The Most Monday of All Mondays

charlotte989875 · June 2022

Back to work after our amazing vacation and it has been a really Monday Monday. My laptop has now restarted twice and it’s only 10:30. It’s going to be a long day.

STARMOON44 · June 2022

It’s such an aggressive Monday but I have next Monday off and the Monday after that I’m at a conference and the Monday after that is also a holiday so it’s my last real Monday for a long time which I just realized and is extremely exciting!!

VarunaTT · June 2022

Wow, the weekend felt so short and yet so long.

I didn't do much of anything. One of the goals I have is incorporating reading more into my life. I've done a fairly decent job of it; I've probably read more in the last 6 months than I have in the last few years. I've always wanted to read all of the Hugo Award winners (basically the Oscar for best sci-fi/fantasy books), so working through that. I've found a podcast that I'm following along with. I just finished Speaker for the Dead. I intensely disliked Ender's Game and Orson Scott Card is a terrible human...that book is a gorgeous humanist tract and will become part of my permanent collection. I've also always wanted to read a biography on each American president. I found a website that helps with that too. I picked up the Ron Chernow "Washington" biography. It is so damn good; he is truly a gifted writer and biographer. I've already put away a few hundred dense pages and am truly enjoying it. So, that's mostly what I did this weekend.

I also dogsat for my neighbor. He is an EMT and has crazy hard hours, so I said I'd take Thumper on the weekends I could, just so the dog isn't stuck inside 12+ hours at a time. So, had a few walks outside. I also finally figured out (I think), how to hang my huge Bowie print. Hopefully it works, as I'd like to get my reading/music listening nook all squared away. Also watched Peaky Blinders. I'm limiting myself to an episode a day since it's the last season. I'm going to miss this show. I'd do terrible, Terrible, TERRIBLE things for Thomas Shelby, no lie.

I have the hearings on. And wow, Trump's campaign manager who was to testify under subpeona, is out b/c of a "family emergency". **fill in your own snark**

climbingsingle · June 2022

The weekends really do go too fast. I'm working from home today because I had to go back to the DMV and then take Stella to the vet later. Thankfully the DMV wasn't too bad but I'm dreading the vet. Stella gets so super nervous there, and it's a new vet. Ugh.

Had a nice weekend. Got all the work done in the garden. Cleaned up the front of the house. Grilled burgers for dinner. Weather was mostly good. Would have been nice if it was a little warmer so we could swim but hopefully we'll get to this weekend.

MissKittyDanger · June 2022

Not terrible for us but honestly in comparison to Saturday night chaos, anything feels chill.

Saturday was good. I'd been saying all week we were tired - so we all slept in until like 9:20 lol
Yes even BK slept in.
Her virtual puppet show was at 10am so we had to get up. That went ... ok.
She got distracted and disinterested part way thru and gave up. I think it's because virtual tbh.
After we played outside with water table for a bit. It was already really warm/nice.
Then I cleaned my upstairs and bathroom. Well overdue *gag*

She didn't nap, so we did quiet time. BK asked before about the park, so we went to a different park down the street then checked out the library a bit. M & I said we may go during holidays to check it out more and become more accustomed to it as she's getting older.
Dinner went well. And BK had a bath.
She kept complaining about her tummy hurt. She'd had normal poops and was farting quite a bit, so I said it could be a gas bubble.

I was so very wrong.

11pm she's restless. Gut feeling? Idk. I go in to see if she's okay - omg stink! BK pooped.
Got her up to go change her, and she pukes EVERYWHERE.

Eventually M got her in bath, and since she brought up just blueberries, I went to go check them.
Sure enough, they'd gone bad. They weren't bad earlier, but M figures they were on verge enough.
Bathed. Redressed. Cleaned hardwood - towel and cleaned floor with some kid safe product {just to remove smell so I could mop next day} and child given gravol.

She was fine next day but omg. Poor kid.

We took sunday slow for obv reasons but BK was back to her normal self.

ei34 · June 2022

Extended family party on Saturday was wonderful. STBXH has some papers coming his way this week, kind of bracing myself for that.
Today is the Feast Day of St. Anthony (my son's patron saint) so we'll celebrate the feast day later, otherwise SSDD.

mrsconn23 · June 2022

Monnnndaayyy. My next four weeks are short ones. We get Friday off for Juneteenth, next Friday is my regular day off for working Saturday (which I took vacation for this coming Saturday), and I took off July 1st for a longer weekend over the 4th.

Weekend was all right. I stayed in bed Saturday and Sunday until after 10am because last week wore me out. Friday, we order a bunch of Chinese takeout and the kiddo came over to see his cousins one last time before they left.

Saturday, nieces met with a family friend for lunch and we did some running around. We went to my nephew's baseball game and my sister's BFF was in town, so I got to chat with her and her family. Her daughter is a year younger than DefConn and she had all sorts of questions for him about 5th grade, which was adorbs. FIL came to dinner.

Niece's packed up and left at 1am Sunday morning. I stayed up until they left. Sunday, we cleaned house and did a little shopping. Last night was just relaxation and enjoying a quiet-ass house. Hee.

I got my resume together Friday night and applied for the promotion Saturday morning. IDK when I'll hear about interviews since my director is out this week on vacation. DH is still waiting to hear from the place he interviewed with last week. I'm working on not obsessing about all of it. It's...going. LMAO

SSDD otherwise. Happy to have my house 'back'.

levioosa · June 2022

Whew. Weekend was good but I am tired. We braved the heat on Saturday for a local festival that was fun but super hot. Then we came home and had a nice time out on the porch with the sunset. Yesterday we did the longest trek for my cousin’s graduation party. It was really nice and I got to see my family for a few hours. We made Father’s Day plans which are going to be a long Sunday trek again, but it’s so nice to see everyone and we’re not making plans with H’s family that day so we can really enjoy the moment without rushing.

Other than that SSDD.

CharmedPam · June 2022

Good on the reading! I bought a kindle to do that, but I’m locked out and can’t access it because of my lost password. It can’t be that important for me to read because I haven’t dug into retrieving it. I also wanted to finish my painting this weekend but didn’t. It’s a paint by numbers - but way to intricate so I’m gonna go rouge and just paint it and copy what it should be. Patience isn’t my middle name.

so sorry to hear about Bk @MissKittyDanger. Hopefully one and done, and she’s over it. Virtual stuff is hard to focus on. I get it.

i need some Monday’s off @STARMOON44. You’re doing the right thing.

i had a wonderful game night with meetup on Saturday. We played cards against humanity and laughed SO hard. A mix of different personalities and ages too, but the ladies all got the crudeness of the game and partook. Sunday was absolutely nothing and I feel bad about it. I did get dressed and go out for frozen custard at Andy’s. I asked for a kid’s size. They dont have one. Only regular and large I guess? Regular was $7+! And I froze most of it… but smh.. this is probably why obesity is a problem. You can’t even get a kids size. You have to tell your child when to stop and freeze the rest…or waste a lot of money and throw out the rest if you don’t have access to a feezer. If I was a kid, and got that large portion, I would have stopped when it was done.

short+sassy · June 2022

@MissKittyDanger, Poor BK! But I'm glad she's feeling better. Food that doesn't agree with you is the worst. I have to be careful with fruit. If I eat too much of it, I get stomach pains. Especially cherries.

Three day week! Then I fly out on Thursday. Though that will be a rough day of traveling all day and night. I didn't get as much packing done as I had hoped, but I still got a lot of it done, including some laundry.

I also found out that Barcelona has one of the best and biggest food/shopping markets in the world (La Boqueria). Definitely looking forward to that. I think it's a 20-minute walk from my hotel.

-------------------------------

I have a drink package with this cruise (Norwegian). Thank goodness it was free, except for pre-paying tips. I reviewed it over the weekend and NCL are some nickel and diming monsters. Without the package, the only beverages that are free are tap water, iced tea, hot tea, and plain coffee. No soft drinks.

With the package, soft drinks are free. But energy drinks and even bottled water are not! I thought specialty coffee drinks are included, but they aren't. Well cocktails, wine, and beer...as long as the drink is less than $15 and not "premium"...are free with the package. But I've read reviews online that there are no champagnes/sparkling wines, at all, included with the basic drink package.

Okay. Good to know. I definitely like my zero sugar energy drinks. I'll just buy some in Barcelona and put it in my checked bag.

Oh, but wait. Nope! No beverages, even totally sealed non-alcoholic ones, can be brought onto the ship. Wine bottles are one exception, but there is a $15 "corkage fee" for each one. So much for me bringing home some good, European wines. Because I'm too cheap to give them money for doing nothing.

That also includes no bottled water. But they'll make an exception if the bottled water is for formula. Followed with the rigorous process on how to get that approved ahead of time. And don't think that's a free pass for bringing on as much bottled water as you want. It's limited to a specific number of ounces for how many days the trip is for.

Obviously, I was giving a lot of this a major side-eye, lol.

CharmedPam · June 2022

That package stinks @short+sassy! On Carnival, we got the basic and used it. Holland America was pay as you go (but i think water, iced tea, teas and coffee were free?) and with celebrity we always get the basic package. It’s recommended even if you don’t drink alcohol for the bottled waters, soda, energy drinks etc. i upgrade because they have Belvidere black and just 2 of those a day make the premium upcharge worth it. And the martini’s! I can’t drink a bunch, but its a nice treat. My ex and I enjoyed drinking. My parents/aunt on the upcoming one do too, so I’ll go premium again. $10/more a day.

i can’t wait to hear how this goes. I’m traveling solo to Salem this year, and it’s the first time I’m doing that. I’ve traveled to places alone but met people at the destination. Someone at meetup suggested I join some meetups in Salem and go to an event. People have done that to our Chicago ones. Interesting.

VarunaTT · June 2022

@CharmedPam I can't read on e-readers I read it too fast and it doesn't stick in my brain at all. IPhone just came out with an app that will flip the font to something called Reeder, that is supposed to help people like me with that. It randomly capitalizes and bolds letters, so that your brain has to focus in on the text. As soon as Kindle/Nook pick it up standard (right now it's an download/import game to get that font on those), I'll get a Kindle again, b/c I miss mine, but it was useless reading on it.

Oh also, the Grand Prix was terrible for both L and I. He didn't finish watching b/c Ferrari is his favorite team and LeClerc his favorite driver and neither Ferrari car/driver finished. I was pissed b/c Lando Norris is one of my favorite drivers and some politics got involved and he was forced to stay behind Ricciardo, his teammate, for the end. Crappy race, though Red Bull is a freaking powerhouse this year, both in team and drivers. My other favorites are Mercedes/Hamilton and Russell. They both did well, but Hamilton was in a lot of pain after the race and they're talking about backups for this upcoming weekend for him.

mrsconn23 · June 2022

@VarunaTT, DH got up and watched the race. I just could not get myself out of bed. He wasn't super jazzed about the results either. He likes Red Bull, but some of the other shit going on is just getting ridic. I'm looking forward to next season with two new teams and more races. I am also looking forward to next season's Drive to Survive.

CharmedPam · June 2022

Ok, edumacate me. Is Grand Prix, Formula One & Nascar three different things? What’s the word I’m looking for? Branches? Leages? What are they called?
My friend used to have Formula One parties at her place and I swear the name Hamilton came up! I used to call it Nascar and she’d give me the stink eye. I haven’t been invited back since. If you jokingly call Formula One “Nascar”, is that “get the boot”
worthy? Or it could have just been my annoying personality in general.

Edit words

banana468 · June 2022

DH watched the F1 and NASCAR race too. I hardly paid attention.

The weekend was BUSY. Friday afternoon Chiquita got home from her sailing camp. It was by far the best thing she's done and I'm super proud of her. She couldn't nap despite being tired and fell asleep at 10. That kid slept until 12:03 Saturday. I smiled at her and said, "You missed the AM!!"

That afternoon we had a soccer game for Chiquita where the team lost (they did not win a game this season) but she had some GREAT blocks and saves and I told her she was well done. That night was the blue and gold dinner for Chiquito and he earned his Wolf badge.

Sunday was church and then we filed into the house for an afternoon of cleaning. DH even put one of the kids old scooters on buy nothing to start to clean out items in the garage.

VarunaTT · June 2022

CharmedPam said:

Ok, edumacate me. Is Grand Prix, Formula One & Nascar three different things? What’s the word I’m looking for? Branches? Leages? What are they called?
My friend used to have Formula One parties at her place and I swear the name Hamilton came up! I used to call it Nascar and she’d give me the stink eye. I haven’t been invited back since. If you jokingly call Formula One “Nascar”, is that “get the boot”
worthy? Or it could have just been my annoying personality in general.
Edit words

I am not the best, but I'll give it a good try:

Formula One and NASCAR are 2 different car racing systems. NASCAR are stock cars, Formula One are the custom built low to the ground ones you see. NASCAR is the oval track most Americans are familiar with, Formula 1 are the custom built tracks or street circuits.

Grand Prix are just the names of the Formula 1 races.

A lot of Formula 1 fans are snotty AF about NASCAR, but a lot also aren't. The F1 drivers are NOT snotty about NASCAR at all and there are lots of videos of F1 drivers trying out NASCAR driving. Not so much the other way around, b/c...um...well...F1 drivers are in SHAPE b/c of the G forces put on their bodies by the cars and tracks, weigh requirements of the cars, and just the sheer size of the portion of the vehicle where they sit (the big rumor which is probably true is that they can lift 200 lbs with their neck, b/c of the muscles required to handle the jostling while driving). NASCAR drivers aren't usually in as great shape.

Hamilton is the 7 time world champion of F1 and by any measure is considered to be the best driver in the history of the sport. However, Mercedes is having a tough year with the new build and he's having a very rough year in the car. Russell (his teammate) has been beating him and I really like Russell though the general consensus is that Russell came from a team with a crappy car and so he's used to having to push his car around, while Hamilton has almost always driven a Mercedes that was driving beautifully in time with him, so hasn't had these issues before.

ETA: So the Grand Prix are usually the country name + Grand Prix, so it was just the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, though a lot of fans will shorthand to the track name, so lots of people just call it Baku (the name of the track), as well. I'm not that good at remembering the track names just yet.

banana468 · June 2022

There's also IndyCar which is looking closer to F1.

The other thing I've noticed and will say is that F1 is global, very European and there are a limited number of drivers. Each team has 2 right? The teams are based throughout Europe and if I remember correctly there is only one US race this year. Next year there should be two when they bring on Vegas.

NASCAR has a MUCH longer season and starts in February and concludes in November. There are 3 different tiers (Xfinity, Truck and Cup) with some drivers participating in all and others in one or two. The are some road courses but NASCAR has a reputation for 'go fast turn left' due to the number of oval track courses that they have.

There are few exceptions where there's a weekend without a NASCAR race but I don't think F1 races every week. They are also throughout the world vs. NASCAR that I think only races in the lower 48.

ILoveBeachMusic · June 2022

We got back about an hour ago. H had a nice college reunion. I was exhausted from all the programming that went on during the weekend but he enjoyed it. We went to DS1's yesterday and spent the night. It was nice seeing them but I really wish they would get a real guest bed instead of a day bed and blow up mattress! Oh well, one night isn't so bad. DS1 cooked a yummy dinner last night. They are talking about some remodeling they want to do if they stay in this house long term. I'm working on laundry, again, now. Today is also the twins grands' birthday - 4 years old. We will be going up to Chicago for their party next weekend. After that we will be home for about 3 weeks! Yay!!! It will be nice to not just be home long enough to unpack, do laundry and pack again.

VarunaTT · June 2022

This is interesting, b/c F1 also has F2, F3, and um...I can't remember the electronic branches name, so F1 is just their top tier.

There are 2 races in the US right now, Austin and they just did Miami for the 1st time (that was a hella fun race and will probably stay in next season). They're adding Las Vegas back next year; they did Las Vegas before and apparently the track was a tragedy, so bad they cancelled the contract until giving them a second chance now. The rest are spread throughout the world, mostly Europe, but I think every continent has at least hosted 1, if not actively having one. The first Grand Prix is always in Australia.

I can't quite remember the season frame, but it is shorter, something like 4-5 months. There are 23 races this year, which has led to some complaining from the drivers b/c that's the most they ever had. It does seem silly to complain until you realize they're going from Azerbaijan this Sunday, to Canada this next Sunday. IDK about Nascar, but racing is a 3 day event: Friday is practice runs, Saturday is qualifying run (to see where they line up for the start of the race) and Sunday is race day. And the set up of garages, the team stations lanes, etc., is incredibly time consuming (I fell into the rabbit hole of logistics of shipping the entire setup awhile back), so it does wear on the teams.

The fans are all over the world, TBH, but probably least represented in the US. F1 is trying to get a foothold in the US, without alienating their regular fan base.

Oh and yes: There is the team (which has it's own championship competition going) and then there are the drivers and they do only have 2 per team (and they have their own championship competition). ETA: So, I've said the Red Bull team, and their drivers are Max Verstappen (the current world champion driver) and Sergio Perez. Red Bull is ahead in the teams competition and Max is currently ahead in driver's competition.

short+sassy · June 2022

When I hear about car racing, why does the theme song (Eastbound and Down) from Smokey and Bandit play in my head? Fast cars, Burt Reynolds and truckers. But not professional car racing, lol.

@VarunaTT, thanks for the explanations. A fundraiser when I was in high school was working at the Long Beach Grand Prix. It was on city streets and I always wondered why that race was like that, when other ones are on oval dedicated tracks. It was a lot of fun and, when we volunteered to work some hours...which everybody did...we got to spend the day there, for free.

STARMOON44 · June 2022

F1 is about driving. NASCAR is about crashing. And yes, I am a snob.

mrsconn23 · June 2022

LOL @STARMOON44. I find NASCAR boring AF. DH will watch NASCAR if we're around the house with nothing going on. However, we record all of F1 coverage and he makes a point to watch it. He also will turn off his alerts during practice and the race if he's not watching in real time so he doesn't get 'spoiled'.

Indycar we really only care about the 500. LOL We will watch a road course.

DefConn had us record motocross and watched all the qualifying and races. His guy, Christian Craig (#28, DefConn's number) was the #1 guy this year.

STARMOON44 · June 2022

And if y’all are into racing check out the coverage on the Isle of Man TT. Tragic. https://www.autosport.com/roadracing/news/the-moral-complexities-of-the-isle-of-man-tt-that-cant-be-ignored-/10321467/

banana468 · June 2022

NASCAR definitely has more crashes than F1 however a crash in NASCAR does not mean that the car is definitely undrivable. In F1 you're likely completely out. Someone correct me but I think the cost of an F1 car vs. the cost of a NASCAR dollar for dollar is lower.

short+sassy · June 2022

STARMOON44 said:

And if y’all are into racing check out the coverage on the Isle of Man TT. Tragic. https://www.autosport.com/roadracing/news/the-moral-complexities-of-the-isle-of-man-tt-that-cant-be-ignored-/10321467/

Motorcycle racing is unreal! It's hard to believe they take turns at almost a vertical to save tenths of a second. But yeah. I can understand why it can be a much deadlier sport, than even car racing.

On a fluffier note. When I think of the Isle of Man, I think fondly of it because that's where Manx cats originate from. That's my favorite breed. My last cat and my current one were/are tail-less Manxie girls.

charlotte989875 · June 2022

I’ve learned so much about car racing in this thread!

VarunaTT · June 2022

I've always thought watching NASCAR was boring AF. But the driving involved in actually really hard b/c of those banked oval tracks and the fact that the track can basically grab you and throw you up in a drift and you don't really have control if that happens. The cars themselves are really interesting in how they are engineered and designed and stripped down. When Magnussen went and drove a NASCAR not too long ago, he had a lot of interesting commentary about how much faster and more terrifying it was to him vs. his F1.

Also, F1 drivers are insanely hawt. Gasly is not a favorite driver, but I follow his Insta, b/c hello, sir!! I don't find the same to be true in NASCAR.

I'm not sure re: cost of NASCAR vs. F1, but logically I think F1 would have to be more expensive. The steering wheels alone is like $50K. Plus an F1 is fully customized R&D build, while NASCAR starts with a basic stock that they do a bunch of stuff too (generalized).

VarunaTT · June 2022

It depends on the crash too. If you just take your front wing out, that can be fixed in a pit stop. They have a whole new piece they bring out and it still only took like 3 seconds, while also changing tires. Hell, they even duct taped someone's wing in yesterday's race (it didn't work). There are so many safety features and safety barriers and run offs though, that most of the time if you do wreck in F1, it's at a high speed and yeah, you'll be out until the car is fixed. And I know there's lots of politics and planning when it comes to that, b/c they'll talk about point issues when changing gear boxes or the like, but I can't get that far into it...yet.

banana468 · June 2022

I've been to two NASCAR races in NH and they were great to watch. Since Dale Sr. passed there are changes that make it safer for the drivers as well. I was lucky enough to get a tour of the inner track and trailer areas in NH and then walking across the track you can even see how a smaller place has decent banking that would throw me for a loop.

That said I'll have posters of more F1 drivers up on my teen bedroom wall over NASCAR ones.

short+sassy · June 2022

VarunaTT said:

It depends on the crash too. If you just take your front wing out, that can be fixed in a pit stop. They have a whole new piece they bring out and it still only took like 3 seconds, while also changing tires. Hell, they even duct taped someone's wing in yesterday's race (it didn't work). There are so many safety features and safety barriers and run offs though, that most of the time if you do wreck in F1, it's at a high speed and yeah, you'll be out until the car is fixed. And I know there's lots of politics and planning when it comes to that, b/c they'll talk about point issues when changing gear boxes or the like, but I can't get that far into it...yet.

The cars are fast, of course. But it's amazing to watch how fast the pit crews are also!

VarunaTT · June 2022

I'm OBSESSED with the pit crews. I've watch so many videos explaining who they all are and what they all do. I'm also obsessed with the garages and what all the "stuff" is and the team principal race set ups. I can't even imagine how much practice goes into getting a 2.5 second pit stop.

I also like the pit crew stops gone wrong, b/c sometimes they are funny, as long as no one is hurt.

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