Caffiend

The forecast for tons of snow was wrong in this area. We got a few inches but the forecast for downed trees was correct. The power was out for several hours. I awakened about 6 A.M.. There was no power. That meant no coffee. I heated water with a candle placed under a small pot. The result was about one half of a cup of tepid coffee. The power came back on about 10:30 A.M.. Considering that it was a Sunday and the power was out all over the region, the power company did a wonderful job of restoring the power. I sat in the kitchen with the Sun pouring in through the window and read and sipped tepid coffee. The power came back on, acompanied by an accolade of beeps from all of the electronic things. There are so many things in life that now go BEEP. It used to be just the Roadrunner that went BEEP BEEP. It would be good to hear a healthy CLANG once and a while. It used to be that even if the power was out, the telephone would still work. The telephone company has its own power and batteries. None of the telephones worked during the outage as they all need to be plugged into a recepticle to work. I do miss the Plain Old Telephones that were black, could be dropped out a third story window and still work, and had a dial instead of going beep beep. I also miss Carmallow Bars and Welch's Fudge, Pizza that was not buried under two inches of goop, and the old L.L. Bean catalogue, the one that had fishing flies and down jackets that were good to thirty below. I miss Casanov's Bulkies and Nepco knackwurst and Orange Crush in the brown bottle and the big Flexible Flyer sleds. I think that I miss my sanity most of all.

The day No Child was born

Last night was full of disconcerting dreams and thoughts. I kept returning to the day No Child was born. No Child was born just moments after Wonder Child was born. No Child heralded the end of many things. It was the end of trust and the end of tenderness. It was the end of the comforting feeling that no matter what happened, someone had your back. Disturbing dark feelings are rampant now. It will take a while to cleanse them.

Opposition

I watch two television shows. Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory. They are now on opposing channels at the same time. I am opting for The Big Bang as Two and a Half Men is not the same without Charle Sheen's little bit of evil as a condiment. The Big Bang has the classic comedy situation where everyone around Leonard is crazy, therefore he is seen as the odd one. It reminds me of the old Burns and Allen show.
Last night was full of dreams and periods of awakening. The dreams were not scary but many of them concerned things from long ago. I awakened once and realized that I could not remember William Wallace's name. I was pretty sure that the first letter of his name was W and therefore started adding each vowel to the W and when I reached i it came to me. It is reminiscent of Grendle. I now have a pneumonic to recall Grendle. I picture the monster dressed in a G string. It may be a little odd but it works. Wallace will now forever be dressed as Willie Wonka.

Looking Up

Things are looking up. The landlord managed to clear the drain problems. That old man knows what he is doing. He cleared twenty feet of solid muck out of the drain using several lengths of pipe.The toilet now flushes well, the bathroom sink now drains, and the kitchen sinks now drain.
I am going to have to replace the Halloween candy again. This time it was Butterfingers and Peanut Butter Cups. If Halloween doesn't come soon I am going to have a serious case of sugar diabetes. The weather has turned seriously cool, not freezing but seriously cool. Under two blankets, this is really good sleeping weather.

Destructo

Three days ago the landlord's son knocked on the door with a plunger in his hand. He said that he came to unplug the toilet. I told him that the toilet wasn't plugged up. He asked for a cigarette. I made the mistake of letting him in. The camel's nose was now under the tent. He noticed that there was a small amount of water at the base of the toilet. I had just finished mopping and must have missed a spot. He took the toilet off of its mounting. He was wearing one of those seventy-five dollar Home Depot tool belts with just a hammer in it. He had busted off the toilet mounting bolts and did not have another wax ring to replace the one that is always destroyed when you remove a toilet. He sent his Father off to Home Depot to get the parts. I made the mistake of offering him a cup of coffee. He noticed that the water in the bathroom sink was turned off. I told him that it was because the faucet drips and the sink does not drain. He turned the water back on and went and got some nuclear drain cleaner and poured it into the bathroom sink. I told him that I didn't think that the bathroom drain was the problem because the kitchen sinks, which are on the same drain line, have not drained in four years. My Father used o tell me "Nils, the only time you should open your mouth is to change feet.". He went to the cellar and got some drain cleaner that you need to be wearing a Haz-Mat suit to use. He poured it into the kitchen sinks. It is still there. It was then that he told me that he was a plumber for three years. I suspect that I know who installed the plumbing here. He left and may be back today.
The status now is: 1. Toilet is backed up and now actually leaking at the base.
2. Bathroom faucet is now happily dripping away.
3. Kitchen sinks are half full of a toxic brew.
Before he left he told me that he was going to fix the porch stairs. I may soon need a parachute to get down. He noticed the leak in the kitchen ceiling I told him that his Father has been aware of the leak since April first.
The man is a walking disaster. My Brother diagnosed the drainage problem months ago. The sinks drain line was installed horizontally which is not right to do. My Brother is amazing. He tunes up his own oil burner, he installs ducts to combat his ice dam problem. He put a new floor,ceiling, and walls in his kitchen and is building new cabinets. During the recent flooding, he rigged up a bilge pump in his cellar to run off of a car battery in case the power went off. When am I going to learn to listen to him and avoid "Mack and Meyer for Hire"?
As much as I dislike moving, the time may be coming. The only thing that handles water that is still working is the tub. Yesterday I did dishes in the tub.

RPBC RIP

There were forty Reese's Peanut Butter Cups the other day. Now there are only nine. I will have to go out today and purchase some sort of candy that I don't like, if there is such a thing. Gummy Bears or Oh Henrys might fill the bill. Mounds or Butterfingers would stand little chance of making it through the night.
The nights have been crispy and the days are warm and bright. The leaves are beginning to get some color. The glories of Fall are upon us.
Yesterday I made Barnyard Vegetable Soup. It came out pretty good. Leeks, carrots, potatoes, parsnips, parsley, garlic, tomatoes, cabbage, mushrooms, and beef broth are a good combination. They sufficed for the day with a large amount of grated Asiago as a topping. I did need to add some salt. As La Petite Anglaise used to say "Soup without salt is like kissing a man without a moustache.".

Coughing, Viruses, and Sneezing.

Yesterday I went to CVS to pick up a prescription. There I was , standing in the pick-up line with about twelve other people. I didn't ask myself why people are picking up a prescription. They are there because they are sick. Sure enough I awakened in the middle of the night with chest pain. At first I thought I might be having a heart attack. I lay there telling myself that heart attack is the way to go. All of the other ways are too drawn out and tedious. Then I realized that the mucas coming up was a sign of something in a lung. Oh joy, I have not been sick in about seven years. One trip to CVS, the first in seven years, and I picked up some denizen of a disease. Hot tea with a lot of lemon and honey is going to have to deal with this. I don't want to go to a doctor because why are the people in the waiting room there? I had a flu shot several days ago so that can't be the problem. So there will be several days of sitting cuddled up in a nice soft warm blanket, sipping hot tea with lemon and honey, and reading all of the books I have failed to finish. The one positive aspect of the trip was that I purchased a ton of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups for Halloween. Once again I will hope that no children come to the door so that I can eat all the cups myself the next day.

Itsy, bitsy, dampy

The itsy, bitsy spider is trapped at the bottom of the water spout. It has rained every day for several days. The rain is too late to help the corn and the pumpkins but maybe it is an indication that there will be a good snowy Winter.
Sitting sipping hot chocolate in front of a warm window and watching the huge flakes slowly drift to the ground is one of the many pleasures of Winter. Walking in new fallen snow and seeing the signs of all of the little creatures that are out and about is another.
I read that another man has been killed by a missle and drone attack. It seems to me to be an awfully sneaky thing. Perhaps the entire project should be labelled 'Operation I'll be Back'. Because the opposition does sneaky things is no reason for us to.
The color is starting to come in to some of the trees. It is late but it is still very welcome.

Frost Free

The frost has not come yet. There were a few nights when the temperature got down as low as thirty-five degrees but the last few nights have been fairly warm. The days are in the seventies and the nights are in the high forties. This is heaven! I went for a long walk yesterday. The Sun was shining, there was a gentle breeze, and all was right with the world. I stopped at the grocery store (Suprise, surprise) and picked up mushrooms, leeks, beef broth, two kinds of cheese, and beef. I am going to try Swedish Meatballs again. While I was dawdling in the meat aisle, I noticed that they had flat-iron steak and short ribs of beef. Those things are perfect for grinding up into hamburgers. I will try to walk back today and purchase both. Topped with American cheese and a thin slice of onion and resting on a nicely toasted bulky roll, heaven will be inside as well.
One thing that I was sad to notice was that the color in the leaves is not there this year. Even the sugar maples are just brown and pale yellow. They are still crunchy underfoot. So this Fall will not be the riot of color we are used to but more like a bowl of Corn Flakes.

Wastebook

I tried that Facebook for a while. I don't think that I will use it again. They should format their activity with crayons and colored paper. There is one particularly obnoxious person that I get on the News portion.
There may be a frost this week. It is time to pull in the tomatoes, peppers, basil, parsley, and sage.
Yesterday I went and got a flu shot. I had some questions about Medicare. It is apparent that no one, not even those that supposedly deal with it every day, understands Medicare. Evidently doctors understand it and it is the source of an unlimited supply of golden eggs for them.
When I was much younger, I used to caddy for a very successful stock broker. He used to drink quite heavily on the golf course. One day he said to me "The easiest people to cheat are doctors. Next to their wives, they are the greediest people I have ever met. If I say to you 'Give me a dollar today and tommorow I will give you one hundred dollars." you would laugh in my face. Not doctors, they will dive in and try to invest one thousand dollars.".

Proscription

It has been in the news that the government of the United States of America authorized the killing of an American citizen without a trial. This event had to be approved by the President of the United States. I have read all of the arguments which try to justify such an action. The man lied about his place of birth in order to get more money for college. If lying on a financial aid application warrants the death penalty, the Ivy league may experience a marked decline in alumni. The chuckles of Cornelius Sulla must be echoing through the halls of the White House.
The rape of America began on 9/11. It was on that date that we lost our innocence. I have no answer to the troubles that terrorism has brought on to this country. We lost much more than two buildings and their occupants. I lament the diminuation of the pride that I have in being an American. Where we are headed I don't know. I fear for my children and my grandchildren.
When the Devil comes to the door, we have only the Law to protect us. Are we to suffer the same fate as Thomas Moore? Alas poor Liberty, I knew her well. So Mr. Terrorist, you will never understand the root of the antipathy I feel towards you. It is not so much the death and destruction you have heaped upon the world, it is the defiling of the blindfolded Lady with the scales in her hand. Timothy McVey hides behind her robe. Sirhan Sirhan hides behind her robe. Charles Manson is staring up into her her robe. They had better all be listening for the sound of a drone.

At Last

Sweater weather is here at last. There are bodings of a very cold Winter. The squirrel's tails are very bushy and the other day I saw a wooly bear caterpillar with a very wide brown stripe. These may be very unscientific ways to predict the weather but they are as relevant as any long term forecast I have ever encountered.
The first frost cannot be too far away. I will have to pick what remains of the tomatoes whether they are ripe or not. I have bananas and a paper bag so ripening them should not be a problem.
For the first time in my life I think that I am experiencing loneliness. I hesitate to go to the Senior Center for some social interaction I will go there tomorrow for a flu shot but it makes me uncomfortable to go there. When you walk in you feel like a steer at an auction. All of the women sit checking you out. There are not many men there at all. The administrators urgently try to sign you up for the meal program. I have seen their menus. I think that Gerber does all of their cooking.
Yesterday I made sausages with tomato gravy. The gravy contained a great deal of garlic, fresh sliced mushrooms, hot cherry peppers, sliced red and green peppers, onions, basil, oregano, and crushed red pepper. This topped bucatini and was topped with a great deal of grated Asiago. Such a meal at the Senior Center would induce mass apoplexy. Their idea of spicy is chicken with ranch dressing. "A Pox on Your Tastless Porridge.".
I am not easy to get along with and I never have been. I'd better get used to the loneliness. It is better than eating mush and engaging in meaningless conversation designed to offend no one and interest no one. I do miss talking with my children. From the time that each of them were very young, I found their opinions and thoughts relevant and stimulating. They think before they speak and think while they are speaking. They get these characteristics from their Mother. All that they will ever get from me is my cook books when I am gone.