Happy Birthday To L

February 22, 2010 djones 7 Comments

Happy Birthday to L

Happy Birthday to You

(You look like a monkey

And live in a zoo)

I just can’t leave that last stanza off. Must be all the bad influences when I was growing up. As I mentioned before, today is the lovely L’s birthday. The five day span of me being the old coot to her young damsel is now over for another year. You can help celebrate by leaving a happy birthday comment for her. I have it on good authority she will not see this until tonight.

First up in our celebration, a Monkee video. The Monkees were/are one of L’s favorite groups and a teenage heart-throb of hers. In fact, a revival with three of the four Monkees is one of the few occasions that L ever successfully drug me to a teeny-gum concert. So here they are in their heyday:

You know you are getting up there when this cartoon applies to you. (Nudge, nudge, hint, hint.)

Happy Birthday L

Many Happy Returns

snow, weather

The Weather Outside Is …

February 22, 2010 djones 4 Comments

Remember yesterday when I mentioned the snow was continuing. Well guess what? It snowed and flurried all day today. Around noon today, this was the view out to the back patio:

Yep, that is about a foot of snow sitting on the table. That doesn’t include theÂ snow that blew off the table in the wind Thursday and Friday.

I spent a few hours shoveling the drive and the sidewalks (yet again) this afternoon. L proclaimed that I would be sore tomorrow when we spoke on the phone – we’ll have to see. It was a very wet and heavy snow and has continued to flurry this evening, so we have gotten another inch or two since 4pm. Molly is truly enjoying it. She sprints out and buries herself in the snow and then pops out to try and scare me. She also loves to eat snow – I wonder if that is the doggie equivalent of human iced drinks?

Time to get on with the fun and games.

snow, sports, weather

Let It Snow, …

February 21, 2010 djones 4 Comments

It has been snowing since early this morning and has picked up a bit this evening. I thought it was about through snowing and shoveled the walk and drive before I headed over to mom’s for supper (and to fix her phone and computer). During the few hours I was there, my truck got covered with another 3-4 inches of snow and it is coming down. Of course, the under sheeting of ice from Thursday is still in place and it is like ice skating on invisible ice in places.

All of which brought the Olympics and Curling to my mind. There is something magical about watching one of the curlers skate on one foot down the ice. So now I am ready to become a curler – I can skate down my driveway on one foot sweeping with a snow shovel. Or at least waving my snow shovel.

In preparation for some Olympic snow shoveling in the morning, I bring you some other sports for guys my age from a belated birthday card:

Friday, rant and rave

Belated Friday Rant and Rave

February 20, 2010 djones 5 Comments

Due to the press of real work and getting material ready and packed for the precinct caucuses, I fell behind once more. So here is a belated Friday Rant and Rave for your perusal and edification.

Rant – the weather Thursday. After raining most of the afternoon, around 5pm the mercury began falling and the rain turned to snow. Of course, all the earlier moisture on the ground froze into to sheet ice underneath the new snow. It made the journey to deliver the precinct materials an adventure. Nothing is more awe inspiring that watching the semi beside you passing you while sliding with all wheels locked. It was slicker than snail snot for a while.

Rant – the utter confusion at the central committee meeting as they tried to go over the precinct captain instructions. Why someone doesn’t make the by-laws and rules more uniform so that there could be a simple set of printed instructions I do not know. Oh wait, I take that back – if that happened there would be less room for back door politics.

Rave – the nice clean snow covering all the brown grass. After weeks of dry and relative warmth, it is good to get snow and more normal temperatures.

Rave – three security fixes for programs I often use released on the same day.

Rant – three security fixes for programs I often use released on the same day.

Huh? Moment – Why does Molly like to sit in the snow? She will use her nose and paws to create a snow hill in the yard, then climb up on the hill and sit, surveying her domain. When you call her to come in, she will disdainfully turn her head, give you the doggy eye, and radiate the “Why would I want to leave my throne to go in where it is warm?” vibe. I suspect she is waiting for this friend to come over and join her.