My Week in Review: 9-15 December

The weekly report for a denizen of a distant winter outpost on the cusp of the Great White North.

[***Starting this week I will post this on this blog entry daily and update it each day (as I have done in recent weeks) and then repost the updated blog entry on a daily basis with a new blog entry on this subject starting again each Sunday. ***]

Sunday 9 December: A cold morning which I thankfully avoided as another day off meant I could sleep in, which I did until around 10am. After a breakfast of a banana and oatmeal, I took off to King Soopers for the weekly grocery run and the Sunday newspapers. It was a sunny crystal clear day with no wind but the high temperature only got to 15 degrees as the storm left us with about 7" of snow and this upcoming week promises more as well as temperatures staying in the deep freezer. I went over to Shadows after King Soopers to watch the Steelers/Patriots and Broncos/Chiefs games. Pittsburgh stayed close to unbeaten New England for the first half but were blownout in the second half and the Broncos wiped out KC, scoring early and often for their easiest win this season. I had some quesadillas, a glass of beer, and some ice cream before heading home around 5:15pm. After carrying up the three bags of grocery up the treacherous snow covered stairs, I settled in for a quiet evening. I watched 60 Minutes which had good stories on Congo gorillas and LaDanian Tomlinson as well as the weekly humor from Andy Rooney. Its hard to believe Rooney is still around as he was a war correspondent almost 65 years ago during World War II. But even at age 89, he still does a thoughtful and insightful commentary on a regular weekly basis on 60 Minutes as he has for almost the last 40 years. I then watched the Avalanche/Blues game while keeping tabs on Indianapolis/Baltimore SNF. I went through my newspapers again, cut coupons, did the sudoku puzzles, and did little else. It was largely a lost weekend with nothing accomplished at home besides a couple of very long hot showers to ease my joint pains in my hands, neck, ankles, feet, and elsewhere. I also updated the blog, surfed the 'net, and checked my email - things I generally do every evening. The upcoming week is a full one as I have to work at 8am MWT; a 1-close shift on Tuesday; and an 11-7:30 shift on Friday. About the only thing on the schedule will be to get gasoline for the Ford as I can get about 15-17 days on six to seven gallons. Its hard to believe the year has but three weeks left and Xmas is here in two weeks. For Xmas, I am not sure what I will do; brother HBL mentioned an invite to his home back in November but I have not had any followup or confirmation of that. The other option is excellent though as Brant and Sara will insist on me joining them for another feast like the one they treated me too just a few weeks back on Thanksgiving. 2007 has been a year that can be defined as a paradox in some ways. Some bad things in the beginning but a lot of good wonderful things that only increased as the year went on as some friendships were beyond extraordinary and tremendous in many ways which I will never be able to repay or completely show my true deep gratitude. This may have been my best overall year from many perspectives for this decade for sure and perhaps going back to the early 1990s. At least my health is holding up for the most part. I had a bowl of tomato soup with crackers for supper with some butter bread. I went to bed around 11:15pm.

Monday 10 December: I awoke before the alarm clock went off but struggled to get out of bed as work started one hour earlier today. It was a much warmer day as skies were crystal clear to start the day and temperatures reached the mid 30s and some snow melted. Clouds started to build as the day neared its end in anticipation of another snow event as 3" are expected on Tuesday and the rest of the week will be cold and the wind is expected to return. I decided not to eat the regular bag lunch I have eaten on work days exclusively for the last three to four months. I had a coupon so I got two for one Super Star cheeseburgers at the nearby Carl's Jr which is three blocks from work. I probably experienced a 20 % jump in my cholesterol as a result of eating these two juicy decadant sandwiches. I probably should not eat beef again until next week as a result of this tasty but not so healthful splurge. After work ended, I got fuel for the White Knight, paying only $2.84 per gallon, and returned home to watch MNF, surf the net, read my emails, and work on the blog. No supper for me tonight after eating those two burgers for lunch - its back to the lunch routine Tuesday -- a couple of peanut butter & grape jelly on wheat bread sandwiches, a banana, five generic peanut butter sandwich cookies, a Little Debbies creme filled oatmeal cakelet, and a cream soda pop. After an okay MNF game, I caught the news and headed to bed around 11pm after Nightline. I looked out the window before retiring and saw the snow had begun again.

Tuesday 11 December: I got to sleep in today as my work shift does not begin until 1pm but runs until close after 10:30pm. We got walloped by snow overnight and through the morning as about one-half foot fell. It was light and powdery snow. The city was overwhelmed and snow removal was all but nil as I drove to work as municipal incompetence in dealing with incliment weather seems to be the standard in way too many places and streets management are braindead in coming up with a 21st century appproach to reducing the impact any snowfall has on drivers and pedestrians. I worked all day for about a nine hour shift and did not return home until after 10:30pm. I had a salad (iceberg lettuce, carrots, red cabbage, chopped celery, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and french dressing) and a slice of blueberry pie for supper. I watched Nightline, and my newest evening joy, back to back episodes of Star Trek TNG and Star Trek DS9. I truly enjoy both these series and will make a regular effort to catch them most weeknights. These programs used to be on during the late evening time slots back in the early to late 90s and I watched them regularly then so its great to have them back on at a good viewing time for me again, and its not like I will ever have any better alternative at that time of the night besides sleeping. I watched the last half of DS9 from bed and drifted off to sleep before 1am as the next two days are long 8am to 6pm shifts.

Wednesday 12 December: A very cold and clear morning that saw temperatures make it to above the freezing mark as winds were calm overall under sunny skies. It was a very long day at work as I put in a ten hour plus day. When I got home, I had some cheddar broccoli pasta and some butter bread. I fell asleep in my chair before 7:30, not making it through the Avalanche/Blue Jackets game. I awoke around 9:30 and staggered into bed for a deep full nights sleep.

Thursday 13 December: Back to work again for the 8-5 haul. It was a clear cold morning although a little warmer than the last couple of days as temps started in the mid teens but clouds built starting around noon and we only got to 27 degrees as the winds picked up and snow started falling AGAIN shortly after dusk. About 3" is expected overnight. After I got home, I had some canned lasagna for supper and watched the Broncos/Texans game while keeping up on the Avalanche/Predators game. The last night of no reruns in total was tonight with the last original episode of 30 Rock before everything goes into reruns until further notice from now on. Maybe we will get some new episodes of my favorites by the middle to end of February if we get lucky. At least for the next three weeks there is football with the bowl games starting next Thursday and running until Monday 7 January. And there is the NFL and NHL as well and Mountain West Conference hoops kick into the conference schedule on Saturday 5 January so I will have some things to watch and keep up on for most nights until early January. After watching the Broncos lose rather convincingly to end their postseason aspirations, I checked in on the 9pm news, checked my email, surfed and blogged and relaxed. Brother HBL called and we conversed for over an hour on a wide variety of topics. I watched ST: TNG and hit the hay around midnight, knowing I get to sleep in a little on Friday as I do not go to work until 11am.

Friday 14 December: Little if any snow fell overnight and into the morning, but bitterly cold temperatures were the order of the day. It was cloudy for the most part with a few peeks of sun late in the afternoon, but the winds were cold and harsh and the temperature only made it to 18 degrees but it felt much colder on ones bare face. This cold wave has been ongoing for three and a half weeks with the exception of two days early last week. Its getting old and wearisome so hopefully the forecast of no precip and temps reaching into the low to mid 40s next week will bear out. I worked an eight hour day and returned home after 7pm. Brant called me shortly after my arrival and we will try to get together this weekend perhaps to see the movie "No Country for Old Men" which is a favorite for consideration for next year's Academy Awards. I thawed out, had some chicken noodle soup for dinner, watched 20/20 & the 10pm news, and generally relaxed. Thank goodness I have the next two days off and I get to hole up and just relax. Bedtime came around midnight.

Saturday 15 December: A cold sunny windy day with temperatures reaching only about 25 degrees. Thus, little snowmelt occurred leaving us with still 4-6" on the ground and side streets snowpacked with main streets having numerous slick spots. I awoke around 10am and stayed in. I had homemade oatmeal for breakfast and had to turn the heat up to get warmed up. I watched the film "Bicentennial Man" for the first time and it was extremely good. I largely spent the afternoon surfing the 'net. I watched the NFL game between the FortyNiners and Bengals while keeping track of the Avalanche/Predators. The landlord came by around 4pm and gave me some Christmas cookies and pastries and a card, which was a wonderfully nice surprise and gift. Todd dropped in for about a half-hour after 9pm to tell me his woes and the certainty of his ending marriage. I had some turkey lunchmeat sandwiches for lunch and bowl of tomato soup for dinner. The winds were keeping the temperatures up around 20 degrees when I went outside for a few minutes around 10pm.

With the now daily publishing of this post, a permanent new blog policy goes into effect effective 9 December 2007. No longer will any negative, nonsupporting, boorish, degrading, demeaning, depreciatory, disparaging, derogatory, or insulting comments be permitted to be placed on this blog. Friendly, warm, constructive, supportive comments are welcome as usual. This is a forum for my opinions, feelings, and observations as stated clearly in the blog heading. Those wishing to state or express their disagreement with mine are strictly limited to this phrase: I disagree with you.

I do not go to other blogs of acquaintances, colleagues, friends, neighbors, and family and post combative or hostile comments. To do so would be uncivil, ill-mannered, rude, insolent, impolite, nonfriendly, discourteous, and wrong. Thus, the same will be always the case here on this blog.

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