Good morning!!!!

[ronjhall]

Poured first cup of coffee. 33° with rain and wind this morning. Heading to 42° mostly cloudy skies. Grocery shopping went well yesterday. Shelves were well stocked. Started installing a new Security System yesterday. Spent way to much time figuring out where I wanted to put everything. Took a afternoon nap and ended up no getting anything else done. Today I will be removing old system. May get some more done today. While typing at computer I heard the snap a trap makes when it goes off. Yup number 8.
Yellow ears is still stocking up for cold weather on its way.

Everyone stay well and safe.

Good Morning All.

 

[daugen]

good morning all
30 out, wintry system coming up the coast, snow starts in an hour, turning to rain all day. Yuk.
to add injury to insult, off at lunchtime to dentist to get two crowns and a bridge installed. Major infrastructure.
dental work very hard on my neck also, (worse on wallet...) have to wear soft collar and still I come out of seat pretty beat up. This afternoon will not be fun.

hard to believe gas is so cheap (?) in some areas and so much more here. 3.79 for regular, 4.79 for premium, 5 something for diesel.
Though I bet David and even Bill would like to buy gas at those prices.

coffee warming me up, heater and electric heater buzzing away
I've taken to wearing undershirts on these cold days, layering really helps. Not much of a sweater person so this works a little.
hope you all have a nice day

 

[wngsprd]

34 and rain. Going to 45. We're getting a lot of rain, so kinda glad this one is rain rather than snow, and much better than the ice folks are getting in western Virginia.

Split the load of wood that I cut Sunday, and then cut another load yesterday. Did some prep for this rain event and ran out of daylight. This is the third time in a week I've had to drive the tractor with the lights on by quitting time. One more week, then the days get longer.

 

[daugen]

some ramblings...

US unemployment 3.7%
China unemployment 5.7%

will be interesting to see in our interconnected global community how much China's shrinking economy affects us.
Sometimes nations with those problems tend to blame others for their own problems, particularly if government isn't transparent.

5.7% of 1.4 billion people is a lot of folks out of work.
1.4 billion people. Almost hard to comprehend. US is at 332M btw.

China's economic growth has been enormous. And now it is slowing down. makes sense.
Lot of leading indicators in US trending poorly.
But as they say, the appetite for the American consumer seems inexhaustible.
But I do think this Christmas sales season will be down a little.
My retirement account certainly is.

I still see a lot of Hiring signs up.
the quality of service at the lowest minimum wage retail level has been pretty bad for awhile.
Seems like they have more help now.
My local Wells Fargo still doesn't have more than two people at teller banks.
I'm tired of complaining to their branch managers who come and go.

and of course our leading indicator, how many decent sized brand new tractors are on the lots nearby?
Kubota dealer in Doylestown has had several L & M models out there for several weeks now. That would never happen a year ago.

 

[newbury]

how many decent sized brand new tractors are on the lots nearby?

On my recent drive from DC to MS on I81 the several tractor lots (3 or 4) seemed fairly well stocked.
And the local (northeast Mississippi) TV stations are having the usual tractor sale ads.

 

[KilroyJC]

Good Morning!

God has given us another chance to get it right (or at least not screw up too badly).

internet is back up - the technician switched us over to a completely different pair from the CO to the next-to-last appearance point. Speed is the same, but noise is down by about 1/2 dB and line stress is down out of the 20s to about 17, so hopefully that will finally help with the connectivity issues we have had for the last 7 years! 23,000+ wire-feet is a little bit more that spec for DSL. . .

We have had rain for 9 of the last 11 days, so not much is getting accomplished outside. We have also all been down with good old-fashioned garden-variety bronchitis. I guess it is better we’re we’re sick during lousy weather instead of good weather all in all. . .

The last of the WoodMizer parts are supposed to arrive tomorrow - YAY! I am glad we won’t have to take delivery in the rain. I am hopeful that by Saturday the ground at the woodlot will have dried enough to be reasonably user-friendly and I can drop some trees and possibly even drag&stack some logs to be milled.

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe, and healthy day!

 

[KilroyJC]

some ramblings...

US unemployment 3.7%
China unemployment 5.7%

will be interesting to see in our interconnected global community how much China's shrinking economy affects us.
Sometimes nations with those problems tend to blame others for their own problems, particularly if government isn't transparent.

5.7% of 1.4 billion people is a lot of folks out of work.
1.4 billion people. Almost hard to comprehend. US is at 332M btw.

China's economic growth has been enormous. And now it is slowing down. makes sense.
Lot of leading indicators in US trending poorly.
But as they say, the appetite for the American consumer seems inexhaustible.
But I do think this Christmas sales season will be down a little.
My retirement account certainly is.

I still see a lot of Hiring signs up.
the quality of service at the lowest minimum wage retail level has been pretty bad for awhile.
Seems like they have more help now.
My local Wells Fargo still doesn't have more than two people at teller banks.
I'm tired of complaining to their branch managers who come and go.

and of course our leading indicator, how many decent sized brand new tractors are on the lots nearby?
Kubota dealer in Doylestown has had several L & M models out there for several weeks now. That would never happen a year ago.

Our W-F branch is a regional training site, so it is always staffed at all the windows, but generally the process is slow because all but two of the tellers are newbies. . .

 

[Looking4new]

Good morning, low temp is 25 and going to a high of 30°F. Wind E 25 gusting to 36 mph. Snow coming but not here yet.

According to the Cadillac, MI radar it is just past Toledo, OH and stretching in a NW to SE angle. S.S. Marie, MI will be getting 'it' soon.
Hopefully we don't lose hydro again, but if we do I have my new backup genny fuelled and all ready to go.

Regular gas is $5.89/US gallon in South River, ON. If I need gas today I will only put in $20.oo or so. Just enough to get me to North Bay, where it is $1.359/L or $5.14/US gallon. Why the huge difference you ask? The cheaper stuff is tax exempt from the reserve. Esso/Exon gas just the same.

Today is an energy conservation day. IF the snow comes as snow rather than freeing rain then tomorrow after I get my running around, (dump, town run) done then I will plow. We are expecting about 4" minimum.

Have a safe day all

 

[daugen]

weather forecasts updated, quite a storm headed this way.
All rain down South, but snow line is West of Philadelphia and headed this way.
One to three inches of snow turning to rain through tomorrow, another inch of rain on top.
could be a whopper of a snow storm.

Phil, get ready....

somehow I don't think my Christmas inflatables outdoors are going to like this one bit.
Maybe I should turn them off first
nah, Christmas goes on...
hope to get some good pictures while it's snowing

 

[KilroyJC]

weather forecasts updated, quite a storm headed this way.
All rain down South, but snow line is West of Philadelphia and headed this way.
One to three inches of snow turning to rain through tomorrow, another inch of rain on top.
could be a whopper of a snow storm.

Phil, get ready....

somehow I don't think my Christmas inflatables outdoors are going to like this one bit.
Maybe I should turn them off first
nah, Christmas goes on...
hope to get some good pictures while it's snowing

This is the first year that we have done inflatables.

I am finding that they are better left inflated during precipitation, but YMMV. I also use wooden vertical supports and paracord guylines for wind stability, as our inflatables go on a platform I built on our deck railing, since that is the only way they would be visible due to terrain and shrubbery, so there is that to consider as well

 

[Buppies]

31 this morning light ice still raining no bent trees yet

Think next week cold air comes by Friday lot of 9 high of 20 here snow not far behind and cold stays into first week of January

$4.56 for diesel here still too high

Prayers for all our country

 

[Popgadget]

Good Morning.
It’s 31 and grey as the the winter weather bears down on us. We are supposed to have snow turning to sleet, turning to rain as the temperature climbs into the 40’s by evening. This is not going to help dry the ground.

Yesterday had no real surprises, got the barn chores done, my friends plumbing working like it should, updated the GPS in the KubVan, good airport authority meeting. We are considering putting in a 5mw solar farm on some land that is now growing hay.

Wife and I took our cars to the grocery store to fill them up with $2.55 a gallon gas, thanks to points from buying groceries. That made it a dollar off the regular price. The only catch was that it’s one sale, so we passed the nozzle between the cars when the first one was full.

As I was updating the GPS, I had to wonder if the sales of standalone GPS for cars have dropped way off considering almost everyone has a smart phone that works better than most GPS’.
The only reason I update this one is that when I bought it, it came with free lifetime updates from Garmin.

No plans for today, but I’m confident that something will keep me occupied.

 

[m7040]

Good morning all, 31 going to high of 40 later today. Icing currently hoping it will change to rain soon. Rain/ice/snow in the forecast all day. Good indoor day

The economic indicators are not looking good although spending for the holidays does not show much in the way of slow down.

We have a couple of neighbors that have gone all out on Christmas lights and outside decorations

Helo, remember the German system for going to the toilet but thought by now it would have changed. Remember also on overseas travel with no toilet except a hole in the floor.

Mostly, yes the van repair will cost but the alternative of getting a new van is a lot more expensive. When I have older vehicles I usually do most of the repairs myself but as I get older my appetite for doing that is diminishing.

 

[txdon]

Good morning! 30˚F clear skies heading to the mid 60s. Heavy frost on the ground.

Dr. visit went OK yesterday, still have a little swelling on my healing heel, and go back again in two weeks. I bought two pairs of medical grade shoe inserts which the DR. said was the next step, more pleasant than the needle in the heel. She asked if the insole of the shoes I was wearing came out, I said it did not, so she grabbed my shoes and tore them out saying that they usually just use a little glue to hold them in. She was right. The medical grade insoles have a higher stiffer arch support that she said I needed since I have high arches.

The predicted temp this morning was 35˚ but they lie so good thing I covered the Meyer Lemon tree. It is a late bloomer this year and has just put on 100 buds. If it gets much colder I'll cart it off to the garage.

 

[kenmbz]

Morning all, 32 and snow has held off, seems to be warming up.
Still tired, wish this would be done with.
Nothing but day job on the schedule.

Gas - mid grade still > $4 here. Hasn't budged in a while.

Big changes at work, had to let go one of my (good) contractors. Old vendor who caused many of the issues, is back on the plate :-(

Went to pick up some medicine for son and many shelves were empty in the cold/flu section.

US unemployment is not 3.7% - the people on unemployment benefits is 3.7%. Nothing like statistics to say what you want.

Be well,

 

[pennwalk]

34F. winter weather advisory. Looks like rain but I took three steps out of the garage door and started to slip. Turned around and got my yak traks. Those things are pretty useful on an icy driveway.

We have our older daughter home with us. My wife and I are really enjoying her visit. She was home to figure out what was wrong with her knee, She had ACL surgery yesterday. She is camped out on the couch with an ice water pump chilling out. First physical therapy this afternoon.

I mowed the farm lane Tuesday. It seems like the grass should quit growing this time of year. Of course I got the zero turn stuck down at the bottom of the lane at the farthest point from the barn. Well you know what the Doctor always says "less food, more exercise" I guess the walk up to the barn and back to get the tractor counts.

The oak by the barn finally dropped it's leaves but the one behind the farmhouse is still holding on. Mowing when it is 40F is less fun. Maybe one more mow.

Stay warm

Chris

 

[ronjhall]

Dr. visit went OK yesterday, still have a little swelling on my healing heel, and go back again in two weeks. I bought two pairs of medical grade shoe inserts which the DR. said was the next step, more pleasant than the needle in the heel.

I do remember if I mentioned it here before. Couple years ago I was having lots of foot pain. When in the house. I always went bare footed or wore flat slippers. Switched to Sketchers shoes for in the house. I got some with white sole. So I could tell they are the pair to be used as slippers. After about a month most pain was gone. No longer need medical inserts in my outdoor work shoes/boots. I do wear inserts if I am going somewhere I will be walking or standing for lengthy time. I have not needed to wear my ankle brace all the time either. But not wearing it when I fell and broke my arm may have contributed to the fall.

 

[Buppies]

Drew just for you on I81

 

[Buppies]

Near Raphine fun times I’m sure

 

[buckeyefarmer]

32° and freezing rain. Was 31° at midnight, so not much movement. Got a nice coat of ice on, but traffic is going by.

Haven’t used non phone GPS in years, but reconsidering since the phone ones pass on your data to who knows where. Very intrusive to your personal info.

Went to retrieve my weather data from my weather logger, and they only keep 3 months now. They used to keep a year, so I would download at end of the year.