shoe I see your derp and raise.
And yes those are traces of chomped pillow on the carpet. And golf balls in the distance. Fortunately, she hasn’t found them yet.
Question for Sodastream users: Right now, the machine is injecting some kind of gas into the water, and bubbles seem to appear, but the resulting soda I mix up still tastes flat. All the FAQs online that address when the CO2 canister is empty talk about sputtering and no gas being visibly injected at all. Should I still take the flat soda as a sign that I need to switch the canister out?
Howdy Y’all! Laundry got laundered and put where it stays until it gets dirty again. I called AT&T at seven-thirty this mornin’. A tech guy was here at ten and found the problem (sump’n bout how the folks that laid the new cable yestiddy didn’t do sump’n or other right) and by eleven router was all green lights and happy again. Nappage, day drinkin’ and leftover sup were also accomplished.
I am very happy with my hearin’ aids. I can really hear what folks say now. They are great. However, the world is noisy! I take ‘em out for nappage and at the end of the day when I am through hearin’ stuff. The world is blissfully quieter then.
MOOOOOOM glad your mom is gettin’ the care she needs now even though she is not real happy with the situation. I can understand the unhappiness as no one wants to be in the horsepistol and deal with therapy and such. Also, conga rats on Otis. He has lucked into a great home. How sweet that he already loves his new mommy!
Taters hope the flight home is uneventful. As wonderful as it was to see the grands, daughter and SIL, I am sure you will be glad to sleep in your own bed.
VanGo glad the eye exam went well. I need to do that soonest.
Hippie gorgeous quilt work!
Oopsie the Episcopal Church Women have a yahd sale at the church every October. We have stuff to donate and that is the extent of our help. Neither of us has a desire to set up or participate in a yahd sale. Glad your co-irker ended up with a permanent gig in the company.
Rocker glad you and the kittehs had a good day.
Nuts conga rats on the new ratties. You want ratties as pets. Shoe on the other hand…
Flyboy what did wifey and you think of the Lutheran church service? I am as comfortable in a Lutheran (ELCA) service as I am in an Episcopal service.
Squee!
Da Jungle has them, as well as many pharmacies.
Saint Michael?
Way cool! I really like the colors.
Yes. The last couple of bottles from each cannister tend to be flat or nearly so on mine. You get the fizz sound, but not much fizz added.
Got the grocery shopping done, although I walked out without my list, I only missed one thing. The curry that I made the tamarind past for was good, although I’ll add a bit more ginger and cayenne the next time I make it. Now for chillage.
I found it similar. The Lutheran church service was definitely more liberal than the Episcopalian one. The pastor is a lesbian and talked a lot about biblical support of equal rights. There was a children’s time, where the wee-uns (and one not so wee – it was for anyone under 15) went and sat on the step while the pastor used a story book to tell a Christian story and elicit responses from the kids. I liked the hymns. They weren’t as solemn as the ones at the Episcopal service. There was a baby grand pie-annie, and a woman with a fiddle. When the violinist started playing one song I thought, ‘Hey! That’s Star of the County Down by The Pogues!’ It turns out that Canticle of the Turning was written in 1988, and used the earlier song’s melody. Very nice whatever-you-call-the-space-the-services-are-held-in.
We were invited by one of Wifey, RN’s patients. She wasn’t there, but her husband was and we sat next to him. She hasn’t said if we’re going back. I wouldn’t mind.
In other news, The Spousal Unit is going to steam some TJ’s tamales when the dishes are done. (Unless we pause the dishwasher.) I need to get an electrician in one of these days.
Holy belief/creed/faith depending on which language. The oldest of Sophia’s three daughters.
I have tripped into a YouTube rabbit hole of yard clean up. Not something I can do, but fascinating to watch.
FCM, you have them from me. Having read on through the thread, I know there are updates that seem encouraging, so maybe everyone’s healing thoughts and caring vibes are doing some good! Sorry about the drama llama sister.
Conga-rats on Otis. He’s an obvious charmer!
I was gonna say… damned ambitious! Smart idea to freeze the unused portions in usable increments. I do that with homemade pesto sauce.
swampy, glad the intertoobs upgrade is done! I’m sure enjoying mine. So much to learn…
coppertone, well done with the new job(s) and apartment! Maybe things are looking up? I do hope so.
nellie, I’m glad you’re feeling better. I hope you can start taking the prednisone again soon.
shoe, Monkey photos are always wonderful. The personality of your feline son just shines through. I appreciate you sharing them. When do you get some time off, anyway?
Oh, you are so welcome! And yes, I appreciate the weights, too. There are lots of things I cook by weight rather than measure, notably baked goods. I hope you enjoy this big ol’ cookie!
You and Spot. Best comedy duo ever. 
boofae, those are often the very best ones, IMHO. 
Go, you! Isn’t it great to have these out of the way for this year? I hope you feel better by now.
Yeeks. So mine wasn’t the only career that involved handling really unsavory human flotsam and jetsam. That stuff stays with you, for sure.
hippie, that piece is stunning. I love the colors, too! Your talent is obvious!
VanGo, hope vision correction is in your near future. Sounds like you’re ready for that. And your new pup is adorable – love the pic. She seems so happy!
Yes. As already noted by red.
Got Ollie’s nails trimmed first thing this morning, then jetted into town to meet a friend for lunch and buddy COVID shots. It’s done, and I have no more vaxxes for a year. So far, the after-effects have been almost nothing. But it’s early. Usually the worst of them show up about 12 hours after the shot. If things are going to get unpleasant, it may as well be around 2:00 in the morning, eh?
'Night, all.
Up from naptime. Gave Spot some (non bite-y)attention. Having a Manhattan and Redneck Stirfry.[quote=“Misnomer, post:65, topic:1023473”]
Maybe it knows something you don’t, and was trying to protect you?
[/quote]
Well, < gestures at existence >
Wolfhound, or (God help you)a large terrier mix.
They always know who will give into their demands. That’s how I got to be my one roommate’s 180lbs Shepard mix, Teddy.
For me that’s a feature, not a bug.
This one time at band camp the Dollar Sto, somebody spilled an entire bag of candy corn, which brought the local flock of permanent Canada Geese to eat it, and left a monsoon of goose poop on the parking lot and sidewalk.
Cool!
It’s the Feast of Saint Jerome in the Roman Catholic Proper of Saints.
I’ve been to Jewish, Greek Orthodox, Baptist and assorted pagan ceremonies. Never been to a Lutheran or Episcopalian service. [Irish Catholic nun]Fecking Protestants[/Irish Catholic nun]
My Center serves the state crime lab, the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine, and assorted drug test labs. So I handle a good bit. Speaking of which, one address I loaded today ordered some baked goods and 2 case of Raid. so I may have stepped into am episode of Criminal Minds
Evening all. Did a little shopping (two pairs of Duluth Trading Flex jeans (38" waist!) and some gym work, then decided after dinner to help out by being an assistant referee (one of the guys running on the sidelines) for a U15 game. Had fun, but man kids that age have gotten a lot faster than the U12’s I normally coach and ref. Still managed to keep up and didn’t make any major goofs, so we’ll call it a success.
And a long scroll tonight..hope I can make it to bed by 11pm…
swampy, happy the your WIFI has returned like McArthur. My hearing aids go into a re-charger every night by my bed, do you have anything like that?
doggio,
Even for a guy who has shipped his own S*** via Brown (of course), that is pretty weird.
Oopsie, glad you have a new/old friend at work. And glad to hear that FEDEX does deliver…you just don’t know when or where…
FCM, love all the Otis pictures, both here and on Facebook. And hope Mom-unit has a good recovery. And Sis is being a…well, need to watch my language, hope she settles down.
Cookie, an early Happy Birthday to Ms. Cookie.
rocky, sounds like you had a happy day…I approve of happy days, there should be more of them on this planet.
Nut, I imagine shoe can provide some advice on the domestication of pet rats.
flyboy, glad the COVID test was negative, but might want to check again if symptoms persist.
Hippie, that’s gorgeous (I see rockyand VanGobeat me too it).
And that’s all I have the energy for. Catch y’all on Hump Day.
I have mystified so many coworkers over the years when I bring one in - apparently it’s not well-known. (Also, I make mine with actual honest-to-gawds marshmallows.)
That is a good description of the Scottish deer hound.
Some of my favorite pets were ratties.
(Note: we’re discussing a totally different species from the ones I raise now, which are not domesticated as pets. What I have currently are African soft-furred, which can’t even cross-breed with either domestic rats or mice. They’re also vicious little fuckers who can and will chew through aluminum.)
Thank you for coming to my TED talks.
Best game of poker evah!
I’m glad you like them! As a single woman with a cat, why yes, I DO have zillions of photos …
… and we’re always closed Monday, plus I get one other day off, which this week isn’t till Sunday. 
I laughed my ass off at this one.
Lotsa treats (Cheerios!!) and as much attention as possible. (Nut you know all this already, this is just edjumakashion for the other unwashed heathens, since we’re fighting ignorance and all.)
Domesticated rats are basically like teeny tiny dogs … the more positive reinforcement (and treats!! .. did I mention treats .. ) the better.
In the critter training world, the term is “highly food motivated.”
In kolleg, I got my ratties a small box of Apple Jacks cereal, and I swear I could’ve gotten them to do my calculus homework for me.
Argh! I thought I’d hit “Reply” to post this! OK, here’s what I said:
I keep procrastinating calling the rheumatologist for an appointment. It’s not hard to see why: I don’t want to admit the remission might be over. Before my last round of routine labs, I asked the local doc to add an ANA test, and it was positive (over 40), but weakly positive (80). I’m going to ask for an ANA again on the routine labs next week, but I should call the rheumatologist so I can get in sometime before the next geological era. I don’t wanna.
I walked to World Market, which has a wide variety of sugar-free Torani coffee flavorings. I’m not a big coffee drinker; I use it on my morning oatmeal and in my tea.
Does anyone else here enjoy WeRateDogs on YouTube? (I think it’s also on TikTok, but I refuse to go on there.) My daily routine: Whisper a prayer, click on the national news, make an Edvard Munch face of horror, immediately watch a WeRateDogs video, which always makes me laugh. (Every episode starts with, “The dogs were good again this week.”)
Speaking of, I love Otis, FCM! He looks like a dog’s dog and a Very Good Boy. I’m not surprised he follows you around. He knows an alpha female who’s a sucker for scritches when he sees one.
I keep misreading things in this week’s MMP. For instance:
My first thought was, “How do you use bananas to apply a messy salve? Like, do you leave them unpeeled and use them like a Q-Tip, or peel them so they add some mush to the salve?”
Madonn’. I am losing it. I really thought you received a big purple box, as in a cardboard cube, that had printing on it: “Content is not viewable…” I was trying to figure out whether it was for your cat to curl up in so nobody could see her. D’oh.
Shoe! Monkey is adorable! I want to reach through the screen and pet him.
I was at the self-checkout at the grocery store while this poor woman, clearly, overworked and overwhelmed, was trying to checkout with 4 extremely lively kids. They were literally bouncing off everything vertical. They were also running, yelling, and acting like Junior Terrorists, 2nd Class. The eldest, a boy of about 8, pulled a shiny, shiny knife with a 5" blade out of his pocket. Holy frick. I instantly went into Teacher Mode:
“Whoa! Let’s put the knife away.” It was not a suggestion. He did–under his shirt. I hoped it was a (maybe) toy knife with a retractable blade. It sure looked real. I tried to catch Mom’s attention, but the self-checkout clerk was trying to straighten out some issue with her, and the kids were whooping. I kept my eyes on the future Shark. The littlest bro, about 3, shoved him into my cart. I made sure Stabby Boy was OK, said, “Ma’am!” loudly, and the mom thrust the two youngest into her cart, confiscated the knife, and wheeled the paddy wagon out of the store. I told the clerk, but she hadn’t seen the knife and said surely it was a toy.
Oh, and on the way to World Market, I passed this guy at Party City. Some people are way too literal.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.
Heckin’ good boys. 14/10
Based on the pictures, he seems to be pretty chill. Hope that’s close to reality. I recently read Proof of Life by J.A. Jance and it features an Irish Wolfhound, so I had been looking up details. There’s one that lives around here - he’s BIG. Fortunately, he’s well trained.
Beautiful. I really like the bits of blue with the different shades of silver and gray.
Sweet pup pic. What’ll she do with the golf balls? Eat them as well?
Works on some humans as well. 
I follow them on BlueSky, but rarely watch the video, except the short ones. Thanos is adorable. [Tested the link in an incognito window, so it should work.]
Today’s lunch is Thai from the food truck. Yum.
And it looks like I’ll have to wash one of my afghans. It has a musty smell which I’m not fond of. I think I’ll wait until tomorrow, when it might be sunny enough to help it dry. I’m not putting it in the dryer.
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 12c/54f with a predicted high of 17c/62f and cloudy. Weather app says “Stratus clouds are known for producing light fucking rain and snow. They are also knobjockey twatfaces.”
Thanks for sending the pic of Monkey - I get the same purple box message on your pic of Otis so I think Imgur has issues with me being outside the country. Anyway I saw your pics of Otis on FB, he’s a handsome boy!
Good news on being negative, and hopefully if you’ve got any germs, the chile colorado will chase them out.
hippie I can’t see your pic but if it’s the same as the one on FB, then it’s a beautiful piece of work and I love the colour combination.
Taters have a safe trip home, I hope you had a restful visit with your family.
I hope she cools down and realises that increasingly abusive texts aren’t going to get her any sympathy and certainly won’t inspire people to fall over themselves to help her.
That would have been interesting! I did get a box yesterday, but I collected it from Little Paws HQ and it has a scratching post with a little nest bed on top. Put that together and left it in the space where another scratching post stood…cats have ignored it and are cheerfully playing in the box instead.
Yesterday was a fun day, I got to play with month-old kittens, fuss lots of other cats, and collected a load of food that ours may or may not want to try. Made campus food for the two days I’m here, and had a quiet night on the sofa. I was up at 5.30am, and out in time for the Nice Train into Big City Station. Trains there were all delayed so I got a bus instead and made it to campus in good time.
Tonight should be pub night with my friends so that will be fun, I am just waiting for an email to say that they’re fit and well, and a plan for where we’re going. They are off on holiday next week so no pub night, and I get to go over to theirs and feed the ferret instead. Fun times!
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 65 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 81 and cloudy. No trip to the Pubic Sto’ today as we don’t need much in the way of provisions. We will attend the Wednesday doin’s over to the church house this evenin’, so that takes care of sup. I’m thinkin’ maybe we’ll make a run to Aldi’s afterwards to get bread, milk, aigs and, of course cheese. The honin’ of our RDOS skillz will take up the day.
BooFae glad you had a fun day with baby kittehs!
Nellie I know how you feel about makin’ that appointment. Know you have/need to, but that doesn’t make it easier to do. Glad you got the little crumbsnatcher semi under control. Love the pic of the wavy thingy lookin’ all partied out at Party City!
Flyboy seems to me the ELCA is more into praise music and such. My experience is the music runs from praise to contemporary to traditional in the ELCA. Episcopal music tends towards traditional with maybe a smatterin’ of praise and contemporary. Of course this varies from congregation to congregation in both churches. You will find more “modern” and more “traditional” congregations in both.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Hump Day Y’all!
Interesting… I’ll pass that info to FCD so he can mention it to the vet. That would be great, tho - maybe he can keep the damned deer from eating my hosta and liriope next spring! Thanks! When FCD took him out, there were 2 deer in the yard and Otis was off like a shot. Apparently he almost caught them. So maybe the word will get out amongst the deer community and they’ll find somewhere else to hang out.
Any pics I post here will have been on FB, so you won’t miss anything
What gets me is while she’s correct that none of us have offered to give her a break, she hasn’t asked - at least she hasn’t asked me. I guess it’s our fault that we’re not psychic?
Ziva was out and about when I got up, and she got her morning treats before hiding under the bed again. She doesn’t want to know her new brother. Speaking of whom, he wasn’t really thrilled with being put in the crate, but he did settle and sleep without fussing. And he was happy to see me when I let him out for his morning constitutional.
I don’t think he’d ever seen a TV. When I turned it on last night, he started barking at it! Goofball!! Higgs only barked when she heard dogs or doorbells on TV.
OK, my sweetie is off to remove his tools from the boat and discuss the continuing work with the maintenance manager. When he gets home, I’ll make a grocery run - Teeter has canned cokes BOGO, and Food Lion has crab legs on special. Plus we need 'nanners. That’s my big plan for the day. So far.
Happy Wednesday!
Well, that was, um, fun. I took Otis in the yard to let him run about a bit, and in short order, he headed into the woods. I haven’t yet walked the perimeter of the fence, so I don’t know if there are any places where he can get out, so I had to follow him. Apparently it was a great game to come to me then run away. But once I got him back to the yard by the house and said “Let’s go inside” he ran to the door. So he knows “inside” - which is good.
While out among the trees, I saw where quite a few had fallen. My little 6" chainsaw can cut up some of them, but there are others that will require a real chainsaw. A chore for another day.
And unrelated to this morning’s activities, I seem to have gotten into some poison ivy. There are spots on both hands, on one wrist, and on one knee. For the life of me, I don’t know how it happened. I know what the leaves look like so I avoid them. And the last time I was futzing outside, I wore gloves. So unless the oils somehow have persisted on the gloves… Dunno, but I am not amused.
Guess I’ll kill some time with crochet - I’m almost done another lap blanket.
Oh, and my sister texted a sorta apology this morning. Progress on that front, I guess.
Morning all. Had bladder calls at 1:15, 2:40 and 6:30am already so decided to get up after the third one. Been doing some internettin’ and generally practicing my RDOS skills, but will get up in a bit and forage some sustenance besides the apple I had early on. Another day starting in the 60sF but heading to the 80’s later on. Soccer practice for the U12 team tonight, so that will get me some exercising at least.
nellie, I can understand the donwanna, but better to get it checked now than having to do it when you’re in agony (trust me, I’ve done the 2am run to the hospital several times in my life). And I’ll check out the We Rate Dogs site, I already have nearly 20 You Tube channels tagged, so what’s one more? And I really hope the knife was fake, sounds like that poor woman has her hands too full.
boo fae, enjoy pub night.
FCM, sounds like either you won’t get many deer visits or you need to make space in your freezer for fresh venison… And sounds like Otis was domesticated well, wonder why the owners dumped him. And hope the poison ivy goes away soon.
And I think that catches me up. More later. Have a good Hump day all.
Thank you all for the kind words
when i was listening to a podcast this weekend. one of the hosts worked in pet stores and ended up in aquariums. they were discussing harry potter. at one point a character sat on a sack of dead rats. that provided a tangent into frozen rats and live rats for snakes.
the host mentioned that live rat feeding is more dangerous for the snake, as the rats will fight back and injure the snake. has that happened with your snake buddies, shoe?
lager was sad there wasn’t snuggle time this morning. if he doesn’t come to the bed in the morning he doesn’t get snuggles. just conversation and scritches. of course, there is the diversion snake as i head for the door.
otis sounds like he is settling in nicely.