(Old) The Snowed In MMP

[Johnny_L.A]

Not a whole lot going on this week.

I’m stressing because La Jefa changed me from salaried to hourly. This is a PITA because I typically work more than 40 hours a week, and now I have to keep track of it. Plus, it’s demeaning because I’ve spend almost 30 years in this business and I consider myself a professional. I’ve always felt part of a team. This change makes me feel like just an employee.

I’ve habitually brushed my hair. I noticed a year (or so) ago that my hair seemed to be thinner after visiting a particular barber. I’ve started using a comb instead of the brush. I’ve noticed hair in my comb. Stress? Or just getting closer to being dead? I ordered some Nutrafol off of eBay.

We went down the beach for dinner tonight. Bay Breeze is closed until the 18th, so we went to Shored. Mrs. L.A.‘s shrimp dinner was so large that we thought they’d made a mistake and brought her fish’n’ chops instead of oysters. Nope, they were fried oysters. They were just very big… I had the Cobb salad, which was very protein-packed this time.

[missred]

@Sticks_and_Scones

That’s awesome! I don’t think I’ve ever posted my dining room table on here, but you reminded me of it, sorta. I love random art that just sort of presents itself to you.

That’s absolutely awesome looking!I love how the chairs are painted in the bright, matching colors.

@FairyChatMom

Tomorrow, I shall stuff some cabbage. Or I might try the casserole that’s all the ingredients of stuffed cabbage, but with alternating layers of chopped cabbage and the meat mixture in a lasagna pan, baked. Sounds just as tasty but lots less work. Must cogitate on the matter.

Roxy is learning to

I do stuffed cabbage soup,. Basically, stuffed cabbage ingredients with a couple of quarts of broth.

[BippityBoppityBoo]

@purplehorseshoe

I got one about … six-ish years ago? Definitely more recently than 10, which is IIRC the recommended interval.

@BippityBoppityBoo that’s good enough to keep me from dying, yes?

Yes, ……probably, Boo says hesitantly. Still I’d feel better if your employer insisted on paying for it-they should since it happened on their property. She should have sent you directly to get a booster, on their dime.

10 years is good if there are no penetrating puncture type injuries, like a staple or a cat bite. Then the docs like to see proof positive, including documentation within the past 5 or so years because some people’s immune titers don’t stay high enough for all ten years to stave off infection from a penetrating puncture wound in those last 3 or 4 years of that 10 year cycle. But there is no way to tell who those people are with the weak, waning titers are. Plus as we age our immune system gets less efficient.

Also, in my many years of nursing I found people’s memories of when something like an immunization happened tends to be kind of porous. Thinking it was 6 years when it was really 11. That doesn’t matter when you’re trying to remember when you got that root canal but it very well might matter when it comes to vaccinations.

Besides, your employer really, really should have insisted on it and insisted on paying for it. Tell them your night nurse friend is going to hound you until they do. There’s probably a poster hanging around work somewhere with Michigan’s office or commission for labor/worker/safety’s phone number, find it and call them if da boss doesn’t not only pay for but also pays you while you’re spending a couple hours getting the booster. In NE it’s called Workmen’s Comp-I’d be surprised if Michigan doesn’t insist on it too.

Don’t wait until you get to work tomorrow to ask, call and ask in the morning so you have time to go to a pharmacy and get the poke before work. You don’t need a doctor’s prescription, you should be able to just ask the pharmacist for a tetanus booster because you got a puncture wound at work yesterday and you aren’t absotootly positive when your last one was.

[nelliebly]

Got labs done, saw the oncology PA. She said, “Come back in 8 weeks, and we’ll check again.” She could have done that over the phone. No matter. Got home and Old Flame called. In deference to the poor folks in California, maybe I should call him something else, but Ol’ Bucket of Water doesn’t quite fit.

I talked with Louisiana sister today. She said, “Today was a snow day. We didn’t get any snow.” Wait. What?

Doggio, loved the cartoon!

@AskNott

is it a Fump on a Friday? As in Mump, Tump, Wump, Thump, Fump, and Sump?

I believe you forgot Saump. Wump sounds like something my late grandfather-in-law would have said. “We were just about to the crick, and wump! that fella slipped and fell right on the bait bucket. Well, sir, every last worm was was dead and gone.”

@BippityBoppityBoo

@nelliebly

If I lived closer, I’d happily bake you a cake. What’s your favorite kind?

Lasagna.

Noodle cake! We always make extra sauce to drizzle on top, so I’ll bring that, too, plus freshly grated romano. However, you still need a birthday cake, so how about tiramisu?

@Johnny_L.A

I’m stressing because La Jefa changed me from salaried to hourly.

Why? Do you know? Are other people getting switched to hourly, too? Let me know if you need a little Italian lady to stomp up there and guilt him to the point of beneficence. You’re far too good for this.

@Johnny_L.A

Stress? Or just getting closer to being dead?

Could be both. Hair has growing seasons and shedding seasons. Maybe your scalp is telling you that spring is just around the corner.

@missred

@FairyChatMom

omorrow, I shall stuff some cabbage. Or I might try the casserole that’s all the ingredients of stuffed cabbage, but with alternating layers of chopped cabbage and the meat mixture in a lasagna pan, baked. Sounds just as tasty but lots less work. Must cogitate on the matter.

Roxy is learning to

I do stuffed cabbage soup,

I learned how to make galumpki from a woman in Massachusetts. Wow, you got a lot of meals out of one head of cabbage! They’re yummy but a lot of work. These versions sound fantastic!

@purplehorseshoe

@dogbutler

Also, this will be the first snow in over 3 years, and Spot is 3. He’s never seen it before.

Ohhhhh, please update us on his reaction!

Yes! Puh-leeeeeease?

@swampbear

Sis called so we yakked a while.

I had no idea you had a sis! Is she part Bear, too?

Sticky, I LOVE those chairs! It looks like a great setting for merry meals.

[purplehorseshoe]

@BippityBoppityBoo

Thinking it was 6 years when it was really 11.

I get that, believe me.

However, the tetanus shot happened because of a specific incident, and I can pin what happened → to where I was living then, so I’m fairly confident on the timeline.

@BippityBoppityBoo

Don’t wait until you get to work tomorrow to ask,

I don’t wanna do this at all, because reasons. However, I respect your opinion, so imma meet you in the middle and will talk to S.M. tomorrow.
We both close together, so there should be a quiet moment to talk, and today was NOT the day for chitchat.

Wait, one more question, Ms. Boo … is it bad to get the tetanus booster too “soon” e.g. after 5 or 6 years, insteadof 10?

@nelliebly

Old Flame called. In deference to the poor folks in California, maybe I should call him something else, but Ol’ Bucket of Water doesn’t quite fit.

This tickled my gallows humor.

---

So, quiche.

I have the crust. I have the eggs. I have the dairy. And spinach. And onions. And bacon if’n I get all ambitious.

I have all the things!!

But…

Couldn’t find my damn glass pie pan for the life of me.

Can’t remember the last time I would’ve used it, either, and there’s a non-zero chance I simply bequeathed it to Ex I.T. Guy during the divorce great Move-Out From Texas.

So 11:30 at night (Meijer closes at 12) I grumpily squish-stomped through the icy slush BACK to Meijer (I was just there!!) simply to buy a new damn pie pan.

And a coupla tomatoes, cuz it seemed like a bit of chopped 'mater might be good with all that spinach.
(I prefer no cheese in my quiche.)

Okay, time to fire up this half-killed joint the oven.

[Paintcharge]

@JaneDoe42

At least they haven’t all been dumped into a box with no writing. My CDO would be going nutz with that,

Mine too, and no-one earth is paid enough and it isn’t worth the money to sort hardware. Straight to scrap metal recycling with that crap.

@purplehorseshoe

Man, that’s more terrifying than the Waffle House Index.

When I was in North Cackalacy, I was the designated drive in snow guy, since I’m from Maine. There was one ice storm when I could not walk from the building up the very slight hill to my car. Quarter inch of ice, then a bit of rain. I’m sure it looked like a Buster Keaton bit. Slept in the studio.

@Johnny_L.A

I’m stressing because La Jefa changed me from salaried to hourly.

Well maybe you’ll get overtime that way? Trying to be positive.

In theory, my folks will be coming to town tomorrow, on their way through to visit my niece and nephew in Cinci. My house currently looks like a wood shop threw up in it, well, cuz it kinda did. They have an airbnb nearby, and we’ll be going out for dinner.

shoe After the troubles, I hope the quiche turns out well. But I must disagree with your no cheese in quiche position. Cheese usually makes most things better.

[BippityBoppityBoo]

@purplehorseshoe

However, the tetanus shot happened because of a specific incident, and I can pin what happened → to where I was living then, so I’m fairly confident on the timeline.

Glad to hear this.

And no, there isn’t a risk of stacking tetanus vaccinations less than 10 years apart. Doctors treating wounds routinely re-vaxx because it’s a no harm and much better safe than sorry action to take rather than throwing the dice.

For instance, my daughter’s ob-gyn suggests that grandparents who are going to be around a newborn get a Tdap a month or 6 weeks before the expected birth, to protect the newborn until they can create their own immunity. It’s mostly for the pertussis part of the Tdap but nowadays Tdap is routinely stocked rather than separate tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis vaccines. So Boo will have had one in 2017, 2021 and now, in a few weeks, 2025. Plus the seeming umpty-nine I had in the 15 years of community home health nursing and all its dirty needle sticks up through 2018.

I remember that 70% of wounds treated in the US are at risk of tetanus~it’s not just the stereotypical stepping on a rusty in the barnyard.

I remember my first tetanus booster, when I sewed through my thumb (and thumbnail) in class in Home Ec in high school. I remember staring at my thumb like “where did that little piece of thread come from and why us is dangling out of both the top and bottom of my thumb? Hmm, interesting. Why is everybody screaming?” Like your staple it happened before I was awareof it, as if I was disembodied and watching it unfold from across the room.

[purplehorseshoe]

@Paintcharge

Well maybe you’ll get overtime that way?

That’s what I was thinking. Time anna half is … wheeeee!

@BippityBoppityBoo

sewed through my thumb (and thumbnail) in class in Home Ec in high school. I remember staring at my thumb like “where did that little piece of thread come from and why us is dangling out of both the top and bottom of my thumb? Hmm, interesting.

That was pretty much my reaction.

“Whoops.”
“Oh, uh … fuck.”
“I can get this out m’self. No need to bother anyone.”
“Nope, nvr mnd. This is beyond me. I need an adult.”
{ wanders up to S.M. with a sad face & an owie finger }

[Die_Capacitrix]

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

So responding is something I need to do.

And I miss your responses when you’re not able to get on-line.

To me, this place is like a cozy cafe (sort of like Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon), and a lot of times I’m just chilling in my comfy chair with a beverage and not saying much. I just listen to the friendly conversations around me. And if I have something to say, then I might add it. Or maybe it’s been too long, and everybody has had their say, so I don’t. Every

@Paintcharge

It is looking like I will have much work with the museum, like taming their shop into something usable.

Two years ago (3?), we went to the Exploratorium museum in San Francisco. The wall between the Exhibit Develope Shop and the museum is glass, so visitors can see behind the scenes. Très cool.

@FairyChatMom

NEVER say no to an apple fritter! Are you mad???

Agree. Never say no to an apple fritter. You never know when the bakery might stop making them.
Ooops. Bit late, but Happy Birthday @BippityBoppityBoo !

@Misnomer

It’s pretty cool!

Very much so. I never played Pac Man enough to get any good at it, but it’s usually fun for a game or two. My childhood dentist’s office had a tabletop version so I had something to do while waiting.

@FairyChatMom

But, yeah, I’m suspecting some franchise show sold a bunch of people on car washes.

My dad is 80+. He wants to keep his car clean, but getting out the hose, scrubbing stuff, etc., is not that easy anymore. He’s a frequent washer card, so that every 10th wash is free (or something like that).

@overlyverbose

I covered the table with parchment paper (couldn’t find newspaper) and covered that with bread cubes, sliced sausages, pretzels, carrots, berries, pears, cookies, graham crackers and other sundries along with a cheese fondue pot and one for chocolate.

That sounds like fun! And yummy. Haven’t had any fondue yet this winter - might have to go to the cheese shop and get some cheese.

@Sticks_and_Scones

I don’t think I’ve ever posted my dining room table on here, but you reminded me of it, sorta.

Those chairs are awesome!

@purplehorseshoe

“Whoops.”

I had a similar reaction when I stapled my finger while working on the house. So it was a construction stapler, but not automatic. Trotted off to the doctor for a tetanus shot, but otherwise it wasn’t much, as it was just straight through.

Tried a sourdough starter, and am finding it needs a lot of caretaking and then there’s discard. And it’s not behaving the way it should.

No snow here, and it’s about freezing, so relatively warm. Need to get showered and make breakfast (oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon and apple). Then I need to make a plan, shopping list and get to the stores.

Happy Saturday!

[SuntanLotion]

So I woke up twice already.
What I get for sleeping 8 hours through the other day.

[Die_Capacitrix]

@Die_Capacitrix

No snow here, and it’s about freezing, so relatively warm.

Should have looked out the window. We got a dusting and it’s just above freezing.

[LH75]

@Sticks_and_Scones

Love the table!

[FairyChatMom]

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

JtC for President!!!

I wouldn’t wish that on anyone! I’m glad (mostly) there are people who want leadership positions and all that, but in the grand scheme of things, it must make for a horrible life, at least IMHO. Same with being a celebrity. I used to think it would be great to be a famous singer or actor till I realized your life would no longer be your own. Anonymity has its benefits.

OTOH, I used to think MIL would do great in the gummint, balancing the budget. Had she been in charge, there would be no deficit and a huge surplus! That woman could handle money!

@purplehorseshoe

I wish I could find some authentic ones with minced/ground beef (that’s what I grew up eating)

My paternal grandmother made a filling of smashed spuds, cottage cheese, and spearmint. I assume it’s a regional thing because I’ve never seen any with mint other than in her recipe. FCD doesn’t like them because of the mint, but I find plain potato and cheese to be boring. Dang, I may have to break out her recipe and make a mess of my kitchen.

@Die_Capacitrix

so visitors can see behind the scenes.

At the marine museum where I take the grands, they have a workroom behind glass where you can watch the cleaning of the fossils from Calvert Cliffs. The main work table is right against the glass and the workers will sometimes slide the window and talk to visitors about what they’re doing.

@Die_Capacitrix

He’s a frequent washer card, so that every 10th wash is free

There’s a DIY car wash in Charlotte Hall that has 3 bays where you can use the high-pressure hose to clean your vehicle, plus an automatic tunnel where you sit and the magical device moves around your car and cleans it up. They have a deal where you can buy unlimited washes for a month, which is probably for people like your dad. I, OTOH, drive thru when my car is too gross for words and we haven’t had a nice rain to rinse it off. FCD is much more particular about how his car looks. If it’s not road salt, I don’t much sweat it.

I don’t think we got 2" of snow overnight, so I may not bother shoveling at all. After I’m showered and dressed, I’ll check it out. clouds are supposed to clear away during the day, then 2 days of sun and temps above freezing before another gawd-awful blast of cold comes thru, but no further precip for the next couple of weeks.

I’m still trying to decide whether to stuff the cabbage or layer it. All the recipes I’ve seen call for tomato sauce. I don’t like it with tomato sauce - ick. I don’t know - maybe I’ll just do it the way my grandmother did.

Otherwise, no plans. I’ll probably finish the current lap blanket, then evaluate what I’ve got left and decide how to handle it. I’ve been watching Death in Paradise while crocheting. I’m partway thru season 4, so I haven’t gotten to where I stopped watching it a few years back. I’m only remembering dribs and drabs of these episodes, so I know I’m still rewatching. Anyway, it’s my first foray into BritBox. I need to decide what other stuff I’ll watch. Gotta get my money’s worth!

That’s my day so far. Happy Saturday!!

[swampbear]

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 38 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 46 and cloudy though the sun may peak out late afternoon. We postponed Sunday brunch over to the church house until tomorrow because of annual meetin’. So today I shall make a yellow cake with chawklit icin’ and a cabbage casserole. I usually make a gallon each of sweet and unsweet tea. However OYKW and I made the executive decision to just buy it from the sto’ instead. Our southern U.S.ofA. grandmothers are scowlin’ down on us, but it’s just easier. So, I shall be productive this mornin’ and indulge in RDOS inactivities the rest of the day except for the makeage of sup That will be ham steak, green beans, scalloped N.O.T. from a box(don’t judge!), and rolls.

Nellie I am a forgotten, forlorn and unloved middle child. I have two older brothers, and a younger sis. I had a younger brother, sis’s twin, who died in 2002.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, I shall get into happy homemaker mode.

Happy Sattidy Y’all!

[scareyfaerie]

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently -1c/30f with a predicted high of 0c/32f, and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “Don’t forget to share your fucking stupid weather reports on fucking Twitter.” No, thanks…I am not going anywhere Sissy SpaceX’s bot-ridden platform.

Happy birthday, BBBoo I am a day late on here, but got in on time on the Book of Farces. Hope you had a fabulous day.

@SCAdian

The two black cats that are here in the bedroom with me both have black whiskers.

Both of our solid black cats have black whiskers. Our tuxedo (Spot’s doppelganger), has white whiskers.

@susan

Wonderful! Poetry?

No, both small bits of fiction. I tried poetry but somehow it just doesn’t feel natural. I would love to read some of yours

@The_Stainless_Steel_Rat

boo fae, thanks for the advice, I’ll try it next time I’m at the gym (probably not today).

That’s the beastie! It’s my favourite cardio machine in the gym, ours comes with a bunch of pre-set programmes to you can pick what kind suits you best. My choice has been the hour-long fat burner, it changes resistance from level 3 to level 12 so it’s like interval training. The machine does all the changes so you don’t have to think about it, you just pedal and keep going!

@TruePisces

Send your good thoughts for my MIL. She’d gone into the hospital because she wasn’t feeling well and while there, they found lung cancer.

Sending all the positivity to your MIL, I hope they can treat her quickly and get rid of it. We’ll be thinking of her, and of you!

@Sahirrnee

I never had a peirogi until after I got married and my MIL served them. My father just about had a cow when he found out I was eating them. He thought of them as poor people food

The first time I had them was at a local bar here. It was taken over by a Polish couple and they started adding their home-cooked stuff to the regular menu. I don’t mind the staple bar-style food of burgers, pies and stuff like that, but if there’s something unusual, I’m going to try it. Don’t care if it was poor people food, it was delicious!

My car said it was -2 when I went out this morning, I spent a while warming the car and scraping the ice off the outside so I could see to drive. Went to the gym and push-pulled away 620 cals on the elliptical trainer, and then did a kettlebells class. Different trainer today, different routine, still knackered at the end.

On the way home, I stopped off to get more cat litter as we’re running low, and picked up three different kinds of treats for my feline overlords/ladies. Now having a restorative cuppa or two while the dye on my hair does its thing. We’ll have a stroll into town, get some lunch and do errands, then maybe pop into the pub for a while, maybe not. There’s no football match here today, home team has an away game so it’ll be fairly quiet. I have no other plans, although I did get some curry out of the freezer which we will have either tonight or tomorrow, depending on how today goes.

[SCAdian]

@scareyfaerie

@SCAdian

The two black cats that are here in the bedroom with me both have black whiskers.

Both of our solid black cats have black whiskers. Our tuxedo (Spot’s doppelganger), has white whiskers.

Had all four of them in the room yesterday, and all four have black whiskers. The black-and-white cat (not a tux – white with big black blotches, like a Holstein cow), though, has white whiskers, which show up amazingly well against the black fur around them. Now I’ll have to check the two grey-and-whites, though I’m sure they both have white whiskers.

Actually, the two oldest black cats (littermates) aren’t really solid black – in the right light you can see they’re actually black-on-black, with tabby markings that are a slightly different shade of black from the main body coat.

[FairyChatMom]

I’m showered and dressed, so there’s that. I dared to open the garage door and looked down the driveway - maaaaaaybe an inch anna half of snow out there - not worth bothering with. So I won’t

FCD has been reading the ABYC spec as well as some USCG rules and he’s finding that the guy he talked to yesterday wasn’t exactly an authority either. It appears his expertise is in ships, not small pleasure craft. Some rules aren’t interchangeable - the fuel system on a ship is different from what a little boat has. I was looking over his shoulder and saw an email address on the USCG document and recommended he contact them with his specific questions. Meanwhile, redesign goes forward.

I should probably get the dishes out of the sink and into the dishwasher, like a responsible adult. And for JtC and shoe:

[teelabrown]

@Johnny_L.A

Did you see any birds?

Heh. Plenty of blackbirds, crows, gulls, egrets, great blue herons, and sandpipers. None tried to peck me on the head nor pick out my eyes. But the blackbirds did gather ominously on a power line just across the street from our rental home.

[SuntanLotion]

It looks like we got 3 inches of snow.
Off to see if theres new magazines at the library.

[Taters]

Good morning.

It’s 42F and cloudy. It’ll remain cloudy all day, and the expected high temperature is 49F.

FCM, that’s an adorable picture. I remember trying cross-stitch as a kiddo and later embroidery. Not for me, but it taught me patience and being intentional.

I like pierogies; the potato and cheese are my favorites. I buy Mrs T’s and have never made them from scratch.

fish, I’m sending good wishes for your MiL.

I use a car wash when it’s too cold to wash it myself or I’m in a hurry and have somewhere to be. I want to get my car detailed and hope I’ll get it done soon. I hate trying to clean the windshield on the inside, plus there is a bunch of sap that fell off the fir trees onto my Jeep back when my son was hospitalized for appendicitis. It’s on the roof and dripped down some of the windows, so it’s a little challenging to get to, mainly because the driveway is on a hill, and it’s just too hard to get to in the garage.

I finally got the tree and Christmas decorations down and put them away yesterday. I got the tree up so late; I felt it should be up for at least a while before taking it down. On the one hand, I’m glad it’s put away because it does take up space, but on the other hand, I’ll miss the lights. My pups liked it, too; each would often lie under the tree or stare at the lights.

I have started using a hair mask for my hair on weekends. I give it a good wash, slather, comb through a generous portion of the mask, let it sit, and then rinse it. When not using the purple shampoo to keep the brassiness out of my hair, I use a fortifying shampoo. My hair has always been super thick, but I started to notice a lot of breakage, not to mention hair in my brush (hello, stress), so I thought I’d try to get a handle on it. Before the fortifying shampoo, I used purple shampoo every two or three washes and a gentle daily shampoo between the purple shampoo washes. I always conditioned. I don’t use a lot of product otherwise; a little hairspray when I go out, but not much. I learned a long time ago that using professional products cuts down on product build-up in my hair, thus saving cleaning time on implements such as a straight iron. it’s just better for the hair.

Johnny, did El Jeffa mention why you were switched to hourly? Unless things have changed, brushing was better for your scalp, promoting circulation and hair growth and helping release oils.

There is not much on today’s agenda; the dogs need a bath, so I foresee much wetness, mess, and backache.

Okay, it’s time to get the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and run it.