Just had a Teams beating about our 401k. Fidelity dropped the ball, so we’re going with John Hancock. Being remote, I’ll have to find out how to log into my account.
Dishes are done, laundry is in the dryer, did Wifey’s Christmas present (as I posted earlier), and it’s just about time for me to ‘go home’. Wifey, RN just walked in the door.
Good grief, why is it so hard to log into spectrum, or well, any sites, to pay my bill. If you send me a link to pay in an email, why am I not already signed in? Friggin annoying.
Howdy Y’all! Been a good day of high sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, and day drinkin’. Well, OK, sup did get made and et along with kitchen clean up and the biiiiiig trash can did get hauled all the way back up from the road to where it lives durin’ the week. So, some productivity, but mostly non-productivity.
Yanker yay on the eyesight and gettin’ the new specs!
Everyone else, well, I just can’t comprehend well today, so, yays, boos, hugs, noogies, trouts, chitlin’s and how you doin’s all around, as needed.
You would think they would want to make it easy for you to give them money…unless they hope you get so frustrated that you give up and then end up paying late fees as well.
We have discussed finding a groomer, but out here finding a cat groomer is not that easy. He’s still growing his full coat in but we can tell that he is going to start needing line cuts next year. (A line cut is shaving all of the hair under the belly and sometimes under the armpits where the fur rubs and gets tangled.) He has nice fur that doesn’t seem to tangle so that might not be needed either. The furry feet do need attention cause I’m tired of listening to him thump off the walls in the middle of the night.
We don’t do presents to each other, so when I got a package from Pax Plus I ripped it open right away and found a super nice electronic dry vaporizer. There is no fire involved so no burnt vegetable matter taste, just the flower and I really like the taste of good weed.
I also got the notice that my favorite designer is taking orders for her latest mystery piece. I am really surprised at the price (260.00) because last years piece, which used pretty much the same materials, was over 300. I wish I could show the colors here, Kathy Rees is a genius at choosing colors and textures for her pieces.
When I called Mom, she was out with friends so we will discuss colors tonight. There are three choices but neither of us will want her beige colorway. The other choices are a restful sea blue and green selection or purples and lavenders. They are both lovely selections so I’m going to make Mom pick her colors first.
I am going to end up with all of her needlework stuff someday, I’d rather have our mystery pieces be different colors to look more interesting on my walls.
The weather disappointed me again. No snow here.
I haven’t been to the mall. I mostly shop at gift shops for presents. I got some cool items at pafa, a local fine art academy. I plan to head over to the art museum, or the 2 science museums later this week for the munchkins.
IME if you ask a traditional eye doc at the time of the exam it’s easy. But if you contact the same office a month later they’re real reluctant to give you a copy. I can’t say why.
It’s also funny how the folks our age look so old and we don’t. Or at least not nearly as much.
Librarians know the coolest shit. I’m impressed.
Jeebus! That’s horrific.
I remain in awe. That’s just a hair shy of a mile.
Happy news about a surprise $150.
JtC I’ve been enjoying the ongoing cat hijinks, even if I haven’t commented on each.
As to me …
My day was part slothage, plus a smidgen of useful. Sorta like my hero swampy.
Once Her Ladyship was up it was time to walk for late breakfast / lunch. Then some slothage and a not-optional nap assisted by having ODed on carbs at lunch. Come late afternoon Her Ladyship went off to book club and I stopped by the eye doctor to pick up new contacts, got the car washed, and picked up a new bottle of eggnog; 3rd of the season. Yaay! Then continued slothage up to the moment, with perhaps a mini snack before early-ish bed. Just now Her Ladyship is watching The Firm while I glance up occasionally. I will never understand the attraction of drama that is all about bad people behaving badly. Blech.
I know all the techs at the eye doc’s, and when one called earlier today to tell me my lenses were in, she was obviously highly upset, but didn’t want to talk even a smidgen when I offered. When I got there I asked somebody else what was up. Her Mom had died yesterday. So I stopped by her cube and we talked and I held her hands for awhile. She’s about 30, so Mom’s probably not much over 55.
Damn that sucks.
I’ve been to the mall once or twice since the store closed and I lost my job, almost five years ago, mainly to see what stores/restaurants had closed and what new ones had opened.
On the diet front, the scale at the doctor’s office said 198 pounds a couple weeks ago – down close to fifty pounds since last April. I’m now off the diet for a few weeks, as it’s that time of the year again. (Lebkuchen! Stollen! Eggnog! Fruitcake!) After New Year’s Day I’ll resume progress toward my goal of 185.
Oh, I forgot to mention, we were so dead-ass slow on Sunday, that the Oven Master set up his phone on live video so we could all watch Them 'Boys absolutely thump the wings off the Philly Eagles (how’d I do? this whole football talkin’ trash thing is quite new to me) and I can’t quite follow what’s going on mostly on a football field, but I do know that in the 4th quarter a Cowboy absolutely leaped over the head of a gentleman on the opposing team like a deer, and in a dead-ass time in a restaurant it was seriously the highlight entertainment.
Wow! That’s fantastic.
Mrs. L.A. wanted to watch a Christmas movie. I suggested A Christmas Carol (1984) with George C. Scott and Edward Woodward. This is my favourite version, for reasons I’ll post upon request. Since I no longer have a Wall O’ DVDs after SWMBO moved in, I had to dig for it. Found it. It’s a little grainy (I bought it 6 December 2001, so it’s an old disc), so I’ve ordered a Blu-Ray copy.
Mrs. L.A. had Italian bread, olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, olives and some provolone for dinner. I had salami, provolone, fresh mozzarella, and olives.
Happy Moonday!
We had a sprinkling of snow this morning. I was looking forward to seeing the GR reaction to snow, but other than a little hesitation to step on the white stuff, there was no reaction.
One of them, we suspect Misiu, chewed one of the legs of my new dining table, and my old kitchen table, and a small wicker table. He should be past the chewing stage. I’m too tired to be angry, just disappointed.
We can turn the damaged legs to the back.
We took them in to be weighed today. They needed HeartGuard and NextGuard and we wanted to get the correct dosage. Misiu is 56 pounds and Rayleigh is 52 pounds.
Neutering can wait until next year sometime. I have too much to do now.
We are supposed to close on the old house on the 28th.
Supposed to.
We had to make a few repairs. I replaced a bunch of plumbing - $8000+. The termite inspector found carpenter bees. I personally think it’s bullshit, but at least not so expensive. Then the inspector found the tiniest bit of mold, like the size of a quarter in the back closet. I think it’s from when the roof leaked a little last year. He says the problem that caused the mold is gone, however it is going to cost me $2500 to remove the mold. They wanted me to get several procedures done to the tune of $6000, but I said no to that. They are going to tear out the drywall to treat the walls, and then I have to find somebody else to put the drywall back.
The woman from Albania called me and we met up at the park a few times.
She was born at home during the war, as it wasn’t safe to go to the hospital. She and her family came to the US as refugees when she was five.
I feel bad for her as she is homeless right now. She wanted to stay at my house but I am not comfortable with letting someone I barely know stay here. I ordered and paid for dinner for her to pick up at a local Dominoes. The sad part about her being homeless is that her family is Muslim. She can stay with some of them, but her dog cannot. Angels won’t enter a house with a dog in it. If she leaves her dog in the car, he barks all night.
She converted to Christianity, and she said it was like breaking out of prison.
I found a home for all my old albums. I don’t know why they are so important to me. I haven’t had a turntable in years. One of the guys my son irks with is into vinyl, so I am giving them to him. I told him some of my stuff is over 50 years old and started naming a few of the bands and his eyes lit up. It sounds stupid I know, but I want them to have a good home.
I’ll pack them up tomorrow and take them when I take my son to irk.
I have to get a new phone and I don’t want to. My phone is acting up too much. I get text messages hours after they were sent. Phone calls aren’t coming through. One night it took my son 57 calls and almost an hour to wake me to come get him because the ringer doesn’t always irk. Today it disconnected from the network and I couldn’t receive or make calls or texts. Then it started irking again.
I don’t want to get a new phone. I like the one I have.
I have options and could get one for free, but I really don’t want to change.
This house is still a mess. Little by little I’m getting stuff done.
My son finally moved a bunch of boxes from in front of my closet and I thought good, I can finally get in there and arrange my clothes, only to find out the clothes rod is too high.
I bought one of those hangers that hang from the existing rod and can double your space.
I need my son to install if for me, then I can get stuff straightened out.
He hangs clothes all willy-nilly. There will be a dress, then a jacket, the a few t-shirts, then another dress, a winter coat, a sweatshirt, a hoody.
That doesn’t irk for me.
My garage door doesn’t like irking on rainy days. I’m not sure what the problem is, but the door tries to come down at an angle and won’t close.
No malls for me. When I was younger, I loved the malls at Christmas time. Christmas didn’t feel like Christmas if I didn’t get caught up in all the crowds while shopping.
Now, if I can’t get it from da jungle, I don’t need it.
Except I did get my nieces a PieCaken from Goldbelly this year.
Chocolate pecan pie, topped with cherry swirl cheesecake, topped with red velvet cake. Buttercream icing in between the layers and on top.
They want me to come for Christmas. I don’t know. If they lived 5 minutes away, but they don’t. I don’t know if my back can handle the drive, and I don’t think I should make the drive while taking pain killers. It’s one thing to drive 5-10 minutes around town, quite another to drive one and half+ hours on Rt 70.
Lucy is adorable, Yankers. She looks very impish though.
shoe Nicely done with the foo-ball talkin’. Go for Philly Iggles next time. Well not root for them, cuz I don’t like them, but that’s what they are known as. (I’m a Pat’s fan put back into the pre-2001 era of my team being horrible.)
flyboy Also my favorite version of Christmas Carol. Always watched with the family every year, along with “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “A Christmas Story.”
sahi Carpenter bees are bastards, but they don’t usually do structural damage to a house. They just eat the eaves, which you then need to replace. They are kind of fun to whack with a bat, though.
Not I. I buy some presents from some websites like REI or GoBros, others directly from people who make items, or local retailers not in a mall. Although I did go to a strip type mall where I went directly into Barnes & Noble to order then buy the WeRateDogs page a day calendar for daughter.
yeah, I’ve always had a problem choosing new frames. Well, for the last 3 pairs, I had gone to a new optical location and the opthamologist let me take 5 pair with me to work, then I tried them on for the group and had them vote. Each time the result turned out great. Then I would take all 5 pair back to Graham’s Optique Boutique the next morning and place the order.
Over the weekend was unseasonably warm. On Saturday it got into the low 60’s and was quite warm. Today it was back to normal and so, was what people called cold. TWPTB said it was low 30’s but ‘felt’ like 25. Since it was Monday, I walked with my buddy, today carrying a briefcase with a laptop, to work. I wore a long pair of underwear, then workout pants, then a pair of heavier hiking pants on my legs, had merino wool footies on as well as a pair of merino wool socks, a camisole, long sleeve shirt, long sleeve turtleneck, and a sweater. Had on a balaclava and a sherpa cap. Wore my down coat with a pair of merino wool gloves and down mittens. So, I was very comfy on the 1.5 miles we walked through the subdivision to the office. As a matter of fact, I took off the down mitts and unzipped my coat when we were about 2/3 of the way since I was getting overheated (in the feeling like 25* weather).
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 33 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 59 and N.O.S. for the day. The big item on today’s agenda is laundry. Be still my beatin’ heart! I plan on takin’ care of some errands (not many) this mornin’ cause they need doin’. Le Sigh. There will, of course, be the usual sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, and day drinkin’. Sup shall be leftovers from yestiddy.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, bother of bothers, I suppose I must purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. Oh woe!
Happy Tuesday Y’all!
Me too. Mine is stoopit slow and doesn’t seem to respond well to swipes. And, yeah, it’s a cheapie. But unlike some folks, my phone isn’t like my lifeline, so I don’t need all manner of features, but when I do want to google something, I’d like it to be reasonably quick. I don’t want to spend a lot (and I consider over $300 a lot) I’ll just wait till after we get back from our cruise and do some research.
As one facing I-70 from DC to Indy, well, UGH! Except we pick up I-68 at Hancock, then I-79 at Morgantown because I hate I-70/76 in western PA.
It’s a disgustingly brisk 24° this morning. Along with the pellet stove, I heard the furnace come on a couple of times. We’re looking at 20s to 50s for the balance of the week. No precip, tho.
Today, FCD takes TX SIL to the airport and she goes home. I am so glad she stayed with MIL instead of us. Her habit of anticipating what we’re going to say and trying to finish our sentences drives me up a wall! Then tomorrow, he’ll take his mom to see the kidney Dr and find out what all the blood work said. She’s already said she will NOT go on dialysis.
She’ll then spend Thursday night with us. We’ll pack the car before going to Roxy’s “Music Showcase” on Firday morning, then we’ll hit the road for Indy. I don’t know if we can make it as far as Columbus but I’m hoping we can at least get past Wheeling before we have to stop for the night. That should get us to AuntB’s around lunch time on Saturday, and FCD and I will leave in the dark of Sunday morning to come home. We’ll fetch her back in February, after our cruise.
So that’s what I have to look forward to in the coming days. Meanwhile, it’s Laundry Day!! Tobais will help me load the washer and dryer, and he loves to push the button to start the washer. I’ll have a fire going before he gets here - I’m sure it’s chilly down there. Can’t believe it’s less than 2 weeks till Christmas!
Happy Tuesday!!
Chicagoland was raw and rainy for a couple of weeks but, starting today, it is supposed to be mostly sunny and in the mid to upper forties for the next ten days. That should take me up to my trip to Texas for the holidays, and that weather should be pretty benign by this northerner’s standards at least. I’ll be off until January the 8th, so that’s a nice bite out of winter.
Mornin’ everyone.
It’s 40F, dark and damp outside. The temps will dip into the 30s when the sun rises, and the expected high is 45F. There will be a mixture of clouds and sun with a ten percent chance of precipitation.
FCM, I’m so glad your MiL will have someone to stay with while you’re on your cruise and that you both get a bit of a hiatus.
I got the tree out and decorated it on Sunday, plus I put up the village and put out tabletop decor too. As expected, the pups wanted to get under the tree and snap and chew at the branches, but I had brought down the pen from upstairs, and now the tree is guarded. On Sunday, I had 13,000 steps, just from being in the backyard with the pups, taking care of indoor chores, and decorating. That’s around six miles of walking…
Yesterday was an in-office day, and there was an HR nightmare that I still need to work on today since no one from HR could be bothered to respond to my urgent emails and the HR ticket. Long story short: An employee attempted to log onto the computer after returning from vacation; he was unable to do so. He reached out to me, I told him it sounded like an authentication issue and that he had to call a specific number to get logged back in. He called the number and was routed around and informed he had been terminated. The problem is, that no one from our state terminated him. So, he was at a work stoppage and HR couldn’t be bothered to respond. I am hoping everything is resolved today. I had other work things to deal with, of course, but that issue rose to the top of the complete now column.
I am hoping I don’t have to brave the mall, but I may have to shop for one or two presents there. I don’t particularly like going. Frankly, the stores in the mall almost always look like the selection is sparse and picked over anymore. It’s almost always an exercise in frustration to go there. Still, unfortunately, I sometimes have to go because I have to try on shoes and certain clothing items since nothing is standardized regarding fit or size when it comes to women’s clothing.
As flyboy noted, the chances to for a White Christmas are pretty much nil here because of El Nino. I would have liked to get some snow, but I’m pretty positive we won’t see any in the lowlands this year. We might get a spot in February or March as El Nino starts to slide away.
The SD has put out an invite for a lunchtime Christmas party for the state office. The thing is, I’m off that day, and really, I just don’t want to go. The plan is to have a Teams meeting for all the employees in the state with contests, etc., and then we’ll do lunch afterward. I have use or lose, but part of me feels guilty for not wanting to participate. How stupid is that?
Okay, I read everything but was unable to keep up at work due to, you know, working. I send you all my best, but now I’m going to finish my coffee and finish loading up the dishwasher. T
Taters, that sounds intensely aggravating.
It’s freakin’ freezing outside, Mr. Bigglesworth. Well, not too terrible, but it feels like actual winter right now at around 32F. I’m also dealing with work stupidity, though it’s died down temporarily. I talked to my manager’s manager because my manager was not actually managing me or my team. That was fun. But since I’ve reported to this woman since April or May and she still doesn’t understand what I do or why at least one of my employees is on the verge of a breakdown, I figured I should say something.
Overlygirl is still in bed this morning. She was up coughing all night. Of course, she has a choir concert tonight and the teacher is notorious for failing students who have the gall to get sick or have a loved one pass away and thus miss a performance. For choir. The same thing happened to overlyboy when he stayed home for a spring concert because he was vomiting.
Anyway, she’s petrified she’ll be failed if she stays home, but I made her at least sleep in. I told her we’ll talk about it when she wakes up, but by “talk about it,” I mean, she stays home, rests and I email the principal if she gets failed. I get that choir is often dismissed as an “easy A,” but the lady seems to have an inferiority complex.
Afternoon, mumpers! It’s a balmy 9c/49f with no predicted change for the day, and rain showers. Weather app is unimpressed and says “I went outside today. It was fucking rainy. There were people. I give it zero stars. Do not fucking recommend”. All depends on your experience, doesn’t it? I went out and it was dismally grey but not raining, got to my destination and it was sunny (destination was 3 minutes up the road).
Today’s visit outside the house was to take Shadow to the vet for his thyroid check-up. Good news all round, his blood results are still within the normal range for a cat and he’s gone from 3.4kgs to 3.68kgs in the last 3 months so that is an excellent result for him. He had a little spa treatment while he was there (he’d had a wee in the carrier so they cleaned him up, and he had his claws trimmed) and as soon as we got back, he had a big bowl of his favourite fishy food. Poor boy had starved all morning before the blood test so was due a big feast.
Then my parcel arrived so I have the last of the hexmas gifts (which will need to be wrapped up later) and my cheese has arrived safely. Happy house today!
Taters that sounds very annoying, especially if you’re having to do HR’s job for them too. I hope your empoyee gets sorted out, must have been a nasty shock to find he’d been terminated when he shouldn’t have been. Assuming he shouldn’t have been?
Wordy sorry to hear about the choir class, I am sure a strongly-worded email to the Principal will get things sorted out. You can hardly avoid coughs, colds and bugs in winter when you’re in school all day, the choir mistress should be well aware of that.
Moooom have a safe trip with MIL, I’m glad she will be have someone to stay with while you’re cruising, you won’t have to worry about her if she’s got someone else to keep an eye on her.
Oh well, time to head back to spreadsheet hell…
Wow. An old friend of ours from our State Department days sent a photo of us from 30 years ago. I can’t believe how much I’ve changed. Every time I see those old photos, it dredges up bad memories along with the good, and then I obsess over it for a couple of days and it disturbs my sleep. She stayed in the FS and went on to become an ambassador at some point. Hard to believe how young and energetic we looked back then.