journal

A View From the Field

March 21

I inverted last night, so I was very late getting to bed, late getting up, and I didn't get a lot of sleep. I got up around 10:30, I think, and I knitted on the plum sock. I made fairly good progress on it.

I was so late that I didn't do much of anything.

I decided not to go to church tonight on the basis of the weather forecast last night, and I called it wrong. Well, as Mary Ann said, if we decided not to go it would be fine, but if we went it would get ugly. That's how it was. I would have had to go to bed a whole lot earlier, with clean hair, if I'd decided to go anyway.

The weather today was actually rather nice. The high temperature was 47º and it was mostly clear. The wind shifted from the west to the north and while it was doing so, it got strong, with gusts up to 37 mph, but it has calmed down almost completely now. Now they are saying the nasty weather will be Sunday morning. I hope not, but one never knows.

The guys slept. They both got some loving, and Grayson kept trying to sit on me all afternoon.

So that's all I have to report. It's a cloudy, cool night in the field.

March 20 - Spring Equinox

Oh, I'm doing it again, but my day got all out of whack again. I got to bed last night about 12:30 and I got up around 9:30, but then I knitted on the red sock and I was determined I would knit until I finished the leg. Well. I screwed up the pattern in one place so badly that I had to rip out about six rows, and then I had 20 or 24 more rows to go. I did it, and I did the first four rows of the heel flap. Then I played solitaire and knitted a couple of rows on the plum sock. I was just about ready to get up when I had to sit down again...and I started over, although I didn't do any more on the red sock. I counted rows on the blue sock, just to get a marker placed. I have about 25 more rows to do on the leg of that sock before I start the heel. I always try to place a row marker after 40 or 50 rows, just because the more rows there are to count the more likely I am to miscount, and i get tired of counting 72 rows four or five times.

So I was very late getting dressed and eating. I don't remember doing anything in particular, but I was so late that I didn't have much time to do anything. I did get a message from the accountant that they got my tax stuff, so that's good. After the talking ended, I started reading, and I just kept on, because I couldn't decide what, if anything, I wanted to eat. I finally had something just a little while ago.

The weather was not inspiring. It was warm enough - the high temperature fell from 43º at midnight to 33º late in the day - but it was rainy or drizzly and very foggy. It's hard to tell, but some of the fog might have been snow showers, At least I know I couldn't see down the harbor all day. Of course, it was extremely humid - over 90% - and that doesn't do my joints any good at all. Yuck.

The guys slept. Grayson had a hairball this morning, so he didn't feel very good and he wanted to sit on me all day. He did get to sleep on my lap while I was doing my surfing, but I was doing other things later and he couldn't sit on me. At one point, I got up to do something and he was on the ugly chair's footstool and Louie was on the floor, on the envelopes that Grayson has pushed off the desk. Louie went away after that, and I don't know where he is now, but I expect he's up in the bedroom. WE know what to do in weather like this.

So it was a very quiet day and now it's late and I have to wash my hair, even though I don't think I'm going out tomorrow - er, later today. It's a cold, dark, rainy, foggy night in the field. Yuck. But spring is here officially, even though it won't come to the Copper Country for another six weeks, minimum.

March 19

I did get to bed before midnight - just. I slept well, for the most part, and I got up around 9:30, although I just dozed for the last hour. I knitted on the red sock, and I was surprised at how little I got done in an hour. Oh, well, I'll just keep at it.

I didn't do more because I had a rather long task list for the day. The first thing was to get to the post office and get my taxes sent off, and then I stopped at the store and paid my tab and got some more JD, so I should be good for almost a month.

The next task, once I got home, was to do something about the bogus check in my old account. That didn't take very long, although I was having a hard time understanding the people on the other end of the line - either they talked too fast or with too heavy an accent. Of course, they wanted to freeze my account, but I can't do that.

So the next task was to try to get the electronic credits and debits transferred over to the new account. Whew! It took an hour or more and more tries than I could count to get into the bank's employee site, even with the patient lady on the phone with me. Once I did that, changing the account number didn't take that long. Getting the supplemental premiums transferred wasn't hard, either - they have a site that lets you do that. The Part D site isn't as easy - I had to print out a form, sign it, and I will have to mail it.

Then I attacked the Social Security site. Aaarrgggghhhhh!!!!! I admit it was around 4:30 when I first tried to access it, but it took me at least five hours before I could get an email with the security code before it expired!!! I was nearly ready to give up when I finally got one that worked. The first thing I did was to change my account so that the security codes will be texted to me on the cell phone. That means I have to copy them manually, rather than cutting and pasting, but I think it will be faster that way. At least the first one they texted me came through immediately. That was easy, as was changing the account number. It was getting into the site that was hard. Oh, yes, and all evening, I've been getting security code emails, a whole lot more than I ever asked for, but several hours after I might have asked for them! What a mess! And the change to my account won't be active until May, but at least it's done.

Anyway, all this is one reason why I never did it before. I knew it would be a hassle, although I didn't know it would be this bad. So now I can wait a couple of months and then I can find out how to close the old account and be back to one again. After the problems I had balancing the two accounts over the past couple of days, I'm going to be glad to get it over with! Right now my nerves are rather jangled.

Oh, yes, and after some conversation with Pastor about the title of his sermon, it dawned on me that I needed to do bulletins, so after dinner, I did that and I just sent them off.

The weather was nice. The high temperature was 45º and there was a lot of sunshine. There was a bit of a breeze while it was so warm, with gusts up to 20 mph from the southwest, but it's died down again. Unfortunately, the camera hung up around 2:30, so we didn't get to see the sunset.

Grayson was frustrated. I was so busy that he didn't get his lap time today and he doesn't like that. Right now he is sleeping in the other chair. Louie got some loving this morning, and so did Grayson. Well, stuff like that happens.

So I guess I actually did a lot today, even if so much of it hadn't been frustrating. And it's bedtime. I think it's a partly cloudy, cool night in the field.

March 18

I guess it must have been around 1:00 or 1:30 when I got to bed. I slept well, except for the night sweats, and I got up around 10:30, I think. I felt much better, although I'm still having trouble getting out of a chair.

I knitted on the Z-sock. I left it at a place I wasn't comfortable with, and it turned out that when I put it away, I pulled one of the needles out of three stitches. I kept dropping stitches occasionally, too. That yarn is very fine and very slippery. If I knew for sure I was only going to knit on it here, I'd put it on a wooden needle, which is less slippery, but I can't take those with me when I go someplace. I broke a needle once doing that.

Then I screwed up and ended up having a very nasty accident. I really should take a bath tonight, but I doubt I will. I'm tired again.

The task of the day was the taxes, and I got them done, with considerable difficulty. What I put in my ledger has to balance with what the bank says and what my check registers and my credit card bills say, and I had a horrible time getting that right. I wish they would use a font that makes it easier to tell the difference between 6 and 8, but that wasn't my only problem. After that, getting the forms filled out for the accountant was easy. I will have to take them to the post office tomorrow. Oh, I'm glad that's done. Then I went ahead and got this year's ledger up to date as of today.

in the course of that, I discovered that the troll who has my old bank account number struck again. I will have to call the bank tomorrow and see if they can reverse that charge. I need to get that account closed, but it involves calling three or four companies as well as the Social Security Administration (although I may be able to do that online - fingers crossed!) and life has intervened to prevent me from doing that. Now I must.

Late in the afternoon, I decided to finally install the system updates they've been nattering at me about. Well, that was a trip. When I got the first four done, nothing worked right, so I rebooted. Then I got a message that there was another update to do, and after that, nothing worked again. I think I had to reboot four times, two of them after complete shutdowns. I think everything is all right now, but it took me a couple of hours. The IPhone was plugged in, so i played a lot of solitaire while I was waiting. I couldn't read or anything because I couldn't have the lights on. As it is, there aren't many pictures after about 6:00.

The weather was rather nice. The temperature spiked up to 36º briefly, but it was over freezing for most of the afternoon. There was hardly any wind. It was partly to mostly cloudy. Between 2:15 and 2:45, we had a nice little snow shower and then the sky cleared up almost completely for three or four hours before it clouded up again. I had to check when I first saw the snow. That wasn't predicted. Well, that's winter in the Copper Country.

The guys slept. They both got some loving, although I had to chase Grayson away when I started the tax stuff. He wasn't ready to go. And he's been snotty ever since.

So that was my day and now I think I'm going to go to bed, even though the music program is a good one. I'm still tired. All the night sweats are telling me I do have some kind of bug, and I know the only way to beat it is to get enough sleep.

It's a cool, cloudy night in the field.

March 17

I had a lousy night last night. I was late getting to bed - about 10:15, which is late for a Saturday - and I went right to sleep, but after that - wow. I had night sweats, some of them bad, for the rest of the night and my legs were twitchy, even though I'd taken my Neurontin. I woke up around 6:00, too, and I got up at 6:15. At least that gave me a little leeway to leave early. It wasn't early enough.

I left right about 9:00, but the covered road had stuff on it that wasn't there yesterday afternoon. It was cold this morning, and I think what was left froze overnight. So i had to go slowly. Once I got to Delaware, the road was clear, so after I got there I made good time, but I was still too late to practice with the choir, because I had to visit the restroom.

i sang anyway, and the service was my favorite (setting three). We sang the first three verses of the second communion hymn a capella. Nancy always leads us, and it never ceases to amaze me how well she can make us stay on key. It was lovely.

With two of us working fast, cleaning up afterwards was easy, but then I had to visit the restroom again - I almost had an accident - so I was late leaving and i didn't get home until after 1:00. I changed my clothes and went to the bathroom, but when I went to get up, it was clear that I wasn't going to get any further than the bed.

So I got into it and slept - not deeply, but I slept - for two hours, and I felt much better when I got up. Then, after I read my email, I attacked the ledger. I realized, finally, that I have to get my tax stuff to the accountant by Friday, so I can't avoid it anymore.

What a mess! I had a terrible time getting the ledger to balance with my checkbooks, and I don't know why. There were a lot of little errors, but wow! Of course, I wasn't doing too well in September and October, and no doubt that was reflected in my check registers. I have resolved to try to be much more careful about the annotations I write down this year. I don't think I've ever had this much trouble before.

Anyway, I finally got that part of it fixed and I went on to the credit card bills. I have to go through them, too, because I need the amount I spend on pills and a couple other things. That was another trip. Somehow, I seem to always lose the last bills of every year - the ones that has to be paid before the 10th of the next month. I paid them before the end of the year, so I tried to download it from the website - four times. I kept getting the wrong ones. I finally got it right, I think, and I had such trouble with the first two months of last year that I gave up. It's hard, because I have to parse everything I buy from Amazon and Walmart to pick out anything that might be tax deductible. Besides, this is only partly for tax purposes. I want to keep track of where all the money goes. It's the reason I've kept the ledgers for at least 40 years. I started doing them by hand, long before there were home computers. First Lotus and then Excel have only helped make it easier. The only thing is, I must try to make myself update the files at least every three months, if not more often, because doing an entire year, like I am now, is a horrible pain. Tomorrow I will have to try to get the credit card stuff done, and then I can go on to the stuff the accountant sent me and get the 1099s together. My only excuse is that I haven't had much time because of my wake-sleep schedule, but that's pretty lame.

The weather was nice. It got really cold overnight, because it was nearly clear, although I didn't see any stars - only the moon. When I got up this morning, it was 11º and it was only 17º when I set off for church. The high temperature for the day was 32º, though, so it warmed up fast. The winds were 10 mph or under. It was clear or nearly clear all day. Even though it's cold, when the sun is shining, the ice does go away.

The guys were sleepy, of course. They couldn't figure out what I was doing when I got home, but Grayson curled up in the bed and he didn't even bother when I joined him. When I woke up, he looked up at me. Louie was around, because he didn't get his loving yesterday and he missed it. I think he tried to get up on the counter after it got dark tonight, too, because I heard a lot of scuffling around, but I let out a shriek for some reason unrelated to them and they both ran away. Grayson did get some lap time after I got up from my nap, but not as much as he wanted, because I was busy.

So that was my day. My nap let me stay up until after midnight, but I have been so creaky all day that I just sat when I should have been getting up and getting something to eat. I finally did, although I had a small accident and I didn't have my usual shrimp. Now I have to go to bed and sleep long and hard so I can finish up the financial stuff, hopefully tomorrow.

It's a cold, partly cloudy night in the field.

March 16

So I got to bed at midnight and I got up around 9:30, so I got enough sleep. I took the time to knit for half an hour, and then I got right at my breakfast and some of my surfing. Everything was going fine and I was on track to leave at noon. Then i got to within about six feet of the powder room and things started going NOT fine. So I went on up to the north end, cleaned myself up, sort of, and finally found a pair of jeans that fit. Sigh.

I've known I was gaining weight for some time, but this was weird. The first pair of jeans I tried to put on, which I thought were one of the biggest of the old ones, wouldn't fit over my calves. I hate those pegged jeans anyway, but they used to fit, even when I couldn't get them to zip. Maybe gravity is dragging everything downward and eventually I'll have a ring around my ankles? Sheesh! Anyway, I seem to have lost a pair of the big jeans, so i had to wear the light blue ones. It didn't matter. I wet my pants on the way from Pat's to church, so I wrecked two pairs in one day.

Anyway, I got to Pat's in plenty of time and got what I needed - and overdrew my checking account - and made it to church in time to visit the restroom and do some cleanup before Deanna got there. Now I have enough food to be snowed in for the next four weeks, with the exception of JD. We did our thing. It doesn't take long, and everything is set for tomorrow. Stuart and Nancy were going in as I left, to fold the bulletins (that's a task of the elders) and we had a nice conversation.

That distracted me enough that I took off toward home, but a couple of blocks away, I remembered that I had to get gas, so I had to circle all the way around Calumet to the gas station. I went to the one closest to Pat's, which is a BP, because they clean the snow better than Pat's station does. I do have a 20¢ coupon to use, but I have to the end of April to use it.

I didn't get home until 5:00, and as soon as I got the stuff out of the car, I went up to the north end and sat there for a couple of hours, so I'm late. Most of the stuff is still out in the breezeway - it's plenty cold out there - although I did put the frozen stuff and the meat away. I am exhausted, but I have to wash my hair so I'm presentable tomorrow.

The weather was nice, for winter. It was cloudy this morning, but it cleared up by the time I left and the afternoon was sunny. The high temperature was 28º, but there was a brisk north wind, around 15 mph, which meant that the wind chill was around 15º. When I got out to pump my gas, I could tell. I would love to know why all gas stations are so windy and cold. There may even be a star or two tonight.

The guys were asleep when I left, but they hung out in the bathroom or right outside it when I got home. More than any other cats I've had, they want to be around me most of the time.

So that was my day, and now I'm already later than I wanted to be. It's a cold, clear night in the field.

March 15

Sheesh, it's the middle of March already. Where, oh where does the time go?

I was late, of course. It seems to follow, especially when I have to wash my hair. I did that and went to bed all nice and warm and comfy. Showers always do that for me, even though I have some trouble washing these days. I slept well, with only one wakeup. I think it was around 11:30 when I got up.

Today was the Z sock day, and I finished the heel and started the gusset. Unfortunately, some of the prettiest part of the color change is in the heel, but since it's random, there isn't anything I can do about it.

i was so late that I only finished eating my first meal right before the talking started and I didn't do anything except rinse the load of bottoms and, finally, put it in the dryer.

The snow started around 10:00 AM and it snowed all day, although it seems to have stopped now. I don't think there was much accumulation, maybe an inch or so. The high temperature was overnight, and it slid down through the 20s all day. The wind was from the north, and about the time it started snowing, we had 41 mph gusts. It's still breezy, but it doesn't seem as gusty as it was earlier. Of course it was very cloudy and dull. This was not a lake effect thing, even though the wind was from the north.

The guys slept. I didn't see much of Louie. He didn't even come to get his morning love-in, he was so sound asleep. Grayson got to sleep on my lap a couple of times. I wish he would sit still when I have to move around, but when I do, he runs away.

Louie and I both were feeling the weather today. I'm sure he has arthritis, like I do, and it was bad today. The humidity has something to do with it, even though it's dry in the house. Probably the barometric pressure is involved, too, but I haven't figured that out yet.

Now I need to go to bed. Tomorrow I have to go to town, both to shop and to do my duty at church. I want to leave around noon, so I'll have to get up at a reasonable hour. No hours of solitaire tonight.

It's a cold, breezy night in the field, but the snow may be mostly over.

March 14

I was late, as usual, but I don't know exactly how late. I slept well, with one wakeup, and I got up when the clock in the bedroom said 11:00. I knitted - red sock day - and when I took the phone to look at the weather and play some solitaire, I discovered it was only 10:30! Huh? Anyway, quite a while later, when I checked the bedroom clock, I discovered it was an hour and a half ahead of the true time. I have no clue how that happened. We had a power glitch last night - just five seconds or so - and everything else, except the fridge, reset, but the bedroom clock wasn't blinking like it would if it saw the glitch. So the gremlins are alive and well and living in my basement again.

Anyway, the result is that I didn't get nearly enough sleep and I'm very tired now. I don't think I will be up very late tonight, but I would like to shower, so we'll see. Frequently, I do anything I can think of to not do my showers, because it isn't easy. However, when I'm tired, I can frequently push myself to get it over with. It's a shame; I've always loved to take a nice hot, relaxing shower, and I enjoy it once I get in there. The problem is getting in there.

The weather today wasn't nearly as dire as they were predicting yesterday. We did have 0.78" of rain overnight, and it rained lightly on and off today. It was windy overnight, with gusts as high as 38 mph from the southwest, but today the gusts weren't higher than 28 mph. The wind went calm in mid afternoon, and have now switched around to the north. Of course, that means the temperature will plummet overnight, but this has been unnaturally warm anyway. The high today was 45°, but tomorrow it will be good if it gets to 30º. Well, this is March, and while i have not faith in that lion-lamb stuff, I know this month tends to be more variable than the rest of the winter. I'm hoping the weekend is better, because I've committed to going to Laurium both days, and I don't want to chicken out.

The guys slept, but the weather must have felt better to them, because they were rather more active than they have been lately. I have pillows and fleece throws all over the window seat in the bedroom, but they both prefer the one at the east end. I don't know why, in the winter. In the summer, that's the window I keep cracked. Anyway, when I got up, Grayson was there and when I went to change my underwear, Louie was there. They don't use it when it's really cold, but otherwise it hardly gets cold.

Oh, I started a load of bottoms, but I won't finish it today. I need to do the rest of my wash, but I don't know exactly when .

So it's another dark, rainy night in the field, but the rain should change to snow overnight.

March 13

Late again, of course. I slept well, with two wakeups, and I didn't get up until 11:30 or so. Today was the plum sock day, and I finished the ribbing and did a few rows of the leg. This is one of my more favorite yarns, and I'm glad that I have some more in the basement.

I was so late that I didn't do anything but my surfing.

The weather was warm and cloudy. The high temperature was 45º, briefly. There wasn't much wind until after dark, but the latest report has it from the south with gusts of 36 mph. It started raining after dark. It was humid all day, and that wasn't good for my joints so I just sat.

The guys slept. Grayson got some lap time, but he started getting shirty again tonight, scratching on things, so I had to scold him. He still thinks this is his house and I just live here. I have to remind him every so often that it's my house and he just lives here. Louie is easier to handle. He has no such aspirations. I still wish he liked Grayson better.

So that was all there is, and now it's a warmish, rainy, windy night in the field.

March 12

Oh, I was late again. It was the old bath thing, plus the phone. I didn't get up until noon, though, and I slept well. Today was blue sock day and I made good progress on the leg - it's plain knitting, and when I get into a groove, I can knit at a fair pace. I didn't have time to do much else. I just sent out the first draft of the bulletins. I took some pictures of the snowdrifts, but they're on the phone and I haven't gotten them moved over to the computer yet.

Ron was kind enough to bring not only my mail but all the packages and some stuff from the store (no JD, though - they won't put that on a tab). So now I have my range extender, but it isn't trivial to set it up, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to do that.

I've played solitaire since I was a little kid. I think my mother showed me how. Sometimes I play it obsessively. I like the version on the phone, because they've made it as easy as possible to move cards. I think, though, that one reason I play it so obsessively has to do with the ads. The version I got - from Microsoft - was free, but that means there are ads. It's possible to turn them off, but it costs $2 a month, and it just isn't worth it. Besides, sometimes I play and play just to see what they'll show me next. In the morning, they're usually the same three or four and that's boring, but in the middle of the night, sometimes they will go for a couple of hours without repeating. They remind me strongly of those little, tacky things that used to grace the back pages of pulp magazines I read when I was young. Most of them are like that, but some sound like real information and I haven't clicked on anything on purpose (my fast fingers sometimes take over) because I don't want the possibility of getting spam texts or phone calls. All my information is out there on the phone, after all, and who knows what a site might be able to glean? Frankly, I'm very suspicious of anyone who would choose that way of sending ads to people. The type is so small I have to use a magnifier to see it. There was one, a week or two ago, that I didn't look at carefully, but I swear it used the word "emigrates" as a noun. It was for trips to Italy, and it said "lead by emigrates..." I wish I had looked more carefully at it, because I only got it once, but that's about the general quality of what I see. Anyway, they make me laugh and the only way to get them is to play each hand through to the end. So I do...

The things I should be doing, like cleaning the kitchen and powder room or getting the trash bags out of the bathroom, are things I can't do much because my joints have been really bad in this cold, damp weather. My plan, ultimately, is to take the desk chair into the kitchen so I can get the floor cleaned up and then adjust the three-legged rolling stool so I can get off it when I sit down (it's a bit too low now) so I can do the counters. in the meantime, I just ignore the unfortunate fact that my house is a pigsty.

The weather today was nice, and very spring-like. The temperature got up to 47º briefly, but it was in the 40s for most of the afternoon. The wind was from the southwest and gusted up to about 25 mph. It was clear and blue until around 5:00, when it clouded up rather abruptly, and it was very dark even before sunset. It was nice, but of course, for the next three days, it's supposed to rain and/or snow and be foggy and nasty. At least we got a hint that spring might actually come.

The guys slept. Grayson slept on the desk under the south windows, in the sun, then he slept on me, and then he moved to the pile of flannel outside the studio door. I don't know where Louie was, but I expect he was at the north end under the bed.

I'll be joining him soon. I don't know exactly what I have, but I have something that is making my nose run more than usual and giving me a sinus headache. The only way to cure that is sleep. I am happy to report that my feet didn't bother me last night. Once the Neurontin kicked in, I was fine.

So now it's a warm, cloudy night in the field and the rain is coming...followed by the snow...and who knows what after that!

March 11

I don't know where two hours went - I didn't play games much and I didn't do anything else - but it was 11:30 before I got to bed. I was exhausted, and I went right to sleep, but I was up several times and my toes were so sore they kept me awake. I didn't discover why until this morning: I had completely forgotten to put my Neurontin in the pill dispenser! I don't know how I did that, but I corrected it and now all I have to do is wait until it starts to work. My mind...

Anyway, I got up around 8:30. Even though I've only been around one person in the past two weeks, I think I have a cold - he breathed on me - and I feel lousy. Tonight I have to wash my hair, but then I can sleep forever.

The sock of the day was the Z sock and I started the heel. I like that yarn, but it's very disappointing and I'm afraid it's not worth the price I paid for it. It's even thinner than the plum sock yarn - almost lace weight - but it's not uniform and besides, there are occasional tufts sticking out where one of the strands broke and they added another one. At least there haven't been any knots yet, but it's not the highest quality I would have expected for that price. I still like it, because the colors are very pretty, and since it's all light colors, including white, it will be good for spring, when it's too warm for winter socks and too cold for summer socks.

That was almost all I did. I started working on the ledger again, and something is just not right about the numbers I have, but I don't know what. I was in the middle of that, around 3:30, when Debbie called and we talked for our usual 2 hours, so that was all I did for the rest of the afternoon. It's good she got where she was going when she did, because I really had to pee before we hung up. She is fine and beginning to try to plan to come back here this summer. She tries to plan ahead even more than I do. For as different as we are, we still have a lot in common.

The weather was nice, actually. It snowed all night long, but less so later in the night, and it was cloudy and dull this morning, but it began to clear up around 9:00 AM and the afternoon was nearly clear. The high temperature was 26ºm for several hours this afternoon. There was a brisk wind from the north, with gusts up to 30 mph, but it has gone nearly calm lately. According to the Road Commission, we got 10" of snow yesterday, and when I looked at the drifts - which are different from any I've ever seen before around the house - I believe it. Ron cleared out the driveway again this morning, so I should be able to get out tomorrow. I have a bunch of packages and I haven't gotten mail for a couple of weeks. Besides, I need JD.

The guys slept. Louie didn't get much loving, but Grayson slept on my lap for a while.

So that was my day, and as soon as the Haydn finishes, I'll be tottering up to the north end to wash my hair and put my sore head to bed.

By the way, I discovered that they have made Neurontin a controlled substance, because some people think they can get a high from it. It does have some possible side effects, but as far as I could tell from reading the DEA document, none of them should result in a "high." Too much can be fatal, though. I simply do not understand those people. All they're doing is make life more difficult for those of us who have to take it.

It's a clear, cold night in the field, and the crescent moon is shining high in the sky.

March 10

So I played with the iPhone too long last night, but even so, I wasn't all that late - I went up to the north end quite early. I slept well, with only one wakeup and I got up around 10:30 (EDT). Today's sock was the red one, and I made good progress. I like the yarn. It's made by a small company called "Baah" and it's soft and tightly spun, so it's nice to work with and it doesn't snag very easily. I have another color, which I don't remember what it is, and I've looked at their other colors, but they don't turn me on. One thing I like about socks is that they are small enough that I can try different yarns without breaking the bank.

That was about all I did. I managed to get to a bathroom without having an accident today, which was amazing. I just ran for it as soon as I finished my breakfast, and in fact, I didn't even take my pills or drink my OJ until I got back. It was nice not to have to change everything.

The weather was miserable. There's no other word for it. It snowed from sometime before it got light until about 12:30 (EDT, of course) then it stopped until around 5:30 and it's been snowing and blowing ever since. In between, the wind started to blow, and around 2:00 it got up to 28 mph with 40 mph gusts from the north. it's died down a bit since, but it's backing northwest and it's still very gusty. The high temperature was 32º for a while this afternoon, which means that the snow is very wet and heavy, and by 7:00 PM the window where the camera is was so covered that you couldn't see anything. Someone came around and blew out my driveway around 6:00 and what the blower was throwing up was more like slush than snow. Yuck. I was so glad I decided not to go anywhere, and I probably will wait until Tuesday to go out. Yuck.

We slept. Louie got his loving this morning and Grayson slept on me for quite a while this afternoon. He also barfed a bit on the desk, which I did not appreciate, but he was eating what was left from the bouquet.

I'm afraid I'm going through another round of the Shari Syndrome. I've been sneezing lately, and my tummy has been rocky, and today i didn't feel very well at all. Well, at least this one should be the last for the season. I need to sleep.

So it was a very quiet day and i didn't do anything much. Now it's a cold, snowy, windy night in the field and I'll be off to bed soon.

March 9

Well, my excuse is that every time I thought about getting off the pot and going to bed I started to run off at the bottom again, but I was playing solitaire, too, so that's partly to blame. I got up around 10:30 and I finished the first plum sock and cast on the second one. That made me very late to start with, and then when I had to go back to the north end to change my bottoms, I took up the black sweater and started the sleeve, after I redrafted the pattern for it. So that was nearly all I did. I filled the pill dispensers at the south end, and I will do the ones at the north end when I get there (I took the bottles out of the cupboard, so I have to do it tonight).

It doesn't matter much, and I'm thinking about not washing my hair. There is no way I'm going out tomorrow. The snow is supposed to start sometime before midnight and continue for the next 24-36 hours. I'll go to the post office on Monday, probably, but no way am I going to drive 75 miles in that stuff, especially since the road is very iffy.

Today was an OK day. It was clear to partly cloudy this morning, although as the day wore on, those very puffy clouds started showing up in the south and after about 2:00, it got progressively more cloudy until it was very dark before the sun started to go down. The high temperature was 34º for a few hours around noon, and there was a bit of a south wind, with gusts up to 30 mph. It was nice, though, not to have to use the space heater.

The guys slept, and they both got some loving.

So now I'm really tired, and instead of trying to get ready for church and getting up at 5:30 AM (remember, my body never goes on DST), I think I will totter up to the north end, fill the pill dispensers and crash. It's a cold, dark night in the field and the snow is almost here.

March 8

It wasn't a very reasonable hour, but I did go to bed with clean hair. I slept well. Today was blue sock day and I finished the ribbing on the second sock and did about an inch of the leg.

I was late enough that I didn't do much of anything else during the day except get my Schwan's order and pack it away. I can hibernate for quite a while now, except for breakfast foods and JD. After dinner, I decided I was tired of MS nattering at me and I did a system update. While that was going on, I finally sorted through the basket that has my credit card and utility bills in it and found most of the 2018 credit card bills. I need those to get the numbers for my taxes. Maybe tomorrow I can actually get back at the ledger. I thought that basket was getting sort of full, and it was - there's stuff from 2015 in it. There are also some things missing that I don't understand - like the first credit card bills from each year - but maybe I can track them down. I just finished that, so as soon as I finish this, I can go to bed.

The weather was nice again, and much warmer than it has been lately. It started out cloudy, got clear for a while and at sunset it was beginning to cloud up again. The high temperature was 24º, for several hours, and there was a wind in the 15 mph range from the north.

The guys slept, and Grayson was frustrated because I didn't have much time to let him sit on my lap. I found out where Louie spends his days, I think. When I came out of the bathroom, I could see a tail and one leg under the bed. I suppose it is warm under there, and I've noticed that he seems to prefer to sleep where it's dark. Grayson doesn't care as much about the light. If it's too light for him, he just covers his eyes with his paw.

The road is very nice. I'm sorry to disappoint the guys, but it wasn't really that bad. The drifts are about 8' or so high, and of course, it was about 100' long, but it wasn't like 2008. It actually wasn't even like two years ago when I got drifted in. Sorry, guys. I won't tell them that. It was more than our little equipment could handle in a reasonable time, so getting somebody in to clear it out was the wise choice. The snow this weekend is likely to be nasty, with the possibility of some freezing rain or drizzle, and then on Wednesday and Thursday, it looks to rain. Both of those things are not my favorites, so I think I will go back into hibernation. I will probably go out on Monday to the post office and the store, because I have some packages coming, but then I'll stick to home. Next weekend I have to go, because I'm on Altar Duty and I will need to food shop, but it should be better by then.

So it was another very quiet day and now it's a cold, cloudy night in the field and the snow is coming...the snow is coming...

March 7

I might even get to bed at a semi-reasonable hour tonight. I'm not going to promise anything, because I have to stay up to hear Beethoven's 6th, but it looks promising. I need a good sleep. I'm tired.

I was so late last night that I didn't even consider taking a shower, so I need to do that tonight, too. I got up around 11:30. Today's sock was the Z sock and I'm making very good progress on it. I have only about 10 more rows to go before I start the heel. As I've said, this one is so much fun to knit, because it's not possible to see how the colors will work out.

That was all I did, though. The guys came around and did some work on my driveway and it's now in good shape. I was glad they did - I was able to give my share of the culvert cleanup to the guy who wrote the check.

The weather was lovely. It was cold - the high temperature was only 15º - and the wind was between 15 and 20 mph from the north, but there was not a cloud in the sky all day. It was glorious, with all that intensely blue sky. I think it looks bluer when the ground and the water are all white, but i think there are fewer aerosols when it's cold. I'm looking forward to some stars tonight. However, everybody is agreed that we are going to have a major snow event over the weekend, although how major depends upon who you believe.

I'm having more than my usual troubles with the Weather Underground. The site I usually use for a graphic display of the forecasts is completely down and the old-style site that I was so happy to find won't ever load completely because the forecasts won't load. As usual, I've put in several requests for help and have heard nothing back. It's such a shame. For so many years, not only was that a reliable site, their forecasts were much more accurate than anybody else's. Now, not only are all their sites (and there are at least four or five now) totally unreliable, their forecasts stink. Fortunately, the NWS has gotten pretty good, except that they don't have all the nice graphics I liked so well at WU. WU was bought by IBM a couple of years ago, and they are buying up a lot of other weather sites, and since they did, WU has gone from bad to worse. So sad.

The guys were sleepy, of course. They both got some loving, but there isn't anything much to report there.

So that was my day. I put in a few orders over the past couple of days, but none of them will be delivered until Monday, so I can hibernate until then.

Now it's a very cold, clear night in the field and the symphony is about to start.

March 6

Well, I won't be earlier. It's too late now and I have to wash my hair. Yes, I do.

I slept well last night, with only one wakeup. Today was red sock day and I finished the ribbing and started the leg. I do like that yarn, even though it's a little thicker than some other fingering yarns. When I went up to the north end to change my underwear, I worked on the black sweater, and I think I only have a little over one more row on the body before I can start the sleeves. I'm still fiddling with the sleeve pattern, but I can work on that.

By the time I got through with that, it was so late that I didn't do anything else. That's the disadvantage of my weird hours.

The weather was nondescript. It got down to -7º at 6:00 AM, but it warmed up quickly and the high temperature was 16º. It was partly cloudy in the morning and again late in the afternoon and the camera went down around 11:45, and I don't remember what happened between then and 3:00 when I reset it. I think there was some sunshine then, too, but it was cloudy at sunset. There was a bit of wind that sort of moved around before it settled down from the north.

The guys slept, of course. They both got some loving and Grayson is sound asleep on the sewing chair right now.

I amended my Schwan's order and I finally ordered my wi-fi range extender, as well as ink for the printer. The ink makes me angry, because it seems clear to me that the printer is defective. It keeps telling me I need ink (colored ink, particularly) when I know I haven't used enough for it to be low, but I've had the printer so long that I'm sure they would never replace it. I need that range extender. I am getting some cell service in the bathroom, but it comes and goes unreliably, and I doubt I'll get it when the trees leaf out. I think I can indulge myself this month.

Oh, yes, and I discovered that my order of probiotics was canceled because my credit card was declined, but even though I've been getting ads from that company and even a notice that they were processing the order, I didn't get the one that said they were canceling the order. I've had problems with their email for a number of years now, and it's extremely annoying. I wish I didn't need all those probiotics - they're expensive - but I do, and I'm running low. Grr.

So that was my day, and there were some frustrations. Now it's another frigid, cloudy (I think) night in the field and it's time to go to bed.

March 5

Another inverted day, but maybe I can be a little earlier tonight.

I worked on the plum sock today and I started the toe. I like this one, too. The colors are sort of weird, but it's such nice, soft yarn that it's a pleasure to work on. In fact, it's the same brand as the Black Purl socks I made a year ago, and I have some more of that yarn in the basement. The socks are too thin to wear in this weather, of course, but they're very useful when it's not quite as cold.

I was so late again that I didn't do anything. I'd hoped to get back at the ledger today, but since I didn't finish my surfing until the talking was almost over, I never got to do it. The information for the bulletins came in tonight, too, so i will have to do that first tomorrow.

The good news is that they finally found somebody to clear out the culverts and that is now done. We will have more snow this week, but the winds should be quiet enough that our tractor can take care of anything that comes down. It's been several years since we've had a blizzard like this, and I think everybody had sort of relaxed. Message from Mother Nature: you can't relax in the winter in the Keweenaw.

Today was the usual. It was still brutally cold - the high temperature was 10º, and that was at 10:00 this morning. It was colder in the afternoon. There was a little wind, up to 25 mph with 32 mph gusts from the north for a while. It was dark and cloudy and we had two nice snow squalls, one in the late morning and one in the afternoon. There are pictures of the first one, but when it got to being just blowing snow, the camera hung up and I didn't notice it until after dark. Sorry about that, but you've seen enough nothing.

I thought the guys spent most of the day asleep, and I suppose they did, but they also ate all their kibble, so I had to fill the dishes. They both got some loving. I have the suspicion that Grayson has fleas. At least after he spent some time on my lap and I was petting him, something bit me. Cat fleas don't really like humans, but if that's the only meat available, they will bite. It itches for a little while and I have a bump on my wrist. I've never seen a flea on him, and I don't get bitten very often, but it wouldn't surprise me. I had one cat - Silkie - who was allergic to fleas, and when she got infested, she lost most of her fur, poor kitty, but most cats do have them and they aren't bothered much. But I've never imagined as many as she had. It was gross. If Grayson has them, he must have had them from the time I got him.

So now it's late and it's time for me to try to get to bed. I wet my pants, so when I went to change them, i got undressed. Now all I have to do is brush my teeth...

So that was another wasted day, and now it's another dark, frigid night in the field.

March 4

Well, this is ridiculous. I've completely reversed my hours and I don't seem to be able to get myself back on a human schedule. I will have to, though. I can't do this all the time.

I didn't do anything except start the second blue sock. As I suspected, this ball of yarn is printed differently than the other one, and there is going to be a blob of navy blue at the back of the ribbing. I can only hope that when I start the leg, it will even out. I can't do one sock on 64 stitches and one on 66 stitches!

The weather was frigid and we had our requisite snow shower early this morning. But then it sort of cleared up, at least until sunset, when it got cloudy again. The high temperature got down to -4º overnight and it only got up to 7º during the afternoon. The wind varied between north and west and it wasn't very strong, but there were some gusts up into the 20-25 mph range. Of course, that put the wind chill down around -20º, and that meant it was cold in the house.

The guys slept. Nothing to report there.

So that was a strange day and today is going to be another one. It's a dark, cold, night in the field.

March 3

Late as usual. I got up around 11:00 and I knitted on the Z sock. It's fun to see how the colors shade into each other in a completely random manner.

I was late enough that I didn't do much of anything but my surfing. I was doing the last of that when I started getting strange errors from my internet connection, and when i called PastyNet, Charlie told me there had been a denial-of-service attack on the Mountain Lodge. Sheesh! Anyway, it only lasted for about five minutes, but it was weird. Then right before I finally ate dinner, I paid a bunch of bills, which I had been forgetting. Now the only ones I have left are the ones I don't have amounts for. They should be available in the next few days. So I can live on whatever - if anything - is left in my accounts.

I was glad I didn't have to go out this morning. When I would have been leaving, the temperature here was around 0º and the wind chill was -13º. It's usually colder in Laurium. The high during the day only got to 3º. It was quite windy between 8:00 AM and 6:00 PM, with gusts up to 30 mph from the north-northwest. That put the wind chill down as low as -19º. Brr! I wonder how the Copper Dog did. It was partly cloudy all day, and there was a lot of sunshine, but we also had any number of snow squalls. Unfortunately, the camera hung up this morning - at a very dramatic picture - so I don't know how things really were. It was hard to tell what was coming down and what was just being blown around. It looks like the night might be clear, or at least partly clear.

We did fine. We slept. Louie got his loving this morning and Grayson got to sit on me a couple of times, although when I started doing this, he went away in disgust. I can tell when he's disgusted because he jumps down from the counter with a thump. I've always said cats remind me of little kids, two or three years old. The only difference is that the kids can talk back, more or less. The cats do make their opinions known, though.

So it was a very quiet day and now it's time to try to get to bed at a more reasonable hour. It's a dark, frigid night in the field, but it might be clear.

March 2

Late again and late to rise, but that's normal. I just can't seem to get back on a human schedule.

I cast on the second red sock and knitted about five rows of the ribbing, and that was about all I did, because I was so late.

The weather was cold but pretty. It was clear overnight, cloudy this morning and clear or nearly clear in the afternoon, although it was clouding up before it got dark. Sunset was kind of neat. The high temperature was 18º, but that was at 10:00 this morning and it went down from there, It's 5º now and on its way to 0º or below. It was windy this afternoon, with gusts as high as 31 mph from the north-northwest. The wind has died down now, though. I think there was a bit of snow around 8:30 this morning.

The guys got their loving, although Grayson didn't get to sit on me as much as he wanted because I was doing other things. The last time he tried I booted him off, because he was standing on me with his tail toward me and whipping it around so that it batted my head, and I don't stand still for that. He is such a snot. When I went up to the north end before i ate, Louie was laid out on the rug beside my bed. He sleeps most of the time, I think.

My comment on the day is, I don't understand why it is that I only start coughing or sneezing when my bladder is overfull and I'm too tired to get up and fix it. I made a mess. But I have to wash my hair tonight anyway.

It's a cold, dark night in the field, and it's still winter around here.

March 1

Late as usual, but I slept for a long time and I didn't get up until after noon. I knitted on the plum sock and I'm about 3/4 of the way done with the foot, so soon I'll have another sock. I think tomorrow I will be casting on the second red sock. I'd like to get the rotation set up so that I knit on #2 needles one day and #! needles the next. That will be hard, because the items on the bigger needles go faster.

I was so late that I didn't do anything except wash a load of bottoms, which is ready to go in the dryer when I go up to the north end. After a few days off, I'm having accidents again, although I have so far managed not to wet my pants today. Oh, and I made rice, which I need to put away.

The weather was sort of interesting. It was nearly clear this morning, and the sun didn't go away until about 2:00 PM. Then it clouded up quickly and around 5:00 PM we had a snow shower. It had gone away when I went to get my dinner, but I think it will be back. The high temperature was about 21º and there was hardly any wind.

After I posted last night, Ron sent me an email to say that the road is still closed, even though they dug out the stuck cars. So I am still snowed in and it sounds like it may be a while before I can get out. I'm glad to have that resolved, and I'm very glad Deanna decided to change the time we are on Altar Duty, because I couldn't have gone anyway.

It sounds like the guys have just given up trying to clear out the culverts themselves and they're spending their efforts to try to get somebody to do it for them. Since I'm not involved, I don't have anything to say about that. Whatever they decide.

The guys slept. Grayson got to sit on me a couple of times, which I think almost satisfied him. Louie got some loving this morning.

So that was my quiet day, and I just remembered I was supposed to pay some bills today. Well, too bad. I'm going to bed. It's a cloudy, cold night in the field and it may be snowing, too.

Last updated 03/21/19 11:10 PM