Day One of Vacation

Day One of my week off from work was a bust.  I'm not going to say how many texts or emails I got today from work.  I might as well have been in the office.   But at least I was able to be in my comfy sweat pants and t-shirt today. 

I'm hoping tomorrow's emails and texts will be less. 

Happy Birthday, Dad

TWIT and I would like to wish a very happy birthday to my Dad.  His birthday meals started off with his favorite Krispy Kreme raspberry jelly donuts, and the sweets will continue shortly as we tear into a very pretty chocolate meringue pie.  

Happy National Chocolate Cake Day

TWIT and I would like to wish everyone a very happy National Chocolate Cake Day, which just happens to coincide with my birthday.  And FYI chocolate cake has been my birthday of choice for over 50 years.  Nuff said.  

Happy Birthday To Me

Today is my birthday, and I have to say it is an awesome birthday so far.  We started celebrating Thursday night here at The Compound, and we will continue to celebrate next week, as I am taking a much need week of vacation.  But the partying will continue tomorrow as we celebrate The Old Man's birthday.

CarlaPalooza Continues

My coworkers did their part to keep CarlaPalooza going on strong today.  Here's a list of all of the birthday goodies they brought me today:

Chick-Fil-A chicken biscuit
Glazed donuts from the awesome Donut Lady
A chocolate iced honey bun from the awesome Donut Lady (my fave item at her bakery)
A big pan of "Better Than Robert Redford" ice cream cake 
Fried chicken and collard greens for lunch

Now I just want to go home and take a nap. 

CarlaPalooza Has Started

I am very happy to report that CarlaPalooza has started.  My birthday isn't until Saturday, but the festivities have already begun.  The 'Rents made me a Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake today, and in a few minutes, we are going to slice into it and get the party started.  When it's your birthday week, there are no rules. 

Happy National Peanut Butter Day

I just found out that today is National Peanut Butter Day.  TWIT and I would like to wish everyone a very happy National Peanut Butter Day. 

Unknowingly, I had peanut butter today for a morning snack.  So I'm all good.  You've got plenty of time to get some peanut butter tonight to celebrate. 

Wacky Wednesday

I honestly think I worked harder today than I have in my previous 28 years at Zoeller Company.  And I even brought work home to do tonight.  As soon as I post this I will be hard at work on my laptop doing more work.  

My hope is that tonight is Powerball night.  Nuff said. 

But You Know I Don't Cook

We had awesome omelets tonight, courtesy of the Girls, and the Rents both said that they were awesome.  And I made them.  Thanks to my awesome Tupperware Egg Cooker.  I will go on record and say that it is the best Tupperware product I've ever bought.  In just 2 minutes it will make a great two egg omelet.  And it also has two cups to put in the tray in case you want to poach eggs, like I do. 

We had cinnamon toast and a great cup of coffee to accompany our omelets tonight.  And everybody is full, and the 'Rents said that they are looking forward to our next omelets. I might be onto something. 

Weather Update

Last Monday morning, when I went to work it was 8 degrees, and we had 3 inches of snow on the ground.  That night we got a couple more inches. 

This Monday morning when I left for work, it was 58 degrees, and all of the snow was gone.  

Tonight, another cold front is moving through, and bringing with it a little bit of rain and a lot of wind.  The weatherazzi has already been talking about 40 mph winds tonight.  This means I'm going to put the Girls in for the night early so I don't have to get out in that mess later. 

Way To Go, Patriots

TWIT and I would like to congratulate the New England Patriots on yet another AFC Championship, awarding them with yet another trip to the Super Bowl.  That's all I can say about that! 

Flashback Saturday

  This picture is the apartment of an old friend.  I called them last night and they were able to dig out this picture and scan it and email it to me as an addendum to my Flashback Friday post about the mega snow of 1994.  This gives you non-believers an idea of what 18 inches of snow on the ground looks like. 

Flashback Friday

This day in history:
On January 18, the weatherazzi was only calling for a dusting of snow.  When we woke up the morning of January 19, we had 18 inches of snow in Louisville, and the tempter was 15 below zero.  

I remember that day well.  Our old family friend Don worked at Zoeller, too, and at church on the night of the 18th, he told me that if "it got bad in the morning", he'd come by and pick me up.  I didn't think anything else of it until we got up on the 19th and there was no power in our neighborhood and 18 inches of snow on the ground.  I called Don and his wife answered, and I told her to tell him to forget it.  

I went out about my business and the 'Rents and I were in front of the fireplace when we heard a car horn honking in the distance.  I went to look out the front room window and saw two headlights coming down the road.  Yep, it was Don.  He came in the house and looked at me and said "Are you going to wear your pajamas to work?"  I got the hint, and went and changed clothes while he got a grocery bag and started getting some food out of the pantry for us to take to work.  

Needless to say not only were we the only people out on the roads, but we were the only people at Zoeller that day.  And it was a good thing we came on in.  The pipes had burst in the kitchen on the first floor of our office building, and up on the second floor where Customer Service was, parts of the roof had caved in from the weight of the snow, and there was snow in various locations of our office.  While Don worked on the pipes, I got as many big garbage bags as I could find, cut them open and placed them over our files and computers, and then I opened the window and managed to find a small shovel downstairs and started shoveling snow from our office floor out the window. 

When we left work and headed home later, once again we were just about the only people on the roads.

Yep, January 19, 1994 is a day I will never forget. 

Weather Update

This update is very news-worthy.  We got to 31 degrees today!! That's just one degree less than the 32 degree freezing level.  But let me tell you that it didn't feel warmer.  When I went out to get the eggs tonight from the Girls, it seemed as cold as it has been for the past three weeks of our deep freeze.  

Enough Already, Again

I know this sounds like a broken record, but enough already.  It's no secret that winter is my favorite season, but enough already.  This morning it was 8 degrees when I had to out and take care of the Girls and leave for work.  Tomorrow, it's supposed to be a blistering 14 degrees at the same time.  

The Girls don't seem to mind the cold.  They love their heat lamp, and have been giving us lots of eggs every day faithfully.  But we just need to warm things up a bit for my trips to the coop in the evening and in the morning.  

Enough, Already

It was 8 degrees when I left for work this morning.

It was 12 degrees when I left work and headed home this evening. 

Nuff said. 

Another Update On The Girls

We are very very happy to report that we got 6 eggs yesterday and 6 eggs again today!  No slackers among our girls for the past two days!  This made me forget all about being pissed at the one Girl that didn't want to come in on Saturday night. 

We also had another first today with the Girls.  The Old Man reported that he saw one of them up on the swing (that they are afraid of) and she was on it for a couple of minutes before flying off.  That's a start!

Update On The Girls

We got maybe an inch of snow Friday night, and I was anxious to see how The Girls would react in the snow.  Yesterday morning when I opened the coop to let them out, they saw the white stuff on the ground inside their pen and they didn't want to come out.  There were two of them standing on the ramp and the other four were behind them, just looking out of their little door.  After about 10 minutes, the two on the ramp came down, and the other four followed.  They all went over to get a drink of water and then they went under the coop where there was no snow, and they stayed there most of the day.  I can't say as I blame them. 

Security Tip Saturday

It's been my pleasure to bring you 20 Weeks To Preparedness for the previous 19 weeks.  Today is the 20th and final list I will be posting.  I urge you to take the time and make a conscious effort and get all of the items I've listed in the past weeks to help you and your family make it through an emergency.  As I mentioned previously, there are thousands and thousands of people in the northeast that would have paid good money for an emergency kit for the family when last week's blizzard moved through. 

If you've been diligent for the previous 19 weeks, after you get the items on today's list you can rest a bit easier because you and your family will be prepared.

Week 20

Utility or camping knife
Work gloves
Safety goggles
Disposable dust masks

Flashback Friday

The Weatherazzi had us all worked up today for our first Winter Storm of the season. Last night the Jefferson County Public School System already called off school for today.  It made me think back to the beloved snow days of my youth.

I would get to sleep in until how late I wanted, and then for lunch, me and Grandma and our neighbor Alice Jones would have Chef Boy R Dee frozen pizza for lunch.  For some reason, we never bought these frozen pizzas at the grocery store; I would walk down the road to the neighborhood store and buy two of them for each snow day.  Then Gram would slice some onion and green pepper to "doctor up" the pizzas, and then Alice would put on her snow boots and trudge down to The Compound and have lunch with us.  

This memory came flooding back today, as I had frozen pizza on a snow day.  Only I didn't get to stay home today. 

Happy National Milk Day

TWIT would like to wish everyone a very happy National Milk Day, which also happens to coincide with the eve of our first winter storm of the season.  As we all know here in the Ohio Valley, any prediction of snow causes us all to run to the store for milk, bread, and liquor.  

I stopped at our 'hood Wal-Mart on the way home to pick up a few non-winter-storm-related things, and I have to say that the store wasn't as crazy as I thought it would be.  I'm sure that by now things have deteriorated. 

I'm glad that we have provisions to weather out this storm.  All I need to do now is make it home tomorrow evening. 

Cray Cray Wednesday

Last Wednesday night when I pulled the garbage can out to the end of the driveway, it was 14 degrees.  Tonight when I pulled the garbage can out to the end of the driveway, it was 63 degrees.  If that isn't cray cray, I don't know what is.  

Tomorrow it's supposed to be 68, with 2-3 inches of rain in the forecast between Thursday and Friday.  Then during the afternoon on Friday the temperatures are supposed to plummet and the rain is supposed to change over to heavy snow, and by the time this winter "storm" is over, we are predicted to have 2-3 inches of snow.  

I just want to get home from work on Friday with the least amount of drama. 

A Great Day At The Compound

I'm so excited I can hardly type this post -- tonight we got a record breaking six eggs from the Girls!  Yep, one from each of my pretty Girls.  You can't begin to imagine how happy we are tonight, and how proud we are of our Girls. 

Monday, Monday, Not So Much

I am very happy to report that today wasn't a very bad Monday at all.  The day started out crazy, with some freezing rain and slick roads late last night and this morning, causing schools in the area to be on a two-hour delay, but my ride to the office was quicker than normal with no school buses to deal with.  And the day continued to be great.  It was one of the best Mondays that I've had in a while. 

As I type this, I haven't gone out to put the Girls to bed and gather eggs, but I'm still hoping for at least 3 eggs today after their record-breaking weekend.

And even though they're calling for black ice tomorrow morning, I'm still looking forward to a great Tuesday.  I hope my momentum keeps up. 

We're In Trouble

On the way to church, we drive through the UofL campus, past a lot of dorms and class room buildings, so naturally we see a lot of college kids walking around that area.  This morning on the way to church, it was 14 degrees.  And we saw countless late-teen and twenty-something girls wearing dresses or skirts wearing summer-type sandals and no panty hose or socks.  These are the same girls that can't wait to wear their Ugg boots in the summer as soon as the temperature dips below 75 degrees.   This is the generation that will be in charge of us in a few decades.  If that's the case, we're in trouble. 

Security Tip Saturday

We're almost at the end of our 20 Weeks To Preparedness.  If you've followed the lists for the previous 18 weeks and have bought and gathered all of the items, you should rest easier knowing you and your family have an almost-complete emergency kit.  There's still time to catch up; just visit the TWIT archives for the previous 18 Security Tip Saturday posts. 

Week 19

1 box quick energy snacks

Comfort foods

Plastic wrap

Aluminum foil

Denture care items (if needed)

Thank You, AmazonI

I want to publicly thank Amazon for such awesome service.  

They delivered a package today, and when the box was dropped off at the house, I received an email one minute later that included a photograph of the actual box sitting on my side porch where it was delivered. 

And then when we opened the box, we discovered a screw up in one item.  I immediately called Amazon, and about one minute later, they had told me to keep that item and they would send the correct it out and I should receive it on Sunday, free of charge.  You can't get much better service than that. 

Yep, I love Amazon. 

Something You Don't Hear Every Day

I had to stop at Wal-Mart and pick up a few groceries, and while I was in line waiting to check out, I heard this.  And I quote:

"If you can't see, take off yo glasses."

California Psychics

When I was getting ready for work this morning while watching an old episode of "The Facts Of Life", there was a commercial for "California Psychics."  

It only cost a dollar a minute.  The commercial was making it sound like the psychics in California were the shit.  But it made me wonder why the psychics in California are superior to psychics in other states.  What makes them better than Nebraskan Psychics, or Delaware Psychics, or for heavens sake, Kentucky Psychics?  

I don't have the answer. 

Baby, It's Even Colder Outside

This morning when I headed out the door for work, it was -2 at The Compound.  Yes, that wasn't a typo; it was two below zero, and actually even colder when you add in the wind chill factor.  At noon today it was a balmy 12 degrees, with a projected high of 19 today, and back down to 6 degrees tonight.

And still, the Girls don't seem to mind the cold very much.  They still love their red heat light, and for the past week when we've opened up the coop door in the morning, they've stayed inside and came out a couple of hours later.  And I can't say that I blame them. 

And I'm very happy to report that my old Blazer and the old Ranger both are starting up and running just fine in these arctic temperatures.  I hope they keep it up. 

Welcome 2018

Other than the high today only getting to 14 degrees, New Years Day has been awesome.  I rested and did nothing for most of the day, which was well needed.  And for the first time in years, I can honestly say that I am not dreading going back to work tomorrow.  I am excited about the challenges that face me and my department in this new year, and in 2018, I am going to become the best leader that my company has ever seen.