I thought I was the only one who loved fried clams. Howard Johnson’s and the best.
Happy Saturday!
It was a chilly 36 degrees at the park this morning. I didn’t stay long because … well reasons.
It’s becoming awkward… just not good there anymore.
I almost didn’t go anyway because my knee hurts so bad, time for the doctor I think, and because the lawn guy is coming by to check the window this morning.
My son fixed the window yesterday, kind of sort of, he just picked it up and shoved it back into the frame. I was going to wait for the lawn guy to come by, but we were supposed to get pouring rain and high winds. My son was going to put plastic over the hole, but then thought why not try putting the window back in.
We never got rain or wind, and I have to put the plastic sheet and tool box away. It must be hereditary; my father was the same way. He’d fix it, my mother had to clean up the mess.
I think windows need something to secure them though, not just shove them into the hole and hope they’ll stay there.
The awkwardness at the park comes from Barky.
I didn’t think Barky was going yesterday, I didn’t text her yesterday because I knew it was muddy and doodles are like sponges and soak up the mud. (I’m so happy that shar pei tend to shed mud, not that mine never get dirty, you should see my truck, but they are nowhere near as bad as the other dogs.) Barky pulled in right behind me. When Lucy got there, she went on the small dog side to avoid Barky.
Barly mom commented on it and what am I supposed to say? Nobody likes you, nobody wants you here, so they are doing everything they can to avoid you?
So, this morning I texted everybody as to who was coming. No answer from Barky. She finally texted me late that she overslept and was getting ready. I told her I was leaving early because of lawn guy coming. Then she texted that she was on the way, and I told her I was leaving at 730 so I could be home for lawn guy. I got up to leave, Lily and Lucy were debating because they didn’t want to deal with Barky. Lily started following me as I was leaving, so they decided to go. We were all getting in our vehicles as Barky pulled in.
I know she has to know, and I feel sorry for her if her feelings get hurt. At the same time, I don’t feel sorry for her because I have tried talking to her, and other people have made comments about the barking and she still doesn’t do anything. I mean she tries a little, sometimes, but she needs to try other methods. Grabbing her dog’s muzzle and telling her NO doesn’t work.
It’s to the point that when she shows up, everybody is leaving. It puts me in the middle and I’m tired of being there. She snaps at me if I make suggestions, so I don’t anymore.
The thing that really irritates me though, is we have a really good group of people who really care about dogs. When I was having problems with Echo and was going to stop going to the park, everybody encouraged me to stay and we worked as a group to correct her. They would have done the same for Barky, except her mom is one of those people that you can’t say anything negative about her dogs. Nobody wants to hear it, but you suck it up and let other people help you.
It’s better to correct the bad behavior than be ostracized by the group.
I am the only friend she has left in the group, even though I can’t stand the barking either. Even more, I hate that everybody leaves when she gets there. They even talk of going to the other park, and if I go with them then I feel like I am abandoning her, and if I don’t go, I’m going to miss our group. If she knows I am meeting them at the other park, she’ll just come to the other park too.
Sorry for the long rant, I’m just so tired of it all to the point where I don’t enjoy going to the park anymore.
Honestly, I don’t know how people who live in cultures that shun and banish people do it.
My mother is making me crazy as well, but that is a rant for another day.
Is it even okay to rant about your could be dying mother?
I don’t eat clams or oysters.
I don’t know why they gross me out when I can happily tear into a pile of crabs, rip the legs off, degut them and eat them. When you think about it, it’s pretty savage. It does bother me a bit that they have to be cooked alive. I try not to think about it.
I’m glad Molly is getting help.
Have fun with your sister Nellie.
Congrats on the weight loss Ooopsie.
Congrats Wheelie.
I don’t know what I am doing today. There is so much to do and I don’t know where to start.
I wish I had the money to hire a few people, hand them my list, and say go for it.
While I take a nap.
Hubby and I had fried clams 3 time when we were in Seattle (Ivar’s). We really miss them. Never had them at Howard Johnson’s or Long John Silver’s. I do know some Red Robins have (had?) them.
Hubby eats them with tartar sauce, I prefer American-style cocktail sauce.
If being safe is crazy, I’m with you.
Sari, your plate is overflowing. Rant as much as you need - I hope it helps.
Yesterday, after weeks of beautiful, dry, spring-like weather, it started snowing. It’s still snowing. We have about 3-4 inches of snow piled up on the ground, but very little on the street, because it was so warm. As the temperatures will go below freezing tonight, that’s going to change.
We’re supposed to go to a wedding in 4 weeks. Today we confirmed that hubby’s 25 year old suit does not fit. He’s broader in the shoulders, and a little bit thicker in the waist. So the suit’s going to get donated, and next Saturday we’re going shopping. I have a dress, but ordered shoes, a new bra (it’s a wrap dress, so I need something really low cut) and even a covering. I’ve never worn the dress, but I had ordered it when I thought I might be doing something other than working from home and staying in.
Not sure how the shopping will go, but we’ll give it a try. We both tend towards jeans, so we’ll be going a bit out of our normal comfort zone.
Need to work on some papers, do something constructive other than laundry, making breakfast (oatmeal and bacon), baking a cake, failing at butterscotch pudding (nice sauce for the cake, though), and trying a new recipe (chicken schawarma).
Speaking of food, might be time to forage for dinner.
I think we’re going to sort Christmas ornaments today. Since we can’t have a real tree in the new apartment, I put the tree stand out on the curb yesterday and someone took it. We have enough ornaments to decorate any three 7’ trees, so it’s time to cull. Problem is, most of these are memories, and a number of them were actually fairly expensive. I guess it grit-our-teeth time and just get it done. Can’t give them to my kids, as they’ve created their own ornament stash with their own kids. C’est la vie.
Heaving is over for the week.Hand some bacon and eggs, changed my sheets, hit the Likker Sto, and have laundry in the dryer. Naptime!
If you have a location near you, try Men’s Warehouse. I am not a suit and tie person either. I wear jeans and Carhartt tee shirts mostly, but I did need a suit. The prices are reasonable, they do the alterations right there on site and can probably get the suit ready in four or five days.
as if I needed another thing to be a pain in the ass IHSS has to be called Monday (again)and after aunts, experience s with them which are are ongoing this might suck …
Wheelie congrats! I’m happy for you both. 
Red You’re a wonderful person to help out Molly and her Nana.
WetOne and Shady My whole family loves fried clams too! I can find them at the grocery store sometimes and make them at home. I should try them in my air fryer. 
If anyone passes through Albany, Oregon, there’s a little place called The Depot across from the train station that has them. They’re quite good.
This is true, or it’ll just come out again. YouTube may be able to walk you through next steps.
Regarding Barky, if she doesn’t want to hear suggestions then y’all should just move to the other park and ghost her. It’s either that or straight up tell her that everyone leaves because they don’t like her dog. Good luck.
Yes, you can rant about your could-be-dying parent, says the person who’s still SO ANGRY at her dad.
Nothing much to report. We might watch a movie today. I might read books. I might nap. Who knows? Not me. Stanford Women’s Basketball got knocked out of the tournament, which is a minor bummer.
Happy Saturday everyone!
Aaaaaaaaand we’re home! Sit back for the tales of our adventures.
We got to the marina in Oxford in the early afternoon and took all our stuff aboard. I did a little cleaning and organizing and we talked about our plans for the crossing. At one point, FCD went to the office and was talking to the manager about stuff regarding our stay there at the boatyard – not all sunshine and roses, but not all bitching either. Our sales guy showed up and we went to the boat so he could give us an orientation on stuff like “how to start the engine” and “how to flush the terlits” plus he went over the locations of the thru-hull fittings, which turned out to be fortuitous, but I get ahead of myself.
When we were done with him, we drove into Easton to get supper at the Easton Diner (meh – it was OK) then back to the boat in the fading bits of sunlight. It was windy… no it was WINDY!!! Not only were there the usual marina noises of creaking dock lines and clanging rigging, but a section of steel roof on one of their buildings had partially broken free and it made a gawd-awful racket as it banged around.
We were both pretty beat, and around 8:30, we closed things up and crawled into our bunk.
I didn’t take enough covers. It got down into the low 40s. I slept in my clothes (minus shoes) but I was wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt, so my arms were cold, even under the covers. I know I fell asleep for a little while, but FCD woke a bit after 2 for a potty break, then I needed one, and from that point, I barely dozed, and it was still windy and noisy. So much for the winds decreasing overnight.
A little after 5, we decided we’d go get a hot breakfast at Denny’s because it was freekin’ cold. By the time we finished eating, the sun was up. We headed back to the marina, dropped the dock lines, and got underway.
The winds were still wicked, and the farther down the Tred Avon River we went, the rougher it got. We had water crashing over the bow – thank goodness for windshield wipers – and there was lots of rocking and rolling. At one point, I looked down in the V-berth and saw water sloshing on the deck. It wasn’t supposed to be there.
Poor FCD had to crawl down there to figure out what was going on, and he ended up lifting a couple of panels in the main cabin floor and climbing down into the engine room to close a thru-hull valve. Apparently when the boat yard guys checked our HVAC, they didn’t notice that when it was turned on, it was dumping water out of the forward unit. I’m so lucky to have a sweetie who figures stuff like that out and knows how to fix them. I was freaking out, looking at the chart for a really shallow spot to beach the boat so it wouldn’t sink. Not too cool under pressure, I know…
There was still water sloshing around the HVAC, so he drilled a couple of holes in a panel for the water to drain into the bilge, then the bilge pump took it from there. We also brought home 3 soggy towels, and after we docked, I opened the windows in the V-berth so it can dry out down there. But I get ahead of myself.
Because of where he had to crawl to stop the water intrusion and because of the heavy seas, my poor sweetie got a tad seasick. So he went to lie down and I stayed on the helm. As we transitioned from the river to the bay, the waves were smaller - maybe the wind was dying? And we got to turn south, so they were behind us and not smacking us abeam. At that point, the trip became more pleasant.
I call this shot “I 
GPS, Autopilot, and Pop tarts” – when all the rocking and rolling subsided, I got to relax. All course adjustments were made via + and – buttons on the autopilot. It was very nice.
Then FCD took a turn.
This was the view out the portside when things calmed a bit
We knew we were close to the end when we passed this:
It’s the LNG terminal at Cove Point, just north of the Patuxent River. Our marina is on a creek near the mouth of the Patuxent. No more pics after this because we had to get ready. I navigated us into the channel approaching the creek while FCD laid out the dock lines. Then he went up to the flying bridge to bring us in while I cleated off the lines and arranged them for our slip.
I was also texting our daughter – the whole fambly was going to meet us at the marina, and she was going to help get us in the slip. I’m so glad she was there.
Let me say right here that FCD is amazing at handling all sorts of vessels. He used to drive a Water Taxi in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, and he always seemed to become one with all of our sailboats over the years. But this boat is really different – mostly because, as he put it, most of the boat is behind him. In the sailboats, the cockpits were always aft. At most, he might have had 10’ of boat behind the wheel. On this one, there’s at least 20’, likely more, behind the helm. Plus the boat “walks” to port when backing – that is, with the prop in reverse, the boat pulls to the back left, so you can’t back straight into a slip. Add to that the swim platform and the davits hanging off the aft end, and you can understand why we tapped the pilings a few times.
I think he had to go around 3 times, getting the feel of the boat and figuring out exactly where he had to start in order to line us up, and with a bit of back and forth on the throttle and gear shift, he got us close enough that I could drop the first 2 lines over the piling and toss a stern line to our daughter. From that point, it was a matter of literally pushing and pulling ourselves into the middle of the slip. I don’t know if he was more frustrated or embarrassed, but I was still impressed. The man knows how to make a boat do what he wants it to do.
PS – we’re going to get estimates for a bow thruster – it would have made it soooooo simple!
Once we were all tied up, the rest of the family came aboard for a tour. Roxy loved the wheel – she’s going to have a blast when we take her out the first time (probably not for a month – we’ve got commitments till the 2nd weekend in May.) SIL is going to need to wear a helmet to keep from cracking his skull – his own fault for being tall. Daughter wanted to know where she can keep her wine…
And there you have it. Except to say that, as is typical for me, sitting here in my desk chair, I feel like the room is rocking. It’s so weird – when we lived aboard a boat, the motion never affected me that way, but go out for one day, and my equilibrium goes whacko!
OK, that all. Thanks for your attention.
Looking for a spot to beach doesn’t sound like a bad plan B to me at all! I’m glad FCD was able to troubleshoot it all. The boat looks lovely. 
Thanks. It still needs some serious cleaning and some paint and varnish work, but at least it’s close to home.
Oh, yeah, and we get to drive back to Oxford tomorrow to retrieve FCD’s car. Should be the last time we make that trip!
Wonderful story, FCM; glad you made it safely and problems were always going to be had, at least you and FCD could handle them and come up with solutions. Enjoy your rest.
Sari, I know you like people and hate being put in the middle, but Barky’s Mom is simply causing the problem by not paying attention and learning. There is only so much you can do.
Dicey, I’ve got a couple jackets left over from my workdays, have no idea if they still fit or not, also some dress shirts that will fit and I’ll take a couple along on the cruise. Good luck with the shopping trip.
shoe, you’ll manage just find, I reckon. And sleep will come, sooner or later.
red, I think ‘above and beyond’ apply to you. Molly doesn’t know just how good a friend she has.
Wheelie, good news! Keep us updated on your new digs progress.
nellie, enjoy cooking and visiting with your sister; we’ll be waiting for your return.
Left about 9:00 am to go referee three games for 8-9 year olds, they are fun but a chore to referee as many of them still lack clues about the game and a lot of the boys go at 110% Warp Speed, which makes collisions and bruises come next. Still the games were pretty good and the parents and coaches in good humor, so all was well. Ate a Butter Pecan Waffle Cone for Lunch and Dinner will be Fettuchini, so I’ll be fed OK. Temps started at 55F and complete cloud cover, by the time I finished about 2:40pm, it was blue skies and around 65F.
R&R for the remainder of today and then the first mowage of the Year tomorrow.
All y’all take care.
Howdy Y’all! I made the stuff for tomorrow this morning and then pretty much was a sloth the rest of the day. This included nappage and day drinkin’ on the back porch. The nappage was inside da cave actually. I could nap and day drink on the back porch however. Just so y’all know I could. Pizza and sallit got et and now we are in Sattidy evenin’ chillage.
MOOOOOOM glad y’all made it safe and sound. Sounds like quite the adventure.
sari it is OK to bitch about your mom. You need to vent and get stuff out sometimes and this is the place for that.
shoe I just know you will rock as a manager!
red thank you for bein’ such a good friend to Molly.
Dicey I second the idea of goin’ to the Men Swear House (our pet name for the place) if there’s one available. You can get a good suit at a reasonable price there.
sari, it sucks to be in the middle. Has Barky’s mom considered obedience classes? Vent about your mom all you want. This is a friendly place / shoulder to lean on.
Your trip looked like fun Mooooooom.
Nana rocks! By the time I picked her up, she had already ascertained the safety of the mom and girls, checked out local mental health facilities for the dad (he’s bipolar and likely off his meds) and set up an appointment to take BOTH Molly and Jim to the vet for the big snip. While Ann and I took some action, she’s the star of this show. I hope that the dad can get back on track and hasn’t permanently damaged the relationship with his daughters and their mom.
When we got back, I swung through Zorbas for a Greek salad and some dolmas for supper. I’s stuffed!
And today I saw buds on a different plant! I had seen the flowers in pictures in the past, but never thought that a plant like that would thrive on our porch. Every year we drive over the mountain to a wonderful plant nursery in the same climate zone as we are. I go with a list, but of course I have to impulse buy something. A few years ago, my impulse buy was a Columbine and not only did it do well, it took over a different pot and pushed the occupant out! I’ve got five now, they don’t seem to want to spread out in the world, it’s too hot and sunny out there.
You’re going to rock it, but don’t let them do this to you often without the money. You deserve to be paid for the extra work and responsibility. If you don’t make them pay you, they will take advantage of your good nature.
If you never look at the windows or use them, duct tape sounds like a great solution.
I’m sorry you are in the middle with Barky’s mom, you can’t help people who don’t want to be helped. I’m sorry that you have to deal with this as well as your mother’s failing health. You seriously do deserve a break.
That sounds like quite the adventure. Leaving the youngsters behind was an excellent decision, you always need to work out the kinks before showing off!
That is amazing, great news for everyone concerned! Good on you for following up on your instincts, Molly is lucky to have you as a friend!
Besides the Columbines, the catnip and 4 o’clocks are starting to come back. The carnations like their new pots just fine and today I’m starting to see butterflies again. I was so tired of winter. I think winters are harder on me now that I’m retired because I can see outside all day. You don’t pay as much attention to how dark and gloomy it is outside when you are in a windowless cube farm.
I got my thread today. Life is good again.
We were discussing that very thing both as we huddled in our freezing bunk and again as we were being tossed thither and yon with the waves crashing over the bow. Roxy’s first boating experience shouldn’t be terrifying.
I am showered in a clean night shirt, lying under my electric blanket. I plan to read till I can’t focus any longer. Gotta rest up for tomorrow’s car fetchage. (That looks naughty…) 
Evening all. Dinner has been consumed, internettin’ is about done for the night, will finish up some firday Sudoku and watch some basketskeetball.
Red, sounds like you should give Nana our url here at the Straight Dope; sounds like she’d fit right in as a MMP’er.
Ok, catch all y’all tomorrow morning.
Drinking beer with the cat, and watching hockey.
You formulated a plan. I’d say that is “cool under pressure.”
< loks at UNC/Duke >
“A PLAGUE ON BOTH YOUR HOUSES!”
So say we all.
It’s a crappy situation. Rant as needed.
I dunno, she sounds like the organized sort that might bad influence us into getting productive. FCM’s bad enough fer crying out loud!
Seriously, she sounds amazing and I agree, she would fit right in once she learns proper slothfulness.
Mom didn’t just send me the thread I needed, she sent another kit as well. It’s very cute and looks to be much fun. I called her to thank her for the thread and kit and she apologized for not sending the thread. That I had already threaded into my needle.
I’m starting to miss her.
All of our cats like milk or cream better than beer but we do give them catnip at times.
Thanks for the suggestion, but there’s none nearby. Since hubby’s suit-wearing needs are very few, and he doesn’t need it for the wedding, we’re going for nice trousers and shirt, maybe some sort of jacket or vest. At least, that’s the plan. Discount suits start at around $500, and a good quality one is going to be over $1000. Even $500 is a lot to spend on something he won’t wear again, so I’d rather buy something more useful.
Well done Ann and red, for setting the stage.
It’s too early in the day, plus there’s snow, for drooling over ice cream. Right?
Beautiful. Yes, a bit cold, but beautiful. I miss open water.
After 3 days of snowy stuff, we’re already getting cabin fever, especially since we had both been staying home the past few weekends, due to illness. Might go out and do something, even though it’s just above freezing and I already put away most of my cold weather clothing. Bah humbug!
The big garden center is open today, as yesterday and today is their big spring event. Having snow was certainly not in their planning. Maybe next week we can get some plants, but I might wait until Mother’s Day (U.S.), which tends to be a safer date. I will sow some wildflower seeds, but I’ll buy tomato plants. I’m not that much of a gardener. Oh, and I have peas to plant.
Lunch will be leftovers or out, who knows. Strangely, I have a hankering for peas. In addition to butter pecan ice cream. Not mixed, though.