Avast ye scurvy…< looks at Spot >…cats! I be up and swilling a Mai Tai!
I walked home. 2 miles! Uphill! Both ways! Through the snowmild weather!
A banned of highwaymen?
That must be quite a yard. More than I would have expected a church to have.
When I was a young kid, my parents were talking about this and I told them that they should make sure to get the side with all the steaks!
Yep. Sounds like a pain in the butt to me. 
And, so, the exciting adventures of Sticks and Scones continues! Today I resigned from my previously acquired position. In short, they decided that instead of supporting my coworker, that I would be the responsible person and they would cut her hours down to one day a week and I would work three days a week on my own being responsible for things that I knew nothing about. There was more to it, but basically, it was a good couple of days until it wasn’t and at least I made a new friend in my now former coworker who is also going to resign tomorrow.
Who knows what will be next! :heroic music plays in the background:
Evening all. Soccer has been coached and gym sweat sweated, dinner has been consumed and about ready to get some applesauce to finish off the day’s consumables. Temperature is down to 75F so AC will get a break in a few minutes. Have pro tackleball playing in another window and just slothing along until bedtime beckons.
JtC, good on ya for helping out and taking care of the passenger and driver. At least that is one way to learn the bus schedule… And my moldering collection of old (1960’s/70’s) Sci-Fi stories works great when I’m pedaling the bicycle to nowhere or sweating in the Sauna, and if the book gets torn up, well, it’s 50+ years old and I’ll probably never read those stories again…
Cookie, smelly room vs free food…sounds like a good day/bad day split down the middle.
FCM, now I have a hankering for some DQ goodies, and {{{ }}} for the frustrations.
Yep, have a few…dozen that meet that criteria.
Oopsie, hooray for the new plates, mine still look good and aren’t likely to be replaced anytime soon. Love the LEGO set, can’t wait to see it finished. And I became a Matthew Broderick fan many years ago from the movie Wargames, hope you enjoy it.
Sticky Buns, was this the job you just got? Sounds a bit of a weird way to do business…
OK, second half of the game is starting on Amazon prime and need to finish the night’s other internetting, so take care all.
I’ve been saving the newspapers to swat doggio, but they can do double duty!
Well dang about the bait and switch. Fingers crossed that you find something even better soon!
The bus driver is being rescued as I type. The big tow truck showed up with a couple of work trucks with flashing lights. Flagmen have been deployed (and the bus driver asked to use the bathroom again when they first started staging) and traffic is being managed. There is much noise and many lights flashing.
Happy Thorsday!
Took the truck back to the shop today. Now everything is done.
This time I got a Blazer. I liked it, and it was the perfect height for me to get in and out.
However, I think it wouldn’t be big enough to hold 2 adults and 3 dogs comfortably.
For whatever reason, my son prefers the back seat. That worked when we had Ripple, as Ripple always rode shotgun, and once he got his ass planted in the seat, nothing short of dynamite was going to get him out of it.
For a while, Rayleigh liked to ride up front, but he doesn’t anymore. Now all three dogs want to sit in the back seat with my son and it gets very cramped back there. Misiu and Rayleigh will argue over who gets to sit next to my son. If Misiu wins, he wants to lean against my son the whole ride.
Once in a while, Misiu will ride up front.
There is no way all four would fit in the backseat of the Blazer. But I think that if there were only three back there, it would still be crowded.
Today I was efficient and got to the 9am appointment at 720.
They were not only not ready for me; they didn’t know I was coming in. Whoever made the appointment didn’t tell them about it. But the needed part was in, and they squeezed me in, and found a loaner car for me.
The dogs got two days at daycare this week, so they are pretty well wiped out.
MetalMouse, that is not the kind of drama a kid needs in their life. Staying out of it is probably the best thing to do, unless it starts to get physical.
Shoe I got the Nutella packs from CostCo.
Send me your address.
We went to Krispie Creme today. My son wanted to try the Fall Harvest collection. Neither of us was impressed. Then he wanted Taco Bell for dinner. My stomach hurts, as always after eating from there.
FCM - I am most definitely having balance issues since getting older. I think part of it is from spinal stenosis. It can cause neuropathy and my feet are usually numb. It’s better than it was, I used to be numb up to my knees. Now it’s mostly just my toes. I sometimes have foot drop. Not like you see in the videos, it’s more random. I can go weeks without it and then suddenly my foot doesn’t lift right. Then there is the vertigo, also random.
I won’t go near stairs that don’t have a railing.
I’m probably good 98% of the time, but it’s that 2% chance of falling that keeps me using a walker. I was doing pretty well with exercises, but got out of the habit while I was sick. There are all kinds of videos on YT for seniors with balance issues.
B/H mom gets upset that I never go to her house anymore. She has three steps up her front porch and no railing. I never want to say anything, but it probably hurts her feelings more wondering why I don’t want to go over there.
BooFae, where I live now, I think nobody cares if I leave the bins out.
In the city, they had to be back at the house by 7pm.
No HOA, just city rules.
At first, they had to be put where they were not visible from the street. That was changed to 10? feet from the curb. Unless you were in the inner city where the row houses are. There was no place to store the bins except in front of the house. I think the newer trucks are too big to go down the alleys, so trash collection is out front. When I lived in Baltimore, trash collection was in the alley. If you didn’t bring your cans in right away, the brats in the neighborhood would use them to build ramps for their skateboards and bicycles.
Yep.
Hooray for the bus driver! And I agree with shoe, that was very nice of you (as long as you didn’t take the newspapers after her)! 
I heard her wash her hands after she flushed, no need to smack her around, LOL!!!
The bus is finally gone. The valiant bus driver was picked up in a van and the signs and cones and flagmen are all gone. Jolene is disappointed, she was loving the flashing lights.
Thanks for the nice words, I do appreciate them 
Yep, I think you made the right call. If they’re willing to show their ass this soon, they would have totally screwed you over even more later.
Good on you for providing hospitality to the driver JtC.
**oopsie **, does Virginia permanent tags or something? Two of the three states where I’ve lived change up the design every 5-6 years. I only lived in the third for a year, so no long term experience there.
Here I am, sticking my toe back in the water. I found that every day I’d be thinking, “I’ll have to tell the MMP gang about this.” I dithered for far too long. I probably won’t blab as much as I used to but I needed to shut up more.
The doctor found a lump in the same breast that had cancer 6 years ago. It’s very small, so that’s good, but she found it in July, and the imaging place was scheduling almost 4 months out. Everywhere from here to Seattle is booked that far ahead. We tried. So crazy! I feel sorry for a woman who doesn’t catch it early and the cancer metastasizes while she waits for the tortilla press. Women of the MMP, how far out is your imaging center scheduling mammograms?
Anyway…what’d I miss? { Eyes swampy speculatively.}
I tried to catch up with this thread, but I kept getting phone calls, and when I returned, there were 100 or more new posts. I’ll try to do better.
JtC: Those kitty photos warm the cockles of my heart. (I’m not sure where the cockles are, at least not THOSE cockles.) The new cat is gorgeous, and I love how loving GG is.
What’s all this about fires? Did you bring 'em with you? I thought for sure you’d be getting a lot more rain.
And now I KNOW you’re a super hero. You have a magic cane, you fight bad guys, and you save the hot and weary with your kindly heart.
Taters, I’m so sorry about your son’s lung ailment. I didn’t know lungs could spontaneously collapse like that. I hope he’s doing better now.
Misnomer, I’m in awe of your Lego skills. What a beautiful collection!
You Green Bay fans are so picky! Better anuses on cheese hats than cheese on anus hats, that’s what I say.
hippie, I love seeing your quilts. They really are works of art.
I read that as “she wanted to get a new HUSBAND” and thought wow, I missed two husbands while I was gone! I’m so sorry she’s declining as she is.
Oof. It’s been 7 years for me. Maybe my life was over, and they forgot to tell me?
cookie, why do you need a new crown? Couldn’t she just cement the old one back on?
I’ve barely made a dent, but I hopefully will tomorrow, though I’ll be cooking because my daughter is driving over to visit. Yay!
Get her a disco ball.
So THAT just happened, and I’m still shook.
Early out shift tonight, spent a coupla hours at home & then decided, yeah, we hittin’ up the Corner Sto’. Need a lil’ something liquid.
Pull up, and a woman in knee-high boots (and the ultra-short skirt to go with) and looooong blonde curls like Dee Snyder from Twisted Sister strolls up.
This ain’t my first rodeo, so I brace myself for the … HUH uh, nope, she hands me a single long-stemmed rose. Said I looked like I needed it.
(In her defense, I was frettin’ about some personal-life stuff and definitely did not have a happy face.)
Pretty, too. Bright red at the bottom, shading to yellow at the tips.
ETA: the rose, not the woman. She was dolled up enough as it was.
I politely thank her, lay it on my seat, go inside. (Making damn-double-sure my car’s locked.) Get my hooch, plus a bag of that hard-crackling pork that made my ex say it sounded like I was crunching on bones, and head back out.
She walks up to me as I’m sliding into my car, and said, “I’d like to pray for you.”
Holds out her hand.
I’m watching out of the corner of my eye on the passenger side, expecting some 
to go down now (she gonna give me cooties? am I gonna get shanked?) but … okay, lady, we can pray.
She takes my hand in the darkness under the waning full moon and utters a brief, heartfelt, lovely prayer … squeezed my hand, and said, “In Jesus name, amen.”
Now, look, I’m not a believer, but it was so sweetly said, and I’m an atheist but I’m not an asshole, so I said “Amen” back.
And then she … walked off.
Didn’t try to get money for the rose; nobody rolled me from the passenger side; just … held my hand, said a prayer, and sauntered away.
I started my car, had a moment of some deep thinking, rolled my window down, and after saying “thank you” also hollered out that - truthfully - those were some kick-ass boots.
She said thank you back, and I went home.
Crying.
I genuinely don’t know what just happened.
My gawds, I have missed you.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. Is it my Firday? Who knows.
So say we all!
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 13c/56f with a predicted high of 19c/67f and mostly cloudy. Weather app is feeling philosophical today and says “Do you ever wonder if the fucking clouds look down at us and think, what a bunch of fucking assholes?” No, can’t say that I have.
Not really, it depends what kind of place you live in. My mum lived in sheltered housing/assisted living for a long time, they had a bunch of rules about what you could or couldn’t do but it was mainly about the communal areas of the building. If you leave your bins out on the street, someone might complain to the council because it’s an obstruction especially for wheelchairs, mobility scooters and pushchairs. That’s about all we’ve got!
I regard a lot of my books as friends I do get rid of the ones I know I’ll never read again, usually the local charity shops are grateful for them. Some of them I bring to campus as we’ve got space in one of the student lounges where people leave books but that’s dependent on how many I can carry, and I have to be careful lest I go home with more books than I brought in!
I used to schedule mine first thing in the morning, after that the rest of the day was mine and I felt like I’d got off to a virtuous start!
Oh dear, that does sound rather dramatic. I’m sure it was the right decision though, and something much better will be around the corner.
I expect she was quite sorry to leave such a hospitable place though - well done to you for looking after her and the passenger.
Big hugs to you! So glad you decided to come back again. Sorry to hear about the lump, I hope it turns out to be easily sorted. Our NHS sends me appointments for boob-squishing, they have a lot of mobile imaging vans so I had my last one in the supermarket car park
She did something that made you both feel better, she must have seen that you needed it. What a lovely thing to happen.
Made it to Friday! I was so tired yesterday after having such a bad night’s sleep on Wednesday, I was in bed very early. I usually wake up every couple of hours but last night I had many more hours in which to do so! I was awake at 5.30am today, did feline tums and bums, washed my hair and got ready for irk. I was out in time for another one of those buses that didn’t turn up, so I walked to the furthest away bus stop as it was such a nice morning. Got to the station in time for the nice train, and got to campus before 8am. I had the office to myself for a little while, and now my colleague is in. There’s just two of us today, the Ops Team are all off-site today so we’re the point of contact for everything.
'im indoors is cooking tonight so I don’t have to do much when I get home, so I can relax and get ready for an extremely busy Saturday instead. Onwards, ever onwards!
That reminds me of the funny line, “Parking lot mammograms!”
Said by some skeevy guy.
Up, bathroom visit, but first and foremost, check the Mmp.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 70 Amurrkin out and mostly clear with a predicted high of 88 and N.O.S. Today will be a day of high RDOS inactivities. I have done things two days in a row so this is most deserved. Might even get in some quality cee-mint pond time since the weather appears it will cooperate. Any need to feed will be via forage as we have plenty of sammich makin’s and so forth.
JtC you are indeed good people! That was so nice of you to allow the bus driver and passenger to make use of the facilities and uber nice of you to feed the bus driver. I am sure a lot of folk would not do that. Plus you got entertainment watchin’ the bus get towed.
Sticky_Buns the church sits on ten acres of land. The physical buildin’s, playground, dawg park, and memorial garden are on sump’n around four acres. The rest is a pee-kahn orchard, raised garden beds, and the holdin’ pond. Thus, a lot of acreage to mow. Sorry the gig didn’t work out. Maybe the next one will be the one.
Nellie :: tacklehug :: so glad you checked in! We are as MMP as ever. Lately we’re mostly disappointed that BooFae’s neighbors have been behavin’ themselves about their trash bins.
shoe you had a surreal moment at the corner sto’. You got a rose and some pork skins out of it. Consider it a win-win situation.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Firday Y’all!
Nellie, welcome back! It usually takes a month or less for a ‘singing mammogram’ as MusicMan calls it here in Ohio.
Hey, shoe, that was a very cool and unexpected experience.
Well, I’m just up and sitting with a poodle on my lap waiting to see what the day brings. I am going up north to join to other friends to see another who is in hospice. Sadly, I expect this will be our last visit. If I find myself to be extremely brave, there’s calling hours for the mother of an old high school friend who I keep in touch with intermittently but haven’t seen in probably 30 years. Just not sure that I’m that brave, introvertedly speaking.
A lot of people do. But at age 77 they’ve become a burden to deal with, rather than leave it to those who survive us and who will likely toss them in a dumpster.
I don’t know if you saw the bit on my FB about buying used books, but one of the responses was from Mary, who I’ve known since 10th grade, so more than 50 years. She said:
I like to buy new books. If I have a used one or a library book I imagine people have read it in the bathtub or on the toilet.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I’ve got to assume she never stays in a hotel either… 
Thanks for giving me the opening to share that!
And every year on the anniversary of the breakdown, she’ll show up at your house to pee. 
I’m with you there! When I’m taking the laundry downstairs, I go down backwards, sliding the baskets of dirties in front of (but behind) me as I lean slightly forward. I figure if I stumble, I’ll fall face-first into a basket of dirty clothes and at worst, I’ll sorta slide down the steps face down, feet first. But it actually feels very safe. Coming back up, I place the basket of clean clothes about 4 steps ahead, climb up to it, them move it up 4 or 5 more steps - again, if I fall, it’s face-first into a pile of clean clothes. It works, and next phase will be a gliding stair chair.
That is absolutely obscene!!! It seems the system kinda blows off women’s health issues - we’re all excitable hypochondriacs anyway, right??
As for scheduling here, I honestly can’t say, as I just get the routine screening so there’s no urgency. I’d like to think they make space for something like what you’re dealing with, but I really don’t know.
I can say that I had to call a couple of neurologists after my little episode. The one I wanted to see wasn’t available for something like 6 months (I guess she’s that good) but I got in with another within 2 weeks, and I like her just fine. And getting in with my family doc can be a challenge, altho she did work me in to have my stitches removed after my little tripping episode. I think the main problem is that the population here has grown faster than its acquisition of physicians.
BTW - welcome back! Hope the lump isn’t a bad one.
Guess you should be taking notes?
This threw me just a tad, as all outdoor pools hereabouts have been winterized and closed till May. Altho it’s going all the way to the mid-80s today!
Our library will take books, then sell them periodically for a buck apiece or somesuch. I don’t have a whole lot, but there are some I haven’t touched in ages, and since I really prefer ebooks these days, I may well thin my collection and help out the library.
Round about 2AM all 3 of us were awakened by something. FCD and I thought his mother had fallen. I got to her room first, and she was just sitting up in bed asking what the noise was. Near as we can figure, it was the cat. Nothing was out of place and all the doors were still closed, so no one had been in the house. Still, that’s a heck of a way to wake up. I had to play with my tablet for about an hour to calm down, and FCD went out to the living room - not sure how long because I was asleep when he came back. They’re still sleeping. I got up a bit after 7 to tend to Higgs because I feel sorry for her not being able to let herself out to pee. All is nice and quiet, tho.
I do need to get the bags of crocheted stuffies out of the basement before Jessica gets here. And once everyone is up, I’ll have to haul the dirties downstairs for the weekly laundry day. Beyond that, I’ve not planned anything for today.
Happy Firday!!
Never had issues scheduling mammograms in southwest PA until this year. Called in July hoping to get something in August but had to set up an appointment for October. Had to wait approximately 3 months.
Indeed. A most gentle ::tacklehug:: to you, Nellie, Hopefully whenever you get pressed, everything will be benign. And feel free to blab just as much as you feel like doing,
You’re welcome, no charge…
shoe, that was quite a story, am rather happy it turned out that way, I just hope that woman is OK, the combination of attire, roses and prayer does make me wonder. Still, tears would have probably been shed here and I’m too big and ugly to cry…
boo fae,
That’s my problem, I’ve pretty much avoided bookstores but stopped by the library where they were having a book sale and have seven new books to read now…
A wise man, you would do well to listen to him.
{{Sticky Buns}}, hope the visit goes well (or as well as such visits can go).
FCM, my house has no stairs but so far I have managed pretty good with them, but like others, I do look for the railings on the stairs. And I have had some mysterious bumps in the night too that went unexplained…poltergeists, I guess…
And time for the Big Breakfast (Pancakes, Bacon and Apple) so take care all.