Another Day

 Yesterday was my falling apart day, I guess. I was really discouraged. Today is better. I mean, what choice do we have? We keep on keeping on, and we keep an eye on the people around us. Help where we can. Encourage where we can. 

And avoid watching the news. I read it. I don't watch it. 

So...yesterday, we worked on the house, and corrected the problems with the stairs. Tim called the woman, and she came back today. She did not look at the stairs. She didn't even go into the basement. But, we passed, and they will send our C.O. (certificate of occupancy) in the mail. It still amazes us both that we haven't even got the water run yet, but...the inspections are done. We're not arguing. 

Tomorrow will be a busy day. We're bringing the air compressor back from the new house and taking it to the rehab. We'll start back to work on the Wayne St house bathroom. 

While we are at the new house, we'll take care of the cats. Tim is pretty sure it is a coyote circling the garage. It has returned. We've seen his tracks in the snow. The good news is that he's too large to get into the garage, so the kittens are safe as long as they are inside. It seems as if the critter is coming either early or late. The cats do go out during the day. We see their footprints out and about. We just make sure that they have plenty of dry food and water. It is warm inside the garage, and they have a safe place to hide. I am sure they can hear him prowling around outside, but they have very good instincts. Still, I can't wait until we are up there. Just being there all the time will keep that coyote out of the yard. It will also help in the cat domestication project, which has taken a big step backward. Only Possum comes to be petted now. The others do not even come at feeding time, waiting until we are gone. 

On the way back home, we'll also run up on the hill and buy eggs from my niece who sells them for $3 a dozen. We're pretty lucky to have a bunch of cluckin' chicken folks in the family. Buying them in Aldi's, they are $5.15 a dozen. I know we're getting off cheap compared to a lot of you (*coff* Allison and Jim) 

Didn't he promise to bring egg prices down? I thought he said that. 

Anyways, we probably will not get a lot done on the house tomorrow, because after we get back from our running, we will go to the court to hear the disposition re: one of the boys that broke our window out. We just feel like we should be there. We don't even know for sure what we will say or do. Or even if we should say or do anything. But, we will wait and see what happens. 

The solicitous victim's advocate called from her office to offer to be with us in the court room if we needed her. I mean, gads...a window got broken. It was not like we were physically assaulted by a group of them. There's no trauma involved. Just a sense that this boy needs someone in his corner. Maybe all we're meant to do is speak with him. Again, don't know. 

Then I suppose, when that is done, we'll go get some actual work done for a couple hours. 

Friday will be another lost day, given over to appointments. I have a feeling we'll be working this weekend. 

After Tim got back from the inspection, we had errands to run around town, and it was a good day to do it. It was above freezing, and it actually felt warm and breezy, as if spring was moving in, even though we know that winter is not yet over. This is a very changeable time of the year. 

The order to rescind the federal funding freeze also lifted my heart, even though I know that, like winter, tRUMP and his merry band of predators are not done yet. Like the weather, this administration changes with the wind. 

Laugh of the day: 

Discouraged

The news is so discouraging. The word is that funds will continue to be held until the agencies affected align themselves with tRUMP policies. 

Isn't that called blackmail?

I'm just weary of it all, and just sick about all the children that will be affected by these actions. And it has just begun. That's the most depressing part. 

If you feel like doing a small kindness, there's this. If you can't read it, a local school is collecting post cards from all fifty states. The states that they need are Montana, North Dakota, Vermont, Michigan, Arkansas, Rhode Island and Kansas. 

The Address is Tidioute Charter School

                         Ms. Runyan's 3rd Grade

                          241 Main St

                          Tidioute, PA 16351

Sorry. That's all I have today. It's hard to watch, but we all knew that it was going to happen. Keep an eye out for people who are struggling. That's all we can do. Focus on each other. 

Success And Failure

 Tim had warned me that he wanted to get to the new house before inspection. He wanted to sweep and vacuum and pretty things up. I was okay with that. 

Much to my surprise, this morning he walked into the bedroom fully dressed and said, "I'm leaving in 15 minutes," and walked back out. 

Now, this is something that Tim and I have discussed multiple times before. I need to know what's going on ahead of time. I mean, I am jarred from a sound sleep, and it's not that he wants me to get ready to go...it's that he is going in 15 minutes. Even if I skip a shower, there is no way for me to get dressed and presentable, AND have a chance to make coffee and have a bite of breakfast all in 15 minutes. There was absolutely no need for that kind of abruptness. 

I got out of bed and said, "We'll see you later." 

He said, "You're not going?"

I said, "If you'd have given me some sort of heads up about when you wanted to leave, I would have set my alarm, which would have allowed me time to get myself ready. I would have made sure that I was ready. But...you got up, got yourself ready, had your breakfast, and then told me you were leaving in 15 minutes. That's not enough time, so no. I'm not going."

He left. 

So. I had a day to myself. I had a leisurely breakfast, drank my coffee while cruising blogs, got up, pickled some ginger, made another batch of wheat hamburger buns. This time, I put about an inch of water in my crock pot, set it to 'warm' and set the cookie sheet on top of it. The buns rose perfectly, which made me very happy. So. It is a temperature thing. Good to know. Good to know. 

We had them tonight, with venison burger wrapped around a thick slice of onion, and sauteed peppers.  Tim had potatoes with his. I had a tossed salad. 

So. That was my success.

The house failed the inspection, and it really irritates me. You know what did not pass? The stairs to the basement. There has to be a 'bullnose', meaning that the tread has to extend forward slightly to overhang the rise. 

The reason that this irks me so much is that the house has been inspected twice since the basement stairs were installed, and this has not ever been commented on. Not once. Instead, they wait for everything to be enclosed and finished, and NOW they are going to complain about the stair treads? 

So...there will be some ripping out done. 

So. I'm irked. (I feel as if I might not have made that part clear.)

But I wasn't there for the inspection, and Tim is irked too, but he irks differently than me. 

Anyways, so while I was home, I made a day of it. Taking the tree down always leads to a complete ripping apart of the livingroom, and a thorough vacuuming. I moved furniture. I vacuumed cushions and removed them and vacuumed the sofas too. I got everything put back together and felt very productive, and continued my way down the hall, dusting and vacuuming as I went. 

Tim came home and we both shared a moment of irked-ness. 

Outrage of the day:

Trump has suggested that the Proud Boys might have a place in politics: 

https://whyy.org/articles/trump-proud-boys-capitol-rioters-pardon/

For balance, Laughs for today.

The bread doesn't rise. Again.

 I made rolls today and was much disappointed that they did not raise. Boy, I've been having a time with that. I'm not sure what's going on. I got new yeast and everything. 

I gave up my sour dough starter. I did not see the bubbles that they claimed I should be seeing. Of course, it was during the cold snap, and frankly, my kitchen is not 70 degrees, the recommended temperature for 'growing' starter. So, I scraped it out into the trash, and much to my horror, it was only then that I got a whiff of sour that I'd expected. There was quite a bit of bubbling going on under the surface. It probably was just taking longer because my kitchen was cooler! I made up my mind to try again when it is warm. 

To be having difficulty with sourdough AND yeast breads just leaves me flat. 

(Ahem.)

I sadly looked at my poor unrisen rolls and went ahead and flattened them down and put them on a parchment covered cookie sheet and made 'sandwich thins'. Those turned out great, and they were much cheaper than buying them, that's for sure. 

Tomorrow is the final inspection of our house. We are excited to get that part of things finished and done. It is at 11 AM. We'll probably just continue working on the house as long as we are there, but Tuesday, we'll return to the Wayne St rehab. I will be glad when these two projects are done. 

I did finally get my tree down and put away, which is a little embarrassing to admit, but I've had a lot of appointments and we've been doing a lot of work. Still, I don't think my tree has ever been up for this length of time. 

I hope you all are stocked up on coffee. 

Laugh of the day: 

Taking a Break

 

Today was a 'break' day. 

My sister and her husband got a new puppy and so they are homebound and sleep deprived. It is not much different from having a new baby, I guess. Her name is Sam, and she likes company. She likes people. She likes to curl up with Sadie, their black lab. What she doesn't like is being crated at night. She does not like that quite a bit, and she's a vocal little thing who makes her unhappiness known. 

She has to be taken outside every couple of hours. Dave and Anna are trained enough that she has only had two accidents inside. 

So we had pizza and put the dog out, let the dog back in and played scrabble in between. My sister won all three games and I think that it will be quite a while before she lets me live that down. She won the first game by 1 point. The second game by 2 or 3 points. The third game, by 7 points. Every single game played right down to the bitter end.

It was a fun day. It is supposed to get up to above freezing this week, and I am glad for it. Tomorrow is the big game day. I, myself, will spend the day putting Christmas away (yeah, I know...) and getting the house back to rights. 

It was just fun to spend a day relaxing and visiting. 

One final note: Remember Project 2025. Remember how Republicans disavowed it? We are seeing it play out before our very eyes. If you have any questions about what happens next, you can read along. 

https://time.com/7209901/donald-trump-executive-actions-project-2025/

It is not about 'getting over the election'. Watching this unfold is our duty. Criticizing it is our duty. That's my opinion. I will not be stopping. If you are of an opinion that it doesn't really affect you, it will. It eventually will.

Remember your tribe, people. Look around and find 'your people'. We're going to need each other. 

On the Road Again

 This morning was another appointment, and another run up to Jamestown. 

We try to make the most of the trip up there. It's not really all that far away, but it is in another state. New York State's gas is 20 cents a gallon cheaper than it is down here in Pennsylvania. Our gas prices are more heavily taxed. 

New York State's milk is also about $2.50 per gallon cheaper than we can buy it here in Pennsylvania. I believe that this is because the state subsidizes milk prices as a child health initiative. So we always get a couple gallons of milk while we are there. 

We also go to Brigiotta's, which sells produce. They also have a deli which sells cheeses and meats. We stick to the produce. They have restaurant sized bags of lettuce for $1.99. It's handy when we're running between jobs, and we've both been eating a lot of salad. They had big sweet peppers, red, yellow and green at 2 for $1, which is about half the price of Aldi's. I bought a bag of onions and a huge vidalia onion for 99 cents. 

But the big bargain was that they had bananas on sale for 20 cents a pound. We bought 40 pounds to drop off for Mattie. The kids do love bananas, and she and Katie use them in baking. I opened up the hatch as Mattie came to the door. "Do you think you can use 40 pounds of bananas?" I called out to her, and she said, "Probably," in her jolly way.

It was an interesting day to stop in. They had cut ice. Levi seemed very proud of their day's work. "Go look!" he urged us as he stood on the porch in his sock feet. So we walked over, Shadow following along. He does love being petted. The ice house was filled from floor to ceiling with huge blocks of ice. Tim called back "So where are you going to put the food? You've got no room left!" Levi laughed and said, "That ice is 9 inches thick! We haven't had ice like that in quite a while." 

They were just about to sit down for lunch, and invited us to pull up a place. We couldn't stay. We had work waiting to be done and two more stops to make on the way home. 

So that was today. 

We've got the flooring down in the second room. 

Tomorrow we will be finishing up some odds and ends and getting ready for final inspection, one last hurtle. It doesn't mean that we're done with the house, but it does mean that they've checked all the boxes they need to check to assure themselves that the house has been built to code. 

Discuss: 

People pay money for this. To each his own, but honestly, the first thing that pops into my head is 'dirty fingernails'. It is a bit of a jolt to see in a health care setting. I just find it interesting that people see this as stylish. Is it just me?

Tonight when I took the recycling to the curb, it felt warm outside. You know you've come through a hard stretch of weather when 14F seems warm to you. 

The Troll

 People are interesting, aren't they? I have opinions. I will admit to having strong opinions. I know that many readers of this blog believe differently, and that's their right. Some of them have blogs of their own, and they are quick to give their own opinions, opinions that, while they are as strong as my own, are diametrically opposed to my own. 

And that's okay.

But I believe that you need to be able to cite your sources, if challenged. 

Yesterday's blog post introduced me to a troll. Well. We have 'met' before. She's not unknown. She is right. Always right, and as usual, when she is being rude, she cowers behind 'anonymous'. 

I should have copied her comment before deleting it. She vented her spleen a bit (yawn) and finished it off with her thoughts that I should give "the Elon Musk thing a rest". (She is quite fond of him.) She then claimed that Obama and Biden both gave Nazi salutes while they were in office, which is pure bullshit. If she would have posted under her name, I could have challenged her to cite her sources, to put her money where her mouth is. 

I deleted the comment, and I will continue to delete her anonymous comments. She is welcome to spew her 'truth' on her own blog, but she's not going to do that here, and if she doesn't like it, she is free not to read. 

That's enough of that. 

Today was cold. Last night it got to -14F. I woke up in the night and needed an aspirin. Our bedroom was freezing. I am not sure what it was last night, but today, in the single digits, the bedroom was 51 degrees, so I expect it was chillier than that last night. It is not something that you notice snug under the covers, with two bodies generating heat, but once out of bed, you notice immediately. I padded down the hall to the kitchen, got my aspirin, and padded back down the hall to bed, and I could not get warm again to save my soul. It took forever to fall asleep. 

We have the wood stove going in the library, and the gas heaters going in the kitchen and the office which concentrates the heat where we need it and reduces the need for running the big furnace. We don't have a heater in the bedroom because we like a cool bedroom, but last night was extreme. 

We worked on the new house yesterday, and before we left, I walked down to feed the cats. Strangely, they did not come. I heard some scrabbling around on the second floor, but they didn't come down, not even when I popped the lids on 3 cans of cat food, a sound that usually brings them all running. They do roam now. We can see that now that there is snow on the ground, and they range pretty far, so I figured maybe they were mostly out hunting. Maybe Minnie the antisocial was not brave enough to come out on her own.

I fed my invisible cats and headed out the door. As I walked back to the house, some tracks caught my eye. I stopped and looked carefully, and I could see very plainly claws, something that you do not see with cat prints. 

When I got to the car, Tim said, "What did you see?" and I said, "Well...I think they are coyote tracks. Maybe a fox. I don't know, but you can see the claws," and he said, "Let me take a look..." and off he went. 

We discussed it on the way home. I said, "Surely a coyote can't get into the garage, right?" He said, "No..." but mused, "I'm not sure about a fox though." We discussed whether a fox would run up a ladder (it's a wooden one at a steep angle. The kittens learned to climb it right away). Tim didn't think a fox could, so he felt quite sure that the cats were safe on the second floor. I said, "Well...I will start

 putting their food upstairs for them then."

By the time we got home a second thought occurred to us. The temperature was supposed to fall well below zero. We should have taken their insulated cat houses upstairs so that they would be warm enough on the cold night. Tim said, "The heat rises and that corner of the upstairs will be warm enough. I think." 

I made our supper but before I could pop it into the oven, Tim said, "We need to go back up there before it gets dark." 

I was a bit surprised because I hadn't said anything, but that's what we did. I gathered up some extra old blankets and rugs, and we loaded up the car. 

I'm not sure what has happened. The cats did not come downstairs at all. We put the coolers upstairs, and made an insulated corner cave for them.We put their food pans upstairs. I could hear furtive scrabbling on the other side of the garage, but they did not show their faces. 

Tim set up his game camera to keep an eye on things, and we left the garage light on for them. 

I had an appointment today, and so Tim went to the house alone to work on the bathroom. For the second day, the cats did not come when they were called. Something has frightened them, and for the first time, I'm beginning to think that I need to start grabbing them whether they like it or not and bring them indoors. 

Tim is getting steady pictures of them on the game camera though. 

Boldly Speaking

 Inauguration Day Homily at the National Cathedral. Trump and Vance were in attendance. 

Bishop Budde did what many bootlicking Republicans cannot bring themselves to do. She told him the truth. To his face. 

Today, tRUMP issued a pardon to 1500 J6 rioters. Only a handful of Republican senators were willing to publicly disagree with him. 

https://apnews.com/article/trump-pardons-rioters-congress-republicans-police-15f121efe72c0ecea62eceeda0ebe89b

And then there is this: 

People will try to defend it, to explain it away. 

Musk will not explain it. He thinks it's tiresome being accused of being a Nazi. 

(Pro-Tip: If you don't want to be called a Nazi, don't give Nazi salutes)

The neo-nazis in America are celebrating it. 

"The White Flame will rise again!"

Google it for yourselves. 

We are at a crossroads. 

May we all have the courage to speak the truth. 

Billionaires and Media

 The Washington Post ran an editorial which endorsed Pam Bondi as a "qualified" and "serious" pick for Attorney General. 

Yes. The same Washington Post who refused to endorse Kamala Harris' campaign saying that it was unethical. 

Pam Bondi is also a former Amazon lobbyist, which is not mentioned.

You might also want to check your facebook. I suddenly found myself following, of all people, Mark Zuckerberg who is at one of the inaugural balls. He is "feeling optimistic", he reported, shown in a picture with his wife, smiling broadly.

I didn't ask for his opinion. I unfollowed and blocked him immediately. 

Other people are reporting that they are suddenly following 'The White House', Donald Trump, Melania Trump, or JD Vance (or any combination of them). They did not request this...it just magically happened. Smiling faces and cheerful posts calling for unity and celebration. (Just as magically, these people unfollowed, which for the uninitiated, you do by going to the three dots on the right hand side of the post, clicking on it, and scrolling down the list to 'unfollow and block', and clicking on that). 

A bit of history for you.

How did the Nazis use censorship? 

 

When the Nazis came to power in 1933, the German constitution guaranteed freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Through decrees and laws, the Nazis abolished these civil rights and destroyed German democracy. Starting in 1934, it was illegal to criticize the Nazi government. Even telling a joke about Hitler was considered treachery. People in Nazi Germany could not say or write whatever they wanted. 

Examples of censorship under the Nazis included:

• Closing down or taking over anti-Nazi newspapers; 
• Controlling what news appeared in newspapers, on the radio, and in newsreels;
• Banning and burning books that the Nazis categorized as un-German;
• Controlling what soldiers wrote home during World War II.

How did the Nazis use propaganda?

 

The Nazis used propaganda to promote their ideas and beliefs. Beginning in March 1933, the regime tried to centralize its propaganda efforts in a new ministry led by Joseph Goebbels. This ministry was called the Reich Ministry of Enlightenment and Propaganda. 

The Nazis used a variety of propaganda tools to spread Nazi ideas. Examples of propaganda under the Nazis included: 

• Glorifying Adolf Hitler by using his image on postcards, posters, and in the press; 
• Spreading negative images and ideas about Jews in magazines, films, cartoons, and other media; 
• Making radios more affordable so that more Germans could listen to Nazi ideas and news;
• Broadcasting Nazi speeches on the radio and public loudspeakers;
• Organizing large and celebratory Nazi Party rallies;
• Creating groups, like the Hitler Youth and League of German Girls, that fostered Nazi ideals.

How did propaganda and censorship work together?

 

Textbooks are a good example of how propaganda and censorship worked together in the Nazi regime. The Nazis used both propaganda and censorship to control what students read in school. Nazi censors removed some textbooks from classrooms. New textbooks taught students to obey the Nazi Party, love Hitler, and hate Jews.

C-c-c-c-ooooold Outside

 Our internet was out today. That should help his ratings, shouldn't it?

One half the second bedroom flooring is in. 

I made a good pot of soup. Tim unplugged the soup. Soup quietly burned away in the kitchen because he unplugged the coffee pot instead of the crock pot. 

It is cold enough outside that the house is making strange noises. Odd pops, and creaks. Tim has the wood fire going and has fallen asleep on the couch in the library. I have an idea he'll be spending the night there. 

School is on a 2 hour delay tomorrow. 

You Are My Tribe

 I don't have any words of wisdom. I did find some here though. 

https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/1223918045/ted-radio-hour-navigating-uncertainty.

While the tendency might be to crawl into our beds and pull the blankets over our heads, I think that is a mistake. We need to remember that there are a great many people out there who feel just as we do. We need to find our tribe. We need to encourage each other. 

In the end, I think that we will discover that we are the lucky ones. We see it coming and everyone I know is trying to plan ahead. Some don't see it coming. They won't see it until it is upon them. 

My plan for navigating the future is that I'm going to be very aware of what is unfolding. I will try my hardest to respond to things in a clear headed way, leaving emotion out of it as much as possible. Being mad isn't going to help us. Being afraid won't help either. 

From the movie 'Second Hand Lions':

We'll be okay, people. We need to believe that, whether it is true or not, because it is the only thing worth believing in. 

LATE EDIT: A member of the tribe passed along this: 

https://thinkbigpicture.substack.com/p/surviving-donald-trump-presidency?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&triedRedirect=true

It says what I cannot seem to articulate well. Mahalo, Cathy. 

Wildlife

For Donna W. 

 

Tried to make it bigger and failed.

Never Feed Coyotes

Contact Animal Control if you see dangerous coyote activity such as:

Carrying a box marked "Acme"

Dropping anvils from above

Painting a large landscape

Detonating explosives or TNT

Holding a 'detour' sign

In possession of a catapult

This video actually shocked me. I thought the coyote must be tame...or the man an idiot, so I investigated. Here is the story: 

https://cheezburger.com/1996807/man-befriends-a-wild-coyote-regularly-booping-the-forbidden-snoot-and-making-her-an-honorary-member

So there's your chuckle for the day. 

It was warmish here, and everything was dripping. 

Tim needed to talk to Levi, and so we headed up on the hill, first thing. Lissy and Rudy were playing in the snow. Lissy was riding a home made toy, wooden handle bars set on a ski. The child rides it like a scooter, across the snow, and leaping on when she reached a good speed. Rudy was riding a shovel and having the time of his life. There were a collection of sleds on the front porch, but they seemed to be keeping themselves happy with their own toys.

Levi got his wood orders caught up, so today he was shoeing a horse. Mattie was poring over a seed catalog, choosing her seeds for the garden. We had a nice visit in the warm kitchen at the woodstove drinking coffee. Druscilla and little David were making butter, and David walked from room to room with his jug, shaking it vigorously, one foot shod, the other foot bare. Mattie wearily said, "He's learned to take off his shoes." 

She mentioned that he has also learned how to open the window, and he likes to hang out the window with the cold air in his face. This makes the house harder to keep warm. Someone notices a draft, and heads off to investigate. There is the sound of a window shutting, followed immediately by the sounds of a small boy shrieking. We heard this playing out a couple times. He's a little red haired bundle of mischief.

We headed back out and got to the new house. Today, we finished the bedroom and started on the next. We unloaded the furnace and got it put away, tended to the cats. 

It went much faster, now that we have our routine in place. I cut the pieces, Tim installs. It's a lot of running up and down stairs, since the saw is in the basement, but it is good for me. 

We returned a ladder we'd borrowed from my sister and brother in law and had time for a visit and supper. 

Now we are home, the temperature is dropping, and we are glad that we have no place that we need to be. 

Here's a question for you. How do you plan to celebrate 'un-auguration' day? 

LATE EDIT: Over at Tasker's blog I saw that he had a link to Weaver's archive. Missing her 'voice', I clicked on it. I did not realize that they have added a lot of new material. If you go to my side bar and click on the link, Weaver of Grass, it will take you to her archived posts. It was like a visit with an old friend. Thank you Tasker!

Floors

 Tim was up and running to get his furnace. He got there and back with no problem. 

We then went to the new house to do flooring. 

We have quite a pile of stuff in the living room. 

It will be nice when we no longer have a pile of stuff in the livingroom. 

Today was not that day.

This is the stuff that we have for the livingroom. 

We are really pleased with that. 

This is the wood laminate we got for the bedrooms. It does not have to sit for a month, so we could begin installing that right away. 

I think that it is lighter than either of us expected, but they are small rooms. 

And once the rugs are down and the furniture is in, I don't think that it will look quite so stark. Tim is not certain that the walls match. The product itself is good though and fits together well. 

It just seemed to be darker in the factory. 

Anyways, we did not get the room finished. We spent the afternoon there, and part of the job for us is that when we are doing something we've never done before, we need 'figuring out' time. We need to work out our routine, and then once we work the bugs out of it, it tends to go pretty smoothly. 

Tomorrow, we'll head back out to finish up that room and start the floor for the our bedroom. 

The temperatures were quite balmy today, 34 degrees. When I walked down to the garage to feed the cats, icicles were dripping and it made me happy. Tomorrow is suppose to be another nice day, just a wee bit warmer. We'll take it, our chance to thaw a bit before the temperature once again begins to drop. By Monday, we will be in the single digits, and will stay there for 3 days. 

Tonight, I heard a weather report in passing. They said -20 Tuesday night. I stopped dead in my tracks and said to Tim 'Where in the hell is that?' He said, "I don't know, but it is the local news." 

I feel very sorry for those people and hope like crazy they were not talking about us. Our low is forecast for Tuesday night, -11. 

Anyways, a laugh. 

No Sushi

 Tim did not go pick up his furnace today. We got another snowstorm today. While it wasn't terrible, the route between here and where he needed to go was a familiar one, and he knew that traveling it came with its own challenges, especially in the winter. There is a very steep hill on a connecting road, and unfortunately, that road is not considered high priority. Tim has seen enough vehicles off the road to just make it something he didn't want to try today. It's not so much that he has ever had problems making it...it's more a concern of someone else losing control and possibly hitting him. Even worse, it is a dead zone, with no cell service. 

He texted the man who was getting rid of the furnace, and didn't hear anything for quite a time. He was sure that he'd lost out on it. Finally, the man texted back. They are meeting tomorrow about 9:15. Tim was a happy chappy.

Sushi making and going to get that furnace may seem unrelated, but sushi got delayed. 

Anyways. 

So we've been working on the new house. Tim is working in the bathroom. I calculated how the bedroom floor would go in, which was a fun project, and a plan was reached which would cost us a 3/4 inch 'waste' on two boards out of every seven, the other five boards used in their entirety. So. I'm proud of that. This flooring is a wood laminate product that does not need to sit for a month like the hickory does. We started the floor, gluing down the first two rows. We are letting that set over night and will go back tomorrow after Tim picks up the furnace. The rest of the flooring can be nailed down. Since we have our plan worked, it should go quickly and hopefully by the end of the day, we will have a floor completed. 

It was relatively warm today, getting up to 24 degrees. 32 on Friday. 37 on Saturday. Unfortunately, the temperatures begin to drop once again after that. By Monday night, we will be -5. Tuesday night, -10. 

The Washington Post has adopted a new mission statement: "Riveting storytelling for all of America". I don't think America needs more story tellers right now. I think we need more truth tellers. The Post will be remembered for the stories it would not tell, and for the people who quit because of it. 

"Democracy dies in darkness." So do newspapers, from the look of it. 

Shopping Spree

 Tim and I had to run up to Jamestown for an appointment. When it was done, we went to our favorite produce market and stocked up on fresh vegetables. We stopped into Aldi's and picked up milk. Here in Pennsylvania, a gallon of milk will cost you between $4.50 and $5. There, it was $2.70 or some darn thing. When you can buy milk at that price, it becomes sensible once again to make your own yogurt, which costs $4 or thereabout for a 32 oz container. 

Tim wanted to make one last stop on the way home and so we hit the Home Depot, which is right next to the Wegman's. Since they have such a big international foods department, I was eager to see if I could find the nori sheets I need, the one last remaining item for my sushi making experiment. 

 They have a whole aisle Asian foods! They had exactly what I needed.

Tim is traveling to Olean to pick up a furnace for parts on tomorrow (Thursday) which will give me a perfect opportunity to experiment with my sushi maker, and I am excited for that, as silly as it sounds. 

But walking into the Wegman's always gives me a flashback. Long ago, when I was not yet 40, I took five children, three of my own, and two nephews to the theater to see a movie. After that, we had a stop to make at the Wegman's. Juice boxes were on sale. My sister wanted me to pick up a big bag of dog food. Just a bit of odds and ends. 

So, I'm pushing the cart through the store accompanied by my entourage, and I was disappointed to find that they had no juice boxes. Sold out. Except, what to my wondering eyes should appear, at the top of the warehouse racking, was a whole new pallet of juiceboxes, wrapped in plastic wrap. 

A young employee was walking by and so I said pleasantly, "Hey, those juiceboxes on sale? You've got a whole pallet of them on top. Could we get someone with a fork truck to lift them down?" 

And the whippersnapper said, "If you can't reach them, I guess they aren't on sale, are they?" and laughed. 

I said, "Oh. I can reach them," and began climbing. It was a three tier rack and truth be told, I am a bit afraid of heights which I'd forgotten in my irritation, but once up there, I liberated a couple cases of juice boxes, and noticed that from my vantage point 1) there were blue vests headed my way from all directions of the store, 2) that all my entourage had abandoned me, save for one lone nephew (to this day, I cannot tell you where they went) and 3) getting two cases down was going to be a bit dicey. 

I sorted out the last problem by simply climbing partway down, reaching over my head to lift the cases, one at a time, down to the second tier. The manager was making a lot of distracting noises about getting down, which I was in the process of doing, and the rest of the blue vests seemed to be simply unsure what to do and just stood there. 

By the time that I was climbing down from the second tier, I was able to reach over my head and pull the two cases down and hand them directly off to the manager which gave him something to do besides make distracting noises. 

Once I was on the floor, he said, "You need to ask for help!" in a very officious tone, and I said, "I did, and the response that I got was 'if you can't reach them, they aren't on sale'," which to my mind was an open invitation to help myself. 

Oh my gosh. His eyes bulged and he said, "What was his name? What did he look like?" etc. I had a feeling it was going to be a bad day for that teenager. 

In the end, the manager accompanied me as I finished up my shopping, talking cheerfully and asking repeatedly, "Was it him? What about that one?"  My scattered entourage slowly joined up with me once again, and by the time that I got to the checkout, I had same five children I had walked in with, which was good news. 

The manager put my items on the conveyer and said, "No charge for the juice boxes!" and "Oh, just give her that dog food!" and even, "We'll give you that pot roast too." My nephew said, "If you would have broken your neck, I bet you would have gotten the whole store!" 

The manager escorted us out to the car, and waved good bye as we left. 

When we got home, those five members of the entourage leaped from the car and ran into my sister's house yelling "Aunt Debby got thrown out of Wegman's!" (technically not true...the manager had been wonderfully attentive) and "Mom climbed up the warehouse racks!" (which was true, but there was just cause...the juice box sale was a good one.) My sister and brother in law looked quite wide eyed, but settled themselves in for the rest of the story.  

The little rat finks. 

Those little rat finks are now pretty much the same age as I was back then. They have little rat finks of their own. 30 years later, I walk through the store remembering that day with a little smile. I miss that woman sometimes. 

Luckily, I could reach the nori with no problem, and the manager did not recognize me. 

McGuyver - Not just for Oz

Jeanie did a very timely post over at her blog, where she talked about 'McGuyvering'. I am here to tell you, Jeanie, Aussies are not the only ones who can do a 'McGuyver'. We had our own experience with that today.  This morning, we took our old gas guzzling truck back to Titusville to pick up our flooring. We knew that it would take us two trips to get it all, so as usual, Tim stopped in Titusville to get gas. It is 20 cents cheaper there than it is here, so we filled the truck up. 

We headed off to the factory. As we pulled in, the truck began to make a very peculiar noise. Believe it or not, the back strap on the gas tank gave out. The back half, unsupported, was bouncing up and down. With a full tank of gas!

Honest to pete! Have you ever heard of such a thing? 

They opened the big bay door for us to back the truck in. Tim was still 100% committed to getting that lumber home, and the woman said thoughtfully, "Well...I have a ratchet strap. Would that help?" An Amish boy carefully drove a forklift up, and using a board to make sure there were no unfortunate sparks, he put the forks under the gas tank and eeeeeeeeeevvver...soooooooo....slooooooooowly...raised the forks until the gas tank was raised into where it was supposed to be. 3 people were under the truck installing the ratchet strap to hold the tank in place, and then eeeeeeeever...soooooooo....slowly, the forks were lowered. The tank held. 

So, the first load of hickory was loaded on the truck, and we gingerly made our way back to the new house. Blessedly, the bit of McGuyver repair held. Driving back to the house, Tim mused, "The strap did not break. It's missing a bolt. I don't even know how that could just fall out. I'll bet it wasn't there to begin with. When we filled the tank, 100 lbs of gas pulled the strap loose."

We got to the house, and unloaded a truck load of lumber by hand. I went out to feed the cats, who were delighted to see me once again, and then we headed back to Titusville. Tim decided on lunch, and he decided that we weren't going to go the way of fast food, and so we went to a place we'd never been before called Drake's Grill. 

We made our way back up to the factory. Tim decided on lunch. We went to a new place, Drake's Grill. 

(Titusville is (arguably) the home of the first oil well. Colonel Drake drilled a well (Drake's well) in 1859. Titusville started out as a 'boom town'. You can read more about that here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_Drake 

We both picked 'Pittsburgh Salads'. For the uninitiated, these are chef salads garnished with french fries, of all things. We picked steak as our meat, and were surprised at the size of the bowls. They did not skimp on the vegetables, and they did not skimp on the steak. It was good, and we had a leisurely meal. The place was almost deserted, so we didn't feel like we had to rush. 

We left and headed over to pick up the last load of flooring. I hadn't really thought about it, but we'd been gone long enough that I think they were sure that we'd run into a problem with our repair. They were pretty excited to see we'd gotten there and back just fine. 

We gingerly picked our way back home again, being careful not to avoid bumps as much as possible, and unloaded the second load. 

We headed for home, and the first thing that Tim did was order the nut and bolt assembly he needed for his truck. 

Something that I wanted to mention: The Washington Post (Democracy Dies in Darkness) lost one of their star reporters today. Jennifer Rubin had harsh words for Bezos who seems to be trying to muzzle any voices that criticize tRUMP. But what I found very interesting was the observation that Washington Post on line averaged 22.5 million hits a day. It has dropped to 2 million hits. 

Another interesting article was that a Dutch pension fund sold off $585 million dollars of TESLA shares. Another company is having strong reservations about doing business with the company again, says the company's head of social responsibility. In a land where 'social responsibility' is considered to be a liberal machination, I found this very refreshing. 

Paybacks are a bitch, aren't they?

Not sure why I can no longer highlight linked text with a different color text. Apologies.

Sunday Happies

 Well, today's happy is that Sigh is back. All four of them were there and glad to see me. One unexpected benefit of not being there to feed them their canned stuff on a daily basis makes them delighted to see me, even though they have dry catfood. Even Minnie, the most antisocial of them, allowed a scritch today, she was so happy to see me. Possum, Sigh and Tiger came in for full length body strokes again and again, which allowed me to reassure myself that they are not being food deprived. 

The heater is keeping their little carpet cavern with the little coleman cooler caves in the 50 degree range. Once they curl up in the coolers, I am certain that their body heat keeps them comfortable. They are fat and sassy and none the worse for wear. Tiger even initiated play time. 

Another happy? I knocked over a glass of water on the computer desk. (bear with me....I'm getting to the happy part...) The glass was only half full, or half empty, depending on if you are a pessimist or an optimist. The happy is that it doesn't seem to have affected the keyboard.

Also set up Tim's smart watch. Different from mine, big pita. But...it is done. Finally.

Today's Happy

 The days have been gray and cold. It was a good day for a pot of lentil soup. I made bread to go with it. 

We got four more inches of snow last night. There's probably a foot of it on the ground. It falls fluffy and high, but it begins to settle and to compact before the next snow falls, so it seems to stay about the same height. 

The thing that I noticed though is how bright it is at night. The snow reflects all the light. Streetlights, house lights, car lights. And I think the line from the Night Before Christmas: "the moon on the breast of the new fallen snow gave the luster of midday to objects below."

I guess that's my happy thing.

Late Edit: The picture is actually a watercolor by Ray Hendershot. It is called 'Working Late'. Ray Hendershot lives on the eastern side of Pennsylvania and paints the rural landscape there. The eastern side of the state is the 'old settlement' side of the state. It is where you will see the old stone buildings and barns. It is much flatter there and very picturesque. 

Hold my hand! We'll jump!

Well, we've been on the crazy train long enough people. 

Jump!

In any case, today was a running day. We drove to Titusville to pick up our flooring. I had texted her on Monday, asking for the balance owed. We discussed the weather forecast for the week in that text and I told her we'd be there Thursday or Friday after the weather cleared. 

An hour drive in the gas guzzling truck, only to find the place closed up tight. I called her. The Amish had a wedding. She and her husband were headed for Pittsburgh. I mean, why didn't she just tell us that Friday wasn't going to work? 

But, we made the best of it and headed over to Walmart. I had a nice gift card. I wanted to buy a computerized blood pressure cuff for Tim. I also spent some time looking at seeds and starter medium. We were in line in front of an elderly woman who was wearing an Army fatigue jacket with a First Infantry patch, and so I had to ask. Turned out that she hadn't been in the Army, but was interested that I had been, and so we got quite a conversation going, which is always nice. After we were checked out, we turned to wish her a good day, and she said, cheerfully that she was already having a good day. 

Tim needed to stop at a couple building supply places, and then we headed for home. We stopped in to the new house as we passed it, and I heated up some gravy for the cats in the garage. It is so cold outside. They have a heater inside, but still, I like for them to have a warm meal. It is the second day that I have not seen Sigh, and I'm a bit concerned about him, but the rest of them came gallumping down the ladder from the attic, mewing and winding around my legs as I mixed up the gravy with their canned cat food and a bit of kibble to fill them up. We keep their dry catfood dish (which is another large pan) filled because it is not always possible to get up there every day any more with this dicey weather. We like to make sure they are never without food, even if they miss a days' ration of canned cat food. 

Our Smartwatches arrived and are charging right now. 

I had an experience today that has never happened to me in all my years. I was having some bloodwork completed. This is not something that has ever bothered me before, but as the needle went in, it burned like fire and the pain shot up my arm like lightning. I nearly threw up. She took the needle out right away, and the pain eased back. She had hit a nerve. It took her three more tries to find a usable vein. She said, curiously, 'Did you drink any water before you came in?' I had to confess that it hadn't even crossed my mind. It's strange because it is something that I know. It is something that I generally do. You can bet the ranch that it will be an awfully long time before I forget that again.  

It is single digit cold here and by the time we got back home, my toes were freezing in my boots. It is not predicted to be above freezing for the next week, but it looks like most of the snow is done. 

Ugh. (Trigger Warning)

 The House passed a bill today that allows the US to go after the ICC for any judgements 'targeting' the US or its allies. The ICC, you might remember, found Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant guilty of war crimes last November. We don't recognize them or their authority and I sure as hell don't think that our country should be defending the actions of  Israel. 

After donating a million dollars to tRUMP's inauguration, Mark Zuckerburg has decided to stop fact checking on Meta. That will certainly be a bit help to the misinformation brokers. At this point, I'm seriously considering giving up social media all together. I think I'll stay in blog land. 

tRUMP had a meeting today with GOP lawmakers on his plans to make Canada the 51st state. He is not planning to use military force, but he plans to use economic force to compel them to agree to the plan. 

However, he's not ruling out military force to take Greenland. 

The fact that these plans even have an audience and support is mind boggling to me. It's not like we don't have enough enemies in the world. We sure don't need to be making more. 

And yet, here we are...

He's not even president yet and the chaos has begun. At what point do people begin to shuffle their feet and say, 'Wait a minute...this has gone far enough...' Is it even possible at this point?

Happy Days are Here Again...

 Well, here's my happy for the day: the city has finally got the check cut. Almost a year to the day since this whole fiasco started. Almost two months after they agreed to pay. I am so glad to have that chapter done and dusted.

We have drywall on three of the four walls at the rehab. That is a relief. It works better with two of us measuring and agreeing on measurements before cutting. 

My sour dough starter is starting to develop bubbles, which is exciting too. Tonight, for supper, I used the starter discard to make pancakes. I topped them with fried apple slices with walnuts. I thought that it all turned out nicely. Tim's verdict: 'Meh.'

That's a fair share of good news, and I am happy for it. So happy that I skipped the news. 

We have a nice wood fire going tonight. It is cold. 

Oh...and I meant to mention this: Tim ordered a seat cover from Amazon. I found out about it only after the fact or I'd have tried to place the order through the company and bypass Amazon. (It's just how I am. He's not how I am.) Anyways, interestingly enough, the package delivery was delayed. 

Now this is not something that we were concerned about. I mean the midwest has been really hammered by weather, and a one day delay is completely understandable. But this morning, I received an e-mail from Amazon (because the account is in my name), and they refunded our shipping for the delay. 

That was unexpected and makes me wonder if Amazon is trying to woo customers back after the whole Washington Post debacle. Jeff Bezos lost staff and 200,000+ readers canceled their subscriptions. That backlash extended to Amazon, with people canceling their Prime, and vowing to take their business elsewhere. (As to what extent, I cannot tell you.) 

Has anyone read anything on this? 

The Monday-est Tuesday Ever Was

 We had to run to Walmart last night. I wanted to see if I couldn't find something that the cat would eat. (answer: no. Last night's offering was also rejected.)

I needed to pick up shampoo. I was really craving an avocado. We wanted to pick up milk. I needed to read some labels in the supplement aisle. Tim said, "I want to go take a quick look at the paint aisle." And off he went. 

I got everything that I needed, and then I went looking for Tim since he hadn't come back. I browsed seeds. I looked at the clearance. I made my way back, and then I saw him. He was talking to a tall man I did not recognize at the back of the store. 

I did not interrupt, but he told me the story later. The man was a year behind him in high school. Tim said, "He's a tRUMPer. He wanted to tell me all about Tim Walz, that a police station was set on fire in Michigan, and Tim Walz WAITED TWO DAYS TO CALL THE FIRE DEPARTMENT!!!!" 

(I will wait for your gasps of outrage to die down.)

I said, "I guess if I had been there, I would have commented that it seems like the police would have called the fire department. I have never heard of a case where someone watched a fire burning and thought it was the governor's job to call the fire department..."

Tim said, "He really believes that. I don't remember him as being intelligent in school. As far as I know, he's been on disability for most of his life." 

But I stand by my assertion: that when tRUMP takes office, people like Tim's friend will be the most negatively affected.  They believe that tRUMP is going to fix everything. They have no critical thinking skills. They will be totally unprepared for what comes next. And there is no point in trying to warn them. They won't believe it until it happens. 

Meanwhile, today, DJT Junior promised the people of Greenland that "We will treat you well..."

Donald Trump wants to name the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America. 

Elon Musk says that the US should liberate the UK from their "tyrannical government".

Yep...the new normal. 

Five more inches of snow expected. 

We got about half of the bathroom drywalled. It did not go smoothly. I hate days like this. 

I had a pot of chili going in the slow cooker. Disappointingly, I'm not sure what happened, but my slow cooker shut off. There was no hot chili for supper. 

I'm trying to think of something beautiful, and I can't. Help me out here. 

LATE EDIT: Wellup. I had my beautiful moment. I received a text that I somehow missed receiving. For Christmas, I'd given a friend a copy of my favorite book, "The Immense Journey" by Loren Eisley. He just finished it and messaged me to say how much he had loved it too. I knew that he would. He gave me his thoughts on the subject. 

He wound it up with something that impacted him while reading: "The need is not really for more brains, the need is now for a gentler, a more tolerant people than those who won for us against the ice, the tiger, and the bear. The hand that hefted the axe, out of some old blind allegiance to the past, fondles the machine gun as lovingly. It is a habit that man will have to break to survive, but the roots go very deep." 

There is an optimism to that, isn't there? The idea that we've come from fossils and ancient bones but that the journey ahead of us is no less than the journey before us. 

Anyways, it was a beautiful sharing of thoughts, and I needed that. 

Drywalling Sucks

 The flooring for the new house is done. We will go pick it up on Friday. We spent a lot more on this than we did almost anything else. If you total the appliances, it would come close, I guess. Tim fell in love with this flooring right away. I didn't not love it, so...

So that's our happy today. It was suggested that we bring it inside, stack it and let it sit for a month before installing it. 

At some point, the Amish contractor should be calling to tell us that our sink cabinet is finished too. That pretty much will allow us to begin to finally put the house together, which will be nice. 

So that's the happy for today. 

We worked on drywalling the bathroom at the rehab. It wasn't a happy. It's not something that I take any amount of joy in, but it is something that needs to be done, and so, I guess that we can count the progress as a happy thing too. 

I don't know a huge amount about Canadian politics so I am not qualified to offer any opinions on the subject, but still, Justin Trudeau's resignation struck us both as dignified and done with an eye towards what was best for the country. It's not something you see in our nation at all. We've got people who are priding themselves on their divisive behavior, and they don't care what it is doing to our country.