Morning Cup Of Coffee And Weather

It’s finally frosting at night again but will be above freezing during the day. I should be talking about it being below zero at night and above during the day.

 

Little Girl is a Benedict Arnold. She use to be a lap cat and now sleeps on her heating pad. A cat’s temperature is around 102F and that is the pad’s temperature so cats are naturally drawn to it.

9C68043E-17AC-42CE-B52B-F07B279DAF3A by Tour 931 posted Dec 28, 2023 at 6:07 AM

28F and Folgers in my cup.

 

My wife runs a non-profit rescue --- I know where I can find a newer model, she doesn't take trade ins though

I know these critters come from warmer climates (historically) --- it amazes me how they can sit on top of incredibly "hot" things and be as comfortable as they are....

I had an old 'tube' tv -- not one with a picture tube, I mean glowing red fillaments inside I used to keep on my electrnocs bench. On top of it was the cats favorite place to be...I found it almost 'painful' to touch.

 

Good morning from Timms Hill. Today promises to be sunny.

71F3F443-F698-4E04-9641-1007ABBEF2EE by Tour 931 posted Dec 29, 2023 at 4:55 AM

 

These were taken about 20 minutes later.

3486FF9C-14D4-4546-A5DD-C2D5B9E7C70D by Tour 931 posted Dec 29, 2023 at 5:53 AM

A telephoto view from my front porch.

939CAB20-1F94-4E9B-9DDB-DF15886DA45D by Tour 931 posted Dec 29, 2023 at 5:55 AM

 

Wipeout!

 

I can visualize you doing the air guitar to this, Tour!

 

At midnight I will enter a new phase of my camping adventure: Retirement from work!

I think that means more camping…! See you out there!

 

Congrats! I did it in March. I highly recommend it!

 

I scheduled 145 days of camping my first year after retirement on 2/1/2023.

 

Even with a little cooler temps settling in up there, I susspect it was a little cozier in the motor-home last night as you watched the Pack perform in enemy territory.

 

The best part is mid-week camping. Makes getting reservations exponentially easier. Congratulations! Retirement is not for everyone but I love it!

 

I’ve been retired for 20 years and 2 months.

 

I've been retired for just under 6 yrs. I can't say I never miss it, but after going from 1/2 time to 1/4 time, the last year I told the facility I worked at that I didn't want to be on their staffing schedule at all any more, but instead be used to cover short notice needs, like someone calling in sick at the last minute, or a surgeon wanting to open an extra OR on short notice. They could call me, and if I didn't have anything else planned I'd come in, and if I did have something else planned that I didn't want to or couldn't postpone, I wouldn't come in. They agreed to that scenario, and over the next year they called about a dozen times, of which I went in for about 10 of.

What that year provided me was the answer to whether to retire completely or not. I found that when the phone didn't ring, I didn't really miss it, because I had plenty other interests, and chores to keep me busy, but when it did ring, and I went in, it was fun to see my coworkers, and satisfying to see patients wake with a smile on their face.
After a year of doing that, all my licensing, continuing Ed. requirements, re-certifications, and liability insurance were coming due over the next 6 months, and were going to cost several thousand dollars, so I decided the expense didn't justify the frequency of the working days, and that I wasn't going to have any trouble keeping busy if I didn't go in anymore.

It was nice retiring while I still enjoyed the work, but knowing it wouldn't leave a big empty hole in my life if I no longer did it.

 

Congratulations on your retirement. I think the best thing mentioned so far has been the mid-week camping, Friday night through Sunday is always 100% full near me, and packed with world-championship corn hole tournaments and kids riding bikes with plastic training wheels. Not the kids playing that bother me, its the hollow plastic -- when we were growing up they were rubberized and a lot less noisy. (Did I just say "Hey kids, get off my grass!" - I think I did)

 

Today is a cold and dreary day. The low tonight will be 10F.

0E2B39E4-3464-4E9E-AD74-A6AD1949EEF3 by Tour 931 posted Jan 3, 2024 at 6:09 AM

Compare this view from my front window to one’s I’ve posted in the past.

 

I look out my window today, and witness the beauty that is Gods creation. Wishing for 40 degrees warmer...its 25 now. The trees, rooves, and grassy areas remind me of a powdered donut--- just the lightest bit of powder under a cloudless azure sky. I want to say I'd be out in it, but it's just a little too cold for activities.

I'm Mr Wilson, in my neighborhood, at least for a couple of kiddos that are here. I wish there were more of them. Actually, our neighborhood is mostly older people. One of the kids that does visit periodically is special needs, and while he is a great kid, he doesn't quite understand people and tedious problems. He seems to come around when I'm working on some difficult problem and loves to ask single-word questions. I've tried to answer knowing he had no idea what I was talking about. I try to be as patient as Ol' Mr. White was with me when I was 8. I know I drove him slightly buggy as he was trying to cut his grass.

At the campground, Its rarely the kids I have problems with. Though there are some, who love to shriek and scream bloody murder. What they do that bothers is me is...cheap training wheels. That hollow/hard plastic rolling over small pebbles .... that sound makes my teeth itch, corn hole games with hootin' and hollerin', and bad music over loudspeakers, one thing I will never forgive Elkhart for.

The other thing is people in general who walk through the random campsite (mine) often with their parents taking a shortcut to the showerhouse. This seems to happen a LOT less post-covid.

Speaking of covid, I came down with it last Friday. I'm find, and on the mend. Little hot soup soothes the throat. Still a little fatigued, but I'm probably 90-95% better -- little brain fog yet. 2 years ago exactly at this time, I also had covid. Similar weather too.

Then, I was waiting to head down to a private hideaway campground in Florida. Sadly, it closed its doors a few weeks after we visited --- I loved it. There were only 4 sites, a tikibar-themed communal campfire, and a shower house. quite the place. There are others like it in the area, but they were not as clean and well cared for.

I'll never forget my wife saying "Pig! There's a Pig!" In Florida that can be very dangerous. I hurriedly grab my ... things, expecting a fight and I look in the direction she's pointing at a 300-400 pound female, probably name "Daisy" She just laid down in the driveway for a little bit then headed back home through the brush. I still chuckle about it when I run across thepicture I took.

 

The intensity of the gaze is impressive, this is shared with just about every bird of prey.

 

Thanks all for the well wishes and congrats on my retirement.

Wow. Just wow!

My thoughts and plans immediately went to extending the season, which was previously impossible for me on a teacher’s schedule. Depending on the particular term schedule I did get some limited mid-week opportunities, but you’re opening my eyes to more spur-of-the-moment mid-week adventures…

Again, thanks all for the posts! The next project is to put the sink back in the countertop, now that the propane work is done…