My very dear cousin is coming up today from the DC area to go to the beach and stay overnight. We’ll walk the boards tonight and listen to some great blues music.

I’m nervous but also excited about driving up to a new area that to look at a house that I might be moving to. It’s an 8 acre property and if things work out it could be a great move for me.
I’ll know after viewing it on Weds.

A few hours ago my neighor’s dog bit a great big hole in my privacy screen. Not good, but it is a great big one. I mended the fence, again. That’s the good news.

@Coloma Good luck!

@snowberry I’m so sorry you have to deal with that pain in the ass dog.

I was just thinking that it was time!

i was supposed to meet a long time friend for breakfast today. I got to the restaurant about 15 minutes early. I had my PC with me so I was able to relax and answer emails and Fluther while I waited. I called him about 30 minutes after the meeting time and he had forgotten! I enjoyed a Denny’s Classic Grand Slam, (2 eggs toast 2 bacon and 2 sausage) while goofing off and fluthering. Nice.
Now we’ll meet next week – and he is buying!

@janbb Thanks!
@snowberry PITA!
@LuckyGuy I recently splurged on eggs benedict which I hadn’t had in about 10 years, it was sublime!

Another perfect day in an long string. May they continue. The house wren has taken up residence in a large gourd my bro-in-law drilled a hole in so it is now officially a wren house. It sings a song about 100 times bigger than it is, enhancing the sights and aromas of the morning. The wild roses continue to perfume the air. I’ll pet Milo, have a chew on some mint, and feel happy that I have satisfied the five senses without even moving from a deck chair or spending any money.

The weather is just perfect. It’s overcast and cool. What a relief from this weekend!

After a night of squalls off Hispaniola, Mike woke me to take my turn at the tiller. The sky in the east was clear with Venus and a crescent moon hanging just above the horizon. Strong black Cuban coffee—we ran out of leche and sugar days ago—and hot buttered English muffins with mango marmalade. I’m studiously watching the sonar for a rumored seamount in the area as the sun comes up. Seamounts are islands of life in the middle of nowhere, little siesmic gifts to hungry sailors.

We encountered a pod of playful dolphins yesterday just before the weather hit. A manta flew four feet into the air and bellyflopped about twenty yards off port just after daybreak today (that’s how they rid themselves of parasites). These are good signs. I should be seeing schools of menhaden, blue runners, mackerel and baracuda soon, if we’re anywhere close.

We’ll dive it today, if I can find it. Leatherbacks as big Volkswagens a guy said. You have to hide behind the mast to bait your hook. And whale sharks. Big stuff welling up from the deep when the cool undercurrent run up against this eruption on the seabed and push all of it to the top. I’ll be happy with a big Bonita for dinner. And if we don’t find it, there is always the Isla. It is going to be a great day.

Tonight, we should be moored between Cabo Beata and Isla Beata if it storms. We could both use some rest. I’ve downloaded all of Yes, Prime Minister just in case Tarot poker and double malt isn’t interesting enough.

^^^ Wow. Well. We had a big storm yesterday, too, and lost our electricity for 10 minutes. So there!

@Espiritus_Corvus Have you ever thought about auditioning for the survival show ” Naked and Afraid”?
Spear that Bonita while fighting off sharks underwater. I’d tie up your dangling lure though, why tempt fate? lol

@Espiritus_Corvus And I was happy with a Denny’s breakfast. I am so ashamed. :-)

If you make it to Cabo and Isla tonight and the sky is clear (and I did the calcs right) you have a satellite flare at Jun 23, 19:51:50 Magnitude -2.5, Altitude 67°, Azimuth 109° (ESE) Satellite Iridium 55 Center line 16 km (E)
Ten seconds before time look for a moving star that gets brighter and brighter, peaks at the stated time. then fades away. It will be moving North to South and the end two stars in the handle of the Big Dipper will point to it.
Enjoy!
Or is it 20:51:50 your time?

@LuckyGuy Thank you! That is really cool of you. There is a thin stormline crawling in from the W right now, but there’s a High pushing in from the S, so I’m hoping it will give us clear skies at about that time—in a few hours. It will be close, though. I’ll let you know how it worked out. Thanks again, LG.

^^ I love the tales from the old man of the sea.

Hey! Watch that old man stuff!

Remember to be looking at the right spot at the right time. Use a GPS clock. With your arm extended, your fist is about 10 degrees. 90 degrees of azimuth is straight up so 67 degrees would be about two fist widths away from straight up or 7 fists up from the horizon.

I made a guess at your GPS location based upon your description. I might be a little off – but not more than 4 seconds. ;-)

Won a free coffee at Tim Horton’s. That rocks.

My Relocation Assistance Agent finally agreed that lakefront is an amenity and is rewriting my benefit package. Yay!

@LuckyGuy I’m Atlantic Standard Time, AST is the same as EDT = GMT/UTC/Zulu – 4hrs. Anyway I missed it. Too much high cloud cover and probably too sunlight much sunlight at that hour. But thanks, buddy.

@janbb Now, now, young lady.

Hey, wait a minute. Your French quip is gone due to poor writing standards! I’ll have the mods know that was perfectly good French. Is this done by bots, or something? We can’t use foreign languages? There needs to be an adjustment here. I’M TELLIN’ GAIL!!

Yeah – WTF!

I had written “Je le voudrais” in response to a remark of Espiritus’ and it was modded off for writing standards.(?)

Successfully made a wish-you-good-luck card for my friend. She is going for an important competition. She was very happy and promised to keep my card safe.

[Mod says] The writing standards state that ”all content must use proper English”; therefore, comments in other languages do not meet the writing standards. Sometimes they are allowed – for example, if the question is asking something about another language. It is possible that there are comments in other languages should have been moderated, but were missed because we didn’t see it and no one flagged it.

I am in Florida visiting family. I love the beaches here! The smell of the ocean air, the sound of the waves and the beautiful picture of the beach. Absolute heaven.

!

@hearkat I’m frying a lot bigger fish these day than Fluther moderation and won’t get my knickers in a twist but….writing standards? When I write in English, my writing is excellent, when I wrote in French, I used both the reflexive and the future conditional perfectly. And anyone who felt excluded, could Google translate my words if they cared. As you say, many others have used languages other than English and while you may say, it was just because they weren’t caught, I always felt it added to the edginess and flavor of Fluther. There is a literalness here at times that is deadening.

I am not a bitcher and moaner and I won’t ask a gazillion questions about this or take my marbles and go home, but I do think the emphasis was on “proper” and not “English” in that diktat.

^ Exactly. Taking the guideline literally, moderating @janbb‘s post was legitimate – but I’d argue that Bendrew did not intend it to be enforced in this manner. I hope so, at least, as I love learning little snippets of a foreign language. Fluther itself regularly tells me I have “a certain je ne sais quoi”. Fluther is smart, diverse, and different. It should stay that way.

If you people keep this mindless, ham-fisted style of enforcement up, there will be nobody but moderators left in here—ones who only write good ol’ murkin fer thuh murkins. It will be so safe and unoffensive, and oh, so interesting.

*So, do you like your burgers with or without onions? (see follow up question below)P

F/U Question: And if you like them with, do you brush your teeth after, or use a breath mint?
Disclaimer: This in no way is meant to offend all those gross people who eat onions!

~P.S. Only girls can answer this question!

@Espiritus_Corvus Good girls or nice girls?

Mods have the ability to reinstate posts. They choose not to here. I believe that this adamant enforcement is nothing more than a reluctance to be pushed around… And not because they made the correct choice.
The correct action could be, “OK, we see your point. Reinstated.”

Pointing out that even Fluther comments to jellies “je ne sais quoi” was the clincher, really.

I finally learned the meaning of je ne sais quoi

I don’t know if that’s something great, but it is good, right?

At least this will stop the dialog in Finnish that @blondesjon and I indulged in for a long time, which I am sure everyone found tedious. There is a wonderful French song called “Madame Arthur” which raises the question of why Mme. A, wit nothing special about her (ordinary figure, small eyes, turned-up noseA) did so well in her life…title, money, chateaux, distinguished lovers. It was because of her e ne sais quoi. Here, sung by Yvette Guilbert

[Mod says]: We are going to review this situation. There are several issues that are coming into play right now regarding the foreign language posts. First and foremost, the mods do not speak every language and cannot tell what meets Fluther’s guidelines (from grammar to off topic chatter to attacks). Second, online translators are not always accurate, so even when we try to look the information up online, we may find incorrect information. Third, English is the only language Futher was technically designed (programmed) to support.

In regards to the above quip that was removed, @janbb you said, “when I wrote in French, I used both the reflexive and the future conditional perfectly…could Google translate my words if they cared”. Well, I did exactly that. I copy and pasted your post (“Je le voudraiis.”) into the google translator and it gave me this: “I voudraiis.” Okay, obviously that can’t be what you said, so I then tried to just google the phrase you typed (once again copy/pasting exactly what you said). When I googled it, google recommended the spelling “Je le voudrais.” (which implies that perhaps you spelled it wrong) and offered no meaning for the phrase as you typed it. So then I went back to the google translator with the phrase “Je le voudrais.” and was given the translation of “I’d like.”, which really doesn’t seem to fit either as it seems like it is missing something.

What exactly did you mean by your phrase? I’m asking because I want to see if there is any translator that gives me an exact meaning of what you wrote.

@Seaofclouds and @hearkat I am glad that the mods are reviewing this policy. If you look in the old Fluther questions, you will find much French, much Latin, some Greek, and several other languages. Those exchanges were light years beyond the common dialogue of today. I would be heartbroken if Fluther was dumbed down even further.

@Seaofclouds Did I have one “I” in voudrais originally or two? Yes, it should have been one but the translation I would expect is “I’d like it.” My French is not perfect (despite my sanctimonious claim, as gail has informed me) so “writing standards” may apply but the larger point still holds. (@Espiritus_Corvus had written “Watch that old man stuff” and my answer was “I’d like it.”) That is not the reason that was given for the modding. People on here far more erudite than I – mattbrowne and whitenoise and rebbel come to mind – use foreign phrases often and it adds to the fun and flavor of the site.

I like what @marinelife said, “Don’t dumb it down further.” And I know you guys really try and I know it is a labor of love, but I love it here too.

And if @thorninmud is around, I would be happy to have my French edited so that the remark was correct.

@marinelife We don’t retroactively mod content, so any old posts would remain.

@janbb You had two “I“s in your post. While I understand your concern about the “larger point”, I hope you understand the position it puts us in regarding the issues I mentioned above. The use of translators is not always accurate and asking the OP may not be either. For example, say someone posts a comment in another language and it’s flagged as an attack (let’s say being called an asshole). We use the google translator and come up with something that doesn’t make sense but contains a word that could be an attack (ass). We ask the OP for clarification of the comment and they say they were saying something else. Do we remove it or not? How do we explain to one user that we just don’t believe them when their understanding of the language in question may have been better than ours? How are we suppose to fairly and consistently move forward? What about spelling, grammar, and punctuation? How are we suppose to know what meets are guidelines if we don’t know the languages? I doesn’t seem fair for users to see content in their native language that doesn’t meet guidelines remain when we then removed their content for not meeting our guidelines when it isn’t even their native language.

Now before you (general you) say we have to look at the individual instances, let me remind you that the Fluther community gets very upset when we try to look at individual instances of things and claims we are inconsistent. We are trying to make things as consistent as possible and individual instances require special consideration and may vary from one mod to the next. I’m not stating this as a deterrent to finding a fix, but to help users that have suggestions understand the things the mods have to take into consideration when making decisions. We value the input from the community and would love ideas to help make the process smooth for all members of the community.

So now, tell me something great that happened to you today?

(But I will say – and my last remark on the subject – that if you are looking to follow the original founders’ intent, it might be worth considering that all those foreign language posts were deemed acceptable in the more lively days of Fluther. ‘Nuff said.)

@Seaofclouds I think you deserve a lot of credit for going the extra mile to do what you think was right. There! That’s something nice that happened to you today! :-)

After I read your post above and saw all the effort you put in ”( copy and pasted your post (“Je le voudraiis.”) into the google translator and it gave me this: “I voudraiis.” Okay, obviously that can’t be what you said, so I then tried to just google the phrase you typed (once again copy/pasting exactly what you said). When I googled it, google recommended the spelling “Je le voudrais.” (which implies that perhaps you spelled it wrong) and offered no meaning for the phrase as you typed it. So then I went back to the google translator with the phrase “Je le voudrais.” and was given the translation of “I’d like.”, which really doesn’t seem to fit either as it seems like it is missing something.”}, I decided I would never, ever complain about anything mods do – even if they… [Redacted]

We found the seamount this morning. It is a good day. I once asked a local captain/owner in Matlache if the fish were biting in a certain spot. He told me it was the best fishing in the world. “Biting? BITING? Hell, these fish are so aggressive they’ll climb right up on your deck, steal your bait box, and bitch slap you on the way out.” He said it in Spanish, but that’s the English approximation. It’s like that here.

I’ve packed for my weekend camping with my Girl Guides. My car is full!

Not to be too picky @Seaofclouds, but I’ll take @janbb‘s typo over your:

“How are we suppose(d) sic to know what meets are ( sic) our guidelines if we don’t know the languages?”

If you ask me, that’s a post better modded for failing to meet writing standards.

I just enjoyed a bowl of the best strawberries I have ever eaten – dark red, and exploding with flavour.

@Seaofclouds I see your point. I think moderation in moderation would help keep Fluther interesting. I realize you’re walking a tightrope, though. Thanks for the detailed post.

@marinelife She wasn’t modded for the typo. I never claimed I was perfect.

6:10 on the west coast, sitting on my deck and just poured my 2nd glass of Cab. Going to check out a new property 2.5 hours away from me here in the morning. Feeling stressed to the 10th power.
The “great” is, one of my neighbors for this last year just dropped over and told me how much they have enjoyed knowing me and they want to take me to dinner Thurs. night.

Another person I work with told me today, upon hearing I am considering moving out of the area, that they would miss my great sense of humor and don’t want me to go. Small bright spots in a crazy year.

OUCH, @marinelife.

I was just appointed as a translator for a website. My main job is to translate every line of the website so that the website can be launched in my language. Not to mention some more unseen translating jobs waiting for me.

Finally something useful I can do :)

That’s great news, @Mimishu1995!

@Mimishu1995 That’s great! I hope you are getting paid too!

@Coloma Well, no one pays me. That’s a voluntary job :p I’m just happy to be able to help :)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I may get to see the twins tomorrow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It’s gotten to the point where if Corrie posts a picture of them I get tears in my eyes.

There is thunder! We may finally get some rain.

Man, it poured BUCKETS here last night. I can’t remember the last time I saw it rain that hard.

SLC

Not the greatest pic because I took it from my phone, but thems some dangerous clouds!

Whoa! those clouds kick ass.

I finished my pathophysiology class with an A today! This was the first class of my NP program, so I’m excited that it is finished and that I did well.

@Seaofclouds Yay for you! That is great news!

Congratulations. @Seaofclouds!

Well..I put a deposit on the property/house I traveled to see today. Too much too share, but…half leap of faith and half calculated risk. Coloma is going back to the country/mountains!

Beautiful place, 25 minutes to town, surrounded by Douglas Firs, Madrone, Oaks, Sugar Pines and lush woods with a creek.
The house is a very rustic tri-level house, pottery studio in the basement, mid-level living area, wood stove, master bedroom with a grape arbor outside my window, a huge claw foot bath tub with purple Iris painted on it and a loft with a loft ladder.
I am terrified, excited and exhausted all at the same time. I move July 9th.

The rocket has launched. sink or swim in the new wilderness.

@Coloma Happy ever after in @Coloma‘s mansion :D

@Mimishu1995 I am so scared, but, one must risk, right? :-)

@Coloma is there space for a goose? Or would that be too hard? x

@Stinley Plenty of space, but don’t think I will be making any pet commitments, other than my 2 cats that I have right now.

@Coloma I’m so happy for you. I found it very sad when you had to move out if your last home so thrilled that you will be back in your mountains.

—@Leanne1986 Awww..thanks! :-)

It’s raining and thundering. I love it.

As of 12;30 PM today, there is a new Finkel baby boy in the world.

@gailcalled Our Founder has founded something else!

Mazel tov

Name?

No news about name as of yet.

How about Little Dr. J Dude?

A new little jelly bean! So exciting!

Tonight there was a lot of heat lightning followed by a very hard rain. I love the smell of the hot pavement when it just starts to rain. Rain is relaxing and cleansing.

Mazel to all the Finkels.

Humor of the day…great for all.
Sooo..I was sitting on my deck having a glass ( okay 3nd glass ) of Cab, when I reached up under my dress and took my bra off. Had an incoming phone call and forgot all about the liberating shed moment.
An hour later now, I remembered..” oh yeah, I took my bra off out on the deck”..went to look for it and it was gone. haha

Okay, not gone,it was retrieved from under my chair.
Cheers to the lunacy of my life.
All undergarments present and accounted for now.
Well ya know..it was an involved conversation. lol

@Coloma After all you women worked for to be able to either wear a bra or not as it suited you, why did the following generations choose to wear them almost 100% of the time. Whatever happened to those free-wheeling, free-hanging 60’s and 70’s?

I had a friend who just came back from Spain and he had the opportunity to spend some time on some topless beaches. His observation was that if a woman was topless, she was either under 25 or over 55 with very few in-betweens not wearing a top? WTF happened to prude up the 80’s & 90’s generations?

@rojo Yeah t sucks, but maidenform-conformity has its place. I was there, but now I am here…not very “professional” to let them all hang out, and besides, after 50, nobody is lining up anymore. haha

A very good friend I haven’t seen in 6 years called randomly tonight to tell me they were passing through. I happened to be coming off of a rescue call and otherwise completely free. We grilled at my house and they are camping on my beach. I have tomorrow 100% off for the first time in forever, which seems like fate.
Life is good.

Took the GMAT today: 750, baby!

@bob_ So now you can make me a sandwich!

This was yesterday and this thread didn’t show up yesterday. I know because I kept waiting and waiting for it!

1) I GOT TO SEE THE TWINS!!! I GOT TO SEE THE TWINS!!!

2) Well, I made a kid’s day yesterday. I picked up a playpen, a baby swing and a baby gate at a garage sale. The was a little boy there, about 6, and he asked his dad if he could carry the baby swing to my SUV. Obviously he probably would have a very hard time doing that, but he really wanted to help, you could tell.
I quickly turned around and held the baby gate out to him and asked him if he could please carry it to the SUV for me. He said, “Sure!”
We got there and he wasn’t even tall enough to get it in the back, so I helped him.
I told him “Thank you,” and very, very politely he said, “You’re welcome.”
Then I spied a box of sidewalk chalk I’d picked up at Dollar General for a buck a while back. I grabbed it and said, “This is for you for helping me.”
His eyes got wide in surprise and excitement, and he said, “THANK YOU!!!!” and he ran over to his mom to show her! He was so excited!
When I left he was happily drawing on their sidewalk.
I made his day, and that made my day!

As for today:

3) @bob_ SHOWED UP! @bob_ SHOWED UP! I wish you were around here more,dude. Like, I’m starving. (And congorats on the GMAT score!)

I am posting from the bathtub because my sweetie insisted that I take a bath to soothe my aching body and test the new stoppers we got to allow me to fill the water deeper… while he goes and runs errands!

And they’re working!

@hearkat Yay for a good bath!! Just too kone post-beach.

Someone told me they made a quote from me their senior quote. That was flattering.

^^? for you? Or from your? What was the quote?

I spotted the mother house wren with an insect in her bill. We will be overrun with babies soon since this is the third laying.

I just learned that the local bears will not eat the suger water in a hummingbird feeder (unless it is next to the grill and becomes collateral damage on the way to the burgers).

A friend just showed me the swallowtail caterpiller larvae on the dill plants; they will turn into swallowtail butterfleis if the birds don’t spot them. They are still much smaller than the photo but it was exciting to see…some new information for me.

Hey – I’d even eat the sugar water if it would get me to the burgers faster.

I thought swallowtail caterpillars were parsley eaters only? They like dill, too?

It seems that all the black bears roaming the suburbs of NJ are raiding the hummingbird feeders. A patient of mine witnessed on, and photos have been posted of others.

I am having a very peaceful and productive weekend. All my friends are out of town but I am filling the time nicely.

I am exhausted, waiting on a really good job offer with a 2nd interview tomorrow. Just flatlined here, hotter than shit…haha, going out to run a quick errand and then go see the new Transformers movie @2.:30 I need to just sit in a cool, dark place and chill for a few hours.

I went to a concert yesterday, and managed not to get drenched by beer or pushed against the wall. Rough crowd, but fun music!

@Dutchess_III, it was something I wrote in a story. “I lost my pants, but I found myself.”
It’s silly, but it was still flattering that they made it their senior quote.

@AshLeigh – I doubt it is silly, and don’t like seeing you deprecate yourself (is that the correct usage of that term?). Something on what you wrote struck a chord with that person enough so they chose it to represent them. It is a compliment and I bet it is well-earned.

I’m pretty sure “I lost my pants, but I found myself” is silly. XD

Out of context, it sure is; but wasn’t there more to it?

It silly in context too.

@hearkat: I will pass on your info about the behavior of your suburban New Jersey black bears to my sister. Perhaps their behavior is different there due to heavier population density and homes being built closer together.Or maybe the bears are members of the Soprano family and more aggressive. Here they’re the Clampetts.

It rained for most of my weekend on my Girl Guide camp but we all had fun anyway!

In my apartment building, I am now known as ’‘the ghost of the basement’’.

I’m late but here. Can’t think of anything significantly good today, so I’ll take time to appreciate the small things. Glad to be healthy and breathing. Glad to have food and shelter.

I saw two good world cup games on Sunday almost totally without interruption! Almost.

Got a good laugh yesterday. A friend asked me what game or games are played in The World Cup. What rock has she been living under?

^ You’re kidding.

I always thought I didn’t want/need to get married but today my boyfriend and I started seriously talking about it and I’m excited. There was no romantic proposal but he is referring to me as his fiancé!

Just finished the rough draft of my first book.

Well….he did it again! haha
Marwyn won for the 2nd time, this years Majestic Waterfowl photo contest with his new dad Eric.
His is the last photo at the bottom of the page.
His win for “Most Photogenic” in 2012 and this years “Presidents Pick.”

Worlds most special goose. :-)

www.majesticwaterfowl.org/newslettercurrent.htm

@Coloma: Send Marwyn my congratulations. Any income residuals or royalties as a result of this new triumph?

@gailcalled No, just his second five minutes of fame and personal pride for the extended family. haha

Grilled out tonight: steak and cole slaw. Saw a rather odd, but kind of good movie called Grand Piano. Dined al fresco on the deck enjoying the lovely weather. Middle day of three days off for hubby. One more to go. Yay!

@marinelife Oooh Cole Slaw, my favorite!

That was great @Coloma!

@Dutchess_III His sweet 16 birthday present. haha

I went to see the start of the Tour de France today. Great day out!

@Stinley I’m so jealous, what fun!

@Coloma It was even better on the Sunday. We were halfway up the Cote de Holme Moss (!) and saw them all go by. Just brilliant!!

1740 fingers and toes came to my July 4th party and all 1740 left intact. Fun!

With all the CO2 we released I’m afraid we raised sea level an Angstrom or two. But it was worth it!

@LuckyGuy Farting?

@janbb I think they grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.

@Tropical_Willie Which leads me to the same conclusion, although I know that would be methane. :-)

Just got a call, and I have my second interview tomorrow. :)

@AshLeigh Congratulations!
I on the other hand just got a rejection email, I am about ready to drink the Kool Aide here.

@Coloma Job possibility No. 2?

@janbb I was certain I had a bird in the hand and another in the bush, they have both flown the coop as of the last week. I can’t take much more disappointment right now.

@Coloma I’m really sorry to hear that – I know you were excited about them.

@janbb Thanks for your kindness.

Paid the bills, which it a load off of my mind….but there isn’t enough left to make the house payment. :(

Maya was having such a great time at daycare today I could hardly get her to leave. It is a load off my mind knowing she’s happy while she’s there.

I spent five hours cleaning my place, and feel proud of myself.

@Coloma What a shame. Don’t give up. Something great came along, unexpectedly – what’s to stop something even greater from turning up tomorrow?

Wow! I’ve been away from this thread longer than I realized. Great days have been cruising right past my doorstep for some time.
My daughter has been asking for something cool for a new swimsuit to wear in gym class this year. I am so opposed to the prices swimwear has come to. I found some really cool ones on ebay from merchants in China. There are awesome choices, even in one piece, which is what my baby burger eater needs for school. There are designs featuring Star Wars, Harry Potter, and many other cool things. Some merchants are even selling them for under $10 each. I feel very triumphant at having made such a find. I thought she was going to have to settle for a thriftstore tag color special..
Mostly I popped in here today to see what is wonderful these days for my fellow jellies.

Have had a great few days after many, many stressful ones. Went to three free outdoor concerts this week, painted with my teacher at one beach, went with friends to two others, and walked the boardwalk last night with a friend and drank cocktails and noshed on guac and chips at an outdoor restaurant. Been feeling happy again after a long dry spell.

@janbb Yay! My dry spell continues, send some sun and surf and cocktails my way.

Today I have been with my boyfriend for six months. Everything’s as strong and fresh as it was in the beginning. I am crazy in love.

We went to an aquarium yesterday. I have some jelly photos for you jellies:

One
Two
Three

@Mariah Wonderful photos! How about one of you and the boyfriend?

@Mariah oooh – so gelatinous!

@marinelife Okie doke!

@Mariah What a cute duo!

@Mariah Cute couple!

Golly, thanks, guys! ಥ◡ಥ

Awwwww! @Mariah – Happy semi-anniversary!! ;-P

@Mariah Wow! he is adorable (and so are you, girl!).

@Mariah I made #2 my new desktop. I love the amber colored jellies. One of my favorite colors and of course, I have to coordinate my desktop with my decor. haha

I heard a rumpus this morning and discovered that an eastern kingbird had flown into my living room via a wide open sliding door (that allows Milo free access). While I was collecting an empty waste basket and a large, heavy piece of cardboard to try and catch the bird, it apparently flew out again, without pooping even once inside.

That beats the three hours I spent recently chasing after the house wren who was also flying around here. He finally stunned himself enough for me to grab him and toss him back outside.

I woke up with my boyfriend. He has been away with work for a couple of weeks and I have missed him so much.

Also, an old customer of mine who I haven’t seen in a couple of years came back to one of my classes today and says she would like to start coming on a weekly basis again. The dog had a great time and this clearly pleased her owner (who isn’t in the best health and is worried that her issues are preventing the dog from having a fulfilling life). I’m so pleased to have them back, they were favourites of mine.

I also started an online course and got 88% in my first assignment.

I spent an hour filling out an online assessment for a job I was applying for only to get a rejection email back within 15 minutes. Oh the irony, I wonder if I went wrong when I choose the answer to ” You have a conflict with a coworker, how do you handle it?”

A. Scream at them to get off your back and leave you alone.
B. Speak to your supervisor privately.
C. Put a pipe bomb under their desk.

Well shit..I guess “C.” was a poor choice.

At dusk last night, while having supper on the porch with my sister and her family at her house, on cue, two female deer came out of the wood margins with a still dappled fawn. They stopped and the fawn began to nurse. It kept kicking out its rear legs and the mother finally bumped it off.

With binoculars, I had a ringside seat. Having lived here for 28 years and seen hundreds of deer and fawns, this was the first glimpse I had of the nursing process. My 4— and 8-year old grand-nephews were interested but took it in stride. As they did the 6 baby rabbits, the hummers at the feeders, the crows and the myriad of barn swallows.

@gailcalled Cool! I remember seeing this when I was young, in the field behind my house. My dad pointed his telescope at them, so I got a nice close-up view – though upside down – of the whole thing. So cool.

I met up with a friend I haven’t seen for nearly a year. We had a good old natter in the gorgeous sunshine!

Sitting here quietly on my deck, i just got to watch an adult eastern kingbird cajole one of its recently fledged youngsters off the railing and into the air. The baby fluttered around for a bit, faltered, landed on the railing briefly, rested and then made it to a near-by ornamental cheery tree. Insects are plentiful and the water in my birdbath is cold and fresh. The sun is out. A perfect day to leave home.

In the distance, the crows are noisily harrying something for the third day in a row…probably a red-tailed. And the jays are also very noisy. I don’t have to bother looking. I can use my ears.

Today I saw a peacock sauntering across the road. I stopped to let it pass as did the cars in the oncoming lane. I have no idea where it was going, or for that matter where it came from, but I do live in a college town…...

I passed a kidney stone, man, what a relief! Ugh!

@rojo, SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
@Coloma, sweat droplets forming on my forhead thinking about it.

MY happy. Whilst shopping China on ebay, I came across a dress up for auction nobody but me and one other woman noticed. It was a cute little basic white dress perfect for whatever accessories one cares to try.. It started dirt bottom bid. There were three exactly the same listed. I got mine for $1.45 ! No, I didn’t boo boo the decimal. That is one dollar forty five cents for a brand new dress, and free shipping.

HOT DAMN I’M GOOD!

@Jonesn4burgers Well damn woman, find me a mail order rich chinese husband would ya?
Wang Chung tonight! lolol

My daughter flew from Vancouver to Albany today in two stages. Her plane landed safely in Albany 23 minutes early; her friend picked her up as promised and she arrived here by 8:30, in time for the nice supper I had made. (Egg salad with fresh tarragon and potato salad with raspberry/caper vinaigrette. She provided homemade chocolate chip cookies her boyfriend had baked and sent with her.)

I can imagine no pleasure greater than hanging out with her. In honor of the occasion, Milo brought in a small mouse, stupified but still alive. My daughter picked it up by the tail and set it back outside, perhaps for Milo to recatch tomorrow?

@Coloma, working on finding my own first. Wanna see some excellent Chinese shops? Go to ebay, on the search type in digital print leggings. That will get you to some seriously cool spandex type artwork. The sellers you find there have dresses, swimsuits, tank tops, and other items. If you just browse down through what it shows you, you will come across all sorts of deals, and other directions to veer off. The best time is between 3AM and 5AM your time. choose rhe auction only option, then go to the side of the page and type in a small money margin. I always enter my search with one penny as the low end. go with four or five dollars on the high end. BOOM! The deals pop up!
How you choose to narrow your search makes all the difference i what you end up seeing. I love doing business in the Chinese shops. They work very hard to please their customers, but if you let a problem pass by without saying anything, they tromp you. I get very good deals, and I find awesome new things all the time. I get a kick out of rading their info, and how very hard some work to make themselves understood in english.
Here’s a little tip; if you want to be accepted by the Chinese merchants, ALWAYS begin your messages with a very friendly greeting, like, ” Hello my good friend”, or “I am delighted to do business with you.” Always end with a parting comment like, “Please have a day of beauty and good fortune.” Chinese merchants like the good, old fashioned custom of taking a moment for pleasantries. I enjoy the atmosphere very much. I would like to find a wealthy Chinese shopkeeper of my own. If I get one, I will see if he has any good friends for you to meet.

Quite by chance we found a house yesterday that we’d like to buy. It’s stone’s throw from my son!

I finally learned how to pronounce Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg!

Took a picnic supper with friends to see the hot air balloons flyover at a hot air balloon festival. It was pretty spectacular and worth the drive and the wait.

@janbb Only thing better is to be up in a balloon. You must do that, amazing experience!

@Coloma I did once and may be doing it again with my kids in Napa next month.

@janbb Fun!

I am finally at the hearth of old friends on the Yucatan.

@Espiritus_Corvus Have a good rest, Sailor Boy.

@dxs Webster Lake? You what it means? Something like,“I stay on my side of the lake and you stay on yours and we fish in the middle”.

Teach that to the politicians, okay?

@Tropical_Willie I think it’s you fish on your side, I fish on my side, and nobody fishes in the middle.

The raging fire over here that started around 5 p.m. Friday and has now burned about 4,000 acres and destroyed 10 homes and numerous barns, outbuildings, in my area with thousands of people and livestock and pets evacuated, is 50% contained!
Cheers to the brave CalFire teams of tankers, dozers, helicopters and over a thousand fire fighters!
Ar one point this morning all firefighting planes had to be halted because of some stupid unidentified drone in the sky. Seriously…fuck drones! haha

We’re having tacos for dinner. I love tacos. Tacos are the meaning of life.

Just write a bit of my story. The best part is that the whole process was conducted at late night, when everyone was asleep.

I get away with my story successfully :p

Yesterday, I went for a bit of a walk.

@bob_ Hope it was a great day for it!

@bob_ was this your first?

Did they give the medals out first? You don’t look tired enough to have walked that far!

Zoey, 9 months old, met her first kitten today! Her eyes lit up when she saw it, but when I helped her pet it she gasped in astonished delight, and grinned up at me in utter idolization. She gave me full credit for creating that fuzzy, warm, little black thing. :D

Hey @bob_! Cool picture there in San Fran.

@AshLeigh, and one Dawg I can’t mention by name because they aren’t posted here anywhere, helped me in the chat room this morning. Now I can whisper and post links! Like this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdgt1ZHkvnM

Good job J4B!

Is this the longest running thread?

We found out today that our daughter will need braces by the time she’s 12. That’s 1½ years from now. She’s actually excited. She wants to pick out a cool theme or color. (while I’m trying to find the best affordable dental plan.) <sweats>

My garbage made it to the curb BEFORE MIDNIGHT! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and the temperature never quite reached 80’F, and there’s a slight chance for rain during the wee hours.

@ibstubro This one (warning: 2k+ responses; will take a while to load) has been going on since ‘08 but the last post was a month ago.

I finally got a job today!

Yay @dxs !!!!

@dxs Good on ya!

My first day of work wasn’t terrible. :)

CHEERS, FOR THE NEWLY EMPLOYED!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKEpqSlGGcg

I finished my masters degree.

Hubby got a handshake on a new job, but is waiting for all of the formalities.

We had my mom babysit the kiddos for a few hours last night and went to meet a friend at a Grateful Dead cover band concert (can you smell the patchouli, pot and beer?). I think it was my first time out at a concert in my adult life. I would have never picked it… but it was fun.

Am getting ready to move to the ranch where Marwyn & Sonora have resided for the past 16 months after losing my little spread in 2013.
Today was great, spent time with the horses and geese and dog and ducks. We have all become good friends and it will be a win/win situation while I continue to figure out my future.
I will be tending to their competitive cutting quarter horses ” Cool” and “Raye”, short versions for ” One cool cat” and ” Radiant Ranger.”

Felt so good to be back in a barn, and my friend is excited about me working her mare while she keeps her husbands show horse tuned up.
Back in the saddle again even if I am still on the trail less traveled.

@Coloma Congrats! Have you learned to do this?

@dxs That is crazy! haha

Having a great time in Cali with my son. Glass of wine in front if a fire at the Hog’s Breath in Carmel last night and today we’re going hiking in Big Sur.

I was meant to be working until 1.30pm but I ended up only having to work until 11am. I am used the extra time to recharge my batteries after a stressful week.

@janbb How nice…Carmel is amazing!
Meanwhile back at the ranch critter sitting while friends are in San francisco today.
All the birds are out on the lawn with fresh pools and I am going out to the big porch to have lunch with the dog and take in the view. Wide open pastures with a mountain backdrop and cows and horses meandering around, a lazy afternoon at Twelve Trees Ranch. :-)

When I stopped at the farm stand this morning, the owner was chugging up in her golf cart with corn that had been picked only five minutes ago. And a friend took 6 weeks worth of recycleables to the transfer station for me. That’s at the top of “best gift” list.

OTOH, I took apart my Bodum French Press to clean it and can’t figure out how to reassemble. And Milo has stopped catching mice, and the mouse got away scott free with the peanut butter on a corn chip without even triggering the Havahart but leaving a mess behind as more evidence of his presence.

Yesterday we had a new fridge and stove delivered to us. Rick and my son plumbed the ice maker line into the ice maker in the freezer. Super excited about the ice maker!

Our old stove was gas. New stove is electric, so Rick and Chris had to shut off the gas and cap the line. Then they had to rewire everything for electric. Like this. And This

I got to babysit 3 kids, 3 dogs and one kitten for 7 hours, in a pretty confined area. They do like them boxes!

Today I got to wake up to This and this, and this!

Ha ha! My son has finally developed a sense of caution. While Rick was wiring the breakers Chris was standing behind him watching and asking question. He was a little nervous. Suddenly, just as Rick snapped something, the dryer, which was right next to Chris went BUZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, really loud, which tells you the clothes are dry. Chris about jumped out of his skin!

@Dutchess_III: Why would you choose an electric stove top over gas burners? Gas is the fule of choice for serious cooks and imperative in power outages.

Simply joyous day hiking with my son in Big Sur.

edit; that’s “fuel” and not “fule.”

—@gailcalled That was a fulish mistake!—

I worked my a$$ off today up at Twelve Trees. I put in about 5 hours of ranch chores, tended to the horses, pitched hay, drove the Gator around and dumped soiled stall shavings, cleaned the goose and duck barn, rode a little and now I am having an ice cold beer. Sweaty stable girl to fairly well put together by Monday again. My life is insane but hey..I’ve still got it, whatever “it” is.

Man am I whipped, nothing like serious outdoor work to just melt your muscles into a bowl of Jello. lol

Walked from Strathblane to Killearn with my girlfriend, her first country walk in Scotland. Sun dappled woodland alternating with open views of farmland and dim blue hills. Excellent pub meal at the Old Mill in Killearn at the finish.

Had dinner on the deck with a friend from Andy’s office. Grilled salmon and grilled asparagus, quinoa pilaf, heirloom grape tomatoes, basil and feta salad and homemade peach shortcake for dessert.

^^^ Oooh, I make the best salmon steak and grilled asparagus! I am so craving that right now. haha

There will be no Supermoon or Perseids for me, so I danced in the rain at midnight and enjoyed every minute of it.

I don’t have much to feel great about these days. I miss my mom, I hurt for my aunt who lost her oldest son to brain cancer, we have no hot water and I don’t know how we will pay for braces and wisdom teeth removal. I’m such an online whiner.

I really needed this dance tonight. It felt good.

I applied for a job with the school district, secretarial position.

We looked around and priced everything for redecorating, painting and getting a new couch. (sigh) My living room will look so cute :D (Super excited about having a real couch, instead of a futon)

I have arrived at the ranch, what a day! haha
Winding up the twisting river canyon roads my poor cat Myles had a terrible blowout bout of car sickness, vomiting and then, a major diarrhea moment. Lovely, had to turn off the road and fling cat barf and poo over the cliff. lol Poor guy.

Made an amazing Quiche for dinner, everything home grown and farm fresh.
Eggs, and a garden harvest of Japanese Eggplant, yellow crookneck squash , tomatoes, red onions, chives, basil, oregano and goat cheese. Superb and baked to perfection.
I am now sitting naked in my room on the way to shower and hit the bunk. Coloma hits the hay hard at 8:50 pm. lol

I had a lovely lunch with Jerubs today. She said to say hello to all her friends, she misses you, but the atmosphere was just not feeling comfortable any more.

My brother stopped by my work today, during my lunch break. Apparently my niece got a pet fish, and named it Soup.

^ My cousin has a toy lobster called “Mittagessen” (German for “lunch”) ;)

That’s amazing. XD

@janbb – I am glad to learn that she is well; I miss her and think of her often.
Things have mellowed a lot since she left in November, I wish she’d come back.

^^Ditto

^^Ditto ditto.

^^^

My great pot of beef veggie soup was a big hit with the ranch clan here tonight. Prime seasoned New York steak, red, orange and yellow bell peppers, yellow crookneck squash, zucchini, onions baby new potatoes, french bread and butter.
I think I should open a chuck wagon. haha

I made paella tonight for twelve. Used fresh fennel and a shot of anisette at the finish to set the shellfish off. Pretty good if I say so myself.

Hey, and nobody got sick and it’s been like six hours!

My local fab. cooks slice fennel with a mandolin and serve it, with pecorino, over fresh summer lettuce, sautéed sliced asparagus, some Greek olives and a mild vinaigrette. You can read a newspaper through the fennel.

@Espiritus_Corvus 6 hours, you are totally in the safe zone. haha Sounds delicious!
@gailcalled Oooh, Greek Olives!

4:47 p.m. Sunday afternoon, heading down to the garden with my friends and we are whipping up a batch of home made Salsa, tomatoes are perfect. Just cracked a Pacifico and chips and salsa forthcoming. :-)

Been here since the afternoon of December 19th, 2009 and hit 10k this morning at 0030 EDT. Never thought I’d get here. Thank you everybody!

And my happy is, I hosted my first lurve party!!!!!!!! for him ^

I get the next two days off! We bought our new couch, and we’re painting tomorrow! :)

Today I actually had some time to FLUTHER!!!!!!! As some of you know, toward the end of June my home was engulfed by a herd of buffalo! (No, not really, that’s just what @Coloma called it!) What really happened, long story short, is BIL + wife + 5-kids-under-11 fell hard on hard times, left Texas to come to Colorado, and ended up staying with us, for a “few weeks”. That was the end of June, and believe me it was chaotic for all, making the necessary adjustments.

Today, the oldest three are in school and making friends. Adjustments have been and are continually being made, but we found some middle ground and I am finding myself with a little “me” time once in a while! We’re still working toward a permanent solution, which would be finding them a place to call their home, but there’s no emergency. We would rather have them leave our home for their “forever” home, as the kids call it.

It makes me glad we are in a position to help. Several times I’ve found myself irritated at the way someone does something, but I try to change that irritation into gratitude, that they are able to be here off the street.

@Yetanotheruser So that’s why I haven’t seen you for some time. I thought you had gone forever. You are a good jelly here. Don’t leave OK ;)

The person who I tutored in math passed their math test to get into a tech school today. I also salvaged about 20 cookies that were going to be thrown away at work and am going to hand them out at Food Not Bombs on Sunday.

Coloma runs the ranch for the next week, single handedly, while my friends are in Reno for work through tomorrow and then Las Vegas next week. Whew!
8:02 pm and the last of the chores are done.
Geese and ducks bedded down for the night in their nice clean barn after a day of swimming on the lawn, bowls full of Mazuri waterfowl chow and cracked corn and the chickens in bed lured with dried meal worms and diced tomatoes. lol

Found a duck egg on the porch, thanks Lucy. :-)
Horses are cozy for the night in their lovely barn, munching hay in their feeders and supplemental performance chow with rice bran.
Donkeys gorging on Timothy hay and apple treats and the ranch dog “Winky” pilled and fed and given treats.

Now I am running a hot bath and going to bed in one hour.
A great day of activity and I am done. lol

@Coloma You sound so happy!

Today is the last day of my internship :) I have been dying to go back to college so this is a very happy day for me.

Internship was good experience, but instilled a lot of doubt in myself and in my decisions, which I didn’t need. I have a buddy back at school who, as it turns out, has been feeling a lot of the same trepidation as me, so we’re planning a bro commisseration night soon. I so need that.

I felt like a kid today. I ate Cap’n Crunch for breakfast, and I had a funnel cake and lemon shake-up for dinner. I also smiled a bunch.

my head hurts

OMG!!!! ^ ^ ^ That is great news! You have needed such a day for quite some time!!!!! I am very happy for you!

I’m going on holiday to join my husband and girls. Haven’t seen them for two whole weeks and can’t wait to hug them all. Although my 13 year old daughter sent me the following text:

‘I might not come to the station because the new series of Dr Who is on. You realise how important this episode is, don’t you?!!!’

Huh! So much for the previous texts of ‘I miss you mummy’, ‘can’t wait to see you’, ‘I love you’ etc etc

Just had the red-tailed hawk land on my deck railing as I was sitting in the living room, in the rocker next to piano, with the slider open and a mug of tea in my hand. He stayed put for a very long time, but I was afraid to move and get my camera. Spectacularly beautiful in all the details.

A thrilling moment. During my more mystical moments, I consider the red-tailed to be a totemistic creature. I have a 6’ silhoutte of a red-tailed cut out of sheet metal attached to a tree stump in my woods. I can see if from my meditation bench. (Just to the right of this.)

I hate my job, so after work today, I decided to go search for a new job. After asking a bunch of places if they were hiring (most weren’t), I went into the hotel/diner. I asked if they were hiring, and the owner gave me an application. I filled it out right there, and then he proceeded to introduce me to everyone, and tell me I can come in after work on Tuesday, and start training! I get to leave the job I hate, and I think I’m going to like the new job a lot better. :) Plus, it pays more, and the other people who work there seem really nice.

@AshLeigh Good luck with the new position! You must have made a very positive impression.

@rojo, thanks! I’m excited. :)

It’s only just gone 8am here but I just treated myself to some new clothes for my holiday which is just around the corner! Excited!

I’ve been back on campus for a couple of days now and it’s been incredibly busy. My academics are going to be a little easier this year, so I have taken on a few new responsibilities. My tutoring job is going to get a little more extensive, I am taking a first responder course, and most excitingly, I joined a mentoring program through our office of disabilities, so I’ll be assigned to be a mentor to an incoming freshman with a disability.

Over the last few days I’ve been working with the other mentors to help welcome in the freshmen with disabilities (they are allowed to arrive on campus a little earlier than all the other freshmen). It has been absolutely lovely; I met some great kids, turned the enthusiasm and friendliness up to 11 while trying to make them feel welcome, and did my best to reassure them (and the parents!!) that college is awesome. I’ve also already met the student that I would like to mentor, I think.

Feels so good to be back on campus. Wish I had more than just one year left here.

It’s my 31st wedding anniversary today. We are going to wait to celebrate until we are on Cape Cod the week after Labor Day.

Happy Anniversary @marinelife!

Yay for you, @marinelife ! Congrats!

It was yesterday, but I had my first day at my new job! I like it! The people are cool, and the hours I’ll be working are better.

A few days ago, I had gotten into an extremely stupid argument with my little sister. We made up yesterday, and she just sent me a text telling me she loves me :]

Also, I finally feel like I will get my flat de-cluttered!! A couple of days to go, but then…

Espiritus Corvus is OKAY!!!!! My sixth sense nagged me for days that something bad happened to him during his trip to Cuba. Something bad did happen, and he went to the hospital, but he’s on the mend, he was in chat, and he’s going to be alright! I am so relieved!
His friends and fans should all msg him and wish him well.

From my kitchen window, I saw lots of bird activity in my flowering cherry tree this morning…visible from my upstairs bathroom also. The downy woodpecker, a flock of titmice and a mature eastern kingbird with an insect in its beak. I wondered whether there might be babies.

Fast forward 20 minutes. I was sitting w. a mug of tea in my living room with the slider and doors open to deck. There was a fluffy immature eastern kingbird on the deck, hopping around and trying little 5-foot flying forays. The adult sat nearby, encouraing him. After a bit, they both disappeared into the foliage of a neighboring tree. Baby is launched, I suppose.

Mult-colored morning glories all in bloom. Seeds came from Coloma, 3400 miles away.

This actually happened last week but while out hiking in the desert my granddaughter (8 yo) noticed a Dust Devil similar in size and structure to the one shown. As I was trying to photograph it I noticed that it was heading our way.

We stood there, watching and waiting, as it came toward us. Its approach appeared to be on course to slip by on our left but when it got about 20 yards away it changed directions slightly and came right over us.

It was a rare experience to be in a the eye of a minor whirlwind made even more unusual and pleasurable by what appeared to be a conscious decision on the part of the dust devil to change its course to check us out at the last minute.

Something I will all remember and something I am sure very few eight year old girls get to experience.

Got my bathroom back! We found that little kitten, only about 4 weeks. Put his food and litter box on the bathroom floor, behind a makeshift barricade that the dog somehow kept getting past. She’s big enough now that I put her food up on this dresser we have in the bathroom, and put the litter box under the dresser. And cleaned the floors.

After a 10 day stretch, I finally got a day off… Then in the middle of my haircut (which went well, by the way) I got called in to work for the 11th day in a row. (sigh) But it’s all overtime, so I can’t really complain about time and a half.

Just got in from working the horses and my friend is making a killer chinese chicken salad.
Horse bathing after a workout, fun for all. I think my shower will show the same amount of sweat and dust as came off the mares. lol

@Coloma I’m so happy for you. You seem to be really settled in the new place.

Well, it wasn’t today, but last night I saw The Commodores in concert. The last time I had seen them was in the late 70s while Lionel Richie was with them. Great concert!

My severely “fed-up-with-the-world” student smiled! He then went on to tell me how much everything happened to bore him – but that’s fine. Babysteps.

My new avatar, a view from the front porch. I am officially hired as ranch hand and all around girl for Twelve Trees and my friends are going to Hawaii Tues. for 10 days.
Coloma runs the ranch. They told me how happy they are with me and that I am adorable and charming. Well shit, but of course. lol

@Coloma Good for you. Happy forever on Coloma’s ranch!

I got a nooner.

After having snuck out at 6:00 PM, Milo returned, only moderately damp, at 12:45 AM. He must have sheltered himself during the worst of the rain that lasted for several hours. He is the sneakiest devil. I drove up and down the driveway fruitlessly several times.

So I can finally go to bed.

He had a little snack, drank his tuna juice, is bathing himself now and will end up, i suspect, in bed with me very soon. And he has shaken himself, several times, like a dog, which I rarely see.

Milo – the Cat that WAlsk at Night!

@rojo what’s a nooner?

@Stinley

Nooner: Sex done at lunch, your lunch break or around noon. Made famous by Al Bundy of “Married with Children”.

@rojo er, thanks for explaining. TMI though…

@Coloma I’m so pleased for you (and a little jealous) that job sounds AWESOME!

I became an Aunt today! Little Henry was born this morning after a very long, stressful labour. He’s gorgeous :)

A few days ago, I put my two weeks notice in at the job I hate, so I can start working more at the job I like. :)

Today was my second day with the music class! Half the class was on an expedition yesterday and the other half today. Tomorrow will be the first time the whole class is meeting.

Going back to work today after a glorious summer of beaches, friendship, music and painting. Still getting over the ending of a relationship but on the whole, it was a wonderful few months.

I had an annoying day filled with financial anxiety and life-goal worries. I then went on a seven-mile walk with the dogs, and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Walked through a huge corn field, and then back home through a wonderful forest full of fallen trees to jump over and little paths to explore.

Now, I’m looking forward to homemade potatoe soup and a quiet evening. Wishing all jellies the good kind of exhaustion tonight! :)

I saw a red-tailed hawk up close today. The bird was on the edge of a soccer field standing over a dead animal. I watched the hawk through the fence. I didn’t remember to look at the red tail though, because I was so entranced by the bright orange eyes. I love the wildlife in this part of the world, especially the birds.

I applied for a job and have got an interview. Which is nice but when I got the email, my heart sank. I don’t think I want to leave my current job. I was feeling fed up with my line manager but there are lots of exciting project happening and the boss is improving. So I am going to turn it down and concentrate on my current job.

Holy crap. I think we have our land sold. It was all just one big coincidence, too!

I had posted a question on FB, asking what they thought my house could rent for. People were showing an interest, even though I said we were just considering it at the moment.
Then someone wanted to know if, by chance, it was in the country. I said, “No, but we have 5 acres in the country that we’re selling.” And BOOM! Isn’t even haggling over the price!

The guy is going to check with his bank today or Monday!

When things happen that fast, you’re left with a false sense of, “Oh, if they don’t buy we’ll be able to sell it easy!” However, I have learned that those are usually once in a lifetime happenings.

I’m currently eating cheesecake and watching Gilmore Girls. Enough said.

Humor of the day.

One of my local vet hospitals sign, ” It’s all fun and games ‘til somebody needs a cone.” lol

Sat down with my “tenants” yesterday and came up with a target date for their departure
Maybe we will have our house back by Halloween!

I asked a serious question of Fluther (for a change) and got some really great answers. I have a lot of good advice to rummage through and sort out before I pass it on.

The smoke from all the wildfires out west here has dissipated, everyone can breathe again.
Going to whip up some mexican food for lunch while I am waiting on a semi-truck of a years worth of hay to be delivered this afternoon. A “bargain” price of $14 a bale that would cost $22 a bale locally! The hay barn runneth over and the critters will eat hearty this winter. :-)

Heading out to class. It is a fun class, not a lot of boring lecturing or technique. The class has learned (more or less) Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” and Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)”.

Yesterday was my last day at the job from hell.
And today is my first day off… in three weeks.

Zoey LOVES New England clam chowder!

I awoke this morning after spending the first night on the boat in weeks. It was soooo nice to be rocked to sleep again. The sea air has energized me. As my days in Cuba are quickly coming to a close, there is now only the usual wrap-up: Stocking the larder for the trip back to the Yucatan; a tour down the coast to check out the beaches around Cojima (by hired car); a visit to Hemingway’s Vinca Vigia and his boat, the Pilar; the José Martí library and the Museo de la Revolución, then onto the business of loading the hold with Añejo and Cohibas for coastal trade.

Ugly, windless drizzle will soon have passed and we should put to sea in the next few days. No hurry, no worry. That is the island way, mon.

My son from Paris called and he is coming over with my grandson for Thanksgiving week. My younger son will be here too.

How wonderful, @janbb! It’s been a while, right?

@hearkat Yes, my grandson hasn’t been here in over three years and I haven’t seen the Parisians since last Thanksgiving.

We just bought a round trip ticket for our daughter in Japan! We got an awesome price too. She’ll be here for 10 days or so over Christmas, then back to Japan for her teaching job at a local high school in Yokohama.

It’s RAINING here in hell hole CA. Raining, did you all hear me? RAINING!!!
I was just out, literally dancing in the rain. Every precious drop will help with the King Fire carnage today!
Oh, and humor of the day….a new Vietnamese restaurant in town here called….

Pho King Good. lol

My college career is winding down. It feels weird. I mean – I still have like 80% of an academic year left. But I’m kind of coasting from here out.

I’ve had a terribly difficult time the past few weeks trying to wrap up my last term of my senior project. It’s been very technically challenging and these projects are usually done in a group, but for complicated reasons I am doing mine all by myself. My advisor also has late-stage cancer, so it’s a shitty situation for everybody. He feels like shit, can’t really help me or advise the way he’s supposed to in this role (not that I can blame him, obviously), I feel terrible for him and also have approximately zero resources for help with my project. It’s been so rough.

I had a major breakthrough last week though and the saga is basically over. The project is at a satisfactory state right now so even if I didn’t make any more progress before the end of term, I would probably still get an OK grade. My advisor has decided to stop coming to campus and has gone home to rest, which is probably the best thing for him.

The term ends in mid-October and the rest of my year is a joke. Just finishing up a couple of requirements and enjoying myself as much as possible before my time here ends. I’m excited to have easy academics this year because it allows me to get more involved in my extra-curricular life. Don’t wanna leave.

I have a phone interview tonight and four more scheduled for the coming weeks.

I’m hopelessly in love with my boyfriend and excited about our plans to move in together after college. That’s the one bright spot in the end of my college career – starting my life with him.

My body has been giving me a bit of trouble lately but I’m trying not to panic.

Life is pretty good.

Zoey will be 1 on Saturday.
Just a moment ago I said, “Let’s go outside, Zoey!”
And she said, “N kay!”

Watching children learn the language is just fascinating to me. Savannah, for example, speaks in “full sentences,” but she doesn’t know the individual words. The other day Kale was getting into the cabinet under the kitchen sink. Savannah said, “Getoutofthere!”
Of course, they are phrases that her mom uses a lot. In fact, Corrie said she caught her self saying “Get out of there” about something else, not 30 minutes later.

I just love my job.

That is so awesome @AshLeigh.

Thanks, @Dutchess_III :)

Woke to the sound of a sweet little voice saying “Gramm?” and my son saying, “Don’t get too close!”
They kidnapped me and we went to another town about 60 miles away. Spent the whole day with them.
Zoey was asleep in the car when they got here. Since her car seat faces backward she didn’t know I was with them….until, on the highway, I crawled in the back seat to make her a bottle. Oh, I wish you could have seen her face! Like, “OMG! Where did you come from?!”

This morning we had a little heifer calf born in the big green pasture.
Perfect for celebrating National Farm Animal Day.
She’s a darling, all black with a little white star on her forehead and a snip on her lip.
These cows are used only for training the cutting horses here at the ranch and she will have a happy life lounging around green pastures and only having to put up with the horses herding them around once or twice a week.

We have been watching her all day, snoozing in the grass and suckling mama, a little darling she is. :-)

Today I woke up, got the wife and daughter off, and listened to…silence! The extended family (aka buffalo herd) has departed, and we have our house back.

I got a text from a friend I used to work with to say she missed me. I miss her too so it’s nice to know the feeling is mutual :)

went to a movie with my grandaughter. Boxtrolls is ok.

Yesterday Ihad lunch with. my youngest sister, who’s moving to this area. It has been over 20 years since I’ve had a sibling living in the same state.

I ordered a commission of a painting of Urquart Castle on Loch Ness by a local artist who’s previous work I love and I saw the finished product for the first time today and was so pleased with it. Can’t wait to have it on my wall!

I got praised by the person I work with.

It only took me 2 and ½ hours to run a couple errands today in my new town. lol
Damn, finding your way around a new place and new stores is a PITA!

No today, but yesterday. My best friend called and took me out for breakfast for my birthday. Later he and his family, along with my sister, came over for a meat loaf dinner and birthday fudge brownie cake, prepared by my 14-year old daughter (with help from my wife). I had a wonderful birthday!

@Yetanotheruser Happy birthday! Save me some cake. haha

My friend and I had a great time this morning stocking the large, walk in pantry, here at the ranch with about 6 bags of canned goods, pastas, beans, rice, lentils, split peas, canned salmon, tuna fish, soups, beans, canned fruits, on & on for the ” Ebola Zombie Apocalypse”. lol
We are joking, half in jest, and besides out here you stock up anyway, but, just in case the Ebola Zombies come we’re covered. haha

My part came in to fix my pump after only a week, (‘course I was promised next day delivery) but still.

This is quite a turn from my last post, which said that I loved my job.
I had to talk to the people I’m staying with to tell them I got laid off. It was kind of a relief to be laid off, because once things got bad, they were bad.
Telling them went a lot better than I thought it would. It’s a huge weight off my shoulder, and even though searching for a new job again is going to suck, it’s good to have helpful, supportive people in my life. I am endlessly grateful.

Well, Zoey isn’t choking to death. When you’re choking you can’t scream. That’s a good thing.

That wasn’t long ago, @AshLeigh? May I ask what happened?

@Dutchess_III, well, first I had to fight just to get a paycheck after a month. And they switched me from one job to another with no training, and I got in trouble because I didn’t know what to do. The owner just doesn’t know what he’s doing, so the business is running into the ground pretty quickly.

Oh man. That sux!

Well…just had fun dressing up Marwyn for a Halloween photo shoot here, ( my new avatar) but…short lived good times.
Here we go again, a new wild fire broke out just 4 miles from us here, the Hiroshima cloud is a monster from the front porch of the ranch house here and it has grown to over 50 acres and is now in a short while and is now classified as officially out of control. Fuck…another high anxiety scene here. Going back out to the porch with scanner and binocs.

Fire watch underway.

@Coloma Good luck with it all. Hope the winds die down and rains come out of the blue.

@rojo Oh, if only, but no chance. Sheer misery this morning, smoke, smoke, up in smoke. At 450 acres now, but making progress. Us NorCal peeps are so sick of these fires and arsonists. This one, another arsonist who was actually seen throwing lit paper out his car windows. 4 small fires that have now converged into one big fire again.

I had a job interview today!

A student from the music class has approached me for private lessons. I cleared it with the school and the student’s mother. There might be more to come!

Got to see Bande and Aden! I showed them pictures of their mom and Uncle Chris when they were little.

A day of critter rescues.
I rescued and relocated a huge female Preying Mantis this morning form the front porch here and relocated her to the grape arbor out back, waiting on her beloved to mate and dine on his head. lol
Then, when I was dumping the goose and duck pools off the patio this afternoon I flushed out an adorable little Mole from lawn. He/she came riding in on the tidal wave of kiddie pool backwash. haha I put him/her shereiking and squeeking into a towel and relocated it down to the front pasture under the giant water troguh for the cows and horses and donkeys.

He/she buried itself in the leaf litter in seconds. Surfing Mole is probably very confused as to where it is tonight, haha.

I saw 4 different rainbows today, and all of them were outstanding.

Two were fairly short, but really wide, with every possible color in them.
One was a complete, perfect arch, bigger than human vision span. You couldn’t see all of it without physically moving your head. Could have been a dome over a major metropolitan city.
The last was a ball on the horizon, about the size and shape of a setting sun.

I forgot I had my camera in the car. Probably would have been disappointing anyway. I think a lot of beauty remains beautiful because of the difficulty in capturing it.

I just found out my dog does not have a tumor near her larnyx or anywhere else that I’m aware of :)

Had an awesome couple days in Tahoe with my good friend. Beautiful fall colors, lake and beaches lovely as always and… virtually NO tourists being the end of summer and not time for snow yet. Very slow paced this time of the season.
Lake Tahoe truly is one of the countries most beautiful places, I am happy to have it in my backyard. :-)

I did a load of my jeans. Because I do a lot of cash transactions, I checked every pocket, twice. Once in the bedroom, and again at the washer.
When I folded them, I found 2 crisp, clean $20s!
I’m going to have a treat today.

@ibstubro I love when that happens. It’s always a great surprise! There should be a joke here about money laundering…

BTW, since you found two, can you send me one?

My very difficult term of school is over. Still in high gear though, travelling for an interview tomorrow and another the next day. It’s very stressful because I’m getting rejected quite a lot, but it’s usually okay because not all of these positions really excite me. Last week I had my first interview for a position that I would actually really like to accept, so I’m sweating bullets now waiting for the results of that. Should come in a few days.

Over the weekend, my parents came to visit me. I hadn’t seen them since June, I think. It was lovely seeing them. We went hiking and I have a great new photo of my boyfriend and me, which I have set as my avatar pic.

Vanta’s back from the vet’s!

I am almost pain free 8 days after a mysterious injury/malady.
I am following up with my doc next week but I’m still alive. haha

What a cute couple!! @Mariah
Welcome back.

I got accepted into another college! I’m pretty sure I’m going to transfer to there.

where? What college?

@2/4 PMed!

Thanks @ibstubro and congrats @dxs!!

I got my first job offer that I would consider accepting. I don’t even know what the pay is yet (details are forthcoming) but the work sounds interesting and fulfilling. I’m ecstatic!

Congrats @dxs & @Mariah! :-D

I am just happy today that my mysterious illnesses and injuries are better after 11 days of feeling like crap. lol

@coloma glad you are feeling better!

Celebrate wife’s birthday last night with family, including my sister!

Went on a great leaf-peeping ride today to Cumberland and Frostburg, MD. It was a lovely day.

Found a new Pho Restaurant, but it is an hour and half from home.

@Tropical_Willie Do you know the name? I want to know if it is another brand of the large Pho restaurant chain here.

Not a chain, It is in a Japanese restaurant.

It is in James City, North Carolina.

There is a restaurant here called ” Pho King Good.” lol

I thought Pho was Vietnamese!

I led a hike that 50 people attended!!

@janbb Were you expecting such a turn out?

I had 44 signed up and usually less come than sign up.

@dxs It is. It is a Vietnamese place. haha

@Tropical_Willie Never knew they sell Pho in a Japanese restaurant. I thought Pho is a Vietnamese specialty.

Pho is Vietnamese, but they have a separate kitchen that make soups and Pho.
They also have great Sushi and Sashimi !

I recently did three things I had been dreading, and all turned out to be good ideas and much less scary than I had anticipated!

My daughter has been very ill for the last two weeks, with blinding headaches. She’s been off work per the Dr’s.
Today we got the results of her MRI, and learned it’s treatable with antibiotics. What a relief. We honestly had visions of inoperable brain tumors and stuff. Really scary.
She goes back to work tomorrow.

“Toronto voters replaced their notorious mayor, Rob Ford, on Monday and rejected an attempt by his brother to take the city’s top job, electing instead a conservative politician and broadcaster who promised to unite a city divided by four years of scandal and vitriol.”

Milo chose to deposit his double shot of hair ball and the bonus large dead vole outside on the deck this morning.

@gailcalled That’s certainly better than in the house, isn’t it?

It’s delightfully cool in the evenings, and daytime temperatures are very comfortable.

@gailcalled Gifts from the god!

Are we sure Milo did not leave those cat footprints on your porch, @janbb?

@marinelife We suspect he is the perp and have placed “Wanted” posters all over town.

Good boy, Milo! Never leave her feeling unappreciated.
(@janbb, the porch is a frame job. It was actually an Egyptian Hairless seeking to discredit Milo.)

Well, today is kind of my Friday. Don’t have to baby sit tomorrow, so I can stay up late and sleep in. Then I go for an MRI.

Um, pssssst @Dutchess_III, it is only Wednesday!

I remembered to exercise today. I’m setting a list for tomorrow, and exercise is at the top.

7:58 pm in CA. and I just came in to my crock pot full of simmering veggie chili that I left on while out working on one of my extra gigs tonight. Oh man….it is divine! Pinto beans, black beans, white and red kidney beans, homegrown Serrano peepers that I let mellow til red, red bells, onions, green and yellow bells from the garden, chili powder, fire roasted tomatoes, some home made salsa and the secret ingredient, the darkest of dark Chocolate. Mole! lo

I’m house/animal sitting for a couple who breed snakes. I love snakes!

Spent the day with my dad, youngest sister and the dogs – road trip to the beach. Loevely weather, lots of bonding :]

Cozy, rainy day at home catching up on chores and starting to get ready for my boys who are coming in for Thanksgiving.

Jake’s dinosaurs have arrived.

Humor of the day.
Sooo..I was loading groceries into my car and when I opened the door I hit myself in the mouth and cut my upper lip. Ow!
Great, bleeding profusely and no napkins in my console but…I bought a giant pack of TP so I opened it and stuck a sheet on my bleeding lip. haha

Now I look like I have a giant cold sore on my lip, it’ll be fun looking like Herpes woman for the next week or so. lol

@Coloma You forgot your 40K party :P

@Mimishu1995 Oh yes….you’re right! :-)

Went out to a local farm for a cider tasting. Bought vegetables and apples (and cider). A fun fall thing to do.

@Coloma The same thing happened to me the other day, only my dog did it to me. I iced it, and it’s healing quickly, but it still looks like herpes.

The good news is it’s a lovely day, and I love the cooler weather. It was a long hot summer for us.

@snowberry haha, random weird accidents.

It is only 8:30 a.m. but I woke to a great day at 7.
My friends and I have been addicted to making Thanksgiving dinners about once a week for the last few months and I woke to the amazing smell of 5 crockpots simmering away with a fat roast chicken, home made stuffing, cranberry and apple sauce, yams, and one of our favs. an entire head of chunked cabbage and onions and seasonings. My friend was up at 5:30 doing all the prep and waking up to these smells surpasses the coffee pot by 10,000% haha
I just came in from my brisk morning walk down to the barn to feed the equines and it is a superb morning here. Bright, sunny, breezy and hovering around 45 degrees. Oh man, walking back in the house to these smells defies description.

This morning the postman who delivers to my work place gave me his number and asked me for a date. Of course, I declined as I am in a relationship but I feel very flattered by his gesture and hope he doesn’t now feel awkward when he comes in next.

@OpryLeigh Check your mail carefully for letter bombs and Anthrax. lol

I screwed up my courage and paid some bills.

I did not step on the very small dead mouse someone left on my bedside rug this morning. I also missed the puddle indicating that the same someone had been eating grass and then clearing his palette on my living room floor. The grass looked the same as it did before he ate it.

@gailcalled * palate

Today, I found a spelling mistake in one of @gailcalled‘s posts. I then corrected her and am now going to celebrate with an enormous glass of milk.

yolo.

@longgone; Worth a lot more than milk. How about a Jeroboam of champagne: Laurent-Perrier
Alexandra 2004? Here

Edit; “palate” even though Milo typed that, so it is his mistake and not mine.

You’re right.

Are you also buying?

Ah – if only Frodo were still here so I could blame him for my mistakes!

My boyfriend and I hooked up for a lunchtime date today. Our work schedules don’t usually allow for such luxury but today we had a whole half hour together in the middle if the day. It made the rest of my day so much better!

We’re baking peanut butter cookies right now. Oh yes!

Second day of second “rotation” for the music class. We’re teaching them Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here”

I’m taking charge of my anxiety which has gotten out of control again and am going to go back on an SSRI. I feel hopeful for the first time in awhile.

Someone approached me today to thank me for saying hi to her whenever I saw her. She feels very isolated at the school we’re at and is leaving.

I am running the worlds most luxurious bubble bath right now. Loaded with epsom salts and essential oils.
.My tubby runneth over. :-)

I am so impressed by my school today. I saw my counselor at 9 and discussed my thoughts on SSRI with her. She agreed it was a good idea. At 10 I asked to schedule an appointment with the student health center. At 11 I was seeing a doctor. By noon I had meds in hand. I feel so lucky to have gotten helped so quickly.

While sitting in my rocker in my sunny liiving room with a mug of Earl Grey tea, I have just seen on the deck, a male cardinal, a blue jay, a junco, a drab goldfinch (and a small flock of them flitting about a flowering cherry tree), a red-tailed hawk soaring, crows rushing around, MIlo skulking in the grass for mice or voles, my gas co. truck going down the drive after having filled the propane tank and not colliding with the electrician, who is driving up, on time as promised. A good start to today.

@gailcalled A Great Blue Heron flew right in front of my windshield the other day as I was driving out. Amazing!

First sighting? I never tire of seeing my resident heron at the pond and still remember the moment when he swallowed, with some difficulty, a red-winged blackbird, still alive and kicking.

@janbb & @gailcalled
There is a GB Heron that lives near a small lake here and he waits, right by fishermen hoping to get lucky. Many times he gets smaller fish tossed at him that are too small to keep. A good deal for him. Meals on reels. lol

@gailcalled No – he is a resident of the lake but never saw it flying so close up.

I find that I never cease being thrilled by seeing him. It is like watching a prehistoric bird as he tucks his neck into that S shape and sticks his legs straight back when he flies.

Yes, exactly!

Rick’s going to meet a guy who is interested in our land. Fingers crossed, please.

Spent time with my sister. Breaking up with Matt after two years really sucks, but I guess having more free time for family is a good thing.

For almost all her school life, my teenage sister has been struggling with teachers. She’s had a difficult home life, and she’s wonderfully strong-willed and creative, as well as a scatterbrain. School did not like that.
Today, the twice-yearly parent/teacher meeting went perfectly. She is doing well or very well in just about everything, she likes going to school, and she attacks minor issues with a lot of diplomacy.
I hate that children have to change just so they will fit in, but I am thrilled at how much easier her life has become!

My friends gave me gifts for my 3 month anniversary here at the ranch.
A $25 movie pass, new boots and a six pack of “Goose Island Honkers Ale ” version.
Well but of course! lol
I think I shall imbibe in one soon by the roaring fire on this stormy late afternoon. :-)

I bought a 30 pack.

I have a horrible cold, and life is achey and stuffy and awful right now. I remembered though, someone telling me that when I have no pain at all, I will be dead, that pain is a reminder we are still alive and able to feel something. I guess by that, I haven’t felt this alive in quite a while!
HAPPY TO BE ALIVE.

Well, lets see, something great that happened to me today, I got all of my errands done so that tomorrow, I can spend more time on fluther. It is very addicting here, huh?

My testicles are still viable. I checked.

My son and grandson are coming in for the week tomorrow from Paris, and my other son and his girlfriend will be here on Wednesday.

Two of my close friends gave me a Spiderman shirt and Spiderman earrings today for no reason. They’re so cool :) Spidy is my man.

@AshLeigh it’s always good to receive surprise presents :)

This thread is starting to bog down when loading.

NEXT PHASE HERE…

Thanks.

I don’t see where the OP of XXI is on board, @Yetanotheruser?

Just saying.

I’ll be 400.