(7:36 AM EST)
(-11*F.......-23*F w/wind chill)
( a YouTube mix)
  Good grief....I wish that the weather would make up its' mind........by this PM we're supposed to get snow with temperatures in the mid +20s and snow and  then tomorrow PM mid +30's and rain.....the constant shifts in the weather is driving my arthritis nuts......
  I took a look at my posting part of my dashboard  and realized that this day would come.......this is my 2800th post......on one had that's starting in late October of '02 to present.....on the other hand there is an almost 5 year gap in posting......due mostly lack of computer access......but still...yo vey.....
  Saw a  meme yesterday on FB........if you took the number 77..subtracted your age and added that to forty you'd get the year of your birth......but I saw a reply from my bro (whose birthday was last Saturday) that it was off by a year......didn't pay much attention to it until much later when I was trying to sleep.......and then I realized why it worked.....and sometimes was off a year...77+40+1900=2017.....so what you actually doing is subtracting your age from 2017 and that will produce your years of birth in my case 2017-70= 1947........but when New Years day passes it still works until your birthday then you need to change 77 to 78.........by splitting in this case 117 years in to a multiple operation it conceals something I do all the time if I have the year of a person's birth I subtract that from the current year and I know how old they'll be at some point in the current year.......I'm not sure I call it clever but...it does work.....
  Be forewarned because of the change of the month tomorrow and the type of archive gadget I use...not to mention that fact that I posted 60+ times this month..I'll be fiddling with the layout tomorrow to get the symmetry that my CDO requires (yes I know it's OCD..but I demand alphabetical order) after many years of knowing the term "alphabet" i realized that the etymology is from the greek alpha and beta....the first to letters in greek by way of latin......( the Mad One who studied both of those ancient languages is kicking himself for not tumbling to that years ago...yo gavalt)  

(6:16 PM EST)

(+13*F....s/wing chill)

("Hec Ramsey" pilot)

  Been a very quiet day except for seeing housekeeping this morning, have stayed in my rooms all day, left foot still raising hob.......was okay last night but stiffened up again overnight.....but would not have walked anyways....got some snow overnight...not a significant amount, but enough to make walking "interesting"

   Saw a post eatier from my sis, she and her hubby will be gone about a month, India and Europe, a couple of weddings and a cruise...bro and his wife are headed out  as well  pretty soon, Florida and then the wedding of their youngest in Slovakia  My sis' flight out of Watertown was delayed by the snow..but saw nothing else so they probably made their connecting flight....

(4:38 PM EST)
(+26*F..w/wind chill +15*F...some snow in the forecast)
(Brahms': A German Requiem") 
  Have not had the best 24 hours physically.....first the back...probably a result of sitting in a  hard straight backed chair for the two hours that  lunch with my sibs and their respective mates lasteed......good lunch, better conversation.....but I didn't realize until I got ready to go out that my left foot was slightly swollen.and two hours in a shoe and it "sang" all night and although I was exhausted got very little sleep and awoke this AM with very dense fog between my ears....foot is just humming quietly now and a couple  of naps and the fog has begun to clear.....
  Don't get to see my sibs that often anymore....both sets are retired.as am I......but between having kids spread to the four winds and both sides usually winter in Florida for a month or so most winters, so basically are get togethers are limited to birthdays.....I'm kind of a stick in the mud....I prefer sleeping in my own bed 

(8:42 AM)
(+34*F....+27*F w/wind chill.....sunny)
(Jazz Radio off YouTube)
  Slept well last night +/- 10 hours....and feel pretty good this AM with the exception of my left foot again, but this time not the big toe.but the arch....which I hurt in April of '70 will be 48 years this year...while running in the Boston Marathon.....but if truth be told the litany of things I've done to my poor left foot, and ankle are many some sport related, some work related, and some just klutz related......are numerous...and many thankfully no longer remember by me, unfortunately my foot remembers all of them from time to time....and reminds me in a very aggressive way......yo vey
  Am having lunch today with my sis and bro and their respective mates......my baby bro's birthday....but seeing he's hitting the big 60 this year maybe baby bro doesn't fit anymore.......can't call him my little bro either, he is after all bigger then I am....and younger bro......neither of us is young any more......so just......"Happy B-day Bob"...... 

(11:52 AM EST)
(+46*F..w/ rain in the forecast)
( Beethoven: "Christus am Olberge")
  I usually get most of my food stuffs at the Price Chopper, and occasionally at Aldi, but never snacks, the Price Chopper wants an arm and a leg, the Aldi's only has jumbo bags.....I usually get them at the local dollar store.....but I haven't been there in almost 2 months, and have resorted to getting snacks from a vending machine, which costs an arm and a leg and your first born for what you get, but because of the weather the shortcuts are not passable it's a long detour ...plus the other reason for me going to  that plaza no longer exists.....since I've been on the proverbiale wagon for 3 months at this point and the provider I used to use is in the same plaza....but took an early walk to day to stock up on snacks....I  have all the food I need for weeks squirreled away but the snack drawer was empty......but I did get a six pack......no not that kind of six pack...even when I was imbibing it was almost never beer...but a six pack of V8 juice......used to buy V8 by the jug....but then I used to buy vodka by the jug as well......but rearrange the frig and have no room at present for a jug........so a 6 of cans makes more sense.....
  The music I'm listening to this AM is in the original german, hence the name....there should be an umlaut over the "O".....but in English "Christ on the Mount of Olives"......one of my absolute favs.....the last part in a Hallelujah....which was also a fav of a little yellow and gray budgie lived with me years ago...I'd play that piece on the CD player and she'd start the old head bob and shuffle and once the choir started to sing, she'd "sing" along...out of key but she had a good time anyways.....

(3:12 PM EST)
(+36*F)
(Best of Elgar)
  Actually a very nice day for a change......I've mentioned that although temperature is what it is.....but the way it feels is subjective...after a long hot summer 45*F or even 50*F can feel cold......and on a day like today over the past month or so we've had several days at or below 0*F....a day like today with light winds can actually feel warm....of course it isn't warm..it still 36*F....but it feels good and is a huge relief...
  Sidewalks except for a few spots were clear and dry...and with temperatures in the mid 40s*F and rain all that will be left of the snow is the banks left by the snowplows.......and that will be dirty...but snow and colder temperatures are predicted for next week..so the weather over the next few days is a reprieve......back to my walk
   Only needed a couple of items but in truth if I didn't need anything I would have found an excuse to walk..at my age and with the physical limitations of 70+ years walking is not only just about my only form of exercise...but it's more than that...I just love being out and about.....especially in the spring time just maybe 100 yds. from my rooms is a small pond and in the spring times there are 3-6 mated pairs of Canada Geese......and a whole gaggle of little ones...fun to watch from a distance...get too close and mom/dad can get aggressive....and rightly so....in this area there are a large number of breeding pairs on several ponds and a nearby marsh...I get a charge out of the swamp/marsh/wetlands...take you pick...it's called "Beaver Meadow"...and there is also a Blue Heron rookery in the area, as well as cranes and a couple of years back saw an Egret...not to mention because we're close to Lake Ontario a whole bunch of "Flying Rats"...AKA Seagulls...but it's fun to watch.......

(12:30 PM EST)
(+14*F....s/wind chill)
(Blues off YouTube)
  Actually a nice sunny day...as it often is when it's cold......could walk today if it was necessary,which it isn't but the next 3 days are going to be above freezing..a little rain...but should be able to pick a good spot for a walk......besides although I'm feeling pretty good now, had the all to common morning rituals of stiffness........and as my elders when I was a kid would have said.....I looked like I had been dragged through a knothole backwards......and today me thinks there might have been a nail in that knothole.....
  Something I posted on FB today got a little sideways........an old mate from high school.....relayed a memory about me and eyeglasses, I started to have to wear them around 12 +/- don't remember exactly .....and of course my sis & bro had to jump in as well.......my mate asked how many pairs of glass I've destroyed in the going on 60 years I've worn them........at present I'm 20/400 in my "good" eye and 20/600 in the other plus multiple shifts for astigmatism........and it, that is the mass destruction of glasses continues to this day......I hate bifocals/trifocals/& what ever focal you can name.....so I use readers......which suffer the same fate as any pair of glasses..whether work related (I was required for many years to wear safety glass at work)..sports related,I had the tendency to play sports like a crazy man, or just my inherent klutziness, or it may be my not so subconscious disdain for them but if serial destruction of eyeglasses was a capital crime I would have been hung long ago..... 
  I spent time yesterday doing the setup of my new blog.......commentary on political, social, and faith issues...you may notice that I used the term faith not religion....the terms religion and religious have become so over used to the point of be meaningless.....at this point it's private and unlisted.....all that has been done is basic structure and a test post....will not "go public" until  i have a few posts  done....or possibly never

(4:01 PM EST)
(+19*F.....+8*F w/wind chill, sunny day)
(Bach: Mass in B-minor)
  The expected process changing over providers from satellite to cable is more involved then I was led to believe.....they have to rewire all the rooms...and there are ninety some odd rooms here.....of course my rooms are the oddest...no because of the rooms of course but because of the occupant....but  it could take several weeks.......
  Awoke to a weird day physically....nothing really giving me any great problems, but it seems that the sum of all the little aches and pains is greater than the sum of the individual parts....although better now, actually had to use the cane in my rooms, which I hardly ever have to use......but have loosened up now.....
  But I'm having one of those days.....I'm usually very orderly and do things by long standing routines...but today for some reason my actions remind me of what my dad always used to say......"If you don't have it in your head......you have to have it in your feet"....I seem to be making more trips to accomplish a simple task then normal......just not on the top of my "game" today.....
  I'm reminded today of a comment a "shirt tail" relative said when tv remotes first came out....we're talking early '60s here.......and it was for that time a pricey option and don't remember the price he quoted but the gist w as he wasn't that (amount of money) lazy.......but being the gimpy, grumpy, old man I now am..I very thankful that remotes are now standard equipment.....

(8:44 PM EST)
(+37*F...+26*F w/wind chill....light snow and low of +15*F over night)
("Hec Ramsey pilot)
  Weather will  be colder for  the next couple of days and then another thaw over the weekend.....
  The next couple of days might prove interesting and maybe a little frustrating....the hotel I live in is changing providers for the TV & Wifi and the change over is schedules for tomorrow...there is bound to be an interruption in service.....but no way to tell how long.....no idea....so it's possible that I'll be off line for an extended period of time tomorrow.......or maybe not....probably will interfere with my daily routine..... 

(12:25 PM EST)
(+48*F)
( Now Playing: an old episode of SHADO)
  Caught a break in the weather, been raining all day but checked the radar and there was a small hole in the front that gave me sufficient time to take a walk to the bank......The branch I use I can see out the windows in my rooms, but rarely go during banking hours, just use my debit card and the ATM...but needed to see the bank manager...New York State banking regs allow the state to claim the funds from any account that has laid dominate for 2 years, my savings account just sits there, my SSI which I have on a direct deposit to my checking account takes care of my normal needs..so once a year or so I deposit $1 into my savings account to keep it "active"......usually on or about my birthday....but this year with the weather and my typical winter head cold....didn't get the chance....

(5:00 PM EST)
(+29*F.....+16*F wind chill.....freezing rain)
(Now Playing: "Hec Ramsey" pilot)
  I have spent some of the day adding some Jazz to my bookmarks off YouTube....some Ramsey Lewis and some Dixieland Style Jazz
  Now I've been blogging for 17+ years..back in the day all blogs would have fit into a few differnt categories..topical..journal/diary...commercial, and blogs run by "Ladies of the Evening" ( I guess those could have been commercial blogs as well).....I joined "Blogger" a G+ community ( note: blogger is owned by Google)....there are 260K+ members in that group......few if any journal/diaries left..at least those I can read......many now are not in English and no translation gadget......some are actually not blogs at all...some YouTube channels, and even some Instagrams..and where back in the day only photos could be used......videos are common......more porn then before......but it's a good play to "advertise" your blog...have picked up a couple of followers from it.....
  The only 2 other G+ communities I follow arre a Poetry site, and a family site (private), one of  my nephew's family...N&K and their two rugrats....super geeks.....they got married on March 14th.....as in 3.14......Pi Day.....

(9:42 AM EST)
(+30*F..19*F wind chill )
( 24/7 Jazz Radio off YouTube)
  While during my morning's romp through my bookmarks..found a link to 24/7 Jazz Radio on my Youtube page...."Very Cool ....Daddy-O".......reminds me of my beatnik roots....I was in my early teens when the beatniks..gave way to the squeaks...gave way to the hippies.......so although most of my background and training is in classical music....I still have a soft spot in my heart for Jazz, particularly for piano jazz.....some would say that my soft spot is between my ears but that's a topic for another day...
  Rain for the next few days....and some winter mix...AKA: freezing rain but from the radar it looks like we may catch just the edge of that briefly, it looks like the bulk of the freezing rain will pass above us in the St. Lawrence River Valley......
  Just the normal morning routine physically......a little stiffness but nothing untoward.....
  I love a good pun or play on words....but especially the really bad puns and play on words......I follow a group on FB that puns and play on words is the only purpose for the group.......I used to love the cartoon "Farside".......follow another group with that purpose.......I have a group of FB friends that share my love of pun and wordplay so when I find a really good pun .......read really bad pun...I sharee it and we play with it.....
( now playing "The Play Bach Trio")
  did some digging on YouTube and found "The Play Bach Trio" a crasis if you will between the music of Bach and piano jazz...best of two worlds 

(4:22 PM EST)
(+41*F)
(Corelli: 12 Concerti Grossi)
  Yup I know if I was a true red blooded redneck from the old USofA.....I'd be eaten Buffalo Wings, drinking beer and be glued to the old boob tube watching the playoff game between the Pats vs Jags.....actually Corelli, some Spades online and a glass of iced water...do i get at least a couple of points for my redneck badge...I am drinking my iced water from a beer glass......
  The good news is that my big toe has stopped singing it's sad song and I'm feeling much better......with age I've come to reluctantly accept that the physical damage I've done to my body....primarily to the old bag of bones, from sport, work, and being a bit of a klutz.....and that they, that is the bones and attached parts..... from time to time will curtail even routine activities.....
  "O JOY" we actually had gone two days, a good two days, without a "Winter Weather Advisory"......this time from 1PM tomorrow until 1AM Tuesday....ice...maybe as much as 2/10"...but from the text probably north of here up by St. Lawrence River....but I-81 north of us could be a real skating rink....yo vey...... 
  I'm seriously considering the possibility of starting a 3rd blog.....as a matter of fact at one point I had 5 total, this one and the poetry blog (link to it  wandering around somewhere here ( with all the fiddling I do with layout can't remember where I put it this time)).....can't make up my mind whether I actually want to start another blog, and if it would be a "commentary" blog on political,social and religious topics.....or whether it might be a blog of "short stories".....besides it would give me another layout to fiddle with......

(9:22 AM EST)
(+35*F)
(Bach: Brandenburg Concertos)
  I mentioned in a post yesterday that I had a feeling that one of the usual suspects would make my morning difficult...and sure enough my left big toe is singing a not so merry tune this morning...but the root cause of it was several years ago...I was loading a 53' trailer...because the load blocked my forward vision, by state and federal regs unless absolutely necessary you had to drive in reverse.....because of a lack of mobility in my neck.I had to sit "side saddle" and pressed the gas pedal (liquid propane) with my left foot ...it was wet and my foot slipped and I popped my big toe......took the better part of a month to heal.( was in my 50s at the time).....was in the summertime and it prevented me from playing golf....but didn't miss a day of work...anywho.....every so often it must remind me of my incredible ability when it comes to being a klutz......along with it's brother joints....but at least the rest of the usual suspects are behaving...at least for the moment.....

(8:06 PM EST)
(+37*F.....29*F windchill)
(Best of Rossini)
  As you can see if you've been here before I've been fiddling with the layout.....for the last 17+ years I've been asking the Question "Troll54 Where Are You?" so i thought that it was high time I showed you...obviously this pix was not shot in winter......so now at least geographically you know where I am.....where I am mentally even I don't have that answer....most of the time.....as we might of said back in the day "I'm out to lunch"....
  Still had some things to fill out my pantry so walked again this afternoon.....didn't get anything I needed today....but down the road so to speak.....one splurge..a cheesecake sampler.....I don't get the sampler very often but was in the mood...
  Both feet, both knees, and my back are singing an acappella quintet very quietly of their favorite tune "Wait until you try to get out of bed tomorrow".......I probably did over do today just a little today.....I sincerely hope...that it was just a little....

(12:40 PM EST)
(+38*F......+29*F..windchill.....cloudy & windy)
 ( Albinoni: 12 Concertos)
  My routine on Saturday and Sunday is pretty much the same from one week to another......TNT plays reruns of "Law & Order" every morning both days and I half watch and half listen while surfing the web......but broke tradition and took a walk over to Aldi....partial to look but also to get some cookies and a wedge of Stilton blue cheese....I really enjoy blue cheese, and among the different varieties I really like the English blues, also picked up some can goods to restock my pantry.....sidewalks were a mixed bag but mostly passable.....but the wind.....oy vey.....
  The walk as interesting, the front door of Aldi is literally right across the street, maybe when I was younger I would have watched for traffic and "J-walked" but with age and the fact that the street I had to cross is one of the busiest in town, especially on a Saturday morning....I walked down to a crosswalk and then back towards the store.......don't get me wrong I'm just as crazy as I once was.....just a lot slow..
  If you read below a few posts there have been problems with the wifi connection I use......been okay for a couple of days but it's a little twitchy today.....it's usually quite fast..but today kind of slow.....but even as weird as it is today it beats the old dial up connection everyday and twice on Sundays... 

(6:24 PM Est)
(+30*F.....+23*F windchill)
( Now Playing: "Stealth")
  Just back from my first walk outside for a week...what with the weather and my classic winter Northcountry head cold.....I either couldn't walk because of the weather, or because of the head cold I thought it was not a very good idea.....besides it's not like I was out of food..but there were some things I was running low on....nothing critical anyways.....wait a minute..I was out of canned diced potatoes and was hankering for some potato salad.....check that the walk today was an absolute necessity .....In point of fact when I get finished with this post, the next thing on the agenda will be the construction of a potato salad.......and maybe a bowl of chicken soup......
  I pretty much stuffed my sling bag to the max....and maybe a tad too many canned goods.....so my bag was maybe heavier then it should of been....so when I got back....my back was talking to me.....took a hot shower, a little self back rub, and after so analgesic gel and it's getting loose and feeling much better......if the weather is as predicted tomorrow will probably walk over to Aldis and see if I can find some cookies...didn't have room this evening...
  I've got the movie "Stealth" playing in another window, from 2005..sci fi......and from what I've read it was a box office bomb....lost several million dollars...but I like it......it just is my kind of movie......did I mention that Jessica Biel is in it........of all the "Blade" movies I really only like the 3rd one....did I mention Jessica Biel was in it......have you noticed a trend here.....

(11:15 AM EST)
(+27*F....+19*F windchill)
(Wagner "Overtures")
  I think it rather funny......since I'm too cheap to pay the piper as it were and refuse to give YouTube any dinaro so the ads go away.....but I think that at times the ads that play before your selection, and sometimes during it are random......but the one I see most often before classical music....is one of the shorties that are timed to play in their entirety before you can hit the skip button......the ad is for a fine Scotch whiskey......talk about targeting.....
  One of the things I do in the morning routine of checking the web is I play a few games.....and all are me against AIs......Spades (although 4 handed and 1 is my pard)...spider solitaire...and chess......I always play the easy option..'taint about winning.....'tis about jump starting the old brain box......
  Had a conversation with Matt this AM.......I mean an actually conversation....face to face...no electronic gadgets involved.....now Matt and I share a birthday.....of course I was in my 20s when he was born....both of use grew up rural......but it came up how people refer to others, especially elders....and It reminded me of an incident a few weeks back..my sis and I were talking about the area we grew up in.....rural Western New York State.....and she asked if I remember someone's first name.....remember I was a kid back then and the person in question was an adult and my answer was "Mrs."......when I was a kid an adult any adult was never referred by a given name but always Mr/Mrs/Miss......or Pastor/Doctor/et al.......and then the surname.....unless they gave you permission to use their first name.....and even then if in a group it was always the "title and surname.....and if I had referred to an "elder" by their given name and my dear sweet mom found out she would have given me a tongue lashing or worse........

(7:21 PM Est)
(+26*F.....+16*F windchill)
( Wagner "Overtures & Preludes")
  Anyone who has every read this blog before knows that I'm a huge fan of classical music.....particularly.......liturgical and music of the Baroque period......but you've never heard me speak of opera......I have a love/hate relationship or more to the point attitude towards opera...with just a few exceptions......I basically don't like it...it just doesn't "fit my ear".....the exceptions are I do like the Mozart  opera "The Magic Flute".....and "West Side Story"...... which is more opera then musical...and the recent "Phantom of the Opera".....beyond that I may like a piece from one here and there.....except for the overtures.....I'm very fond of the overtures to operas by Wagner and Rossini......back when I played in the high school band we played several transcriptions of Rossini operas......besides if you remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoons.....and some of the Mickey Mouse cartoons you have heard some of these pieces...you can find just a few examples of many (here)
  Been checking the forecasts for the next few days and looks like my best bet for a walk will be Sunday...actually warmer Monday or Tuesday but rain in the forecast...and the "stores of victuals" is getting a little picked over.......but then there is always delivery.....

(12:41 PM -5 UTC)
(+24*F.....+14*F windchill.......light snow)
( another "HornBlower" episode)
  The morning festivities being dealt with.....but it's a tad later the usual....never got into bed until after midnight and never rolled out of bed until after 11 AM......slept well...with just a couple of the normal interruptions....but as my elders would have said those many years ago "I slept like a log"......and when that occurs it takes me a tad more time to get the proverbial "cobwebs" out of the old brain box, and convince my joints that they really haven't forgotten the basic movements required of them...
  But part of the aforementioned "morning festivities" is to take my proverbial board and surf the web.....check emails (3 accounts), check G+, check stats on blogger (2 bogs), check YouTube, select a movie/music to play as I surf, check FaceBook for alerts & any interesting posts by friends....and check the weather first the local radar.....and the the 5 & 10 day forecasts...checking to see when the weather will abate enough to allow this gippy grumpy old codger to take a walk..... although I have been back in the day told to "take a hike".....but that's something completely different..... I have my typical surf the web setup in play.....at present I have 5 windows open and and a couple of tabs......as they would have said back in the 60s:
                                        "Cowabunga Dude..Surfs up" 

(2:44 PM EST)
(+21*F...9*F wind chill...light snow)
(Best of Schubert)
  When I was in concert band in high school...many moons ago.....we played a transcription of the first movement of Schubert's 8th Symphony the so called Unfinished..debate is whether he actually intended to write the 4th movement or not.....
  After a long and fruitless search I think I have found a site on G+.....a debate community...which at first glance.....may be just what I was looking for.....I miss some of the old sites on usenet...truth be told...I love debate...discussion...even a good argument.......and will engage in any of the preceding on virtually any topic......and even debate against a point I might hold......but I hate and will not engage in "flame wars" ....but so far this one seems to fit me well....actually I had posted a few times to another debate community.....but it just didn't "fit my eye" so to speak.....but got an invite from the mod of the one I'm currently posting to, to join.......
  I posted recently about my intense hatred of flavored potato chips......but someone offered me a bag of White Cheddar Popcorn......they didn't have to ask twice...two movies on later...how could I refuse.....

(9:23 AM EST)
(+20*F.....no wind chill)
(The Beat of Borodin)
  We are under another "Winter Weather Advisory"....same old/same old....for about 12 hours today another 4-6" of snow possible.....just light snow now....most will probably go south of us in an area known as "Tug Hill".....but the name is a tad deceptive....it's full name is "The Tug Hill Plateau" (LINK)......and it covers a large hunk of northern New York State......and they usually get 300" of snow +/- most years......I have a few friends living up there....although the start of the plateau is just south of us the elevation of Watertown is 466'.....the elevation of the Tug Hill plateau is just under 2000'.....and being just off the east end of Lake Ontario...the only one of the Great Lakes that never completely freezes over in winter it gets the worst of the lake effect snow......
  Looks like it's going to be another stay in the rooms day and I'll probably get out my board and surf the web......but starting Friday and the four days following it's forecasted  to be above +32*F....so there should be a day or two that the old MadTrollie can grab his cane and sling bag and get out and about......head cold is hangin' on but not bad at all.....

(9:26 PM Est)
(+6*F...no wind chill)
(Brahms' "Ein Deutsches Requiem")
  After the craziness and disruptions of this morning (see below).the day has mellowed out.....but I will admit that the combination of the "The Two Colds"......the cold temperature outside and the cold which inhabits my nose and throat......although the inside one is getting a lot better......have prevented me from my walks outside......I haven't been out for the last few days.....could have walked yesterday if I really needed something but I didn't want to take the chance of irritating the head cold as it was on the mend...
  According to the weatherman starting Friday the temperature is going to be.at least in the daylight hours mid 30sF and may even get into the lower 40sF......and by then should be feeling better....but the truth is I need to get out and will probably walk regardless....
  I think I mentioned this in a post a few days ago..(no I'm not going to look....it's not laziness...it's just pure cussedness).......here in the USA  we're 34 months from the next presidential elections...good grief the congressional midterms aren't even for another 10 months.......but there is already speculation as to whom might run against President Trump...I mean  cut me some slack the man hasn't even been in office a whole year yet.....still a few days short of that.....don't get me wrong I'm not taking sides one way or the other about him....but I do think that maybe he really hasn't been given a fair chance yet......If I was his advisor I'd tell to him cancel his Twitter account......the stuff he tweets doesn't help his image at all.....

(3:01 PM EST)
(+26*F....no wind chill..light snow)
(Beethoven's "Christ on the Mount of Olives)
  I got already to post, music on, weather tab open..as I looked down I saw the icon that meant I had a update pending................when  I had a machine running Microsoft..that fact in and of itself would have been enough to cause a panic attack.....sometimes the updates would take  6+ hours to download...but with Chrome OS....less than a minute..so I "X" everything and ran the update.....
  It's been an interesting day which actually started yesterday around 11:30 PM EST...I was just dozing off, when the bell on the microwave sounded....my first react was "what the.....?" so i snapped up to look.....and realized that my desktop had also awakened and was asking for my password..."another "what the ........?"....as I got out of bed noticed my alarm clock the time was blinking......ah.......power had been off.....
  So rolled out of bed before 8AM......did my morning run through e-mails....Facebook....and my dashboard to check stats...played a few solitaire games while waiting for the arrival of housekeeping for the scheduled Tuesday cleaning of my rooms....a little after 9AM.......cleaning done...went to do I little web surfing......oops......apparently the power outage had messed not only the wifi but the dish network for the old boob tube......yo gavalt.....that took about 5 hours to get rectified.....now all seems to be well.....
  I walked out of my rooms...after failing to get on the net.....ran into 2 employees of the hotel.one check her cell and got on.....walked back into my rooms and I could as well........that just merits "why me"

(5:56 PM EST)

(+20*F.....+8*F wind chill)

(Now Playing on YouTube "The Martian")

  The flick I'm watching off YouTube is from around 3 years ago......it's got to be a pirate copy which YouTube will eventually remove but it's there now......

  Cold is much better and the throat allows me to eat solid food without a problem......still a little sore but basically okay.....was going to get delivery but couldn't decide what i wanted to order..then remembered that I had a can of diced potatoes in the pantry, also on had some red onion, some nice pitted olives, and a bottle of Hellman's Mayo..made with olive oil.....and two grinders one w/ a pepper corn blend...and the other w/himalayan pink salt.......got it mixed and put in the the refrigerator for a couple of hours....I prefer my potato salad cold, and besides it tastes better if it sits for  a while

  So I had my potato salad and some juice while rewatching the "Hec Ramsey" pilot from 1972......I really loved that show but they only ever made 10 episodes.....but the female lead in the pilot was driving me nuts......I recognized the voice and the face but couldn't remember the name......so I eventually went to Google.....Sharron Acker....who was on TV a lot about that time......I rarely forget a voice or a face but names.....never been good with names... 

{10:07 AM UTC-5]
(+8*F......-6*F windchill)
( Best Of Haydn)
  From time to time I get a fair amount of foreign hits.......It is my sincere hope that they aren't reading me to learn proper English grammar....and if it's foreign hackers looking for the launch codes......all you might find here are the lunch codes...... in any case both groups are out of luck..
  I referred in a below to my typing skills or rather the lack there of.....In high school I was a Math/Science major....or pre-college...and typing was not part of the course of study.....you need to know that I started my Freshman year in Senior High in 1962...and I'm not sure anyone had even dreamed about desktops, tablets, laptops were known but they all purred, and hissed.........typing was taught but for secretarial studies....I ask about it a couple of times and was told that it wasn't "man's work"......just the way it was back then
  So get to college as a Theology/ Philosophy Major....one semester I had 15; 5-7 page papers to write which meant typed pages....yo gavalt.....I only knew 3 methods of typing:
1) The Columbus Method - Discovery and Land
2) The Biblical Method- Seek and Ye Shall Fined
3) The Chicken Method- Hunt and Peck
  Over time I got pretty good at 2 finger typing but was still slow, now the college I attend had the proper ratio of girls to guys.....4 of them for every 1 of us....and it was fairly easy to find one whose company you enjoyed and could type...in those days my ideas of friends with benefits was a nice young lady with superior typing skills........

{11:19 PM EST}
(-9*F.....no indchill)
( just the click,chick,click of my fingers on the keyboard)
  I should have been tucked in my warm bed a couple of hours ago......but I have an addiction....cruising Youtube...and in my recommend sites tonight was the pilot for the old TV show "Hec Ramsey" with Richard Boone and Harry Morgan...just as an aside I will someday make a bad pun using "Hairy Morgan's mane" (oops I just did)....but watched the 1 hour and 34 minute pilot....plus add a site with some of the episodes to my subscription list....
  The head cold remains with me......actually was able to eat some solid food today and my appetite seems to be recovering, but my voice still sounds like a out of repair hoghorn.....still a tad of post nasal drip.....
  When I said fingers clicking keys..I meant 2 fingers clicking keys.....when I was in school boys were discouraged from learning typing.....boy they really didn't see computer keyboards coming did they

{9:06 PM EST)
(-3*F....no wind chill)
( reun of "Hec Ramsey")
  I was complaining below about the dearth of things to watch on the "boob Tube"......the NFL playoffs are not my cup of tea.....but while channel hopping a tad after 6PM....A bounce landed me on TMC and discovered when I check the schedules earlier I had missed "Flying Leathernecks"...fortunately I only missed the first few minutes.....
  One of my FaceBook friends has apparently got his full of FaceBook.....now I got to admit he did take a particular political point of view......and did catch a little flak....but his other posts were fun to read....I discovered very early that one who takes a particular....on politics or religion is going to catch some flak.....I decided to leave those issues here on my blog......oh and by the by.......no I didn't always agree with his point of view but FaceBook wasn't the place for a serious discussion.....

(9:14 AM EST)
(+7*F....-2*F wind chill)
(the movie "Gold")
  Still have my cold......last night I had something happened that I never had happened before I sneezed and that triggered a cough......well with my penchant for puns and playing with words I thought what can I call it......so I came up with the word "snough".....I was quite proud of myself....but was tired and decided to retire...but when i thought this AM about this posted I thought I should look the word up just so I was using a word that already had a meaning......and I was right....it means "a sneeze that becomes a cough".....that burst my bubble.......except I did come up with it independently......really...well it's my story and I'm sticking to it......
  Another boring day on the "boob tube"........playoff football....which I have no interest in...I may be forced to watch "GI Jane"........

{8:58 PM EST)

(+3*F......-8*F...wind chill)

(Best of Wagher)

(Be advised the rant light is lite)

  1) potato chips...I do prefer ripple chips but if you want flavor then dig in to your pocket and buy a tub of dip.....flavored chips....I'd tell you what I really think but I try to avoid that kind of language

  2) people who post junk on social media without doing a little fact checking...if it agrees with their opinion then it must be right

  3) and they (the above) when you have the audacity to question the validity of the statement .....start calling you names

  4) and then the proverbial "Mother Nature"........2 days ago it was mid +50s*F......and now it's back into the deep freeze.....I'm getting to old and grumpy to tolerate this whimsey.......

(the rant light is off)

{3:11 PM EST}
(+14*F.....+2*F wind chill)
( "Hellfighters")
  I was so bored for a while that I was watching "Hard to Kill" on the boob tube......to underline the problem...I have a great disdain for Steven Seagal movies and if I was watching one that should give you a general idea of what else was on......
  I got online before the glut of "social media"....going on 22 years online and blogging on and off for going on 16 years........I do have a G+ account which I use sparingly.....and a Twitter account that I use even less......and quite frankly have been asking myself......why I even bother with FaceBook......yes I can connect with old friends......old classmates......and area friends....but most of the material on FaceBook to call it drivel is giving it to much credit......

(10:52 PM EST)
(+15*F.........+3*F wind chill)
(another YouTube mix)
  With the cold and post nasal drip.....sore throat.....laid down last night a little after 8PM and never rolled out for good until a little after 8AM this morning.....slept fitfully except for the last couple of hours.......combination of the head cold..and my typical night time runs to "The Little Boy's Room"........awoke this AM as stiff as a board, the fog was deep between my ears....but the head cold was much better.......I'm feeling a lot better now.......
  When I went to bed last night we were still getting some "winter mix"....and woke up this AM to about a foot of fresh snow...winds are still out of the north..so probably the worst of the snow is at an end, at least for the time being.....

{4:59 PM EST}
(+35*F......26*F windchill..winter mix changing to snow...with a low over night of +2*F)
(a YouTube mix)
  Lovely...the temperature is falling like a stone......if the predicted overnight low happens the temperature would have dropped over 50* in less then 24 hours......main reason for the sudden change.winds the last few days have been out of the south.....and now the wins are coming out of the north....read off Hudson Bay.....
  Laid down for an hour and a half......didn't  really sleep but the  cold seems to be a bit better.....on the other hand my tremors are worse......I think that's because I haven't eaten much today and basically no solid food....just oatmeal and yogurt....but just don't have the desire to eat...now when I was a kid my mom lived by the old adage "starve a cold, feed a fever" and she was an RN.......but I'm not doing it for the adage or for mom.......nothing appeals to me food wise......
  The wifi was off again this AM, but the problem apparently was with the provider.not with the local system..
  The next Presidential Elections aren't for another 34 months but recently the speculation and prelims are already starting.....there is speculation that Oprah Winfrey is considering a run......it seems that lately qualifications aren't necessary for the office...just name recognition....... 

(10:13 AM EST}
(+57*F..light rain)
(Best of Gershwin)
  Except for the piles the plows left, the snow is  gone.....but snow on it's way and single digit temperatures.....if the prediction the difference between today's high and tomorrow low will be in the neighborhood of a 70*F drop........yo gavalt......
  My head cold and sore throat are doing fine.......on the other hand I'm not feeling too well.....on top of that..and probably because of that.....my essential tremors are little worse than usual....so even this simple post will take me awhile....before edit it is littered with multiple letters and letters that just don't belong in the words I'm typing......now no one has ever given me praise as a great speller but at least with the ET, I do have a valid reason for some of the misspells......some not all........
  I've always had a problem when the temperature fluctuates as it has been recently with the amazing ability to catch the "common cold".....doesn't seem to matter what I do food or vitamin supplements wise.....I always seem to pick up the sniffles during wild temperature swings...and at the times when the seasons are in transition   

(8:58 PM EST)
(+55*F.....no wind chill......raining)
( Now playing: Beethoven's 9th)
  Despite the fact there is a 15 MPH wind out of the south (180*)......apparently they stop reporting windchill unless it would drop the ambient temperature below +32*F.....
  I'm sitting here in my room banging out letters and numbers on my desktop......and I'm quite frankly completely farmisht ...if you were to have told me several days ago when we had temperatures and wind chills well below 0*F.......that I'd be sitting here on the 12th of January in Watertown NYS.....and it would be +55*F around 9PM EST...I would have seriously considered suggesting you check yourself into a mental health unit or I would........from the look of the radar and the storm track it looks like it will rain for the next several hours.......even now except for drifts and the piles where plowing banked them up....most of the ground cover is gone......
(since I don't want to take either the time or use english rather then yiddish sometimes you can find a decent yiddish/english dictionary (here)

{3:06 PM EST}

(+54*F...no wind chill)

( Now Playing: reruns of "Beat Bobby Flay")

  It feels like a spring day this morning began with some thing that happens quite off to me when the weather yoyos' like it just had......a head cold...a sore throat.....and the sniffles.......I feel like I was put together backwards....my nose is running and my feet smell....(sorry).....I had intended to walk today...but with the cold I seriously considered staying in.....but then I remembered that I had no throat lozenges..besides the next 3 days are predicted to be bad weather..tomorrow warm but 100% chance of rain, possibility of heavy at times....the the following two days...a huge drop in temperature and some snow....

  Now pre-cold last night I had created a shopping list, and needed the throat lozenges....so I headed out to my local food market.....got there reached into my pocket....no list...again......yo gavalt! But got everything on the list plus the lozenges....
  So I'm in for the night and probably the "3 day weekend"......maybe there's some delivery in my future as well.....

{10:09 AM EST}
(+45*F......+45*F wind chill)
(Now Playing: a Baroque collection)
  Overcast skies but no rain as of now.....scattered rain in the area tho....mid 50*F tomorrow and rain possibility heavy at times.....
  If you read below my wifi connect cut out for a while.......and it's been a little hinky this Am as well so I'm going to save as I go with post so I don't lose anything
  A friend of mine from high school turns 70 years old today.....since my family moved that summer after graduation....3 kids I went to school with ended up at the same college......and another visited..other then those four I haven't see any of the other old classmates for going on 52 years.....never  managed to get to any of the reunions.....but about 2 years ago for other reasons I finally took the plunge as it were and joined FaceBook.and over time have reconnected with about 25 old mates...
  It's Paul"s birthday......but we never called him Paul......big kid.......eastern european stock...back in the day played both offensive and defensive line for the school's american football team.....and competed in both wrestling and field events......we always called him Moose....so on a flier I thought I wonder if there is somewhere online a "Happy Birthday Moose" meme...and to my great delight.there's a whole page of them on Google Images........."Happy Birthday You Old Moose"

{8:05 PM EST}
(+39*F...+32*F windchill)
(Now Playing: Chant & Polyphony from Medieval England)
  So far the predicted storm has missed us.......seems to be both above and below us....there is a little gap in the front and basically we're in the middle of that gap....but there's another line of rain coming in behind the current one so we may still see some rain, I made some unflattering remarks in the post below about mother nature and she must have heard me..and in her usually fashion we are now on another winter weather watch for Friday 6PM EST through Saturday about 4PM EST....looks like this one is mostly snow......dang old mother nature can be vindictive..
  I worked in a small local factory for many years, mostly in machine maintenance and after that as "Materials Supervisor"....ran shipping, receiving and warehouse...
(lost wifi just as I got ready to publish this post and lost part of it that hadn't been save yet)
but to continue......also inventory and scheduling of raw materials.....but the havoc that winter could cause my department was staggering......
  I have to wonder if mother nature had a hand in the outage....."Just remember it's not always paranoia ...sometimes people (or mother nature) are really out to get you..... 

{3:41 PM EST}

(+39*F.....no wind chill)

( Now Playing: one of my YouTube mixes)

  It's been a couple of days...so again the area I live in is under another "Winter Weather Watch"...rain and/or ice up to 2/10" accumulation in the higher elevations.from 4:00 PM EST to 1 AM EST tomorrow....fortunately most of the ice is predicted for Tug Hill ( south of us) and the western Adirondacks...( east of us).....we should get only rain......mostly because I live close to Lake Ontario..and at a lower elevation.but I have friends that live on Tug Hill.......I know that some of you might be thinking only 2/10 of and inch....but it plays hob with driving and could (knock wood) cause electrical power outages......I've lived through a couple of ice storms uphere and they are not fun.....will update this later this evening.......

{12:09 PM -5 UTC}
( +34*F....-29*F wind chill)
(Now Playing: a Hornblower episode)
  Finally a day with a temperature above freezing.....according to the forecast we may have temperatures in the mid 50*F..until Saturday......when the high is forecasted to be +9*F....mother nature is a big tease.....and a hateful old..witch.......sometimes winter up here is like a yoyo...
  Speaking of  the yoyo.....the only trick I ever really got right...was getting the string tangled up....at some things I can be a real klutz..

{10:40 PM Est}
(+19*F.no wind chill)
(Now Playing: episode of Shado)
  Near disaster almost struck, I was on my way out of my rooms and heard something small hit the floor, looking down I realize a small piece of plastic had broken off the handle of my cane where it connects to the cane's shaft.....now I don't carry a cane just because it looks cool....which it does......as well as the occasional problems with my knees and feet......my balance isn't what it used to be.....now a few years back another piece broke as well..therefore there is in my cabinet a small bottle of Gorilla Glue so I postponed my walk up to get some juice (see below)...and repaired the cane...an old wooden job.....but wanted to let the glue time to cure....so took the backup cane......a very nice modern metal one, adjustable, form covered handle and a hand strap.....but two problems with it....first tends to rattle a little and it makes it hard for me to go into stealth mode......and secondly.....it just isn't cool......

{3:25 PM EST)
(+31*F....wind chill +23*F)
(Now Playing: "El Dorado")
  It's been a real quiet day..about the most exciting thing that has happened today was housekeeping made it's weekly visit......cleaned the room.....fresh linens..and good conversation.....
  Anyone who has read this blog before knows I refuse to call meals by their traditional names, I eat small meals, when I feel like eating, and what I feel like eating......for example meal #1 was eaten in the forenoon...and any resemblance...to a tradition breakfast would be a stretch.......yogurt...a burrito......but not eggs and cheese.....beef and beans...and juice....
  Old hands here know that I live in a hotel.....not a 5 star..but a 2 star..that sits within a 10 minute walk from everything that I need including my doctor....and I live there on my on dime.......one of the things that bugs me is when some people say "I did the math".....and you know dang well the couldn't do the math with anything less then a 5 man (woman) scouting party.......But when I say "I did the math" you can take that to the bank....True I pay more per month then I would if I rented an apartment.....but where I live I don't need either a car or the expense of a car......utilities included....TV, Internet, phone, all included....+ housekeeping and free breakfast...oops.....1st meal...but I also have free access to a juice machine 24/7.......cranberry,apple and orange on tap as it were.....never drink the apple juice....but if you can find me a good juug of cider I'm your man......and the juice mentioned above was 1/2 cranberry and 1/2 orange.....I have a decent size water bottle that I fill...   

{11:51 AM EST}
(+30*F.....windchill +20*F   cloudy)
(Now Playing" a Mozart Requiem.....)
  Really a nice day today.but according to the forecast the fabled "January Thaw" starts tomorrow.....so I have decided for 2 reasons to try to walk the next couple of days but not today.....that's really the second reason.the primary reason is I'm not sure why......whether it's the sight dampness in the area or the drop in barometric pressure..but I awoke this AM to a dirge being sung to me by my left knee.......in an extreme minor key...off pitch......and full of 4 letter words..
  We all at times tend to think in relativistic terms.....for examples I offer the following, I would refer to the temperature today as "warm" when objectively +30*F is hardly warm but with several days of very cold weather it feels warm......secondly I often refer to my left knee as my "good" knee...but as it's performance of today it's hardly objectively a good knee....but it never give me quite the problem the right knee is capable of......When I quite often reply "Pretty good for the shape I'm in".......After after all we tend to view life not objectively but from our own perspective......which is highly influenced by our life's experience 
  I have been juggling my layout to accommodate my desire to change how I post.....I experiment with starting a post and then adding on during the day...which produced longish posts......but from a layout standpoint it was a nightmare.....so I've decided not to put several posts together as one......but I had two choices go back separate and repost as independent posts ( I'm far to lazy for that).....I'm just letting them disappear into the archives when they time comes.....but as to my tendencies to use little punctuation...and use run on sentences.....that ain't changing....

{6:38 PM EST}
(+36*F...+26*F windchill)
(Now Playing: "Draft Day" on the boob tube)
  Have been debating with myself, to walk or not to walk...that is the question.....the weather has really improved.......but it's going to get even warmer the next 2 days..and possibly a light rain.....which should clean the snow and ice off the sidewalks...which will keep me off the streets..literally.....and I won't  have to play matador with the SUVs.......so I'm going to wait to walk.....besides I can wait a few days...don't need anything right now.....
  I've lived in the same hotel for 7 years 1 month and 4 days.....and I can't believe the revolving door staff wise this place is the only ones who are still here that were here when I moved in are the owner, the GM, the bookkeeper and the head of housekeeping......the maintenance, has recycled twice and the desk people and housekeeping have changed so many times I can't count....I worked the same place for 35 some odd years.....I guess times have changed...

{3:21 PM EST)
(+33*F......-23*F windchill)
(Now Playing: a "Hornblower" episodes)
  Just finished a proper meal......polish sausage, baked beans and sauerkraut.......well proper meal for where I grew up......a rural dairy area outside of Buffalo NYS.......my dad worked in a factory in the city, but decided to move about 20 miles east of Buffalo to the town of Alden.....The great majority of the families and therefore the kids..either lived on farms or the dads work in the factories in the metro area.....and by in large there were either of Polish or German descent.....In point of fact there was two kids in high school of Italian heritage, at least in the upper grades and we used to tease them that the only reason we put up with them was because their family owned a pizzeria...but they were good kids, and it was all in good fun......
  We were when I was growing up always told we were of German descent....and had a name to match....maybe a bit of Polish......our family came to the USA from what was then East Prussia (in the late 1800s)....that real estate is now part of Poland.....about ten years ago an uncle and one of my cousins did some research and discovered that much of our heritage was Ashkenazi (link).....and I can remember some Yiddish expressions being used at family gatherings......I am Christian....protestant.....and also have an education from a very conservative fundamentalist baptist college..don't worry I got better...but in respect for my roots I'm teaching myself Yiddish...
 Spent some time today going through the groups I follow on FaceBook......change all of them to see all posts......got floored with alerts, then went back and cleaned out the political ones, and support groups...
they had been little use to me....

{10:56 AM EST)
(+29*F.....+19*F...windchill....light snow)
( Now Playing: My fav YouTube mix)
  After several days of very cold weather for the last week or so......the prediction for the next 10 days is more typical of our winter weather with the exception that we might have 2 days with temperatures in the mid +40s*F.....the fabled "January Thaw"......which more often then not just a fable, but looks like it might actually happen is year, and frankly much anticipated, and if it actually happens will be much appreciated.....but as an old friend said to me years ago "The weathermen are the only people that get paid for being right only 25% of the time
  A quiet day so far.....slept well last night...that's a couple of days in a row....joints feel decent this morning and my essential tremors are typical.....makes typing interesting, but I'm used to that now......the the old brain box is not as farmisht this AM as it sometimes is.....(yes I know I just used Yiddish again......I just use it  to "befuddle" you)

{6:12 PM EST}
(+16*F....+4*F windchill)
(Now Playing: "Hellfighters")
  Just got back from a walk to my local food store but first of all the weather looks a little unsettled for the next 2 or 3 days......snow and maybe even some ran.......nothing I need today or even Tuesday.but the main reason for the walk was just to get out of my rooms
  For one reason or another.....maybe just being honest....lake of interest..and they lost......on the bright side at least I didn't watch it happen.....
{&:08 EST}
(+20*F....+8*F windchill)
("Hellfighters" still playing)
  Temperature is getting better and better
  I enjoy a good game of solitaire, or games that I play against AIs.......do occasionally play Chess online against a live opponent .......haven't played a live head to head game for sometime.....by that I mean over a table staring at each other....years ago I played a lot of chess but not recently
  I spent a bunch of time messing with the layout and theme.....you didn't notice.....that's because it was my other blog.....link is wandering around on the right somewhere.....it's a poetry blog......mostly free form, Haiku, and Limericks........I also post occasionally to 3 G+ communities......one poetry and 2 debate communities.......
  I love a good debate.......but I avoid ever getting into one on FaceBook....there is no point in it.......because as the old adage goes "If someone knows they have the whole truth on a given subject...there's no point to confuse them with facts" this is particularly true on matters of politics or religion......also few if any of the posters on FaceBook ever fact check..if the find something that agrees with their point of view they just share it........never fact check it......
  I'm on FaceBook to be able to connect with family and old friends......and have pun wars.....I never take an position on anything.....IMHO FaceBook is not the place for that.......unfortunately I'm in the minority on that point......I can't count the times have have bitten my proverbial tongue and not responded to a post.......I love a good debate, even an argument from time to time.......but I hate "flame wars"....... 

{1:52 PM UTC-5}

(+10*F.....-5*F windchill)

( Now Playing: an episode of "Hornblower")

  the weather, that is the temperature is still om the rise

  I mentioned below an example with using slang.....because what a slang expression means in one language, may mean something completely different in another...and this problem occurs very at a higher rate on the internet....because you have no idea where the person(s) reading the post is from....sometimes it's just the difference in say American english and British English

  I went online in 1996...my daughter had left for college......true only about 70 miles.....but she had access to email...so decided to go online.....dial up connection in those days  

  Didn't take long for me to find usenet..collection of online "bulletin boards" and among others "rec.sport.golf"....and as an avid golfer in those days......posted regularly.....Now it is true that most of the posters were from North America......but we had several from Great Britain, Australia And New Zealand 

  A guy from the U.S.of A. posted if anyone knew where he could find a "shag bag"(link).....shag meaning to gather or pick up.......but it means something completely different in British slang....remember the movie "The Spy who Shagged Me".......The Brits et al, well you can imagine their responses....well the moderator wasn't there at the time.so I stepped in and refereed before it turned into a Flame war" because apparently the original poster didn't have a sense of humor.....I had a bunch of fiends from other parts of the world.....who I messaged with all the time......which had made me aware of the differences in slang.....

(22:41 UTC-5)
(-25*F...thankfully no wind therefore no wind chill)
( A YouTube mix)
  After much internal debate......I watched Kubrick's "2001"......
  Took a quick shower and decided to check the weather one more time because tonight was supposed to be the lowest temperature before it started to warm up.....by Monday the temperature is predicted to be in the mid +20s to mid +30s and on Thursday the prediction is around +45*F.......that would be a 70* temperature swing in just a few days....oh how I love Watertown weather....not.....
(11:27 EST)
(+6*F........-8*F.windchill)
(Now Playing: Best of Wagner)
  First check of weather about 3 hours ago temperature was -24*F......no wind....looks like the cold snap has finally snapped......
  Listening to Best of Wagner, which was preceded by Best of Holst.....Now I mentioned here before that I'm not a morning person......and the way I wake up in the morning has a lot to do with how I slept that night.....Well I slept like the proverbial log last night.....and the better I sleep the hard it is for me to shake the proverbial cobwebs from the old brain box, and convince my arthritic joints that they actually can remember how to work......How I get the joints to work is by brute force and with the help of my cane....and nothing clears out the old brain pan like a double shot of "Holst & Wagner"........dang that could have of been a great name for an old western  six shooter........
  Now I mentioned in a post below that I'm really not much for watching sports on the old boob tube.....in times past I did.....but be that as it may...probably will watch at least some of the Bills' playoff game.....grew up just outside Buffalo....
  I realized I was using the U.S.of A. slang for TV.....and thought I should translate into British slang which is "idiot box"...because in British slang "boob tube" has an entirely different meaning....in the U.S.of A. a shag bag is a bag used to pick up golf balls....tennis balls after practice....not exactly the same connotation in British slang.which I discover with hilarious results when I was on "rec.sport.golf."on usenet years ago......If I remember I'll relate that story in a later post but must wrap this one up

(17:23 PM EST)
(-4*F.....-18*F wind chill)
(now playing a YouTube mix)
  This weekend starts the playoffs for american style football......I used to watch a lot but of late I don't think I've watched a whole game in many years.....never played organized football, just a bunch of kids playing in a park or somebody's backyard.......the high school i went to didn't have a soccer team, but I learned the game from a couple of missionary kids, who learned the game in Haiti......and played 3 years in college.....
  In years past, if there was a golf tournament on I was glued to the boob tube....I used to play golf pretty well but age and a shoulder injury later I am unable to play anymore...
  I used to watch a lot of televised sports but over the last few years I seem to have lost interest in watching the games....
  I've mentioned before that I had quite a rep for being a prankster.......the main building of the college had virtual everything in it.....and I spent a huge amount of time there...4th year the college hired an evening security guard and he had a half german shepard, half hungarian wolf.....beautiful dog......but he was behind a counter and the dog was sitting there, and I ask if i could see here the dog up close, and he said be careful...so I squatted down and held out my hand backside up..she sniffed it and rubbed against my leg and scratched her head..as I left to go to the library he said "If anyone gets by Queenie and pulls a prank I'll know who did it" apparently he had gotten the "word" about me......actually I was surprised that they did increase my fees to cover the cost of added security....
(7:12 PM)
(-5*F...-18*F wind chill)
(now playing an episode of "Hornblower")
  I noticed in the last couple of days that there was an update that needed to be downloaded....for years I had machines that ran on Microsoft and updates seemed to take for every to download and install.....I now am running Chrome OS.....and the Chrome browser.....most of the time you hardly notice the change, This time seems like most of the other times, until I went to bookmark manage.....oy vey....i think I've got it figured out....but not sure I see it as an improvement.....just different....
   

(11:21 PM EST)
(-7*F.......wind chill -29*F)
( an old episode of S.H.A.D.O.)
  I'm disappointed.....I saw a listing for the movie "Red Dawn" the short blurb looked right but it wasn't the 1988 film....it was the 2012 remake.......I had't even realized that there had been a remake.....but there again the last time I went to a movie theater the original "Star Trek" movie was playing....that's right.....I'm older then dirt.....
(2:05 AM)
(-9*F........wind chill -27*F..the wind speed has dropped a little)
( a YouTube mix}
  The movie I was watching ended a little before 2AM.....I was just about out of ice and although I am tired...rather get it now then wait to  morning......well actually it's  morning already maybe I should have said later this morning....and then I was feeling a little grimy and  decided to take a shower....will finish this post later in the day.....nite all.....
(11:14 AM)
(-10*F.....windchill -29*F...and sunny)
(a YouTube mix)
  One of things that really drives me nuts ( well at least more nutty then I already am) Most times I check the schedule of what's on the boob tube and find noda to watch.....but from time to time I find two movies I enjoy and you get 3 guess but you'll only need one....both air at 8PM tonight......one is Kubrick's "2001"......a little quirky.....but I love the music.......the other is "A-Team"........yeah I know mindless entertainment.......but one of the stars is Jessica Biel........did I mention that Jessica Biel was in it......
  When I was in my 3rd year in college had a good friend who was a 5th year (5 year program leading to a thb degree )......but in the course of our private bull session he commented that the one thing he hadn't done in college was to be part of a prank.....considering this guy's personality.straight as an arrow....after I recovered from "The Big One".....I laughed and said " You come to the right person"....his reply "I know"
  Well the college had the school seal carved out of some kind of wood and hanging on the wall of the administration building and there were all kinds of rumors that it was going to be purloined.....prank style.......Now the funny part of this was there was a staff picnic on a saturday and the son of the soccer coach joked  with a member of the admin. that they would be upset when the seal disappeared...he was part of the crew that was rumored to be thinking about taking it.......what he didn't know was the seal was already gone.....
  The night before I had station my friend in a hallway to way lay as it were anyone going down the hall at a certain time, I knew the building would be empty firstly it was a Friday evening and there was a big off campus party....but I made the excuse I won't attend because I had a paper to write which was true.......but with my confederate on watch....the seal mysteriously disappeared...
  When the admin suite was entered monday morning  all hades broke loose, truth be told it never left the suite...It was hidden in a closet in a conference room
  I eventual arrange for information of  the seal's location to be know....I was standing monday in the rotunda after chapel service and the academic dean came up to me and said "I don't care what others think, I think it's funny"......dang I shouldn't have dated his daughter......but I was never even questioned...and I did let soccer coach know that my best information was his son was not involved..I really had a problem with that kid, I should have let him twist for awhile..but I didn't

(6:01 PM EST)

(-1*F......wind chill -18*F)

(listening to a rerun of "Mash" on the boob tube)

  In winter an old codger's thoughts turn to thoughts of soup......I was considering getting delivery Chinese food tonight because they make some really good soup......this time of year I often get Egg Drop soup......but then my mind shifted gears....and thoughts of my youth intervened....

  now I know that most people, especially boys, never get over their mom's home cooking..but in my case I could show numerous opinions of others......my mom was a double threat in the kitchen, both as a great cook, and a great baker as well....her style was what would be referred to now as comfort food..but I have always referred to it as rural farm food, with a definite influence of  German/Polish style  her best soup was split-pea with ham.....we sometimes didn't use a spoon, but would rip off a piece from a fresh baked crusty bread, and dip it in the soup.......So I got to thinking and thought:

1) I have canned split-pea soup in the panty....not as good as mom's but not bad

2) and had a loaf of crusty bread that I got at the bakery in my local food market.....again not as good as mom's but very good

So I recreated one of my favorite winter meals from when I was a whippersnapper...........now one of her best meals was homemade soup, and fresh baked crusty bread.....and IMHO 

  As to "Mash" i especially enjoy the middle episodes.......Trapper and Blake gone....Potter and B.J. there and Burns still there....and that's what is playing tonight
(8:46 PM)
(-3*F...windchill -25*F)
(Haydn "The Creation)
  I mentioned below pranks......I live for  the well planned and executed plank......but I never claim any authorship......or any involvement in one at all......and was never caught red handed as it were
  Now I am reminded of one 50+ years........the resident assistant on the second floor of the dorm I lived in was a real putz, now I lived on the first floor so I didn't have to deal with him....he was going to be gone for the weekend and some of the second floor guys decided to stuff his room with crumpled newspaper.....now that's one I'd never do......not creative enough....but they ran out of newspaper....it barely was a foot deep....even then I had a rep....so I called the local newspaper and asked if we could get a bundle of old newspaper for a dorm project and dropped the college's name....the response was we usually charge for the old paper but since it's for a dorm project we'll give it to you..and the rest is history........but I got blamed anyways.....and when questions I told the truth...that I hadn't stuffed the room.......well he never did ask if I was involved in any way
  One of the funnier incidents was a prank I had nothing at all to do with......throwing buckets of water off the roof of a 3 story dorm......really not creative.....but I got called to the Dean's office anyways...my response to the accusation was ...you gotta be kidding me....that's not my style......his was....well if you didn't do it you can probably find out.....I already knew but he never ask me that...and then he said talk to them, and tell them that's not acceptable behavior...so I left and was walking across campus, and realized two things 1) i was followed 2) there coming toward me was my friend from Maine that I have mentioned before.......I told him what was going and he agreed to help so I put my arm around him and talked quietly...he had nothing to do with the prank.....then he got called in to the Dean's office.....he related that he just said........did you really think that he wouldn't see the tail....
  

(2:12 PM UTC-5)
(-4*F......windchill -23*F....not snowing but because of the wind the loose snow is blowing around a bit)
(listening to Beethoven's "Christ on the Mount of Olives")
  Out of the vending machines I got a snack bag of Cheetos and a Doctor Pepper and it reminded me of something I ran into in my past
  Now although I haven't mentioned it lately one of my favorite areas of study is etymology.....all started in college, when I took Koine Greek, and masoretic  Hebrew......Koine Greek is the Greek of the New Testament, as to the masoretic Hebrew....ancient Hebrew has no vowels...but basically a vowel sound occured, I guess what seemed natural, the masoretic text, a group of jewish scholars added the vowel points so you can tell what vowel to use.....now we didn't call that etymology..we called it word studies..the origins and development of the meaning.....in other words etymology
  But as I believe because of that.....and the practical experience of going to college with kids from not only western New York State ( where I grew up ) but all over the East Coast, and some from the central U.S.of A...........I got fascinated by regional dialects.......there must be an invisible line of demarcation between western NYS and eastern NYS because where I grew up we called carbonated drinks "pop"...and the term "soda" was reserved for an "ice cream soda".....Can't recall whether the confuse the first time was mine or theirs' but it was funny...because where I live now it's "soda".......however I sometimes refer to it as "Soda Pop".....
  But 3rd year college had moved to Pennsylvania..another "soda" state.....but I had one suite mate from down east Maine..and another from the hills of North Carolina....what with the regional accents and regional vocabulary we literally had to translate for them for the first couple of months........and the kid from Maine added to the pop/soda controversy he called it "tonic"........which I got charge out of.......I always thought that tonic (water) was what you mixed with Vodka or Gin.....but it was a very strict fundamental college..I keep that previous thought to myself.......I always thought that their unspoken rule was "We don't drink, smoke, or chew and we don't go with girls that do"
  The obvious question I was then as I have remained a free thinker.....so how did I end up in that college.....frankly I don't know......and had never really encountered the single mindedness of the strict fundamentalist......but the course of study was what I was looking for, and I dealt with the rest..in the only way I could......during the day I was the mild mannered boy from western NYS......my ulta-ego.....at night I revealed my true identity "Prank Man"......although later on I did get into some knock down drag out discussions (okay arguments) with both fellow students and with some of the professors...I'm still confused (not) as to why I was asked to leave after my 4th year (5 year program for A THB) and left with a BRE......

(12:26 PM EST)
(-5*F...wind chill -27*F.....just a dusting of snow)
( listening to an episode of "Treehouse Masters" on the boob tube)
  just finished my first meal of the day...and except I ate it after noon had passed, It could have been called breakfast......yogurt, oatmeal, and juice....and I spoke too soon about being a tad iffy about the dried cherries I had bought.they are great in the oatmeal...have always liked adding dry fruit to my oatmeal and/or cream of wheat......one of my quirks (trust me one out of many) regardless of what time of day it is, if I stop to eat at your typical 24/7 diner......of course if you can even use the word typical when referring to a diner and don't get me started on truck stops ..I almost always order a breakfast type meal....but I love diners/truck stops....what's not to like...great coffee....comfort food...large servings and reasonable prices......
  One good thing about sub-zero temperatures is that if it does snow, it's very little......when we get the massive amounts of snow that we get from time to time.....the temperature is usually between 12*F & 20*F.....and the wind usually is westerly...a WSW wind and it's "clobberin time"
( have juddled the layout a tad so I can show an additional post on the main page )

(8:49 PM UTC-5)
( +8*F.......-8*F windchill)
(Now Playing: The Best of Clara Schumann)
  Well so far so bad.....temperature is dropping as predicted....going to be nasty cold tonight
(10:30 PM)
(+4*F.......-10*F, wind chill)
( listing to "Beat Bobby Flay" on the boob tube)
  On one hand I'd really like to watch the temperature fall, but I'll getting tired, and I really don't absolutely need to see it hit the bottom...frankly I am a bit of a fatalist.......or is it I been living in this area for 50+ years...I've seen it all weatherwise.......
(10:05 AM EST)
(-7*F.....wind chill -28*F)
(listening to Bach's "Brandenburg Concertos"
  As you can see I was right to stop watching the drop of the temperature.......happened pretty much as predicted... 
  Not much on the boob tube today except a whole day of "Treehouse Masters".......may watch a few episodes.....also late on TNT "Red Dawn" and then "Ender's Game".......both decent flicks.....
  Slept well last night been up less than an hour and the "cobwebs on the mind" are still quite present...have to see what I can do to kick start the old brain box this morning......
  Truth be told I'm not a morning person.......never have been and retirement hasn't changed that even a tiny bit.......not really sure why........I've always been as the oldtimers when I was a young whippersnapper would have said.....I was a slug-a-bed.......that was not completely true...I think the real problem is I don't really sleep.......I sleep so deep....I go into a semi-coma.......or is that a semicolon.......well I'm obviously waking up......the pun/word play part of my mind seems to be functioning this AM......now if we can only get the rest of the cognitive parts working as well I should be fine........
  As the above would suggest much of my writing is stream of conscience or is that a stream coming out of a sewage plant that has not been properly treated......the real problem is I really have no filter.....I tend to say or in this case write even the craziest things that comes to mind.......

(12:22 PM EST)
(+19*F......+8*F.wind chill)
(Now Playing "Hellfighters"
  Just finished my first meal of the day, yogurt and a couple pieces of crusty buttered bread and marmalade, and a glass of juice.....I'm very picky when it comes to bread.......I truly despise what most people in the U.S.of A. think what bread is........I grew up with a mom who was a good baker (and cook as well)..so we had home baked bread a lot.....now I maybe a crusty, grumpy, old codger who's set in his ways....let's face it I'm exactly that....but I like good bread.....I almost never by bread, in the bread aisle at a market.....fortunately the market I shop in has a bakery and although not as good as what mom made (fond memories kicking in here) but good crusty bread....some sliced, some is not.....I always get the "is not"......I've got a good serrated knife and I just hack off a thick piece....now I could get it sliced, but the bakery's slicer  has only one setting and the slice is not thick enough for my tastes........I don't want a slice of bread...I want a hunk of bread....and I fight anyone over who gets the crusty end pieces...
(1:45 PM EST)
(+20*F.....+10*F.......wind chill)
(Now Playing: "The Song of Bernadette")
  Physically I'm feeling much better as of late.......true my back bothers me from time to time but after 60+ years I'm used to it....... at about 12 years old I developed  scoliosis.....and it has bothered me from time to time ever since.....but the feet and knees are pretty good for the shape they're in......
  A couple of months ago I got on the proverbially wagon.....and started to eat better and have really started to feel much better....
(5:08 PM)
( +17*F......wind chill +2*F)
(Now Playing: The Best of Elgar)
  The sun set about 1/2 hour ago.....and since it's predicted to be -9*F over night and below 0*F for the next two days..I suspect the temperature will drop like the proverbial stone over the next few hours
  I love fresh cherries.....and cherry pie.......but I seldom....buy them because the packages in my local food market are way to big.......as I live alone......and they tend to go bad before I can finish them.....I think I picked up my love of dried fruit from my dad who loved it......so I saw the other day on a trip to the market..dried cherries.....but was a little disappointed with them.....I guess I just prefer the fresh cherry taste...but there again dried cherries are better than no cherries at all........
  The "Enigma Variations" by Elgar..the 9th variation playing as write this......one of my favs of all time

(8:36 EST)
(+21*F....wind chill +15*F)
( Now playing on YouTube: one of my mixes....contains a few pieces by the Berlin horns)
  I can't believe 3 movies on the boob today and none of them overlapping , the last starting at 9:30 PM EST......"A Fist Full of Dollars" a spaghetti western with Clint Eastwood......I want to watch it and will start watching, but for several reason didn't sleep well tonight......( and I will not go into details).....but I'm not sure I'll get to the end..but will give it a go.....
(9:38 EST)
(+16*F.....windchill +9*F)
( Now Playing: just a YouTube mix)
  Nice now weather wise. but......there's an old gag up here...if you don't like the weather.......wait about 15 minutes it will probably change....the temperature is supposed to drop over night and the next 2 days the temperature is not expected to be above 0*F at all
  So I finish the last movie.was a tad after 11 PM and I was pretty done.....actually had intended to finish this post which I started yesterday....but took a shower..and "hit the sheets"
  Have added a couple of memes and 2 gadgets to the blog......at one time I had bunches of pics here but it had got to cluttered so basically dumbed them all...except the crazy parrot....but been in the mood lately so have add a few....truth is I'm a bit of a "pack rat" particularly when it applies to what I find while "foraging" on Google Images.....but then I tend to get get bored from time to time and that shows in an almost constant evolution of the appearance of this blog (or is it devolution......I can't seem to stop fiddling with it.....
(11:06 AM)
(+18*F.............no wind chill)
(Now Playing "Hellfighters"
  I probably should get my fat butt out of my rooms and walk today...the weather is going to be very cold over tomorrow and Saturday...but I really don't need anything.....through Sunday.....sooooo.....
  I mentioned above that I'm a bit of a "pack rat" and that certainly applies to the internet in general and my bookmarks in particular...I've spent time the last couple of days rearranging my bookmarks and doing some  "house cleaning".........every time I have the same reaction..."Why in the name of Abigail Adams did I book mark that"......and those usually end up in "Other Bookmarks"......so i cleaned it out.....2 folders ended up going to "The Bar"......bookmark bar that is....and the rest I trashed.....truth be told I do have a folder on my bookmark bar that contains stuff that I use from time to time divided into sub folders "Mixed Bag".....I've been playing games off Facebook and have going through Facebook to get to the games..so this AM created a game sub-folder and threw it into "The Bag" 

(1:00 PM UTC -5)
(+16*F....wind chill +4*F)
(Now Playing: Faure  "Requiem")
  Chalk this one up in the you got to  be kidding me column....I checked my email this morning and everything was okay.....checked blogger dashboard both blogs everything was cool...so went back to later to post and I was getting a message that I had logged off from another site and did I want to log back in..now truth be told that I never log out from my blogger dashboards.....because I only log in from my own desktop there's no need to log in/out.......after several attempts trying to log back in......nothing....and I was basically lock out.....couldn't post..et al....so I filed a problem with blogger...now blogger is run by Google at this point...so was hoping for a response from blogger so went to check my email accounts...... and discovered I had to log back in to all three.....one is for just normal stuff, and the other two I only use for certain things.....and I never logout of any of  the three.....(the Mad One could be seen shaking his head in disbelief.....) ....so I logged back in to my email accounts.....did I mention that all 3 are gmail accounts.....still can't figure out how I was logged off my emails.....but obviously that was the problem...went back to blogger dashboards and everything was normal......oy vey
  AMC is playing the movie "Draft Day" at 2:00 PM UTC -5, which at this point is a little over 1/2 hour.......it's a bit odd that I like the flick....normally I don't like Kevin Costner movies.....but I like the plot..did I mention Jennifer Garner is in it..so will be watching that in a little awhile......
(2:42 PM UTC-5)
(+19*F...wind chill +8*F.....and sunny)
(Now playing on AMC: "Draft Day")
  I forgot to mention that at Aldi's last night I got a couple of frozen quiches....now I am aware that when the quiche became popular there was a gag that real men didn't eat quiche....well I may not be a real man..but this old, hobbled, bad tempered, man likes quiche, I have one question is it okay to put hot sauce on quiche.......i won't what to have to add gauche to the list of adjectives......
(4:17 PM UTC -5)
(+20*F..wind chill 11*F  sunset at 4:38 UTC -5)
( Now playing on YouTube: Medieval Carols)
  Draft day is over, but TCM has one of my fav syfy movies on at 6:15 PM UTC -5....."Forbidden Planet"....decent syfy flix for 1958.....plus it has the big screen debut of Robbie the Robot....
  A quiet day but I am paying physically for the double walk yesterday....back is quite tender.....
but it's time...probably past time for me to draw this post to a close

(8:05 PM EST)
(Now Playing on YouTube: a Hornblower episode)
(+23*F.....+9*F....wind chill)
  Just back from walk #2 today.when I got home from walk #1 realized that my wallet was getting a little thin....now normally that's an easy fix....with the use of a short cut the walk to the ATM is under 5 minutes....however with the snow the shortcut is not usable...and the walk now is probably 10+ minutes one way.....and it's in the opposite direction of the food market I usually shop at.....had already intended to walk again tomorrow.......I have a sling bag that I carry and It was full and I still needed to get somme things...had some freezer space that I was not using......but the walk to the bank took me across from the entry to Aldi's.....I've lived across from this store for 7 years now, and tonight was only the second time I shopped there......how to describe....basically it's the combination of a dollar store, a place that buys odd lots, and groceries as well...prices are good.....but you're never to sure what you might find..or not find for that matter.......but I did find a couple of items to fill my freezer, a nice selection of mixed Italian cold cuts.....( pause.....can I make a sandwich with mixed Italian cold cuts on a French style boule which I bought early...you can bet the farm I'll do just that).......and some smoked chili salt.....in a grinder......now first I would probably never find that in my local market...and if I did it would cost at least twice as it did at Aldi's....now there is no way I'd shop there on a regular basis but...to wander around from time to time seeing what they might have...absolutely....almost forgot the box of cookies.....
  A couple of things that probably should be explained.....I basically hate going into banks....and do so only when it can't be avoided.....the ATM I use is right outside the a branch of the bank that I have my accounts with.....so I don't pay a service charge for using the ATM.......and I have no credit cards..only a debit card.....so when I use the ATM it just gives me access to my money.....and I can do it 24/7/365....so I find it convenient
  As to my sling bag......mine I've had for probably forty years give or take, and got it at a garage sale, and IIRC it cost me $5, so noway to know it's actual age, but it's a good brand.....Samsonite....it's waterproof.so it makes sense up here..particularly in the winter.....besides because of damage I've done to both shoulders a larger backpack style is not an option......
  The food market that I shop at also has a pharmacy in it......it's where I get my meds and it makes it convenient because I can call in for a refill and then pick it up when I go for groceries.....besides it's the only one within reasonable walking distance.......I have need of from time to time of an topical analgesic pain reliever....both knees...both shoulders..neck and back.......I had been using a product that I could get at a local dollar store but they no longer carry it.....so on walk #1 I look for one in the pharmacy...could not find what I wanted so ask.......Lo and behold there hiding on a bottom shelf was although a different manufacturer, it is basically the same thing I'd used for years.....and I'm enjoying the results of an application of that gel to my back and neck as I write this

(4:53 PM UTC -5)
(Now playing on YouTube: "Hellfighters")
(Current Temperature.......+23*F...+7*F...wind chill)
  I'm just back from my first walk in more than a week, and got a very practical demonstration of wind chill..the way out to my destinations  the walk was dead into the prevailing wind, on the way back the wind was at my back..and it felt much warmer.....but here warm in the winter is a relative term.....This is my 71st winter.the first 19 in the Buffalo,NY area ( I must admit to having no memory of the first 2 or 3) and the last 52 in what the locals call the "NorthCountry" ...now through many years of experience I know how to dress for the cold.....and except for my face..nothing got cold......but I do need a little woolen cap for my nose....
  The walk was predicated by 2 motives....the 2nd was I was running low on bread, and some fresh food.....as anyone who lives up here we are "niche preppers"....we prepare for winter..both the snow and the cold.....so I always have two to three weeks of can goods on hand.......in Autumn I check for sales of canned goods......and add them to my winter stockpile........
  The prime reason for the walk is I was getting a case of cabin fever.....I hadn't been out of my rooms and/or the hotel I live in.....for over a week.....and I was getting a little antsy....okay.....maybe more than a little....
  Although it's been several years, and with my physical condition, I'm no longer able to play the sports that used to be a huge part of my life.....before my knees went "south" and didn't take me with them.....I was a pretty good soccer player, and distance runner......some track.....softball.....volleyball....and basically every sport with a ball....including golf....Plus I had a job that was physically demanding as well as a mental challenge.....so being forced by age and my physical limitations to a sedimentary life....walking is the one physical thing I can still do......so when I can't......it gets me down....
 Although I haven't in years I played a lot of table top wargames and RPGs.......I particularly was fond of miniatures.......recreations of battles from military history....by pushing little lead soldiers....around a large table, according to period rules.....ACW (oops American Civil War) and Battles of the Napoleonic period in Europe were two of my favs......also a future game called "Battletech"....it's now a video game.....but it was a board game first, and then a miniature game.....which is the one we played.......and yes there was some chess from time to time
  I also Gmed tabletop RPGs.......mostly "Gamma World", "Top Secret", "Boothill" and "Gangbusters".....only played D&D a couple of times..and never DMed it.....actually I rarely played RPGs.....but I really enjoyed creating scenarios......and then running a group of players through them.....
  Before this becomes a novela.....I'll quit...but first yes I did mess with the layout again.....just moved the column from the left to the right......