(Old) Oh, Eh? Can You See? - A Holiday MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

Good evening all. Sitting in the Metropolitan lounge at Union station. Everything went as planned, the river cruise was entertaining and informative and I enjoyed it a lot. Then back to the hotel and loaded up with a Potbelly’s sub sammich (Jersey Mike’s is the best national chain for my money, but never pass up a chance to visit a Potbelly’s–they are that good). Then mailed the restaurant alert device I accidentally hijacked back to the zoo and did a little reading at the local library before gassing up the car and turning it in. A 10-minute walk got me to the train station and the METRA was on-time so all in all a very satisfactory day.

Have read all but on my cell phone so hard to respond, will try to get the Amtrak wi-fi to work on my laptop tonight heading south.

About an hour to train time, so need to do some foraging. Take care all.

62

Up from naptime, having an Old Fashioned and a bacon cheeseburger.

“Slowly achieving Purrvana.”

“Brrrt!” - Spot

Or a tuxedo one

Yeah, he has a primate servant on call pretty much 24/7.

{{{{WetOne}}}}

{{{{FairyChats}}}}

63

Okay.
I went in. Tried my last quiz. More fails.
I was to get the letter today. Woman types it up, I catch bus.
Theres no signature, a squiggly M it seems and the number of the store.
2 sentences that took 3 weeks to get.
Housing probably won’t accept that.
I am told 8 hours is too long to finish online training.
Finish by tonight or you’re gone.
Its a lot of incompetence.
Texted the corporate guy.
I wasn’t given a clock in number for awhile so she is implying I won’t get paid for those 8 hours of last week.
Confirmation that the job really was cursed.

64

Hie your hiney to the medical types, post haste! This sounds serious.

65

This business of having to take meds morning and evening will take some getting used to - at least the morning part. I want to take my seizure meds as close to 12 hours apart as I can. I tend to get up anywhere from 5 to 7, which means I get my evening dose lots earlier that the 9-10 o’clock that I’ve been doing for years. Old habits are tough to realign.

It’s been just over a month since my little episode and once I got past the hungover feeling in the morning, it’s all been pretty much normal. The neurologist put me on Lacosamide instead of whatever the hospital doc prescribed. Periodically I’ll stop and say: I know who I am and where I am and what I’m doing. I don’t say it out loud, of course. At least I don’t think I do. Anyway, I continue to hope it was a one-time random event.

I think it’s time to mosey back to bed, after I wake the doggeh snoring on my footrest and put her in her crate. It’s been a mostly quiet evening for all of us and I think we all need an early bedtime. I’ll start :wink:

66

Hi folks - Approaching bedtime here. Wanted to hit the high, or rather low points first:

Massive sympathy for FCM, FCD, and even poor confused MIL. You folks can’t buy a break. Feel free to primally scream as much as you want; this is the no-judging zone. BIL is hell-bent on ensuring everyone around him has a sucky life as long as he does. Perhaps not consciously, but that’s certainly the outcome.

ETA: But good to hear about how the seizure thing is sorting out successfully. And yeah, rearranging your daily pill habits is hard; I’m tring that now and largely failing too.

VanGo: doctor time. Numb parts are not a problem to be ignored.

Coppertone: Yes, that does seem to be a cursed company. I’m sorry; you don’t have the resources to be wasting effort on long-running dead ends.

I did read everything else, but am not going to respond point by point it. Good to hear of the various successes and plans and travels.


I got most of my procrastinated administrivia done by noon. Yaay me! Then a short nap as the sky slowly dripped less. Around 2pm it was sunny again and I went out for a few errands, then home to put a little groc in the fridge, then out again to meet some folks from my old condo who routinely meet up for a Monday happy hour at LUIGI di ROMA. Except not this week, so I was alone. Oops. There’s not really a ringleader, so there’s nobody to call who knows for sure who’ll be there and who won’t. The food is good and the happy hour deals are great, so a pleasant refresher with the restaarant and bartender was had, if not with my former neighbors.

Then home and I made a good-sized batch of chili; probably 10 servings total. This was a simplified variant, more for practice cooking and playing with my new toys than aiming for a gourmet outcome. First time in ~4 years I’ve made chili and I even made it hot enough for me, not for the various sissies I’ve had to accommodate in prior lives. Late wife liked fairly spicy when she was healthy, but as things got worse, so did her tolerance. Us enjoying spicy food together is now in a land long long ago and far far away. Sigh. HL did not like spicy, despite being mostly raised in Arizona.

I had not quite a pound of leftover chuck roast from the chili, so that was diced and is now marinating in soy sauce, ginger, and garlic. Probably stir fry that up with diced peppers and onions (AKA redneck teriyaki) then serve over basmati rice for lunch tomorrow or dinner on Wed.

Tomorrow the soft plan is rendezvous w ex-roomie Mike for breakfast at TBD, and attend minor league baseball solo in the evening. He’s got a date with some new woman, or he’d be doing baseball with me too. I can hardly wait for the scoop on that.

BB is reaffirming her intention to come up this weekend for at least one overnight. Here’s hoping.

Soft plans to go to the old condo for their 4th of July late afternoon BBQ gathering. The social swim there has slowed a lot as many folks have aged out and the newcomers aren’t as joiny. Still, it’ll be interesting to see who’s still around and involved. Not that I intend to make a habit of hanging with them, but once in awhile is nice.

As to illicit / informal fireworks …
Around here they’re legal to buy everywhere but not all cities allow them to be set off. So of course they’re set off everywhere anyhow.

I am rather surprised that I have yet to hear my first boom or see my first skyrocket. Many weekends around the year have somebody puttin’ on an impromptu show for a party or just the hell of it. So far … silence. I don’t much care one way or the other; silence is nice but I can sleep through anything.

The fancy-pants resort / country club that fills my foreground view puts on a really big party & fireworks show for the fatcats. So I’ll have a ringside seat for that if I make it back home in time from the condo’s BBQ grilling. Which I expect to do.

I may or may not have time to MMP tomorrow, so I’m trying to get half of tomorrow’s drivel keyed in tonight. I’m sure you’re all just thrilled. :wink:

Happy Sleeping all!! Or working then sleeping, or sleeping then working; whichever suits your situation closing on 10pm.

Cheers!1!

67

And Florida is wet and green. Wild fires aren’t a huge issue out there. July in the middle of the desert is not a great place to be setting fireworks off so of course folks drive across state lines to buy them.

I am so happy to not be there anymore.

Things are still quiet here, but the peer pressure to be a good neighbor is intense because almost everyone is kin to each other. (Hubs is kin to the folks in the big place across the street so they have invited us to meet all of our neighbors and other kinfolks.)

Yesterday I looked out the window and saw Harry (real name) walking down the gully with his weed eater. Harry is always fighting the forest off so I didn’t pay attention when I heard the wacker start. I was very entertained when Hubs said he saw Harry leave our yard after wacking the grass behind our shed…where the riding mower won’t fit. Hubs went right out and bought an electric push mower because he didn’t want to get shamed like that again.

All of the floor vent covers in this place were rusted and ick, so he went on Lowe’s webpage and ordered some nice covers to pick up along with his push mower. Of course I wasn’t satisfied with the louvered ones we have had in the past, so we have these now (different colors depending on the floors) https://www.lowes.com/pd/allen-roth-4-in-x-10-in-Savannah-Floor-Register-Nickel/5005424921

I also ordered a door knocker cause this place doesn’t have one. Cat Gargoyle Door Knocker - The Gargoyle Statuary

We still haven’t found the gate post Cluthlu or Grotesques yet but we have time. We are RDOS after all!

We got an offer on our AZ place (for asking price) five days after it went on the market which made me kinda grumbly. I wanted to list it higher, but Hubs was so worried about society collapsing that he wanted to sell it for less than market price. Whatever. It is done.

While he was talking to our realtor today, I suddenly remembered that he had put water alarms in all of the wet areas, including under the bathtubs.

Little white battery operated boxes that have sensors on the bottom. If they get wet, they SCREAM!!! until someone gets them out of the water. I thought that the new owners might like to know about them, Hubs poo-pooed me because of course everyone has them and knows what they sound like.

Imma write a letter to the new owners and tell them what and where they are. And what the plants are and how to care for them. And where to go to participate in the gleaning program.

68

Happy Moonday!

Cool morning at the park. I’m glad I grabbed my jacket on the way out the door.
It was windy 59 degrees.
It’s 65 degrees now.

VanGo numb legs need to be checked out
I can think of several things it could be and none of them are good.
When I was a teen, I had a friend who almost died from some disease - can’t remember the name of it - that started with numbness in the feet that spread up her legs.

JtC
Girl with the Dogs
Sells something called a Happy Hoodie which is good for keeping out noise

Happy Travels MetalMouse

I am sorry about your friend’s hubby, Sticky

Sorry about the sucky job experience Coppertone
Maybe don’t quit yet though, the company I irk for was so messy when I was interviewed. I almost said screw it, and it’s turned out to be a pretty good job.
I hate it, but I’ve been there 12 years or maybe more. I’m a bit burned out.

I like to add a can of stewed tomatoes to the blue box mac&cheese. I cut back on the butter and milk a little so it isn’t too sloppy.

OH MY! Dicey

69

Lovely! I adored the register covers we put in our previous house, but the present house has ceiling vents, so screwed-in basic white louvered covers are the least visually intrusive.

70

I went to the office today instead of tomorrow, because of the party. The morning commute was nice. It only took me 2:15.

I left the orifice at 15:15. I got into the car and turned on Waze. It said I’d be home by 18:13. Three hours. Ouch. I heard there was a crash in Everett. The freeway was good south of Seattle, and then there was the typical crunch at the chokepoint getting into the express lanes. The express lanes were fast. Then back to the mainline. Slow. Yep, that crash. Waze took me off of the freeway in South Everett and put me on a surface street. Then it said I could save five minutes by taking a different surface street. When it came time to get back on the freeway, I couldn’t get into the left lane so I had to go down the street and make a U-turn. (Ewe turn?) Got on the freeway and it was slow.

I knew I was in for it when I saw a plume of black smoke in the distance. Waze ETA kept getting later and later. Traffic reports were saying two (out of three) lanes were blocked north of Marysville because of a crash. Then they were saying there’s a car fire. After a very long time, I got to the scene. The fire seemed to be out, but the Fire Department was still hosing it. It was a camper, and all that was left was the frame. (What is it with campers breaking down all the time?)

I got home at 19:00. Three hours and 45 minutes to drive 120 miles home.

I was quite annoyed having to sit in traffic, making my already-long commute longer. But as I cruised along at 85 or 90 mph it occurred to me that someone’s 4th of July holiday was ruined. Perspective, I guess.

Dinner was kimchi, followed by cottage cheese, followed by surimi salad, followed by ‘extra sharp’ (Ch’ya. As if!) Tillamook cheddar cheese. And some red plonk.

71

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 13c/56f with a predicted high of 17c/62f, and partly cloudy. Weather app says “Today is a good fucking day for a good fucking day”. I suppose that’s a fair assessment! There’s no rain in the forecast so that’s a good thing.

Have you seen a doc about that? Sounds like you should be taking yourself to consult a medical professional now.

WetOne that is one zen-like kitteh!

That is good news, I am hopeful for you that it was a one-off event. You have far too many other things going on in your life to have this hanging over you as well. Also, no need to apologise for venting, we are here to listen and offer whatever support we can! Even if it’s just virtual hugs to you, FCD and MIL.

Coppertone I am seriously wondering what kind of quiz you’re taking that allows so many fails. Our work ones normally allow a maximum of three fails before you get dumped out and have to take the entire course again.

That is exactly the level of kindness I love about you! When ex-hub and I bought a house, the previous owner left me a mini map of the garden with notes about all the stuff she’d planted and how to care for it. That kept me very busy for the short time I lived there :slight_smile:

I had a very relaxed evening last night, didn’t have any particular plans so I had a lazy soak in the bath and some sofa time with Shadow. This morning I was up reasonably early given it’s a home day so no rush to do anything. I hauled the biiiiiig rubbish bin out for collection, still waiting for the dustcart to come round. Last week they were here by 7am but I think that’s because it was predicted to be scorchio last week, and this week it is the opposite. Anyway, it’s domestic rubbish so they won’t bother looking in the bins, our idiot neighbours are safe until next week.

Since I am allegedly such a nice person (and I’ve been doing my job longer than almost anyone I know), I’ve been volunteered to do a training session tomorrow for a clutch of newbies, giving them a quick tour of one of our reporting systems. That means I need to spend today deciding what they need, and putting together a presentation of some sort for them. We have an all-staff meeting in the morning for a couple of hours, then I get to do my thing in the afternoon.

Better get my thinking cap on!

72

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 78 Amurrkin out and mostly cloudy with a predicted high of 90 and possible on and off rain showers. We shall see. Today is laundry day. I can hardly contain myself. Outside of that ‘twill be RDOS as per usual. I will get the dry rub on the ribs so’s they can go in the smoker tomorrow mornin’. Sup shall be leftovers from yestiddy.

VanGo if you haven’t yet, sounds like you need to see the doc soonest.

MetalMouse hope the choochoo ride back to N’awlins is uneventful, but fun.

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

Happy Tuesday Y’all!

73

We have one similar in the dining room, tho it’s 3X14 or something like that - it’s a long, skinny vent. Plus it’s got a deflector on top to direct the air into the room instead of up - a deflector that’s constantly getting kicked out of place by little feets.

When we bought our house in Virginia, I would have loved a note from the previous owners telling us what the one switch in the hallway did. We never figured it out in the 3 years we lived there. For all we know, every time we flicked it, the neighbor’s lights went on!!

There was a 3-car crash just north of Leonardtown on Rt 5 (a 2-lane road) which pretty much cut of travel on that road unless you took a long detour. Not sure how long it took to clear, but the visiting nurse was about 90 minutes later than normal. It doesn’t take much on our county roads to screw up many commutes. Glad to be a RDOS!

It’s a grand, glorious, and totally unseasonable 60° this morning. I left the house opened last night and actually had to throw an afghan over my side of the bed. But I got close to 7 hours of sleep - huzzah!! And apart from a couple of errands, I haven’t made any plans. I may take the weed whacker to the ditch and whack the overgrown grass and weeds. Not sure what else, but I’m sure I’ll figure out something.

Of notice to very few of you, but I still found this interesting: Cruise prices now include the taxes and fees right up front. I don’t know if this was a gov’t mandate or they all agreed because travelers were pissed. It used to be they’d post pretty low fares, but in fine print at the bottom, they’d list the taxes and port fees that would raise the cost by several hundred or more. But now you see that up front without doing math! If only they’d include “crew appreciation” in there, too. (that’s the almost mandatory tip to cover the room stewards, food service workers, and such, because they don’t have to pay much to the crew.) Whatevs - it’s still a cheap vacation if you like that sort of vacation. I’m already half-planning for a Panama Canal transit when MIL is gone.

I’ve gleefully discovered that Waldorf (where the stadium is located) has a 70% chance of rain on Thursday. I know the grands would love the bouncy houses and fireworks, but I really don’t want to go. Is it evil of me to keep my fingers crossed for bad weather? Because if it doesn’t rain, it’ll be mid-90s in a big, open field. Yeah, I’m marginally evil…

Happy Tuesday anyway!!

74

Hi. Job interview for different job in about 2.5 hours. Little bit nervous…

75

Morning all. Been away awhile because I made a huge mistake. I said (out loud) that I was proud of making my life decluttered and free of obligations. If any of you heard thunder a few weeks ago, it was the Gods guffawing while sharpening their blades/lightning/etc.

Having received my comeuppance, I meekly return to say hello now that I have some time to relax.

I shall now return to my RDOS-ing duties, with plans for minor maintenance, and welcoming the youngest back from the old world.

[updating draft: one day later]
Youngest arrived in the wee-hours last night, after most of a day spent in various airplanes. Thankfully her BF offered to handle the late-night journey thru the city to fetch her. I managed to rouse myself enough to welcome the returnee and we all hit the sack. For some reason I slept really well, and have the house to myself this morning.

Also heard from eldest, who narrowly escaped Hurricane Beryl and is now happily back home. Escaped, as in “negotiated with company scheduling boffins” who wanted him to overnight in the path of the storm – not as in “fleeing danger at the last minute.”

Plans for the remainder of the week are: RDOS-ing, ribs on the smoker, beer, patio. Maybe something productive but I plan to minimize that.

Wishing a good week to everyone. Hopefully mine will be calmer and I can return with boring stories about cooking and pets.

76

Mornin’ all.

It’s 55F and mostly cloudy and dark. There will be considerable clouds this morning, with some clouds decreasing later in the day. The expected high temperature is 74F.

VanGo, get thee to a doctor! Seriously, I’m worried about you!

FCM, you keep coming here to vent. We’re all here for you. Also, you’re not evil for wanting lousy weather for the 4th. I would prefer it to be wet and icky, too, but it promises to be a scorcher of a day. We have lots of idiots with illegal fireworks around here, and I’m not looking forward to the day. Some asshole just let off fireworks at four this morning. The assholery becomes worse every year.

JtC, yay for a new washer and dryer! I’m glad that GG will soon have a friend, and I hope the introduction period goes smoothly.

Flyboy, that camper fire made the news yesterday. I immediately thought of you and wondered if you were stuck in the mess.

Sticky, I wish you luck and calmness in the interview. I hope it goes well.

Yesterday was an in-office day and my third quarter conversation/review. I’m still killing it; nothing but good words. I was somewhat productive and back home by 3:45. I logged back in to take care of some emails that rolled in during my commute home and logged back off.

I need to make travel arrangements today for my upcoming weeklong safety tour of each office. I don’t really want to go, but the bosses have leave and travel plans. How fortunate for them! I was hoping the Deputy would take on the final office so I could come home on Thursday, but he’s on leave. So, I’ll do a big circle-Olympia, Yakima, Spokane, Wenatchee, and Mount Vernon. Right now, I’m trying to decide if I’ll leave the office in Olympia on Monday, travel to Yakima via Hwy 12, or return home and leave early on Tuesday for Yakima via Hwy 410. I prefer traveling via 410 because there are no semi trucks and that early in the morning; there is no traffic, just animals like deer, elk, and bears.

I need to water my posies today since they didn’t get a drink yesterday. I’m pretty worried about their fate while I’m gone. I have to remind the hubby to water them in my absence constantly, and he always forgets about the plants and baskets on the front porch.

Today is garbage and yard recycle bin day. Both bins were rolled out last night, so we’re good. The yard bin was full, so I’m glad it’ll be emptied today because I need to prune some bushes out front.

Okay, time to get that dishwasher sloshing. Wishing you all a calm, peaceful day.

77

The quiz had multiple choice answers and I methodically changed one at a time but still. A lot of this was not covered in the videos.
They have people who talk but do not know how to run the business.
I decided to check reviews; it opened new last Oct., and 90 % are 1 star.

78

Morning all. My train just entered Mississippi and we might actually be early arriving. Made a hotel reservation up the road in Pascalaousa Miss. for tonight so It’ll be about a 6-hour drive home tomorrow.

Have read all your stories and will try to respond more once I can get some Wi-fi working. Have a good 2sday all.

79

OK, this isn’t a rant, but it’s something perplexing that you might be able to offer insight into.

At her lowest, MIL was 87#. She’s now up to 101#, and much of her adult life, she was between 130-140#. She doesn’t understand why she’s still wearing size 6 pants despite gaining 14#. But she can’t see herself in a mirror and she’s pretty much skeletal. What weight she’s gained is likely mostly fat because she’s unable to exercise. Walking 30 steps leaves her wheezing and occasionally on oxygen. And I expect she burns a lot more calories than I do walking the same distance because it’s such hard work for her.

I don’t know what to tell her. She thinks she’ll be back into her size 10 pants - I think it’s an impossible dream. She thinks she eats a lot - I doubt she takes in more than 1200 calories a day. I don’t know - I hate to burst her hope bubble, but it ain’t gonna happen. Just don’t know…

80

Indeed I was. :frowning: I found a video from King5. Since I hate watching video, I looked for a text article. Fox said the backup was 13 miles long. Believe them. It was.