We are supposed to get rain soon. 

Jogged a 5K in Brooklyn yesterday. Somewhat cold at 6AM, but if I wear too many layers, I get hot when moving. The hot chocolate afterwards was popular.  Some people ran in Santa or elf attire.

Good morning Susan and Paul.  We did get inches of snow.  30 out right now.  Next couple mornings

are to cold for the pups anyway.  I used to go out no matter what the temp but probably shouldn't have.

dogs have no shoes.  You were lucky to have your run before the deep freeze Paul, down close to or at

10 next couple mornings.  30 is ok for me to jog.  Dogs can't go out this morning because of all the salt.

If they were older they would stay on the shoulders with me but they are still acting like puppies, go all

over the place.  Cocoa or Brandy would usually stay over on the fresh snow with me, if I was walking or

jogging there.  At least in their dog years, can't really remember their puppy years that well.  I tried the

5k thing and I was to slow but glad you could make it Paul.  Hot chocolate sounds great.

I got a cold Saturday, thought I was just tired.  Haven't had a cold since before that virus started.  Already

I feel better and I have to stop jogging for 3 days because of salt and freezing frigid temps.  Play watching

Jim's granddaughter sounds fantastic.  I used to see my granddaughter in violin concerts, was so proud of

her.  I rarely see her now with her college and working.  Sometimes she answers my texts but I understand

if she can't.  I used to work, go to college, and we had one daughter when we started and two when we finished.

Wife went through the Army years and college years with me.  Glad you got a walk in with Finn Susan.  Our friends

lives go by so fast. 

Hope you all have a great day.  Think Paul and Kitty probably got snow from this front but not sure.  They have the

ocean warming over there almost 200 miles eat of us.  Also we get some lake effect snow from the great lakes here.

Ernie

Think a concert our granddaughter was in, can't see well.

Hi Paul,

Great picture of the 5K race.  My how I envy you, an x-smoker who can jog five miles!  Kudos to you.

I heard the weatherman say that this has been a month of cloudy days ~ THAT is no exaggeration.  The storm from the Midwest may bring us some snow by the end of the week and that would be nice.

Most of the Christmas shopping is now finished ~ A few spices from Penzy's and I will be finished.  That will be on-line.  Now for the gift wrapping that is not my favorite task.

Will you be spending Christmas with family?   We will trek over to a Lodge at Geneva on the Lake with my youngest daughter, SIL and granddaughter on the 23rd.  Back home for a Christmas Eve gathering with Jim's family and Christmas Day with my entire family.  

On we go ......  

Susan

Dear Ernie, Paul and Kitty,

Yes, the play was very cute ... the Herdman Family performing the Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  The length (one hour) was quite tolerable and it was fun to see his seven year old granddaughter perform with the group.   We thought she was in the play "Elf" and much to our surprise it was a children's performance in the small theatre that we saw....not Elf!

You are jogging too?  Wow.  you and Paul.  I'm envious of you both.  Ex-smokers who jog.  What did I do wrong?  I'm not sure I ever jogged but in my defense, I am an up-and-about person who rarely sits down.  The Fitbit often reads well over 5,000 steps.  Not sure if that is outstanding but it is better than being a couch potato.  

Enjoy the day.  Snow here by the end of the week ~ would be nice to have a white Christmas.  

Susan

PS.  I just read where walking 5000 steps is the equivalent of around 8 km.  An hour and 40 minutes of walking for the average person.....  Wonder...is that in addition to your regular walking doing chores, etc. around the house.  I'll have to check up on that.  I know my son-in-law does well over 10,000 a day but he's younger...a lot!

Hi to Kitty ~ missing in action?   I miss your posts!

Hello everyone,

No snow in NYC.  A friend in CT said they had 4 inches. I don't think anything is forecasted here. Lows are only around 30 next few days.

5 kilometers, Susan, so 3.1 miles. But that's a start. My doc says everyone should have 20 minutes daily of moderate intense exercise. Not necessarily jogging but brisk walking or bicycling. Had to describe 'moderate intense'.  On a Fitbit that might be the cardio zone, but I don't really know.

I guess city dogs get acclimated to people early, Ernie. There are often people walking dogs or running with their dogs unleashed on the paths I go on, and the dogs generally ignore everyone else. Most don't even chase the squirrels though they probably stay away from the dogs.  

Good morning all.  Certainly not low of 30 here, 10 right now, no ocean to keep us warm.

Not taking the dogs out this morn.  They have no shoes.  I took the dogs for a walk around

the lawn last eve and the field above us.  It's still rifle deer season so can't go very high in

the woods.  The neighbor had his Newfoundland dog out when we got back around the front

of the house and our two dogs pulled be down and the ditch stopped me.  So washed my

clothes and coat when got back in the house.  Didn't get hurt, that's the big thing.  Didn't

even damage any clothes.

I think it would depend on what kind of walking you do.  Walking fast down a sidewalk seems like

a couple feet every step but around a store or some other building probably a foot every step.

We used to have a contest between teams at work but after one year it seemed boring to me.  I

always went jogging 4.5 miles in the morning before work.  Think we wore a device called a pedometer.

Our team won the year I was in it.  Being active certainly counts lots.  Think they call it a sedentary life

style that breeds diabetes.  I was already jogging every day years before I got it but I have a family

history of everyone getting it and much worse than mine.  Jogging seems to help my glucose and weight

go down some so really makes me excited and happy.  It means more years of healthy living.  Longer

before I outgrow the meds I will have to go back on some day and more years before insulin injections. 

That's if something else doesn't get me in the interim.  But just more years of health living with my family

is all I can ask for.  I feel so rich in my life.

Our dogs are just reaching 1 year old in a week Paul and they are sisters so they bounce off each other, so to

speak.  Maybe a one second lag between one barking or taking off before the other goes.  I'm so glad they

have each other in life though.  Right now I can't even trust them to stay on the shoulder in the snow and away

from the salt so can't walk them until there's a new coat of snow each day.  Like we get from the lake effect snow

machine, they call it.  Chloe and Belle are a hand full but more of a return for it.  My wife lost a lot of weight

keeping up with their training.  She hadn't been very physically active though almost constantly working around

the house.  I can't even imagine living in town let alone in NYC.  We do have houses above and below us on the

side of this mountain.  The farm sold to a developer, no doubt.  The man that owned the farm house when we

moved here in 79 was a friend of mine, gone in 2004.  His wife is still here but doesn't like dogs and still smokes.

She quit on Chantix after a quadruple bypass surgery but stated up again.  She seems bitter towards life now.

I always thought I would like living out away from neighbors but probably more likely to have a break in.  My

experience in life is neighbors will squabble about stuff on the property line weather they live 40 feet apart or

a mile apart. 

Hope you all get Christmas snow if that's what you want.  I shoveled out our driveway yesterday and put out

those heated mats I got wife last Christmas.  Connected them to a wall switch in the house.  She used to spred

table salt out there.  Expensive to buy and running heated mats outdoors certain to be expensive to operate.  We

turn them on and watch to see when ice and snow are gone and the mats are dry.  Don't run them on a thermostat

but you can if you want. 

Enjoy the day all.  The  play sounds great Susan.  My grandsons are home schooled so no plays for me.

Ernie

 

Happy Lucia Day everyone! The start of the 12 days of Christmas. 

Stay warm. 

Happy Lucia Day Paul.  it's 21 here so much warmer than yesterday morning when it got down

to 7 before rising.  I stayed up for the Ham Radio Net 100 miles away in my old home town, was

forecast to be another morning around 10.  Got up late around 4 AM.

I guess you grew up in the city Paul, so it's me that's the fish out of water.  My English essay for

college entrance was about the farm I grew up on.  At least I could spell most words and structure

sentences.  Have seen many that couldn't.  I did think over 90% of the people in industrial electronics

were extremely cruel so maybe that was the farm boy in me.  People seemed more interested in making

the employee next to them look bad than to do good at electronics and enjoy it.  But I made it through

and here we are at the other end, it's mostly over.  I still have a big repair bench in the basement and

tackle jobs I couldn't have previously in life.  My largest ham radio is still over $8k new.  I paid $3k for

it but not working.  I was so worried when it was coming here from Alaska.  Got it working 2 or 3 years

ago and it's still going.  That must be when I got my electronic microscope.  Much less expensive than

a standard one, about $100. new.  The one Integrated Circuit part I replaced looks like a little tick to

the naked eye, at least to mine.  Actually even with reader glasses on.

Took care of our daughter's and our garbage yesterday.  Happy to talk to my daughter and grandsons

some.  Got some ideas what to get our grandsons for Christmas.  Wife and I are so far separated from

our teen years, very difficult to think up gifts for them ourselves.  Some need to be ordered so have to

get on it quick.

Glad you are smoke free Paul.  Keep up the good work.  I see Gerthie around on the forum, still working

on giving up the nicotine lozenges. 

Enjoy the day all.

Ernie

Brandy on top of the mountain.

Yes, I was born and raised in the city, Ernie. My parents also were. My grandfather had land up in Ulster, so we'd go there in the summer.  Though that is much more built up than when I was a child. The roads near his place were unpaved and unnamed. Rural Drive number for the post man. Now there are many more houses and less farms. 

Good morning Paul.  16 here around midnight.  Probably to cold for the dogs later this morn.

I grew up on a farm surrounded by farms.  Think only one of them is still running.  I feel at

home just about anywhere if I see a farm.  Especially if there's Holstein cows, black and white.

Our road was named Crooked Creek but now changed to Charleston.  We had a dairy farm

until they required bulk tanks to store milk.  Guess investing in one was to much for our little

farm.  After that my dad bought calves and raised them until they were ready to become milk

cows, then sell them.  We still had to grow hey, oats, and corn.  Still baled up hey in the Summer

and we had a hugh vegetable garden that took lots of work.  Thawing out drinking cups for the

cows.  We always had one milk cow for our families milk.  I remember churning butter when I

was young.  Our road was paved but was a 40 mph speed limit, now 50.  Much more traffic.

Got my bike into the basement yesterday before the storm arrives.  Got the new cover on the

Monte Carlo SS.  Set two mouse traps in it. 

I see the soccer reporter died of a burst Aortic Aneurysm.  I came very close to the same end

6 years ago.  Caught it just in time, was 5.1 cm last time measured.  Had expanded a lot in 6

months.

Walked the dogs around the lawn and field twice yesterday. 

Have a good day all.

Ernie

Farm in the 80s.

Was Dad's barn 2020, I think.