I understand a very effective anti-theft device is a manual transmission.
I’m starting to look for a passing circus to sell these kids to. Tobias copies his sister, often to her very loud and whiny dismay. 4 more hours till the boy child is reclaimed…
Started Typing: 12:35 PM ET
Clicked Reply: 1:31 PM ET
Lookit me, posting two days in a row! Woot! 
I’m a big ol’ slacker today: I have kind of a lot of work to do between now and the end of the month, and I know that it isn’t a lot of time (and will go by quickly), but I really don’t feel like working on any of it at the moment. One big advantage to working from home is the ability to literally turn my back on my work laptops for a while when I need to procrastinate! I just jiggle the mice from time to time to keep Teams from showing me as “away” and keep the screens from locking*, and I can take whatever down-time I need without worrying about someone shoulder-surfing and seeing that I’m on Facebook/the Dope/Amazon/whatever. I stop short of watching anything, though: no TV/movies on my iPad or personal computer during work hours. Somehow that feels more deliberately “wrong” than surfing the web. And I’ll definitely pause to answer work emails/chats, which is often why some of my posts show more than an hour between “started typing” and “clicked reply.”
*I know there are apps that simulate mouse jiggles/key presses and keep computers awake, but I can’t run them on either work laptop. Booooo.
I took the Band-Aid off my left ring finger last night: the scrape there is redder and more sore than I thought it would be, but easily hidden by my pinky finger. I waited until this morning to remove the bandage from under my right thumb, and it’s also a little sore but not looking too bad. The wound is definitely less conspicuous than the Mickey Mouse Band-Aid I put on it yesterday (for my entertainment). 
Washing my hands is uncomfortable, and showering is borderline painful, but I can type, play the piano, etc. with no problem. I don’t go to the gym again until Thursday evening: it’ll be interesting to see whether any of the things my trainer has planned will bother either hand. Right now the only thing I could see possibly hurting would be holding a kettle bell in my right hand, but we’ll see.
I’ll be knocking off work early today: my father is coming down from Baltimore for dinner and a Messiah sing-a-long, and he’s planning to get here at 4pm (to beat the worst of rush hour). I’ll log off work around 3pm, so I can change and take the dog out before he arrives. Visits with my father always start with feeling “it’s been a while/it’s good to see him” and end with feeling “I don’t need to do that again for a while!” I’ll be seeing him again on Christmas Day, with my brother: I’ll still be completely over it by the time I go home, but at least the dynamic will be different. 
Nothing really negative, though; we’re all just very different people.
Right?!? Sometimes I wish I were way less self-aware..
My mom did that, too. When I became an adult I decided to end the pain-on-pain. Yesterday morning I just ran tap water over both injuries for a few seconds and patted them dry with a paper towel, then put a pre-Neosporin-ed Band-Aid on one of them and a dry Band-Aid on the other.
That made me chuckle…
(but sorry about the stubborn garage door!)
Ahhh, gotcha! Well, I have always wanted to visit Birmingham…
On Friday I’ll be having dinner with three friends who I’ve known for 38 years (including the one from HI who made the chrusciki). 
I met them all in 1985: two of them during the last few months of 8th grade that spring/summer (when my family returned from England), and the other at the start of 9th grade that fall. Somehow immediately after high school we all wound up in the same group, and did a lot of partying together in our 20s. They are definitely my oldest friends, though these days I only make an effort to stay in touch with two of them. The third is only interested in our friendship when it suits him/fits his schedule – which is hardly ever – but once upon a time we were quite close and it’ll still be good to see him. I haven’t seen any of them in at least two years.
OMG! Hopefully it’s an easy repair with minimal-if-any cost. 
Especially for car thieves who are under 50…
(But it’s one reason I love driving a stick!)
“You’re a better man than me, Gunga Din”~but then we knew that. I used to enjoy crosswords (but never the big NYT ones). But since my brain injury they aren’t fun anymore. I do try every day, once I recovered enough to be able to do them, to tackle the NYT mini-crossword daily, just as brain exercise. Recently added their ‘Connections’ puzzle, which is slightly more challenging but still fun as well as cognitive yoga.
Boy am I glad I got an electric kettle for my tea water, just in the nick of time.
Excellent advice, I wish I’d thought of it.
Consider also walking around your block a couple of times instead-gets you out in the sunlight (vitamin D 
) and keeps you away from almost 
chaos at the Mall with all of its potential Covid, flu, RSV and nasty winter colds.
Yipes! At least a semi-damaged car here is better than a thoroughly trashed one they maybe find a week from now two counties away in a ditch. Bastards.
When I & my two younger bros would really get going Mom’s perennial threat was ‘I’m going to give you all away with a years’ free food. That’s what it’ll take to convince somebody to take you." We knew she didn’t mean it. Mostly. I’m sure she was sorely tempted a time or three though. I suppose a circus would’ve been cheaper; heck they might even pay you to take them.
Woot indeed!!
Make that a double Woot! Woot Woot!!
Good luck w Dad & bro. I know that “Great to see you, but glad it’ll be short” feeling. A mixed blessing for sure. I screwed up and we missed the Messiahs around here which were early. Despite being a devout heathen, it’s not quite Christmas without a performance. And a sing-a-long is the best of all. Color me jealous but more than that happy for you.
As to me…
The afternoon turned into a bit of online mayhem, more golf practice which went notably better than yesterday, a mini-groc, and gas in the car. Now home & resting up feet / legs for the walk to dinner. Which will probably be Taco Tuesday.
I’d mentioned earlier that Her Ladyship’s son & fiancée will be staying with us for a few days across Christmas. Found out today they arrive Sat evening. Don’t know when they go, but probably 5 to 7 days here total. This will keep me / us super busy. Y’all might have to get along without my long-winded drivel for a bit. That can be my gift to the MMP. 
Wow, everyone’s been busy!
hippy, I’m going to pile onto the “exercise but don’t overdo it” bus. When you get tired, sit down on one of the handy benches and people watch for a while. Don’t try to do too much too fast, your body just had super invasive surgery and needs recovery time.
(Did you snore before this? If so, are you snoring now? Hubs didn’t snore for almost a year after his quad bypass, the doctors said it was because his insides got moved around and would take a while to go back where they were.)
Speaking of hubs, he still lives. Barely. His favorite cousin and her family are driving cross country and have planned a week in Prescott. They are lovely people and I will enjoy their visit, but I should have been told sooner than yesterday because somehow I have been voluntold to be tour guide and they will be here next week.
Happily I was able to get train reservations to the Grand Canyon, just not the Polar Express. The kids are 19 and 20, they probably wouldn’t have wanted to do that anyhow, it is more focused on the littles.
Today we went to the big thrift store so I could get something for the gift exchange this weekend (Why yes, I do like Christmas parties and gift exchanges, why do you ask?) and found a very cute bowl that I will fill with fancy chocolates. My first thought was assorted gins in nip bottles, but this is my BFF’s party and she raised sickenly health conscious daughters who don’t drink. She has no idea what she did wrong either, LOL!!!
I’m also including a flameless candle to put in the bowl when the candy is gone. I doubt the bowl is heat resistant AND everyone at the party has children and/or cats and/or dogs or all of the above.
Not long ago, we got upset at Chewy and I found a local place to deliver birdseed for about half of what we were paying Chewy. There was a delivery fee if they delivered on my schedule, but no charge if they delivered on their weekly schedule. The first delivery was today and I think the doves will like it. GG lurves watching the doves so of course we want to encourage them!
snert!
You will be missed!
Take it easy on yourself. Bench when needed.
We just went with the cold brew method (tea in the harbor). :d&r:
That’s what I buy as well.
Not much shakin’ at CasaRoja since coming home from irk.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
SIL has taken Tobias home. Roxy is in a bubble bath. She’s been feverish since yesterday and if she wakes with a fever, we wobe baking and Daughter will take her to the doctor. So we’ll see. Both kids ate well at least.
Hope she sleeps well tonight. Hope I do, too.
Howdy Y’all! Laundry got laundered and put away. Go Us! We did not get shorn, but for a good reason. See, the haircut place is in the same shoppin’ center as the Pubic Sto’ we like. So, tomorrow we shall get shorn and procure provisions. Much more efficient this way. Plus we don’t have to be amongst the great unwashed two days in a row.
A decision has been made re what to eat for Christmas feast. Prime rib, company smashed N.O.T., green beans 'n shrooms, rolls, and cheesecake with macerated strawberries. Simple, yet tasty and fancy.
And good early evening greetings from N. Ali-bama. Afternoon was divided between sitting in the library working on the NY Times Monster crosswords (a tough puzzle has maybe 100 clues; this one has 646!) and the gym. About a third of the way through, so more library time is probable tomorrow. Then literally right across the street is the gym, so spent about 2 hours pedaling, resting, pedaling some more, then sauna time, so didn’t feel a bit guilty about having a mid-day snack when I got home. Down to 38F now so not planning on leaving the house, will nuke some Mac-n-Cheese in a little while.
Pilot, I have friends that are about 20 years on, usually only see them when we take one of those group vacations like we did in November, but usually stay in touch via the Book of Faces. But I agree, sometimes they just…drift… See ya when you can get back.
Hippie, sounds like you’re making good progress, like nellie says, do what you are comfortable with but don’t stress it. Pilot’s idea is a good one.
FCM, glad you survived the Roxy/Toby show. Sweet dreams to your grand-daughter and hope she feels better tomorrow…
Herald, I actually got that reference…from reading Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire SF series…
Sorry about the bad news to the Lady’s car. l hope the insurance folks are responsible and effective.
Oopsie, slack is OK when your a working person, but out-and-out sloth is reserved for us retired folks… 
I did one of those Messiah sing-a-longs in Cleveland a long time ago with the Orchestra and some professional singers, but the audience did most of the work. Think I still have that songbook buried somewhere in the house. And I still have a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide in the Medicine cabinet because you never know…
BBBoo, one of the reason I get the Sunday NY Times is to try and keep my brain moving, they have several other puzzles too (Ken-Ken, which is Sudoku with numbers and math equations tends to drive me nuts).
JtC, hubs reminds me of an old tale my mom often told, about the wife of Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes. When asked if she ever would divorce him, Ms. Hayes replied “Divorce–never. Murder–possibly”
OK, sounds like the mailman has made it to our street (I can hear the stop-start-stop of his engines from here) so need to brave the cold and check to see if any of it is useful or not. Have a good evening all.
Up from naptime. I dreamed my crew from Smalls was hiding form robbers in a grocery store, but they wouldn’t leave because they were stocking shelves. Then I was a work, and dealing with a dragon on the 300 Boxline, because apparently modern dragons horde Temu bags. 
But I have a Manhattan, Redneck Stirfry, and hockey, so life is good.
I need to shear myself next weekend(I don’t have enough left to pay somebody for 2 minutes of work)
*'E’s not a Messiah, 'E’s a naughty boy!" 
I certainly do understand that. Hubs is very lucky he survived recovering from COVID the second time cause I was so ready to kill him. If only there were still uncovered abandoned mines out there…
Hubs hasn’t paid anyone to cut his hair in all the years I’ve known him. Of course, he went almost bald when he was around 20. He spends more time cleaning the hair out of the sink than he does shaving his fringe.
So, I’ve got now got Christmas dinner reservations at the [Hassayampa Inn](Hotels in Prescott - Boutique Hotel Arizona - Hassayampa Inn). It would have been MUCH easier to do that if I had known three fucking months ago when this was first planned. It needs to get really cold really fast because I’ve promised a couple of wheels of smoked cheese to the grandma of the assistant manager and it is back up to 50something in the mornings again.
I could just tell hubs to deal with this himself. I have done it several times in the past and the visitors are the ones who lost out on memories, not him. I choose to do this because I’m almost as nice as some of you guys and want his friends and family to enjoy themselves when they are here.
I’m just going to bitch about the lack of notice and calling in favors because I can’t do anything like work without whining nowadays.
I feel like I just spun my wheels today. Two more days and I’ll be at my daughter’s.
Yeah, and then there was that annoying incident where we threw tea into Boston Harbor the Jacuzzi.
But you were poised to get another Maine coon cat if he didn’t see common sense (or his life flash before his eyes), and wouldn’t THAT have been fun! TWO cats to jump in the ale and hide from the Very Scary Salmon! OK, just fun for the rest of us, but still…
I’m actually having salmon for dinner. (Don’t tell GG.)
I still kinda wish he hadn’t backed down until after the new kitten was here, VBC kicks GG’s butt a couple of times a day but he really needs someone his own size to roll around with.
(I haven’t been able to eat salmon since crabby old cat left us.)
Having a nice time, sitting in my chair with the dog and cat both laying up with me. Cat leaves and the dog adjusts his position, and as he does he lets out a devastating fart. OMG that dog stank. The aroma lingered so I had to get up to get away from Mauser. Poor boy, it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t know why I was abandoning him for a while
So, what’d y’all get?
I LOL’d.
Man, half my crew was sick today, various stuff. I need to take maybe a double dose of multivitamins tonight!
Also, all this talk of tea is making me want a cuppa, too, so imma get up in a sec and go microwave a mug of tap water and there’s nuthin’, not a damn thing, any of you can do about it!
Neener, neener!!
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.
Gord’e were so bad, he’d flee them.
Morning, mumpers! It’s a toasty 8c/46f with a predicted high of 10c/50f, and cloudy. Weather app says “It’s overcast from where you’re sitting, but if you were in a fucking plane, you could say it’s fucking undercast.” Yes, it is cloudy out there and overcast but at least it’s dry today.
shoe microwaving tap water? I’ve got my beady eye on you, young lady!
Baker we usually refer to that as an F&F (fart and flee). 'im indoors is pretty good at them and always blames it on one of the cats.
Herald sorry to hear about LadyHerald’s car, that is truly annoying. Our biggest threat to cars over here seems to be theft of keyless entry vehicles. Luckily mine is old enough not to have a keyless system, and I also have a pretty serious steering wheel lock. It’s a t-bar kind of thing but it’s not the kind of thing you’re getting through in a couple of minutes.
It’s my last irk-day of the year, and it’s a campus day. Fortunately the Travel Gods were smiling this morning and everything went pretty much as planned. I’m hoping the journey home is as uneventful but I am less concerned because I have nowhere to go tonight. My usual pub friends are picking up a relative from the airport tonight so I knew I wouldn’t be seeing them. Instead, we are patronising a new Indian takeaway so I will need to drive over there to fetch what I am hoping will be extremely yummy food.
I am hoping for a quiet day, and possibly an early finish but around here, you just never know.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 29 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 53 and N.O.S. for the day. We will get shorn this mornin’ and then procure provisions. Fried chikin N.O.L.s will be obtained for today’s main need to feed. After all that, we shall deserve an afternoon of sloth, general overall uselessness, nappage, and day drinkin’.
Herald sorry about LadyHerald’s vehicle woes. May the insurance folk etc. get things right soonest.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, alas and alack, I must needs purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. Oh woe!
Happy Hump Day Y’all!
Good morning!
It’s 40F, partly cloudy, and kind of drippy from all the moisture in the air. We’ll have a mixture of sun and clouds, with a high temp of 50F. There will be areas of dense fog in the morning, which probably explains the drippiness I experienced while standing outside with the pups at 3:00 a.m.
herald, I’m sorry about the Lady’s car. I hope insurance resolves everything very quickly.
hippy, don’t overdo it. Much good advice above.
I found out yesterday that my mother will be spending Christmas with my sister. I don’t mind; we usually have her on Christmas. This will be the smallest and quietest Christmas since I met my husband in 1983. I’m okay with that, too. It’ll be just me, my husband, and my son.
I’m looking forward to a quiet, no-pressure day. I’ll send my son home with a ton of food, too, because 14 pounds of prime rib roast is A LOT, and there is no way we’ll eat it all. I plan to send him home with half the remaining roast. Besides, I only care about the soup I’ll make a couple of days after Christmas.
I’m looking forward to that. My son will also receive some of the soup.
FCM, I hope Roxy is not feverish today and that she slept well.
nellie, I know you’ll enjoy your stay with your daughter.
pilot, you will be missed.
JtC, I feel your pain. My husband used to pull that crap all the time. The worst would be when he would tell me a couple of hours before people were going to descend on us.
Unfortunately, I will have to log into my computer a little later this morning to see if an issue is resolved. HR sent a last-minute action requiring me and an employee’s supervisor to take action before 26 December. The problem is the document they sent was code encrypted, and they sent the wrong password. I responded immediately to the email asking for a new code but received an out-of-office reply. I don’t know who the employee is because that information is in the encrypted document. This paperwork is for a within-grade increase, and I want to ensure the employee receives the raise on time. Since I don’t know who the employee is, I don’t know which supervisor to send the document to for signature. Finally, I’m super pissed at HR for sending a document like that a week out DURING THE HOLIDAYS when no one is around. Things like that should be sent 30 days out from the due date. The kicker is that the HR person who sent the email, is out until 2 January, according to her out-of-office reply. The person who is supposed to step in for her is not responding either—such stupidity.
I think today will be a day of puppy playing and sloth. Well, maybe a little tidying. My husband kept me up and I’ve been awake since 1:30. I finally gave up and got out of bed at 2:30 a.m. It’s going to be another long day. Maybe I’ll get to nap, but I doubt it.
Okay, time for another cup of coffee!
This is Higgs when she sneezes while sharing the recliner with me. I don’t understand how she’s not floating with all the gas she holds!!
I don’t see the problem with this. Daggone hot water snobs!! 
Roxy scared the bedoobies outta me last night! She came into our room and stood next to my side of the bed to tell me she was scared of the dark. Two-freekin’-thirty in the morning!!! It took me 2 hours to fall back to sleep, and I still woke just after 6. And she got up just before 7.
She’s still running a slight fever (99.1°) so I gave her a snort of tylenol, some apple juice, and some toast. We’ll see how she does as the morning progresses. Whether she’s here to make cookies or not, I’ve got the butter out to soften, so there will be cookies.
My car was ready last night, but we’ll pick it up today. It’ll be good to have new tires - I noticed over the rainy weekend that my wheels spun when I’d start moving from a dead stop. And the roads were just wet, not flooded. Anyway, I’m good now.
So that’ll be my day - cookies and car pickup. FCD is going to take trash and recycling. And Roxy and I will make packs of cookies to give out on Christmas - I bought zip bags and some bows to stick on them. Ho ho ho.
Happy Wednesday!