Winter Solstice 2022

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.

Covid and Dave Updates

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.

RIP Neighbor Dave

I was clearing snow the other morning and ran into neighbor Dave's granddaughter who stepped outside for a smoke.  I asked how Dave was, she said not good, he spent most of the last two days sleeping and time was short so if I wanted to see him I should do it soon.  I apologized and told her I was sick, she said it wouldn't matter.

This morning I was clearing more snow and saw one of Dave's sons coming out of the house,  Again I asked about Dave and he told me Dave passed last night.  As he was saying this he was walking toward me to talk and I had to stop him so I told him I had covid.  So, from a distance he told me that Dave passed peacefully and rather quickly.  He discussed how his mom lingered for years, and I nodded as Dave had told me the story a few times.  I wished him and his family well, he got my contact info, and we parted.  I do hope I'm well enough to pay my respects when the time is determined.

RIP Neighbor Dave.  You were a great neighbor to have and we will miss you.

Covid II

Thank you for the well-wishes.  Sorry, I've been sick enough that I've had no desire to sit in front of the computer.  The last few days have been completely miserable for us.  All I've heard lately is how Covid is just like a bad cold now.  Well, obviously my definition of a cold is different than most people's.

I consider a cold as unpleasant with sniffles/cough and head/body aches, mostly.  Once you get a fever and even more on top of that, especially for multiple days, I consider it something more than a cold.  I just call it a nasty virus or something like that.

What is your opinion?  When does a cold stop being a cold and become something more?

Covid

Not Much, You? Just Links

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.

Happy Thanksgiving 2022

I'd been wanting to have a fire since we got the load of wood a few weeks ago.  I had all the wood splinters and small bark pieces that were swept up and put in the firepit and so have kept the lid on to keep that as dry as possible until I could burn it up.  Yesterday was my first good opportunity with the next day off and agreeable weather and wind.

It gets dark early now, sunset was at 4:27, so I got a start shortly after getting off work at 3.  I wasn't planning on spending the whole evening out there, just a good, small fire to burn stuff up, including the small stick pile that was out front.  I had the idea to film it and see what I could do with it, and only realized later as I was reviewing the footage that I did pretty much the same thing last year.  Not the first time I've repeated myself here, I'm sure.

Last year's video was clips of the evening, so since I had the footage already here's the first half hour of last night's firepit compressed into about 2 1/2 minutes.  Watch it or not, I had fun, and what I was watching on my phone was the end of a very close Badgers basketball game - they won :)  

Not much happening around here for the holiday, just a welcome break from work for 4 days.  Happy Thanksgiving weekend, everyone.

The Demise of Jack O. Lantern

What a difference a week or two can make.  Three weeks ago I got a load of wood and thought the outlook was good for several more fires before winter would not allow it, and I haven't had a fire since.  Due to weather; first wind, then wet, now snow and cold.  I still have hope as it's early yet in the season.

Today I brought in the trail camera to go through the pumpkin-eating footage, and there was lots to go through.  It was triggered enough that it ran out of space early on November 14th, so no footage of the snow we had for days afterward.  The camera is low on purpose and crooked not-on-purpose, and shakes in the wind or if the squirrels shake the chain link fence.  Still, I was happy with the footage it captured this time out.  I have video evidence of a neighbor's two cats that appear to hunt in our back yard at night, the likely backyard shitters.  Now I want to think of a new place to put the camera for a while.  It's interesting to see what goes on in your yard when you're not around.

I narrowed down the 10-second video clips to 103, out of 482, which would still be over 17 minutes long - and no one wants to watch that.  I also wasn't going to mess with the chronological order or edit any of the clips, just stitch them together.  But, of course, it was my first time using Clipchimp software, so it was interesting going, but manageable.

Anyway, the next pare-down was to 27 of the most interesting clips coming in at less than 5 minutes, a more reasonable length, I think.  Enjoy!

Winter, Ducks, Dave and Jack

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 gutters are cleaned and the garlic is planted, so not much else to do yet for winterizing.  I still have leaves to deal with, but mowing to mulch the black walnut leaves in the back and being down to just one maple tree out front means there just aren't as many leaves to deal with as there used to be.  Depending on the weather, I may collect what leaves I can out front to mulch and put in the flowerbeds or I may just mow everything and be done with it.  There's not enough to worry about even if it snows and I don't see those leaves again until spring.  Things have certainly changed in the last decade or so.

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.

Cold And White, Not Snow