I survived my Long Night shift, and there were not one but two bunnies in my yard when I finally got home.
That’s all for now, the rest will hafta wait until I’ve gotten food and sleep.
(Wish I had advice for ya, Mortimus.)
Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffeinatin’. YAWN 'Tis 56 Amurrkin out and mostly cloudy with a predicted high of 64 with light rain predicted for later this afternoon. We shall see. The big item on today’s agenda is deheathenization, I have Verger duty, followed by a return to da cave for a leftover N.O.L. with much sloth to ensue. That feels like enough for one day.
Morty Remy does not so much have issues and subscriptions, it seems. Good on you and Mrs. Morty for takin’ her in though. No advice from me, but here’s hopin’ things get better.
shoe glad you survived irk. Eat and rest.
Now I need more caffeine and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, purtification for deheathenization must commence.
Happy Sunday Y’all!
Morning, mumpers! It’s 0c/32f with no predicted change today, and cloudy. Yes, it’s cloudy and there’s white stuff falling out of the sky!! Who ordered snow? Weather app says “It’s fucking gloomier than a handjob that’s lubricated by tears”. I’d agree with that, it’s a day for staying at home in front of the fire, I was supposed to be going out to do some fundraising at a local pet store but that’s been cancelled as the roads are getting bad. It’s a well-known fact that Brits and snow just don’t mix!
Slept till after 5 - Nyquil always knocks me out! Coughing is sporadic, nose is less drippy - dare I hope this cold is nearly over? I’ll still mask when out and about, tho. And I need to go out and about today - for milk, since I didn’t know I was almost out when I went shopping yesterday. Dammit.
Morty - at the risk of suggesting the most obvious that you may have tried, there are several sites that deal with training a skittish dog. I skimmed a couple and while it looks like you’ve already tried several of the techniques they recommended, maybe you’ll find the magical answer… Other than that, I got nothing. What I do have is some sort of animal magnetism - critters seem to like me, especially when I’m on my recliner. 
BIL is likely making his nurses, etc, crazy. He’s being tube-fed because he can’t swallow. Hence, he’s restrained in his bed, which infuriates him. He doesn’t believe he’s been having seizures. Apparently everyone is lying to him. His kidneys are functioning, barely, and I don’t know if they’ve done any neurological scans and stuff yet. FCD was so fried when he got home.
Then while we were chilling last night, MIL called. FIL has taken to either hiding things or throwing them away. Like going into the kitchen drawers and just throwing things into the trash. He hid MIL’s phone. FCD told her to take their phones and put them between the mattress and foundation. Oh, and FIL was also threatening to call the police - he doesn’t believe MIL is his wife… but she still refuses to consider help for him. Is it wrong to want to shake an old lady??
I think FIL has a neuro appointment this week - fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, I never did clean the critter fountain or get the tree out - guess that will be on today’s agenda. Along with some general tidying and cleaning. And further reading of the trashy novels. OMG, this author is obsessed with scents - all her characters do all day is sniff each other!!! 
And she refuses to use the word money - it’s either coin or blunt or groat ??? And the stories are soooo predictable. And, yes, I keep reading them. It’s harmless, mindless escapism. Fortunately, I’ve read just about all the crap of hers that’s in our library. I’ll have to find another series of cheezy reading.
Happy Sunday! Two weeks till Christmas…
No Krampus in Switzerland.
In central Switzerland, the first hints of Christmas are the lanterns in the local shop windows. This will start a few days before the first Sunday in Advent. Many of them are hand-made and are brought out year after year. The one at my gym is from 1986, one of the oldest used in the big parade is around 100 years old.
Then there’s the sound of whips. Yes, whips. Here’s someone practicing. It’s only boys and men.
Then there’s the group of white-shirted men with really big cow bells (Trychler)*, walking through the bigger towns - I’ve seen (and heard!) them in Luzern and Engelberg. They are loud.
In the days before December 6th there are sightings of Samichlaus and Schmützli, lights and noise.
Samichlaus, aka Santa Claus, aka St. Nicholas, is the one who brings gifts to the children. Wears a red robe, something similar to a bishop’s robe, with a white beard.
Schmütlzi (schmutz = dirt), is the demon who will take the naughty children to the woods. Wears dark brown robe, and might even wear devil horns and use black makeup to make their face dirty. This is not the same as blackface.
Parents with young children can sign up to have Samichlaus and Schmützli come visit their home. The children are expected to recite a poem and then they will get a small gift, often a bag with mandarin oranges, peanuts and chocolates. See here for a picture of a typical Samichlaus/Schmützi pair, along with their donkey. Our town’s Samichlaus and Schmützli do not travel with a donkey. At least they didn’t have one with them this year.
If you don’t want strangers in your home, or want to celebrate with others, there’s the possibility to go to a mini-Chlausjagen (Santa Claus chase), which is the home visit, but scaled up, and includes whips and lanterns.
And then there is the Küssnachter Klausjagen (the Santa Claus chase in Küssnacht. This is attended by 20,000 people in a town that only has 13,000 residents.
Here’s a short video from this year’s festival:
And if you thought you would escape the whole thing, you can’t. If you work in a company in central Switzerland, you will receive Santa bags with peanuts, chocolates, cookies and gingerbread. Many people also buy Grittibänz (Christmas bread man), or even make their own.
After December 6th, there are Christmas markets, snow (we have snow!) and getting ready for December 24th, when the Christkindl (Christ child aka Baby Jesus) brings Christmas gifts.
*In the past few years there is a small group of Freizeittrychler. They wear shirts with anti-vax slogans, etc. The group I linked has a comment on their home page specifically distancing themselves from the anti-vax group.
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JtC, I hope that your mom’s trip home is good. Have you brought up having her stay with you to her and your husband?
shady, there’s a GSD / chi mix who comes to our dog park. The sire was an ambitious chi and mama the GSD. She looks like a ~30# German shepherd, but has the curled up tail of the chi. She’s a high energy sweetheart.
seanette, fortunately, Nelson can’t reach the counter and cant jump forward that high. He doesn’t even bother to jump onto come chairs that he easily could. Guess I got lucky.
I have no advice about Remy for you morty, other than to consult a dog trainer or vet. I hope that he comes around though.
Up, caffeinating, breakfasted and have a little reddish dog in my lap. I think that, while he enjoyed Charlie and Della’s visit, he kind of likes having me to himself (spoiled little guy).
I’ll get around to KP and the Sunday chores shortly. I need to put the acorn squash in the oven to pre-bake so that they can be stuffed for supper. I should make a batch of apple muffins and maybe a small crock of applesauce. I bought a bag of apples at Aldi (against my better judgment, as their produce is often not up to my standards). When I got them home, I found that most of the 3# bag had bruises.
Stay safe and health y’all!
Good morning everyone, 50F here, and not much improvement expected. Got over an inch of rain in the last 24, but it’s supposed to taper off. Much cooler predicted, and it might be time to re-light the fireplace.
Thank you for the good advice Boo (in the rest of your post, didn’t want to quote the whole thing). The vision and neck problems were occurring before the wreck, but seemed to be more prominent after. I think the MRI and CT results will show some chronic and some acute – but the accident didn’t originate any of the issues. I’m pretty sure there’s no TBI or my docs would’ve mentioned it already. I have a serious concussion (with unconsciousness) in my past, so even that would have a history, if it goes that way. The other driver had the bare minimum of liability coverage, and we’ll use most of that just getting everything fixed. If more is needed, we’ll see what can be done, but my best guess is there’s no more blood in that stone (if you get my drift).
Catching up (I know it’s Sunday, but I’m workin’ on it!):
Shoe: glad to hear you’re getting past the crud, hope it continues. And that GC pans out.
sari: No idea who to cheer for in the dog dramas, so I’ll pick you. I’ve begun taking my 10 lb. Chi mix on walks at our local park every day, and there have been a few times I’ve scooped him up because of irresponsible (big dog) owners.
Mooom: No idea what to say to help, other than we’re all here. I’m just starting my turn in this barrel, with oldster(s) who want to maintain control of everything, and I have no idea what their wants or needs are when I (inevitably) end up calling the shots. I dread this, and hope for the best for you.
Sorry to anyone I missed, but I’ll try to keep up better next week.
Around here, daughter and Schrodinger’s Douchebag are still at odds, I’m hoping it ends completely. Truck has been moved to the back of the lot out of everyone’s way, until the appointment next year at the shop.
One visit with my PCP remains, and one lab tomorrow. All the aches and pains are subsiding, and my eye feels normal (or as normal as before). Maybe it was a false alarm, but all docs say it wasn’t.
Tree is up, but we cheat. It’s a fake tree with the lights already installed and wired. I bought this because I couldn’t find a model that automatically retracts into the floor with a switch. I hate going through dragging boxes off the garage shelves and assembly / disassembly every year. But the family likes it so I go along.
Most Christmas shopping is done, but i need to find stocking stuffers for wife and daughter. Stuff for son is already enroute to the northern hinterlands (we bought him a pair of snowblowers, one big, one small).
Hope the final hours of the week go well for all. See ya Monday!
My sister had a dog that started exhibiting bizarre behavior like that. Turned out it had a brain tumor and had to be euthanized.
Here’s the deal - I’m not seeking legal advice, just wondering if anyone knows the answer to this.
Daughter is our sole heir. When we die, and assuming there’s still a mortgage on this house, could she just continue to make the payments or would she have to pay it off/refinance it? We don’t have mortgage insurance, but there are other funds that would cover the balance, so no worries about that. I just wondered how that would work. We refinanced in 2020 for 25 years, and while it’s possible one or both of us will live till 2045… I’m not sure what to Google to get the answer.
Overcast, dreary day. FCD is still abed. I’m having a cup of tea - it seems to soothe my throat. I foresee some serious laziness today.
Morning all. Woke up and decided the heck with watching my weight, I’m going to Krispy Kreme. So an hour and six glazed donuts later, I am mildly fatter than I was but sooooo much happier. Still a gloomy, rainy day that won’t see the temperatures above 60F, so not much activity planned.
Morty, quite a tail on that doggo. I would suggest a Vet visit (especially if you have a female vet) if the strange behavior towards your wife continues and/or gets worse. Good luck.
Dicey, much thanks for the info on Christmas in Switzerland; with it all the commercialization here in the US of A things tend to be the same everyplace, nice to see some other traditions.
FCM, I can’t see FIL staying out of a home too much longer…sad, but it may have to be done before something tragic happens.
…and soon there will be 4, then 8, then soon the Rabbit Apocalypse…
{{JtC}}. Hope Mom-unit comes to the same conclusion you do. Best Wishes.
Hippie, quite a story with the Heath Care folks. Ought to publish it in the Not Always Right webpage: Newest - Funny & True Stories | NotAlwaysRight.com
OK, onward with the day. Have a good one all.
We were watching something on TV last night, when the picture froze. Then the cable box started doing its reboot thing. We switched over to stream something on Prime. We noticed the box said ‘boot’ for a very long time. When the LED display went off, the blue circle around the power button was off too. Apparently our cable box died. (And yes, I’ve tried different outlets.)
I guess I’ll be spending a couple of hours on the phone waiting to talk to, and talking to Xfinity.
Up, caffeinated, and sheveled. Off today. It’s 44 and overcast. And since it’s N.C., it’s 2-3 inches of leaves, not snow on the ground.
A Very Devo Christmas
You’re reading a trashy novel written by a beagle. 
Sounds like a vet visit is in order.
Good morning everyone.
It’s currently 41 degrees with an expected high of 46 and cloudy skies all day. Starting tomorrow, temps are supposed to drop for a while, but it will be drier.
Morty, I also recommend the vet assessment. Is Remy in her senior years now? I ask because I’ve noted that Polar does not handle change, ANY change well. He’s very, very, very set in his routine and if there is some change, it takes him a couple of days to get over it. I hope an answer is found. It’s hard adopting a dog with issues. Polar definitely had them, and my Brandi (who passed a couple of years ago now) also had issues. She was resource guarder of the first order, but a complete love bug most of the time. However, car rides and new places stressed her out considerably. After getting out of the rig, she’d spend 15 minutes stress-pooping everywhere. Once she became a senior dog, she exhibited some of the behavior you are describing with Remy, but not the growling thing. The first time we saw it, she was about 10. She’d started having accidents and it turns out she had a UTI, which meds cleared up.
FCM, at some point, FiL is going to inadvertently hurt MiL. He is going to have be in a home. I wish your MiL could see that. Glad you’ve turned the corner on your cold.
JtC, sending hugs and good wishes concerning your Mom. My kids and I were discussing my mother just yesterday. We have serious concerns about her memory, but for now, my sister has been checking in on her and taking her to the doctor, etc. I noted a lot of dust on her car when we were there on T-giving, so she’s not driving and that’s good. At some point, she is going to require more than just checking in, and my mother desperately doesn’t want to live in a home. I don’t know what the answer will be for her, but I am sure we are going to have to reach a decision in the next couple of years.
The birthday celebration for my son turned out quite nicely. It was loud and raucous with the grandkids squealing, running, and playing with Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle B, but it was good. Everyone enjoyed the dinner and it was just nice being together. I’ll be sending my son home with some of the leftovers today. He stayed the night to hang out with us. He and his Dad have a great time together and that’s always good to see too.
I don’t have much on the agenda, I think a day of sloth will pretty much happen. Friday and Saturday turned out to be very busy days with chores, cleaning, errands, the birthday celebration, etc. Tonight is also Trash TV night, so that’ll happen too.
I hope you have an easy day.
That would explain a lot!
FCD has begun the process to get him into the local VA facility. MIL hates the idea, but she’ll come around… or end up in the hospital herself. Better to have her pissed at us that the alternatives.
Now is the time to start considering alternatives. Our biggest issue is that we waited so long (MIL waited too long to agree.) Maybe there’s a senior apartment facility that will be a good compromise - the one we were hoping to get his folks into has a waiting list, but it would have been great - 24 hour staff, common areas designed for seniors, being around people of the same age. They’re still on the waiting list, but I expect FIL may die before a unit comes open. Anyway, the sooner you resolve it, the better. End of unsolicited advice.
I got some fruit for the grands, and when I dropped it all off, I got hug from both, tho Roxy retreated to the couch with her tablet and headphones shortly thereafter. Kids!!! They’re both acting like the normally do, so that’s encouraging.
I just ran the vacuum around the common areas, then brought the tree and ornaments upstairs. Still need to do the critter fountain.
And if anyone is interested, Canada Dry Cranberry Ginger Ale is kinda meh. I’ll drink it since I paid for it, but definitely meh.
Onward to clean the fountain!
That was my Uncle with early onset Alzheimer’s. My Aunt had to lock herself in a room to escape his rages. Finally it was their kids that said enough and forced the issue and had him admitted.
At some point the kid glove treatment has to end. We let my mom call the shots and watched her decline into misery filth and alcoholism. We all lived out of state. Every month one of us would fly down to pick up the pieces. Untenable situation. We had to pull rank and stick handle them both into assisted living for their own good. Mom wasn’t happy but nothing made her happy anymore and she was safe, cared for and with her honey. Dad thrived there after 18 months in a nursing home. Staff loved his cheerfulness, though unbelievably he had a few fisticuffs with another resident who routinely disrespected staff with racist comments. Dad told him to knock it off and next thing you know they’re grappling like little boys. Dad would chuckle about it.
It is not easy and before AL we often we we’re just waiting for something terrible to happen and it often did.
A technician is scheduled to come out tomorrow afternoon. I’m on the waiting list for 13:00 to 15:00 today. I think I’ll drive to town and make the box swap myself.
Uh-oh! Those things tend to multiply like…rabbits. 
There was a neighborhood near our old house in the valley where a couple of domestic bunnies escaped, or were let loose, and after a couple of years the city had to send animal control out to trap 40 or 50 bunnies.
I told y’all the snow melted. Well, it’s snowing again. ^sigh^
Mom, have you tried reading Lisa Kleypas? Her books are cheesy romance novels too but she’s actually a really good writer. (And a family friend).
Wifey buys bags of apples, and other veg, at Grocery Outlet to feed the deer that sleep under our deck. Sometimes I wish she wouldn’t, 'cause our back yard is always full of deer poop. 
Yays, boos, hugs, etc.
Y’all be careful out there.
My tree:
I used maybe a third of the ornaments I have - Just didn’t want to mess with too much. I have a box full of little toy ornaments, but they’re really small and frankly, more of a hassle than they’re worth.
The lights are fiber optic - but the Dope won’t let me post a video, so, oh well. I’ll put it on my FB if anyone cares.
Dishes are done, fountain is clean, cat hair, etc, has been vacuumed up. FCD is going for a nap and I’m going to go read for a while.
I love your curtains, FCM! Very unique and stylish!
Remy is four years old. She has been to our vet on a regular basis for shots, checkups etc. BTW, vet is female and I can’t get Remy into the car so Mrs. Morty has to take her. Being male, I’ve made a point of not being around for the transportation process. She doesn’t get bitey but she isn’t exactly cooperative. I’m told it was a rather daunting experience.
Vet had nothing to say about the dog’s behavior but then perhaps my wife never mentioned that it was an issue. I really don’t know what happened at the last vet visit. I can’t deal with the dog to get her to the vet, Mrs. Morty does all the vet dealings.