Monday Funday

I got up at 8:30, had coffee & cereal, and spent awhile in a Wiki-storm (reading pages & pages of tangentally-related Wikipedia entries). I went online for a bit, and ordered a couple of books off of Amazon. Cold pizza for lunch, and then I was off to run errands.

I went to Searstown to buy work shirts (2 x $7.99 = BOO-ya!). Then, since I was going to the post office in Westminster, I stopped at the lake for a few minutes to see the winter sights (see photos). Post office: I mailed the California Christmas box (finally!), and bought both regular and post card stamps for future use. And there was no way I was going to drive by Dad & Ma's house without a quick pop-in to say hi :) It was a nice round of errands, and a nice drive too.

Ugh

Dolores O'Riordan, lead singer of The Cranberries, died today. Her cause of death is unknown at present.

Music Things

I was updating the 'Live Music' section of my long-running blog Not Lame Minus, when I ran across a music listing for an inexpensive upcoming show in Boston.

Since it has been ages that I've gone to a concert, I snagged 2 tickets to see Brooklyn-based Paperwhite at Great Scott in Allston on Sunday February 11th.

Then I went to the iTunes Store to grab some of their music. It looks like I found my first favorite band of 2018...

Quiet Day

I had today off, but I got up at 8:30 to feed Chumble, and stayed up. Breakfast was a can of fruit salad and coffee. Lunch & supper were both cold pizza and black cherry soda! The rest of the day was various bits of tv (last week's "The Blacklist", sports, etc...), online stuff, little drawings, and reading "Villains by Necessity" (the 'fall alseep/lunch break' book of the past few weeks).

Most importantly, my L.L. Bean delivery arrived, and these moccasins rock. I'd never have had cold feet during last week's cold snap if I'd just ordered them on Christmas Day! They are awesome...

Near Miss

I was working my 7:30 am - 5:00 pm shift today (the truck arrived a day late due to yesterday's monstrous wind chill temp of -25F), when an amateur, unlicensed driver slammed her minivan into the front of the store, and kept going for a bit once she'd breached the wall.

I was over in HBA putting away some tissue, when I heard a loud thump. Next thing I know, the car was still moving forward into the store, completely destroying the computer station area, and then it withdrew. I rang up the remaining customers as the others (Chris & Lori) cleared the store, and Arthur manned the doors & checked on the car's occupants outside. After Chris & I made a few calls, the fire department, police and building inspectors showed up, with Julio arriving from his bank run soon after. We all stood around for a bit (I got my eyes checked, because a gust of wind came in through the hole and blew some stinging dust dust into my eyes), and after talking to the police, I left around 3:00.

If the car had hit 5 minutes later, I'd have been sitting at that computer desk.

Day Off: 4*4

I slept in until 9:30 am (I was up reading until 3:00 am or so), and then had a banana, cereal and coffee for breakfast as I watched a new documentary on the 1972 Andes Mountains plane crash. Around 11:30 I went outside in the bracing cold to shovel and clean off/move my car. The snow was so light & fluffy that it took less than ten minutes, although the wind was so intense that my fingers were frozen by the time I went back inside. At least it was sunny out, with a bright blue sky!

And the mailman delivered my Barnes & Noble order: "Legion of Super-Heroes: The Silver Age Omnibus", nearly 700 pages of comics from the team's earliest years, in amazing color, all under a hard cover.

Lunch was sausage and bread & butter. At around 1:30 pm I headed out to the ATM and Market Basket (cat litter, bread, Boylan's Black Cherry Soda). DAMN, it was cold with that wind! I walked across the street around 4:30 for a few mega Millions tickets, since the jackpot is well over $400 k. Then I did dishes and laundry, and watched sports tv. Then I cooked 2 boneless pork chops and made rice for dinner (along with one of the sodas) while I watched "Brooklyn 99" and part of "Jurassic World". At 9:30 pm I watched "Bright" (not bad) on Netflix, and then I showered.

Day Off: 3*4

I got up just before 9:00 am and promptly moved my car to Jean Marie's vacated spot, to avoid any troubles with the plows later. Breakfast was a banana, cereal and coffee. I watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas" (finally - I was saving it for a super-snowy day), and had the tail end of "Star Trek VI" on in the background while I texted Ma & Sarah, and played "Clash of Clans" and Boom Beach".

Snow begins...

It's now 1:00 pm and I just measured Winter Storm Grayson's snow total outside my door, and it's at 10 inches!

Ten inches, viewed from my doorway.

I spent the middle of the day online, and I did a little drawing. Also I made mac & cheese & ground beef for a late lunch. Right around dark I measured the snow one last time, and it was at fourteen inches. Crazy! And it was blustery with high winds all day too.

The yardstick does not lie!

I had coffee and apple pie for supper (9:00 pm) as I watched the latest "Big Bang Theory", sports tv, and "Iron Man 2". Then at 1:00 am I took a shower, and went online to order some lined moccasins from L.L.Bean with my $50 Christmas gift card (from Dad & Ma). Also I went on Amazon with my $25 gift card (from J & Stacie) to get a Robert Silverberg story collection and a couple of silly Star Wars toys. Sweet!

Day Off: 2*4

Up at 9:00 am on this cold (15F) sunny day for coffee & apple pie, as I watched the final 30 minutes of the Star Wars movie. Then it was a documentary on Shackleton's failed Antarctic expedition ("Mysteries at the Museum").

I went to see "Star Wars: The Last Jedi", and had a large popcorn/Pepsi combo with it. The movie was all over the place. Too much split action; a couple of insane 'impossible escape' scenes; and the character of Rose (especially her misread of Finn's actions) was annoying. The cool stuff: Laura Dern's character's 'light speed gambit'; the Throne Room scenes; Luke vs Kylo Ren; Chewie flying the Millennium Falcon. I want to see it again, to reevaluate, but overall I enjoyed it.

more later...

Day Off: 1*4

The gas heat went off last night around 11:00 pm, and I decided to wait until morning to reignite it. So I slept from around 1:00 am to 10:00 am (minus a 'feed Chumble' event at 7:30 am) with the loud wall heater keeping my room warm.

I made a coffee, fixed the gas heat, and then cooked a 'South Beach Breakfast' (scrambled eggs, a ham steak, fresh broccoli, orange juice) to eat while I watched part of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens". Then it was online for awhile.

I drew a calendar while I surfed, and bookmarked a few things of interest. At 8:30 pm I showered, then I ran out to Hannaford to food shop. Then it was laundry, barbecue chicken wings & bread and butter, "Around The Horn", "Pardon The Interruption", and most of the rest of the Star Wars movie.

New Year's Eve & Day

Yesterday (New Year's Eve) I worked 9:00 am to 1:00 pm (truck unload). Then I came home and watched the Patriots beat the Jets, sealing home field throughout the playoffs. After that it was back to work for 4:15 pm to 10:45 pm. No New Year's Day festivities this year, just into bed at midnight. I got about 4 hours of sleep.

Today I was up at 6:30 am for my 7:30 am to 2:00 pm shift. Home, Banquet Chicken for a late lunch/early supper in front of "Good Morning Football" (taped), and then I fell asleep in my chair until dark.

What a way to begin the new year (eye roll).

At least I have the next four days off in a row. And look! I won my fantasy football league yet again!