“The only way to treat the common cold is with contempt.”
Today’s weather is a bit scary. The wind and the rain started last night. Both are continuing this morning. The paper described the storm as a possible bomb cyclone, a winter hurricane, with winds between 40 and 70 mph. Gusts could get as high as 85 mph. I can hear the wind howling, and even now the trees are swaying and bending. I expect pine branches to fall in the backyard. The few leaves still on branches haven’t a chance.
My cold took a break but is now back in full force. I’m coughing and wheezing. It isn’t pleasant. I made a phone call yesterday, and the woman I was talking to kept calling me sir. I didn’t bother to correct her.
When I was a kid, we always hoped for a white Christmas, but that was a rarity. We rode bikes instead of sleds. I loved my sled. It was wooden with metal steering at the front and metal rails underneath. It always got rusty over the summer. The first ride down the hill was anti-climatic. The sled kept stopping. It left a trail of brown rust on the snow. After a couple of runs the rust disappeared then it was smooth sailing, so to speak.
I have to go out. I don’t want to go out, but I have to go to the post office, and I need a few essentials like cream for my coffee and bread. Nala stole my last loaf of bread. I foolishly left it on the counter. That dog is quick.
This won’t be long today. I’m already tired, and I just got up a bit ago. I’m thinking today will be a wash but not because of the rain. I’ll need a nap after venturing into the storm. The dogs are already napping. They had a busy morning of going out once and getting treats twice. I don’t know how they survive.
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December 18, 2023 at 6:52 pm
Hi Kat,
It’s getting colder with a high of only 62° under sunny skies.
Most of the leaves have fallen off my and all the neighbors trees and they have collected in the street. Yesterday, a neighbor was out raking the leaves in the street. Of course today more of them are back. I don’t know why he was doing it because last year the city sent around a street sweeper to clean the streets of the leaves.
Last night on the news the weatherman showed a map of the areas that are forecast for an official white Christmas and it was a very small percentage of the country.
Mentioning winter weather, The solidly Republican Supreme Court of Texas ruled that the victim’s families can’t sue the electric providers, nor the natural gas providers for not keeping electricity on during the ice-Maggedon of 2021. Also, ERCOT and the local electric distributors are also exempt from litigation. The high court cited that the companies were protected by the legislation that deregulated electricity in Texas passed in the late 1990s. The official estimates is that 350 people died from the cold. But, the number could be higher. Thank you former governor George W. Shurb for another bad law that you signed while you were in office. Then the Supreme Court of the United States declared you the winner of the Presidency in 2000.
December 18, 2023 at 7:51 pm
Hi Bob,
It actually got to 57° today but the wind was horrific and the rain, at times, a torrent.
A few brown oak trees still hang off the very ends of the branches. There are too few left to mind. My backyard is never cleared. It is the dog’s territory. There are layers of leaves.
We won’t have a white Christmas. I’m just fine with that! It is pretty though.
I have no idea the status of provider’s in this state. The last major catastrophe was 9 or 10 , maybe even more, years back when my house got down to 37° before the electricity came back. It was a freak of nature so maybe acts of God are not something you can sue.
December 18, 2023 at 8:27 pm
We had that arctic breakout on Valentine’s eve which lasted five days of rolling blackouts. We had about two hours of power each day. The temperature got down to minus seven degrees Fahrenheit. Inside it got down into the high thirties. We had all the faucets in the house running and luckily none of my pipes burst and the pool equipment somehow survived. The aftermath is that our homeowner Insurance premiums have skyrocketed. The Republicans who caused this mess have allowed their major donors, power companies and gas producers, to not have to pay a dime.
December 19, 2023 at 11:28 am
Luckily, no pipes leaked during that time. I burned all the wood I had in my fireplace then layered to get just a smidge warm. My electric company always has extra crews from neighboring states to ensure quick responses. That storm was the worst ever. In New Hampshire, it took two or three weeks for thhe eletricity to come back on.