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February Banter 2022


George BM
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This is unbelievable.  Very late Wed night into Thursday, a very strong Arctic front may cause the rain to mix with frzra and sleet then change to sleet and possibly bring up to half an inch of sleet/frzra right into my backyard. Its going to be VERY cold by our standards, highs in the upper 20s with north winds gusting to 40 mph and lows well down into the teens, in a place where 61 is the normal high and 43 is the normal low. If we get half an inch of sleet, I will be at 70 percent of normal climo for freezing precip in one winter season.

My poor plants are dying. I was trying so hard to cover them. This next front will dash my hopes after weeks of trying to fight it. I loved the tomato plant, the chocolate mint and spearmint herbs so much! I tried so hard to save them from the cold fronts!

Pipes will freeze, I'll have NO water at all, and revolving blackouts will chill the house and enforce the freezing pipes. This place just isnt optimized for Siberian fronts. I'll be forced to drink creek water like a horse!

 

Larry Cosgrove wrote up a good description of what happened on "Frozentine Day" 2021 lol. I am not sure I want THAT again!

You have the slow ejection of a large disturbance west of Baja California, possibly in two pieces, and the digging of a 500MB trough associated with a vortex with a core of Siberian air. If this sounds vaguely familiar, it is because there is some resemblance to the mid-February debacle of 2021, where a bitter cold regime streaked rapidly southward into Texas, concurrent with a phasing of the Arctic, polar, and subtropical jet streams into a very cold, full-latitude 500MB trough that reached Mexico and the adjacent Gulf, and dumped unheard of amounts of ice and snow on the Lone Star State and the Mid-South.

 

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7 minutes ago, Mrs.J said:

I am not a fan of beans. Texture thing. That being said I use a couple cans of Bush’s Chili beans. Just enough beans to make Mr J happy but with chili sauce so it makes them tolerable for me. Also I always do mine sausage and beef. 

Totally get that -- and yeah, some beans are more "mealy" (?) than others, as in, texture makes me want to hurl. Thankfully, none that I typically put in chili! Had no idea that Bush's made chili beans...and I've literally never thought about throwing some sausage in with the ground turkey or beef when browning the chili meat. I almost always learn something new in terms of recipes or prep whenever you talk (or show!) food.  :) 

39 minutes ago, H2O said:

Ch 9 down here barely mentioned any frozen in their segment. Showed mostly rain. It is only Tuesday tho

Picturing retired-you, padding to the TV to turn on Ch. 9 in your bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, during the pre-dawn hours to see that forecast. :) I'm curious -- do you find yourself waking up around the same time you used to get up for work, or do you sleep in more? Do your days generally follow the same pattern, or do you mix it up most days?

Been discussing this more with Mrs. V. as she's retiring at the end of this school year. I'm ~2-3 years out from full time retirement...and yes, it'll suck because she'll be "free" (and she's younger than me!) but I still have to gut it out for a bit longer. But given how busy my (and her) typical workday is now, vs. the potential for days where there's ZERO schedule, I've been wondering if either one of us is going to be actually be able to "wind down" when the time arrives.

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36 minutes ago, vastateofmind said:

Picturing retired-you, padding to the TV to turn on Ch. 9 in your bathrobe and fuzzy slippers, during the pre-dawn hours to see that forecast. :) I'm curious -- do you find yourself waking up around the same time you used to get up for work, or do you sleep in more? Do your days generally follow the same pattern, or do you mix it up most days?

Been discussing this more with Mrs. V. as she's retiring at the end of this school year. I'm ~2-3 years out from full time retirement...and yes, it'll suck because she'll be "free" (and she's younger than me!) but I still have to gut it out for a bit longer. But given how busy my (and her) typical workday is now, vs. the potential for days where there's ZERO schedule, I've been wondering if either one of us is going to be actually be able to "wind down" when the time arrives.

Its been interesting.  Not sure I had in mind doing what i've ended up doing since I retired.  Used to get up at 5am to be at the office by 6.  Now its get up at 6 to start waking the kids up for school.  Weekends I wake up around 7.  I'm just always going to be an early riser due to 30 years of getting up 5 am.  When the kids have school the morning routine is the same.  Get up, coffee and a little breakfast, then two trips to drop my youngest kids off at school.  Then it's home and do stuff that's needed.  Groceries, errands, so on.  So life has gone from stomping around all of Fx Co and playing frogger to being Mr. Mom.  With two kids still 4 years out from college this will be how it is for some time to come.  I wish I had a little more freedom to do stuff because I'm also on the hook for pick up from school every afternoon and then kid stuff(practices) after.  But it beats frozen fingers in winter and heat stroke in summer.  

One spouse working and the other can be a little tricky.  The working one can't just assume the retired one will get every little thing done each day.  And the retired one has to learn that you don't have to get EVERYTHING done in one day.  Spreading things out gives something to do daily.  There is def give and take to it all.  The hardest thing is knowing your routine is just different than what you've done for so many years.  And that it isn't easy to learn to "unwork" as in you have to teach yourself that you aren't working. There is def some guilt over not having a job especially if you are able to retire at a younger age.  But to your wife and others that face that, you earned it.  I earned it.  When you give blood sweat and countless missed kid events because you had to prioritize work over other things getting to retire and then do things with your kids or friends makes it worth it.

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21 minutes ago, H2O said:

Its been interesting.  Not sure I had in mind doing what i've ended up doing since I retired.  Used to get up at 5am to be at the office by 6.  Now its get up at 6 to start waking the kids up for school.  Weekends I wake up around 7.  I'm just always going to be an early riser due to 30 years of getting up 5 am.  When the kids have school the morning routine is the same.  Get up, coffee and a little breakfast, then two trips to drop my youngest kids off at school.  Then it's home and do stuff that's needed.  Groceries, errands, so on.  So life has gone from stomping around all of Fx Co and playing frogger to being Mr. Mom.  With two kids still 4 years out from college this will be how it is for some time to come.  I wish I had a little more freedom to do stuff because I'm also on the hook for pick up from school every afternoon and then kid stuff(practices) after.  But it beats frozen fingers in winter and heat stroke in summer.  

One spouse working and the other can be a little tricky.  The working one can't just assume the retired one will get every little thing done each day.  And the retired one has to learn that you don't have to get EVERYTHING done in one day.  Spreading things out gives something to do daily.  There is def give and take to it all.  The hardest thing is knowing your routine is just different than what you've done for so many years.  And that it isn't easy to learn to "unwork" as in you have to teach yourself that you aren't working. There is def some guilt over not having a job especially if you are able to retire at a younger age.  But to your wife and others that face that, you earned it.  I earned it.  When you give blood sweat and countless missed kid events because you had to prioritize work over other things getting to retire and then do things with your kids or friends makes it worth it.

Some great advice embedded here, especially in that second paragraph. We balance the workload here okay...she enjoys the general cleaning and laundry stuff, I enjoy the cooking and food procurement/prep and general fix-it junk. Next to impending retirement, our biggest challenge in recent years? Remembering how to be just "us," when our sons went to college, and then when they finally left the nest for good within the past couple of years. It came back to us pretty quickly....but you get so wrapped up in helping your kids learn and to stay on a schedule, and getting them where they need to go (before they can drive themselves), that sometimes your individuality or couplehood get lost in that maelstrom. It's an adjustment when they start striking out on their own...but a good one for all involved.  :) 

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9 minutes ago, CAPE said:

Anyone here taking a high quality full spectrum CBD oil? Curious which one and if there are really any notable benefits. Stuff seems pretty pricey. Just looking for some chill without breaking out the bong and getting high lol.

we've purchased hemp cbd oil from baywater farms, located in Salisbury (the best man at our wedding works there). we've been happy using them! 

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3 hours ago, WhiteoutMD said:

I just read that Joe Bastardi lost both his parents to COVID on Jan. 19.  

Seems so sad, I agree with Maestro; but actually a Blessing (I think). They were married for 67 years and died hand in hand. The funeral home even published just a single obituary for them together. I don't think it mentions their age, but I believe he (Matt) was a WW2 vet, so well into their 90s. Strong Italian family. 

Worth reading:

https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/23786582/matthew-and-anna-bastardi/cranston/rhode-island/nardolillo-funeral-home-inc

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5 hours ago, CAPE said:

Anyone here taking a high quality full spectrum CBD oil? Curious which one and if there are really any notable benefits. Stuff seems pretty pricey. Just looking for some chill without breaking out the bong and getting high lol.

Just break out the bong lol. There's so many options in the dispensaries these days if that's an option. You can get very low THC strains that are very high in CBD. There's also edibles, vape pens, tablets ect.. You can also get very high quality full spectrum CBD products. Full spectrum also means it has a small amount of THC if you choose. 

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1 hour ago, Its a Breeze said:

Well, in the winter months. 

I think Isabel (and the derecho?) may take issue with that claim.

Yes for ice storm events.

Isabel and Irene both were 700k customer out events (BGE territory).

The ice storm of Jan 15, 1999 there were almost 500k out.  Ice sucks.  Drifting and donuts on ATVs is fun.  Have to look out for snowmobilers, that's about it.

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35 minutes ago, nj2va said:

Very nice day out!  And ugh at all that english ivy suffocating those (still upright) trees.

Preach. Our neighbor has a particularly virulent patch of English ivy in the corner of HIS yard...which annually breaches the fence to start creeping up OUR giant oak tree. I try to stay on top of it, ripping and cutting it off every couple of weeks in warmer weather, but the damn stuff proliferates like bamboo...  :( 

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