Happy New Year! This is the last day of 2020 and we will wake up to a new year. Don’t know if it will be a ‘out with old and in the new’ or turn into ‘same shit different day’. But it’s coming and we can’t change it so let’s roll with it.
Yesterday I mentioned what the winter storm hit us with before going out to shovel. Since I don’t care much for the media I only heard about the snow and freezing rain before shutting off the TV. After coming back in the house and warming up I heard the rest. After the 9.1 inches of snow and after the freezing rain we also got an inch of rain!
This made the snow shovel about useless so I went out to the garage to get a regular shovel. Problem was, the entry door was covered with ice including the lock. I had an ice chipper stored elsewhere, got it out, and managed to get the walks clear in only double the usual time. Said chipper worked great but if you’ve ever used one you know they don’t clear big areas in a single pass.
Going out later to dig out more of the driveway before we get hit with a similar storm tomorrow. Not supposed to get as much snow or ice according to the forecast, but that is according to the forecast. Have a little driveway melt left but am saving it just in case. At any rate, and as mentioned above, Have a safe and happy New Year.
Enjoy our Thursday. Now for coffee to get ready to do battle with the ice and snow. Comments are always welcome.
The snowstorm that started yesterday was forecasted to drop 2-6 inches of snow followed by about a tenth of an inch of freezing rain and sleet before turning to rain. Well, just got the snowfall total and that is at 9.1 inches. For a short time was sure we were going to lose power, but we never did.
When this is finished I will go out and shovel the front walk and steps along with the end of the alley. Right now it is supposed to be slush and that is slightly easier to move than ice. It is supposed to start cooling off and get below freezing which will make it interesting for travel.
So we may be a little busy this morning trying to move the white fluffy love from above from where we don’t want it to where we don’t care if it’s there. We’ll see how that works. Also thought we had enough driveway melt for one more storm, but we don’t. Have enough to do either the front or the alley. Could get interesting.
Once the sun comes out it might melt some of the mess that surrounds us but we’re not holding our breath as if it melts it will freeze when things cool off. Rather have a slushy mess than an ice skating rink on an incline. But we will find out later. We been through worse.
So enjoy our Wednesday. Now for some coffee and leftover pizza to get ready to shovel. Comments are always welcome.
I overslept again and the post is late. The wife won’t get me up because she claims I look so peaceful when I’m sleeping. Meanwhile, I’m baffled on how one can go to bed at the same time every night but have very different wake up times. But I digress.
We have a winter storm on the way and predictions are for around six inches of snow followed by freezing rain, sleet, and then rain before the front moves on some time tomorrow. Not sure how much or what we’ll get, not ready for it. but it is coming. If the locks don’t freeze the snow blower and shovel are ready in the garage.
Am hoping the prediction of a tenth of an inch of freezing rain is correct as if it reaches a quarter inch power lines start going down. No fun being in a winter storm with no power to your house. Also our snow blower is electric start and we’ll need power for that. If all else fails, the shovel is non-electric.
And yesterday was the anniversary of Iowa becoming a state back in 1846, if memory serves me correctly. We just call it home and have for most of our lives. Been to a lot of different places and haven’t yet found another place that would tempt us to move.
This is going to be a short one as training will start soon so I can actually lift a shovel full of wet snow. Plan on starting with 10 pound dumbbells and working my up to jumbo coffee mug. Enjoy our Tuesday as I’m going to need more coffee for the workout. Comments are always welcome.
We’re into a new week that will end in a new year which means we have a chance to grab life by the tail and face the changes. Before the new year resolutions will be made, parties will be held, and we’ll all be preparing to write a different year on forms and checks. Or, we could just stay the same.
Our crystal ball is on the fritz due to electromagnetic pulses so we won’t even guess what the new year will bring our way. We do wonder how long the media and politicians are going to milk the pandemic as even the CDC admits the virus has a 99.8% survival rate up to middle age. I not big on vaccines as anyone wouldn’t be if they read the ingredients and possible side effects.
Read yesterday Harley Davidson has a new electric motorcycle that will retail for around $30,000. My thought is, if people can’t see or hear the V-twins with straight pipes how safe is a silent electric bike? Don’t know if these new battery powered bikes are going to sell or not, but remember pet rocks were popular at one time so anything is possible.
We got a bit of snow last night here on the east coast of Iowa. Less than an inch but more possible in the next few days. Will find out shortly if it’s a light and fluffy snow or a wet heavy one when I go out to clear the car and walks. At any rate there is just enough to have to sweep or shovel as the sun may not melt it. And the wife has some running to do early.
Enjoy our Monday snow and all. Now for coffee in preparation of removing the white fluffy love from above that fell overnight. Comments are always welcome.
A group of peculiar people dwelled in peace. They were a small, peace-loving group of individuals. They were peculiar for several reasons: they were all extremely short, the tallest of them coming to a whopping meter in height; they were zealously religious, but they had no particular religion; and they lived primarily in isolation, due to the volatile nature of the sea surrounding their island.
These Trids, for such they called themselves, lived in peace and harmony for a long time, until a giant washed up on their shore. He was a practical giant, and not at all religious, and went to dwell at the top of the only hill on their island. He could not abide their high voices nor their zealous religiosity. Their population grew and grew over the years, until they began encroaching on his land at the top of the hill. So, he started to grab 12 Trids per year and kicked them off the cliff at the top of his hill to help maintain the population. Additionally, any Trid that roamed near his dwelling at the top was similarly kicked. Surprisingly, the Trids resented this, but due to their peaceful nature and lack of insight and weapons, had no capacity to resist his efforts.
Over the years they grew accustomed to his presence and accepted their lot in life, because they had no where to go and no option but to submit to this treatment.
Years and years passed, and one day, a traveling Rabbi arrived on the island and began teaching the Trids his faith. They immediately accepted it with zeal and enthusiasm and the Rabbi found himself surprised but pleased by his success.
They mentioned to him that there was a giant who might benefit from the laws of Judaism and Moses, primarily that law that condemned murder. The Rabbi, with no small amount of trepidation, began a long and slow ascent up the Giant’s mountain, for he had mercy upon the Trids and wanted to help them.
He got to the lower foothills, and didn’t see the giant or any sign of him.
He climbed the winding trail up to the middle of the large hill, and still saw no sign of the giant.
He finally reached the summit and after looking around, thought perhaps the giant was a myth, but when he turned to leave, a 2.5 meter walking pectoral of a man stood before the Rabbi. He was nothing but muscle and very, very happy to see someone who wasn’t a Trid.
“Good sir, I can see by your garb you are a Rabbi. Please, come to my cave, where I have prepared a soup with food from my garden,” this giant said.
“You won’t kick me off?” The Rabbi responded. The giant laughed, shook his head, and beckoned the Rabbi to follow.
The Rabbi, surprised but pleased by this treatment, wordlessly followed the giant to a lovely cave, decorated with pretty rocks and interestingly gnarled plants.
They enjoyed a silent meal, and the Rabbi found himself wondering more and more why the Trids feared this gentle giant.
“My giant friend, I was sent here by the Trids to attempt to persuade you to stop kicking them off the mountain, but you seem so kind, I’m not sure you could do such a thing. After all, you didn’t kick me off.”
While we didn’t get snow for Christmas we did get something we wanted. Our cable TV went FUBAR on us so we called to schedule a technician to come fix it. I actually didn’t mind and liked the quiet but the wife likes to watch TV to unwind after work.
So on the 23rd a guy came over, swapped out 3 cable boxes and restarted the router several times to no avail. He said he couldn’t fix it as the boxes he brought were faulty, apologized, and left. On Christmas Eve the technician who installed the boxes came over, checked everything over, put a couple of new connectors on, and got our cable TV up and running.
The wife was happy, I was happy, so I got out my stash of chocolate chip cookies and offered him one. The look on his face told me he also liked chocolate chip cookies so I told him to take a couple. He got a paper towel as his were dirty and grabbed three. After wishing each other a Merry Christmas he left happy and we were happy to have the talking box working again.
I usually don’t share my chocolate chip cookies but am glad I did. The wife and I both like the young man and remembered the service he gave when he hooked up our boxes. The time he installed the boxes he explained that he was going to school to get into computer coding, so I asked him how that was going. Seems the Covid virus affected that as he said class just wasn’t the same being done remotely and he’s taking some time off.
Today, we’ll go over to my Mother in laws and bring a ham dinner with us in a late celebration of Christmas as the wife again worked Christmas Eve and Christmas day but has this weekend off. That said, we hope everyone had a good Christmas and are looking forward to the new year.
Enjoy our Saturday as we can’t change it anyway. Now to get ready for some ham. Comments are always welcome.
On this Christmas Eve we wish all a Merry Christmas. Here on the east coast of Iowa it’s said that on average we have a 46% chance of a white Christmas on any given year. While this year we won’t be covered with white fluffy love from above we did get a dusting of snow last night, and that’s good enough for us.
This year we will have a guest today who I hope can make the wife happy. You may be thinking a singing telegram or even male stripper, but you would be wrong. In a few hours we’re supposed to be visited by the cable repair technician. Yes, our cable TV has been acting up for a while and the wife wants it fixed.
It all started out innocent enough, we couldn’t get one of the many TV channels on our plan. It was one the wife liked but with a couple hundred others to choose from, not a big deal. Then a few days ago we discovered that the only channel that came in was the Headline News channel on one TV and no channels on the other.
So, yesterday a technician came out and tried to fix the problem. He swapped out 2 different boxes and nothing happened. He put our old box back on, and nothing happened. He called the cable company to have them work from their end, and nothing happened. So this morning another technician will bring another box and hope something happens.
Not sure how this is going to turn out but am interested enough to stick around to see what happens. I still think cable is over priced and under delivers but the wife likes it. Perhaps if the problem is fixed I could watch coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auction tomorrow. Enjoy our Thursday as I need more coffee now. Comments are always welcome.
Since it was such a late start yesterday, decided to do one extra early today. Got a few pictures, not all of them great, but they do tell me a story. This first one was during the snow storm that hit Tulsa while we were down there. Turned into quite a driving experience when the slush froze later and turn things into a skating rink.
This is how the church looked the other day with the clouds rolling in. The clouds blocked the sun and the spaces between the clouds were best viewed with sun glasses. But it was something to see. You may notice a lot of clouds in this set as I shoot what I see and the wildlife must have stayed in.
This group of clouds looked like the head of a cow to me and the idea stuck in my head the rest of the day. At any rate it did make it fun cloud watching for the day. And yes, the sky was that blue.
Just so not all the pictures are of clouds, here’s a picture of leaves on the neighbors bank. They seem to glow when the sun peeked between the clouds. Not a lot of different colors, but still a different look.
Finally, a picture of the moon in late afternoon. I take pictures of the moon often. I use my 300 mm lens and crop the picture. This gives the result above without going a longer lens. A bigger lens would show more detail but is harder to steady without a tripod. Works for me. Enjoy the pictures and remember, you can click on them to enlarge them.
Enjoy our Wednesday as it’s Christmas Eve Eve, if you’re not religious or of another faith we’re one day closer to the end of 2020. Now I need coffee. Comments are always welcome.
Yeah, this is late again. Have no excuse as it just worked out that way. Woke up late so tried to post earlier before realizing I can’t type before having my coffee. Works much like talking before coffee, everything comes out sounding wrong and usually laced with curse words. Now that I’ve had around 8 cups that shouldn’t happen.
Noticed a ‘stimulus’ bill passed the Senate and is on the way to the President’s desk. Heard the bill is over 5,000 pages long and has more pork in it than a butcher shop. Some lawmakers act as if we should give them a pat on the back for passing this garbage. Pelosi supposedly said the $600 would help those affected by the virus. That got me laughing.
We may do a post on this if the President signs the bill. We heard a lot of things were in the bill and some were hard to believe. Like money to educate people that storing portable fuel containers near open flames is a bad idea. If you don’t know that, and aren’t six years old, perhaps you should learn the hard way.
Here in our little portion of Heaven on earth we call Iowa, we’re going to get cold tomorrow. Know it’s that time of year but a high in the 40s today and lows in the single digits tomorrow? At least a slight warm up is forecast later in the week. We’ll see how that works out.
Got a few pictures yesterday but haven’t uploaded yet as am going to take some more today. If they turn out decent we’ll share a few. In an earlier post I stated the wildlife has left our area. We’re up to 4 feral cats showing up for the food and water put out in the morning but they don’t hang around long either.
Finally got some running to do now that our two day anniversary is over. Seems like it’s always something. Now I need more coffee and some leftover pizza. Comments are always welcome.
Depending on who you talk to the wife and I got married 33 years ago yesterday, or 33 years ago today. She claims the anniversary was yesterday and has a marriage certificate to prove it. I say our anniversary is today and I have an old car club newsletter to prove it. This discussion is ongoing as the lady who follows me around is stubborn.
It’s been a hell of a ride and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. So Happy Anniversary dear! If I live long enough you may even get the date right. I was the one your mother warned you about when we met and we didn’t have much in common, but we made it work. When she went on 3rd shift and I stayed on days we were told it wouldn’t last, but we made it work. So we can figure out the date eventually.
Then I heard this morning that one of my best friends since Junior High School passed away. We knew he was in Hospice but figured on stopping by when we got back from our vacation in Oklahoma. That’s not going happen as he’s working on flatheads in Heaven now. You’ll be missed Steve.
Something I’ve noticed is the local wildlife must be in hibernation or something. About 90% of the pictures I take are from our yard or the neighborhood and there have been birds, squirrels, raccoons, ground hogs, and various other critters to get a picture of on any given day. Now all we see are a few feral cats. Going to have to start getting out more or going farther than the end of the block.
We’ll see how that works out if my patience holds up. Hear of photographers who spend hours waiting for the perfect shot and that would not be me. I grab the camera and go out in short bursts, take a few shots, and return to the coffee. Unless we’re travelling, but I don’t take pictures while driving either. But, every problem has a solution and we’ll work on this one.
Enjoy our Monday as the new day puts us one day closer to 2021. Now for some coffee and leftover pizza. Comments are always welcome.
Posted by cruisin2 
Just Cruisin 2 