(Old) Summers of Childhood Past in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Evening all. Got back to Myrtle Beach around 3:30pm and then did something else I haven’t done in 50+ years; jumped into the pool at the hotel. Nice and warm and helped with the sweat I had built up. Then went to dinner at Jersey Mike’s and planned to walk down the Boardwalk, but (1) It was still 94F after 7pm and I was sweating enough, and (2) all it is is stores, arcades and kiddie rides (OK, the big Ferris Wheel isn’t, but I’ve been on those before. So ended up back at the same mini-golf place (they have 36 holes there, so I played the second course) and using my par-3 score system finished up with a 2-under 52. Will not get a 3rd chance, booked a boat ride/cruise for 6-8pm tomorrow, they promise we’ll see dolphins. And we’ll see…

Dang, keeping up with you folks at least makes the night move along…

Sari, glad the raisins did well at Daycare.

red, I tend to overpack stuff I ship, but not to that extent (I hope). Safe travels to Dad’s.

vroom, hope the moving got worked out.

swampy, glad the funeralizing went well.

yankers, haven’t played poker in many years, was never very good at it. Better luck next time. And interesting story about the gas cans.

FCM, love that story!!

I would agree that the burgers, while good, aren’t exceptional, but their French fries could be classed as an additive substance IMHO.

Pilot, sounds like they’re getting their money’s worth out of you before you retire. Great saga.

boo fae, just looked up Arcata Airport (never heard of it) and they say it has a lot of flight cancelled due to fog. Hope you made it in.

BBBoo, congrats to the newly-weds and to the new MIL.

Oopsie, hope the exercise works out for you.

talkie, enjoy Yellowstone, it’s so much more than the geysers (albeit the geysers are freakin’ awesome).

Flyboy, thanks for the memory. I was in high school and at home watching it, remember going outside and looking up at the moon and thinking “people are up there”.

OK, there is almost constant thunder and lightning now and just looked out into the monsoon. So looks like my timing was pretty good today. Take care all and maybe I’ll make it into the Atlantic tomorrow.

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I was going to suggest true tomato paste if you have the space and time to deal with it. It takes lots of hot sun and a big, big clean table outdoors. Nothing, but nothing better than home-grown tomatoes that are eaten or cooked or processed immediately after coming off the vine. I just finished eating the huge batch of spaghetti sauce I cooked up for myself last summer when when I knew chances were high that I’d be absolutely skint come fall. Best decision I made last year. I ate lots and lots of spaghetti throughout the year. Now I’m only six-seven weeks away from making the next batch.

Sensei, take a deep breath. Stress only shortens your life. Make a checklist. If you manage to check off more than 1/2 the items on it, you will survive. If you get 3/4, you are thriving. And remember, life happens when you are making other plans.

MetalMouse, are you full of saltwater taffy and sunburn yet?

swampy, I just love inurnment. It’s more weird than cremains. I hope all went well for you today.

FCM, great tale of college days. Grad students were a pain to have as a tutor or teacher in most classes.

Well, I’m busy organizing my move for Sunday. This isn’t actually the day I will move into the apartment, but it is the day we will bring most of the furniture in alongside many boxes. I know the new, smaller space won’t hold all my stuff, so I will have to spend much time sorting stuff, putting it on FB Marketplace and donating even more to charities (mind you, charities are damn picky these days) so I can quit paying a bill to the storage folks. But Step One has occurred. I have movers on the schedule and two pals that will help me at the unloading end besides. Why do I need help beyond the movers? I need someone to staff the security door the movers will be using and someone to watch the truck while the movers haul stuff up to the 5th floor. I am not moving to the best of neighborhoods and want my stuff (and my rental truck) watched. Yee haa.

Spent part of the day today with a kitty in the office. One of the perks of my new job is that we have occasional visits from animals in the office. It removes the stress I feel when the boss yells. She yells at me less these days too. I’d like to think that having me in the office has started lowering her stress levels, but it’s rather more likely seeing her business get back to pre-covid levels. Whatever works, I’ll take it. And, yay! I can see Friday from here.

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I’ve outlived my father by ten years, and my brother by 23. I’ve also outlived both sisters. And some time in December I’ll catch up to my mother…

But watch out for the volcano!

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I need to visit her again I don’t remeber the 1.1 inch gun.

Hope the doc can suggest some relief, Cookie.

Cleaning: warm is worse
Stepping: cold is worse.

On 07/20/1969 aliens landed on the moon. When they left, there was not a single life form left.

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also, 2 missed opportunities from tonight’s Strange New Worlds:

Una: < calls Pelia a space hippe >
A: Pelia: “I was a cabbie in New York for twenty years, and never got called that.”
B: <rolls eyes and mutters “OK, Herbert.” >

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Stealing.

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I have a surgery date: 8/18. I could have had it on 8/11, but my sister needs to get here a couple of days before, and since we’re each flying home from Chicago on the 8th, it was cutting it too close. I have to get a CT scan, and I have a pre-op appointment with, ugh, the same PA who gave me bad info before. Sigh. I’m supposed to ask him about PT appointments. I hate to do so because I can’t trust his answers will be right. Anyway, it’ll mostly be a nod-and-sign appointment.

I didn’t expect so much of today to be spent on the phone, but between booking my sister’s trip to come help me post-op, and a bunch of medical calls, the day flew by. I got laundry folded and put away and dishwasher unloaded, but that was about it.

I remember Moon Landing Day so well! Waiting for the big moment, my eldest sister got frustrated because the dog kept sniffing her face. My brother told her, “Blow on her face, and she’ll go away” precisely because he knew it made the dog lick the mouth of whoever was blowing. We thought it was hysterical. It was hard to believe that what we were watching was actually taking place on the moon. The future looked very bright that night.

Pilot, thanks for the explanation! I knew from an earlier post of yours that things would be calm in the cockpit but always wondered what you could hear from the cabin. It’s probably a good thing you can’t hear.

Here’s my favorite nervous passenger story. Once my now-ex and I were flying home from Vegas. The plane was a 20-seat turbo-prop. Before we taxied, a passenger asked the flight attendant, “Miss? Are the engines supposed to make that noise? They sound like Volkswagen engines.” The flight attendant assured him the engines were operating correctly. As we taxied down the runway, someone in the back called out, “Fly, Herbie, fly!”

swampy, glad Tom got a good send-off.

Wordy, as long as I lived near Yellowstone and as many times as I took guests there, I still never got to see the entire park. It’s hyuuuuge. So much to see! Have a wonderful, rejuvenating time!

cookie, I hope the doc can give you some relief. It sounds miserable.

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Aw, hun, they opened a bar-grill type of place a block over from my home.

It’s called the Salty Pecker.

Their logo features a woodpecker, but really, they’re not fooling anybody.

Especially not the customers at the dispensary right up the street, called Reef.
They have a saltwater fish tank in their lobby, which I guess counts as plausible deniability.

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Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. Spot is snoozing on my bed. I only know this because I see a white foot in the darkness.

Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn

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My dad and his did both died at 72… I’ll be 70 in January, with no little consternation regarding that number. Mom, on the other hand, is booked on a cruise for her 90th.

The 20% chance of rain came pounding on the roof sometime overnight… :rofl:

I’ll be helping FCD run some network cables at Daughter’s school today. Tomorrow will be the big wire/cable pull, but there will be help and I’ll just be supervising. Slowly but surely, it’s coming along. As for Sunday, I don’t know what the plan is. Last I heard, he wanted to invite some folks to go out on the boat with us, and I only heard because I asked specifically. Otherwise, it’d have been surprised at the marina. Sometimes that man makes me crazy!!

I got an email about an Antarctic cruise (doesn’t actually land on the continent - just cruises around) and including flights, it’s within our budget. I may just book it later today. I still need to do a little research. But this is on FCD is actually interested in. So onward!!

Happy Firday!!

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Morning all. 82F here (DFW) and forecast is 105. I promise never to complain about winter cold again – honest.

Yesterday’s plans went awry (in a good way). Got the roof beam up and installed, but still need to remove all the interim supports. Afternoon plans were happily interrupted when eyedoc (remember, the doc I lost to in the poker game) called me to come to his office for new glasses. He provided them free since: a) they’re cheap with no progressive/shading features and b) he plans to win enough next game to defray the cost. These are temporary until the eye surgery later this year, but very welcome as it’s impossible to find pharmacy cheaters that correct both eyes (I can do one or the other). This should make travel much less stressful so I’m seriously happy about it.

Kiddo’s are doing great, youngest is doing lots of diving in one of the most beautiful settings I’ve ever seen. Eldest is loving his new company and job, and is enjoying trips to the Caribbean. He likes the 737, and flew a Max yesterday. He says they seem about the same to him except the Max is quieter.

Apparently, “Take your Kids to Work Day” was inspirational to our young’uns. As in, inspired them to make sure they never, ever lived in cubicles like Mom and Dad had to. Below is where youngest is working this summer (taken with their drone). Eldest sends similar pics from the tropics as well.
Imgur

Oh well, on to the day: Too many boring household chores to mention, but maybe can get to more fun activities in the afternoon. Or at least sloth practice!

Hope everyone has a good day!

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Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 79 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 98 and mostly N.O.S. for the day. Today shall be a day of high sloth and general overall uselessness. There’s nowhere we either want or need to be. I foresee some quality cee-mint pond time, nappage, and day drinkin’. Most of the day, however, shall be spent inside in the a/c. Sup shall be grilled chikin strips, sallit, and cheesey garlic bread. Simple but nummy especially on a hawt day.

Wordy and MetalMouse enjoy your getaways!

Nellie yay for booked surgery and sis comin’ to look after you!

Vrooom glad you got the movin’ in stuff all figured out.

Pulley yay for the new specs and the doc for lettin’ you have 'me free!

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

Happy Firday Y’all!

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It is closed now, but we had a donut shop:
Holly’s Healthy Holes

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Mornin’ all. Balconating in the post-dawn warm, sticky, and still. It rained briefly half an hour ago so everything looks freshly washed. One of my fond memories of a SoCal childhood (summer or otherwise) is that it was considered normal to hose off sidewalks, outdoor eateries and, well, pretty much everything every morning. We had so much fresh water and so few people that using a hose as a broom was just normal. Everything always looked / looks so inviting when still damp from a good hosing.

We watched the Moon landing of course. Truly amazing stuff for an almost-11yo stoked on aviation. I recall a few months before going outside on a full Moon night while Apollo 8 was halfway there, looking up at the Moon hanging there, and thinking “Somewhere in my field of view are 3 dudes going farther than any humans ever have. And there are more missions to come right after that.”

Of course while Apollos 11, 12, etc., were on the Moon it was de rigueur to go look at the Moon and try to spot the area where they were parked.

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Good morning!

It is 60 degrees, cloudy AND smoky outside. The expected high is 82 and supposedly there will be some partly cloudy skies until afternoon.

It’s been a week! I have skimmed but not really retained.

This week I had to be at the office Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday because of the full-out security and threat assessment for our building. Because there is a childcare center located in our parking lot, that was assessed too. Unsurprisingly, there were “findings”, the same findings that they had in 2013, the last time such an assessment was completed. A security committee has been created, and yours truly is part of it. Yay! More work! :roll_eyes:

On Tuesday we had the pre-brief and the security folks/LEO/Homeland Security walked the building, lot, and daycare. Wednesday was another briefing and yesterday was the outbrief where they outlined all the stuff that needed to be corrected.

Also on Tuesday, the RHS Administrator was here which meant my time at the office stretched until 5:30 pm. I arrived at the office at 5:15 in the morning, and by the time I got home it was 6:30 and I was tired.

On Wednesday, I started at the same time, but there had a very serious accident on I-5 northbound (the way I go home) at 5:30 that morning, and by the time I had left to go home I-5 was still completely blocked and I had to g around, and it seems, so did half the population of Washington state. Going around means going through what used to be a very small and rural town that is not built for that kind of traffic. My commute home was nearly SIX HOURS. I was not a happy camper and I was very tired.

Yesterday, was a more normal day, in that I started at the same time, but was home by close to 4:00 pm, but I’m still just dog tired. I met my son down at the Farmers Market for lunch and walked around down there to check it out. I haven’t been to this Farmers Market and thought it was very nice. It was very bright, sunny, and warm outside, but we did manage to find a nice shady spot on a bench under some trees to eat our lunch.

Today is a work-from-home day, and after it’s done, I only have four working days until I begin my vacation. I am both stressed and happy. Stressed because I’m trying to wrap up many things and happy because I am in full burnout mode and need to decompress.

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, it smells very strongly of smoke outside. There is also a sort of trashy/chemical smell, so I am assuming there was a house fire or something near here. I searched the news but didn’t see anything.

nellie, so glad the surgery is booked, and given how long you have struggled with the pain, it does seem relatively fast since talking to the doc, so that makes me happy! I hope all goes well!

pulley, glad you got some glasses and you didn’t have to pay!

Alrighty then! I’ve got coffee to finish, dishes to wash and then a workday to start!

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Morning all. Have broken fast and probably will head up towards the Boardwalk to see what they have while it’s still relatively cool (heading to 95F again). The maybe the acquarium and pick up my ‘voucher’ for the 6pm dolphin cruise. Only a 10% chance of rain (yeah, like yesterday), so we’ll see.

Ouch!! That is incredible, don’t think I ever had a commute that long. Glad you had enough gas in the tank.

In the inappropriately named shops section, there was a candy store in Abu Dhabi called the “Butt Sweet House”. Four years I passed by it, never worked up the nerve to go inside.

yankers, yeah on the new glasses.

FCM, happy wiring! As for the Antarctic cruise, make sure you do have other stops, and if you have the slightest problem with seasickness, take medications along; it’s rougher than most anywhere else. But it is beautiful.

Don’t think on all my flight I have had a passenger freak out on flying. Did have one inebriated man strike FA, when we landed and I got off on the jetbridge two cops had him in cuffs and he was looking very sorry for himself…

nellie, already started to cross fingers that this surgery is a big help.

vroom, hope the move goes as planned. And a little kitty coming to visit is a nice touch for work.

OK, need to get moving before the heat gets intolerable again. Take care all.

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Good news on my grandson’s problems with the school. He’s been put on probation by the court that deals with these things. Has to make periodic visits to a counselor over the next year and will do some community service. Kids get themselves into the damnedest messes.

Osteo visit later this morning, which I’m looking forward to.

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Loved it! Thanks, shared with family members :grin:

and apparently the beets.

MetalMouse I think you’re taking reliving the name of this week’s MMP literally what with the miniature golf and jumping in hotel pool. Good for you! Enjoy your cruise tonight. :ferry: Hope you’ll see a :dolphin:
Oh, and it’s not a real vacation unless you at least walk along the shore right where the water laps at your ankles. So, GET into the Atlantic!

vroom Yay for getting movers and helpers scheduled!

Very tired so likely won’t post more at this time. Yesterday when we got home after a musculoskeletel appt for Hubs, then dinner at a restaurant, I had a bit of intestinal upset so after using the throne, I laid down in bed for what I thought would be a half hour, perhaps 40 minutes. Well 5+ hours later I woke up. So, I’ve been up since 11:30pm. Going back to bed soon. Trying to catch up on yesterday’s posts first if I can keep my eyes open.

TGIF

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There are no beets in Greek salad. At least, I’ve never had beets in my horiatiki in any Greek restaurant I’ve been to.

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I’ve had an emotional week. My sister relocated yesterday to Gulf Shores. She can no longer be my emergency contact since she does live here….Ariel has been punky so had the vet out. All vitals are normal. Did an SAA test on the spot. That looks for inflammation. Pulled blood for other labs.

It’s hot and sunny and the last 2 nights I’ve smelled smoke. Either the neighbors are burning at 10pm or it’s Canada.