Otherwise, it's just been really frigid around here lately, but we should warm up enough to get above freezing by mid-week.
I hope everyone is having a good holiday, stay safe and warm!
'Scoakat' rhymes with 'Snow Hat'! - - Just my thoughts on music, humor, our life in Madison and anything else I feel like.
Otherwise, it's just been really frigid around here lately, but we should warm up enough to get above freezing by mid-week.
I hope everyone is having a good holiday, stay safe and warm!
Happy solstice, everyone. It's cold here, with a large snowstorm at our doorstep. Snow will start here in a couple hours and go all day tomorrow with wind expected to create blizzard conditions on Friday. Been a few years since we had a bona fide blizzard, so a good time to stay in. The state department of transportation is asking people not to travel unless absolutely necessary, but it's the holidays so people will do what they will and disasters will happen, of course.
My sister was supposed to come up to Mom's, but that won't happen now. And we're still testing positive for Covid even though we feel pretty much back to normal, so not sure if we'll make it. If not, we'll have to try for the next weekend, but surely before she flees south for the winter. She has my cordless drill and I want it back before spring!
This is as high as the sun gets here now. I got this pic about noon today before it completely disappeared in the overcast sky. |
We still tested positive for Covid this morning. I woke up on Friday without a fever, finally, but overwhelming fatigue, which lessened over the weekend and up to now. I think we both may have a little tiredness and sinus left, but are feeling sooo much better than last week. Thank you everyone for your concern and well-wishes. It's been a hardship not being able to do what we normally do, mostly and especially for my wife, but she's managed by directing others. Her family had their holiday celebration over the weekend and we're planning to go see my Mom upcoming, though we may be masked.
Also thanks for Dave, but I'm just a neighbor. I hadn't even been inside his house until several weeks ago. Been all around it and even on it a few times, but not in it. The services are on Wednesday, but I don't think I'd feel right going since I'll be just testing negative - hopefully. I told his son I had Covid to stop him from coming closer on that day (I was on our property on the front walk to the door, he stopped at the property line, so maybe 20 feet), so he knows I have or just had it. I would be uncomfortable though masked, and I don't want to make them uncomfortable or even sick. He texted me the details and later a link to the obituary. I thanked him, gave him my sympathies again and offered my help with anything he needed, but haven't heard anything back. That's okay, and I shan't text him again.
In a cold spell here, no chance to see above freezing for the near future. No fire pits, and none since the last. Hasn't been a good year for that, either.
Hello, there! Hope your winter is starting off nicely. It's been cold here, just above and below freezing as is normal, and not a lot of snow yet but you know it's coming. Life goes on, just more indoors than outdoors recently, and likely for a while now.
It's been difficult to get myself out for walks with the temperatures right around freezing so I've been utilizing the treadmill more. The coolness of the weather and basement has my right knee tightening up but I push through as I don't believe I'm causing any harm to it, just scar tissue reminding me that it's there. I still have the feeling of slipping on a rug on ice when on it sometimes, but I find if I keep one hand in contact with a handle and look straight ahead or down at the display it is better. I'm doing at least 15 minutes a day at a speed that is comfortable that day, but slowly increasing the time spent as I (hopefully) get more used to it.
I don't have much to say since last post, except work sucks and I may expand upon that one day, not soon. But I have found some links I think others may find interesting, so here's that.
The first, with all that nuke talk from ol' Vlad, is called NUKEMAP. I remember this or a similar sight from several years ago. It is interesting to play with for a bit, and hope it remains just that - play.
The other is a more recent find, a game called STATTOGORIES. There are lots of different this or that games you can play there; which google searches are more popular, which YouTube video has more views, or which song has more plays on Spotify, plus tons more options. While I'm finding it interesting I'm also finding that I'm not that good at it.
I most recently came across ChatGPT, another AI site but about dialogue, instead of this artistic AI link I shared previously. I've not had the time to try the chat one properly yet, but it looks like it can be very interesting. Both of these require an account, but you can join easily with your google account. Yes, google pretty much owns me and all my information; Blogger, Gmail, Youtube, and surely more. I'm counting on this becoming detrimental, and this AI evolving to bite us humans in the ass, to come after my time has expired, I guess.
After that, the apocalypse can happen at any time, as far as I'm concerned. I just won't have the satisfaction of knowing exactly what broke that camel's back. These days, there's too many candidates to predict.
It was a nice day yesterday, getting into the low 70s ºF again. Last night we went out for dinner and I wore just a tee shirt and jeans comfortably. This morning I wore a winter jacket and gloves to go shopping as it was below freezing and hasn't gotten much warmer since. Quite the temperature change in just a few hours, more evidence of climate change in Wisconsin, I guess.
The creek is low, but the ducks get fed by some neighbors across the creek. I expect most to be on their way south soon, but inevitably some choose to stay the winter. Why? I just don't know.
Neighbor Dave called me over a week or so ago to catch me up on what's been going on. This last summer he was laid up with a torn achilles which has since healed, but he still had that rattle in his lungs and lost breath easily. The doctors have recently determined that he has lung cancer, though they won't do a biopsy to verify. They've not given him a timeline, but he is now on oxygen and is in hospice at home. He has a hospital bed in the front room he sleeps in now and needs oxygen 24/7. I've agreed to help him in any way I can, but it sounds like he has good support with his kids, nurses, and meals on wheels stopping by almost daily. Still, I will take care of his garbage, putting it out to the curb and bringing the bins back in, picking up his sticks, clearing his snow as I did last year, and anything else he may need. Even watching for where his newspaper is in the mornings and putting it in his door if it's not put on his top step where he can reach. He's been a wonderful neighbor to have and I don't look forward to losing him.Mr. Jack O. Lantern is still around, but barely. After Halloween I put him on the stump for the critters and they have been steadily eating him up. Shortly after, I put the trail cam on the fence facing the stump so soon I will hopefully put together a video of it getting eaten up. I've not checked any footage yet and probably won't until it's mostly gone, currently about halfway there so maybe next weekend.
Today is Veteran's Day here, so if you served then thank you for your service. This hasn't been a day off for us in the past but work has changed up our holidays with more of the federal holidays off instead of the religious holidays, which only makes sense. Some good games on this weekend and a trip down to Mom's again tomorrow to keep me busy. Have a good weekend, everyone.
I wore the same mask as I did last year since these are still Covid times, and again it went over pretty well with the few trick or treaters that came by. We had over 400 pieces of candy to hand out, after our own nibbling the last few days. We waited to get candy so we wouldn't get into it, but we buy the candy we like so what else would happen? We expected lots more kids to come by this year than last, but that was far from the case as we only got a dozen or so. Leftover candy will go in the freezer.
I had bought a pumpkin for the first time in maybe 20 years, and carved it with the classic jack-o-lantern face. And I used a sharp kitchen knife, just as I used when I was a kid, and I still have all my fingers. Later, after I bought this one, I saw the lumpy gray ones for sale that you don't normally see. I like the look of them, maybe a bit spookier, so next year I'm going to have to keep an eye out and get one of those if I can.And for the 5th year in a row (skipping 2020) I put the mummy in the front corner windows. I kind of like it, and it's a good decoration for a few hours while the kids come around. At the same time I bought the mummy I bought a couple window cling film decorations but it's always been too cold to try to put them on the door windows in years past, but the weather was very good for Halloween this year so I finally got them out and put them on the front storm door. It was only 2019 when we had several inches of snow for the holiday and the other years we've been colder than what we've seen this year so far. And our immediate forecast is rather favorable, too.
Favorable enough weather for weekend fires for some time yet. Fresh load of firewood after the break!
Our weather, starting yesterday and going through the weekend to Monday, is going to be very nice with temperatures in the 70's ºF, and that's real good for us in October. Because of that, it's an ideal weekend to get all the yard work done that we can before winter. I'll still have leaves to deal with and then cleaning the gutters, but pots, plants, gardens, the water hose and compost all were tended to today before the snow and freeze comes to stay and temperatures make outside work more a bit more miserable. I planned ahead this week and took Friday off work to take advantage of the weather and to see my wonderful and only sister. I'd been planning to go down to my Mom's new place again this weekend but my sister was going to be there Thursday, overnight until about midday Friday, so a good excuse to go down to Mom's a day early to see her and still have two days to do everything stated above and a whole lot more here at our place. My delivery had to be ready to go.
It took a couple hours of work in the garage every day starting early last weekend and after work every day this week (at my pace, I enjoy the process), but the ramp for my Mom's step down into the garage finally got finished on Thursday evening and loaded into the car for the next morning's road trip. I think it turned out well, or as well as it could with this wooden design of mine. The rails are good for helping balance, but I stressed they are not monkey bars. I told her if for any reason she decides she doesn't like it then I'll get her the one I found on Amazin made out of aluminum, but I think she knows I like these kinds of projects and it's more personal if I made it. But this is really just me and my worrying, I know it will work very well for normal use and she seemed very pleased with it.
It was very nice to see my sister and meet her new boyfriend. I say new because this was the first time I met him but they've been seeing each other for over a year now and things seem to be getting pretty serious. He's a very nice fellow and I liked him a lot, so I hope it works out for her - and them. I especially appreciated how nice and helpful he is with our mother, and I don't say that lightly. Anyway, between us all we got Mom's list of chores knocked out pretty easily and we were able to go out to lunch before a few last touches, then we all went on our way and left Mom to maybe have a nap or enjoy regular tv again finally after the move, or whatever the hell she wants to do. As I left I noticed her neighbor, who seemed to be cleaning out his very full garage, was closely watching our activity. I'll have to ask Mom if there was a conversation after we left. Or maybe I'm just being protective and nosy. But I may still ask!
It's also a much easier drive now for me now, though a bit longer for my sister who is coming from Illinois. The worst part of my drive is the Beltline right here in Madison, especially on weekdays, since we live on the opposite side of town than where I have to leave town. I might have to figure out some different way to get out of town without going on that crowded, dangerous highway, but it will be back roads and take longer, for sure. In my older age and now working from home for quite some time, I just hate too much driving and traffic, and now, especially, driving in traffic. (Cue the old Mr. Magoo intro,..) "Traffic" in this contexts means busy, crowded, bumper to bumper sometimes, across 2 to 4 lanes of hell. All depending on your tolerance, of course.
If you're interested, pictures of the whole build process are after the break. Commentary added in the captions for context and explanations. For much of the build the garage door is shut because of the cold, though it was always daylight when I worked on it. I have a small heater in the garage that helped some, but I'm glad it wasn't colder or later in the year. Also thank you to my lovely wife who helped me with all this whenever I needed her without complaint.
We got our first snow of the season this morning, and some more about mid-day, I think. I snuck out and got this picture, but I was too busy with work to notice if it got whiter out. It was all gone this afternoon, of course. The next couple days are going to be cold with freezing possible, but the weekend is supposed to be really nice for October, so I will be busy working outside or down at my Mom's all weekend.
The ramp project is going well, pretty much according to plan but plans evolve. Getting the angle at the bottom is tough, but I don't want it to be a trip hazard. And the posts for the rail are higher up the ramp because they need something to bolt to so I'm thinking of looking for some kind of bracket for a third post. You'll see what I mean soon.
Today is cool, windy and it rained a little this afternoon, thus all the leaves that have freshly fallen. Cool and wet enough after work that I took my half-hour after-work walk on the treadmill for the first time. I started at 1.6 mph, quickly going up to 1.8 and by the time I was done, 2 mph. Still a little awkward, but I think that will get better the more I do it.
I talked to neighbor Jane, and she says she was told they probably won't remove the stump until this time next year, so she found it odd they marked the utilities already. But it is municipal work, meaning they keep their crews busy. Whether it's leaf pickup, yard waste pickup, tree trimming, plowing snow or whatever else they have to do, if there's not one task to keep them busy enough then they move on to the next, and weather decides a lot. It doesn't really matter to me how long it takes, I'm just watching the process.
My Mom moved closer recently, back to the town we lived in for my formative years. A smaller place, one level, and less than half the drive I had before to see her in Iowa. It sounds like she's been reconnecting with many old friends, relatives and acquaintances, so she's had lots of company already and moving day was just last week. I was down there to see the place and help her with a few things last weekend, and there is still more to do.
I mentioned her new place is one level, and is pretty much zero entry but for a step down into the garage. She's 75 so doesn't move around quite as she used to and asked me if I could build her a ramp. I agreed, of course, so took a few measurements and I've been planning the build. This week I'll have to get a few pieces of wood and some hardware, otherwise I have most of the wood and tools ready to go. A miserable afternoon and my counterpart has been out so far this week so work has me a bit frazzled and so I haven't gotten everything I need yet, but surely before Friday so I can get started building that day or Saturday. Best case scenario, I get it fully built on Saturday and delivered Sunday morning, but we'll see how it goes. It's only 6 1/2 inches, but a ramp - with handrails - will make it so much easier and safer for her. She'd asked me to do projects for her when I was much younger and I'd normally avoid it if I didn't know how to do it. Now, I'm older, wiser, have a bitchin' set of tools and the internet. I'm looking forward to building this for her and, of course, I'm sure I'll share it here.It's jacket weather today, light jacket. The air becomes crisp though the sun shines. There's a bit of a breeze, but that's supposed to drop off in a couple hours. I'm counting on it as I'm planning on a fire and having a friend over.
Hasn't that wind died down yet?
I still have the weekend but my vacation is essentially over. All my vacation projects have been completed and I find myself today a bit bored. I went for a drive, grabbed some food at a drive-through and parked by a lake to eat. Then I went to a small mom and pop style tavern only to find it strangely closed, so I just came back home. It's a beautiful day out, but I'm a bit sore so will wait for my wife to finish her workday then we can take a nice walk.
I'm glad I did the power washing early due to the rains that came after and the drying time needed before sealing the back steps. I was mostly idle on Sunday and Monday due to that rain, and we did get some water in the basement for the first time in a couple years. We didn't pick up the rugs in time so some got a bit wet, but as of yesterday everything was dry again and back to normal. I had put the trail camera down there to see if the cats use the walkway so they don't have to step on the floor but it failed to capture the cats over several days but for a couple times when they walked right up to the camera. Not sure why, and I don't see anything in the settings to fix that. I may have to try again later from a different angle, but now I have the trail camera back outside on the fence by the wood rack facing the gardens. I found poop back there again and want to find out what is doing that.Wednesday was spent sealing the driveway seams in front of the garage. I think water gets under it and when it freezes in the winter it makes one corner of a slab rise in front of the garage so hopefully this will help. More of these seams will need to be redone in the future but I'll be looking into a different method. I just did this area again to use up the crack filler left over from several years ago. Other than that, just a few errands, can't remember what else so probably nothing.
By Thursday the wooden steps were dry enough to get sealed. It was supposed to be mostly or partly cloudy out, perfect for the job, but I wanted to get an early start but not too early for the morning dew to evaporate. Well, I overslept a bit so got a late morning start, then the water sealer I had must have been old as it had a cottage cheese consistency. So I ran out to get more and in my haste got a slightly different version than I've used before - and learned that 'clear' and 'transparent' are two very different things. I accepted my mistake and forged ahead, and it turns out it made the steps look pretty good. Before the wood was a light gray but now, well, what do you think? I'm calling it a happy accident.So, back to today. I guess today is turning out to be a pretty lazy day for me, and that's okay. Soon here my wife and I will go on probably a 30 minute walk. Later we're having Italian beef sandwiches for dinner (that's been smelling really good in the slow cooker all day!) but just a quiet night in. Tomorrow we have a few things lined up but other than that I think I'm done with my vacation chore list and will just relax and try not to think about the shitstorm that I know will be waiting for me on Monday morning.
Walnut count: My yard ~460, Dave's yard ~1320. I expected these numbers to be higher by now, but we're not done yet.
That was done on Saturday morning. On Saturday afternoon the Badgers played, and lost, and the rain moved in later that night. Sunday, the Packers played, and lost, while it rained continuously all day long. We did make a trip out for lunch before the game, but it was a miserable day for a birthday (55 this year). While today, Monday, the rain has let up some but still a very cool, damp, and dark gray day again. Makes it hard to get much motivation to do anything with weather like this, but the forecast is looking better for the rest of the week so hopefully I can start my vacation week properly tomorrow.
Not sure what day yet, but I do want to have at least one evening this week for relaxing by the fire. I last had one the prior weekend and made dinner out there with our, well, I've heard them called different things, but little pie irons for camping to cook on the coals. I burned the crap out of the first one, of course, but then made a couple perfectly cooked ones. Overall, more work, mess and bother to cook this way, but it had been a very long time so was fun just the same. There is also a bigger view of the sky over the house now. Not so long ago there were 3 trees there, now just one.I didn't know that praying mantis lived in Wisconsin, but per Google they can be found here in the summer months, growing up to two inches including wings. We had this one on our front window screen all day Saturday, from early morning until we shut the windows at night. Not sure if it was resting after a big meal or what, but the rains that came that night surely made it move on to a more secure location. And this one was at least 4 inches long. I don't remember ever seeing one here before, so was interesting to watch and check on that day.
Well, tomorrow is a new day and we should see the sun and the temperature should come back up to shorts and t-shirt weather. Most of my vacation to-do list is outside chores, and I need a good day to lift my spirits after the last couple.
Lastly, my condolences to my UK friends on the passing of the Queen. In a world where public scenes and boorish behavior has become normal, she was always the picture of quiet dignity. We need more of that again.
A few weeks ago my counterpart at work took 3 of 4 weeks off, so I took Thursday and Friday off this week as a little reward for myself and to get me to my full week vacation coming up in September. Only a couple days, but I've been able to get a few things done that I've been wanting to do and now I have several things I'd been wanting to share plus a few new things. So it's time again to start typing and see if I remember it all.
Here, what appears to be an F-35 turns over the neighborhood to come in to land. Pictures just don't do justice to how close they are in person. |
Well, things happen and you get too busy or just too tired to write anything, then a day goes by, then a week. Before I get any more backed up with thoughts let me try to get them in writing.
And my wife added basil and parsley to the garden, where she's already planted a tomato, pepper and a couple other plants and rows of seeds. Only two garlic survived the winter, and we're pretty sure that's due to the the constant freezing and thawing last fall and early winter, so the rest just rot in the ground. Meanwhile, we got a fence around the strawberry plants a bit late to keep many from getting eaten, and the raspberries are starting out well.
Saturday began a stretch of 10 days off work for me, and sorely needed. I don't talk here about work much, and for a reason, but I can say that I've really not been happy for some time now. Change may happen soon, by my choice or maybe even theirs the way things have been going. But this is my vacation now, so I wish I could get it out of my head.A week or so ago I was discussing painting the porch with my wife, and that project got lowered to the bottom of the list. We decided to just replace the ceiling tiles for now, and I picked those up this morning. Later in the week I'll do more with those as most will require cutting to size.I do have one question to pose. Our sliding glass door is very old and cleaning it with regular glass cleaner just doesn't get it very clear. Does anyone have any hints on how to get old glass clear again?
At last! 258 days after we bought it, our new sleeper sofa and ottoman arrived this afternoon.
The big comforter has been washed and stored and a thinner blanket on the bed in its place. Windows have not been opened just yet (except once) but that time will be very soon now. And the grass is getting a bit long around the edges.
Speaking of grass; we'll see if I can do this No Mow May thing until the end of the month, though it may get strimmed in areas at the very least. The current fad sweeping the nation, it is to help the pollinators.
A few other pictures from today after the break.