Saturday December 20, 2014

Saturday December 20, 2014 Up at 0700 and walked to Sundance for ham and eggs. It was clear but cold this morning, 18. It was such a nice day that on my way home I added an extra 1.5 miles to the walk. Nancy busy doing chores so I decided to run errands. I am looking for a nice money clip and a pair of walking shoes. First stop Groskopfs to look for money clip. I showed the owner my magnetic clip. I told him I thought magnets would upset my phone. He gave me a lecture on the safety of my clip. He talked me out of getting a new clip. Mine was fine. I looked in Bill and Paul’s for walking shoes. Nothing. I drove to Woodland Mall also had no luck finding shoes. Same at MC and Gazelle. I did buy some swim goggles at Gazelle. I had a quick lunch and then resumed packing for the CA trip. I gave my old high school friend Tom Cassell a call. Tom retired to Alpena and is enjoying life. We talked for over an hour. At 1500 I took a walk around the block. Nancy and I had an early dinner at Rose’s in EGR. We arrived at 1600 and had no trouble getting a table. The food was great. It is now 1800 and I am going upstairs to watch the news. On these short days I hope everyone is finding time to get their 30 minutes in.

Friday December 19, 2014

December 19, 2014 Up at 0645, Nancy to MVP and I go downstairs to do the calisthenics. Today is the last day that I do calisthenics for two weeks. I looking forward to the break. Today I had coffee at Panera’s before pedaling to MVP for my swim. It was cold this morning but sunny and no wind. Ideal bike riding conditions if dressed right. The pool was cool this morning and the hot water at MVP was tepid. I was cold when I left MVP. I stopped at Starbucks to finish reading the WSJ. I think Sony made a mistake pulling their movie. Smart folks are suppose to be running the stock market. With all the yo-yoing this week I think the smart folks forgot to take their pills. I am alway amazed at how dumb smart people are! Speaking of pills, we are packing for our trip to CA. Can I get my bottle of pills through security? I will go online to check. Kim came to clean today. I got home about 1300 and I was surprised not to see her car. Nancy said she brought her daughter to help. Ms P is spending two weeks with Kim. Nancy said Ms P was glad to go with Kim. I was so cold when I got home that I turned up the electric blanket and took a warmup nap. I started packing this afternoon. I think I will take a break and go on a short walk. I walked around the block. The temperature had dropped to 30 so I walked briskly. Nancy is fixing beans and rice for dinner. Yummy! Yesterday I talked about my final day on Midway Island. Debbie told me that I can find anything on youtube. I searched for Midway Island and found several videos on Midway. I watched two. It brought back memories. On this date 52 years ago I was schedule to leave Midway on what was called the log flight. The log flights were twice weekly flights from Hawaii. They were scheduled for Monday and Friday. I think I was first in line to board the plane. It was 70 degrees when I left. About half-way to Hawaii I pinched myself to see if it was real. The Commander sitting across from me started to laugh. He said Ensign you are going home. I landed in Hawaii and immediately got on a flight to CA. The Navy paid for the flight to CA, but I had to pay for transportation to Alpena. At SF I changed into civilian clothes. I got into Midway Airport in Chicago early in the morning (Sunday). I then flew North Central to Alpena. We made about five stops in MI before getting to Alpena. It was -17 when I got off the plane in Alpena. Mom and Dad met me at the airport. And so ended Ensign Scotts first duty station. More to come!

Thursday December 18, 2014

Thursday December 18, 2014 Nancy has a new alarm clock. She is up at 0645 and heading to MVP for a swim. No MVP for me, I have to take the Cobalt in this morning to get the paint sealer reapplied. Hard to believe that the Cobalt is five years old. It has only 22,500 miles on it and most of the mileage was on a single trip to CA. I did have time for coffee at Panera this morning. I do not agree with our President often but I think the Cuba decision was the correct one. It took about 45 minutes to get the Cobalt done. I got home about 1200 and took Ms P on her walk. Today is a dark gloomy day. Temps this morning were below freezing but soon warmed up to 33. It was misting most of the day. I think this week’s weather is what I would expect in London. Today we have nine hours (actual 9h01’) of daylight. LA has 54 minutes more. Edinburgh, Scotland has seven hours. I did take a short nap. I finished the daylight hours with a three mile walk. I stopped at the bank. We are having dinner at Russ’s and then we are going to Nancy’s friend Kathi’s house for wine and cheese. Stay tuned! Nancy and I could not get over the effort Kathi put forth decorating her home. It was great. We had snacks and opened a bottle of wine Debbie had sent us. We spent several hours talking. A great evening. Fifty years ago this evening was my last night on Midway Island. I had spent over a year on this small piece of sand in the middle of the Pacific. The Navy base was on Sand Island that had an area of about 1,000 acres. I had my seabag packed, Navy for suitcase, and could not wait to leave on Friday’s flight to Hawaii.

Wednesday December 17, 2014

Easy Wednesday Was going to walk to Sundance about one mile away. 20 mph winds and 28 degree cold changed mind. Had egg sandwich at Panera. Big news today, Cuba, no fracking in NY, Pakistan killings, oil prices and ruble. Stopped at SCECO, talked to folks, they are having good year. Fire place store in Gaslight said $3,000 to convert Ground floor fireplace to unit providing heat. Too expensive. Looked at Home Depot for electric space heater. Under $500. Lunch then started writing check to charities. Phone call from another fire place company. $3,000 to convert. Will buy electric unit. Nancy worked at Gardens this PM. Finished afternoon with walk around block. Light dinner, watched TV before early bed. Written on mini-iPad.

Tuesday December 16, 2014

Tuesday December 16, 2014 Up at 0645, no swim for Nancy because she has a foot doctor appointment. I do the at-home routine and pedal to Panera. It was warm, mid 40s, but very foggy. I had to turn my bike light on. Speaking of fog, when I was about 4 I kept asking my Mother what that noise was that I heard on foggy days. My Mom explained a fog horn to me and said that it was located at the entrance of the Thunder Bay River into Lake Huron. Its purpose was to warn ships. Mom said next time the fog horn was working we would take a field trip down to the river so I could see it. On the big day we got dressed and headed to the River. I saw the horn and also the search light that was located on the same tower as the horn. After the visit we walked downtown to Pickett’s Pharmacy and Mom and I had a hot fudge sundae. A great way to end a field trip. Today I did my 30 minute swim. I stopped at Starbucks on the ride home to finish reading the WSJ. The decline of oil prices and the collapse of the Russian ruble dominated the news. Did some work in my office before taking a short nap. At 1800 Nancy and I got in the Taurus and headed to Leo’s downtown. We met Hal and Karen Horlings for dinner. The food is always good at Leo’s. We had a fine time. Spent three hours eating and talking. I think Leo’s gave us regular instead of decaf coffee because Nancy and I had trouble sleeping.

Monday December 15, 2014

Monday December 15, 2014 You might have noticed that lately I have written some posts on my mini iPad. It is hard to type on the mini so I use what I call a list format. It is poor grammar but it sure is easy. Our alarm is broken so we overslept. Nancy hurried to MVP for a class and I did the at home calisthenics. I have noticed that since the loss of 15 pounds the calisthenics are easier. Not really a brilliant observation. I rode the bike to Panera. After a quick cup of coffee I headed to MVP. Our December, so far, has been a real pussy cat. The low temperature last night was 45. Today was mostly dark and gloomy. The mild temps make it hard to know what to wear. The pool today was very crowded. I had to share a lane but did get my 30’ in. As soon as I got home I got in the Cobalt and ran some errands. First stop Meijer’s. I bought some shaving and dental supplies for our upcoming trip to CA. I also bought some Win Shuler soft cheese. Next I stopped at Costco to buy some long underwear bottoms. Costco every years stocks winter underwear, top and bottoms. They are a wool blend and very inexpensive. They were sold out and no new supplies until next year. At home took Ms P on her 1.25 mile walk. I had a late lunch, 1400. Took a short nap and then walked around the block. Today on my walk I met a neighbor. He and his wife have lived in their condo for just a year. He is the youngest neighbor I met. Light dinner and then some TV. We will watch the new season of “Major Crimes” on TNT.

Sunday December 14, 2014

Swim day, in at 0800, out at 0845. Shop at Meijer's, gas $3.40. World famous poached eggs for breakfast. Read funnies then nap. At1430 drive to Moleski's for book club Christmas party. Ten folks attended. Home at 1900, finished GRP and watched TV.