(Old) It’s Time For A New MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 15c/59f with a predicted high of 20c/67f and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “It sure likes like all of the fucking clouds are trying to ratfuck your day.” I’m not so sure of that, it’s cloudy but not that bad outside.

How very grown-up for her! I hope the car seat can pass down to Tobias next, he must be nearly ready for that one as well.

That’s a pity, and really bad news for the local communities who have suffered the loss of their bridges. I hope they manage to find some other way to sustain themselves.

I’ve had rental cars that did that, something in the programming tells it when you’ve been driving continuously and alerts it that you might need to stop. As far as I could tell, it was only if the driving was continuous and at a stable speed, rather than the same amount of time being spent in slower stop/start traffic.

Very sad indeed, and more personal for you if you know the areas involved. Let’s hope today is a better day.

I have a spare plastic bag in my backpack so a wet brolly goes in there until I get to work/home and can open it up to dry out.

I am sure she and her person appreciated it, especially if Ms Dog was much calmer and happier to be away from the chaos and upheaval.

Well done to you! I’m sure your mother and grandmothers will forgive the time it’s taken to write the thank you note, you needed to have made a suitable necklace for the cross first.

She’s a good girl, and clever enough to wait for you to get home so she can go outside to do her business.

I have a bunch of trees outside my office building, they are already starting to go from green to red and yellow. I am ready for autumn coolness but not ready to let go of the lighter mornings yet.

Yesterday was uneventful, I got home in good time and didn’t have much to do in the evening except tending to the needs of cats, and making myself a sandwich for dinner. I even managed to be in bed by 10pm which was a bonus.

Today I was up early for a shower and hairwash, then off to campus after dealing with everything the cats had been busy with overnight. Hopefully a quiet day in the office as there’s only two of us in (and I have no meetings!) so currently, peace reigns.

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I knew this would appear as a joke and I’m not surprised that it was from you!

Last night I was just falling asleep early, so I was in bed by 8. MusicMan is on sort of vacation this week, so he decided to go out to hear a band playing down the street. I believe I heard him come in around midnight. Today he is traveling north to attend a memorial ceremony for a cousin of his that passed away recently. I am unable to go because of work.

So let me tell you about our cleaning girls… I saw that K was looking to make some extra money on fb. She is a friend of a former coworker of mine. I talked with her and came up with an arrangement that she’d come once a week for about 2 hours to clean the house. She’s a very nice girl and very funny. She’s a single mom with a 2 year old little girl. Somehow in there she decided to ask if her friend, O, could come help as well. They would show up for just an hour instead of one girl for two hours. I don’t really care and I figured that maybe K needed to get home to get her child more quickly. Now I have the Dynamic Duo coming to clean. Last night I had them cleaning the kitchen floor using a mixture of peroxide, dish soap, and soda. They were very skeptical that it would work, but it did, until the shop vac that they were using died. Then it was a scramble to remove the rest of the mixture with towels and to rinse the floor and finish. It was quite a mess in there for awhile! I’m glad to say that the floor looks really nice. I sealed the floor several years ago. It would be nice if I had time to redo it now. (I can dream, anyways.)

I hope peace continues to reign, BooFae.

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Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 71 Amurrkin out and rainin’ with a predicted high of 80 and rain. ‘Twill be a rainy Labor Day weekend here in south Jawja. Today will be a day to be inside and dry. Sup will be BLTs and oven fries due to a gnawin’ and a cravin’.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.

Happy Firday Y’all!

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He’s a loot shorter than she is, but he is sturdier, so it’s hard to judge his weight. Next time he’s over here, I’ll have him weigh himself. But I’m sure he’s close if not over. Goodness knows, he weighs a ton when I try to lift him!

Not in ours. It’s inconsistent and mega-annoying. But a trip to Settings yields nothing to be reset or turned off. Stoopit nagging computer.

And speaking of cars, I didn’t hear from Paul yesterday - is he afraid to give me bad news???

Bummer if you had plans. We’re promised sun but cool at Mom’s for the family gathering. With highs in the 70s, will the kids swim? I’m guessing yes. But that means at least one adult needs to swim - I’m certain it won’t be me.

Whelp, FCD’s very expensive folding screen flip phone blew its screen last night. It’s not quite 2 years old and I wish we’d bought insurance on it, but we didn’t dammit. He found a place close to the marina that does phone repair. At a minimum, I hope they can retrieve his contacts and photos. The next generation of his phone is less expensive than the first was, but still higher than I like, but like cars, he wants what he wants. Anyway, we’ll find out today whether we need to order a new one or not. Dammit.

And, as usual, it’s laundry day. And I got a response last night from a guy who does deck repair. We’re going to get an estimate from him. First guy we had out ghosted us. Second guy said $15K - which I thought was high, even replacing the boards with composite. So we’ll see what this guy says.I’m especially nervous about the ramp to the garden shed - I can tell quite a few of the planks are really rotted, and I don’t need ol’ John Deere breaking thru.

And the latest on FCD’s desire for a dog - now he wants a basset hound. I do not like bassets. And apart from not wanting a dog at all, I hate that he keeps looking at purebred as opposed to shelter dogs. I hope I can at least convince him to wait till the cat’s gone. She’s old and mostly timid and I don’t think it’s fair to bring another animal into the house - she’ll never come out from under the bed. He’s making me crazy.

And so my day begins. Good times.

Happy Firday!!

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Morning all. Slept pretty well and with no bladder breaks, but a few aches and pains from both soccer and gym yesterday. Have the Great September Shopping to do, but the schools start about 7:40am so I’ll wait until they are in session before heading out. Double-checked my digital coupons, I missed out on Kroger’s 4x points deal last Firday and it cost me about 200 points, or 0.20 cents/gallon off, so not this time! May do mowage today, if not will add it to the Sunday chores, we’ll see how it goes. Weather is perfect again, 61F heading to 88F and no rain to be seen with clouds and a little wind to keep things cool.

FCM, my brother has had Bassets for many years, I don’t think they are the best choice for you, they get bigger than you think (45-60lbs) and are very indenpendent so need more training and care than you may want to invest. And they howl…

boo fae, quiet Firdays are the universal dream of all office workers; may your dream come true.

Sticky Buns, thanks for the cleaning story, I probably need to get a service to do cleaning chores as I am, at best, a moderately poor housekeeper. Just inertial keeping me from doing so.

swampy. looks like we’ll have a dry Labor Day weekend, but the rains will return Tuesday and Wednesday.

OK, nearly 7:40am so I need to get dressed, remember my shopping list, and head off to the store. Have a good Firday all.

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MIL had a basset named Sugar - not only was she big, but she had some sort of skin condition and she stunk - the whole house had an air of Sugar. Honestly, were I inclined to get a dog, it would be from the shelter or a rescue group, not a breeder. IMHO, purebred dogs are for those who do dog shows or those who need a particular breed for a particular job. Just my worldview…

I called FCD and his phone still works, so maybe it’s just the screen. Dunno how easily the folding screens can be replaced, but surely it won’t cost as much as a new phone. Anyway, we’ll see.

First load in the washer and all dirty towels and washcloths have been replaced with clean ones. Onward!

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If it’s just the screen, they should be able to replace that. If he goes for a new phone , they should be able to transfer anything saved to it. If there’s a screen lock or he changes carriers, all bets are off. Knowing what I saw working in the biz, I would stay away from anything flip or fold (the flex cable tends to go to :poop:)

Unless someone has the time and inclination to train a hard headed hound, a basset is a poor choice. Not only that, but a 60-80 pound dog can be a bit more doggy than most seniors want.

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. Afterwards, I’ll tear apart what I did yesterday and redesign. Once that’s done, I can continue unpacking. The washer should be here today. I’m a bit worried about the vent kit. It didn’t show up yesterday as expected.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

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Good morning!

It’s 63°F and mostly cloudy. Our expected high will be 83°F, and it’ll be mostly cloudy all day. That’s what the weather report says, anyway, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there were spots of sun.

Leaves haven’t started turning color around here, yet. Everything is still a verdant green.

The state fair I referred to is officially titled the Western Washington State Fair; however, it is generally known as The Puyallup. They even have a ditty called “Do the Puyallup”. I generally avoid that end of town during the whole fair, because traffic is a nightmare. Frankly, traffic up here on the hill is always bad anyway (too much development), so I can’t escape it. Still downtown (where the fairgrounds are located) is a nightmare. I had forgotten entirely that the fair started today, and had made tentative plans to go down to the Farmer’s Market tomorrow. I think I’ll ditch those plans for now.

FCM, I hope FCD’s phone repair is inexpensive and that you hear from Paul today. I also hope your deck estimate is reasonable.

Nellie, I’m glad that Ms. Dog and her owner will still live nearby.

Stuff definitely is more expensive. Zoe has her birthday next week, and I usually buy her a toy, an outfit, and new pajamas. Sometimes two toys. I’ve already shipped off the toy, but the hunt for attractive, well-made, and reasonably priced clothing has been frustrating. I was shocked at how expensive clothes have become since the beginning of the year. I’m not paying 45 bucks (on sale!) for jeans for a seven-year-old girl. The tops are stupidly expensive, too. So, the hunt continues.

VanGo, I’m glad Ms. Peach continues to be a peach! She sounds like a wonderful girl.

Oopsie, I’m sorry to see that Bailey lost some weight again. I hope a solution can be found.

Red, although the broken fridge sounds like a real PITA, it seems as if management is super responsive about getting things fixed, so that’s a good thing. I hope it’s all resolved today.

I was going to wash my bedding and towels yesterday, but I’ve opted to wait until today because I ordered two new bed pillows. I’ve noticed that my husband has been using mine when I’m not in bed, and because he smokes wacky tobaccy (I can’t stand the smell of that stuff), the scent is now on my pillow. I don’t smoke anything, and I’d rather my hair not smell like it either, so I ordered two brand new gel pad-topped pillows. They arrive today and I’ll wash the bedding then.

I write one check a year for my HOA dues. I have multiple books of checks that will probably outlast me.

I scrubbed down the kitchen last night, so I don’t have to do it this morning. I usually wait until morning since my husband likes to snack into the night, but last night he didn’t, so except for my coffee cup, I don’t have any dishes to wash. This gives me a an additional free fifteen minutes.

:grin:

It’s hard to believe we’re coming up on the traditional “end of summer,” and it’ll be Labor Day on Monday. This summer flew by. I mean, it really just steamed on past, and I didn’t do anything of real note, other than get my roof replaced. Hopefully, I’ll learn and start planning things to do, like trips.

Speaking of which, remember the whole SSN card replacement debacle? We had to apply to get my husband’s card replaced. We tried multiple times online, taking pictures of his DL and then him taking selfies, and the system wouldn’t accept them. Finally, after about the fifth or sixth try, the system accepted both. A couple of days later, we received an email stating we had to try again. We didn’t get around to it, but the other day, I opened his Gmail account, and lo and behold, they said the application had been approved and a card had shipped. So, I checked the mail and there it was. Thank goodness, one hurdle down.

Now, we need to complete the enhanced license process for him. I’ve already got the paperwork ready, but we now have to set up appointments, when in the past, you could walk in.

But, for today, I’ll wash the sheets, and maybe we’ll go out to lunch or dinner, just for something to do other than chores.

Okay, off to start the day. You all take care, you hear?

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Started Typing: 9:45 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 10:22 AM ET

Happy last Friday of August! I’m still in scenic (not) Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, and on my iPad, so this is another “all about me” post. :grin: I’m 99% sure that I’m going to drive home tonight; hopefully I’ll be back to my usual interactive self tomorrow.

My “uncle’s” viewing and service were very nice and went smoothly. I know he will be cremated, and for some reason I was expecting to see an urn at the funeral home; I was a little shocked to see an open casket. In a way, though, it was good to see “him” one last time. It was a long day: my “aunt” and I got to the funeral home at around 2:15, the viewing started at 3:00, there was a short service at 7:00, and we didn’t leave the repast restaurant until around 9:30.

Some Googling revealed that my BMW has a “Fatigue Alert” feature, which is what triggered it to ask me if I wanted to take a break on Wednesday — for the first time in 5.5 years. Further Googling revealed how to disable that feature, which I plan to do the next time I get in the car. :slight_smile:

Thanks to all who are thinking about Bailey! I appreciate the suggestions, but the problem isn’t getting her to eat enough: she’s been eating like a horse. That’s what makes the weight loss particularly concerning. Her body just isn’t absorbing the nutrients. The vet called early this morning, and the next step is indeed an ultrasound: it just so happens that the ultrasonographer will already be at the animal hospital today, so I gave the OK to get that done today. The results will take 2-4 days. I hate that I’ll be out of state while she’s having a procedure, but it’s noninvasive and there’s no way I’d put it off just so I can be there. Getting some answers sooner vs later is the priority.

I mentioned earlier that I’m planning to drive home tonight: I’m getting together with my aunt again today, but she has repeatedly said that she’s hoping to just stay in bed all day tomorrow. There’s no point in hanging around NJ…and, I want my doggy! So I’ll drive home sometime this evening, and pick Bailey up tomorrow instead of Sunday. I’m now going to the office on Tuesday (vs working from home), so at least we’ll get two full days together while she recovers from the stress of boarding and the ultrasound.

190

Morning all.

I’ve finished going through the first draft of the novel with edits to chapters 0-4. These are the parts I wrote during a February 2025 challenge. At that time, I thought I was writing a novella (17,500 to 40,000 words). By the end of the month, I’d exceeded that and still had unwritten chapters. I realized that I would need to go back to the earlier chapters and expand them. I’ve done some of that now. I’ve written 108,650 words, with two chapters (12 & 13) still to go in the first draft. Today I’ll start organizing my chapter 12 notes and transcribing some sections from my journal. Chapters 0-12, draft 1, are now printed out and in my writer/English professor friend’s hands. She’s requested to do a cold read, so she knows nothing about it other than the place and time frame. She asked me not to ask her my questions until she’s given me her feedback.

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Yeah, that’s my inclination too, but he likes that it folds into his pocket. And I saw where Samsung is doing replacements on screens under 2 years old. Anyway, I just talked to him and he’s at the repair place. And it appears that it’s just the screen because I can call him and he can place calls thru his car. *** And he just called me - because of its age (all of 2 years), all they can get to repair it is a refurbished screen, and the repair would cost something over $400. I told hm what you said about the screens, so we’ll look at options when he gets home. But the tech said he could transfer all the pics and such to a new phone, so there’s that.

Just got a call from Brittany, the receptionist/clerk/minion. They drove it and actually got it to go wonky. So yay for that!

It’s not a computer. It’s a failing alternator and something about the steering column and sensors??? Anyway, total cost will be right at $1000 and while I’m not jumping for joy, it didn’t strike me as unreasonable for a 13-y/o car, so I told ‘em to go ahead. I’ll get it back Tues or Weds - the parts will take time to get there. Paul and I were talking about the cost of parts, so I knew that could be a bite. And he’s gotta pay reasonable bucks for reasonable techs - I can’t really complain about that. Heck, if $1K gets me another year, I’m still ahead of the game. And I do like my car, much as I hate cars in general. And I hope I don’t need to haul the kids before then - the car seats are in my car.

I had jammies delivered to the grands just yesterday. They’ve grown out of so much and Daughter dropped a not-so-subtle hint. So they’ve each got 3 new sets. Dang kids just keep growing!!!

They haven’t gone digital? When we took over managing the inlaws accounts while they were still in FL, I paid their quarterly dues on line. It kinda surprised me, but then their development was for 55+ so the newer, younger residents surely could manage that, while the 80s+ folks likely still wrote checks. Anyway, not that you cared… :wink:

This is why I doubt I could be a successful writer. In my mind, once you get it on paper, it’s perfect and you shouldn’t have to do anything else! I don’t know why that notion got planted in my head, but I truly hate changing anything I write, whether prose or poetry. So much for my writing career…

First load is folded, third load is in the washer. Guess where the second load is! :smiley: One more to go. I’m thinking I’ll do something with shrimp for supper. Usually, I just steam ‘em, but maybe I’ll be more adventurous this time. On to surf some recipes.

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Happy Friedegg!

It’s a long weekend for most of Canada (though what it’s called differs from province to province; here in Ontario, it’s Simcoe Day), and I’m looking forward to it. The weather has been cool all week, and I like it. I don’t like the cold, but the heat wave we had the previous couple of weeks was overstaying its welcome, so this is a nice change. Currently 14°C (57F) as we approach the lunch hour, where I will have some lemon chicken soup with orzo and a bit of crusty Italian calabrese bread with fancy-ass French Presedente cultured butter, because it’s Friday and I’m treating myself, dammit. Plus, I’m always told I could use some culture.

I should probably do something like that as well, but then I have to deal with a soggy plastic bag, and my nascent autism doesn’t like it. However, one of those reusable fabric shopping bags might be a better idea. At least the fabric will soak up any water.

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Eat yogurt! :rofl:

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Puzzed, but couldn’t finish the NYT crossword. Cat barfed again this morning. She doesn’t normally do that, so we’ll keep an eye on her. I’m thinking that it might be because of her obsession with playing before she eats anything. It’s the only thing that has been a change in her behavior.

Exercise class with a substitute leader. We’ve had her before. She says “pierce your lips” instead of “purse”, which makes me crazy. Seems to me there is a part of the country where that’s common. I remember a woman who would say “I’m a nice peerson.” I think she was from Illinois.

The work crew is asphalting around the manholes today.

Eldest son and fam are coming to visit the olds tomorrow. With school starting, he’ll not have a moment of spare time for at least three months because of all the band activities.

195

It got to be nine o’clock, so I thought I’d better have breakfast. I made a couple of Vegemite toasties. I like the sharp cheddar cheese, but I need to be careful not to pull it off of the slice.

Sasquatch (the mole guy) came by and checked the yard. No new or re-opened mole hills. He thinks we only had the two moles. He gave me a little tutorial on how to set the traps. He said, ‘I like to “teach a man to fish”.’ I’ve ordered a Gopher Hawk set, and an extra trap for next time.

Today is the last of four, Summer, ‘Half-day Fridays’. I’m taking four hours PTO, so I have a four-day weekend.

Mrs. L.A. asked if we could visit (‘Visit!’) the Episcopalian church on Sunday. I’ll wear slacks and a dress shirt instead of 501s and an aloha shirt.

As I was typing, I got a text from Hardware Sales saying to call them. Our lawnmower is ready to be picked up. I think he said that the adjusted a cable, replaced a cable, and sharpened the blade. I didn’t think they’d get to it until next week. (Since I knew it was just a cable, I would have put it at the front of the queue.) So I’ll go pick it up after Wifey, RN leaves (her RAV4 is behind my Jeep) and mow the lawn today.

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And happy near-afternoon all. Have done all my shopping, but might pick up a thing or two later on (I do not understand Cola prices; the Pepsi 12-packs are priced at $10.99 each or almost a dollar a can, but it seems every week or two they have a "Buy two, get two free sale, which pretty much halves the price. So why don’t they just leave it that way, since I presume they don’t lose money on the deal–whatever, I’ll keep taking advantage of it). Will head to the gym early since soccer practice is about 5:30pm, so don’t want to get too close to it after doing the gym sweating. Rest of the day will be devoted to slothage.

FCM, hope the screen can be replaced and no new phone will be needed. And I see that it will cost nearly what a new phone will, so six to one and half-dozen the other… And glad the old car stayed in budget, but one of these days…

red, hope you are venting properly once the washer is installed. :wink:

Taters, haven’t bought new clothes in quite a bit (since the last great down-sizing), from what you say I’m in no rush to go buy any more. And new pillows (marked for your use only) seem reasonable. And glad you got the replacement card. Onward to the license approval!

Oopsie, glad semi-uncle got a good sendoff. And dogs getting ultrasound…ain’t science wonderful… Safe drive home.

lily, I try to proffread all my messages here, but doing so over an entire novel-length edit would overwhelm me. Still, it must be done, occasionally as I am reading I’ll see a place where they missed an edit and while it doesn’t bother me unduly I do notice it.

Kaboom, enjoy the Canadian holiday. And lunch sounds delicious.

cookie, enjoy the family visit. Don’t forget to pierce your lips…

Flyboy, sounds like the Mole War is an undisputed victory; long may it stay that way.
Happy mowage (decided to leave mine until Sunday).

And now to gather up the gym clothes and go forth to sweat over their machines. Have a good afternoon all.

197

red - I told FCD what you said and he opted for a non-folding phone. I’ve ordered it and I expect to see it right after Labor Day. I also ordered the case he wanted. So he should be back in business early next week. And theoretically we’ll get some money back on his old phone. The problem, tho, is they want the IMEI number and I don’t know if we can get itsince the screen is dead. I’ll call them when I’m ready to ship it to them.

OK, last load needs to go in the dryer…

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Use your PC to go online to your phone provider’s website. Where you’d pay the bill or see your detailed usage, etc. There’s a decent probability that you can look at the info for FCD’s phone there and see the IMEI. At least before anybody starts monkeying with porting his number and data to a new phone.


Hi all! Contrary to scurrilous rumor I am neither dead nor in jail. Just been kinda busy and had little to say about the RDOS I’ve been busy doing. I have been reading everything and admiring everyone’s progress & gripes, but as @Misnomer said so well a couple/three days ago, it’s easy to read and hard to post sometimes. Especially on a phone and I’ve been out more than in.

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So I started out back loading 300 Top Red again. Then they sent J from the Slides to load in a PDC, sent Technical Terri to replace me, and sent me to the 100 and 200 Slides. J did the outside unit damages in the back, so mainly I had a lot of overgoods, since there was a whole cart of abandoned international packages to scan out and sent to Overgoods. The Janitorial lady with the Mao cap was cleaning the upstairs offices, and when she started pitching the trash down into the floor trashcan, I thought she was defenstrating management, and almost shouted " Viva la revolución!" I stopped at Teeter on the way home and got a catfish fillet, and an anatomically incorrect pig skeleton.
Me: < place faux pig on couch in front of Spot >
Spot: < looks at me in horror with mouth open > “My god, you’ve already starved this thing to death, am I next?”

But laundry is in the dryer, so naptime.

A Blessing from The Lord!

{{{{Oopsie and Bailey}}}}

Everybody not from New Jersey agrees. :wink:

But do you need lawyers, guns, and money?

200

Better call Saul for sure.