Patricia Abbott (pattinase): Monday, Monday

Monday, January 26, 2026

Monday, Monday

17 comments:

Jerry House said...: It's been a terrible week for America and for anyone with a modicum of humanity.

I hope you are enjoying warm weather in Cali. The arctic blast that has covered much of the country has me concerned for many of our friends, from George and Diane in New York to Kevin and Scott in Dallas and everyone in between. The Panhandle has missed the bitterly cold weather, although we had had a fierce rainstorm yesterday with accompanying tornado warnings. Lost the internet for almost a full day. Looking forward to a week of cold weather (well, cold for Florida -- 20s and 30s) but we remain safe and snug.

The big news here is that Christina lost her job. She had been working as a sign language interpreter for one student for nearly five years. The student's latest IEP has determined that he no longer needs an interpreter and so Christina was let go. (I believe the only factor in the decision was financial.) She's not sure what to do next. Interpreting jobs are hard to come by here and her past experience (ten year as an EMT and ten years as a cardio stenographer until she burned out on both) will not help her in the current job. market. She's not really worried; she'll find something, and with all of her previous jobs, will shine at it.

More and more of her time is being taken up with Ellen and Walt Sr.. He is getting frailer and Ellen's dementia is getting worse. They will probably be moving in with us sooner than later. Walt has been repainting the interior of the house in anticipation. Christina was able to jump in line for a neurology appointment for Ellen, saving at least four weeks. She brought Ellen in for a series of cognitive tests (no, not the Trump "is this a camel?"-type test) and we are due to get the results this Thursday, which will help in any decisions Christina and Walt have to make. In the meantime, Ellen made chili for Sunday's football game, whole forgetting what day Sunday was, putting a generous amount of EVERY spice she had on hand into the mix, and then leaving it in the stove and going away. **sigh**

I think I mentioned that Walt and Christina have signed up to be wild animal rescuers and have completed their training. Thus far no will animals have needed rescuing. In the meantime, Erin is applying to become an animal control officer, a job that Amy once had. If she gets the job, she will be working out of the same building as Jessie, Amy, and Trey; it's amazing how many companies and county offices can be squeezed into one building.

We had the first meeting of Erin's Family Book club yesterday afternoon. The book chosen (randomly) was A GOD IN THE SHED, suggested by Kaylee's wife, Ivy. It was an entertaining but severely flawed body horror novel that was not everyone's cup of tea, but it did bring about some interesting discussions. Nest month's read will be THE FEAR INDEX, a "financial thriller" by Robert Harris, suggested by Amy's boyfriend, Yavin ("That's Gavyn with a Y").

I followed A GOLD IN THE SHED (which took me longer than normal to read, but not as long as Joe Hill's latest doorstop) with another horror novel. Bonnie Quinn's strange and fascinating HOW TO SURVIVE CAMPING: THE MAN WITH NO SHADOW (for those who% remember the podcast from ten years ago or so, picture a campground situated in NIGHTVALE). Other books read were THE ESSENTAIL HORROR OF JOE R, LANSADLE, the latest Thursday Murder Club novel, two Hard Case Crime graphic novels (BABYLON BERLIN and THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST), Christopher Cantwell's confusing (and ultimately, not worth it) DOCTOR DOOM.

Stay warm. Stay safe. And kick up your heels.; 6:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Western NY is digging out after over a foot of snow buried most of us. Tomorrow, 40 mph winds are supposed to hit! Temps are not going to move out of the teens for more than a week so frigid weather will be with us for a while.

Patrick is headed for Greece and Katie is packing for her trip to London and Barcelona.

The only Good Thing about hunkering down during Bad Weather is Diane and I are catching up on all the TV programs we've DVRed. We watched a couple episodes of BOOKISH on PBS. Mildly entertaining.

Hope everyone is safe and sound after this massive storm!; 8:48 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...: Why do I bother? Blogger hates me and probably won't publish this.; 9:00 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...: It did. Amazing.

Hope you are enjoying California, Patti. I read this morning that the lower 48 had record low temperature overall yesterday, and it would have been lower except for, you guessed it, South Florida. Unlike Jerry, we were 80+ the last two days and will be again today, then 60s the rest of the week, and upper 50s over the weekend.; 9:04 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...: We finished rewatching the first series of The Night Manager last night. Good one. Will start series two. Star Trek is too young, but Holly Hunter is always worth watching.

You should try Sally (Scott & Bailey, Last Tango in Halifax, Happy Valley) Wainwright's new series on Britbox, Riot Women, though I guess men with fragile egos (hello, Donald Trump) might find it disturbing. "Five women come together in Hebden Bridge to create a makeshift punk rock band to enter a local talent contest but in writing their first song, soon discover that they are all very angry about the way society treats women and that they have a lot to say. "; 9:13 AM
Anonymous said...: Watching second Night Manager
which is hard to follow for me. So many characters. Weather good but we are at the bottom of a big hill which is killing my knees.
Be back on Friday.; 10:42 AM
Jeff Meyerson said...: Detroit weather looks cold, with more snow ❄️; 11:02 AM
Anonymous said...: Horrible. On Feb 22 I go to Fl though.; 12:26 PM
Gerard Saylor said...: Was a rough weekend with the news from Minneapolis. My son says he has not seen anything much and he works outside the City so is gone most of the day. My interwebs are filled with posts pointing out the hypocrisy of the right when it comes to gun rights, protesting rights, and 'don't tread on me'.

I watched DEPARMENT Q on Netflix. A decent show but has all the cliches of the grouchy but brilliant loner cop who alienates everyone. Restarted FEAR THE WALKING DEAD with season 4 or 5. Last night I logged into Peacock to start the final season of RESIDENT ALIEN. I wonder what the gap in production time was between seasons 3 and 4 of RESIDENT because many actors look obviously older. And not just the two child actors who became teenagers.

Been slowly reading BORROWED HILLS set in the sheep country of Cumbria England. A crime novel without much crime. But lots of sheep.

Listened to BONE QUEEN by Will Shindler with a missing teen girl on a British island community. Plot has a lot of similarities with DEPARTMENT Q. I would get the characters and plot lines confused between the two. Novel was ok.; 12:37 PM
TracyK said...: Patti, I hope you are having a good time in San Diego. It is cooler here than it has been, but still warm and comfortable compared to most of the country. I think I am mostly over the bronchitis but I am still very tired and not sleeping well.

Lately we have been watching at least one PERRY MASON TV MOVIE a week. They are fun and have good plots, with several well known guest stars. Also watching COLUMBO episodes more regularly.

Glen read a graphic nonfiction book last week, THE HISTORY OF WORLD WAR II: A GRAPHIC NOVEL RETELLING OF THE 20TH CENTURY'S DEFINING WAR by Arnaud de La Croix and Vicente Cifuentes (illustrator). He said it was a good read but lacks depth, more of an overview. I will be reading that book too, hopefully soon. Now he is reading VILLAGE IN THE DARK, a mystery set in Alaska, the second in a series by Iris Yamashito. He is liking it a lot; it has three main characters, and the chapters alternate between them. Another one I will read this year.

I finished two books in the last week. OLD FILTH by Jane Gardam, which I loved, but it took me a while to get used to it. Also, DEATH OF A BUSYBODY by George Bellairs. This is an early book in a long police procedural series featuring Inspector Littlejohn. Currently reading THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES by Amy Tan. Very interesting, lovely illustrations, by the author.; 2:44 PM
Anonymous said...: That has described many of my favorite punk bands over the last half-century.; 11:26 AM
Todd Mason said...: That was me, TM, using Alice's computer and forgetting I was doing so.; 11:27 AM
Anonymous said...: I remember reading Old Filth the year we spent in England. Introduced me to lots of new writers. I head back on Friday. Dread the
10 degrees it shows. Glad you are recovering.; 12:48 PM
TracyK said...: Thanks, Patti. I loved OLD FILTH, will read the 2nd book in the trilogy soonish. All my symptoms are almost gone, but still very tired.; 4:01 PM
Gerard Saylor said...: Warmer today in Southern Wisconsin with a high of 12. Was -4 when I walked to work, so I wore my parka.; 12:13 PM
Todd Mason said...: An ever-quickening recovery, Tracy.; 9:15 PM
Todd Mason said...: Middle NJ will be about 8 F tonight. Our younger cat is catching some mice that have apparently been living behind our dishwasher, who find it necessary to walk out past the dw into the kitchen to warm up, only to meet feline fate.; 9:17 PM

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