Coffee 1-25-14

The coffee house is open! Does it ever close? Not as long as friendly folk keep coming in.

Early coffee today. The coyotes are keeping the dogs on edge and sleep won't be had any time soon. I'm sure they'll calm down at some point, but for now they are howling to beat the band. It's darn cold out, you'd think they'd stay home by the fire.

How about blueberry pancakes for breakfast? They always hit the spot. Let's make it happen.

Did I see that Washington DC got snow? I guess 2 or 3 inches. Boston got clobbered that storm! It all went south of us. We got about an inch. But, now, back in the deep freeze. They say 3 or 4 inches of snow today then a nasty, awful day on Sunday... Howling winds and a high of near zero. That'll be a good day to stay close and keep the cribbage board active. We are close to Groundhogs day.... the midpoint of the heating season. I took a peak in my coal bin. It looks about right for this time of year. Certainly we haven't used half the coal.

Enjoy the weekend!

Good morning. The wind woke me up...it is really roaring. No snow here.

Snowing here, supposed to get 2-3 inches...Alberta Clipper running through.

Mornin people. Excellent choice Freddy Wind AND coyotes here on the hill this AM--lil bastards LOL A balmy 12* here this morning. Have a warm week-end all. Callin for 4 to 6" of snow today

Finally this cold snap is over today, gonna be in the 30's today and its gonna feel like a heat wave! I feel like ive been living in the frozen freeking tundra burning coal like it was balsa wood for a week now almost switched from my ice coffee to hot coffee .... but didn't

Good Morning,Gang! Keep the Coffee Hot,And the Conversation Lively !!! I'm grabbin' a cup to go & then I'll be back!

Blueberry yummmm thanks Freddie. Going to get hearing tested today. I know I need an aid on the left side for sure. Just tired of turning my right side to whomever is talking. It's just time. The coyotes are just singing, they are supposed to have taught the People to sing.(Old Lakota mime) The only time they ever made me nervous is when I was walking back to the truck after deer hunting and they were singing close to me !!!

Cats meowing woke me up. Had to feed them ASAP instead of sleeping in. Gotta run and get my first coffee also! Sitting here with the wind still gusting at up to 30 MPH, but at a balmy 18 degrees (5 degrees warmer than when I went to bed) and looking forward to a lot of snow and a high of 25 today while waiting for the forecast minus 5 degree temp for tonight to bring me back to the reality of this brutal winter.

Pancakes do indeed sound good. It's been awhile since I've had them.

Good morning everyone. I saw on the news last night families huddled around little electric space heaters with coats hats and mittens on in their homes because they can't afford the propane.

Guess I shouldn't complain when its only 72 in house lol.

Lightning wrote:Good morning everyone. I saw on the news last night families huddled around little electric space heaters with coats hats and mittens on in their homes because they can't afford the propane.

Guess I shouldn't complain when its only 72 in house lol.

72! you rat bast@rd... I cant brake 67 with temps at 0

On another note... im not sure you guys have been hearing about all the house fires near me lately with the same cause!!! Because of extreem cold combined with snowfall it appears many people are getting very stupid with their ashes!!! They are placing ashes on decks and porches (instead of walking them away from the house)... this is a BIG BIG nono!!! im not sure where to place basic safety reminders on the forum but someone should make a thread or section for it (were all very vigilant about C0 detectors with any newbie)... meanwhile were losing houses every week here in Ma. from people putting ashes on decks & porches lets not forget basic common sense (combustible materials and ashes should NOT touch....EVER!)

The building I work in is heated with 220 volt electric wall units. They date from the 1970's and also provide air-conditioning in the summer. I can't imagine how much they must cost the owner to run year round. I've never mentioned a coal furnace because any suggestions would fall on deaf ears.

Just remembered, I nearly hit an Otter running across the road last night. They are about the size of a dog but with short legs. I've heard they cleaned out my friends pond which he stocked with trout. An Otter's gotta eat, right!

Lightning wrote:they can't afford the propane.

Well....they can't afford the electricity either! It's just that propane is "pay me now" electricity is "pay me later". It's sad that heat costs so much. People shouldn't have to shiver, or be forced to choose between food & heat or medicine & heat.

GA cracker wrote:Going to get hearing tested today. I know I need an aid on the left side for sure.

I got hearing aids recently. A "free hearing test" showed me what I suspected....my high frequencies are shot. I had big time sticker shock when local places wanted 5 to 6 grand for a pair! I bought mine on line from Audicus. They are built in Germany & so far seem good. The only catch is that they must be shipped in if adjustment is needed. Hopefully that is a rare need. BUT.... I did have to send mine back & they dropped the ball & they had to go back again! Both times I was without them for 11 or 12 days. Is that inconvenience worth $4,700? It is to me! Instead of the $6,000 that Bell wanted, my pair was $1,300. If you think you might go in a direction other than with who does the hearing test make sure you get a copy of the test. It is not legal for Audicus to sell a pair without the test report. For just one hearing aid it would be "just" $700.

Thanks Freddie, I have done some reading about tests, free trials etc. Yeah they are expensive and my insurance co. does not cover, Imagine that.
C.

Freddy wrote: ... Early coffee today. The coyotes are keeping the dogs on edge and sleep won't be had any time soon. I'm sure they'll calm down at some point, but for now they are howling to beat the band. ... Did I see that Washington DC got snow? I guess 2 or 3 inches...

Hi all,

Hey Freddy, did you hear about the new "super" coyote that is moving into the East. They say it's a mix between a coyote and wolf and is some kind of mean; not at all like the coyote that we have in the mid-Atlanta states. It's supposedly bigger and not afraid of most of the animals we see around here, except black bears. Even though we are in the city, we see a lot of coyotes - they live in the "green spaces" and go through the trash. Some of them are already as big as 20 pds. We've had them come into the back yard looking for food - bones I've given the dogs to eat outside.

Yeah, DC got snow - we are 20 mins south of the city and we got 6 to 8 inches, go figure. Mostly we are dealing with the extreme cold. My school system had close to 200 busses fail to start due to the cold. That was reported on the Drudge report - I felt special. My bus only started - hard - because I knew it wouldn't after having sat in the cold for so many days and went midweek to start and let it run for an hour. I'm glad I did. Many drivers sat all day in their cars waiting for the mechanics to get around to them - 6am to 4pm before they sent them home. Someone has to stay with the bus after the jump so that it can stay running a while. It was a mess all the way around. We were told to watch for kids standing at on corners and pick them up if they were going to the same school we were. What a mess!

I don't have a lot planned for the day. I'm going to finish clearing out and cleaning what used to be DK's man cave. He graciously volunteered to give up that space to the young woman who is staying with us for her clothing design studio. After many months looking for a job in that field, designer of and making formal wear and wedding dresses, she found one but so far there are not a lot of hours. We figure it was time to speed up Plan A which was opening her own studio. That space is perfect for her because it has a 1/2 bath she can use as a dressing room.

We have more snow in the forecast this afternoon, with what's around on the ground I doubt we'll even notice, take care, Lisa

Morning all,

Nursing a sick wife, she came home from work yesterday morning and has been pretty sick ever since. I guess a large number of her students are out sick as well. I was suppose to travel to a customers home yesterday, however, that has been changed to Monday.

Heat wave today 5F. I love the cold, however, after this cold snap of -30F at night and daytime highs of only -10F the change in temp will be nice.

I love the barter system. I had been given a two up touring snowmobile with a blown motor over this past summer. I was planning on keeping it for parts for whoever needed something. A neighbor of mine stopped in the shop the other day and asked if I wanted to sell the snowmobile. He needs the starter, clutch and the wiring harness. After several minutes we decided to exchange items. I will give him the snowmobile and I will receive his six month old 7,000 watt portable generator. The generator will go to my parents so they have a back up when the power decides to go out. It was a good barter exchange, he gets the sled he needs which didn't cost me a penny and I get a generator for my parents.

I'm not a big fan of coyotes either. I broke down once at night time with a snowmobile many years ago and while I was walking the several miles back home I had coyotes trailing me. A pack of coyotes followed me at a distance of about thirty yards. The only protection I had was my helmet. As I was about to cross a road a truck came rambling up to me. The guy inside yelled to hop in the back. According to the guy the pack of coyotes was within ten feet behind me at that point. They really closed the distance fast. I was lucky that night.

I hope everyone has a safe, warm and productive weekend. Don't forget to check in on your elderly neighbors, friends and family. Remember to think snow.

The snowman.