fachverwirtt I am so sorry about Mona. They leave such holes in our hearts. {{{}}}
Gotta wait until Monday.
I’m glad that Annie wasn’t too upset about her game of hide and seek, sticky.
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. More phone calls this morning, then a quick run to Kroger before packing a box or two.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Mornin’ all.
It’s currently 60°F and cloudy. The clouds are expected to burn off by late morning, revealing sunny skies, with a forecasted high temperature of 81°F. We reached 88F yesterday, so it was a little warm.
fachverwirtt, I’m so sorry about Mona.
Sticky, I am so glad everything turned out well for Annie and you.
FCM, I’m glad your back is a little better, but sorry to read that FCM is still in pain.
I used to wear a lot of wool sweaters, and they didn’t bother me at all. I wouldn’t mind having a very nice wool sweater again, but I only look for one occasionally, and it’s not a genuine need. I find some of them quite lovely.
Sensei, being competent only brings more work, with usually little to no reward, other than the knowledge that a job well done has been accomplished.
I’m not sure what I’ll do today. Perhaps I’ll get that pedicure.
I pulled the trigger on a new Dyson the other day, and it’ll be delivered on Friday. I currently have a Dyson Ball Animal something, but it does not have HEPA filters, nor does it have any filter in the bin assembly. No matter how well I clean out the bin and an poke and bang at the cyclone assembly, it just never seems clean, and my house always smells like a cross between old dust and dog when I vacuum. It’s gross, and I’m sick of it. I’ve had it for quite some time, so it’s time to take action. I got a new Dyson with HEPA filters that are washable. I plan to vacuum the house one last time with the old vacuum, clean the carpets, and then vacuum with the new vacuum when the carpets are dry.
I looked for a way to clean the innards of the cyclone part of the vacuum, but it was a lot of fiddly work taking the cyclone apart and reassembling it. Usually, I’m all about that kind of thing, but not now. I thought about taking it to a vacuum repair shop, but the shops around here don’t service Dyson.
Well, I should get on with the day. I slept in a little, so I lost some of my goof-off time. I also need to assemble my new computer chair. I bought a mesh back/seat chair. I took my old chair to the dump. The pleather has been peeling for ages, and it was time for it to go.
You all take care.
Jealous!
I can wear a Merino shirt, usually, and Merino socks. Other wools make me claw at myself. I wash the Merino stuff on Delicate, then dry it on a rack. I wash a lot of “hand wash” garments on Delicate, then hang or spread them on a rack. My lovely wife goes to water aerobics a few times a week, so we just leave the rack up for her suits anyway.
Started Typing: 10:47 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 12:07 PM ET
I have one Big Work Thing to do today, but I’m kind of dreading it so I’m procrastinating. 
So far I’ve cleaned out my work inbox, organized some work files/updated some work notes, and caught up on a little personal administrivia. I don’t turn my home computer on Mon-Wed (when I go to the office), so there are always a few things to do each Thursday. I’m giving myself some additional time to mentally prep for tackling the Big Work Thing, and will dive in after lunch.
Bailey had the zoomies this morning, for the first time in months! Well, as much as a 17-year-old dog with bad hips can “zoom”…but she totally stunned me by jumping up on the storage ottoman at the foot of the bed and then the bed itself! 
She seemed a little unhappy once she got up there – I think the mattress isn’t firm enough for her these days – and she quickly jumped back down, but she got many oooos and ahhhhs (and a few exclamations of “careful!”) from me. We even played one of our games for a minute, where we maintain eye contact and I slowly advance on her while she play-bows and woofs up a storm. That was pretty awesome. I’m always low-key concerned about her quality of life and happiness, but I figure that unhappy dogs don’t play: those moments help soothe my heart.
The Lego botanical sets shipped yesterday: there’s no estimated delivery date yet, but Saturday isn’t out of the question. 
I ordered four small plants with the same style of pot/stand, and a bonsai tree (which I’ll display in the middle). I linked to the orchid yesterday, but here’s the full list of what I’m getting for my window ledge at work:
In other news, according to a recent Consumer Affairs study D.C. now has the worst traffic in the country. We unseated L.A., who’d held the #1 spot for years – but they still beat us for longest weekday congestion. Somehow, though, we’re in the bottom 10 for fatal car crash rates! Yay!
A bit late, but have a great trip!
Nice! That’s gotta feel good. 
I used to pass my CVS on the way home, but now I’m rarely in that area: the refills I get are never critical, so I happily pony up the $5.50 for delivery – even though the prescription itself is only $5.99. I figure the time I’d spend and the gas I’d use to pick it up are worth at least $6. 
!
Happily, the PTB don’t seem to care much about how people decorate their workstations – as long as items aren’t political, offensive, etc. Some cubicles are plastered with stuff (including items on top of our shelving units), while others are bare-bones. I aim for “not sterile but not overboard”: a picture of Bailey, my challenge coin collection, some tchotchkes from previous employers, a few innocuous Lego sets, etc.
(my actual workstation; photo taken yesterday)
Oh no! I’m so sorry about Mona. 
Same. I have a few folding racks in the third bedroom – including flat ones for sweaters – so it’s never a hassle to line-dry stuff.
Yesterday was such a strange day. I got the migraine aura for the third day in a row, and all three times it happened at the same time of day and immediately after walking Charlie in the sun and heat. My stint is over now. I’ll see what happens today, as I’ll be inside and sans dogs at that time today. A friend is coming over and will take bags of clothing (from cleaning a closet) to the charity place.
The other weird thing was that I walked through the mall and the PA was blaring Mariah Carey’s “All I Want ffor Christmas is You” Nobody else seemed to notice.
I do, too! I once saw Ted Cassidy on a talk show. He said whenever he went to parties where kids were present, they monopolized him and begged him to do Lurch. Did you know he also played Thing? I didn’t until fairly recently.
pilot, you probably won’t see this, but have a nice trip!
Bravo, VanGo!
I have two lantern types. They both died at the same time, and new batteries didn’t resurrect them. I’ll have to buy a new one. I did discover it stops strobing after 5 minutes, so for now I’m leaving it on.
fachverwirrt , I’m SO sorry about Mona.
flyboy, thanks for the recommendation. I shall saunter over to TJ’s after my friend leaves.
sticky, that was a very rough day. Glad you and Annie survived. What happened to the chocolate chip(s) reminds me of the time an eye doc was trying to insert a contact in my eye and accidentally dropped it straight down my cleavage. He looked alarmed and offered to step out while I retrieved it. Then we both had a good laugh.
Hi all - I’m somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico, probably sliding down the Nicaraguan coast 30-40 miles offshore.
So far so easy on the trip. The inbound airplane was a few minutes late so we started boarding about 30 minutes late but pushed back only 15 minutes late. I’m fed, watered, rested, and mostly caught up on the Dope.
I’m doubting I’ll be Doping or mumping much for a few days. Trying to be in a different context and a different headspace. Also trying to be real busy recreating, not administrating.
GF left to drive to Mom’s at about the same time the plane left and she should arrive about the same time too.
As to y'all ...
@Misnomer: That’s a darn pleasant workstation you have. I’d never seen the Lego potted flowers, but boy those are cute. And a perfect fit for your space. Here’s hoping the Big Work Thing proves to be less awful than your avoidance instinct is making it out to be.
Did too see it! Neener! But thanks for the kind sentiment.
Same for everyone else with kind words: Thanks!
And yes, it’s good that Annie enjoyed her stay in pupper jail under the chair. Heck, that might turn into a safe space for her and soon you’ll be looking in there for her regularly.
Yeesh…it didn’t happen yesterday, but here’s #3: Hulk Hogan. 
Huh. The only two times I experienced a migraine aura, the days had been extremely hot and bright. The first time I was walking from a restaurant to my car in the bright sun on a summer day, and the second time Mr. brown and I had been hiking outside and I over-exerted myself in my eagerness to return to the car and the A/C. They were unpleasant and alarming, and I’m sorry you’re experiencing this.
Glad Annie is okay!
So. I’ve now seen the information packet on “Isabella”. I kept picturing one of those placeholder avatars, the gray silhouette of a head! Now I know what she looks like, and some of her background and what she does and likes. And she seems similar to my friends’ daughter “Paige”, and I know I wouldn’t mind having Paige living here!
For one thing, she’s well-traveled. She’s even been to America before, although that was New York City and she didn’t live there. She’s really only lived in her hometown, but Europe being what it is, she’s visited the surrounding countries plenty. So America won’t be entirely new to her, other-than-home certainly won’t be new to her. What will be new is that this is a rural area, but apparently that’s what appeals to her. Also like Paige, it appears that she devotes herself to a few specific activities, rather than spreading herself thin over ten or more and shortchanging most of them. Which means she’s likely to take this experience seriously, not like a vacation.
And she will be turning 18 just a few weeks after she arrives! I aim to introduce her to the American tradition of a cake, card and at least one present. I always let the birthday person choose the flavor, of course. And I never liked blowing out candles, so we won’t. (The one benefit from Covid.) Please, no jokes about how an exotic foreigner will spend her 18th birthday in an American town. The facilitator – I’ll call her Violet – was explicit about what an upheaval it would be for Isabella to be dismissed and sent home. “One photo of her holding a beer, and that will happen. So she’s not going to take that risk.”
Mr. Rilch wanted to reassure me about two things. One, I wasn’t worried about to begin with, but the other is a bit worrisome in itself. The first was, “There won’t be any Lolita stuff around here. I would never.” Relax; I’d never thought he would. .But the second…I said I was going to advise Isabella to watch Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show… and he cut in and said, “No, none of that propaganda. GUTFELD!”
So that’s an uh-oh, from our side. Remember, this is the guy who put a Trump banner on the barn last year.
Today, they started me out on the 200 Sort Table, the loading 200 Middle White. “It’s only 2 cars” the Sup says. Except each one was 300+ pieces, 5+ bulk stops, adn the bulk stops were either huge boxes, a lot of boxes, or both.
Me to the one driver: “They really screwed you on this route today.”
Driver: “they screw me every day.”
So they moved me to doing the slides at 0730, because a clue got through that not having anybody clerking or taping till 0915 was not good for getting packages out on time. Also, Home Depot wrecked 2 electric lawn mowers. I did my Senior Day shopping, and came home, and played ice cube soccer with Spot for a bit. Now he is napping, and I shall be next.
Only users lose drugs.
Try that rope into a big knot, and hit them with it till they stop trying. 
sticky, EEK!
And the PSWSLS. 
I tend to get auras without migraines. They do suck, but are somewhat time-limited and not painful, so much better than getting full-blown migraines, which is what my son gets almost daily. (He sees neurologists and has literally tried every treatment out there except surgery.)
When you’d been out in the bright sunshine, were you wearing sunglasses? I"m curious because I always wear shades because of my eye issues so am wondering if there could be some other factor re: bright sunshine that’s the culprit.
nice office space!
we have the bonsai tree in the “collaborative area”. it was a work place decompress activity.
nelliebly, my answer to first celebrity crush is ted cassidy. i can’t say it was romantic, i just wanted him to live in our house. he seemed like such a sweet man. yes, i did know he was thing. i also wanted thing in my house.
Well, we’re going to end this cruise with a pain in the butt. We got the instructions and luggage tags for our transfer off the ship, but our tags are for London city center. Um, no, I paid for transfer to Heathrow. So tomorrow I’ll be going down to Guest Services to get it straightened out. I do have a transcript of the chat where I booked the transfer, but for some reason, I don’t have an itemized receipt for it. I’m hoping that someone just grabbed the wrong color tag.
I guess it wouldn’t be a proper cruise without some kind of screw up. When I did the cruise with my mom 11 years ago, it was actually 2 cruises back to back, and after the first one, they deactivated our room cards, so when we came back from our excursion, we couldn’t reboard till someone went to check out our booking. I had everything documented, but the documents were in our room. Anyway, they did fix it all, but for a little while there, it was nerve-wracking.
We’re in for the night. No alarm needed for tomorrow and with luck, I’ll get some good sleep. Here’s hoping.
Thunder boomers happening. It’s in the upper 80s with corresponding humidity. The sun was out this morning, adding insult to injury. I can deal with hot and cloudy OR sunny and cold, but not sunny and hot.
I have showered and assumed the sloth position.
Yes, this! Always look for her there first. Once kitties find a cozy hidey hole they’ll make a habit of it. Now you can’t ever get rid of that chair !
And they could not care less about the terror and despair we feel until they are found safe again. My Moxie did 36 hours of that to me overnight last week. I’d about given up hope of finding her alive when she started meowing at my front door. She’d slipped out unnoticed when I came home late and in the dark the previous day. She is strictly an indoor kitty but I guess she found out outside isn’t as interesting and exciting as it looks through the windows. I suspect she had to share under my front porch with the raccoon that is squatting there.
I sure look down at my feet now every time I open or close either the front or the back door though. I do not want to go through those agonizing 36 hours again!
Three posts from me in one day! 
I’m mostly done working, but I just ordered a Wegman’s delivery and will stay active on MS Teams until that arrives: my boss is on vacation for the next week, starting today, and it’s good for me to be online slightly later than usual so I can field questions on her behalf (I’ve already gotten three). I took Bailey out a little while ago, so there isn’t really anything for me to do until the delivery gets here, anyway. I figure I’ll type here while keeping an eye on Teams (and the Instacart status).
Also because of my boss’s vacation, I’ll go to the office four days next week: she gets back on Thursday, and it’ll be much easier to get her caught up in person. Technically I have the option to then work from home on Monday, but because of being her backup I’ll feel better if I’m in the office. Going in four days in a row every now and then won’t kill me. Plus, with luck I’ll have the new Lego botanical sets to work on each day next week.
Thanks! Even the standard workstations aren’t bad, but this one is definitely an upgrade.
Heh! It wound up being OK. I had to have a conversation with an application admin about some changes that need to be made, but I think all of my procrastinating subconsciously helped me process how to frame my requests; it went smoother than I expected. The actual implementation of the changes, however, could still be awful…we’ll see.
That seems like…2 too many?
Nice!
I love how some sets are designed to easily be built by more than one person. Right now I have three direct reports, but it’s likely that one of the other women on my team will transfer to me before the end of the year: once we’re a team of five, I might buy another Keith Haring Dancing Figures set and schedule a teambuilding lunch. There are five figures in the set, and each one has its own instruction booklet/gets built individually. Then, we could each keep “our” figure at our desk. Whenever that staffing change happens, I’ll poll the team regarding if they’d be up for a Lego-building session.
Grrrrrr.
My cat, Smokey (who died in 2004), was also an indoor kitty but made it out the front door a few times: she’d always stop dead after a couple of feet! Heh.
Weirdly, American Airlines changed my flight and put me on a new one that wouldn’t work with my connections. Yadda yadda yadda, the agent I spoke with said I was still in their system with my original flight. The timing of one arrival was a few minutes off, but the flight numbers and times were the same. She reinstated my original booking. What makes this happen? (I did lose the seats I’d paid for, bought new seats, submitted a refund request).
Howdy Y’all! Stuff got done and we pigged out at the not too shabby Chinese hog trough buffet. Nappage and day drinkin’ were accomplished as well. It keeps gettin’ cloudy out, but no appreciable rain.
Rocker I, too, have always wanted my own Thing. However, I want my Thing in a box rather than runnin’ around loose. I want a neat and orderly Thing.
Sticky_Buns glad Annie is no worse for wear after her little adventure.