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I grew up in Park Forest, IL. We never had any concerns about termites. The town next to us, Matteson, had a huge problem with termites. All the old houses were built up on legs that were a foot or so tall. I don't know why we didn't have termites, I guess they couldn't get across the railroad tracks. We had carpenter ants. Big black things that would build a nest in the wall. When we'd see a few, a quick call to the exterminator would eliminate them. They came back every few years.
People are always asking me if I want to get back to Chicago. Hell no. I'm done with winter. Arctic cold, feet of snow each year, no thanks.
I think the winters wouldn't be so bad if I had a nice big heated garage with a lift and I could stay busy during the winter doing projects etc. Strange how quickly life can change how we live or want to live. It gets depressing, I just looked and the first car show of the season isn't until April 25, in the meantime other states are already enjoying the nice weather.
Jim - Old Man Winter about to slap you in the face on Monday.
Gonna slap me pretty damn hard here too! Low's of 21° forecast here for Monday morning and 13° for Tuesday morning are gonna create a PIA for me. I started my Sprinkler system up to test that new head I put in. I won't be able to blow the system back out, but I'm going to have to go out and remove the backflow prevention valve system which is above ground, and drain the portion of above ground pipe going from the backflow valve into the house. Crap!
I don't remember if I mentioned this or not, but my little guy Keegan got recruited by a couple kids on his ice hockey team to be their goalie for their Spring/early Summer Roller Hockey team. Dawn and I went to watch him play 2 games last night. They play two 20-minute halves for their games and he's their only goalie, so he had to play for 80-minutes, 20-minutes longer than an adult game of 60-minutes. He was wiped out by the end of their 2nd game. He played great in a 7-1 win and 3-2 loss.
Speaking of the weather, the system that is going to hit here tomorrow has shifted northward, so it'll miss me, but the folks in the U.P. and northern Michigan are expected to get 24-30" of snow. Yesterdays breezy event brought us 62 mph wind gusts, but I did not lose power. Blowing, driving snow for the drive into work yesterday, which, even by my standards sucked. By the afternoon, it had cleared up, and was sunny.
Speaking of the weather, the system that is going to hit here tomorrow has shifted northward, so it'll miss me, but the folks in the U.P. and northern Michigan are expected to get 24-30" of snow. Yesterdays breezy event brought us 62 mph wind gusts, but I did not lose power. Blowing, driving snow for the drive into work yesterday, which, even by my standards sucked. By the afternoon, it had cleared up, and was sunny.
Dan - Glad you didn't get it any worse than you did, your drive into work sure sounded bad enough. Despite the couple days of cold we'll be getting Mon/Tues, at least there's no precip supposed to associated with the front.
Both of my brothers will get slammed starting tomorrow. Won't be so bad for us along the coast - Monday/Tuesday nights down to 39°F but 60s during the daytime with heavy T-Storms...about it.
BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM SUNDAY TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY...
WHAT...Blizzard conditions expected. Total snow accumulations between 2 and 3 feet. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph.
WHERE...Dickinson, Iron, and Menominee Counties.
WHEN...From 1 AM Sunday to 7 PM CDT Monday.
BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM SUNDAY TO 7 PM CDT MONDAY...
WHAT...Blizzard conditions expected. Total snow accumulations between 2 and 3 feet. Winds gusting as high as 45 mph.
WHERE...Dickinson, Iron, and Menominee Counties.
WHEN...From 1 AM Sunday to 7 PM CDT Monday.
Norm - How'd the golfing go, are you getting back in the groove yet?
That blizzard sounds like a real *****!!! Glad it's not me!
Friday we lost power about 1700 on Friday, generator started and ran till about 2100. We went to bed so I turned off generator and went to sleep. Power came back on at 0330, temp in house down to 63- no problem. Yesterday it snowed from 0500 till about 1500- looked like a bunch of snow but when I went out to clear it was only about 5"- but like slush- very heavy. Snowblower would get clogged unless I ran about 1/2 swipes. Today woke up to about 4"- haven't been out yet. As Dan said we are sposta get a bunch so I'll wait until I figure it's done to clear. Our niece up in Pickford (Upper Peninsula) says they are sposta get 2-3 feet!! UGH....
Today woke up to about 4"- haven't been out yet. As Dan said we are sposta get a bunch so I'll wait until I figure it's done to clear. Our niece up in Pickford (Upper Peninsula) says they are sposta get 2-3 feet!! UGH....
Greg - Glad your generator worked flawlessly and you haven't gotten it too bad yet. I've been monitoring the storm predictions up there and you're right, the UP is really suppossed to get hammered. I've seen predictions for as much as 4ft in some areas up there, just crazy! Stay safe! 🤞
Just saw we're under a Tornado Watch until 8pm this evening as the cold front moves in. It's 68° right now at 3:15, and supposed to drop to 35° by 9pm.
Looks awesome Norm thanks for sharing. Jerry Apps writer from the central Wisco area of Red Granite has a neat series of farm living stories here is one you may have seen.
Very uneventful storm front here in the Evil. Power blip this am and a flicker this evening.
It was pretty benign for us too last night here in StL.
Rude awakening this morning though. Woke up to snow flurries, 20mph winds, and 23° with 9° windchill. Mother nature giving us one last kick in the *****!
Rain this morning but stopped. It was 60 something when I left for work this morning and now it's 43. That ain't right. It's annoying to me the weather girl says it will rain but then dry out afterward. What she's trying to say is that the rain will stop. The problem is nothing dries out and it's wet and muddy for days. I think I will email her and ask her to stop saying that.
Went out to the big truck over the weekend and found out I had no lights. Jumped out to verify and when I got back to the cab all the magic smoke was leaking out of the wires. I was just glad there were no flames with the smoke. I'm no spark chaser but with no lights to drive up to the mechanic I'll have to figure this one out myself.
Gotta take Mom to the doctor after work. We had a nice long run of no doctor appointments at all but now they are coming around again. For awhile we were averaging 6 appointments a month. That's more than one a week, and of course they don't want a late appointment so they tell her the last appointment is like 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I can't be taking time off 6 days a month or I'd run out of time in a hurry. So I go and talk to them and politely convince them to schedule something around 4. The office is still open why can't I schedule an appointment? Sheesh. So much for the patient being the top priority.
Got some parts ordered for the tractor this morning. He needs an oil change and a couple nicky-nacky things. I never did get the throttle controller put on, so that can all be done at once. I should have the new parts by the weekend.
Work was fairly brisk this morning but after lunch the energy just isn't there. Eh, I don't have energy, either. It's only Monday I'll work up to it.
Yesterday, I rearranged devices inside my office to accommodate the new Brightspeed fiber router/modem, surge protector power strips rerouting, cabling & mounting the modem onto the wall - including tons of cleaning. Today, I just finished cleaning the inside of my desktop PC (vacuum & compressed air), pulled the RAM sticks & GPU card, sprayed contact cleaner to the embedded slots & re-seated RAM & GPU. Fans are the toughest to clean of which I have six in the PC cabinet. Functions & runs like a greased pig.
No bad weather for us last night or today. Squall line should pass through sometime this evening & will be very short-lived. Yellow pollen is ramping up along with my sinuses.
Went out to the big truck over the weekend and found out I had no lights. Jumped out to verify and when I got back to the cab all the magic smoke was leaking out of the wires. I was just glad there were no flames with the smoke. I'm no spark chaser but with no lights to drive up to the mechanic I'll have to figure this one out myself.
Gotta take Mom to the doctor after work. We had a nice long run of no doctor appointments at all but now they are coming around again. For awhile we were averaging 6 appointments a month. That's more than one a week, and of course they don't want a late appointment so they tell her the last appointment is like 1 or 2 in the afternoon. I can't be taking time off 6 days a month or I'd run out of time in a hurry. So I go and talk to them and politely convince them to schedule something around 4. The office is still open why can't I schedule an appointment? Sheesh. So much for the patient being the top priotity.
Mike - I'm pretty sure "the patient being the priority" is pretty much a thing of the past, but I wish you the best of luck getting your Mom to all those appointments while using a minimal (if any?) amount of your vacation time.
Good like with your truck electrical issue and your tractor maintenance! 🤞
Yesterday, I rearranged devices inside my office to accommodate the new Brightspeed fiber router/modem, surge protector power strips rerouting, cabling & mounting the modem onto the wall - including tons of cleaning.
Norm - Sounds like you're staying busy! Glad you aren't experiencing any nasty weather.
Spent the morning doing mundane accounting and bill paying again..
Keegan has his last two regular season hockey games on Tues. and Thurs. evenings this week, and Gabe is already done. Both boys will start their Spring 4-on-4 hockey season this coming Saturday. Gabe is moving up to the 13/14-yr age group. This is the age group where checking is first allowed. As part of the transition all 13-yr olds are required to take the organization's "Checking Clinic" which is supposed to teach them what is/isn't allowed and the proper form when checking another player. Gabe has his clinic this week. It's about to get "real" for him now!
Chris - They sure do grow up quick. Cherish these times for all they're worth. They'll be off living their own lives before you know it.
Art - Yes, they certainly do! I'm sure trying to make the most of it. I'm lucky to be retired and have most of my time to my own. As I'm sure you've guessed by now, I try and make it to all of their events if at all possible! 😃
Not much going on. Work is slow but steady, the rain stopped and it's nice(but cold) out. Did some reading up on the tractor and found I could have ordered a couple more parts yesterday. Not gonna sweat it.
Chris that picture is worthy of framing. Maybe on Gabe's next birthday have that image put on his birthday cake.
Got Mom to the doctor yesterday and while I was waiting I took a run over to my insurance guy's office. Got back and Mom was just finishing up. Now that's timing. One thing about going to the doctor is she doesn't have time to fix dinner so we stop to get something. Ordinarily I prefer her fixing something because nothing is better, but yesterday we stopped and got Arby's which means the dog gets one of his own. He sure enjoyed it.
Got a couple errands to run this afternoon and I need to start rearranging the yard so I can bring two trailers to the front. Not gonna be easy. But I will take the opportunity to tighten things up so it doesn't look so cluttered.
Ordinarily I prefer her fixing something because nothing is better, but yesterday we stopped and got Arby's which means the dog gets one of his own. He sure enjoyed it.
Mike - I bet Tiger sure likes that! 👍 Everytime I go to the local burger joint I like so much I get Monty and Maggie a double burger to share. Each get their own pattie and half the bun. They go berserk when they smell it when I walk in the house!
That is a good idea of putting that picture of Gabe on something for his Birthday. Walmart's photography department can put your picture on a stretched canvas, or even a throw blanket. I also know a couple places that can put your pictures on metal signs. I'm gonna wait a little while before pulling the trigger though because the photographer that shot that pic keeps sending me more and I might see one I like more, although that last one is awfully good. I have plenty of time since his B-day is not until next January. Of course if I get one for Gabe, I gotta do the same for Keegan!
Anticipated two Amazon ordered items to be delivered, yesterday - never arrived. Reviewed tracking status this morning then I went to P.O. Was provided a letter from the P.O. & follow-up information. There was an incident (yesterday) involving a postal vehicle which caught fire & the entire truck & all contents including my items were destroyed. Don't see that one too often. Back to square one on that order I guess.
