A petted lip is that expression just before you start bawling 
And our pets, of course!
Good morning all. Tried to post last night, but the system ate it so having another go now. Just left Elkhart, Indiana and am about 2 hours away from Chicago. The outside was picturesque in the Appalachians and ever changing, in a suburban sort of way since we hit Pennsylvania. Only bad part was between the train rocking severely and the horn blowing for crossings ever 30 seconds, so I am a little short on sleep. Still will manage, just not quite as active as the last couple of days.
Wish I could respond to your posts but can’t get the Amtrak wi-fi to work. So take care all and I’ll be in touch.
Mornin’ all!! About 8am as I start driveling. I’ve been up about 2 hours and sun’s been up about 1-1/2. Mostly clear outside with NWS advertising 82/28 on the way to 93/33 and some worries about excessive heat index albeit much more at ground level inland than where I am.
Last night I finally gathered the gumption to go get dinner at 8:30pm. I tried the nearby Patio Tapas & Beer, but by the time I got there the kitchen had just closed and the bar would wrap at 9pm. I’d just paid for an hour’s parking, there in restaurant row, so time to find another place. Oh bother.
A couple doors down is/was Original Fat Cat’s - Facebook. The place is unpretentious, the food is decent, and the crowd is mostly 20-somethings so easy to watch, if not always to overhear. Their tagline is “The 5 star dive bar” and it fits. They also have a large outdoor patio so I need not brave the frigid interior. Dinner was a pretty darn nice Philly cheese steak, seasoned curly fries, & a G&T. Once fed I went inside to wash the goop off my hands and face.
A 2-piece band was just cranking up and two 40-something women were dancing together w no sign of matching menfolks holding down a stool. Normally I’d dive into that but there was a battle raging in my head: “Looks good; too hard; music’s promising; I’m too lazy; she’s the right amount of hot; just not up for it. Git while the gittin is good; save the first impression for next time - you only get one.” In the event, “no” won out and I walked away and drove home. While shaking my head at myself over skipping the dancing.
Once home I figured out why yesterday was such a mess and the reason for my dance demurring. About 20 minutes before bed over the space of maybe 10 minutes I was hit with a suddenly stuffy head, nose, ears, and sinuses, plus headache, and a mild sore throat to boot. Yup, I caught something from somebody. And in hindsight I recognized the malaise and not-wrong-but-not-quite-right had kicked off shortly after 12 noon. Crap-ety crap crap!!
Nyquil then and a decent night’s sleep, followed by Dayquil at wake-up to the rescue. Feel a bit scruffy right now, but far short of miserable. Much more comfortably lazy than afflicted.
My morning call with BB as she was leaving work was humorously predictable; she’s such a nurse and such a carer-for. Lots of concern, sympathy, and advice, oh my gosh the advice. Dear, you are one of the sweetest and most capable women I’ve ever been privileged to know, but this isn’t my first head cold; really it isn’t. Heck, if it comes to that, this isn’t even my first COVID.
The happy news, such as it is, is that means both of us have strong reasons not to meet this weekend. Which is certainly better than us taking turns having our problems on alternate weekends. See what I said earlier about looking for the pony in the horseshit? I’m kinda good at that. 
So one of today’s errands will be to buy COVID tests as I have none, and a re-supply of Dayquil and Nyquil as I don’t have much to hand. Heck, I might even try out the local CVS / Walgreen’s same-day delivery service.
As to y’all …
Shoe: glad to hear the fridge arrived and fit. Despite your parents’ earnest attempts to make it hard on you.
boofae: That must be one hell of a cocktail event to be able to upend a whole weekend at a stroke. Sorry to hear it’s got you both stroppy.
Swampy: the free beer sign is a great idea if the editor doesn’t come through with a properly prominent retraction.
Metalmouse: All modern phones, and many (most?) modern cell service subscriptions, permit the phone to act as a Wi-Fi hotspot. So you switch that phone setting on, connect your tablet’s Wi-Fi receiver to the phone’s Wi-Fi transmitter, then you have internet on the tablet via the cellphone’s cellular data channel.
I do that all the time in places with flaky or slow or overburdened Wi-Fi. One common example of that was/is the Tri-Rail commuter train to the airport. They have onboard Wi-Fi, but it’s real inadequate. To be sure, you’re just substituting your cell signal’s reliability and speed for their wi-fi / satellite system’s reliability and speed, but often that’s a winner.
Eat all you want - you can even have my share! MIL had some on her salad the other night, but I don’t think she’s had half of the first bag and there are 2 more (2# each) unopened in the top of the pantry!! These are the bags she brought back from Indy in February! I should keep the one bag on the counter next to the cookies so she can snack on them as she claims she likes to.
shoe - yay for new fridge!! I think you should fill it with all manner of junk food and take-out boxes and send that pic to your mom. But I can say that because you don’t know where I live…
I suggest you and your friends dress up really gay, hang some pride flags and a disco ball out front, and flame a bit - that should scare a lot of folks away! (Can’t believe I suggested that!!!) 
Laundry has been started. Honestly, I don’t understand why folks (including MIL) get all wound up about it. You put some in one machine, then you move it to another machine, then you fold, hang, or pile it up till you need it. It’s not like I have to carry it to the river and beat it on a rock. I dunno…
FCD and I got a McBreakfast then ran across the street to CVS to pick up his meds refill. He’s in his shop, I’m getting my delayed morning 'puter time while the first load washes, and MIL is in bed, having just asked Alexa what time it is. So a typical morning hereabouts. I’m going to mow the back yard after MIL is up, drugged, and fed. I’ll have to lift up a bunch of cantaloupe vines that are creeping into the lawn - OMG, there’s a potential for a gazillion melons!! Not sure what else the day holds, but it’s just forecast to be mid-80s, which is nice.
Thus begins my day. Happy Firday!!
Mornin’ y’all.
It’s 55F and cloudy outside. Our expected high temperature is 74F and we’re supposed to have peeks of sunshine later in the day. Yesterday’s was more like a very short-lived misting.
Shoe, I’m glad your fridge arrived and that there was no drama in getting it set up. Arrange and re-arrange to your heart’s content.
Swampy, I would have been more than a mite ticked off, too. I like the free beer sign idea!
Work was the usual—lots of work! Despite the multiple interruptions from staff and various meetings, I did write up my third-quarter accomplishments. I got the final schedule for the safety/security tour mid-July and will set up my travel arrangements on Monday. I’ll be gone all week, and the days will be long due to the miles between each stop. Lots of driving and not much work will get accomplished.
I tried to validate my timecard when I woke up this morning, but the system was under some maintenance, so I could not do so. It’s weird, considering everyone was encouraged to validate their timecards today because of the upcoming holiday.
I was up at 345 a.m. today but hung out with the dogs before making coffee and logging in. I was trying to get them to chill a bit longer and maybe sleep, but that didn’t happen, so we played. There were lots of belly rubs and “hugs.” Buster is a hugger. Maisie tries to be a hugger but is not quite big enough to accomplish that yet.
I’m hopeful today’s plans include a trip to the nursery. I’d like to get some coneflowers, along with a couple more types of plants. I also need to get some Clorox Clean-up because I’m running low. I keep a bottle at the kitchen sink and in each bathroom. I used in the bathroom to clean the sinks and wipe down the toilet rims and all over the outside of the toilet every day. I have toilet scrubbers for inside the toilet bowl. The kitchen counters are cleaned with Clorox because the dogs are nosy and jump up with their paws resting along the edges of the counters. They are constantly on the hunt for snacks. They are Labs; of course they’re looking for food despite being fed five minutes earlier.
Speaking of whom, it’s time to let them back in. I let them out to get rid of some zoomies, and they are now at the back door.
Yay! Does this mean that ice cream is on the menu now?
That is truly and absolutely evil.
Nelson has a couple of bare spots on his hiney for the same reason. I’m using some lotion for paw and nose leather that Sis recommended from Burt’s Bees. It’s helping to sooth his skin there and the fur is already beginning to grow back. While I couldn’t find it with a brief search, they may make something similar for kittehs.
My old stompin’ grounds! Did Elkhart get an Amtrak stop? I used to catch the South Shore in South Bend if I wanted to take the train to Chicago.
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted, bed stripped, towels / sheets in the dryer, clothes in the wash and fixing to do KP / houseirk. IOW, the usual Friday.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
How very un-Spanish of them.
That’s adorable.
I guarantee she’ll nibble, if you leave them out for her convenient access - otherwise, out of (limited) sight, out of (failing) mind.
I like this idea!
You betcher ass it does!
Man, a few more nights like this and I might feel 100% human again!
Meanwhile, I actually want breakfast! What a concept …
100% human is highly overrated.
My plant stands were delivered and FCD helped me move the big planters. Now we’re having lunch waiting for the aide to come help MIL shower. Two laods on the lines, last load in the washer - it will go in the dryer because it takes too long to hang unders on the lines.
Maybe after Jessica leaves I’ll mow the backyard. On not. Who can tell?
You are wise in ways I cannot approach. But you are oh so right.
Do not fail to put an open container of catfud in there and see if Monkey can be persuaded to stand in there eating from it while you snap the pic.
FCM Yaay for low-stress laundry and a calm day in MIL-world.
The usual chaos. Apparently the Technomage deleted the address correction app form the one work station on the 300 slide. Or maybe just the icon, I didn’t have time to see if it was wiped, or just a PEBKAC issue. I stopped at Teeter on the way home, grabbed a couple of cases of Yuengling, and some used rainbow trout for dinner. And now laundry is in the dryer, so naptime!
LOL. They’ll just blame the driver for not hydrating enough.
And shortsighted. We move a lot of 90 day meds through Ground, and most of that stuff shouldn’t be above 86 degrees, let alone 130.
Tell him to put the lime in the coconut and drink 'em both up.
Kinda like beagles. Begginf for food while they chew.
Hey, @LSLGuy that whole convo about extending celebrations?
Coupla days ago, one of my besties pinged me (“It was sent very late, but did you get my card & gift?”) and I sheepishly checked the mailbox - in my defense, it looks like it got delivered maybe the day before - with a sweet card, and even better, two more kerchiefs!
(She’s the one who sews me them sometimes. She’s a quilter by hobby, too. It’s definitely not a dying art.)
Anyway, these have frosted cookies on the fabric! Gonna be fun to wear those at work. (She made me one with Spam ™ fabric a while ago, dunno where the hell she found that!)
PLUS, I’d received a mystery package a while ago, with no info besides basically, “Here ya go, Amazon sent you some stuff” and I didn’t know from whence it came. But after some PMs here earlier today, I finally found out who sent the lovely purple unicorn hooded towel so I could properly thank them.
Currently 69 { snerk } again, with yet more intermittent rain predicted by Teh Oracles. Fine by me.
Some laundry is a-swishin’ already, and my big pre-work plan is to strip { snerk v 2.0 } the bed and put on all nice, clean sheets & pillowcases.
My big post-work plan is to scrape together enough wherewithal to take a long shower, after Long Night close, and crawl into a nice, clean bed being a nice, clean me.
Hopefully, I can accomplish all those things and thus perhaps get two consecutive nights of decent sleep.
On the (rare) days I do that I always sleep so well. Makes me wonder why a shower just before bed feels so wrong when it works so right?
Hooray for friends and surprise gifts!!
A permit approved on Monday indicates that Bellingham should soon have second Trader Joe’s. The address on the permit is for the former Bed Bath & Beyond location. While I’d rather have one in Blaine, the new location will be a couple of freeway exits closer to home, and the parking situation would be eliminated.
freshly laundered bed and human is heaven on earth. even better when you can sleep in with no alarms.
I’ve been painting some boxes.
A message from El Jefe:
Greetings Campers,
Antonio Zambelli migrated from Italy to America in 1893 to create the center for fireworks manufacturing in the United States. Today, located in Pennsylvannia, Zambelli Fireworks remains the center of American fireworks manufacturing. It’s still a family business with his grandson now in charge. With that introduction:
- Whereas, Independence Day is on Thursday, July 4th, and;
- Whereas, many of us need time to run to the Indian Reservations to stock up on armaments, and;
- Whereas, many of us are using our floating holiday or taking PTO on July 3rd resulting in an office that will already be a tomb;
- Therefore, by the powers invested in me by the American Pyrotechnics Association which is dedicated to the American tradition of blowing up stuff on the 4th of July, I hereby declare an “Antonio Zambelli Holiday” for which we will close the office at 1:00 p.m. on July 3rd .
Last out, set the alarm which will lock the door. Don’t blow off any fingers this weekend. And, after last night, pray for better options in the November election.
Your chief pyrotechnician,
Actually, the calendar on Outlook shows that the office will be closed on the 5rd, so no one is taking PTO next Friday.
Apparently, [unknown acronym] is having a BBQ at the orifice on Monday. It was suggested I might want to go down on Monday instead of Tuesday. Sounds like a good idea to me. Get the Commute From Hell over with, irk from home Tuesday, have a short irk-from-home day Wednesday, and then four days off. (In actuality, I’ll still irk seven hours on Wednesday, as I log on at six. I could justify logging out at 11:00, but there will be too much irk to do.)
Just enjoyed a two-hour nap enhanced by a fresh dose of dayquil. Feeling almost human right now.
Now balconatin’ while looking at nothing but blue sky in the eastern hemi-circle, while loud booming noises come from an unseen sky not far to to my west. If I’m to get more drugs without a swim, perhaps I’d best get a move on.
Flyboy: Hooray for an extra half-day off and office BBQ. If ya’ gotta go in anyway, nay as well be fed for your efforts.
And yes, vexing when they build something desirable closer to home, but just barely closer. Just before COVID they did that to me with a minor league baseball stadium. So now in addition to driving 1 hour, I can drive 45 minutes up the same road, plus farther on surface streets for only about a 5 minute net gain. Why not put it farther from the original stadium = closer to me and the vast bulk of the catchment area that’s all even farther in my direction? Idjits.
Started Typing: 2:50 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 3:40 PM ET
Happy Friday afternoon, all!
It’s starting to sink in that in two more days I will actually be done with my volunteer organization. I joined them 4 years ago, and my involvement has been fairly constant: I was active with another committee for almost 3 years, and for the last 1.5 years I’ve been a member of the executive committee and the chair of my current committee (there were a few months when I did all three). I know I’ve been talking about it a lot, but this will be kind of a big change: this org has been the focus of my “spare” time for quite a while, and the work has largely been meaningful. It’s an adjustment I’ll be more than happy to make, but an adjustment nonetheless.
I am sooo ready for the weekend to start! I’m in the office again today, and will be leaving at around 5pm. I’ll swing by Safeway on the way home, but happily I have no plans this evening. I think Bailey will be happy about that, too, after I had a meeting Wednesday evening and the office + the gym yesterday. Tomorrow there’s nothing on the calendar other than a mid-morning personal training session: I have tentative plans to clean/rearrange the laundry room afterwards, but that’ll depend on whether I can still move my arms after three training sessions in one week.
Because I’m apparently a glutton for punishment, I’m toying with checking out two of the Sunday morning yoga offerings at my gym – the ones focused more on strength/mobility than meditation/spirituality – to see if one of them might be a good fit for me. Late that afternoon I’ll be meeting with the women I’m singing with next month, to start planning our set lists (yay!). Sometime between tomorrow afternoon and Sunday afternoon I’ll send out a few final volunteer-related emails, then I’ll happily spend some time geekily archiving all of those files.
Speaking of geeky activities, at some point this weekend I’ll start building Lego Notre Dame. I might simply unbox everything this evening, and begin the actual assembly tomorrow.
My name is Misnomer, and I approve this post. 
Oh yay! I’m glad that saga is done.
You go sit over there and think about what you’ve done. 
Booooo!
Yay!
The executive decision has been made - we will have Chinese food delivered for supper. I’ll calling the order shortly because they have an estimated 1 hour delivery time. Which means it will get here in 20 minutes, right?
The feces are going to hit the fan. BIL’s neurologist called FCD to tell him that his license will be suspended permanently. MIL is going over tomorrow to tell him. FCD thinks his bro might really try to take his life this time. He needs to be in a group home at least, but I don’t know that we can make it happen. Interesting times ahead.