We Need Spring to Step In and Take Over!

It is a cold blustery day here in the Southland. The wind has been just howling around my windows making this old house creak and moan. I needed a caffeine fix and drove over to my father's house to get two more Diet Cokes and I about froze to death. It took my car forever to warm up. It was getting warm as soon as I was pulling in my father's driveway.

We have frost warnings for the morning. Every time my lawn starts to get green, we get another frost and it kills it back. Things are looking up, though. Temperatures should be back into the seventies this weekend accompanied by more rain and storms.

Did I tell you about our storms the other night? I was feeling my nocturnal roots and stayed up to 2 AM to witness them arrive. They put on quite a light show with lots of thunder. Crash, bang, boom!

Shopping On An Empty Stomach...

I was bereft of anything nutritious to eat in my house today. I was hungry and was actually looking forward to braving the cold temperatures and a brisk Northerly wind to buy groceries tonight.

"Shit! It's cold!" my father said stepping out of his car in the Pig's parking lot. He followed me inside as I joked about spending $100 dollars.

"Yeah, you look like a $100 dollars," he said with a chuckle.

I chuckled as well. I have to keep Old Fuss and Feathers on his toes.

Last week, the Pig was out of my Ruth's chicken salad. It really isn't all that good anyway. I had suggested to Mrs. Camille that they start carrying Mrs. Grissom's Select chicken salad. Well, I'll be, they had my favorite chicken salad in stock along with the pimento cheese version as well. You could never get that kind of special treatment at Kroger. I spent $20 dollars and bought all four canisters of the chicken salad along with two loaves of honey wheat bread. A match made in heaven. I thanked Mrs. Camille profusely. She smiled with a Cheshire grin and was really eating up the attention.

As I toodled around the grocery store, I kept a tally in my head of what I was spending. When I got to $75, I quit shopping. They had gallons of whole milk for $2.20 and that was a steal of a deal and really helped my budget. I got my usual 4 gallons to accompany my giant bag of Malt-O-Meal frosted flakes. I didn't do too well on the diet front tonight. I bought lots of breakfast foods.

"That store is so clean and organized," my father told me as we were walking to our cars.

Central Alabama Snow Totals...

Live Blogging the Snow Event...

8:00 PM UPDATE -- Right now it is overcast and cloudy. The temperature is 40°F degrees. Rain/Snow is just entering the counties to our north and west.

8:30 PM UPDATE --  The temperature has dropped to 38°F degrees. Still no precipitation. Papa should be here any moment with Cokes and smokes. He had to work today.

9:00 PM UPDATE -- The temperature has dropped to 37°F degrees and continues to fall. The rain/snow event should start in the next 30 minutes to an hour. It is snowing in Roanoke, AL just to our north. Papa has just left. He was in good spirits saying they installed a new Windows-based computer system at work and he amazingly picked up how to use it quickly and used it all day to fill prescriptions. This refutes the old saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

Minus 88°F degrees in the Yakusia province of Russia last night. 

9:30 PM UPDATE -- The temperature has fallen two more degrees to 35°F. Still no precipitation yet. though. I saw on TV where the Weather Channel has a crew set up in Auburn just down the interstate.

10:00 PM UPDATE -- The temperature is now 34°F and snow is falling in LaGrange, Ga at this moment. It is just a hop and a skip away from us up the road. Still no precipitation. The weather gods are teasing me and torturing me. 

10:30 PM UPDATE -- It is now 32°F and sleeting. I guess something is better than nothing, but I am still holding out for snow. 

11:00 PM UPDATE -- The winds are just brutal right now. The windchill values are in the teens. No precipitation just yet, but the temperature has fallen to 29°F degrees. All that snow on the radar will grace us soon. 

11:30 PM UPDATE -- Well, it is now lightly snowing with a heavier band on the way. My wish has been fulfilled. This is something we rarely see this far south. 

May the Weather Model Gods Be With Us...

It doesn't look like much does it? The National Weather Service is hinting at a much larger event. They are waiting for the next few model runs and then will update our forecast. Even if it doesn't snow, then we are in for several very cold days and nights after the front passes from the north.

Of Cats and Men...

Joni and her smokes...

My insatiable desire to smoke has almost gotten out of hand. I can't moderate it lately for some damn reason and my craving for beer has been off the scale as well. Dad says I am in addiction mode -- that the chemistry in my brain is in flux. I had told Old Fuss and Feathers to leave a pack of smokes out on his back porch for emergencies. Well, I needed them this afternoon. I drove over to find Samantha sitting at the back door as I grabbed my cigarettes.

"Sweetheart, I do not know the new alarm code or I would let you in," I told her.

Dad just had a new alarm installed.

You could tell she was cold as she was all poofed up fur wise. Dad mustn't been able to get her inside before he left for work this morning.

"Meow," Samantha told me urgently.

"I know sweetheart. There is nothing I can do."

At least it was above freezing. The temperature was 38 °F when I left the house. I sat down on the steps and Samantha crawled into my lap just purring up a storm. At least, she was getting some respite as my lap was warm from sitting in my very warm car. She made herself comfortable. I sat there for what seemed like hours until the cold got ahold of me and I had to leave.

That Damnable Ethernet Device...

My seldom used backup computer wouldn't sleep lately. It was driving me crazy trying to figure out why. I finally figured out why it wouldn't sleep or hibernate as it should. My ethernet device was set to wake it up on a certain event and my recently installed WeatherBug weather program was also keeping it from sleeping.

I opened up the window's command line by pressing the windows key plus the x key and typed this to find out...

powercfg -lastwake

or

powercfg -requests

Windows Media Player was also making network requests so I turned it off as well.

Hard Freeze Warning...

I am totally unsuited for this kind of weather. The heaviest pants I own are blue jeans. I have warm tops, but I would have to layer them. I made the decision to forego going to the grocery store tonight. My father sounded relieved. He said the drug store was hellacious today. 

"I am going to take you up on that decision," he told me. "I'll see you in a little while with your Cokes and cigarettes."

The thought of spending ten minutes loading up my car with groceries in the cold of Kroger's parking lot with a brutal wind chill was my final deterrent.  

I'm in Love With My Computer...

I'm sorry I haven't written more lately. It was a quiet holiday this year and that is always nice for someone with my disposition. Charlie brought me a bunch of leftovers last night and Maggie and I gorged ourselves on black eye peas, turnip greens, cherry congealed salad, cornbread, creamed potatoes, and pork loin. He left about as quick as he came after checking Maggie's food and water.

I spend much of my time on the computer lately. I watch a lot of videos on YouTube. Lots of Paramore (check out the album Brand New Eyes) and Smashing Pumpkins with a dash of Zero 7 thrown in for good measure.

The cold has also kept me a homebody. It has barely been getting above freezing so that leaves me ensconced in the warm confines of my humble home. Even Maggie refrains from going outside. Her visits to use the bathroom have been of the short duration.

I just called my father at work urging him to call WOW! yet once again -- that inept bunch of bastards. I am tired of waiting and their customer service has been abysmal. Dad snapped at me saying he wasn't doing all that today -- that the pharmacy was busy after being closed so much over these past few weeks. Harumph! I no longer worry about upsetting him which is a big step for me. I used to fear him as so much of my life is controlled by him. Come what may is my new attitude.

I've got to buy groceries tonight and I dread getting out in this cold. I am very cold natured and it can be almost painful for me to get out in this weather. I bet it will be back down to 25° degrees by the time we arrive at Kroger tonight around 9 pm.

Oh, I got in the bed at 2 am last night instead of my usual 4 am. I got up at 9 am this morning feeling completely rested with 7 hours of sleep so maybe I am cycling back to a diurnal existence. It certainly was a good start.

Ying/Yang/Ebb/Flow...

I aspire to be a good gamer. It is like an exclusive club, but like anything in my short life my interest in gaming waxes and wanes. A lot of the games seem like work like the Elder Scrolls series. Fetch this. Get that. Get 200 gold septims and a pat on the back.  That's not always fun to me and feels like a real job except you get no real-world gains.

Right now, I am playing Metroid Prime using the Dolphin emulator, a USB GameCube controller, and an ISO of the game. The GameCube's graphics are gorgeous, but the game is of the FPS variety or first-person shooter for the layman. I am having trouble keeping interest and it is supposed to be one of the greatest games made according to several gaming publications, websites, and numerous circles. I can't seem to get past the opening sequence of exploring a derelict spaceship.

Wicked Cold Weather on the Way...

I saw where the high temperature was 9° degrees in Chicago yesterday. The temperature is supposed to drop down to 16° degrees here Monday night. I wonder how cold it will be when I am on my grocery gathering trip? I bet it will already be down into the low twenties. Moans. We are just not well suited for that kind of cold. Hell, I don't even own a warm hat or gloves. I have no heavy coats. Just jackets. Man, I'd give my eye tooth for a sweater right now.

Bleary Eyed But Fortified...

I finally fell asleep at 4 am this morning. Yes, I am cycling again to a nocturnal existence. It might be one week or two weeks of late nights and sleeping in the day before I am back to a diurnal existence again. The shrill ring of the phone woke me up at 8:30 am.

"Chuck? You up and at em?" my father asked cheerily.

"I am now," I replied with a moan. "Glad you called. I will see you at the pharmacy at nine."

I hastily dressed and put on lots of deodorant as I didn't have time for a shower.

The warm lobby at Kamath Medical felt absolutely wonderful. I basked in its heat as I waited for my nurse to call me back -- warmth was just returning to my toes. As usual, I didn't have to wait long.

My injection burned something terrible this morning, but I grinned and bared it. This was after a lengthy conversation with my nurse about what we got for Christmas.

"I wish I had a hobby like you do with computers," Rebecca told me.

When I got back to the pharmacy, I talked to Matt, the computer guy extraordinaire.

"They were out of stock on that sound card you wanted for Christmas," Matt told me. "I am going to reorder it today when I get some spare time."

I thanked Matt profusely and made my way back up through the Valley to home.

Green Doodie...

"I bet you never have green doodie," Jermaine told me catching me in Kroger's produce section. "It means you have a lack of potassium in your diet. Bananas are full of potassium."

"That's nice to know, Jermaine," I replied blithely as I grabbed the biggest bunch of slightly green bananas I could find.

Jermaine popped a purple grape into his mouth and said he was going to go see if there were any quick sale specials in the bakery. I got off easy tonight and continued with my shopping with razor sharp focus. I wanted to be finished by the time my father arrived. I quickly finished and was waiting for him up front when he walked in the door.

I didn't do so well tonight grocery shopping price wise. I managed to spend $86 dollars. I didn't mean to and had the grandest aspirations to keep it around $60 dollars again this week. I blame it on the gourmet chicken salad I am so enamored with at the moment and the multitudes of breakfast food I buy every week. My father didn't say anything though and seemed in a chipper and upbeat mood afterwards. I headed to my car in the freezing cold to load up and head home. There was a very brisk northerly wind and the cold just made me frigid and miserable. It was cutting through me like a knife.

"I am going to go get my Honda gassed up," my father told me as we parted ways in the parking lot. "Love you and be careful driving home."

Earlier in the evening, Old Fuss and Feathers and Charlie brought me a great supper.

"It is about time for me to give you another haircut," Charlie noted at my longish locks.

I had slices of barbecued pork roast, sweet potato souffle, some of that wonderful macaroni casserole, and some chicken and dressing. Maggie sat as if frozen in time as she intently watched me eat my meal. I didn't think she would eat the pork with tangy and spicy barbeque sauce all over it, but she scarfed it down despite my worries.

Star Wars Overly Met My Expectations...

Earlier in the day I called my father and told him I was driving down to Auburn to catch the afternoon matinee of Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

"Don't go wild at the concession stand," he told me. "Your account doesn't have much money in it."

I forget about it being the end of the month. He said he was going to run to the bank and deposit $100.

The movie was great in my opinion. I saw the original Star Wars in theaters in 1977 so this was a treat to see old familiar faces and the new faces as well. I was disappointed when Luke didn't get into a light saber brawl with Ben Solo at the end. I wanted to see the petulant and arrogant Ben get an ass-kickin' by a master Jedi.

Things Are Getting Fishy Around Here...

As soon as I got all my groceries in and put away, I had to try it with much anticipation -- a fancy smoked salmon dip with Keebler Townhouse crackers. It was as delicious as I thought it was going to be. I then gave a cracker with salmon to Maggie and she has followed me around ever since. She is laying behind my computer chair as I write this hoping for more. She'll get a couple more crackers before we retire to the bed which is fast approaching.

My big impulse buy tonight was two Tombstone pepperoni pizzas. Something I never buy. The total tally came out to be $81 dollars. The pizzas put me over the edge being almost $7 dollars a piece. My father didn't flinch or say a word so I guess I am still in his good graces.

"Damn, I'd rather be too hot than too cold," I told him as we walked out of Kroger into the freezing cold of winter as I shivered.

Dad agreed as he pulled his jacket tightly around him. He was smart and got in his warm car and was basking in its heat as I loaded up my car with groceries in the cold next to him. We didn't have our usual jib jab session as we normally do at this point in the process.

What was weird tonight is that I met my father at Kroger around 9pm. He called me and said he would meet me up there -- to go ahead and get started shopping. Normally, he would give me my medications here at the house and do Maggie's ritual before we left. Things felt out of sorts due to this change -- like we were doing something we weren't supposed to or that something was lacking. It has been a major adjustment for the both of us. It has rearranged our routines substantially.

Winter Weather? In the South?

Needless to say, this excites the dickens out of me. Maybe we will get some snow. Who knows? It is not often we even get the chance for snow.

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 3 AM TO 6 PM CST
FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Snow expected. Total accumulations of a quarter to a half
  inch are expected, primarily on grassy and elevated surfaces,
  with locally higher accumulations up to 1 inch possible in the
  higher elevations of East Alabama.

* WHERE...Portions of central, east central and west central
  Alabama.

* WHEN...From 3 AM to 6 PM CST Friday.

Winter is Certainly On the Way...

"It's hot as hell in here!" my father said as he walked into my house tonight. "You must've turned the heat on. There was a blast of heat when I opened your front door."

"I've got the heat on and I am still chilly," I told him as I shivered when I said it.

I also had on a hoodie and warm pants to chase away the chill to no avail.

"How was your day, Chuck?" my father then asked as he sat on my couch and started to dispense mucho medications.

"I can feel my medications waning. I've quite frankly felt a tad bit crazy today," I replied with a chuckle. "You can tell it is almost time for my injection."

Dad chuckled a little bit as well and told me we all feel a little crazy sometimes.

"You're keeping your kitchen clean," dad then said as we walked through to go get Maggie's ritual completed.

"I never know when Charlie is going to show up," I told my father matter-of-factly. "Charlie says I am lazy about such matters and I want to prove him wrong."

We both then laughed.

Dad was so tired tonight. He didn't get home until 11 pm from Alexander City last night and he had to work all day. I couldn't do what he does and I am half his age. As we were performing Maggie's ritual, my father was just standing there hapless as I got her fresh water from the sink in the kitchen.

"Are you going to give Maggie some food?" I asked carefully.

"Oh shit!" dad said laughing. "I need to go home and get in the bed."

Way Down Yonder in the Deep Freeze...

Papa John has just left the premises. He was in a hurry to get home after working all day. Bless his heart! He even managed to remember to bring my Cokes and cigarillos as well. What heaven! They were still cold from sitting in my father's car all day.

"I am going to give you your crazy meds, feed and water Maggie, and then I am heading home," the toilsome and tired creature before me said.

"It is also going to get down to 27° degrees in the morning," my father woefully and worriedly said. "I hope it doesn't kill my azaleas."

Mine are all in full bloom as well. We will have to cross our fingers tonight and tomorrow night and then hope it warms up quickly as the temperatures moderate.

"We got audited by the state board of pharmacy today," my father then told me. "I knew things were fine, but it still makes you nervous none-the-less."

Typing With Numb Hands and Even Colder Fingertips...

http://ipcblog.org/

But we have warm hearts abounding here...

I just looked at the National Weather Service's webpage and they are showing 28° degrees. It feels much colder than that tonight and that made loading and unloading groceries quite uncomfortable to say the least. Factor in the windchill and you have a regular arctic scenario. My Auburn hoodie saved the day wrapped around me with its warmth and shielding me from the icy wind.

"Go ahead and do your shopping," my father told me after our arrival at Kroger in separate cars.. "I am going to use my fuel points and get some gas.

I had already finished my shopping when my father walked inside Kroger and gazed at what I bought tonight.

"Good! You got some meals! Marie is going to treat you right! Those big chicken and turkey pot pies look delicious."

I spent $77 dollars tonight which is a reasonable expenditure I think. My biggest expense was some creme filled puff pastries in the bakery dept. I also got some Mrs. Grissom's regular chicken salad and the sandwich fixings to go with it.

My biggest impulse buy (and probably my biggest blunder) was purchasing two large bottles of Kroger brand vegetable juice. I usually just get the V-8 branded kind, but they were out of stock. I hope this stuff isn't just gross as all get out.

Dear Snowmen Everywhere...

http://www.pressconnects.com/

The National Weather Service had us under a hard freeze warning till lunch today.

"You were right last night about the cold," Charlie told me this morning hurriedly walking to my front stoop. "I just didn't believe it would get this cold."

Charlie was busy trying to carry the breakfast biscuits and keep his hair from flying about wildly. I was snickering a little bit, but not noticeably. It was quite comical.

Charlie also remarked about the jacket I was wearing.

"Hey, I gave you that jacket for Christmas!"

Charlie was wearing one just like mine, but in a darker charcoal color. Mine is a lighter grey.

Charlie handed me our biscuits and came inside to see and greet Maggie -- to not do so would be a travesty. The Magster was in ecstasy and put on a fine welcome home show for Beta dog. Poor Zeta dog which is me -- I always get left out.

"Your daddy's driving over to the pond in god's country to see if it froze over," Charlie then told me.

The last time it froze over was in 1983.

"What do you want for supper?" Charlie asked before we parted ways.

"Mom wants Taco Hell and I  thought I will want the same," I replied to Charlie.

Curse the Heavens and Let's Dodge Hell...

https://commons.wikimedia.org

It was 18° bone chilling degrees this morning as I drove to Walmart. There seemed to be nothing stirring as far as any life was concerned. I almost thought my car wouldn't crank as my battery struggled so to fire my frigid engine into life.

George was heading to the Waffle House, as he does at 6 AM every morning, and gave me a hearty wave hello. It was too cold for mingling and socializing, though. I still haven't found out for sure what happened to George that month he was gone. I guess don't ask and don't tell is the best policy on that. I am pretty sure it had something to do with drinking and driving or so my father says.

"We all bowl a gutterball sometimes," Horsefly will say about such matters as he often does.

"I can't believe I am doing this," I muttered to myself as I slowly backed out of my driveway -- my hands and fingers quickly going completely numb from the cold. "Those better be some mighty fine tasting bananas."

I drove by Kroger down Hwy 29 and they looked like they finally had just opened for the day. They used to stay open all night. I didn't take any chances in this cold this morning and headed to Walmart which would be a sure bet about being open.

Walmart looked like the retail holocaust had happened. There wasn't an employee in sight. I looked at some prices around the store and then meandered over to produce to get my bananas with my carryall in hand. I grabbed two large bunches of bananas and headed to checkout hoping an employee was now manning a register.

Charlie will be along in a few hours. Maggie, I am sure and I both are ready for a hot breakfast this morning. Charlie will curse the cold as well as I did leaving a little while ago. Horsefly must have his morning sausage biscuit rain, shine, or snow.

I'm Not Sully! I am Sullen!

https://www.quora.com

Well, winter storm 2017 was a complete bust. At least, for this part of the South. It was just an all night very cold rain event.  I should have known so and not set my hopes so high. It makes me feel like a stupid weather fanboi. The weather guessers are rarely right on a micro level especially when it concerns winter weather.

I set my alarm clock to wake me around 3 AM to see if all the rain had changed over to snow yet as they had forecast. A cold blast of wind met me at the front door with the pattering of rain could be heard on my roof. I heard Maggie potty in record time and then we both climbed back into the bed my hopes dashed and Maggie surely had to be relieved. I was like Horsefly not getting to go to the bowling alley. We awoke this morning to a beautiful sunny 25° degree winter day in the Southland -- the easterly sun shining intensely brightly surrounded by beautiful pastel blue skies.

At Least, I Didn't Have to Get Out in This Weather...

My father showed up at 10:00 PM last night with my medications. He seemed out of it as well. Maybe his hopes were getting dashed also.

His excuse last night was that he fell asleep while watching TV which is perfectly plausible as far as my father goes. That meant my mother was in the bed and most likely asleep.

"Johnny! Johnny! Go take Andrew his medications," she always says when she badgers him at night. "He probably needs them. Don't make him wait!"

And the beat goes on...

Look Who's is Going to Build a Tentative Snowman!

Well, it looks likely that we will get some interesting winter weather down South after all today.
If you know me well, then you know I am extra super excited and elated. An event like this only
happens every 5 to 6 years or so.

It is also going to be fun and interesting to see Maggie trying to poop or pee amidst of all that winter weather and precipitation! She will be out and in within almost a split second.

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 409 AM CST FRI JAN 6 2017 ...WINTER WEATHER IMPACTS POSSIBLE FOR CENTRAL ALABAMA TODAY AND TONIGHT... COLD AIR WILL QUICKLY SPREAD SOUTHWARD THIS MORNING AS MOISTURE FROM A SYSTEM IN THE NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO SPREADS NORTHWARD. WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA...SNOW...SLEET...AND FREEZING RAIN ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED IN THE WARNING AND ADVISORY AREAS. SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS TO TRAVEL ARE LIKELY.

* ACCUMULATIONS...1 TO 3 INCHES OF SNOW AND SLEET.