My clothes are packed - toiletries will follow soonly. I’m going to shower tonight so I can be ready to dress and go tomorrow, tho it’s going to take a while. When FCD and I travel, we’re up and out within 30 minutes. That ain’t gonna happen tomorrow.
He’ll have to start the drive, since night driving is a pain for me, but I’ll take over once the sun comes up.
And on that note, I’ll sign off till whenever I get a chance to appear again - probably somewhere along I-95 south.
nellie, from last week’s chopped basket conversation: I had enough of those weird meals when I was young and poor and it was two days until payday. I tend to like my meals more planned out nowadays. The only hugs I’ve gotten in the last year have been from date guy, my dog and a few dogs at the park. Virtual hugs to you.
Yay for getting shot pully!
magic, my grandad used to make milk tea to drink after supper. It was just warmed up milk with water and some sugar, but it had no caffeine to keep him awake. I’m not sure if it would violate the spirit of your Lenten fast, but it’s much tastier than hot water.
VanGo, those are some long icecicles you have there!
It hit 54F today. Biiiiiig change from last Monday. Our snow is reduced to a few piles where the plows left it and even those will be gone by tomorrow.
It was a slow day at irk today and likely will be for the rest of the week. I’m actually doing some projects for home from irk.
I didn’t mention I tweaked my knee getting up from the couch after my walk. I put some Tiger Balm on it.
Mrs. L.A. said she felt like eating pasta tonight. The expensive place here isn’t open until Thursday, so I called into the pizza place in Blaine and got her some lasagna. I got myself a Mediterranean salad.
There was mention of robots? Have I got a robot tale for you! My surgery was done by RoboDoc. Apparently the surgeon only touched me to “dock” the robot to me, and then to retrieve the roughly 9" long chunk of ghastly colon he directed the removal of. I promise, I won’t post the photo that my surgeon sent to me, but I can be persuaded to send it directly - I’ve had a couple friends ask. Everything internally is done like a crazy video game with the surgeon working the controls at the 3D viewing station.
The really freaky part? I was not sedated before walking (!) into the OR and being face to arms with the gigantic robot - it’s close to seven feet tall with long jointed arms. I’m surprised they let patients see it in an unsedated state. But, I hopped up onto the table, they started setting me up and someone called for a safety check at which time I announced my name and why I was there, then I opened my eyes in post-op. Not even a “Here we go” or a “Start counting backwards…” It was like as soon as I said why I was there, they pushed the milk of amnesia.
My belly is a bit sore and it will be a while before my body sorts out how to function with that piece missing. Pretty much no pain since Friday afternoon, and the plan is to be back at work next Monday. In theory, a good part of that is thanks to the robot.
Illegal paper would be the old US Government size enacted by Hoover. It’s funky at 8" wide and 10.5" tall. It was a hell of a mess for office managers when Reagan called for the change back to normal Letter size paper as a lot of desk drawers and trays were suddenly too small.
Howdy Y’all! I got stuff set up to do stuff this week today. I think that counts as productivity. Or not. It rained for a good bit of the day, then abruptly stopped right around five o’clock and got N.O.S. for a little while. We supped the leftovers. All is well.
MOOOOOOM et al, have a safe trip. Post from Señor Frog’s! Everyone knows that is the place to stop when travelin’ on I95 through South Keerlinner.
Sunny prayers headed out for sis. May her recovery be quick.
VanGo yikes on the icicles! Still, better thee than me. Not a fan of Winter am I.
gotti glad to have you back amongst us! Glad things went well and that you don’t have a lot of pain. Offer 8X10 glossies suitable for framin’ to anyone who asks for to see pix of the ex colon. I offered pix of my colon, but nobody accepted. I wonder why!
As to “give ups” for Lent, that’s fine, but like Nellie said, there are better things to give up or work on to maybe make oneself a little better person. I am doin’ a Lenten meditation called Thriving On The Vine that is bein’ offered online by my Diocese. So far I have really enjoyed this one.
Cookie happy shot day tomorrow. Sore arm was the effect of the first one for me. The second one made me a little puny for a few hours, plus a sore arm. Not so bad as side effects go, I guess.
Good to hear from you, gotti; and yeah, I’d rather not see something like that before they put me under–but it would be neat to walk in myself to the operating room. I have a couple pictures of my 15-year ago colonoscopy hanging around somewhere if you want to trade…
FCM, safe travels. Like you, I’m all set the night before and am out of the house less than 30 minutes after waking. Just be patient, it’s going to be a long day…
swampy, never been to Senor Frog’s (it’s a restaurant, right?). Or are you referencing South of the Border, a place I do want to visit someday (hey, I’ve been to Wall Drug).
Let Freddy’s Steakburgers take care of dinner and have been mostly slothful since then.
Went there when I was about 12. I read out every single sign announcing Wall Drug. Good thing my grandfather wasn’t in the car, because he would have read them out loud as well.
gotti glad to see you made it back. Rather cool to walk into the OR. I don’t remember if my dad got to walk in for his robot surgery, but maybe they don’t want to take chance with (almost) elderly patients.
Got the tax papers finished, just have to tell the accountants that they are all uploaded. We’ve been doing the swiss equivalent to an IRA these past years, so we never did an American IRA, but we decided we should do that as well. Slightly more complicated as we’re not domiciled in the U.S. and won’t be in the U.S. for some months (hope it’s only months). I don’t think we’re in a bad situation for retirement in 15 years, but I think we can do better.
Couple more hours and FCM will be on the road. Safe travels!
And there’s no equivalent to legal paper here in Switzerland. It’s all the same ratio (square root of two), except for weird flyers. Makes things easier.
And to answer the theme, today is Tuesday. I think somebody has to pay for a hamburger.
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 44 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 72 and N.O.S. for the day. I await a call from one of the HVAC places this mornin’. I told him I could meet him anytime, but would need a heads up when he’s ready along with about twenty minutes to get over to the church house. Hopefully I’ll hear from another as well. Just want to get this done. Outside of that no real plans for the day. Since it is Tuesday, we shall have tacos 'n fixin’s with rice and beans for sup. Fartfest to follow. OLÈ!
MetalMouse I did indeed mean South of The Border. Señor Frog’s is also a fun place to stop and the food is not too shabby. Been a while since I’ve been to either one.
MOOOOOOM I assume y’all are on the road by now. Be safe!
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, onward into the day! Rah.
Morning, mumpers! Yes, it’s morning now but by the time I finish typing this, it’ll be afternoon! It’s dry and overcast at the moment, we had some sun earlier which was very welcome. Today the weather app says “Do we talk about the weather because we’re fucking boring?” and promises me 11C/52F all day, partly cloudy. I’ve already been outside twice in the sun, once to fetch the biiiiiiiig recycling bin back off the street and once to post a birthday card.
gotti glad to hear that everything went well, I’d accept a glossy print of your missing bits but I’ve got nowhere to put it Here’s to a swift and painless recovery!
hippie following on from the above, how is your recovery coming along?
metalmouse interesting that you mention Wall Drug, it featured quite a bit in a film we watched over the weekend called Nomadland.
Mooooom fingers crossed for a save and uneventful trip, and for all the traffic to be somewhere else today. You’ll be pleased to know that I have not one but two!! coasters on my desk here.
Sunny sending my bestest to your sister for her surgery, and a virtual hug to you too
Busy irk day today, I’ve had my laptop tinkered with remotely as it wasn’t playing videos at all, thus I could not complete any of the mandatory training stuff we got sent yesterday. After that, I had a meeting with of my team and have caught up on everything that’s going on in Romania. She went home to visit family and got caught by the last lockdown, her return flight got cancelled and she decided it was much easier to just stay where she was and to come back when travel is easier here. I can’t say I blame her, she said her mother’s been unwell and her sister’s just had a baby so she has two good reasons to want to be close to her family.
Now I need to book myself some time off, and then get ready for my next meeting this afternoon. And it’s grocery shopping night too. I’m not sure I can take this much excitement in one day!
Good morning everyone. Yesterday was really, really rainy and windy. It eased up into the evening hours, but the passes are a nightmare. I am so glad I don’t have to travel over them right now.
Sending virtual hugs and good thoughts to all that need them. I feel that a good many folks are just trying to get through each day the best we can. We “keep on keepin’ on” because there is just nothing else to do but that. I look forward to real hugs and real socialization.
I emailed out from work yesterday. I just felt like utter shite, and still kind of feel that way, but I have stuff that needs doing. I can sit upright at the computer, at least for now, so I can get some stuff done. I am sure my email was blown to hell yesterday, even though I had an out-of-office reply directing them to someone who could help in my absence.
I went couch and loveseat shopping this weekend and found what I wanted. At first, the husband was on board with my ordering them, but then he started talking about the cost. Rather than just go ahead and order, I brought quotes home. I had a reason with these for going to this furniture store. I had really good luck with this brand the last time I went serious furniture shopping and would have still had that furniture if it weren’t for Polar eating part of the couch not long after we brought him home. On Sunday, the hubby came with me to that store and another store and wanted the less expensive option from the other store. The problem with that particular sofa set was that it had horrible reviews. Most of them said the couch looked like crap a year later, was sagging, and was peeling. Real leather should not do that. We’ve now missed the sale at the first place, so we are going to end up paying more. I am pissed and annoyed. I should have pulled the trigger and been done with it.
Well, I need to load up the dishwasher before I start work. I hate a messy kitchen.
gotpasswords, I’m glad to hear your surgery went well! I hope you recover quickly.
Safe travels, FCM! And I hope you feel better soon, Taters. I feel you about the messy kitchen.
Today looks to be sunny and beautiful and, joy of joys, my meeting load is light. I typically have about 5-6 hours of meetings at a minimum, sometimes 8-12 (why the heck do people double and triple book?). BUT, today is a scant 4 hours, with the “option” of attending another hour-long meeting where my presence ain’t required. I figure my time is better spent doing the crap I talked about doing in the other meetings.
And then, I’ll delight in declining all the meetings people scheduled with me despite the fact my calendar is clearly marked out of office. Why do people do that? Wishful thinking? I was pretty clear with one of the hosts, “Oh, hey, don’t book me on Thursday because I’m on PTO,” to which she responded, “Oh, right - I saw that on your calendar. Do you think you can move that?” I hate people sometimes.
Morning everyone. Fang took his brothers to school this morning, after Mrs Magill and I reconned the roads at the High School. I would rather not expose an inexperienced driver to a gaggle of other inexperienced drivers with ice still on the roads.
I ran my game last night. This level should be scary. I’ve introduced death, mysterious disease, and hidden whispers. I’m looking forward to getting them on the river, so the aboleth can affect them more.
Last night’s dinner was shepard’s pie, which we had ordered from the church as a fund raiser. Tonight, I think I’ll make a risotto in the instant pot with the stock from last week’s roasted chicken.
Regarding Lent - I grew up as a Quaker, so only started observing Lent when I married Mrs Magill. I like to give up caffeine for the challenge. This year, I also gave up alcohol, because I noticed I had been drinking A LOT more in the last year, which is really annoying because I had seriously cut down after the doctor put me on anti-depressants.
Right now, I’m avoiding work and waiting for GMA to tell me about the Perfect Grilled Cheese Sandwich. I’m willing to bet it’ll be needlessly complicated and have a load of extraneous ingredients.
Morning all. Stayed in bed until 9am because I could, dishwasher is now washing as fast has been broken and not much on the agenda for today. We’re supposed to get to 64F in N. Ali-bama today and I can deal with that.
boo fae, have seen ads about that movie, I spent about 4 days in the area on my last vacation 2 years ago, while it is not as well-known as more famous places like Yellowstone, I had no trouble finding things to see and do over those 4 days. And Dicey, I imagine Wall Drug has grown since you’ve seen it. It reminds me of an American version of the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul (not Constantinople), perhaps less colorful but just as crowded and noisy.
Taters, stick to your guns, furniture should last you awhile, not need replacing every couple of years. Penny-wise and Pound-foolish is a good way to go broke, IMHO.
talky, people will take advantage of your good nature until you make it clear that they can’t. You set your limits.
I tend to like my meals more planned out nowadays. The only hugs I’ve gotten in the last year have been from date guy, my dog and a few dogs at the park. Virtual hugs to you.
My surgery was done by 
Everything internally is done like a crazy video game with the surgeon working the controls at the 3D viewing station.
Here’s to a swift and painless recovery!