(Old) The Snowed In MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
141

Time for the late-night final. Went back to the gym and did pedaling and walking instead of swimming, will try the pool again tomorrow. Then came home and added about 1/2 of the calories back, but still weighed in about 200lbs. Nothing much this evening but some reading before lights out.

On the Progresso front, Kroger has it at $2.79, but if you buy 8 cans or more it’s only $1.29. The Mart of Wal is $2.38. Think I will stick with my Campbells Chicken Noodle at $1.26.

Notts, glad the furnace is working again. And I got a hearing aid this past year by going to an ENT Office.

I do worry a little about that, usually there is someone else in the pool or the jacuzzi, but there have been times I’m all alone and if anything happens… That’s one reason I prefer the outer lanes, if anything happens I can get to the pool side easier.

Wet one, glad nothing was broken,

So Clarence has clearance? But enjoy the first ride.

FCM, that bill was for the two of you? Think the only time I paid that much was a rare trip to Ruth Chris Steak House.

Well, there were balls involved…

Hmmm, according to the website they have a place in Paducah, KY which is about 4 hours up the road from me…hmmmm

Sari, is Sah-son thinking about looking for another job, one with better (and more certain) hours? And know what you mean about keyboards, I keep hitting the keys one spot to the right and have to correct every third word or so.

And it’s 10:30pm, so off to dreamland (but not the BBQ–https://dreamlandbbq.com). Take care all.

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We didn’t have a single order the entire last hour, so that was a FAST close tonight. We were warming up our cars about 10 or 12 minutes past midnight.

No complaints here!

So before 1 a.m. even, I’d already dropped off another crew member, gotten home & kicked off my shoes, fired up the oven to bake a lil’ frozen shepherd’s pie, and tossed Monks some pieces of deli turkey.

Tomorrow is my Blessed Day Off. The biggest goal is to get at least two fresh rat tanks set up, and get either two colonies moved, or else move the big one & split it into two.

They are so overdue for clean bedding, it’s shameful.

I still have my basement light on, too, indicating that there’s clean laundry in the dryer that needs to be fetched.

The shepherd’s pie is pretty small, so I’m debating some sort of snack to augment it.

Crackers with brie & marmalade is a good, easy standby.
Or else a bit of shredded chicken with chili crisp & such (my “weird chicken salad”) sounds good.

Oh, and thank you to all who sent good wishes for Charm(ing) my little orange corn snake. Her new heater seems to work fine, and she’s still in front of the house heating vent, so that should keep her comfortable for the rest of the winter.
She’s been quite active since the heat soaked through the glass walls of her tank (speaking of someone else who could use some fresh substrate) so I feel fairly confident that she survived the “oops” cold.

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Oh, yeah! I got the fixin’s to make a spinach quiche the other day but ran out of time/energy. Gotta remember to make that tomorrow, too! The leftovers will be great to bring in to work.

144

This is hopefully the last chapter of the Noisy Neighbor Chronicles. It was noisy again last night. I talked to the manager today. She said she’s had more complaints from others and has put the neighbors on notice: a single infraction within 30 days, and they’ll get evicted. So that’s progress.

Good to know it’s not just me. The manager said, “You look like you haven’t been getting much sleep,” so I guess it shows even though I did not menace her with her scissors or stapler or anything.

I’ve never seen a better, more concise description of cat-think.

Aw, you ARE sweet! This reminds me of my late friend and colleague, Rose. I always got to school way early and saved her the first parking spot because she had a bad hip. I left late, so she used to brush off and scrape my car so I wouldn’t have to (I have Raynaud’s Syndrome.). And with her bad hip! She, too, was from Illinois and had an Italian mama. Our mothers died two weeks apart, and she never failed to leave a card on my desk on the anniversary of Mom’s passing. So I hereby present to you the Rose Award for Thoughtfulness. :rose:

I wouldn’t ditch the idea. I seem to be a magnet for weird neighbors, so just make sure I’m not in the complex. :slight_smile: My friend lives in a 55+ community and loves it. Duplexes only, one floor, your own garage, deck, and little yard, and it’s quiet. There’s a long waiting list, and it’s out of my price range, but I think you’d be happy somewhere like that. And the one here is near a store that sells braunschweiger!

Does it depend on how much camo is on the line? Hmm, JtC could hang up some camo bonnets and REALLY confuse the neighbors.

Oh, crud, I want to type more but I’m falling asleep. Tomorrow.

145

The correct answer, as usual, is “both.”

Augmented the shepherd’s cottage pie with some jarred gravy (don’t judge!) and it is quite yum.
(It’s the Blake’s brand, if anyone is curious.)

Multivitamin for “dessert.”

Sleepy-time soon. Mr. Sandman just showed up.

Man, in bed before 3 a.m. what madness is this? Why, I may actually have a productive day tomorrow!

{ wanders off laughing to herself (“Productive! Ha! Didja hear that?”) }

146

Why, thank you!

Speaking of dear, departed mothers, I know my mom would have a thing or ten to say about the book I’m reading, but I’ll get into it later today.

147

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. It’s 3.9 Ferret Height(-3.89 Centipedes). Brrrr.

But what’s your vector, Victor?

I’ve avoided that plague so far. The rats and assorted vermin hang out by the dumpster.

148

Am I the only one who is temporarily awake at 3.30?

149

No. Not sure how much longer I’ll stay up, though.

150

It’s 12:30am for me (Pacific time zone). Not sure when I’m going to bed.

151

Fell and couldn’t get up Monday. Housemate finally got me to my feet, but by then Lady SCAdian had already called for an ambulance. They took me to a hospital, where I was of course tested for covid. Yippee – I tested positive. Sat there for a couple hours, and was finally released with a script for five days’ worth of Lagevrio (aka molnupiravir), another of those “authorized for emergency use” meds. Spent a good-sized chunk of yesterday in bed; woke up an hour ago covered in sweat. Blech. Yesterday was our 30th anniversary, but we’re going to wait a few days before going out. :slight_smile:

Lagevrio… I used to look at drug names and imagine them as names for D&D characters. This one sounds like it would be a gnome.

152

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently -1c/31f with a predicted high of 1c/34f, and cloudy. Weather app says “This is the kind of weather I want for my fucking funeral. Or may I want some rain. Who fucking cares? I’d be dead.” What a cheerful way to start the day!

Who knows? It’s a bit of a catch-all excuse for the rail operators :slight_smile: Leaves on the line used to be a favourite, until they removed a lot of the lineside trees (and replanted with ones that don’t shed leaves) so they had to come up with something else.

Poor little sausage! Our girlies run away from anything like that, but Shadow just wails at me until I clean it up for him. None of our cats have been punished for anything, so it’s got to be some other kind of instinct.

So are Blossom and Cherry. Blossom will let me fuss her with one hand, but two hands is a bad thing most of the time. Also, if I am standing up and have to bend down to her, she runs off. Cherry will come and lay right up against me on the bed but she won’t come near me if I’m sitting on the sofa. I can pick them up long enough to move them, but nothing more. Cats, right?

Ouch! I’m sorry you’re in pain with all of that, I hope you feel better soon (and stop dribbling!)

Saw that one, still looks pretty! Great to have such a helpful neighbour too, now you can be sure the postie can bring you all that junk mail :slight_smile:

It’s good that he was interested enough to wander the aisles, and wanted to get out and about to start with.

I hope so - those are difficult dreams to handle. Dealing with property and stuff is hard when you have a full life yourself, if you know there’s nothing in the house that anyone wants to keep, it’s much easier to sell the whole lot and walk away from it without regrets.

Good news that you haven’t broken/fractured anything, and Ariel will be happy to have you back again!

That’s good news, I’m glad she is warm and letting you know about it!

Let’s hope that sorts the problem out, or that they do get evicted very quickly for thinking the notice doesn’t apply to them.

Happy anniversary, but sorry to hear about your health woes. It will be a double celebration when you are finally able to go out, anniversary and recovery together!

I had a pleasant evening after I logged off irk. I made campus food for the rest of the week, then had a bit of sofa time with Shadow snoozing on my lap before I had to get up again to make dinner. I tried a new recipe (cheesy beef with crispy potatoes) that turned out quite well, and had that with a large quantity of green veg.

Today I was up early for the campus trek, did not enjoy the experience as I was out of the house at 6.45am and it was very slippery on the walk to the bus stop. The Travel Gods were kind to me this morning though, so I got to campus without incident, and in fairly good time. We’re all grumbling about having to get up early and come in - misery is loving the company!

Hopefully things are back to normal and it will be pub night with friends tonight. Then 'im indoors may be home from his new job tomorrow (he’s working out whether he needs to do any hours on Friday or not) which means the end of my alone time at home.

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Willing to share the recipe? This does sound good.

154

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 27 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 49 and N.O.S. I have a doc and vampire appointment at nine a.m. It’s also provisions procurement day. OYKW said he’d take care of that which is fine by me. That way we can be RDOS in the afternoon. Wednesday night stuff resumes over to the church house this evenin’, so that will take care of sup.

Herald yikes! Hope you are better soonest and can enjoy a delayed anniversary celebration.

Now I need more caffeine. Can’t feed rumbly tummy before I see the vampires. I suppose I must also purtify myself and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. How I suffer for my public!

Happy Hump Day Y’all!

155

I used to work at a Toyota dealership. I love the hybrids. But. Buy a new one with an extended warranty if you plan to keep it for a long time. The batteries are very, very expensive to replace.

Yep, that’s what we’re doing with our very old windows. And drafty doors.

MusicMan indulged me the last time that we went up to the VA hospital. We had breakfast at the restaurant at the Arcade. We figured this was cheaper than staying there for the night. But… Breakfast was around $60 for the two of us and then we had to pay $18 for parking!

Interesting. I used to have Raynaud’s when I was younger, but it has disappeared as I’ve gotten older.

Feel better!

My mouth is thankfully better this morning and I was actually able to sleep last night! I am working on softer foods for breakfast this morning. Annie appreciates this idea, too.

Today I have physical therapy and then I’m going to clear out most of my space at the one art place. Then I’ve got an appointment to get my hair cut. :scream: I haven’t cut it for quite some time and it’s halfway down my back. I don’t want to cut it all off, but I do want to get it under control because it’s been driving me crazy lately.

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Last time I had one, which is ages ago, it tasted different from what I remembered from my childhood. Dunno if the recipe changed or my taste changed, but I don’t much like them now.

Same with TastyKakes - I used to love them but I believe they changed their recipe. They’re OK, but not the amazing treat I recall from my school days. Not that I need to be snarfing them down anyway.

Aw man, I wish that was true around here! The closest Kroger is 2 hours away. But I see they’re associated with Harris Teeter, and if I get their VIC card, I can get 5 for the price of 2, which brings the price down to something like $1.40. I think I need to look more into HT. It’s close to Aldi, so it would be relatively convenient.

Schools are closed again today - I’m guessing there are still roads that are dangerous. SIL will be dropping off the grandspawn in a couple of hours so I should get a fire going in the basement pretty soon. But not till I shower and dress - I’m not going outside to get wood in robe and slippers!! :open_mouth:

Last night was not good. I woke around 1 and didn’t fall back to sleep till after 3. I felt like my very, very expensive supper was sitting like a lump in my gut. All told, I think I got about 6 hours, but it wasn’t very rejuvenating sleep. Plus I was having a mega-bizarro dream about cutting up dead bodies as an assistant to an undertaker. swampy (who I’ve met) was there, as was OYKW (who I’ve never met) and they were having some sort of disagreement about buying hardware (like nails and bolts, not computer hardware.) At least I wasn’t cutting up swampy.

FCD was also having a bad night - I suggested he put of his trek to the Eastern Shore till tomorrow so I could go with him. We’ll see how that goes. And we still haven’t heard anything from either of the companies who came to give us quotes on the deck. Pretty sure neither of them will get the gig. There’s an Amish guy who advertises work on decks - we’re going to go see him. At least he’s pretty close - it’s kinda inconvenient that we can’t phone him or go via website.

Speaking of Amish, we also need to get our mower to Dave. That should have happened weeks ago if someone had listened to me. We need it serviced before spring, and Dave is usually really busy. Maybe after the snow melts some more.

And so beginneth my day. Happy Wednesday!

157

Good Hump Day morning all. It’s a brisk 27F outside heading to 46F and no precipitation in sight. Another RDOS day, may try swimming again, but keeping it to 1200/1500 yard sets to avoid the cramping. Need to do a Electronic Travel Authorization for visiting England this summer (part of a cruise my friend the travel person is organizing for a bunch of us), they had me load an app on my phone and insist it will only take 10-12 minutes to complete (yeah, right).

Oh, got a notice from Verizon, they apparently settled a class-action lawsuit so I got my share of the benefits; $5.48. Will not be going wild with it…

shoe, good news about Charm, enjoy the day off.

Nellie, hope the manager follows through if the N.N. keep up their antics. And probably will look for an apartment, but not until I’m 75 or so, at least that is the plan.

Coppertone, I’ve been going lights out about 11:30-Midnight lately, up between 7-8am, with occasional bathroom visits in the night.

Herald, what a double-header; COVID and a fall. Take care of yourself. And the two drugs I am taking are Lisinopril and Levothroxine, which could be some evil Wizardess and her dragon…

Swampy, happy medical and logistics day.

Sticky Buns, thanks for the car advice, I’ve never had a hybrid or electric car in my life so this will be an experience (if I choose to go that way). Enjoy the hair removal–I don’t have much left up top and what is there doesn’t seem that interested in growing, so been months since I have been shorn.

Never been a Twinkies fan, my go-to is Hostess Cupcakes, they aren’t as good as they used to be (IMHO) but still…chocolate…

FCM, yeah, pricing for food be weird; 12-packs of Pepsi products are $9.99 each but every couple of months they lower it to "Buy 2, get 3 free, so $20 gets 5 cartons; that’s when I usually stock up. Best wishes on the deck and the mower; I usually take mine in for servicing in March, but may go in February this year.

And onward into the day; first apple is going into my belly once I finish typing this…so I am done…

158

Of course!

500g lean minced beef
4 bacon rashers (diced)
500g tomato passata
1 tablespoon tomato puree
1 beef stock pot
1 onion
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 teaspoon garlic (I used lazy garlic paste)
120g grated cheese (I used cheddar and mazzarella)
1 tablespoon mixed herbs
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper

For the potatoes:
800g diced potatoes
2 teaspoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
Salt and pepper

Soften the onion and peppers in a pan, add the bacon and beef, cook for a few minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for a minute more.
Add the passata, tomato puree, stock and seasoning.
Cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

Put the diced potatoes on a baking sheet, sprinkle with the seasoning and bake in the oven for 20 mins (Gas 4,180 degrees).

When the potatoes are cooked, stir them in to the pan with everything else, cover with the cheese and put it under the grill until the cheese is bubbling.

This recipe serves 4, and for those who keep track of such things, it’s 489 cals per serving (49g protein, 44g carbs, 13g fats).

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SCAdian, I’m so sorry to hear that. Hope you enjoy your anniversary when you do get to go out!

160

Closest sub = canned tomatoes

Looks good, I’ll give it try one of these days.

The trash hasn’t been picked up yet. The bin is all snow covered and looks rather picturesque TBH. Snow is still falling from the sky and it is still around 20F so nothing is melting.

I think I’ll take the leaf blower to our walks today and see what happens. We don’t really need them clear, we can get to the cars from a different door but Hubs is fussing about it and I don’t want him out there with a shovel. I will make a scene in public if that happens.

We got some weather stripping for the doors that really helped a bunch.

The window guys mis-measured the kitchen window so it is still waiting. I can tell the difference just by walking into the room. I hope you will be able to get yours replaced soon.

Be sure to sweep the snow off your ramp before it turns into a sheet of glass. Back in AZ, the little boy across the street used to sled down our ramp after it snowed. He would hit the base of the ramp, bounce on the concrete and shoot across the drive into the tree, ending with a big whomp of snow and much laughter.

It did look fun, but I didn’t want to try it myself.

I can still remember the day Steve let me cup his head with both hands. It took so much trust for him to allow it. He was such a good kitty.

Lovely. As if you don’t already have enough to worry about, now you have COVID on top of it. I hope you got the short version and that the drugs help.

I sure do hope they pay attention. How can people not even care that they are upsetting all of their neighbors?