Wednesday January 30, 2012

It rained last night. The warm weather continues. It was in the 40s and foggy when I drove Nancy to the MAC. Today is my easy day so I walked from the MAC to the Omelette Shop for their oatmeal breakfast. I keep reading about the Democrat's war on global warming so today I am selling my Peabody Coal stock. Oh the power of the press. I also get mad when I read about the Feds keeping interest rates low. Apparently they want to continue this policy into 2015. Folks like Nancy and I who are savers are penalized while debtors are rewarded. Being a product of the Depression I grew up hearing stories of how my Grandparents had lost their savings by investing in the stock market. However, we do invest a small amount and I am happy to see the stock market having a good run. I think maybe I am spending too much time reading the WSJ. I hope the weather improves so I can spend more time outdoors. After breakfast I walked home in a warm drizzle. We are leaving for AZ tomorrow so I ran several errands when I got home. I packed for our AZ trip this afternoon. I checked the local paper in Douglas, AZ. The paper had a nice write up on Martha Robles. Nancy fixed fried egg sandwiches for dinner tonight. I also finished the chili. It was very good. Not much on TV so after the news I headed upstairs to write this blog. The temperature is suppose to dropped dramatically this evening. Snow and very cold temperatures are predicted for tonight. Our flight out of GR is not until 1500 tomorrow so I am hoping that we will have no problem getting out of GR or Chicago. Missy sent me a nice note on facebook. Monday was her birthday. Seventy five years ago in Ossineke, MI my great grandfather Sanborn wrote that it was very cold and the roads were very icy. He did get a check from the Power Company for $120. $120 in 1938 was a lot of money. I see the politicans are trying to put together an Immigration law. I hope they are successful. Not many people agree with me but I am for a very liberal immigration law. Immigration is good for the USA. I would allow illegals an easy path to citizenship. I did get my 30 in today. Think Spring!

Tuesday January 29, 2013

We had some heavy thunder storms roll through last night. Ms P went bonkers. The temperature was in the low 40s this morning. Although the roads were clear of snow I drove to the MAC this morning because the TV said rain was on its way. The truth is that I was too lazy to get out the bike. I did my Tuesday tri at the MAC. My times were average. I was going to drive home and walk to the Kava House but I thought it might rain so I stopped at Breton Village. I have been using my Atlas to find out where Mali and Niger are. Is the US heading down to road to military adventure in Africa? I hope not. The stock market continues to be strong. Is the economy really rebounding? I got home about 1300 today. I had a quick lunch and then headed upstairs. Kim picked up Ms P this afternoon. Ms P will stay with her until next Tuesday. Neither Nancy or I have started to pack for our trip to AZ. I am enjoying having to stay inside because of the rain. I spent about 2 hours this afternoon reading my book. It is now 1756 and a thunder storm is rolling through. The temperature is 56. However, tomorrow it will drop to 19. On Thursday, the day we leave for AZ the temperature will be in the teens all day. I hope we can get out of GR and Chicago. Tonight we are finishing the chili Nancy made on Sunday. We will read the GRP and then watch NCIS. I hope I don't fall asleep. Does anyone care who wins the Superbowl?

Monday January 28, 2013

January 28, Melissa Ann Scott's birthday. Happy Birthday Missy. Our day started at 0500 when I took Ms P out. About 1" of wet snow had fallen over night. It was really heavy. I made several passes before going back to bed. About 0800 Nancy and I finished shoveling. I drove to the MAC today. I had planned on driving home and then walking to the Kava House to read my papers. However, it was raining when I left the MAC so I ended up at Breton Village. I am surprised at how little readable material is in the DFP after I had read the WSJ. Both the DFP and GRP only home deliver three days a week. Is this why these paper only have fluff? I got home at 1300. After a quick lunch I helped Nancy book our flights to Phoenix, AZ. We are leaving on Thursday and coming home on Monday. We are attending the funeral for Martha Robles in Douglas, AZ. Martha is Veronica's mother. We plan on staying with my sister, Helen. They also want to attend the funeral. I spent some time catching up on my reading. About 1630 I walked over to the post office to get some stop mail forms. We had a very light dinner. The weather now is in the high 30s. We are expecting heavy rain tonight and tomorrow. The high tomorrow will be around 50. The temperatures will plummet Wednesday night to the teens. High temperatures for the rest of the week will be in the teens. Despite the lousy weather I did get my 30 in, did you?

Sunday January 27, 2012

Ms P and I went out Saturday morning at 0600. We had about 1" of snow on the ground. I shoveled the walk and then headed back to bed. I finally got up at 0750. There was too much snow on the roads to ride my bike so I walked to the Omelet Shop for a bowl of oatmeal. We had bright sunshine for my walk home. I spent some of the afternoon catching up on my reading. Mostly Time and SI. I also continued reading my Ken Follett book. It is quite good. The nice thing about cold winter days is that this is the time of year you can catch up on reading and doing inside chores. Yes I did take a nap. At 1730 Nancy and I got in the Taurus and headed to Radix a new restaurant in Eastown. We met the Nameys at the restaurant. This was the first time for both of us. We were disappointed and gave the place a C-. After dinner we returned to our house for ice cream and cookies. Sunday morning we all got up at 0655 and got ready for the MAC. Nancy still cannot swim because of her face so she walked on the treadmill. I swam 1500 yards. This is my first 1500 yards of 2013. My time was a slow 47'. We ended up at Meijer's for our weekly supplies. I filled the car up and gas was $3.31 per gallon. Nancy fixed her world famous scrambled eggs for breakfast. I read a few sections of the GRP before taking my Sunday afternoon nap. Actually I spent most of my nap time reading my book. Nancy is fixing chili for dinner tonight. We will watch 60 minutes and NCIS. During commercials I will switch over to the UM basketball game. Why are they playing basketball on Sunday? Sunday was the major study day when I was in college. Seventy five years ago in Ossineke, Mi my Great Grandfather Sanborn wrote that it very cold. His gauge said -2. GGF was home bound because of the cold so for exercise he walked 6,000 feet upstairs. Remember GGF Sanborn was 83.

Friday January 25, 2013

Another cold day, 15 at 0500. Up on the upside, we did not have to shovel this morning. I drove to the MAC today. After the MAC I drove home and then walked to the Kava House. I needed to get my 30 in. I read the WSJ and DFP. It appears that the world economy is slowly getting better. All the talk about the President's efforts on global warming has me thinking that I better get rid of my Peabody Coal stock. I want to find a company that is big in making desalination equipment. My engineering magazines keep talking about the urgent global need for fresh water. On my walk home Stephen called me and told me about the passing of Veronica's mother. Our prayers and thoughts are with the Scott Team. I asked Stephen to keep us informed of their plans. I spent most of the afternoon installing my computer keyboard tray. I finally have succeeded. Before dinner we ran several errands. Nancy mailed a birthday package to LA and then we picked up a library book. Finally we stopped at Meijer's for some supplies. After Meijer we decided that it was snowing too hard to go out to dinner. We stayed home and Nancy fixed hot dogs. It is now 2030 and I just took Ms P out. We had about 2" of snow on the ground. We will have to shovel tomorrow before Nancy goes to the MAC. Veronica we are thinking of you and Nancy and I want to express our love.

Thursday January 24, 2013

The cold continues. It was single digits early this morning. We had about an inch of snow so Nancy and Bob had to shovel. I continue to drive to the MAC. The road still are not clear. I did the tri this morning. It feels good to swim in nearly 80 degree water on these cold mornings. I did my after workout routine at Breton Village. I get tired of hearing about the ND football player. I am interested in the French activities in Mali. Is Northern Africa going to be the new home of terrorists? Although I disagree with our President on almost everything he proposes I do think the early withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan is good. I also like his selection of Chuck Hagel for Defense Secretary. I am for a much smaller military. I had a quick lunch before heading out to Rylee's Hardware. Yesterday I had a terrible time installing a computer keyboard tray that slides under my desk when not in use. Come to find out the instructions were wrong on the type of screw driver required. I needed a square headed screw driver and not a phillips. Tomorrow I will install the tray. I was very cold so I turned on my electric blanket and took a short nap. It being Thursday Nancy and I headed to Great Lakes Shipping for dinner. Nancy had a chicken breast and I had the French dip. Tonight I will watch "A Person of Interest" and hope I do not fall asleep. Seventy five years ago on this date my Great Grandfather Sanborn reported that it was 40 and raining in Ossineke, Michigan. The schools were closed. It was Monday so GGM Sanborn was doing the laundry.

Wednesday January 23, 2013

The cold continues. This morning the temperature was 8⁰ and now at 1600 it is a balmy 18⁰. We got enough snow last night that I had to shovel. I had breakfast club this morning. I was surprised that despite the cold we had a good turnout. We had eight folks at our table. Four were over 85 and only two were under 80. The speaker talked about the successful introduction of Peregrine Falcons to downtown GR. After BC I came home and let Ms P out. She does not like this cold. She does her bidness within 50 feet of the back door. It takes 30 seconds, max. I grabbed a small package and walked to the post office. After the PO I headed to the Kava House for coffee. I read most of the WSJ. The eye doctor had called me this morning saying my new lens for my sunglasses was in. I headed downtown and found out they had ordered the wrong lens. Bummer. This afternoon Nancy is working at Meijer's Garden. I relocated my computer at the start of the year. Today I was going to move the keyboard tray that moves under the desk when I am not typing. I did not follow the old adage of measure twice and cut once. I put the tray in the wrong location. I will try again tomorrow. I just brought up some Scott family material. My winter project is to continue the family tree. I would really like to know if the Scott family is really from Scotland as everyone assumes. I have no exact proof. Nancy and I are still fighting the remnants of our cold. Last night I watched 30 seconds of NCIS before falling asleep. I slept for over an hour. I could not believe I slept through my favorite TV show. It is now 1645 and I am going outside to shovel the walk. It has been snowing lightly all day. I hope you all get your 30 in today.

Tuesday January 22, 2013

Boy was it cold this morning. The temperature was 01⁰. At 1700 it has risen to 9⁰. Ms P does not like the cold. Nancy said this morning she thinks her feet were so cold that she could not move and Nancy had to pick her up. We had to shovel but with my new superwide it did not take long. It is so cold that deicing chemicals do not work so the roads are not clear. I decided to drive to the MAC. I did do my tri, I rowed, ran and swam this morning. I decided to have my coffee at Breton Village. I had just finished the WSJ when my phone rang and my computer guy, Ken said he could stopped by and solve my problems. He started at 1230 and was done at 1500. My word programs seems to be working ok. He also set up Nancy's smart phone so she can get and send emails. She can also send text. Nancy attended a retirement party this afternoon at Meijer's Garden. Nancy has fixed scallop potatoes for dinner. It has been ages since we have had scallop potatoes. A perfect meal for a very cold day. Tonight is my favorite TV night. I like NCIS. I also am reading a very good book by Ken Follet. Lately I have putting my to-do list on the notes app on my iphone. I have not made much progress completing the list. Something unscheduled always comes up.

Monday January 21, 2013

Today is our first real winter day. The temperature never got above 12. Nancy and I started the day shoveling the drive. I had to shovel two more times before dinner. It is so cold that the snow is very light. I used my new super wide shovel. I drove to the MAC this morning. I still have not fully recovered from my cold because I cannot do my normal aerobics at 100%. After the MAC I ran several errands. We had two special lightbulbs burn out so I made a run to the lighting center. It was so cold this morning that Ms P's pooper scooper froze and I broke it trying to get it to open. Special light bulbs and pooper scoopers are not cheap. My computer is on the fritz so I have my computer guy coming in tomorrow. I miss spell check. Today is a holiday so the WSJ was not printed. When I don't read the WSJ I gain an hour to do something else. Today it was shoveling snow. I am perhaps one of the few folks that like to shovel. I think it stems from my boyhood when my Grandmother insisted that I keep the sidewalks clean so that all her friends would not stumble. In my youth a lot of older folks put their cars up on blocks for the winter. Everyone walked. Every once in a while one of my grandmother's friends would say what a nice job on did on the sidewalk. I liked that. Nancy and I watched the President's speech today or was it a sermon. His agenda is not my agenda. This first swearing in of a president that I watched on TV was John Kennedy in 1961. I thought Kennedy's "ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country" was great. He set the right tone.

Sunday January 20, 2013

It was very cold today. The temperature has stayed in the teens all day. We got up at 0700 and immediately got ready for the MAC. I went swimming, 1250 yards, but Nancy with all the stitches spent some time on the treadmill. After the MAC we headed to Meijer's for our supplies. Nancy fixed her world famous scrambled eggs for breakfast. I took a short nap. Matt Kutsche the son of Dr Dave and Mary (Hess) was killed in an auto accident in Haiti. He was on a church mission to help earthquake survivors. His dad was also on the mission. Dr Kutsche is our GP. We think he is a great guy. His wife, Mary Hess, grew up two doors from us. The funeral home was jammed. The waiting time to see Dave and Mary was over an hour. We got to talk to Hess kids: Andy, Mary, Jon and Ann. Dan Hess the father was also in attendance. Dan is 84 and living in Florida. Andy Hess was appreciative of Missy's comments on his facebook page. It was nice seeing all the Hess family but wish it could have been under different circumstances. For the first time this year I am going to watch several football games. It is too cold to be outside. My microsoft Office programs are not working so I am typing this blog without the aid of spell check. I will head to bed early tonight because tomorrow morning I will have to shovel. We are expecting about 3".

Saturday January 19, 2013

I'm back! I have not written a blog since December 18, 2012. On Wednesday December 19 Nancy and I flew to San Jose, CA to spend Christmas with Debbie. We stayed in Debbie's new house and both Nancy and I think it is perfect for Debbie. I like the neighborhood. Missy and AJ joined us for Christmas. It is always great to spend the holidays with family. The weather was cool in San Jose with lows in the 30s, no frost, and highs in the low 60s. After Christmas we headed south to LA. Nancy and I drove with Debbie. We took I5 and as we reached the summit of I5's grapevine stretch we encountered snow. The stay in the LA area was great , we got to spend time with Steve and his family. Nancy and I took Lucas and Alessandra to several museums in the area. We were also able to attend several gymnastic practices. Nancy came down with a bad cold so we spent New Year's day in our motel. On our last day we took Missy and AJ to the Huntington Museum in Pasadena. Nancy wanted to see their Japanese Gardens. Their garden is beautiful. We took the red eye back to GR. We got home on Saturday morning January 5. I also got a cold so both Nancy and I spent our first week back recuperating. On Friday January 11 Kim brought back Ms P. Sunday January 13 we resumed our normal routines. The last week has been kind of a catch up week. We are both feeling better so we spent a lot of time getting our affairs up to date. On Wednesday Nancy had a patch of skin removed from her face. She spent most of the day at the Doctors office. The surgery required 52 stitches. The stitches must be small because the surface area of the patch is small. Nancy is feeling much better but will be happy when the stitches are removed next Wednesday. Tonight we are going to dinner with Becky Verker and her new husband, Ken Hershberger. We are going to Pietro's. We are expecting some very cold weather coming our way. Temperatures tonight might reach single digits. I have only shoveled snow once this year. In fact I have been able to ride my bike every day. I have been getting my 30 in and I hope everyone else is also spending 30 minutes outside every day. My goal this winter is to get some more family research done. I might even drive over to Ontario to get some birth and death certificates on family members. Nancy and I are also thinking of maybe redoing the master bedroom.