Where in the world is the MMP?

AAAAAAAAAHHH! Silence!!!

The noisy bunch just left. Tobias was especially in a mood - Daughter said he was tired. Definitely.

But we had an early supper and chillage is on order. Plus I’m running the ice machine thru its cleaning cycle. It’s got a nice, soothing hum as it pumps the vinegar. Bliss!!!

Howdy Y’all! Barbara got a nice send off. The crowd was not large, but it was respectable. The reception afterwards was good. I got a nice lunch out of it, especially the little chikin sallit sammiches. I also got the candles taken care of again.

Mollie there was some not good pimento cheese. Very bland and tasteless, as in definitely made with a mild cheddar which we all know is a pimento cheese don’t. You and I would have said, “well, bless their heart, at least they tried.” Then I would have added, “it makes sto’ bought look like gourmet. Next time they should be asked to just bring the ice.” I am an awful person sometimes.

MetalMouse glad you are havin’ fun.

MOOOOOOM like I always say, company is great comin’ and goin’.

I’d forgotten just how good beets fried in butter were. Mom always fixed them that way. When Sis and I went to the farmer’s market last weekend, we both bought some. She fried hers up and BIL really liked them (he’d never eaten them that way). I did mine tonight, along with the slice of Easter ham that she brought over and a salad.

I bought a car.

Maybe you remember the drama with my sister. Suffice it to say, I looked at Prius prices.

My 2005 Prius has been a trouper. But due to a stupid programmer who made the odometer stop counting at 299,999 miles, I have no idea how many miles it had on it. USAA totalled it when the catalytic converter was stolen four years ago. I bought the car back and repaired it, but it’s always felt ‘tainted’ since then. I’ve noticed it has less ‘oomph’ with the internal combustion engine. Since newer-than-mine Priuses were affordable, today I bought a 2010 Toyota Prius from the local VW/Audi dealership.

The controls and displays are rather different from the two 2005 Priuses I’ve had. It will take some getting used to The interior is leather, which I finds a little slippery. I’ve never seen a Prius with a moonroof, but this one has one. It opens electrically, and there is a manually-operated opaque shield in the interior if you want to keep out the sun.

One thing that baffles me is the JBL audio system. As you can see in the image, there are CD controls. But blind me if I can’t find anywhere to put a CD in! So I looked it up. I had to go right out (in the rain) and try it. Then I had to show The Spousal Unit.

Anyway, I have a darkish metallic grey Prius that is five years newer than the white one, with an updated body style. It does have 234,000 miles on it, but that’s at least 100,000 miles fewer than the 2005 one.

They gave me $500 on the 2005. A little irksome, since that new catalytic converter cost a couple of kilobucks. Damn. Old White is worth more in parts than it is as a vehicle.

ETA: Plus tax and documentatin fees, minus the trade-in, it came to $5,060.

I was going to make split pea soup for supper tonight, but Mrs Magill had a better idea, so we loaded up Chloé and went to the local brewery for a burger and beer, then we went and got ice cream.

Kind of weird, seeing my severance package reduced so. :frowning:

Pretty fast close, which was nice. S.M. was still out sick. No interpersonal problems, so that was also quite nice.

Monkey shot out the door when I got home before I’d even opened it five inches. Ah, well, he came back. Hope he enjoyed the wet, chilly darkness (it rained earlier) but as long as he’s home safe, that’s all that matters.

Bedtime now, gotta do it all again tomorrow.

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN ‘Tis 55 Amurrkin out and clear with a predicted high of 86 and sunny. The big item on today’s agenda is deheathenization in which I have Verger duty. This means I serve at both services. Envy me! After that we shall pickup stoner food and take it back to da cave. The rest of the day is reserved for RDOS inactivities.

FlyBoy conga rats on the new to you ride! May you enjoy it for many years to come.

shoe hooray for easy close and less drama at irk!

Rocker Happy Orthodox Easter!

Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then purtification for deheathenization must commence.

Happy Sunday Y’all!

Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off today. The usual morning cleaning and afternoon sloth is on the agenda. Spot is watching his shows.

< The Knights Who Say Ni! like this post >

Yeah.

Yay!

Suddenly flashed on the old commercial “Time to make the donuts…” Or is that before your time?

Woke to 47 Ferrets. We might creep up to 70-ish today, then four days of upper 80s/low 90s, which is stoopit beyond measure! It’s just April, dammit!

I had a dream with Rue in it - we were in a shabby waiting room (dunno if it was a bus station or a dentist office or what.) I was feeling a bit chilly and he loaned me a cardigan. That was pretty much it. I’m sure there’s some deep significance to it, but too deep for me to figger out. On the plus side, I had a good sleep and didn’t wake till nearly 7, so yay!

Today’s plan is back to the boat. I’ll be prepping the aft cabin for paint since FCD will be working in the engine room again so all the floor panels will be out. Theoretically I’ll also finally sell the car seat that I’ve had on Marketplace for some weeks. (Don’t panic - I looked it up and there are no recalls, plus the tag gives an expiration date of 2031.) The woman who wants it lives in Lusby, which is right next to Solomons which is where our boat is. So she’ll come to the marina instead of having to drive 25 miles to our house.

Question for my fellow RDOS crew, and anyone else for that matter - do you use Zelle or any of those other personal pay apps? I’ve had 2 people ask me that for buying stuff I’ve listed on Marketplace. I think I tried Zelle once with my sister and it was more hassle than it was worth. Plus I don’t want my banking info attached to apps, thanks. And get off my lawn, dammit!!!

Anyway, caffeination shall continue while my sweetie snoozes, then we’ll begin our day. Happy Sunday!

Afternoon, mumpers! It’s currently 10c/50f with a predicted high of 11c/51f and cloudy. Weather app says “Your moves are fucking weak, sun. You fucking need to do better than this.”

I like that one! I get it a lot too, always used to be the night before going onto campus and I used to put it down to stressing about travel but these days it’s all bloody menopause!

Looking forward to seeing the pics on FB when you get time to post some. Have a great time!

It’s often on my mind to say something like that to her, but reading through her file I found that her previous Performance Improvement Plan had included things about leaving the past in the past. She hasn’t learned from that one and my plan is to just ignore it all.

Is it possible they were trying to be kind and thought you didn’t need that stress in your life?

Congrats on the new ride! That CD system would baffle me too, what a bizarre place to put it.

Yesterday was a fun day out for us. We had a quick lunch at home (sausage butties!), made sure the cats had extra food to last them the entire afternoon and evening, then got ourselves to KK’s for day 2 of Mayor’s Fest. We were there in time for the first band who were doing a short acoustic performance before going on to a full gig elsewhere in the evening. Since we decided not to go elsewhere for food and just had a burger at the venue, we managed to see all of the bands. Met some friends, chatted to strangers, chatted to some of the bands, bought some merch (‘im indoors let me know about a couple of things he wanted so I got them for his birthday) and generally had a very good time. There were a couple of surprises during the day, as it’s Mayor’s Fest there was a visit from the Mayor who gave a little speech to thank everyone for showing up and supporting both live music and his charities. He hung around for quite a while afterwards, just walking around and chatting to people. Second surprise was a collaboration with the headline band and the singer from another of the bands who’d been on earlier.

We Uber’d home afterwards and, channelling shoe, we decided to get some pizza. ‘im indoors went down to the pizza shop while I sorted out litter trays and gave the cats some extra food. He came back and said the pizza man had said he’d missed us as we’ve not ordered from there for a while!

We up and about, cats are fed and fussed, and we’re getting ready for Day 3. Today there are five acoustic performances at the Giffard, then three full electric ones upstairs. Better get a move on, I’ve just been told it’s time to get some food sorted out!

Afternoon all.

Hope you’re having a good trip MetalMouse, Portugal is on my Short List for places to visit next. Glad the irk drama wasn’t too bad Shoe, I’ve never quite understood why catering places always seem to have the most drama-full irkplaces, though to be truthful, the research centre I’m at is also regularly at highschool level.

Tis overcast but not yet wet and not too chilly here today, so a little pottering outside will probably happen, but mostly I should be defilthifying the place. I’ll get on it any minute now. Honest.

I do need to clear out some cupboard space, ‘cos I’m picking up a camping stove off a recent former student who’s leaving this evening. May wind up getting some more plants off her as well… though where I’ll put them I have no idea. As this is my first proper year having a polytunnel (basically a walk-in size plastic greenhouse for those who are unfamiliar), I’ve maybe gone a tiny bit overboard with the seed sowing; there are plants growing on on pretty much every windowsill of the house, waiting for the nights to reliably warm up enough to go out there, and I’m not done yet… It should only be a few more weeks, but the season here is so short it’s the only sensible way to do it. Seeds are dirt cheap, while starter plants are often hugely overpriced and the selection is rubbish.

In a Portuguese hamburger restaurant in Sintra and why didn’t somebody tell me that Portugal is full of hills? Not missing out on my cardio workout I tell you! Saw one castle (rich man’s home trying to impress royalty) and still to see an old Moorish castle which looks much more interesting. More pictures forthcoming if I don’t wear out my battery. But temps are in the 50/60F range and windy so no sunbathing on this vacation.

Take care all

Spot, enjoying his shows this morning:

Re: The car.

I had a grocery net spanning the rear opening of the 2005’s cargo area. My previous 2005 had one. When I got the white one, it didn’t have the upper D-rings, and I had to have them installed. The 2010 also doesn’t have them. I’ve read that Toyota decided to make the net horizontal on the floor of the cargo area (the car did come with the envelope net), which seems un-useful. I’ll have to figure something out.

The side mirror remote adjustment doesn’t seem to be functioning. I can sometimes move the left one up and down, and a couple of times left and right. Can’t move the right one. That will need to be addressed.

Not sure about the headlights. When I turn them on, they look like ‘driving lights’. When I flash the high beams, the main part of the headlights light up. Maybe just both lamps are burned out?

I’ve ordered a stainless steel catalytic converter shield, which I will have installed.

I think an app is the only way you’re going to use Zelle. It’s an automatic part of my CU app. I’ve used it a couple of times to pay someone and receive a payment once a month. It’s not difficult to use. Given that my primary accounts are located in Tennessee, my CU app is the way to go. Usually, your banking app requires that you have some kind of a phone lock in addition to a strong password for the app.

:heart:

Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and fixing to do KP. Not a whole lot shaking today.

Stay safe and healthy y’all!

Mornin’ all.

It’s 47F, damp, and cloudy. It is forecast to remain cloudy throughout the day, with some showers interspersed, and a daytime high of 58F.

Metal Mouse, I saw the pics you posted yesterday (day before?) on the Book of Faces. I look forward to more as time allows you.

Shoe, I’m glad last night was much calmer.

Flyboy, congrats on the new rig!

I don’t have anything on the agenda other than some rollsucking and dusting. Well, dusting first, then rollsucking.

I had another restless night, so I’m kind of tired today. I should see if we still have some melatonin around here and take some tonight when I go to bed.

That’s about all that’s going on in my little corner of the world. You all take care.

I use Zelle via my bank’s website. I’ve done it on a laptop and on the bank’s app.

Rain predicted for later. I will visit Ariel but my back is bothering me so no riding. Then sloth.

Pancakes for breakfast. We used to split that recipe across five of us. The three of us are now very full. The nest is emptying.

Flyboy - On my old 2014 Prius V, the running lights were the high beams, if that helps.

I had Zelle first and used it without problems for several years. It was through my local bank and was accessed through my online banking account app on my ipad, not a separate app on my phone. I still use it occasionally.

For the past year or so I have used Venmo more, mostly for piddly little amounts for FaceBook Marketplace transactions. Again, no problems over lots of transactions.

Venmo is a subsidiary of Paypal and theoretically is more secure than Zelle, more like a credit card than a debit card and you have more recourse if something goes awry just as you do with credit card transactions vs debit card transactions. In my area far more people use Venmo than Zelle for FB Marketplace. You could always link it to a small account with only a hundred $ in it to make any missteps harmless. Taking Venmo payments for FB MP sales does away with annoying no shows and people wanting you to hold things for them. If they want it held they can do that by Venmoing you. Also prevents them haggling with you if they do show up eventually with cash and facilitates no contact porch pickups, you never have to deal with them directly.

it can’t have been very hard to set up Venmo on my account if I could do it.

[full disclosure: my daughter is a senior legal counsel for Paypal and has handled some international contracts for Venmo in Europe for them, not that that has ever done me any good]