Happy New Year 2024

Happy New Year!  I don't know if I'll be up for it so I'm writing this from the past and scheduling this for just after midnight.  By the way, Sunday's date was 123123, but mostly only in this country and not the rest of the world - 311223.

Last night my wife went out to a fancy dinner with her friend Terry and sister Becky.  I stayed in so I could catch the Packers/Vikings game.  Then later this new year's morning the Badgers play their bowl game against LSU.  I got my current list of chores done the last few days so aside from the game today it looks like it will be a good day of rest (with a little experimental making of pizza crust dough with 00 pizza flour) before returning to work tomorrow.

However you chose to ring in 2024, I hope you enjoy the holiday today and all my best wishes for a wonderful new year.

New Job

If you know me then you'll know I've not been happy with my job in a pretty long time.  New management came in after the beginning of the pandemic and there were many changes, not all for the better but square pegs were pounded into round holes anyway.  It wasn't the best employer to begin with (rated low on all job sites I've seen), and I had a hard time playing along with the new, ruthless management style.  I wasn't the only one; I watched as others in our department retired, found new jobs, got fired, or just rolled over and fumed in silence.

I got myself in trouble standing up to management in late 2022, which basically put me back on probation for a year.  I looked for another job on and off, but was unwilling to give up the benefits I earned over several years to start all over somewhere else.  But on October 16 that decision was made for me.  Rather than allow me to come off that probation, I was fired.  It was my own fault for staying too long when I could not get along with the management.

My health insurance would run through the end of that month, then my wife and I would be without (she is considered part time as she works less than 40 hours to allow her days to take care of her dad, so is not offered health insurance).  Since health insurance is very important in this country and is tied to employment, I needed a job ASAP.  I knew some people who needed help where they worked, so the day after I got fired I went there to apply and wound up getting the job.  I started work on November 1, but it would be at least a month until my new insurance started so I got an expensive policy through the government's marketplace (Obamacare).  Thankfully I was eligible for my new insurance to start on December 1 so only had to pay for one month of that expensive policy.  And while there were several issues with the new insurance they all got straightened out as of yesterday, so that is finally settled.

Meanwhile, I was working a new job unlike anything I had ever done before.  I'm not going to say where it is, I'll just say it is basically a daycare for adults with developmental disabilities.  I spend a lot of time playing as you would with kids, and also taking some to their jobs and coaching them throughout the week.  Overall, it's pretty easy and I'm growing to like it more and more, but it doesn't pay the best.  Still, I'm so much happier not working where I was, so it has advantages and disadvantages.

And nothing says I have to keep this job forever, but for now I will continue and see where this path leads me in the new year.

Merry Christmas 2023

Merry Christmas, everyone.  I hope you had a great weekend and are having a good day today doing what you wish with those you want to be with.  Or anything close to that is still pretty dang good.

We spent some time on Saturday with my wife's family and some time yesterday with mine.  Gifts were exchanged and holiday greetings and catching up were shared.  It's so much less about the giving and getting stuff than it is about the time spent, or should be.  It was nice to see everyone, including the nieces and nephews that we don't get to see too often.  And a shame we couldn't see the others, which seems to happen too often.

It's certainly not a white Christmas here this year with temperatures yesterday and today in the 50's with 100% humidity.  Outside has been overcast and very foggy for a few days now, but that's still lots better than if it was snow and frost.  We've had less than two inches of snow here this month when 12 inches is normal for December, and will get no more though we return to highs around the freezing mark over the next week.  But January is next, and January is, well, January.  Until it becomes February, normally another very cold and snowy month.

Warm bread helps.

Solstice Firepit

 Happy Winter Solstice, 2023.  Finally the days will begin to get longer, though winter has barely begun for us.  We've had a taste of snow and really cold, but mostly have been a bit warmer than normal (above freezing) and that is expected through the holidays.  There is plenty of rain in the forecast that would otherwise be snow, too.

I've not had that many fires this year, but I do like to have a fire on the winter solstice when I can.  This year, today was fully cloudy and damp but a few degrees above freezing so I made myself get out there for likely the last time until Spring.  We're in for a mild winter, they say, but we'll see.

Happy Solstice, everyone.

Concert Checklist Trend

Apparently, this checklist has been trending on social media of some sort, I read about it on a website.  Similar to the '50 Bands I've Seen Live' trend that I posted back in the first year of this blog, I felt the urge to give my two cents on this one.

1. First concert: Dio (w/ Dokken)
2. Last concert: ZZ Top
3. Worst concert: Tesla
4. Loudest concert: Ace Frehley
5. Best concert: Pink Floyd
6. Seen the most: Kiss
7. Most surprising: Beck
8. Next concert: ??
9. Wish I could've seen: The original Kiss in the seventies

Those are my answers.  It's hard to recollect them all, and now I've seen so many online it's hard to separate them from in-person sometimes.  At my age and after the pandemic now, I expect most of my live concerts to be online.  I'm not saying I won't go out to a show, just that it's going to take a lot to get me to do it.  Livestreams are easier, cheaper, more options and just more comfortable.

Care to share your list?

Happy Thanksgiving 2023

A welcome 4 day weekend and a happy Thanksgiving, everyone.  A quiet weekend around here, just rest and some chores.  The Packers were on early so sorry to get this posted a little later, but at least the Packers won.

There have been changes around here and I'm still not too sure exactly how I feel about it so I'm going to continue taking a break from blogging through the end of the year, I think.  Nothing for anyone to worry about, though.  I'll write more in due time.

Thank you.

Saturday Night Fire

 Was a good night for it, but got colder soon after dark.  Here you can also see some of the work on neighbor Dave's house, where the inside is gutted and now a new re-pitched roof.  Lots of happenings around here, not sure how much I want to talk about it yet, though.  Real life needs doing, not writing.

Halloween 2023 and First Snow

Happy post-Halloween, everyone.  It was mostly a quiet night around here, so thankfully I got only about a third of the candy we had last year.  We got just 9 trick-or-treaters this year, but were only one of 3 houses on the block that I noticed had their lights on.  The last two kids were growing mustaches and it was pretty cold so I shut it down about 7:00.  It barely got above freezing yesterday with occasional light snow flurries off and on all day for our first snow of the year, though it didn't stick.  

I carved a pumpkin again to display on the front steps last night, and today it is on the stump in back waiting to be ravaged by the squirrels and rabbits.  I have the trail camera aimed in that direction but I got a pretty good video of it getting eaten bit by bit last year.  The mummy in the windows was showing wear on the fold seams, and I was getting tired of it so this was the last year for that.  I also pulled out the mask with the moving mouth LED lights to wear again but that wasn't working right so is also in the trash now.

We had a good run, but I'm not sure I'll do so much next year.  It doesn't seem worth it for just a handful of kids so maybe just candy next year, and maybe the flickering flame light bulb again, too, since I have it just for this holiday.  Hope you had fun if you chose to celebrate.

More Sidewalk Wisdom

 From today's walk, same place as last post.  It rained hard early today so this must be new.

And an interesting epitaph for this poor bloke, from a few blocks away.  Halloween's a-coming!

Good Timing

Saw this written on the sidewalk during a walk yesterday.  I needed the smile.

Cuts Like A...

I managed to bake two types of bread on Sunday morning, classic baguettes (left) and simple French bread (right).  Thankfully I was able to keep everything straight as, of course, the timing of the steps for each are different.  I think both turned out well but for the French bread getting maybe a bit overdone.  And while the demi baguette size is handy it is more of a pain to make.  I've tried making them from smaller cuts of dough and regular size cut in half, as here.  I think I may just stick to making the full size 15-inch baguettes going forward.

The last thing I really need to figure out is the cuts.

I started with various sharp knives that we have, settling on the serrated bread knife.  It does give some good cuts most of the time, though I don't really get an 'ear' on the cuts during baking.  It's also a pretty big knife for a small job and I wanted something better.

Eventually I bought a UFO lame - which is one of the most dangerous things I think I've ever had in my kitchen.  Two round pieces of wood that screw together with a razor blade between them.  One slip when tightening and your finger would go right into the blade, or if a corner of the blade is left peeking out, or if it loosens and the blade moves outside the wood - all of these can spell bloody disaster.  I tried it anyway but it seemed to grab the dough much more than the knife, resulting in ugly and ineffective cuts.

Recently I picked up a baker's lame, which has a curved razor blade that is supposed to help in creating that 'ear' on the cuts, those raised ridges on either side.  Similar to the UFO lame, I found it grabbed the dough more than the serrated knife and also resulted in ugly, ineffective cuts.

My wife says I'm too hard on myself, the cuts don't affect how the bread tastes, after all.  But I know it can be done so I will keep trying.  I do know that it should be sharp, quick cuts, so maybe I hesitate because I'm expecting it to grab.  I think next time when it's still early in the process I will practice my slices on raw dough.

In other news, we went from high temperatures in the 80's to highs in the 50's within a week, with a frost warning last night and tonight.  Autumn is definitely upon us.  Yard work beckons but this weekend will be cold and wet, and there still should be plenty of time yet.  I did mow again today, so now I think I've mowed the whole yard 5 times and only the back yard twice this year.  I'm losing track, not that it matters.  I just find it notable for how few times it's had to be done this year.

I'm planning on going down to my Mom's on Saturday in time for the Badger game that afternoon, then coming back Sunday to relax and fix the refrigerator.  I'll talk more about the refrigerator later as I'm planning on posting about it.

My work situation has not improved, but I just deleted the rant I wrote to spare you.  Suffice it to say I am not a happy camper, but you knew that.  So on that note, I guess that's enough writing for now.  I hope everyone is doing well!

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.