Good morning!!!!

[Thomas]

24F cloudy mid 30's for high.
Nasty storm of 1-3 inches good chance mixing w/rain yet to arrive...but its coming.

Not much plan for today other than puttering in basement watch little super bowl check game cams.
Bird feeder busy this morning compare to yesterday morning...4 gray squirrels,5 blue jays,least couple dozen small birds...hmmm.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[lostcreekranch]

31 going up to 60 in much warmer day, bringing rain in all day and night. It's getting muddy out here...both sides of the pond Eric.

Coffee is brewing, fridge is getting empty, time to go food shopping this morning. First I'm going to plant some flowers in the sun room.
It's fun to move the grow light around, with all the tired little shoots popping straight up in attention to the light they crave. Onions could get planted now, but my plans of early Feb are going to delay a week or two. The weather may be ok for the onions but it's not too good for me....cold and wet just isn't much fun and the next week or two apparently isn't going to warm up much.

Tomorrow the Super A comes home, finally, with its new oil pan gasket installed. That was the last delay, before delivery they did the final drip test after driving it around and it failed. Ten dollar cork gasket, but more importantly, I asked them to obviously clean the pan out and see how much gunk is on the bottom of it. Hopefully not a Paleozoic layer of hardened ooze turning into amber...62 years of accumulated goop.

We have rain in the forecast every two or three days. Not sure when those garden hills are going to get done. I really don't need hills for onions but the plan is to have the garden all run in rows in one direction, with a clear path up the middle for golf carts/UTV and carts for picking the tons of vegetables. :shocked: This is such a who knows, no idea if things will grow. I mean melons from Afghanistan and Iraq; they should feel right at home here, right?

Got my invite to the local Garden Club meeting this coming week. Apparently about 40-45 members show up for monthly meetings, sounds good.
Special speaker at next meeting giving talks on trip to France and gardens there. Since the speaker is a Franco-phile, I'm taking a small container of Zebrune Shallots seedlings as a thank you gift. What French person wouldn't want to make onion soup out of real French onions...

They say the flu is at its worst right now. I know it's basically antisocial but for sickness am glad I live alone and not near kids. I'll be wiping that push cart handle at the supermarket today and first thing I do coming in the door is wash my hands. So far no flu in about ten years. What some of you are getting sounds awful, particularly for kids. Hope you all feel better soon. Lots of ice cream for sick kids and their parents.

I think we should start a pool, to guess how many days until Drew slaps an International Red paint job on his “new to him” Farmall A. . New decals too?

 

[daugen]

Nice pics Rick but it ain't going to happen...I really like the old look on this one. There are a ton of restored shiny ones around here, I see these guys going down the road on "pleasure cruises", whole bunch of Farmalls, must be a club..., and at the local parades of course.
If I make it too nice I won't want to get it dirty...
Pretty sure i'm going to get butt fatigue pretty quickly with this thing with the deluxe buckboard seat.
But that's the tractor with medium blue hilling discs and related machinery. Actually that's an older A, not a Super A.
Only real difference was hydraulic lift I'm told.

 

[riptides]

34 outside this AM. Suppose to be snowing, then a rain mix. But looking at the radar, my house is in a clear area.

Still recovering from the road trip this AM. My daughters truck threw a belt on the way home. Luck would have it we just pulled into a taco bell. That necessitated running up and down the road for parts and darn, some of them auto stores just don't have a clue. One had no idea on belt size, the other gave us the wrong tensioner.

Will try and sit back today, but family and the wife probably need more care. If I did not pop dead these past few weeks, well there must be other plans for my demise, other than stress.

On the germ front, speedy recovery for all. This strain looks to be especially bad.

Have a great day, be safe.

 

[lostcreekranch]

Nice pics Rick but it ain't going to happen...I really like the old look on this one. There are a ton of restored shiny ones around here, I see these guys going down the road on "pleasure cruises", whole bunch of Farmalls, must be a club..., and at the local parades of course.
If I make it too nice I won't want to get it dirty...
Pretty sure i'm going to get butt fatigue pretty quickly with this thing with the deluxe buckboard seat.
But that's the tractor with medium blue hilling discs and related machinery. Actually that's an older A, not a Super A.
Only real difference was hydraulic lift I'm told.

How about a Super A ChristmasTree Harvester?



Or a Super A Fire Truck?

 

[lostcreekranch]

54 degrees and totally fogged in here. Living inside a cloud!

 

[toppop52]

Gone from 26 to 40 since daybreak. We should be in rain by 1 or so. I knew early this morning we weren’t getting any snow, birds weren’t feeding In droves like they always do before snow.

 

[Buppies]

27 now snowed for a while now freezing rain no relief from that until noon I'm told

 

[wngsprd]

Been outside this morning and weather had gone from dry to sleet to freezing rain. Was 28 and going to 42.

Sorry to hear of the sick family members and TBN folks. My fingers are crossed that my flu shot will protect me.

Took my wife and her new Highlander to the Toyota dealer for its 5K free service/tire rotation yesterday. Fortunately there is a Harbor Freight across the highway so picked up a couple of flat files and freebies. Never tried their files before, but can't be worse than the last ones I bought at a competitor.

Don, I knew you could do it...the Texas can-do spirit. Thanks for documenting and entertaining us.

Drew, glad you got the rv sold.

 

[jbrumberg]

Good morning everyone. 22F with light snow falling earlier. It is now 25F and the sun is starting to sine through the cloud cover. The NWS has backed off from the prediction of 2" - 3" of snow accumulation to ~1". I am not complaining. Wednesday looks like a potentially decent snow event for the guy I contracted to plow the driveway during our absence.

Drinking freshly brewed coffee and killing time until we leave mid day for CT wherein will probably be raining once this weather system really arrives.

Thanks for the + wishes.

My + thoughts, wishes, and prayers for all.

 

[RoyJackson]

Snowing pretty steady now...Step Daughter just left to pick up her friend....north about 40 miles or so.
Running late, of course, and the roads won't be cleared yet....which means I'll have to try to make up the time getting to Lebanon.

Forecast for Wednesday is back to 8-12 inches...

I can see this is going to be a crappy day, heading into a crappy week.

 

[toppop52]

Snowing pretty steady now...Step Daughter just left to pick up her friend....north about 40 miles or so.
Running late, of course, and the roads won't be cleared yet....which means I'll have to try to make up the time getting to Lebanon.

Forecast for Wednesday is back to 8-12 inches...

I can see this is going to be a crappy day, heading into a crappy week.

Roy, that positive outlook is inspiring! :laughing:
I understand though.

 

[jbrumberg]

Roy- I wish your daughter and friend a safe flight, time away, and return. I can understand the mood. This snow, rain, freeze , and refreeze weather pattern and just the time of year itself is not exactly mood "elevating." Right now the roads suck down here too, but road conditions should be improving later.

 

[CWB Wyo]

The low this morning was 30*, yesterday high was in the low 40's. They are saying today is going to be partly cloudy with a chance of snow showers later in the day. So we might get a light dusting of snow overnight.

I sure hope everyone that has something wrong with them start to feel better.

I need to finish up the reloading job I started a few days ago. I wasn't as ready as I thought I was. And I have a feeling that I'll get a call from the neighbor some time today.

Hope everyone has a nice Sunday and enjoys the football game.
CWB.

 

[daugen]

Roy- I wish your daughter and friend a safe flight, time away, and return. I can understand the mood. This snow, rain, freeze , and refreeze weather pattern and just the time of year itself is not exactly mood "elevating." Right now the roads suck down here too, but road conditions should be improving later.

same goes for you too, drive safely.
Rain is coming in here in about an hour.
Got my food shopping done, was good and stayed out of ice cream aisle and didn't buy any processed food at all.

Meat aisle guy admitted the 1.99 chicken breasts were just to get folks in the door, they didn't make much money on that.
Farmer needs to raise his prices so he can buy lots of new heaters and tractors. Twenty cents more per pound. Would that do it Farmer?
I keep trying but clearly your rep in our crazy capital isn't doing his job. 2.19 or bust is the new rallying cry...

I have a little firewood to stack, if only to get some exercise. Yesterday made myself walk to end of lane to get mail instead of normal golf cart ride. Otherwise the weight piles on.

 

[300UGUY]

Need to pour second cup of coffee. 29ｰ with snow this morning. Heading to 32ｰ with snow until late afternoon. No plans for the day. Clean up a few inches of snow. But not with tractor. Just a shovel on the walkway form house to garage. Good day to work on taxes. Last piece of paper came in mail yesterday. Last weekend without any NASCAR. :cool2:
BCBS is the most expensive Medicare plan in Michigan. If we had a choice I would change to another company. But with wife's condition we have no choice. Hard to understand that a Non-profit organization would be the highest cost. Got a bill that premiums are going up another $50 in April. Maybe I should not complain. They have never denied a bill payment. Our prescription part D with Humana/Walmart has been almost perfect. They have been paying $12k per month for 3 years for wife's medications. How much is the government paying. Never see any data on this.
Kyle, Prayers for your daughter and family.
Don, keep at it. My kind of project. Just think what we could have done with that one together. :drink:
Best travels for those flying around.
Prayers for those not up to par.
Good Morning All.

I have heard that BC/BS insurance was expensive because they legally cannot turn anybody down. The for profit carriers could, and did. So the BC got all the sick folks, the for profit guys took the cream, healthy folks. Another thing that might be unique to Michigan is that people think BC was supported by the auto industry. But the Big 3 were self insuring, BC managed it, but the companies had their own setups. I guess BC got some benefit out of the arrangement, but probably not as much as having insured those folks directly. One thing that has changed is that the industrial folks used to be much bigger than the medical organizations, now it is reversed, the medical folks are setting the payment amounts, not their customers.
GM used to be the largest employer in Oakland county, I think there are maybe 2 hospital systems that are larger.....

I still have a bit of a cough, but I can sleep normally now, my digestive system is still a little 斗oose? but I feel 100% better.

 

[300UGUY]

31 here and snowing. I just took our dogs, and 2 shich zuhs were are watching for a friend from for a walk. My backyard is 2 acres and fenced in. The little girls ran riot, I don’t think they had ever had that much freedom to play, in a safe space. My boxer girl ignores them, I don’t think she considers them dogs. . I just gave everyone a light snack, and we will take another walk in a couple of hours. My wife is up at a Woman’s day thing at MSU. That might be a little ironic.

 

[300UGUY]

Our dogs are the smaller mastiffs, boxers. The avatar pic is of our boxer boy Bubba, he passed in 2013. He is survived by his daughter, who is 10. They are great dogs, but I think 14 years is the record for a boxer, most are lucky to get 10 to 12. I liked Bubba better than many of my relatives. He was a great dog, looked fierce, 85 lbs of muscle. But he was a big wiggle butt, loved people. Great personality, I took him everywhere, without a leash. Never bothered anybody, I have no training background, but he just seemed to always know how to behave. He used to go to work with my wife everyday, if somebody he didn’t know came in, he would stand between her and them until she greeted them, then he would do the same. He got cancer, we were told that he got skin cancer, and it metastasis into the organs. It moved very fast. From when we noticed his weakness to his death was about 2 months. I felt terrible walking him into the vets, him hobbling along, in pain, knowing he wasn’t coming out. I miss him more than relatives that have passed. Great companion. We are keeping his daughter out of the sun, Bubba loved to lay outside, for hours.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Wife is saying mom has to go, can't deal with her. Guess I'll try to see what I can do tomarrow. Ed

 

[jbrumberg]

3000UGUY- I am sorry to read about your dog. Thanks for answering my ? from many pages ago. One our closest friends had a female boxer. They are magnificent animals. Awesome loyal and protective. Thanks for sharing. "From when we noticed his weakness to his death was about 2 months. I felt terrible walking him into the vets, him hobbling along, in pain, knowing he wasn’t coming out. I miss him more than relatives that have passed. Great companion."-

Applies to us as well. Just as our male St. B. was coming out of his grief/depression from losing his "mate" I noticed the limp...... And I knew it was bone CA. I was right. Leo was taking 23 pills a day to manage his pain. I was going through 4 - 5#'s of bologna each week. I managed to keep him pain free to the very end. Saint Bernard's, like boxers and mastiffs, are pretty short lived; 8 - 10 years on average. Gracie Lou was 10.5 years old and Leo was 8.5 years old when they crossed the "Rainbow Bridge."

"... I don’t think she considers them dogs.." Your boxer is not alone in some circles.

Once we get back, our search for another St. B. (or 2) will begin in ernest. We would like to get another rescue (or 2), but what's good for St. B. rescues (high demand) is bad for "rescuers" (low/no supply). We'll see what happens.