You would be correct, sir.
And a good noontime to all. Jeans are finishing drying, shopping was quick (a bag of salad and some bananas) and the Jersey Mike’s #3 is quietly assimilating in my belly, so all is right with the world.
FCM, at minimum they should be able to take your bags at the hotel and store them for you, so you can do a bit of wandering (don’t know if you’re in the city or out at the airport) if you wish. Customs will hopefully be quick, depends how many international flights arrive about the same time.
Nope, one of my nephew’s has to work some of the Xmas period so we’re gathering at his location. Will fly into Kansas City and it’s about an hour’s drive from there. If I had known the weather was going to be fairly decent I might have drove but as early as you have to make reservations these days, didn’t want to chance it.
As for the swimming, I’ll do 900 yards (36 lengths of a 25-yard pool), which takes me about a half-hour, then sit in the whirlpool for 20-30 minutes, then go back and do the second half. At least that’s the plan. And they have four lanes at the pool, two wide and two narrow, I always try for the wide lanes as I do tend to stray…
FCM, enjoy the cookie-making, don’t think I have ever had snickerdoodles before (may be my failing memory (I usually stick with chocolate chip).
In about an hour or so I’ll get myself in motion to head to the gym. Also should fill up the gas tank to take advantage of my Kroger points and get a cost for the informal MMP survey from last week. Have a good afternoon all.
Trouble’s a-brewin’ here at Walking Dead Manor. Apparently the landline phones are acting up (we don’t have one) and some folks are having issues with TV reception (which could erupt into a slow-motion, flabby-armed flailing riot if not fixed soon). Xfinity had better get their shit together.
We’re making Polish chrusciki (angel wing) cookies today. These are very delicate cookies and somewhat of a PITA to make. The dough has to be very thin, which means using the pasta roller for my mixer, if I don’t want to end up hurling everything into the trash. Then the dough is cut into strips about an inch wide and five inches long. Then one cuts a slit in each piece and passes one end of the strip through the slit, creating something that looks vaguely like a cross between a bow tie and a wing. Then they’re deep fried and rolled in powdered sugar. Very tasty, but labor intensive. So that’s my afternoon.
Did some shopping this morning for ingredients for the green chili stew I’m making for the wife’s niece and family who are coming over on Saturday. I’ll pick up a pecan pie from Costco on Wednesday.
I’ve breakfasted on breakfast: porridge with salt and a tablespoon of cream. Yum.
This happened over the weekend, but I’ve just remembered.
Last year, Mrs. L.A. wanted to put Waze on her phone. Unfortunately, she could not remember her Apple password. She hadn’t used a passcode to lock her phone, and I turned it on in the process of trying to get the app. Unfortunately, you need your Apple password to turn the passcode back off. We jumped through all sorts of hoops trying to get her password changed, which involved long waiting periods for verification, and she became exasperated and gave up. She’s had to use her passcode ever since.
A couple of days ago I got a text on my phone from Apple saying her password can now be reset. (I think she may have initiated the process a couple/few weeks ago.) The process involved my phone, her phone, and her computer. Finally, I was able to change her Apple password… to one we can both remember. (I never knew her previous one.) She hasn’t downloaded Waze, but she can get to iCloud now so she can see all of the pictures she took.
I’ve eaten them. Never made them, or even heard about how they are made. Wow.
We’ll be at the Holiday Inn at the Santiago airport - literally at the airport, like walking distance from baggage claim. And considering we’ll have been on the airplane all night, we won’t be going anywhere!
My very Polish mother always called them bow ties. I remember helping to make them, but I never ever wanted to do it myself. After all, there’s no chocolate involved! And, frankly, I consider powdered sugar to be a cough/sneeze inducer.
Cookie sheets and cooling racks are washed and sitting in the rack to dry. Other dishes are in the dishwasher, having had a rinse cycle to knock the big chunks off. I’m thinking supper will involve clearing the fridge of the assorted dribs and drabs that have accumulated. The rest of today will be lazy.
We made them with lemon zest and orange zest this year to add some interest. And yes, they’re done! Only took a couple of hours. I really wanted to make mince tarts this year, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. The wife doesn’t much like them, anyway.
Wait…you’re going to Santiago, Chile?? I LOVE that place. Of course, I haven’t been in 20 years, but get some humitas & empanadas al pino for me. Humitas are like little corn cakes wrapped in corn husks and you can salt 'em or sweet 'em and they are delicious. Empanadas al pino have beef, an olive and half an egg and some fantastic gravy. The ham & cheese empanadas are good, too, though they’re smaller and deep fried (yum). Pair one of those bad boys with a cortado and you’re golden, especially if you like coffee - it’s basically sweetened condensed milk on the bottom, espresso on the top and you stir all of it with a pirouette cookie. Now I’m drooling. I am soooo jealous.
I’m excited for the solstice if only to stop getting corrected about whether it’s winter or not. I get I’m wrong, but I always thought that the 21st was the middle of winter, which means there’s a start and end, so it must therefore already be winter, right? I was walking with my neighbor friend last Tuesday and commented that I was bummed this winter wasn’t colder and and she corrected me saying it was actually still fall and that winter began for everyone on December 21st. And I couldn’t stop thinking that the planet earth isn’t great about reading books, sort of like my kids never read What to Expect When You’re Expecting, so they never actually did most of what I expected. Or how mid-summer (June 21st) is considered the start of summer even though it’s often 90+ degrees F outside.
Oh, well. Now I’m peevish, which is not helped by the fact that I couldn’t stop coughing on the last call I was on, so had to hand it over to someone else to finish speaking for me. Overlyboy managed to stay healthy so far, but I’m at that “really uncomfortable dry cough” stage of my cold where I’m not technically sick but certainly not comfortable. Oh, well - it’ll get better. To add insult to injury, I have my first colonoscopy Friday. I’ll call the doc to see if they still want me to come in. Sorry for the TMI. Nothing like some sutab for the holidays. Ick.
As to seasons, there are astronomical seasons and meteorological seasons. They’re offset by a few weeks to allow for the fact the weather lags the length of the days and angle of the Sun.
If you’re really curious, this fun article Season - Wikipedia will go into the gory details. We US/Euro folks might think this Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall stuff is simple and universally settled, but tain’t so: many countries officially have 2 or 6 seasons. And nobody agrees on when they start or end.
So next time some jerkface tries to correct you, just tell 'em they’re clueless.
As to Christmas colonoscopies, just think of it a form of purging that’s easier on the teeth. You’re just trying to get your weight on a downward trend before the serious feasting begins. yeah, that’s it; weight loss. 
All this talk of holiday baking is making me sad I can’t have any much. Oh well.
Flyboy: Your battle with Apple reminds me of a similar battle I fought w Google on behalf of my late aged MIL. Kafka-esque. I can see the “why”, but it mostly flows from them choosing not to involve expensive humans in the customer problem resolution process. Gaaah!
But good to hear you got it settled and it won’t shouldn’t need to be done again.
Golf-ball whacking was fun and the temp had warmed up to pleasantly cool. I was inept, but not surprised at that. Got the car washed, came home, and was promptly seized of a nap, which was most excellent. Definitely the high point of my day so far.
There’s a Costco across the street from where I golf. One of two within plausible driving distance. n mind of this thread, I entered their parking lot to see what gasoline costs. $2.19 for regular and $2.79 for premium. This was at about 10:30am and I estimate the line at the pumps would’ve taken about 30 minutes to get your gas. 
I screwed up my exit and ended up driving close to the store entrance on the way out instead of hugging the parking lot periphery as I had going in. Took easily 15 minutes of stop and go to reach the street. It wasn’t quite gridlock, but you could see it from there. Never again.
Started Typing: 3:56 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 5:32 PM ET
Happy Doperversary, pullin! 
Today started with injuries: Bailey wasn’t a fan of yesterday’s constant, heavy rain and never ate her breakfast (kibble + wet food), and this morning I managed to drop her glass food bowl while I was cleaning it out. A shard sliced my right hand (just under the thumb) deeply enough that I needed a Band-Aid, and while reaching for a paper towel to stanch the bleeding I scraped my left ring finger on one of the larger glass pieces that was still on the counter. 
Not nearly as deeply, but it bled a surprising amount. As soon as I relocate to the living room for the evening I’ll remove both Band-Aids; I prefer for things to heal uncovered when possible. I might wind up wanting to put a fresh bandage on my right hand for protection – it’s a decent gash, and already sore – but the Band-Aid on my left hand feels like a ring and keeps throwing me off, so I’m hoping to leave that one uncovered.
So it’s definitely been a Monday, but I’ve decided to take the next two Fridays off so at least it’ll be a short work week…and next week will be even shorter! 
All of my recent events went well: the holiday jazz on Friday night was a lot of fun (and I’ve happily had Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” stuck in my head ever since), my car’s first non-dealership service on Saturday went smoothly (though I’d forgotten how expensive oil changes are in cars like mine!), and yesterday’s lunch and matinee of Ragtime with friends was great.
I have no plans this evening, which is perfectly fine with me: I’m looking forward to watching the season finale of The Gilded Age, and maybe a holiday movie. I usually don’t start my themed movie-watching until Christmas weekend, but last night I watched Trading Places…tonight could be Lethal Weapon or Scrooged. I’ll save Die Hard for Christmas Eve. 
Tomorrow evening my dad will drive down here from Baltimore, and we’ll go to dinner and a local chorale’s Messiah sing-a-long.
I’m always happy about the winter solstice because it means the season’s darkest days are behind us (even though it’s the start of winter, and January always feels like the darkest month to me). I post a link to Jethro Tull’s “Ring Out Solstice Bells” on my FB page every year.
Reading about shoe’s pot pie upthread gave me a gnawin’ and a cravin’ (just for the food, thankyouverymuch), so I just decided to DoorDash one from KFC for dinner. I’d never had a KFC pot pie until Election Day: the assistant election chief got her son to bring her one for lunch, and she had him bring a second one for me! She did so without asking me first, which annoyed me on principle (I’d brought lunch…and what if I were vegetarian?), but the gesture was sweet and I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. I’ve had a mild hankerin’ for another one ever since, but they are terrible for me (nutrition-wise) and I’ve managed to keep the jonesing on the back burner…until now. The nearest KFC is just far enough away to be kind of a pain to get to (not worth the effort for something I shouldn’t be eating anyway), but it’s not too far for DoorDash! 
The chicken pot pie – and a biscuit – should get here around 6pm.
I’m hoping to be more interactive this week, but first I have some catching up to do…including some responses to the last thread:
When I mentioned never looking back after disconnecting my Blu-ray player, I meant that I started buying titles on iTunes and/or Amazon. Same investment, easier access (and the digital versions often include the bonus material). These days I do watch a lot of movies via streaming, but I’m paying for those services anyway.
So is Bailey. A while ago I noticed that coming home from being out doesn’t wake her up anymore. 
Sometimes I’ve actually startled her while she was awake by coming up from behind her, even though I was talking to her as I approached. It’s noticeable when we’re outside, too: I’ve taken to whistling to get her attention when it’s time to go inside.
I’m the same! I had a printout of yesterday’s Ragtime tickets with me, even though my friend had purchased them and had them brought up on her phone. You know, just in case. And the jazz club I frequent in DC looks people up on a list that they have printed at the door, but I still always bring a printout of my ticket. Just in case.
Seems like you often have great local music! I may need to include a stop in your town whenever I finally go back to the UK! 
(I forget where you are…how far are you from Harrogate??)
It actually can be a problem: losing weight too quickly can increase a person’s risk of muscle loss, gallstones, nutritional deficiencies, and a drop in metabolism. There is such a thing as an unhealthy rate at which to lose weight.
SING IT SISTER!!!
Yay!!
All of my grievances are self-imposed. I can’t think of any that another person could do anything about. So, I’ll keep them to myself.
LOL!! 
A Polish friend just posted photos this morning of some that she made for her mother for Christmas! The friend lives in HI and her mom lives in MD: friend and her husband will be flying out on Wednesday, with the chrusciki all packaged up. I’ll be meeting friend and her husband for dinner Friday evening, and I’m trying to talk her into bringing some to the restaurant. (The whole family cooks wonderfully; her brother is actually a professional chef.)
I ended up not going to the gym or anything. My SIL called. She had a vitrectomy 3 weeks ago and was told her vision would be back to normal in 7-10 days. It IS a little better, but she also suddenly got blackness in the lower part of her vision, which the doc, it turns out, isn’t worried about but hasn’t really explained, either, except to say it’s the bubble they put in her vitreous chamber. And now she has a mysteriously scratched cornea. Anyway, I’m the go-to when family has eye issues, as evidenced by my sister calling to say her eye (transplant two years ago) was irritated. After that I got my Amazon return ready, as it’s by the gym, but it’s so dark and rainy outside, I don’t feel too confident about sloshing to the gym.
My main grievance is my knee. Dammit, it should be better than this by now.
cookie, I had to look up the cookies, but as soon as I saw them, I remembered having them as a kid growing up in Chicago. Yum! They do look like they require some manual dexterity. I’m impressed! Also, how is your knee doing?
Those are the worst kind because then you have nobody else to blame. Righteous indignation is so much easier than self-blame. This explains the current political climate, too. 
I hate when people do that. Kids know that it’s fall when there are leaves on the trees, apples are crunchy, and the frost is on the pumpkin. Winter means snow and frigid temperatures. Spring means flowers blooming. Summer means it’s hot enough to play in the sprinkler. Why do adults have to make it so complicated?
This reminds me: did anyone else get frost on the windows in their childhood home? I remember Dad saying Jack Frost had been at work. He was quite an artist and seemed especially fond of ferns. Jack Frost, not Dad.
shoe, I hope today is a better day.
I’d better get back to work. My daughter will be calling soon, and my brother right after that.
And a good late afternoon/early evening all. Managed to swim my mile today and also filled up my gas tank (fuel at Kroger in N. Ali-bama is $2.49.gal for regular and $2.89 for mid-grade (89 octane, which is what I usually get). But I had a large surplus of Kroger points (bought gift cards on a Friday and got 4x bonus points), so I got it for $1.69/gal…cheapest fill-up I’ve had in many a year. Need to go out to forage for sustenance, probably to Mickey D’s.
Thanks Pilot and Oopsie, not too concerned about the weight, I always take Moanday’s as the final word, since my eating and exercise regime is the same that day pre-weigh-in. Today’s was 234.9lbs, a drop from 236.6lbs last Monday but given I had worked out hard on Sunday and did the mile of swimming today, was not terribly surprised. Will see what it is after Xmas travel and sitting around with family.
Cookie, I know the cookies would come out great…you’re the Chefguy, after all…
Flyboy, it does seem some companies want to make things as difficult as possible to change, doesn’t it? I’m still having the on-line system at PNC bank making me get a call/text each time I log in because “they don’t recognize my system” which is the same computer I set the account up on a couple years ago… Glad it finally got resolved.
FCM, shame you can’t get some touring done in Chile; is there any pre-cruise trip the cruise line is offering? (that’s one way to ensure you make the ship).
talkie, nothing like getting cleaned out and probed before the Xmas season…
Oopsie, ouch and hope they are healing up nice. My mom would always pour some Hydrogen peroxide on our cuts and scrapes when we were young.
OK, time to bust the calorie counter and head over to the Arches place. Take care all.
Irish breakfast tends to be my go-to for a pot of loose leaf tea. Sufficient caffeine for the day and pretty tasty.
Happy Dopiversary!
OMG! I haven’t had those in years.
Irked, came home on a windy, frigid day (not freezing, but felt like it), walked Nelson and et. I’m looking forward to time off over the holidays.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Howdy Y’all! Home from men’s nignt over to the church house. We had a good group. We ate. We drank. We laughed. We solved all the world’s problems, but, as usual, nobody will listen to us. Oh well, the world’s loss! 
Yanker Happy Doperversary!
We’re just spending the night there before catching our cruise ship out of Valparaiso the next day. After spending the night on the plane, all we’ll want to do is crash till we get the bus the next day.
No, and as I said, we’re going to be a mess after flying all night. Being a tourist after that just doesn’t appeal.
At the end of the cruise, we get to Buenos Aires at 7AM and our flight leaves after 11PM. Not sure what we’ll do with that day. There is a tour thru Princess, but I need to find out how that works with the airport transfer we bought.
Turns out I’ll have both kids tomorrow. If I’m lucky, they’ll play together and I can get my laundry done. Or not. But I’ll just have Roxy overnight.
First thing in the morning, we’ll take my car to get new tires (on Weds, but Tues is the easiest time to drop it off. ) Yep, my life is that exciting!
It’s a reasonable hotel and very convenient to the airport indeed.
The undies referenced in the previous MMP are Ex Officio brand. A few pairs and a travel clothesline, or a small towel, or a hair dryer will do you.
Have no fear, Liptons hasn’t crossed my threshold in decades. The most I do to my tea is to tipple in a scant spoon of raw sugar occasionally. Every now and then I’d get a London Fog~strong Earl Gray with steamed cream, sort of a tea latte. Great on a blustery winter day.
Yes! I always had frost on my bedroom window. It was so pretty, and pretty cold.
My mother would say it was “grandfather frost” (Morozko).
I’ll have to try that, though I don’t have a latte machine with a steamer.