Saw this

. . .and decided to forego what I was gonna post.

credit: Daily Timewaster

. . .it will keep

Keep moving

There's nothing here to see, folks.

Too many distractions this weekend.
Maybe there'll be something later

These are kinda fun

, , ,and fill space nicely.

like congress bureaucrats

Let me tell you. . .

My cat's name is Sebastian.
I really don't believe he answers to that.
I can't say because I call him all sorts of names.
Beside, he's not really mine.
He is so darn independent.

He kinda has a routine, but it isn't specific enough plan anything by.
The one thing I have concluded is he can't make up his mind about much of anything except he likes to sleep.
In fact right now he is right behind me on another chair.

I would tell you that it is his favorite chair, but then he will move and make me a liar.
He likes chairs and doesn't even care if they're padded.

Another thing, just when I've decided he likes to stay in at night, he doesn't come home.
At least, when he does stay in at night, he remains quiet until after 6am now.
For a period of time he was pretty vocal about getting everyone up when he wanted, which was usually around 4am.

Now his habit is to go out when I get up, wander the neighborhood for about an hour or so and then come back for breakfast.
Then, most mornings he will find me and jump in my lap for a few minutes.
After a bit he'll find a chair and curl up. . .

. . .or not!

When he wakes up, he will go sit by the door waiting to be let outside.
Or he will look for something to eat.
He has extremely irregular eating habits.
I'd leave a dish with food out but he hates sharing with the ants.
When there is no food out for him, he perches on the counter and stares at me [even at the back of my head when I choose to ignore him].

Other times he will just jump in my lap and curl up again [until he spreads out to where no lap is large enough].
Did I say, "My cat?"
He sorta lives here, but he's really not mine.
I'm his person.
And we're both pretty independent.

I got nothin'

absolutely nothin'

Not everything is apparent

Each morning, usually before I write my blog post, I have a routine.
(the cat has a routine, too, but that's a whole 'nuther thing)

Once the coffee is ready, I sit at the PC.
First off I read emails.
Then I look at the headlines, deciding if I really want any more in depth information.
Usually I will seek further information at some place other than the link from the headline.
No. . .   no. . .   no, not on F/B!!!

[and seldom on TV, either] 

Once I've scanned the news, I start down my list of blogs and websites, not all of which are over there on the left.
That's where I find things like this:

and this:

Just be happy I don't post everything I come across.

really

A little misdirection

I have nothing this morning.
Thought about being reflective. . .   not in the mood.

My good friend the Brighton Pensioner has three posts [because he didn't want to put up one long post] you should read:

• Part one
• Part two
• Part three

Those are just my titles for his posts.
He's used a little more imagination in his titles.
The story is better than the titles.
Go read it.

. . .then go buy a copy of the Boston Herald and send it to Suldog.

whatever

Short and sweet

Today I am just going to say how much I appreciate that the overnight temperatures last week were ten degrees warmer than last night.

Also, I appreciate that, as hard as it rained at times here yesterday, it was nothing like 20+ miles south of here.
I'm sure the folks down there feel blessed that the funnel cloud never touched ground.

We all have those little things for which we can be thankful.

This works

I think this is somewhat appropriate to pay tribute.



Yesterday at noon the mechanical systems in the house were back up and running.
All it took was reaching the right person at Tech Support, who could tell that there was another part missing [it had fallen into an almost inaccessible place and neither of the repair techs knew it was missing   . . .not their fault].
For awhile I was thinking I was going to have to check into a hotel.
In fact I was seriously considering a road trip, leaving Sebastian to his own devices for a day or two.
There were (are) some other considerations, as well.
I may still do the road trip.
It's funny how, after it has been between 62 and 64 degrees in the house, 68 degrees can feel so warm.
I won't miss the cold, but will still miss Glenn Frey.

The saga continues

I was informed yesterday that it will be this afternoon before we will know if the heat situation can be remedied before the weekend.
Of course, there are no guarantees.

Sebastian has all but abandoned the premises.
He comes in and sniff his food dish.
And has spent some, but not much, time indoors in the evening.
The fact that the Moon is coming full may have something to do with that.

Speaking of the Moon.
This month it is called a Wolf Moon.

That will be tomorrow night.
Odds are we will not see the Moon here tomorrow night.

PHG reports the fishing is good.

photo by Mark Starkweather

Just one of the many caught yesterday.
There was also another report she made on F/B that caused some jaws to drop.
(yeah, mine too, but I waited)
She had some fun at their expense.

I'm ready for a scenery change.

among other things

If it isn't one thing. . .

. . .it's another!

Bear in mind almost everything written here the past few days has been about at least one day before.
So we're writing about Tuesday, which we already wrote some things about.

You read about the particularly nasty weather. . .
(which rhymes with 'tickle your ass with a feather' but I digress)
. . .and the cat being a cat.

What I didn't mention was my fancy hot water/home heating system acting out.
There's been no hot water [unless I boiled it on the stove] since sometime early Tuesday morning [or very late Monday night].
I called the fix-it outfit first thing Tuesday morning and they told me they'd get someone out between 1 and 3.
Right about 1:30 he was here.
Two plus hours later he was scratching his head and telling me they had a guy who knows more about the unit that he.
So Tuesday night there was no heat and no hot water.
The cat didn't hang around either.
Yesterday [Wednesday, if you're trying to keep track] the cat showed up.
I couldn't tell you what time because I stayed under the comforter until I had to roll out and answer a text message.
I probably should tell this but there are seven really special people I exchange [or attempt to exchange] text messages with each morning, but I digress.
I put the coffee on.
I fed the ca>
He ate a little and decided outside was better.
I read my emails and began to work may way through the various places I go on the WEB each morning.
Didn't get very far because there must've been a kink in hose that's the information super highway.
A server was acting up somewhere.

I went back out to the kitchen, poured another cup of coffee, and called the fix-it company again.
They told me they already had the guy who's the next level above on the knowledge level scheduled to be out sometime between 1 and 3.

So I cleaned up the best I could and made my way to the Senior Center to do the weekly bookkeeping.

Meanwhile on the recreational front. . .
The fishing expedition in Michigan has shown some success.

I understand some rabbit snares have been set. as well.
Of course the participants have to look good, too.

I'd post a shot of the other participant, but he was busy cutting holes in the ice and too far away from the camera.

But I digress once more.

Fix-it company arrives on time again, just a little past one o'clock.
The more experienced higher knowledge tech spends the better part of four hours working in cramped quarters and is unable to resolve the issue.
He attempted to reach "Tech Support."
They were closed at 1:30.

The upside [if there is an upside] is the temperatures have been in the 50s during the day and only dropping to the 40s at night.
That means the temperature inside has not become too intemperate as yet, remaining on the upper side of 65 degrees.
That in no way means that it isn't a challenge to come out from under the comforter in the morning.

Someone asked if the pike could be eaten.
Bear in mind that he his from around here where the only pike are what we call "Sacramento pike," or squawfish.
I haven't heard of anyone actually admitting to even catching a squawfish.
Here's how the pike turned out.

Looks pretty good to me.

Fix-it's coming back this morning, when they can have Tech Support on the line.
The sooner they get to the bottom of this, the better.

See what I did?

About Monday
So my visit with the doc, yesterday, was uneventful.
The ultrasound showed there is nothing about which to be concerned.
Then he had the nurse give me the pneumonia booster.
I didn't feel a thing   . . .at first.

I guess they figured, if they were gonna poke, the might as well get a blood sample.
Doc tells me he's moving on so I will have a new PCP.
This is about the fourth time.
Maybe I will switch clinics?
The convenience of the location isn't as important as having a permanent provider that cares.

It was less than an hour from the time I left the house until I was home again.
I should have taken advantage of the relatively calm weather.
There was a little rain and no wind, unlike Sunday.
Instead, I stayed in and did household stuff. . .   piddly household stuff, like cleaning counters and moving small appliances.

I opened the back door to the garage so the cat could come and go as he pleased.
He was out most of the day, but came back around four and perched on the roof of the Mustang.
He was there for a couple of hours, came in and ate, then prowled the house for awhile before loudly announcing he wanted to go out and do whatever neutered cats do at night.

I went to bed after watching numerous recaps of the Warriors win over the Cavaliers.
Unlike many fans the closest to gloating is telling you I won't gloat. . .   Giants and Dodgers is another story.


. . .And today
I heard rain about 5:30am and attempted to sleep longer.
That didn't work.
Besides, Sebastian was outside somewhere.

Turned out the li'l jerk was waiting by the front door to be let in.
His timing couldn't have been much better because the weather intensified from rainfall to blowing crazy heavy rain right after he came in.
He was dry, so I am guessing he'd been waiting under cover for awhile.

they coulda said raining cats and dogs

The first order of business every morning is to put the coffee on.
I don't care how hungry the cat is.
He has to know his place.
He thinks it's pacing underfoot.
He also believes that if he gets up on the counter he can help me put the food in his dish faster.
I hate it when he tries to supervise.

This morning he's in a playful mood   . . .and curious about my coffee.
He keeps trying to stick a paw in it so he can sample.
Eventually he decided to go outside again.
I ask, "Are you sure?"
I get the look.
So I opened the front door and he sat there.
. . .and sat there, before finally stepping out on the porch, where he sat down again.
I asked, "Do you want to come back in?"
I get the look again.
He runs out about 15 feet to the base of the big oak.
Turns around, looks at me, and runs back onto the porch.
But he doesn't dome in.

I closed the door so he has some privacy.
There's a cat box on the porch.
I come back to the den to write the previous blog post.
After a bit I heard some noises emanating from the front of the house.
It was "Junior."
He's pushed the door open and come in on his own.

Now he is curled up on the second office chair in the den, sleeping.

I'm wishing I had run some errands yesterday that will now have to wait until tomorrow because now I have to wait for the heating and air guy to come check the system again and because the weather's so crappy I can't begin to come up with a good reason to go out in it.
Besides I can sit here and surf blogs all day.

At the rate I am going I will post about today sometime next week   . . .if ever.

Oh, yeah.
PHG made it out onto the lake long enough to find out the ice is 5 1/2" thick and make strange noises.
Then she went back to the house and waited.
She was well dressed, though, and looking good.

smart girl

9 degrees and clear

Dawn Sherwood 1/19/2016

What a difference a couple of  few days make.
My correspondent is looking to go ice fishing.
When I was ice I just get it from the refrigerator.
The PHG is truly enjoying herself.

Here's the evidence:

She's making her own clothes, too.

A quick note

Gotta move it this morning because I have an appointment with the PCP*

It's still raining here, but not so you'd notice after yesterday.
What we had, which was substantial, was nothing compared to some of the surrounding mountain communities.

For those who may have been concerned, Sebastian was in last night.
But he booked as soon as he could this morning.

may be part duck

*Primary Care Provider - we all used to say "My Doctor"

Looks like this on the radar

Looks like this outside:



and it's only just starting again.

Odds 'n ends

It appears my speculation about mentions of PHG are correct.
Yesterday had the most views for the week   . . .so far.

The cat has things all backassward.
He has been going out into the rain [just try to keep the silly jerk inside], even staying out all night in it.
So, yesterday proved to be a fairly nice day.
He came in around 9am and stayed in until after 9:30pm, after it started raining again.

Then there was the Library of Congress Gershwin Award thing for Willie Nelson on PBS last night.
I'd link to a video or even embed one. . .   if I could find it.

was worth staying up.

Sunshine!

Yep. . .
. . .kinda unexpected around here this morning.

For how long remains to be seen.

So. . .   the last two days have seen an uptick in the number of pageviews here on the blog.
I can only guess that it's because of the two posts featuring PHG?

I have to be careful to say only relatively nice things about her because she does periodically read this blog.
Then again, I only know nice things.

There is some concern, though, that there may be a snow melt in Michigan.

*

Yes, I realize I have eliminated discussion topics for the next few days

Lemme tell ya. . .

Over at the Sarge's place it's all mostly about cats.
To quote:

"There is much in the world that ticks me off and which I could rant and rave about, I just don't feel like it at this time.
[then there was something else, followed by]
Instead, I am going to write about my cats.

Maybe I can write about Sebastian?

Over at Suldog's it's about when he worked for a living.
First he tells us about a mondegreen, which really had nothing to do with the title of the post.
Then. . .   well, he tells it better than I so go read it.

I could probably write about working, too?

So what should I write about.
I already told how PHG is freezing her knees off enjoying the four seasons in Michigan.
Then I thought maybe I should provide evidence.

The smile says it all.

dunno how anyone can like snow that much

Postcards from. . .

. . .Michigan.
PHG sends her love

I'm not gonna say a thing about the lights

Yesterday she said they were shoveling snow.
I asked for pictures.
She sent snow, but no shoveling pics.
That's okay.
I don't need much to remind me why I am happy to be in the North State, where the snow usually remains in the mountains, unlike the wildlife.

At the moment it is windy with periodic bouts of rainfall.
It did rain fairly heavy last night.

it is winter, after all

I remember

One of the first memorable sights, after securing from "Special Sea Detail," when we finally made it back* to our home port of San Diego, was watching these birds periodically operate on the bay.



I wish I'd had a camera back then.
They would take off in a southerly direction, then turn east over the Naval Station at 32nd Street.
I'd seen them at San Francisco, too, but that was only at a distance.

wasn't nearly as impressive

*the ship underwent FRAM I then Underway Training, at Pearl Harbor before going to the Puget Sound for sonar calibration.

Saw this, had to share

Write it on your heart
that every day is the best day in the year.
He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day
who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.

Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities, no doubt crept in.
Forget them as soon as you can, tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely, with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with your old nonsense.

This new day is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on the yesterdays. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson, "Collected Poems and Translations"

one day at a time

Hey Sarge!!!

I remembered for a change

Last Monday I said I'd tell a story  . . .provided I remembered.
Well, I did remember.
But first. . .
SSIL* had another visit to the ER this week.
He was stabilized and sent home.
Step#2 isn't getting a lot of sleep.

Now for the rest of the story.

Back in the last century, after Step#2, PHG's bigger little sister, graduated from high school, she eventually matriculated at the local community college.
More specifically she attended the fire fighting academy.
In the course of attending the academy there was a requirement to participate in local volunteer fire departments.
That isn't too difficult, as all of the local departments are staffed by some volunteers.

That was where she and SSIL became acquainted.
He was a full time fire fighter.

Upon graduation from the academy, she applied to a number of departments, the U.S. Forest Service, and the CDF**.
She was hired on to a hotshot crew.
There was a lot of work for those crews that year and they covered a lot of territory.
Meanwhile SSIL was seeking other employment with the local central emergency dispatching agency, SHASCOM.
They were seeing each other when their schedules permitted.

At the end of that fire season Step#2 was laid off, as were all of the seasonal firefighters, and she kicked back for a bit.
Then she sought other employment, also volunteering at the Anderson Fire District.
SSIL had been hired as a dispatcher.

Then he started having vision problems. . .   serious vision problems.
He couldn't see.
There was temporary blindness caused by kidney failure.
His kidneys were both going bad and he needed a transplant.

Fortunately, a donor was found and the operation was done.
But there was a problem and that kidney was rejected.
Things were really scary.

Step#2 stepped up and tested for a compatibility match.
She did match and another surgery [actually two] was scheduled at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
Hers was outpatient.
His required a hospital stay.

This time the operation was successful.

Then 14 years ago they merged and have been making each other miserable lived happily every after provided us with a grandson.

Now we are hoping and praying the medical folks can work out what it is that's cause his blood pressure to spike periodically.
We'd all sure like to see things back to, dare I say, normal.

*stepsoninlaw
**California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection

Oh goody, a break

We have managed to stay dry since early yesterday morning.
That will probably end sometime this evening.

Along with the break in the rain it got cooler.

The "Foggy" isn't here at the house.
But it's close enough that I don't need binoculars to see it.

this has been your daily weather report

It's official

We have had enough rain for this week.
We really need more, just not right now.
What we've had has to soak in.

How do I know there's been enough?
My regular route to Happy Valley [it isn't really a valley] was closed yesterday because the street is under water.

Not to mention the ballfields.
There's a little standing water in the front of the house, too.

We've had about four inches of rain this month.
To put that in perspective, the previous three Januaries (the entire month) there was less than two inches of rainfall.

the cat isn't pleased
he'll get over it

This what we're talkin' about

Whenever the cloud cover goes away I will attempt to get a long distance shot (from here in the valley where there is no snow).

Today

November 30

I'm not sure which is prettier.

not gonna pick

Another venue heard from

PHG is in Michigan.
Yes, she moved there voluntarily, Juvat.
She is happy there..
Hold out you right hand, palm up.
Where she is is right in the middle of the palm, that's near Lansing.
Craig knows.

Anyway, she says it's cooled down.
The lake is starting to ice over.

She wants to ice skate and fish.
I was yanking her chain when I asked if the fish were different when ice fishing.
She said she didn't know.

Personally, I don't wanna fish unless it's at least 65 degrees and there's no wind.
Anyone who knows me also knows I don't want to see snow except in the distance on the mountains.
I will accept all we can get in the mountains.

It rained all day yesterday and continues.
The cat is not pleased, as he is used to roaming pretty much at will.
So now he goes out on the front porch and stares until such time as he is bored.

Then he comes in and pirates the recliner if I'm not using it.

he will lay in my lap like this, too.

It isn't dull around here.

Now if I could only find a way to sleep in until at least 6:30.
Saturday a not so random text message woke me.
Sunday I had to get up to go serve the breakfast at the Senior Center.
Yesterday Step2's text woke me.
Actually the cat woke me.
The text got me out of bed.

This morning has been good so far, because nobody interfered with my sleep.

Monday update

It's about family.
I found myself texting at 5:30 this morning.
I was already awake because Sebastian was awake.
He was calm but, you know, he's a cat.

So about the texting.
Stepdaughter #2, PHG's sister, was first up.
Her husband (stepsoninlaw?) is at ER with extreme hypertension.
She can't sleep.
He wouldn't let her go with him.
He went because his Dr told him.

I was also texting with four others, as well.
PHG, MY daughter, stepson's wife (stepdaughterinlaw?), and one other, who still needs a nom de blog were all going at once.
My sister might have been texting, too but she hates it when I say GOOD MORNING!

I should text my other sister and see how she responds.
So now I have to get dressed and take Grandson to school because Step#2 has to go to work.

Say a short prayer for SSIL, please.

Some of this reminds me of a story I may tell, POCIR* [I kinda wish he'd alphabetize them].

BTW - this is the third morning in a row I was awake by 5:30.
Sebastian was only involved this morning.

more later

Alrightythen*

I gotta relate the rest of the story.

About 9:30 Friday night I heard a horrendous ruckus out on the street.
I stirred from my recliner, where I'd been watching Masterpiece Mystery   . . .Sherlock, if you must know.

I looked out the front door and didn't notice anything at first, other than my neighbors to the right also making an appearance.
I  stepped further outside.
That's when I saw that my yard waste bin had bin knocked over.
It was in the street on a Friday night because the pickup day was delayed by the holiday.
Someone had driven down the block and used their vehicle to upset all of the bins we'd placed at the curb.
My neighbors had their garbage bins out as well.
Mine was still awaiting the emptying of the inside waste container.

I walked out to the curb and, with some difficulty because it was extremely heavy, got the bin upright and cleaned up the debris.
I listened to my neighbors reflect upon the lineage of the perpetrators, finding myself in agreement.

About a half hour later I heard another ruckus and leapt to my feet and rushed, this time, to see if I could observe who was doing this.
All I saw was taillights.
This time, though, it was my neighbor to the left who'd been victimized.
All the perps had managed to do was push his bin about 60 feet up the hill to where it was next to mine.
He and the neighbor across from him also discussed the lineage of the perps.

I went back into the house and finished watching Sherlock.
It was over about 10:30.
I made sure I had all the garbage and then took it out to the bin and wheeled it to the curb.
I came inside and tucked in for the night, wondering where the cat had wandered off to.

Someone rudely awakened me at about 5:51am because I had forgotten to turn the sound off on my smartphone.
I dragged myself out and opened the front door to see if the cat was looking to come in.
He was.
I also looked out toward the street and was not pleased to see the garbage bin had been knocked about ten feet into my driveway and the trash scattered all over.
I am grateful the wind wasn't blowing.

The villains had returned sometime after I had fallen asleep.
Upon further inspection I found they'd also hit the yard waste bin again, this time knocking it back up onto the sidewalk and damaging it such that it could no longer roll.
Somehow neither of the bins managed to hit the car. . .   or if they did, they left no evidence.
After getting dressed, I went out with the push broom and a snow shovel [don't ask me why I have a snow shovel] to clean up the debris.
The impact had scatted it as far as my front porch.

The police have been notified, but all they can really do at the moment is take a report.
Ironically, had any of us caught the perps in the act and done anything physical, we'd have been as wrong, or worse, than the idiots.

The garbage company is replacing the bin and the driver said our street was the only one victimized,

So. . .   now you might be asking yourselves what's my point in rehashing at length about something I already posted?
It is the beginning of a new year.
The other day I read a long discourse about New Years resolutions.
There were ten of them.
The first and last were Be Kind.
I forgot the other eight.
It doesn't matter.
If I do number one and number ten, the rest are covered.
I think I'm off to a pretty good start.
GS would be proud.

Now it's time to cook breakfast at the Senior Center.
I shall continue to be nice.

Bang up start

Somebody didn't have enough to keep them occupied last evening.
So they drove a car through the neighborhood and used it to move and/or knock over wheelie bins.
They did it more than once.
The vehicle hit the yard waste bin so hard that the wheels are no longer effective.

I spent a half hour at 6:15am refilling the garbage bin.

Luckily they missed the car.

aggravated