November 30, 2020

 Monday November 1, 2020

Up this morning at 0630.  Did some calisthenics before driving to Panera for a coffee and croissant.  Breakfast and then dressed warmly because the wind chills were in the low 20s.

Nancy first thing this morning headed out on her 3.5 mile walk.  She has a 1400 PT appointment.

For the first time in over a month I biked to the Y.  I was surprised the place was nearly empty.  It was great to be able to finally do some push-ups and sit-ups.  I finished my Y routine with a 0.8 mile walk.  I think walking on the Y’s track is easier of my hip because it has a flat even surface.

At home I showered and then spent some time reading and finishing yesterday’s blog.  

It is now 1320 and I will have lunch and then run errands.  Stay tuned.

First stop on my errand run was The Cleaners.  I left four shirts to be cleaned and pressed.

Next stop was Meijer’s.  I bought yogurt cups, bananas, bagel crisps and wine.  Meijer’ was out of Light Prune Juice and shower cleaner.

Spent the rest of the afternoon in my office reading and finishing yesterday’s blog.  My iPad tracker says I usually spend 4 hours on the iPad each day.

I did put out 6 ears of corn for the deer at 1600.  The deer arrived within 5 minutes.

It is Monday so we had a Cheerios dinner.  After dinner we watched 30 minutes of the Shepard Smith new hour.  

Debbie and Missy FaceTimed us this evening.  We gave a positive health report.  

Tonight we watched two episodes of Jack Ryan on Prime.  Like this show.

It was cold, 34, and very windy when checked the front yard at 2200.  Wind will continue through tomorrow.  Winds above 15 mph makes walking and biking unpleasant. 

November 29. 2020

 Sunday November 29, 2020

Blog time 1500 sitting in office

We both got up at 0730 this morning.  I drove to Panera and got us both a coffee.  Hazelnut for Nancy and Light Roast for me.  I also got a croissant.

Oatmeal breakfast with yogurt topping, banana and croissant.  Every morning I have a cup of Better Oats oatmeal.  Nancy asked why I don’t get tired of the same breakfast every day.  I say it is in my Scottish heritage.  Oatmeal is a staple in Scotland.

Today we watched the 38th streaming service for Trinity Lutheran.  This Sunday is the start of Advent.  

After church Nancy and I got in the Fusion and took a ride through rural michigan.  We headed east  around the airport and took 48th over the Thornapple River to Whitneyville Road, south to 84th.  East to M50 and continued to Lake Odessa.  

Great day for a ride, bright sun.  We are always amazed at the number of large working farms near GR.  The farms look well maintained as do the farm homes.  

The one thing we noted driving through farm country were a lot of GOP signs.  Democrat signs were very few, almost non existent.

We also noted several churches with packed parking lots.  Do the parishioners think God will protect them?

Finished the morning with a 2 mile walk.  Today I celebrate one month since my operation.  Tomorrow I will resume doing push-ups and sit-ups.  Of course I will ease into the routine.  

Lunch and then headed downstairs to finish blogs and read some on-line news. 

This and that:

I recently subscribed to the Detroit News.  I needed more state news.  I like it.  Certainly beats the GRP.

Lions fire coach.  Is Harbaugh far behind?

When looking at the mass gathering of folks without masks, if the pandemic gets worse it is our fault.

President Elect Biden is slowly getting access to Federal agencies.  It looks like in his own way President Trump realizes it is over.  

For dinner tonight we finished last night’s pizza.  Very good.  

We watched a portion of 60 Minutes before switching to Prime.  We watched another episode of Jack Ryan.

Debbie and Missy FaceTimed us this evening.  We gave a positive report.

The temperature had dropped to high 30s when checked outside at 2200.  Frost expected this evening.

November 28, 2020

Saturday November 28,2020

Blog time 1500 Sunday sitting in office.

Up this Saturday morning at 0700.  Drove to Panera for coffee and scone.  

Oatmeal breakfast with coffee and scone.  The scone was especially great this morning.  Simple pleasures.

After breakfast I made a quick trip to ACE Hardware.  I bought two strings of outdoor lights.  Later this afternoon I will put the lights on our deck.

1100 I headed out on a 10.7 mile bike ride.  Bright sun and 45 made for a great ride.  Noted a lot of families out for a morning walk.

At home shaved and showered.  After lunch I put up the deck lights. 

I took a 1.6 mile walk starting at 1500.  This evening I drove to JT’s pizza and got a medium ham and pineapple pizza.  JT’s has the best pizza in the area.  We gave them a call earlier in the week and they were closed.  Luckily it was only a temporary closure.

Watched no news today or I did not even watch any football.  Tonight we watched Jack Ryan on Prime followed by the Queen’s Gambit.  

Tonight both Debbie and Missy/AJ FaceTimed us.  Nancy and I were pleased that both were in a good mood.  

Bright full moon when checked outside at 2200.  Another nice day tomorrow.

November 27, 2020

 Friday November 27, 2020

Blog time 1800 sitting in office.

Both up at 0700.  Nancy headed out on her 3.25 mile walk.  After some chin-ups I headed to Panera for coffee and a bagel.  At home had my normal oatmeal breakfast.

Today I took a 10.5 mile bike ride.  It was gloomy but temp was a mild 41.  Good ride.  After the ride I put up two Christmas wreaths.  Tomorrow I will put up the lights on the deck.

Showered and then drove to Meijer’s to get some supplies.  I was surprised that Meijer’s was empty. 

I am resuming this blog on Sunday Nov 29 so I am having trouble remembering what I did two days ago.  Senior moment?

After lunch I spent time on the iPad reading.  During this holiday break I make it a point to not read the news.   

I did find time for a nap.  Finished the afternoon with a 1.5 mile walk.

For dinner Nancy fixed hot dogs.  Love hot dogs, a great American classic.  Also had a dish of pineapples and blueberries.

Tonight we watched an episode of Midsomer Murders.  Will we ever run out of episodes?

Debbie and Missy FaceTimed this evening.  Everything ok.

Gloomy at 2200 but the next two days will be sunny with high temps near 50.

November 26, 2020

 Thursday November 26, 2020

Blog time 1400 sitting in office.

Up at 0700.  Made a cup of coffee before breakfast.  Nancy headed out on a 3.2 mile walk.

After breakfast I read the GRP.  The GRP’s Thanksgiving issue was large with all the ads.  I remember when the girls had a paper route I would help them with this huge heavy issue.  

I finished the paper and then dressed for a bike ride.  It was kind of a gloomy 41 when I headed out.  Today I rode 10.8 miles.

After the ride I compared the  exercise app data on my iPhone with Nancy’s iPhone.  Bottom line a 3.2 mile walk is equivalent to a 10.8 bike ride.

Past Thanksgivings

As a boy we attended a big family Thanksgiving at my Grandparent Scott’s farm.  About 50 family members were in attendance.  It was a great family affair.

My first Thanksgiving away from family was in 1961.  I had my meal at the Officers Club at the Pearl Harbor Navy Base.

1962 Thanksgiving was on Midway Island.

1963 I had Thanksgiving at a restaurant in Saigon, Vietnam.

1964 I was just out of the Navy and had dinner at 123 First Avenue in Alpena.

Since 1965 Nancy and I always have had Thanksgiving dinner together.  Some of the cities where we had our meal were:  Redwood City, Ca, Grand Rapids, Mi; Alpena, Mi; Terre Haute, IN; Paris, France; London, UK; Berlin, Germany; Rome, Italy; and Danang, VN

We had this year’s Thanksgiving meal at 1430.  Nancy purchased a pre prepared traditional dinner for two at D&W.  It was really quite good.

Nancy and I both took an after dinner walk to settle everything down.

All three kids FaceTimed us today to wish us a Happy Thanksgiving.  We are blessed to have such nice kids.  Thankfully, everyone is in fine health.

I had a cup of yogurt for dinner.  Tonight we watched a movie on Amazon Prime.  It was called “My Spy”.  It is a movie for young folks but I think it was the type of movie we needed.

It was very dark when checked front yard at 2200.  Weather will remain in low 40s for next 24 hours.  

November 25, 2020

 Wednesday November 25, 2020

Blog time 1615 sitting in office

I got up at 0630.  Our handyman Randy is coming at 0900 to install the Kitchen ceiling light.  I have to get ready.  Dressed and drove to Panera for coffee and bagel.  Quick breakfast and then brought up ladder and unpacked the new fixture.

Nancy headed out at 0830 for a PT session.  Our insurance company agreed to pay for the PT.

Randy arrived at 0900.  He started installing the fan and said it was smaller than the original.  GR Lighting gave me the wrong diameter to measure.

I drove to GR Lighting exchanged fixture and Randy installed the larger one.  When he was installing the fixture cover he noted it was cracked.  I drove back to GRL and got a new cover.  Finally the unit is installed.

I was so flustered that I needed a walk.  Put on my rain suit and took a 2.5 mile walk.  It rained all during my walk.

Headed downstairs for some reading before lunch.  Lunch today was yogurt, bread with peanut butter, ensure and two sugar free oatmeal cookies.  Very good.

Memories of the Wednesday’s before Thanksgiving:

The freeways were not completed during my undergrad days at UM.  It was a 6-7 hour drive from Ann Arbor to Alpena.  Most undergrads could not have a car on campus so finding a ride home was a problem.  I did find a Senior who had a car.  His name was Cal Wills from Hubbard Lake.  I would call Cal about three weeks before Thanksgiving asking for a ride.  I was usually lucky.  His car was packed.

If I could not get a ride with a fellow student I would take the Greyhound bus.  The bus was a very long ride because of all the stops.

I remember when the kids were young we would spend Thanksgiving at a Grandparents.  It was about a six hour drive to either Terre Haute or Alpena.  (Freeways were now available) We would leave after school.  The kids were excited about Thanksgiving with GP.  They fussed a lot.  Nancy and I were exhausted when reached our destination.

In the late 90s, the kids were all out of college.  Nancy was still teaching.  We decided we would spend a weekend in an European large city.  We would not travel outside the City but just see the city.  Our first visit was to Paris, next year we visited London, third year Berlin and finally Rome.  

We would leave right after school on Wednesday. Catch a flight to Detroit or Chicago and take an overnight flight to our chosen city.  Usually we would land early on Thanksgiving morning. We would begin immediately seeing the sights.  Left for home on Sunday and would be back at work on Monday.  Great times!

Just noted a flock of 12 turkeys eating in back yard.

At 1500 we drove to D&W.  Nancy had ordered a complete Thanksgiving Dinner for two.  I also bought a turkey/cheese sandwich for this evening.  

Put out corn for deer at 1700 and 10 minutes later three deer arrived.  I made a trip today to Chow Hound to buy another 35# bag of corn.

After our dinner we watched some news.  Later we watched the final episode, season 4, of The Crown.  I gave season 4 a grade of C-.

It was still raining when I checked outside at 2200.  Debbie and Missy FaceTimed us this evening.  We gave a positive report.

  

November 24, 2020

 Tuesday November 24, 2020

Blog time 1515 sitting in office.

Up at 0630 it was still dark with temp in 20s.  Snow should start at 1100.

Nancy headed out on her 3 mile walk.  I drove to Panera for coffee and a bagel.  At home I had my oatmeal breakfast.

Put on warm bike clothes and headed out.  Rode 10.5 miles.  No critters seen.  

Shaved and showered as soon as I got home.  Nancy and I got in the Fusion and drove to AT&T to get some questions answered on our internet, TV and phone bills.  Bottom line, AT&T said we could get a better deal if we used ComCast.  Apparently the AT&T service in our area is limited especially if we use Netflix a lot.  I appreciated their honesty.

It started snowing about 1300 and continued for the rest of daylight hours.  The snow did not stick.

As soon as we got home I headed down to the office to start my morning reading.  Lately I am getting behind more than before the Coronavirus hit.  Of course we blame everything on Coronavirus.

This and that:

About this time if 1961 I was at Treasure Island Naval Base near San Francisco trying to get a plane to Midway Island.  The traffic folks put me on a plane to Hawaii.  Arrived in Hawaii on Tuesday night.  I would catch the plane to Midway on Friday. 

I remember the flight to Hawaii.  It was on a 4 engine prop plane.  I think it was called a Super Connie.  Remember that until last May I had never been on a plane.  This long trip over water was exciting.  I remember looking out the window. It was evening and I was amazed at all the car lights on the freeways and the lights of the ocean side communities.  Quite a thrill for some one from small town northern MI.  

When we got to Hawaii I got a bus to Pearl Harbor Navy Base.  I got a room in the BOQ.  

POTUS is finally realizing that he lost.  Let’s hope for a smooth transition.

The Alpena News had an interesting animal story.  A wildcat got his foot caught in a trap set to snare a coyote.  A DNR officer was told and she released the wildcat unharmed.  I have never seen a wildcat in the wild but I know NE MI has a stable population.

Speaking of traps I would encounter muskrat and mink traps set in small streams while bridge inspecting.  The lazy trapper set them under small bridges.  When I saw one I would spring the trap.  I bet it would hurt if I stepped on one.

Our main stream media (msm) does not report on problems overseas.  The conflicts in Armenia and Ethiopia are very serious.  China and Russia are also taking advantage of our disinterest.  Hope the new administration takes an active interest in International affairs.  A good start would be to assure our long time Allies that we have their backs.  Enough said!

Lunch and then I took a 1.65 mile walk followed by a nap.

For dinner tonight we ordered tamales and tacos from our neighborhood Mexican restaurant.  Very good.

Tonight we watched the start of the new season of NCIS on CBS.  I gave it an A- but Nancy said it was only a B.

This evening we FaceTimed with both Debbie and Missy.  They were both in a talkative mood.  

No Netflix or Acorn this evening.  I finished reading the WSJ before heading to bed.  It was raining when checked the yard at 2200.  A rainy mild day tomorrow.