Happy Thanksgiving Weekend 2024

Happy Thanksgiving weekend, everyone.  A much needed 4 days off from work here.

I wasn't feeling the best yesterday, but I traveled down to my Mom's house.  I wasn't sure if I was getting sick or not so I wore a mask the whole time and cut my visit short, leaving shortly after my sister and nephew got there early afternoon.  

My wife made a traditional Thanksgiving spread with a large turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and dinner rolls.  Kate then took some to her dad, but they wound up going to their family gathering.  She's been his caretaker for many years now, and he just gets more difficult as he gets older.  Anyway, there's plenty of leftovers for us to eat, plus she'll make up some freezer meals for her dad.

There's a dusting of snow on the ground and it will be cold, but there are some outside chores I could do.  And we'll see if I have a fire pit tonight or tomorrow, but otherwise the time will be spent inside.  There's a lot of football on the next few days, but otherwise I have some inside chores to do, maybe some baking, and lots of relaxing.  Cheers!

First Snow & Street Reconstruction Part 15

Our autumn has been mild, overall, and I think I heard the mildest on record.  We started yesterday with a wintry mix (slush) that turned to light, wet snow, then more overnight to officially get our first snowfall of the season.  Below is what we had before I left for work this morning.

It continued with sideways, wet snow all morning with temperatures just above freezing and sustained winds 20 or more miles per hour, but by this afternoon it warmed up a few degrees and turned to a light rain.  Temperatures are expected to remain several degrees above freezing while the wind dies down overnight, so I don't expect to see much snow, if any, left tomorrow.  The foreseeable forecast has temperatures just above and below freezing, day and night, but I do see one day where we are not expected to get above freezing all day.

I'm not ready for this, but I never am.

I believe the same day of my last Street Reconstruction post we received a letter from the city that the contractor had completed their work.  Yesterday morning as I left, though, there were two of them out front; they had come back to try and connect my cable back to the top of the pole so they could get their pole holding the wire over the street, back.  From what I saw this afternoon, the newly-kinked coaxial cable is now pretty useless and would need to be replaced anyway, if we have a need for that again.  I should have just cut it off the house when they knocked it loose.

We got another letter today with a bit of information on caring for the grass or native plants, depending what the homeowner chose, and saying any trees would not be planted until spring.  Still no word on the unnecessary footbridge over the creek yet.  A waste of money, and this last election day a city referendum to raise our property taxes over state limits passed, inexplicably (who are these people voting for this crap?!).  We'll now have to pay a few hundred dollars more per year - with no end date - to see our money wasted on projects like that.  Ugh.

Moving on, there's now a new sign at the top of the street showing a 20 mph speed limit, but not any no parking signs on our side of the street yet, so everyone is parking as they had before but now on a narrower street.  I'd think with winter coming the signs would be a priority, and I expect to see them soon.

I'll continue with updates as they happen, but surely fewer and farther between now.  All in all, this went smoother than expected and we're glad the worst is over.

One Way To Look At It...

 

via

Flowers, Fasting and Floods

The second half of the last post left a bad taste in my mouth.  This blog is not about politics, though I've made it pretty clear where I stand, and I really don't want to discuss much further.  So, to push last post down the page a bit here's the stump area flowerbed this morning.

I'm off work today and tomorrow, good to have but I will need more very soon.  When I woke up at my Mom's on Sunday morning I knew immediately I was having another diverticulitis flare-up, too.  A mild one, but I still have to (mostly) stop eating until it passes.  Also not a good way to spend time off work, but this too shall pass.

I mentioned our rain when replying to delcatto's comment a few posts back.  Sounds like a very wet year across the pond, as well, though cooler temperatures than the heat we've gotten on and off.  Our waterways are high and the ground is saturated.  We get as many flood watches in the region as we do thunderstorm watches, anymore.  The rugs have been up in the basement and the dehumidifier running for several weeks now, by far more water down there this year than any other I can recall.  Might be time to buy a life raft.

Yesterday's storm created a lake in the fire pit area and to the left of the stump area, out of picture.

Then I noticed the neighbor's back yard almost completely flooded.  They removed the old shed recently and installed this new one earlier yesterday.  Yes, it is elevated a bit.

Fireworks Finale and Failure

There were fireworks at my Mom's last night at a nearby park with a hill and cornfield in between.  And it rained, softly at first but pretty good by the end here.

And, an inch or two away from ending this orange nightmare.  Not right to say that, but...

Street Reconstruction

I believe I mentioned that our street is due to be reconstructed this year, and that I had some issues with their plans.  For the first time, I spoke to the City Council during their meeting tonight on this agenda item.  The meeting started at 6:30 pm, and I just got to speak about 9:30 pm.  I had 3 minutes to get my point across.  I was told my 3 minutes were up right before I said thank you at the end.  Pretty good timing, I'd say.

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Good evening.

My wife and I are residents of Xxxxxx Street since 2009 and I wanted to speak tonight because while we agree this part of the street needs reconstruction, some of the data used for planning appears inaccurate and other factors not considered at all.

The data that notes this block of Xxxxxx Street averages 6 vehicles parked overnight and 5 during the day is highly inaccurate.  Since we saw that, my wife and I have been counting at various times of day and found that on weekdays we average 13 vehicles parked on the street overnight and 8 during the day.  These numbers increase significantly on the weekends to 12-15 vehicles parked on the street at any given time.

Per the Parking Exhibit PDF on the city website, Xxxxxx Street is due to have parking on only the north side with just 17 parking spots available.  This is also inaccurate as 3 vehicles will not reasonably fit between any two driveways, and keep in mind that city ordinance requires no parking within 4 feet of a driveway and 2 feet between cars.  This means only 15 parking spots, which is pretty close to 1 spot for every 2 houses on the block.

It’s a pretty long block, so this is problematic for several reasons:

    1. In 2019 you built a canoe slide at the end of our street and it gets used, mostly on weekends, and they arrive in vehicles that need to park somewhere.

    2. For years now on Saturdays a house near the creek is a pickup site for CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) boxes.  So there are many people coming and going, all needing somewhere to park.

    3. Work vehicles for necessary house repairs and maintenance also need to be able to park near the residence where the work is to be done.

    4. But lastly, and I think most importantly, we don’t have reasonable nearby options for parking.

        A. Xxxxxx Street residents already sometimes use our street for overnight overflow parking.

        B. There is no parking on Xxxxxx Avenue.

        C. Xxxxxx Street will likely have the same issues we will because they are due to get even less parking than Xxxxxx Street with this project.

        D. And Xxxxxx Street is hundreds of feet away for most of the houses on this block, and they have their own residents who park there.

Please listen to these concerns and reconsider these plans for a more reasonable and flexible parking solution for our neighborhood.  We love living here and would like to continue to be able to host friends and family now and again - and be able to park close to our home when it’s necessary to park on the street.

Thank you.

                                                                  *               *               *

Good night.

Sunflower Seeds And #1 Neighborly

It was apparent by the mess outside the back door this morning that the sunflower had indeed gone to seed and those seeds had been discovered.  Squirrels had been getting at it this morning, while the cats watched diligently and silently from inside the porch and bedroom window, just feet away.  If I was going to harvest any seeds to plant next year the time seemed to be now.

Thankfully only a small part of the seeds had been pilfered so far, so I was able to get a good amount rubbed off into a small box.  They do seem a bit moist yet so I'll have to let them dry out before storing them until spring.  My mind starts to wander thinking about different places to plant them in spring, but no sense thinking about that as it is still about 7 months away yet before they'll be planted.

And while I'm thinking of it, I mowed the whole lawn today.  Only notable for the few times I've had to mow this year.  I believe it's only been: May, once; June, 1/2; July, 0; August, 1 1/2; September, once - today.  So I've mowed the whole lawn only 4 times and the back yard an additional 2 times through September this year.  Incredible, really, just absolutely incredible.

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In other news, Madison was fashionably ranked number one on yet another list.  This time it is for the Most Neighborly City in the US, 2023, after being ranked second last year by neighbor dot com.  Madison has consistently made these kind of lists and has often topped these kinds of lists in the last several years.  No matter where you live it's easy to take what is local for granted, but there are actually a lot of good things about this area.  I often seem to find more and more to take for granted around here.  More lately, I've been trying to make an effort to take more advantage of many local amenities, but there's always more that get missed.  We have a really good zoo in town that I haven't been to in years, and I feel bad about it every time I think of it, for example.

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Finally, it's the new fiscal year this weekend.  Normally not very notable but we're headed for another government shutdown at midnight due to the intellectual toddlers in Washington, and for the second straight year I have to work on a weekend.  Tomorrow afternoon I have to sign on for a few hours to get some end-of-fiscal-year work done and do some testing due to system updates for the fiscal year changeover, and I'm really not happy about it.  And since I work on government contracts but for a private company we will have business as usual if the government shuts down, but without funding it will be hectic catching up on payments once the in-fighting in the Senate and House gets resolved.

We all have to work together if we are to survive.  The way things are going now, we're doomed.

Fourth Of July, 2022

I've not felt like talking about it much lately, but this being Independence Day weekend is a good time to break my silence.  I have not felt very patriotic at all recently.

It started well over 4 years ago.  I'll never forget that sick feeling in my gut when the orange one got elected.  At the time, I could only imagine the destruction and havoc that would create.  We survived those 4 years, barely, but the ramifications of it are still being seen and I fear will continue for quite some time yet.  An attempted hostile takeover of the government, prospective judges lying under oath to achieve a position on the high court to do what they said they would not, lame attempts at gun control on the face while loosening legal restrictions in actuality, telling women they have no control over their own bodies, and religion becoming emboldened once again to force their beliefs on every person whether they agree or especially if they do not.  I've been feeling that same sick feeling in my gut more and more, with each figurative (for now) bomb that drops.  Soon, I expect the orange one to announce he will run again in the next election and I won't be surprised if he wins again in 2024.

I'm not one to normally delve into deep discussion of these topics, and I've always had the belief that the current times are always viewed as the worst of times, so tried to take everything with a grain of salt.  Every generation had its own crises in their own times and all believed it had it worse than ever before.  Now, instead of having faith that common sense will prevail in the end, I'm believing it, too.

Fuck you Trump, and fuck each of your far right followers.  Fuck you religion, and fuck you overbearing entitled religious zealots.  Fuck you liars, and fuck you to all who make decisions based on what is best for themselves and not for other people, the environment or the future.

The way I'm feeling right now, fuck you America.  At least 50% of you.  Fuck.  You.

And Another Thing!

March.  A bit of Spring, a bit of Winter, and a whole lot of dirty snow piles, bare trees and filthy, dormant grass.  We've had melting and freezing, puddles and ice sheets.  Temperatures have been teasingly warm then plunge below freezing again.  We've only had about half the snow we normally get, but it's not over yet.  Today's high is 60ºF (16ºC) - highest of the year so far - while a week from today only 29ºF (-2ºC) expected.  Today is also rainy with thunderstorms expected tonight and there is snow possible next weekend.  March is a necessary evil, but at least we know we're going in the right direction.

The last few weeks have been extra stressful for me.  Work has been very busy and I have so many extra projects on my plate and keep hitting obstacles in trying to accomplish anything.  Home has been difficult recently but hoping to get that moving in the right direction again just like the weather will be.  I was going to write about work in more detail last weekend, but it would have just sounded like complaining as I really can't give details.  Suffice it to say that I took this whole upcoming week off on rather short notice, and they let me.  I had to have off in the middle of the week for a medical procedure and my wife convinced me to just ask for the whole week off.  A very good idea as I had time to use up and will get all my time back at the end of the month.  And it will be very nice to have the time away from work, hopefully get myself a bit more centered again.

Tomorrow I go in for only my second Covid test ever, the first was when I was admitted to the hospital in November.  That may seem strange to some, but I've been mostly holed up at home since I had Covid in early 2020, when you could only get tested if you went to the hospital (that was bursting with Covid at the time).  The numbers have gone down far enough that our local mask mandate expired at the end of last month, though still required at medical facilities and some government buildings while private businesses can decide for themselves.  Fitting to happen while Spring is arriving, but will still feel a bit strange when I do get out.  It's been so long now, and I've spent the last two years on the over side of cautious.  Anyway, I have to have the Covid test a few days prior to going in for a colonoscopy, ahead of schedule do to my recent diverticulitis.  Good times.  At least it was the impetus for a whole week off.

I've been watching while the whole world reacts to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and I like what I'm seeing.  Not just governments and their sanctions, but private businesses shunning Russia in many ways.  I don't like the unnecessary suffering because of this, both Ukrainian and Russian civilians, and I think this may end up being the downfall of Putin.  We can only hope.  It would be nice to see Putin and Trump share a prison cell.  Sounds like a late-night television sitcom, doesn't it?

Enough for now.  I'm seeing some sun peek out so hopefully there is a chance for a good walk sometime today between showers.  Have a good weekend, everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving Thoughts 2021

With what I've been going through with my health recently and work frustrations bubbling up again I've been pretty down and maybe even ornery lately.  As I sat out by the fire last night I thought it would be good to think of things I am actually thankful for, so I gave it some serious thought and started a list.  Let's see if I can expand on that this morning and maybe get to 10 good and meaningful things for which I am truly grateful.

1. My wife.  It's hasn't always been easy but I just can't imagine my life without her.  I don't know anyone stronger who could deal with me and everything else she's had to deal with the last several years and more.  I've been guilty of being self-centered, taking things for granted and not listening as I should, and improving myself will only help her, so I am determined to become a better person.
2. My health.  I've taken this for granted, too, for far too long and it seems to be catching up to me.  I need to eat better, drink less, exercise more and lose some weight.  Very much easier said than done, but increasing health issues is a good motivator.
3. Family.  My mother and sister, specifically.  I don't like my father and my brother has been pretty distant.  When my mother's husband passed and then the pandemic hit I started to get closer to my Mom and my sister is always there with a smile and encouraging words if I need her.  I love them both greatly.
4. Friends.  I don't have many left these days, more acquaintances than friends.  I want to continue to work on those relationships and in some cases not let the distance between us cause that friendship to wane.  It seems harder to make friends the older I get, but much of that may be me so I should work on that more.
5. Blogger friends.  Delcatto and Blue Witch have been friendly towards me for a long time now and I'm grateful they keep coming back.  I like to read their blogs about them and their lives, and have learned much along the way.  Knowing they are there has helped me try to write better and more interesting things here.  I've not reached out to other bloggers much in a long time now, but Nic has been a relatively recent breath of fresh air and as a bonus he creates music pretty consistently so I always look forward to his next song.
6. Our house.  When this blog started in 2009 we started looking, and originally didn't think we could afford a house right in Madison.  But the market was in our favor and we found a nice house with a nice yard close to whatever we could need or want, right here in the near east side of Madison.  Yes, it is very small, seemingly too small for us at times, but overall I think we found a good one and have improved it in many ways over the years.
7. Madison.  Related to the last one, we live in a good area and city with a majority of like-minded people as us.  That changes rather quickly and surprisingly when you get outside the county.  When we traveled to pick up our last quarter cow it was shocking the amount of pro-Trump flags and signs in the rural areas.  I don't remember such divisiveness before he came along and thankfully don't have to worry about that too much here in Madison.
8. Music.  Music continues to be a joy and an escape for me even as I get older.  I don't go to live shows as much as I used to and am pretty unwilling to travel longer distances for it anymore, but I still enjoy discovering new music and I'm always looking for my next 'latest-greatest,' even if at a lower volume these days. 

Well, 10 was an arbitrary number anyway and I don't want to add something lesser just to get to 10.  I may remember something good that I missed later, but I think I have 8 very good things to be thankful for here and it was good for me to consider and reflect upon these.  Now it's time for me to do some cleanup for Kate's family coming over to celebrate the holiday.  It's currently snowing big white flakes outside, and my wife has been busy cooking up the cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and other goodies while the turkey is already in the oven.

Happy Thanksgiving and a great long weekend to all!

Back Shot II, Birthday and Vacation

Last Wednesday I had my second back shot in the last two months, so by now I should know fully how much it helped and what I'm left with.  The first back shot was maybe 50% effective, which still left considerable room for improvement.  This second back shot was at least 50% effective again, maybe more, and what I'm left with is some tingling in my left leg/foot and sometimes pain in my left seat and groin.  Not painful enough to keep taking opioids, but enough to notice, so this is just what I'm left to deal with until I can't anymore, hopefully several years in the future.  In another week I check in with the neurosurgeons office again so we'll see what they say, but I don't expect any new course of action.  I will live, thank you for your thoughts, everyone.

On Saturday we had some friends over to celebrate my and Terry's birthdays with food, fun and fire.

We only invited a handful of people - it seems I've lost some friends since the pandemic, so be it.  Polite declines would be fine with me but ghosting pretty much says everything you need to know, so the invitations just won't be made anymore.  Oh well, I guess they weren't very good friends to begin with, then.  I've had only a small group of friends for a long time now and it seems to get smaller as I get older, and less 'good friends' as much as 'good acquaintances' now.  I seem to have even lost one of my oldest friends since high school (over 35 years ago) just because we view Covid differently.  I even reached out since, said we can just agree to disagree on this topic, but no response since that last conversation when I hung up on him because he wouldn't stop arguing about it.  C'est la vie.

This week I'm on vacation, and I didn't plan on any project to keep me busy but my to-do list will be enough.  After Saturday night with friends by the fire I was pretty lazy on Sunday, drank too much and stayed up way too late.  But on Monday I went down to Dubuque to visit my Mom.  We had a nice visit, got a couple things done for her, and mostly just hung out and talked.  I spent the night and came back early on Tuesday since I had a dentist appointment and a few errands I needed to run.  I also got a good walk in that day.

Today I spent several hours in the basement, mostly just cleaning, dusting, sweeping and vacuuming.  I had high hopes of going through a lot of stuff to sort, donate and trash, but my wife needs to be around for much of that so by the time I finished cleaning I was happy to be done.  Also had lots of heavy things to test my back with putting away downstairs.  A couple hundred pounds of water softener salt, 80 pounds of cat litter, and tables and chairs that were brought up for having company the last couple weekends.  The back held up well, thankfully, so next was yardwork.  I did some cleaning up in the gardens and trimmed some bushes, among other things.  I might get out there for a fire tonight, but we'll see how tired I feel as dusk nears.

Tomorrow is power washer day.  I'll get the power washer out and wash the house, garage, steps, driveway, and whatever else needs a power washing.  Likely not as long a day as today, but I'm on vacation, after all.  I might get to cleaning windows, but currently I have that penciled in for Friday along with cleaning the garage, which won't be too much in there as the garage is about as organized as can be so just a little cleaning.  Then the weekend has its normal chores, plus we've ordered a new sofa and ottoman (both on backorder) so will do some measuring and moving the living room rug in anticipation of the new furniture.  I think we'll be moving the old couch out to the porch, which will actually help us use the porch more often, too.

So it sounds busy, but the chores get easier as the week goes so I will have plenty of time for doing other things or doing nothing, as I see fit.  Weather-wise has been pretty good but getting more seasonable.  This weekend will be very hot again, maybe for the last time as next week I will have to consider getting out my long pants for the first time since spring.  It's been nice, living in shorts and bare feet all summer, but all good things must come to an end.  Like this, if this was a good thing.  Autumn officially starts one week from today, folks.

January This-and-Thats

We're well into the new year now and other than for a little insurrection review I've not posted in 2021.  We are entering the doldrums of winter here, and during a pandemic still, so there's not a whole lot going on for us lately.  Despite that, there must be a few things I could say so time to start typing and see what happens.

• First, let's get this out of the way:  I hope he gets the book thrown at him and dies alone in jail.  I don't care if it's from taxes to insurrection as long as he gets locked up.  He went from sideshow to embarrassment to disturbing to criminal psychopath and wanna-be dictator.  Enough said.
• That reminds me of a saying I heard recently.  "It's easier to fool someone than it is to convince them they are being fooled."  I thought that made a lot of sense, from what I've been seeing.
• Now, for a totally different thought, why does this rug seem so much harder to keep clean back here rather than when it was in the living room?
• I may have said this before, but I don't read books anymore.  Not really a conscious choice as I used to read every day on my breaks at work, now I don't go to work and I have different habits at home.  Probably just as well, I read mostly 'rock star' autobiographies and while some are very good some are very not.  I'm thinking of this because I was excited to see another one the other day and almost bought it - until I read the very unflattering reviews.
• I splurged on my computer setup.  I returned a 24 inch monitor to work and bought a computer stand with 2 heavy duty arms and a 32 inch monitor to match the one I already have.  It certainly helps for work having two same-size monitors, but my desk looks like a gamer station now.  I don't play a lot of games but I do watch a lot of videos, concerts and even sports on the computer.  Maybe concerts not so much anymore, but there hasn't been many new concerts now in a long time.
• And my 'good back' chair gave up the ghost recently, so now I work in lowrider style in my 'relaxing' chair to save my back until the new chair arrives in about a week.  Had to spend more this time for quality to support my back while I work and I want just one good chair that meets all my needs.
• Does it seem like I use too many commas and also not enough contractions when I write?  I think so.  I've been a little hyper-conscious of these things lately, for some reason.
• We've not gotten much snow since the last storm I wrote about, just a few overnight dustings, some of which was rime frost from the 10 straight days of fog and freezing fog we had.  Anytime now, though, it will start snowing and we're expected to get 2-4 inches through tomorrow.  We are fully in winter now, and this is what winter does.  On the bright side I got my vacation weeks for the year approved today, in May and September.
• While the Badgers football team had a disappointing and disjointed season during this pandemic, the Packers are the number one seed in the NFC for the NFL playoffs.  Hopefully two wins in Lambeau Field so they can go win the Super Bowl, starting Saturday afternoon.  Go Pack Go!

Well, only one workday left until the weekend.  With our new work contract we no longer get the christian holiday Good Friday off but we do get Martin Luther King Jr Day off now.  About time.  There might have been a few other changes, I can't remember, but this one just makes sense.  That means a long weekend this weekend so, for Monday, happy MLK Day!

What Happened...?

What happened to respect?

What happened to decency?

What happened to honor?

What happened to tolerance? 

What happened to democracy, and the office of the President?

What the hell has happened to us?

2020 Election, Final Thoughts

Well, maybe not my final thoughts but I probably won't post about this again and 'second thoughts' carries a different meaning.  It took several days, but we got there.  I've heard very little from the orange one since the race was called for Biden, just a few flagged tweets and threats of lawsuits, and I find this rather surprising.  Maybe he's being advised to lay low, but he's too impetuous to stay silent for long.  It would be nice if he would just go quietly, but I'm not sure he could if he tried.

Tomorrow will be interesting to see if they follow through and file tons of lawsuits or not. or if he will possibly concede and perhaps even congratulate his opponent (ha!).  This will still take time to play out, but seeing what I have from him for the last four plus years I don't see a peaceful transfer of power happening.  In fact, part of me wants to see the sideshow continue, if only because it has an expiration date now.

All across the world bells were rung, fireworks lit and horns honked in celebration.  I could hear them as soon as I stepped outside yesterday after the call.  Does the rest of the world always pay attention to our elections?  Likely, and likely more so since Sideshow Don arrived on the scene.

To clarify a few things from my last post for those who don't read the comments, Wisconsin has a population of 5.82 million.  Of that, 4.53m are of voting age (18+) and 3.68m are registered voters.  Wisconsinites cast about 3.24m votes, which at about 71% is on the high end of typical voter turnout here for a presidential election.  

Also, my analogy is off as blue leans urban and red leans rural, and not just here - everywhere, so while you look at the map and see Wisconsin as blue, upon closer look it is very red.  Makes it pretty apparent where some of the bigger cities are.  Out of 3.24 million ballots cast in Wisconsin the difference was only 20,000 votes.

Now it's time to forget about colors and move forward.  This time, hopefully, with fewer distractions.

2020 Election, First Thoughts

Aaaaand it begins.  Or has already begun, actually.  Lies, false claims, lawsuits to stop ballots from being counted (really!).  All from Trump, I've not heard much from Biden.  Imagine that.  Election day was yesterday but we're far from done.  This will end up dragging out longer than anyone wants it to, I fear.

And, almost 6 million people total in Wisconsin and (a record) 3.3 million voted.  Still, Trump only lost our state by about 20,000 votes.  I know it was also close last election, the other way, but it still shocks me we're so divided after the antics we've witnessed the last 4 years.

It makes it hard to ever go outside again knowing every other person that I live among has looked around at what's happening in our country and the world and said to themselves "Yup, I like how things are going." 

I've been working all day and only checked the news sporadically, mostly this morning, until very recently.  Time to do something more relaxing.  I'm sure we'll talk more about this very soon.

Friday Night Fire & More

 It was a dreary and overcast evening yesterday, but at least it was dry.  I went out to sit by the fire and decided to film a little and wound up taping the whole night.  Don't worry, this is only the first half hour.  After that I was on a video call with my mom for some time, then it just got dark.  Pull up a chair and relax by the fire with me.

I've gone through a lot of wood this year.  My previous face cord lasted me two whole years while this one, delivered in July,  has lasted about 3 months so far.  I'll have to get another delivery in the next couple weeks as last year I managed to have one more fire after the winter solstice but before the new year.  It's these pandemic times, I have nothing better to do and no other place to go, may as well do something enjoyable.

It only took the cats a few days to start using the walkway.  I had a brown stripe-y rug in front (see last post) and I had the thought would they rather jump down onto concrete or the rug?  So I moved the rug to the right a little bit two days in a row until I noticed there was very little litter on it anymore but there was more litter going down the walkway to the step.  The were using it!  So that rug has now been removed as it is not needed.  Now when I clean the box every afternoon I was sweeping up the walkway first and I had an idea.  I had bought two new mats for this, a big one and a small one.  The big one is in the drawer, the small one wasn't being used.  So I cut the small one in half, mostly, it's still connected in the middle, which was the open side, and I used two sided tape to hold it in place.  Hopefully this will catch most of the rest of the litter the cats track out of the box.  The mats are two layers connected on three sides, so to clean them you separate the layers and dump.  For the half mats on the walkway it looks like I can just put the walkway in the down position, maybe give it a little jostle, and sweep up the litter.  I'm not sure if I'll be putting the walkway down every day now or just pulling the box toward me in the drawer to clean.  Or if this will even work at all, really, but I'll know soon enough.

So the orange one finally got sick.  No, I'm not celebrating.  I don't like that anyone is getting sick and that some are dying.  What it comes down to is that it was preventable.  They were extremely careless, and they got the Covid.  It was just a matter of time, really.  The timing of his illness and the extent of how ill he'll actually get is very interesting, however.  Stay tuned on this one, folks.

Fall weather has definitely arrived here, and that brings outside chores that will need to be done soon.  I also have to get used to wearing long pants and socks again after several months of barefoot and shorts.  And non slip-on shoes seem like an atrocity now so I have been holding out still, even if that means wearing short socks with sandals, sorry.  But I don't hardly go anywhere or see anyone else but my wife these days anyway, so who cares?

LLP Bonus - Body Count's No Lives Matter

I read yesterday that Body Count just released their 2017 song No Lives Matter to radio.  I had forgotten about this song, especially since they released a newer album earlier this year so when I have listened recently it has been the new one.  Interestingly, I have to choose when I listen to this band as it is pretty angry music and can affect my mood.  I stopped listening to it when I'm at work, for example.

So the Black Lives Matter movement is almost 7 years in (per google) and going strong.  There are still protests here in Madison every day but thankfully I've not heard of any recent violence.  After it all blew up here at the end of last month all the stores at downtown gathering spot State Street had their windows boarded up, broken or not.  Then they had scores of local artists in to paint the plywood, trying to make it a little nicer to look at while being safer for the businesses.  Since then there have been marches down main roads and major highways all over town.

It's not surprising to me that Madison got so involved.  We have a large black population and made our own national news when a white Madison police officer killed local black teenager Tony Robinson in 2015.  The protests then were very much like they are now, and may continue to happen until some tangible change takes place.  Police do a vital service protecting us, but people should only be judged by their actions and not pre-judged, or 'profiled,' by their color, and there is a line that should not be crossed where the force used no longer equals the infraction.

You don't have to like the music to watch the video, but I would recommend at least listening to what Ice-T has to say for the first 40 seconds.  Better yet, listen to the song, hear the lyrics, the anger.

Body Count - No Lives Matter 


I don't have the answers, and I don't march, I don't yell.  I just try to be the best me, behave accordingly, and be aware of the things I can change.  What are your thoughts?

Nationwide Protests, Again

This is big.  This ain't right.  This is tonight, here in Madison.

Wings Over Wisconsin

Yesterday was Wings Over Wisconsin, a flyover of several hospitals in the lower part of the state as a thank you to all the healthcare workers.  Yes, the orange one ordered these flyovers through Operation American Resolve without realizing the cost of such flights, so our local Air National Guard integrated this into one of their usual training exercises.

By coincidence, the day before I finally got lucky and got a short video of one of the F-16s we have now based at Truax Field.  Yesterday I had the schedule, same as you see above, but I had no idea which way they would be taking off or landing or if I would even catch a glimpse as all the Madison hospitals are on the other side of the isthmus.  And jets are powerful, they get up and down much quicker than passenger aircraft.

As I was outside waiting I decided to take video of a squirrel romping around in the treetops.  Of course as soon as I started he settled down, but a few seconds later a passenger plane came in for a landing so I got a pretty good shot of that.  Later, as the jets were due to arrive back to fly over the Madison hospitals I actually did see them, though at a distance.  At one point I could see all 4 through the trees.  It was brief, but I finally got video of the F-16s!  I will keep trying for better.

Below is all 3 videos; a jet from Monday evening, passenger plane from yesterday evening and the jets in the flyover later last evening.  Best in full screen, jets are small in the last part.

F-35s Coming To Madison

Yesterday the U.S. Air Force made it official, Madison's Truax Field was awarded a squadron of F-35 fighter jets.  This has been a long process with lots of controversy.  Opponents mainly cite pollution and the noise factor and how it will affect some of Madison's poorest neighborhoods by the airport.  Supporters cite the jobs and economic impact it will bring to the area.

We've seen the signs in yards for ages now, and opponents will surely not go quietly.  The Madison City Council even passed a resolution against having them here, but the decision on where to base 18 of the 100 million dollar F-35A fighter jets is solely up to the Air Force.  Of course they held meetings, did environmental studies, etc., but they seemed set on Madison from the start.  Montgomery, Alabama was also named as a base for the jets.

Right now, Truax Field, home to 1200 Airmen of the 115th Fighter Wing, has an aging fleet of 21 F-16 fighter jets.  The new F-35s are to start arriving in 2023.  These jets can provide air protection for anywhere in the Midwest and at 1200 m.p.h. can be there in minutes.

That's a lot of facts and numbers, you can click here, here or here for more details.

Personally, I think it will be good for the area.  We live in the main flight path, and we have jets now already.  Yes, they do get loud, but only for seconds at a time and I find them fascinating to watch.  They go by so very fast that by the time you look up they're almost past, thus I've wanted to get a short video but have always been unable.  They usually go in twos, but even knowing that I've not been quick enough when I've been outside.  The new jets will be louder and the amount of flights is supposed to increase, but again, it lasts for mere seconds.  I know the new jets have been in and out of here at times already and I've not really noticed any difference.  I look forward this summer to trying to get video of the jets, new or old, now more than ever.


On a similar subject, I noticed an email at my blog gmail account (top right of the page) from the other day with the subject line 'Dane County Regional Airport Guide.'  At first I thought it was one of those spam comments we get on blogger, like when I post something about plumbing then get a comment from a robo-English speaker complimenting me on my work then going into their agenda and spam links.  But this was not a comment notification, it was an email from the Media Relations Manager for the Dane County Airport.  In her email she noted my blog post that was probably found in a google search, a post from June last year.

Apparently they've updated their website and she was wondering if it was possible for me to include a link on my site.  Okay, here it is, an informational airport guide website, but the official website still appears to be here.  Look at me, now seemingly an actual member of the media!  Wait, now that I type that I'm not so sure that's a good thing...