(Old) Top O' the Mundane To Ya- A St. Patrick's Day MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
161

I’m up after a pretty good sleep and a very weird dream. My big plan for the day is a run to Aldi - Daughter and the grandspawn are coming for lunch on Saturday and I need a few things. I’m making a pasta bake, but I definitely need fruits for Tobias, and I would like to make a cuke salad, if I can find 3 decent cukes. Sadly, the ones at Aldi are usually pretty sad, but we’ll see.

FCD is going to the boat to finish a small job. He’s gotten to the point where he can’t do much more till the tanks are in place and the generator is moved back where it belongs. No telling how he’ll amuse himself at that point.

So, not a whole lot on tap here. Rain promised later today and into the evening, but comparing 3 forecasts on different sites, it’s a crapshoot. But they all agree it won’t start till late afternoon, so maybe I’ll have a shot at raking again.

For now, tho, I’ll finish my morning reads and caffeination, then shower, dress, and head down the road.

Happy Thursday!!

162

And so today they send me an email about the pain from my nerve block. I’m glad they weren’t in a hurry. It basically advised me to look beyond the pain to see if the other causes of pain were still there. AKA to determine if the nerve block was actually helpful. Then, just for fun, they prescribed a steroid in case I might still be having a significant problem. I find that last part particularly stupid after my conversation with the doctor about how steroids and I don’t get along.

So, thanks, doc! Your help is greatly appreciated. :roll_eyes:

163

Yesterday, I wound up getting up an hour early “thanks” to Buddy’s drama about how awful it is that Mom was still in bed and Dad was up (he also gets upset about the reverse, but not as badly). I went to bed super-early as a result, well before DH.

Buddy came in with me, then instead of his usual pain-in-the-tail door-yoyo routine, he crawled under the covers with me, snuggled in, and purred me to sleep. He left at some point, but came back in after DH got up and elected to snuggle again. At least for one sleep/wake cycle, we were spared the noisy door melodrama. :slight_smile:

164

Afternoon, mumpers! It’s currently16c/61f with a predicted high of 17c.62f and mostly sunny. Weather app says “Can you wear shorts today? Do whatever the fuck you want, I don’t fucking care.” I’m not wearing shorts today but somewhere out there, the postie is!

I did for a little bit, he’s getting on now and isn’t too steady on his back legs but it was fun to sit with him for a while.

Excellent news! I am so happy for you!

Congratulations to all of you! What a lovely day it’s been in Mumperland.

So yesterday evening I got the bus from home town over to my friends’ house and tended to their ferret. Then bussed back to my home, tended to the mogs and had some dinner. Very early night as I am still feeling lurgified.

This morning I have had to endure 3hrs of management training which taught me precisely nothing. Not 'cos I’m a great manager, but because I already did all of the same training stuff on the ILM Level 3 course.

Now that the ADHD Squirrel has accepted a 7-month secondment, speculation is rife over who will replace her. One of my minions is convinced it will be the Squirrel’s bestie who manages the History team (who we share an office with). I hope not, because she’s a stress bunny and I think it would tip her over the edge. Minion also asked me if I was applying for it and said she was happy to hear a “no” to that one, because she didn’t want to lose me.

'im indoors has emailed to say that he’s got some issues with his rented accommodation and is pondering his options. He comes home tonight so I’m sure I’ll hear all about it on the drive home from the station. It’s a shame because the place he’s living seemed to suit him very well but it sounds like the other tenant is causing some bother. More on that later, I suspect.

165

Back from Aldi - home of the mushy cukes. But I got other stuff I needed. And their eggs went down from $6 to $5 per dozen - wonder if that’s a sign???

Now, I’m contemplating whether to rake or not to rake. There’s no sun, so I’m not sure… Plus, yanno, I’m just hovering on the edge of lazy.

166

And a belated good morning to all. Up about 7am and did a little tidying around the house as the plumbers were due by to evaluate and schedule my appointment. They were here about 9am and I’m on the work schedule for next Thursday, which is the day I wanted due to other plans. So hopefully one more week of water rationing and I can get back to a semi-normal life in that regard. Garbage has been picked up and the bin returned to the garage, the recyclables are still pending pickup, with that service it could be in an hour, could be Friday… Much cooler today, 43F now and it could dip below freezing tonight, but then warming into the 70’s by the weekend.

Sticky Buns, hope the drive went well. My thighs are aching after the workout yesterday, I’ll have to see how they respond to driving and my usual Thorsday cycling and walking routine. And sounds like that Doc can;t keep his patients straight.

swampy, trust the vampires didn’t take all of your blood. Of course you could then do a total caffeine transplant…

FCM, so you tell us you had ‘a pretty weird dream’ but don’t tell us about it?

Nettie, never owned a cat but remember my brother’s feline (it lived upstairs only and the dogs lived downstairs) climbing into bed with me and accepting scriches from me. It can be very peaceful.

boo fae, shorts don’t come out in my place until the thermostat passes 80F. And i sympathize with the ‘management training’, went too way to many courses for things I already knew during my career.

And that’s the late morning report. And early lunch of braunschweiger sammiches has just been consumed and all is right with the world. Take care all.

167

Actually, it makes the nurses enjoy that baby more. Our (former NICU nurse here) favorite is when the babies pee or poop all over the doctors-then the baby gets extra renown and status. Extra points for barfing on docs.

Exactly. Which is why Boo always has not one but two power banks fully charged in her purse at all times.

168

Indeed it was~new baby grandmumpette and a great new job. March 19 shall forever more be remembered as one of our bestest ever days. Now if only mooomm could get her glasses fixed proper like, it would be perfect. They are really cute glasses.

169

34F this morning, but the wind has disappeared. So I opted for a walk in the sunshine and was treated to the song of a Northern Cardinal (courtesy of my Birdnet app) looking for love in all the wrong places.

Irish oatmeal topped with a fried egg and bacon this morning. Looks like butternut soup with brown butter sage this PM. I think we may hit Happy Hour this afternoon. The house chef puts a lot of effort into it and we’d like to support her.

I turned on all three air purifiers today, as I can’t seem to stop sneezing and snuffling. I also dusted what I could reach, as the housekeeping person rarely does the job, and it’s pretty half-hearted when she does.

170

Hooray for Rupert!

It’s noonish Thu as I write. I was up well pre-dawn to leave still pre-dawn for my long weekend trip. Drove down to the airport in the gathering workday traffic, arrove (is so a word!) near sunrise, eventually to fuss with formalities, lounge at the club, then board & go. We’re now about 45 minutes in the air on our 2-hour airtime journey. So ~1:15 to go.

Today is BB’s birthday. Which was the original reason for this island trip before stuff intervened.

I sent her a greeting text first thing with the hope she could do something nourishing to her soul on her extended weekend off. She phoned back to thank me but is evidently a sadly depressed mess. She’s feeling very trapped by her circumstances, and that’s certainly a valid observation, not just angsty silliness. Square circles are a bitch to resolve. Hurts to hear her hurting and be unable to help.

Have a couple of 2nd dates lined up for next week, so we’ll see if anything pans out. Pity there was nobody far enough along to bring to Punta Cana. Then again, I met BB on a cruise. An all-inclusive is sort of an immobile cruise, so perhaps lightning will strike there too while I’m solo.

Here’s a funny coincidence y’all might enjoy …
Yesterday I was talking to a ~25yo cutie in the elevator at my building. I’ve seen her before; she lives there too. Turns out she is traveling today on the same flight I am. She’s attending a bachelorette party with about 8 GFs that’ll be going on at some AirBnB. Sadly I was not invited to crash join their party.

Cheers and good luck to us all.

171

Apart from knowing most people don’t give a flying fig about my dreams, I only remember snippets. There was some driving in the mountains in snow, then going for a “five minute only” presentation by Verizon, (we’re with Consumer Cellular, so ???) and they took our car and wouldn’t give it back till we attended the presentation, but we couldn’t find where the presentation was held and we couldn’t find our car, and that’s where I woke up. Yeah, weird.

BBBoo - the pads on the nose thingies on my glasses seem to be working. Certainly better than a $4-500 replacement pair would cost. The biggest problem is the spot on the left side of my nose that’s really raw. I think if it heals, I can wear the specs sans pads, but I can’t go without my glasses so I don’t know how long till it heals. It’s so hard to be me… < pose of woe >

Pilot - your tales get me wondering what I’d do if I lost FCD. And I’m pretty sure I’d go on by myself, maybe visiting random Mumpers on occasion. I’ve joked that I’m too old to train another husband, but really, I don’t think I want another to fill that space in my life. I did OK alone for 10 years before I met him, and I think with the grandspawn so close, I’d do fine if I had to get along without him.

I got a nice hunk of corned beef that will be tonight’s supper, but I need to go to Food Lion for some spuds - dunno why I didn’t think of them at Aldi. So I’m off on another food quest.

172

Last night’s rain turned to snow. Had to go to,the barn this morning so Ariel could get her feetz done. Portions of the road were snow covered. Icy in spots. I had Trevor go with me to the pasture to get her. She was aaaaaaaalllllll the way back, dozing. The pasture is 5 acres. Parts of the path were icy, parts had clumps of melted and frozen ick. I tripped on one clump but remained upright. At home for the rest of the day and plan on binging Season 3 of Nurse Jackie. How much I love my public library! It’s like having a personal Blockbuster.

173

I feel the same way about my library! Aren’t we lucky?

174

I was another one of those crazy days, and lots of rewraps afterwards. I did my Senior Day shopping, now it’s naptime. Tuxedo willing.

Yes

On the other hand, there’s always “that guy” who wears sorts in 20 degree weather. We have one of those.

I don’t have that problem with Spot. Screaming for ice cubes is a whole nother matter.

175

It’s into the mid-70s here so I’ve opened windows to enjoy some fresh air. FCD just got home and he’s going to work in his shop. Corned beef flat is in the pot to start simmering. I don’t know how much more excitement I can handle…

176

Started Typing: 12:22 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 2:13 PM ET

A big YAY to shoe for the replacement reach-in finally arriving, and an even bigger YAY to BBBoo for the new grandbaby finally arriving!! :smiley: :tada:

Today I’ve been entertaining myself by firing up my old 16" Sony Vaio laptop. I bought it new in 2010, and it was my primary personal computer until I got my current Dell all-in-one in 2018. At first I kept the Vaio around for the built-in DVD player/burner, and in 2020 I used it for some of my first online voice lessons, but eventually I got an external burner and an external Blu-ray player and started using my primary computer for lessons: until this morning, I don’t think I’d so much as turned it on in about 2 years. It thought it was July 2023, and I had to manually set the date before the time would sync with Windows online and before it would check for updates. Installing the latter is pretty much what I’ve been doing all day. :slight_smile: It’s still running Windows 10, because it doesn’t meet the minimum system requirements for Windows 11. I have no idea what I want to do with it: the battery doesn’t hold much of a charge anymore so it has to be plugged in, and it’s not good for much beyond email/web surfing and MS Office (and watching/burning DVDs). Maybe I can give it to someone; I figure at the very least I can get the OS as current as possible. If I wind up keeping it, I’ll need to try to remember to update it more frequently than every couple of years.

Sincere thanks to everyone for the job congrats! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: It’s really nice to know that now I can just chill for the rest of the month.

I’ll need to do some clothes shopping, though: I’ve worked from home full-time for the past five years, and I need stuff I can wear in the office. Somehow, I don’t think that sweatpants and whatever t-shirt I slept in will do the trick. :joy: Plus sometimes there will be customer meetings in DC, and I’ll want to at least try to look like a grownup for those. I don’t have most of my pre-COVID work clothes anymore, because of weight loss due to bariatric surgery; I hadn’t gotten around to replacing that wardrobe yet, because I hadn’t needed to. I tend to wear the same 2-3 pairs of pants, so mostly I just need tops. I have a couple of Talbots gift cards from Christmas and my birthday: I’ll start there, maybe this Saturday. Kohl’s is on my list, too. I’ll get just a few things to start: enough to take me through the first week or so, and let me see how my boss and the others dress. WifeBFF is usually my clothes shopping guru, and she hates that she can’t go with me (she’s in rehab after a reverse shoulder replacement): I have orders to Facetime her from the dressing rooms. We’ll see. :grin:

At 5pm I have a kickoff meeting for a corporate program I was chosen to participate in: each year, they take ~40 project/program managers and spend nine months teaching them cybersecurity basics and prepping them for a certification. I had to ask to be submitted for consideration, and two days ago I learned that I was selected (another reason I’m glad I can stay with my company). There will be two 1-hour meetings each week for the rest of the year, plus independent study and exam prep. It’s specifically for managers without cybersecurity backgrounds who want to get smarter about that stuff (and the company’s plans/goals). Of course, when my new boss is back from vacation I’ll need to confirm that she doesn’t object to my participation: I gave the instructor a heads up about my situation, and he’s alright with me being tentative at the moment and attending today’s kickoff. This program might be a lot on top of the new job, but I’d really like to give it a go. If it becomes too much, though, I won’t hesitate to say so: I’m too old to work too hard. :joy:

I’ve paused work on the Batwing reassembly while I wait for some pieces to be delivered: the completed set had been hanging on my nephew’s bedroom wall, but got damaged when a massive tree fell on their roof last year. Some of the pieces weren’t ever recovered, and I’ve been ordering replacements as needed (using Lego points; I haven’t spent a dime yet). I won’t start building the Atari set until the Batwing is done, and the Ghostbusters HQ will wait until Atari is done. Depending on how long the Batwing pieces take to arrive – and how many other missing ones I discover – I might have enough Lego to get to me to Easter. :wink:

HA! I will have to share that with my cat-owning friends. :smiley:

That’s one of the “cartridges” that comes with the set! :slight_smile:

No judgment here: I love that stuff! Every now and then I’ll buy a small nukable cup of that flavor, but they’re never quite as good.

Indeed. :smiley:

Right now it’s 72°F and sunny here. :slight_smile: I opened the windows a couple of hours ago. And with it being the vernal equinox and all, I think I might finally be ready to store the humidifers until next winter!

177

And here I sit holed up after yesterday’s blizzard. Decades of clean living are not paying off. Must be all swearing.

178

Wow! I can’t believe it! I got a check in the mail from my insurance company! They said that I had been charged too much about five years ago and that this is the refund! And the amount is…::drum roll:: dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd…$1.05. So. . .basically not worth the paper it’s written on or the gas required to take it to the bank.

179

Can’t you take a picture on your phone and deposit it over the internet?

Freeze-up overnight, so scattered a lot of my de-icer on the driveway, sidewalk and city sidewalk. Don’t want to fall myself, and don’t want pedestrians/posties to fall either. It’s always very satisfying to hear that “crack” from the ice as soon as the de-icer starts working.

180

Happy Thursday afternoon. The wind has finally gone away :raising_hands: Sorry for those of you that are getting it now but please don’t send it back.

I found my front door mat two houses down this morning, and one of my trash bins is stuffed full of dead branches that had been knocked out of the old oak tree in the front yard. Today will be beautiful with lots of sun and barely any breeze. The back windows are open for the cats’ enjoyment.

Unfortunately part of the neighbor’s wooden fence has been knocked down. An old chain link fence runs most of the way except for the very back corner, which of course the part of his fence that fell. I wouldn’t particularly care except one of his dogs likes to make it’s way over here and my back gate doesn’t latch securely so he could push it open and get loose. The wandering pooch is a cane corso/pitt mix so he’s massive and looks absolutely terrifying but is the sweetest boy when you approach him. It’s just a bit of a pain to tug a 120 pound dog by the collar back home when he much prefers the excitement of exploring my back yard.

Congrats BBBoo on the new grandbaby!! I hope you also had power all night.

Enjoy your trip Pilot. I’m sorry to hear that BB is struggling and that your relationship has run it’s course.

Oopsie that cybersecurity course actually sounds really interesting! I hope you enjoy it (and share some of the most helpful bits here :slight_smile: )

Cookie you’re rich! Don’t spend it all in one place! If you have a smart phone, you might see if you can do a mobile deposit through your bank’s app. Should be a fairly easy process.