Happy New Year 2016

We were planning on having a couple people over tonight to ring in the new year but I had to cancel this morning because my wife is not feeling well.  I'm okay with that, I stayed up until the early hours last night watching Wisconsin win the Holiday Bowl over USC.  I'm glad I stayed up, it was a good game that came down right to the end, but I have been pretty tired all day today.  Thankfully it was very slow at work and no one really cared how much got done.  I may still get a second wind tonight and stay awake until midnight, there are still football bowl games on television.  But maybe not and I'm okay with that.

I wrote this last year and can't think of a better way to say it:
Happy New Year to you all.  The ones I read, the ones I love, all my friends and all of you who take the time to read me.  Whether you comment or not, I can see you're there.  Thank you.

Xmas 2015

We enjoyed a holiday evening with my wife's family yesterday.  It was a good holiday gathering, no huge dramas to speak of.  Family photos were taken that I hope turn out real nice.  Brother-in-law is becoming a professional photographer so he had all the equipment - the huge backdrop and the umbrella lights of a pro photo shoot, and he made it work pretty well for the small space it had to happen in.

The food was also pretty good.  Way too much, but par for the course.  They all want to please, and everyone did seem pleased and had their fill of the feast.  Mother-in-law forgot to get the jello dish out for dinner again - which is becoming a family tradition.  I feel like the same thing happened at the last holiday gathering.  I also felt a little bad for my host sister-in-law as she spent all her time cleaning up dishes alone afterwards while we all talked around the table.  I considered helping, but helpers may just have been in her way, anyway.

We are not traveling anywhere else this weekend.  I plan on resting, mostly.  Although I am mostly over the bronchitis I got about 2 weeks ago I still have the headache.  It is better at times and worse at other times, but it has been there for a full fortnight now and I'm, well, sick of it.

The weather is as unseasonably warm as I ever remember for Christmas.   It looks more like late fall right now than winter.  The grass has never been greener at this time of year.  Still, I can't help but think we'll be paying for this milder weather down the road, in one way or another.

Whatever you are doing for the holiday I hope it is what you want to be doing.  Have a great weekend!

How To Comment

I am writing this to clarify how to leave a comment for those that may not know.  Basically there are three main ways to view my posts; desktop, mobile and via email.  You may comment directly from the desktop or mobile site but not the email.  So here is how to leave a comment for me, and registering with Blogger or Google to leave a comment is not required.

From Desktop:
If you are on a desktop when visiting then thank you, you are seeing the post as I meant it to be seen.  Just click on 'comments' at the end of the post.  Sign in if you have an account or, more likely, just choose the Name/URL option, then you can just enter your name and your comment easily.  Anonymous works too, but be sure to leave your name in the comment so I know who it is.

From Mobile:
If you see the mobile site on your device then you must first click on the post you wish to comment on, then click on 'Post a comment' at the end of the post.  Sign in if you have an account or, more likely, just choose the Name/URL option, then you can just enter your name and your comment easily.  Anonymous works too, but be sure to leave your name in the comment so I know who it is.

Email Readers:
If you wish to comment on a post you received via email then you must click the 'Scoakat's Blog' link at the bottom of the email to go to either the desktop or mobile sites, then it is the same as above.

If you don't know what I'm referring to when I say 'email readers,' I have a widget in the right column where you can enter your email address, then confirm in an email that is sent to you and you will get an email every time I post a new article to my website.  No spam, no bullspit.  Emails are sent out by Google two to twenty hours after I post.  I have no control over that.  And if you ever reply to those emails they do not come to me.  Also, keep in mind that you will not see videos in emails, you must visit the site.


So you see, it is not too difficult to respond to me but I realize the choices may be confusing.  Hopefully this helps and we can have a little more interaction here.  Tell me what you think, do you agree or disagree with what I write?  Have anything to add or anything you want to say?  I'm only spelling it out here because I'd love to hear from each and every one of you.

Hope to hear from you soon!

December This-And-Thats

I never really feel like doing one of these posts other than feeling that I should do one of these posts.  That's not really a bad thing because I'm never disappointed with the result.  There's a reason I say that it's time to start typing and see what comes out, that's just what I do on these This-And-Thats posts!

• I've been sick and it sucks.  I woke up last Wednesday with that feeling that I may be coming down with something, and by 10 that morning there was no doubt.  I went to work on Thursday and somehow made it all day, but had to call in sick on Friday.  Today, I'm feeling a bit better than the last couple days, but if today was Monday I would have called in again.  I think I should be able to go tomorrow but I don't know how my voice will hold up.  Enough of my whining, on to the next.
• The weather this December has been very, very mild.  We had one or two snows, but much more rain with temperatures above freezing but for some stretches overnight.  As I write this it is about 60º outside!  I'll take it, but it may be hard on the plants.  Speaking of--
• The mild weather allowed a December post over at the Garden Blog.  It's just a picture of the garden as it is now.  Probably confused by the weather.
• It is past time to start looking for gifts for the nieces and nephews.  I try very hard to get things they will really like.  This year I may scale it back a little, though.  We will not be traveling after the fiasco at my Dad's last month.  I've never liked traveling for holiday gatherings much and now I think I'm old enough to not have to do it anymore.  Catholic guilt (from my upbringing - not my beliefs now) has made me do it enough.  Now, I've had enough.
• The new refrigerator has been absolutely wonderful!  I no longer have to make ice every other day by hand, and Kate has noticed how very much longer fruits and vegetables stay good.  That old fridge may have been older than we originally thought.  Now, with the new fridge upstairs and the new chest freezer downstairs we have enough food storage as we should ever need.
• I wrote a while back about our frustrations with our bank.  Since then there has been another issue, and now my wife has been without a debit card for maybe a month because of it.  Seems they still had her address as where we lived about 15 years ago, too.  So, after I've been with this bank for, let's see, about 28 years or so we are in the process of transitioning to a new bank.  Of course the old bank doesn't make it as easy as simply being able to transfer the money, but we shall have the movement of our funds wrapped up soon enough.

That's enough for now.  Coming soon I want to write about commenting.  I'd like it if more readers commented, but many of you subscribe by email so may not know how.  Basically you have to go to the actual post on the website and click on comments.  And no, you do not need to register, comment as a guest then you can type in your name and comment.  That's the quick version, but I want to spell it out for website and mobile for everyone yet.  My traffic to comment ratio sucks, people.

Nine Fingered Scoakat

This just made me actually laugh out loud, and why I am posting and writing about it now.  I do feel a new This-And-Thats post coming, but until then...     Thanks Jonco over at B&P!

I've known several 'digitally impaired' people, especially from when I was younger and worked in various construction jobs, and then eventually a truss plant slash lumber yard.  I saw the older guys that were missing partial and even whole fingers.  You couldn't miss it.  Sometimes they had good stories and good humor about it, sometimes not.  I started out in the truss plant as a grunt that worked on a press, swinging a hammer for a living.  And over the next almost decade I learned almost every press, every forklift and every sawyer job that was to be done.  Alas, back injuries and pride did me in at that job.  Pain can provide a very motivating, yet cloudy view.  Regretful, but physically it was a relief and in my best long term interests.  Mentally, I loved that job and I wish I could have done it forever.

Now, I used to know how to use a lot of saws when that was then.  The biggest saws I've run were six bladed beasts over forty feet long and could cut up to three angles on each end of a twenty foot 2 by 10, maybe more, if need be.  Thankfully we never much needed - or wanted - to test it's extremes.  Most cuts were easier and on 2 to 20 foot 2 by 4's, sometimes 2 by 6's.  And there was yet an even a bigger, more advanced saw there that I never did get to run.  I never came close to losing a finger, but I've known a couple people that it has happened to, or had known, one I never saw him again - he never came back to work.  But he had no business running that saw, we all knew he was scared of it.

These days I have what I need for home projects:  a table saw, a circular saw, a jig saw, a hand saw, a pruning saw, all I need is a chain saw - and don't laugh, it would have it's uses for me!  I still have all my fingers.  Maybe my odds would go up because of all the saws I use and have used, but I would like to think experience makes that less likely.

Now watch, I just jinxed myself.

Signed,
Nine-Finger-Scoakat

P.S.  My newest toy is a 2 gallon 125 psi air compressor.  I'm not sure how that may help me lose a finger but, hell, watch me be the one to find out!

F4VRE

Brett Favre is getting his number retired at halftime of the Packers-Bears game at Lambeau Field tonight.  (Hurry up and retire it before he changes his mind again!)  Congratulations and thank you, Brett!  Photo courtesy of ESPN.

Oh, happy Thanksgiving, too.

Latest Listening Pleasure 22 - Arcade

Once again I have reached into the vaults of my memories for my Latest Listening Pleasure.  I wasn't going to write about Arcade as an LLP post, but I have been listening to them often enough lately and enjoying it so much that I even sought out more and have been enjoying that, too, so here they are.

Arcade is a band that was started by Stephen Pearcy from Ratt and Fred Coury from Cinderella back in the early nineties.  I have their debut release on cassette tape in a box somewhere, I'm sure, but even without hearing it since forever I remembered that I really liked that tape and had nothing else new keeping my attention at the moment so I ordered the 1993 self-titled CD off the internet to have it digitally.  It was every bit as enjoyable as I remembered and I listened to it for weeks on end.  Then I started looking for more, and I had already known they had a second album called A/2 released in 1994.  Those songs were on Youtube but the quality wasn't very good.  I didn't want to listen to all the songs like that if I was going to buy it eventually anyway, so I broke down and just bought the CD, used, from Amazon.  The sound quality is not very good on A/2, and I'm guessing they didn't have the same budget as the year before, but the songs are right in the same vein as the first album.  I had read reviews that said it was heavier, they must have meant that there was more bass on the second recording.  It almost sounds like they just made the demos the actual album.  Listen to the link at the end and you will know what I mean.

Below is what is probably the only official video from the band, from 1993 for the song Cry No More.  At least the only official video that I can find.  There are other good songs on that album, though.  Most notably Dancing With The Angels, and Messed Up World.


They even put out a third album, A/3 - Live and Unreleased.  While I am curious - and you know how I love the live stuff - I am hesitant to get this.  All the songs seem to come off the first album, none from the second, but there is a bonus keyboard solo (snore).  I have a feeling it was a last gasp effort to make money off the band before, or right after, they dissolved.

Here is the only complete live song I can find on Youtube, Cry No More, 1993, Osaka, Japan.


So, if you'd like a throwback to the Eighties, from a band that was together over 20 years ago in the Nineties, check them out!  I just like what I like, so Get Off My Back!

Previous LLP Posts...
LLP 1 - Pain
LLP 2 - Nightwish
LLP 3 - Die Antwoord
LLP 4 - Pain part 2
LLP 5 - Andrew Bird
LLP 6 - Nightwish part 2
LLP 7 - Paramore
LLP 8 - Newsted
LLP 9 - U.D.O.
LLP 10 - Nightwish Imaginaerum Movie
LLP 11 - Kiss
LLP 12 - Rick Springfield
LLP 13 - Hyrax
LLP 14 - In This Moment
LLP 15 - Faster Pussycat
LLP 16 - Sebastian Bach
LLP 17 - Cradle Of Thorns
LLP 18 - Amaranthe
LLP 19 - Lindemann
LLP 20 - Halestorm
LLP 21 - Garbage
LLP 22 - Arcade

First Snow of the Season 2015

Predictions tend toward a mild winter for us here in Wisconsin, but who knows what will happen.  Same as every year, you deal with the hand you're given.  Our first snow of season is here, this picture is from about seven o'clock tonight, give or take.

It could possibly last into the afternoon tomorrow and accumulate multiple inches, a few to a foot, depending on the pattern.  I will update tomorrow if it is a dramatic enough difference.

 I'm starting to feel the annual sense of impending doom - doom meaning winter.  Otherwise, I still hope to mow once more and have a few other plants to compost. And I still haven't cleaned the gutters.  Actually, without our tree anymore and with all the huge winds we've had off and on for weeks, I'm not sure there's even much to clear out.  It all gets done eventually, right?

Bataclan Hall and EODM

We all know about the tragic terrorist attacks in France recently.  The biggest attack was at Bataclan Hall, at metal show featuring a band called the Eagles Of Death Metal.  Here is a video of the band onstage and in the middle of a song as the gunshots begin.  The video is not graphic, you can find those on the internet elsewhere if you wish.  But you can see the drummer duck down and a guitarist running off the stage.  Knowing that this is the very beginning seconds of what happened at that concert hall is what makes this video disturbing.  Be warned of that.



The band issued a statement today, I found it here at Blabbermouth.

Early 'Thanksmas'*

My Dad and his wife Pat had a gathering yesterday that they were calling Thanksmas.  They will be leaving for Florida at the end of the month and wanted to share the holidays with their families.  For some reason I felt we should go, my first mistake.  I don't like the holidays.  I don't like to travel.  Hell, I don't even really like my Dad, and I'm more like him than I want to admit.  But I felt we should go because he has had heart trouble this year and he'll be the first to remind you that he's not getting any younger.  Oh, and their Thanksmas celebration was happening during a Packers game, just to add to my personal anxieties.  I call them 'anxieties,' they have also been referred to as 'selfishness.'  Either way I'm not proud of my actions sometimes.

So, fine then, a couple weeks ago I resolved to myself that we would go and agreed to be there.  My plan was to show up shortly before the game, watch the game and socialize with them, and leave immediately following the game.  Over an hour travel each way, but we should get home just before dark.  Perfect, in my mind.  Plenty of time to relax at home on a Sunday night before facing another work week.  Besides, how christmas-y can you get in the middle of November unless you are a retail store?  I was about to find out.  Oh, I stuck to my plan, but, of course, it did not turn out well.

Most of their combined kids and their families were there.  I didn't know all the names, and I didn't really care.  The 'step' siblings became such long after I was an adult out on my own and I have really only met them a handful of times.  My niece was cute, she made it more fun for me by making me play bean bag toss with her before the game then trying to figure out the password and play the games on my phone.  It was a beautiful sunny day, this Ides of November, with temperatures getting up to 60º.  And I was sitting near a christmas tree watching the Packers lose two weeks before Thanksgiving.  I was feeling out of my element, but there was the finish line - the end of the game, which was drawn-out, of course.

When the game ended I said thanks and gotta go but it was not that easy.  I had explained earlier that we had things to do and I wanted to be home by dark, back to my plan.  So after the game I got up to go.  My wife became hugely embarrassed with Pat protesting and me saying hey, that was my plan all along.  We had to stand there awkwardly in front of everyone as she fumbled looking for christmas presents to give us before we left.  At that point I don't look good leaving or agreeing to stay for their games and gift openings.  My intention was not to get gifts in the middle of November or upset my Dad's wife, just leave.  But then I just wanted to disappear myself, I can't blame my wife for being upset with me, my time here was done and I wanted to go.

See, I've always been more comfortable at home.  And similar things have happened to me before.  I explained it to my sister once as having an elastic band attaching me to home.  The farther away and longer I'm gone the more uncomfortable I am.  Especially when it is for - and it usually is - for a holiday gathering.  I stopped liking holidays after, and in some ways because of, my childhood.  We always had to travel then, too.  I guess it all eventually goes back to childhood, right?  I'm the first to admit that I still hold deep resentment from back then that I am trying to ignore now.  I think I've done well with that lately but it is still there and always will be.  Life goes on.

So, am I selfish?  Do I have OCD with anxieties?  A form of agoraphobia?  Or am I just an ass?

Don't answer, I don't want to hear it.  But it's probably some form of all of them to one degree or another.

The agoraphobia thing, suggested by my wife that night, actually hits pretty close to home.  That would also explain why I get so buggy at huge events with thousands of people, too.  I know I've talked about that here before.  Still, I do not have panic attacks, though I do have plenty of anxieties.  So maybe I'm just a nut who needs to be on medication to take the ab from my normal.  I think I should probably look into this more.  But from right here, thank you.


*Updated next day:
One thing I feel was lost in my writing - and editing - is that I do need to offer my apologies to all involved who took offense.  Reading sentences 3 to 7 of the first paragraph and looking back, I feel like I set myself up to fail.  I'm also sorry for that and I'm sorry it happened.  
Okay, enough dirty laundry!  But writing it out did help me consider things more.  Many things.

Hamish and Basil, Leaves

Our two cats enjoying their limited time on the porch before the door stays closed for winter.  Yes, their personalities are scarily reflected in their facial expressions here.  You see our trouble...














I know I have not written much lately, sorry but not a whole lot has been happening that can be written about here.  The weather has turned, leaves are almost all fallen and we have a lot less that I expected.  Last weekend I mowed, mostly to mulch all the black walnut leaves from neighbor Dave's trees.  They tend to lose their leaves earliest thankfully, so I can usually use the leaves that fall later for mulch.  There was never a shortage before but now, without our big tree in back, we have fewer than I expected from other neighboring trees.  Now I hope to get enough from the front yard for mulching our flowerbeds.  I do not want to use hay, hay does not disappear as easily the next season.

Kinda funny, actually - I'm worried about having too few leaves to rake and mulch this year.  Who'd a thunk it?  Garden post with lots of pics coming soon at the Garden Blog!

Hickory Head Horror Story*

The Hickory Head Hermit a.k.a. Mike Firesmith is a blogger that I like and follow.  A writer who blogs may be a more apt description.  This week he has been posting his annual Hickory Head Horror Story Serialization called Christa and I've been thoroughly enjoying it. I know the finale will be posted tomorrow, but if you have some time it is a fun read, it has drawn me in well!  The whole thing is at his site here, or, for convenience,  I've listed and linked them in order below!

10/24 Christa:  The Beginning
10/25 Christa:  The Trap
10/26 Christa:  To Hide A Murder
10/27 Christa:  In Time
10/28 Christa:  Found
10/29 Christa:  Before The Storm
10/30 Christa:  Blood And Sand
10/31 Christa:  The Dam Breaks

BONUS!
11/2 Christa:  Epilogue

*Updated

Latest LIVE Listening Pleasure 21 - Garbage

Garbage had a homecoming of sorts at the Orpheum Theater here in downtown Madison on Sunday night and my wife and I were there to see it.

The band Garbage gets back to Madison every few years, last time was in 2012.  I did not see them then, the only other time I went to see them they played at the Memorial Coliseum here in Madison.  Thinking back, that must have been in the early 00's.  Of course, they recorded all their early stuff here in Madison at the now defunct Smart Studios (- think Nirvana's 1991 breakthrough album 'Nevermind' - it was recorded there with Butch Vig, Garbage's drummer and overseer, producing).

The band is celebrating the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Garbage.  It has been recently remastered and released along with many of the b-sides from that era.  I almost ordered it but there wasn't anything new on it, just remastered, and that wasn't enough for me.  I do like Garbage, especially because they are from Madison here, but I'm not fanatical about them and they are not what I normally listen to and these days I pick and choose who I spend my money on.  We paid for two tickets to the show, there's our support.

We arrived about a half hour before showtime to a mostly packed house.  We knew the show had sold out in advance, general admission mostly, and even a few more tickets were sold on the day of show.  Many of the only seats that were left available were behind the sound and light boards.  I figured that we would ride out the first band in the seats then move to the floor for Garbage.  (The first band was not worth remembering, at least for us.)  Well, by the time the first band was done the place had completely filled up so we decided to stay in our seats.  When standing, a camera only slightly obstructed our view.  If we were on the floor it would have been the backs of peoples heads obstructing our view, especially for my shorter wife.  On the plus side, my wife did sometimes watch the video that was being taken of the show on the little screen in front of us by the light board, see picture on the right.  Maybe it was being recorded for DVD release.  Now, that I would buy.

I experimented a little bit at this show.  First, I took more pictures and video at this show than I ever normally would.  I did not know how the video was going to turn out so I wanted at least a few good pictures.  Also, at prior shows that I have recorded songs I was much closer to the stage, within feet of the performance usually.  Up close works great for my little digital camera that I like to use for video, but it doesn't zoom in.  I did figure out that night - and for the first time ever even though I've had this camera for many years - that it will zoom for video but you must first zoom before recording and cannot change the zoom until it is in standby mode again.  Still, knowing that probably won't change my recording habits that much.  When I zoom in the quality and pixels goes down.  I also want to point out that this was probably the brightest show I've seen.  There seemed to be lots more lights on stage pointing out than the other way around.  At times I had to just look away and wait for it to dim.  Really.  Due to that, some scenes the camera just could not capture but for a glare of light.

This first video is for the song 'Kick My Ass.'


I also tried to take a video with my phone, first time trying to take a concert video on my phone and it turned out pretty good!  The zoom sharpness is surprisingly better than my old digital camera, more than I expected.  I still like the camera for when I can get closer, but I'm glad I gave the phone camera a try.  I did miss the end of the song, however.  I've had space issues on my phone lately so I simply ran out of space to record.

Here's the video taken with my phone, 'Only Happy When It Rains.'


It was a good night out and we had each taken Monday off after the show.  It is probably a good thing that we got the tickets months ago because otherwise it would have been tough to just get up off the couch and go.  This concert was only 10 minutes from home in downtown Madison.  In February we have tickets to a Nightwish concert in Milwaukee.  I hate to travel, and I wouldn't for just any band, but it may be my only chance to see this Finnish band live, so I must go.  I must also get a hotel yet!

*Reminder to my email readers, you must visit the site to view videos.  There is a link at the bottom of the email.

**One last update before I post this, apparently the video was broadcast out to Yahoo LiveNation.  You can watch the whole concert in professional multi camera video with quality sound at this link!

Previous LLP Posts...
LLP 1 - Pain
LLP 2 - Nightwish
LLP 3 - Die Antwoord
LLP 4 - Pain part 2
LLP 5 - Andrew Bird
LLP 6 - Nightwish part 2
LLP 7 - Paramore
LLP 8 - Newsted
LLP 9 - U.D.O.
LLP 10 - Nightwish Imaginaerum Movie
LLP 11 - Kiss
LLP 12 - Rick Springfield
LLP 13 - Hyrax
LLP 14 - In This Moment
LLP 15 - Faster Pussycat
LLP 16 - Sebastian Bach
LLP 17 - Cradle Of Thorns
LLP 18 - Amaranthe
LLP 19 - Lindemann
LLP 20 - Halestorm
LLP 21 - Garbage

New Fridge!

It's almost the middle of October and I haven't posted much of anything lately.  Well, I could do a This-And-Thats post but it would probably be rather short.  I could rant about the Wisconsin Badgers pathetic offense or rave about the undefeated Green Bay Packers, but I'm not a sports writer.  So about all that's left that has happened lately is getting a new refrigerator.  So be it!

We've had the fridge ordered for about a month now, waiting for it to be in stock and delivered.  The old fridge was, well, old and was starting to have some issues.  We could have called a repair man and possibly have gotten it fixed, but ultimately decided now was the time to upgrade.  We got exactly what my wife wanted; a black french door fridge with the freezer drawer on the bottom - and an ice maker for me!  We had the plumber out last week to install a water line for the ice maker since the old one didn't have that luxury.

We had delivery scheduled for Saturday and got the call on Friday evening that the refrigerator would be delivered between 4 and 6 pm.  The next day we were at the Harmony Bar and Grill for a late lunch and when we were finished, around 1:30 we got the call that they would be there in about 20 minutes.  I know they are always early, but they made some good time that day (and he told me later we were their last delivery).  We scurried home quickly and what happens first thing but the spring on the garage door breaks!  Spend some money and then have to spend more money, my luck!  Anyway, we got the fridge emptied into coolers before they arrived.  They had the old one out and the new one in and set up and were gone by the time the football game started at 2:30.  Perfect!

Cosmetically, the new LG fridge matches the Kenmore dishwasher very well, about exact.  But now, well, I saw my wife standing in the kitchen the other night and so I asked her casually if she was looking at the new refrigerator.  No, she said, she was looking at the old stove.  Gasp!  Not yet, not yet!  This fridge was not cheap, replacing the stove can wait for a while, quite a while, we have other big things like a new roof to think about next year.

And tomorrow the garage door guy will be out to fix the spring so I can use the big door again.  I do know it is something I could most likely do myself, but I never have and when you get that spring wound it's got lots of scary power.  Yeah, I'll just let the pro do it.

A side by side comparison of the old and new fridge is after the break, if you're interested.

Garden Blog Updates

I realized that I have not posted here in a bit, but things have been busy at work and nothing exceptional has happened otherwise.  I did post a pictorial tour of the plants in our yard over at the garden blog yesterday.  And my lovely wife posted over there today.

My wife has a different view than I and has been adding bits of what she has prepared with the small harvest we get from our garden.  You should head on over there and read her posts, leave her an encouraging comment, too!

Our garden blog is linked in the right column, or click here!