Digging Out

 

Drone ariel view of our house late this afternoon Sunday January 30, 2022. I have our driveway almost clear!

Today was spent digging out of our third winter snow storm this year. 

Last  year we had zero snowstorms. This year we've had three already and we're just getting started in winter. Oh joy.

Oh well, I'm going to look on the woodside of this winter weather challenge. Before COVID and my caregiving responsibilities for Bill, every year at this time I traveled to Palm Springs to escape just this kind of weather. I hate the snow. Especially six years ago when I fell and tore my left leg quadricep which resulted in surgery to get my left leg working again. I had months of rehab to get back so some semblance of normality. My leg still isn't right but it works, for which I am thankful. Imagine if this happened one hundred years ago. I would be crippled for life. Thank goodness for modern medical practice.

Yesterday and today we made the first steps into digging into the foot and a half to two feet of snow in our driveway. Bill actually insisted on doing some of the shoveling of snow. I was very resistant at first because I didn't want him falling and breaking his hip and then where would he be? Where would I be? But he was so insistent, begging actually that I let him do some shoveling. He so wants to do something other than just sitting around falling asleep waiting for his next meal or trip to the bathroom. I rationalized that he could trip and fall in our house so I decided to let him do a little bit of shoveling. Good decision! He was happy. Didn't get much shoveling done but he felt good doing something. 

The picture at the beginning of this blog is a drone picture of our house and almost one acre of land. Our house is on the left. The drone picture was taken by our neighbor whose house is on the right. My brother Isaac who lives in Pennsylvania got a drone for Christmas from his son and sent me some pictures and videos he took of his house and property. I was wishing he could bring his drone down here and take some pictures of our house. What a stroke of serendipity that my neighbor Tom took a picture. His wife Shannon sent me the picture about an hour ago saying "Tom has a new toy, he thought you would ike this picture since you take so many pictures." She knows me well!

Joe Cocker - Cry Me A River (LIVE in Dortmund) HD

Another go to for me to lighten my spirits in these times of COVID and winter snow storms is to bring me up a little Joe Cocker. 

This video of Joe Cocker singing "Cry Me A River" is a great example of how he takes a classic song and makes it his own. 

"Cry Me A River" is one of my all-time favorite songs but I've never heard an upbeat version like this before and I like it!

Another thing about a Joe Cocker concert, he doesn't need all the flashy pyrotechnics and sequin flashy outfits, although I have no problem with those flashy Elvis/Elton John concerts. With Joe Cocker you have a stout, older man dressed usually in black and just a great band behind him. And notice Joe let's his musicians take the stage and solo their talents. 

Joe Cocker, truly one of the great entertainers of our time. So any good ones, gone now. 

You can have your Barry Manilows and Celine Dions, I'll take a Joe Cocker anytime.

OSUMB 10 29 2011 Ramp Entry, Pregame, I Wanna Go Back vs WI Ohio State ...

When I'm housebound like I am today and will be for the next few days because of the now left behind from the latest winter snowstorm, I pull down a video of the Ohio State Band ramp entrance. Always makes me feel good!

Enjoy!

P.S.

I played the Sousaphone in my high school marching band. Always wanted to be the drum major though. Didn't have the courage to do it then. Maybe in my next life!

Snowmageddon Again!

Woke up this morning to another blanket of white.....snow!

Yes, "snowmaggedon" strikes again, third time this year here in southern Delaware.

Last year we had no snow. While I enjoyed that mild winter many of us paid the price with an army worm invasion which ruined many of our lawns, me included. Maybe all this snow will kill off those army worm grubs thus eliminating an army worm invasion and destruction this year.

I have to admit the snow is pretty. I made a couple good snowy videos for my background on my Zoom calls with friends. But I just as well could do without the snow. 

No problem with food here, I made the "we're going to be snowed in for weeks!" food run yesterday at Food Lion. 

Thank goodness we still have power. 

Let me say that again:

THANK GOODNESS WE SILL HAVE POWER!

Stay warm and safe folks!

Another Doctor's Appointment

Cancer Center waiting room with proper social distancing

 Yesterday I had another doctor's appointment. This one I was dreading. 

It turned out not to be too bad, at least not yet.

The appointment was for 3:00 PM at the Tunnell Cancer Center. That's where you want to have your doctor's appointments, at the cancer center.

I've been to this cancer center before.  It was where I had my prostate cancer treated almost to the day eight years ago. I am familiar with his place. I am familiar with seeing people in the waiting room gaunt, gray and thin. Obviously in the last stages of their cancer disease. 

After filling out the obligatory paperwork (I was told I was a "newbie" because it had been so long ago that I was there, anyone who had been there the last three years wouldn't have to fill out their complete medical history again), I was told to wait until I got a text message to "Meet Under the Stars." This waiting room  has an area of the ceiling that has a lot of little lights against a black background, replicating space. 

I had a long wait, not quite an hour then it was my time to "meet under the stars."

I was taken back to one of the rooms to wait for my doctor.

When he arrived he said "So, what are we here for?" Here we go. I explained that my nurse practitioner at the VA was concerned with my low white blood cell count. The doctor looked at my records and told me "Your white blood cell count is on the low end but not serious but I would like to monitor it." After some more discussion he wrote up three doctor's orders for blood tests. That where I went this morning, to get those blood tests. 

He said he would like to see me in about a month.

So that's where we stand now. I live for another day!

IKEA Bears Invading The USA

 

Two orphan IKEA bears about to be rescued by Pat from the original IKEA store in Burbank , California during one of our visits to California

The latest IKEA bear immigrant to the USA is "Jeremy" who made his arrival at the "Idle Eyes and a Dormy" blog home in New York State yesterday.

"Jeremy", has arrive in New York!

My friend Pat who resides in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada rescues these little bears for $1.00 a piece from a pile of bears in a bin at a nearby IKEA store.

I received "Frank" in a big manilla brown envelope in the mail several years ago from Pat.

"Frank", my little IKEA buddy and online Scrabble helper sent from Pat

Frank still suffers from PTSD from going through one United States Post Office mailing facility machine (the envelope got stuck) but after several months of rehab here in Delaware he's almost back to normal. One ear doesn't quite stand up right but other than an occasional nightmare, Frank is doing just fine. So good he helps me with my online Scrabble games with Pat and Frank's cousin "Jimmy."

"Jimmy" is the original IKEA bear that Pat rescued (he's a "Rescue Bear") from one of those impersonal bins in IKEA that contained hundreds of bears) who resides in a penthouse in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Jimmy has never had to undergo the rigorous trip the the United States via a manilla envelope and through USPS mail processing machines. Click on the above "Jimmy" link to see a You Tube video of Jimmy teasing Frank about losing an online Scrabble game.

We all wish our best to "Jeremy" and his new home in upper New York state and his Broadway aspirations. 

Jimmy and his cousins like "Bjorn", who recently made the trip to Los Angeles California, the home of Glenn and his cat Sadie. Pat gave Glenn strict instructions that "Jeremy" was not to be used as a plaything for Sadie the cat. Glenn just sent this photo of Bjorn to me this morning of Bjorn working on his tan. that's the kind of thing they do in California, not so much in upper state New York. Bjorn has no Hollywood aspirations though. 

"Bjorn" of California workin on his tan this morning.

In the past several years during our travels we have delivered in person IKEA bears to our friend Nadege in Hollywood. 

Nadege with her IKEA rescue bear

Also to our friends Dr. Spo and Someone we presented two of these rescue IKEA bears at their wedding in Palm Springs. 

Spo and Someone tie the knot in Palm Springs, California!

We do not know what happened to these bears, perhaps they're in Spo's back storage room with his other bears (Spo gets a lot of bears). Hopefully they have a happy home in Phoenix, Arizona. they get to use the pool during those Hellish hot summer Arizona days ("but it's a dry heat!"). 

There are many more IKEA rescue bears that have now found homes across this great nation of ours. 

Don - Philadelphia,, PA

Larry - Claymont, DE

Stuart - Boca Raton, FL

Randy - Nowhere, NB

And others I have forgotten. I hope they all have happy and loving homes. In these times of great stress and worry and especially in the Age of COVID, why not have a little fun?

And just remember, "bears" come in all iterations!

Some of my Mom's bears I rescued when she passed on. I hope when I pass on they find a good home.

Basement Wall Leak Fixed!

Viola! Today I finally had our basement wall leak fixed.

Three years ago I first noticed ground water after a heavy rain was seeping in our basement wall. The culprit was a defective sealant around the sewer pipe exiting our basement wall. "Sewer", no one wants to hear anything with those two words:

SEWER

LEAK

Apparently, when the builder applied sealant around the sewer pipe when our house was built in 2006, didn't do it properly. It held for many years but in 2019 I noticed a musty smell coming from our finished media room. Our wall to wall carpeted media room.

I investigated and found on the other side of the dry wall of the media room a puddle of standing water. I traced that to a leak coming from behind the insulation on the narrow passage between the media room drywall and our poured concrete basement.

I had to tear up all the carpeting of our media room and have new carpeting installed. Of course my homeowner's insurance didn't cover it. "ground water" is not covered I was informed. So my perfect record of my whole adult life never using my homeowner's insurance continued. For the total amount of premiums I've paid for homeowner's insurance over the years I could buy a small house. Really, I could. Probably not a water view but a nice small house in a quiet red state town. But I digress.

Bill fixed the leak the last time in 2019. But this year it gave away. "Water will always find a way" so the saying goes. The wall behind our media room was crying tears of groundwater again after a rain. A heavy rain brought puddles. Lucky us.

Since December I've been trying to have it fixed. COVID interfered. The guy who was going to fix it contacted COVID then his family got it (or maybe it was the other way around). Whatever, there was one delay after another and Bill was driving me crazy with "When is he going to do it?" I trusted this guy so I had no doubt he was going to fix it. Today was the day.

Now for the next rain storm. 

Fingers crossed!