We have made it to November, the eleventh and penultimate month of the year, and it is the month where any remains of Summer completely disappear into the gloom of winter for the next five months or so. Thankfully, the month started out with a nice surprise as we had a record high here in Cheyenne of 72 degrees, a temperature more typical of early to mid September. Days in the 70s in November are pretty rare for places at this latitude and at over 6000' in elevation, but we may cross the treshold again on Sunday. But the big changes are nearing as by Wednesday it will be near 40 degrees for a high with lots and lots of wind and a chance of precipitation in the form of snow. It is forecast for there to be a large number of record high temperatures across the Great Plains on Sunday before the cooldown starts. But it was a nice stretch this last week as the last five days have been at least ten to fifeen degrees above normal overall relative to normal which is usually means highs in the low 50s and lows in the upper 20s. November sees a decline in normal highs from 50 to 42 and lows from 27 to 19 through the month. And although the forecast is for a much warmer than usual winter ahead, I suspect we will get at least a few days where the lows drop close to zero and the afternoon highs fail to make freezing during November and more often for sure in December. Brrrr !The workweek was shorter than expected as we were given Friday off meaning I only got 33 1/2 hours in which is disappointing. I enjoyed the extra day off and did run a few errands: mailing the gift for J & C at the post office; stopping by TV repair place to get some info; stopping by the newsstand; talking for awhile to Brant on the phone; and spending about two hours in Barnes & Noble doing some reading and browsing. I had some tomato soup and French bread for dinner and spent the rest night surfing the 'net and watching some TV.
Saturday was spent entirely at home as I did not venture out. After getting a good nights sleep I just relaxed watching college football and surfing the 'net. I had some oatmeal for breakfast and I fixed a box of Hamburger Helper for supper.
I think I have eaten Hamburger Helper probably about 4000 times in my life. I have tried every variety, and some of those have been discontinued. Lasagna is my favorite, and the stroganoff with the dried slices of potatoes is my least favorite. Sometimes I make my own version of hamburger helper by cooking some beef and mixing in something of my own choosing like rice, noodles, tomatoes, tomato sauce, cheese, or a can of soup like Cream of Mushroom. Nevertheless it is a filling meal and easy to prepare. I used to fry the beef in a skillet on the top of the stove, but in recent years I place it in a covered glass dish and microwave it for eight minutes, stopping it midway to stir. It doesn't seem any different than frying it stovetop. It may cost more money to run the microwave for 20 -25 minutes to fully prepare the dish but it requires less attention as I do not have to keep constantly stirring it like when it is in the skillet. I wish there were more that had a vegetable element to them, but it not like vegetables will keep in a box. Hamburger Helper and its cousins Tuna Helper and Chicken Helper are godsends for longtime bachelors like me who lack the discipline, skill, and motivation to cook fancy meals. I am sure, however, that there are many strong rebuttals and rebukes from some about my choice of HH on my menu. I probably eat Hamburger Helper about twice a month; Tuna Helper about twice a month, and Chicken Helper about once every two months.
Saturday evening was spent the same way the day was as I caught more college football including Texas Tech defeating Texas on the last play of the game. I largely did nothing else of any significance. That will have to change on Sunday.
I have started to work on my autobiographical blog http://dob5-31-58thestoryofmylife.blogspot.com/. One must have special permission to enter into the site and read it. If you are interested, please email me at mtzperspective@mail.com to let me know you want to read it so I can send you an invitation.
Sunday was a day similar to Saturday. We had another record high as the temperature reached 71 degrees under partly cloudy skies with a warming southerly breeze. This is probably the last 70 degree day here until perhaps sometime in the second half of March at the earliest, but more likely mid - April. I rested until late morning and then watched football which included another disappointing loss for the Denver Broncos with their fourth defeat in five games to drop their record to 4-4, still good enough for first place at this point in the AFC West. I slipped out afterwards to make a small grocery run at Albertsons and get the Sunday papers. I stopped at Subway for a footlong and read the papers.
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Today was the first day after the end of Daylight Savings Time and it was noticeable as darkness came around 5pm. I always strongly dislike the end of DST as it is very disappointing for darkness to come much earlier so suddenly. I sometime would like on the western edge of a time zone so the change is not so abrupt. One thing I would like to see is to have DST extended in November to the first Saturday night /Sunday morning for the changeover after the first Tuesday of the month instead just being the first Sat pm/Sun am changeover we have now. I think it is important to have Election Day conducted while DST is still be observed for the safety and welfare of voters and to help assist in late afternoon turnout. Maybe Congress will consider this at some point in the future.
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Sunday evening saw nothing special as I watched my TV shows while keeping track of the SNF game between the Patriots and Colts. The night ended around 2am as I retired for a nice nights rest.
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The week ahead is one that initially will focus on the elections. I will record the Monday Night Football game between two of my favorite clubs, the Redskins and the Steelers to enjoy after I get home from work. Then I am taking Tuesday off and will blog live starting around 4:30 pm and will stay with it through at least midnight and maybe beyond, reporting anything I find out from news sources such as CNN, ABC News, NBC News, MSNBC, as well as local sources such as KMGH, KUSA, KTWO, and KCNC. There are too many internet sources I will be looking at to list here. I believe I will be largely happy and satisfied with the anticipated results that occur in this election; more so than anyone with the close exception of 2006. This is the tenth presidential election I have followed since when I was a boy and probably the one that is bringing me the greatest level of excitement and anticipation ever. I was not able to be so involved in 1976 with the Jimmy Carter election, but it seems somewhat like that one was similar to this one with an honorable GOP candidate being exceeded by an exemplary Democratic one also. The elections in 1968, '72, '80, '84, '88, '92, '00, and '04 were very disappointing, and '96 was another one like '76 and this year as a Republican that was highly respected and decent was exceeded by a simply better Democrat. In '68 I was pulling for Humphrey; in '72 McGovern; in '80 Anderson; in '84 Mondale, in '88 Dukakis; in '92 Perot; in '96 Clinton; in '00 Nader; and '04 Kerry. So it looks like '08 will be only the third time that I will have been happy with the results. And it looks to be sweeter if the results for the Senate and House turn out to be as good or better than expected.
Later in the week I will record the CMA show; the Broncos game at Cleveland; and the TCU - Utah game. I also need to pay the monthly bills for the rent, cable, internet, and cell. For all of that it runs about $625 or so. And as usual there is the ever endless task of trying to get the place more neater and organized that seems to always be on the plate but never gets done. And next weekend will definitely require me to face the ugly fact of having to do the laundry after procrastinating on the project for a few weeks now, with it being done perhaps on Friday if that is another day off. I also see The Dark Knight is showing at the Dollar Movie Theatre so I may have to take that in while I have the chance to. I have to remember to bring my free movie tickets gift card I got from my sister earlier this year with me to Denver the next time I go down there or with my to Albuquerque later in the month so I can take in some newer films at some of the nicer theatres there.
I also need to make reservations for my motel rooms and car rental for my upcoming trip to NM Thanksgiving week. The itinerary as of now is to leave Cheyenne Tuesday afternoon; spend that night in Centennial; pickup the rental car Wednesday am and leave my truck at either Matt's or Hank's; drive Wednesday afternoon and early evening to Albq; check into the motel probably around 8pm; and make plans for Thursday. I will stay through Sunday morning and spend that night in Denver so I can return the rental car Monday morning and return to Cheyenne that Monday afternoon to return to work. Of course the itinerary is flexible and is contingent upon the weather so I may have to make changes as needed.
I also have to do that Walmart grocery trip, but I think I can delay that until next weekend with the exception of picking up some bread, milk, fruit, and vegetables which I will need sooner than then.
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