The lost art of Letter Writing - for your MMP consideration

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
41

Special 1 my Dad just had his 8 week post-hip replacement check up with his surgeon.

He is fully mobile, stick free and walking 2-3 miles a day with NO PAIN!

He can’t remember the last time he felt like this and is so pleased he had it done. He was a good boy and did all his exercises!

Other than that work is being very work like. Oh and my heating is make a weird noise and my water heater has a drip :rolleyes: but thanks to my handy dandy home warrenty I have people coming out tomorrow to check them out :smiley:

42

How long has it been since I’ve mentioned how much I love working on the forecast? It’s been a while hasn’t it? Let me just clarify in case anyone’s forgotten:

The forecast sucks!

43

In The Prince of Tides, the mother of the protagonist says this secretly to each of the siblings, but in a very manipulative way. That’s always stuck with me for some reason. I guess there could be a way to say this to each child without implying that you love them more than their siblings, but it seems like potential for fostering resentment. I can also imagine the siblings getting into a fight and then blurting out, “Oh, yeah? Well, Mom and Dad love me more, so there!”

I have a headache from lack of food. Must get home and eat leftover turkey.

44

Well, the response to this MMP makes me glad I took this tack. As I think about it, the other OP I’d considered was just kinda meh. So yay for inspiration. And :stuck_out_tongue: to the naggers at the end of the last MMP - criminy, I was getting dressed when you posted your little whines… In fact, here’s another :stuck_out_tongue: just because.

**McUne ** - thanks so much for mentioning Etsy - I’d been trying to think of that site all weekend. Now it’s bookmarked, so yay! You’re officially my favorite mumper today.

Work was boring. The day is gray and ick with rain promised. I really should throw a load of clothes in the washer. I’ve got chickie tits thawing for supper. My house still smells of the shrimp I cooked yesterday - they were really yummmmmmm.

I’ve been thinking about doing a mega-letter to stick in Christmas cards this year. I haven’t done one in eons, and there are some things I’d like to share with assorted friends and relatives. I inspired myself with the OP, and I’m even thinking of buying some holiday themed paper to print it out. Any of you who’ve gotten notes from me know how horrid my penmanship is, and it gets worse the longer I write, so while the message and signature will be personal, there will be printer ink on paper from me.

I know this is a bad attitude, but is it Firday yet??

45

Yay, I’m Mooom’s favorite today. :smiley: :smiley:

Seriously, I love that site. I could and often do spend a lot of time on there. Especially when I’m killing time at work. So many beautiful things on there!! Always happy to get others hooked on it. :smiley:

46

No, it’s still Pineday. :stuck_out_tongue:

47

Spaz, I think you killed the MMP! :eek:

48

Ok, and I’m going to say this in a not nice way, but the mother in the PofT was fucked up. Mkay?

I am sick of the sight of turkey. Cannot make myself eat it one more day. Tonight is homemade mac and cheese.

49

Hmm… I haven’t been here for a while. I don’t know why. But I am back. :fanfare:

50

Nah, we’re all waiting around hoping to be poster #51 and be first on page 2. :slight_smile:

More reminiscences on memorable letters from the past:

I need to ask my mother to send me an electronic copy of my cousin’s “disaster letter,” as we call it in the family. She was 9 years old and sent the letter to our grandmother. It has become a family landmark; it’s one of the funniest letters I’ve ever seen, especially from a kid!

And we used to have a family friend who was British, and insisted on writing handwritten letters. Now, while many people claim to have illegible handwriting, his well and truly was. It looked nice and neat at first glance, but when you started trying to actually read it, the struggle began. The whole family would take turns trying to decipher one of his letters; you had to kind of dive in and hope to somehow absorb it through osmosis or something. My mother kept asking him why he didn’t send typewritten letters. He would always reply, “Because a typewritten letter isn’t personal.” To which her invariable comeback was, “What’s the good of a personal letter if you can’t read it?” He never did have an answer for that…but he never did type his correspondence, either. :slight_smile:

ETA: Well, crap. Only #50. :frowning:

51

Well, **FCD ** didn’t really want dinner, so I ate some leftover veggies and shrimps. Now he’s eating shrimps, too. Men - sheesh!

From the look of the weather radar, the rain is going to miss us. Rats. We got a little bit of precip, but not nearly enough.

My laundry is in the dryer, and I’ve got to empty and refill the dishwasher this evening. That’s as productive as I intend to be. And I ask you - how productive can I be expected to be without chocolate? HUH??

52

I’m going to have to write a letter of explanation and apology to somebody in the next day or so. I haven’t written a physical letter in years, but this calls for one, though I’m not going to have to mail it. Funny this topic comes up now.

On a lighter note, I don’t get some people around here. On my way home from the grocery store I saw an oldish sort of guy wearing a heavy jacket, shorts that didn’t quite reach his knees, and socks pulled up so high they looked like tights…and sandals.

It’s in the mid-30sF. Kinda cold for shorts, you’d think. Lovely weather, but sir, if your legs are cold…get out the long pants, maybe???

53

Oh yeah… last week was so busy that I forgot to mention that we finally got a contract signed on the townhouse and had the inspection and have sent off the whole packet of mortgage application stuff. So I think we’re going to have a house in ~6 weeks. Yay!

Then we have to move. Boo.

54

Nice OP, FCM; my Mom was always a good correspondant, as is my Dad (though he does more via email these days). It’s a good thing <tm> to do, especially sending thank yous. :slight_smile: And thanks for reminding me of my Mom!

I know some folks abhor the annual Christmas missal (or missle? ;)), but I usually love getting them or reading them (my parents). Yeah, folks brag about their families, but the ones I get aren’t usually too bad. Think I’m going to try to send some out this year too - real ones, not cyber ones (yeah, I’ve been sending ecards the past few years, very bad).

Hope you’re Dad’s recouperating okay, SpecialOne. Nice to read about others thoughts on the “lost art” of letter writing.

55

The weather has officially gone insane.

All day it was spitting down rain. Survivable, especially since the temperature was mild. I get off work and get on the bus, it’s still raining. Then somewhere between there and here the precipitation seemed to reach some kind of inverse flashpoint where it spontaneously broke out in great blobby masses of wet snow. I didn’t see the transformation (the windows of the bus were all fogged up), but I’m pretty sure the it happened a lot like popcorn, only with a wet splooshy noise instead of a sharp crack.

I got in (and managed not to nuke my iPod) and had a brief conversation with MindWife;

Her: “What took you so long?”
Me: “Have you seen it outside?”
Her: “Why? Is it really nice out?”
Me (giving her The Look): “I got on the bus, it’s raining. I got off the bus, it’s snowing like a bastard.”
Her (goading me): “I don’t see any sunshine!”
Me: “That’s beacause it’s obscured by snow.”
Her: “Okay, let me see this.” (goes over to the window and looks out.) “Well, I can still see the ground.”
Me: “Yes. It’s that big white thing.”

But I made it in okay. Have my new temporary phones a workout. They don’t fit quite perfectly, but they’re better than silicone tips which have never, ever fit right. And they sound good, too, even if the highs tend to spit a little at times.

REally busy day at work too, and with the weather the way it is I suspect it’s going to get worse as the week progresses. (Now is our busy season for snow engine parts.) Fun…

Off to make dinner. Pasta with Italian sausage and sauce and stuff.

56

Well, yeah - almost everyone in that book is. I still don’t know though - telling each kid secretly that you love them the most seems potentially disasterous. I’ve been trying to think how I’d feel if my parents had done that to my brother and me. If we’d found out about it when we were older, I think we would have had a good laugh, but if we’d found out at a younger age I think both of us would have felt betrayed.

I’m probably over-thinking this.

So tired. Need sleep!

57

Congrats on the impending move, taxi!! It’ll be a hassle, but it’ll also be worth it! So YAY!!! :smiley:

58

OK, first things first… or is that frist… :smiley:

Great OP Mooooom! It is sad that letter writing is a lost art. Still, I really do like email and all. I just go with the flow.

Special1 your dad is in my thoughts and prayers…

And now for the HIGH DRAMA

I am no longer dealin’ with the brewry. I sorta kinda, well, told 'em I had enough this morning. See, I went out to talk with the HR guy and asked point blank when if ever I’d be made permanent because I am damn sick and tired of waiting around. Yep… I said it like that. He said after the first of next year. Ummm… yeah… first it was September, then October, then November… I turned in my security badge and said no thanks. Gasp Actually, I feel really good about this. This was at nine a.m. today.

Now…

While I was there, I had my cell phone on vibrate (cause that’s just polite) and my pants vibrated twice while we were talking. When I left I checked and had two really desparate sounding voice mails from the place that I have done occasional consultant work with for the past whole buncha years. Matter of fact it’s from doin’ this that I got to meet such folks as Mooooom and Taters among others. I called back and was asked if there were any way possible at all I could do some stuff for them Wednesday - Friday (HEE!) of this week and Monday - Wednesday of next week or one or the other. Well, since I had just, in effect, quit Miller, I figure I’m free, right? Thus, a couple of hours later I’m booked to leave out tomorrow morning to go to southern Illinois (Cairo, IL anyone) and then fly out to San Jose, CA Saturday and spend three days there next week. Thus, tomorrow morning I am a travelin’ bear! This really does work out good cause I’m gettin’ paid really, really, really good to do this. Plus, I ain’t hurtin’ financially.

Ok… part the third of HIGH DRAMA

Remember last week how I said I was going to talk with a place about possible work on Tuesday morning, which would be, duh, tomorrow now? Well, I called them up to say what was going on and how I wouldn’t be able to talk with them. I was really just hoping I could arrange a time to talk after I got back from all my traveling. I was asked if I could come on in this afternoon and talk, even, right then (this was around two this afternoon) if possible. So, I changed right quick cause well, one should not go talk about possible employment while wearing a tshirt and sweat pants and went. It’s an insurance company, which I already knew, that specializes in “end of life” insurance. Yep, they sell primarily to senior citizens but also to anybody up to age 85. The job? Handling their quality assurance. Thus, I am thinking about it and will give an answer in two weeks. It pays pretty good with damn good benefits. The job would start January 7, 2008.

Howzat for a HIGH DRAMA day!

More importantly, since I now possess a really good laptop, I can stay in touch with the MMP while traveling. See, I do have my priorities in line! :stuck_out_tongue:

ETA: Yay on the new digs taxi!

59

Dang, swampster, your employment life is certainly interesting. But the real question is - when will you be coming to my part of the country? Priorities, man, dammit! :stuck_out_tongue:

And, interestingly, I had an email today from another nearby Navy base about a Project Manager job. The manager who sent the email attached the vacancy notice - it closed on Oct 31, and I know I didn’t apply for this one because it’s outside my field of experience. However, it’s an RDT&E position - actually on the T&E (Test & Evaluation) side. The email just said “If you’re interested, call me.” So I’m thinking I’ll call him tomorrow. Can’t hurt to talk, right? On the upside, it’s away from the craziness where I work now. On the downside, it’s a longer commute by 10 miles one way, and I don’t know if they have the flexible hours I enjoy. Plus the position requires travel and I don’t know what that means. But I’ll talk to the guy. We shall see.

60

Unless you move to southern Illinois or Northernish Cali -for-ni-a in the next couple of days I guess I won’t be in your part of the country. :stuck_out_tongue:

Plus, it never hurts to talk… who knows… this just might be that dream job you’ve always wanted. Or maybe pay more? Anywho… ain’t it nice to be wanted? :smiley: