October Going Out Like a Lion

The most unpleasant weather feature that comes with living in Cheyenne made its first real appearance this autumn for much of this past week as strong winds blew almost every day from Monday through today. We had our first cold days on Tuesday through Wednesday with temps never making 40 degrees and a small dusting of snow covering vehicles and vegetation, but not streets and sidewalks. That will come soon enough. Fortunately things did improve as it got much warmer by Saturday with a high temperature that neared 70 degrees but accompanied by continued ferocious west and northwest winds all day and night that I could hear through the vents. The forecast for the week is for a brief noticeable cooldown on Sunday then back into the low to mid 60s for the next several days, including Halloween surprisingly. Keeping winter at bay as long as possible is always a positive in any way.

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My past week improved as it went along. My sadness, depression, and malaise over my mother's passing ever so diminished as time elapsed and I kept busy at work. I ended up with just a few hours of overtime but also learned I would get paid for taking a couple of days to grieve the loss which is a small compensation for the tragedy. I continued to have trouble with the battery in the truck as my vehicle would not start without a jump on Wednesday. My juicer died which created an inconvenience. I had to take the battery out after I got home early Thursday morning and put it on the charger overnight to renew its power which was unpleasant in the icy cold winds blowing that night. Fortunately it took the charge and the last three days have been without incident. But I remain concerned the problem will recur soon and I may be looking at replacing the battery in the coming weeks.

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Saturday was a nice relief as the sunny skies were very much welcomed in spite of the hostile winds. I arose about 11:15am and then headed over to Todd's after stopping for my weekly frozen cappucino mocha from Baskin Robbins with a coupon to make it less costly. We ordered some pizza to tide us over through the afternoon. I departed about 5:45pm. This was probably the last time I get to go over this season to watch college football at his home as his schedule for the remaining coming weeks is largely prohibitive with the possible exception of the 8th and 15th of November. Hopefully we can continue the practice in January when Mountain West Conference basketball gets into the full conference game schedule on Saturdays.

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It was back to the home unit where I relaxed through the evening surfing the 'net and watching some more football as well as parts of the Sabres / Avalanche game won by Colorado on a shootout; and parts of the 3rd game of the World Series that started late due to rain and was won by the Phillies after 1:45 local time in the City of Brotherly Love. Later I caught parts of SNL as the political sketches were quite enjoyable. Supper consisted of eating the leftover pizza from earlier in the afternoon. I retired for the night around 12:30.

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Sunday saw me awaken around 9:30 am. I headed over to Safeway around 10:15 am to pick up some milk, bread, bananas, and the Sunday newspapers. It was quite colder than Saturday as the temperature was right around freezing. The wind had also calmed down significantly from Saturday's sustained 35 mile per hour winds with 50 mph gusts to something like 15 and 25. I got back home and just relaxed. I really should go do the laundry but I am totally unmotivated to take on the task that requires me to haul three bags of clothes plus baskets, hangers, and chemicals down the flight of stairs to the truck and drive across town to the laundromat. I need to do it soon but there will come a day in the next few weeks where the time will be right. Instead I watched NFL and surfed the 'net until around 4:15 when I laid back on the recliner and took a nap for about 75 minutes. I then enjoyed Sunday TV while keeping the World Series game four on the small television: 60 Minutes; the debate on PBS between Chris Rothfuss and Mike Enzi for one of the US Senate seats; Desperate Housewives; and Brothers and Sisters. Supper consisted of the rest of the leftover pizza. I caught the end of the game as the Phillies pounded the Rays to take a 3 -1 series lead with a possible worlds championship to be completed tomorrow (Monday 10/27) evening. I continued to surf the 'net and less than half-heartedly listen to the television until I retired around 2:30am. It was 19 degrees outside when I called it a night.

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The week ahead does not seem like there is anything that needs special attention to be paid to unlike the last two weeks. I imagine I will only get the most minimal of overtime, if any at all, this week at work. The weather forecast is for improving conditions and much above normal temps with less wind through the end of the week. Even Halloween is supposed to be nice and mild which seems to be the exception to what we normally experience here in the Front Range region. Maybe I can find the motivation and energy to work on some projects around the place and do some further organizing and straightening up. I can also think once again about making a trip down to Denver to possibly see my nieces and their father as well as Matt, and check into some businesses like Newsland, Microcenter, Best Buy, and elsewhere to see what or if there are any products that I am interested in. I also need to get that bleepin' laundry done and get the recycling taken care of while the weather is favorable. And a trip to Walmart to restock with food is on the horizon, either this upcoming weekend or the next.

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One thing I will be doing with great interest is following the economy and markets this week. I believe this week may be the worst yet with quite a few shocking developments, downturns, and unsettling news. It will be darkest before the dawn that is on the horizon that starts with the elections next week that I will be deeply focused on as well.

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