Back Yard Visit

We took another walk this afternoon, the most beautiful day yet this year with temperatures right now at 62ºF (about 17ºC).  Coincidentally, the same as it was exactly one year ago today per my post last year of two days later.  That was a Sunday and we got the grill out for dinner then.  We've not gotten the cow yet, so not much for us to grill to be able to do that tonight.  Also different than last year is we don't have the rabbit population we did then, so not near as much rabbit poop left behind in the back yard - except for where I stood for this picture yesterday, of course!

I made several trips in my big snow boots out to the compost bin so far this year, and one side trip over to the woodpile to re-fasten the velcro on the right side.  I retraced my steps back through the deep snow to my path to the compost bin, so only one set of tracks and you can still see them here, barely hanging on.  Pretty dramatic difference from where the sun hits and where it doesn't.

The forecast calls for it to get cooler, day by day, until next week when there is (so far) a chance for snow again on Monday, but we'll see.  Do you have spring fever yet?

P.S.  Happy Birthday to my sister, Kelly!

Neighborhood Yard Art/Signs

There's always usually some reason for people to put signs in their yards in our neighborhood.  Whether it's the latest cause or election to things that are just artistic or fun.  I've just been noticing again and thought to capture them on our walk today.  This isn't even all of them, I spotted several more, especially for Black Lives Matter, and some were the same so not repeated here.  This near east side of Madison can be very expressive, not only in the signs in the yards but the yards and houses themselves.  I love that about this area.

Thawing Out

By no means do I think we're finished getting snow this season, but we've enjoyed several days now of about 40ºF allowing for much of our snow to start melting.  Currently we've had more than 43 inches of snow, but March is usually good for a few good, wet snowstorms before allowing spring to fully take over.  Our snowpack must be less than 10 inches by now as I've been able to see the firepit for a few days, but I can still see it's full of snow, too.  It's a nice change shortly after getting below 0ºF for 12 days straight.  The forecast calls for even higher temperatures in the mid 40's all this week so the snow piles should melt further, though it gets looking very dirty as it reveals all the dirt in it as it melts.

We got out for a walk today for the first time this year, I'm ashamed to say.  It wasn't too chilly, but the wind could get to you a bit.   Starkweather Creek is thawed and flowing, and not showing signs of getting too high.  I didn't take my grabber and bag to pick up trash, but there was lots to see on our short walk so I will be picking it up next time.  There's some things about people I just will never understand.

I got a picture from the top of the street, similar to one of my favorite pictures from last year that I still have as my desktop background.  A stark difference with the bare trees, overcast skies and dirty, melting snow, but I like the difference.  I wish I would have gotten a picture like this when everything was covered in pretty, white snow.  March may still provide that opportunity.

Another difference in this picture is that a couple weeks ago the city removed 3 large trees on the street.  You can see the sawdust on the right side of the street, and just a bit further down on the left.  The third is further down on the right, out of sight here.  I hate to lose big trees on the street, they're one of my favorite things about living in an older neighborhood.  They might have been Ash trees, not sure, but the city has been eliminating those due to the Emerald Ash Borer, a beetle that kills Ash trees that has been spreading across the country.  And the red house on the left used to be yellow.

It was nice getting out of the house and getting some exercise.  Hopefully we keep it up and get out for more walks, and soon my attention will need to turn to rebuilding the raised garden beds.  I've been looking at materials, and I'll likely end up using treated lumber again and hope to get 10 years out of it.  It will be a lot of work and, while I'm sure I'll enjoy the process, I'll be very happy once it's done.

I've Been Probed!

After work this afternoon I sat back down at my desk for some relaxing on the internet.  Not every day, but every so often I look at my website statistics.  Today was one of those days and holy cow!  Per Google Analytics, I had 268 users for 274 pageviews yesterday?!  When I go into the details of the graph you see here, the 44 up top is searches of all my labels, then several for views of each month for certain years and some Latest Listening Pleasure posts, then the big bottom one is views for what seems to be all of my LLP posts!  

Curious, I looked at the Blogger stats and it showed 288 pageviews yesterday.  That's only a few dozen less than I normally get a month!  Oh, and notice almost all are from the UK?  What's going on over there, guys?  Could it possibly be Wargasm UK fans?  Or - probably more likely - just some 'bot checking me out?  What would you make of this?

LLP Bonus - Wargasm UK

Less than two weeks ago I came across the young duo Wargasm UK on Youtube.  I'm constantly looking out for new shows, concerts and livestreams, so it was probably in my recommendations.  They had a short set on video, filmed during lockdown for the Download Festival channel.  I found the video to be heavy and fun and new and, well, I found it interesting enough to dive head first down that rabbit hole immediately after enjoying the show.

They are Sam Matlock and Milkie Way, from London, and while they call themselves Wargasm I see them referred to as Wargasm UK in several places.  I'm pretty sure that's because there's already been a band named Wargasm for a few decades now, but they're kids so I'm sure they didn't know.  If you're into genres they call themselves Nu-Metal, but call it what you will, I only know that I like what I like and that's as it should be.  While I've not been able to get their music out of my head recently, they need to do a bit more over longer to justify me writing a full LLP post, I think.  Wargasm UK has no albums and only 7 singles released since they started a couple years ago.  That's all I found of them, aside from remixes, and I bought them all digitally the only place I could find them - Amazon.  I thought it was well worth it to encourage their behavior and I hope I hear much more of them, and sooner than later.  (I also hope it's even better!)

I'm not sure I have a favorite song they do, but this one is real good.  And while they have some good live videos out there, here's the official video for their song Spit.  Enjoy!   

Guess What? More Snow!

I liked the reaction to the first snow removal time lapse video, so I did it again.  It had been snowing since the early morning hours, light and fluffy with it being so very cold out.  I went out to clear it a little after 2:30 this afternoon and the sun had come out nicely after the snow had passed.  Too bad that didn't warm more than my soul - it was only 1ºF (-17ºC) when the video was shot.  And sorry, the video's a little crooked, and I stopped recording before shoveling the front walk and stoop and cleaning off the car, so it's less than 75 seconds long.

We have a three day weekend due to President's Day on Monday and, while we'll have plenty of time for rest and relaxation, we do have a few things we want get done.  First off is to get a load over to Goodwill, and we need to order a new clothes washer as the bearings are going in ours.  Not unusual for bearings after almost 12 years, but the problem is they make it so to replace them is to replace most of the machine so it's just cheaper to buy a new one.  The repairman said it could last another year like this but it sounds dreadful and now is the time of year those things are cheapest.  Third, we want to get another quarter cow ordered.  It will be at least a month until it will be ready and our beef supply is practically down to nothing. 

The current forecast says salt won't melt ice until maybe Wednesday, and we might even get up to the freezing point in just over a week.  Shorts and t-shirt weather!  That's all for this weekend's weather report - other than one kind of funny thing to mention is that I had to buy ice yesterday.  Our ice maker is on the fritz and that repairman won't be out for over two weeks yet, but I thought it was just odd to be buying ice in the middle of such a cold spell like I was going on a picnic or something.

More Snow! yay.

We started the day with a bit of sleet or freezing rain that soon turned to snow, then to heavy snow.  While it's forecast to snow for a while yet it is lighter now, but there will still be some more to clean up in the morning.  Here's a very short time lapse video of me starting to clear the snow just a bit ago.  Only maybe 3 or 4 inches, so not so bad as the snowstorm when I last posted.  Next big snow maybe I'll try to get a view down the driveway.

Once we were done here you can see how deep it is by the drive and the mounds along the road.  What can you do but deal with it?  Living in Wisconsin we're certainly used to it.  The impact on us has actually not been too bad this season due to both of us working at home full time.  My wife has to go out much more often than I for taking care of her dad, but she can usually work around the weather, thankfully.

Oh, and after tomorrow we plunge into the single digits for highs and into the negatives every night for the foreseeable forecast.  That's Fahrenheit for my UK friends - don't do the conversion, it's just going to be stupid, stupid cold.

Looking forward to the times I have something else to write about.

More Snow, Goodbye January

We got several inches of snow last night and this morning, and there is still a little more coming yet today.  The mounds along the walks and especially the streets are getting bigger, and it would be nice if we had a stretch of nice weather to knock them down some.  If I was a kid, though, this would be a lot of fun, especially if there was a sled hill nearby.  But at my age, well, let's just say it's not as much fun.  At least we don't have to go anywhere today.

The street has not been plowed yet but I'm sure it will get done before evening, and not all neighbors have their walks cleared yet.  I sometimes do the neighbors walks just as a courtesy, not to them as much as the walkers we can get through the neighborhood.  Neighbor Jane now pays someone to come out and do hers, so somehow that makes me less likely to go that way now.  Neighbor Dave was out shoveling last night, so his wasn't as deep.  I did a couple passes on his walk and he'll be out later to do his other areas and clean it up.

As for the back yard, there is a zero percent chance of a firepit anytime soon.

Still, as we leave January behind we are getting ever so slowly closer to spring.  Cheers, everyone.

Is The Newspaper Still Worth The Cost?

For most of my life I've read the newspaper, and mostly that paper has been the Wisconsin State Journal.  When I was young my parents were subscribed.  In my young adulthood I usually picked up the paper on my way to work every day.  I went through fits and starts subscribing for myself, but usually ended up cancelling due to issues, mostly that the paper would not consistently arrive early enough for me.  This is also why I changed from subscribing 7 days a week to just getting the Sunday and Wednesday subscription option since we bought the house in 2009.  Eventually I learned not to count on the paper to read before work, so I'm no longer concerned too much what time it arrives on Sunday or Wednesday.

This Sunday/Wednesday subscription to the Wisconsin State Journal consists of either 8 or 9 newspapers a month, 9 a month for 8 of 12 months in 2021, 104 newspapers a year.  Keep in mind, these different days of papers are not created equal.  The Sunday paper offers much more than a daily paper, though the Sunday and Wednesday papers are both loaded with ads, which is why you can only subscribe to the Sunday paper if you get Wednesday's, as well.

Last month they sent me a notice that my subscription price would be changing next month.  They cite the online access and other perks that justify the cost, but really all I want is the newspaper.  Thinking about this, I wanted to know what the newsstand price was for both, the Sunday and daily papers.  You think you can find that online somewhere?  Fat chance.  I finally found an email for their customer service, and they replied that it is $2.50 for the daily paper and $5.00 for Sunday.  (I remember paying only $0.35 for a daily paper on the way to work, years ago).  I forgot to ask if these prices would also be changing soon, so I replied to ask and have yet to hear back.

So, at my subscription price of $37.50 a month, that is $450.00 a year and $4.33 a paper on average.  The newsstand price would be $390.00, which is $60.00 to have it delivered for a year.  And sixty bucks for 104 deliveries is probably worth it, I think.  But is the overall cost for the paper itself worth it?  I guess I've thought so for several years now.

Now, as I mentioned, they recently sent me notice that my subscription price is changing.  It is going up to $43.00 a month starting in February.  So let me look at those numbers again.  $43.00 a month is now $516.00 a year and $4.96 a paper on average.  That's $66.00 a year and $0.63 a paper more than I'm paying now.

Sure, I can afford it, but do I still think it's worth it?  Do you?

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!