The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 09

[sirhugs]

Another really cold morning and cloudy, so no sunshine to at least fool you into thinking it's warm outside. My phone rebooted overnight and I lost my connection to my old e-mail. Luckily, the auto-forward I set is still working so while I lost the ability to access old e-mails, I'm still getting new ones sent to the old address so I can go and update the e-mail for whatever site the e-mail was from.

For now, I've got a fresh pot of coffee brewing and the teapot is hot. There are various snacks on the counter but I've run out of carrots for the plot bunnies. Maybe I'll kick a few of them down into the basement to feed the dragon. The dragon is looking peaked since H_P hasn't been around for nearly ten months now. I'm worried we will be adding his name to the list of former patrons of this establishment ...

I'll be over in the corner hopefully putting words on paper. I didn't get anything written yesterday so I hope I will be able to get something written today.

I'm not writing again, after that two day spurt. Don't ask me why not. I think its the depression again.

 

[sirhugs]

I've developed a pattern of writing posts and then failing to press the "Post reply" button. Last night I wrote a brilliant essay on making smashburgers and coleslaw, and I found it this morning, unsent. It wasn't current, so I deleted and shall carry on.

coincidentally, I'm having the same problem. Also happening with replies to texts.
Anybody got a good solution? Othwer than whiskey (which is a solution in the liquid sense, but still not sure I can tolerate post chemo. Last time I tried it, just got a bitter burning sensation in my mouth0.

 

[MrPixel]

Oatmeal this morning. C puts all sorts of stuff in hers like chocolate chips and dried cherries, just a dusting of light brown sugar for me. And milk of course.

Oatmeal is the one and only people food we allow our dog. When C gets out the pot and other prep supplies, he is off the sofa like a shot, spending the entire time staring at "the gray pot" (it's either blue or red) during prep and our meal as we give it time to cool. C adds a little bit of cold water to make a slurry out of the leftovers, and he does his full "prayer" routine before diving into his bowl. It's adorable.

I have a story in the works, currently about 5500 words, about a middle-age couple rediscovering their fire after the kids went off to college. They mutually, and lovingly, agreed to completely shift gears into an open marriage while they still had the energy and the youthful bodies they worked at so hard to keep. At the moment is a fraught-filled scene with a couple they've known for years who dabbled in "lifestyle", but not with our MC's, who have been vanilla since marriage. One re-pairing in the swap setup is going quite well, the other, not so much.

It'll probably top-out at 10-12K words, and I'm figuring on posting it on "the other site" which has no readership to speak of, just a handful of author refugees from LitE. Not here until Manu fixes that damned text centering problem.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Wrote from five this morning. First break. The kid and the wife are at my folks' house. I didn't want to expose Mum and Dad to my cold in the nose. I'm about to have an Irish Cream with real Irish....

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Just popped in to make sure there was coffee for the night shift (or day shift for those on the wrong side of the globe). There's more snacks on the counter. See you in the morning.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Sleeping no more than an hour or two at a time kinda sucks.

 

[sirhugs]

Sleeping no more than an hour or two at a time kinda sucks.

and not in a good way...

 

[Duleigh]

Welcome to February!
WHO DESIGNED THIS MONTH???
Take a day from January, take a day from March and you have four thirty day months in a row instead of this nonsense. I'm sending a strongly worded letter to someone.

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

And you can still add the Leap Day and be within 'normal' range of other months.

 

[NotWise]

Welcome to February!
WHO DESIGNED THIS MONTH???
Take a day from January, take a day from March and you have four thirty day months in a row instead of this nonsense. I'm sending a strongly worded letter to someone.

You want more February? Who wants more February?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I'll gladly take more February if it means less January.

 

[Candy_Kane54]

Another cold but sunny morning with temps in the single digits F. At least I can pretend I can feel the sun's heat unlike yesterday. My blood pressure is starting to spike again so I'm going to have to have a talk with my GP to see what I can do about it. It was 175/91 when I got up this morning.

There's a fresh pot of coffee going and the teapot is hot. There are snacks and a bowl of fruit on the counter. I see the plot bunnies have thinned out so maybe the dragon ate a few.

I'll be over in the corner working on my story. I got a few words down and had to rewrite a small section where I got the dates wrong. I'm hoping I don't run out of steam before I finish the three WIPs I have going at the moment.

 

[Duleigh]

You want more February? Who wants more February?

I would like twelve thirty day months, followed by a five day long global New Years celebration.... no wait! Twelve 28 day long months so every month is the same. The first will always be Sunday, every month will have a Friday the 13th so it will lose its stigma, between July and August will be a leap month of 29 to 30 days where all calendar corrections can be made making summer an extra month longer.

Now, with that solved, let's look at the current tax structure...

 

[sirhugs]

I'll gladly take more February if it means less January.

traditionally, I hate February more than january. Given how much I hated this January, I hope that February breaks with tradition.

2025 was a sh#t year, and I wish that 2026 was more promising.

 

[NotWise]

Another cold but sunny morning with temps in the single digits F. At least I can pretend I can feel the sun's heat unlike yesterday. My blood pressure is starting to spike again so I'm going to have to have a talk with my GP to see what I can do about it. It was 175/91 when I got up this morning.

So maybe it wasn't the Meloxicam that caused your high blood pressure, and you can get back on it.

 

[TheLobster]

You want more February? Who wants more February?

So you’re saying that February Sucks, eh?

 

[NotWise]

I'll gladly take more February if it means less January.

Here, February is our brownest, driest month. It sets up from the dust storms that come in the spring. The cold, calm morning make February the best time of the year to fly hot air balloons, but we do the big ballooning party in the fall because February is. . . February.

That's why I like my amaryllis to flower now. They add a little color to the year's dreariest month. Photos coming soon.

 

[NotWise]

So you’re saying that February Sucks, eh?

Is February the month that started that whole LW thing?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

I just figured that was the character name.

People are named April, May, June, August, January, Tuesday, Wednesday, why not February?

 

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Aside from the fact that snow in general sucks, THIS snow sucks harder.

2-3 inches of fluff got topped with an inch of sleet that froze to a hard crust. Sun during the day does a small bit of melting that freezes again over night. Now the crust is even harder and slicker, since it's more like ice.

It's a LOT harder to walk on now that it was the first day. You really have to stomp your foot down to break that crust and get good footing. The tracks you made days ago are now iced hard and too slick to step in safely.

I'm running out of places to make new tracks.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Also Monday, Thursday, and Friday!

I just figured that was the character name.

People are named April, May, June, August, January, Tuesday, Wednesday, why not February?

 

[MillieDynamite]

Is it a sloppy, wet suck or a raspy, dry suck?

Also Monday, Thursday, and Friday!

 

[NuclearFairy]

Aside from the fact that snow in general sucks, THIS snow sucks harder.

2-3 inches of fluff got topped with an inch of sleet that froze to a hard crust. Sun during the day does a small bit of melting that freezes again over night. Now the crust is even harder and slicker, since it's more like ice.

It's a LOT harder to walk on now that it was the first day. You really have to stomp your foot down to break that crust and get good footing. The tracks you made days ago are now iced hard and too slick to step in safely.

I'm running out of places to make new tracks.

That's what the rake is for. You scrap out groves in the ice with it to give you traction and then you don't have to stomp down.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Okay, I really have to get back to work now. I'm writing for me today, and this, while pleasant, is a distraction I shouldn't indulge in while my iron is hot and the end is so fucking close. Just one more cup-a-coffee for the road.

 

[NotWise]

Aside from the fact that snow in general sucks, THIS snow sucks harder.

2-3 inches of fluff got topped with an inch of sleet that froze to a hard crust. Sun during the day does a small bit of melting that freezes again over night. Now the crust is even harder and slicker, since it's more like ice.

It's a LOT harder to walk on now that it was the first day. You really have to stomp your foot down to break that crust and get good footing. The tracks you made days ago are now iced hard and too slick to step in safely.

I'm running out of places to make new tracks.

We don't often get that kind of snow here--or anywhere else in the west, as far as I know.

I do remember a freak snow storm when I was seven or so, and we lived in Roswell, NM. The storm laid down at least six inches of snow, and it was followed by sunny, cold days. The sun melted the top of the snow, and it refroze at night to form a solid crust. If I was careful I could walk around on top of it.

After a few days, mom or dad tried to melt it by running the garden hose on it. That just turned it into weird ice sculptures.

I took the hyacinth bulbs out of the fridge and planted them in sunlit containers. All but one was in good shape, so I expect to see them up around the end of the month. I had ten small bulbs left over, and my experience with hyacinths has been so bad over the last few years that I didn't want anything to go to waste. They're planted in a pot that I'll let sit in the garage until they start to peek out.