(Old) Spot the Lunatic - A Cat MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
161

Yay, I’m finally caught up this week.

Not at all unseemly. Does your facility not have a written or perhaps unwritten rule that lanes can/should be more than one person to a lane? At the outdoor aquatic facility several blocks from our house, there is an olympic size pool and even so, the lanes fill up. So, you just wait until someone comes to the end of the lane, then ask if it is ok to share the lane. Of course, the answer is 99% Yes. So, if I were you, I would have asked if I could share a lane with one of them which hopefully would give them the hint to get in the same lane together. Oh, and at the city Rec center, the lanes in the 25 yd indoor pool fill up frequently and the same rule applies. The people sharing a lane can decide whether they want to circle swim or each swim next to the same lane marker both coming and going.

I was flabberghasted yesterday when the nurse at Hub’s cardiology appointment said she never gets vaccines and is against them. Hubs wanted to talk with her about it but I kind of shut the discussion down because there would not have been a positive conclusion.

oh my goodness, oh my goodness; how can these nurses be so anti-science?

I think it was just because Nov 1 was a Friday and that makes Thanksgiving the latest it possibly could be in November.

Hubs wanted to go to the Butterfly movie at the museum today but I have a lot of things to do at home: dishes, swiffering, stripping bed and making with fresh sheets, some WFH, so he went to see a movie on dinasours instead. We’ll go to see the butterfly movie on Friday. Also went to an appointment with a financial advisor to get some info on MRD Minimum Required Distributions and QCD Qualified Charitable Distribution and conversion to Roth IRA. A lot of food for thought. On way home stopped at the Pierogi store, got there 1 minute after close and rapped on the door. A gentleman came to the door and I asked if I could possibly get one dozen pierogi. He said yes, so now Hubs has his Potato & Onion pierogi. He picked up a pizza for dinner.

Gritters?
After reading nellie’s response, I’m thinking maybe it means snow plows.
Oh wait a minute, do you mean something that is spreading sand on the streets? Yeah, in the Mitten, at least in SE Mitten, that isn’t done. If it’s an inch or so, salt is spread, if more than about 2", sometimes less, the snow is plowed.

red Safe driving! And have a wonderful time with your Dad.

hippie looking forward to seeing the quilt assembled. I’m liking the material and the colors.

ok, you mmp-tease. :stuck_out_tongue:

162

Happy Hump Day!

I forgot to take my pills yesterday, and that included magnesium pills. I got horrible leg cramps in the middle of the night. I can’t believe one day off would do that, but that seems to be how it is. Every time I miss them, I get cramps in my legs.

More rain tonight, which I wasn’t expecting.
It was a miserable drive home.

Sorry you got snow BooFae. It seems a bit early, but I guess that depends on where you are.

Have fun playing in the weather with your Jeep Nettie and Bob
I remember my father taking me to an empty (well mostly empty) icy parking lot when I learned to drive. It was a fairly safe place to learn how to steer and break on icy roads. It was mostly empty because we weren’t the only ones out there.
Probably a good thing to learn how to drive in icky conditions when you are relaxed and having fun instead of having to learn in real life conditions.
Don’t trust any idiot lights though.
Years ago I got a new truck that had idiot lights. I was driving home late at night on an icy road. There were three lanes on each side with a concrete median inbetween.
The idiot light kept telling me to shift, but it didn’t feel right, The damn light kept blinking, so I did.
Big mistake.
I slid to the left and bounced of the curb, then slid to the right and bounced off the curb, then slid spun to the left through an opening in the median, bounced off the curb on the other side and stopped sitting sideways across all three lanes of oncoming traffic. Which being late at night, there were only a few cars.
One person asked if I was okay. I was. I was more embarrassed than anything.
I wasn’t even driving that fast, probably 15 mph. The whole thing was in slow motion, I just couldn’t do anything.
Trust your gut, not the lights.
I’m too old for that stuff now.

How scary for you FlyBoy

My boys are a bit protective of me Swampy, but I wonder what they would do if the threat was real.
Most people won’t mess with a dog in a car though. Once I stopped at Sheetz for gas, a not so nice one (now torn down) where the homeless hung out. Three of them started walking towards me, when Ripple sat up to look out the window. As soon as they saw him, all three did a 180 and walked the other way.

I don’t know what is up with the boys, they don’t like to ride in the truck anymore. Rayleigh acts like he’s afraid to jump in. I’ve been debating buying an agility course for them, more to build their confidence than anything else.

{{{VanGo}}}

Nice work as always Hippie

It’s 11 already.

163

Wait… What?

In other news, here’s the title of a post somebody made on Nextdoor: ‘Existentialist Rebel Goats wreaking havoc and possibly casting spells on the corner of White Road and Giles!’ (Pictures of goats grazing next to a DEAD END sign.)

164

  Look at it, this way…

  Where I was, there were not any Sacramento drivers for me to contend with, other than myself.

165

I like your style…

Nettie, Bob-B, ummmm, you do share a house, don’t you? :wink: :grin: :laughing:

red, safe journeying.

Hippie, your quilting skills still amaze me.

shoe,guess I’ll read the nice news tomorrow, it’s getting on 11pm here and sleep-time beckons.

Coppertone, enjoy your bounty. Don’t recall if I’ve ever had baklava before, probably have but just don’t remember it.

Now don’t be lying to us; we’ve come to know you too well.

{{VanGo}}. Get a good night’s rest and see what Thorsday brings.

Cat Glove, nice of the store manager to fill your order, lots of folks would have said ‘we’re closed’ and been done with it. And yeah, gritters are using fine sand or other ‘gritty’ material in lieu of salt; often found in areas that have only occasional snow, not the heavy snowfalls up north (at least IMHO).

{{Sari}}, do you have a pill box or something that can remind you? Both my pill bottles are right by the computer, so I see them every morning. Oh, and…

Truth.

Did go back to the gym, and for the second day in a row I forgot my T-shirt to work out in, so I bought another one at the gym shop (it’s only $18 and I needed a couple more anyway). I find if I’m rushing too fast that something will slip by me (gotten into the car a couple times this week with my wallet, watch, to-do list, gym bag…and no car keys…

And it’s 11pm here already, so off to slumberland. Catch y’all tomorrow.

166

Well, an apartment :wink: . We still argue via text or FB Messenger while sitting in the same room. I find that arguments get more coherent when I type them.

167

I hope you get a lot of restorative sleep, and I truly hope tomorrow is a slightly better day.

But … but … butterflies?!? :face_holding_back_tears:

I was already being long-winded earlier, plus had kitchen plans that involved checking for needed supplies, and, of course, saying a few bad words while heading back out to the Gettin’ Sto.

Other than that minor piffle, though, today just … turned out to be a Good Day, and that’s so damn rare for me.

I had my Weird Chicken Salad ™ to look forward to, so the day already started off good.

We got a few tiny bits of snow :snowflake: this afternoon, the first of the year. I smiled many happy smiles, then literally hugged the pizza warmer when I came back in. (Hey. My fingers were chilly! I wasn’t really dressed for winter, although before I forgot, I stashed a mom-knitted scarf in my car for tomorrow night’s drive-thru adventures.)

What else? Ah, S.M. had invited me back to her home for T-Day already :slight_smile: and was discussing the menu today. Her mom just had surgery & their whole fam needs to take it easy, so instead of roasting a turkey there will be spiral ham, and I am not at all mad about that.
There will still be rolls, and mashed N.O.T. and deviled eggs, and she has promised to make something she calls Crack Green Beans which I will happily try.

Then during a quiet moment, S.M. asked me to go back with her into the kitchen. That usually means 1a.) I’m gonna be asked to to some side task I’d frankly really rather not do, or 2b.) I’m in trouble and 'bout to be getting a talking-to.

Hey! It’s not just me. That’s standard procedure. The back kitchen is where the Big Important conversations happen in hushed voices.

Anyway, then she asked me to go into the walk-in. Where I knew no tasks needed to be done, so I thought, “Oh, shit, it’s gonna be one of those conversations?”

Was mentally cleaning out my locker while wondering what in hell I’d done wrong.

… I got a 50c/hr raise. She just wanted to keep it quiet.

It’s not much, economy-wise. I’m not delusional that this will buy me a Mercedes.
But it’s more that this is - explicitly - how they reward, I dunno, good behavior? This is how they say, “We see you busting your ass.” (It has been quietly but again very explicitly stated, if you do the bare minimum, you don’t have much chance for a raise. Which I’d say is fair.)

So it was nice to feel recognized, cuz I do really try hard. Even if I make undignified noises lifting some of the heavier tubs (or just begging someone younger & stronger to please help a scrawny, decrepit old woman…) and occasionally have a let me go outside before I lose my shit smoke break.

But wait, there’s more! :slight_smile:

I worked not even a solid 4 hrs (the “walk-in news” took some of the $ sting out of that) but it meant I had the mental & physical bandwidth to do kitchen & procurement stuff.

I now have all the fixin’s for pot roast (that half-box of red wine in the fridge from the last time I made some is still good … right?) and got the crock pot insert washed, so imma set all that up tonight to cook overnight, wake up to a weird breakfast a lovely smelling home, and have something hopefully delishush to bring tomorrow for closing shift.

Cuz that chicken salad? It was too delishush. Didn’t survive the night. Ate the whole damn thing.
Absolutely nothing left of it for tomorrow, but a full & happy tummy tonight.

And hopefully, again tomorrow.

So nothing monumental, as far as good news. I’m sorry if I made anyone think it was gonna be some big important thing.

Just a day, finally, of a series of little happy events, and while there are still wolves howling around my door (hello, IRS back-owe I sorta conveniently half-forgot about!) I am at least comfortable in the very immediate sense (no utilities about to be shut off, right-now food and for-later food both sorted out) and if I don’t fuck up this pot roast, which would take some serious fuckuppery, I have an enjoyable way to spend my evening AND another delishush meal to look forward to tomorrow at work.

168

Oh, wait ONE MORE! :partying_face:

'Member I wanted to get my dad a birthday gift, it never arrived, charges reversed, card canceled, I couldn’t buy groceries, all that nonsense?

Guess what arrived yesterday?

Now I feel like an asshole for believing him about it being a scam & reversing the charges (he was the one who said he did “research” into the company, and I just rolled with it) but ultimately, I’m glad it arrived.

He said the instructions were “difficult to follow” but it seemed like he was up for the challenge.

Even better, he texted me about an hour ago.

For background, this man has almost no hobbies or interests, an engineering background, and speaks (spoke?) five languages fluently.

I got this:

With additional help from Youtube videos (my Chinese is not good enough) I succeeded to assemble it and it works. Was a good engineering refreshment practice for me. Thanks again for choosing it for my birthday. Love you

The “Chinese language” thing is, I’m pretty sure, his sly attempt at a joke. I DID mention fluent in five (other) languages?

Also, I’m so, so very happy to have found something that gives his brain something challenging - but fun - to chew on.

169

TL:DR

I got a (small) raise, my dad got his b-day gift after all, and I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving Day.

170

My stuff arrived. Yay!

I’m cleaning out the dark portal to chaos, aka the pantry cupboard. It’s over 4’ tall and very deep, and since it’s made out of dark wood particle board covered in coffee-colored contact paper, you can’t see what’s in the far reaches. I have to reorganize it just to find out what I have in there.

I have new neighbors., both upstairs and next door. I don’t know when they sneaked in here, but the ones next door were already having an argument. That bodes well. So far, except for the usual sounds of moving furniture, the people upstairs seem…well, I don’t want to jinx it.

I can hardly keep my eyes open. I’ll have to pick this up again tomorrow.

171

I think we may have a wormhole connection. If you go in and come out in Kansas don’t be surprised. My dog Mauser will greet you, he loves everyone.

172

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. One wonders what chaos Corporate and the Blueberries will cause today. Spot is currently fighting an uncooked egg noodle.

One of the best parts of the Dope is online sposal arguments.

Yay!

I mean, you could always roast some of the surplus ASFs. :mouse2:

173

Well, there’s the practical solution. And then there’s

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Great-Value-Wireless-LED-Large-Tap-Light/5000026176

or

ZKLiLi Cute Cat Lamp, Night Light for Girls Bedroom, Kitty Lamp Birthday Gifts for Kids Baby Toddler Teen Portable Silicone Kawaii Nightlight Nursery Room Decor (Battery Cat) Amazon.com: ZKLiLi Cute Cat Lamp, Night Light for Girls Bedroom, Kitty Lamp Birthday Gifts for Kids Baby Toddler Teen Portable Silicone Kawaii Nightlight Nursery Room Decor (Battery Cat) : Baby

174

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently -1c/30f with a predicted high of 2c/35f, and mostly sunny. Weather app says “It’s colder than a fucking golddigger’s heart.” But it’s sunny, what more do you need?

You only got her for part of the night, you’re only partly forgiven :slight_smile: Perhaps you were supposed to make it up to her with something extra special for her breakfast?

flyboy I’m glad you survived the weather event unscathed, and that La Jefa is sensible about keeping people safe at home. I’m sorry there was a life lost though :frowning:

Sticky Buns I hope you manage that half-marathon and of course you deserve to do that.

I hope you got some decent sleep though, and staying in a nest of blankets while you get Monkey snuggles sounds much better than actually getting up.

How fabulous! I’m not surprised she couldn’t wait to tell you, and being only 19 miles from you is a massive bonus.

Then you will surely appreciate this: Scottish Gritter Tracker - after the success of Boaty McBoatface, the Scots decided to let the public name the gritters…

How awful! I’m glad you missed it, and I hope it will perhaps encourage the property owners to do something about the lack of lighting.

hippie such beautiful work!

{{{{{VanGo}}}}}

It’s actually crushed rock salt, but everyone calls it grit because we’re British and we’re perverse like that.

Yay! It might not be a fortune, but it’s so good to be rewarded and recognised for all the good you do.

Yesterday the Travel Gods were capricious as ever, the journey into campus was horrible and the trip home was slightly smoother but not without delays. Today was pretty much a repeat performance, but I got home in time to get dinner and go to the pub with my friends. We went somewhere local that has a very flat car park so we didn’t do too much slipping and sliding. Had a good night, and was home in bed before midnight.

Today I slipped and slid to the end of the street and then walked in the road along to the bus stop for the non-arriving bus :frowning: Made it here in the end though, and I am hoping the trip home tonight will be less annoying.

175

Definitely better.

I think I’ve figured out his secret, though. One of my blankets seems to bring out the “must knead!” in him.

Found him curled in it when I got home, after a moment of panic since he wasn’t 1a) at the door howling, or, 2b) elsewhere … until I checked my bed, and woke him from a dead-ass sound sleep (“mrrrrp?”).

176

‘Round these parts you can buy bottled Arby’s horsey sauce at the grocery store.

Wow! I can’t say that I ever do that. Good for you. :grin:

Nice work!

Is there someone that you can talk to that can help (other than us) because you surely deserve to keep going and feel better. :purple_heart:

All your new was fantastic! Congratulations!!!

This morning I go to my mini-job again. I hope that the principal has come up with a schedule for when I will see my students. It appears to me that I’ll have time each day I’m there for planning which is good because otherwise I’m going to ask for more hours. I’m not a regular teacher and I don’t want to have to do work for free at home. The other thing that I really hope is that I won’t have to make up compensatory minutes for the whole rest of the year. I’m sure the kids hope that, too. The girl was not happy about spending two whole hours with me the other day and was all concerned about missing out on what was going on in her classes while she was gone.

Ok, off to feed myself and the poodle!

177

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 43 (BRRR!) Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 61 and N.O.S. I have a doc and vampire appointment at eight-thirty this mornin’. This means no food until after. I shall text OYKW when I’m done and we will meet at Pearly’s, a local really good breakfast and N.O.L. place. Then it will be back to da cave for RDOS inactivities as it our wont. May need to crank up the heat for the first time.

Cat_Glove hooray for daughter bein’ so much closer!

shoe hooray for the raise and nummy pot roast!

flyboy glad you survived the weather event. La Jefa seems like a boss who cares.

Lucky yikes! Glad you weren’t there when it happened.

Hippie nice work!

I know there’s a lot I missed makin’ comments about, so yays, boos, hugs, trouts, chitlins, noogies, and how you doin’s all around, as needed.

Now I need more caffeine and I suppose I must purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed , alas, bother and woe.

Happy Thursday Y’all!

178

Good morning.

It’s 41F, dark, and cloudy. The sky will be cloudy all day, with periods of rain showers and a high temperature of 50F.

Lucky, I’m so glad you weren’t hurt!

CatGlove, how nice that your daughter will be so much closer to you!

Shoe, excellent news! Every little bit helps with income, and I’m glad your Dad liked his gift.

VanGo, sending you hugs.

Nice work, Hippy!

Yesterday did indeed bring me all sorts of fresh hell in my email, but I got through it. Today brings another day of problem-solving and employee soothing, and maybe I’ll get some real work done. Nah, probably not.

Today, however, is my Friday, so I’ve got that to look forward to.

179

I have morning meds and evening meds. The morning pill box is right next to my toothpaste - always start the day with clean teeth and fresh breath! :grin: For the evening, I have a reminder on Alexa, because braining is hard in the evening. It works. I try to take the doses 12 hours apart, since one of the pills is my seizure meds and I try to keep the level steady in my system. It does work that way, right??

My daughter’s pantry is like a deeper-than-usual coat closet, so while there’s lots of shelf space, much of it is marginally impossible to use. But they manage, I guess. There may well be very expired stuff in the back. Not my problem.

shoe - congrats on the raise! I remember when I got a 25¢ raise, but it was a bigger deal back in 1971, since I was making $2/hr, so that was like a 12.5% raise! Back when gas was under 50¢/gallon. Good times. Anyway, yay for all your good news!

We got some serious rain and wind last night, yet there are still leaves on the trees? What’s up with that?? Looking at the week ahead, it appears Moanday will be a good day to tend to the leaves - they’ll have some time to dry and the temps will be going up a bit (it’s 39° this morning.)

My main chore for today is cleaning the mess that is the smoker. We’ll bring it into the garage and I need to get some sort of food-safe degreaser to scrub down the innards. I know they won’t look like new, but the crud needs to be minimized. Plus all the parts that can come out will be sink-scrubbed. So I have that to look forward to. rah.

No other plans so far. I do need to shower and dress, and I need to put the basement back together. When we’ve had heavy rain in the past, we’ve occasionally had water get into the basement. I had to move the mattresses just in case. I can move them back now. But I’m going to put them on some 2X4s to keep them off the carpet, and I won’t have to play this game again.

Maybe while I’m down there, I’ll sort thru MIL’s boxes and see what Daughter might want and what will definitely go to the thrift store. None of it’s in the way at the moment, but I’d still like it gone. I’ve also been thinking in terms of getting rid of things when she’s gone - like her clothes and recliners (Daughter wants one.) The call FCD will have to make is about photos and knicky-knacky stuff of hers.

His middle brother had given her a statue based on the sailor kissing the nurse on VE Day (or was it VJ day?) as well as another of a couple three wolf heads. I find them extremely tacky, but if FCD wants to keep them, we’ll find a place for them. There are also several smaller statuettes that I’d toss but it’s not my call. And her jewelry… But there will be time to deal with that. It may all wind up in a box in the basement till he’s ready to get rid of it.

The other thing I’m half-planning - his parents requested that their cremains be spread in Cade’s Cove, so we’ll be making a trip out there fairly soon (I assume) after his mom dies. I’ve been looking up hotels in the area - there’s no way we can manage that as a day trip. I haven’t discussed any of this with him yet - he’s dealing with enough crap emotionally.

So, anyway, that’s my brain dump for today.

Happy Thursday!!

180

The murder I posted about upthread didn’t take place in the gym’s parking lot, as nextdoor.com breathlessly informed us at first. It took place across the street from the gym in a seedy apartment building. The suspect was identified by witnesses and quickly located and arrested. It’s the only murder for the year in our quiet small town.

Today is dental checkup and cleaning day, and then afterwards it’s off to a great new Thai restaurant in south San Jose. Then maybe a drive in the country to take advantage of the clear weather before the weeklong atmospheric river hits us. It’ll be chilly and dank, so maybe it’s time to take out the chicken carcasses and bones which have been accumulating in the freezer and make a big pot of chicken noodle soup.