Yesterday, the weatherazzi had everybody all worked up over severe storms with large hail and tornadoes here in our area last night. I am very happy to report that we didn't get much weather at all here at The Compound last night. We got some rain and a bit of wind, but nothing beyond that.
Today, it has been crazy - when I got up this morning it was 60 at 7:30. At noon, the temp had dropped to 35 with crazy wind. I'm glad to be inside our nice warm house this afternoon.
Yesterday was not a good day for me here at The Compound. Almost everything I touched either broke or quit working. My bad luck started off when I was putting some glasses in the cabinet and broke one of my favorite etched Good Shepherd Security Consulting glasses. Then the handle of a pan broke off; luckily the pan was empty or else that would have been another piece of bad luck. Then I tried (key word) to turn on the lamp by my recliner and it wouldn't work. I tried three new bulbs and nothing. This morning I am going to a lamp repair shop and hopefully they will be able to fix it. Some might say "just buy another lamp" but not me. It is one of a set of two heavy, sturdy brass lamps that we've had for years, and I want to keep the matching set. Then to top off the day, KFC got my order wrong.
I've been up for an hour, and so far I haven't broken or spilled anything.
Stay tuned.
On my weekly trip to Krogers today, I noticed a few more shoppers masking up than in previous weeks. I'm not ashamed to say I, too, was masked up. I'm just still glad that people are concerned and don't want to catch anything.
Nuff said.
It was cold yesterday morning, but the temperature made it up to 68. And the best part of yesterday was it was the fourth day in a row that we had sunshine. Not so much today. It's cloudy and 58 right now, and the temp will stay at 58, and storms are in the forecast.
While we are on the subject of the weather, I think Puxatawney Phil was right about spring coming early. This week, I've seen some robins out in the yard, and yesterday morning I saw one of the little yellow and black finches out on the finch feeder.
A week ago, I checked online and saw I was available for an upgrade on my iPhone that I have for my Good Shephard Security Counseling business. I sure jumped on it. I had an iPhone 8, and the offer for an iPhone 13 was only $1.99 a month for three years, If I'd bought one on eBay, it would have been almost $400. So I jumped on it. Score. And when I bought it, I also upgraded my monthly plan, which will be for $15 less than I'd been paying. Double score.
As my luck always holds out, it took me two days to get everything copied over from the old iPhone to the new one, but I persevered and did it. All photos and all of my bizillion songs are now on my new iPhone.
I'm happy today.
I am ready for a nap, faithful readers. I was up early this morning because I had to meet my income tax guy at my old office at 8:00 to get my paperwork back. I am not ashamed to say I did not enjoy getting up early. But it is what it is. I think I might get in my recliner now and take a nap. No shame in that, I say. I've earned the privilege of napping in the afternoon.
Here at The Compound, we barely got a dusting of snow last night. And that was fine with us. But it was much colder today. The high was in the low 20's. As I type this tonight, we are still enjoying a nice cozy Duraflame log burning in the fireplace.
Stay safe.
With snow in the forecast for later today, I remember back to the days when I was a kid - when there was snow in the forecast, I would get so excited. I loved playing out in the snow, and loved getting to stay home from school even more. On "snow days" when there was no school, we had a lunch ritual. I would bundle up and put on my snow boots and Gram would send me down to the Little Store. It wasn't a long walk - the store was just one house down from us. There at the Little Store, I would buy a Chef Boy Ardee pepperoni pizza. While I was gone, Gram would chop some onion and bell pepper to "doctor up" the frozen pizza. She would also call our neighbor Alice to let her know what time the pizza would be ready. Alice, too, would bundle up and put on her snow boots and walk next door to our house, bringing along with her some of the awesome tasting little bottles of Coke for us to have.
Now with snow expected later this afternoon, instead of being excited I'm nerved up; I told a friend I would pick her up and take her to an eye doctor's appointment because she was afraid she wouldn't be seeing too well to drive home after her eyes were dilated. Luckily, the current weatherazzi reports say rain will start about 3 or 4 o'clock and then switch to snow a couple of hours later. So I should be home before roads get slick.
It's very windy as I type this, and the temperature is 60 and it is sunny. The weatherazzi is getting us worked up yet again over some snow tomorrow afternoon. We've dodged a few bullets this winter, and I hope we dodge another one tomorrow.
Stay tuned.
It has been peaceful here inside at The Compound since Sunday evening when an ATT land line phone outage started. As of this afternoon, the outage is still going on. And we are enjoying not having a bizillion telemarketers call all day long. This is making me start to think about just cancelling the land line. The only reason I still have it is because some of Bud's friends still use it to call to check on him. He doesn't have a cell phone, and he still likes to get phone calls from friends and family. But it is definitely something I will be thinking about in the next couple of weeks.
Stay tuned.
I am sorry to report that last night's Super Bowl aka The Taylor Swift Show was the most lack luster Super Bowl that I've watched. I don't like the Chiefs, and don't follow the Forty-Niners, so I wasn't rooting for either team. And if someone had held a gun to my head and told me to name three songs by Usher, I would have to tell them to go ahead and pull the trigger. I did think that Reba did a great job on the National Anthem. On a side note, it was 50 years ago back in the ancient days of 1974 when Reba sang the National Anthem for the first time at the National Finals Rodeo.
As for my favorite commercial of the night, my award goes to Dunkin Donuts, starring J-Lo, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Tom Brady.
Everyone else is going crazy over Super Bowl Sunday, but me and the Old Man are having Soup Bowl Sunday. We are getting ready to have a bowl of homemade [by me] vegetable soup and a favorite tuna fish sandwich on toast. Then later tonight if we aren't still too full, we will have some queso and tortilla chips, washed down with a cold Bud Light. We are pretty low key these days when it comes to partying.
May your favorite team win.
For the past couple of months, on Saturday afternoons the Old Man and I have been watching the QVC channel - mainly because their emphasis on Saturdays is on cooking products and food. I have to say it's pretty entertaining, especially today's viewing. The woman doing the hosting reminded me straight up of a Saturday Night Live character that would be hosting something like QVC. Her comments and jokes were just like something I would have heard on SNL.
Before you think anything further, in the few months we've been watching the Saturday QVC cooking show, today is the only time I've bought something - and it was something that we saw I think the first Saturday we watched it two months ago - three nesting measuring cups. The best part of these cups are the way they are designed - you don't have to crouch down and look at the measuring cup level on the kitchen countertop - it has the measurements on the inside of the cups so all you have to do is look down.
Who knows? Maybe it will help me to cook more.
Stay tuned.
I made a quick trip to our local Wal-Mart grocery store yesterday, and am happy to report another mullet sighting. This one was gray, and the sides were trimmed high and tight, but the party in the back was long and curly. I was impressed.
Mullet count: 2
It looks like Puxatawney Phil has been right for the week after he didn't see his shadow. It was 62 and sunny yesterday, and today through Sunday the temperatures will be in the low 60's. After our week of single digit temperatures last month, this is a welcome reprieve.
I really shouldn't say "wishful" because it should be saying-prayers-Wednesday. I have some friends now going through different troubles, situations, and thanksgivings. I am praying for peace, comfort, healing, and thanks for the various issues they are going through right now.
One friend got a great report from her oncologist yesterday - saying still no sign of cancer, and that they would see her in a year for another scan. Another friend is rejoicing that her doctors said she is cancer free. Another friend is dealing with debilitating back pain as a result from a fall. Another friend is dealing with a major plumbing issue at her house, which is a big drama, as all plumbing issues are.
I'm just thankful for these friends that are a part of the Old Man and my family of friends. And I am thankful for you, faithful readers.
I feel very old today. I watched the last hour of the Grammy Awards last night, and just now read the list of all of the winners. Other than Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Chris Stapleton, I didn't know any other winner, nor the majority of the nominees. Yep, I feel old.
Mullet sightings here in my 'hood have been as rare as Bigfoot sightings. But yesterday at the grocery store, I saw a doozy. It was a long gray mullet. When I say "long" the party-in-the-back went down to the bottom of his Levi denim jacket he was wearing. I have to say it was an impressive mullet.
I am happy to report that we had sunshine all day long today, and the temperature got up to 56. And just more reinforcement for Puxatauney Phil's prediction yesterday - when I went to the grocery store today, I saw two guys wearing shorts.
Spring time is coming, faithful readers.
It was a beautiful, sunny day yesterday and the temperature reached 60 degrees here in the 'Ville. I went to the store, and sure enough, I saw two guys wearing shorts, one of which was wearing flip flops. I hope that is a more reliable sign of early spring weather than Puxatawney Phil.
I'm not specific, but I'm pretty sure it's been well over a week since we've seen the sunshine. But it has been out today and for that we are all thankful.
