(Old) Where in the world is the MMP?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
81

BBBoo - thanks for sparing me a bunch of googling! :wink: I would have eventually gotten around to finding out what I wanted to know. Instead,. you contributed to my RDOS cred!

FCD sent me a link to a video of a guy going from San Francisco to Chicago in a bedroom, tho it was an older car and it was Thanksgiving, so he said it was really crowded. But it was interesting.

Supper has been ingested and I’m about to assume recliner position. I’ll be futzing in my yard tomorrow since FCD doesn’t need my help at the boat and I won’t be able to do much with the floor panels removed. We’ll see what I get accomplished before my back yells at me.

82

you contributed to my RDOS cred!

In both Washington and Chicago you are eligible to wait for your departure or connection in a private lounge. Snacks, beverages, comfy chairs, all free and staffed with attendants. You can reserve a real life landlocked shower too, which will no doubt be welcome after the set-up aboard the train.

All you need is your sleeper car reservation. You can be there a certain number of hours before departure, it shifts around from 4-6 hours, so check just before you leave home. In Chicago if your connecting train is delayed you can stay as long as needed.

The staff will help with checking bags and smoothing your way onto your train with red caps or whatever would be helpful. Sometimes the boarding door is a looooong walk from the station so do ask the lounge to arrange for a redcap and one of their zippy golf carts to get you to it. Save your physical endurance for the twisty steep stairs to get up to your bedroom and to crawl into the upper bunk. Conserve your stamina!

83

{{{mollie}}}

I got my prototype out on the floor today for its first run unattended. I did sneak up and watch a few interactions. It is really cool to see something you built being enjoyed by multi-generational families. I saw kids as young as 4-ish and as old as 75 playing with it, and they seem to be getting the science we’re trying to get across. Flying ping pong balls and an Archimedes screw?

I knew it was going to be a hit, but it is very satisfying to see. Now I wait to see how they break it.

84

Yay! Glad it went well.

85

Howdy Y’all! Laundry got cleansed, dehydrated and put where it stays until dirty again. RDOS sloth then ensued. Leftovers got et up. Several texts about a funeral this Sattidy were responded to. I live a life fraught with excitatement.

MOOOOOOM First Class! I am impressed! Let the Diet Coke flow freely!

Cookie Sadie looks stylish in her jodhpurs.

Mollie glad you’re through the surgery. Rest up and tomorrow tell us about the stuff you see now that it’s over.

VanGo glad your machine is bein’ received so well. I hope the museum appreciates your creative genius.

86

Up from naptime. Having a Manhattan and watching hockey. Dinner tonight is chicken and rice with the leftover peppers n ’ peas, with sauteed bell peppers, onion, and Hatch chilies.

If I eve say I don’t want a Sadie pic or video, I’ve been kidnapped and am signaling for help.

The only thing worse is having 2 different managers scream at you because they want different and conflicting things from you.

Glad it worked!

Congrats on it being popular. And: “Every time you make something foolproof, they go and build a better fool.”

87

They must have given you lots of the good stuff, I wasn’t groggy at all. I’m glad it is done and that you are already seeing good results.

Do you change your sheets right before leaving on a trip or as soon as you get home? I’ve always changed them before being gone for a while, but the means taking the time to deal with that before leaving.

I’m glad you were able to take the time to savor your short lived victory. At least you know how this project went together, that way you know where to start fixing it when needed.

I was very productive today. I gathered up all of the various plant food and gardening stuff I had stashed in three different places and now they are all together, sharing two bins on one shelf in a single room. All of the assorted bird feeders, ant traps and umbrellas are also in one single bin instead of all over the place.

I’ve freed up a lot of storage as well, which means my next project is to put all of the cat stuff in one closet as well. I brought a small bin of cat toys and bowls when we moved here, but George was lonesome and depressed so I bought him more toys in the hopes of cheering him up. Didn’t work.

When Hubs got here, he also bought more cat toys and we both bought a couple of scratchers and beds. Then our stuff arrived with a large bin of cat stuff. So now we have a life time supply of cat toys that need to be sorted through. All of the still packaged ones will go to the local critter shelter but we will still have more than we will ever need. At least they will all be in one place.

I also futzed around in the front yard for a while, pulled some weeds and inspected the garlic which only grew around the sides of the bag and not in the center ???. One of the growing plants looks very odd, like it is a super garlic or something. I’m not going to dig anything up so I can look, I’m going to wait until harvest season and see what I have.

I moved the straw off the big planter and poked around in the dirt. I have to say that I’m really happy with what the worms have done, if I was a plant, I’d sure be happy to grow in that dirt.

Like FCM, I’m expecting another cold spell, but the milkweed will be going out after that.

Oh, time to call Mom, bbl.

88

And the passport saga continues.

When last you heard, my passport application had been kicked back once again because I didn’t know in what small Kentucky county my father was born. Fun fact: that county no longer exists.

When I was gathering all of my papers needed to start the process all over, our marriage certificate had gone missing. So we ordered two certified copies.

Our marriage certificate arrived Saturday so I sat down to get all of that stuff together and noticed that the marriage certificate said that Dad was born in Nevada. Oh dear, I screwed that up 40 years ago and am not sure how to fix it.

Then I looked at my birth certificate which said that he was born in California. Dad was barely literate and he lived and breathed for Mom. I can easily see him struggling to fill out the paperwork while Mom was in labor with his first child. So, that got screwed up almost 70 years ago and I am not sure how that can be fixed either.

So I guess I’m going to just go with Riverside CA for his birth place and hope that nobody notices what it says on my marriage certificate.

I’m never going to get a passport, am I?

89

I screwed up. I took Sir Chuck for a walk yesterday and noted he was tuckered out when we returned. Turns out the other dog walker had just taken him for a walk. His person needs me to walk him in the EVENINGS. He got an evening stroll with me. To date, he’d been a squirrel dog and didn’t go after any other critters. To my surprise and theirs, he went after a couple of ducks. There was much flappage, but he didn’t get close enough to harm them.

So mundane, you won’t recall it, but last spring I planted fuchsia in a window box on my balcony. I plant them every spring because they like the light out there and they attract hummingbirds. I won’t be planting any this year because the two out there survived the winter and are now going bonkers again. One of them seems determined to be the first fuchsia in space: it’s 38 inches tall and has not drooped like fuchsia usually do. They have buds and new leaves. If you don’t hear from me, it’s because I’m hiding out from the giant.

Mollie, so glad the surgery is over, and you don’t have to dread it any more. And colors are brighter! That happened to me, too.

14 eye surgeries in, and I don’t freak out. I just bite.

And Mollie, we love the essential you, whatever flavor that is.

I don’t know if this will be any help, but surely there are few harder places to transition than Wyoming. Yet this woman I knew did it and faced surprisingly little if any backlash. She died a few years ago, and I’ve loved this bit from her obituary:

Morgan was born Harold John Lee, and knew she was transgendered from a young age but did not transition until late in life. Morgan never tried to erase Hal, saying he had a good life and was a huge part of who she was. She wouldn’t have been Morgan without being Hal first. She requested that both names be used in remembering her, because so many people only knew one side of her or the other. Whether you knew her as Hal or Morgan, she was the same amazing person, full of life, love, and laughter.

The whole obituary is good, if you care to read it.

cookie, that’s a beautiful kitty you have there. She walks like small children are scattering rose petals in her path and peasants are bowing as she passes.

metalmouse, I hope tomorrow goes smoothly. I can’t wait to see pics!

FCM, I did the Empire Builder from Seattle to Chicago. I was in steerage–that is, I slept in my reclining seat. I loved it, but it’s a long trip. Your trip will be much comfier. I know you’re on a different train, but just FYI, there’s probably no internet. (There is on shorter routes in more populous areas.) Bring good books!

Off to water plants before taking Sir Charles for his evening constitutional.

90

My phone finally decided to do its “spring forward” at some point Monday, so it now agrees with my computer. Last fall it made the change three weeks late; this time it was four weeks. Wonder how long it will take next time.

91

Evening all. Gym time was well-spent, dinner has been consumed and bladder has settled down after a active morning. Leaving time tomorrow won’t be until 1-2pm as I am staying overnight in Nashville and that’s only a couple hours drive. So plenty of time to pack and organize (and I’ll still forget something). Weather tomorrow is supposed to be nice all the way up, and looks like the travel sites will be hospitable on the 9th/10th.

And shoot, hit the wrong button.

FCM, both Chicago and DC have nice lounges, comfy chairs and free snackage, but nothing special. DC’s is closer to the trains, you have to walk some to get to the Chicago platforms.

VanGo, glad the new prototype is popular.

JtC, sheets are changed, mostly since I had to wash the ones I had on the bed.
And good work on the storage. Good luck on the passport.

Nellie, well, at lesst Sir Chuck will get a good night’s rest. And sounds like the Day of the Triffids has been replaced by the Day of the Fuchsia…

And time to prepare for sleepage…life is about to get more interesting.

92

I think this might be my first ever MMP! Or maybe not. Please don’t make a fuss.

Anyway, I was musing on the Artemis mission, and I had read that the astronauts, in their limited down time, do as as we do and watch movies on their phones, or play games, or what have you. Wouldn’t it be the funniest thing if one of the movies watched was Apollo 13?

Not for nothing, I was immeasurably moved watching the spacecraft disappear behind the moon, with the earth in the background. I will remember this moment for the rest of my life. And, lord willing and the creek don’t rise, Artemis IV is scheduled for “early 2028.” One or more people will again stand on the surface of the moon. I hope it’s a woman, I hope she says something profound, and I hope the transmission comes through clearly enough that there’s no ambiguity about whether or not she flubbed her line (no offense Neil Armstrong).

Finally, I read that the Artemis IV crew hasn’t been named. Anyone know when we can expect that?

93

Do your cats have favorite toys and ones that they never play with? Nelson does. When I was packing things to move, I found about a dozen mini-tennis balls under furniture that he’d lost. Since I’ve been here, I’ve laundered a few that he just doesn’t play with and given them to the neighbor Yorkie’s moms for them.

Have you considered consulting legal help? Some insurance policies offer a legal help line and many senior centers sponsor legal clinics on occasion if you didn’t want to schedule at regular rates.

Feed me Seymour!

94

This afternoon, there was the sound of a Donnybrook next door, complete with the noise of breaking glass and pounding on the door. The woman next door’s daughter, her man and three children moved in with her a few weeks back and I’ve heard fighting before (understandable with 6 people in a one bedroom apartment) but never to this degree.

Once things settled down a bit, I stuck my head out the door and asked my neighbor if she needed help. She was drunk and her daughter had locked her out without her phone or keys. She had been the one pounding on the door. Her patio chairs had been thrown from the walkway and the glass top to one of the tables broken. When I took Nelson out for his walk, clothes and other belongings had been thrown out as well.

I hate to do it, but I’m going to have to make a complaint to management tomorrow. I prefer getting along with my neighbors, but I also expect them to respect their neighbors as well.

95

Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 15c/58f with a predicted high of 22c/71f and sunny. Weather app says “Sure, it could be fucking warmer outside, but there could also be more brain-eating zombies. Count your fucking blessings.”

Mollie I echo what everyone else has said - the MMP is for whatever you want to say, it can be anything trivial like what you had for breakfast, something life-changing like surgery, major life events or somewhere to let off steam and get your feelings out there. Some people might not be that interested in some topics, we are all adults and we can just scroll on by if we have no interest or nothing to say. We don’t judge, we sympathise and empathise instead ‘cos it’s a much healthier thing to do.

Moooom If memory serves, we had to check in our big suitcases as the roomette just didn’t have the space for them so we’d packed what we needed in a smaller bag. The suitcases were stored in the bigger corridor where you board, so they were still accessible if you needed something but it might have involved shifting other bags around to reach ours.

Excellent news! I hope you get a good rest now.

I’m glad to hear it is so popular and your work has brought so much joy to all ages!

Is there some kind of legal eagle you could consult about this? I can’t believe you’re the only person in this kind of situation and there must be someone else out there who could help you.

Hello and welcome! Is that a sufficient lack of fuss for you?

Sounds perfectly justified to me, that kind of behaviour shouldn’t be acceptable and you should not have to put up with your life being disturbed to that extent by what other people are doing.

No such excitement here, I am pleased to say. Yesterday was a busy day as I went off to the gym in the morning, came back for a shower and some lunch, fed the cats their lunch, then took myself into town to get some essentials. I won’t have time to do that at the weekend, and the following Saturday we’ll be off to the wilds of Manchester. Thus erranding was done, after which I retired to the sofa to finish a book and start another one.

I contemplated going to the gym today but I think I’ll skip it as I’ve got domestic drudgery to do instead, and I need to get campus food sorted out as I’m back at irk tomorrow. I’m making chilli for dinner tonight so there will be leftovers for the freezer, and we are just deciding whether we’re going to the pub or not. ‘im indoors wasn’t sure he wanted to go, so I’ll wait for him to let me know how he feels about that.

96

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 52 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 74, cloudy and windy. We shall procure provisions this morn. The rest of the day we will be out usual RDOS layabout selves. Sup will be my world renowned Eyetalian chikin, roasted spare guts, peas and carrots and rolls.

Nellie I hope Sir Chuck had a good night’s sleep after all that exercise. Was there a sudden total eclipse of the sun recently? That could explain the fuchsia. :grimacing:

JtC some legal assistance might be a good idea for you and your passport renewal.

red sounds as if your neighbors could be violatin’ their lease with that many people in a one bedroom. Plus, they don’t seem to understand how to behave themselves in close quarters. I am sure you won’t be the only one to make a complaint to management either.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then I suppose I should purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. At least the Pubic sto’ is a better class of the great unwashed.

Happy Hump Day Y’all!

97

The video I watched showed the luggage closet? Cubbyhole? Recess? So it was good to see that our bags would be available and not stowed in a luggage car somewhere down the line. We each have a decent sized tote (about the largest dimensions allowed on airplanes) so they’ll be fine for a few changes of clothes as well as meds and such. The video was quite enlightening, including making me glad we’re not taking the route past Denver into San Francisco. We’ll be heading southwest.

Today starts with 36 Ferrets here - thankfully it didn’t get to freezing, but it’s still too dang cold! I woke around 3, dammit, and drifted in and out of dozes before getting up at 6, then showering and getting dressed. The HVAC tech is coming this morning to give our systems their semi-annual once-over and I didn’t want to be caught in fuzzy robe and slippers. Plus the little heater in the bathroom was a nice contrast to the bracing rest of the house. :cold_face:

Only mid-50s for our high so I’m not sure how much I’ll get done in the newly landscaped hill. If nothing else, I’ll take nippers and trim back some of the dead twigs. We’ll just see how it goes. I can still play in dirt inside - I need to transplant my variegated spider plant as its current planter is old and very much deteriorated. Then with luck, it and the other spider plants can move out to the front porch where they’ll live till Autumn frosts us. Hoping I can do that move this weekend.

No need for grocerying today, so that’s in my favor. I do need to pull something out of the freezer for supper - maybe poke chops? And there’s still a little tidying needed in the basement. I’m sure I can amuse myself much of the day.

And so, Happy Wednesday!!

98

Text at 7:20 saying HVAC tech is on the way. Glad I showered and dressed so early!

99

Off to see the estate lawyer today to get our new wills drawn up. Luckily they’re not complicated, other than that bag of gold I buried in a cave in Turkey.

Woke up last night with one of those painful hitches that one gets in one’s side. Still bothering me this morning. No idea what causes that.

Exterior window washing happened yesterday! Now they can put the screens back in and we can have some fresh air in here. They also raised the rent again, which doesn’t make me happy. We’ve had a lot of new residents move in, so the income stream has to be up from when we got here. It’s only a 4% bump, but it’s the second hike in less than six months.

100

Not buried in a turkey in a cave? Details matter…

Bonus - we got a tech and a trainee! Otis is unhappy because I’m keeping him confined. When the guys first got here, idiot dog growled, so I don’t trust him. Plus he’d be a pest when they had to clean the outside units. They just started on the mini-split in the shop so it shouldn’t be too long now.