Not the “EXTRA NOODLE” cuz I ain’t all extra like that, but the regular old skool Cup is absolutely comfort food slurp for me.
I love it!
There’s a majority ruling on this.
Absolutely!
In fact, somewhere around here is a “stuff I made DIY” thread that would be another great landing spot!
Double brag, the mods won’t be mad.
Something is doing awful things in my lower back. Had to grab the steel counter at work a coupla times, lest I fall gracefully to the floor split my damn head on the tiles.
Sneezed, and saw STARS and not in the “oh, my” { fans self } sort of way.
Gonna find the “pet picture” thread and post Lil Buddy a.k.a. Puff.
We’re gettin’ to know each other still, but he seems cool.
Good Morning Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 45 Amurrkin out and cloudy with a predicted high of 75 and N.O.S. Handyman is comin’ around ten this mornin’ to replace light fixtures in the hallway and on the back porch as both have decided they don’t want to work anymore. I shall also slow cook the Boston < snerk > BUTT! < snerk > to take for first Sunday brunch tomorrow. Handyman has looked at both and says he can get ‘em done in a couple of hours. We shall see. Other than that we will be our usual RDOS selves. Any need to feed will be via forage.
doggio I hear Spot is fond of creamed chipped herring on toast and squirrel parmesan.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
My daughter doesn’t like posting pics of other people’s kids, so I did a little photoshop magic… OK, I really just “painted” over faces. Roxy’s teacher has her back to the camera, so I guess that’s OK. Anyway, here’s the kids getting up on the risers just before the show started.
Wish I could share the videos of the performances - they’re too cute for words.
Afternoon, mumpers! It’s currently 8c/47f with no predicted change, and cloudy. Weather app says “It’s fucking cloudy. I checked my fucking pockets and it turns out I have no fucks left to give.” Actually, it’s bright and shiny out there so not cloudy around here.
Can’t have that, can we? Fortunately there’s another (much more efficient) water machine in an office down the corridor but it’s an office that’s not always staffed. Friday was my lucky day, my colleague was in the office so I used their machine instead. The nice lady from Facilities popped into our office on an unrelated matter, so I asked about the water machine and she’s logged the issue.
{{{{{Taters}}}}} I’m glad you are doing so, even if it feels like everything falls on deaf ears. Just making the call or sending the letter is something positive in the face of evil.
We were joining in from over here too. I did have a moment of panic when I realised I needed enough cash to pay for my daily travel ticket which I buy on the bus, which does not give change. Fortunately 'im indoors was able to swap a £20 for two £10 notes so avoided the need for a debit card.
{{{{{Oopsie}}}}} I hope a weekend of friendly faces and doing fun things lifts your spirits and gives you a break from the stress. It must be an awful time for you, just as it is for poor Taters.
I will be asking the question about a second laptop, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if that was possible especially if it came with the backing of Occy Health. The hot water issue is also solveable just by getting my hot water from a different source although I could invoke the health and safety gods by mentioning I could have to go down to the kitchen on a different floor to get it!
Yesterday was, well, yesterday. Found some sticky problems at work to deal with that I’ve had to pass on to other people for now - I have a solution but it needs to be agreed by someone higher up than me. Then I came home to the evening news. Today my farcebook feed is ablaze with anger, outrage and condemnation for one side, and unrivalled support and admiration for the other side. You can guess which is which.
I’ve been to the gym, burned bang on 600 calories on the elliptical trainer, then did a kettlebells class and told the trainer I was only using baby weights, so nothing heavier than 6kgs for anything. A couple of exercises I had to modify a bit as I could feel the pull on my shoulder but that was ok, there are always variations that can work.
I stopped off at the pet store on the way home and picked up more cat litter, along with a box of cat food for the girlies. They sell boxes of 40 pouches of food at slightly less than the supermarket so make sense to pick it up there. Home for a shower and hair wash, quick lunch and I am off again in minute. I will be doing a couple of hours fundraising at a local supermarket for Little Paws, and then need to go over to our Head Honcho’s house to drop off the collection buckets. I’ve also got a partly-used bottle of thyroid medication that I had for Shadow, rather than throw it away I can give it to her as there is bound to be at least one other cat in the rescue that needs it.
It started with FCD needing a large bandaid to cover a cut on the back of his hand while working in the shop. Our little bin full of boxes was in disarray, what with combining MIL’s supplies with ours. So after I showered and dressed, I attacked both bins full of boo-boo supplies.
First, I gathered what were obviously very old Band-Aid, Curad, and Equate adhesive bandages. The individual wrappings indicated vintage products, so into the trash they went. Then I sorted the ones that looked to be from this century - biggest in one box, finger-tip bandages in another, colorful kiddie style in another, and all the rest in the really big assortment box were grouped according to size.
I may well have tossed some perfectly good bandages, but we have so many, I decided it wasn’t worth it to sort them all. Plus those little spot bandaids are stupid and they were among the first to go. Anyway, I now have 2 neatly organized bins and they’ll stay that way until someone decides to dig thru rather than look or ask before digging. At least I found a full pack of the big ones that FCD needs.
Anyway, showered and dressed and almost done making ice for the day. It’s somewhat cloudy with warnings of gusty winds - I’m thinking not ideal for raking leaves. I want to run to Food Lion and pick up a hunk of beef to roast on Moanday when Daughter et al come over. Maybe some cukes to - Tobias and Roxy love the cuke salad.
FCD got a text this morning threatening all sorts of mayhem if he doesn’t pay an outstanding balance on EZPass - twenty-eight whole cents!! I knew at once it was bogus because we have EZPassMD, so Massachusetts wouldn’t be billing us, plus the account is in my name with my phone number. And just to be sure, I checked the account - we have something over $30 available (they add $25 each time it goes under $10) so, yeah, bogus. I’m guessing they’d count on him providing our VISA to pay it, then they’d have all they need to go on a shopping spree. Oh, and the phone number they provided was also bogus. Damned scammers. I’m glad he asked me.
I think when the next batch of ice is done, I’ll go in search of some dead cow chunks.
Morning all and welcome to March. Need t do some start of the month stuff on-line and probably get to the gym, otherwise not much planned. Soccer will begin in earnest next week (pre-season drills and group practices before teams are formed) so that will keep me active, along with starting weight training at the gym, which was delayed due to my hernia operation. Only getting to 60F today and down to 53F tomorrow, and due to bounce between the 50’s and 70’s all next week, so typical spring.
BBBoo and JtC; if I haven’t said it before, I am so damn proud to be a fellow Mumper with you two.
Jumpy, therapists differ in styles, and if this one is not satisfactory to your style, maybe it is best to try and arrange for an different one if you can.
JtC, quite a story and one that I hope we don’t have to repeat again.
Hippie, and thank you for your story, I hope for the current employees sake that the new company ownership realizes what they have and doesn’t over-manage it into trouble.
Piper, I haven’t had a massage in probably decades; might have to consider it. And hope the ice de-jams without any damages.
{{shoe}}, have had that type of lower back pain before, and it is miserable, mine went away and I will hope yours does too.
swampy, I have a recalcitrant switch in my laundry room that I need to get somebody to work on, but it’s double-switched so I can manage for awhile.
Boofae, you remind me I need to get some British pounds for my vacation in June; I’ll get more over there but always like to get into the country I’m visiting with some usable cash in my pocket. Need to check with my bank. Best of luck with the fundraising.
FCM, I’m pretty short on bandages myself, may need to pickup a box or two just in case. And a .28 cents scam…
OK, breakfast and a banana have been internalized and are being assimilated, so onward into Sattiday. Have a good one all.
It’s 38F, dark, and partly cloudy. Our high temperature is expected to be 64F, and the afternoon will be sunny.
Metal Mouse I was around for the Reagen year RIFs and was RIF’d very early in my career. Fortunately, I was just sent to another department within the DoD. I returned to my original department six months later with a higher grade after applying and being selected for the position.
JtC, the supervisors, and the deputy wrote letters for terminated employees. They were all glowing letters.
And, of course, the bullshit continues. The second demand for five accomplishments came through AFTER HOURS again, and the expectation is that we will need to do this every week. However, once again, my agency DID NOT send anything with this email, but I know they’ll capitulate and say to do it. They waited until late Monday morning last week to tell us not to do it, stating there would be no consequences. Nearly 10 percent of our agency staff accepted the DRP. You’d think they’d leave us the hell alone now. They got their numbers for reducing headcount. This doesn’t include ALL the people they terminated for the sin of being probationary. We’ve probably exceeded their numbers with those folks.
Look, my boss knows what the hell I do; I brief him every Monday morning and again in my weekly one-on-one. Additionally, I keep him abreast of any oversized items of interest. I have quarterly conversations and, of course, my yearly performance appraisal.
So, I can spend time every Monday writing up what my boss ALREADY KNOWS ABOUT and sweating about ensuring that I’m using the verbiage in the all the sewage spewing from the White House, or I can just, you know, WORK. I’m sick and tired of the all-out harassment and assault on Federal employees. And, so we’re clear, this is not just about having to write up what I did, it’s about everything else; the constant name-calling and denigration of our work, the on-going attempt to cut our pay and increase the cost of our benefits (and yes, we DO PAY for them), and the list continues.
Last week, we were told all our purchase and travel cards would be frozen. So, we can’t continue outreach with the public and our partners, which include tribes; we can’t go on inspections or pay for the services we’ve already contracted, like UPS, postage, and shredding services. I can’t go in person to deal with lease and administrative issues across the state, staff cannot attend training, etc. There is much, much more. They are hobbling us and shutting us down before the CR expires.
It’s demoralizing. I’m eight years shy of half a century of service. We’ve always been targets, but never to this extent. And, it’s not just us; it the Medicaid recipients, the people of color, the people who are not “straight”. At this point, if you’re not white and ultra-rich, you’re screwed.
Yesterday’s Oval Office shitshow was an embarrassment and an atrocity.
I’m tired, and so are my peers. We do good work. We serve the public, and we do it well.
I alternately rage and grieve for our country.
JtC and BBBoo, thank you for fighting the good fight.
I did nothing besides dishes, sweeping, dusting, and mindlessly watching TV. Oh, I paid a couple of bills, too. There were emails from the office that I had to respond to because of deadlines. So, not really an off day. I will charge for that time.
I must leave the house today or tomorrow to pick up more dog food. I should also run the Jeep through the carwash because it’s filthy.
I can’t believe Food Lion had no roasts except for one very big one that’s far too lean to be a pot roast. I may go to the other store and see what they have. But I did get some cukes and strawberries and 'nanners. The cukes have been saladed and the berries are cleaned and sliced. The 'nanners are on the counter for FCD’s snackage.
So, now what?
taters - that doth well and truly suck. Back when I was working at the depot in Jax, they did a RIF and got rid of a buttload of technicians who had many decades of knowledge and experience. Stoopit move. Then when I worked in Dahlgren, there was another RIF that stripped away the younger, more inventive and innovative employees and left the older, “we’ve-always-done-it-this way” group. I took retirement, hoping it’d save at least one of you junior folk, but too many of the geezers refused to move on. But neither of those were as awful as this mess sounds. And none of us voted for President Musk…
I cried myself to sleep thinking how tRump has ruined this country and this world and that there is no way to stop him
It’s 24, feels like 11. I’m supposed to ride excellent school horse Astro and practice mounting and dismounting but I’m too discouraged by everything to muster the enthusiasm. I’ve been taking Wegovy for weight loss and for better or worse, it has taken away my desire to eat my feelings so I don’t even have that for comfort.
This tells me that, barring unforeseen circumstances, they plan on keeping you.
I got one of those the other day. I just moved it to spam, since I don’t have an EZPass from any state.
{{{taters}}} I totally feel for you and everyone else in your position.
I weep for what the country has become.
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. I’ll go pick up a couple of scrips, go Krogering for the remainder of my list and then round Nelson up to go pick up a MarketPlace buy. Other than that, not much happening today.
I hope Costco ends up being a good solution for you. You might want to check them out for hearing aids as well.
I feel like all I’ve done since I got home yesterday evening is make this noise repeatedly.
JtC thank you for the list - I hadn’t seen that anywhere before (and I would appreciate reminders if no one else objects). Also, good on your parents for standing up for you as much as they could. Did you make it to Bran’s Castle?? I visited years ago and found it very interesting, and western Romania is just beautiful.
Can you explain a bit please? Are people that have not had chicken pox ineligible for the shingles vaccine?
hippie wow that’s an amazing run, for both you and the company.
Spoiler for those wanting to avoid such things: When I finally got home from lunch (which went on for over 4 hours, good grief!!) I feel like all I could do was scream into the void. What the fuck is going on?! And how does it just continue getting even worse?! I hate this timeline and would like to move to a different one please.
Started Typing: 11:06 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 12:01 PM ET
It’s official: I’m furloughed. Effective immediately, and until further notice.
We were notified less than an hour after I posted yesterday. There was a brief emergency meeting among the program leads, then I talked with each of my direct reports before going to my BFFs’ for dinner. There will be a program-wide meeting with corporate HR on Monday afternoon, where we’ll learn more: that time (1-2 hours) will be chargeble to the company, but otherwise we’ve been directed to use paid time off (PTO) for at least next week. Anyone who doesn’t have enough PTO to cover the week will have to take leave without pay (LWOP). Luckily, I have just over 3 weeks of PTO accrued.
The next few paragraphs are hidden in case anyone wants to skip to the happier stuff.
More Info
What Happened: It’s a little complicated, but basically my program is a casualty of terrible timing (and the current administration). EO 14222, signed on Wednesday and issued late that day/early the next day, directs all federal agencies to pause signing any new contracts or modifying any existing contracts: my contract’s next option period (OP2) was supposed to start today, but our customer couldn’t issue the modification needed in order to execute it. Most other federal contracts are not affected at this time: we got hit because the EO came out less than 48 hours before our next OP was supposed to begin, and there wasn’t a modification in place yet (that part isn’t unusual: our customer always issues our mods at the last minute). Right now we don’t know whether this means that OP3/the entire remaining contract is also cancelled.
What It Means for Me: I’m not sure yet. For the time being, I am still employed by my company. I’ll learn more at the HR meeting on Monday and as the week progresses. I do know that there will be some closeout activity: because we’re technically no longer contractors we’ve been directed to turn in our government laptops, badges, etc., and I will be helping with that coordination (and other tasks). So, I’ll be able to offset at least some of the PTO that I’ll need to use otherwise. I’ll also start looking for other opportunities within the company right away (I’m hoping to at least be able to help other contracts/parts of the business on a short-term basis until we know more about what’s happening with the program). At some point in the next month I may need to start actively job hunting outside of the company, but the ripple effects of these EOs on the federal contracting industry could make it very difficult to find work that I’m qualified for.
Am I OK Financially? Yes, for at least the next couple of months. I’ll be reducing my discretionary spending starting immediately, but I’m not in any immediate financial danger.
In short: I’m pretty stressed, but mostly doing alright at the moment.
My BFFs gave me a Lego project for next week!! A while ago a big tree fell on their house and crashed through their son’s/my “nephew’s” bedroom ceiling, damaging a lot of his completed Lego sets (thankfully he wasn’t home at the time!). One of them is a Batman Batwing: it’s largely intact, and they think they have most of the other pieces, but when he tried fixing it he got super frustrated and gave up/put it aside. He’d still like to have the completed set, though. When I told WifeBFF about my furlough I joked about needing some Lego therapy, and she had the idea of me working on the Batwing! After confirming that my nephew wouldn’t mind at all, I brought it home with me last night: my plan is to disassemble the entire thing and start over. Just taking it apart and sorting the pieces will take some time, and I’ll have to make notes about any missing pieces (which WifeBFF will order). It’s so freaking perfect: it’ll definitely help keep me busy for a while – doing something I enjoy – but I didn’t have to pay for it and I won’t have to figure out how to display it!
I think I mentioned before that stress exacerbates my homebody tendencies: it’s super tempting to bail on my friend’s housewarming party tonight, but I bought a fancy shirt for myself and some gifts for her and I know I’ll feel better if I go. Likewise, yesterday I said that if I got bad work-related news I’d probably just pick up tomorrow’s Bricks 'n Brews Lego set and take it home, but now I’m thinking it might be good to hang out and do the assembly there as planned. While eating a giant soft pretzel, of course!
You should talk to her about that! Maybe not the “money’s worth” part, but let her know that you feel there have been some awkward silences and ask whether she’s simply in “getting to know you” mode or whether that’s typical of her treatment style. Sometimes therapists can adjust their approaches, but not it they don’t know their current approach isn’t working for you.
Ugh! (gentle)
Oh wow, Roxy looks so happy!
I got that text this morning, too! I knew immediately that it was spam because of lots of the reasons you mentioned…plus, my EZPass account is on auto-replenish.
I have gotten at least three scam iPass texts in the last week. Of course I ignored them. I am on autoreplenish and I haven’t been in the tollway in months. But I can understand how those who are not wise to the ways of the world would fall for this.
I cleaned the top shelf of my spice cabinet. Found a bottle of Gravy Master that had solidifed. And a can of baking powder that expired in 2018. Also scrubbed the stove top. It’s 11:30 and I’m at loose ends. Think I will take a drive to see Ariel. I will distribute treats, pets, hogs and kisses, and neck pats from her admirers here.
I told the pharmacist I thought I’d had chicken pox, and I’ve had the course of shingle vax. Then my mom told me I’d never had the pox. But as far as I can tell, no adverse reactions, unless it’s the whole tripping over my own feet thing,
She was one of the most animated kids during the performance. There’s a chorus at her school starting with 3rd graders, and I fully expect her to join. And ever since she was little, I knew she was destined for singing - she could stay on pitch, even a capella, at age 3. Watch out Taylor Swift - Roxy’s a’comin’!!!
We went out erranding, including lunch, with a final stop at Aldi for a hunk o’cow. It’s marinating right now so come Moanday, it should be ready for roasting. As for the rest of today… let’s see how it goes.
I’m glad your superb local pizza joint kept busy. I was jonesing for a cheeseburger all day yesterday (my brain was probably being perverse to me) and would have gotten one from one of our local fast casual burger joints (‘joints’ always have the best food that hits the spot), but just didn’t have time to. I was busy driving around town dropping off monthly payment checks to my local roofers, electric contractor, transferring funds for my mortgage (had to do it even though it was to a nasty huge bank cuz yanno mortgage-but I grumbled and muttered to myself while doing it). Unless a local business plays Faux News incessantly in their lobby or waiting room or flies trump flags on their trucks they get my business and feeble funds preferentially.
I bought a few extra slices at Costco on Thursday to have on Boycott Friday-take that Chik Fil A!! Had we been in range, I’d of definitely hit up your pizza place yesterday.
To compensate myself for sticking to my cheeseburger (no McDs) boycott guns on Friday I’m gonna see if Harriet wants to go with me Sunday to the automatic car wash to sluice off the grime and salt brine from my Suburu *Scarlet” and then celebrate with a cheeseburger from one of our local joints. Car wash and cheeseburger, practically date night!! She loves going through the car wash tunnel-her 3 yo brother hates it. He’ll be happy with a couple blue Dum Dum suckers, which I buy in big bags.
Love the shirt~tre tre chic and festive!! Sadly I can’t interest anybody around me to celebrate Mardi Gras. I think Nebraska is mostly just too stolid. Oh, well, more paczkis and kolaches for me.
Please don’t do that~one brain injured Mumper is one too many. Hope the back forgives you quickly and you don’t have to sneeze for awhile.
Yes, it sure is.
And I, for one, appreciate it more than I can say.
{{{{{{{{ }}}}}}}} for taters & our wet one & misnomer & anybody else who needs some. At least we are all in this together.
My beloved SiL is a tenured professor and dean at our state land grant university. Most of the research in his dept is funded by the USDA , or was. You can imagine what it’s like for him lately. It’s even worse for the PhD candidates whose research he is mentoring. Their access to labs in the future labs just got shut down with no notice, their research so far likely trashed, perhaps irrevocably, their ongoing TA stipends disappeared overnight.
I got one of those yesterday too, for .78 cents. Hilarious considering my car hadn’t been outside the borders of Nebraska for several years and the nearest states with any EZ pass toll roads are MN and Illinois, 400 miles away. I think I would have noticed being that far from home. I just block it and report it as spam. I was peeved enough about the state of things I had the urge to shoot back a text to the effect of “f**k you’ but I resisted because that would have just let them know that I was a live cell number and brought on a deluge of more. At least iPhones make it easy to report and block.
Agreed. I am so outraged that I stirred myself to hang my US flag upside down in my big picture window facing the street. I haven’t been that pissed off since protesting the Vietnam War, so we’re talking since 1968.
You can tell I was mad since I had to find some suction cups (that took digging through several junk drawer depots) and gasp! I had to dig out the windex and paper towels to clean the window so they’d stick (mostly crunchy antique dried kitty nose slime). I don’t have many spoons and I used all of them on that. So far, so good-the suction cup hangers are still working and the flag is still hanging. Of course I realize that it’s likely that only old hippies like me even know what an upside down flag means but at least I’m not going away, not shutting up and not taking it laying down. Tuesday is another People’s Protest at the capital. I’ll be there too. If I could afford it I’d get a shirt made that says “still marching after all these years” but a pink pussycat hat will have to do.
And if I posted all of this before, please forgive me.
See my plans for my Sunday date with my grand daughter-car wash and cheeseburger. Good times!
I’ll loan you some spoons so you can go ride~animals are magic healers for the evils of the world and I hope you give yourself some mounting and riding today. Here, , take some of mine, I won’t need them today and I’ll enjoy thinking of you riding.
I’m right there with you, sisters. Right there beside you, linking arms and singing “This Land Is My Land ” and “We Shall Overcome ”.
Yep.
If you have never had chicken pox, the zoster virus is not hanging out on your spinal cord to 40 years later burst into a vicious shingles attack, so you don’t need the shingles vax once you’ve been vaxed against chicken pox. That zoster virus isn’t in you because the vaccine kept it out.
I’m so sorry. I hope your good attitude + Legos helps you get through this, and that you can move within your company quickly. Also ask HR when you can file for unemployment - furloughed employees qualify in many states even though they’re still technically employed.
Thank you for that info. So it sounds like someone like FCM should still get a chicken pox vaccine, especially since she’s around so many kids!
Me too. I just now saw this. If I had another flag to display upside down in protest of this I would. Maybe it’s time to find a pin and wear it upside down every time I leave the house.
I’m so sorry but glad that at least you have a couple months cushion (which of course in a just world you wouldn’t need, ….grrrr).
Some more {{{{{{{ }}}}}}} for you and some for when you need them.
As you take in those laptops and key badges from folks next week, please tell them all that a cranky old lady in Nebraska apologizes for what is happening.
I alternately rage and grieve for our country.
A while ago a big tree fell on their house and crashed through their son’s/my “nephew’s” bedroom ceiling, damaging a lot of his completed Lego sets (thankfully he wasn’t home at the time!). One of them is a Batman 
Suburu *Scarlet” and then celebrate with a cheeseburger from one of our local joints. Car wash and cheeseburger, practically date night!! She loves going through the car wash tunnel-her 3 yo brother hates it. He’ll be happy with a couple blue Dum Dum suckers, which I buy in big bags.
This Land Is My Land 
flag to display upside down in protest of this I would. Maybe it’s time to find a 