Ol' Man Winter

Today was on track to be another glorious late fall day - the sun was shining, temperatures were in the 50s, it was calm to breezy. Then Ol' Man Winter opened his gaping maw and turned on the wind machines. By the time Molly and I got out for our walk, the temperature was dropping 8 degrees a hour and the wind was blowing to drop the wind chill well below freezing. It caught me by surprise, but in retrospect it should not have. The weather forecast for tonight and tomorrow involves snow and large northern cold front settling in. As a consequence, it is supposed to be in the low 20s tomorrow and then drop into single digits as the night closes in. Winter is supposedly on its way. Now all we have to do is see if the weather critters are right.

Speaking of weather critters, am I the only one thinking of writing a "truth in weather critters" application? Since the weather forecasts generally come out in 7 day blocks  and are re-issued each day with new (and often a very different forecast for a given day), my thought is to capture the weather forecasts so one could have a little applet that not only gave you the prediction for tomorrow, but the associated trend line in how the weather critters are changing their predictions. I realize that if you live in SoCal, this is utterly boring since the forecast is always sunny except for those ten days a year when it says partially cloudy and the one day a decade when it says snow. But how about those who live where there is real weather. Doesn't it irk you to have the weather critters change their forecasts after you have made your plans. Don't you wish you could hold their feet to the fire? I sure do sometimes. Maybe even add a retrospective feature to show what the weather was and how close or far the weather critters actually were.

Time to get back to checking on the batch of turkey soup that the last of the holiday bird is fleshing out. Think cold and snow and we'll see if the weather critters get it right.

Go Monday!

Today the weather turned nice in the afternoon after being breezy and cool all morning. I walked down to the courthouse to get my license tags for my pickup truck (the old ones expired today) and then around the park for a bit. It was 60 degrees and sunny and calm. Slightly unseasonal weather for this time of year, but boy was it nice! I got back to the house about 4:30 and immediately re-tagged the truck so I wouldn't forget.

It was then that another shining example of small town service occurred. This morning I had sent an email to the local fiber optic company about a pair of consumer unfriendly oddities in their digital PBX setup for the phone service here at the house (based on their fiber).  Dave, the telephony guy, and I hashed it out via a couple of emails and got all working fine well before noon. This evening as I finished up with the license plate re-tagging, the front door bell rang. It was the owner of the fiber optic company just stopping by to make sure his people had solved the problem and done so to my satisfaction. Can you imagine getting that kind of service from one of the baby Bells? I can't. I always suspect this is closer to the big company view:

Time to get ready for the football game. It should be a good one.

And by the way - I made it! A post every day for NaBloPoMo!

Sleepy Sunday

It is good that there are only a few more days left in the month of November and thus only a few more days left in the daily postings for NaBloPoMo. My fingers have begun their annual cold weather crack and split along the corners routine. That can make typing excruciating - especially when you beat the keys as hard as I do. I suffer from a certain lack of feeling in my finger tips due to neuropathy and thus appreciate the full scale tactile feedback that banging the old keys supplies just to make sure I have actually struck the key. That is how I explain the blood all over my keyboard while not even writing a novel!

On a different topic, do you ever find yourself trying to remember how to do some simple task that you do once in a blue moon? I do. It usually involves something changing the behavior of my computer desktop or some other task that I typically attempt only once every few years. Instead of having written it down the the last time I did it, I invariably am on my own yet again. You'd think something like "stand on your left foot while rubbing your tummy with your right hand and pressing the 5th mouse button 3 times with the left hand" would be intuitively obvious. After all, the software publisher and their support organization certainly think so. (This rumination was triggered by trying to remember a simple tweak to the server I had apart yesterday and then wasting hours using Google to find the key step I was forgetting.)

Finally, the odd question of the Sunday. You have been digitized like the protagonist in the movie Tron and released on the internet. What is the first site you would visit? Why?

More of the Bore

Most of today was spent in various domestic things. Like changing bedding and laundry and ... Not exactly the material that anyone with a life is really interested in. The highlight was spending time with L and watching parts of several football games.

To make up for all the excitement earlier in the day, I spent this evening pulling my server rack apart to attempt to cure some nagging issues. Once again not exactly the type of gripping story that you just can't put down.

Does this mean that I have no life?

Black Friday Redux

Since I do not suffer from the dementia of shopoholicism, I had no problem avoiding shopping today. No battling the crowds, no spoiling the beauty of a warm 60 degree day, no avoiding a walk in the park with L and Molly, ...

(L came in and was reading over my shoulder and got all huffy that the reason that I avoided Black Friday shopping was that I don't like to shop period. I always figured that lacking the desire to shop any time and not suffering from dementia were synonymous. She didn't think so. {*grin*})

L and I and Molly went for a walk in the park this afternoon, but I got way-laid about half way through to visit with a friend and help him put up his elaborate Christmas display. So L and Molly moseyed on home and I followed somewhat later. It was an ideal day for it, mid-60s and no wind. Especially since it is only supposed to hit the 40s tomorrow and be even cooler on Sunday.

I'll end tonight with this picture L took looking out the door at her place in the mountains. Note little Foxy sitting and watching. It has a damaged leg and has become a mascot of a sort. The assumption is that someone might be feeding Foxy given its complete lack of fear of people and the way it hangs about. Sometimes you see not only Foxy but the siblings and even mom and dad fox as well. Somewhat more calming than the bears at the previous abode.

Thankful Five

Time once more for

As I sit here waiting for the Broncos game to start so I can properly nap through it like any other stuffed turkey (or is that stuffed with turkey), I am thankful for many things. So here is my highly edited

Thankful Five

• Family and friends.
  

• L and the time we get to spend together over this holiday.
  

• Sharing in a huge feast on a beautiful day. 
  

• The fur shedding machine known as Molly, even though all of my black clothes look as tho they are sprouting white hair due to her talents.
  

• Those who stop by and read and comment on the blog.
  

• Those who write the blogs I read and (occasionally) comment on. Without you, my day-to-day life would be a lot more boring.
  

• Those who are filling the upcoming month with parties and gatherings of good will. (And especially if they invite me!) 
  

• That I am going shopping tomorrow. Not!
  

OK, I admit it, I fibbed and listed more than 5. So sue me. {*grin*}

Tom In 101

This week's Writer's Challenge from Mama Kat tickled my fancy with the topic:

4.) Write a story in exactly 101 words. (winner gets a 25 dollar gift card!)
(inspired by Jennifer from The Peterson's Go Public)

The Story of Tom

Tom gazed back across the open field to the river bottom that beckoned so promisingly. Nothing was better than eating his fill of the grain and berries laying on the ground followed by a drink, a dust bath, and a nap in the warm late afternoon sun.

Alas, Tom would not be able to enjoy this idyllic spot. Just this morning someone with a bow and arrow had narrowly missed making Tom the centerpiece of a Thanksgiving feast. Now it was the time for Tom Turkey to hide in the upland hedgerows. His normal life could resume in a few days.


So there you have it - my 101 word semi-coherent paean to Tom Turkey.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours! (And if you are one of those odd crews that celebrate at a different time (eh too, Cannuk) or don't celebrate Thanksgiving, you can content yourself with a picture me getting stuffed.)