Adventures · Inspiration

As the weather turns cold – I got a smoking hot gig

Shelley

Woohoo – I got a temporary gig – a free, non-paying gig at that!  Yay me!

Really?

Well, maybe so not.

But, I’m taking an opportunity to evaluate a few things and now, just today, out of the blue, I decided to be a self-proclaimed Adjunct Weather Predictor, aka, a non-paid wannabe meteorologist.

I figured they’re doing about as good as I could at it, so why not?  To be completely accurate about the current conditions, all you have to do is look outside and see that it’s clear or cold or raining or snowing or that the wind is blowing for that matter.

The smoke from the furnace blowing in the wind will tell anyone that it is windy.  Duh.  Or that it is so cold out, even the sun can’t completely melt snow off of black metal deck furniture.

Since the date of Christ’s first estimated preaching dates in AD 27-29, I’m guessing people were able to predict decide if they needed to add on a cloak or if a loincloth would do?  Or if sandals were needed or not for their feet.

Heck, Copper even does well at predicting the temperatures – if it’s too cold, all he does is pees quickly and runs back inside.  It’s a horrible thing for a dog with little feet – doing his bigger job requires quite the feat.  It took him all day and the heat of the sun in the afternoon to convince him to stay out there long enough to drop a smoking hot Cuban cigar-like creation.  5 different attempts – 3 cigars.  Frozen each time in mid-air.

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At least we both added stair master sessions to our routine of the day.  Each urge he had that he thought would produce results took us up and down the stairs, multiple times.

Despite the paychecks our local weather forecasters collect on a regular basis, we’ve yet to see their predictions match up to their predictions.  So that’s why I think I’d be just as good at it.  There’s no motivation with additional pay.  All you have to do is show up and take a seat.  I can do that.  Maybe not, it’s kind of cold out…

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This week, we were supposed to get 3-5 inches of snow.  I even thought, by now, this winter they had to get it right, once.  So I canceled my travel appointments for work.

Nope.  No big storm, just about a 1″ addition to the cover of snow on our ground.

Not that I didn’t adore the additional day of not having to add dressing up and make-up to my routine.  Or add extra clips to keep my hair adorned and covering my adorable little sutures on my head.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining too much about not having to shovel.  Mr. does that anyhow.  But I’d like to add that, um…snow cover is a good thing when we’re heading into a deep freeze kind of week.  They’ve (the paid weather folks) predicted so anyhow.

The rabbits do seem to enjoy the frozen grass.  I betcha, though, they’d prefer to have additional snow piled around so their under the teahouse home would be protected from the wind.

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Enough…already, somebody’s gotta do something about the deep-freeze-not-enough-snow-to-protect-the-ground predictions, right?

Maybe if I predict snow, it’ll happen and it won’t be as cold out??  Deep freeze weather scares us.  There are a few horror stories of the year a few years back in history where all the pipes in the city’s streets froze and people were without water for weeks.  It wasn’t a good time, let me tell ya.

As landlords, we adore it when the additional snow protects the ground and keeps the pipes from freezing.  As we advance into the week ahead, very little snow on the ground means we’re likely going to have our tenants trickle water to keep the pipes from freezing.  And to add to that, when we ask renters to help out by remembering to do the trickling thing, they can be as reliable as paid meteorologists.  Especially if they wait for the pipes to freeze first and then wonder what happened?  That usually happens in the middle of the night.  When, by the way, it tends to be colder outside.

I don’t know about you, but I’m seeing the need for me to take the gig as planned for the day.  So far, I predict it will get colder.  When I got up it was -10 degrees.  See…the temp is falling by the minute…

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Post inspiration – Linda G Hill’s #JusJoJan and #SoCS – ad/add/AD (Anno Domini) Linda stated there are bonus points if all three are used in the post.

PS – How about where you live, have your meteorologists predicted accurately for you this season?  Don’t get me wrong – meteorologists do know their stuff, I’m just funning here, no offense intended.  I can imagine that they may be teased a time or two during their working careers?  

 

Published by Shelley

Letting my quirk out one post at a time.

53 thoughts on “As the weather turns cold – I got a smoking hot gig”

  1. Colder it is! I think you’re every bit as good as the official forecasters. Watching their forecast, and trying to make travel plans is like buying a lottery ticket. I always close the browser with a sense of wonder as to what will really come our way.

    I love the picture of the bunnies.

    1. Aw, shucks, thanks! I just don’t get how with all the technology they can’t get it right!? The bunnies appreciate your kudos – they like to pose before the dog is released and chases them.

      1. Ours pose too, and they like the fact that Maddie is on a leash and they hear us say “we’re not going over their. We don’t want to bother the bunny.”

        1. LOL – the leash is a handy thing when bunnies are around. Maddie is well-trained if you’re able to convince her that you don’t want to bother them!

  2. Brrrrr! It always amazes me how little furries can live outside in those temps. I guess they’ve adapted well. Hope you all get good snow blankets.

      1. Thanks Shelley. I actually just now purchased the furniture for the yard, delivered Tuesday. Am in T shirt and shorts today, so beautiful today!

        1. Yay – the yard looks great! I’ll let you get by with that kind of razzing…I’d be doing the same damn thing if I was there! Enjoy the nice weather!

  4. Our news weather man reports the weather like this (I’m NOT kidding): “It looks like we’re going to get a lot of snow but I’m not sure. The European model says yes, 5 to 10 inches. My module says maybe 1 to 3 inches. The winds may kick it out to sea. Let’s see what happens.”
    Hubby and I laugh at this almost everyday. They don’t know a thing.
    Scary.

    1. LOL – that sounds just like our forecasters. Maybe that’s what they’re teaching them in school – how to give Politically Correct Forecasts 101. It is scary. And it’s snowing here, wasn’t in the forecast either. Sigh.

  6. The weather folks have done all right here. It’s rained when it was supposed to and not when it wasn’t, temperatures have been about where they’ve predicted, and so far no winter precipitation, since temps stay above freezing most of the time.

    So have you joined with Wunderground and bought one of their weather stations?

    1. You’re in the lucky zone of weather forecasters! No, haven’t joined Wunderground. Mr. has thought about it though…shh…his 3-D Printer is a big enough project for the time being. Plus, I’m kinda good at the forecasting, so we’ve got the weather covered too. 😉

      1. Okay. I’ve considered doing the weather station thing myself, but installing anything with my physical limitations is an adventure, and one that usually ends in abject failure.

        1. I know you’d be able to understand what should be done to install it, I would have to defer to Mr. for anything technical like that!

          3. There’s an expression we used in IT: RTFD (read the F****** doc/directions) or sometimes RTFM (m for manual). There was also a saying “when all else fails, read the directions.” Amazing just how much frustration you can save by doing that.

  7. Darn, it’s cold there, they predict good here but when the storms are in the tropics they seem to boost their ratings by saying the worst, so I tune into the big pros like the weather channel during those times

    1. Yes, it’s cold. Again…today…and for the rest of the week, so they say. We’ve yet to see the big pros do much better. They’re out of Atlanta, GA so they bring out the parkas when it’s 55 degrees. But, they do love the big drama like storms.

  8. And here in Melbourne Australia we have just come through a heatwave with temps in the low 40’s. Just 25 degrees today (if the forecasters have it right)!

    1. It is my favorite go-to spot in the warmer months. It’s not insulated at all, so unless it’s 50 or above and the sun is shining, it’s just a pretty yard ornament!

  10. Brrrr! -10 is unimaginable to me. Those bunnies look so cute. Our forecasters have been pretty accurate as of late. B swears by KSAT – channel 12.

    1. -10 below is nothing compared to the -30 below predicted this week. LOL! Thank goodness it is usually just a week long deal, and then it starts to warm back up. At least I’m keeping my fingers crossed that will be the case. Maybe if you send your KSAT forecasters our way, things would turn around for us?!

  12. That’s cool, Shelley! Being a good forecaster. Oh, my! It’s definitely cold there. It would be cozy to have a nice cup of hot cocoa.

    1. Thanks, Winnie! A nice slice of your banana bread would’ve been welcome as well! It’s going to be that cold or colder for the next week. With snow, too… Send warmth my way………!

  13. I agree with you about the meteorologists Shelley – for last week’s Saturday storm, all the Detroit forecasters had different predictions. We started off with six inches of snow tomorrow and now they are wavering and saying 4-6 inches. That’s fine with me and right now, like you, I’d rather have snow than the bitter cold weather they are predicting. I promise not to complain about the Summer heat and humidity if we can just get past the next three days. Our schools are supposed to be closed three days this week – likely Monday through Wednesday, but they’ve not made an official announcement yet.

    1. WOW – that’s ambitious of them to predict and react to a 3 day span when they can’t even get 1 day right?! I bet the kids are excited, parents, not so much. We got snow last night, but it was windy so it’s hard to tell how much. Some spots 4 inches, other spots, none.

      1. I was surprised too Shelley, and a little too ambitious is the perfect description. Unbelievably several of the big universities and colleges closed. When I was at Wayne State University it closed one day after the Blizzard of ’78 and that was my last year of school. I was grateful for that as I took the bus to school (Wayne State was in downtown Detroit and I recently mentioned how bad the City streets are after a snow event). They closed Wayne State mid-day today and I was looking at Twitter and everyone was incensed they had not closed it down earlier. They even closed the State government down; our brand-new Governor told everyone to go home around mid-morning. Yes, the parents are in a bind unless they have relatives or a good Plan B for daycare, if applicable. I shut the radio off to hear when the snow service guy came – he’s not come yet but my neighbor did my front – I had to call him last Saturday and if I have to call again, it will not be pretty.

        1. Craziness! I’m waiting to hear if our schools are closed or not, they closed yesterday due to the potential snow (which only brought us less than 5″). Jeez. But the bitter cold will likely close the schools because of the children having to wait for buses out in the cold isn’t safe. My oldest is a director at a day care, she said when schools are closed they are extra busy because parents still have to work and need a safe place for their kids. I’m just hoping that the 2-3 day predictions stands true and that by the weekend the cold blast is gone! Stay safe – and I hope the plowing guy shows up for you!

          1. Unbelievably, not only the elementary and secondary schools were closed, but the universities as well and that’s today and tomorrow – they’ve not closed for Thursday yet. This is really unprecedented and the universities had not closed since 1978 and the Blizzard of ’78. They closed yesterday for the snow and today/tomorrow strictly for the cold – a university-aged student does not know how to bundle up to stay warm? On Twitter, a few of our Michigan universities were besieged by students petitioning to close the schools or shaming them into doing so yesterday. Now they say “what will the university students do for food?” Is it me – but you reach that age and old enough to go to school and live on campus, you can’t have the forethought to get a few things into the dorm room or off-campus housing to eat? I am sure the parents are scrambling to take their kids somewhere safe if they don’t have friends/relatives waiting in the wings to help and day care would be swamped. I hear Friday will moderate and 40 degrees by the weekend. The plow guy did not show up to do the side/back and I called and said “guess you drove by and saw my neighbor did the snow, but he only did to the gate, the 25 feet beyond the gate and patio were not done this time by him” … I told him if he didn’t come this morning he could wait until Friday due to the extreme cold, but I wanted it done before Saturday’s big melt … they never did it after the 2-inch snowfall on Saturday night in that area either. Bet he does not think it is part of his job. Sigh.

          2. I agree – and I remember the winter of 1981 – it was -30 below, we all had to get our cars started with little grills of coal, and then get to school and work. Have we turned into wimps over the years? I get the little kids not going to school – standing out waiting for buses, etc. Our University never shuts down, but it did too. I remember one winter at that University and it was so damn cold walking across the foot bridge across the cold river to get to class and hoping my car would start after class!
            I bet some of the families still head out to McDonald’s for lunch, or the mall to shop because it’s a free day off of work. All of those workers had to venture out into the cold so the restaurants and stores stay open. Our postal delivery was cancelled for today. It is -28 below, but a few years ago it was colder and things weren’t shut down like this year. I’m thankful though that I don’t have to go out today! I’m also thankful for the caregivers who show up for their shifts to keep people safe and cared for. Or the doctors who go to work at the hospitals to help the people with frost bite.
            Stay warm – glad your snow removal guy showed up!

          3. I am amazed as well and last week they closed for the cold one day – all the kids were off and there was record attendance at the annual auto show in Detroit. So, you’re right – they’re not staying home today either. All the City of Detroit bus fares are waived – free to ride today all day/night. Our new governor has once again shut down the State … only prison guards/first responders who are State workers will be on duty today and she says likely tomorrow as well. That is B.S. – like you, I just went out and dealt with it back in the day. I have a trickle charger on my car and I will still go out shortly to run the car in the garage … here it is -6 and real feel of -34 right now. I will put a bandana over my mouth – this is something I’ve never done before, but they said your lungs could be damaged from breathing in the cold air as we are not accustomed to such cold temps here in Michigan. Yes, the hospital workers and caregivers are diligent and “Steady Eddies” as that expression goes. Stay warm and enjoy being indoors Shelley … days like this I am grateful for working from home.

          4. I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiments! Stay warm! Keep praying for Copper, too – he’s smart enough to know he doesn’t want to go outside!

          5. Just heard no mail tomorrow either – also unprecedented from what I am hearing. I will pray for Copper. When I had my canary, I prayed we would not lose power when we had bitter cold or polar vortex conditions. My high-efficiency furnace had a “bug” for almost three years. It kept shutting itself off and I’d have to go down and reboot it … after three years, I could finally detect a new code and Bingo … it was the clue they needed. I had electric wraps to slip in between his Buddy’s cage covers, heating pads for the bottom of the cage under a towel in the event of furnace failure … even battery-operated polar fleece scarves which I could use if we lost power, but with this type of cold, I would have lost him for sure. I was always able to bring the furnace back. They discovered other people with the same Bryant model had the same problem, they put their heads together … the furnace was not pitched right and they put a couple of small plastic wedges under the furnace. It was an installer error, not manufacturer’s defect … I had a lot of angst over it as it was relatively new.

          6. Wow – you’re a furnace detective too! You never cease to amaze me by the lengths you go to help little critters!

          7. I am too – whenever I have a contractor in for anything, I always stand there and ask questions. I try to understand what is going on … they probably think I don’t trust them being there, but that’s not it at all. I ask my handyman everything as well. My mom/I had a handyman for years and years. After she passed away, Bill got really belligerent and argumentative – I told him one day that he would respect me as he did my mom or we would part company. Told him that my mom and I split his “fees” for years – it was not just my mom paying him in case he thought that was the case. He gave me such grief and than wanted to borrow money – I told my boss, and he said “get rid of him – now!” Was reluctant to go through finding someone else, but finally turned him loose. He was angry and drove by the house (he lived in the neighborhood) and any handyman I had there (went through a string of them until I found my current guy on Angie’s List) and he would disparage me and call me crazy to them. He was crooked – he would drive by and call me and say shingles had blown off the roof – that was because we had bought a large package of shingles when we had a firecracker land on the roof and burn/damage the shingles. I said “no one else loses their shingles all the time – we had a reputable roofer put the roof on, not a re-roof, a brand-new roof” … he said “if it leaks, don’t call me” … Robb told me to have him take his phone and take a pic of the missing shingles. I said he has a flip phone and if I do that, no telling how he would retaliate. I got rid of him after he kept asking me for money; I told him he’d never asked my mom for money, so that was the final straw. Being a single woman with no family members around is rough sometimes. Those little furry squirrels have my heart – tonight I’ll write a post and mention how the peanuts froze on the ledge. I worry about them in this weather – I am now worried about me. Our energy provider has asked us to dial down and conserve energy. I’m not racking up electricity, but the last time we were asked this, we lost our power, our side of the street, on a hot evening in June. Losing power in June is one thing – now is another. Sigh. They said don’t wash and dry clothes … I’m running the washer with two items in it every 6 hours to warm the pipes and continue to do so. They’ve cancelled our mail tomorrow too.

          8. Yikes, good thing you got rid of that guy! I think about you often, being alone can’t be easy, it reminds me of how much I worried about my mom living alone, too. Especially when there was bad weather, or possible power outages, etc. Your brave and so kind, you deserve to have hired help that responds to you in kind. I hope your power stayed on and that you’re warm today! Take care, dear blogging friend!! xx

          9. Thanks Shelley – it is nice having friends in the blogging world who care … it gives me a warm feeling … and that’s something I truly need right now. And, so I’m off to venture outside as soon as I get dressed and I have about as much enthusiasm as little Copper for going outdoors.

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