The sand is rapidly disappearing in the summer hourglass.
21 thoughts on “September 1, 2021: End Days”
Anyone out there have any "rituals" for the beginning of the month, besides flipping the page on the calendar? I use the beginning of the month to remind me to run some water in the sinks/showers/toilets so the traps stay full (we have a couple bathrooms typically closed off), and I also will check the robovacs to clear out the brushes more thoroughly and clean the filters.
Paying bills is about it for me.
I don’t have any rituals, but I suppose there are a few monthly chores timed around the end/beginning of months. I replace the furnace filter (our furnace is 30+ years old — the furnace guy told me to use the cheapest filters available at Farm & Fleet to avoid stressing it, as it’s not made to handle more restrictive modern filters). I also check the salt level in the water softener system while I’m down there.
Before this month, I would enter my leave time, but HR — in its infinite wisdom — has switched every monthly salaried employee to biweekly pay over the summer. Somehow paying people every two weeks is “more efficient” than once per month.
I use it as a reminder to change the timer on the outside lights at the church.
An update on Jags:
I appreciate all the comments about him. He was just the best pet ever and I don't think I could ever replace him. I will tell you, though, that he remains alive for a little while longer.
When I went to the vet on Monday, I should have probably waited to post because I was pretty emotional and I was sure that was the end. But, my wife simply was not ready to let go. She could not bear the thought of ending his life. They drew fluid out of one of his lungs (4 oz!!!!) and he had a mass about 3/4 the size of his heart. As a compromise, I agreed to bring him home until this morning. I didn't update the site because I figured he'd be gone by this morning. Yesterday, though, my wife suggested that maybe we could drain the other lung and give him a little more time in palliative care. She went in this morning for that procedure and the vet told her that the mass was lymphoma and that it was time. My wife has come to accept that it is time. She brought him home one last time so that Miss SBG could say goodbye to him. It will be the end this afternoon after work.
I had mentally prepared myself on Monday for this and the last two days watching him lie on the couch, basically unmoving have been horrible. Never a fat cat at all, the most he ever weighed was about 12 pounds and he is 36" nose-to-tail. He's now down under 5 1/2 pounds and there's almost no muscle mass left. We've held on too long. We should have shown him mercy on Monday. He didn't deserve to keep suffering. But, I understand, I didn't want to let him go either and I guess I just let my wife and daughter spend a little more time with him because he's so important to them.
It's hard letting go. We all do it on our own timetables.
Best wishes to you all.
You did the best you could, by your wife, by your daughter, and by Jags. As bS said, it's a hard thing, no matter how you do it. Hang in there.
This is the second cat we've lost this summer. My wife made the decision to euthanize the first one while I was on a business trip to North Carolina. Afterwards, she felt she had done it too early (I didn't think so, as I saw her the morning I left and could tell she was at the end). It was important that my wife be at peace with the decision wrt Jags because he was The Cat in our house. When I took Jags in, she felt it was a sign that I loved her because I agreed to care for him since she wanted him but couldn't take him (and I was definitely not a cat person back then). So, he represented a lot to us and to her.
Recently I heard grief being described as a mountain top a group has found itself on with no clear instruction on how to get down. Each of us will choose a path. Some of will get down and others won’t. The idea that there are folks who won’t get down has really stuck with me.
In other words, sorry for the loss, boss. Climb down the mountain however you need to and help your fellow grievers however you can.
He’s gone now. Both my wife and I are relieved. He meant so much to us that we could not stand to see him struggle anymore.
This article? (I don't recall who shared it - possibly someone from this site - but it's worth the read.)
My condolonces too, Stick. It was a real pleasure reading about how he came to be yours, and what a fit that was.
As others have said, letting them go is hard. Even in his last hours, he knew he was at home, where he was safe and loved. He could smell you. He could hear you. He left the world loved, and if you’re guilty of anything in these last few days, it’s wanting to let him feel that love a bit longer.
Well, Maeda effectively out until 2023. I don't think 2022 is going to be a winning season.
Kenta Maeda underwent Tommy John surgery today, Rocco Baldelli said.
but Vasquez has had a nice year with the Twins’ Triple-A affiliate in St. Paul. He’s appeared in 33 games and tallied 42 1/3 innings of relief, working to a 3.61 ERA along the way. Command is still an issue for Vasquez, as evidenced by an elevated 12.1 percent walk rate and a whopping 13 hit batsmen. However, he’s also whiffed 37.4 percent of his opponents and posted an enormous 61.8 percent ground-ball rate. Lefties have posted a comically poor .074/.242/.130 batting line against him, while righties have slashed .207/.369/.427.
14.6:6.0 K/9:BB/9 in 66 innings of AAA. Lots of hit batsmen. A little bit of Nook LaLoosh in him. Or Maybe Ricky Wild Thing Vaughn.
I've been trying to figure that trade out. Not because I think Vasquez is going to be anything special, but because Stevie Berman isn't anything. A twenty-six year old catcher who's barely played above AA and hasn't hit about Class A. All I can think of is that they weren't going to re-sign Vasquez and they thought getting something was better than getting nothing, but Berman is about as close to nothing as you can get.
Q: What do Bob Boone, Al Leiter, and John Smoltz all have in common?
As disappointed as I am to see people like those three go down this ridiculous road, I am perhaps even more heartened to see their employers put some actually teeth behind their requirements.
Don’t want to do it? Then you don’t get to work here.
I wish my school was this cut and dried with both employees and students.
What unique perspective do Smoltz and Leiter have that couldn't be provided by two of hundreds of other (vaccinated) former pitchers? I'm glad they're not being allowed to infect their coworkers, but it's silly to accommodate them and let them broadcast from home.
Anyone out there have any "rituals" for the beginning of the month, besides flipping the page on the calendar? I use the beginning of the month to remind me to run some water in the sinks/showers/toilets so the traps stay full (we have a couple bathrooms typically closed off), and I also will check the robovacs to clear out the brushes more thoroughly and clean the filters.
Paying bills is about it for me.
I don’t have any rituals, but I suppose there are a few monthly chores timed around the end/beginning of months. I replace the furnace filter (our furnace is 30+ years old — the furnace guy told me to use the cheapest filters available at Farm & Fleet to avoid stressing it, as it’s not made to handle more restrictive modern filters). I also check the salt level in the water softener system while I’m down there.
Before this month, I would enter my leave time, but HR — in its infinite wisdom — has switched every monthly salaried employee to biweekly pay over the summer. Somehow paying people every two weeks is “more efficient” than once per month.
I use it as a reminder to change the timer on the outside lights at the church.
An update on Jags:
I appreciate all the comments about him. He was just the best pet ever and I don't think I could ever replace him. I will tell you, though, that he remains alive for a little while longer.
When I went to the vet on Monday, I should have probably waited to post because I was pretty emotional and I was sure that was the end. But, my wife simply was not ready to let go. She could not bear the thought of ending his life. They drew fluid out of one of his lungs (4 oz!!!!) and he had a mass about 3/4 the size of his heart. As a compromise, I agreed to bring him home until this morning. I didn't update the site because I figured he'd be gone by this morning. Yesterday, though, my wife suggested that maybe we could drain the other lung and give him a little more time in palliative care. She went in this morning for that procedure and the vet told her that the mass was lymphoma and that it was time. My wife has come to accept that it is time. She brought him home one last time so that Miss SBG could say goodbye to him. It will be the end this afternoon after work.
I had mentally prepared myself on Monday for this and the last two days watching him lie on the couch, basically unmoving have been horrible. Never a fat cat at all, the most he ever weighed was about 12 pounds and he is 36" nose-to-tail. He's now down under 5 1/2 pounds and there's almost no muscle mass left. We've held on too long. We should have shown him mercy on Monday. He didn't deserve to keep suffering. But, I understand, I didn't want to let him go either and I guess I just let my wife and daughter spend a little more time with him because he's so important to them.
It's hard letting go. We all do it on our own timetables.
Best wishes to you all.
You did the best you could, by your wife, by your daughter, and by Jags. As bS said, it's a hard thing, no matter how you do it. Hang in there.
This is the second cat we've lost this summer. My wife made the decision to euthanize the first one while I was on a business trip to North Carolina. Afterwards, she felt she had done it too early (I didn't think so, as I saw her the morning I left and could tell she was at the end). It was important that my wife be at peace with the decision wrt Jags because he was The Cat in our house. When I took Jags in, she felt it was a sign that I loved her because I agreed to care for him since she wanted him but couldn't take him (and I was definitely not a cat person back then). So, he represented a lot to us and to her.
Recently I heard grief being described as a mountain top a group has found itself on with no clear instruction on how to get down. Each of us will choose a path. Some of will get down and others won’t. The idea that there are folks who won’t get down has really stuck with me.
In other words, sorry for the loss, boss. Climb down the mountain however you need to and help your fellow grievers however you can.
He’s gone now. Both my wife and I are relieved. He meant so much to us that we could not stand to see him struggle anymore.
This article? (I don't recall who shared it - possibly someone from this site - but it's worth the read.)
My condolonces too, Stick. It was a real pleasure reading about how he came to be yours, and what a fit that was.
As others have said, letting them go is hard. Even in his last hours, he knew he was at home, where he was safe and loved. He could smell you. He could hear you. He left the world loved, and if you’re guilty of anything in these last few days, it’s wanting to let him feel that love a bit longer.
Well, Maeda effectively out until 2023. I don't think 2022 is going to be a winning season.
Twins trade who, now?
A 28-year old 4A LOOGY is who
14.6:6.0 K/9:BB/9 in 66 innings of AAA. Lots of hit batsmen. A little bit of Nook LaLoosh in him. Or Maybe Ricky Wild Thing Vaughn.
I've been trying to figure that trade out. Not because I think Vasquez is going to be anything special, but because Stevie Berman isn't anything. A twenty-six year old catcher who's barely played above AA and hasn't hit about Class A. All I can think of is that they weren't going to re-sign Vasquez and they thought getting something was better than getting nothing, but Berman is about as close to nothing as you can get.
Q: What do Bob Boone, Al Leiter, and John Smoltz all have in common?
As disappointed as I am to see people like those three go down this ridiculous road, I am perhaps even more heartened to see their employers put some actually teeth behind their requirements.
Don’t want to do it? Then you don’t get to work here.
I wish my school was this cut and dried with both employees and students.
What unique perspective do Smoltz and Leiter have that couldn't be provided by two of hundreds of other (vaccinated) former pitchers? I'm glad they're not being allowed to infect their coworkers, but it's silly to accommodate them and let them broadcast from home.
Things may change when contracts expire.