Day 333: Tuesday Cold

I managed to sleep until 6:30 and then a rush to be ready by 7:30AM for the first meetings. It was cold in the house, with the outside cold hitting the house’s floors at 30F this morning. It will be 20Fs on Thursday as cold arctic air be visiting the valley. We have three days of snow coming.

I am tired after working late again last night in India time. I had Zoom meeting after meeting and many crises of the moment. I was online most of the day. I did have a meeting with folks I do not see that often–a planning meeting. It was nice to see them again.

I managed a walk today and walked 3/4 of my long walk today. It was a bit cold, but I wanted to get a walk in before the weather went arctic on me. I saw the crows, a murder of crows as a group of crows are known, in a tree. They were all quiet and bushed out feathers, trying to stay warm while high in a tree.

I also walked by a crushed former container of pot on the street. A terrible loss, I suspect for someone. You can tell it is from a legal state store by the green color and the label. Somebody likely cried over this spilled item.

I made a lunch of Clam Chowder from a can and got Eggo Waffles for Susie at noonish. We thought Susie had physical therapy today, but her regular therapist was ill. We rescheduled with Michelle for Wednesday and Friday.

I had a bunch of questions and more crises of the moment at work. I could not focus on one task as everything is a high priority problem for someone—just a messy day.

I did get Susie to do her exercises as PT was a no-show. I was jumping in front of her while she tried to do her exercises. This was between my Zoom calls. I was doing the “big fig newton” and other stunts to get her going. She got through her exercises, and I managed to not hurt myself.

I took a break at 4ish and rested for a bit. I got going at 5ish, and Mariah called, and I invited her to have some of the jambalaya I was making from a box. I tried to make it not too spicy for Susie, so it just had kielbasa and bacon and added more rice to cool it down a bit.

It was too spicy for Susie, so I got her some cheese and then ice cream. Not a great dinner, but still not bad either. Mariah and I enjoyed the jambalaya.

Mariah is learning chess, so we played a learning game. I explained the rules and a tiny bit on pawn mistakes before we played a game. Somehow I misplaced my queen, and we had to reset a bit–embarrassing. I exchanged out pieces and took her queen, and Mariah gave in. Jeopardy was on.

We watched Jeopardy and Mariah knew many of the answers. I was missing more. I redeemed myself by getting the Final Question. I had lived in Maryland and knew the Chesapeake Bay, which gave the answer right away.

I am rereading Rex Stout‘s Black Orchids. I am still reading Caste and strongly recommend it, but I am worried about reading something that has such an intense subject with all the extra hours and lack of rest. So I am deep in a Nero Wolf’s murder mystery, a brain cookie. It is one of the best detective novels if you like it light, and this one shows the two main characters, Arche and Nero, in a clearer light than you get in some of the other books. I have read it many times and try to spot the murderer, and each time (after a few years), Rex Stout tricks me again. My copy of Too Many Cook is around here somewhere; the best book, I think by Rex Stout, might be next if I keep needing brain cookies. I have the copies with the recipes! Black Orchids and Too Many Cooks are great short detective novels for travel or just to relax.

Note: Nero Wolf and Archie and some of the other main characters never age. The books start in the thirties and end in the seventies. Another author writes a few that continue on. Unlike other mystery writers, his characters do not age. It is a unique and someone refreshing approach to long term characters.

Lastly, we are being swarmed by ants. I have put out the typical plates with ant baits. Soon they will be gone. At least for three or four months. There is an endless supply of ants here. Here is information on ants here.

7,863 people were vaccinated yesterday. A meager number, but these numbers can increase as it takes 72 hours to collect all the data. Our county, Washington, is at 9% vaccinated. The lack of vaccine will delay our chance for a vaccination. It appears we will be waiting months.

3,265 people died in the USA today from Covid-19.

I found a bluegrass version of Blessed Assurance.