Bogieblog

Statistics

Interesting interactive map. NH looks good except that category where we come in 37th. Somehow that doesn't seem right to me, but what the heck do I know?

Produced By Criminal Justice Degree Hub

 

Hat tip to SayUncle

What Cats Really Think of Us

Yeah, we are basically just big cats that share food (and clean the cat box, and chase off unfriendlies, and pick up beheaded mice).

I'm not sure I agree with the 85% statement, but have no facts or figures to back it up. My thought is that a whole lot of people don't bother with spay/neuter, but the tomcat the females mate with aren't necessarily feral, just belong to an owner that doesn't see a need to neuter a cat that can't become pregnant.

Thanks to Scott for sharing the link.

Heating it Up

Last Friday I stayed home and triple tasked; I was working on the back brakes to the Jeep, installing a pellet stove, and working from home (consisting of several conference calls, database management, another database update and creating procedures).

Okay, so the Jeep was in the shop getting new rear brakes. It had gotten new front brakes in the fall, but I had held off on the rears until now. While in the shop they found that one of my bearings was also bad, so repalced that. Holy cow has the Jeep gotten quieter with that bearing fixed! WS helped me drop off the Jeep on Thursday night and Jimmy helped me pick it up Friday night. Our local (kind of - Antrim) guy is so good, honest and priced well below a dealership. Plus, he's local so I don't have to spend hours at the shop waiting for the repairs.

And of course I didn't install the pellet stove, two nice men came and set it up and showed me how to use it. Bonus, they also stacked my pellets. I had expected them to drop the pellets off in the garage and then I would get exercise this weekend hauling the 2 tons of bagged pellets in. Maybe they felt sorry for this poor old lady, or perhaps they do it for all their customers. I do know that when I expressed surprise they told me if the owner was doing the install, I would get them dumped in the garage but they were more than happy to haul them in. Probably didn't hurt that they only had to carry them 40 feet without any stairs. Anyway, the guys were great!

So the stove is up and running. However, the hot air is not making its way upstairs as well as I had hoped. So yesterday I removed some of the insulation off the ceiling (tha stuff I had worked so hard to install back in December). And then last night I started cutting holes in the floor and putting in registers.

I only have two done so far, but I only had two registers - that was all the local hardware store had. WS picked up more registers while he was in Concord, so I will start installing them today. Now I know how handy jigsaws are; I borrowed WS's for this job and can see several places where it will come in handy with future projects. I am getting to be quite the tool geek lately!

A Little Decoration

I've managed to find some time for a little decorating besides just painting. One of the first items I got up was a clock that WS gave me long, long ago when we still lived in Kansas.

When I put it up, I immediately knew that was where it was supposed to go - the door and curtains play off the colores of the clock very well. I am sooo glad I painted the walls as the clock would have gotten lost if I had left the wall turquiose.

Last weekend I put up some small pictures in the kitchen above the kitchen sink and window

 

I think they look right at home there.

I still have a very large box filled with large pictures, many of which were given, or forwarded to me, from Cop Car and her HH. It also has a large number of knick knacks, so this box is not a current priority for me. However, one of these days I will get it unpacked and I will have lions and wolves on my walls.

New Year 2014 Tidbits

For the New Year, we had cold temperatures, -18 at 4 AM

By 7 AM, it had risen to -10 but I'm not sure the temp got above 0 all day.

Since it had snowed while I was gone for the holidays, and more snow was expected, I went out and got myself a roof rake. I assembled it so it would be ready when the time was right.

January 2 I went to work, to be sent home around 1:30 because my boss was worried about my drive home in what was supposed to be nasty weather. My trip home was uneventful and there were few cars on the road, so I made decent time for the conditions. Work closed at 3:30 and stayed closed on Friday so I didn't have to make the commute with still nasty roads. I did have to work from home, but was able to use my lunch hour to snow blow - how convenient!

Saturday I finished cleaning up the snow, even using my new roof rake to clear off the edges of my roof. WS came over and installed an outlet for a pellet stove that is being installed at the end of next week. He also installed my gun safe and drove a bird feeder pole into the frozen ground. I got a bird feeder put on it, but haven't had any visitors yet.

Nothing overly exciting in this list, but since this blog has been silent for a couple of weeks, thought I would let you know that I haven't just been vegging out on the couch!

Christmas 2013 Catchup

I got to go back to Kansas for Christmas; it had been two years since the last time I was there, so I was really glad to get the chance to go back and see everyone! My flights into ICT went well. Of course when you book one of the first flights of the day from Manchester, there is very little that can disrupt the timing. I walked lots of laps at Chicago Midway airport between terminals A and B as I had a several hour layover. Besides that, the only excitement was a medical emergency on my flight between Chicago and ICT. It wasn't a huge deal but the flight attendant did ask if there was a doctor, nurse or paramedic on board. Once we were on the ground, we waited to disboard until paramedics had transported the woman off and hustled her to a medical facility. Never did find out what was going on, but it didn't seem to be a critical emergency.

Cop Car and her HH graciously housed me during my stay, and what hosts they were! we had great conversation, bird watching at the house, watched deer bounding thru their back ard. And of course there was food - plenty of food. And Cop Car outdid herself with the nut rools, almond horseshoes, fudge, date pudding and other treats. I literally gained 5 pounds while I was there! I also broke my no wheat eating plan, but the issues that crop up from that were well worth it!

Christmas day I went to Wichi Dude and Dudette's place and had a great time watching the kids open presents. Fantastic Niece's kids were quite entrhalled with the whole experience and were a joy to watch. I also got to meet FN's SO for the first time in person. We had texted each other and spoken on the phone a coupole of times, but I was glad to finally meet her in person. Cop Car's Elder Brother drove over from Colorado and spent a couple of days there too - I was happy to see and talk to him as that is a rare treat.

Saturday I met up with WS's family. We had a great time and I was glad to see them again, even if WS and I are no longer together. Some of the family had even come up from Oklahoma for the gathering. 

All too soon, the time came to leave. The flights home weren't nearly so smooth as the ones to ICT. The flight from Midway to Manchester was boarded on time but then we waited an hour for other planes to land to gather another 35 passengers. It was snowing lightly, so the planes had to be de-iced before takeoff. We were 19th in line, and it takes 10-20 minutes for de-icing. By the time we made it to 2nd in line, we had to go back to the gate to get gas!!!! The flight was supposed to land in Manchester around 12:30 AM. Instead we landed shortly before 5 AM.

I got home around 6 AM to cats who were extrememly happy to see me (Prince stayed at WS's house, so he wasn't there). Tory had apparently given WS the cold shoulder, so he spent a good amount of time crying his woes to me and telling me not to leave him again! Then it was off to an appointment at 8 AM. I finally laid down for a nap about noon and felt much refreshed afterwards.

It was a great Christmas. I was so thankful for all the people that made sure I had a good time and good company. Being the first Christmas in 28 years without WS in my life, being around family was just the thing I needed!