(Old) I owe, I owe, so off to Mump I go - A Tax Season MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
121

Trying to wind down and get to sleep, but I got sucked back into the MMP.

Fishy, sorry for your spinal issues. Surgery is always scary, but I’m hoping when all is said and done you’ll be glad you got it. Good luck.

So my colleague’s plane finally landed at 11:15 last night - and there were no open gates so they spent 90 minutes waiting on the tarmac. Then he had an issue with the rental car. Remember the Seinfeld bit? “You know how to take the reservation, but you don’t know how to hold the reservation. Which is really the most important part of the reservation.” Eventually he did get a car, and arrived at the hotel at approximately 3 am.

Despite that, we had a pretty productive first day in the job. Unlike many clients, this area is quite neat and organized. Everything is clearly marked and so far all of the parts are actually in the database we were given. The scope of this project may actually be less than we were expecting. Which is fine by me; we’re not going to rush through it.

Man, I really need to go to bed. Didn’t sleep all that well last night, so I hope I can pass out quickly tonight. See ya tomorrow!

122

overly, I hope you have a weather lull so you can get that furnace in.

Weather here is getting less hazardous, but also less interesting. I worry that we’ll come up short on annual precipitation.

123

It never occurred to ether me or my parents for them to drive me to school when I was in junior high. We had moved to a different suburb and lived a block too close to the school for the bus to take me. It was exactly a mile away.

My parents had jobs to get to. How are all these parents able to walk or drive their kids to school? They can’t ALL work from home.

One time when we lived in northern Montana, I did walk my son to school. It was -50–not the windchill, the actual temp. No, they didn’t cancel school. I couldn’t drive him because our cars were frozen in the garage. I bundled him up. We got half a block, and his tears started freezing. I wound his scarf around his eyes and led him the rest of the way (2 blocks.) The NEXT day they canceled school. I closed the office. (I ran a nonprofit.) And we all stayed home.

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One of the very last orders of the night was for a fried half-chicken, and they stuck us with it.

If I were the owner paying the bills I’d be pissed, but since I got to take it home, still nice and warm and crunchy, I ain’t even mad.

Dinner: sorted!

God, we were friggin’ dead tonight (no surprise, the weather and roads are crap) plus the guy who made the pulled pork brought in the leftovers and we really had nothing much to do besides eat, so I iz stuffed!

I’d start a separate thread if I were you. More likely to get some traction.

If you’re on Reddit, that casts much wider net, and I’d be surprised if you didn’t get some useful replies.

Awwww :slight_smile: I’m so happy for you that you get to enjoy this time.

I bet they’re looking forward to some Boo time almost as much as kitty!

Alright, it’s time for a hot cuppa black Lipton tea (that green tea last night just did not hit the spot the same way) and I think imma kill some zombies for a bit.

Oh, shit, I forgot to lift up my wiper blades. Gotta run back out and do that - it’s stopped coming down now, but who knows what tomorrow morning may bring, and I’ve learned the wisdom of keeping your blades un-stuck. We got a good coupla inches today for sure.

ETA I lied, it’s definitely snowing again. Everything looks so sparkly and the trees outlined are so pretty … :heart_eyes:

125

Up, caffeinated and sheveled. Off to heave.

He is a tad weird about his toys. And he has decided that the Mirror Universe dog is evil and must be barked at. Also, Spot may end up killing him.

126

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 37 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 55 and N.O.S. for the day. Bug guy comes this mornin’ to do his monthly thang. Then we shall procure provisions, get back to da cave, stow ‘em and then go to the hog trough GC for today’s main feed. Thus the afternoon shall be spent in sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, and day drinkin’. Yestiddy was wild weather wise. We had both thunderstorm and tornado warnin’s in the mornin’ and a tornado watch throughout the rest of the afternoon. Fun times!

And now this…

< AHEM > CLEARIN’ THROAT < AHEM >

HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY DEEEAAARRR BBBBBBOOOOOO!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!

127

What kind of bark does he have? I assume it’s not yappy but I can’t imagine a deep woof either.

Slept till 7, which would be cause for rejoicing, except I didn’t fall asleep till after midnight. My brain would not turn off. It even got me wondering what would happen if I died on our cruise. Stoopit brain. :stuck_out_tongue: Fortunately, not much on today’s agenda, so I may fall asleep in my recliner… or not. We shall see.

I need to pack something tasty, healthy, and not too big to get us thru our flights, at least till we hit MIA on the morning of the 6th. I was just looking at our return - we’ll have about 2 hours between arriving from Buenos Aires and leaving for home. I assume that’ll be sufficient time to clear Customs. It’s been 10 years since I’ve flown internationally, and even then, it was Customs in London, as we were on the cruise ship back to the states. Anyway, we shall see.

And for some reason, I have this nagging feeling that we won’t be able to make this trip. Let’s keep a happy thought.

\color{red}{\textsf{Happy BBBoo Day!!}}

And for the rest of us, Happy Wednesday!!

128

Afternoon, mumpers! It’s currently 3c/38f with a predicted high of 4c/40f, and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “This fucking weather can suck my dingle dangle wing wang.” Fair enough, that’s us lot told.

Happy birthday, BBBoo

Nothing much in my day, I commuted to campus today and the travel gods were smiling this morning. I made it to the bus stop a couple of minutes before the bus arrived, got to the station with just enough time to load my e-ticket from the machine, scoot over to the farthest away platform and get on the nice train to Big City Station (which was good enough to run a few minutes late). That got me in with 10 minutes to stroll across from platform 1 in the Big City Station to catch my connecting train at platform 12, and got to campus on time.

We had a team meeting first thing, and I’ve had a meeting this morning with a colleague about a job I need to complete so we had a chat about how best to do it. Fortunately we agreed with each other about it, and I will be able to get on with it for the rest of this week.

Tonight should be pub night but I’m waiting for an email from my pub friends to say whether they’re coming out or not. One of them has some health issues relating to previous bowel cancer, so he lets me know on a weekly basis whether he’s able to come out to play or not.

And now I have to get some lunch, and then plunge back into module options pages!

129

Morning all. 35F and only getting to 45F today. The plumbers are due at 8am so I have the house warming up and need to get the car out of the garage here in a bit, so not much posting this morning.

boo fae, great on the timing and getting some exercise in the bargain.

FCM, I don’t recall Miami being all that busy at Customs, but probably depends on whose flight and what times you arrive. Two hours should be good.

shoe, enjoy the chicken.

nellie, your story reminded me of walking to high school (about a mile) in -18F (wind chill was -44F). Coldest I think I have ever been,

Wheelie, glad he did make it and first day went ok. Suspect today may be tougher, the adrenaline won’t be flowing quite as strong.

Happy Birthday BBBoo!!!

JtC, will hopefully get to see the piping today, will try to remember to check them.

OK, better start getting ready. Take care all.

130

I tend not to let a little thing like the lack of people to go to the pub with keep me from going to the pub.

Took me a while to fall asleep last night, but once I did, I was out. The 6 am alarm was quite jarring. Fitbit says I got 6 hours and 23 minutes. I’ll take it.

131

Thanks every one! What a lovely start to day~put a smile on my face.

132

Yesterday I heard a dog upstairs (my office is in the basement). I thought it might be our accountant’s, so I went up to say hi. Nope. It was a stranger-dog. There’s a guy who lives in the neighbourhood, and he came to the office to visit. He had a 15-week-old sliver Lab puppy that was really cute (especially his face) and very friendly. I got licks, and Toby the puppy got scritches and pets.

The commute to the orifice was only about 2:15. The commute home was only about 2:30. Amazing! I generally drive in the left lane. A guy to my right didn’t want to be behind the semi that was in front of him, so he tried an aggressive lane change… but the temporal-spatial loci were occupied by the vehicle in front of me. He didn’t hit it. He swerved quickly/aggressively back to his own lane. Unfortunately he forgot to slow down and hit the back of the semi’s trailer with the front-left corner of his car. Then he dove across two lanes to get to the side of the freeway, nearly taking out two or three other cars. The semi driver, of course, used his signal and was carefully preparing to pull over when I passed him. I saw no damage to the trailer, but I’m sure he could have done without the annoyance.

Further on, I saw a hawk dive straight down onto the freeway median, and take off with a rodent.

Tl;dr: I met a new puppy, I saw a crash, I saw a rodent become dinner for a bird, and I had quick commutes (for a given value of ‘quick’).

ETA: We’ve been enjoying the warm Winter. But Friday the high is wxpected to be 17º Ferret Height, with a low of 11º. :cold_face: :cold_face: :cold_face: Saturday will only be 26º/16º. Then three days of highs in the 30s, and then back up into the warm 40s.

133

Hey! People trying to sleep here, you know!


He posted that four hours before I woke up.

134

And early start and some late-ish Air made for a reasonably long day. Ace and I had our 1st morning walk. Now he’s wandering around with a cookie in his mouth. It’s good that he feels comfortable enough to let his neuroses out?

A loud arf, that turns into a beagle AROOOOOO!

:partying_face: :birthday: :champagne: HAPPY BIRTHDAY BBBOO!!! :champagne: :birthday: :partying_face:

135

Update, he is losing a battle of wits with a Frisbee.

136

Thanks. It’s been a rough start for the year but I’m trying hard to stay positive and practice gratitude. I’m just putting one foot on front of the other.

Mine is exactly the same. And after about 20 minutes, I don’t even feel the scalding anymore.

I don’t know. Someone really should have thought better about this.

Herald, that sounds like a delicious meal! Back when Hubby and I were engaged, we lived a block from a restaurant school. For our -1 anniversary, we went there for dinner and had a price fixe for 2. I got to try antelope for the first time. Your meal made me think of it.

Thanks. Yesterday wasn’t bad for them, though CtE was saying they weren’t sure they could handle today. No calls yet though, so that’s good.

I really need to do that. Maybe with some of our income tax money. It’s something to consider anyway.

Thanks! I’m actually a little less scared now that I have done a little research. Still, I wish there was a way I could just get a shot and be all better.

I had to drive mine in. Busses weren’t an option because they went to a school different than the one they were zoned for. It was physically closer but no sidewalks between our apartment and the school. So I had to be one of those parents. I usually got there early so I was closer to the front of the line and I’d read.

Happy birdday, BBBoo!

I’m currently at PT, waiting for my appointment to start. I was going to try to drive myself in but I spasm enough that it worried me. Thankfully, Hubby was able to take me. I’m a very lucky woman.

I’m trying to be gentle with myself about the state of the apartment but it’s tough. I’m seeing so many things that need to be done and I physically can’t. Hubby and CtE are pitching in, but trying to get BtY to help is nearly impossible. And I don’t have the energy to fight him. I really wish I knew people that I wouldn’t be ashamed to let come in the house to help with clean up. But there aren’t many locally anymore.

And now I’m being called up. Here’s hoping I make it through! :wink:

137

First things first: Happy Birthday BBBoo!!!1!


My adventure has become adventurous, but in a good-ish way. My plans to fly home today fell apart at dawn and I’m now going home on Fri.

The upside to not planning ahead is flexibility. The downside is sometimes the whole thing falls apart as you’re trying to do it in real time. I had a flight today, but unexpectedly found out this morning that my transport from this small town to the big city airport wasn’t going to happen at all. Oops.

Meantime I’d checked out of the hotel and am dragging a bag. Bought a bus ticket for the first open bus which was late afternoon, arriving in the big city a bit after dark. US$6 for a reserved seat for a two hour bus ride on a modern air conditioned bus. Can’t beat that.

But once I’d gotten the transport locked down it was too late to buy a ticket for a plane on Thu; all sold out. Between the grounding of some of the MAXes and the excitement in Ecuador, air travel is at a premium right now. So I bought a ticket for Fri, got a hotel in town for tonight Wed only, and will do some more in-city touring on Thu. And figure out a Thu night hotel.

So now I’m sipping a cappuccino on the town square near the bus station watching the usual parade. The weather here has been darn good. Warm not hot in the sun; slightly cool under the clouds or when the wind kicks up.


Sari good to hear your new owner is happy and your critters and their friends are doing well back there.

Sounds like most of y’all are dealing with full frontal winter just now. but no crises except the inevitable furnace failure for somebody. I always tried running the furnace or A/C a couple months before it’d become needed just to smoke out any failures. Sometimes that worked, sometimes it didn’t and the failure patiently waited until the temps sucked.

138

I see I’m late to the party. So, Happy Birthday BBBoo!!!

139

The wife is making serious noises about signing up for one of the Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) trips to Europe. Anybody ever do one of these? Actually, I should make this a thread, I think.

140

I hadn’t considered this as a reason. It doesn’t explain a line of 40+ cars, but I can see it might account for a few.

We drove around in Solomons this morning, but now we’re home chilling. Sketties for supper. No other plans. Retirement is good.