Just waiting...

 

Yes we're all sitting around waiting for the next installment snowmageddon. We are approaching 7 feet of snow in a month. That would seem to be more appropriate for Alaska. Sure we get snow in the winter. That's part of the deal around here. I suppose the ski areas love this, except for the fact that few people will be able to get to the ski areas, at least for the next few days. The snow begins tonight at about 7 pm. More worrying than the snow are the hurricane force winds. As long as we don't lose power we'll deal with the snow. Where to put it is the real problem. Shoveling a foot of snow is really not a big deal normally. It's just part of the deal. There are 8 foot piles of snow on either side of the driveway making backing out an adventure. Locally the city has widened the main roads but the side streets are a different story. I have a friend who has a heart condition. His car is buried in his driveway. He had to get the supermarket and the pharmacy. Though he has a supermarket about an 5 minute walk from his house under normal conditions these aren't normal conditions. This was last Tuesday. I am very familiar with his neighborhood as I grew up around the corner. Dave lives on a two way side street. As I made the turn onto his street I prayed that nobody was coming down in the opposite direction. I had prearranged by phone for him to be outside so that the pick up could be as quick as possible as there was just enough room for one car. My street is a bit wider than his so that if you encounter a car traveling in the opposite direction there is space to squeeze by each other. Not so on the aptly named Winter St. It was akin to driving down a canyon of snow with 7 or 8 foot piles of snow on each side. Fortunately nobody was coming the other way. And despite the congested traffic we accomplished our tasks.

 

Then there's the cold. As I opened my gas bill there was all this information on how I had used more gas than normal and that I should turn my thermostat down to save money. As far as I'm concerned this is stupid when the temperature is somewhere between 20 degrees and 0. No matter what you set the thermostat once the indoor temperature drops below the setting on goes the heat. And my guess is that whether you set it at 70, 68 or 60 degrees as soon as the indoor temperature drops below the set temp the furnace will turn on. So why should I walk around my house in a winter coat when the outside temperature is in the single digits and my heat will run continuously no matter what I set it at. So I tell the gas company to shut up and be grateful that I can pay my bill.

Last night I made the mistake of falling asleep early while watching TV. This meant that I would be up late. Fortunately I didn't have to work but I was awake until 2 in the morning. I decided to go back to going through my pictures and organize them in a better fashion. I started back in 2008. Most of these pictures have been posted before both here and on Spaces but what the heck. So here are 4 slide shows that I have put together. There are local shots and shots from the various trips Arlene and I have taken both here and in New Hampshire and Maine. I made the first one last night, actually early this morning. I was getting bleary eyed but I wanted to finish the first one before I went to bed. I made a few goofs like using a comma instead of a period. Screwing up the titles by numbering them wrong. Still they are placed here in the proper order.

 

Apart from all that I am cozy and warm with enough food to carry me for several days. Tonight Arlene invited me to dinner. I will supply the wine or beer depending on what we're having. Ok I have been in front of this computer screen long enough. Maybe I'll watch some television. For me it's the easiest way to take a nap.

I'm outta here.