(Old) Mad March Hares in the MMP

Mornin’ all. Not quite noon here now.

I was up and clean and out early to visit the dermo. One biopsy and ~20 spritzes with his liquid nitrogen & I’m good for another 6 months. In a couple weeks we’ll know the biopsy results, but we both agree it’s almost certainly another BCC that will need a proper excision. The good news is it’s real small. So I have that to look forward to.

Mostly gray and very breezy today. At least it’s warm, 76/25. Might rain or drizzle here and there later today.

Had breakfast before the doc’s. A small Mom’n’Pop diner I’ve been going to about 2x/month for years. Sweet folks. One of the aging waitress ladies had on “It’s my birthday” regalia. So she got a big hug and a hefty cash tip / birthday gift. My good deed square has been filled for today too. :smiling_face_with_halo:

Further plans for the day might include a nap, and cleaning up some filing.

I traditionally use the completion of my income taxes as the occasion to clean out last year’s paper files, shredding the dross and filling pocket folders into a cardboard filing box of all the annual must-retain records. Back in the day the stuff I kept for each year would fill an entire bankers box. In the last 2-3 years I’ve both simplified my finances and gone much harder into fully electronic record-keeping. I think when I clean out the inch-ish of 2024 paperwork I won’t even have anything to put in the “in case I’m audited” archive. It’s all already stored as a PDF on my hard drive & cloud. Another step into the future.

i hit a bit of a frenzy last night. the over the door bag organizer i ordered arrived. after cat snuggles, the frenzy started.

this energized the cats as well, as 2 closets were opened. 2! they zipped between them chasing each other.

tonight is the green committee meeting. at one point this committee was all of 2 people and then went into hiatus. now there is a fantastic chair and it is one of the best and most productive committees. i have learned a lot from the chair. all of the things b&g have gotten done are due to her mentorship.

as i came across things in the closet shuffle, i put them into a bag for tonight’s meeting. show and tell for tonight.

tonight’s meeting and april’s meeting will be about getting the earth day event going. my show and tell will be about the door prizes for the event. everyday green items to use around the house.

Only a 3 anna half hour sort today. Volume mut be way down. I stopped and bought dry, flavorless bits for Spot.

Replaced with absolutely fabbbbbuuloussss sackcloth and ashes, no doubt. :smiley:

{{{{stiky and Annie}}}}} Hope you feel better soon.

You have a committee dedicated to enforcing a single color? That’s HOA level invasive! :wink:

I read right over the word “off” and had to re-read… :scream:

We went to the marina to talk to Perry - the manager of the maintenance guys. We wanted to find out the best way to label the installation drawings and to mark the parts. And he explained how he plans to have the giuys do the installation - different from what FCD envisioned and a much better approach, so yay!

Then we stopped at Roy Rogers for lunch, followed by a trek to Lowes where we got several things we need for the cleaning and installation projects. There’s a nice mild spell next week and I think that’s when we’ll do the cleaning aboard. Tomorrow, I’ll be helping FCD clean his shop - it’s a mess out there.

For now, I need to empty the dishwasher… eventually.

Yesterday, we got the fabric sample I ordered - OMG, it’s awful! Not at all what was pictured on the website and absolutely not the right fabric for the application. Dammit. Back to shopping.

Just finished the Extra Noodle Lipton Chicken (flavored) Soup, aka the soup with the green dings. There were approximately 2 green dings. The “soup” tasted like Spot’s dry and flavorless bits. What a disappointment.

Get yourself to a Joann’s while the getting is good-they are going out of business nationwide and having a close out sale. If I remembered where you live right, there is one In California (?), MD about 9 miles from you.

They carry a range of specialty fabrics, including outdoor fabrics. I have bought sun resistant outdoor fabric there to mend deck furniture cushions. I’d buy a couple extra yards while you are at it because they will be gone in not too many months. Buy a pack of heavy duty machine needles and a new spool of heavy duty thread just to maximize your chances at long term success.

May the Force be with you!

Started Typing: 12:05 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 1:35 PM ET

I didn’t sleep well last night: similar to Friday night, I was briefly awake in the wee small hours and then woke up for good before daybreak. I opened my eyes at around 5am, and finally gave up on sleeping more and got out of bed at around 6am…that is very early for someone like me. :slight_smile: I know it’s just work stress. So, I’m a little tired today, but enjoying the partly-sunny warmer weather: it’s currently 57°F, on its way to 61. Tomorrow will also be 61 but with thunderstorms, which I totally won’t mind.

Two really good things have happened since the last time I posted: the first is that my father surprised my brother and me with chunks o’ cash! He had a CD mature, and he decided to cash it out and split it between us. He’s done this once or twice over the years, but I’m fairly certain that my furlough news prompted this particular distribution. His gift adds 2-3 months to my safety net; I let out a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding. :face_holding_back_tears:

The other thing is that I finally got a ticket to a Supreme Court argument session!! :balance_scale: Back in December, I learned that they were starting a lottery for gallery seats (vs the tried-and-true “line up early in the morning and hope to get in” method): I entered for all of the available dates, but wasn’t selected for any of them. A few weeks ago I entered for the next batch of available dates, and this morning I was notified that I have a ticket for the 11am session on 3/25! :smiley: My cases aren’t anything exciting, and I might come home that day feeling like I never need to go to another Supreme Court session again for the rest of my life, but it’s definitely one of those “want to do it at least once” things. But there’s a chance I might get to go to more than one: we find out the lottery results 3 weeks before the date of the session we requested, and I’ll be getting emails every morning for the next week.

I’ve been logged into work all day again, because of wanting to do various things/send various emails. I also have a meeting at 3pm; a corporate effort to try to find new positions for everyone. I’ll be attending in order to advocate for my two direct reports. Tomorrow might finally be a day when I don’t log in…which will mean a day for getting serious about making progress on the Batwing disassembly! The only downside to not sitting at my desk all day will be spending less time in the same room as Bailey. These days she mostly just sleeps, but she stopped being able to get on the couch a long time ago: when I’m in the living room, I only see her when she needs to pee or eat. I love having her right next to me most of the day when I’m in the home office. :slight_smile:

Work Stuff

Yesterday’s meeting with HR went as I expected: barring any significant movement from the customer this week (unlikely), furloughs will start on Monday. They are still determining whether people with accrued leave will be given the option to use it and defer the status change to “furloughed”: if the answer is yes, that will be my plan. After this week I’ll have another ~2 weeks of leave remaining, and I’ll be looking for immediate, short-term things I can do to help other programs or areas of the company in order to draw that out (I already have the email to my internal network drafted).

I applied to an internal opening that could actually be a good fit…the catch is that it’s for a contract that hasn’t been awarded yet (i.e., we haven’t actually won the work yet). In light of last week’s EO it’s not likely to be awarded any time soon, but I chatted with one our recruiters for a bit and I have nothing to lose by applying.

There will be another all-hands meeting with HR on Friday morning, where they will confirm whether the furlough is happening and – if so – give us more information about what that means/how it will work. Including an answer to the “can we run out our leave” question.

I’m planning to wait until at least next week to start looking for work outside the company: this situation is stressful, but so is job-hunting. I want to take advantage of at least some of this week’s PTO.

My work here is done! :grin:

Huzzah!! :smiley:

There needs to be, like, a Nobel Prize for family stuff. :two_hearts:

No worries at all! There are way worse people to be mixed up with than nellie. :smiley:

Um, how much of Spot’s food have you eaten?!

Joann’s doesn’t carry what we need. We’ve checked there in the past and I looked again. And FWIW, the Joann’s nearest us is almost 20 miles away. :wink:

I’ve checked several websites. One gives me an error when I pick “Order Sample”, one has samples for $3 with an additional $3 for postage, and one wants $9 for a sample!!! At least they’re all made in the US, so tariffs won’t be an issue… theoretically.

Well, darn.

Maybe I’m just losing my ever-lovin’ grip about soon being without a fabric store to buy fabric and supplies for the only hobby I have other than reading. I’ve been a sewer since I was 8, so 68years, give or take. I don’t do demanding, exacting artistic sewing like hippie or jane- I just putter around mending grandkids or my adult kids’ clothes or making costumes for Halloween or school or making special doggy or vehicles pillowcases for grandkids to tickle their fancy, but damn! my sewing feeds my soul, however mundane and humble the sewing is.

Soon I won’t be able to do most of that because all there will be is tiny specialty quilting shops selling a parsimonious selection of cutesy mostly floral or solid fabric, at an elevated price per yard. $12 a yard sunflower print is not going to do it. And, no, online doesn’t work because I need to see it and touch it to know it’s right.

As my 3 yo grandson would say “boogers!”. The little Iowa girl seamstress in me haz a big sad looming over her. Boogers! double triple boogers!

yep, serious committees here!

compared to other condos we are fairly live and let live. it is rare for a fine to happen… unless someone goes crazy with neon green! then we call in the committee.

the covenants committee is really good about making the rules and regs. very understandable and clear. good thing i’m not on that one. people who put plastic bags in the recycling bin would be so very fined.

Dogbutler showed us what a dongle looks like now. Originally, a dongle was a somewhat larger device that dangled on a cord from a plug, hence the name. Benny Hill and other comics had fun with the word. (Ninja’d by LSL Guy)
Mrs. Nott is doing one of her Poshmark shows today, She talked about hitting some technical snags, and she said, “I’m too smart not to figure this out!” I nodded my head, but I was thinking, “That is some dangerous stuff, there, when you start saying that.” Don’t get me wrong, my wife is the smartest person I know, but hubris will bite you if you tempt it.

It’s been raining most of today, and it’s 45F out there.
Oh, and happy Mardi Gras, shroving, or carnival, or whatever. I’m not Catholic, or I’d be more up-to-date on that stuff.

Thank you. He’s a very good dog and we would give him a very good life no matter how short it will be, but shelters are very stressful and he’s a very old dog. It would be better for him to be adopted tomorrow than next month.

Good on you. Hit 'em where it hurts, right on the wallet!

I sure do understand that!

Jimmy Carter was building houses in his 90’s.

But I do agree that bringing up the next generation is very important as well.

That does sound like a much nicer day to me as well.

It is currently /snerk 69F and should break 70F tomorrow. My baby lemon got put out on the front walk when I left and has been photosynthesizing it’s lil heart out.

I am so glad you are starting to feel better. I wonder if Annie is reacting to you being sick? VBC’s herpes would flare up when I was under the weather despite spending the day in bed with me.

What a nice guy you are!

You are a very nice guy too!

WOW!!! Zoom!!!

I’m sorry that you are already getting the fallout. I wonder if last Friday had anything to do with it. I ordered some kitchen curtains today and clicked the UPS button while thinking of you.

Well, that just kinda sucks. I wouldn’t have thought the green dings were expensive enough to ration.

I am so happy for you, you have a very nice dad! Please do be sure to let us all know about how the Supreme Court goes, it’s always sounded interesting to me.

So it was a lovely day today. As I was heading to the capital I noticed that the train tracks behind our place was being repaired so that might explain why I haven’t been hearing it in the middle of the night.

I saw a few new faces today and heard that we can’t protest on college campuses lest we go to jail. Well, college campuses are private property despite being a hotbed for protests, but the sidewalks are public property so most of us left the capital building and went to the university instead.

Some people were on the university grounds, but most of us stayed on the sidewalks. If I do end up going to jail, I want to be sure that I was doing everything lawfully before the tear gas starts flying.

Thursday Hubs has a VA appointment in Charleston so I will go with him and then we can stop at Aldi’s for some more stocking up. I want some more freezer meat, but I’m more interested in canned meats, spices and salts now, I’ve already ordered more cloth napkins (ours are showing their age) and cheesecloth. I figure its best to do it this week, prices are going to go way up soon.

I did get a little cheered up by the low income apartments on the drive home. It is the only “high rise” (8 floors) in town so easy to see from the highway. During the summer, most of the balconies look like mini-jungles and forests but they got bare as could be during the winter. Today I saw flowers on the 7th floor and some monster ferns on the second. Spring is on the way. While I’ve been enjoying the winter, I want to see what the forest is going to do next. Its going to be amazing!

Afternoon all. Pants have been dropped (snerk) and will be ready for pickup on Firday. Scheduled my Personal Trainer sessions for M-W-F from 3-4pm, that’s good for me and also lets me coach soccer since those practices don’t start until 5-5:30pm. Soccer and other activities have been cancelled as rain and some nasty storms are due around 5-10pm, so glad I got the running around outside done early. Will take it easy for the balance of the day, still needed to vacuum the rugs, but not a major thing (haven’t put it on a list yet).

Pilot, hope the doc and you are right and it’s something easily handled.

rocky, happy meeting time, leadership of a committee can make a huge difference, been there, chaired that.

FCM, ever think you’re doing too much cleaning… :wink: :grin:

wet one, thanks for the (non) recommendation, think I’ll stick to my Campbells’ condensed Chicken noodle.

Oopsie, that’s great news on two fronts, hope you enjoy the Court visit,. we’re expecting a report to be filed here…

Oh, I’m not giving up coaching or refereeing yet, what’s the good of exercising and losing weight if you can’t employ the benefits? My plan is to keep doing this until I turn 76 and re-evaluate then.

JtC, happy protesting!

And time for some TV watching, so take care all.

I always add some canned chicken. That adds flavor.

Bubba was like that. Unfortunately, no, that is not the problem with Annie. I am just at the point of having calmed down enough to talk about it. Part of our pet insurance plan is having her teeth cleaned once a year. Since she only had a few teeth left, I’d asked them to remove the rest of them (4) to save her pain and more times under anesthesia during last year’s cleaning. They would not do it.

Now it appears that either one of two things is the problem. We hope that it’s just merely a respiratory infection that will be cured by a week’s worth of antibiotics. However, since the vet observed that she’s only having mucus coming out of one nostril, it’s likely that it’s a problem with a particular canal linking from the root of one of her teeth and leading into her nose. If this is the case, it means significant surgical repair and possibly even restructuring of her nose and the passage between the nose and the tooth. :enraged_face:

My girl does not need or deserve to have to deal with something like this. If we have to go down that road, they will be paying a significant portion of the bill if I have my way.

/rant

Tomorrow I am going to the Ortho doc about my left foot. Having lost the weight that I have, my foot feels worse. I’m not surprised by this, I’m just concerned about what the solution might be.

A dongle is a software key. Back when I reconciled inventory, we had a dongle count every quarter to keep track of proprietary software. You could literally hear the when I made the report to the manager group.

Let’s just say that Tim marches to a different drummer. Not a bad guy, but definitely odd. I’m not sure what the straw that broke the camel’s back was, but maybe she just wanted out and now seemed like a good time. BTW, Nelson says hi. :stuck_out_tongue:

I hope that Annie feels better soonest, sticky.

I irked up front on envelopes today since my partner in crime is still out. Cursed under my breath (it had to be silent, since there was a tour today) at ijits and their staples / tape. Got a couple of wins by unlocking iPhones with the pin of 123456 (people are dumbasses. Were I a person of nefarious motives, I would have checked for any accounts left logged into and spent with wild abandon). What was funny, my grandboss heard my Yessssss! after the second one and started asking questions. He got a kick out of it.

The fire alarm went off about 0730 and our little field trip outdoors had me sneezing and my nose running the rest of the day. The wind was high enough when I got home that I thought Nelson was going to go up like a kite. The tree in front of my next door neighbor’s apartment that’s slated for removal lost some more fairly good sized branches. I’m trying to prepare for if it actually falls over in the direction of my building before they cut it down.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

Howdy Y’all! We’re home from the Shrove Tuesday doin’s. We had a great crowd on hand, more than we expected but there was enough food, so win-win all around. Looks like folks were generous with donations which is a big thing as that goes to the Priest’s discretionary fund to help folks in the community. Now we prepare to be all Lentlike until Easter.

doggio I am told that glitter ashes and designer sackcloth are not Lent friendly.

MetalMouse and MOOOOOOM droppin’ pants at the dry cleaners makes my inner seven year old boy < snerk >.

Oopsie hooray for unexpected $$$! Hope you get some good news soonest. Also yay for winnin’ the SCOTUS lottery !

BBBoo triple extra snotty boogers indeed!

Theres a few things.
This morn I went to The Hope Chest ( free clothes). I was hoping to find summer items but I found some nice tops and a pair of khakirs.

Later went to grocery store, where there were 2 looking brand new white corvettes.

Sunday night I laid on my back and accidentally napped. When I woke, my back, which was better, hurt.
Natch, I got worried thinking it was kidney or uti so I went to urgent care.
Turns out I’m okay, so they gave me a shot of toradol in my butt, which hurt and burned!
So I was butt hurt.

I am now worried Im not hired after all as no onboarding has appeared.
No I cant contact them, they’re not opening til next week.

Up from naptime, and watching hockey. Having a Manhattan(2 Luxardo cherries) and chicken with wild rice blend and mushrooms(Morel, oyster, porcini and baby Bella), olives and green beans for dinner. Suitably decadent for Fat Tuesday.

We don’t kink shame in the MMP. :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m still in better shape than a lot of people, even with the car repairs. It just means it will be a shorter time before I’m eating the cats and dogs.
Spot: “Were you to eat me, I’d only last you for 2 days, while I could dine on your flesh for a week or more.”
Me: “There is a weird sort of logic in that.”

< crosses fingers >

And time for the late-night final. The rain showed up on-time for once, it’s been coming down steadily for the last 4 hours, sometimes very hard and sometimes lightly, but pretty much continuous. Should clear away in another hour or two, but it will bring cooler weather with it (got to 73F today; predictions are the high tomorrow will be 50F). Only constructive thing I’ve done is replace the batteries in my wireless mouse.

Sticky Buns, I hope things work out for Annie and that you get after those people.

And that’s all for tonight. Catch y’all on Hump Day.

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 4c/40f with a predicted high of 13c/55f and sunny. Weather app says “Well, look on the fucking bright side. At least it’s not hot as fuck outside.” True, it’ll be pleasantly warm when I go home.

The Travel Gods were fairly nice to me today although my daily travel ticket cost has increased by a small amount. The bus turned up on time but was a smaller vehicle than usual. The train from my home station was on time but was only two carriages instead of four, and the campus train was on time for once and had all six carriages. That means something is going to go horribly wrong later.

I have a meeting with the ADHD Squirrel this morning, then I’m going out for a lunchtime surprise party thing for a colleague who’s celebrating a big birthday today. And hopefully there will be a pub trip tonight too.