Wishing OYKW the happiest of birthdays - I hope there is some top quality day-drinking and slothing going on in honour of the occasion!
LOL! For what it’s worth, I keep getting ads everywhere for cannabis gummies. I’ve never bought any or even bought any edibles that wanted my contact info when out of state. Unrelated, I do hope that your MIL continues improvement.
It’s good to hear from you emily. A happy 2024 to you too!
Feel better soonest BooFae!
Wishing OYKW the happiest of birthdays swampy.
I began to get a headful of crap yesterday and it’s gotten worse today (glad I took the day off). I’m treating it with generic dayquil / nyquil, a vaporizor and hot tea and am beginning to feel halfway human. I’m going to take a hot shower shortly and see if that helps loosen things up.
The rest of the day will be spent putting new medical cards in my billfold and sloth.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Morning all. It’s 41F out and going to get to 48F according to the Weather Wizards, so not much outdoor time planned. Will try to get to the gym, made it to 800 calories on Sunday and will see if I can do that again today. Plumbers are due tomorrow, so the exercise regime may suffer an interruption or two.
JtC, J-Bats, Wheelie, thanks for the Dad stories. Mine has been gone for 23 years now and I still miss him a lot.
Wheelie, looks like you’re out in the countryside, hope there is at least a few things to do there.
Swampy, a most happy birthday to OYKW.
boo fae, hope you get feeling better soon. Maybe a third cup of tea will help… 
FCM, enjoy your Toby fix. And I don’t think I’ve gotten any…inappropriate…e-mails in awhile but I do get snail mail now and then for donations from sites I have not and never will donate to, but if they want to waste money on postage and printing…
Feel better soon, red; got a little stuffy nose but nothing much this morning.
Well, just got a call from the hotel that had billed me for my room (I paid early via Expedia) and they apologized and said they were cancelling it, which is great. It was nice of them to call and tell me personally, though.
Onward into the day!
Haven’t been to an IHOP since the one here closed ca 22 years ago. Last trip to Denny’s was around eight years ago; very disappointing, but I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt as they had just recently opened. Haven’t gotten around to giving them a second chance yet.
One of Lady SCAdian’s degrees is a BFA in music, with harpsichord performance, but I don’t think she’s touched one in over thirty years.
Hippo Gnu Deer to all! I was actually still awake and reading at midnight again, though I turned out the light a few minutes later. But what’s this “2024” nonsense? I’ve checked and rechecked, but by my count it’s only around 1999…
How come I wasn’t notified? Happy birthday OYKW!
Happy birthday, swampy!
No resolutioning this year. Usually the only time I used to make resolutions was on my birthday, but I stopped. If something was important enough to me to warrant a life change, I’d probably do it right then and there instead of waiting because I just don’t have that kind of discipline to set a deadline and stick to it if I don’t start right away.
We had a really nice New Year’s. We had some friends and their kids over, they stayed, we toasted and ate and played board games, then they took off. We were up until about 2 a.m., then I had to get up and work yesterday morning, so I wound up conking out around 9 pm, also delightful. I am still a bit foggy from the alcohol, though - I’m finding that the older I get, the more affected I am by amounts of booze I used to consider moderate. I had two glasses of wine - one with dinner and one to toast - and my head is just now recovering. But it was worth it.
New medical cards are put into the billfold and everything put into the new (to me) purse. A lunch of chili flavored ramen (don’t judge) and an avocado, along with the humidity, shower and tea, seem to be helping the stuffy head.
Carry on!
Well, I was wrong, the plumbers were due today and they are working at it right now, so probably be cooped up in the ‘office’ for most of the afternoon (the drilling through concrete can be a bit loud). Hopefully this will be the last leak to be fixed.
Press on.
You wanna get flamed and have yourself, your ancestors, and everything you hold dear cursed to the depths of hell?
Post to one of the many “pet rat lovers” types of FB groups with a pic of (standard/fancy) rats in a glass tank.
Yes, very bad, for rats and mice - they need much more ventilation. ASFs are about the only rodent I’m familiar with (hoo, boy, the “exotic pet” and “rodent breeder” groups!) that do fine in glass.
Because my ASFs are bred as feeders, I sought out groups for “feeder breeders” which occasionally netted .. interesting results.
(“Feeder” has an extremely specific connotation in the kink world.
… and for a skinny bitch with no appetite, lotsa LULz!)
Vibrating, I get. Twirling gave me a moment’s pause.
Love it!
Does it start with “m” and rhyme with “dude” cuz if so, I’m being inundated which is dumb, cuz the dispo up the street had bags of 200mg gummies for A DOLLAR the other week.
I gotta remember this one, animal nerd that I am.
(My Sweet Manager enjoyed introducing me to a new hire as, “This is Shoe, she has two snakes and a cat named Monkey” and waiting for his reaction.)
No judgment here, I loves me some cheap-ass ramen when I’m feeling poor poorly.
Something spicy is often the best Rx for congestion, though many tissues (and lotsa water! blowing your nose that much is thirsty work) may come in handy.
An avocado, during the .02 seconds of peak ripeness, is yum no matter what the excuse occasion.
Got a call from SIL - Roxy threw up at lunch so we went to fetch her. She’s in the basement now - doesn’t seem sick, but the school can’t take a chance. I will probably have her tomorrow. And I need to get my car in the shop again, dammit - there’s a bit of a shudder in the brakes. Dammit.
I actually rode the recumbent bike in our basement today - I did the 30-minute “rolling hills” ride, with the intensity backed off a bit. But I still feel virtuous. 
And I just put the last load in the washer.
MIL just called - she’s being discharged today, so that’s good news. And the folks there called FCD to get info about her local doctors so they can forward all the info about this little episode.
And that’s the latest and greatest from Southern Merrylande!
a good start of the year here in philly. i actually was in the living area reading and not in bed reading at midnight. i leaned back a bit in the chair and watched the fireworks. i could also see a few others on the horizon in nj.
woke up, texted new year greetings and went to brunch. got an invite to an afternoon late lunch thing. then back to reading.
tried a vanilla egg nog thing. meh. i’ll stick with full egg nog.
japan is having a really bad start of 2024. i hope our japan based people are okay.
Note: Started this post this morning, but events drove me away from the keyboard until this afternoon.
Morning everyone, on second cup of coffee enjoying the abnormal quiet around here. With relatives, their dogs, holidays, our new dog (Lucy), and general stuff it’s been way too stressful, and like all holidays I’m just glad it’s over. I love seeing my relatives, but I really love seeing the taillights of their cars. Only a few more days before the house is “just us” again.
The new dog is smart and she’s learning fast. Accidents in the house are rare and usually our fault (not noticing her at the door). She’s defeated every so-called “tough” dog toy the industry can produce. One store has them rated 1-10 on ability to withstand teeth and play. We tried an “8” rated dog toy a few days ago and it only lasted an hour. I told my wife we should give her the old cannonball I have, but she said Lucy would tear it apart in a day. Lucy got spayed last week, and the docs gave us pain meds along with doggie-downers (Traza-something) to keep her calm. And the gods laughed. After giving her all the meds and waiting for them to calm her down, I took her outside and a squirrel ran past. And now I’m wondering if my arm is out of socket, or if it’ll heal on its own. Some good news, she can actually bark. She’s been silent since joining our house, but my kiddo startled her by opening the front door unexpectedly. And we discovered she can rattle windows with her warning. Hopefully she’ll start doing the normal dog thing of guarding the cave soon.
New Year’s was actually pretty relaxing. Lots of booming fireworks but we slept through it I think. No real celebration other than the girls watching something involving British people and baking, and then all to bed early. Like others here, I forego detailed resolutions in favor of generalized goals – written in my journal. I did fairly well on last year’s goals, at least those that weren’t upended by events outside my control. This year’s goals have been written down, and include some more selfish objectives. Mainly taking care of others’ needs, but not necessarily their wants. I’m going to prioritize a few things for myself, although I’ll still minimize effects on everyone else as much as possible.
I mentioned in another thread that we’re buying a new RV. This time of year is best, as last year’s models remain on the lots and they’re keen to move them. Today’s plans include re-installing one of the lounge chairs in the old RV (we appropriated it for the den) and getting a trade-in offer for it. We’ve found a “corner-case” new model still on the lot and will make an offer on it once the dealer/numbers dance is over. It’s unusually sturdy, heavy and low on glitter - one of the few decent quality rigs still in production. Most who have enough truck to pull something this heavy (13K pounds) will opt for fancy-pants toy-haulers or giant 40+ footers. We’re content with this sturdier, less-showy version and actually have the means to tow it. Since it’s languished in the back of the dealer for ~6 months now, I think we can get a good price. Wish us luck!
Shoe: Interesting about your critters.
Zucky’s crew has badly confused my demographics. FB has been advertising crotchless panties, private jets, and urgent care facilities to me.
Well, off to complete the day’s tasks. Camper’s ready to take to the dealership, got the old furniture out to the street for bulk trash pickup, and starting on other boring tasks.
Hope everyone has a good week!
Forget the brand name, but does it come in a green package? My daughter likes it.
Misquoted from an old (c 1979) Sandra Boynton greeting card.
We’re having acorn squash for dinner tonight. The stem was easy to pop off with a pair of pliers, and I got to use my 8-incher (Chef’s knife. Stay clean.) to cut it in half. I expect Mrs. L.A. will scoop it and put it in the oven soon since they take so long to cook.
Dishes are done except for the greens pot and the pan I made eggs in this morning. I’ll hand-wash them after the plastic containers from the dishwasher dry. I put some Tiger Balm on my ankle, and Wifey brought be a couple ibuprofen pills.
Since we watch a lot of British crime series, I’ve ordered a book: Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village. Looks fun.
And…the plumbers dug down where the leak detector said the leak was and found…nothing. A quick call got the leak folks back out here (it was an older dude who has done this before for me, not the younger person they had sent in December) and he and the plumber’s have it located now. Decided since things are a mess already we’ll just tear out all the piping between the kitchen and 2nd bathroom and replace it so this doesn’t keep bleeding me over the years. So my house will look like a modest demolition location until next Wednesday (plumbers are swamped) when they come back. Fortunately it’s mostly the Great Room that is affected and I can spend 90% of my time either here in computer room, in my bedroom, or the kitchen, none of which is having any problems. Will try not to use my 2nd bathroom much, as that seems to be the focus.
I have had to live with this before and also spent several weeks living around my house re-modeling a few years ago, so stuff like this is bearable…not comfortable, but bearable.
Need to get to the gym today, got a lot of pedaling to work things out…
Started Typing: 4:03 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 5:32 PM ET
Happy Doperversary, Spice Weasel! 
Yesterday’s gathering with the BFFs was really nice. It was great to see them, and a wonderful way to start the year. Dinner was takeout from a burger place, and quite yummy. I also had several homemade cookies (different kinds) and banana chocolate chip muffins…and took a few of each home (plus a couple of homemade lemon bars), but they didn’t make it past later that night/lunchtime today. 
Everyone loved their gifts from me (yay!), and I was super pleasantly surprised by mine: they’re a Lego family – which is how/why I got into them last year – and they got me the Fender Stratocaster set!! 
Now I’ll have something to work on when the jazz club is done (which won’t be today, but should be over the weekend)!
Thank you for remembering/asking! 
The Reader’s Digest version is that there will be no change for the foreseeable future, and it’s totally fine with me (given the whole incremental hassle part).
The story is that in November it was announced that our program manager (PM) – my boss – had been promoted, and the deputy program manager (DPM) was going to move to the PM position effective this month (today, actually). I like working with the then-DPM and think we’d make a good team, so I met with him right after Thanksgiving: I tossed my hat in the ring for the soon-to-be-vacant deputy position, but I’m still fairly new to program management and I don’t have a technical background – it’s very unusual for PMs or DPMs in my industry to be nontechnical – so we talked about it for a while. He loved the idea of me as an administrative DPM, because I’m already involved with that stuff and am good at it and have positive relationships with key customers, but said that if he wants a deputy at all he’ll likely need someone technical due to the current weak technical leadership across our program. I completely understood, and agreed. We’re about a year away from submitting a proposal to (hopefully) win another contract, and it’s super important that we get/keep our ducks in a row between now and then: other companies will try to take this work away from us, so anything we can do to help ensure that the customer has a good impression of us will be critical.
It’s still unclear whether the now-PM – my new boss – will even want/name a deputy. Either way, it’s likely that he’ll lean on me for the administrative stuff. I could wind up functioning as an unofficial DPM, or even as a kind of co-DPM (with someone technical). I wouldn’t mind any of that. And if we win another 5-year contract and our technical leads can keep their s*** together, there may well be another opportunity to try for the deputy position down the road. 
I 
The Young Ones! I discovered that show in the early '80s, while my family was living in England. Parts of it were above my head at the time; rewatching episodes in later years was great fun. In 1984, Neil covered a Traffic song and it charted: I remember watching this on Top of the Pops when it aired.
Sometimes you both make it hard for me to love you… 
Awww, sorry his loss is hitting you kinda hard. I’d definitely heard of Les McCann, and was aware of his passing, but I’ve never listened to Swiss Movement (there is still a lot of music out there I haven’t heard yet!). I know “Compared to What,” though, because I hear jazz groups play it from time to time.
Wife BFF is 11 years older than me, and Husband BFF is 13 years older than me. When he turned 60, I told him I couldn’t be in my 40s with a friend in their 60s and we’d have to pause the friendship for 3 years (until I was 50). I thought it was funny.
Because regular Coke/Pespi is nasty and there are much better ways to get calories and sugar…?
Yay!!
Woah…I just learned about that book yesterday! And downloaded a sample to my Kindle! An author I follow on Facebook posted a picture of it. I (also) thought it looked like fun.
Ugh! I’m glad it won’t be a horrible inconvenience, but still…sorry about the disruption.
Whatever happened with whoever “fixed” the leak the last time? Are you getting any kind of financial compensation from them? (Apologies if you’ve already covered this in a thread/post that I missed!)
One of them does. The other has ads with Cheech and Chong.
And this one was exactly there.
My former neighbor mastiff had a 16# bowling ball as his outdoor toy.
Yep. The avocado was the perfect accompanyment to it too.
Glad they found your leak metal mouse. You are wise to get it all done at once, even though it sucks living through it.
I hope that Roxy feels better soon Moooooom.
The air in my apartment must have been extremely dry, given that I’ve put nearly a gallon of H2O into it already today. The tea, soup and drugs are helping, but I have a feeling that it will be hanging around for a few days.
I NEVER judge food choices. You should hear about some of the things I eat.
Tell us the oddest!
Roxy is fine. Daughter suspects it was just sinus drainage that triggered her gag reflex and caused her to literally lose her lunch. She hasn’t acted sick at all and she ate a really good supper (OK, she was probably starving!) She’s playing in a bubble bath right now and in an hour or so, she’ll be in bed. Not sure how I’ll entertain her tomorrow.
I stopped in Aldi - not a good choice late in the day - several of the things I wanted were gone or so picked over, the remains were not worth getting. But mostly I went for the Gala apples and FCD wanted the Tuscan trail mix, which they also had.
Speaking of whom, he went to the marina today to show proof of boat insurance and make sure everything is in order for our new slip. To set this up, it’s been low to mid 40s and windy today - no precip, but winter-like all the same. At the marina he saw a guy in shorts and t-shirt washing his boat! 
As my mom would say, they ain’t all locked up…
As the day winds down, all laundry is done, the dishwasher is washing, and I’m about to assume the recline position.