Howdy Y’all! Home from funeralizin’. Actually been home for a bit. It was a nice service. Rose’s DIL gave a nice eulogy. There was also a fairly good crowd on hand. The reception was also very nice. Family was so appreciative of everything. I was talkin’ to her son and he said while it’s sad, he can’t help but think that up until the past two months she had had a great run. She was ninety-six and was still active in church and other stuff as well as travelin’. I have to agree that ain’t too shabby.
Me too.
Later I’ll have to put on going out in the world clothes again to check on a friend’s kitties while he’s out of town and then to my kids’s house in case there are packages on their porch (they are still in DC touristing). But for now, reading da Dope and my newspapers online and waiting for Moxie 
to grace me with her presence.
Actually, I just plain hate road trips, and going alone is even suckier. I can’t count the number of trips up and down I95, to say nothing of I70, I10, I65 and all thd other I numbers I’ve traversed. Add dogs or cats or towing a boat or a trailer… nope. No more.
Home, exhausted. We got most of the oil mess cleaned up and we started the engine successfully. Daughter brought the grands to the pool so we got to see them before we left. We went to the convenience center to dump the waste oil. It’s time for chillage!
The tree guy just came over to give us an estimate on taking away the power company’s mess. I had my YZF-R1 parked out front because I rode it earlier. He rode up on his ‘work bike’ he rides around when he’s doing estimates. It had a Kawasaki crossbar protector on his handlebars, but I think it’s a KTM. It had saddlebags, and he had a pack for his clipboard/box lashed to the rear seat. He was very impressed with my ride. After we looked at the tree limbs, I put my hands in my pockets… to discover I had the Yamaha’s key. ‘Look what I found!’ I started it up for him, and he loved it. Now, motorcyclists don’t let people ride their bikes; but we know the guy, and he rides all the time. So I offered. And he accepted. He said that between the very large donation Catmom gave him for saving the neighbour’s cat, and getting to ride my R1, he’s hardly going to charge us anything for the work. If he has a ‘juicy’ job, he’ll just throw the limbs into his chipper for no charge.
And now it’s 15 o’clock. We have reservations at the steak house for 17 o’clock. I’ll get a shower in a bit and make myself purdy. Probably put on some stinkum too.
Me < to **Monkey > “When was the last time I vacuumed in here?!?”
Those words … they just don’t make sense strung together like that.
Bullshit with your false modesty! It turned out great & you know it.
Same - it never occurred to me anyone had a choice. Always seemed like a monopoly of sorts, almost as if the Mob was involved somehow. Hmmm …
So when you get to your destination, how does that work? Is everyone’s home, business, restaurant etc. just soaked for a couple of months?
May we all be half so lucky.
Good deeds & good karma. Lotsa heartwarming updates this week!
A tummy full of oatmeal soothed me right back to sleep, so I’m chillin’ in my car in the rain with y’all, and some sliced cheese and deli meat for snax.
A thoroughly relaxing break. 
‘Great’? I’d go with ‘very well’. That was the first of three projects I didn’t know I could do until I did them. (The other two were building a new roof for the shed, and building a mid-century slat table-inspired potting bench.) Of course I thought about them for months before I actually did anything. Next up: Trying to paint my XJ600… Anyway, thanks!
I walk to the corner store, seeking the 6 pack of tiny chocolate Donettes. Nowhere.
The Committee wants me to work for it!
Last night I had a prepared meal from the store, orange chicken and rice. I wasn’t going to save any for today so ate as much as I could. 800 calories! Wo. No wonder I was full.
Tonight-salad.
I was trying to be funny. But, since I’ve lived here I’ve learned that the difference between 100° and 110° is more substantial than most people realize.
When building our house, we opted for something called “comfort height” toilets. You can’t tell any difference by looking at them, but anytime I use a public or hotel bathroom I realize just how much easier they are to stand up from. Just one more thing about gettin’ old, I guess.
Regarding the Massage Parlor thing, I personally believe that if one wants to get a “happy ending” massage, and someone is willing to provide it for a fee, there oughtn’t be anything wrong with that.
But it sounds like somebody tried giving a happy ending to someone who didn’t want it, which… yeah. That ain’t right.
And a happy almost-done afternoon in N. Ali-Bama. Did make it to the gym and pedaled more than I planned on, but still feel alert and active, so all that exercising must be doing me some good. Got a Zoom meeting in about 25 minutes for the soccer tournament next weekend in Knoxville, so may have to cut this short. 84F and the sun feels like it’s parked right outside my door, so will be staying inside for the balance of the evening. Dinner will be foraging, I usually have Lean Cusine Fettuchini Alfredo for my Saturday late meal, but going to Olive Garden tomorrow so need to improvise.
Wheelie, that sounds a lot like when I lived in Abu Dhabi, from March to October anything below 95F during the day was unusual, but one just gets used to it over time.
flyboy, thanks for the pic and I think you did a nice deal, a cycle ride for some necessary work at a good price or less.
Yeah, but I just like watching them, not the nuts and bolts of operations. But I think you may be right, some rails can get really bad and still handle freight (see this You Tube for just how bad it can get: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pfp7dabTX3I). Would have to see the size and length of the trains in JtC’s neighborhood to determine things. railroads do have equipment for grinding the rails to extend their life, but on little-used lines it’s not very common.
I’m the Stainless Steel Rat and I endorse this wholeheartedly.
And on mine. Thanks for helping make things clear to me.
swampy, hope I (and for that matter, all Mumpers) can have a good long run right up to the end like Rose. I’m always reminded of the (probable) quote by Hunter S. Thompson
And I’m due to the Zoom meeting in 7 minutes, so I’d best refill my Diet Pepsi and get logged in. Take care all.
Thank you so much! Hubs appreciated your step-by-step pics and details. We will be doing something with our front porch when Hubs gets back, GG looks out the door and whines when we are outside without him. Hubs ordered a harness and leash for the mean time.
We both laughed at this. You are so right!
I"m glad you didn’t get creamed, but also agree about going out on the weekends. We also try to avoid being out and about when the working folks are trying to get stuff done.
I’m glad you didn’t get in an accident either. People need to start getting up earlier.
I’m not a morning person by any means, but I always made sure to be up in time to leave for work early just because I didn’t want to be one of those drivers.
Fireflies are not something I saw as a kid. I first saw them at MIL’s place, but when we were visiting, we didn’t have much time to sit outside and enjoy. We were always too busy visiting family or eating. Or watching TV. Or her and I doing our needlework while the menfolk watched the news and discussed world matters, to be honest.
I keep worrying about your job security. Have you heard anything good about your prospects?
We had several private trash companies available in the lakes. When we moved out there, there was only one company (which started the year we moved to AZ) and we never bothered to check into the new companies because we were happy with what we had.
Trash pick-up here is twice what it was in AZ, and they only allow 6 bags a week. No trash cans, bags only. In bear country fer crying out loud.
Hubs thought that was unacceptable so he bought a trailer he can use to haul our garbage to the dump. Considering the cost of tipping fees and gas, we will break even in about four and a half years.
Yes they are, I followed them for 55 miles while wondering the same thing. There is a coal mine at one end so we will see two long trains pulling coal going down the mountain and two long trains of empty cars going back to the mine. So, not a lot of use, but they are used daily.
That is so sweet of you to say. It truly is wonderful, I am so happy here.
You might want to hide your eyes…the windows all have mini-blinds, lace shears, velvet drapes and then the lace with ribbons and flounces. There was a time in my life when I would have loved that sort of thing. That time was decades ago…back when Dark Shadows was first playing.
(Oh, I thought about you last night. We have a full bed here and are used to a king. It is cozy. We were enjoying being cozy together and got a little too happy about it and rolled out of bed. Hardwood floors are fairly forgiving so we finished being cozy before icing our bruises. It was during the laughter and ice that I thought about you. I knew you would laugh that such an accomplished floozy as me made such a rookie mistake as falling out of bed.)
Mom is calling, more later
Glad that neither of you got creamed today cookie and seanette
Got a few things done around the apartment today, then put on pants and went to pick up prescriptions (they were still out of one of them, so only one came home), got the oil changed and mailed the bills that I can’t pay online. Nelson came along for the ride and got fawned over everywhere we went, then we stopped for a few minutes at the dog park.
I bought a four piece chicken box at Kroger yesterday, so I built a chicken - Waldorf type of salad for supper. I put it in a pita and had a lettuce salad on the side and am stuffeded now. About half of it is left, so I’ll likely have it Monday for supper.
Now to play around in the studio.
Chillaxing w a stogie and a bourbon at our local STRIKES CIGAR LOUNGE - Yelp (their own website seems to be fighting me, so you’ll have to deal with a Yelp cite) as the sun sinks slowly in the west.
Had a very modest dinner here Best Tacos & Mexican Cuisine in South Florida - Tacos Wey. Thought about goin’ big for dinner, but just wasn’t feelin’ it.
They’re a stall in a Mobil gas station / convenience market and their tacos are insanely good. Plus the little ladies who cook are sooo sweet. I had the three-pack: one birria, one carnitas, and one puerco al pastor. Best of all, they only sell food and interesting Mexican sodas and jugos all of which sadly are no longer on my wimpy pancreas’s diet. Your other choice of libation is everything the convenience market sells. Which in my case this time was 2 bottles of water. Sometimes it’s something more … entertaining. Much more of a lunch than dinner venue, but good nevertheless. You see quite a slice of life while dining in a convenience market. Even one in a fancy zip code.
My late afternoon was laundry, packages, and a couple glasses of a fine Italian Nebbiolo. Plus some phone flirts with BB who’s now at irk pulling in some overtime. Poor kid.
Swampy: Good to hear Rose got the send-off her well-lived life deserved. My late aged MIL made it to 96, and was still mostly together and having (slow-moving) fun until the day before she forgot to wake up. A life, and an end-of-life, to aspire to. We should all be so fortunate.
Now that I can maintain my apartment temperature at “no parka required”, I’m quickly adapting to the “Oh, gosh, you mean I need to put on pants to do that? Waaay too much work.” lifestyle. See the evil tree that’s grown from the evil seeds you have sown?
It sure is!
You are a gentleman of refinement.
Definitely a gentleman of refinement. ;). Enjoy your not-birthday beast-feast. Cowbells and all!
You walk in, you’re dripping, pretty soon you’re not. The upholstery gets wet, but that’s mostly OK.
By far the best kind. Good to hear!
Yes. As a former desert rat I’d explain it to Shoe this way: The temp climbing towards 100 is like eating a second pizza. Good, but definitely diminishing returns by the end. Getting to 110 is like finishing a third pizza: that’s gonna hurt.
Mo’ practice! Mo’ practice! 
.
My first encounter w BB was on the cruise ship. The bed was probably a full and hence real cozy. We avoided falling out but it was close a time or two.
Since then it’s been kings all the way other than my queen-sized bouncy house. We’ve torn a few apart, and started on the floor nearby a time or three but no falling out. Yet. Here’s hoping.
If you’re not getting injured at least occasionally you’re not trying hard enough. 
Yaay for Mom!
A relaxing end to a busy errand day. Sounds restful and fulfilling.
If you look at the night-time pic, the one with the lights, you can see that the roof support post between the side gates has been wrapped in sisal rope to make a scratching post. Abbey and Goo rarely use it, but Tonka and Creamsickle liked it.
Next time, try ANTI-stinkum - see if that works out better for you.
If one’s local corner store doesn’t have those, is it a sign of the apocalypse? I mean, seriously, what next, they’re out of beer or something?
I’m outraged on behalf of your lack of chock’lit Donettes.
Salad, indeed. Hmph!
I will point out that the deeper you sit (e.g. the closer your posture is to a true squat, like how our ancestors, ah, handled matters) the easier it is for things to move along.
So low-seated terlets are better for those with, uh, different mobility issues.
What. The. Hell.
Did you move into a former bordello?
Aw, man, there’s a similar setup around IIRC the SW corner of I-75 and LBJ (the ground floor level of the High Five) and same deal: the nicest ladies making the most delicious tacos, while, yeah, slice of life swirls around you, mostly not in English.
Bring your best rusty high-school Spanish and a poker face, and listen in on the fun gossip!
Home stoopit early for a Saturday night in early summer.
This is my sad face – > 
We actually had all hands on deck tonight, and after being so short for a few days were used to working with a thinner crew & so were kinda tripping over each other a bit.
So the early outs were Eaaaarrrrly Outs! tonight, knowwhatImean?
But it’s not like I was a slacker.
I specifically volunteered to re-stock the freezer under the fryer … because the steak nugget bags come 2-to-a-box, and that particular box makes a perfect disposable litter box for the ol’ poopin’ machine, and I need to toss and refill, so … { heh heh } Devious Shoe is Devious!
So now I’m chillin’ with y’all & contemplating dinner.
I have options (!!) There’s a small hunk of cow I’m not excited about (it’s elderly, and I dunno if I trust it anymore) but also, an unopened fresh kielbasa, onions & taters, and eggs. Oh, and some non-disappointing cheese, and I think the bread is still good, so last ditch is a grilled cheez sammich.
So no matter what, there’s no excuse for not getting my protein tonight.
It’s so cool tonight after the rain earlier that I just went and put on a sweatshirt. In June.
This is my sad face – >
Now I’ve migrated from my comfy chair back outside (I have a patio chair cushion I keep by my door, so I can sit on my back steps with my legs crossed up - I don’t really like “normal” chairs all that much) and am awaiting my beloved Bat Time.
Last time I sat out here, they appeared at 9:55 ish, and while I may be 10 min ahead of that tonight, there still isn’t a single star in the sky yet.
They emerge after I can see two-three stars … the days are still getting longer!
… long summer days that DON’T get hot?!?
Yes, please!!
Armani, from the sampler selection Mrs. L.A. gave me at Christmas, tonight.
Birthday dinner was French onion soup, 8 oz. bacon wrapped, aged, filet mignon, Manhattans, and wine. Mrs. L.A. got bread pudding for dessert, which she brought home.
Alas, the person who knew the cowbells was not there tonight. 
We’re going to Mrs. L.A.'s Christian Fellowship church tomorrow. Actually, they just started John, which is interesting.
When I used to roll my ex outside to smoke 2 yrs ago, we heard a bat. I named it Randolph.
It stopped coming around and he joked that it was aghast at being named that.
Happy Belated Birthday 
So very sorry that I missed it yesterday.
No kidding! Imperative to have a working cooler. As important is a working cooking device. Hubs likes Einstein Bagels but their oven is broken so they haven’t had any bagels for the last 2 days.
Daughter and I went to Duck Day at the local pool this morning.
The highlight was the duck race down the slide. They sold rubber ducks for $1@ then put them all in a bucket and to start the race, dumped them all at the top of a windy slide; whichever one made it to the other side of the pool first was the winner. The kids loved it. Although as I was walking out, a little pixie who looked about 4 was sad that her duck didn’t win and she wouldn’t be getting a prize. I told her that she did win and her prize would be a bag of candy. She brightened up after that. (Everyone was given a bag of candy on their way out of the facility). Daughter stayed as she had worn her suit. I walked home and changed into swimsuit and brought towels, books, sunscreen and some ice for our water bottles then we spent a relaxing several hours at the pool.
Yay! Glad you made it and are now safe and sound in your new home.
I’d never heard of them but I really like them. I’ll have to find out if a local nursery carries them. Thank you for mentioning and for the link.
I was going to ask if you meant I95 since I75 goes from Michigan to west side of Florida but I see in the wiki quote that it mentions US 75. Of course I95 wouldn’t be right either because it more or less hugs the east coast and ends down Miami way.
That sounds like so much fun!
I just got a wet Willie from his namesake. 
I napped, mostly without Spot. Then he came in, and started trying to shove me off “his” pillow with all 4 paws. So I’m having a Sazarac, the Oilers lost Game 1, and the rats are raining down on the ice.
Also havin benn in Vegas and N.C. in august, 105 heat index feels worse than 105 straight tmep
As far as I know I’m good.
Jane’s House of Floozy-ing, Wacky Tobaccy, and Quarterstaff Emporium
So I went for my ride to get potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms. Who knew I didn’t have Lipton Onion Soup Mix? I suppose I can go to the corner market in the morning before the church thing.