I had my first full week of freedom from work since last New Years week. I mostly rested as a cold has me feeling crummy and somewhat listless. The weather was largely very poor -- either extremely cold or snowy or windy or, for the most part, all three. This made outdoors activities impossible. I did go out a couple of times for some light meals - once to McDonalds, once to Wendy's (the chili and baked potatoes are always good and tasty), and again on Friday night to The Little Bear Inn, a restaurant located north of town on the way to Chugwater where I had a steak for probably about the first time this year. The restaurant was offering a steak at half-price to anyone born in 1958, the year the restaurant started in business. I got myself a sirloin with a baked potato and it was fine. I do not get to eat steak except on extremely rare occasions and 2009 may be a year where I go without having one. I did not eat a steak in 2006, 2005, or 2004 as I recall with the exception perhaps of a steak taco at Taco Bell, which really does not count.I did little else during this week but stay home and stay warm. I thought about going to the film The Day the Earth Stood Still that was released in the last couple of weeks, but I never did get to it. Instead, I watched some sports and some movies on the tele, and surfed the 'net. Mostly I rested and got plenty of sleep. I feel better physically as good as I have in quite some time with the chronic aches and pains that have beset me from the physical labor and being on my feet on hard surfaces for hours on end with few breaks, albeit the cold I have keeps me from being 100 %. I did go to the post office and got a Christmas card from my sister L and her family as well as a magazine called "Reminisce" that was enjoyable to read through.
I do not expect much on the job front to emerge until after New Years week. I am largely unoptimistic about anything developing soon. I will get an unemployment check in the coming weeks but it will only be for $143 per weekas the system works in a way not crediting me for my earnings during the third quarter of 2008 which were much greater than what I earned in the prior five quarters in 2007 into 2008. $572 a month will only pay my rent and electric/heat bill and leave very little for anything else.
Saturday I stayed in all day. Breakfast was a couple of bowls of Quaker Oat Squares cereal. It was mostly sunny but very cold with the Arctic Cold Wave back again for an unwelcome encore, although this edition was not as extreme as the one earlier this week. The high temperature stayed in the low teens and it is not expected to get below zero as the wind is belowing ferociously unlike the arctic wave of last week when it was largely calm. The forecast is not positive for the coming days, but at least it will break freezing a couple of times in the coming week and the sun is supposed to be out more often than not.
I watched the first of the many bowl games that will be played in the coming weeks. 34 games are slated for a twenty day period starting today through Thursday 8 January. Most of the games will be okay but nothing noteworthy. The first two today were very good as Wake Forest outlasted Navy in the inaugural Congresssional Bowl from Washington DC; and in the New Mexico Bowl from Albuquerque, Colorado St rallied from being down to overcome Fresno St in a game that was rather entertaining. The late afternoon St Petersburg Bowl was a blowout for South Florida over Memphis, and I am hopeful the Las Vegas Bowl between Arizona and Brigham Young turns out to be close. I also checked in on some college hoops from the MWC as San Diego St and Utah were winners while BYU lost to Arizona St as a last second winning shot by the Cougars was just an instant too late.
As the evening went along, I watched the bowl game as Arizona played well and defeated the Cougars 31-21. And it was most excellent to see the Dallass Cocaineboys go down to defeat yet again which all but ends their playoff aspirations as well as provides a fitting end to that colossus of evil, Texas Stadium.
It was nice to get a text message from my sister M. Later in the evening I talked on the phone with brother HBL for about an hour and watched halfheartedly some rerun movies. I finally went to bed around 4am.
Sunday was a bitterly cold day again with the high temperature struggling to make it to a balmy 21 degrees, but the northwest winds were brutal, pushing the wind chill values to well below zero for the most part. I stayed in and watched the early NFL game between Arizona and New England in blizzard bound Massachusetts until halftime, as the desert birds were annihilated in the outside winter elements. I made it outside around 12:30 to get the Sunday newspaper, and then went over to Shadows to watch the games not being telecast locally which were much better and competitive for the most part. I stayed at the sportsbar until after 5pm following the Broncos lackluster showing and defeat to the Buffalo Bills, the first time Denver has lost a home game to the Bills in over 41 years. I briefly went outside during the early 4th quarter to help a guy jump his truck but we were unsuccessful.
On the way home I made a pitstop at Safeway for the one box of hamburger helper I neglected to get while briefly at Walmart on Friday night. I see gasoline prices are holding steady around $1.30 per gallon which is the least expensive in the nation at this time. I spent the evening watching SNF between Carolina and New York; the New Orleans Bowl between Southern Mississippii and Troy; and the film "Sahara". I had some peach pie for supper as well and did some planning for the upcoming week which will include an eight day stint in Castle Rock to tend to Dave the Dog while my brother and his family travel back east for Christmas.
The evening was quiet otherwise as I enjoyed the solitude and surfed the 'net before retiring around 2am.
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