fake sniffle I said “My first CAC! I’m so proud!” He finally smiled.
My dad, brother, and I were supposed to go out for a Father’s Day dinner on Saturday night: they both live in Baltimore and I live near D.C., and Dad picked a restaurant near my place. I’d assumed that the military parade would be an early afternoon thing, but the other day I learned that it doesn’t start until 6:30pm…same time as our reservation. So I emailed them with a heads up that southbound traffic would likely suck all afternoon and early evening, and that northbound traffic after dinner could suck, too, as people flee the District. We’ve rescheduled for the following Saturday. 
Yesterday I wore “real” shoes for the first time since my toenail was removed (two weeks ago)! 
Not all day, though: I brought them with me to work and did a “test run” during a morning morning, and was good for a little more than an hour before my toe started to feel sore. (I wore both a Band-Aid and a toe protector.) I stayed in sandals for the rest of the day, but I was able to put the real shoes on again for my CAC appointment. Again, it took a little more than an hour for the soreness to become distracting. I’m working from home in sandals today and will stay in them through the weekend, but I have a meeting in our DC office on Monday afternoon and it’s good to know that I’ll be able to tolerate shoes for that!
[1:37 PM - Paused to go to a tattoo removal appointment and join a work meeting]
[3:16 PM - Resumed]
Next week will be unusual, in that I won’t go the office at all for the first time since starting this job 2.5 months ago: on Monday I have the aforementioned meeting in DC, and it wouldn’t make sense to drive to MD in the morning so I’ll work from home; Tuesday I’ll be off to work the primary election; and Wednesday I’ll be working from home while I recover from Tuesday (I know from experience that I’ll hit a wall around mid-afternoon…this way I can sleep a little more in the morning, and work a little longer in the afternoon). Thursday and Friday are my normal work-from-home days. Monday’s meeting includes my boss and one of my direct reports, but it’ll be weird to not see the other guys in person for a whole week!
I finished the Lego Balrog book nook (#3) last night. I started #1 on the 3rd, which means I assembled 3,400 pieces in just over a week. I might have a problem. 
https://i.ibb.co/nNqkJy1g/Balrog-01.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/NnSJLybx/Balrog-02.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/RGdqKHhX/Balrog-03.jpg
As always, bigger versions are in my Lego photo album.
Isn’t that redundant? 
Oh, swampy…I’m so sorry for your loss. 
I don’t like heated dry, either, but not because of frugality or a concern about melting dishware: it’s because the countertop above the dishwasher gets hot! It gets warm just from running the dishwasher, and heated dry makes it even more so – and it stays hot for longer. That’s the counter I keep the dry dog food on: I always move the container before I start the dishwasher, but I like being able to move it back sooner vs later.
Bailey will turn 17 next month.
https://i.ibb.co/jk4sDnVL/Before-You-Get-Married.jpg
Hey there! Welcome back! 
Happy birthday, flyboy!
Happy Doperversary BBBoo!
And welcome back @overlyverbose / wordy. 
Great questionnaire @Misnomer.
Daughter mentioned today that she’s been in her job for a year now! I asked if she was going to look for opportunities closer to home, but she likes where she is. She says the commute is the only quiet time she gets!
I still have my retired CAC, even tho I was supposed to turn it in. I have no reason or desire to go on base, and I wasn’t going to hassle with driving there to turn it in. Besides, I think it’s expired anyway.
Home from the pool - them kids flat wore me out, and Tobias scared the crap outta me at one point! We’d come back from a potty break and I was chatting with one of the adults present. Tobias took off for the end of the pool and jumped in!! No floaty, no adult nearby, no nothing. I didn’t know I could move so fast!! I got to him before he swallowed half the pool, so I count it as a win. It wouldn’t have been a problem if he was taller, but 3’ is still over his head.
And Roxy puked up her lunch - luckily, she did it on the side of the pool, not in it. The nice bartender gave me a roll of paper towels to clean it up. Apparently the kid pukes when she ingests a mouthful of pool water. So that was fun.
Still, they had about 2 hours of water frolic so they should sleep well tonight. Unfortunately, they had neither toys nor towels in their swim bag. So my car has wet innards, but it’s parked outside with a window open - I hope it gets warm enough inside to help it dry quickly. I need to run to Food Lion tomorrow, and I don’t want to sit in a wet seat. (I took a towel, but no change of clothes, so my soggy suit and t-shirt sogged the driver’s seat.)
Early supper of leftover minestrone. Chillage for the rest of the night. Kids for a couple of hours tomorrow. Plus laundry tomorrow. Good times.
Variously,
- Happy [event]!
- So sorry.
- Welcome back!
Welcome back wordy!
Finally! I got hold of someone who could / would tell me how to separate from my irkplace and set up disbursement of my 401k. I’ve sent the appropriate email and as soon as I find out a few deets and get final end of leave date from the ortho, I should separate with medical insurance paid through the end of July. I also spoke to an insurance broker and found much better plans available than COBRA. I do want to get it in writing though. Holy crap! Who knew how much work retiring would be.
On the homefront, I gave Nelson a bath today and he seems to be much less itchy. I did find a couple of skeeter bites on him, which is likely why he’s scratching. I also got the card donations mailed and some Goodwill donations dropped off (the post office is right around the corner from Goodwill). Now for chillage.
As a water-based child myself …
Waay past time for swimming or at least surviving lessons for him.
Relying on floaties and adults is planning to fail.
I finished w USAF long before CACs were invented. I still have my final USAF green active duty laminated typewritten cardboard ID card. The one with the expiration date of “INDEF”" & a pic of me at age ~26.
I wonder what would happen if I showed up at some base main gate waving that card? 
Daughter has every intention of getting them swimming lessons. Time and expense are the issues. Then again, those are the issues for a lot of things. Such is life.
I can’t believe how whooped I feel after just 2 hours of fresh air and sunshine… oh, yeah, and wrangling 2 kids. This is why menopause exists. Women my age shouldn’t have babies or toddlers, or even teens, dammit! Your body calls a halt to baby-making for a perfectly valid reason. I’ll never understand why someone would put herself thru all kinds of hormone treatments and such to have a late-life baby. I’d have liked to have another, but once I hit 35, I knew it was too late for me. Babies are for the young. < kicks soapbox back behind the couch > Anyway, I’s tahred. Early sleepy-bye for me for sure.