Okay, we can definitely be friends.
I can’t believe I’m the 1st one to say … band name!!!
… no kidding.
… definitely, no kidding.
Like, yesterday.
I haz a very impressed.
Plus, now I can casually tell people, “Oh, yeah, I know someone who is a published musical composer,” and then look away with a nonchalant wave like, yeah, I’m just that cool. I know people.
As long as you can keep the beat …
When you’re paid by the hour, the saintly halo wears off quickly.
I’m tired as all hell now but I guarantee Next Payday Shoe will be just fine with all this.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.
Next Payday dogbutler agrees with this.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 55 Amurrkin out and foggy with a predicted high of 80 and mostly N.O.S. for the day. The big plan of the day is to go over to the church house to deal with candle duty and other stuff. OYKW shall accompany and then we will be bears who brunch at Eggs Up Grill. That will take care of the main need to feed for the day. Elsewise, the usual sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, day drinkin’, and other non-productivity shall prevail.
MG conga rats on publishin’ the music arrangement!
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, alas and bother, I suppose I must needs purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. Woe!
Happy Thursday Y’all!
ETA: Look, I have a piece of cake by my name! It’s my Doperversary!
Me too, as long as it’s a car that I like, which my Sonata is. Tho the new ones are nice… But my goal is still 250K.
I’m pretty sure it was here a couple of weeks ago that I was declaring agony over biting the inside of my mouth repeatedly. Well, I’m giving the whole self-hurt the finger. The middle finger. Specifically first knuckle of the middle finger of my left hand. Over the weekend, I managed to tear out a little bit of skin - smaller than a mechanical pencil eraser, just deep enough that it was a messy bleed. And despite bandaids and/or leaving it unbandaged so it’d dry and heal, it won’t dry and heal. Seems every time I think it’s getting better, I hit it against something and the bleeding starts again. Dammit.
This morning, it was the top edge of the ice bin in the freezer. I didn’t notice whacking it, but I did notice the bright red against the white bin. So I’m sporting a bandaid again. Dammit. I think I need a cage around the finger so I can leave it uncovered to heal, but protected against whackage. I’m just thankful I don’t use blood thinners - that would really be a mess.
When I was doing the insurance transfer for the new vehicle, I noticed several charges on the vehicle invoice that disturbed me. Turns out FCD purchased a maintenance plan whereby all his routine maintenance is done at the dealership for the next 5 years. There’s also an insurance policy of sorts for stuff like torn upholstery or damaged paint and such. It looks to be a decent deal, except for the dealer being almost 20 miles from us, so unless they can do while-u-wait, I’ll have to drive there with him to drop it off, then back to pick him up. Or maybe they have a shuttle service? Dunno. Anyway, yet another reason not to let him buy vehicles alone. Oh well…
We’re promised 81° today, then highs in the 50s for the next 4 days. Because the weather is insane. FCD is going to cut the bed cover on the truck because the tailgate won’t open (dammit) and your can’t remove the cover otherwise. (The cover already has 2 tears in it from falling branches. And it’s 13 years old.) Oh yeah, and the truck is full of garbage and recycling that was supposed to go last week. So he’s going to tend to the garbage, and when we pick up my car tomorrow, we’ll leave the truck for the tailgate and the brakes (which are making obscene noises.) Because it’s always something. I plan to let Paul know that he can’t tell us the truck needs tires. Period! 
And so it begins. Happy Thursday! I guess…
And Happy Doperversary to my favorite bear!! MWAH!! 
Afternoon, mumpers! It’s currently 8c/47f with no predicted change, and partly cloudy. Weather app says “This mild fucking weather is going ot make it a lot harder to justify hiding in your fucking house.” What milder weather, Mr App? It’s at least three or four degrees colder than it was yesterday, sounds like perfect hiding at home weather. Except I have to be on campus. Bah!
Moooom sounds like FCD fell for the salesman’s patter there! A service plan thing that turns out to be a good deal is a rare thing - I suppose the downside has to be the distance from home though.
Swampy happy Doperversary! Will there be additional day-drinking to celebrate?
Sari I fear it’s time to read your son the riot act - he can’t keep taking advantage of you like this, when your health is suffering because of his lack of driving skill. Has he given you a solid reason for putting it off for so long?
shoe the water 'otter is a combi-boiler (which should be fixed today, hurrah!). It is there to make the water hot, therefore it is a water 'otter.
As ever, I have read much but retained little. I am tired today, had a late night with friends and an early start to my day, plus all I seem to have in my inbox is whinging students. Yes, I agree that it’s very unfair to be facing a 5-mark penalty deduction for not submitting an assignment, and yes I can see the screenshot that says you’ve not modified the assignment since the day before the submission was due, but it’s your responsibility to make sure it has uploaded properly so no, it’s not “clearly a technical issue”, it’s your error. Bloody students!
Good morning.
It’s 34F and mostly cloudy outside. The expected high is 50F with cloudy to mostly cloudy skies with rain developing late in the afternoon.
Happy Doperversary, Swampy!
Congrats, MG!
VanGo, I hope you find a reasonably priced solution to your furnace woes. Having just paid out money I did not intend to use right now, I can certainly understand how you feel. Is there a chance of the HVAC company offering financing? Mine did; I would have had ten years to pay it off, although I probably would have had it paid off in less than a year had I opted to finance.
FCM, I really hope it works out for the BiL to be institutionalized. His shenanigans, besides hurting himself, are doing the rest of the family’s health any good either. You already know this of course. I was thinking the same as others with regard to FCD’s new rig. He needed a small spot of happiness. I’m glad he found it.
I will probably drive my rig until the wheels fall off. I bought it brand new in 2014, and it has a little over 66,000 or 67,000 miles on it. It helps that I didn’t have to commute so much with COVID, though. I like not having a car payment, so that’s another incentive to keep this rig in good running shape.
I went to the office yesterday and dealt with a multitude of issues, as well as participating in the lease inspection. I pointed out some things that needed attention, the GSA rep told the property manager (also present), and we got through the review. Most of it was minor stuff, so it wasn’t bad.
One of the employees in the office had the ass because she couldn’t get a shipping app to work, and was griping because she couldn’t get her work done and looking at me like I was the easy button again. We have issues with our network in the office, and I can do nothing about it. We’ve submitted tickets and complained numerous times but to no avail. Servers cost money, and our IT is very tight. Another employee asked me if it was a good idea to change her FEHB because she was close to retirement. I had to tell her that I was not a benefits specialist and that she should talk to one of them. I provided her with links with helpful information and the link to self-help HR tickets. Once again, I was being looked at like the big, red, easy button. It’s pretty amazing; people think I am IT, HR, Security, Safety, Law Enforcement, Contracting, and literally 97 other duties and should be a complete expert in all areas. The truth is, I touch all that (not so much Law Enforcement), but I am the conduit for information, not the expert. Also, most of what the employees require is a self-help issue, but that easy button is much easier until it’s not.
At any rate, I was delighted to get home yesterday. Were the issues described above significant? No. Dealing with the cranky employees was mildly annoying, though. Fortunately, the rest of the folks in the office were pleasant, so I had that going for me.
The furnace was installed on Tuesday, and the techs were done by about 3:30 in the afternoon. The new furnace is nice and quiet and does an excellent job keeping the house warm.
The dishwasher tech is coming today, but I am sure he, too, will get lost and initially go to the wrong house. I cannot get Google Maps to correct their shit, and I’m highly pissed. I’ve been in a two-year running battle with Google Maps. Everything was fine until then; now, people end up about a mile or two away from my house. Every single month I send Google Maps a correction. They almost always say they’re correcting it, but they don’t, and people continue to get lost. So irritating.
Well, I should finish hand washing the dishes and get the stuff out from under the sink so the dishwasher guy can under there if need be.
Another day of work awaits me too, so I should get to gettin’.
Kinda how I see it, but I’m not going to make an issue of it - he’s dealing with enough crap, and it’s not like it’s a huge chunk of cash. Plus this is the dealership where we bought my Sonata and where I get my recall work done - they seem decent enough.
Yeah, this is the first time in 11 years we’ve had a car payment. Tho when (pardon the gruesome thought) MIL dies, FCD intends to use his inheritance to pay it off. How awful is it of us to be thinking that way? But it is reality…
Anyway, yeah, not having a car payment is wonderful!!
Happy doperversary Swampy!
My job came with a company truck so my personal vehicles were usually in the $800 - $1,000 range. In 2015 I realized that they were not going to let me take the truck with me when I retired so I took over Sunflower’s 2011 Jeep Wrangler and bought Her a new Jeep Patriot. We upgraded Her patriot in 2019 to a Cherokee.
Just as all of the recent craziness with new and used cars started I realized that I could get a great trade in on my Wrangler and bought a 2021 Toyota Tacoma. I got a really good trade in and price for the Tacoma and a couple of weeks later the prices for everything went through the roof. I am planning on driving it to FCM’s goal of 250K
FCD got a call from one of his cousins in Indiana. His mother’s eldest surviving sibling, 96-y/o Vera, is close to death. She’s got multiple cancers and dementia, tho when MIL saw her last month, they had a bit of a lucid conversation. Anyway, FCD just left to tell him mom, assuming the cousin hadn’t called her already. That will leave only MIL’s sister and BIL, who are 13 and 12 years younger, as the last of her childhood family. My mom is the last of her generation in my family, except for a couple of cousins, but I have no aunts or uncles.
Circle of Life and all that.
Just before he left, FCD called me out to the garage. In addition to the backup camera, his new car will show itself in its environs. There was an image that looked as if a camera was looking down on the roof of the car from the top of the garage!! I’m guessing there are cameras all around the vehicle and they make a projection of the surrounding areas, and a vehicle is superimposed upon it. Technology is amazing!!
I also found out that this maintenance package he bought includes a loaner vehicle while his is being serviced, so there’s no need for me to pick him up and drop him off at the dealers. Cool beans, huh?
I’ve got a big pot of turkey noodle soup simmering - no noodles in it yet. It’ll be tonight’s supper, with extra for MIL. Tobias is on the way. And so begins the day…
Caffeinated, sausagated, Wordled. The paper hasn’t arrived yet for some reason, so no crosswords yet. I’ve talked myself into going to an orchestra concert today. Hopefully I’ll be able to walk after sitting for that long. The knee tends to stiffen up if I can’t extend it every so often.
Happy late mornin’ y’all. Tis the crack of 10am, 76/24 and foggy / drizzly out; have yet to see the actual Sun. Supposed to be nicer later and top out around 84/29. No sign of that yet.
My late first wife was a folk and jazz musician on several instruments. Never earned more than token money at it, but mostly played out in church, in jam clubs, or with community groups. Folks at these events would often ask me what instrument I played.
I play the seedee. I’ve mastered play, pause, and rewind. Now I’m working on fast-forward and skip.
Overtime was always my favorite time too. Hourly work is like that.
Happy Doperversary there swampy!! Good to know you’ll have an eggcellent celebration at Eggs Up Grill. Don’t forget the celebratory mimosas. 
It’s very gratifying to learn that your easy button is now out of order. Probably permanently. Go you!! Seriously, congrats on choosing to stand your ground then actually doing so. I’m much better at saying I’ll change than actually changing.
My car has that. The cameras are mounted on the side mirrors pointing straight down with super-duper fisheye lenses. The computer un-stretches the images so it looks like the camera is hovering 20’ above the car. Great for getting aligned straight and centered in a parking space. On mine at least there aren’t downward facing cameras at front and rear, so the image is not great for knowing when to stop. Takes some practice to learn its strengths and shortcomings, but now I tap that button as I’m pulling into most parking spaces.
As to me: had nice Big Boy lunch yesterday for 3-1/2 hours. Solved most of our familial and business problems and were just turning to the decrepit state of the world when it was time to go back home (me) and to work (him).
Otherwise a quiet day yesterday and likely the same today.
Cheers all.
Everything: < works fine >
The Gangster of Love : < appears >
SSLAW#1: < dies >
SSLAW#2: < dies >
3G belt: < dies >
TGoL: < wanders off >
Everything: < resumes working >
TGoL: < wanders back >
Everything: < seizes up >
Dude is seriously a walking machine curse.
I was apparently supposed to be in the Mez this week, but nobody told me. Which is gonna be fun, because a downstairs terminal erased Windows, and one of the Mez computers is following in its footsteps.
[Carl Spackler]Which is nice[/Carl Spackler](I don’t miss being the easy button for everybody.)
Happy Doperversary, swampy Let them eat cake, and day drink! 
Morning all.
Same here. I’ve been taking ukulele lessons, and the people who are actually good at it just blow me away. I’ll be happy if I can one day strum my way through a few simple songs without messing up any chords. When I see videos of people doing amazingly intricate picking patterns, I know I’ll never get to that level.
But it’s still fun!
I keep getting jerked around regarding work. There’s no malicious intent, but there’s definitely a chaos factor involved in scheduling.
I was supposed to start a 2-week job in Plano TX this coming Monday, then have a week off and go to another 2-week project in Arizona.
The guy I was supposed to partner with had a family emergency and can’t work next week. They couldn’t get anyone to replace him, so they pushed the Plano job back to November 27. Which I figured meant that I lost the Arizona job, but they pushed that one back by one week, meaning two 2-week gigs back-to-back. When they said I could schedule in a few days at home in between, I agreed.
Then this morning, as I was looking for flights, I got an email that said “Things are changing again. Hold off on booking, I’ll be in touch.”
So I’m back in limbo-land. Sigh.
A company that is sufficiently chaotic is indistinguishable from actual malice in terms of its impact on you.
You may not be there yet, but it might be heading your way. Don’t go seeking problems, but do notice when they’ve actually arrived.
Aww, thank you. 
The latest COVID test was negative! Granted, it was an expired test that could have returned a false negative, but these expired tests have been good at showing positive results. We have one new test kit, so I should go down and pick up a couple/few more.
Yaay!! Way past time for that monkey to climb off your back. Hooray!
IIRC the current CDC guidance does not say to keep testing (or quarantining) until you’re clear.
You do you, and with your wife working with unhealthy folks may give you both plenty good reason to be arch-conservative about this risk.
Today is a couple of hours short of 14 days since the onset of symptoms. Any symptoms now are probably just my normal snottiness.
I’m guessing you mean there’s no need to keep testing after a negative result? I’d still like to take a fresh test, just to be sure. But not quarantining is good. The news mentioned it’s two weeks until Thanksgiving, and I still need to get a turkey. Maybe I’ll go to Trader Joe’s today.
You’ll have to look up the current guidance yourself to be sure. And WA may have their own ideas.
What I recall from when I last looked (12+ months ago) was something close to “If you have symptoms, test for COVID. If positive, isolate for 5 days after symptoms subside. Further testing or quarantining after that is unnecessary.”
And yeah, normal seasonal stuffiness plus perhaps allergies and overall dampness can sure make figuring our when COVID symptoms subside difficult. At least for the relatively mild cases most vaxxed folks get versus the current strains prevalent in the wild.