the 31st

the weather today should be like yesterday's.....in the 30s at dawn and getting into the 60s in the afternoon.....they moved the rain from Thursday night up to Wednesday night.....with more rain Friday.....so on the cloudy nights it should stay in the 40s rather than go down into the 30s.....I think I'll drive over to Laurens this morning, mainly just to take a drive.....though I could look into a couple of stores while I'm over there......I fixed steak with onions and 2 veggie sides last night.....I've got about a pound of those baked ribs left, that should be plenty for this evening.....with sides like maybe biscuits and the last of the limas.....I've got pintos and cornbread in the cupboard too, that can make a meal sometime.....get a bit of side-pork for the beans maybe....I didn't make it past 10 o'clock last night, but slept real well anyway.....I'd been staying up 'til 10:30 on the theory that then I might sleep past 4 AM consistently......I started watching a series about Edward VII (Prince Albert in the can) it's from 1975.....looks interesting so far.....I'm reading a kindle book about The Three Alberts......I, II, and III.....it covers some of the same happenings that were in the Short History of Scotland that I read recently.....Duns Scotus and Francis Bacon were roughly in that era.....and the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge were getting started, etc....I should check under the hood before I go driving off, haven't done that in while.....could wash the Jeep sometime too.....

overnight freeze

sunny and cold again this morning.....I didn't see any school busses on my early walk? I don't think today is a holiday.....maybe it's a "resource day"......or maybe I just didn't see any school busses, but they were actually out there.....for Sunday supper I had scalloped potatoes with ham and more curried cream corn, instead of doing the rib-eye, so I still have the steak and the rest of the ribs for two meals, and then it's grocery day anyway.....no football yesterday....well, I don't usually bother with the Pro Bowl.....so I read a lot in the evening, more than usual....until about 10:30......did watch some news and one Firefly episode after supper.....there's now a Zaxby's open in Laurens.....so I looked at their menu online, and decided it didn't look like much....just another fast food chicken franchise.....when they opened a Bo Jangle's here in Clinton, I went in once.....same thing, more fast food chicken.....so I'll just keep fixing my own chicken, not spend any lunch money out anywhere.....no rain predicted until towards the end of this week.....

poker parlors and illegal baking

20 something degrees when I went out at sunrise to get the newspaper....."you can read it in the Sunday paper...." that's from a song back in the 80's.....anyway, one thing I read was about "sweepstakes".....the old Red's Cafe near the mill now calls itself the "Chill Lounge" ladies night $1 mix drinks 8-10, etc....and it has a poster about "sweepstakes" on the front door.....turns out that this means that it's a video poker parlor that's found a loophole in the state gambling laws.....the sweepstakes format of online gambling falls through crack in the codes somehow.....at least for the moment....lawmakers are introducing bills.....the new hookah bar over on Musgrove also has computers inside? Aha....I was wondering how those two new places expected to make any money.....part of the trick is being a gambling parlor....they charge by the hour to play the games.....this last Thursday the church across the street had the sign out again for "Hot Dog Bake Sale.....Fried Apple Pies" I guess it's OK still if you're a church, but there was a thing in the paper about a lady being busted for selling birthday cakes to neighbors....it's against the law to sell home-cooked food....she was ratted on by a bakery.....something else that's illegal in a kitchen is to play poker....this goes back to when people of color were the people in the kitchen.....it's all too complicated.....I won't sell any of my ribs, I'll eat them all myself and be safe....they are delicious and meaty....got stuffed last night on that meal, have more left.....might have one nice fat rib and cheese toast for Sunday lunch....might have rib-eye, baked potato, lima beans for supper....breakfast was french toast and two sausage links.....lots of sun right now, but it's still cold outside....might get up around 50 this afternoon.....got another e-book from the library....more history.....

frosty

clear, blue, mostly calm......that piece of rib-eye was tender and tasty.....there was enough chicken breast left to make chicken salad for lunch sandwiches, I had that yesterday.....some time today I think I'll go buy a potato to bake with the ribs, I forgot to get one Wednesday.....and I could get gasoline while I'm over that way.....almost finished one library book out of four, something by John C. Wright.....he seems to have written quite a bit of stuff, maybe I can find some more.....stayed up until about 10:30 reading, slept pretty well.....

the heavier weather

the kind with "watch boxes".....it went by to the south of here overnight....maybe down around Columbia....was some wind and rain in Clinton.....was raining when I woke up......but it had stopped by the time I went for the sunrise walk.....clouds are coming and going, it sprinkled just a little about 15 minutes ago.....they say it will be sunny in the afternoon and get into the mid-60s.....but then the weekend will be "much colder"......I might eat more scalloped potatoes for supper today, or I might put a 4 oz. piece of rib-eye in Italian dressing marinade at lunch time, and then cook that in the evening .....with whatever sides I can think of.....I have biscuits....or cornbread.....it looks pretty windy right now to go out walking again....but it's not raining....we'll see.....

one sunny day

that was yesterday.....this morning it's back to the overcast.....100% chance of rain tonight, possibility of scattered showers during the day.....but the cloud blanket kept it from getting real cold overnight.....freezing nights again by the weekend.....it looks like what they did at the Laurens St. grade crossing is tear up the asphalt, but leave the rails intact, 'cause trains are still going by.....maybe they will get new asphalt down today.....or concrete? Sierra Nevada is going to open a brewery in Asheville.....last night on the news you could watch the NC governor drinking Pale Ale......my scalloped potatoes came out fine, there are leftovers for another meal.....maybe today I can finish off the chicken dinner leftovers, and then see what's left of the bird to make chicken salad......might not be much left......grilled baloney and cheddar for lunch yesterday, probably again today.....had some strawberries for a late snack last night, while watching old sci-fi shows on Netflix.....

back from the store

I got rib-eye steak and half-ribs.....which are the same thing as St. Louis style ribs, according to the lady in the meat department....today I'm going to use up the ham slice from last week in scalloped potatoes....with cream style corn as the side, which is traditional in this family for some reason....the kids used to say "it's cause then everything is yellow"......if you use cheddar cheese in the scalloped potatoes then they are yellow in color.....I guess you can make the dish without cheese sauce, just white sauce....but I've never done that myself.....actually today I'm going to use alfredo sauce, so the dish will be more or less white in color.....the corn will still be yellow.....I still have some roast chicken left....I got cheap baloney for lunch meat, though I'll probably still make some curried chicken salad sandwiches too .......got sausage links for Sunday breakfasts.....got fruit and nut trail mix to mix with Chex Mix.....ate an apple on the front porch in the sun, and then read the Clinton weekly paper.....it looks like it will be really nice weather for a walk after lunch.....clear, sunny, mild, calm......they are working on the train tracks today, but somehow the trains still go through? I guess they know what they're doing.....

the skies cleared

the fog burned off....and it got warm enough in the afternoon to sit out on the front porch and use the wi-fi ......I got a library book that was a sequel, so I found the author online and got a summary of the plot so the story would make a little more sense.....no e-edition available or maybe I could have put that into kindle and read things in the proper order....and I did find several new books by authors I know at the library....so I've got plenty to read.....cousin Emily was there to check out the books.....and a neighbor from down the street was there, his books were due today too......it was still foggy enough that time of morning for most people to be driving with head-lights on.....

was raining

when I went to bed last night, this morning fog.....mid 40's, might get to low 60's in the afternoon....of course they said that about yesterday too, but it stayed under 50.....was not nice out at all Monday, didn't ever get out on the park walk.....and didn't go to the library, so I'm headed over there when it opens.....I had ham, hash-browns, and one egg over easy for supper.....the kind of hash-browns you make by grating the potato......today was a poached egg on toast morning.....I might just have grilled cheese for lunch today, without the ham.....tonight will be chicken dinner.....there's a lot of that left, and tomorrow is shopping day already.....so I can probably get by with a light trip to the store.....I'm good on the staples like bread, eggs, OJ, olive oil, wine, apples.....might look at more strawberries......I should get the interest income statement from the bank one of these days......I finished that history of Scotland.....sort of an odd book, written around 1900.....different eras present different views of history.....

year of the dragon

and a new moon on monday......I made it around for the newspaper between showers, but it was still cold and windy walking.....looks like another day to sit inside with the electric fire going.....those football games yesterday weren't decided by running or passing, but by the kicking game.....let that be a lesson to you, next time you're coaching a team.....my library books aren't actually due 'til tomorrow, but I might go over there today.....unless it's raining real hard, which might happen....90% chance of rain ......the deli chicken salad is all used up, so lunch can be grilled ham and cheese I suppose.....the applesauce I've been dumping in oatmeal is almost gone too, had some of that this morning......

ENE wind 10 mph

at sunrise, for a windchill of 39.....clouded over.....got a little over one inch of rain yesterday.....most of it in a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon.....the Aldi ad in the paper this morning has four pages of Super Bowl party food ideas.....the Confucius Institute is going to have events all week for Chinese New Year at PC.....a dance troupe, a movie, cultural talks, etc.....all free.....Blue Hose basketball lost last night to UNC Asheville......I watched the end of an App St. game on PBS.....they beat Western Carolina.....watched the Serenity movie the other night, so last night went back and started watching the Firefly series.....it probably won't get out of the 40s today....or not by much.....sausage and french toast Sunday breakfast.....lunch will be chicken salad sandwich and corn chips (Saturday lunch featured grilled ham and cheese on wheat).....supper today will be a microwaved plate of leftover roasted chicken, stuffing, peas, gravy.....around half-time of Baltimore-New England? I'm done with my library books, and am most of the way through the history of Scotland.....which gives the reader some insight into the mind-set of the religious right folks.....200 years of the Kirk fighting the King....Church trying to dominate the State.....you were fined if you didn't attend services....if that didn't work, you were tortured.....not by the Inquisition, by Presbyterians......Blue Laws, Blue Hose.....

drizzles and fog

so far this morning......storm fronts moving over Athens and Augusta right now are headed in this general direction......was dry enough right at sunrise to walk for the paper....but you couldn't see any sunrise, just fog.....45 degrees outside......but I don't know about another walk.....it would probably rain on me looks like.....well, I have things I can read......finish up the library books by Monday......got a Guitar Player Thursday I think it was, still some articles in there I haven't read....the mail yesterday was my tax statement from Social Security.....I won't have to file again this year.....train going by right now.....I was reading in the paper a bit ago how one train from Atlanta to South Carolina was delayed the other morning because two guys tried to drive their pick-up truck across the river on a train trestle.....ended up wedged in the ties half-way across way up in the air at 5:30 AM.....

some people say

it will rain all weekend....and maybe on into Monday.....it's been raining for a while already I think.....there was a break early in the afternoon and I went and walked around the mill park....I roasted the chicken breast down in the large iron skillet, and it made really good dark brown gravy 'cause there were some nice scrapings in the bottom of the pan....I put two cloves of garlic inside, and put olive oil and oregano on top.....an excellent supper all in all....finished off the strawberries for dessert.....I can hear it raining pretty good right now, and I can hear a train getting close to town.....the train crossing at Laurens St. will be closed this coming week for repairs to the track, says the train company.....I very seldom use that crossing....I usually just use Broad St. ....... but the school busses in the morning use the Laurens St. crossing a lot, I guess to avoid the congestion at the Broad St. traffic signals....but life goes on I suppose.....they will figure it out ...... so anyway now I have lots of good chicken dinner leftovers to work with, plus more of the ham slice for variety.....can watch NFL playoffs while it rains......

looks like rain

probably get here this afternoon, overcast and gloomy looking this morning.....but above freezing, only got down to 36 overnight.....well, a rainy afternoon would be good for roasting the chicken....that's on the menu today, with cornbread stuffing and tender peas.....and gravy.....still have that store-bought chicken salad for lunches.....the strawberries are about gone....last night I threw a handful of raisins in the pan with the leftover pork curry and heated that up.....I should get chutney if I'm going to do curry very often ....Major Grey's? I can put some sweet onion in the cornbread stuffing.....put some oregano on the bird.....some bitters in the gravy.....I never did get around to cleaning the bathroom yesterday, forgot all about it....but did get a small load of laundry done.....

north wind

a little below freezing ......mostly clear, some high clouds.....that deli chicken salad is good, crunchy bits of celery in it.....I suppose I can make my own later in the week with some of the chicken I'm going to roast......but I don't have any celery.....I'll put in sweet pickle relish, and maybe some curry powder.....did remember to get more of that yesterday.....got more olive oil too, the larger bottle was two dollars off.....those Florida strawberries are all right, but not as sweet as the North County strawberries I used to get for free at the Swap Meet at the right time of year.....fruit vendors would leave boxes of them at the gate for us workers.....some time I should get a soldering iron at Radio Shack and touch up the input jack on the white Strat....it's got a bad connection and a hum.....the Teisco Del Rey could use some work on the switches too.....some time or other, maybe.....today I can do laundry, and the bathroom sink needs washing.....watched CATCH-22 last night.....a movie with both Arthur Garfunkel and Orson Welles in it.....I know I read the book way back when, but I don't remember watching that movie in 1970.....there's probably a lot of things I don't remember from 1970....

Florida strawberries

they had a big display of those out as you go into the produce section....pretty cheap, so I got some.....tasty mid-morning snack.....and I did get a 4 pound hen to iron skillet in the oven one of these days.....and cornbread stuffing was 2 for 1 so now I have that for this chicken and another box for a future chicken.....or for pork chops.....and I got a good-sized ham slice and peas and pintos and a potato.....today I think I'll have fried ham and potato with cabbage......got more snack mix and mixed it in with what was here already, so I'm set for TV snacking.....and I'm going to have a chicken salad sandwich for lunch.....with some corn chips and a glass of wine.....some time after lunch I'll go for a walk....

big rain-storm last night

some thunder and some wind.....mostly just a downpour.....cleared out by sunrise, nice morning for the early walk.....I could get another bottle of curry powder when I go shopping, I used up all I had left in the pork rice dish yesterday......the grocery ad in the Tuesday mail had a good price on whole fryers.....maybe I'll be eating chicken this week.....and maybe they'll have a ham slice.....there was deli chicken salad in the ad too, for lunch sandwiches perhaps.....should stay clear and cool today, next rain on Friday so they say.....I got a history of Scotland to read free on kindle ......

in the forties

this morning.....it rained a little before dawn, but didn't rain on me going for the paper.....some clouds and wind.....I had the last of the potatoes and gravy etc.....with some pork roast last night......today I'll make the curried pork fried rice dish, with cabbage as a veggie side....in a few minutes I'm going to walk over to the bank and roll over a CD one way or another.....probably for a year.....I'll take a little off the top and put it into checking, in anticipation of the remainder of the "heating season".....though there was an article in this morning's paper about how it's going to be a warmish Winter the rest of the way in the South.....maybe no snow this year? 100% chance of rain tonight, according to one source.....the fridge is pretty near empty.....I'll need to get eggs and bread this week.....some kind of lunch meat....and cheese.....I'll have to figure out main dishes for seven days.....you see some old folks at the store who just buy seven frozen dinners.....don't think I could live like that.....watched some Ernie Kovacs last night....television from 1951.....really strange stuff.....primitive......

just like yesterday morning

32 degrees again at sunrise.....clouds coming in from the West.....empty streets again with school out and the City offices closed, etc.....I'll wait and see if it gets warm enough to go out walking again later......I fixed an omelette for Sunday supper.....I guess I can have a pork roast sandwich for lunch today.......didn't watch any movies last night.....read some after football was over......

at sunrise Sunday

it was right at freezing.....32 degrees, which is 10 degrees warmer than Saturday sunrise was.....this was another morning when I could have walked for the newspaper down the middle of the street without worrying about traffic......stayed up until halftime in that Broncos game but then just went on to bed 'cause it looked like they were going to get whomped.....and they did get whomped.....the San Francisco game was a classic, watched all of that......I microwaved a plate of pork roast dinner yesterday, that was filling.....in the morning I drove over to Laurens because the Ingles grocery store in the shopping center on East Main has nuts, dried fruit, snack mixes, etc....in one of those bulk displays where you can fill and weigh a plastic bag and write the number of the bin on a sticker and then go to the check-out.....they have a large variety.....I got something called "Country Club Mix".....I mixed it about half-and-half with what mix I had left and so had something for a snack during the football games.....I used to make good snack mixes from the Bates Nut Farm selection years ago.....more NFL playoffs on today....I've got a novel about pirates on kindle.....another free book by Cyrus Townsend Brady.....look him up.....very florid style.....

28 degrees, fair

at nine in the morning....it was 21 degree windchill again this morning at dawn.....I could vacuum today it looks like.....I should drive the Jeep some today, since it's been hard freeze the last couple of nights.....I saved one little piece of steak I can use at lunch in a sandwich....I've got those generic BBQ corn chips again to have at lunch.....I also used them instead of corn-bread yesterday in the bottom of my bowl of chili.....watched Under the Cheery Moon last night.....tonight I can watch football playoffs, the San Francisco game should be interesting.....it's not as windy today, so the house should stay warmer hopefully.....not use as much heating energy.....another dead quiet Saturday morning so far in Clinton.....

Friday the 13th?

I put raisins and applesauce in my oatmeal this morning....that worked....the pork roast came out fine, and it made good gravy.....I'm thinking I could do pork chili one night.....and curried pork fried rice again some time.....and there's potatoes left for another regular roast pork supper too, with green beans, gravy, applesauce......it was real windy last night, the power flickered once just before I went on to bed.....and then it woke me up a couple of times during the night....the wind howling and rattling things......21 degree windchill as the sun was coming up....30 outside right now......no rain expected 'til next Tuesday.....just more of this clear, blustery, and cold.......can't think of anywhere I need to drive today, don't need to do any shopping.....a three day weekend for some folks? Tuesday I can go over to the bank and see what the CD rates are that day.....

electronic library books

I got around to checking out a sci-fi book through the Jasmine system, which is a consortium of public libraries in the state pooled together to buy the e-books.....this is cool.....and I've been finding free books from Amazon too.....when I went over to the park in the morning it got real dark and cold and windy, but didn't rain....later in the afternoon it got warm enough to go out on the porch and get some air....I've got a 2 1/2 pound pork roast and three quartered red potatoes in the large iron skillet in the oven .....can have cut green beans with that ....will probably make gravy.....have applesauce too, something that goes well with roast pork.....had a steak-melt sandwich for lunch.....

lightly curried mayo

for the artichoke dip....that worked.....I need to look at the weight of that pork roast to figure when I should start it......clear this morning mostly, with just some clouds around the edges.....windy, colder weather in the forecast for the next little while.....the gas bill for December was about the same as the bill for November.....$3 more is all.....my back feels better this morning....I can get out and walk here pretty quick, chance of rain again in the afternoon....but not a big chance......I guess North Carolina got some flooding and wind and hail damage yesterday, here it just rained a lot ......wasn't much interesting in the Clinton paper this week.....the City entered into a new 40 year agreement with the County regarding an expansion of the sewer treatment plant.....involves a 40 year loan from the Rural Development Agency.....not much else in the news ......

don't know why

my back is hurting this morning in the same old spot.....the damp weather....or did I somehow "sleep wrong".....I didn't do anything different yesterday like pick up something heavy or whatever.....I rubbed on some extra Blue Goo after I got back from grocery shopping....no white rose potatoes, so I got red potatoes.....the Yukon Gold potatoes they have are similar to what I was looking for, but they are only sold by the bag, not loose.....it would take me forever to use a bag of potatoes.....they would start sprouting before I could use them all....anyway, I did get a small pork roast, and some applesauce.....so maybe tomorrow I'll make iron skillet pork roast with red potatoes.....today I'm going to fix a piece of steak with an artichoke and cheese toast....their artichokes looked decent today, fairly good size for the price.....I did get wet going into the store, but it was just drizzling as I was leaving and putting the stuff in the car....but I don't think there will be more walking today, there's a long line of stormy weather on the regional radar....

street lamps were still on

during my early walk....it had been raining but it let up before I went out, so I didn't get wet going around.....heavier rain should blow in later in the day.....so I'll head over to the grocery store pretty soon and maybe not get rained on too much.....I don't remember seeing white rose potatoes in their produce section....but that's what I would like to use with a pork roast.....now I hear the rain hitting the south window harder, it's blowing up from Georgia as usual....SW wind 7 mph......I still have meatloaf for maybe three more sandwiches, maybe have some kind of pork sandwiches after that for lunches.....I should get orange juice today.....and the Clinton paper......

tuesday afternoon

got some guitar strings and an apple fritter over in Laurens....and some guitar picks too.....so was playing the red guitar through the Fender Mustang amp for an hour or so, after I put the new string on....had a patty melt for lunch....weather is mild, still overcast.....the guy in the guitar store says the new donut shop so close to his store is going to make him fat....when he gets out of his truck in the morning all he can smell is fresh donuts.....

severe fog?

well there's an official severe fog warning anyway....and on the early walk you could only see about a block, guess that is pretty bad....wouldn't want to be driving over on the interstate this morning .....but once again it's not that cold, 52 degrees.....100% humidity.....rain after midnight and on through Wednesday is the prediction.....I had an open-face steak sandwich with country gravy and cut green beans for supper Monday....I'll figure out something for this evening, and then go to the store tomorrow as usual.....I have enough eggs and bread already......did not see any of that game last night, in fact forgot all about it until the headlines this morning.....sounds like a dull game anyway.....and in my book this whole BCS nonsense is just a crock ......

forgot it was a monday

well, I forgot that the guitar store is closed Mondays....I think I've done that before....and I was going to go into the new mom-and-pop donut shop that opened recently real close to the guitar store and look for an apple fritter....since the ad for the place in the paper said they had them....but.....closed Sunday and Monday.....oh well...so I continued on to Walmart and did find snack mixes at cut-rate prices.....and the good deal on a big bottle of mouth wash....but the Walmart bakery section didn't have any apple fritters out either....so I got a pastry I don't know the name of....the single pastries don't have name tags.....anyway, a while after I got home I cut the pastry in half and made one cup of coffee.....coffee and sugary pastry gave me a brief head-ache....but the rain had given way to fog....so a walk in fog around the park cleared my head....I found a free Jack Vance story at the kindle store and read that, it wasn't very long.....the single sugary pastry was only 58 cents.....

started raining about 5:30

this morning, so no early walk.....windy and damp out still.....it was worth watching that Denver game for the single play in OT.....I broke a string on the red guitar yesterday while watching the earlier game, so later I might go over to the music shop in Laurens .....and stop in Walmart for their cheap price on mouthwash.....and look at their snack mix aisle.....I think they have a lot of options if my memory serves me well....finished off my snack mix yesterday with all that football on......and finished off those hash browns that had been in the freezer for a while with my steak and eggs last night....actually just one egg over easy with cajun hot sauce, not plural eggs.....this overcast morning is about to put me back to sleep.....guess I could read some on the kindle device....

record report

It got up to 71 degrees yesterday at GSP, breaking the record of 70 set in 2008....global warming? I wasn't here then, didn't get here until August 2008....as far as I can recall.....last year at this time there was still ice in shady places from the big storms before New Year's ......sun coming in the window right now....was cloudy at sunrise, and raining to the north some, between here and Greenville.....some rain last night before I went to bed.....looked like the Saints were going to win, so I didn't watch all the 4th quarter.....I've got quite a bit of that cube steak left, so I might do Sunday breakfast-for-supper of steak and eggs with hash browns....lunch can be a cold meatloaf sandwich on wheat with mustard, mayo, Colby cheese, and pickle slices.....60% chance of rain this afternoon and on into the evening....finished one library book yesterday, and am working now on a novel in the kindle.....it didn't get very cold overnight, was around 54 for the dawn walk......

wild card weekend

and it looks like some of the games at least are on the networks I get by antenna, so I could watch football for hours today.....probably will....the Falcons will get knocked out I suppose....maybe not....some cloud cover overnight, so it's not as cold this morning, and there was a fancy sunrise....can use a lighter jacket for a walk later.....I did the cube steak in a batter of egg and seasoned bread crumbs.....I put some sour cream in the gravy....I used brown rice....it was all good....I've got a little ground beef left so I can make a patty melt for lunch....I have Colby cheese....I think I'll walk over around the square today instead of over around the park....see if anything new is opened in the "historic district".....or if anything else has closed is more like it lately.....in Clinton now you can't smoke in a bar, but you can smoke in a tobacco shop....so I saw in the paper that this tobacco shop that opened on Musgrove is applying for a liquor license? Wonder what will happen there......this evening between football games I can just microwave a plate of meatloaf, baked potato, peas.....can have sausage and french toast for Sunday breakfast...

about as cold as yesterday

this morning....right at freezing at dawn....but looking for mid-60s this afternoon instead of mid-50s.....and then starting Saturday night clouds and rain chance through Wednesday.....I need to mop the kitchen floor, so maybe I can do that later today when it might be warm enough to open the kitchen window and turn on the ceiling fan to dry the floor faster.....the meatloaf was a great success, I have leftovers for one more supper like that, and however many cold meatloaf lunch sandwiches later.....tonight can be chicken fried steak with rice and gravy and peas.....the final chili dog for lunch today......the meatloaf: two-thirds ground beef and one third country sausage....packet of onion soup mix....one egg....1/4 cup of parmesan cheese.....1/2 cup oatmeal (or you could use a little more maybe).....a pound of beef and half pound of sausage fits pretty well into the typical loaf pan.....spread bbq sauce over the top and bake at 350 for an hour and then take a look at it......

32 degrees outside

same as it was at sunrise......but it might warm up to 55 by late afternoon....my newspaper horoscope says to take it easy today.....well, that's about all I ever do.....guess I can manage that.....instead of fixing meat loaf yesterday I ate that can of chunky chicken corn chowder....put a little curry powder in it....ate the last of the cornbread as a side....heated up with butter and marmalade.....that was filling.....so this afternoon I'll get the meat loaf and potato in the oven....should take an hour or so to cook.....I can have peas with that....I got one of those little ninety-nine cent things of sour cream for the baked potato.....I'll put bbq sauce on top of the meat loaf as it cooks, etc.....I used to put strips of bacon on top, but it's been at least a decade since I bought a package of bacon.....I put a can of cheap mixed nuts into my container of Chex Mix, kick it up a notch.....I started watching some movie last night and after about 30 minutes I figured out that I'd seen it before, so I turned it off and read for a while before going on to bed around nine-thirty......well, I'd better get busy taking it easy.....

in the teens

19 degrees on the sunrise walk.....I did find my old heavy gloves in the towel drawer.....should warm up by the weekend, and maybe rain too......ski resorts are open in the mountains, they showed people skiing on the news last night.....I'm going to get stuff for meatloaf and baked potato at the store this morning.....and maybe look for pork chops or cube steak too....I've got peas, I could get green beans .....need to remember raisins and apples....probably should get olive oil this time too.....probably enough clothes in the laundry basket for a load to do some time today.....and maybe after lunch it will warm up enough to go out walking, which I didn't do yesterday what with messing around with computer things for hours.....it never got out of the 30s anyway Tuesday.....I still have three chili dog lunches left, and then I can do meatloaf sandwiches .....

$100 at Radio Shack

and a call to AT&T tech support.....and my new router and modem are working great....the Mac, the roku, and the kindle are all connected....kindle on wi-fi, which is what it's really designed for.....it just took some help from a guy in the Philippines to explain the obvious to me....I could figure out what he was saying most of the time, but I got us side-tracked one time because I didn't do exactly what he said to do and we had to do that part over....oh well, maybe this set-up will last a few years.....

11:30

and it's still freezing outside.....32 degrees with a windchill factor down to 24 degrees.....so a walk wouldn't exactly be comfortable.....I did see Emily at the library and she gave me an instruction sheet for setting up e-lending .....haven't done it yet since my internet connection is glitching again....I might go look at Radio Shack for replacement equipment modem/router wise.....at least it's warm in the Jeep, it has a good heater.....got mail from the bank reminding me a CD is rolling over on the 17th.....I doubt if any decent interest rate will be available....oh well, it sounds like several euro-nations are in worse shape than I am, credit-wise anyway.....

still not back to normal?

no school busses yet, not much traffic on my sunrise walk.....my neighbor who was also out on an early walk said school starts up again on the 4th.....it was 25 degrees this morning.....it said there was a 15 degree windchill at the airport, but it was calm here at dawn, though they say the wind will pick up again later.....it was really blowing during the night....some of the mountain cousins got snow I guess.....I still haven't found my gloves ......watched parts of the bowl games online, and parts on TV....Gamecocks and Ducks did well.....I was asleep before Stanford apparently screwed up.....too many commercials during the Rose Parade, you didn't even get to see all the floats....I'm going over to the library....I'll renew one book I didn't even get started on because I started reading on the kindle instead.....maybe cousin Emily will be working this morning and she can show me how to download books from the library system....or somebody there can tell me how it works I hope....I'll take the gadget along anyway, they have wi-fi there....I have black-eyed peas and cornbread for tonight....lots of ham in the peas, tasty stuff.....and then it will be time to figure out meals for a week again.....haven't made meatloaf in a while.....

the extra holiday morning

at sunrise was 32 degrees, clear, calm, frost.....made it to half-time in the Giants-Cowboys game and then went on to bed.....I have leftover suppers for today and Tuesday, but I think I'll go to the grocery store this morning for orange juice, wine, and snack mix.....the Rose Parade is on at 11 eastern time.....I can go for another walk after the store and before the parade? No wind now, but there's a wind warning for later today, as the cold front moves down to bring 20s overnight and 30s tomorrow during the day.....I think I read once that ESPN was going to stream the Rose Bowl online.....don't know if I'll bother with that or not.....bratwurst skillet for supper, chili dog for lunch.....oatmeal with cocoa and raisins was breakfast.....I'll get another bag of apples Wednesday....

no parade

because it's Sunday? I stayed up until about 12:30, waited until the fireworks stopped going off.....I usually save a little champagne to make a mimosa to watch the parade with.....but no parade until tomorrow, so I guess I can have a glass of champagne and a chili dog for lunch....and at one the Panthers play the Saints.....then the college bowl games are on Monday.....this is confusing to me.....I see now why Monday is a holiday: because of the parade.....it just rained a little a few minutes ago, overcast and chilly this time of morning.....got my 2012 calendar up on the wall over the kitchen table.....it's not national parks this time, it's "Wonders of the World".....January is Petra, I think it's called....that city carved into a cliff in the desert somewhere in the Middle East....Stonehenge is one of the months.....another one is that army of clay soldiers they dug up in China, etc.....I've got the black-eyed peas for this evening, will be leftovers from that for another day too......I slept about a half-hour late, after staying up 2 1/2 hours late.....there went spent bottle rockets on the sidewalks around downtown on my walk for the paper.....very little traffic on the streets.....