Going to get real

For New Year’s Day this year it’s looking like we’re going to get some snow. Might even be enough that the squirrels climb the fence to get out of it! Forecast says 3-8 inches of the white fluffy love from above come the morning. And I woke up feeling like I got run over by a Mack truck.

This winter started on a mild note and a short time later his evil twin showed up and took over the show. On top of the snow it’s predicted we’ll have below zero wind chills to go along with it. So, when this is done, I’ll run to see if there is any salt to be had for the driveway and alley in preparation of the storm.

Usually I get up early, sometimes I oversleep, and other times I just can’t get my brain in gear. I have heard that multiple concussions can do that to a brain. Getting older can’t have much to do with it as I’m not that old yet, just feel old at times. So I decided to make some changes, not resolutions.

I’m not going to drink any coffee after midnight anymore, will cut out the mid-day naps, and cut back a little on my smoking. Nothing major, but one has to walk before they run. Happy New Year! Enjoy our Friday and last day of the year also. Now I need coffee as it’s nowhere near midnight.

Out with old…

We’re at that time of year where people will start thinking of their New Years resolutions. Usually this involves someone saying they are going to stop doing something like smoking, or start doing something like working out. Gyms love this time of year as membership goes up while bars aren’t too crazy about the idea as some don’t occupy their usual bar stool.

That changes after a week or two and things get back to the SSDD mentality. The gyms go mostly unvisited by the new members while the old denizens of the bars come back to fold. And life goes on. Fireworks will go off at midnight and the new year will get a toast to better days.

This year may be a bit different however as there will be some who stay up to make sure the old year leaves without a fight. So many things went FUBAR in 2021 that we don’t know anyone who would like a repeat. As the saying goes, time will tell.

We used to say it can’t get any worse but have found some take that as a challenge. Enjoy our Thursday since it’s here. Now for more coffee.

Didn’t miss

The snow that was supposed to go north didn’t miss us. We ended up with somewhere between 2 and 4 inches of white fluffy love from above brightening up the landscape. And we have a few more snowy days ahead before the new year. It has been an interesting year.

Got up early, started drinking coffee, and finally decided some bacon and eggs would go good with the coffee. And it did. So now that I’ve had my coffee and breakfast it’s time to get ready to shovel the white fluffy love from above. Didn’t get it done yesterday as the forecast said it would melt, it didn’t. I’m not falling for that again.

Of course today is a lot colder than it was yesterday and what did melt has froze. Will find out if the snow has an ice crust on top, turned to solid ice, or stayed just snowed. We have the gear for all the mentioned but may not have the ambition. Time will tell. So if you see this oldfart laying in the snow, I’m not making snow angels. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.

Enjoy our Wednesday if you like. Now for more coffee before going outside.

It’s ongoing

Yesterday the birds were out playing but are nowhere to be seen this morning. Believe they must have listened to weather forecast and are as confused as I am. We are told a winter weather advisory is in affect today as we could get snow, followed by freezing rain, followed by rain.

Or, the snow may not make it to the ground, the freezing rain could pass us by, but we may see rain. We realize the forecast on our local TV station covers a good portion of north east and east central Iowa, and that we could see some weather today, but don’t see the need for advisories of weather that doesn’t happen.

Keep people informed, just leave us out of it. I’m out there and if it’s raining, I get wet. We can see the logic behind the warnings for severe weather yet wonder where this ends. We already have actual temperatures, wind chills, and feels like temperatures in the forecasts. We even have different threat levels with the advisories and warnings.

After reading this far you may think we have a dislike of the meteorologists on TV who guess what our weather might be. Actually, we find these people amusing and entertaining. On some later post we may get into what we believe the reason for the dumbing down of the weather forecasts that confuse some of us oldfarts.

Enjoy our Tuesday with Christmas in the rear view mirror. Now I need coffee.

After the fact

Here’s hoping everyone had a good Christmas as we had a great one. We even made it to Christmas Eve mass. Well, almost. The wife really wanted to go but didn’t feel up to it, but due to the wonder of modern technology we were able to watch on TV. Not the service I remember as it wasn’t in Latin.

One of our neighbors getting into a yelling match, with their windows open, couldn’t ruin the day and it put a smile on my face. Some things just don’t change. We even had great weather for Christmas with things warming up for both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Today we’re going to start out ok with a possibility of snow in the near future.

Snow was about the only thing missing and not a big deal. Read somewhere we get a white Christmas here about 40% of the time. Don’t know how true that is yet it sounds right. We did get a thunderstorm last night that I watched for a while. Told the wife I was out listening to the lightning and had to rib me about my choice of words.

What can I say, I’m just a guy who photographs penguins when they fly over Iowa. Enjoy our Monday as it’s here anyway. Now I need coffee.

Sunday snicker

One afternoon a teacher gives her class a homework assignment to go home and have their parents tell them a story with a moral. The next morning the teacher stands in front of the class and asks, “would anyone like to share the story from their homework?”

25 little hands shoot in the air and the teacher calls on a young boy.

“Well,” starts the boy, “my family raises chickens, and one time our chicken laid 9 eggs, but when they hatched we only got 8 chicks.”

“And what was the moral of that story,” asked the teacher.

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch!”

“Very good!” She responded, “who else would like to share their story?”

This time she called on a girl in the front of the room.

“We raise chickens too, but we raise them for their eggs,” said the girl. “One time we put our eggs in a basket in the back of our truck to take them to market, but on the way we hit a bump and the basket flew out and all the eggs broke.”

“What was the moral there?”

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!”

“Excellent,” said the teacher. “We have time for one more story- who would like to share?”
This time she called on a boy in the back of the room. “Ok, Johnny- tell us your story.”

“My dad told me a story about my aunt Becky, who was a pilot in Desert Storm. One day she was flying over enemy territory when her plane was shot down, and all she had in the plane was a bottle of whiskey, a machete, and a machine gun. So she drank the whiskey on the way down so it wouldn’t go to waste and when she crash landed there were 100 enemy soldier waiting for her. So she killed 80 with the machine gun until she ran out of ammo, then she killed 10 with the machete till the blade broke off, then she killed the last 10 with her bare hands.”

The teacher is absolutely appalled, but trying to maintain her composure she chokes out, “and w-what did your father tell you was the moral to that story?”

“To stay the hell away from my aunt Becky when she’s been drinking!”

Merry Christmas!

Wishing a Merry Christmas to all! Since we got a few pictures we thought we’d share them today before they get stale, so here they are.

The Christmas cardinal stopped by to wish us a happy holiday and remind us that they don’t mind leftovers. Must have seen me carrying in all the grocery store bags. Always a pleasure to see them and when I do I look to the Heavens and thank God for sending them our way.

Not to be outdone, the Christmas squirrel stopped in a nearby tree to eat his walnut and say hello. He was looking good as he watched me watching him. He didn’t offer to share his walnut, but we understand. He’s just bulking up for winter and not greedy.

Even the sky looked festive as we shared the day with the critters. Must have been a dozen feral cats near the food bowls at one point waiting their turn at the bowls. Made me think I should put in a long feeder and quickly nixed that idea as we go through enough cat food as it is.

We hope you enjoy the pictures, the day, and the holiday. Now I need coffee.

Getting the spirit back

Yes, we’re a little late but feel it’s worth the wait this time. For the first time in the history of this blog this is the first post to come to you live from the basement penthouse of Casa Cruiser! Don’t get up here often as the view is distracting yet feel with Christmas so close it is appropriate.

The table holds several hot rod magazines and a chew toy and water bowl are under the table in hope the Christmas beagle leaves us some circus peanuts this year. After all, I’ve been good. Not all year, and certainly not nice at times, but most days that end in a y. We can only hope.

And it doesn’t look like this year will feature a white Christmas as the people who guess the weather on our TV tell us it’s going to be a little too warm. And we’re ok with that. I remember when I came home from the service in the 70s. It was right after Christmas and it was 65 degrees out.

The wifes cats even left us a present. Kind of. One of them decided it would be a good idea to get sick on our kitchen table. And of course she even left part of her surprise on the TV remote. But it’s all cleaned up, disinfected, and wiped down now, which is another reason for the late post.

May even venture out in search of some fresh circus peanuts and not the stale ones you could make bullets out of. Enjoy our Thursday as Christmas is just around the corner. Now for more coffee.

Still crazy

Here we are, almost Christmas and things aren’t making any more sense than before. In case you haven’t heard, we have a virus going around the world and politicians are getting crazy again. In January of this year the Great Barrington Declaration was published and not many knew about it.

The declaration is one of around 400 studies that all found lockdowns, shelter in place, school closures, masks and mask mandates have failed to reduce deaths or slow the spread of the virus. Yet our government continues to push, or threaten us with, all of the above. Of course Fauci declared these studies as nonsense.

These studies also show that governmental lock downs, closures, and mask requirements will cause problems that will take decades, or more, to repair. Undiagnosed illnesses which may result in deaths, depression, anxiety, suicides, and drug overdoses to name a few.

On top of that the government refuses to let doctors use known drugs to treat those with the virus and are brow beating those who do. And the last time we checked, using the CDC’s own numbers, 79% of those currently infected with the virus have been vaccinated. Perhaps the government should be working on lowering gas prices and inflation instead.

Enjoy our Wednesday. Now for some coffee.

Day 2

It’s day 2 of our anniversary celebration and it hasn’t started out well. Woke up and wished the wife a happy anniversary and she replied with ‘happy winter solstice’! Guess the honeymoon is over yet I expected as much.

A little later we’re going to the DOT to see if the wife can get a handicap card for her car. As someone who doesn’t have a good track record with the DOT, and doesn’t understand why appointments are necessary, it should be interesting. Perhaps I can wait in the car and not jinx her chances. We’ll find out.

I remember when I went out to get a title changed and plates for a car I just bought. That involved getting something notarized, several trips to see the person who sold me the car, and myself almost winding up in over with my “attitude”. Guess I can’t help myself. Finally had our youngest son go in and try his luck and he came out with title and plates a short time later.

We can only hope the wife has better luck. Christmas is right around the corner so we’ll wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. Please remember the reason for the season. Now to get ready for our cruise to the DOT. Enjoy our Tuesday.