(Old) The Snowed In MMP

[Misnomer]

Started Typing: 11:47 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 12:54 PM ET

We got ~1" of new snow overnight: the roads are fine and it didn’t take very long to clear off the car and shovel the back steps (+ a path across the patio), front steps, sidewalks, and driveway, but by the time I finished I realized that even though I can leave the house today I really don’t want to leave the house today. No particular reason, just a strong “donwanna” feeling (though it felt important to have the car/driveway cleared, just in case). I’m a little surprised that I’m not feeling stir crazy today – I haven’t left the house since Sunday – but que sera. So I cancelled this morning’s blood donation appointment, and will reschedule. I’ll let this afternoon’s sun dry the car and the sidewalks, and maybe I’ll finally stop hermiting tomorrow.

Today I’ll do some laundry, but otherwise my plans include just reading, watching TV (maybe a movie), and building Lego. Speaking of which, the next cool thing I discovered is that the “coin slot” lights up!

I also figured I’d share this evidence of my Pac-Man bona fides:

That’s my little brother and me, in either '81 or '82 (he was 8 or 9; I was 10 or 11).

@AskNott

Oddly, my computer gave me squiggly lines on only Tump and Fump, out of that group.

Because mump[s], wump, thump, and sump are actual words.

@Johnny_L.A

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.

When you first mentioned this (then) impending change you seemed mostly unconcerned so I didn’t say anything, but I did feel like it was somehow a demotion – or something – of sorts. Based solely on my own feeling that I’d be kind of annoyed/upset if my exempt status ever got changed, even if my salary weren’t affected (and even if getting OT meant earning a little more). I’m sorry the actuality is causing you stress.

@Die_Capacitrix

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.

That’s pretty much my approach, as well. I quote as I read but I definitely don’t comment on/reply to everything, and sometimes a response I had in mind is OBE by the time I’d start typing it. And, sometimes I’ll start to type a response but then abandon it because I’m struggling to write clearly (or without way more backstory than anyone would care about).

@peedin

My lung screening CT came back with no changes from last year! Chance of malignancy less than 1%.

!!

@Paintcharge

my jury duty was cancelled, and I’m off the hook for 6 years

Yay!

I’ve never had to go. I lived in Maryland until I was 26 and never got a summons, and since moving to Virgina I’ve only gotten two: in 1999 and 2016. But, in September I got a questionnaire from my county in preparation for a possible summons sometime this year. I wouldn’t mind doing it at least once.

@Chefguy

The wife has been obsessing over Swedish meatballs, which I don’t care for.

But…but…Swedish chef avatar!! ()

[Baker]

@Chefguy

The wife has been obsessing over Swedish meatballs,

Whenever I think of Swedish meatballs I think of the show Babylon 5, in which they are served in place of a “similar dish” called breen. G’kar couldn’t get the correct Narn ingredients for breen but he told his guess that Swedish meatballs were much like it, and that he had a theory that all races had a dish like that.

[FairyChatMom]

Mother Nature has just about finished clearing my driveway - yay for me not going out there earlier!

I just finished making gołumbki the traditional way (OK, my grandmother’s way) except I added chopped mushrooms to the mix, just because. And this time, I’m cooking chunks of spuds with the cabbage rolls, plus the remaining cabbage is on top of it all, to be cooked at the same time. In other words, a yummerrific supper for tonight!

Now I need to clean my kitchen… again. Dammit. FCD has gone to nap - he’s been up since stupid o’clock because he can’t turn his brain off. While he’s snoozing, I’ll try to finish the blanket and maybe start another - another chillage afternoon.

Except now I want Swedish meatballs. Dammit.

[SuntanLotion]

No new magazines. Bah.

[Seanette]

Noisily windy here, and DH is outdoors for probably an hour or more playing on a forklift (OK, he’s actually getting that license renewed). Not looking forward to venturing out to take back recycling. At least we don’t have a huge fire threat this far north. LA’s facing more Santa Ana winds in a couple of days, and those contributed heavily to the fire problem they already have (sigh).

[Paintcharge]

Ugh NY DMV online is a huge PITA. I need to change the address of my truck registration, since the company owns it and the company is now not at old my shop. But online won’t seem to let me do that. I’ve been fighting my way through various trees of “sign in here, no wait that password has expired, no wait that is you, not the business”, ad infinitum. I’m just going to go to the DMV next week.

[Kitten_Mitten]

whew, I’ve made it through 74 posts. Hope no one else posts before I get this posted.

@FairyChatMom

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.

Oh, I really like this idea! Will keep in mind for the future.

@Kitten_Mitten

Need to get to sleep asap since I’ll need to shovel in the morning

Well, the young fella (mid 30’s) next door shoveled the front sidewalk; very sweet of him.

@purplehorseshoe

Smacznego.

Dziekuje (or Djenkujie, depending on your preferred spelling). They were delicious..

Our daughter was recently asking if porzadek is a real Polish word or a Dziadzia made up word like montesowicz. I went to the Notes on my iPhone where I’ve saved Polish words and translations, and lo and behold, here’s an entry that I saved some time ago:
“From purplehorseshoe:
Porzadek (the rz combo makes a sound like the 2nd g in garage; the a with the squiggly tail is a unique sound not found in English, but it’s kinda like ahwng.”
which totally explains the pronunciation. Daughter was asking because she said to her friend that they needed to make porzadek and the friend was like ‘what kind of a made up word is that?’

@Johnny_L.A

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 TOTALLY understand!!! The arse that was the Finance Director made us start punching a clock about 3 months before I retired. Not going to go into all my credentials but suffice it to say I, also, was a professional and felt demeaned. Many mornings during the remaining time left till retirement I had tears streaming down my face on the way into work just dreading have to punch that damn clock!

wet one very good news on the lung screening result. Cheers!

@liirogue

brand of pierogies to try - sounds like there’s a pretty strong consensus that any other brand would be a mistake!

I disagree. I prefer pierogi made locally. So, we buy Jennie’s Pierogi (4 miles away and they’re Polish) or Srodek’s Pierogi (made in Hamtramck). Or on occasion when a local Polish babcia brings pierogi to church (generally during Advent & Lent), I buy from her after mass. Sometimes, when our daughter lived in Chicago, I would buy from Alexandra’s Pierogies, that’s all they sold.

Need to get out and shovel the driveway. TTYL.

[BippityBoppityBoo]

@SuntanLotion

No new magazines. Bah

The mail, which delivers real deadtree magazines to libraries, had a federally mandated day off this week (national mourning for Pres. Carter) on Thursday. That is going to delay everything at least a day. Plus the backlog and slowdown hanging on from and the New Years early closings and days off. The media mail is always the most impacted~give your library a couple days to make up for that midweek shutdown.

[purplehorseshoe]

@SuntanLotion

I much prefer Sophies Choice perogies.

I see I’m not the only one with … questions.

(Also, probably not the only one who wants to strangle auto-correct sometimes. Duck you, autocorrect!)

@dogbutler

“Before was was was, was was is.” is a real meaningful sentence.

Blinks.

Blinks again.

Re-reads.

Laughs like hyena; startles cat.

@dogbutler

Mine has been up since November 1st. 2002.

If I wore a hat, I’d tip it to salute you.

@liirogue

but my future BIL has a similar problem with beef and vegetable stew he made on Thursday. So we will meet to swap some leftovers this afternoon.

This made me smile. Humanity at its worst & best at the same time.

“I haz problem, due to not planning well!”
“I haz problem, too! Same cause!”
“May we share our problems with each other?”
“Excellent plan!”
“Now we haz fewer problems. Still … lotsa food.”
“There are worse problems.”
“Truth.”

@Misnomer

But…but…Swedish chef avatar!! ()

Yeah, what’s up with that?

@Kitten_Mitten

From purplehorseshoe

Somewhere in north Texas, a bitchy old woman my mother is proud.

@Kitten_Mitten

I disagree. I prefer pierogi made locally.

While I was one of the ones saying, “Yeah, Mrs. T!” I also strongly (and tearfully) endorse this statement.

However, I’m not extroverted enough to deal with elderly Polish women - IME they tend to have, um, a lot to say, about you, your life, and their opinions about those things - so sometimes a drop in food quality is worth not making other mental health sacrifices.

Also, this is a tiny town & I haven’t found any authentic Polish pierogi nearby here. Granted, I didn’t try that hard (was way more involved in attempting to find decent Thai or Vietnamese) but it’s okay.
Life has tradeoffs.
Not living in DFW is … I genuinely smile, sometimes, thinking back on what I left behind, and what I have here.

I do miss mockingbirds, for sure. And easy access to chicken pho.

Don’t miss the heat radiating off endless miles of concrete. (And many other less MMP-friendly things.)

[BippityBoppityBoo]

@Kitten_Mitten

I prefer pierogi made locally.

Many of us don’t live anywhere near a population center with a critical mass of Polish/pierogi aficionados to be able to have a choice of buying local pierogis. We need to know where to buy good enough pierogis because adequate pierogis are still vastly better than no pierogis. I hope I remember to look for some of those adequate frozen ones next time I’m at the store. “Miss Somebody” is all I remember. Might as well pick up some of those frozen dinner rolls that shoe and I like while I’m there. Maybe some frozen biskits too.

[purplehorseshoe]

@BippityBoppityBoo

adequate pierogis are still vastly better than no pierogis

Now that is a motto for life.

@BippityBoppityBoo

“Miss Somebody” is all I remember.

Can you remember to PITY THE FOOL who didn’t buy frozen pierogi?

[BippityBoppityBoo]

And am still pissed off that I have to drive 30 miles one way just to find a decent kolache, the heavenly Czech manna of my youth. What a nasty surprise to discover that they are at least as elusive as pierogis. The local offerings don’t deserve to be labeled ‘kolache’ and won’t eat one if I see it, definitely in the no kolache is better than that execrable disappointment category.

[Paintcharge]

I was productive!! I painted the ceiling of my living room. It was something I’ve wanted to do for years, but I’m lazy. It took all of 20 minutes. Ain’t procrastinating a great thing?

[liirogue]

@SuntanLotion

I much prefer Sophies Choice perogies.

I know you didn’t mean to, but that is kind of a funny slip up

@purplehorseshoe

This made me smile. Humanity at its worst & best at the same time.

“I haz problem, due to not planning well!”
“I haz problem, too! Same cause!”
“May we share our problems with each other?”
“Excellent plan!”
“Now we haz fewer problems. Still … lotsa food.”
“There are worse problems.”
“Truth.”

Haha very true! However the likelihood that I’ll eat most of the leftovers greatly increases when I’ve got another dish to switch back and forth.

@BippityBoppityBoo

Many of us don’t live anywhere near a population center with a critical mass of Polish/pierogi aficionados to be able to have a choice of buying local pierogis.

This, unfortunately. I did some googling and there just isn’t anywhere that sells them fresh anywhere near me.

@BippityBoppityBoo

And am still pissed off that I have to drive 30 miles one way just to find a decent kolache, the heavenly Czech manna of my youth.

Now this funnily enough is readily available near me. Some of the smaller towns around here had substantial (for the time) Czech populations in the late 1800s and there are a couple of solid options for kolaches.

@Paintcharge

I was productive!! I painted the ceiling of my living room. It was something I’ve wanted to do for years, but I’m lazy. It took all of 20 minutes. Ain’t procrastinating a great thing?

Yay for accomplishments! I’m always so mad at myself when I put something like that off - it really doesn’t take that long but dang if it doesn’t have a big impact.

[Chefguy]

@Misnomer

But…but…Swedish chef avatar!! ()

My favorite part of the Swedish Chef is when he throws the whole dish over his shoulder. If it wasn’t for the fact that I’d have to clean it up. . .

Finally got all the xmas decos down to the basement storage lockers. Done and dusted for another year, give or take.

[kayT]

@dogbutler

h ttps://va.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_spxkpvSOO01tpo37t_720.mp4

I can’t figure out how to do this. Can anyone help? I really want to see Spot and snow.

[Sticks_and_Scones]

@Johnny_L.A

I’ve always felt part of a team. No I just feel like an employee.

I had this happen before. It was awful. My sympathies to you.

Very nice stitching, FCM!

There were almost 50 posts when I got here and I, uh, skimmed.

Thank you all, though, for the compliments on my dining room. It’s definitely one of my favorite projects so far.

I’ve got a horrible, horrible sore throat today. Not sure what that’s about. I even had some nice hot soup for lunch and that really kind of made it worse. I’m hoping that it will go away soon!

[The_Stainless_Steel_Rat]

Afternoon all. Went to the gym with the idea of doing a little swimming early, coming home for a little rest and then going back over until they closed at 6pm. Turns out with the weather they decided to close at 3pm, so got a long workout today. Now home and going to watch some tackleball while I try to finish last Sunday’s NY Times before I go out and buy a new one tomorrow. Otherwise will fill my belly with Lean Cuisine pasta in a little while and try to get to bed at a reasonable hour.

Good grief, nearly 400 posts and it’s only Saturday; we’ve been a talkative bunch this week.

red, roads are all clear here and you can see some of the lawn sticking out, how about up North?

FCM, mea culpa to Roxy, she looks very pretty in her bonnet…

wet one, neat pic, that’s a nice doll there.

Nut, glad the care situation has been dealt with. As for the ride-along, I guess they have money for nothing but your drinks are free…

52, glad the chili was a success. Hope the beef stew is equally good.

doggio, Spot seems to be saying ‘what is this cold thing?’

VanGO, sorry your Dad couldn;t make it there, but 7 hours is a long drive for anyone. And Yay! for no jury duty and the painting job. Need to touch up a couple of places here, but like you need the motivation which is not around right now.

Oopsie, nice pics. And I usually just respond as the mood strikes me, quote if I feel like it, but read everything.

@purplehorseshoe

This made me smile. Humanity at its worst & best at the same time.
“I haz problem, due to not planning well!”
“I haz problem, too! Same cause!”
“May we share our problems with each other?”
“Excellent plan!”
“Now we haz fewer problems. Still … lotsa food.”
“There are worse problems.”
“Truth.”

That sounds like it could be from a Strange Planet cartoon (If you haven’t encountered them yet, here’s some examples: Nathan W. Pyle

BBBoo, never had a kolache to the best of my memory, but I think Buc-ees is known for having them, so may have to stop by and try them.

@kayT

I can’t figure out how to do this. Can anyone help? I really want to see Spot and snow.

Just cut and paste it as it is to the bar then edit it to remove the space between the h and the ttps: and it should work fine.

Back to the tackleball and reading time.

[susan]

Mazel tov on ceiling painting! Definitely one of those “why didn’t I do this sooner?” dealies.

One of my grandmas was from Austro-Hungaro-somethin’-Polish, but we’re Pale of Settlement people, not ethnically Polish, so cabbage rolls yes, foods of many consonants no, chicken soup yes, kugel yes, chopped liver yes.

[Northern_Piper]

Dug out the path from the rollie bins to the back gate, and brought in one bin from the alley. (It was emptied on Wednesday but just didn’t get around to bringing it in until today.). Brown garbage bin last Wednesday, green kitchen waste bin this Monday, blue paper and plastics recycling bin this Wednesday.

Must keep path and gate clear of snow!

Big Piper Mutt of course wanted to go to inspect whatever it was I was doing out there without him.