Well, it’s not Winter Solstice yet, but it’s this week. It’s 21:20 here on the Left Coast, but it’s 00:20 on the east; so I guess this is the MMP.
One thing about SoCal was that Winter wasn’t very wintery. Thinking of SoCal, here’s a 1964 recording of a woman, the daughter o f the Los Angeles mayor, who was born in 1878, remembering her childhood in L.A. Running time: 28 minutes.
Darn, ninjaed! Well, that’s one more Grievance for Festivus!
My Pole Is Erect: A Festivus Grievance MMP
It’s a week till Festivus, so pull your pole out of the crawlspace, limber up for the Feats of Strength, and air your grievances. I know on Catholic Grievance. Since Sunday is the Four Sunday of Advent and Christmas Eve, the altar Guild has about 3 hours between Noon Mass and the 4 O’clock Children’s Mass to completely redecorate the church.
so what are your Grievances for the year? Or just hijack this, and I will just add that to next year’s Festivus Grievance list. 
Anyways, up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.
I was aware of midwinter but didn’t do anything to commemmorate it. Unless you count mentioning it to my parnter who was also aware of it. I’m not entirely at a Joe Walsh kind of equilibrium (“I can’t complain but sometimes I still do”) but most of my gripes are about social traction. Given that I have stuff to say, I should by now have a better handle on how to reach lots of people. I wanna complain. I don’t like how it works. This shouldn’t be so hard.
Morning, mumpers! It’s a toasty 10c/49f with a predicted high of 12c/54f, and rain showers. Weather app says “This rain is brought to you by the fucking letters B and S, and the fucking number of the beast.” That seems a lot of ire for a Monday morning when it’s not actually raining out there!
From the end of the last MMP:
JtC Pets at Home kind of adopts local charity/non-profit rescues as partners to their stores. We are partnered to the store at Merry Hill so we’re guaranteed a decent spot in there as long as we’re able to keep up our schedule of hours. It’s difficult as we’re all volunteers and although there are about 50 people in the fundraising team, many of them are silent members so they do very little at all. There seems to be a group of about a dozen who regularly come out to do the store hours but it can be hard when life intervenes.
BBBoo Irish breakfast tea is perfectly acceptable if it makes a decently strong brew! Just as long as it’s not that foul Liptons stuff that needs to steep for a week before it looks drinkable, and even then it’s weak as anything 
For this week - my grievance, as usual, is all those people!! Yes, they know who they are. That lot. Them, over there!
I am aware of midwinter, largely because my friend’s birthday falls on that day - she’s fond of reminding everyone that she has the shortest day but the longest night to party. No real celebration of it, just a pleasant acknowledgement that the slow climb towards spring and lighter evenings is beginning.
Some impressive thunder outside (verified as such by the Weather Channel app reporting lightning strikes within a few miles). Maybe an incoming storm explains how fussy Buddy’s been.
DAMN!!! Thunder just set off a car alarm in the parking lot.
When I was in Scotland the solstice was a short workday, too – we didn’t have to start work until sunrise, and knocked off at sunset.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 43 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 61 and N.O.S. for the day. I shall call the pharmacy when they open to refill a 'script. Since I will need to go pickup said ‘script, I will also take care of a couple of errands whilst out. Then it will be back to da cave for sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, day drinkin’ and the usual non-productivity that is my wont. Tonight is also men’s night over to the church house, so we will take ourselves over earlier to do prep stuff. A busy day by our standards!
I am a grumpy old man so I have grievances with the world in general.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, alas and bother, I must purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed, on a Moanday even. Oh the unjustness of it all!
Happy Moanday Y’all!
Yeah, they really are a colossal pain on he patoot, thinking they’re all that! And their shoes are weird. And they have abominable table manners. Screw 'em!! 
Rain has stopped but it’s WINDY!!! I guess the gale warnings were merited. A cold front is working its way thru and right now, at 51°, it’s the warmest it’ll be for at least a week, with lows dropping well below freezing at night. No white Christmas, tho, unless things change drastically.
I slept like the dead for almost 9 anna half hours, waking from a dream that I really had to pee but couldn’t. Thankfully, my sleeping brain knew I was in bed and not on the terlit, so it controlled my bladder till I made it to the throne room. That’s a weird way to awaken. Plus it took me a while to realize it wasn’t Sunday - 'cause all the football was yesterday, right?
FCD goes to the dentist today - with luck, they’ll yank the tooth that’s been bothering him. I’m going to bake snickerdoodles and maybe oatmeal cookies. And I’ll start assembling our travel docs.
I’ve been remiss in responding to most folks - lots on my mind. But Happy Belated to JtC, Happy Recovery to hippy, healthy thoughts to all with or close to the plague, hugs all around because we all need hugs. I’ll have Tobias tomorrow, Roxy overnight tomorrow night and all day Wednesday (baking chocolate chip cookies), and my car gets re-tired on Weds. And at the end of the week, we’re going to MIL’s to remove the twin bed, check the fridge, and generally make sure all is well at the apartment. And we’ve got a queen bed set to rehome. So goes the last week before Christmas.
For now, caffeination continues. Happy Moanday!!
G’morning all. Enduring the holidays as usual. Guests, extra dogs, dog fights, stress, worry over food/clothing/schedules/etc. Normal Xmas for me, just counting the days till it’s over.
On an interesting note, today makes 20 years for me on the SDMB. Can’t believe it’s been that long yanno?
On to the week: Got to correct some undelivered presents (da jungle messed up) by hitting some stores, do a little wrapping, and head for the hinterlands to visit lonesome relatives prior to Xmas day. Got a long drive ahead of me, but it’ll be nice to have the car to myself (and listen to audiobooks the whole way). Another “social event” is planned for this weekend, and I don’t know how to weasel out of it (yet).
Hope everyone has a good week. I’ll be with relatives who don’t tolerate anyone not talking to them, so the chances for forum-ing are nil. Catch ya’ll next week!
Mornin’ all. Up right at dawn, semi-sheveled, out, and now working through breakfast at the deli. Golf next. Now about an hour post-sunrise it’s a brisk 58/14 on the way to 73/23 under absolutely cloudless clear skies with sharp sun.
Been almost 2 weeks since last golf; time can get away so easily. In my defense, many of those days or overnights were rainy.
From last night:
This was aimed at sari but is such an excellent comment so close to the end of the thread I had to quote it afresh so @Sahirrnee will see it. Jane is very wise.
I appreciate the spirit of reticence, but I agree w you.
Big picture, she was a dedicated and skillful Mom, but both admittedly and quite evidently not a natural Mom. Unlike her Daughter. If there’s an activity she put up for the kid’s sake, whether it was a zoo or a parade or a whatever, she is sooo over that now. And especially if they did it repeatedly. OTOH, my late first wife and I never had kids, so to keep ourselves young, we acted like kids. And could “borrow from afar” the random kids we saw at the zoo or parades or whatever. So we loved going to at least some kid-friendly events. The purely kid-centric ones were usually a bit much even for us.
Yet another way our quite disparate histories set us up going in different directions when we happened to cross paths.
IMO parades, like baseball, are an entertainment from the past which helps us feel the slow pace and calm mindframe that was normal for our grandparents and before. Nostalgia for bygone Olden Tymes and all that. There’s also a lot to be said for amateur homebrew fun in all its forms. Very different from paid professional entertainment.
Yaay Nettie for improvement, slow though it may be! Just keep drip, drip, drippin’ along into the future of full health.
Cupcakes that Greek pizza sounds awesome.
Were you watching me get semi-sheveled this morning? It’s actually a tradeoff where I am now. I could go back to airline issue and have nil hair management issues, or keep it lots more full as I would prefer. But … since my hair is real fine and straight, and I’m outside a lot, that means lots of glue & fiddling or an hour later I look like Doc Brown from Back to the Future on a bender. 'Tis a dilemma for sure.
I’m going to bet after a shift like that, the pie was not the only pot of the evening. And well-deserved it was. Sorry you had sucky irk.
Doggio I suppose it’s about like this:
Grievances, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
Although at this very moment I’m highly aggrieved about a triviality: I’m in a too-small deli full of shrieking Xmas muzak (ref JTC I asked for it to be turned down and that lasted about 3 songs) plus now three separate pairs of New Yorkers are convivially shouting at each other from 3 feet apart. As are the two college-age chicks behind the counter with their piercing woman-child voices. I took out my hearing aids and it barely reduced the din. I’d be sitting outside instead, but it’s cold out there. Waah!
As to Festivus and mid-winter in general, my favorite bumper sticker (that I’ve mentioned recently somewhere) says “Put the Saturn back in Saturnalia”. Works for me.
FCM, yeah, you’ve got a lot on your mind. And have had for a long time. And will have for the next month-ish. You get a pass.
Welcome back Yanker. Enjoy that drive of solitude. TX has a lot of that. Happy slice-o-cake day!1!! My 20th was a few months ago. Where did the time go?
And now, off to escape the deli din of iniquity and whack some balls in the chilly unremitting sunshine.
Cheers all. Happy Moanday to all!!!
TMI, TMI! 
Whenever they served pot pie on the boat, I’d grab a comment chit and turn it in: “Pot pie – too much pie, not enough pot.”
Morning all. 36F heading for 51F without any rain forecast and that pretty much describes the week, although it may reach 60F later on. Doing one more load of laundry right now, that should have me all set until after the Xmas Season and the water line repair, so all good there. Shop-n-sammich-n-swimming-n-sauna day planned, may finally go for a mile’s worth of backstroking today and see how I feel. Leaving Saturday so want to try and not have anything spoilable left sitting (bananas for one) so will have to watch my purchases. Otherwise will hopefully be a quiet week.
Know that the Solstices show up around the 21-22nd twice a year, but never paid much attention to them. Don’t have many personal grievances, I try to avoid sorts that give me that feeling. Do hold grudges, mostly against companies I feel have wronged me (Alamo Car Rental and Applebee’s are two long-standing ones).
boo fae, know what you mean, there are always many more people willing to be part of a group than volunteer to do things for it; good on you for being one of those volunteers.
Nettie, that’s some impressive Tunder-Boomers! Be safe.
FCM, I usually have to answer the “5am toilet call” from my bladder, but it let me sleep until 7am today. Hope the dentist takes care of FCD’s issues (and that’s the tooth!). Happy cookie baking.
Yanker, happy doper anniversary, and best wishes surviving the chaos; I’ll be plunging into it this upcoming Saturday-Tuesday.
Pilot, feel for you in that Den of Noise; been there, irritated by that.
OK, onward into the week. Take care all.
I’ve been gathering the digital version of all my travel documents. And I put in a request at Holiday Inn Santiago for an early check-in - like around 9AM or so since our plane gets in at 8 and I can’t imagine customs will take too long. Anyway, if they can’t check us in, we’ll sit in the lobby till they can. According to the Digital Concierge, we’ll know when we get there. Whatevah!
Very gusty hereabouts, but so far, the temps are relatively mild (50-ish) so no excessive windchill. In a perfect world, the wind will blow all the leaves off the lawn and into the woods. Yeah. Right.
Just fed FCD - guess I should ready the kitchen for some baking. In fact, I think I’ll mix up the batch of oatmeal cookies then bake them and the snickerdoodles in rapid succession. Off to the kitchen I go…
Good morning! It’s still dark here in the PNW. Why do people complain about the dark so much? It’s lovely. Back in Wyo, I used to run in the early morning dark and learned to love it. Hearing hoofbeats as a horse in a pasture ran beside me was always a thrill. Sometimes I’d turn off my headlamp and feel the road through my soles. And think of all the nocturnal creatures out there working the night shift. So cool.
I have phone calls to make, one to the dentist (Gum pain is back.) and one to the eye doc (The new right lens isn’t comfy.) Then I want to get a head start on packing before Thursday’s trip. And I should hit the gym.
Hippie, if you’re reading this, I hope you’re starting to feel more like your good ol’ self.
From the last MMP: JtC, 10 YEARS of bursitis?! Holy frick. You poor thing! Is there nothing docs can do?
Doggio, if I don’t have a pole, can I still play?
MetalMouse, are you heading to your brother’s for Christmas? And 1 mile of backstroking sounds grueling. I can’t steer well in reverse swimming, so if you stay in your own lane, it’s doubly impressive.
FCM, have fun baking those cookies!
pilot, I hate loud conversations. I hope golf was/is enjoyable.
The Gangster of Love said volume was 67k today. It did not feel that way. Of course it didn’t help that Panamanian Vince didn’t come in, and they sent Big Mark to the sort aisle, leaving me with…Shaggy and Frail Chuck. At least till the belt got overloaded and shut dow, then TGoL threw lots of people(including himself) at the problem. After heaving, I gassed Carmen, and came home and had some oatmeal. Now I’m just waitng for the Likker Sto to open up, so I can grab some whiskey to fuel my rye wit.
Happy Doperversary! 
Sure!
Still raining here in philly. My plan to go to the biggie mall was weather dependent, I decided on not going out. Had a brownie for breakfast.
Now the plan is to putter around the flat, read cozy Christmas mysteries, snack, maybe watch some stuff on tv, cat snuggling, a nice lazy day.
I will have 3 or 4 day work weeks until mid January.
Almost done with the oatmeal-raisin cookies, then there will be snickerdoodles!
doggio - the nicknames of your coworkers just crack me up! What do they call you?
FCD just filched a cookie. I need to guard the cooling racks. Back to the kitchen!
And I have snickered my doodles. The cookies are smaller than the recipe apparently intended - the yield was supposed to be about 66 cookies. I got 90 out of the batch. But the more, the merrier, right? I suspect baking won’t be as easy on Weds with Roxy’s help…
FCD has left for the dentist. I just had a quick lunch. Methinks I’ll plop into the recliner and read for a bit, before I wash the cookie sheets. All other dishes, etc, are already in the dishwasher. Go me!!!