In a dark and hazy room, peering into a crystal ball, the Mystic delivered grave news:
“There’s no easy way to tell you this, so I’ll just be blunt. Prepare yourself to be a widow. Your husband will die a violent and horrible death this year.”
Visibly shaken, the wife stared at the woman’s lined face, then at the single flickering candle, then down at her hands.
She took a few deep breaths to compose herself – and to stop her mind racing.
She simply had to know.
She met the Fortune Teller’s gaze, steadied her voice and asked:
I scrubbed the outside of the house of Christmas decorations Monday. Last evening we took down the tree, boxed the ornaments, and removed the lighted garland from the stairs. There are still some Christmas decorations around the house, but the wife will put those away this week. The house is returning to normal. The bright cheery lights are put away in time for the gloomy days of January and February.
In a like manner, the warm weather of the past few days will move east after today and seasonal temps will return. There is even a chance for snow on Thursday.
The Republicans continue to beclown themselves in Congress. Democrats stick together like Gorilla Glue in a dipshit’s hair. Republicans eat their own. They truly are the Stupid Party, ever seeking to snatch defeat from the edge of victory. As much as it pains me to say it, Republicans are the Chicago Cubs of politics.
The good news is that it is already Wednesday. I present my contract proposal to Really Big Customer tomorrow morning. My self-assessment for my annual review is due Friday, and I have an engineering review this afternoon to go over all of my open projects.
I have no idea why I am blogging instead of working.
Back to work. I’m sitting in my new office chair; my Christmas gift from my wife. It is cushiony and comfortable. The back broke on my old one some months ago, so I couldn’t lean back. That made for long days.
The tragedy at the NFL game last night reminds us the players are all humans, playing a game. My level of disgust for the Giants player who made “snow angels” while the Colts QB writhed in agony Sunday was increased in light of the carting off of a Bills player in apparent cardiac arrest last evening. The Giants DE’s happy celebration Sunday afternoon on the sideline as he learned the Cots player was out of the game shows the brutal side of the sport. You are not human if you find joy in hurting someone.
Speaking of disappointment and disgust, I increasingly find politics disagreeable. I hate both parties. The left continues with their tyrannical rule, their climate change hysteria will destroy our economy and way of life. And make no mistake, that is the goal. The right only wants to squabble among themselves, content for decades to be the minority party. Both only looking to make as much money individually as possible.
We cannot win against the woke, leftist agenda. Already my 8 year-old granddaughter says stuff I cannot believe. She didn’t learn it at home. One generation already has bought in, and are indoctrinating the next. Old farts like me have no chance. I am glad I’ll be dead before they gain complete control.
After watching the New Year’s celebrations I am not convinced the folks who put on the Times Square celebration really know what they are doing. They keep dropping the ball.
Good morning and happy new year readers. Since I failed to post yesterday, I guess we are not starting the new year off so well. Oh, it was no hangover, no overindulgence, no wild romps extending into the new day. Nope, I just didn’t want to post anything.
It’s not you, it’s me. Ha ha.
To be fair, I accomplished absolutely nothing yesterday. I did shower. I’m not that much of a heathen. I didn’t even cook dinner, we went for Mexican instead. It was the most laziest of lazy days ever. I liked it.
Today? We will see what transpires. I’m off work. I may take down the Christmas lights outside. It is supposed to be warm. Right now it is foggy.
It appears I am getting my blog funk early this year. I stare at the blank screen and realize I have nothing to say to you. My creativity is at an ebb. I suspect it is an ancient DNA trait urging me to hibernate.
How about an oldie to entertain you? For some reason this funky tune was in my head this morning.
i know you will be disappointed, but there will be no Theme Song Thursday this week. It’s not that I’m too busy, it’s that I don’t feel like putting in even the minimum work it takes to create the post.
You are lucky you are getting letters and words at all.
Apparently there were lay-off at corporate yesterday. It appears I am safe. Keep your fingers crossed. Many of the other new employees are gone. Trust me, the economy is not as strong as they want you to believe.
Temperatures continue to rise. We stayed above freezing last night and may get close to 60F by the NewYear. Last Friday the windchill was -40. Monday it will be 60, that is a 100 degree swing in the feel of the outside air. Weather is crazy, and anyone who claims they can accurately forecast it more than a few days out is wrong.
Anyone who claims they can predict it decades out is a fraud.
I know, you are still sad about the theme song thing. You will be OK.
It is the second “Monday” this week. I’m at my desk, ostensibly working, but my motivation level is pretty low. I have handled the emails from the extra long weekend, but other than that, I don’t have much.
I need to put in some more work on my contract proposal for Really Big Customer before I present it to my boss. I would also like his input before I devote any more time and effort if he disagrees with my approach. So right now I am just staring at the spreadsheet.
We are looking for a big warm up by the weekend. I can live with that.
What a glorious Christmas. 2/3 of my kids, their family and girlfriends as the case may be, came for gift exchange and dinner. We got to FaceTime the oldest boy in Colorado. I wish he could’ve been here.
I started in cooking dinner early. We had turkey, noodles, mashed spuds, candied sweet potatoes (yuck), green bean casserole, deviled eggs, rolls, and I made a peanut butter pie. The daughter brought over appetizers and cranberry salad. What a feast!
We dragged out the Christmas dishes and when all was done I had a mountain of dishes, pans, and serving bowls to wash since the holiday plates aren’t dishwasher safe. Despite my dishpan hands, it was worth it. For the first time in a while my foot was sore and swollen when I finally went to bed. I was on my feet all day and I probably should have put on shoes for a little support. So it goes.
I think everyone liked their gifts and the wife didn’t go overboard for once.
The weather prognosticators were only partially right on the big winter storm here in the middle of God’s favorite state. We only got a couple inches of snow and less rain than expected, so while I’m sure the streets are slick, it could be worse. They got the hard wind and freezing temperatures right. Currently the actual air temperatures is -10F and the windchill is -36. Yikes. I have no reason to go out anyway.
Ponder this, you could climb into your freezer and it would probably be warmer than it is outside.
I don’t even want to think about my gas or electric bill next month.
The wife spent the evening wrapping the last presents, so we are set. One thing she ordered the youngest son didn’t arrive, and won’t until next week. She is stressed over that. I told her it is OK, he is 29 years old, he will understand. She is upset about it anyway.
The wife has been hoping for a white Christmas. It looks like she will get it. Too bad she didn’t wish to win a lottery jackpot instead. So it goes.
Like a good chunk of the country we are all set to get hammered by what can only be described as really crappy weather. Rain will fall this afternoon only to be interrupted by a tearing cold front bringing extreme temperature change. The rain will turn to snow and winds will whip the snow into blizzard conditions. Temperatures will go to near zero with windchills around -25 or so. We will look at a layer of ice covered with snow. It will be too cold for ice melt to work. I suspect most of you are looking at a similar scenario if you are east of the Rockies. Even the Deep South is looking at frigid temperatures.
We will have to look at conditions long and hard before we head north to the wife’s family gathering for Christmas Eve festivities Saturday. Depending on the severity of the drifting snow, I may have to go fetch the boy from Indy’s south side if he wants to come for Christmas Day. His tiny little car does not handle winter weather well.
I have a half-day of work today and then I am off until a Tuesday. I need to wrap a couple of presents and help the wife clean before everyone comes over Sunday. In all, we are ready for everything the weekend promises.
I guess the opening lines of this song might be appropriate for today:
Edit: I just noticed this is the 7,500th post I have published.
I always have gone for quantity over quality. Like I often say, you get what you pay for around here.
But you have to admit the stop action movie is awesome*. If you disagree then I’m afraid we will never be able to hang out, drink beer and smoke cigars. Sorry, I do have standards.
*except the little boy with a thirty-year old’s voice, or the blond Mary...
Further edit: I did some research. The voice of Aaron is actually performed by a kid, not an adult. Go figure.
Between Christmas and a predicted storm, the stores will be stripped bare by Thursday. Not only will the genpop be panic stricken of the prospect of snow and cold, grabbing every loaf of bread and carton of eggs in sight, but the late shoppers will be scrounging for the fixins’ for a Christmas dinner. It I’ll be a perfect storm of desperation. I hope I have all I need. Cool Whip will be worth its weight in gold by Saturday morning.
I think I have all the stuff I need, but you never know.
It is a cold start to the week. Whatever, it is winter. The thermometer does this. I think we are about ready for Christmas. Yesterday I bought the rest of the groceries I need to fix Christmas dinner. I have to grab a few things to make a couple of dishes to take to the wife’s family potluck on Christmas Eve.
I’m finding it hard to get motivated for work today. I have a bunch of data entry to do, and I just don’t want to. Oh well, they pay me to do the stuff I don’t want to do. That is how it works.
Happy Hanukkah for those who follow the Old Testament.
For the Christmasy among you, how about a clip from Meet Me in St. Louis?
A light dusting of snow covers the ground this chilly morning. I’ve already been out to pick up something from the store the wife forgot in her run last night. Today is cookie and candy day. The wife will be heading over to our daughters’s house to make holiday treats. The granddaughters will help with the fun. I am doing my part. After I brought home the milk chocolate chips this morning I loaded all of the ingredients for crock pot peanut clusters into the cooker. Three hours plus cooling time from now they will be done.
We went to a birthday luncheon with the granddaughter yesterday. We all had a great time. After, the wife and I headed out for Christmas shopping. In truth, I drove and stayed out of the way while she shopped. I bought her a new pair of boots she desperately wanted. I will wrap them up for her. No surprise, but it is what she wants.
Today marks my oldest granddaughter’s birthday. She is eight. How crazy is that? It seems like her mom’s eighth birthday was only yesterday. I don’t feel so old until I look in the mirror or think about my little girl having her own little girls. Truth is written right there on my face. Then I realize I am getting old.
I’m not here to offer up a depressing post, it is a good day!
I have today off work. That didn’t keep me from answering a few overnight emails this morning and I will desperately try to avoid my phone today. As I was reading emails last night, the wife pointed out the only time I have ever taken off completely from work was when we were on a cruise and phone and internet were unavailable. That revelation is admittably a problem.
Dang it, every time I try to discuss something it skewers negative. If I want to be positive I clearly will steer clear of politics today.
The weekend looks to be hectic as we procure the final Christmas gifts. I doubt I’ll be able to watch the football games, since the wife has made other plans for us. So it goes. I can record it and watch later if it is worth doing so. I managed to watch games at a later time during the time I spent in retail hell a year or two ago. Shiver. I don’t even want to think about those days.
Okay, I clearly cannot stay positive on this Friday. Here is what you came for:
We have had a very long spate - a couple of weeks - of very cloudy, gloomy weather. There is often fog and drizzle. It seems forever since I have seen the sun. I remarked to my neighbor when I was out fetching the mail yesterday that it felt like I was living in Michigan. * He said, yes but without the good breweries. Indeed.
I am generally in a good mood, but lack of sun just depresses me. I can deal with the cold, snow, ice, and wind, but I really need some sunshine to buoy my spirits.
On the bright side several positive factors might come into play to mitigate my ennui. I have tomorrow off work; a use it or lose it personal day. Next week is a short week, I’m using another 1/2 day of personal time on Thursday with Friday a holiday. In addition, the long-range forecast hints at a chance for a white Christmas. What is bad about that?
You would think that last revelation would be a hint for today’s Christmas song. You would be wrong. You might guess from the title of the post I am deviating from holiday tunes and going with Here Comes the Sun. Nope. This one is for You:
*Michigan, surrounded by the Great Lakes seems perpetually cloudy in the winter to me in my hundreds of visits there. Residents can confirm my perception.
Last night we went to see our youngest granddaughter in her pre-school Christmas program. Yes, it was a Christmas program, not a holiday show, since it was at a church.
There is nothing that illustrates the meaning of Christmas more than a bunch of 2,3,and 4 year-olds singing Christmas songs. I have to imagine God was smiling. I know I was grinning the whole time. The sweetness factor was unbelievable. The kids were dressed in their finest and behaved magnificently. Some really got into the singing, some froze in unimaginable stage fright, staring straight at the crowd of several hundred parents, siblings, and grandparents, unmoving the whole time. It was a hoot.
