Betcha by Golly, Wow
04/12/20 06:48
It's December 1st, folks. I don't think I have my winter head on quite right yet. I haven't even taken the snow blower out of the shed for chrissakes. There's stuff on the back deck that needs to get put way. I need to cover the air conditioner in the back room and I'm sure there are things that I haven't even thought about yet that may or may not require my attention. And then there is the eight hundred pound gorilla in the room. You now what I'm talking about. Christmas!
Will there be fewer things to buy because everyone is staying closer to home this year? You betcha. Not that we go out of our way to buy things for folks near and far because we don't. It probably wouldn't kill me to send a coffee cake or two here and there. Maybe one of those fruit baskets with the skewers of strawberries and pineapples sticking up all over the place. We have a lot of things for the Ev man so that's good. You can't lavish your loved ones with enough bling when the holidays roll around. Maybe we'll get him something practical this year. You know, like an electric car starter.
I need to get new tires for my car and I keep dragging my feet on getting that done. I just can't bring myself to do these things for whatever reason. There is a tire store close by that is having a two-for-one sale and I should be jumping all over that. What's this all about, Johnny Boy? I should probably replace the starter in the very same car but that too seems like a bridge too far. I can barely even contemplate getting my oil changed and, while that's not necessary short term, the time is coming sooner rather than later.
You know what they say about things that sound too good to be true. Thats how I feel about the tire deal. Nancy and I were out for coffee the other day and we pulled down a couple of secret Santa thingies off a tree-like structure they had place outside their place of business. Most of the requests were for clothing for residents of a nearby shelter but there were others that we found more interesting. I guess I have some shopping to do between now and December 14th. Maybe doing something for others will be easier than doing something for myself. We'll see.
I may have pushed myself too hard yesterday. Nancy let me know early on that she heard that we had some wild weather heading our way. I hadn't been paying too much attention to the weather but I still had a good mind to get a bike ride in regardless. Nancy's comments helped focus my attention on my task at hand and that was to get out the door and on the road before the door was effectively closed on that opportunity.
The rain started even before I rolled my bike out of the garage but it was coming down ever so gently so it didn't concern me one way or another. I don't mind riding in the rain as long as it isn't coming down cats and dogs. And there is nothing worse than not going biking because you think the rain is going to be a problem and then the rain stops or become otherwise inconsequential. So I gave it a go and things went from bad to worse in a hurry.
It wasn't just the rain that picked up in intensity. The winds were gusting and relentless along the ocean and with no trees to break the flow it was tough going. Would I have accepted a ride from someone had they pulled up aside me offering same? Probably not. Would I have contemplated pulling over and putting things on hold until weather conditions improved? Not likely. Did I consider for a moment calling Nancy and asking her to come pick me up? Nope. She was home and hard at work and I wasn't about to interrupt her work day just because I made the dumb ass decision to go for a bike ride in what was quickly shaping up to be a Nor'Easter.
I felt like it took me the rest of the day to recover after getting home, soaked and exhausted, but safe. Several times during my ride I had to stop pedaling so I could catch my breath. I sometimes gauge the success of my rides by how hard I work or maybe how easy a time I have it from beginning to end. Stopping and catching my breath more than a couple times is never a good sign. It was just one of those days. The weather most decidedly did not help.
The whole experience was fucking with my electrolytes or something because I couldn't find the right balance of anything once I got home. I ended up eating and drinking too much, eating too much of the wrong things, and looking for a reprieve beneath the covers on our bed while the storm continued to rage outside our bedroom window. It was the right place to be but the timing was all wrong. I was there for one reason and one reason alone. I was in full recovery mode and it was a reboot of my senses at a minimum. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.
There ain't a lick of snow on the ground at the moment so it's hard to imagine that before long I'll be out on the hustings clearing snow in and around our home. I think my machines are ready but I'll need to get them out and maybe run them for a bit just to be sure. I haven't even removed the things I need to remove in order to get my car in the garage for the winter so there's that. Evan dropped over last night and I reminded him that we'll stick to the plan that worked so well for us last winter if that's okay with him.
When there is a storm in the forecast, he'll stay the night here at our house and we'll put his car in the garage. That should save him the trouble of coordinating the moving of his car from the lower to the upper lot at his place as they plow one lot at a time. I also want to get his car into the shop for some long overdue maintenance items. The idiot lights are one thing, and maybe a good reminder for those who need it, but we know for a fact that we've not had much done in quite some time so I think it's time. I have a good mind to go back to the guy in Massachusetts that has done some nice work for us in the past.
They'll be rolling out the vaccines for the Covid thingy soon so that may be worth a second look. I think I'm less interested in the vaccine that involves my DNA because you never know where that might take you. Both the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines involve your DNA one way or another so I'll want to avoid those. Unfortunately, they are probably going to be first to market so I'll be hanging around waiting for my shot while others are walking around feeling maybe safer than they should. If I still have to wear a mask even after my vaccination that will suck big time. I shouldn't have to. Right?
Stores will probably still require that I wear a mask inside their establishment so that's a problem. If I've been vaccinated I would think I might be given a pass on some of the more restrictive rules that seem to be out and about in our society. Maybe I can still contract and transmit the virus but not otherwise succumb to the illness that occasionally follows once you catch it. I just don't know. I would give most anything not to have to wear that damn mask. As for the sickness itself, I'm not one to run around with my hair on fire thinking that we're all going to die. It's just not me. If I get it, I get it. If I don't get it, that just dandy too.
Mrs G gave a holler last night and said that her independent living facility is tightening up restrictions due to the increasing numbers of infections in the community. We visited often during the summer months and we sat outside her door on her patio during our visitations. It worked pretty well actually. We weren't allowed to go inside her unit and that was a condition we were willing to abide by. Now the the colder weather is here, and with infections on the rise, no one is allowed to go inside her facility still and with the holidays coming up fast it's, well, bleak.
I think they're trying to discourage outsiders from taking the residents away from the facility and that is tantamount to a lockdown. Any and all classes for the residents have been cancelled for the time being so it's going to get worse for the residents before it gets better. Nancy and I are not sure what we'll be doing to squeeze in our visits now and that is likely to cause Nancy some consternation, forgetting for a moment if you will, the deleterious impact on her mother. It all seems so intractable.
I think everyone is just hanging tight until the vaccine arrives. Since that seems more or less imminent, maybe it's good policy. Maybe the management over at her place is to be lauded for their handling of everything during this pandemic which began earlier this year. I don't believe anyone in her specific facility ever came down with the virus and I'm not sure they even had a fatality in any of their buildings across the State of New Hampshire. That's pretty good. They continue to send little gifts to the residents reminding them as they do that they are in their thoughts and prayers during these difficult times. These so-called olive branches have not gone unnoticed.
Now that I've given up FOX, and politics in general (unless Trump overturns the election results), I seem to have a lot of time on my hands. Funny how that works. So, what ya doing with all of your extra time, Johnny Boy? Well, funny you should ask. I'm going to bed earlier than usual. I'm reading books that have more than 500 pages which is not at all usual for me. I'm taking up my guitar again after putting it aside for longer than I care to admit. I was a beginner when I dropped it and I'm still a beginner. That should tell you all you need to know about my level of dedication to the craft. Maybe it will be different this time. Right.
I'd forgotten how painful it can be toughening up your fingers to play the guitar. I use the word "play" advisedly here. I'm so out in left field with all of this that I took my bike ride yesterday while listening to Andre' Segovia, the savant who graced the world with his artistry on the classical guitar. If you can imagine it, you can do it. Right? The first lesson I turned to in YouTube gave me guidance on how to practice slowly but methodically maybe for the better part of two months at which time my fingers might be calloused enough to move to phase two of my lessons. I'm not wanting to be a strummer, per se, so today I'll be looking at fingering exercises. What will that make me? A picker? A plucker?
Just to be clear, I have no desire to be a Johnny Denver either. I won't be doing any coffee houses and you won't be buying tickets for my performance on Stub Hub. I won't be regaling family and friends with my talents on the guitar at birthday parties or social gatherings. You won't find me on street corners or in subway stations strumming my gee-tar for spare change and funny looks. I won't be that banjo player from the movie, Deliverance, although knocking off a reasonable version of Greensleeves in a pinch might be a suitable ambition. Like that book I just started, Napoleon, which is some 900 pages long, it's going to be a long road to hoe. You got that right, baby cakes.
Will there be fewer things to buy because everyone is staying closer to home this year? You betcha. Not that we go out of our way to buy things for folks near and far because we don't. It probably wouldn't kill me to send a coffee cake or two here and there. Maybe one of those fruit baskets with the skewers of strawberries and pineapples sticking up all over the place. We have a lot of things for the Ev man so that's good. You can't lavish your loved ones with enough bling when the holidays roll around. Maybe we'll get him something practical this year. You know, like an electric car starter.
I need to get new tires for my car and I keep dragging my feet on getting that done. I just can't bring myself to do these things for whatever reason. There is a tire store close by that is having a two-for-one sale and I should be jumping all over that. What's this all about, Johnny Boy? I should probably replace the starter in the very same car but that too seems like a bridge too far. I can barely even contemplate getting my oil changed and, while that's not necessary short term, the time is coming sooner rather than later.
You know what they say about things that sound too good to be true. Thats how I feel about the tire deal. Nancy and I were out for coffee the other day and we pulled down a couple of secret Santa thingies off a tree-like structure they had place outside their place of business. Most of the requests were for clothing for residents of a nearby shelter but there were others that we found more interesting. I guess I have some shopping to do between now and December 14th. Maybe doing something for others will be easier than doing something for myself. We'll see.
I may have pushed myself too hard yesterday. Nancy let me know early on that she heard that we had some wild weather heading our way. I hadn't been paying too much attention to the weather but I still had a good mind to get a bike ride in regardless. Nancy's comments helped focus my attention on my task at hand and that was to get out the door and on the road before the door was effectively closed on that opportunity.
The rain started even before I rolled my bike out of the garage but it was coming down ever so gently so it didn't concern me one way or another. I don't mind riding in the rain as long as it isn't coming down cats and dogs. And there is nothing worse than not going biking because you think the rain is going to be a problem and then the rain stops or become otherwise inconsequential. So I gave it a go and things went from bad to worse in a hurry.
It wasn't just the rain that picked up in intensity. The winds were gusting and relentless along the ocean and with no trees to break the flow it was tough going. Would I have accepted a ride from someone had they pulled up aside me offering same? Probably not. Would I have contemplated pulling over and putting things on hold until weather conditions improved? Not likely. Did I consider for a moment calling Nancy and asking her to come pick me up? Nope. She was home and hard at work and I wasn't about to interrupt her work day just because I made the dumb ass decision to go for a bike ride in what was quickly shaping up to be a Nor'Easter.
I felt like it took me the rest of the day to recover after getting home, soaked and exhausted, but safe. Several times during my ride I had to stop pedaling so I could catch my breath. I sometimes gauge the success of my rides by how hard I work or maybe how easy a time I have it from beginning to end. Stopping and catching my breath more than a couple times is never a good sign. It was just one of those days. The weather most decidedly did not help.
The whole experience was fucking with my electrolytes or something because I couldn't find the right balance of anything once I got home. I ended up eating and drinking too much, eating too much of the wrong things, and looking for a reprieve beneath the covers on our bed while the storm continued to rage outside our bedroom window. It was the right place to be but the timing was all wrong. I was there for one reason and one reason alone. I was in full recovery mode and it was a reboot of my senses at a minimum. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't.
There ain't a lick of snow on the ground at the moment so it's hard to imagine that before long I'll be out on the hustings clearing snow in and around our home. I think my machines are ready but I'll need to get them out and maybe run them for a bit just to be sure. I haven't even removed the things I need to remove in order to get my car in the garage for the winter so there's that. Evan dropped over last night and I reminded him that we'll stick to the plan that worked so well for us last winter if that's okay with him.
When there is a storm in the forecast, he'll stay the night here at our house and we'll put his car in the garage. That should save him the trouble of coordinating the moving of his car from the lower to the upper lot at his place as they plow one lot at a time. I also want to get his car into the shop for some long overdue maintenance items. The idiot lights are one thing, and maybe a good reminder for those who need it, but we know for a fact that we've not had much done in quite some time so I think it's time. I have a good mind to go back to the guy in Massachusetts that has done some nice work for us in the past.
They'll be rolling out the vaccines for the Covid thingy soon so that may be worth a second look. I think I'm less interested in the vaccine that involves my DNA because you never know where that might take you. Both the Moderna and the Pfizer vaccines involve your DNA one way or another so I'll want to avoid those. Unfortunately, they are probably going to be first to market so I'll be hanging around waiting for my shot while others are walking around feeling maybe safer than they should. If I still have to wear a mask even after my vaccination that will suck big time. I shouldn't have to. Right?
Stores will probably still require that I wear a mask inside their establishment so that's a problem. If I've been vaccinated I would think I might be given a pass on some of the more restrictive rules that seem to be out and about in our society. Maybe I can still contract and transmit the virus but not otherwise succumb to the illness that occasionally follows once you catch it. I just don't know. I would give most anything not to have to wear that damn mask. As for the sickness itself, I'm not one to run around with my hair on fire thinking that we're all going to die. It's just not me. If I get it, I get it. If I don't get it, that just dandy too.
Mrs G gave a holler last night and said that her independent living facility is tightening up restrictions due to the increasing numbers of infections in the community. We visited often during the summer months and we sat outside her door on her patio during our visitations. It worked pretty well actually. We weren't allowed to go inside her unit and that was a condition we were willing to abide by. Now the the colder weather is here, and with infections on the rise, no one is allowed to go inside her facility still and with the holidays coming up fast it's, well, bleak.
I think they're trying to discourage outsiders from taking the residents away from the facility and that is tantamount to a lockdown. Any and all classes for the residents have been cancelled for the time being so it's going to get worse for the residents before it gets better. Nancy and I are not sure what we'll be doing to squeeze in our visits now and that is likely to cause Nancy some consternation, forgetting for a moment if you will, the deleterious impact on her mother. It all seems so intractable.
I think everyone is just hanging tight until the vaccine arrives. Since that seems more or less imminent, maybe it's good policy. Maybe the management over at her place is to be lauded for their handling of everything during this pandemic which began earlier this year. I don't believe anyone in her specific facility ever came down with the virus and I'm not sure they even had a fatality in any of their buildings across the State of New Hampshire. That's pretty good. They continue to send little gifts to the residents reminding them as they do that they are in their thoughts and prayers during these difficult times. These so-called olive branches have not gone unnoticed.
Now that I've given up FOX, and politics in general (unless Trump overturns the election results), I seem to have a lot of time on my hands. Funny how that works. So, what ya doing with all of your extra time, Johnny Boy? Well, funny you should ask. I'm going to bed earlier than usual. I'm reading books that have more than 500 pages which is not at all usual for me. I'm taking up my guitar again after putting it aside for longer than I care to admit. I was a beginner when I dropped it and I'm still a beginner. That should tell you all you need to know about my level of dedication to the craft. Maybe it will be different this time. Right.
I'd forgotten how painful it can be toughening up your fingers to play the guitar. I use the word "play" advisedly here. I'm so out in left field with all of this that I took my bike ride yesterday while listening to Andre' Segovia, the savant who graced the world with his artistry on the classical guitar. If you can imagine it, you can do it. Right? The first lesson I turned to in YouTube gave me guidance on how to practice slowly but methodically maybe for the better part of two months at which time my fingers might be calloused enough to move to phase two of my lessons. I'm not wanting to be a strummer, per se, so today I'll be looking at fingering exercises. What will that make me? A picker? A plucker?
Just to be clear, I have no desire to be a Johnny Denver either. I won't be doing any coffee houses and you won't be buying tickets for my performance on Stub Hub. I won't be regaling family and friends with my talents on the guitar at birthday parties or social gatherings. You won't find me on street corners or in subway stations strumming my gee-tar for spare change and funny looks. I won't be that banjo player from the movie, Deliverance, although knocking off a reasonable version of Greensleeves in a pinch might be a suitable ambition. Like that book I just started, Napoleon, which is some 900 pages long, it's going to be a long road to hoe. You got that right, baby cakes.