I finally decided to look like my username! Thank you ecg!
Good morning!
It’s 41 degrees Fahrenheit and a little bit foggy outside. The fog will give way to partly cloudy skies this afternoon, and the high temperature will be 50 degrees Fahrenheit.
It was very, very soggy yesterday, and the morning commute was very, very sloppy—a lot of standing water on the interstate made for dicey driving conditions and reduced speeds. I ran my Jeep through the car wash on Thursday. It seems I did it for nothing. Oh, well. I had to get some of that grime removed. It’s bad for the paint, and it’s hard to see what the backup cameras are showing me through a bunch of road grime.
I have read, but retained little. I was very busy at the office between meetings, pre-briefs (just another meeting), setting up a Teams/SharePoint channel, creating another budget tracker for this massive records management initiative, sending out training links and documents to the staff in the state, updating our state budget, searching for and downloading user manuals for the Smart Board they finally set up (it’s only been sitting there since September), and a host of other things. Today will be even busier, but I am working from home.
I don’t know what the hell I did to my lower back, but it is killing me. I’ve tried gentle stretches, making sure my posture is correct while walking and sitting, and it’s not working. The pain started on Thursday, and it has just gotten worse. I’m taking some ibuprofen, hoping it tamps down the complaints from my back. If things don’t improve in the next few days, I’ll have to cave and go to the doc. I’ll just be told I’m fat and to lose weight, but there you have it.
FCM, I’m glad you got some rest and are feeling better.
nellie, Ms. Dog sounds like such a sweetie. I’d have to love on her, rub her bellah, and play with her, too!
VanGo, I’m glad you’re on the road to email recovery. I hope you will be able to obtain your archives.
Spicey, how nice to find not one but three perfect dresses! Such a score!
Alrighty, it’s time to move on with the day. Sending all the hugs, yays, and boos as appropriate.
Mornin’ all. I was up pre-dawn (of course) and saw sunrise out on deck on a mostly overcast day as we approached the dock. Now a couple hours later I’m sheveled, wrapping up feeding, and we, along with 3 other big ships, are tied up at a wharf. Breakfast was eggs benedict, if you substitute corn tortilla for the English muffin, and barbacoa and roast corn for the ham & tomato. Tres yummy.
There’s high overcast, then low coastal clouds and a strong breeze blowing from sea to shore. The weather people say its 77/25 now and might get up to 80/27 later today. I see rain here and there in the distance. In all, it reminds me of mornings in my native SoCal where it was almost warm, but long pants and a sweatshirt was actually the way to dress for comfort.
Today is a shore excursion from ~10am to ~7pm. Cozumel is a ~5x10 mile island about 5 miles off the coast of Mexico, so first order of business is to get to the mainland via a ferry that lands at Playa del Carmen. Once there, we bus ~20 miles south to Tulum to see & hike some ancient Mayan ruins. Then to a nearby cenote / cavern complex for some underground swimming snorkelling. Which means wearing walking clothes and bringing swimming clothes and ending up wet. Between the flaky temps, the possible rain, and the need for 2 sets of clothes, dressing & making up my day pack will be a bit of a conundrum.
Then back to the boat just before it leaves again. A good thing about taking one of their pre-planned events is they’ll know if we hit a snag, so we won’t get stranded.
I made dinner reservations at the snazzy Italian-themed eatery maybe a tad early versus our return, so we’ll see how that goes. Even if I totally miss my time slot there is no danger of going hungry around here.
As to y’all…
Coppertone: Yaay for ministries, boo for not enough hours. With decent luck you’ll be showing them how great you are and your hours will increase quickly.
Agreed. Unless the salesfolks are late. At least you’re one of their first appointments of the day.
And hooray for a good long sleep. I’ve been doin’ a lot of burning both ends of the candle this last month and that one restorative day per week is soooo good. Wish I could pull it off more often, but stoopit body likes awakening before the roosters.
Taters good luck with the back. I hope you can solve this with posture and mild exercise. For darn sure be super careful about bending and lifting (and tripping and falling) while it’s hurting.
Currently 34F/1C, wind chill 25F/-4C; high today 35F, low tonight 23F. Light snow coming down now, but there’s a winter storm warning in effect until 1800 – 5-9" predicted, so I’m expecting 3-5. 
(We have about one inch thus far.)
Today would have been my brother’s 85th birthday. RIP.
I love having the first appointment of the day. In and out almost before my scheduled appointment time! Had an informative conversation with the tech - she explained that with digital mammograms, they don’t have to squish nearly as much as in the old days. I remember them old days - today was a no-biggie!
Now we’re just waiting for the gutter guy, tho it’s raining, so I’m not sure whether that will affect the estimate or not. Like, does he need to climb up on the roof, and will he? Not my problem… and I just got a text - he’s running late.
After that, I need to run to Food Lion for a few things, then max chillage shall ensue.
Speaking of Valentine’s day, FCD and I have ignored it for pretty much the entirety of our 40 years together. Altho, and I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, one year, I baked a heart-shaped cake for him to take to work and share. In icing, I wrote “Happy VD!” because I’m just so hilarious! 
Guess that’s my life up to the moment. Sorry it’s not more exciting…
Good morning, all.
Today we’re getting our front yard dug up to repair our sewer lateral. The thing is working okay, but inspection showed that it’s skewed and bent. Our town declared in June 2023 that home sellers must inspect the sewer lateral and fix anything wonky before a sale can go through.
It’ll take about three days of disruption and the bill is going to be in the neighborhood of $14,000. Criminy. During the day while they work, the sewer will be offline, so if anyone needs to poop, they’re going to have to go to the local Starbucks to do so. They’ll hook us up with a temporary line overnight so toilet flushing can happen at nighttime, as well as showering and dishwashing.
Not looking forward to this, but at least the cost of a home repair can be used to offset future capital gain in the sale of a house.
IANA tax expert but …
IMO/IME, the cost of home improvements increase basis and thereby decrease gain on sale. The cost of home repairs does not increase basis and does not reduce gain on sale.
Clearly there is room for some creative accounting as to which things are “repairs” and which are “improvements”. And none of this will matter unless one is audited.
If the old line was clay or cast iron and you do a new one end-to-end in PVC, or of larger diameter, or something that might be a legit-enough “improvement”. But if they just cut out 10 or 25 feet of rotten cast iron pipe and put down fresh cast iron pipe in its place that is, strictly speaking, absolutely positively a “repair”, not an “improvement”.
Might be worth talking to a tax pro and seeing what sort of low-cost fig leaf you can add to the job to make it definitely an “improvement”. Assuming of course the gain on sale you’re looking at is big enough that it doesn’t already fall under the exclusion for gain on sale of principal residence. If it’s smaller than that exclusion, as mine was in early 2023, then all discussions about tweaking basis become immaterial.
Still on the “not enough brain power to process” bus, but I thought I’d come in and give a quick update, since I know you’re all waiting with baited breath! 
First, Dad: he continues to do better, though he had some blood in his stool so they did a colonoscopy yesterday. No news on that. They’re trying to find a facility for him but the one they’re looking at is 4 hours away. That’s just not doable unless they want him isolated from everyone who lives him. We’re trying to get them to find something closer. Just wait and see.
Me: my surgery is in 2 days. For the most part, I’m feeling good about it but every once in awhile, the worry that something will go wrong rears it’s ugly head. I did find out a few things after my pre-op appointment last week. The surgery is lasting 5 hours. Still not sure when I’ve got to be there. I should learn that tomorrow. I’m going to be in the hospital for 2 nights minimum then in a brace for 6 weeks. No driving in that time. The most difficult thing will be my bed. It’s a piece of crap that we’re waiting for our income tax to replace. I’m just hoping it doesn’t slow recovery.
Hubby is the primary person in my care team, though my partner will be coming once a week to get me out of Hubby’s hair. And my meta, Partner’s wife, has said that if we need anything to please let her know. Hubby’s biggest worry at the moment is feeding everyone. He just doesn’t have the energy to cook after everything else at the end of the day. We’ve had some generous friends send gift money for Uber Eats, so that will help some. I’m just hoping everything goes well.
And now for the happy news: CtE turns 18 today! We officially have 3 adults in the house now. I’m still not 100% sure how my feels are regarding this but there is the part of me that’s amazed that I’ve kept them alive this long!
Now I’m off to breakfast, shower, dress and have my virtual psych appointment before Partner picks me up for date day. Getting in as much fun as I can now!
Morning all. Stayed in bed until almost 8am today since yesterday was fairly active. At least I can see clearly now, the rain is gone, albeit the temperature is only getting to 53F today. Have broken fast and will sloth away the morning, might activate myself to do my gym pedaling here in a bit, but nothing much else on the agenda. Might do some house organizing of those 300,000 items we all are supposed to have (according to an MMP post last week). We’ll see.
Pilot, sounds a lot like the weather I encountered on my trip there in November. Hope it clears up and you have some good views of the ruins.
FCM, glad you’re feeling better and the appointment went without a hitch. and yeah, don’t let those salesmen get too comfortable.
Van Go, good luck on getting your archives back, I may have to look into backing mine up, if it is possible.
red, go easy on the back there, I concur with some others that it isn’t any fun.
flyboy, best wishes to you neighbor, heck, I’m getting closer to my ‘mid-70’s’ these days, need to keep taking care of myself.
nellie, sounds like you and Ms. Dog are getting along just fine.
Coppertone, if the hours don’t increase, you may have to go looking for another tmep job; PITA, I know, but bills are there to be paid… Hope the church activities help.
Nettie, cats will do what cats will do…best of luck!
boo fae, glad you had some nice folks to stay with. Detroit gets a bad rep here in the US of A, but there are a lot of sights to be seen.
swampy, enjoy Fat Tuesday (and with that menu…). My laundry day of reckoning is probably a week or tow down the line.
Taters, take care, sounds like work is in overload status, hope things clear up soon. And like red, take care of that back.
Herald, a comradely {{hug}} for your departed brother. Be careful with all that winter stuff.
lucky, ouch on the sewer costs, hope you can get some beenfit from it.
Real Fish, all the best to your Dad and you. Having family near is important for both of you, hope it all works out. And a Hippo-Birdie to CtE.
Think I’m caught up, so need to be about the rest of the morning internetting and then onward into the day. Take care all.
Holy crap - roughly $50/linear foot for LeafGuard! Granted it’s an impressive product - I think it’s what my mom got on her house - and it’s got a pretty amazing warranty, but DANG! FCD had to go, so we’ll have to discuss later. My quick and dirty calculation is that we can get our gutters cleaned twice a year for 32 years for what this would cost.
And, of course, there’s the pressure of “Well, the free installation offer ends tomorrow…” We shall discuss later.
The salesguy represents another company that has a similar, sorta, system that goes for about 2/3 of the price. But even at that, the required down payment is virtually the same. Maybe I’ll get a gigantic check in the mail today from a mystery benefactor???
I did go ahead and cancel the other appointment for tomorrow, tho. This guy had a sample of the other company’s product. It was obviously an older, used bit, but it was also obviously not going to do what we wanted.
For now, tho, I need to run to Food Lion. I discovered I don’t have any sketty sauce in the freezer and that must be rectified! Plus I’m down to one yogurt. Onward!!
BooFae, Detroit is often the butt of the joke, but I’ve always had a good time while there. Not that I have any specific recommendations, but I’m sure you’re in good hands. Your hosts will probably include some auto-industry-related activities, which is always fun. Enjoy!
Niece is still pregnant, and may be for a while yet. The labor-slowing medication is working, and mother and child are doing fine. But not surprisingly, NCBro and SIL have officially cancelled their trip. They’ll be on babysitting duty for the baby’s brother when the time comes, and want to be sure to be there.
However, ChiBro and the other three nieces (plus a boyfriend) are all still coming as planned. So there’ll be seven for the concert. Hockey game is off (that was pretty much NCBro’s thing, and he should be able to unload the tickets). I’m sure we’ll find something else to do in Las Vegas on a Saturday night.
Happy Mardi Gras, everybody! Party tonight, 'cause tomorrow some of you will have ashes on your foreheads!
I’m in the orifice today. Usually I make jambalaya for my cow-orkers; but this year I didn’t make any at home, let alone for the orifice. Mrs. L.A. has leftover shrimp & grits she can have for dinner tonight. I’m going to Trader Joe’s for my Cobb salad today, so maybe I’ll pick up some of their chicken andouille sausages. I can have a couple for dinner, and pretend they’re real.
My wife called LeafGuard for information, and they were calling her three times a day until she told them we’d already bought new gutters. We got them from someone our landscape guy knows, and he put them up for $1,100. They’re just open gutters, but it’s a small house and I can easily clean them (or have the landscape guy or the gutter guy do it).
I just paid $15 for a 4 pack of 100w LED bulbs. The package claims a bulb lasts 18 years. I will be 84 before I have to replace one.
Link away! I trust your judgement.
So I can put away my clutchin’ pearls, and bust out the beads?!
I’d call you “lazybones” but you usually get more done by dawn than some of us accomplish in a week - I’d say you earned a bit of rest!
It’s a good look for ya!
Isn’t it just lovely, being a bipedal hyooman in a quadripedal skeleton?
(We’re basically half-evolved into an upright stance. Big ol’ glute muscles (“dat booty”) to hold us up, and long legs but short arms just like T Rex but our spine is still the same as any 4-legged critter.)
+1 on that! 
to our Coppertone.
I want to thank you from the bottom of my … heart … for sharing this. I’m slightly (by a coupla years) overdue for my - snerk - first, and I grew up basically hearing horror stories.
It is immensely reassuring to know that technology has upgraded a bit.
Sometimes, the workers have a Port-A-Potty …
Hippy burpday to them!!! May they know much happiness in the years ahead.
G.C. came by last night for the first time in a long time.
We had some happy together, and more importantly, much mutual reassurance that this is really a thing, that we’re each other’s bf/gf despite work or other delays in getting together, etc. It meant a lot.
Also, we ran out for Wendy’s, so technically, 'twas a “dinner date.”
Now I’m watching a cardinal court his female (choosing a nice, big sunflower seed to bring over, while she pretends to not gobble it up) and … yeah, I get the irony and humor in it all.
I was just the google images of wall vases - not a specific recommendation.
So, who wants to be my neighbor? The house across the street is on the market! In fact, it was on the market waaaaay back when sari was first looking - 10-ish years ago? Anyway, here’s your chance to bask in my glow from mere yards away!!!
Back from grocerying. Time to make some sketty sauce. Then, maybe, I’ll knit?
The wisdom of birds! If only human males courted women, and brought them gifts like they were worth it. Rarely has that happened to me!
Well, I got chicken nuggets. Close enough.
On an unrelated note, just glanced out the window and IT’S SNOWING 
so I haz even more happys.
Good afternoon,
Last night was movie night, and we were up late after the film because we and my friend had a difference of opinion about something that kinda triggers me, so I was still coming down after he left. Sufficed to say, I slept in this morning.
We had the plague-bearer at home so we split shifts and now that it’s the afternoon shift, I’m technically supposed to be working right now. Despite the late start I did manage to get through basic household chores, 30 minutes of meditation, 30 minutes of exercise (thanks YouTube!) and some play time with my kid. I think we’re sending him back to school tomorrow.
I am working on putting more fun into my life and spending less time with technology. The digital Sabbath went so well that I’ve decided it’s going to be a regular thing and I’m going to work on shorter technology breaks during the week, although, due to various responsibilities I will need phone access at least part of the day during the week.
I also have a hydraulic standing/sitting desk that I think I’m going to, I don’t know, start using? I’ve been using it exclusively to sit for years. I want to start doing an hour standing, an hour sitting, etc as my understanding is that a combo is the best.
We have officially scheduled my son’s birthday party at a local play place. We could only get a room two weeks after his birthday, but the guests don’t mind. I am tentatively on board. It was my idea to rent a room. I think I would prefer that to sitting in a crowded play place. Now we just have to figure out food, but that doesn’t seem like such a big chore.
I’m a little confused about the back. In the past I’ve had kind of a tangled mess back there which resulted in frustrating problems with the thread. So it doesn’t have to be perfect but I want to avoid that with future projects. What I’m still confused about is, let’s say you have a X stitch and then six other colors and than another X stitch. Do you jump over six squares with the thread or do you cut it off at the first stitch and then start a new thread for the rest of the X stitches? Sometimes the X stitches are spread all over the place. Do you literally do one stitch at a time, cut and then do another stitch somewhere else? Is there a rule of thumb for this?
@JaneDoe42 that pin stitch is brilliant! I might try that. It’s easier than guessing where to hold the thread in the back. Thanks for helping a beginner out.
@Taters back pain is the worst, and it adds insult to injury when you’re doing all the right things. I’m fat but I have found I can manage my back pain with resistance type exercises, so I don’t think it’s fatness per se that causes my back pain, so much as weakness in the back muscles (that’s true in my case - but there are many causes.) Right now I am standing on one foot to brush my teeth twice a day and that has actually been sufficient to manage it because you have to engage a lot of your core to maintain balance that long. It sounds like yours is much worse, though. I hope a doc can help you get it sorted out and doesn’t give you the usual fat phobic BS.
A few years(?) back, there was a thread here about mammograms that scared the holy piss out of me. I dreaded the day I turned 40. When I finally got my first one, I thought, “That’s it?” I’m glad they’ve evolved this technology. It makes me slightly less cynical about medical care for women (slightly.)
@TruePisces if you weren’t at all nervous about a surgery like this, I’d be more worried about you. It sounds like you have a good support plan and the right people. I’m glad your Dad is doing better. What you’re describing with both sounds very stressful and I’m glad you’ve continued to prioritize fun times/down times for self-care.
Seriously!
I go to the corner store and my phone says I have voicemail but it hadn’t rung. I listen to it.
Its an “urgent voice mail” from the ex I broke up with 5 weeks ago. Happy early valentines.
I have his number blocked. How did it come through?
It shows his number on my who called list, with a blue circle next to it.
My pleasure! I don’t do cross-stitch because it is worked with sharp needles on closed canvas so I turn my fingers into hamburger and bleed on the fabric. I work on open (needlepoint) canvas with blunt needles. There is less blood but I do have to be very mindful about where I jump (carry) threads on the back lest they be seen from the front.
Back:
I don’t like to jump more than a couple of inches across the back of the fabric because it is too easy to get tangled up in loose threads. If I have to do it, I try to cover the loose thread with other stitches as I go. As you can see above, my back isn’t super clean, but everything is pretty much tacked down so my “dumb” hand doesn’t get confused by long threads.
Shoe works on closed canvas (with sharp needles!!!) so probably is the best one to be giving cross stitch advice though.
Hurray for the concert company, I know you will have a great time!
Happy Birthday CtE!
I hope your surgery goes well and the recover is fast and painless! And that everything works as promised.
I highly recommend finding a good Tai-chi class. Some teachers are kinda woo, but there are more good ones out there. At first glance, it looks like a bunch of fat old women waving their arms around in the air, but it really is a serious workout focused on flexibility, balance and stretching various body parts. I haven’t used my cane for over a year and while my back gives me a twinge ever so often, I don’t wake up in pain anymore.
I’m so glad you are feeling better, your return trip would have knocked me down for a few days at least!