Good morning, all.

Normal January weather here, can't complain. I went to the Delaware River Gap once when I was down in Philly. It was peaceful. I never went to Yosemite though visited Sequoia. Yes, Ernie a shame what the fires are doing to thousand-year-old trees. 

Susan, One Vanderbilt is a new 93 floor building. I have not been inside, it opened in 2021. Across from Grand Central Station which fortunately was not torn down.  

Giants win, all is good in the world. Enjoy the day,

Paul

Good morning Paul and all.  Yeah, even though above normal, still wintery.  Most of the days in our

forecast have precipitation.  Probably not feet of snow accumulating so thankful for that. 

I stopped at the PA welcome center which seemed to be off Route 80, weird.  So I don't think I went

into NJ.  Grateful for the guy driving an hour towards me.  Really needed the tires and can use the

wheels.  I have the two that are more worn on the back of the Baja now for the test run.  The other

two are 9/32 out of the new tread that measures 12/32.  Now I have a real wheel for a spare instead

of the little temp tire that they usually gave you with a car.  Don't think they even do that anymore.

Sometime I will come up with some sheet metal and mount the spare back underneath the truck bed,

for now just laying in the bed.

I was getting ready to go to the farm yesterday when I heard loud humming and buzzing.  Turned the

stereo off because I thought the ground had come disconnected from a speaker but it was the furnace,

then it went into fault and shut down.  I had just read a blog about local people being cheated badly

by repair companies doing HVAC.  Our furnace is about 22 years old, same as the hot water heater.  It

was the exhaust blower they have on high efficiency appliances.  I took it apart and kept trying to get rid

of the obstruction behind the squirrel cage fins but couldn't so I put it on the floor and put my weight on

it and kept turning it.  Finally spinning free.  Got it all back together and it's running good.  It's that beige

stuff that forms from natural gas combustion and accumulates over the years. 

Warm enough for our walk this morning, finally after about 5 mornings of rain and cold. 

Enjoy the day all.

Ernie

Good morning to All,

A balmy 50 degrees here by the Lake.  Finn and I enjoyed a leisurely walk around the allotment (about twenty minutes plus).  Good exercise for both of us.  Lots of rain overnight, so a bit damp and muddy ~ does not help my sinus condition!

Not too much on the agenda today.  The eldest daughter is the recipient of an award at her elementary school tonight and I have been invited.  It’s nice to be recognized.  The youngest daughter begins her 9-5  job at the Department of Immigration.   

On we go……. It’s hard to believe that we are mid January already.  I say on to Spring.

Susan

Dear Ernie,

So nice that you are the “capable man” who can fix just about anything. Look at how much money you have saved over your lifetime!  

I know that after my late husband died, I was always very leery of people who came to the house and needed to fix things. I think many see “widow” and charge even more than they would.  

Speaking of fixing, I saw a 1960 Corvair convertible for sale for under $3,000.  My late husband had a brand new burgundy Corvair convertible when I met him……  Lots of fun back in the day!

Enjoy the weather.   Susan

Yes, it is good to be handy. I am not. My brother-in-law is and he's happy to fix anything I need. Though without a car or single-family house, I fortunately don't have much to fix.

Nice weather here also. Enjoy the evening everyone.

Paul

Good morning Susan, Paul, and all.  36 here this morn, wow, finally what I call above normal.

For January anyway.  Going to the farm today, we have some precipitation coming but should

be done and cleared out long before I'm ready to leave.  Our run should be over before it gets

here, so we win all the way around.  We have lots of precip this week and the beginning of next

week is supposed to be shovel snow maybe.

Oh yeah, didn't mention the furnace control board went into fault soon after I heard the loud buzzing.

We have electric heat still here but would hate to run it even for a day now, would be almost as bad as

running the generator which costs us $60 a day to run.  Electric heat cost us around $400 a month back

in the 90s, has been many rate increases since then. 

Glad your daughter got an award, you must be so proud Susan.  Think I remember you being a substitute

teacher after you retired.  Our granddaughter is learning to teach preschoolers.  Hope the job your younger

daughter got is something she wanted.  Jobs weren't so easy to get in our day and they will be difficult again.

I got laid off in a recession and back when I was a teen I quit in a recession before I knew what one was.

It's not just widows they are looking to cheat Susan.  Was reading a local bulletin board in the morning just

before our furnace quit and many people had gotten cheated on many jobs.  Seems some of it is larger

companies buying small local businesses so they can use their name and reputation. 

I gotta go get ready to do our run.  Didn't wake until the alarm this morn so running late.

Paul, so glad you are here and staying quit.  Looking back I had no choice but to quit with aneurysm, arthritis,

and diabetes coming.  I would have been a disabled person if still alive.  Didn't know I was headed for older

age problems when I quit almost 16 years ago.  All of us are so blessed with good lives.

Ernie

Good morning Susan and all.....40 cloudy degrees here....glad I no longer have to worry about how hard it is to not smoke.....seems so long ago.....and unbelievable that I was able to quit....stay well all....

Dear Kitty,

Tis so nice to see your posting this morning.  I agree.  Smoking seems like a lifetime ago.  I remember those days I would be on the Forum almost 24/7 hanging on to every word you and others spoke.  How blessed I was to find all of you!

And yet another grey sky day here in Avon Lake and quite a bit cooler than yesterday.  Someone said 63 days until Spring so we can all hang on to those wonderful words.  I saw a few silly robins who apparently feel that it is already Springtime in northern Ohio.

Thank you for thinking of all of us here ~.  Susan

Good morning to everyone,

I see Erie posted at 3:48 a.m.  That is very early……I hope you get a nap in somewhere this afternoon.  Jim and I have taken to doing a bit of a 15 minute rest each afternoon, usually I do not fall asleep but regroup my mind.

Paul ~ you are fortunate not to have to bother with tradesmen and the like.  I do like condo living at this point in my life.  They do all of the mulching, mowing, snow removal and maintenance for a monthly fee of $250.00.  All of the outside including a new roof etc. would be handled by the HOA. We have a small swimming pool for summer recreation too.

A very nice evening with my daughter, Molly, who was recognized as the outstanding teacher of the year at the Lakewood Schools Board Meeting.  What a honor to be blessed by her peers.  And yes, I am very proud of her.  A graduate of Ohio University and a kindergarten teacher for twenty five years ~ making a difference in the childrens’ lives.  

Kitty ~ loved to see you post.  Wondering how your beautiful Sanibel Island is being put back together after the storms.  We are planning a trip soon to Anna Marie (north of Longboat Key) in February.  

Hugs to all ~  Susan

Good morning Susan, Kitty, and all.  I'm up in the middle of my night with all the caffeine I drank while traveling.

It does keep me from dozing off on the road so seems worth it.  Wife doesn't go to the farm because of the

stink of cat urine. 

I still enjoy all the work taking care of our home but can see where it will become to much some day, If I get there.

Was down at the farm so no work done here. 

I'm retired Susan, so if I get drowsy in the afternoon I just drift off for a few minutes.  Glad never to go back to those

companies.  I do go to bed very early to get up before the traffic to walk the pups though. 

Glad your daughter was recognized in her teaching career. 

If we had an RV we would be gone but with our pups we can't go on vacation very easy. 

Happy to not be smoking, think I would be a cripple or dead if I had continued. 

Baja seemed to handle great on the 200 mile trip.  I have a record of tread depths so will know if I have problems

before they cost me so much again. 

Enjoy your day all.

Ernie