Sunday, January 7, 2018

Frigid, frozen news.


I believe the news is frozen, too. Good, bad, indifferent, little has changed. Brannon is sorry he slammed Jr. in The Book. Your mother always said, “If you don’t have something nice to say…” I’ve violated that myself, on the whole with no regret. A fellow in Stockholm scooped some stray trash from the ground; it exploded and killed him. That’s awful. Sydey is still hot; Merkel courts the Social Democrats to form a coalition.

Not much new from yesterday, except the runways are operational at JFK. Dunkin’ Donuts is still eliminating artificial food colors. Millennials are buying cryptocurrency. Don’t know about that. I’m probably too old. But, and this is new, ‘wi-fi’ connects human brains and explains why we have gut feelings. I have believed our brains are connected for as long as I can remember.

In college a group of us were going to supper. One of us was missing. Against advice (we had to appear for dinner at a certain time), I went back for her, pounded on her door and eventually went in. She was asleep under the dryer and already had blisters. I just had a feeling.

Today we went out to catch up on errands. It’s 26 F out there; we got around and around and around. Miss Laura, after a three month hiatus, sucked it up and began driving again, a couple of days ago. I do not question why. We started at the grocery store, and as she pulled up to the same red stanchion she put through the radiator last fall, she shuddered. “I thought it moved!” But, it hadn’t.

Here is a good deal of our day, in pictures.


On the way down the steps, Pig, Toad and Lambie are recovering from being buried in snow.


The driver has salt on her new winter coat. It's not even a wonderful new coat, it's now a friend.


In the store, salt everywhere. Even on the floor and on grocery carts. Love the boots and socks.



Puffy coats everywhere. The woman in grey is fascinating. Her clothes match her beautiful hair, and the lovely scarf accents her face. Don't overlook her cool boots.


All this observation happens when grandma waits for the grocery shopper to come through the line.


Then we took Sarah through the car wash. That all is winter grime sliding down.


She looks swell now. I owed it to her. I say, "I take care of you; you take care of me." But, it's been too cold since Christmas. Laura cleaned off six inches of snow and one of window ice just to get us home from Wisconsin.



And, we used Emma's advice to thaw the shed lock with a sock of microwaved rice.  To the cat's great dismay, Christmas is over for another year.


Now we need only to learn how to "hook up" Netflix. Everyone says "Oh, you can do it," but neither of us has received a gut feeling about the process.

33 comments:

  1. Laura’s confidence will come back gradually, I am sure. You’ll help her with it I know, Joanne.

    Christmas is packed away here too. Another testament to how time flies the older you get.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is good that Lauora is driving again,you are giving her confidence again.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry the cat's tree had to go... but I guess it was time. You and Laura sure seem to get around Ok in the snow. We're thinking about Netflix too. Plan to get rid of cable and go with maybe Sling?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Just catching up on your blog. I love all the minor gossip. It doesn't reach us here in the UK. We seem to concentrate on the really important stuff such as who has the bigger button!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My Netflix wouldn't stream, called them up, click, click, it's streaming, I'm happy. Glad Laura is driving again.
    Not appreciating the cold, but give it time I'll be b######g about the heat, I'm nothing if not flexible.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I just realized the comment brewing in my head was due to a misreading...I read "hook up on netflix" rather than "hook up netflix." So nevermind..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm really sorry I'm missing your misreading comment...

      Delete
  7. We got a new tv for Christmas that's got Netflix already programmed in and ready to go. Unfortunately, the new tv is in our cold living room, so we end up in the den by the fireplace watching the same old one! Tomorrow the temperature will rise above freezing for the first time since Christmas. We still have ice and snow on the ground. I'm going stir crazy in the house; we're not used to these kinds of winters in South Carolina.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 36 tomorrow, after a winter storm warning beginning. Spring won't be easy this year.

      Delete
  8. trusting your instincts..a good call.
    We need to do this more often,it is to easy to get sucked in by technology all the time and have them dulled

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hari OM
    Somehow the news keeps happening whilst life carry's on. It was ever thus. So glad the carrying on means a Laura at the wheel and a tree packed for another forty eight weeks-ish. YAM xx

    ReplyDelete
  10. That's something I don't have to deal with - snow.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I never thought it would be possible to have even less respect for Steve Bannon than I already do. But now he's busy groveling and apologizing to Trump for what he said in his interviews for that book. How did he EXPECT Trump to react to what he said? Why doesn't he have the guts to stand by his statements? How friggin' naive is he? Steve Bannon, on top of being a neo-nazi, white supremacist asshole, you're also a PUSSY.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I generally find not having the courage of your convictions sad and cowardly, but to be such a dissembling prick is hard to believe. We're out of adjectives for him, and superlatives, too.

      Delete
  12. Glad to hear she's driving again...and that the shed is now unlocked. WE are now to leave the deep freeze...here's hoping.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am so glad to hear that Laura is driving and that the microwaved rice did the trick.
    And love that stylish woman you showed us. You have an eye for beauty.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I had to buy a puffy coat in Maryland too. It's nice to be back in Hawaii where salt is in the air and at the beach, but not on the road. I wish I could send you some warm weather.

    And I'm with Debra She Who Seeks and you as far as Bannon goes and I hope he goes far, far away.

    ReplyDelete
  15. It took me over six months to drive across an intersection where The Retired Man and I had a terrible accident. I made up my mind to do it and screamed all the way across. Once I did that, my fear disappeared. Laura is doing fine and she, being so brave, will conquer her fears soon.

    Freezing here, more snow/sleet/ice tomorrow. These are the days that I am glad I am retired and don’t have to worry about getting to work. However, I will worry about those who have to deal with the slippery roads.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm sorry, I'm still guffawing at Should Fish More's comment :)

    I'm glad Laura is driving again, too. It will go better this time, I am sure. Great trick with the microwaved rice in a sock. I have to remember that. It's like a mini Magic Bag! A person could use them for handwarmers, too.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm glad your day was easy this time, good tip about thawing the shed lock too. I really like the little barn-style shed. Good news Laura is back to driving again, she'll be thankful soon enough that she overcame her doubts.

    ReplyDelete
  18. January news always freezes solid. I am suffering from it this year more than any others. Are you sure that is hair on the woman's head?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know you have lovely locks Tom, but this woman put you to shame. In my next life I will have curly, curly hair.

      Delete
  19. We are going to hovering closer to freezing for a few days. And that has brought enough snow to stop the school buses. This is snow day #3.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies













































    1. Same here. There was hope, until we had the 5:45 am call Laura is scraping ice, as I type.


      Delete
  20. my worst miseries have always stemmed from listening to my brain instead of my gut.

    ReplyDelete
  21. All our snow has melted and everything is brown and ugly here. And cold and windy. I think, I am still stuck indoors, recovering.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Hi Joanne,
    Your car is very pretty. Mine is not but I am happy to report the temperature is getting back up to normal. Normal is still too cold but at least it's not abnormally cold.

    ReplyDelete
  23. I'm glad you had that feeling about your friend and acted upon it. I love it when people trust themselves.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Beautiful!
    I think winter is magic.

    ReplyDelete
  25. That snow looks so very cold - please don't send it over here.

    ReplyDelete
  26. ‘wi-fi’ connects human brains - the media just loves pseudoscience. It's been demonstrated many times that we pick up vibes/feelings from others but I'm convinced that is only through our senses of sight/smell/hearing. If it was a type of wi-fi then the ESP stuff from years ago would have been shown to work better than chance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I typed that, late last night, I knew I should change "wi-fi" to another word, in spite of the fact the source used it. They did put it in quotes. My old There is no such thing as Objectivity thing. ESP, though, does not have to work better than chance. It just has to work.

      Delete
  27. Winter couture can be attractive. I personally don't care what I look like as long as I feel warm. Glad I could help with the frozen lock. Hang on to to rice filled sock. You can use it forever.

    ReplyDelete