(Old) Waiting for an Update in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
261

Just a quick late evening post. Signed up to referee two soccer games tomorrow, 9:00am and 10:30am so that will take care of the morning hours, then we’ll see about the afternoon.

JtC, so happy to hear you have arrived in WV safely and are hunkered down in your new (and hopefully forever) home. Glad GG doesn’t seem to hold any grudges.

flyboy, I’d say you got more than enough exercise today. Enjoy the steak! And always more Cowbell!!!

Hippie, I remembered the Sun part, just didn’t make the full connection. Mea Culpa.

Feel better for the weekend, Sticky Buns.

After 10:30pm here, so off to bed I go. Have a good weekend all.

262

Glad you made it JtC

Odd nappage occurred here, but we shall muddle through.

263

I need to sacrifice a goat or something. This was an absolutely awesome shift.

The caffeine infused gummy helped for sure. Never tried one before - 12/10 def recommend. Put some pep in my step, kept me in a good mood, which kept everyone else in a good mood, etc.

I’ve said it before, but I absolutely love closing with the all-guy crew. It’s not like I have a crush or anything - hell, they’re both married with kids - but with their combined restaurant experience shit. gets. done. fast.
We were outta there so damn quick, even for a late Friday … it was like a birthday miracle!

Plus the chocolate cake was delishush, and S.M. gifted me a bunch of fun earrings (one of the few types of jewelry I feel comfortable wearing in a kitchen, so believe me I go to TOWN with them) including a pair of PIZZA STUD EARRINGS y’all and I changed into them on my lunch break, I was so charmed to wear them.

264

That was about the only thing I managed to do right this past month of dead refrigerators and totaled cars and a-river-runs-through-it bathtub faucet failure….when I registered and titled my replacement car (the aforementioned Scarlet Redhead, the ever so aged yet solid Suburu Outback I bought with the paltry insurance settlement) I put my daughter and son-in-law on the title as TOD. Somehow it was a smidgen of a balm for the whole upgef***ed month of cascading disasters when I told them that I hoped that Scarlet lasted me for 10 ten years or so, keeping me transported and safe, until I gave up driving in time for Harriet my granddaughter to need a solid and safe vehicle to learn to drive on and toddle off across the undulating waves of prairie grass to college. Both of us would like that. TOD makes it so if I die before I oh so gracefully hand over the keys, all they’ll have to do is show up with a death certificate and register it in her name, no needing to mess around with probate or taxes. I only drive 6,000 miles a year (most of that is back and forth to the grandkidlets :older_woman:t3: )and Suburus like Scarlet often make it to 300,000 miles . At that rate, I could be driving :red_car: Scarlet til I’m 101! I’m thinking 10 more years at the most, til Harriet hits 17. Heh, I’m just trying to make lemonade out of this month of lemons, indulge me.

You already sound like you’ve lived there forever~sitting a spell on the porch. Just thinking about it makes me smile and soothes my soul.

Skritches to GG, here’s hoping you can find him a buddy soon. Get some bird feeders set up so he has some diversions out his windows while he settles in.

Has hubs had a chance to set up his brewing room and get his inaugural batch of :beer::beers:beer started? That’ll make it really seem like home. Of course you get to unpack and set up your **:thread::sewing_needle: **stitching room first, before all the mundane and vastly less important stuff like unpacking the kitchen or the linens. Stitch, nap, puff away and do it all over again nonstop at least as many days as you were on the road.

Here’s the one that worked well for me. Mine is the blue color-the spiffy pink wasn’t available when I got mine or I would have picked that. With the ‘open box’ option on Amazon, it’s $103 and worth every penny (I paid quite a bit more, but it was still worth ). The front pocket turns out to be quite handy for cellphones and wallets, etc. my sunglasses and water bottle easily fit into it-it detaches to clean it. The walker opens and folds one-handed which is helpful. May the force be with you.

Amazon, of course:

……Stander EZ Fold-N-Go Walker, Lightweight Folding Rolling Walker for Adults, Seniors, and Elderly, Collapsable Travel Walker with Wheels, Ski Glides, and Pouch, Compact Standard Walker, Cobalt Blue https://a.co/d/e3VSahg

265

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. It’s my Firday!

Definitely FUBAR.

Indeed I do have to.

266

I’m up. If I’m still feeling better than yesterday by the time that MusicMan gets up, we’ll probably head over to Amish Country for the day as a slightly belated anniversary celebration. He mentioned heading north towards my old stomping grounds to a big flea market up there, but we’re closer to the Amish flea markets down here and we’ve never been, so, why not?

Shoe, I’m glad you had a good birthday!

267

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 65 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 92 and N.O.S. for the day. Definitely Summer. The big item on today’s agenda is to funeralize dear Rose. We shall make up chikin sallit sammiches this mornin’. I need to be at the church earlier since I am servin’ as Lector/Chalice today. Thus OYKW shall bring the sammiches cause he does not want to go with me and just hang out for an hour or so before the service. Can’t say as I blame him. This shall pretty much take up the day. Fun times.

JtC hurrah you made it to WV! Glad GG is settlin’ in after the long journey. Again, welcome to eastern time!

Flyboy one can never get enough cowbell.

shoe glad the shift went well and yay for the extra bonus of chawklit cake and earrings!

Sticky_Buns glad you’re feelin’ better today.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then I suppose I should at least purtify myself even though I won’t do the proper dressin’ of self until close to time to leave to go funeralize.

Happy Sattidy Y’all!

268

You win the “most uplifting post of the week” award for sure.

Please, please, please get a recording or better yet a vid of that to share! That sounds like exactly the sort of corny silly fun you (and me) want on a birthday.

Happy yester-birthday to Shoe & Happy yester-Doperversary to Coppertone.


As to anyone celebrating a whatever on any date …
In order to make anniversaries (of whatever event) more special you can sing the happy birthday song, but substitute “anniversary” for “birthday” at the right spots in the song. Works great. Trust me.

To make it even better the day prior you can sing “Happy almost birthday …” and the day after is “Happy just-was birthday”. It takes practice and fast singing to cram the extra syllables in there without wrecking the song’s meter too much.

Once you’ve mastered that, there “happy almost almost birthday” and “happy just-was just-was birthday”. etc.

With effort you can work up to 7 almosts, the day of, and 7 just-wases. For a 15 day celebration of whatever. Late first wife loved that. HL did NOT. Unsurprisingly.

[Hit Send too soon; more post to follow]

269

If you know who you want to get your car, can you just add them to the title now? We’ve been making all kinds of things joint to avoid probate and make things easier for us when MIL passes and for Daughter when we’re gone.

JtC - huzzah for the end of the journey!! You are braver than I - even apart from the feline, I’m not sure I’d want to attempt such a long trek alone at this stage of my life. Of course, maybe I’m still freaked out about the seizure.

MIL woke us around 1 this morning - there was a leak in the terlit. Apparently the bolt holding the tank to the base was loose (maybe the gasket deteriorated??) and there was a puddle on the floor. She must have stepped in it because surely she couldn’t have seen it. Anyway, FCD got some tools from his shop and fixed it, I guess. It didn’t occur to me till just now to check it. And with the broken night, I got maybe 6 hours total sleep - gonna be a long day.

He had an oil spill in the engine room yesterday, so I’m going over to help him clean it up. It will NOT be a fun time. But I can’t let him do it himself. Yesterday, he slipped and fell against the engine and hurt his back, like he needs more back problems. I’m starting to fear we’ll have to sell the boat because he won’t be able to operate it, dammit. We shall see…

Shopping trip with Daughter will be tomorrow instead. Today will be a grubby one, starting with a run to the convenience center. Good times!

Happy Saturday!

270

Turns out one of them is a Fool Button, it’s certainly making a fool out of us!

That’s very good news, walking and minimal discomfort is a win in anyone’s book!

Definitely a very smart move on her part! You did a great job there :slight_smile:

Awww…I am so glad you arrived safely and you’re happy already. What wonderful news! Welcome to your new home :slight_smile:

Mooooom loved the pics of the Grands and the goats! Sorry to hear about MIL though, she is definitely a kitchen hazard.

We had a fabulous night out yesterday, went to our favourite haunt and got there just in time to see Loz Campbell then the main event, Marco Mendoza - I’ve seen Marco in various bands before but never as a solo artist. He was so good, and such a nice guy. We hung around afterwards to buy some CDs, he managed to make time for everyone, chatting and hugging folks, signing anything we wanted signed…genuinely lovely person. Then we went downstairs to the main bar and had a couple of drinks while the DJ did his thing, and were home by about 1am.

Today’s a busy one too - I was up reasonably early to do feline bums and tums, then went to the hairdresser’s to get frou-frou’d, back home for a cuppa, then time to head into town. We usually park at the big supermarket where I get 3hrs free parking but it’s right across the road from where the Pride festival is happening so it’s going to be packed. Instead, I’m going to park at the small retail park (only 2hrs free parking there) which is a bonus 'cos that’s where the pet store is so I can pick up some more cat litter. It’s a short walk into the arse end of town, we’ll get lunch in the Good Chinese Place, then go our separate ways to do our errands, then meet up and head back to the car.

'im indoors needs me to take him somewhere a bit out of the way to get a new sensor for the burglar alarm. The really important one on the front door of the house is wearing out and needs to be replaced. He said he can get one for £20-ish from Da Jungle but there’s a ToolStation locally that will sell him the same thing for half the price. I know which road it’s on, but can’t remember how far along that road but it will be easy enough to find. What an adventurous day!

271

Well, the place didn’t call so thats out.
I am to go in Tuesday to the place I trained online for 2 hours ( and wasn’t paid) 5 weeks ago. I guess they’re desperate.
Maybe then I can eventually order a pizza and get my 2024 calendar.
Poverty is my fate, thats a given. I’m about to turn 64 and have to work 6 more years before I have enough points to collect a minimum of social security.
The most I have ever made a month was 2,000.
I am not like you guys, I am low class.

272

This was nice to read, and it has given me an earworm for the day:

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
West Virginia, mountain mama
Take me home, country roads

And I’m glad GG is settling in.

273

Morning all. 66F heading to 88F so glad my running around chasing soccer players will be this morning instead of the afternoon. Otherwise should be a day of sloth.

boo fae, looks like a happy night followed by a constructive day; enjoy.

FCM, beginning to think the boat is a white elephant; of/when MIL passes, perhaps you’ll have more time to devote to it, but sure sounds like you haven;t got out on it very much so far this summer.

swampy, I’d say ‘happy funeralizing’, but that doesn’t seem right. Yet hopefully the folks will be glad for a chance to say goodbye and remember all the good stuff about Rose.

Sticky Buns, enjoy the Amish country.

shoe, glad the Long Night was a good one.

OK, need to add some caffeine to the balance and get dressed in my referee apparel, so have a good Sattiday all.

274

[picking up where I left off …]
So now that the idea has been properly introduced …

:musical_score: :notes: Happy just-was birthday to you! :musical_note:
:musical_score: :notes: Happy just-was birthday to you! :musical_note:
:musical_score: :notes: Happy just-was birthday dear Shoo-ooo!:musical_note:
:musical_score: :notes: Happy just-was birthday to you!:musical_note:

and

:musical_score: :notes: Happy just-was Doperversary to you! :musical_note:
:musical_score: :notes: Happy just-was Doperversary to you! :musical_note:
:musical_score: :notes: Happy just-was Doperversary dear Copppppp-errrrrrTone!:musical_note:
:musical_score: :notes: Happy just-was Doperversary to you!:musical_note:

:grin:


FCM there are many many reasons NOT to make things joint as a method of avoiding probate. You pick up many risks and lose many benefits. This isn’t the venue for a detailed convo on the topic, but if there’s enough money involved to matter, it’s also enough money to afford to enlist professional estate planning for. A few thousand spent now on an estate attorney can avoid monster expense and heartache later. My late wife did that work for many years.

Sounds like he can operate it fine; it’s the working on it that’s becoming difficult. As we both know, a boat is all non-level surfaces, confined spaces, and irritting niggling maintenance.

If you / he pay somebody to do all that so you/his boating consists of hopping on, tooling around the bay, and hopping back off at the end of the day, you’ll be able to own the boat a lot more years. As Yanker said so well a couple days ago. Surrendering DIY is not only a convenience, but it’s a very real way to gain a very real number of years of healthy living not nursing new injuries and not aggravating old ones you’ve reactivated.

I know that if I ever get back into boating, which is a very real possibility, it’ll be via a boat club, not via buying. For mostly that reason.

Why do the authorities call that a “convenience center” when it’s pure inconvenience for the citizens and pure convenience for them? I’d label it the annoyance center.

In happier news, the pix of the grandkids with the goat kids were adorable. Hope everyone had fun.


Some of the best adventures come from trying to find a shop you sort of remember where it is. You see so much more while you’re actively scanning for whatever you’re trying to find. I usually end up with 3 or 4 serendipity stops when I go one of those voyages of semi-discovery.


As to me …

Yesterday = Fri was low-key productive both online and IRL. Did get the car back late afternoon w new tires and no other surprises. Yaay. Off to a random sports bar for a celebratory bacon / bleu burger. Then the mall to pick up some tidbits I’d ordered a couple weeks ago for pick there. Home and a lazy evening here.

It’s about 830am on Sat now, I’ve been up since 5, and the sun is blazing away out there after a gray start with lighting in the distance and rain someplace nearby although not here. NWS says it’s now 79/26 on the way to 92/33 with chances of showers hither and yon.

Been knocking off laundry from some new purchases which means lots of color-matched small loads. So domestic.

BB is having a minor family crisis so we won’t get together this weekend. Which bums both of us out a LOT. Gonna make up for lost time next weekend.

Tomorrow I’m off to Panamá for 4 nights 5 days. Need to pack today, but that’ll be easy. The weather there is real predictable this time of year: hot, steamy, and you will get a thorough soaking every day. Best of all, unlike Miami, they aren’t addicted to air conditioning so you don’t need to dress for 90F outdoors and 60F indoors.

About time for more laundry, feedin’ and, reluctantly, shevelment.

Hope the weekend goes well for everyone.

Cheers all!!!

275

Good morning!

It’s 54 degrees and clear outside. This morning, it’s supposed to be partly cloudy, then becoming cloudy during the afternoon. The expected high temperature is around 80F.

JtC, welcome home! Take a couple of days to savor it before diving into the unpacking!

FCM, I loved the picture with goats and grandkids! I have to say, it seems we hear more about work on the boat than outings. I agree that if it’s financially feasible, maybe it’s time to let the pros do it so you both can enjoy the boat without fear of injury.

Work was only filled with super minor and easily fixable issues yesterday. I took care of some stuff that needed be completed, but by no means did I finish my very long to-do list. All the same there was progress, so that’s a good thing.

I worked my “short” day yesterday. After I signed off work, I went and got my tabs. The cost is pretty stupid, really. I paid 237 bucks and change for a 10-year-old vehicle. That’s all due to the stupid STP bill. Otherwise, I’d be paying closer to 100 bucks. The STP3 bill was a tri-county bill, which was soundly rejected in my county, but we still have to pay for trains that benefit no one but the other two counties. It’s a complete rip-off.

After getting the tabs, I decided to get a pedicure since I was already out and about. I got a pedicure and then stopped at Mud Bay for some doggy ice cream and squeaky tennis balls. Buster loves his squeaky balls!

When I got home, I saw a co-worker’s text on my work phone asking if I wanted to meet for a walk this morning. Her boyfriend lives a few miles from me, and we’ve agreed to meet at a park around 8:30 this morning. It’ll be nice to get out walking again. We’ve both tried to get this going on various occasions, but one of us is always doing something. Anyway, I enjoy this co-worker’s company. She’s a kind and positive person, and funny too.

After that, I may head to a nursery. I need some more Bidens and need coneflowers, too. I like to put the Bidens and Alyssium under my great room window because they smell so good. The scent wafts in and makes the house smell nice.

I don’t have any other weekend plans besides yard work. The front needs some love. I need to trim some bushes and pull some weeds out front. I also need to buy a big ol’ jug of vinegar, heat it to a boil, and pour it over the weeds in the rocks next to my front garden at the bottom of my driveway. That area belongs to the crappy, noisy neighbors who do nothing to take care of their yard. Their weeds keep spreading. I’d pour Casoron over it, but that won’t do much for the weeds already there. The vinegar will kill them off in hours.

Anyway, that’s about all that’s going on here. Just another low-key weekend.

I hope you all have a good day!

276

To FCD, the futzing on the boat is the most fun part. Much of our time on the water was me at the helm and him somewhere doing something.

Lessee - $40/month for one trash pickup per week, no recycling, nothing but household trash vs. a 6 mile ride maybe every other week to toss 2 cans of garbage, 2-3 bags of recycling, used oil, fluorescent tubes, electronics, metal items. And the $40 was 20 years ago - no clue what it costs today. Just since we’ve lived here, that would be at least $9600 not paid for pickup vs. maybe a couple hundred in gas to go to the convenience center on our schedule,not theirs. I consider that to be a good deal.

MIL decided she wants to stay home alone today. I think it’s a terrible idea but we can’t force her to go with us and I can’t stay with her - too much to be done at the marina. I just hope she closes the f-in’ freezer. With luck, she’ll sleep most of the time we’re gone. I’ve already told FCD we need to contact hospice about respite care. I’m tired of the 2 of us living separate lives.

277

Sounds like you need some of the fridge/freezer childproofing latches I bought recently, because I was worried about Buddy kicking the freezer door open while he was on top of the fridge (he’s since gone back to hanging out in/on the laundry equipment). They’re available in white or gray, and require a certain amount of coordination that I suspect your MIL no longer has. Adhesive mount, so can be removed if/when no longer needed.

278

Wow, it is noisy in the mornings here. I can recognize the Cardinal and Martin calls, the rest are a mystery ATM.

I heard the train go by last night, it was a low rumble that I’ll probably stop hearing in a week or so. When I was driving into town, I saw the tracks and they are all rusty so I didn’t think they were being used anymore. Hubs says there have been at least four every day since he’s been here, so I guess rusty tracks aren’t a sign of unused train tracks.

Those are being dealt with Monday. Hubs bought new ones and has a plumber scheduled to install them and our under-the-sink RO system. All of the taps work well and there are no drips, so we will wait to replace them until I’ve settled on what I want.

He has developed a wonderful habit of running away from the doors to outside when they open. GOOD KITTY!!!

If not for the constant distraction in the passenger seat and the nagging worry about the quarter pound of weed in the trunk (I know that things are different now, but I am fairly sure that transporting that much weed that is conveniently packaged and labeled for resale is frowned on by more than one law enforcement agency.), it was a nice trip. The weather was good, traffic was light and the never-ending road maintenance was not horribly annoying.

Happy Birthday and thanks for the recommendation! I’ll bet your pizza earrings are to die for, how nice of SW!

Hubs says I’ll be sounding like a local in less than a year. I doubt it, I think I’ll tell everyone I’m a damn Yankee every time I open my mouth until the day I die.

While we were sitting out there, we saw fireflies! I saw a squirrel in the back yard but GG didn’t. There is also a Martin house in the field behind us. The old guy who mows the field also takes care of the Martin house. I can see it from the dining room window and while it is occupied, it appears to have sparrows instead of those handy skeeter eaters.

Of course I brought enough stitching stuff to get by until the movers get here with the rest, but if I have an emergency there is an interesting looking shop about an hour away. I might have an emergency on Wednesday or Thursday, it depends on when our new housekeeper will be over.

(My stitching room has lovely french doors that allow the morning light to flood the room.)

One of the things new housekeeper will need to help me with is pulling down half of the window coverings. The top layer of curtains is lace with flounces and ribbons and they just don’t work for me.

Thank you. We have made the decision that GG and his new buddy are not going to change their clocks twice a year. They will get their dinner at the proper time, no matter what the clocks say!

It isn’t like it was. There are chain “travel centers” all over, you don’t have to risk stopping at iffy looking gas stations in the middle of nowhere anymore. GPS is much easier than reading maps on the side of the road and cars are more reliable. I"m sure you know this, you are just having a confidence failure due to the one-time only, never going to happen again seizure.

279

I’ll try to remember. :slight_smile:

I woke up this morning to find an early birthday present: The black leather Joe Rocket motorcycle jacket, hanging from a support on one of the kitty shelves. Two Cousteau Society cards (which they send occasionally) were taped to the plastic cover; one from The Missus, and one from the cats. It’s a 2XL because my other motorcycle jackets, which I’ve shrunk out of :slight_smile: , tend to run small. This one a little roomy, but it has tabs at the waist that my wife cinched in while I was trying it on. It’s good to have a little room because, unlike L.A., I’m likely to need to wear a sweater under it at some point. Now I see that our little dialogue about me going for a ride today was sort of a hint style of thing. :slight_smile:

In other news, our local rag had a couple of interesting articles this week. There’s one about tighter restrictions for Canadians at the border, one about the town’s first Scottish festival, which happened last Saturday, pictures of the high school’s graduating class of 2024, and these two things:

A bit of hanky-panky (or is it ‘horny-porny’?) at the new massage parlour. Huh. Who’da thought such a thing would happen near a truck stop in a border town? One 39-year-old Chinese woman was arrested for rape (she assaulted a female customer) and two patrons were arrested for soliciting prostitution. And…

Another train derailment. A couple of women sabotaged the train tracks a few years ago, causing a derailment and spill. No injuries or spillage this time.

I look through the paper every week, but this week was a little more interesting.

280

That’s the update I’ve been waiting for.

Only one thing. Every time I read West Virginia or WV, John Denver’s Country Roads goes through my head, specifically the lyric “West Virginia, mountain mama”.

On Thursday the floor company installed the last pieces of baseboard, so hubby’s stress level has decreased. This morning I got my home office partially mucked out (leftover chaos from the home improvement project) before we went for a walk to the nearest city.

We took a bus back home and then I made salmon, carrots and couscous for lunch. Then hubby mowed the grass and I deadheaded the peonies and roses. Then it started to rain. Of course. We have flooding and thunderstorm warnings for most of the weekend.

This spring has been wet and dreary. The slugs are taking over. The tomato plants seem to be the same size as a month ago - they need sun, and they’re not getting much.