My Week in Review: 23-29 December

The blog post of what happened to me in the past week is hereby presented.

Sunday 23 December: Another day off to enjoy on a Sunday. After awakening around 9:45am, I had oatmeal for breakfast. It was a cold day with partly to mostly cloudy skies and temperatures only reaching about 30 degrees with plenty of wind. The forecast is for the weather to continue to be like this all week long with periods of snow mixed in. I ventured out after halftime of the Bears/Packers game (the weather here was actually pretty good compared to what it was in Chicago) to get over to King Soopers for the weekly grocery run and the Sunday newspapers. I did not get much except some bread, bananas, cottage cheese, and a cherry pie. I will have to get over to Walmart for the larger monthly run on Wednesday as I did not get to that task last week. I returned home and had my cottage cheese and french bread with margerine for lunch and half-heartedly watched the Patriots whip Miami to go 15-0. Their upcoming game on Saturday night at the Giants will be widely watched to see if they can go unbeaten. I read my newspapers, did the three sudoku puzzles, and generally relaxed. With the onset of evening, I caught the Avalanche/Canucks, the Redskins/Vikings game, the Boise St/East Carolina bowl game in Hawaii, and the late news. I took a long hot shower and headed off to sleep around midnight as work is on the slate with an eight hour day to bore me on Christmas Eve day.

Monday 24 December: Christmas Eve 2007 arrives in the Great White North as snow cover has been present now for about three straight weeks and about 31 or 32 of the last 35 days. Today was a milder nicer day as mostly cloudy skies were the rule as temperatures got to 43 degrees and the wind all but died off after dawn after a night of good blowing. I, of course, worked a seven hour day, getting home around 5:45pm. I am having trouble with my left eyelid as a growth has developed on it which is quite irritating. It does not seem infected but dry and scaly and protruding about the normal skin surface. I will keep trying to wash it but I am unsure what to do about it. Fortunately it is not interfering with sleep. The evening brought us MNF with the Broncos against the Chargers in San Diego --- now that is where I would not mind being at this time of year. A snow event is expected to commence throughout the Front Range from north of Cheyenne into southern Colorado after midnight and through much of Tuesday as 3-5" are expected and roads will once again become quite hazardous. There was already a noteworthy serious accident with fatalities last Saturday night as a highly respected behind the scenes leader in formulating public policy in Colorado for over 30 years along with his wife and his oldest daughter were killed west of Rawlins on I-80. John Parr, his wife Sandy Widener, and Chase Parr were the victims. His younger daughter Katy was seriously injured but expected to survive. What a horrible tragedy and for the younger daughter to be so suddenly and violently to be made an orphan and siblingless in a split second is just undescribably awful. The thoughts of many go out to her and the remaining family at this time of year. I had kielbasa and mashed potatoes with gravy for dinner. I did what I regularly do after work and went to bed around . Upcoming on Christmas Day will be a 20 mile drive north and west to enjoy a nice dinner feast with Brant, Sara, and their family as they will have been kind and generous to me yet again.

Tuesday 25 December: A day off from work so I slept in until after 11am. It was a strongly forbidding day as about 4" of snow had fallen overnight and the wind was still howling after starting to kick up last night around 10pm. I had a couple of bowls of oatmeal for breakfast and turned on the radio to listen to some music. Once again the landlord brought over some Christmas treats for me around 1pm. I have lived in over 50 different residences as an adult and this is the first time in 30 years that this has happened. I am somewhat perplexed on how to respond, both literally and figuratively. While many people like the idea of a white christmas, I am not among them. If the first and about the only snow of the year was to be at Christmas, then it would be okay. But living in a region where lifestyle changing snows begin early in October and continue well into April, I can easily forgo the sentiment and settle for the safety and convenience of dry roads and warmer temps. Hopefully 2008 will bring us a Christmas week with temps in the 50s, largely sunny skies, and no snow in sight anywhere. I must drive out to the Xmas dinner along extremely dangerous roads that are largely isolated. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years, best wishes on continued success, happiness, prosperity, and bliss to all the readers of the blog across cyberspace. And especially to sisters MKW, KVS, & LAC & all their families; brothers VML & HBL and their families; and to friends Todd, Brant, Matt, & their families. And to all the men and women that used to be in my life including my mother and KMT. At Brant's home we had spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread for supper as Sara had to work at the pharmacy on the overnight shift in town so the celebration was subtle. They are planning a big festival on New Years Eve with shrimp, crab legs, steak, & prime rib to ring in '08 so I am looking forward to that during my vacation week. The roads were quite poor and treacherous as the left lane on I-25 was snowpacked, icy, and apparently unplowed both when I went out around 5:45 and coming back in around 10:45. And the massive glacier has strongly reappeared on their land as it is 6-7' deep in much of, solidly frozen to hold my weight with no give, and extend over 12,ooo sq ft in area. It will be there until late February or March and Brant says he will rent a road grader to clear the driveway so they have more of a place to park. Ah the joys of living out in the country. When I returned home, I caught up on my emails, the blog, watched an episode of M*A*S*H, the start of Doctor Detroit, and the second part of a ST: DS9 episode before getting into bed around 12:45 am as another full day of work beckons on Wednesday morning.

Wednesday 26 December: A very cold morning that did not warm much at all as it went along into afternoon. I started with a nice hot shower before breakfast and venturing out around 8:20am. There was thick hard ice on all the windows on the White Knight as I headed out to work for the long full mundane day. It was a sunny morning that changed to partly to mostly cloudy into the afternoon as the temperature only got to around 25 degrees. After work, I finally made the monthly run to Walmart for staples and kept the tab down to just $25. While there, I accidentally slammed my right middle finger perfectly onto a sharp point of the cart causing a deep laceration resulting in me dripping blood on the floor in the aisles that I was shopping in. After I got home around 6:45pm, I watched the Motor City Bowl between Purdue and Central Michigan which turned out to be an entertaining game. Since I ate lunch late while at work after 2:45pm, I did not have much of an appetite for supper so I just had a piece of cherry pie. The weather forecast continues to be grim as another 4" of snow is expected over the next 24-36 hours with even more to come on Saturday. I do see a 45 degree forecast for next Wednesday so maybe there is a little hope on the distant horizon. I see youngest brother HBL may be in for about a foot in the CR area so I will not be quite so bad off relative to him. As the evening continued, I just relaxed, working on my blog, surfing the 'net, watching the news, listening to the Fox Radio (Alice Cooper hosts the evening programming block and plays some good music and tries to be funny), and later catching Nightline, ST:TNG, & ST:DS9 before heading off to sleep after 1am.

Thursday 27 December: I awoke around 9:30am and saw the snow had again hammered us. by evening over 4" had fallen. The high temperature reached a balmy 16 degrees. I turned on the news to catch some weather details but was stunned to hear of the assassination of Benizir Bhutto. This is very tragic and profoundly disturbing news. WWIV has just taken on another new dimension that will be violent and destructive for many. I worked all day until 7:30pm. And I once again cut my right middle finger on a razor blade that was positioned just right in a drawer where I was reaching for a tool. Thats two deep lacerations on the same finger in about 24 hours ! After returning home, I relaxed and watched the Avalanche/Redwings game while keeping up on the Arizona State/Texas Holiday Bowl game. Supper consisted of butter bread and Lipton Noodles Stroganoff. I then caught the late evening news, Nightline, the episode of ST: TNG where the Enterprise goes inside an asteroid to retrieve a lost weapon, and then got into bed on this cold night around 12:30am.

Friday 28 December: I awoke around 1oam and took a nice long hot shower and wrapped my finger in a good thorough bandage braced to the right ring finger and then ate breakfast before venturing out to go to work on yet another bitterly cold day. With icy NW winds making it feel seem even colder, the high temperature only reached 21 degrees under clear skies. A little more snow is forecast for Sunday and this December will end up quite cold as we have not seen 45 degrees in over three and a half weeks. Hopefully January will be much milder. My finger bandage got filthy while at work so it was a good decision to protect it as much as I did. After getting done with work at 5pm, I went over to Taco Bell and got some cinnamon twists and a burrito to enjoy while I thoroughly read my newspapers and did the sudoku puzzles. I returned home around 6:45 and turned on the bowl games: the Texas Bowl between Texas Christian & Houston and the Emerald Bowl between Oregon St & Maryland. Both were good close competitive games. I then checked the 9pm news to get the latest on the weather, and then caught Nightline before switching over to ST: TNG. Saturday marks the beginning of a nine day break from work as I have wrapped up 39 consecutive weeks of work with only a couple of days off per week. I do not plan much considering the weather. I will watch plenty of bowl games, the NFL regular season finales and wild card games, and some NHL games; I may go rent some movies or go to the $1 theater; and I will work on cleaning, straightening, and further arranging the residence. And, most importantly, make an effort to learn of any other employment openings and apply for them. The hard cold facts about my current job is that the business is about to enter into its three slowest months of the year and I am looking at only getting around 22-25 hours per week which is nowhere what I require to make ends meet, especially with the looming huge electric heating bills and the possible threat of vehicle repairs ever present. Hopefully I will find something and be successful in getting on with the new change. This evening I also worked on my blog, surfed the 'net, and checked the email before going off to bed around 1am.

Saturday 29 December: The final weekend of 2007 dawned clear and cold throughout the region with snowcover everywhere in sight. I awoke around 10am and enjoyed a solitary quiet day at home. I had toaster waffles for breakfast. I worked on my blog, surfed the 'net, and kept on my email. Sports viewing was the order of the day as I watched all or parts of the Car Car Bowl between Connecticut and Wake Forest; the Avalanche/Kings game; the Wyoming/Wisconsin-Milwaukee college basketball game; the Liberty Bowl between Mississippi State and Central Florida; the Alamo Bowl between Penn State and Texas A&M; the college hockey game between Denver Univ and Dartmouth for the Denver Cup; and the big game between unbeaten New England and the New York Giants. I went outside for a little bit to take the trash out and check the mailbox around 4pm. I kept my whistle wet by drinking Apple-Cranberry Juice throughout the afternoon and evening. It only reached 24 degrees after a morning low of 14 as the winds roared strongly and ferociously all night and day from out of the west with gusts in excess of 50 mph. Thankfully there is no more snow in the forecast over the week and we will breaking freezing and even get into the 40s by Wednesday 2 January although little snowmelt will occur and that wind will cause widespread ground blizzards blowing all that snow around. I had chili for supper. The Patriots/Giants game turned out to be one for the ages and quite entertaining as New England successfully completed the regular season undefeated through sixteen games, a first. Now they wait to see whom they will matchup with in the playoffs: likely to be either Jacksonville or Pittsburgh followed by Indianapolis. The next three will be their most difficult yet in their quest to go 19-0 and win it all. As the evening waned, I halfheartedly watched some sorry movies on TV and sauntered off to retire for the night around 12:45am.

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Controversy Always When It Concerns Off-Roading

This activity has increased exponentially on both private and public land across the nation, particularly in the West. I am of a mixed mind about it. I wish it could be done without so much destruction occuring, but the nature of those who participate in this pastime does not include a very high level of consciousness. I seriously doubt anything will change about the negative effects and consequences of off-roading unless, of course, my wish to see the BLM eliminated and having those lands sold off to private owners or converted to wilderness, national park, forest, monument, and grassland is ever realized.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/us/30lands.html?ei=5089&en=0d2984def653fcf0&ex=1356670800&partner=rssyahoo&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

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Opening Week Schedule of Major League Baseball Set

It is nice to think about baseball starting up again when its so cold and wintry outside. Here is the schedule for the opening week of the season. [all times MDT]

Pre-Traditional Opening Day
BSN v OAK @ Tokyo, Japan: TUE 3/25 @ 3am; WED 3/26 @ 3am

ATL @ WASH: SUN 3/30 @ 6pm
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Traditional Opening Day
National League
ARIZ @ CINC: MON 3/31 @ 10am; WED 4/2 @ 5pm; THR 4/3 @ 10:30am

MLW @ CHI: MON 3/31 @ noon; WED/THR 4/2-3 @ noon

PGH @ ATL: MON 3/31 @ tbd; WED 4/2 @ tbd; THR 4/3 @ tbd

WASH @ PHIL: MON 3/31 @ 1pm; WED 4/2 @ 5pm; THR 4/3 @ 11am

SF @ LA: MON 3/31 @ 2pm; TUE/WED 4/1-2 @ 8pm

NY @ FLA: MON 3/31 @ 2pm; TUE/WED 4/1-2 @ 5pm

COLO @ STL: MON 3/31 @ 2:15pm; WED 4/2 @ 6:15pm; THR 4/3 @ 11:15am

HTN @ SD: MON 3/31 @ 8pm; TUE/WED 4/1-2 @ 8pm; THR 4/3 @ 1:30pm

American League
KC @ DET: MON 3/31 @ 10am; WED/THR 4/2-3 @ 10am

TOR @ NY: MON 3/31 @ 11am; WED/THR 4/2-3 @ 5pm

TB @ BALT: MON 3/31 @ 1pm; WED/THR 4/2-3 @ 5pm

CHI @ CLE: MON 3/31 @ 1pm; WED 4/2 @ 5pm; THR 4/3 @ 10am

TEX @ SEA: MON 3/31 @ 4:30pm; TUE/WED 4/1-2 @ 8pm

ANAH @ MINN: MON 3/31 @ 5pm; TUE/WED 4/1-2 @ 6pm; THR 4/3 @ 11am

BSN @ OAK: TUE 4/1 @ 8pm; WED 4/2 @ 8pm
********************************************

Every team plays on the traditional opening day with the exception of the Redsox and Athletics. This is the first time I can recall so full a schedule for opening day.

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Cost of Iraq Nears a HALF TRILLION DOLLARS !

The war in Iraq is costing us over $1600, or more money than I earn in two months. The war has now gone on for 58 months, second longest in American history behind the Revolutionary War. Over 3900 soldiers have died, and over 38,ooo have been wounded or medically evacuated to hospitals. As this war closes in on this unimaginable amount, it still is less than one-quarter of the cost of World War II for Americans in current dollars.

http://nationalpriorities.org/cms/costofwar

http://www.threeworldwars.com/overview.htm

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The Ultimate New Television

It is being reported that Panasonic will debut a 150" Plasma HDTV at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in January. This would mark a nearly 50 % increase over the current largest TV available which costs a tidy $70,000. One would think the new monster will be priced near one hundred grand, but one also suspects an even larger Sharp, Sony, Mitsubishi, or Hitachi will be debuted in the very near future for less money. Nice thing to buy if you win a big Powerball Lottery. Sharp is regarded as the industry leader in this kind of consumer electronics so their next fantasy monster will be the state-of -the art leader.

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/12/24/panasonic-showing-a-150-inch-plasma-at-ces/

http://www.switched.com/2007/12/27/worlds-largest-tv-measures-in-at-150-inches/

Editorial on Important Upcoming Movie

Using historical perspective to explain events and actions of today is an excellent way to try to get to understand how we are as as a society, culture, and a nation.

http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/editorials/161

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Imminent Death of Most Print Journalism

It increasingly looks as if newspapers in print form will be going the way of the dodo bird in even faster order than recently envisioned. In many ways, it is already happening. I never see anyone younger than me reading them. It is obviously the journalistic form of the 20th century and the past. I guess we will all be carrying our computers everywhere and all the time to access information even more so and I look for cellphone-like devices that will come into the market within a short time that will have the capability to make a three dimensional holographic projection that can be manipulated and controlled from within the device so that websites and information sources can be made larger and much easier to look at and read for the rapidly increasing poor visioned boomers and GenX users. The same change will also be happening to books. And the paper mill industry will be reduced to just largely manufacturing bathroom tissue, kleenix, and paper towels.

http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=31&aid=135059

Incredible Exciting Discovery

This news is pretty interesting and cool. It will be great to hear what additional findings are made as research is done on this previously unknown phenomena. One huge implication of these findings is the increased possibilities of life in very cold subsurface water reservoirs on other planets and moons.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/12/071227-antarctica-wetland.html

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Latest from Iowa

Here is a website with information and links about the rapidly approaching critical Iowa caucuses on Thursday 3 January. The polls cited here indicate a very close race on the Democratic side between Clinton, Edwards, and Obama; and an ever-widening lead for Huckabee.

http://www.iowapolitics.com/

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Essential Acts That Must Be Taken

I agree wholeheartedly with Ralph Nadar's observations and recommendations.

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/12/29/6056/

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Musharraf in on Murder of Bhutto

Sentiment and belief is strong around the world about this. Pakistani governmental claims that the murder was done by al-Qaida have no credibility with most. Everyone is smelling a rat, and this one is an arrogant despotic ugly moustached old enternal fat little general who has a history of doing anything and everything to maintain his power. Sounds like he is the Pakistani version of Saddam Hussein and Joseph Stalin. And that means implimenting covert state directed executions of political opponents.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/asia/article3291600.ece

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4064729&page=1

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2543550

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22427154/

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Oscar Wilde and Denver, CO

Tom Noel, the eminent historian, writes a nice piece here, that is educational and entertaining, as he usually does in any of his articles published weekly on Saturdays in the Rocky Mountain News.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2007/dec/29/noel-turns-out-oscar-was-wild-about-rockies/

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Wyoming Ninth in Population Growth Rate

Adding 10,000 people to the population of Wyoming is quite unusual. Do not look for a repeat of this in 2008.

http://www.trib.com/articles/2007/12/29/news/wyoming/15e111ef92dd8739872573be00022dc6.txt

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2007 Continues Broad Changes in Climate

And the beat goes on as 2007 continues the steep trend upward for new high temperature records and events of extraordinary weather. 2008 will even be more so.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8TR6ASG0&show_article=1

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/records/

http://www.wmo.ch/pages/mediacentre/press_releases/pr_791_e.html

http://nsidc.org/news/press/2007_seaiceminimum/20071001_pressrelease.html

http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2007/aug/aug-heat-event.php.records

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Another Wolf Found in Colorado

News of a wolf or perhaps even wolves returning to Colorado decades after mankind exterminated them is not surprising. Rocky Mountain National Park and the surrounding mountain countryside offers the creatures areas full of prey and a setting that will limit interactions with humans. It will be interesting to hear if more sightings are reported in the coming months or if this particular report has made an erroneous conclusion.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_7831030

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