Smarter minds and, uh, butts in the MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
61

If I’m going to day drink, it will be something lush! Today I had something I don’t remember what its called, but it had cherry flavored moonshine, cherry cordial, cherry infused vodka and something bubbly. It came with a cherry, an orange slice and a little umbrella. Hubs had an IPA.

We are out again tonight and I’m sucking up a frozen Mudslide in a fancy glass with chocolate drizzles, whipped cream and a cherry. Hubs has a boring ol’ house Margarita. I’m pretty much OK with this no interwebz thing, but it does worry me that we don’t have phone service. We are both healthy and stuff, but things tend to happen at the worse possible times.

Back when I was in the AF, we used to go to the local bar after work for beer and breakfast cause we could do that in uniform cause of the times. Some of the dedicated morning drinkers didn’t care for us because we were young and happy and not hung over. We probably didn’t smell too good either cause we were all mechanics and Gila Bend weather included a lot of sweating.

I was so looking forward to retirement, I had a whole list of places I wanted to go…but the world ended. Happily, I had other hobbies and interests and was able to enjoy myself despite everything. Having other stuff to do is really important for enjoying retirement, be sure to find things to do around the house as well as out in the world.

If you get too bored, you can always adopt a couple of kittens. You won’t be bored again for a couple of years. (and you will live in interesting times the entire while)

Off to find the lady’s room and then step out to smoke and warm up.

62

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off to heave.

63

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 73 Amurrkin out and mostly cloudy with a predicted high of 83 (it’s positively frigid!) with maybe some rain. Or not. TWPTB are in willy-nilly mode. Today is laundry day. The thrill is almost too much! Also I need to call the pharmacy to get a 'script refilled. The usual sloth and general overall uselessness are also on the agenda. Leftovers for sup so no problem there.

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah,

Happy Tuesday Y’all!

64

(assorted curses) DH just came up with a positive Covid home test. High temp (over 99), sore throat/congestion, and fatigue seem to be the big symptoms. I’m feeling as all right as I typically do lately, but did have to reschedule tomorrow’s follow-up medical appointment. (mumble grumble)

65

Actually, if certain documents come in the mail this week, it could be sooner. The game is Which Comes First - Social Security or Parkinson’s? Truly a crap shoot…

Spousal unit was working in his shop and cut his palm below his left thumb. The surface has healed but he’s still got a lot of pain within. It doesn’t help that he keeps whacking it against things - isn’t that always the way? We’re pretty sure it’s not an infection, but something isn’t healing fast enough.

Nothing like starting the day with cat crap on the floor. My own fault for not scooping their box yesterday. Actually, Taz is at fault for flinging poo when he’s burying, um, poo. I am glad we keep the cat box on the landing - the flung poo and stray littler was confined to that area. And it’s all good now. Moral of the story - don’t forget to scoop poop!

Second PITA of the day was an email from Motor Vehicles. It’s time to renew the registration on the truck (no biggie - I knew it’s due by Nov) but the email said something about an unpaid violation dated January. Weird. Then when I input the vehicle info on the website, I was told there is no violation found and I need to contact MVA. Plus in all this, I couldn’t find the truck title - tho I eventually did… in the motorcycle file folder??

Anyway, since I’ve got tons of time, I’m going to assume this was a glitch on their part and I’ll wait to see if I get another email. It does seem odd they’d send a notice in August for November renewal…

Speaking of FCD going to FL - he needs to get his car in for service before he goes. I need to remind him to call for an appointment. Since Plague, our shop seems to be backed up more often than not.

And so it begins - warm and mostly cloudless day ahead, so I’ll be taking the kids to the playground this afternoon. I did run the dishwasher this morning - we managed to dirty all of our bowls for the first time ever - lots of cereal-eating around here. I should cook proper meals…

Happy Tuesday!!

66

I’m expecting ours pretty much any day now, since California routinely sends such things three months ahead.

67

Afternoon, mumpers! It’s 22c/72f with a predicted high of 23c/73f, and cloudy. Weather app says it’s “Overcast and fucking crappy” which is a fair assessment since it’s grey and, well, cloudy out there.

Mooom fingers crossed that the change in meds helps FIL but I am willing to put money on poor FCD having to go down there sooner rather than later.

Sickies, please get better soon!

I have read but not retained much, I’m tired and feeling less than enamoured of this job at the moment. That will pass, but for now, I’m just going to wallow for a bit. And drink more tea.

68

@scareyfaerie

Okay, I can’t stand it any longer!

WHAT weather app are you running? I would love an insolent weather app!

~VOW

69

Morning all. Stayed up until nearly midnight yesterday and didn’t take a nap, so of course I would sleep though…yeah, right, my brain awakened me at 5:30am; body mugged brain and went back to sleep until 7:30. Pretty much have been slothful this AM, done a few things and had first meal early (I usually only eat meals twice a day, once around 11am and again around 7–not counting snackage…). Will head to the gym shortly to do my penance for having that third braunsweiger sammich, then coach soccer again (9 year olds this time) this evening.

FCM, hope FCD keeps an eye on that injury and doesn’t ‘just pretend’ it’s not there (guy thing, you understand). I usually get my renewal notice from Ali-bama about a month before, but I have the whole month to get the renewal done and I can do it by mail or in-person.

Nettie, hope the COVID bug misses you too.

Bumba, new Doc sounds like a keeper.

OK, need to finish digesting and prepare to cycle in-place for around an hour. All y’all take care.

70

I did a test this morning. Mine was negative, but I do have a little throat discomfort. I’m vaccinated, DH is not.

71

I got my hospital bill yesterday. $2,600. Good news is that I have a health savings account. Bad news is that I only have about $1,700 in it. I called PeaceHealth to see if I could get a payment plan. The woman I suggested I fill out the financial assistance form on the last page of the bill. I don’t know how much Wifey, RN makes ($45-$55 per visit, 2 or 3 patients a day), but I know we’re under the combined $73,000 limit. Just guesstimating, the PeaceHealth woman said I might qualify for an 85% reduction on my bill. She also said I might get a reduction for the Imaging and ER Doctor (PA-C) bills that I haven’t received yet.

72

BOOM SQUEAL BOOM SQUEAL YIP YIP YPI
But other than that, the heaving went OK. And apparenlty the company is raining the stating minimum wage on September 4th, so I get a raise right after I just got one.

{{{{DH and nettie}}}}

Flyboy, ouch.

73

Silenus, if you’re worried about finding thing to do in your retirement, just buy an old house. You’ll never run out of things to do again.

I forgot to mention that our new doc also gave us our Moderna boosters while we were there. And re-ordered all my meds. As soon as I get all the messages that they’re all filled I need to go get 'em.

Wifey has found another kayak just like hers for sale about 80 miles away. She wants to go buy it, so that we’ll have 2 'yaks again. We may do that today.

My cardiologist recommended a couple of books he thought I prolly should read. One is UnDo It! by Dr. Dean Ornish and his wife Anne. Basically it’s a rather long winded missive about the advantages of a vegan diet. I can’t really disagree with him, but I don’t know if I can make that big a change in my life. Anybody have any experience in that area?

I don’t have any advice about your hand, Flyboy, except the doc will prolly just say exercise it. Get a stress ball to squeeze, maybe.

Everybody else, as usual have read but not retained, so {{{{{Everybody}}}}}

74

I called a member of our association to see about getting a corrected file. We usually chat by email, but she didn’t answer the one I’d sent yesterday. When she asked how I was, I told her about my little mishap. She advised me to try acupuncture.

An orange one? Can I squeeze the throats of mine enemies?

75

I get paid again today (gotta love the hours they’re givin’ me, even if I am a tad bit weary) so I treated myself to a pre-irk brunch of a McDonald’s chzbrgr (no pickles, no mustard, but extra onions please) and an iced coffee to get me through the shift.

Naturally, I haven’t touched the damn burger yet and am already 1/4 thru the coffee. At this rate imma turn into a hummingbird halfway through my shift. (Despite long-ago dalliances with various, ah, substances, these days I can barely tolerate caffeine. Or nicotine. Or any other -ine.)

The lady at the register and her … manager? I think? … were laughing their asses off at some internal joke when I pulled up to pay.
They both apologized to me.
I said, “Oh, no, don’t apologize! I’m glad to see y’all are laughing and happy for a moment!”
Register Lady said something to the effect of, “Oh, that’s the best laugh I’ve had all day!”
I wished them both a great day, and said - with all sincerity - that I hope they laugh some more.

Cross-stitch projects are progressing. I swap between the two current ones, and am almost over being burned out on the third one (the Cheshire cat - did I share that one with y’all?) and will likely pick that one back up soon. Soon-ish.

Oh, and Charm got upgraded to a bigger tank last night. There’s room for a much thicker layer of shavings, and she gave me quite the startle this morning when I didn’t see her.
Started messing with the lid (" Is it loose somewhere? Did a clasp not clip properly?" which got her attention, as she poked her pretty little head up out of the bedding to investigate the rattling.

76

If your enemies are stress balls, absolutely. Otherwise, proceed with caution. :grinning:

77

I inspired an MMP thread title! I feel like such a Mumper!! :grin:

(one of you…one of you…one of you…)

In other news, I might be turning into an English football supporter. :flushed:

It all started when I finally watched Ted Lasso (about a year ago), and caught myself starting to pay attention to some of the gameplay. Then, earlier this year I binge-watched Sunderland 'Til I Die. Recently, I read about Amazon’s new show All or Nothing: Arsenal…which I also happily binge-watched (the last two episodes just became available on Thursday). THEN I discovered that there’s a whole BUNCH of All or Nothing seasons! I’ve gone back to (what I think is) the first one, and am currently halfway through the Manchester City season. The Tottenham Hotspur season is also in my queue – as is the New Zealand All Blacks season, even though I know/care even less about rugby – and tonight I will start DVR-ing Welcome to Wrexham.

I’ve even figured out that if I were to actually become a football supporter, I would cheer for Middlesbrough. I think. I lived in North Yorkshire from '83-'85, about 50 miles southwest of Middlesbrough: my “home” club – Harrogate Town – is currently in EFL League Two and not likely to ever play Middlesbrough (or its like). Is it “allowed” to support two clubs if they are in quite separate leagues? Or can/should I only be a Harrogate Town fan?

Things are looking pretty serious, but I will let everyone know if I ever get to the point of actually matching a match. Please keep me in your thoughts.

78

I’ve been stuck at the admissions windows a lot lately. It’s my least favorite assignment. I’d rather be outdoors, and it’s hard to get my daily steps in the small space. And, while I don’t mind interacting with our guests (it’s part of my job, after all), I prefer to keep those encounters as brief as possible. Ticketing is the most customer-facing job here, and that tends to wear me down.

Yesterday, a woman with a walker came up to my window; she looked to be about ten or more years younger than I. She asked if she had to pay for parking in our lot. I asked if she had a disabled placard, and when she said yes, I replied “parking is complimentary” and handed her an exit pass.

She got a big smile on her face and exclaimed, “See, there’s always a silver lining!” Apparently happy to have someone to talk to, she went on. “A couple years ago, I woke up and wasn’t feeling well. I went to the doctor, and it turns out I have a rare neurological disorder, and I ended up paralyzed from the waist down.”

Not quite knowing how to respond, I said, “It looks like you’re doing a lot better now.”

She replied, “It’s been a long haul to get here, but I keep working at it.”

Then, because she had an EBT (food stamp) card, she got a substantial discount on zoo tickets for her and her child. She said, “Silver linings are everywhere; you just have to look for them!”

She never stopped smiling throughout our interaction. She wished me a hearty and cheerful “Have a great day!” before going on her way.

When you come across somebody with such a positive attitude after being dealt a hand like that, it really puts everything in perspective. I’m still thinking about her a day later, even while grumbling about the fact that my knee hurts a little.

79

I’ve given the grands back to their mom. Supper will be pulled poke sammiches and chips. Chillage shall follow.

80

doggio, when I irked graveyards, I used to stop in my local for chili and a beer about once or twice a week. I got off irk @ 0700 and the bar couldn’t start serving alcohol until 0730, but by the time that I got there and the chili came out, it was beer-thirty.

I hope that DH’s covid is a mild case seanette.

Mooooooom, like metal mouse , I get a notification for tags about a month before my due month. I usually just stop at the clerk’s office (where we get them in Tennessee) down the street. Using the drive thru, it takes all of 10 minutes.

bumba, whilst I’m not vegan, about 75% of my meals are vegetarian and about a third of them are vegan. The biggest piece of advice that I can give to you is to not try to replicate meat. Indian food is often vegan. You can use psyllium fiber (1TBSP fiber / 1TBSP water per) as a sub for eggs in baking (I do this for one of my meet up groups) and there are some right tasty things that you can do with mushrooms.

Irked, came home, walked Nelson and et some sweet potato / black bean enchiladas from the freezer. I forgot just how much heat that batch had (used a different brand of chipotle peppers), so I slathered some Greek yogurt on to tame it. Now for KP.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!