(Old) Writing Letters - A Stationery MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

I’m a big ol’ slacker right now: there are two documents waiting for me to edit/format, but I just don’t feel like working on them yet. And nothing else needs my immediate attention, so y’all get my shiny happy self for the moment. :grin:

https://i.ibb.co/z5XZSDM/Beacon-of-Joy-blue.png
My penmanship story is that in elementary/grade school (I went to Catholic schools) we were taught cursive, and it was required for our classwork. But at the end of 6th grade my family moved to England, and cursive wasn’t a thing at the British school I attended: I actually got “illegible” comments for using it, even though I’d gotten good penmanship marks in the US. So, I started printing. Luckily, by the time we came back to the States and I started high school the teachers didn’t care if we printed. I took a typing & shorthand class in high school (and have been grateful for the typing part ever since), but I don’t think I started typing my papers until college.

The CVS I went to for my COVID and flu shots yesterday was running 45 minutes behind. Bleh. I killed time by exchanging some pleasant chit-chat with the others who were waiting for their appointments, and playing a little NY Times Spelling Bee on my phone. I wasn’t crazy about standing for so long, but the wounds on my big toes are no longer super sensitive and others needed the few available chairs way more than I did. By the time I left, though, I was willing to pay the toll for westbound I-66 in order to get home a little faster. :slight_smile: All told it could have been much worse, and now I’m just dealing with a slightly sore arm from the injections (I got them both in the same arm).

I was supposed to wait around for 15 minutes afterwards, but there was no waiting area and no one was really paying attention. If it weren’t my 6th COVID vaccination I might have obeyed, but by now I know that I’m not likely to have a negative reaction (which doesn’t mean one couldn’t happen, but I was willing to roll the dice). Halloween decorations were right next to the pharmacy so I did browse them for a bit, and got a bunch of inexpensive glow-in-the-dark temporary tattoos: I have a volunteer event at a middle school in two weeks, and I figure they’ll be fun giveaways for the kids (and might get more of them/their parents to our table!).

My personal trainer has just changed the time of today’s session for the second time in an hour: it was originally at 6:30pm but a little while ago he asked if I could do 6:00, and then he just asked if I can meet at 5:30 instead. I’m generally pretty flexible between 5:00-6:30, and I can make the earlier time today, but I’m hoping this will be the last change!

Congrats! :slight_smile:

They said “7-10 days”: luckily, it was 7 – and calendar days vs business days. *phew*

No porch, and as a renter it’s not worth the cost/effort to set something up in the back yard – at least, not something I’d actually want to use. Some kind of storm-viewing station has long been a goal for if I ever buy a place, though!

Sincere question: why’d you agree to the visit, instead of saying you were busy?

I do the same (eventually). I choose not to block the FB memories that include those folks – photos they’re tagged in, their comments on old posts, etc. – but I can at least stop being reminded of their birthdays!

I know it’s maddening, and he definitely deserves some talking to, but try not to be too hard on him: I had my mother’s example of dialysis and other significant weight/diabetes-related issues for years – including her death, which was directly related – and it still took bariatric surgery 6 years later to get hold of my own health (even now my grip is somewhat precarious!). It can be super hard for folks without food issues to understand, but for some of us our eating choices often have absolutely nothing to do with logic or rationality or how intelligent/informed we are. It’s tied to some deep-seated emotional stuff, which beats logic over the head much of the time. No idea if he falls into that camp, but seeing an example like his bro and eating a bunch of cookies anyway makes me think it’s possible.

Share all of the sad stuff you need/want to. :blue_heart:

Ha, mine too (in both cases)! The first two initials + last name used to be mostly legible, but now it’s just a J followed by squiggles. Over the years my credit union has asked me to submit one or two new signature cards, as it has become less and less legible.

I like the idea of using my initials for finger signatures, though. I rarely get asked for them, but did two yesterday; I’ll have to try to remember to use initials next time.

Alright, I guess it’s time to stop procrastinating and work on these docs. At least until it’s time for lunch. :grin:

62

Boostered up. I await my government nanobot overlords to assert themselves.

63

Per a rant in another thread, the Q-heads apparently think the trigger will be pulled at 2pm Eastern today.

We now have 90 minutes until either Vaxacapolypse or silence from the wackos for 3 minutes followed by a new countdown starting.

64

I write cursive in my journal several times a week. I write a few letters a year, and send birthday cards monthly. I went to Chicago Public Schools, and in grammar school, 1 to 1:10 pm was for penmanship.

Got my COVID jab today. Flu will be in another week or so. I haven’t decided about RSV. My PCP didn’t encourage it but he didn’t discourage it.

65

They didn’t say anything to us yesterday about waiting, but like you, we know we don’t react badly.

I know - right now I have been trying to shed the 43# I regained. My weight has been a struggle all my life. He’ll ask for help, then after 2 days, he seems to forget. He won’t learn to use the food diary or even try to learn portion control. I can’t be his food police. So I end up getting frustrated. It’s been going on for most of the last 40 years…

Such is life.

I’m waiting for my superpowers to manifest!

Still doing laundry. It never ends, does it?

66

Just got an update from my brother. He’s now only going to be here 1 night. I guess he forgot about his dentist appointment. To all who gave suggestions, thank you. It would have been weird being a guide, he lived here for most of the 90s and early 00s.

67

I was in Smalls, then in the sort aisle, then back to Smalls, because apparently I’m the only one who can keep things moving, then back to sorting, then the 100 slide. Also, the boxline on the 100 broke, and so did one of the belts.
And Consumer Cellular killed my service with a stupid updated chip, and after 3 hours of chat, it still doesn’t work

Maybe if you got him to look at it from an engineering prospective? Either that or toss him in with MiL and Bro, and start a new life with a cabana boy somewhere tropical. :palm_tree: :tropical_drink:

68

I’m too old to train a new one. :rofl:

69

Every time you post about “Smalls” I know what you mean, but I still think about Smalls. :smiley:

70

(((taters)))

He cleans like a Marine when he is ready to cook. I think it is easier to keep everything up to my standards at all times then to have to spend an hour cleaning before brewing, but that seems to work for him, LOL.

Hubs will do the same thing if I leave treats where he can find them, but he will only eat one container in a day. If I make a dozen cookies and put them in a container, that container will be empty by the end of the day. If I make a dozen cookies and split them between six containers, he will eat one container a day until they are gone. It’s a bit of a bother, but we get the results we want that way so it’s all good. (He doesn’t want to eat a dozen cookies in a single day, he just has problems stopping once he’s started.)

Is doing something like that an option in your home?

Of course! I have no idea why I didn’t think of them, I buy almost all of my durable goods from them. Thank you and Boo!

I planned everything but the constant electric discount renewals. Us workers all knew about discounts we weren’t income eligible for and most of us highly resented the MMJ discounts so after I got my card I went back to the office and showed it off to everyone!

Grumbles. Nothing today, we decamped this morning but left our housekeeper with strict orders to keep an eye out and tell us if anything happened. (Of course she was going to keep her eyes on the place, watching an old trailer get demo’d is more entertainment than we get out here in six months!)

I just checked to see if they have a demo permit and nothing yet. They could at least start pulling down the front part of the fence.

The real grumbly part is that he is eligible for a new set in February which means this pair is less than five years old.

These shots are duds too, I’m still dropping needles.

Oh, but see, that’s even better. Then you can start by pointing at what was a grocery store in the 90s and discuss what became of it over the years. Remind him when that cute tree in front of the courthouse was little and wow! look at it now! Show him that new housing development at the edge of town and discuss sprawl, it could have been great!

Our housekeeper came today so we thought we’d go to a little mom and pop mexican place in town, but when we got there they weren’t open yet. It’s a small place with only two workers in the mornings and I always worry when it is closed without warning because we keep losing the small, local places when the big chains move in.

Things are starting to bloom again, the mountainsides were yellow and I’ve got more flowers on the pomegranate. The tomatoes have come back and are blooming and the snapdragons are sprouting again. This is very odd and I really wish the weather would go back to how it was 20 years ago.

71

Howdy Y’all! We did go get shorn first thing this mornin’. Then back to da cave for the raptuous bliss that is laundry. We did tacos etc. for N.O.L. due to startin’ to feel hongry around elevenish. Nappage then followed. Margaritas were then had whilst sittin’ on the back porch. All in all a really good day with a balance of sloth and productivity. Have I mentioned lately how much I love bein’ a retired drain on society?

{{{Taters}}} you did the best you could possibly do for Polar. It’s OK to feel sad and cry, but don’t beat yourself up by thinkin’ you could have done more. He had the best life he could ever have hoped for with you.

I am a leftie, so never did get all that great at cursive writin’ as way back when I was a cub, lefties were pretty much left on our own to figure it out. Thus, I have the handwritin’ of a serial killer on crack. My finger sig is basically a big L and a squiggly line. Sometimes It’s big L, squiggly line, big B squiggly line, but that’s only when I feel fancy.

72

Not really. To give you an idea of what I’m up against, when he and his brothers were kids, their mom hid snack cakes and such in Kotex boxes. :rofl:

I did FIVE loads of laundry today, and just finished putting mine away. FCD is on his own. I have no idea where he’s going to put all the t-shirts and turtlenecks, especially since he refuses to get rid of any. They’re still “good” even tho they’re stained from working in the shop. I’d take them to the thrift store, but who’s gonna buy stained t-shirts? And he won’t let me cut them up for rags. So it’s his problem.

Daughter showed up before the school bus arrived, so I left Tobias with her and got home a bit earlier. We had tuna steaks, crinkle “fries” (cooked in the air fryer), carrots, and 'mater slices. I lurves me some tuna steak, very rare, marinated in olive oil and lime juice, the seared with a sprinkle of Old Bay on top. YUM!!!

Guess I need to assume the recline position - I think I’ll make a jellyfish tonight. Wonder if it will help my cognitive function. (tell me you get the reference…)

:rofl:

73

Eeeps!!!

Well, at least he’s not a CT fan. I happened to glance at hub’s comp while walking by and saw that he’s totally bought into all of us vaxxed folks turning into zombies tomorrow stuff. When my phone goes off, I’m going to start shuffling around and moaning BRAIIIINNNNSSSS!

(Unless I’m outside watching the happenings over the fence, after I was done posting earlier someone did show up with a weed-eater and did a respectable job of hacking down the weeds.)

BTW, jellyfish don’t have brains so can’t be that smart, perhaps you are thinking about an octopus? They are wicked smart!

74

VanGo, have you considered going someplace that folks from out of town would visit, but locals rarely do? The last place I lived had a couple of places that I would have visited as a tourist, but hadn’t gone to them except when I was entertaining out of town guests.

{{{taters}}} You gave Polar your heart and he gave his back. That’s all we can do for our critters and everything they can do for us. Hugs.

Moooooom, there are things that I don’t keep around the house simply because any size container is single serving. I may have it when I go out, but then it’s in a controlled portion. I’m guessing that FCD may have the same issue.

I got assigned two people to train on two different jobs today, all the while trying to get what I needed done done. Oy vey! I did make a request to the supe over the recently split part of the area to only send one trainee at a time. I think she got it. :slight_smile:

My penmanship is okay if I concentrate, but typing is so much easier. My signature is fairly illegible on a good day though. Like others, the nuns were dead serious about the Palmer method.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

75

Evening all. Went to the gym early and late, with Champion’s League Soccer in-between, so both got and watched exercise. Also got a little Wal-Mart Shopping in (my mouse wasn’t scrolling properly so I bought two cheapo’s and also picked up a couple of other things), did the weekly water meter check, and mopped the kitchen floor so I have managed to be mildly productive. Have to check my Annuities when I’m done here, I keep a track on how they are doing, especially after the bloodbath of 2022. One of them does the accounting monthly, the other quarterly, so both should be updated now. Outside of that a quite evening of sloth and internettin’ is planned.

Cookie, hope the shots didn’t turn you into a mindless Zombie, Hippo-birdie to wife-unit and Yeah! on a good night’s sleep.

Truth. I deliberately stopped buying French Fries, Potato Chips. and Cookies from the store years ago, because I simply have no self-control where they are concerned. I am trying to wean myself of off bacon, at least in the house, but that’s a tough go, and I also will have to face up to my Cheese Ball bingeing one day (but today is not that day!).

Oopsie, I was told to not leave the Kroger for 15 minutes after my shot, think I made to to about 8 and departed. Like others, after 5 previous shots with no negative reaction, I wasn’t much worried about any problems.

Every time I read about you in Smalls, I think about this scene from the movie The Sandlot
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxJPJ6JY0Pk

FCM, running low on underwear, so probably have 3-4 loads to do sometime this week.

OK, need to do some financial stuff and then start concentrating on my slothful behavior. Take care all.

76

I wonder if this is a genetic thing because if I bring that sort of thing home, I rarely get any because I put it in the cabinet and forget about it until a week or so later when I get the munchies and remember again.

I just can’t wrap my mind around enjoying an entire family sized bag of chips in one sitting. Of course I’m fat because I sit on my butt drinking sweetened coffee loaded up with cream and he cringes when he sees me on my fourth one by noon, so I should probably keep my judgments to myself.

Are you guys OK with a small bag of your trigger food, or would that cause a store run for more? Hubs is OK with small single servings but only because I make the effort split things up. He doesn’t seem to be able to do that, so I do it for him.

77

I was mostly a straight-A student (my parents were the kind who, when I proudly made a 96 on a difficult test, would ask in all seriousness what happened to the other 4 points) but way back in elementary school, I got a “C” on a handwriting assignment.

The very first “C” of my life. I think I didn’t get another one until A.P. Physics in high school.

I even remember why, too. There was a reading nook, and a single rocking chair, and whoever finished first usually called dibs on the chair while everyone else had to sit on the floor. Well, I never got to sit in that damn chair, and one day, I decided to rush through our assignment so that I’d be first.

And I was. Bliss!

Until I got home.

Then my mother absolutely lost her shit over me getting the very first bad grade of my life, and she taped that damn thing to a shelf above my desk for weeks so it would be directly in my face, to shame me.

She also found my diary when I was about seven or eight, and gave me an enormous amount of grief, not about the contents (which were completely innocent) but about my handwriting. In my flippin’ diary.

Is it any wonder I have trust issues?

Never made soup yesterday, but I got cut from work so early that I’m making it tonight. Three thighs are already simmering, and I’ve got carrots and onions and garlic to add. I’m out of celery, and this is about the only time I use it - I don’t like eating the stuff; I just like the vegetal note it adds to broth.

Debating bestirring myself to Wal-Mart for a vegetable I don’t even really enjoy. Now that’s adulting.

However, I have already de-pantsed and don’t really feel like re-pantsing myself, to say nothing of strapping on a bra again.

That pretty much describes any addiction.

I always had enormous sympathy for people with overeating issues, since it’s the only addiction where you can’t simply avoid the stuff. If you acknowledge that, say, you have a cocaine problem, you can just delete your dealer’s contact info, white-knuckle through withdrawal, and simply (ha!) never buy the stuff again.

But you can’t do that with food.

Truth, every word.

Want. (I love glow-in-the-dark stuff, and am an overgrown 8-y.o. at heart.

Monkey was driving me nuts so I let him out, but I probably shouldn’t have. Last night I heard his jingle-bell suspiciously far away sounding, and found him across the street on someone’s porch, rolling and meowing like nothing was the matter.

Oooh! Bad cat! :black_cat:

But I know he needs exercise and he won’t be able to go outside when there’s a foot of snow on the ground - if winter ever happens; I have the friggin’ A/C on right now and woke up last night absolutely drenched in sweat.

It’s supposed to cool off this weekend significantly. My co-worker (who is possibly a lizard) was very sad, while I audibly rejoiced at the news.

Made two candles last night. They both turned out nicely, with a banded effect (white on top & bottom, and pale olive green in the middle).

Thus endeth the Shoe report.

78

That’s tomorrow. :slight_smile:

79

I’m sure glad you’d just gotten done talking about dinner when you mentioned “making a jellyfish”. Else given that it’s evening time, I’d have assumed that was gonna be dinner.


I love you and want to have your children!


I’m confused. The whole point of an annuity is they contract to pay a fixed payment and you have zero volatility, zero interest rate risk, really zero worry (except them going out of business). I guess you’re talking about some sort of variable annuity or GIC or something.


I’ve never made a store run in my life for anything. Far too lazy to do that. Single serving packages do work. But on a hard-core diabetes control very low low-carb diet, I’d need to eat about 1/2 of a individual bag of chips or cheetos or whatever.

The mini snack paks they make for toddlers is about the right size, but they sweeten the heck out of that stuff, so the total carbs is often worse. Like metalmouse said, the best way to defeat the runaway binging is to not buy the stuff at all in any size.

As to genetics, your body naturally wants some simple carbs. Eating no-kidding zero of that stuff for many years kind of kills off your defenses to it. Then if you do get started on a 1lb bag of Santitos, well, you may not stop until they’re 3/4ths gone.

Before I got diabetes and before I went hard-core nil-carbs for awhile, binging on any food just wasn’t part of my repertoire. I ate portions of real quality food like a trencherman, stayed mostly slim, and didn’t have much interest in snacky food at all.

Even now I can eat modest amounts of chips, French fries, whatever, and stop just fine. Most of the time. But sometimes I just say “F*** it”, eat every fry on my plate, and afterward feel stupid for having let instinct defeat brains. Same thing at breakfast out with toast. One half of one slice of rye toast is about all the carbs I should eat. But all slathered in butter it tastes so good that stopping after just 1 triangle is hard. If I eat 2, it’s even harder to not eat #3. etc.


Rowwwr!!


As to me:
My day ended up kinda wacky before the Birthday event, then good kid fun.

It finally cleared up enough to go down to the pool and sun a bit. Got settled and 10 minutes later it began to sprinkle. Damn. Got semi-dressed, hopped in the car and off to the Indian diner that had been closed yesterday on Monday. Had a nice lamb chilli masala spiced up to 9 with the usual accessories and a nice cold Taj. Back home and back to the pool. Finally no sprinkling and no leaf blowers! Yaay me.

Suitably UV-enhanced, it was time to go upstairs, get clean, and head to Daughter’s for birthday. Which was 3+ hours of unlimited kidly energy, crap takeout Chinese and only the blandest choices, and a grocery store bakery’s remarkably good birthday cake with a very rich cream cheese frosting. Speaking of A1Cs, of which cake I should have eaten zero, but did have a small slice. My BG test later was a happy surprise at only slightly outré.

But the real highlight of course was the kids. All 5 in fine form, the 2+ & 3+ year olds totally wired, having just been released from daycare. Lots of running & jumping and “hold me”, “no hold meee” and …

It is remarkable how effectively a 1yo can stuff birthday cake in her cakehole and actually swallow 99% of it. Her batting average with green beans is not nearly as impressive.

Anyhow, a thoroughly adorable happy time was had by all. In somber news we may lose the 11yo, 1yo, and newborn sibs in the next couple of days. Damn. They all had sweet dispositions, and that’s a real blessing for Mom. That also holds out some hope you can actually help them to be a success in life if you keep them long enough.

Daughter keeps a scorecard; she’s had 33 children so far. I keep a scorecard too, and mine only shows about 20. So there have been a couple sets that have come and gone too quickly for me to even have learned they existed, much less their names.

Bedtime soon.

Cheers all!

80

Oh, I forgot to share work stuff! Two stories, neither for the faintest of hearts. (Number two -ha! - is an especial doozy.)

Skip this post if you don’t like naughty words or tales of people behaving badly…

I get there about a couple minutes after 3, and by 3:40 someone had rolled up to the drive-thru. We open at 4, mind you. My manager was polite but firm … but this guy was insistent, in that way that only the seriously inebriated can be.

Manager gives up & takes this guy’s order, tells him to come back after 4 … and he shows back up less than five minutes later. Manager was getting seriously irritated at this point, plus we were more than slightly concerned that our new friend would pass out in front of the drive-thru and block the damn window.

We actually all applauded when he finally managed to drive himself off with his pizza, after a couple of false starts. He did leave via the entrance lane, but at least he made it out onto the street. :roll_eyes:

Couple hours later, a homeless guy comes in wanting to use the bathroom. He’s come by several times before, and apparently he nearly started a fight with one of the Oven Masters on Sunday night after I left.
My manager’s gotten fed up with people doing drugs in our single-occupancy toilets, and has instituted a “no potties except for paying customers” policy. She tells him to leave.

He walks around to the drive-thru, drops trou, and proceeds to take a runny shit all over the side of the building.
On camera.
As a couple of my crew watched in growing disbelief & horror.

My manager called her boss (the G.M.) and I heard, “Look, I need to vent about what just happened. This is a first for me!” as we dispatched one of our guys to run to Home Depot to buy a hose so we could rinse the damn bricks.

Cops were called, too, and we’ve been instructed to take his picture if he ever shows back up.
(There appears to be some issues with retrieving camera footage, although I bet this incident might light a fire under someone’s ass to figure it out.)
Someone was like, “Naw, he ain’t never coming back” and I pointed out that this gentleman didn’t seem to be making great choices in general.

I mean, all over a brick wall? In full view of a busy street?
There’s bushes and grass, like, fifty feet away! If you’re gonna shit in public like a dog, at least go on the grass.

The Oven Master with whom he nearly got into a fight with is gonna die laughing when he hears to story. I can’t wait to see his face.