Too bad its not 65 degrees and balmy, but one
cannot expect this quite yet at this latitude for another decade or so in February. The weather has been less than acceptable over the recent past few weeks, but as we have crossed the midpoint of this month, at least there is more of a light at the end of the tunnel. Today brings sunshine but also modest winds and about 3" of snow covering the ground with temps right around 20 degrees. Hopefully the forecast of improvement will bear out over the coming days. As Sunday morning moved along I could see the temps surpassing 30 degrees with light winds and ample sunshine making significant progress on melting the recently fallen snow.
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Its now been over two months since the layoff commenced and no word yet when and if a return is on the horizon. For the most part I do not get to do much but stay home and rest. With the truck in critical condition I do not get out much now. I will only drive it very rarely in the coming weeks when its really nice and warm out relative to what is has been in recent weeks. Having no real forward inertia in the truck is risky on streets when snow and ice are present and the temperature is quite cold. Of course if works restarts, then I will have to deal with it as its 8-9 miles to the job site which would be a two hour walk, more in incliment weather - and impossible at this point at my age and health.
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This last week I stayed in entirely. I need little if anything and if the weather is incliment there is no reason to try to get out. I have all the groceries I need, and the internet and cable connect me to the world so I stay informed and entertained during this long down stretch.
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I watch movies, some TV series I am following, sports like hockey and MWC hoops, and set my own schedule for doing anything. I spend time on the 'net and do random surfing with topics that cross my mind or are triggered by other thoughts or info from the station I am listening to or watching. When the cable gets stale I put on some music or listen to the radio.
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Meals consist of oatmeal or cold cereal for the day's opener, and various simple entrees for the second meal. Among what I have had in the last week is grilled cheese sandwiches, soup, mac & cheese, canned pasta, fish or chicken sandwiches, and assorted vegetables. I have some cornbread mix in the cupboard I want to prepare in the coming days, as well as some instant mashed potatoes and some hamburger helper.
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One thing about staying in is that one tends to get stale and lethargic in keeping up with household tasks and upkeep. When I am working, I tend to be very disciplined about keeping the kitchen clean and the dishes done. But I have seen a marked deterioration in my attentiveness to this as well as other domestic tasks. Not that anything is pressing as I am only accountable and responsible to myself. I have lived in this apartment for over 19 months and had only two visitors. One, my former coworker Hadley, helped my once carrying the TV and recliner up the stairs. And then Todd has been here about 8 times over this span of time. Other than those two, its been solitude. Maybe thats a good thing, but maybe its not.
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I do not envision much different in the coming week. Maybe I can finally shake this persistent cold that I have been struggling with for more than a few weeks. It tends to ebb and flow in its intensity but I have been trying to rest and keep extra hydrated to fight the invader. I have boiled a few pots of water down and ran the humidifier to raise the humidity to help my dry throat out.
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At least I somewhat solved my troubles with the computer. This time, browsers (both IE7 and Mozilla Firefox) refused to open up earlier last week for a few hours in the evening. The Mozilla Firefox browser has been nonoperational for over ten days now. I talked to a tech support dude and he suggested removing the old and largely unused Norton program that came with the computer. Since removing the browser is working fine overall although there is still a few kinks such as suddenly closing all windows for some unknown reason, and the computer losing its connection to the 'net while in hard wired link to the modem while I play card games offline. I hope to buy a newer more advanced laptop in late 2010 or 2011. I should be able to get something that is much better and sophisticated at a lower price probably than I paid for this one. I was told by the tech the latest upgrade for Mozilla is flawed and to hold off for a few weeks until all the bugs get worked out.
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Later Sunday morning I walked over to the drugstore and got the Sunday papers and a gallon of milk. Then I enjoyed some of the warm rejuvenating sunshine coming through the windows at the DQ as I had some chicken strips and a root beer float while reading the newspaper for about an hour and a half through the noon hour. Then I made it back home with the bags of stuff and relaxed through the afternoon enjoying a splendid Avalanche / Red Wings game after a not so good Flyers / Rangers game that I had recorded. I drifted off to sleep midway through 60 Minutes but awoke to a phone call from Todd around 8:30 and we had a good conversation for about 15 minutes. Then I retired to bed for the night before 9pm.
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*****
The quartet of Best Pictures nominees does not stir much interest from many people, including yours truly. Of the five pictures, the only one that intrigues me is "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". "Frost/Nixon seems to be a rather dry film. "Milk" is of no interest, nor is "Slumdog Millionaire". I am not interested in "The Reader", but I will probably see it in the next few years once it makes it to basic satellite.
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