Guess that makes me one of the old ones 
Loved that show.
This really warms the cockles of my heart. 
I’m observing a training course this week, which means my brain is mush by the end of the day. I’m not used to talking all day to new people.
Half way through the course and then I can return to hermit mode.
Happy Thursday!
My family watched that each week, at least in the mid-to-late 70s that I remember (I was born in 1969), followed by “Wonderful World of Disney”.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave. I wonder where the Screw Up Fairy will strike today?.
Me, too!
For you and The Virgin Mary. 
But glad you found a place.
No, it never is, even if the human knows it is the kindest, most loving thing to do.
Hugs to all, people and creatures great and small at FCDaughter’s. May that trip to the shelter come at just the right time.
Hugs to FCMiL too. Her journey is a hard one, especially since no one gets a map with a schedule and all the twists and turns marked.
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 11c/52f with a predicted high of 16c/60f and mostly cloudy. Weather app says “Mild, cloudy days are the best fucking days for fantasising about your fucking co-workers. I’m going to hell.” I’m sure I’ll be in good company there.
Mooom so sorry to hear about Daughter’s dog, it sounds like it was the right thing to do and the right time to do it.
JtC I’m so glad you and GG found somewhere to stay, that must have been very stressful for you. The journey should be nearing an end now, right? GG will be so glad to be in his new home, bet you will be happy too.
flyboy sounds like you had a close call and a lucky escape there.
sari I hope this might be the thing that pushes your son into learning to drive, he really need to be more independent and stop expecting you to run around after him late at night.
metalmouse we’re constantly being told at the gym to ignore BMI, it’s outdated and largely discredited from all directions. I’m happy to ignore it, I know I have weight to lose but there are much better ways of tracking it and deciding when you’re happy with the results.
I skipped mumping yesterday, just got too busy. I have a scrutiny meeting this afternoon and a bunch of reports to run for it, then hopefully I can start doing the final anonymous versions to go on our Board of Examiners site. The big meetings are all next week and then it will start to get a bit easier. Good job too, I have a bunch of personal appointments that I need to schedule but really don’t have space in my head for that kind of thing until all this end of session stuff is over.
The doctors office pushes it because they get an easy big payment without actually having to do any like, you know, examining and diagnosis. Just ask you a raft of the same old questions, year after year. Yes, I feel safe at home, no there aren’t loaded guns laying around all over the house, no I don’t binge drink 6 days out of 7. No I haven’t filled out my DNR and Living Will, no sometimes I don’t wear sunscreen when I should. After the dr has heard the same answers every year for 10 years, perhaps we could talk about a little problem I’m having and fix it before it gets to be a bigger problem? Nope, can’t do any problem-solving in the ‘wellness annual visit’, you gotta make a separate (ka-ching) appt for that at your own inconvenience.
I finally started to refuse to do them-nothing in it for me except wasting my time and effort. Doesn’t stop the office from nonstop nagging me via text to set up my ‘wellness’ visit. The only ‘wellness’ being served is meeting overhead for the dr’s office.
I grant that for some people it has value-someone who is being abused, threatened or endangered at home, finally has a chance to ask for help in the exam room when the abuser is out of earshot. Those folks need that opportunity, it serves a crucial public health need. Just leave me out of it. Give me a problem solving visit, not the monotone litany of the same old non-individualized stereotypical interview.
But I don’t have an opinion on the subject. /s
“Waps dog on the nose with a rolled up newspaper” bad dog bad!
:more waps:
all those are is hmos looking for stuff that they can have you going to appointments …
Well someone turned on the heat because we’ve been hovering between 100 and 107 since Monday …and school ends Friday so it will be quiet in the hood(we live behind the school which is one huge field/playground) but today they canceled outdoor recess right before lunch …k-8 rodents were mightily displeased. Some expressed the fact that they came from sailing stock because they swore like their ancestry … lucky them tho when I was a kid you were outside unless you had heatstroke …
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 74 Amurrkin out and partly N.O.S. with a predicted high of 90 and mostly N.O.S. for the day. TWPTB were all carryin’ on yestiddy about heavy rain today, but not now. Weather be weird. I shall betake myself to the church house in a while wherein the other Verger and I will get thing set up for the funeral on Sattidy afternoon. Y’all may remember me talkin’ about my friend Rose who passed away toward the end of April. This is her memorial. Family is scattered near and far so guess it took some doin’ to come up with a date. Her cremains will be placed next to her husband’s in the church columbarium. Anywho, setup will be done and then I shall take care of candle duty. After that OYKW and I shall go chow down at the hog trough GC for the main need to feed today. The afternoon shall include quality cee-mint pond time, sloth, nappage, and day drinkin’.
JtC glad you were able to fine a place to stay.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then I must needs purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. Such a bother!
Happy Thursday Y’all!
Good morning.
It’s 48 degrees Fahrenheit and mostly clear outside. Our expected high temperature is 74 degrees Fahrenheit. We’ll also have partly cloudy skies.
FCM, I’m so sorry about your daughter’s pup. Gentle hugs to all involved. That decision hurts even thought it’s the right thing to do.
Sari, you know your doctor can drop you off for missing appointments, right? Then you have to shop for a new doctor. Your son needs to start taking care of himself when it comes to transportation. Don’t be the easy button.
JtC, I hope you had a restful night after all the hotel snafus. I’m so glad someone here saw your post and was able to help out.
Yesterday turned out to be quite a beautiful day. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to enjoy any of it. I had to work long hours and was just done when I signed off. I went to bed at 9:00.
The pest control guy is coming today, but I’m never sure when he’ll arrive. He’ll check the bait stations, reload them if needed, and probably check the traps under the house. Hopefully, all will be fine, and there won’t be long-tailed pests. Since the initial find a couple of years ago, we haven’t had any, but I keep the quarterly inspections for peace of mind. The people next door are gross.
I have some meetings today, but I need to get out in the yard and change the bird water. I didn’t get to that yesterday. I also need to water the posies on my covered front porch. I would love to take the rest of the day off after some initial meetings, and I may just do that. It depends on what is sitting in my inbox.
I also watched Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. Because I loved that show so much, I was going to become a wildlife veterinarian when I grew up. Six-year-old me (I moved back to the States in 1970) had it all figured out.
I know there is much more going on with you all, but I am struggling to keep up.
I should finish my coffee and start the dishwasher.
Marlon: “While Jim wrestles the alligators below, I’ll provide support from up here in the helicopter!”
Does anyone else remember it this way? Seemed like Marlon spent a lot of time watching from a distance, while poor old Jim took all the risks.
G’morning all.
Speaking of my local Wild Kingdom, the dogs were messing with something in the grass yesterday – turned out to be a frog. Lucy would gently pick it up and carry it a few feet and drop it. Then bark to make it jump. The other dog just ran around in circles barking. (note: I called her off and rescued the poor frog – it was unharmed)
While putting away some stuff in the garage, Lucy raced past me with something in her mouth. Knowing this meant she had purloined something, I went to investigate. Found her in the backyard chewing on [drum roll] a trailer hitch ball. Seriously. A few weeks ago while I was working on something, she decided to help and started bringing me random tools from my toolbox.
Mooom: Sorry to hear about the doggie. That’s always a hard time.
JtC: Glad you found room in at least one inn. Hope the remaining trip is smooth.
Me too! Glad to see retirement being used “properly” 
My stuff:
Eldest is in town for training. Since this is the last day, we’re meeting him for dinner, and driving him to his gate to return home.
Returning the new RV to the dealer this morning. Only one serious problem discovered after going over it in detail here. I could fix it myself, but I remembered a few facts: It would require a lot of strenuous work; I’m old; and I have a warranty. So it’s their problem and I’ll lounge on the couch instead.
Finished the final MRIs and such, and got the doc’s diagnosis yesterday. Some fairly serious arthritis spine and joint problems, a damaged rotator cuff, carpal tunnel in one wrist, and other random nerve damage. Part of the exam was getting poked with a pin in various spots, and noting when I did or didn’t yelp. I guess low tech can still provide something useful. The good news is she doesn’t think surgery is needed, just mild pain killers and more PT.
Tomorrow is more boring medical stuff, at least I’m learning some (big) new words.
On to the day. Hope everyone’s day/week is a good 'un.
Most definitely! It seems to me some stand-up comic did a routine about that. Then again, Marlin was older than dirt. In any event, we loved that show, too. And just recently I searched for it - I think it’s available on YouTube…
Daughter seems to be loving her new job, for all that she’s only been there 3 days. The fact that her boss sent her home yesterday to take Cozmo to the vet said a lot. She’s got to get a clearance - just Secret, I think - before she can get her base pass. Google tells me that could take 4 months - my first Secret clearance back in '73 was pretty much automatic since I didn’t have a police record or a credit score. I do recall last time I needed a TS/SCI (circa 2004) it took almost a year. But I doubt she’ll ever need that.
Anyway, her initial impressions of BAE are good, so yay! And once she has experience as a Project Analyst, that will open a lot of doors. So another yay!
I’ll be doing some cleaning inside today - rollsuck especially. It’s supposed to get close to 90° with chance of t-boomers this afternoon and evening. So any outside work will be early and minimal. FCD has just left for the marina - he talked to the electrician yesterday and has a good idea of what’s causing the problems on the boat, so he’s going to check some things out today.
And so it goes. Happy Thursday!!
Mornin’ all. Shortly after 8am as I start driveling. I was up shortly before sunrise 2 hours ago and have had a semi-productive morning of laundry and online research. NWS says 84/29 on the way to 93/34 with a few puffies now and a few showers somewhere sometime later.
I’m having the car’s oil changed this afternoon and otherwise no obligations. ETA: The building called; they want to paint the hallway face of my door and door jambs. The previous tenant had scuffed it a bit moving out. Which requires me to be at home to babysit the open door for an hour after they finish. So I’m “trapped” here this morning until they’ve come and gone plus an hour. Good thing I have lots to do and plenty to eat here.
Now trying to catch up w all y’all since yesterday.
A certain amount of planning is needed to locate which places this week have empty-enough flights that we can be reasonably assured of actually getting there as planned. And back.
The “and back” part is extra important for the non-retirees who need to attend irk the next day. Like my co-traveler this time. For retired me whether I get back on the planned day, the next one, or the one after is mostly macht nichts.
Typically we’ll use the airline’s systems to find plausible destinations, Tripadvisor to come up with plausible adventure activities, and poke around a bit online with Expedia for a plausible hotel. And come up with a second backup destination, flight, and soft plans for it too if we’re not real sure we’ll get on the first one. So yeah, some planning is necessary. Other than the boarding uncertainty and price of airfare, no different from you going to e.g. Expedia and searching for “cheap vacation next week” and seeing what comes up that looks fun.
The big difference for us is we don’t reserve anything not fully refundable at the destination until after we’re airborne and about halfway there. Which occasionally leads to surprises when the hotel we’d soft-picked has sold out meantime.
Flexibility is key. My pal and his GF had quite the adventure with that back in ~April. Went to the airport to go to New Zealand. Didn’t get on, so found and waited a couple hours for a flight to Tokyo that looked favorable -ish for empty seats. Very different weather than they’d packed for but at least similar time zone. Didn’t get on. 2 hours later after another rebooking scramble they’re on their way to … Milan Italy. Not quite New Zealand, but close. Sorta. 
But they had an awesome time there in Italy.
Yeah, LAS-JFK was by air. Sometimes non-stop but more often two legs with a plane change somewhere. Uggh. A horrid way to live. Tolerable for the short term at the beginning of a career when choices are few. The folks that do that kind of extra self-abuse for a career are nuts. They become burn-outs decades before their time. Not for me.
Hmm. I’ve been getting quarterly well-baby checkups for years, with now one extra in-depth per year that’s coming up in a couple of weeks. I certainly agree it’s time and money well-spent. Provided it’s real, not some pro-forma fee-harvesting operation like Swampy’s quack seems to deliver.
I’m in my first year w Medicare, but this big paperwork process is news to me. I sure hope not. We shall see.
Given how much fun traveling by car with a cat is / is not, that seems unsurprising to me now that you mention it. But I sure never would have thought of that on my own. Of course, as a non-pet owner, all things pet-related are far out of mind for me.
ISTM the pet ownership world might well be 50/50 cats vs. dogs, but the pet needs a hotel by the interstate market is probably 1% cats vs. 99% dogs.
If you are canceling medical appointments to be a taxi driver for your son there is something fatally flawed about your priorities. Please take care of yourself and let that other adult take care of himself.
Me too. We’re all Old Ones now.
Great TV. Or so we thought at the time. It might be interesting to watch an episode now back to back with ne of the modern Nature Channel shows and see which has meaty content and which is just fluff. If either has meat.
Oh yeah … Metalmouse that’s Marlin Perkins - Wikipedia. “Marlon” was Brando. But yeah, Yanker got some stories.
Does that mean GG is the Messiah? Or just plays one on the Mump?
Wow. Utterly not my experience. Perhaps I’ve never actually had one of those “wellness annual visits”. But from your description your and Swampy’s attitudes are more than well-founded. Ouch! Such a wasted opportunity to do something useful for the patient / customer.
Good on ya’ for doin’ that. Rose should have quite a send-off by the sound of things.
I’ve heard of teething, but that’s ridiculous. At least she (probably) can’t break it.
My Mom liked to tell the story of our Doberman pup from when he was ~1yo and I was ~2yo. Best Dog Evar.
They got a cow femur from the butcher with a bit of meat on it for him to chew on. Gave it to him in the backyard and he was overjoyed.
Came back 15 minutes later and half of it was gone. Called the vet in a mad panic who said: feed him a loaf of bread and never give him a bone again. Dog was none the worse for wear, but parents had a nervous couple of days waiting for him to perforate a stomach or intestine from all the bone shards he’d oh so carefully chewed thoroughly gobbled.
Yaay for meetings like that! Always a high point of the training cycle. He may well be sorta fried though, so be ready for a low-key dinner.
Now that’s some serious wisdom.
I just did a micro version of that, but of course unlike you, I had to learn the lesson the semi-hard way.
I’d bought a different toilet seat for the apartment; theirs was kinda chintzy. Started to change it out, ran into a snag with my now inadequate tools and the generally cussedness of rusty fasteners, so gave up and called building maintenance to handle it.
Felt weird to have the idea of giving up, but felt darn good to have the guy show up and finish the job professionally. At least I didn’t make it worse for him, like so many botched DIY jobs turn into. Better overall to have followed your lead and called them first.
Best of luck in all things medical.
That is HUGE!! Yaay indeed! Congrats from afar.
As an aside that I know you know but other Mumpers might not …
There’s a whole “underground” economy of jobs requiring security clearances where the employer is unwilling to jump through the hoops of getting their newbies cleared and so will only hire folks who already have a current clearance at whatever level. The unemployment rate in that economy is well below zero. Demand for pre-cleared workers far exceeds the supply.
Once FCDaughter has gotten her first clearance, she’s got access to all that. Which jobs of course are also in great number and variety in the greater DC area. She’ll have a ticket to ride as the old song had it.
Hooray for her!! And for you since we all know that ultimately you’ll make up any cashflow shortfalls if she can’t get good enough irk.
Welp … I’ve been driveling for 90 minutes now on this one post between minor interruptions, so time to put it on the wire and feed and shevel. Sigh.
It being Thor’s Day I hope everyone who has rain gets some lightning to watch & thunder to hear. Mere rain is dreary, but Nature’s full show is fun.
Cheers all!!
Including here around NAS Patuxent River. I think she’s now in a good place, and I know she’s relieved to be out of education. It’s kinda sad because she really was a good teacher, but the politics and BS made it a sucky career.
Speaking of sucky, I moved one of my indoor plants outside, and noticed that one of my petunias was dug out of the planter and tossed on the ground. I suspect squirrels. Several other petunias were kinda smooshed over. So I replanted the one (it still looked alive), propped up the others, and watered them all.
MIL is waiting for a nurse visit. Her weight has dropped again, I think. I haven’t recorded it for almost a week because I wasn’t here when she weighed herself. And I don’t think it’s accurate to compare first-thing-in-the-morning weight with after-supper weight. The reason for concern is that she not retain water which could indicate impending heart failure.
Death watch sucks.
Up, puzzled, wordled, fed and showered. Breakfast was half a bagel with salmon cream cheese, bacon and tomato, and a side of scrambled oeufs. Off to the Arboretum this morning with other geezers from The Home. Not my favorite thing to do, but it gets us out of the apartment. Allergies are tormenting me this morning for some reason, so I took a hit of nasal spray.
There’s some sort of work going on on a nearby floor/apartment. Sounds like someone is drilling holes for anchors, if my history with these sorts of things is correct. I wish they would tell us when these kinds of projects are going on. Time to pitch a bitch, I guess.
We hear that the head chef is retiring. He’ll be missed. For what is essentially institutional cooking, he does a credible job of keeping the menu interesting. I rarely partake, but the wife says she likes much of what she gets from time to time.
Truth!
I felt like shouting at the doc at my last annual physical. All of the above inquiries that are useless to me and my situation. I just stop answering in the pre check up check list of intrusive questions. Made my head spin going from q’s about exercise, alcohol and tobacco, expected, to socializing. Church attendance, social media addictions, sexual activities, relationships, omfg.
And the physical? Skipping it next year. Wrote a blistering review of their whole BS broad brush one size fits all approach.
What about me? The post menopausal woman breaking out in rashes I self diagnosed as poison ivy ( the DO took my word for it) possibly pre diabetic with a new reading of elevated BP? What ya doing for me? Zilch!
Whew that felt good. Thanks y’all!
something about it being a winter beverage rather than a summer beverage.
jtc, i hope you and gg had a quiet, comfortable night. hopefully you will be in your new home today.
the golden coworker did enjoy his lunch, he was still telling stories when i left at 5pm. there was a small group talking about employees who had come and gone and the various offices they had.
the one we have now is really very nice, we are 29 stories up with clear views to the south and west.
as y’all were talking about “wild kingdom” this lead me down a wiki path. turns out that mr perkins sent a snake for id, that was mishandled by the herpetologist at the time leading to his death!
per wiki:
On September 26, 1957, Schmidt was accidentally bitten by a juvenile boomslang snake (Dispholidus typus) at his lab at the Field Museum. Marlin Perkins, the director of the Lincoln Park Zoo, had sent the snake to Schmidt’s lab for identification.[5][6] Schmidt wrongly believed that the snake could not produce a fatal dose because of its age and the fact that Boomslangs are rear-fanged. The bite occurred because he had held the snake in an unsafe manner.[7] Boomslang venom causes disseminated intravascular coagulation, a condition in which so many small clots form in the blood that the victim loses the ability to clot further and bleeds to death.
Later that evening, Schmidt felt slightly ill. By the next morning, the lethal effects of the venom rapidly became evident. He did not report to work, and at noon, he reported to the museum that he was very ill. He soon collapsed at his home in Homewood, Illinois, bleeding in his lungs, kidneys, heart, and brain, and was dead on arrival at Ingalls Memorial Hospital.[7][8] Following the bite, he took detailed notes on the symptoms that he experienced, almost until death.[9] Schmidt was asked just a few hours before he died if he wanted medical care, but he refused because it would disrupt the symptoms that he was documenting.
oh don’t mind me, just documenting my death…
the boomslang caught my eye due to harry potter. it is an ingredient in polyjuice potion.
SSDD, NMCNMM, YMMV.
But Spot’s new thing is yeeting my floss and toothbrush into the bathroom sink.
So you’re a wap star?
I’m thinking Jim was ineligible for Mutual of Omaha insurance, due to his job.
" 'e’s not a Messiah, 'e’s a naughty boy!"
The Late Maggie Wonderbeagle once chewed a Mountain Dew can into confetti, without cutting her mouth or offing herself.
Sari, what Pilot said. You need the doc, Son will just have to deal.
{{{{FCM}}}}
I ingested leftovers for lunch, built a banoffee pie, and loaded and started the dishwasher. No purse yet. No motivation. MIL just woke from her late morning nap.
I need to rollsuck but I don’t want to. Just a lazy day here.
I dropped my mom off to get her hair done yesterday and when I went back to pick her up, our hairdresser was saying that her daughter-in-law had decided to go back to school (after already having another master’s degree) to become a teacher. She had been a substitute teacher while finishing her degree and really liked it. I guess that would be ok if subbing were anything remotely related to actual teaching, but it’s really not. I could live with being a sub. As a matter of fact, I might just do that next year since there are three schools that I could sub at within walking distance from my house. Ok, I might not do it full time but, it could just be one more thing that I add to the mix.
Happy Thorsday!
Was a rainy morning, so no dog park.
Shame, because B/H mom won’t be there this week.
I’m not rescheduling my dr appt because I have to take my son to irk.
I’m rescheduling because he has to irk and I need him to go with me because I can’t get the walker in and out of the truck by myself.
This is a case of me needing him, not the other way around.
He told me to keep the appointment, but then he would get only about 3 hours of sleep. I rescheduled it for next week. If he has to irk OT, it’s an earlier appointment so he can sleep when we get home.
I’m slowly weaning myself off the walker, but I’m nervous about walking across parking lots without it. If I was sure I’d get a spot near the door, I’d go for it.
I get annoyed with having to see the pain doctor every month. It’s Maryland law though, if you are taking opioids, you have to go every 28 days.
Then there is the cardiologist every six months, the orthopedic doctor every six months (although I can usually stretch that out to every eight or nine months). My PCP doesn’t ask for wellness checks every three months, but she was seeing me once a month for some other issues. That is now every four months. The Medicare checklist is a pita though. A lot of the intrusive questions get a ‘none of your business’ answers. The mental health questionnaire is stupid, because if I am having problems, do you really expect me to answer honestly?
I know a few people who are severely mentally ill.
All of them have spent time in the psych ward, and the only thing they learned there is to be careful who you talk to. I asked one of them if she ever talked to her doctor about it and she said, no, she will never tell her doctor because the last time she did, he put her in the hospital.
Anybody who is having real issues is not going to answer those questionnaires honestly more than once.
I remember Wild Kingdom.
I think that might have been the show where a group of men caught a huge anaconda. They stretched it out to measure it and then realized that they couldn’t let go of it. If I remember correctly, one of them counted to three and they all let go and ran like hell.