Spot: “mew.”
Me: “No, you have food.”
Spot: “mew.”
Me: “No, you can’t see the bottom. Eat that.”
Spot: “Miaow!”
Me: “NO!”
Spot: < looks up at ceiling, mumbles >
Me: “Don’t you roll your eyes at me!”
Spot: “MEOW! MEOW! MEOW!”
Me: < adds small amout of food to bowl. > “Fine. Pig.”
Spot: < munch munch munch > “arigato”
Anyways, up from naptime, having a Sazarac and Asian BBQ chicken stirfry.
Soviet Sector has borscht?
Me, too. and glad GG has another sliver of normality back.
“I accidentally used the dog’s shampoo this morning. I feel like such a good boy.”
Enjoy! But put a towel between the headboard and the wall next time. The people in 123 are trying to sleep.
So, I’m at the drive-thru - the mere existence of which, by the way, still tickles my brain - and had just ordered a handful of cheapie joints, when a guy pulls up on the other side of my car, riding a bicycle and pulling one of those cart thingies, with a friendly greeting.
Okay, cool? I don’t know him or anything, but women are socialized to be polite.
He needs a light, and there’s a lighter clearly visible in my center console. Ah, okay. No problem, bro, I got you.
He lights up his stub of a cigarette and says, “You’re purple” and for a second, I thought maybe he, like, somehow knew me from here, somehow?
I looked down, and realized I’d thrown on these sorta lavender tie-dye pajama pants & a dark purple tank top. I wasn’t going for any sort of coordinated outfit; those were just the cleanest clothes on the top of the sorta-worn pile, knowwhatImean?
Then the guy goes, “Wait, I have something for you!!” and starts rummaging in his cartful of random crap.
… mind you, part of me is still monitoring the opposite side of me, since the whole reason I was there was to, yanno, score some weed purchase legal products.
This guy pulls out a HALF-KILLED QUART OF SMIRNOFF y’all … it was some berry-flavored shit so the label was, yup, purple, and with a giant beaming smile this random dude offers me a glug.
(It was, by the way, just shy of noon.)
I politely declined but thanked him for the kind gesture, and right after he rode off, I realized I shoulda let him keep the lighter, dammit.
Right about then the drive-thru window opened and I got my sack o’joints, and as I drove back home I started laughing hysterically.
“Welcome to the Heights!”
(That’s the name of my 'hood, which is pretty damn blue collar and all, but other than the occasional ghetto crap is mostly low-key. But it does have a bit of a bad rep locally.)
Quite the soggy evening so while I sat in my doorway at Bat Time they were nowhere to be seen.
Got quite the lightning show, though, while Monkey decided to brave the rain and go exploring, only to tear-ass back into the house like his asshole was haunted.
Yeah, seriously, WTF is up wit’ dat?
That’s pretty damn awesome.
Glad a good time was had by all!
Alrighty, time to figure out some sort of dinner before everything closes up.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 76 Amurrkin out and mostly clear with a predicted high of 99 and N.O.S. with a heat index approachin’ a zillion, no doubt. The big item on today’s agenda is deheathenization wherein I have Verger duty. Then it will be back to da cave for a sammich N.O.L., sloth, nappage and day drinkin’. No quality cee-mint pond time today as we were a bit excessive in that yestiddy. Inside and a/c is for the best.
Sticky_Buns hope you feel better today. How sweet of Annie to share her eye boogers with you!
shoe ummm… yep, quite the story there. Funny with just a hint of creepy.
Pilot glad a good time was had by both. Yay for BB comin’ to see you next weekend.
Metal_Mouse I’m sure you will be on your way before my next post, so happy train ride.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then purtification for deheathenization must commence.
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 19c/65f with a predicted high of 23c/73f, and partly cloudy. Weather app says “Today is a good fucking day for a good fucking day.”
hippie that is a lovely piece of quilting, and you don’t look too bad yourself!
JtC what a lovely reunion for Hubs and GG! I hope that having him back home will be good for all of you, especially if it means GG will have a bit more normality and a good reason to be less scared.
Moooom Trevor looks very happy already!
shoe I’m sorry about the missing old fridge, it’s really annoying when that happens. We can put stuff out on the pavement for collection, our local council will remove bulky items for a fee but usually if I leave something out, the local scrappers will pick it up instead. One of my friends put an old washing machine at the end of his drive, it was gone almost by the time he got back in the house!
metalmouse I’m sorry you didn’t get to visit the battlefield, that sounded interesting. Enjoy the train ride!
Sticky Buns I’m sorry to hear you weren’t well, hope you’re feeling better now. Perhaps Annie thinks her eye boogers are a cure for whatever ails you?
I missed posting yesterday because the day kind of got away from me I went to the gym for a 30-minute spin class, followed by a 30-minute kettlebells class (weather was lovely, instructor decided we should do the class outside), and then back in for an hour on the elliptical wossname. I reckon that was about 1,000 cals burned in total. I got a measurable total from the bike and the elliptical, and would guess that the kettlebells would be something close to the bike total too.
Went home for a bath and a restorative cuppa. 'im indoors decided he didn’t fancy lunch out at the Good Chinese Place so we foraged at home. I went into town early 'cos I had an adult thing to go (had an appointment for a professional bra fitting), did that and bought some properly-sized lingerie. Then met 'im outdoors in the Posada - we go there often enough to now count as regulars…I went in and the landlord just said “he’s out the back, he got you a pint of Unicorn”. Good enough for me! We were there for a while, then went to another local hostelry (The Lych Gate) where we met a couple of pub friends we’ve not seen for a while. Our pub route takes us to two town-centre places, then a bit of a walk downhill towards home, broken up by a stop at the Clarendon where we bumped into a couple we’d chatted to at the Posada. After that, we stopped off at Turkish Delight for sustenance and went home.
I was rudely awakened this morning by the guys from the water company who had to dig up something in the road outside. Drilling at 8am is not my favourite alarm call! So I am up, the cats are fed and medicated, the litter trays are clean, and I have a cup of tea. 'im indoors is still snoozing, so once he wakes up, I’ll put some laundry on. Other than that, I plan on an afternoon of sloth and chillage, then I will have to bestir myself to make curry for dinner tonight.
First off, hippie, I’ve said it before and I repeat myself - you do nice work! While quilting is one hobby that never grabbed me, I can surely appreciate all that’s involved. I congratulate you on patience and skill!
Secondly, all you suggesting MetalMouse experience the local cuisine - have you forgotten he’s not an adventurous diner?
Thirdly, the day is starting out too warm here - 76° already, probably getting way too close to triple digits before the sun sets. Dammit. I’ve got the sprinkler going out front in an area that will be shaded for a few hours, so I hope the water sinks in well.
Fourthly, I got a bill yesterday for the ambulance - $900!!! The website did give me a place to input insurance info, and I don’t know what, if any BC/BS will pay, but I filled out the form. Fingers crossed. I know I’ve got a couple of substantial deductibles awaiting me unless Medicare covers it. We shall see.
No clue what today holds. FCD will take his mom to church because he’s a good son. I need to decide what supper will be and thaw something. I’d like to steam some shrimp, but MIL will only eat fried shrimp because, um, reasons, I guess. Maybe I’ll broil some salmon.
Tomorrow, I need to package some pants MIL ordered and return them. She apparently hoped, from the picture, that they’d be denim-like, but they’re gabardine and she hates the fabric. She assumed since they looked like a pair she already has that they’d be the same. I did a lot of looking at different sites, but finding size 6 petite pull-on pants in a denim-like fabric but not blue… And at the risk of snarking, she doesn’t go anywhere except occasionally to church and she has several pairs of pants that work. Based on other things she’s told me, I suspect that side of the family is clothing-obsessed. Certainly her first born son is.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off today.I dreamed I drove Spot to some sort of office complex in the rain, then took him bicycling around, and we lost the car. I awoke to find I had a twitching, snorting tuxedo toupee. But it is morning cleaning and afternoon sloth day, especially since it’s suposed to be 96 degrees ferret height(35.5 centipede) today.
But it beats having her sneeze in your face when you yawn.
I’m sitting in the railway station, got a ticket for my destination… Could have stayed in bed another hour, everything went exactly as planned so I am sitting in the First Class lounge (because it has a closed door and free snacks) for the next 90 minutes or so.
Did a quick reading of all the posts and loved shoes story, Pilots adventures and as for my eating habits, FCM has it right, I am a ‘fussy eater’, which according to the late comic George Carlin, means ‘big PITA’.
May see if Amtrak has Wi-Fi here, otherwise it,s a lazy morning waiting for the 9:15 train to Washington.
Mornin’ all! About 8am on a warm but mostly gray day here. I’ve been up since sunrise and was out balconatin’ until a passing shower pushed me indoors. That lasted only ~5 minutes but left the balcony all wet, so I’ll be inside for awhile until it dries off. But the doors are open and the inside and outside are the same: 79F/26C at 70% humidity.
No big tasks for today, just put away some laundry. And I ought to unseal my bacon, cook some, and freeze most. And perhaps get the car washed and some groc bought. And some administrivia. Speaking of which …
During my visit with BB the rest of the stars aligned and I was able to pay off HL’s car. I have a meeting with my atty on Tue upcoming to sign the last of the settlement agreement paperwork which HL had done a few days ago now. Promptly after that we’ll divvy the contents of our (originally all my) joint checking and savings accounts and at that point her and my various collections of money will be fully separate forever. Except for the minor slice of my 401k she’ll get; which process I have no hand in accomplishing, so not really my problem.
The happy news here, besides the profound mental relief that comes from full financial separation, is that I’ll recover access to a handy chunk of cash that had been more or less “in escrow” since I separated from her almost 5 months ago. I imagine she’ll be similarly happy to get her share of that same pile, but frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn. No rancor, just indifference; profound silent implacable indifference.
As to y’all …
Shoe: you have the most interesting encounters with the locals. Living in a “colorful” neighborhood has its advantages. And I don’t mean skin tone.
One of my lady pals (not a GF) years ago wore exclusively purple underwear, although the rest of her wardrobe wasn’t purple at all. She was quite proud of her always-purple undies and often let the rest of the gang see at least enough of them to confirm she was telling the truth. Who knew how many shades and shapes of ladies’ “foundations” could be had in purple?!? Not I. That’s a fashion choice you might consider next time you’re a-buyin’. Just sayin’.
Sticky_Buns: Doggie love manifests in strange and wondrous ways. Glad she’s making your lap happy.
Swampy: Happy Vergering. Does that make you feel extra deheathenated or less so? My late wife liked to help at her whiskypalian services just as you do, but said somehow it detracted from her experience of the whole process by being part of it.
boofae: That sounds like a perfect evening. Shame about the morning. And yes, sloth and chillage seems the highest best use of my day too.
FCM: thanks for the reminder. Hippie’s quilt is simply amazing.
I’ve fiddled listlessly with various fabric hobbies, following late wife’s lead. None ever caught me; something about a floppy insubstantial material meant lots of wrestling with gravity and no uniformity of results. So frustration, not serenity. Oh well. More power to all who find that stuff rewarding.
$900 for an ambulance ride sounds about right versus late MIL’s last such ride a couple of years before her passing. Eventually her Medicare & Supplement ate almost all of it so the residual was trivial IIRC. But that took a long time and the initial sticker shock was … a bit shocking.
metalmouse: Best of luck ridin’ out of the City of New Orleans. Which is not the same as riding on the City of New Orleans. I can hardly wait for the running travelogue to begin. Hint hint. With luck you’ll meet an aging poker player on the train to complete the musical trifecta.
It’s 58F and cloudy outside at the moment. Our expected high temperature is 65F with mostly cloudy skies for the day. So, not really summery weather, but not awful, I guess. It could be worse, it could be too hot. I much prefer it cooler.
Hippie, beautiful work. And, you’re not so bad yerself!
JtC, I’m glad the hubby is home, and GG has another piece of his normal life. I loved the shower story. I had a cat many years ago named Boo-Boo Kitty. He was polydactyl on all paws. He loved to sit at the end of the tub while I was taking a shower and bat at the overhead spray. This, of course, often ended in a kitty shower, which he was not particularly happy about.
Metal Mouse, enjoy the train ride!
FCM, Trevor does look happy and content. Of course, why wouldn’t he be? He’s no longer in a noisy, scary shelter and has a family to love him. Labs (in general) are happy, loveable dogs. Also very good at alerting, you always know when something is amiss, even if it’s just a leaf bumping against the window. If they can’t get an invisible fence (didn’t work for me anyway), can they maybe get a dog kennel (run), so Trevor can have some outdoor time in a secure place? I had a 7.5X14 outdoor kennel for Polar and Brandi in their early years. I put kennel decking in the bottom to cut down on mud too. Anyway, just a thought.
Nellie, I hope the doggie parade was wonderful! I’m sorry about SiL. It is sad, and it is sad that your brother is bearing the brunt of her misdirected rage.
Sticky Buns, I hope you’re feeling better.
Red, I’m so happy that Nelson is feeling better.
Flyboy, I’m sorry about your neighbor.
There isn’t much going on in Taterland. I mowed, weed-whacked, and blew the yard on Friday, got the pool out for the dogs, which they both seemed to enjoy this time and dealt with other minor chores. Saturday, I worked on pruning some trees. The neighbor behind has hazelnut trees along the fence line, and every year, they grow so much that I lose a corner of my yard to the overhanging branches. I cut one of them way back (on my side of course), and trimmed some other overhanging stuff. My yard recycle bin is full, and I haven’t finished trying to stuff all the branches in the bin yet. Oh well, it had to be done. I envisioned trimming some shrubs by my front porch, but that’ll have to wait until the bin is emptied again.
Today is a light laundry day since I did a bunch in the middle of the week. I must dash to the gas station and fuel up the Jeep since I have to go to the office twice this upcoming week. I donwanna, but needs must.
Okay, I need to get the dishwasher loaded. I’m running behind again.
On board the Amtrak Crescent to Washington D.C. I’m in a ‘roomette’ which is supposed to be a room for two but barely holds me (pics on Facebook). But it’ll be my home for the next 30 hours. Full train to start, we’ll see what the crowd is like at the end of the ride.
I need insights from people more knowledgeable than I about this stuff. An ambulance pulled up a little while ago, lights flashing, but no sirens. The EMT’s knock on the door downstairs and across the hall. A fifty-ish couple lives there, and the wife is in a wheelchair. I don’t know how independent she is. I haven’t seen them since shortly after they moved in two years ago. 20 minutes later, I return to the window, and the EMT’s open the side door to the back of the rig, and the husband climbs in.
What the heck? If the hubs was the sick one, would they really just open the side door to the ambulance and have him climb in? I’m not sure how independent the wife is or if she drives, but if something is wrong with him, surely she’d go along somehow? I don’t THINK they loaded her in the back, but I’m not 100% sure. If she’d passed away, they wouldn’t have taken just the husband away and left the body there, right? Also, lights but no sirens means no big emergency, correct?
Any ideas? They’re a very strange couple, but I’m concerned.
Loading the husband as concerned bystander would be the last step. So the old lady was probably already on the gurney in the back before you happened to look outside to watch the husband board the van.
And yeah, the lack of lights and sirens means she needed to go to a hospital that day, but there’s no rush.
nellie, the lady was likely already in the back of the ambulance. I hope everything goes well for them.
Dog Mumpers, what do you do when your dog refuses to touch his kibble?
Nelson has liked variations of the same kibble since puppyhood, but is now refusing to eat it, even if it’s hand fed to him. He’ll eat scrambled eggs, meat and treats, but his kibble is a no-go right now. I’m worried that he isn’t getting enough to eat and just ordered some soft food for him, but still, I worry.
Off to do the Sunday chores, then mess around in the studio this afternoon. Until his new flea collar gets here, I’m limiting Nelson’s time outside, just to keep flea exposure down.
I need to find out if Part A covers ambulance rides. Then I’ll see how much, if any, BC/BS covers. I got good care, but the insurance crap is, well, crap.
Daughter has asked me to help her figure out her health insurance. Her coworkers all say BAE has crappy health insurance, but great dental. SIL can start getting health insurance in November (I don’t understand the rules for “part time” employees, even tho he often works more than 40 hours a week. Weird gummint regulations.) Anyway, I hope she comes over soon - I believe she has only 30 days to decide and she’s been there 3 weeks already.
Speaking of weird, since my little episode, I occasionally pause and think “I know who I am, I know where I am, I know what I’m doing.” According to my neurologist, there’s no way of knowing if this was a one-time thing or what caused it. Brains is mysterious. Also, even if my brain is back to what passes for normal, taking the anti-seizure meds isn’t a problem. If they’re not needed, they don’t do anything. I dunno, but I’m probably looking at 3 years before tapering off of them, assuming no repeat episodes.
Hot hot hot day, with t-boomers possible tonight. I may still run the sprinkler on my veggie patch after it’s in the shade. Even if it does rain, I don’t think it’ll drown the plants too badly. We shall see. And tomorrow is supposed to be about 10° cooler.
FCD is at church with his mom. I’m hoping he stays home this afternoon, but I doubt he will. Have I mentioned he’s just a tad stubborn? I was trying to think of something we could do together that won’t leave his mom here alone for too long - maybe a movie?? Must see what’s playing locally. Off to search…
Of course you worry. I had a kitty who did the same and found out she had a broken tooth! Hope Nelson’s teeth are ok, won’t hurt to check. Hope he’s better soon.
Accurately describes much of my interaction with da publik.
I put a TV out on the curb years ago & it was gone before I could run back outside with the remote for it.
Was it rainbow colored?
He slept through all that?
{ FCM has embarked on a quest }
I wish you much fortune on your endeavor.
OMG that’s friggin’ hilarious.
I was all set to give you some good-natured shit about the name, and then I remembered I named my cat Monkey and decided to STFU.
I was following along quietly and then WHAT?!? had a pearl-clutching moment there.
Do they produce hazelnuts?
Well, if my options were dry crunchy bits that I’ve eaten all my whole damn life vs. yummy scrambled eggs, meat, and even-more-yummy treats, well, I’d pass on the dry cereal, too.
Not saying what you’re doing is wrong, just lookin’ at it from a doggie perspective.
FCD voiced my thought - what the heck does she want with more pants?? Yesterday she was talking about getting a swimsuit, but she stopped when she was about to say “for next summer” - I guess realizing she probably won’t be here next summer. It was strange.
Started Typing: 9:38 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 11:21 AM ET
Morning, all! The heat wave continues to be annoying: at 7:30am it was already 80°F (it’s currently 84), and today’s forecasted high is – again – 98.
Speaking of curbs, yesterday morning I (finally) put my collection of dog ramps and stairs out on the curb. The two sets of folding stairs were grabbed right away, and when I looked outside this morning both of the ramps were also gone. Yay! All that’s left now is some foam steps. I’m hoping someone will grab them today, but if not I’ll bring them back inside tonight and try again another time.
I went to the gym at 11am, and after getting hoime and showering I decided that it was way too hot to go out again. I dove into the America’s Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders docuseries on Netflix, which is more compelling than I expected. That evening I began building the Lego radio when the Yankees game started*: I stopped at the half-way point, and will finish it today. Whenever I’m putting a set together I want background noise but I’ll be concentrating on the instructions, so I’ll put on a TV show that I like but don’t really need to pay attention to (e.g., West Wing episodes, because I’ve seen all of them a million times). It turns out that baseball is perfect for Lego-building.
*Last night’s game aired on Fox! Yay! But, from what I can tell I won’t be able to watch another live Yankees game on TV this year until the post-season ().
I run warm, so in late spring/early summer my AC is usually set at 70: I knew that was a foolish expectation for yesterday so I set it at 72 to start with (to try and keep the house as cool as possible for as long as possible), and when I noticed mid-afternoon that the thermostat read 74 I adjusted the setting to 75. No need to run the thing continuously when the heat is this crazy. I kept the blinds/blackout curtains drawn against the worst of the sun and I have fans in every room, and I was able to stay quite comfortable. I also fully charged all of my portable power banks, just in case the strain on the local power grid becomes too much at some point.
This morning has been nice and quiet so far. At around 11:30, one of the people taking over my volunteer committee will be coming to pick up all of the events-related stuff I’ve been storing for 1.5 years. It’s not a huge amount of stuff but it does take up some space, and it’ll be nice to have that part of my laundry room back. At some point I’ll do some cleaning and rearranging in there. It’s an addition, so I have to cross my patio to get to it (annoying in the rain/snow), but luckily they ran HVAC to it…so I won’t die if I work in there while it’s hot outside.
There’s been a jazz jam session on my radar for this afternoon, but the closer it gets to noon the less inclined I am to go anywhere today. I probably should go (for the practice, networking, etc.), but…meh. At the moment I’m leaning toward going to the grocery store after my fellow volunteer leaves – I’ll want to move my car anyway, because it’s parked in front of my house so he can pull into the driveway – and then I might order a pizza for lunch (with a healthy “delivery during a heat wave” tip).
The Zillow talk got me curious: the “Zestimate” for my one-level, 3BR 1BA house is $667,000, which I guess seems about right…? It’s a small, older house, but on a ¼-acre lot with no HOA in a great location (in a neighborhood with many newer $1M+ homes). The monthly rent estimate is $125 more than I’m paying: I don’t care if that’s out of whack, it makes me happy to see.
Very nice! And I, too, love the t-shirt.
Baseball pun intended?
Sounds like a great trip so far!
I was actually able to “hear” that! LOL!
Me, too. Ah, well…que sera, sera.
LOL!!
But are you on a tour of one-night stands, your suitcase and guitar in hand?
That was me after trying jigsaw puzzles. I should have liked doing them, but I didn’t.
I know you won’t get here for another day+, but welcome (back?) to D.C.!
It varies greatly depending on which part of the company you work for. For a while my sector only offered a high-deductible plan (with an HSA), but they finally started offering a PPO a couple of years ago: that’s what I use, but it ain’t cheap. My dental insurance is pretty good – though I choose to go out-of-network – but the vision insurance is outstanding: every now and then, someone at my optometrist’s office will say “I’ve never seen a plan like this!”
We were there about 6 yrs ago and yes, a great fan experience, and additionally, the Tigers won! Yay! First stadium that I was at that had good food, not normal ballpark food. Delicious.
Glad you’re having an enjoyable visit to your old stomping grounds and that you were able to connect with your brother.
Yay, Hubs is home, safe and sound. This gives me a satisfied smile.
awwwww. Smiles just keep keeping on.
Sheveled, went to mass, made a chili cheese omelette, now mmping. It’s cooled down to 73 with a forecast high of 81 so should be pleasant.
metal mouse hoping you’re enjoying the sights out the train window.
taters are you able to harvest any of the hazelnuts? If so, what do you do with them?
As far as trimming shrubs, first I thought it would be a good idea to yank out the ferns that had inundated the shrubs. I was able to get a lot of that done on Thursday but it was sooo hot that I didn’t trim the shrubs. Maybe today since the temp has moderated.
Ok, time to start on some tasks, and maybe go to pool and start swimming again. fingers crossed.
and for a second, I thought maybe he, like, somehow knew me from here, somehow?
I went to the gym for a 30-minute spin class, followed by a 30-minute kettlebells class (weather was lovely, instructor decided we should do the class outside), and then back in for an hour on the elliptical wossname. I reckon that was about 1,000 cals burned in total. I got a measurable total from the bike and the elliptical, and would guess that the kettlebells would be something close to the bike total too.
While quilting is one hobby that never grabbed me, I can surely appreciate all that’s involved. I congratulate you on patience and skill!
And at the risk of snarking, she doesn’t go anywhere except occasionally to church and she has several pairs of pants that work. Based on other things she’s told me, I suspect that side of the family is clothing-obsessed. Certainly her first born son is.
But it beats having her sneeze in your face when you yawn.
).
