USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Ringel05]

I'm up!
One cup of coffee and near functional.
The wife is off to the beach with 2 of my bar maids and I have the day to myself.

Wait a minute, ain't you the one who's supposed to go to the beach with the bar maids..`....

Thursday is my day off.

Well so much for a day off...
I heard this morning that we would be having folks over for dinner next Thursday. Max and Jim want to shoot that 2 pound Tannerite target, so, I fired up the tractor and repaired a few wash-outs on the way up to the rifle range. I even cut in a short cut that will take 200 yards off the walk for Max.

He'll thank me later.

I moved 50 or 60 yards of dirt and clay and graded about 150 yards of access road.
Crap! Just finished cleaning coffee off my keyboard.

Too much coffee makes you jittery!

No such thing as too much coffee.........

 

[Ringel05]

Banana bread is in the oven. Shortly I'll make the casserole that goes into the oven just as soon as the banana bread comes out. Trying to decide of a tasty side to go with the casserole. Or maybe make open face enchiladas instead of the casserole? Hmmm. Decisions decisions.

The wife called around 11:30 wanted left over rotisserie chicken for lunch. Made a stir fry out of it, she was happy.
The mechanical guys showed up soon after she went back to work, an hour and a half later the swamp cooler is running, Carlos had set it for 70 degrees, I ran it up to 76, yup the swamp cooler is connected to the duct work and runs off a thermostat.
Picked up a patio (sliding) door screen for $59+ tax, 8.25% tax (city, county & state) but no state income tax. Had it installed just in time for Carlos to turn on the swamp cooler.........

 

[Ringel05]

Oh and Carlos is back, about a half hour ago I noticed lots of water coming off the roof, not good. Carlos just arrived, one of the techs over tightened a water connection to the swamp cooler and cracked it, he's fixing it now.
Unpacking is sorta fun as much of what we have has been in storage for about three years now, kinda like Christmas in April.......

 

[gallantwarrior]

Our Walmart is open 24 hours which makes it nice for me. I can leave the bar at 2 AM and go pick up a needed maintenance item or a few pairs of socks. No lines and friendly cashiers that compete to have you use their aisle.

Ours is open 24 hours too. I rarely go late at night, but it is MUCH better when I do. I should really start doing that.

Going into a Walmart late at night would be something I would avoid. Danger lurks everywhere, especially for a woman, alone. I do walk with a serious gait though and that is supposed to be a deterrent for possible harm, and according to what I have read. Haughty walk with head UP!

I'm not scared! I live in a very low crime area, thankfully. Our Walmart has a brightly lit parking lot, and I would just park close to the door.

Beware complacency!

I don't want to live my life in fear of becoming a crime victim, so . . . I don't. I'm not afraid to go to the store by myself and just live my life.

While I refrain from living in fear of becoming a victim of "localized" crime, I am very, very apprehensive at how things are going nationally and internationally right now. 'Nough said...

 

[gallantwarrior]

Spring is finally in the air. In the sun, it is in the high 50s! Woo-hoo! Almost all the snow has melted off my patio. Soon, I will set up my patio furniture and my umbrella. I am VERY happy today.

Same here, it's remained above freezing for over a week. I actually had thoughts of starting some tomatoes in the greenhouse. I suppose I could watch the temp predictions and move them into the garage when less-than-freezing temps were expected.

I wouldn't attempt any of that until May. I'm pretty sure the ground underneath is still frozen.

The greenhouse might be OK, as long as I pay attention to the forecasts and move the pots as appropriate. The garden is still quite solid and may require some patience. I plan on direct-sowing mangle beets and potatoes again this year. I do wish my partner would leave his "fan club" of goats in their pens instead of letting them run the place, including my garden. Nightshades are safe from goats, but brassicas are quite desirable to goats.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I won't be around posting here in the evening tonight, and maybe not tomorrow or the next night either. I'm putting in some overtime so that I can pay my very expensive electric bill so I don't have that hanging over my head this summer. They would like me to go on a payment plan where I pay all year, but no way. I'm going to put in some OT and use that money to pay it off completely. Times are tough living here in MA. Very, very tough. They raised our electric rates 37% this year. It's ridiculous. I wouldn't be surprised if Assachusetts loses some residents because of it either. Really, the only thing keeping me here is my family. All of my family live in this part of the country (Maine and Massachusetts mostly).

Is there any possibility of going off-grid?

Lol. No, I'm poor GW. I live in a small townhouse that I rent.

Sorry. I'm not that well-off, either. Off-grid in Alaska is a symbol of that status. Means you have no access to the expensive amenities available where civilized people live.

 

[ChrisL]

I won't be around posting here in the evening tonight, and maybe not tomorrow or the next night either. I'm putting in some overtime so that I can pay my very expensive electric bill so I don't have that hanging over my head this summer. They would like me to go on a payment plan where I pay all year, but no way. I'm going to put in some OT and use that money to pay it off completely. Times are tough living here in MA. Very, very tough. They raised our electric rates 37% this year. It's ridiculous. I wouldn't be surprised if Assachusetts loses some residents because of it either. Really, the only thing keeping me here is my family. All of my family live in this part of the country (Maine and Massachusetts mostly).

Is there any possibility of going off-grid?

Lol. No, I'm poor GW. I live in a small townhouse that I rent.

Sorry. I'm not that well-off, either. Off-grid in Alaska is a symbol of that status. Means you have no access to the expensive amenities available where civilized people live.

My utilities are the REASON why I'm poor. Lol. But I have no options to be "off grid." I don't own any property and I rent.

 

[gallantwarrior]

I won't be around posting here in the evening tonight, and maybe not tomorrow or the next night either. I'm putting in some overtime so that I can pay my very expensive electric bill so I don't have that hanging over my head this summer. They would like me to go on a payment plan where I pay all year, but no way. I'm going to put in some OT and use that money to pay it off completely. Times are tough living here in MA. Very, very tough. They raised our electric rates 37% this year. It's ridiculous. I wouldn't be surprised if Assachusetts loses some residents because of it either. Really, the only thing keeping me here is my family. All of my family live in this part of the country (Maine and Massachusetts mostly).

Is there any possibility of going off-grid?

Lol. No, I'm poor GW. I live in a small townhouse that I rent.

Sorry. I'm not that well-off, either. Off-grid in Alaska is a symbol of that status. Means you have no access to the expensive amenities available where civilized people live.

My utilities are the REASON why I'm poor. Lol. But I have no options to be "off grid." I don't own any property and I rent.

I love being off-grid, I pay for my initial investment. I had the local power company come out when I bought my place, they gave me an estimate of about $90,000 to run wire out so that I'd have the privilege of paying a monthly fee for their services...screw that!! I can install a substantial wind/solar system for less than $5,000 now. And no monthly bills!

 

[Sherry]

 

[Foxfyre]

Good night darlinks. I love you guys.

And we're still keeping vigil for

Harper (Save's granddaughter),
Pogo’s friend Pat and special comfort for Pogo,
TK, and TK's grandma,
Spoonie, Ringel, 007, Hombre, Sheila, Alan, & GW's sore backs,
Sherry’s Mom,
Becki and Becki’s hubby,
Noomi’s Auntie Marj,
The Ringels in difficult transition,
Mrs. BBD's knee,
Save and Mrs. L in adversity,
Chris in transition,
Mrs. O and SFCOllie and Colonel,
GW's daughter, her friend Sachendra, and Sachendra's husband Bob and son Gary.
Noomi!!!
Ringel for wellness, rest, and extra strength,
Nosmo's mom,
All of us and those we care about who are looking for work,
And all others we love and hold in concern.

And the light is on awaiting the return of Sheila and Becki and all the others who have been MIA lately. We hope everyone is okay.

P.S. Sometimes in the editing of the vigil list or when I have switched computers, somebody gets dropped that is supposed to be on it. This will always be inadvertent and if ya'll would call it to my attention, it would be much appreciated.

 

[Sherry]

 

[peach174]

Morning All !
Happy Good Friday
Everyone have a great Easter Weekend.

 

[peach174]

Friday morning smile

 

[Foxfyre]

Good morning everybody. Looking at Facebook posts this morning by friends and family in Kansas who are cleaning up after last night's storms. Lots of damage, power outages, etc. They had to cancel school in Wichita today. No report of tornadic activity but the damage in several counties is what you would expect from a small tornado. We need the rain here--they needed it there too--but we sure don't need all the other stuff that sometimes accompanies it in that part of the world.

So it's Good Friday yet again. Some of the world is watching with some trepidation because the third blood moon in a short time happens again in the morning, and some think this could be ushering in end times - yet again. So if you have anything yucky to do, you might want to hold off a couple of days. It might not be necessary to do at all.

Was look at the Weather.com most recent drought map. I was surprised that it isn't any worse than it is in our area, was not surprised how bad it is in California, but was surprised after epic snows in the northeast and the Biblical proportion rains Ernie sometimes reports in his area, both areas are having drought? Drought in that part of the world must mean something very different than it does in ours.

 

[Foxfyre]

And today I am reading that the NFL has decided that the extra point after a touchdown is too automatic and they want to change it? What do you think? Sacrilege? Or a good thing?

 

[Ernie S.]

Leave the game alone. I'm still smarting over the DH in baseball.

 

[Montrovant]

And today I am reading that the NFL has decided that the extra point after a touchdown is too automatic and they want to change it? What do you think? Sacrilege? Or a good thing?

It depends on the change. One proposal is just to move the kick back to the 15 yard line. I'd have no problem with that, it just means it wouldn't be quite automatic.

 

[Big Black Dog]

It's Good Friday. Went to Mass at noon. Hope everybody has a nice Easter season.

 

[Ringel05]

Made it to Trinidad with no problem. The wife actually drove the truck for a couple of hours which is weird cause she hates driving large vehicles. It was good for me cause I slept most of that time. Obviously we didn't plan this out well in terms of clothing, the wife didn't bring shoes (just sandals) and I only brought shorts and t-shirts....... it was in the 50s and windy when we arrived and going down into the 30s tonight. Stopped by pet rescue thrift and found a hoodie that fit then we went to Wally World for some other things we needed, the wife decided to wear my extra pair of socks instead of buying new shoes and I picked up sweat pants.

 

[Spoonman]

it's amazing we haven't destroyed ourselves yet. looks like we are trying hard though.

Overpopulation overconsumption in pictures Global Development Professionals Network The Guardian