(Old) Strange Places and Milestones in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
181

Morning, mumpers! It’s 18c/64f with a predicted high of 20c/69f, and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “No matter the fucking weather, make sure you bring the sunshine wherever you go. And snacks. Don’t forget the fucking snacks.” I suspect weather app has been let down badly in the past!

shoe I’m sorry you’ve got something you don’t want to face, just remember we’re all here for you when you’re ready.

nellie I hope you managed to get some relief from the pain and you’ve had some sleep too. Napping during the day is highly encouraged!

Lily sorry to hear you and your lovely wife have had enforced slothage, I hope you’re both feeling better for it now.

Pilot must seem very strange to come to the last of everything and then just kind of fade out of things :frowning:

Busy day today, we have pre-exam board scrutiny and people are quibbling about stuff they should know better than to make a fuss over. I think a lot of tea will be in order today!

182

{{{shoe}}}

A gloriously chilly 57° this morning - I actually donned my fuzzy robe since the house was wide open all night… well, at least some windows were open. I need to leave around 9:15 or so to meet with our money guy and set my annuity payout in motion. FCD doesn’t need to go, so he’ll continue working in his shop - building stuff for the school.

Before I leave, I need to load the dishwasher (didn’t feel like it last night) and do some rollsucking since Ziva has been shedding more than usual of late. I was also going to mow, but it would be too much of a rush to get it done early, then get cleaned up for my appointment, so I’ll do that when I get home.

Damned dog next door got into our yard last night and hurt Higgs. This is the 4th time, tho it’s been months since the last occurrence and I thought the last fence fix was enough. I’ll try to take care of that today also. Not going to get into a pissing contest with the neighbor - just going to make it so his dog can’t get to mine.

We’re all going out to breakfast tomorrow morning to pre-celebrate Daughter’s birthday. SIL and FCD decided on Bob Evans. They don’t serve Coke products, so I guess I’ll be drinking water. Oh well… I’ll survive… Not sure what the rest of the weekend will hold, apart from getting stupid hot again on Sunday and Labor Day. Dammit. I’m ready for autumn!

Happy Firday and Happy September 1th!!!

183

Morning all. It’s only 68F here this morning, heading to 85F and a 35% chance of rain this morning. Nothing on the agenda except the usual swimming and sauna, might do a little more housekeeping, we’ll see.

{{{group hug}}} to nellie and shoe and for that matter, and other Mumper who needs it.

FCM, hope Higgs is doing OK. Neighbor sounds like a bit of an ass. And..

Land Mines?

doggio, thanks for the description, I was wondering about that too. Guess no free samples…

JtC, I’ll gladly add NF to the list of good people.

OK, need to be about the day, Happy 1st of September all.

184

The problem is where a tree fell on our fence - it’s too big for us to cut up ourselves so I put a barrier across that section of fence/tree trunk. The idiot dog managed to get past the barrier. I have a better, less easy to install, piece of fencing that I’ll use for the barrier. Damned dog.

185

Probably a good idea that you stopped doing that. A lot of vanilla in Mexico is doctored with tonka bean extract, which has a similar taste to vanilla, but contains coumarin, which is toxic to your liver. It’s been banned by the FDA for many decades, but scammers gonna scam.

186

G’morning all. A surprising 77F here, but weatherfolk claim it’ll be 100 or so by afternoon. Now that it’s September, I can look forward to cooler (relatively speaking) temps and maybe back away from the 3 digit numbers for a while. But this week is predicted to climb up to 106 or so, depending on who’s website it is. (who’s? whose? Still can’t figure that one out)

Dang Nellie. I hope things ease up for you soon. Trying to time and manage meds is tough. It seems they run out before the pain does. Wishing you the best during this time {{N}}.

Pilot, I hope retirement is still a big celebration for you, even if the only event is no more messages from crew scheduling. That’ll be a good thing, right? It seems like a career such as yours should have a bigger send off though. Still glad you’re getting to retire. It’s glorious at least from my POV.

Speaking of, we’re packing for a month+ RV-ing trip to the Canadian Border. We’ll be doing our best to follow the Rule of Two’s for RV-ers (max 200 miles/day, off the road by 2pm., stay for 2 days). Deviating from the rule some, but will hang out for a few days in Monument Valley, Dinosaur Monument, Moab, Green River, and even explore route 66 for a while. I like leisurely trips now that we have the time.

It seems as though everything is finally coming together. The workmen have finished destroying my yard and shoved all the dirt back to (sort of) level. Water and internet have been restored. The noisy construction equipment has waddled away to torture some other suburbanites, and the repairs to our camper are finally finished. Just some last minute cleaning and arrangements with kiddos to visit the house occasionally. This will be the first trip into (real) mountains with the new truck, so I guess that will be an experiment. But I’m confident it’ll work out.

When we get back, we’re going to start looking for another dog. Or dogs. We miss having them terribly, but don’t want to adopt just before a long trip. They (notice how quickly I went to plural?) need time to settle into their new home. Will bore everyone with the details, I promise.

Will check in via phone from time to time during the next month. Have a good week/month everyone.

187

Good morning!

It’s 59F, dark and cloudy outside. The expected high is 80F with sunny skies. Tomorrow’s high will be 88F.

It rained off and on all day yesterday, which was nice.

nellie, I sure hope last night was a better night.

FCM, I’m sorry that the neighbor’s dog hurt Higgs. I hope you can get the barrier up so it doesn’t happen again.

pilot, I agree that a career like yours needs a nice send-off for retirement. I hope you receive one.

pullin, your trip sounds glorious. I am slightly jealous and look forward to updates about the trip.

shoe, sending you hugs.

lily, I hope you and your lovely wife are feeling better today.

Work was work, and more silliness occurred, but I plopped that stuff right back where it belongs, which is not my lap. I signed out on time and realized I had forgotten to leave an out-of-office message this morning, so I took care of that when I got up at 4:00 a.m.

The husband is picking up his new glasses today! Huzzah! I hope they work. He bitched and moaned about his last prescription and refused to wear his glasses unless driving. Then they broke, and he’s been without corrective lenses for at least four years. It drove me insane!!! I finally told him that he gets glasses or doesn’t get to drive anymore because driving with him had become a little scary. So, he got glasses.

Originally, we had made some plans to do a little backroad exploring today, but since he’s getting but since my husband is picking up his glasses, I don’t know if he’ll still want to do that. Seems we should be able to pick up his specs and then go, but he likes to leave late for things and I HATE that.

If we don’t explore, I’ll run some errands.

My granddaughter’s 5th birthday is this Sunday. This will be the first birthday that I miss. :frowning_face: I ordered stuff through Amazon yesterday, but since they’re in the sticks, it won’t arrive until the 7th of September. Now I know that I need to order stuff way early if I want it to get there on time.

Alright! I need to finish my coffee and get on with the day!

188

Loaded the dishwasher, sucked up a metric assload of cat hair, showered, dressed, and stopped at Walmart for dog treats. About to enter the credit union to start my annuity.

Good times!

:grin:

189

The experiment did not go as planned. The good part is it is the tickle, not position.

The recline position meant the lager slept on the foot part, I was not able to use it. He thought this was great fun. He always liked that part of the couch.

Then I started a book around 11 pm, then finished the book, didn’t feel tired and read the sequel. Finished that at 5ish am, drifted off around 5 :30.

Turns out if I go 15-20 minutes without drinking, the tickle starts. That would be the usual time range for falling asleep. I did try the honey, that did help lengthen the time to about 30 minutes.

I’m betting there will be nap time with lager today.

190

Having a bad knee day (BKD) today. Very sore for some reason, perhaps the aftermath of my heroic 6-block walk on Tuesday. :roll_eyes: Got some ice on it now and took a couple of Excedrin. I keep forgetting not to push things too hard and too soon. Gotta try to get in some of the exercises today despite any pain. Sloth is the enemy.

Finally convinced the wife to see the doctor about her persistent rash. She needs a referral to see a dermo to get this under control. She also needs some knee x-rays to see what’s causing all her pain. Stubborn, she is.

191

So, maybe a golf cart?

OK, ya lost me there. Why (and how) would you solidify wine being shipped?

Hugs and hopes for coming back to functional solutions.

{{{nellie, shoe and rocker}}}

Do you have a security camara Moooooom? I hate it that Higgs isn’t safe in her own yard, but proof of the neighbor dog’s actions could have them on the hook for any vet bills.

I envy your RV trip yanker. And I hope that you find a couple of lucky pooches to join you on your next trip.

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted, a load of towels / grocery bags in the dryer, clothes in the wash and about an hour of work on the studio project done. Other than working in the studio, KP, laundry and buying groceries, not much is on the plate today.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

192

Nope, no cameras. I’ll just reinforce the barrier and be done with it.

Back from the credit union. Starting next month, money will be dumped into our account here in town. Part will pay for Tobias to go to the Montessori school. The rest is fun money. Just in time for our trim south!

193

It’s another gorgeous day, and my windows are open again! :smiley: I wasn’t able to keep them open all night, though, because it was just a touch too warm in the house at bedtime and I needed to turn the ac on. I’ll see what tonight brings, though.

I’m so glad it’s September: not only will it bring cooler weather, it also brings my birthday – and I’m definitely still enough of a kid at heart to get a little excited about the whole “birthday month” thing, even though I hardly ever mention it to others. (You guys don’t count. :wink: ) Birthdays really don’t matter at this point, and I sincerely/honestly/truly don’t care whether anyone remembers/comments on mine, but I do spend most of the day kind of secretly extra happy. I already have plans this year: one of my musician friends has a gig on my birthday, so I’ll get to spend the evening at one of my favorite venues hearing some great music (she might even let me sing a tune or two).

In other news, it’s official: an MLB TV subscription is useless for watching the Yankees. I checked last night, and every single game in September is blacked out (I presume because of the YES broadcasts). Ah, well. I’m not enough of a sports fan to watch anyone other than the Yankees or Nationals during the regular season, and with both teams blacked out for various reasons that means no live baseball for me (unless I, yanno, go to a game). I’ll survive. What will irk me is not being able to watch any postseason games – especially if either the Yanks or Nats are playing – but it’s just not worth what it would cost. Maybe I need to befriend some baseball-lovers who either have cable or enjoy going to sports bars…

Yesterday afternoon, my personal trainer asked if I had any flexibility regarding last night’s session: we wound up cancelling, and scheduling a make-up session for tomorrow at noon. Which will totally ruin my Slothy Saturdays streak, a week earlier than expected (I have plans every Saturday this month…and the first Saturday in October!).

I have no plans this evening, which is completely fine by me. I may even knock off work a bit early.

Since you aren’t worried about addiction, have you considered doubling the dose?

Not badly, I hope??

Have a safe trip, and a great time! :smiley:

Before I had gastric bypass surgery, whenever I had a cold with that kind of cough I would keep a bottle of Diet Pepsi next to my bed. I’m sure it was largely imagined, but for some reason a sip of that specific carbonation was the only thing that would work! I haven’t had a cold since the surgery: we aren’t supposed to have carbonated drinks (too gassy/filling) and I haven’t had any soda in almost two years, but I’m kind of dreading whenever I do get sick again. If I wind up with a cough like yours, I might have to “cheat” with some sips of Diet Pepsi!

194

Seems like every time I come here to read the MMP, I don’t make it to the end, and/or get distracted before I can reply. It’s been a relatively busy week, but not in a bad way. I’ve been proofreading for Project Gutenberg, knocked out quite a lot of pages so far, and have gotten feedback that I am doing good work. Next week I’ll use that to spiff up my resume and hopefully start going after paying customers.

We were at the pool on Tuesday and got to talking about burgers with some of the neighbors. After we got home, the neighbor called and said, “We couldn’t stop thinking about burgers so we’re going to cook out tomorrow night. Come over about 6:00.” So three couples had a burger feast Wednesday night. They were delish!

Went to the pool again yesterday, but Mrs W and I were the only ones there, and we only got about 15 minutes in before the rain started. It didn’t last long, but we decided it was best not to hang around in case there was lightning. More rain is supposed to be coming in this afternoon, and is predicted to last about 24 hours. Seems like every time they predict big storms around here we get five minutes of drizzle, so we’ll see. A nice long soaking rain would be good.

Shoe, hope you’re able to deal with whatever’s troubling you. Dump on us as needed.

Moooom, I’d recommend a camera in the backyard as well. I know you said you don’t want to get into it with the neighbors, but just in case you have to, you’ll want hard evidence of what their dog is doing.

Pilot, it must be strange to not know for sure whether you’ve flown your last flight or not. I’ve never had a career that meant that much to me, so it’s hard to relate. You are very eloquent at describing your journey, however. I wish you all the best in your retirement!

Doggio, I felt like Belushi in this clip when you were talking about pouring out wine.

195

I thought of that after the dream and looked into it, as my mom had one after she quit driving, though she didn’t use it on public roads. I checked Washington State’s laws on golf carts, and street-legal carts are allowed here if operated as slow-speed vehicles and then only on streets with a speed limit of 35 mph or lower. That could get me to a few places I can’t walk (when fully able again), though not many. I gather other drivers hate them, which makes me wary. I’ll have to look into it some more.

I’m almost out and can’t get any more, so I don’t want to do that. Also, I once took a double dose (Rx’d by doc) and vowed never again, as I spent several hours kneeling at the white porcelain throne.

HOWEVER, I have a new theory! I have restless legs syndrome. I’m on a med for it, but even before the surgery, it wasn’t working as well as it had been. Surgery makes RLS worse, and it makes sense to me that RLS would make pain worse, as it involves twitchy muscles. RLS is typically worse at night, which is when my pain worsens. I’m going to try taking the higher dose a doc once had me on to see if that helps. Fingers crossed! Last night wasn’t good, so fingers are crossed!

cookie, so sorry you’re having a bad knee day! I hope Mrs. Cookie doesn’t have anything serious going on with rash or knee.

taters, I hope you get to go on your Voyage of Discovery! I’m sorry you can’t be there for your granddaughter’s birthday. Can you Zoom so you’re virtually there?

doggio, thanks for the explanation on the wine. I get it now.

196

And a fairly productive morning for me. Broke fast and then managed to log into the AYSO (Youth Soccer) training area and complete a course they have been bugging me about (Conflict Resolution and Due Process). Wasn’t able to get it to display on Firefox, so finally got smart enough to use Edge and it worked just fine. Now need to write a letter to the fence people about my deposit that they haven’t returned (been several months). Then off to the swimming and sauna portion of the day.

FCM, hope the replacement fencing works, still think land mines are a good idea…especially if you can sneak them into neighbor’s property… :wink: :wink: :laughing: :laughing:

Yanker, that sounds like quite a trip, I’m envious. I still have to get to a lot of those places. Enjoy yourselves. And looking forward to meeting your new canine companions once you return.

rocky, cookie, hope both of your ailments begin to lessen.

Wheelie, hope the job market opens up for you…and thanks for the Animal House clip, that movie still makes me laugh, and I’ve been out of college for 50 years now.

Have a good afternoon all.

197

The rash has just been a persistent thing that whatever the GP told her to use isn’t doing anything for. Her knees and ankles have taken a beating over the years from repeated falls and sprains. I’m really hoping she doesn’t need surgery and that maybe a cortisone shot or two will provide some relief.

198

Forgot the backstory and for a second was thinking, “Damn, you may have a problem!”

I join my fellow Mumpers in applauding you. :trophy:

How do these two sentences go together?

{ clutches pearls }

I dunno … CAN you touch your toes?

(I can’t.)

I have fond memories of swimming in the rain. Fuck it, you’re wet anyways, ammirite?

There was something so refreshing about surfacing after a bit of a dive (maybe a handstand or somersault involved) coming up for air and … feeling more water on my face.

Two requests: BE VISIBLE ferchrissakes, and maybe not during rush hour when everyone is hangry & in a hurry?

Hell, hang battery operated Christmas lights or fun banners or something. Make 'em smile - then they won’t be so pissy.

With your joint issues, is that reeeeally a good idea?

:wink:

… and on the MMP topic, GUESS WHO FOUND HER FIRST GRAY HAIR A FEW MINUTES AGO?!?

I do like the look of fully-silver hair. But, much like growing out a short bob, it’s that in-between stage that seems somehow older-looking to me.

Great, now my hair is gonna be awkward.

Work is gonna be weird. All but two of our roster is on tap for tonight, so it’s gonna be a full - and crowded - kitchen. If we aren’t absolutely slammed, there’s gonna be a lot of standing around or crossing each other’s work … and I’m already having a hard time talking out loud to myself about what’s bothering me without crying.

I hope we’re busy, so I can distract myself from .. myself.

199

So it started decent, then it went to hell. I also had to rebox a skeleton. I stopped and bought food for Spot, since he was out. Laundry is drying, now it’s naptime.

It was the stuff that had fallen out/got damaged and we couldn’t ship it anywhere

I got my first one when I was 40. And it was an ear hair.

200

{{{shoe}} Just because you might need it.

doggio and shoe All my gray hair is in the beard. There ain’t a whole lot left up on top of the head, but what’s there is still dark.

nellie What others have said. Find an easier way of perambulating, but make sure you are visible to the cars. A couple of tons of steel doesn’t care about some squishy human bits.

As to me, I’m still waiting on a reply from the museum about if we’re doing the thing. Frustrating.