Thursday January 30, 2014

For the first time in what seems days I did not have to shovel this morning. MVP has a number of classes this morning so I cannot get in the pool before 1100. I ran some errands, money for our trip and purchased some small items like shaving cream, mouthwash, etc. I purchased these items at Meijer's. After my swim I drove to the New Balance store in Rivertown Mall. I returned a pair of walking shoes that were size 10 instead of 9.5. They did not have 9.5 in stock so I took a refund. I spent most of the afternoon packing for our trip. Roads Scholar recommends traveling light. That is easy for them to say, they don't have to take warm clothes for our trip to Chicago. Surprise at 1600 it started to snow. We had a very light dinner, read the GRP and then watched Wallander on Netflix. At 2130 I headed out to shovel snow. We had received about 2". It took 90' to clear the walks. I have to use the small shovel in order to get the snow on top of the high banks.

Wednesday January 29, 2014

The new norm: shovel before bed and before breakfast. Another cold day but we had sun. Sun is good. Today is my easy day. So after shoveling I walked to the Omelette Shop for an oatmeal breakfast. It was tough walking with all the snow on the ground. Walking (4.5 miles) to the Omelette Shop will be my only exercise for the day. When I got home I read some and then we all got in the Taurus to run a lot of errands. With the roads still being snow covered I do not like to drive the C2. Our first stop was the OH library. Nancy picked up her book. Ms P is getting a bath and her hair cut today. We dropped her off at the groomers. Nancy had to pick up a prescription at Costco. Gas at Costco was $3.12 a gallon. We stopped at the hospital gift shop so Nancy could get some paperwork. The groomers called. We picked up Ms P. I hope they did not take too much hair off with this weather. She looks good. All this running around made me tired so I took a nap. Tonight we are going to Houlihan's for their comfort food special. Meatloaf, pot roast and other mid winter fare at a great price. Not much on TV so I hope Netflix will download tonight. Think Spring!

Tuesday January 28, 2014

Happy Birthday Melissa! I remember her birth very clearly. It was a bitterly cold Sunday morning in Ann Arbor. Nancy told me that it was time and we better hurry. We had an old Volkswagen Beetle and I had a hard time getting the wind shield wipers to work. Half way to the hospital it was snowing so bad that I stopped the car and tried to get the wipers working. Nancy yelled at me to get going. As soon as I pulled into the hospital entrance the Nurses had Nancy in a wheel chair and headed upstairs. I parked the car and headed to the maternity ward. I checked in and before I sat down the Doctor came out and said it was a girl. Talk about a just-in-time delivery. Oh the things one remembers! We are having another very cold day. The temperature was -5 last night and presently, 1730, it is 9. All area schools have been closed both Monday and today. Road salt does not work below 15 so the roads are becoming snow packed. I am glad the Ford has 4 wheel drive. I was slipping and sliding in my C2. The cold weather is getting to Ms P. She slept in until 0630 and when she goes outside it only for seconds. If the cold continues we might have to get some booties. I did my normal routine today, calisthenics at home, coffee at Gaslight Village and in the pool at MVP by 1000. With no school I thought the pool would be crowded with kids. No kids, I had my pick of lanes. Nancy worked at the hospital today. I had a quick lunch and then spent some time looking over some info on our upcoming trip to Panama. I also worked on the family tree. I am having a problem adding to the tree and I just figured out why. The software I am using is called My Heritage. I view all my inputted data on my Apple Air. However, any modifications or additions to the program must be done on a windows machine. I just got my old HP working again and I will have to spend some time adding to the tree. Around 1600 I bundled up and walked to the post office to mail some bills. It was very cold. I needed this walk in order to get my 30' in today. It is now 1745 and I am writing this blog and sipping wine. Nancy gets mad at me whenever I tip over a wine glass. It happens about twice a month. I figure a normal wine glass is unstable so today I started drinking wine in one of my short, fat scotch glasses. They are more stable than a wine glass. Nancy is fixing scrambled eggs and sloppy joes for dinner. Sounds good for a cold winter's evening. We will watch the news and maybe the President's speech. Last night we tried to watch Wallander on Netflix. Netflix said the show was not available and to try later. Is this normal?

Monday January 27, 2014

I shoveled 4" of snow last night before going to bed and I shoveled 2" of snow this morning. I have no problem shoveling because the snow is nice and light. My problem is finding a place to put the snow. The banks on both sides of the drive are at least 5' high. The temperature has been in single digits all day today. I got up at 0633 and after morning calisthenics I drove to Starbucks in Gaslight Village. I expected the place to be crowded but it was empty. All the schools in the area are closed today. On my new schedule I get to Starbucks about 0830 and leave at 0930 so I can get to MVP when open swimming starts at 0955. Today I did not have to share a lane. I swam 1,500 meters in 41'. On my way home I stopped at Mr Thang's to pick up my leather vest. Mr Thang had to sew up a rip. When I got home I found that Mackinaw had been plowed. I spent about 30' cleaning up our drive entrance. This afternoon Overhead Door Company installed a new opener for Nancy's side of the garage. I took a very short nap and then walked to the Post Office to mail a package. The sun came out and it looked like a dim 30 watt bulb. It is now 1745 and the temperature is 1. We will have a light dinner and then watch the News and maybe another episode of Wallendar.

Sunday January 26, 2014

We had a light dusting of snow overnight. So what is new! Temperature at 0800 was 11. The pool was crowded today. Nancy and I had to share a lane. After our swim we headed to the Meijer's at 28th and Kzoo. The place was crowded. We did not need many groceries this week. Gas was $3.33 today. I also picked up a nose drop prescription at Meijer's Pharmacy. Nancy fixed her world famous scrambled eggs for breakfast. After breakfast I headed out and shoveled the walk. About 2" of snow had fallen since 0600. I also did my weekly task of emptying my laundry basket. After these chores I took a short nap. Nancy and I finished watching an episode of Wallander on Netflix that we had started last night. I like this series. I think we have already recovered our initial investment in the blu-ray player we needed for Netflix. I took a 2.25 mile walk. Debbie just Facetimed us from San Jose. She had spent the last week in London and came back with a bad cold. She showed me how to get Closed Captions on our TV. Missy said that if I use this feature when watching a BBC series I will be able to follow the dialogue. Nancy has fixed her world famous chili for dinner tonight. A great cold winter's night meal. Speaking of Sunday night meals, when I was a boy we use to visit the Scott Grandparents on Sunday. They lived on a farm in Hubbard Lake, MI. We always had soft boiled eggs in a cup. The top of the shell was cut off and we used a spoon to get the egg out. The egg was placed in a special egg holder. We also had Grandmother Scott's freshly baked bread. Grandfather would go to the root cellar and get a canned fruit sauce for dessert. It was a great dinner. We talked to my sister yesterday. The surgery was a success and she is coming home today. We will call her later today. We will watch 60 Minutes this evening and finish reading the GRP. Maybe a Netflix TV show before heading upstairs.

Saturday January 25, 2014

I went out at 0600 and started shoveling. Nancy joined me several minutes later. We got about 8” of snow overnight. This is the deepest snow we had to shovel this year. It took us about 90 minutes to get the drive cleared. Our neighbor used his snow blower to clear our walk. I made Nancy a pot of coffee and then started on my normal walk to Bill’s. I got to Lake Drive and I said the heck with this. The deep snow had made walking difficult. I diverted to Wolfgang’s. I sat at the counter and had eggs and hash browns. Ten minutes after I sat down the entire place was filled. When I left Wolfgang’s all the streets had been cleared. Of course our drive entrance was plugged by the passing plows. It took another 30’ to clear the drive. Nancy wanted to work at the hospital so I volunteered to drive. When I got home I headed upstairs and spent time working on the family tree. Nancy called about 1400 and Ms P and I picked her up. We all shoveled the drive when we got home. I took a short nap. My Sister, Helen, called this afternoon and gave an update on her knee operation. Every thing went well and she is going home tomorrow. Her recovery period will be lenghty. We tried to view Netflix this afternoon but kept getting a message that the show we selected was having problems. No netlfix. It is now 1800 and Nancy is fixing sloppy joes for dinner. We will watch the UM/MSU game tonight. A cold snap is coming to GR. It is now 12 and the temp will drop to five overnight. Monday and Tuesday will have high temps in single digits. Despite the temps we all got our 30 in today. I hope you did too?

Friday January 24, 2014

Out at 0500 to shovel about a 1/2" of new snow. I went back to bed and got up at 0647. Today I did the calisthenics at home and then went to Starbucks in Gaslight Village for coffee. I could not get into the pool at MVP until 1000. I got in at 1000 and still had to share a lane. In fact I shared the lane with a neighbor Doug Vance. Doug told me he swam 20 laps. I asked what his time was and he said 15'. I do 20 laps in 30'. Man I am slow. Come to find out Doug did 20 lengths and not laps. So our times are identical. After my swim I headed home. I always hang up my wet swimsuit. Lo and behold, I left my suit at MVP. I had a 1320 Doctor's appointment. The Doctor's is close to MVP. I stopped at MVP and found the suit. I thought I had a sinus infection. The Doctor checked my nose and ears. I did have a sinus infection. The Doctor gave me several prescriptions. I have been using the C2 every day. I don't put more that 10 miles per day on the C2 so I thought I needed to put some miles on it to charge the battery. All this cold weather is bad for batteries. I got on I-196 and headed to Holland. I got to Ottawa County and the high wind was creating a lot of drifting. I got off at 44th St and stopped at the New Balance store. I like the New Balance walking shoes. They last forever. I bought a pair. I had to pick my prescriptions at Meijer's. Nancy went with me. I picked up my prescriptions and Nancy bought some dog food, English muffins, and grapes. We had dinner at Russ's. The place was empty. The weather must be keeping folks inside. As soon as we got home we headed upstairs to change into comfortable clothes. We plan on spending the evening watching movies on Netflix. I tried on my new walking shoes and saw that they had given me the wrong size. Bummer. Think Spring!