Very funny. Ha. Ha.
You are smart to live and work in a place with good public transportation. I can still see to drive, but I’m not sure if that will be an option in ten years so I’ve started thinking about that sort of thing.
I’ve been watching the news, what a horrible thing to happen.
Two plane crashes in two days makes me pretty happy we don’t live under any flight zones. All I have to worry about is the train jumping its tracks.
Good on you, sometimes its good for you to get out of your rut!
Only the most specialist of us!
I loves me some good pomp and circumstance and that sounds fabulous!
I’m glad you made it home safely.
The Waffle Houses in AZ were one of the last restaurants that allowed smoking before the total ban happened. They never deep cleaned and the last time I visited one (2013), I could smell the stale smoke waif up from the seat cushions when we sat down.
According to Harry, they were “relaxed” enough to not feel anything during the roll-over. At least they were smart enough to be wearing their seat belts, the car did its job very well.
Of course he came over this morning to tell us all about it, carrying the news is his job. He wasn’t the first on the scene, everyone slows down when they get old, but he was there in time to see the passenger start whomping up on the driver for not slowing down. I kinda wish I had made my way down the street, the way he told it, it was the most entertaining thing to happen all year.
You made me go and look. The letter is totally gone. It isn’t on the floor or the shelf. Hubs is napping ATM, I’ll ask him about it when he wakes up.
Fingers crossed.
I’m so happy for you. You deserve some smiles.
How long is he gone at a time? Hopefully its long enough for the cats to get over being mad that he’s gone and start missing him.
NOOOO!!!
So it is a cloudy 37F this morning. The rain has stopped and the roads are dry. The river was running pretty good and the creek by the gym had been over the road at one point during the night. Hubs wants to go and pet critters sometime today and we will probably get some lunch while we are out.
TC friend is having $ problems ATM, so we sent her a Chewy delivery. That is supposed to be delivered today so I’m watching the tracking. She must not have the same FedEx driver we did when we lived there, our driver would put our heavy boxes on our porch without blocking our door. Her driver drops the boxes against the front of her gate for anyone to stop and grab on their way by.
I’m finishing up the border on my easy piece and then it will be time for the part I hate. Beading. I hate doing beadwork, I turn my fingers into mince because I don’t know how to use a sharp needle. Maybe I’ll find some shiny metallic thread and do french knots instead, that won’t cost any blood.
Well, I managed not to wake up in the middle of the night to urinate. But we have a front blowing through. I have roll-up blinds outside of the bedroom windows, and the wind was blowing them around. The noise, which often sounded like an animal trying to dig a hole in the wall, kept waking me up.
Good morning (and good evening to those across the pond). Today and tomorrow will be sunny and in the 70s. I don’t feel up to getting out but I’ll open the windows and the little monsters will be happy. I haven’t had the energy to appropriately entertain them so they’ve been a right little menace all evening and this morning.
Piper all of that pomp and circumstance (which must have been something to see) and then to head out into a blizzard. You are made of sterner stuff than I am.
Metal mouse we’ll need a pic of your painted beard once the kids get done with it!
That is truly the stuff of nightmares!
Started Typing: 9:57 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 11:22 AM ET
I’m so glad it’s Saturday…and February! January was such a long year. ( 
)
I was stunned to hear about the medevac crash in Philly; I learned about it a few hours after it happened. I went to college near Philly, and still have some friends up there (everyone’s fine). The video of the crash is simply unreal.
The rain stopped shortly after midnight, and now it’s mostly sunny with a forecasted high of 45°F. It’s a bit breezy – with gusts of up to 16 mph – but at least everything’s already mostly dried out. All in all, not bad for a first day of February in the DC area.
Today’s only plan is to eat lunch at my desk while I do some online training. I have a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Insitute (PMI), and they only stay active if people complete 35 professional development units (PDUs) – aka, training hours – every three years. My three years will be up in May, and I’m down to having just 8 PDUs to complete by then. The good news is that PMI is fairly flexible regarding what counts as a PDU: related brownbags offered by my company count, and PMI offers tons of online courses – both paid and free – that count. This afternoon I’ll finish a 4.5-PDU online course called “Business Continuity,” and I might start one about artificial intelligence. There’s no hurry to start the day’s remaining sloth, and I don’t want to leave the final PDUs until the last minute. Plus, it’ll be nice to not have to think about my PMP again for at least a couple of years. 
The vet will be going to my BFFs’ at 2pm to put one of their cats down. In a little while I’ll send all three of them – WifeBFF, HusbandBFF, and my “nephew” (who is currently in TX) – a text saying that I’m thinking of them, and later on I’ll check in with WifeBFF. I’ll offer to bring food over either tonight or tomorrow, but I don’t know how soon they’ll be up for seeing anyone (it will also depend on how WifeBFF is feeling; her health varies day to day). I wish there were something I could do for them this afternoon, but I know they just have to get through it and start grieving.
That’s exactly what eventually led my mom to give up her license: there was a moment when she suddenly couldn’t detect the pedals under her foot, plus she noticed her reaction time was crap, and she nearly caused an accident. I know it was really hard for her to stop driving, but I was so relieved that I never had to argue with her about it.
LOL! She’s definitely a weather dog.
My favorites were unfrosted strawberry, unfrosted brown sugar cinnamon, and frosted chocolate fudge. My system can’t tolerate Pop-Tarts since the bariatric surgery, but I really miss them!! Legendary Foods makes decent alternates, but – of course – they’re definitely not the same.
No chance at all. 
There are a few things I wish I’d done/started with her as a puppy, and that’s one of them. These days she’s pretty good about waiting in the kitchen for me to dry her off, even though she hates it. We’re both happy that the sun is back out today!
I remember being young and in the car with my mom when this song came on the radio one time, and asking whether the singer could see clearly because the rain is gone or that the rain is gone. After a shocked pause she said “because,” and then laughed. 
My bad… 
*hangs head* Sorry for firing up the haint!
Excellent! 
Brunch is a state of mind.
I have a blue canary nightlight in my bathroom at home, but a couple years ago I ordered these to take with me when I travel. They’ve been super helpful, but about seven months ago I also ordered these: partly for the motion sensors, but also because I’ve discovered that there aren’t always outlets where I need/want them. I haven’t traveled since getting them…maybe I’ll get to try them during the upcoming jazz festival.
That is the worst kind of middle-of-the-night noise!
And appropriately lubricated. 
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted, KP done and fixing to do some hand mending. Other than that, I’ll harness Nelson up to go to Lowe’s for some hardware and on to Staples to exchange a CO2 cartridge for the SodaStream. We may even take a little ramble.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Its OK. Her grandkid came by before I got up this morning.
Just for fun, I’m going to put a piece of junk mail on the shelf and see what happens. I’ll report back next week…if I remember.
I have been to the Waffle House in Lexington KY a number of times and always had good service and good fuds. My visits were between 8 and 9 am so either the roof dancing had finished, or hadn’t started yet……
So I was covering the 100 and 200 Slides, pulling Top Red on the 100 Boxline, working the 200 table, and loading 2 cars on the 200 North Boxline. All in 5 hours. Where did all the employees go? In any case, I’m refreshing with bacon, eggs(Two! Like some sort of Medieval king!), and a gin&tonic.
: crosses appropriate and inappropriate appendages :
When I’m late, Spot gives me the death glare.
Spot sneezed on my forehead while I was sleeping yesterday, so I feel ya.
If it was a Project Institutional Management Professional certification, that would make you a PIMP.
The Bail Magistrate doesn’t come in till 10:00a.m. 
Sounds like a Canadian version of Spy vs. Spy
By the way, has anyone heard how BBBoo is doing after her cataract surgery, or did I miss it?
IMVHO, you’re missing very little except for the 3:00 a.m. cabaret. (Which might be worth it!)
I went to one once. At the regular breakfast hour. It was in Eloy, Arizona.
In perusing the menu, I quickly learned there isn’t a vegetable in sight. Well, unless you count the corn used to make the oleo that is the bedrock of their breakfast prep. I know this, because I watched my breakfast being made.
I ordered a ham and cheese omelet.
First they lay down a very generous slick of liquid oleo on the griddle. Then they pile on some shredded potatoes on one side, and a smooth coating of beaten eggs across the other. Cheese and ham added to the eggs.
Then they fold up the oily coating of egg to enclose the ham and cheese. Flip the hash browns. Scoop it all onto a massive plate, then add the barely toasted toast, which has been liberally painted with… oleo.
In a final flourish, they add a solid version of an ice cream scoop full of (can you guess?) oleo on top of something. I can’t recall now if the stuff slid off the hash browns or the omelet, but it was there. I remember because it filled my heart with horror.
I could only manage a couple of bites. Never again.
And it’s almost afternoon here (will be by the time I finish this). Shopping was done, the coupons (especially one of them for the 12-pk Pepsi) took my bill from $67 to $41 so it was worth it. Thinking about getting dressed and going over to the soccer space, I don’t coach until 4pm but just hanging around the house is wearing me down too. So we’ll see.
boo fae, hope I can get back to my gym routine soon; it think a lot of my restlessness in sitting at home is due to me getting out so much to go to the gym. Hope my surgeon’s review on Tuesday is positive.
Coopertone, no one is meant to be happy; we just do the best we can and take our humor where we can find it. IMHO of course. Thimk of something you like to do or see and try to get there if you can, or just a place you can see pets and kids playing (I have found it impossible to be gloomy in those times).
wet one, good reaction time! Hope the headache clears up.
JtC, I an near (but not underneath) takeoff and landing zones, but close enough to hear them clearly, so yeah, I’m not worried but am alert. And Harry is obviously a distant relation to Hans Christian Anderson and other tale-tellers in history.
52, Wilco on the pic. Might go on my Facebook as loading them here can be a pain for me. As for BBBoo, the first one went well, I think she had a second surgery this week IIRC.
Oopsie, happy training. And virtual {{ }} to your BFF’s.
I ate lunch, finished the Business Continuity course, and started another one. I went with “Building Resilience at Work with a Positive Mindset” instead of artificial intelligence: it gives me more units/credits than I need, but this course wasn’t free and I paid for it back in 2023…time to finally tackle it! While poking around some other settings I discovered that I can adjust the video playback speed, and setting it at 1.5x has been helpful: in addition to making the course take a little less time*, it actually makes the male narrator easier for me to listen to (the female narrator gets a bit chipmunk-y, but is still understandable). Now, though, it’s time to relocate from my home office to the living room!
(*There is, of course, a way to “cheat”: if I can pass a topic’s test without watching the related module videos, I can fast-forward through each video and the system still registers that module as watched/completed. Most of the time, though, I opt not to do that; usually, I’m actually trying to learn something. 
)
This is funnier than you realize: project managers often half-jokingly pronounce PMP as “pimp.” 
Happy Saturday!
It’s 39, feels like 31, degrees.
The sun is shining.
We had some nasty rain and wind last night that kept blowing the doggie door open. The dogs get upset when I close it off, but they just had to deal.
I seem to have fallen into a pattern of waking between 4 and 5. I’ll do a few small things around the house, eat some breakfast, and fall back asleep for 2 hours.
The Rocky Mountain Oyster treats are a disappointment. There are too few treats for the price, and Rayleigh doesn’t like them.
The Girl Scout cookies are here. My son was not impressed with Peanut Butter Sandwiches or Trefoils. He said the Thin Mints are acceptable. Toast- YAY! is his favorite so far. I tried one and liked it. Liked it as in I’ll eat them, but not enough to go out of my way for them.
He still has to try Adventurefuls, Caramel Chocolate Chip, and Peanut Butter Patties. I want to try Adventurefuls, but I expect that they look better than they taste.
My parents half raised my nieces, but they were in their mid 40s when my nieces were born.
The dishwasher is running. When it’s done, I can start laundry.
It looks like recycling didn’t get picked up. The can is full. There is enough cardboard in the garage to fill it again, and enough in the house to fill it again. I see a dump run in my future, but it won’t be today or tomorrow. I hope that when the weather straightens up the trash pickups will be consistent. I should change companies, but from what I read on NextDoor, all of them just as bad. Maybe I should sign up with two companies and hope that at least one of them shows up.
There are six bags of water softener sitting in the living room that my son needs to take to the garage. They were delivered to the front porch in the middle of the ice and snow, so my son just brought them in the house. He needs to get them out of here now that the ice and snow are gone.
VanGo, I was trying to remember what the problem was when one of my trucks was blowing cold air when the heater was on. I remembered that it was a simple fix but couldn’t remember what it was.
It was anti-freeze. My truck needed more anti-freeze.
Good luck with the new doctor Sticky
{{{Taters}}}
I’m sorry about your friends’ cat, Ooopsie
Boo is alive and well, slowly recuperating at her daughter’s house from the cataract surgery Thursday.
Had some glitches which are complicating things. Needed twice the anesthesia (PTSD) so ended up loggier longer, a persistent headache and nausea. Horked up once when I tried to medicate the headache.
My nearly blind eye is all I have while the only good eye is bandaged or slowly shedding the local. Can’t really see well enough to type. Hope this is decipherable.
My right eye sight should keep returning day by day. S l o w l y.
My kids and grands are taking good care of me. They have a service dog in training they are fostering for the weekend so I am even getting solicitous doggie attention. He’s a handsome charcoal and russet labradoodle-more doodle than lab in looks.
No fair teasing my about typos. Tomorrow or Monday should better.
Thanks for all the good wishes, prayers, karma and crossed appendages~so far so good even though I hadn’t foreseen the complications and the level of temporary blindness. Thanks all for caring from afar.
Boo Glad to hear from you! Hope the recovery continues.
Cold here, it’s 13 ferrets out there. I made it to the gettin’ sto fer groceries. Bright and sunny and glaringly bright off the snow. Think it might be nap time.
I’m sorry recovery has been a bit rougher this time, but I hope it pays off and you heal quickly!
I didn’t go on the shopping trip today. Lager wanted cuddle time. Then I started sorting the closet. It was getting out of hand. Then lager wanted more cuddle.
Lager had lunch and peedin jinxed my cats. Just as I was reading the post about the horrid wake up sound, lager started making the sound. As I was heading to get paper towels, koritza started making the sound!
A round of clean up, tidy up, furniture moving, etc. happened. now I have decided to go out to eat. The cats are curled up into snoozing mode. Lager in the living area, koritza in the bedroom.
Oy!
I’m already preparing myself mentally to give up my keys, tho it’s still a ways off. I almost never drive after dark - definitely not in unfamiliar places. I’m hoping when both FCD and I can’t drive, Roxy will be old enough to chauffeur us around. 
BBBoo - healing thoughts shot in your direction. I’m hoping to hear all kinds of good news, because I’ll be getting the same operation a few years down the road. We’ll see what Dr. G says at my eye exam appointment at the end of the month.
After Daughter retrieved her spawn, FCD and I went to lunch at Cracker Barrel before my errand to Lowe’s. I decided to try their new Hashbrown Casserole Shepherd’s Pie. It’s, ummm, interesting. They start with pot roast chunks in gravy with carrots, onions, and celery - that gets dumped in the dish. Then it’s topped with mashed potatoes, hashbrown casserole, and shredded colby, and baked. Then they finish it with a scoop of sour cream and some chopped 'maters and green onions. Shepherd’s pie purists are undoubtedly clutching pearls and reaching for the fainting couch about now. FCD said it looked reminiscent of KFC’s bowls (do they still make those?) It tasted OK for what it was, despite the double dose of spuds. But it’s definitely not a shepherd’s pie by any stretch of the imagination.
I got a pretty neat night light at Lowe’s - it’s got a photo cell and there are 8 color options. You can set it to cycle thru all of them or select the one you want. FCD suggest we go with red. I wanted the dark blue/purple. We’ll change it up and see which one suits best. I don’t want a bright light - just enough to know if the lid is up on the terlit, then sufficient light to wash my hands.
I also got a crevice tool for my shop vac - the one I use to clean the fireplaces. I’m not unwrapping it till I’m sure it fits. I’ve gotten stuck with too many accessories in the past because I grabbed the wrong size. Here’s hoping. And if it’s the right one, I’ll clean the fireplace this afternoon.
Speaking of ashes, we discussed with Daughter whether we should tell the grands what we’ll be doing at Cades Cove, or keep them occupied elsewhere while the others spread the ashes. We left it to her to decide whether she’d explain cremation to Roxy and let her participate in the sprinkling. Tobias is definitely too young to understand. He still asks where Great grandma is.
OK, enough goofing around. I need to accomplish something other than emptying the dishwasher.
Okay, what is a Waffle House, please? Is this standard floor entertainment? 