Good evening everyone!
It’s morning here. My daughter Beta-chan is under the weather a bit and will go to school later.
That’s evidence they feel comfortable at home.
How old are you kids?
Evening all. My living room is back to a semblance of normal and I should have all the bills for the work to submit to the insurance, so hopefully I’ll get some dollars back from them, Just want the damn house to stop leaking. No soccer practice due to all the rain last night and this morning, so ended up pedaling about 500 calories worth at the gym and am now contemplating going out and getting something bad for my health for dinner. However, I have my annual checkup with the Doctor’s office at 10:30am tomorrow, so will have to abstain for the blood draws I guess.
Real fish, shoe, feel for you and other MMPers; life was such for me that I never married (so only had one mouth to feed) and got a job more or less by chance that led to a fairly well-paying career (was this close to enlisting in the Navy in 1980 just to get out of my parents house and out on my own). I hope things work out for CtE, life has a funny way of doing that sometimes.
swampy, glad insurance is on your side, may twuck get well soon…it’s almost a part of the MMP after all.
FCM, even if its more work, I think that move may be for the best for MIL.
shoe, that damn menu made me want to jump on the next flight to Michigan…it all sounds good.
Ok, have decided to stay in for the night and forage in the refrigerator and cupboards for sustenance. All y’all take care and I’ll see you on Firday.
herald, thanks for the hugs.
shoe, I’m almost 50. I don’t work, but Hubby works at Vanderbilt and he’s not even making triple digits annually. He’s been in his current position for about 13 years and while there have been raises, not nearly as much to keep up with the costs, especially here in Nashville. If we were to go somewhere else, we’d lose the paid college benefit that we have for the kids through Vandy, plus next year is CtE’s senior year and I hate to move them at that point.
metal mouse, I’m hoping that they work out for them as well. I want to see them happy, and it’s been far too long since they have been. We’ve got a little bit of hope, though. (I’ll talk about that in a bit.)
Sensei, BtY is 14 and in 8th grade. High school next year. And CtE is 17 and a Junior.
So next year is senior year. 
What happened to my babies!!!
So I was looking around at various places online, closing out several of the tabs I’ve had sitting here for no good reason, and I happened to look at Humble Bundle. They have two software bundles that we’re planning on buying to invest in the kids’ future when Hubby’s check drops on Monday. For BtY, there’s a create RPG Games in Unity bundle. Over $1200 value for $30. Since he’s been pretty set on being a game designer for the last few years, I think it will be a great first step for him.
For CtE, there’s a music creation bundle. Over $1300 value for $20 (though we may have to do some creative finances because that one ends in 3 days). While they haven’t decided completely what they want to do, they do know they want to perform in some fashion - voice acting, music creation/production, singing. So we’re thinking this might be a good thing. And who knows, maybe the kids will get together and create a game with BtY doing the game coding and CtE adding the music and sound effects. It would be pretty cool.
I should probably go get something to eat. I’m really not very hungry, but I know that no food is not a good thing for me. So, maybe a PBJ or a grilled cheese. Nice and easy. Have a great night/day/whatever time it is for you!
The Bachelor Shower went well. All 5 of the guys were at the office at 7:30; I told them to be there by 7:45 but I guess they were at least intrigued to see how it was going to go. They even festived it up by bringing fancy donuts and a breakfast pizza. I’d never heard of breakfast pizza but it was so good. Regular pizza dough on the bottom, then a layer of scrambled eggs, ham and bacon with a good size layer of cheese on top. Besides a square of breakfast pizza, I also had a French cruller. I wasn’t sure where to put the gifts and the guys said to put them in the big room, then when the Manager arrived, I could say ‘let’s go in and get the meeting started’ then the rest of the guys could file in after. So, that’s what we did. When the Manager went in the room first, he really didn’t react to the gifts on the table, he was kinda confused as to why they were there. So, I walked over, picked up the card and gave it to him. After he read it, he was kinda choked up then went around the room giving fist bumps to everyone. So, then I said ‘you have to open the gifts now.’ He was just a bit stunned by the whole thing. He kept thanking us and saying how much the wife to be would like the Pyrex 22 piece set and the Cuisinart 3 piece stainless mixing bowl set. He was partial to the high ball glass set and particularly to the corkscrew. He said he’d get a lot of use out of it.
Then we had the meeting with the Assistant Department Director. He was very complimentary to me. I was happy. Worked until 12:30 then was off with a stop at home to change then on to the Fitness Center for a yoga class and to work out on the NuStep.
Took Hubs to the gas station where we put gas in the can for the lawn mower then to Home Depot for a new clip lamp for next to the side of the bed. He also wanted to get some mulch as he thought it was on sale till the end of the month but the sale ended this past Sunday. I put the gas in the lawn mower and mowed the backyard lawn. Then took the trash can with all the grass clippings to the curb as tomorrow is trash day. Again I planned to make Million Dollar Pasta Casserole but was too tired to make it so we had hot dogs and bean with ham soup.
Mrs. L.A. is angry. Her second mattress from Mattress Depot USA is harder than the one she’d previously returned. They don’t want to do another exchange, even though she’s only slept on the new mattress for three days. She said that the mattress is harder than the one she tried out in the store. They said, ‘Well, a lot of people lay on it.’ Mrs. L.A. thinks having a softer mattress on the floor is fals advertising. She’s paid $2,000 for a mattress that hurts her.
I looked up the owner’s name on the Secretary of State and Department of Revenue sites. She seemed appreciative. I also suggested she contact her credit card company to find out about consumer protections.
I started the greenhouse today. I made the base, and put it onto the gravel foundation. I built the door and the roof vent. I’ve put bolts and nuts into the frame pieces. Since I kept coming across nuts that wouldn’t thread, I put nuts on all of the bolts that are waiting to be used. Nine nuts would go on with some effort. One is unusable. I hope there are extras, else I’ll have to go to the hardware store to buy more.
Leftover Thai BBQ chicken, and broccoli, for dinner for me. The Spousal Unit is having some sort of sandwich on Dave’s Killer Bread.
metal mouse, I’m surprised that you’re not all electric at your house. Around here, most homes and apartments are and you’re not too far away.
Kudos for having your newest crew member’s back shoe. Your patty melt done flung a cravin’ on me though.
real fish, my cousin’s adult child is currently transitioning, so I’ve gotten used to using the preferred pronoun with him. One of the things that I need to ask the next time we’re together is how he would like his old pictures labeled in scrapbooks and such (I’m the family archivist).
I saw two accidents on the way to irk this morning (at 0400 no less 
) and one on the way home. It wasn’t even raining yet! I came home, took Nelson out, then loaded him into the car to go to Discount Tire to get some air in a low tire. He charmed the tire jockey and even got a small milkbone as a treat from him (who knew the tire place would have their version of a pup cup?).
I have my semi-annual PCP checkup tomorrow morning, so I’ll have to be out of the house a tad before eight. I’ll pick up groceries while I’m out, then come home and at minimum, get the bed stripped and sheets changed (but really, should have time to do more) before Sis and BIL get here. Given that they only have an 8 hour drive this direction, they should be here in the afternoon. They’ll leave ~0500 Saturday for the looooooonnnnng drive back to Texas.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
It will be better for us also because she’ll be about 8 miles away instead of 22. Plus she’ll be closer to the senior center, her doctor and dentist, Food Lion, the hospital, and she’ll have neighbors close to her age. She’s been on the waiting list since Sept. I was afraid it would be longer fir a place to open.
The cake I baked was good, but a tad dry. I don’t have much luck with scratch cakes. Oh well…
Bed time. Busy tomorrow.
FCM I’m glad MIL got a senior apartment. Maybe she’ll find people there to hang with. Is BIL going with her?
Wow, lots of activity.
The fetching outfit & cool ID card buy a certian amount of profiling resistance. Offset of course by the all to many crew (99% FAs) who augment their living by mule-ing something back & forth until caught & arrested + fired.
Approaching bedtime here. Had a fine drone down. Upon hitting the hotel a nap was not optional and that was followed by a nice walk w my cow-orker and a pleasant meal out in nice surroundings. For two people I signed a credit card slip for $275,000. Kinda fun actually.
Once you apply the exchange rate that was a much more reasonable US $55 for 5 drinks and two large steaks with all the accessories plus a generous tip for Her Youthful Latina Hotness.
Manana is up semi-early & drone home.
Cheers all; keep the love to the fore and the stress at bay.
Happy Hump Day!
It’s a not too bad 46 degrees outside, and a little bit of rain.
We got Echo off to daycare. She hasn’t been for a while, and she seemed happy to go.
Ripple always rode shotgun. Always.
Echo used to jump up front with Ripple and the battle would begin. Ripple would edge over and force Echo up against the console. Never aggressive, just made it plain that he didn’t want her there.
I don’t know why she never went over to the other side of him so she could be next to the window.
Now Echo refuses to ride in the front seat. I’m just as happy to have her ride in the back, but no matter how excited she gets, she will not get in that seat.
I know what you mean FCM. Every night when I go to bed, I think I am forgetting something. Ripple’s pills. After he was gone, I realized I was spending up to two hours twice a day trying to give him his pills. In the beginning it wasn’t bad, because he’d eat them in his food. But after he caught on, it was a challenge. We can get rid of the strip of cardboard we kept in front of my son’s bedroom door. Ripple scratched up the door pretty badly trying to get my son’s attention.
and…
Didn’t finish yesterday because I kept falling asleep, and then irk got in the way.
Happy Thursday!
Chilly morning and a fucked-up morning and
I need to learn to listen to the little voice inside my head.
Nothing really planned for today except irk.
Which is exceptionally slow.
Very nice work, Hippie.
I thought quilters always purposely put a mistake in their work?
I hope it goes as planned Swampy
Congrats on new job opportunity, NIner.
I learned years ago it doesn’t pay to be loyal to an employer, because with rare exception, they will replace you in a heartbeat if they can get a better deal.
I think you should not worry about cultural faux pas. I’m always doing or saying something I shouldn’t and it has led to some great discussions.
I’ve never had anybody get mad or offended, most people are happy to talk about their culture and why things are done the way they are.
Would you be offended if you invited somebody from a different culture to an event and they did something wrong? No, you would understand that they don’t know and you would either ignore it, or gently explain that certain things aren’t done.
Has anybody seen Nettie?
Congrats on new job Wheelie
Happy Farming Herald
You seem so full of energy Pilot
I hope you find Darci soon Doggio
My park friend who is my son’s boss, Lily mom, came out to see me when I dropped my son off tonight.
Echo was so happy to see her.
Echo and Lily have a strange relationship. They can be good friends one minute and get pissy the next. They always kiss and make up though. Ripple was Lily’s first friend when she started coming back to the park.
Ripple was a lot of dogs’ first friend.
The daycare put out a nice notice for him, and so many who worked there had nice things to say. They sent me flowers too.
I found a rescue pair in WV, but it’s a mother daughter bonded pair and I think bringing them in with Echo is asking for trouble.
Well, the breeder got back to me. She has a male puppy, apricot, available at the end of May.
He has the same father as Ripple.
Just what I am looking for, a male, not fawn - I don’t want a Ripple look-a-like, not black - I don’t want an Echo look-a-like, and having the same father as Ripple is an added bonus.
I’ll talk with my son in the morning.
I almost finished what I wanted to get done today.
After positioning the frame on the wall (with Mrs W’s help), I drilled pilot holes into the studs and began putting in the screws. I don’t usually like using a power screwdriver, for fear of slipping and rounding the Phillips head. But the long screw was very tough going, so I relented, but even the power screwdriver was having a hard time. And I did indeed manage to round the head on the first screw with an inch or so to go. I decided to get back to that one and work on another screw—more carefully—but I got nowhere with that one.
Finally I decided my pilot holes were to short, which necessitated a trip to Lowe’s for a longer drill bit, which became a trip to Lowe’s and Alberton’s since we were out of kitty littler. I found the bit I needed and also got some more screws in case I messed any more up.
So I drilled the deeper holes, and that made all the difference. The screws went in quite easily with the power driver, though still too tight to do by hand.
Murph came with eight screws, but because I had six studs to work with, I decided to go with four below and six above.
If you look closely, you can see the screws on the lower slat; the upper ones are way up top behind that front lip.
So I was plugging right along when the battery on the power screwdriver gave out after 6 1/2 screws. It’s now in the charger, and tomorrow morning I’ll shoot those lat 3 1/2 screws in, then get going on the bed part next week.
If you run out of cheese, I will send you some.
Damnit Darci, come home.
We have a group of lost pet trappers out this way, is there anything like there? The local group is all volunteers but they do have a webpage.
Have you talked to any of the rescue groups in your area? They might have leads or suggestions.
I know that you are doing everything you can. I can’t help but to offer suggestions though.
I am old. I remember when being gay was a “choice”. I was never able to understand why anyone would choose to be hated and disrespected every day by ignorant people. I don’t understand that mindset around NB people either.
Anyhow, thanks for understanding that when I mis-gender someone it is not out of malice, it’s because I’m old and habit ridden.
Has CtE thought about government service? Government jobs usually make accommodations because it is cheaper than the lawsuits. They wouldn’t get rich working for the government, but they would have a steady paycheck, health care, retirement and plentiful PTO. I wouldn’t say that my working life was fulfilling, but we have stuff and are comfortable.
That’s what we want you to believe! After all, only God is perfect and it would be an act of hubris to attempt perfection in our work.
When I bought George, I purposely bought a cat that looked nothing like Steve. Does your breeder have a webpage? If so, please share it so we can all awwwww at the puppy pics.
Cute skirt! I read forward and know that you had a good time, but I still had to comment on the prettiness you were wearing.
I hope it works!
Will work for pizza!
Nice colors. Once again, I am in awe of folks who can do that sort of thing because it is so beyond my skillz it’s not funny.
I’ve got my mystery piece going and I’m really happy with the colors. I also have all of the instructions printed and ready to mail to Mom because she is having password issues and can’t get to them. I get mine in my email as well, so I could probably forward them to her, but then she would get confused over the duplicates, so I’m just going to mail them to her.
This is probably just as well, the designer spent the last year getting engaged and forgot some things. Like how many strands of of the 12 ply silk thread to use on 18 count fabric 
I got it figured out and complained to the designer, so she made corrections online, but that isn’t going to help Mom if she can’t get into the group. Yes, this is making me sad, I used the skillz Mom taught me to figure the ply count out, but Mom doesn’t have those skillz anymore and gets so frustrated.
Great news, it will be good for everyone to have her closer and not living in the place where she was living with the man she loved all of her life.
These fears are valid and I worry about you young folks all the time. Hubs and I were able to buy a 20 year old trailer in a fenced in yard for 20 grand 35 years ago. It was ugly and we were constantly fixing stuff, but were able to sell it and move up. That same trailer last sold for 125,000. Home ownership is a vehicle to prosperity but so many people are being priced out right at the starting gate.
Hurray! I will keep my fingers crossed that your home won’t leak any more too!
Our watering system blew up last week. There was a PVC pipe between the two beds (running under the porch) and we were having dinner when we both heard water running and were dismayed to see water flowing with abandon.
It’s spring. My posies are blooming and need regular water.
Today, hubs ran a new system and we were able to adjust everything so I won’t be wasting so much water doing it by hand.
Our water issue wasn’t nearly as expensive and annoying as yours was, but I just wanted to let you know that we were kinda suffering together cause that’s what friends do.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. it’s raining again.
Not that I know of. But it’s also a case of “big city, little dog”.
Still progress.
{{{{Fishy and CtE}}}}
Just got home from picking up my son.
He agreed to the puppy. Reluctantly, he agreed.
I think that Ripple’s father is this pup’s father helped.
And Echo’s father is this pup’s maternal grandfather.
Ripple’s father is also Echo’s maternal grandfather.
Ripple was a half-uncle to Echo.
The new pup will be Ripple’s half-brother.
Echo will be his half-aunt, and his half-niece.
I think.
Too early for this.
Now I’ll have to come up with a name.
I may let my son name him; except he tends to go with conventional names.
I don’t want weird, but I don’t want my dog to be one of three other dogs at the dog park with the same name.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 66 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 83 and mostly cloudy for the day. I shall continue to prompt the insurance folks to insure things keep movin’ along. Other than that it shall be a day of sloth and general overall uselessness. Sup shall be majik intartoobz pizza and sallit. I may make some chawklit chip cookies just cause.
Sari puppy is a cutie!
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then onward into the day! Rah.
Happy Firday Y’all!
Yeah - he’s on the list for a studio in the same complex, but he needs the subsidized one, so the wait list is longer. I’m not exactly sure how or where they’ll set up a bed for him, but they’ll figure it out…
What do you mean?? I worked my entire career for the government and I’m wallowing in wealth! Wallow wallow wallow!!
OK, maybe I exaggerate, but I do agree a gummint job is a good, secure path, as long as you understand and play by the rules. One can get fired, but it takes some effort, at least from what I personally observed.
Pretty!!!
OMG, sari, that pup is sooooooo adorbs!!!
My sleep/wake cycle is odd of late, but even when I wake at stoopit hours, I’m usually able to fall back to sleep, which helps. It also seems to lead to weird dreams - yeah, like that’s unusual! At least I’m getting more rest.
It’s raining and it’s supposed to continue all day. FCD will help me empty the dining room before he heads out to help his mom prepare for the move. I need to do a good rollsuck before I break out the carpet cleaner - it clogs with critter hair pretty fast and it’s a booger to disassemble and de-hairify. But it’s not like I have anything else to do today. 
However, first, I have my morning surfing/reading to finish.
Happy Firday!!
Good morning everyone. Didja miss me?
It’s currently 46 degrees outside, and the expected high is around 80 degrees with sunny skies. Tomorrow looks to be about the same, maybe slightly cooler.
Whew! It’s been a week! I’ve skimmed but retained probably nothing since I haven’t been able read the MMP all week.
nellie, you are the complete opposite of a whiner. I should take my cues from you.
doggio, I’m sorry Darci still hasn’t been found. I hope she is found soon.
FCM, I missed something while skimming. FCD’s mom is moving? Did a space finally open up in the other place?
The week was very long and very hectic! I traveled to each office site in the state (except for the Spokane office), had listening sessions with the staff there, and traveled to various community or tribal organizations and met with them and toured their sites. I also visited and toured a bakery/berry farm that benefitted from funding from one of my agency’s programs. A lot of it was good stuff, but the days were very long, especially considering I worked on my laptop before we hit the road early each morning, we drove all over hell and back, and then I’d work some more at night. I’m glad we did it, but I wish so much hadn’t been jam-packed into every day. The weather was beautiful on the other side of the mountains, if not downright warm. I got home yesterday around 1:00 pm, logged in to my computer and worked until 5:30.
I’m working from home today, but I sure wish I could have the day off. There is just too much to catch up on, and I need to help the MPA with some stuff. She was distraught yesterday. I talked her off the ledge when I got home, but I promised her assistance in dealing with a sometimes prickly person.
Okay, onward with the day.
Sari that is one beautiful pup!
I teach online for some of my own students who I’ve been teaching for many years. In Taiwan I could go off to my bedroom and the kids would be downstairs. Now we are in a small apartment they are around and about.
That’s OK, until they start to fight over things such as what to watch on YouTube. Then I have to take cell phones away because it distracts me.
We should be getting better Internet that will let me go into my bedroom but it’s going to take another month.
You should see the scooters in Taiwan! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufq_F0doylI
One of my friends got caught in the middle of a huge pack that went down and he busted up his leg really badly.