Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

The words do not have to be perfect.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

I really should read my own blog.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

In my day, never was longer.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

“But what about the lurkers?”

Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

We are aware of all internet traditions.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

“More of this”, i said to the dog.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

I did not have telepathic declassification on my 2022 bingo card.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Tick tock motherfuckers!

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

You are here: Home / Nature & Respite / Something Good Open Thread / Something Good

Something Good

by | 156 Comments

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I saw some good news sprinkled in the threads from last night and this morning, so this might be a good time for a Something Good thread where we can all share.  So if you won the lottery or had an interview for a job you didn’t apply for our you caught a really big fish or you got to hug someone, chime in with your good news.

More peonies are opening at my house.  Less showy than some of the others, but they still make me happy.  The ones in the upper right-hand corner aren’t open yet, but those are my favorites of all my regular peonies.

Here’s a close-up.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

156Comments

  2. 2.

    zhena gogolia

    Your peonies are beautiful! They haven’t quite come out here yet (none in our yard, thanks to my laziness, but some are coming at the neighbors’). But our humongous rhododendrons are starting to put on a show.
    We had a northern flicker in our driveway this morning chowing down on maple seeds. So cute.
    I had lunch at my favorite restaurant yesterday (outside) with our administrative assistant before she goes off for the summer — first time I’ve been there since March 8, 2020.

  5. 5.

    brendancalling

    I coached my first track meet by myself, no co-coach yesterday. It was awesome and my middle-schoolers kick ass.

  6. 6.

    JanieM

    or you got to hug someone,

    Yes! I went for a walk in the woods with two old friends yesterday, one of whom I hadn’t seen for a long time. We laughed and concluded that since we were all vaccinated, we could give each other hugs.

    Wow, what a nice feeling.

    Also — our lilacs are early this year and moving fast. I can’t decide if they’re my favorite scent, or if that distinction belongs to hyacinths. Either way, I love them. They’re very common in Maine — I would guess one of the few adornments that the early farmers could just plunk in the ground and expect to thrive in this climate withut a lot of fuss.

    Once the lilacs are gone, summer is here by definition

    ETA: my definition. ;-)

  8. 8.

    Gin & Tonic

    Peonies, as noted, are still at least a week away. It’s been really really dry here, though, so I have to keep up with the watering of everything we’ve planted so far.

    Last night near midnight, my dear wife got a call that the freezer with the vaccines had died, and could she come in and transfer them to another (at the time, she was probably the closest.) So, hero that she is, she went in and saved them – but good luck getting to sleep after that. Maybe that’s my “something good” story.

  10. 10.

    cope

    My incipient good news is that I will be getting together with some of my former teaching buddies on Monday. We’re meeting at a place outside, on the St. John’s River, to eat and bask in the warm fuzzies of being in each other’s presence for the first time in about fifteen months. We used to do this weekly. I’ve already been scoping out their menu online. I’m thinking the seared tuna bites will be a good start.

  11. 11.

    smith

    My niece works at the WH, and this week she was asked to staff Joe’s trip to go drive the electric truck. It was her first time on AF1, and she texted around pictures of her boarding pass and a selfie in front of the plane. Her mom (my sister) was bursting with pride.

  13. 13.

    dmsilev

    It’s just about prime jacaranda bloom season around here, which means the whole city will turn bright purple for a couple of weeks. And then we’ll be sweeping up piles of dried-out petals for the following three or four weeks. Still, very pretty while it lasts.

  14. 14.

    CaseyL

    My strawberries are loving the spring warmth and sun.  One plant has spawned so many children, I’m not sure how to dig them out (and have no pots for them if I did).  They’re making lots of flowers, so I’m anticipating many berries in about a month.

    And, after a pissing match between an online payment app and my bank (“They have your money!,” “No, they do!”) the money is back in my bank account.  (I had tried to pay for something on a payment app, but it went to an account the vendor no longer used.  Cancelled the payment, then had to deal with the pissing match between app and bank.)

    And!  My kiln is repaired; I can work on my latest glass piece again.

  16. 16.

    laura

    Roadie brother the younger got his second jab this morning and so the entire extended family is vaxed! The brothers go back to a rehearsal schedule mid-June and the band they work for is playing at a big 3 day hoolie in the Napa Valley Labor Day Weekend. I scored tickets and a campsite. We will be reunited and there will be so many hugs and so many kisses. I’m teary just thinking about it.

  18. 18.

    TomatoQueen

    I deleted my amazon accounts today. If anyone can suggest a service as comprehensive, I’ll be glad to hear it.

  20. 20.

    NotMax

    While much too soon to deem it a change, over the past week the old pal Mr. Insomnia seems to be enjoying a holiday. Have been able to snatch between four and six hours’ uninterrupted sleep.

  21. 21.

    Scout211

    We booked our flights to visit the grandkids!   June 9.  It will be the first time we will see this set of grandkids in person (ages 3, 8, 10) in 1/ 1/2 years for me and 2 years for Grandpa.  It will be awesome.

  23. 23.

    RobertDSC-Mac Mini

    At the end of last year, I was in a financial crunch that had me contemplate personal bankruptcy. This month, I was able to sign up with a debt settling company and they are going to handle my creditors for me. After 2 years, I will emerge clean and clear. I’m excited.

  24. 24.

    Kayla Rudbek

    I made one of my favorite yarn vendor’s newsletter for the second time (Stunning String Studio stitcher of the week). It’s always interesting to start scrolling through that email and see one of my own pictures. They used the one that I took on the beach:)

  27. 27.

    mali muso

    Something good…my husband’s boss, the one that has been making his work-life miserable for many years, had his last day yesterday.  I’m feeling very happy for him to have that constant cloud lifted.

  28. 28.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Good news? Hmmmm… good news, good news, good news…

    Let me get back to you on that.

  31. 31.

    NotMax

    @TomatoQueen

    You mean in place of streaming via Prime Video? Not a-gonna find anything ad-free that’s near as wide-ranging for the same 10 clams a month.

  32. 32.

    debbie

    Farmer’s market opened this past week. I think these are the best strawberries I have ever had. This is the first year in a long time farmers haven’t complained at all about the weather. So that’s good.

  33. 33.

    The Mugster

    X-rays this morning showed that I didn’t break or fracture my hip yesterday when I had a pretty spectacular slip-and-fall event in the freezer aisle at my local big-chain grocery store, as the EMT crew (and I) feared.  Dx is “bone/deep tissue bruise,” R&R and pain pills prescribed.  So I’d say that’s something good, yeah!

  34. 34.

    smith

    @Scout211:  Yep, my niece has been passionately involved with Dem politics since she was in college, so she’s living her dream.

  36. 36.

    Barbara

    All three “girls” have both shots, and both “boys” have received their first. We have a bumper crop of strawberries, well, more than we have ever seen from our own garden. Went on a great whitewater canoe trip last weekend.

  37. 37.

    debbie

    @WaterGirl:

    I love that peony! Not sure of the name, but it’s so delicate.

    @zhena gogolia:

    I saw a couple of 20-foot rhododendrons this morning while running errands. I’d forgotten they can get that large.

  39. 39.

    ChiJDDoug

    My son surprised us with a visit this weekend.  And in a week or two my peonies will kick all y’all’s peonies’ ass (or stems or stamen or whatever).

  41. 41.

    Betsy

    1. Observed interesting rare wildlife.

    2. Co-pay was only $20, thanks to Obamacare.

    3. Nice weather.

    4. Did not automatically assign more than my share of blame to myself.

    5. The pets are all right.

    6. Slowly crawling back to normal.  Long to-do list.

    7. Looking forward to a real social gathering.

  44. 44.

    Falling Diphthong

    My surgery got pushed back–again, this time at the last minute–and my husband suggested we go to Maine for a long weekend. So that I would have an actually good thing to look forward to. And this worked–even though on a cellular level I started off convinced something else would go wrong, it didn’t, and the trip was lovely, and my lizard brain started to believe it. (Maine is the most vacced state in the nation, and we planned a quiet outdoorsy trip.) And now I feel confident that the surgery is likely to come off.

    If anyone is thinking of hitting coastal Maine I highly recommend the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath. Lots of outdoor stuff about shipbuilding, plus a normal indoor museum. Make sure to hit the docent modeling how you launch a ship, and consider one of the boat rides–we saw half a dozen bald eagles on the river, plus lots of seals. Sometimes they spot dolphins or whales at the ocean end.

  45. 45.

    Raoul Paste

    I’m smiling at these various bits of good news: enough sleep, good medical results, successful gardens

    Also, Rick Santorum has been fired from CNN, so there’s that

  48. 48.

    JoyceH

    I’ve been exercising and getting stronger. I’ve started taking walks down the road with my dog, who’s eight and has never really had walks. I have a fenced yard and would exercise her with fetch and jumps and a flirt pole. So she’s really excited to see the world ‘outside the wire’.

  49. 49.

    Sure Lurkalot

    We are having our first dinner party with my BILs and SIL attending. We had a quick meet and greet in the backyard at Xmas time to exchange gifts so it will be nice to be seriously together. Bocce ball is slated and I’m making a couple of slabs of ribs with the usual sides for bbq so that should keep me out of trouble.

  52. 52.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Raoul Paste:

    Rick Santorum has been fired from CNN

    I would rejoice greatly at this news, but shall hold off until I hear who’s being hired to replace him.

  56. 56.

    raven

    @WaterGirl: 60 lb Wahoo! A highly sought after fish known as a great fighter. It made an otherwise not great fishing trip into a triumph!

  58. 58.

    JoyceH

    @Falling Diphthong: Ooh, I’d like to go back to Maine sometime! I lived there a few years, up in Machias. (On the coast almost to Canada.) Worked there at the submarine broadcast station, “Most Powerful In The World”.

    I’m starting to crave trips to all my old stomping grounds. For some reason I was looking at a map of Seattle recently, and the old Naval Reserve Center where I worked on Lake Union is now a museum.

  60. 60.

    zhena gogolia

    @WaterGirl:

    I have no smartphone or camera. I used to buy those disposable Kodaks but I guess they don’t make them any more.

  65. 65.

    Warblewarble

    Time for a stand with Emily Wilder campaign. The rethugs should not win.

  71. 71.

    CaseyL

    @smith: Ooh, how wonderful for your family!  Joe’s visit to drive the electric truck went off perfectly, so kudos to your niece!

  72. 72.

    raven

    @SiubhanDuinne: Look at the left hand of the fellow on the right. He was first on the fish but he was badly injured in a wreck and had NO chance of landing that fish. He tried his best but if he had not handed it off he might have lost it and a very expensive rod and reel that he would have been responsible for.

  73. 73.

    SiubhanDuinne

    This is a great thread. So much happy news (definitely including the return to normalcy!)

  75. 75.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Falling Diphthong: farmers market had these variegated nasturtiums so I bought three.

    fun fact for anyone interested in visiting the boatbuilding museum: the English named some of the our days of the week after they learned of the Norse superstition to be very, very careful not to launch their ships on the day sacred to Thor, god of thunder, lightning & storms, lest he interpret this as an invitation to gift the ship at sea with his stormy presence. Once this superstition spread in England, in order to be certain that you were not launching your ship on Thor’s day, you made sure you knew whether it was Thyr’s day (Tuesday), Wotan’s day (Wednesday), Thor’s day (Thor’s day) or Freya’s day (Friday).

    I learned this bit of trivia from an old book about the folk lore of the sea. For us, beautiful old wooden ships are cute. At sea in a storm they were death traps.

  77. 77.

    Dan B

    @debbie: I believe the Peony is ‘Krinkled White’.  Mine will be blooming in a week.  The blooms sparkle in the sun.

  82. 82.

    TomatoQueen

    @WaterGirl: @NotMax: 
    There is a story of screeching blind gibbering rage caused by Amazon’s insistence on sending a password verification link to a mobile phone number that does not belong to me, the rudeness of their customer service technician, and the lack of cooperation when I asked for a link to be sent by email as has been their past practice (I can prove it goes back to at least 2008). I asked for a supervisor (none to be had of course), and spoke in a slow clear voice to get the rep to slow the fuck down, and she finally did. She also voluntarily closed my Prime account and credited a refund. But she could not send a password link to my email address.
    I’m also a Comcast/Xfinity bundler for various reasons, most of which are no choice. One of the perks of such Luddism is Prime is included in the ASTRONOMICAL bill, as are a host of godwotthehellisthats that I’d never ever look at. Why? digital channels level service required. Why? music for my Young Man while I’m working. Why? my amp/CDplayer broke a long time ago? Why? Ask Doctah Fuknoze, and the spiral goes ever on.
    I ask for a possible competitor because amazon has other services that I have depended on for the smooth running of this household and my life for years. I will struggle to reproduce the same level of convenience and service.
    I do not own a mobile phone. I do not want one, having experienced them in the recent past. I am unable to use touch screens in any way, because of essential tremor in my dominant hand .

  83. 83.

    RandomMonster

    I tried out a new wok I had seasoned recently. (Seasoning is a whole afternoon activity practically!) Both the wok and I acquitted ourselves admirably in our test run, if I do say so myself. Thai basil eggplant and ground pork.

  84. 84.

    Geminid

    I pressure washed two patios last week. One was bluestone, the other a pretty sea green, stamped concrete. When I finished, they looked great!

    I must have a boring life. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

  85. 85.

    Mike in NC

    Getting ready for a trip to Key West next week. Never been there before. Last travel was 20 months ago when we flew home from Norway.

  86. 86.

    Salty Sam

    One reason we decided to sell our sailboat and return home from Puerto Rico is that I’ve been wanting to get back to blacksmithing and metalworking.  I sold my old shop and all my tools years ago to go sailing, so now I need to start collecting tools again.

    Today we saw an estate sale not far from where we are-  they had an anvil in good condition for a fair price.  Let the collecting begin!

  88. 88.

    NotMax

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop

    Wooden sailing ships? Everything old is new again.

    …being a world-first, there are some aspects of Ceiba’s design that have yet to be proven at sea – including her specific combination of wind power and an electric engine. Ceiba has a regenerative engine: when she is travelling using her sails, her propellers can be used as underwater turbines to capture excess energy, similar to how regeneration mode in an electric car can capture excess kinetic energy when you brake. The electricity, along with that generated by the solar panels, can then be stored in the battery until it is needed to drive the ship. Importantly, and unlike many other ships that already use some kind of electrical engine, Ceiba’s engine is purely electric and does not have diesel as a back-up option. She is genuinely fossil free.

  90. 90.

    Ruckus

    I have 4 work weeks till I retire. I think that is something really good.

    Another new phase in my life, I’ve had a few of those, and always knew where I was going, even if the trip didn’t end up where I thought it would. This time I really don’t have a lot of plans or expectations, it’s just another segment of decades of mostly enjoyment of life, with a few sidetracks into holly hell that sucks.

  91. 91.

    TheQuietOne

    During the Reagan years I was asked on to AF1 by the pilot and given a soft drink. I worked communications at the airport for the phone co.  While the president was off to his event I sat on the tarmac holding down the fort. It was 100 degrees plus and the pilot took pity on me and asked me up.

    Signed in, walked back a few feet then off again. No pictures with my phone…hee hee. My phone was a rotary dial at the time. Still a fun memory.

  96. 96.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:

    There is a Y Tube channel (BTW Y Tube is fucking useless as of a few days ago, everything has automatic ads. Fuck those assholes who have to make a profit off of every damn thing, nothing can be just entertaining or informative, it has to put more money into already overflowing pockets) called Acorns to Arabella, 2 guys who are building a 50 ft ship, reusing some parts from an old sailing boat and they made a trip down to the building site of that ship and gave them tips and donated woodworking tools to help them. Very interesting, both of the sites.

  97. 97.

    J R in WV

    Last Thursday was Wife and my 50th wedding anniversary. No big deal, just took that long to get there, really. We’re both pretty persistent.

    Anyways, what was good that we felt able to go out that evening. First we went to the local indy book store, where Wife bought 5 or 6 new and used books — she’s kind of a hoarder of books, which is OK with me, I like them too.

    Then we went to a very good local restaurant for dinner. And there were two neighbor acquaintances at the other end of the restaurant! not that amazing, we share the anniversary date, and have bumped into them at this very restaurant before on this date. I went down and told them we have to stop meeting like this, a good laugh line for all.

    Then this evening we’ve been invited next door for multiple small custom pizzas, cooked in a tiny wood-fired oven on the other patio table. Will also be great to visit with neighbors. We’ve known him for decades, and his wife since they came together 20 years ago or so. Time escapes me, I barely know when anything happened in terms of years… I’m lucky to know in what order things happened.

    Anyway, all good things, going out, and visiting with friends. Drinking champagne with friends is better than drinking it at home alone~!!~

  100. 100.

    billcoop4

    I found, wrote, received an answer from, had a phone call with, and I’m now planning a first visit with my 83-year-old birth mother. All in the space of two weeks.

    BC

  101. 101.

    StringOnAStick

    The process of painting our badly weathered home exterior starts next week; looking forward to the transformation that will make it fully ours since we bought it last fall.

    I was finally able to get an irrigation pro out to move three sprinklers and confirm for me that the 3 drip zones indeed have pressure reducers in place, so we can now use the automatic system and I was able to install drip tubing on the landscape mound I just completely rebuilt and replanted.  The grass still looks awful but I’ll replace it with a lower water seed mix next year.  Now it’s on to a complete redo of the backyard, into a low water, high wildlife habitat.  Gotta make life even better for the pollinators and the wandering flocks of CA quail that I love seeing scurrying about.

  102. 102.

    debbie

    @Dan B:

    There are a couple of long rows of peonies in my neighborhood that I like to visit every spring. Thursday, there was just one or two blooms; today, they’re both full of open flowers!

  105. 105.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    Well, I still work in a machine shop, 60 yrs after I first set foot in one. I’ve worked in them, I’ve owned one for nearly 20 yrs, I’ve worked as a hobby in professional sports and worked full time in it, sailed thousands of miles and seen a good part of the world in the navy, owned a bicycle shop, am back to machining and none of that was what I went to college to learn to do. And I’m still glad to have lived and hope to do a lot more of it, even if the trip was seldom what I expected. This is the part of my life I never expected to reach, the part that I expected to desire the least, but it’s not that at all. It’s another day, another one foot after the other, more sunrises and sunsets, it’s life. We only get one, and every new day is good.

  107. 107.

    StringOnAStick

    I love single peonies like these lovely white ones.  I think I prefer them to the big doubles; less likely to get knocked to the ground by spring rains.  They sure don’t seem to be for sale as often as the doubles.

  108. 108.

    J R in WV

    @smith:

    My niece works at the WH, and this week she was asked to staff Joe’s trip to go drive the electric truck. It was her first time on AF1, and she texted around pictures of her boarding pass and a selfie in front of the plane. Her mom (my sister) was bursting with pride.

    I guess so~!!~ bursting with pride. Hell I’m proud of her, and we’re just Internet acquaintances. That’s great news. Everyone involved with her life should be proud, especially her own self.

  109. 109.

    StringOnAStick

    @billcoop4: There’s a lot of implied story in your comment, that’s an exciting turn of events.  Best of luck for a happy reunion!

  110. 110.

    Ruckus

    @NotMax:

    I didn’t either till just the other day. I’m pretty sure it’s not just me. Now the site is fucking useless.

    And. So what do you use for an ad blocker? Because they started putting adds into the posted vid at the start, and that’s on top of the ones inserted into the middle of the vid.

  114. 114.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    Yes it is. Some of these labors of love are amazing. I used to own a sailboat, moored in a marina here in CA and sometimes looking at the old boats that people owned was amazing. On the east coast there are even more of them. There is a lot of truth to the saying that a boat is a hole in the water into which money is poured.

  115. 115.

    smith

    @J R in WV: Yes, the whole family is amazed and delighted to see where she is. In a way, though, it’s not surprising. She’s always been very focused in getting from A to B, and with a really well developed sense of right and wrong. In other words, exactly the kind of person who should be working for the president.

  117. 117.

    JanieM

    @Ruckus: I use Adblock Plus and I haven’t seen any change in behavior at YouTube (I’m playing something right now to check). I’m peculiar, I suppose, in that I’m never logged in, so I wonder if that makes a difference. Doesn’t seem like it should. But also, I wonder if it has to do what the kind of stuff we’re listening to.

  118. 118.

    WaterGirl

    @billcoop4: Holy shit!  There are so many great things on this thread, but wow, finding and meeting your birth mother.

    Tears of joy for you running down my cheeks…

    edit: if you find that you want to share your story after meeting your birth mom, that would make a lovely Celebrating Jackals post, if you want to write something up.

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    @Ruckus

    Have found that NoScript in Firefox, set to allow only youtube.com and googlevideo.com, works like a charm.

    I also block all cookies and have Adblocker Plus as well, but don’t believe either of those are involved in my not being on the receiving end of YouTube ads.

    Am also spared from seeing the comments there, which I understand would be considered a plus.

  120. 120.

    Geminid

    @Gin & Tonic: Some say that the Basques used to sail across the Atlantic to catch cod on the Grand Banks. Being canny fishermen, they never bragged about where they were catching all those fish. Some of the Basques may have had Phoenician ancestors who clued them in.

  122. 122.

    billcoop4

    :)

    Thanks! Short version — found her name from my original NJ Birth Certificate 4 years ago. Joined ancestry.com and traced both adoptive and bio lines (on her side) back, with lots more on adoptive side.  Didn’t find any current information then. This month I rejoined and ….marriage article and obit for her husband (died while in-line skating in 98).  Got names of daughters (half-sisters to me) and found them on FB. Then found her.

    They’re all within an easy drive — Salem and Marblehead MA and Woonsocket, RI.

     

    BC

  123. 123.

    Dan B

    @JoyceH: MOHAI: Museum of History and Industry.  My partner’s picture is in a couple places for his, and his partner at the time, gay party / fundraising organization the Tacky Tourists Clubs of America.  There are pictures of me and friends on the archives.  One room in the museum is Queering Seattle, or some name like that.  There are some interesting old ships docked there and at the Center for Wooden Boats.  There’s a park with a miniature / model boat pond plus a wall of Amazon skyscrapers a block away.

  124. 124.

    JanieM

    @Ruckus — I should have added: I use Adblock Plus on both Firefox and Chrome. On Firefox I block all cookies, on Chrome I don’t, although I clear them often. Like NotMax, I use Noscript on Firefox, but not on Chrome. Still no ads. I have Chrome locked down as tightly as I can while still using it for stuff that absolutely requires cookies.

  125. 125.

    Dan B

    @zhena gogolia: In the Himalayan foothills there are Rhody forests to 60 feet.  Most exhibit vivid pink blooms.  I’ve planted some of that species – when I worked for a landscape architecture firm.  I bet the homeowners had to remove them.  They were planted next to the one story house.

  126. 126.

    Chacal Charles Caltrop

    @Gin & Tonic: cross the North Sea & the North Atlantic in that, and you can see why some people were trying to avoid the favor of the storm-bringer

  127. 127.

    grandmaBear

    I registered for two RoadSchoar trips for March next year – a Cooking in Tuscany trip and a Paris trip with about 9 days between I’ll probably spend in Firenze, assuming all the stars align. I’m starting to work on my Italian now. Soooo looking forward to travel again.

  128. 128.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    Much to be happy about. Respiratory issues have improved to the point where I only need my inhaler once a day. Strong enough to walk a couple of miles daily. Family fully vaxxed and I can spend time with my mom. Pretty good.

  129. 129.

    Ruckus

    @Raoul Paste:

    They replaced him with John Kasich.

    They didn’t improve one iota by doing that.

    And an iota is a very, very small bit of imaginary matter.

  132. 132.

    raven

    @Ruckus: Yea, I’ve decided to go ahead with back surgery hoping that one foot in front of the other gets better.

  134. 134.

    Gvg

    I asked my retired mother to check out a weekday estate sale for me when I had to work because they had a picture of a China cabinet that looked like it might work with my stuff, mid century modern. I’ve been looking for a couple of years. Dad went with her, it was a great price the snagged it. Dad got excited and got the dining set too because it was a smaller version of theirs, and had extra chairs. So now I have a new better table and my sister gets mine. Today I had time to stop at the sale in the last half hour it was on. I was thinking maybe some pans. My aunt had scored some at the same sale. While I was waiting to pay, another clerk came up to mine and asked if he had the phone number of the couple they had sold the dining table too….because she had just found another leaf and pad for it. It felt unreal, but I raised my hand and said it was my parents…I now have a huge dining table, which can also be a small round or medium oval. I had to call dad and tell him. Just so amazing that they said that in front of me three days after my parents bought the table.

    I am washing my grandmothers China that I finally have a place to display. They have been in a packing case since 2009.

    on the down side, my mother wants me to hostess a family gathering soon.

  135. 135.

    Ruckus

    @TomatoQueen:

    Essential tremor isn’t a lot of fun is it?

    At least mine is mostly in my non dominate hand, although for a while in middle life I could do everything with the non dominate other than write. My ET is strong enough that more than one doc told me I likely had Parkinson’s. My current neuro said and proved I don’t, which is a nice thing to find out. Now the kicker, I can’t take any of the meds that calm down the tremor, the side effects are worse than the tremor.

    I hope there is some possible better help for you than me but it sounds that you just have to live with it as well.

  136. 136.

    NoraLenderbee

    I realized that I can probably retire in the next year or two. I’m 58 and I’ve had it with spending 40 hours a week doing stuff I don’t want to do, but i thought I’d be in it until 65 at least.

  139. 139.

    Ruckus

    @raven:

    Good Luck!

    I seem to be stuck with all the crap I’ve got, random electric shocks, random severe pains, both of which last only for short time to a minute at most. No one has any idea what causes them, everything they check looks normal. Which of course is how I know they aren’t looking, me normal? Are they out of their ever loving minds?

  140. 140.

    NotMax

    @Gvg

    That is nothing short of wonderful.

    Way back when (late 1970s) used to occasionally pop in at barn auctions like that which were held far out in the boonies. Once scored a set of six solid tiger maple leather padded seat dining chairs, for like $5 each. Not that much later saw a similar set through the window of a hoity toity antiques shop in Manhattan, for something like $100 a pop.

    The one item I still lament passing on (no place to keep nor store it) at that same auction was a working 1940s era Wurlitzer bubble jukebox, which IIRC the gavel came down on at $25.

  141. 141.

    Ruckus

    @NoraLenderbee:

    That sounds grand. I’m not sure, but I think I’d have really liked that.

    I’ve been working longer than you’ve been alive. That’s just interesting to me, how people’s lives are so different. When I started working, most people I knew thought they would be working their entire lives, because most people did. And now many of us get some time to relax and watch the world go by, maybe travel and see parts of the world that we haven’t, some of the beauty and wonder.

  142. 142.

    Ruckus

    This post is a welcome respite after the last 4+ years. Thank You WaterGirl!

    Yes we’ve had others but something good seems like a rare thing any more. To hear that people can be happy is very nice.

  145. 145.

    There go two miscreants

    Late to the party, but I am going to visit my grandkids next week; haven’t seen them since Dec 2019, except on video calls. Have also started getting together with vaccinated friends and siblings.

    Loved reading everyone else’s good news too!

  146. 146.

    Jay

    @Chacal Charles Calthrop:

    Saiorse was caught in “the perfect storm”, in the course of rescuing the crew of 3, a Coast Guard swimmer lost his life.

    Saiorse was found in perfectly fine condition off the Bahama’s 3 weeks later.

    Replicas have show that many early ship forms, even open boats, were safe at sea in most storms if well handled.

    Still sailors were/are superstitious, to the point that even today, few will set sail on a Friday.

  148. 148.

    Chacal Charles Caltrop

    @Jay: of course they are – the sea is essentially out of their control, even if the older boats were more marvelous than they look.

    notMax: too funny! But remember this is the “something good” thread

  149. 149.

    cckids

    My daughter got engaged to a super terrific guy; they are so so happy ❤️?
    When they started dating & we had the “So, tell us about him” conversation & got “He’s from Oklahoma, was a Marine for six years, then a cop in San Francisco, now he’s a park ranger” we were worried he was a wingnut. But NO, he’s even bluer than we are, as his whole family-his brother works for Biden in DC. ? So that was a relief!!

    Plus, he got her a custom-designed ring with an alexandrite as the stone;  her name is Alexandra. Just perfect ❤️

  151. 151.

    The Golux

    A week from tomorrow, we’ll play our first gig since February 29th. I wonder how the pipes will react to the layoff.

  152. 152.

    Kayla Rudbek

    And we also celebrated my father-in-law’s 80th birthday today; a big party with most of the Rudbek siblings there, barbecue, and then concluding the party with Mr Rudbek and several of his brothers trying to get a badminton birdie out of the neighbor’s tree after Mr. Rudbek and my nephew knocked it into the tree, with my mother-in-law, Mr. Rudbek’s sister, and I shouting at them to leave the neighbor’s tree alone.

  153. 153.

    Madeleine

    Ever since I was a child I have loved peonies. I bought bouquets of them in Reading Terminal when I lived in Philadelphia. In recent years I visited the wonderful peony garden in Ann Arbor.

    Thank you so much for your beautiful photos this week, WaterGirl. Your peonies are so perfectly lovely.

  154. 154.

    The Mugster

    @Shana: ​
    Absolutely, through their insurance carrier…all $32, which was my out-of-pocket total for doctor, imaging, and meds. (I have good insurance coverage.) The best part was pulling over the full shopping cart in my attempt to prevent the fall!

  155. 155.

    J R in WV

    @billcoop4:

    Wow, congratulations on all of that big news !!

    I know somewhat of how you feel, as beloved next door neighbor since the 1970s gave up a baby to adoption when she was way too young to raise a little person up well. Then one day the grown up woman wrote her birth mother, and now next door neighbor is a grandmother as well as a mother.

    Very happy days for her, hope just as happy for you —  Good things indeed~!~

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