Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.
Morning, mumpers! It’s currently 12c/53f with a predicted high of 19c/67f and cloudy. Weather app says " Don’t you just fucking love the greyness of everything? Fuck it, neither do I." But it’s not grey out there, there’s blue sky and sun!
I am sure it will take a while before it really hits home that you are done with all of that. I am glad that so many people took the time to say goodbye and that you were able to send a message to everyone. That job took up a massive chunk of your life, both during your working hours and outside of them because you put so much extra time and effort into doing the best you possibly could. Now it’s your turn to have that time for yourself, get out into your garden and enjoy pottering with plants. You deserve every second of it.
Alone and unsupervised? That could be dangerous! I hope Mrs Cookie feels better soon.
I’m so glad you all had a fun day out. I can’t decide what I want the most - pics of you lot, pics of the glass products, or a pic of Jolene’s hat outrage!
Quiet night at home for me last night, we had rumblings of thunder and a bit of rain which brought the temperature down to a more comfortable range. The cats seemed unbothered by the thunder although there wasn’t much of it and it wasn’t close by. The girlies were firing round the house as usual, and Muffin spent some time next to the bookcase instead of inside it. Today she had retreated back to safety and growled at me from the top of an Italian grammar book.
The Travel Gods were kind to me this morning which does not bode well for the rest of the day, I missed the bus I’d hoped to catch but the next one ran on time and got me to the station in time for the Nice Train. I got to the Big City Station with a whopping 6 minutes before the campus train was due in so plenty of time for a leisurely stroll from the top end of platform 2 to the middle of platform 12. Arrived to a relatively cool office, have had breakfast and a cup of tea.
This morning’s major jobs are to boot a student out, he hasn’t been here all year so he can have a shiny certificate and be on his way. Then I have to sort out a bit of a cock-up made by one of my minions which only came to light yesterday afternoon. She’s on leave now until the end of next week so I said I’d fix it today - not sure quite how bad it is, so it might be an easy fix or it might be a bit more complicated. Who knows? Might also need another cup of tea before I get stuck in.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 64 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 88 and N.O.S. in the mornin’, but cloudy in the afternoon. We shall be bears who brunch at Eggs Up and pick up a script for OYKW at the CVS near there. He likes that CVS better than the one closest to da cave for reasons I suppose. Weirdo. The rest of the day will be spent in high RDOS inactivities.
red and Pilot I view the entire Cook Out menu as stoner food. I think if I looked at that menu while baked, I would want everything.
MetalMouse Krystal/White Castle and Waffle House food is drunk food between the hours of two a.m. to five a.m. Same goes for Krispy Kreme.
Now I need more caffeine and I suppose I must purtify and don attire acceptable for bein’ amongst the great unwashed. Woe and bother.
Happy Firday Y’all!
She’s bilingual??? Impressive.
A Participation Certificate? 
Well, even in my dreams, I’m nice, dammit. Last night’s adventure involved me treating taters to a foo-foo day spa for a new hair-do, mani-pedi, full makeup, massage - the whole enchilada! And while we were there, John Lithgow showed up to get his foo-foo treatment! Anyway, I assume that’s how foo-foo day spas work - I’ve never been anywhere near one.
It’s a good thing we live in such a safe area. Once again, I left the garage door open all night. Of course, there’s no night light in there or anything, so unless you shine a light on it or get really close, you’d not know, and we’re at least 100’ from the road. Still, I hate when I do that, if only because I don’t want nocturnal critters coming in and rifling thru our garbage cans. Or someone, yanno, coming into the house thru the gaping entryway.
We’re going to Daughter’s to install the lights today. SIL asked us to bring the truck. He’s got friends coming to help him do some yard work and I guess he expects to have to make a dump run. Which is fine. If we’re done before he is, we can drive his car home, then he can bring the truck back and swap for his wheels.
Meanwhile, FCD and I both had the same idea for the lights, mostly. It’s easier to do a project when we’re in agreement, especially when I know I’m right. 
I even made a suggestion that he actually liked - go me. And lest you get the wrong idea, he’s not disagreeable or unreceptive to suggestions. It’s just that he works everything out in his head before he starts, and different ideas may not fit with his plan. But given time to think about it, he’s been known to alter his plan. So anyway, we’ve got a plan. Lay your bets - how many trips to Lowes will this project take? (luckily, their house is only a mile or so from Lowes.)
And I got a response last night to my ad to get rid of all the baby stuff in my garage. A woman whose niece is expecting twins is coming tomorrow (theoretically) to get it all. I did check her FB profile and it doesn’t look like she’s a reseller, so I’m going to believe her story. Last batch of baby stuff I advertised a few years back also went to a new mom, so I felt good about that. Anyway, tomorrow morning, my garage should be free of baby stuff again!
So, May is starting off well.
Happy Firday!!
John and I made a small bowl. I’ll get a better pic when he ships it to me. We are heading off to get his motorcycle now. Ugh.
Thank you. That menu does look like excellent stoner food.
I checked their map and they just barely touch the upper 50 miles of FL. So I’ll need to be on a road trip to experience their glory. My Las Vegas USAF pals are having another reunion this fall in Myrtle Beach. There are a few Cookouts around there. Now I’ve got an off-group activity to try while I’m there. Heck, about half of us live outside Cookout’s range, so maybe we’ll all go check them out.
I can’t say it better than Boofae did. There is loss at retirement from a career, rather than from just a job. Something that was a big part of you is gone forever. Focus on looking forward, not back, and very soon you’ll be loving your new life.
@teelabrown sometimes stops by in the MMP. She retired a couple years ago and her life was as dedicated to her career as yours was. She too had some disorientation, but is quite happy now in her post-work life. Perhaps she’ll drop in and share a little.
This long-running thread is about the preparation for, and transition to, retirement. Some of it is about money, Social Security, Medicare, etc., but a lot of it is about the psychological adjustments each of us has gone through. Particularly since your transition was an early surprise, you might gain by reading others’ stories of their own rite of passage.
{{Hugs}}
Many years ago living in dense middle class suburbia I awoke to an open garage door. Dammit, I thought I’d closed that; gotta be more careful. A bit of looking around in the garage revealed that the shelf that had been full of power tools was now empty. I’d been burgled. Crap! And, like you, I habitually left / leave the door between house and garage unlocked. :eek:
Turns out thieves have an MO of driving around looking for unlocked cars, then checking the interior for a garage door opener, then pushing the magic button(s). Open Sesame!
So if you are leaving unlocked cars in your driveway, as I often did, you might be setting yourself up. Yes, your area is not so dense, nor such a hive of scum and villainy, etc., as mine was. But worth a thought.
I inculcated a habit of looking out from house into garage as part of my last-minute going to bed routine. Which paid off more than once over the years at that house or other subsequent houses when I’d either left the big door open, the garage interior lights on, or had left car headlights on.
Great pix Jane!
As to me:
It’s the crack of 9 now, and I’ve been caffinatin’ and Dopinatin’ for about 2 hours now. Warm & semi-cloudy with an occasional shower expected. ETA: as I’m proofreading 20 minutes later, the rain is right here right now. Probably not for long.
GF comes over late afternoon and after an appropriate reunion snuggle we’ll set off for outdoor geezer disco and eventually back to my place for the overnight. Then we have all day Sat together and that evening we’ll be attending a Sheena Easton (remember her?) performance at a local venue.
The house is small, ~125 seats. Basically loose chairs in a big room w a stage, lights, & sound equipment. A “cozy” venue as they say in the biz. They had scheduled two performances back to back that evening. Then we got email that “due to a scheduling conflict” there’d only be one performance and they’d fit everyone who’d bought tickets to either performance into the one showing. Then last night I got more email from another source breathlessly upselling this incredible concert coming up in just a couple days that they still have available tickets for! Hurry up and get 'em; they’re going fast! Not.
Evidently she was a flash-in-the-pan performer back in the 1980s for a reason. I just hope they don’t cancel the whole thing. I’ll be interested to see how many people they do manage to have show up.
Once the concert happens or doesn’t, then back to my place for a second overnight. Then we have all day Sun together. Late afternoon Sun she’ll have gurlz night in; one of her posse who lives nearby here is cooking for all the others. It’s TBD whether she comes back here for the Sun overnight or goes straight home until next weekend. My place is a LOT closer than hers, but her staying with me has a very bad effect on her Monday morning productivity.
One of our practical tasks while together is to find a calendar slot to fit in a week-ish cruise or trip together soon. Doesn’t much matter where; it’s the “together” part that matters. And the “soon” part.
Gonna be fun & epic. I may not have time to yak w y’all until she departs.
My today until she shows up is mostly TBD with a small dollop of “hide the evidence”.
Cheers!
Yeah, I know… Make your jokes. I was making a drinking glass.
Today started out with some extra excitement. MusicMan was in the kitchen getting some pop to put in his lunchbox. As he bent over to get it off of the shelf, he hit the shelving unit which knocked over the Corning Ware casserole dish that was on the top shelf. It hit his head and bounced and hit him again. Then it landed on the floor in a zillion pieces! Fortunately he was ok. My mom and I sprung into action, locked the dog in her crate, and swept it all up within minutes.
Taters, I hope that you can find a way to enjoy yourself and give yourself time to adjust into your new groove. 
Good morning, everyone.
It’s 51°F and sunny outside. It’ll remain mostly sunny until around 6:00 p.m. when clouds start moving in. The expected daytime temperature is 70°F
JtC and Sticky, I’m glad you had a wonderful time. I loved the pictures you both shared.
I thank you all for your continued kind words of support. I have also never set foot in a day spa, FCM, although I have often considered going for a facial or a massage. I go to the local nail salon for pedicures. What a lovely dream!
I never did make it out of the house yesterday, although I did take care of some minor chores. Then I binge-watched Four Seasons on Netflix, which is a series remake of the original movie written by Alan Alda, who had a cameo in the new version. The latest version was okay, but I think I liked the original better.
Today, I actually do need to leave the house. My husband and I are meeting a work friend and her sweetie for drinks this evening. I often meet T for walks, and in my former work life, she and I often road-tripped together for work-related trips. We had excellent conversations and many laughs. She is kind and warm, and I admire her outlook on life, even when things are rough for her.
I know I’ll eventually get into the retirement groove. It feels like some days off for now, but it’s still odd because I’m not checking emails. I’ll get there, and I’m not feeling all gloom and doom; just a sort of fear of the unknown because I don’t feel sure about what happens on 1 October and how soon my retirement direct deposits will start showing up. Given how many people opted to do this, I fear unprecedented delays.
I’ll probably start looking for a job around mid-to-end of July, to have something to tide us over until I’m sure the retirement funds are coming in. Besides, I can’t sit around for long. It starts to chafe on me.
Well, it’s that time. I need to finish the last of the coffee, tidy the kitchen, and take a shower. I also have a couple of errands to run this morning. I hope you all have a fantastic day!
Why do I keep coming across ‘88’? Yesterday morning, I randomly thought of Margaret O’Brien. I wondered how old she is now. 88. An elderly man I knew from my walks along the bay died at the end of December at 88. Ruth Buzzi died yesterday at 88.
I loved the pics of your glass blowing class JtC and sticky buns!
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted, a load of clothes in the wash and fixing to do KP plus prep the chicken salad for tonight. I think I’ll go with a Waldorf style and have it with whole grain crackers and a lettuce salad.
Other than that, not a whole lot on tap for the day.
Stay safe and healthy y’all!
Yesterday I was in my morning routine: fed critters, let big Piper Mutt out, settled down in the kitchen to tea and surfing the news.
Then Piper Cat went to the back door and started to “mrreow”. It was his “feed me” mrreow, very insistent, but he was nowhere near his food bowl.
Finally I got puzzled and went to the back door. As I got there, there was a big “thump” of Piper Mutt outside, banging on the door.
So I opened it and he came in, absolutely soaked. We’d had a sudden rain while he was out, and he wanted in, dammit!
I dried him off and and then looked at Piper Cat. He was snuggled up back in his cozy spot in the kitchen. He’d evidently heard Piper Mutt at the door and had been saying: “hey, human, get here and let him in!”
He normally just has an air of irritated tolerance towards the mutt, so it was an interesting little episode.
What goes on in their heads?
Started Typing: 9:31 AM ET
Clicked Reply: 10:50 AM ET
We’re having a “pre-storm” warm spell: it’s already 75°F, on the way to 87. It’s cloudy and there’s a light breeze, but I’ll be closing the windows and turning the a/c back on soon. Tomorrow’s forecast is similar, then storms (finally) roll through on Sunday/Monday. We’ll switch to summer weather before I know it, but I’d like a little more spring first!
I built half of the Lego Star Wars logo last night: there are six total bags, three for each word. Part 1 was “star.” 
It’s only 12" wide, so it didn’t take long at all. I’ll definitely finish the set later today, and will post a pic tomorrow. Then I’ll need to be patient for four weeks while I wait for the Sherlock Holmes book nook to arrive.
Speaking of being patient: remember the anxiety bookshelf I got the other week as a possible thing to play with between Lego sets? Turns out it doesn’t stand upright when open in order to let you put the tiny books on the shelves. The product photos implied that it would (with a minor tilt). And the books don’t stay up if the bookcase is laying flat. Sigh. I’m debating whether to try a smaller one that opens on the side vs the top.
I’m also debating whether to reach out to someone I stopped speaking to 13 years ago.
long story
From 1991-1993, she was my college roommate and we were best friends; we hung out together a lot. After school I moved back home to Baltimore and she moved back home to Pittsburgh, and right away she abruptly stopped staying in touch with me. It really hurt my feelings. A year or so later she reached out and explained: I understood/forgave her, and we became close friends again. When her mom died suddenly, I took time off work and went to Pittsburgh to stay with her and help her through the preparations and the service. This was before texting or Facebook, but we emailed regularly and talked on the phone every few months and tried to visit each other once a year or so. I thought of her like a sister.
Then, a couple of years after reestablishing our friendship, she suddenly ghosted me. Again. That really hurt. Two years later, she sent me an announcement that she’d gotten married: we’d definitely been the kind of friends who wouldn’t get married without letting the other know beforehand! I didn’t acknowledge the announcement (I was reeling). She sent me a Christmas card a year or two later, then 2-3 years after that she randomly sent me a “happy birthday” email. I was still too hurt and also couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t suddenly ghost me again, so I wrote back and declined to renew the friendship. That was in 2012.
I found myself thinking of her yesterday (her birthday), and it occurred to me to see if I could find her on social media…and I did, on both Facebook and LinkedIn. When I think about the second ghosting and how she got married without me I actually still feel a little hurt (which isn’t like me!), but finding her made me miss her and start to wonder if she might be interested in getting back in touch. I’m sure we’re both different people after all this time, but you can’t make new old friends (blah blah blah).
I don’t know. I’ll think about it a little more. But if I do contact her, I’ll totally understand if she decides that she’s not interested in me.
Where do I send my check?
I thought/wondered the same! He gets a certificate for not showing up all year??
I just learned about that show yesterday: I like the cast, so I watched the trailer on Netflix…and wasn’t moved to see any more. I mentally put it on my “maybe watch someday” list. Sounds like I might have chosen wisely.
The Spousal Unit is actually going to have breakfast today. (I’m on PTO today, BTW.) I’ve put some bacon in the toaster oven, and I’m going to make breakfast burritos.
Good Firday morning all. Stayed in bed until 8am, then dressed and did my May shopping (didn’t think I bought that much until I saw the $155 on the register!). Got everything put away and started one load of laundry (probably should have been 2 loads, but it all fit-with a little elbow grease), so waiting for it to finish. Swim-Gym-Weight Training will occupy much of the afternoon, then it’s waiting to see if the predicted rain shows up and washes out soccer again tomorrow. About 78F outside and not supposed to get any warmer today.
Initiating scrolling mode…
Lily, a beautiful garden for beautiful people (your solace with the neighbor).
boo fae, I’m about 6 weeks out from your neck of the planet, so will be watching your weather reports closely.
I mean, how bad can it be? 
swampy, thanks for the education; having not been drunk or high in the last 50 years I’m a little slow on the topic…
FCM, I’ve done that too (left the garage door up). So far no creatures (man nor beast) has disturbed things. And happy lighting day!
JtC, great picture, hope the cycle pickup is not too much of an adventure.
Pilot, sounds like a great Sattiday is on tap for you and GF. I remember Sheena Easton by name but can’t recall her music off the top of my head…probably a lot of quick-flashing stars are like that.
Sticky Buns, thanks for your pic, enjoy drinking from your own custom glass. And glad Music Man is OK, don’t think I have any Corning Wear on-hand, will have to find something else to huit myself with.
Taters, just enjoy outings like you have planned and find new things to fill your time.
flyboy, no idea why 88 occurs often right now. My only notices of it is if I am thinking about WW II history (the Germans had a very effective 88mm gun called the ‘88’) and I think white supremacists use it for Hitler (I read way to much politics on this board). If I make it to 88 (15 years to go) I’ll let you know.
And sounds like the washing machine is done, need to take stuff out of it and put said stuff in the dryer, then get me some lunch. Take care all.
Oh, no! Now you’ve done it! Never say that, because now it’s going to be worse!
Glass blowing is pretty cool. Have you watched the series “Blown Away” on Netflix? We used to take classes at the Bullseye glass maker in Portland. We didn’t do blowing, just layering. Made some plates and some coasters, and a couple of bowls with a technique called “pate de verre” (literally ‘glass paste’, which is done with crushed glass. When we were driving around southern NY and part of northern PA on vacation, we spent a couple of days in Corning, touring the glass factory.
Unexpected day off. Thought I’d be teaching makeup lessons but enough students either didn’t have any availability or decided they didn’t want the extra lesson that it made more sense to schedule everything on Monday. Still have rehearsal tonight, but I can relax most of the day.
So far I’ve just been sitting on the couch drinking coffee. I’ll probably try to do something productive at some point. Maybe outside of weather allows.
I was bouncing around all over the 300 today. At least there wasn’t a lot of clean up afterwards. I stopped for some fish at Teeter, and picked up some Jamaican Beef Patties, since red gave me a gnawin’ and a cravin’ for them. Laundry is a spinnin’.
In Italian?
If I made a joke, you might bong me on my head.
A Perfect Non-Attendance Certificate.
I assume Mumper Estates Retirement Community* allows cats AND has a stable for horses???
morning train was the song, yes?
very peppy and brain wormy?
so friday here. i’m done with this week and trying to push the weekend early.
this morning i saw a bernese mountain dog with a wee little dog buddy. happy dogs. also there was a doggy meet up on my floor with 2 neighbours going on walkies at the same time. i like when mornings start with puppers.