May 10th!!

Why the exclamation points on an otherwise unremarkable day?

May 10th is the latest date of measurable snowfall in Milwaukee.

Back in 1990, Mother Nature thumbed her nose at Summer, dumping two to three inches of snow on the lakefront, with a whopping half a foot falling on the western suburbs. Ever since then, it's been an ongoing assumption in these parts that it isn't safe to plant anything outdoors prior to May 10th, for fear Ma Nature's twisted undies.

In related news, I plan to pick up mulch after work today.

The cute "bowling ball" shrubs planted alongside the lilac bush in my front bed shriveled and died before the end of last summer. This was the second set to do so, while the lilac bush, planted the year before the first set of bushes, is thriving.

Even if it takes a while, I can take a hint. Rather than beating a dead shrub (or creating another one, as the case may be), I'm going to put in an hydrangea. It shouldn't get too big - four feet wide and tall, they say - and will add more continuous color to the front (they also said the lilac would only get five feet high - at the height of summer it towers over my 5'4").

I've ordered two: the smaller (1 gall) for the giant patio urn, the larger (2 gall) for the bed in front. The hope is that the larger, better established plant will, well, survive the apparent death valley in the front bed.

The next big question is what color to coax from the hydrangeas. The Great Facebook has spoken, and most think it should be pink, to contrast with the lilac (the lilac has dark purple blooms, rather than the more common lighter ones). My preference is the blue, as I'm afraid the bepinkening agent will leach far enough into the surrounding soil to have an impact on the lilac. This flower bed isn't huge.

This weekend is earmarked for prep work. Get the mulch and put it down on the half of the bed that has the lilac. Dig the hole for the hydrangea and scatter in some soil changer. Pull out the shepherds hook (maybe...since I have to water the patio hydrangea regularly, I may just remember to water anything I put on the hook). Move the urns to their new spot. All that patio prep stuff, too. The hydrangeas are due to be delivered Monday (I get them from Home Depot, but get them online - why yes, I'm lazy. I do go to the garden center half a mile from home to get mulch and annuals).

I just got an update email from FedEx: the bushes will be delivered today.

That is actually better, as if they came Monday, it would likely be next weekend before they got planted.

Rain is forecast for Sunday, but Saturday should be overcast with a temperature in the high fifties. Warmer, but overcast and eventually thunderstorms next week, including Saturday. So this is pretty much the perfect time to get these things in the ground. If nothing else, at least the planting will get done tomorrow.

After all, it will be May 11th tomorrow, and it (probably) won't snow again until at least November!

Render unto Caesar

For the last six months or so, in person and in various social media posts, I've been urging people to do a tax estimate - a down-and-dirty estimate of what their taxes would look like under the new TCJA law, so they could check their withholding and make adjustments as needed.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act made changes to the income tax laws designed to lower our overall tax bill. But the government didn't want to wait until the 2019 filing season (for calendar 2018, the year the TCJA took effect) for all that lovely extra spending money to flow into the economy. So in January, 2018, they adjusted the withholding tax tables to reflect the change in the tax law.

There was much rejoicing when people found their net pay go up, as the taxes withheld went down to reflect the law change.

Only now it is time to pay the piper.

The withholding tables - and the amounts withheld for taxes from your paycheck - are only estimates. Until you actually prepare your taxes, you don't know what your exact tax bill is, and whether or not your withholding will cover it. And sometimes, the people who create those tables estimate wrong.

Case in point: Fast forward to this last weekend, when I finally had all the information ready to prepare my taxes. I had already increased my Federal withholding in August, having done a quick projection that showed I may be short on withholding.

Sure enough, this year, for the first time in decades, I ended up owing Uncle Sam about $350.

I am certain there will be people who will scream that the TCJA was a lie, because they are getting a much smaller refund or actually owe on their return.

They are wrong, and apparently have zero understanding of the income tax process.

While I do owe, when I look at my total tax bill (actual, calculated total tax) on my 2018 return versus my 2017 return, my total tax bill decreased by almost $700. Decreasing your overall tax bill is what the TCJA was designed to do.

There are two things you need to do right away to avoid a nasty April Fool's tax surprise:

1. Prepare your taxes now. Don't wait until April. You don't have to mail them, but at least if you prepare them now, you will know what the damage may be and can plan accordingly.

2. Check your withholding. Once you have prepared your taxes, take a look at your most recent check stub. Do the math to figure out how much tax you will have withheld by the end of 2019. Compare that total to the total tax on your return (total tax, not total withheld). If it looks as if you are going to fall short, fill out a new form W-4 for your employer, increasing the amount of tax taken from your paycheck (decrease the number of withholding allowances on your form, or take the easier route and just have them deduct an extra $X per check).

End of PSA.

A nip in the air

I went to bed rather late last night, and as a result, didn't get up for my usual middle-of-the-night bathroom break until 3:45, only fifteen minutes before the alarm usually goes off. Eh, close enough to just stay up.

Toddled over to the computer, curious if the weather prognosticators' frenzied warnings about the extreme cold were on target.

Four a.m. actual temperature: Minus sisteen degrees.

Sixteen miles per hour winds.

"Feels like" temperature: Minus forty-seven degrees.

It's been this cold and nasty here before in my lifetime, though that was about thirty years ago. There was a January where we got locked into a cycle where the weekend temps stayed in the minus fifteen range, followed by a work week warm up to a balmy fifteen ABOVE zero, then another weekend trip to the deep freeze. As I recall, it went on all month.

The USPS suspended mail delivery today, and I'm happy. They don't need to risk frostbite to bring us our daily quotient of junk mail.

Since my employer relies on students getting around on foot to class, they took the rather extraordinary measure of sending an email around midafternoon yesterday declaring the university would close at five p.m. - and not reopen until Thursday at noon. Naturally, for the first time in years I needed to stay late to get something done (actually doing a favor for someone else, who also stayed late). I didn't leave the office until just after six, having clocked an eleven and a half hour day.

On the plus side, I can go back to bed in a bit.

Oh - have I mentioned that the high for Sunday will be thirty-seven degrees? ABOVE zero.

Wisconsin: If you don't like the weather, stick around a day or two.

Say an extra prayer today for those who must be out in this stupid cold - first responders, hospital personnel, maintenance people, utility workers and heating company employees, to name just a few.

Me? I'm going to watch some of the news, then go back to bed for a bit. I have hash in the fridge to heat up for breakfast and leftover pot roast for a nice, warm lunch. Good coffee to brew for warmth in between meals. Ironically, it is too cold to use the fireplace: the wind whips down the chimney, making it hard to light (gas), keeping it from throwing off any warmth until it's been running an hour or two.

If you live anywhere in the Midwest, stay inside if you possibly can.

The meme is true: How cold is it? Even Wisconsin is closed.

Creepy magnet

I'm not sure if it this particular Starbucks that is a magnet for the creepy, or if this is a symptom of the state of my city.

Back in the spring sometime, I was sitting a Starbucks, reading, when I happened to look up. My seat was at a table that gave me a view down the entire length of the barista workspace. Directly in front of me was a counter with a couple of higher stools pulled up to it.

Seated on one of the stools was an older Asian man. I thought he was just holding his phone up at eye level to be able to see it...but I happened to catch a glimpse of the screen, and he was filming the baristas, four of five of whom were younger females.

Oh, hellz no. I went to the ladies' room, then on my way back flagged one of the crew down at the other end of the workspace to clue them in. My other choice would have been to call the police - frankly, this kind of behavior strikes me as never innocent and always creepy.

It was one of the women who approached the guy to tell him to knock it off, not the one male behind the counter, which I thought was interesting. She was polite but told him to stop filming. Five minutes later, they sold him another coffee - ?!

Me, I would have forced him to erase the video, then tossed him out on his ear with dire warnings not to come back.

Fast forward to late summer, same shop.

I am a creature of habit and spend part of Sunday in this same Starbucks, generally reading. I'd noticed that an apparently homeless man - tall, long hair, unshaven - was there about the same time as I was, always in the same corner, with a cup of coffee untouched in front of him, sometimes fast asleep. While it wasn't exactly the ideal situation, he didn't seem to be harming anyone. Every so often (when he was awake), he'd go outside for a smoke.

About a month ago, I pulled up for my usual reading session and found the doors locked, with a sign indicating that due to "an incident" the cafe portion of the shop would be closed indefinitely, though the drive-through was open.

Curious.

The next time I was there, homeless guy...wasn't.

Today, however, he arrived about ten minutes after me. There were only two clerks on at the time, with a lot of traffic through the drive-through.

Another manager came on, though, and soon she (again, there was a guy working as well) was telling the homeless guy that he could finish the coffee he had, but that he could not be in the cafe and would have to leave.

Curious and curiouser, and an exercise perhaps in connecting the dots.

Think I'll have my coffee and do my reading at home next week.

The last straw

My ears perked up when the early morning news team said the university for which I work had made a big announcement:

The retail places on campus are transitioning from plastic straws to paper straws.

I shouldn't have been surprised at this social justice posturing, since a key tenet of the university is (social) justice for all. I suppose they needed a quick win, given the spanking they recently received in court. But straws?

Plastic straws have become a "thing" lately, with irate tweets, overwrought Facebook memes and badly sourced "research" into how billions!!@#@$!! of straws are discarded every day, ending up skewered through our favorite Nemo and Dory look-alikes.

Plastic straws are evil, and replacing them with gee-they-disintegrate-in-liquids paper straws allows Millennials to feel virtuous and smug when they throw away what is left of their paper straws...still stuck in the gigantic, domed, all-plastic cup that held their mostly air "coffee" drink.

Stupid.

For all my ire over this, there is almost no impact on me personally. I don't like or use straws, other than the one or two times a year I pick up a milkshake. Honestly, the shakes are so thick I can happily "drink" them with a spoon.

A plastic one, of course.

I'd like to report a crime

Officer? I'd like to report a crime. Yes, a kidnapping. No ransom demand, but I know hundreds of thousands of people who would pay anything - anything - for her return. The kidnapee? Oh - Spring. No, not a person, the season.

On the bright side, we have not been hit as badly as places north. If you drive three hours up to Green Bay (just kidding, you can't right now, the roads are treacherous and almost impassable), you would find record-setting snow totals from this rather long duration storm. On top of what they received the last couple of days, they expect another 6 - 12" throughout the day today. To add insult to injury, there is a strong possibility of flooding along lakeshore properties, as the wind is gusting 25 - 40 miles per hour.

In Milwaukee, we woke up to about an inch of wet, heavy slush, with a nice slick coating of ice underneath. I did go out to get something for breakfast (I've been off since noon on Wednesday, and other than picking up a grocery order Thursday afternoon, have not been out of the house...feeling a bit stir crazy), and had a bit of difficulty getting out of my own driveway. Both coming and going, I needed to back up and get a running start to get over the plowed rim. Usually, it would not have been an issue, but remember - heavy and slushy. The intersections were a mess as well, with high plowed ridges crisscrossing the center.

The salters were out, but the roads were bad enough that a lot of churches, including my own, canceled at least the early services. Smart move.

Now, of course, it is...snowing. Big, fat, wet flakes. The weatherpeople are still claiming we are only getting about three inches accumulation overall. They are lying liarpants.

As I mentioned, I took vacation days Thursday and Friday. It pretty much rained continuously from Thursday night on, so I've spent much of the last days in the kitchen, or lazing in the recliner reading (Martha Grimes' new Richard Jury mystery). On Friday, I cooked a largish turkey breast and stripped the meat from the bones. Some was dinner that night, some went into a salad on Saturday, just over a pound was frozen and the rest was set aside while I cooked the carcass to make stock. The resulting turkey soup is about the best batch I think I've ever made, and perfect for weather like this.

Wednesday's temperature is going into the high forties, which means most of this, other than the compacted plowed piles, will dissolve into a wet mess. Somewhere underneath, spring must be hiding. At least we hope that's where she is, rather than lazing on beach in Boca with no inclination to come back north.

List Day Five: Places to Go

I'm not exactly Miss Travel Queen. I like spending my vacations sewing, or reading, or simply sleeping late in the comfort of my own bed. That said, I do think my hometown and the State of Wisconsin generally have quite a few places worth visiting.

1. The Milwaukee Lakefront. Beaches, restaurants and park line the shores of Lake Michigan for miles. The beaches and parks are free to the public (though there is a nasty, nasty plan by Milwaukee County to start charging for parking at these places...so far, public opinion is winning, but the county's need for cash to squander use is great). Lake Michigan is really only warm enough for swimming after the 4th of July, but there is still much to do along the lakefront.

2. Milwaukee County Park System. In spite of the politician's determined attempts to destroy them, the parks in the county are among the best in the country. As you can see from the listing, the park system ranges from tiny, neighborhood parks to monster, golf-course included, 350-acre-plus wildernesses.  It includes river parkways, beaches, center city squares, hiking trails, ball fields and formal botanical gardens. Given the length of our winters, Wisconsinites are prone to taking advantage of every moment the weather is clement by spending it outdoors. Our park system supports those activities.

3. The Milwaukee Arts community. When the weather is cold, we take our activity indoors. Whether you are one for art museums, live theater, concerts or specialty museums, we have something for you. For a community our size, we have a wonderful symphony and smaller instrumental groups, as well as several fine choral groups. Why yes, the Midwest is home to some culture.

4. The festivals. Good heavens, the festivals. Summerfest is the granddaddy of them all, an eleven-day riot of musical groups from internationally known supergroups (why yes, the Rolling Stones were here a few years ago) to local bands. All performances are free except for the daily headliners at the main stage, for which there are additional tickets needed. Summerfest runs around the 4th of July, and features massive fireworks over the lake on opening day and July 3rd. This is the 51st year for the festival.

5. The food. Perhaps the best way to sample the great variety of food available in the city is to spend the weekends grazing through the offerings at the various ethnic festivals. We are home to a large Hispanic population, and there are many restaurants in the area offering authentic Mexican cuisine. Honestly, if you name a cuisine, there is a good possibility you can find it in Milwaukee. The possibilities are too numerous to link.

6. The custard. No, not the pudding-like dessert much of the world calls "custard", but egg-enriched ice cream. The addition of egg yolk to the cream and milk gives the finished product a creamier, richer texture. Try Kopps, Oscars, Gilles, or Culvers, or go back in time with a visit to Leons. Note that the custard stands, at least the ones listed, stay open year around. That way, on a forty degree day in early March (like today), we can enjoy a cone before the snow comes barreling back tomorrow.

There is so much more. In the greater state, there are places like Lambeau Field, with its rich gridiron history, Old World Wisconsin, where history comes to life, American Player's Theater in a gorgeous natural ampitheater, Devil's Lake with gorgeous scenery and challenging trails, Bay Beach Park with old fashioned kiddie rides (tickets only 25 cents; most rides take 2 tickets)...and so much more. The bluffs along the Mississippi River near LaCrosse are gorgeous. A sizeable breeding crowd of bald eagles also make their home along that shore, as well as some along the Wisconsin River. There are some incredible wineries in the state (Wollersheim is my favorite).

And, of course, cheese and beer. My linky finger is tired, so I will refer you to Mr. Google. But we produce incredible cheeses, and while only Miller-Coors has a big brewery in the state, our supply of talented microbreweries is impressive.

That's enough bragging. Come visit us in late June, when everything is bright and blooming. Wander through a few festivals. Take in a few parks (did I mention the world-class golf courses at Whistling Straits and Blackwolf Run?). Relax with some wine on a terrace overlooking a river. Enjoy our state's unofficial summer sport ("You don't know how to water ski? Come along with us, we'll have you up in no time!").

Jam-filled doughnuts!

It's Paczki (pronounced POONCH-key) (don't ask me, I speak a little Spanish, a little French and can identify objects in Italian, but this is Polish) Day!

Others may call this Pancake Day, and eat stacks of fluffy disks covered with all sorts of different toppings. Some may shout "Mardi Gras!" and down a mostly liquid, alcoholic diet for the day. A few may still view the day as Shrove Tuesday, with the appropriate confession of sins and seeking of absolution.

But here in Milwaukee, where a large portion of the population has a bit of Polish in their heritage, it is best known as Paczki Day.

What are they?

They are fluffy, deep fried, filled doughnuts covered in powdered sugar. Traditional fillings are prune (which is actually quite good) and raspberry, though many bakeries offer alternative flavorings. The dough is especially rich in eggs and butter, as the whole idea is to empty your pantry of those indulgences before the start of Lent.

On Paczki Day, everyone is a bit Polish.

While I'm not aware of anyone doing an official count, based on reports I've heard from various big commercial bakeries in the area, plus sales at supermarkets and smaller bakeries, I'd say the total number of doughnuts downed today in greater Milwaukee will easily - easily - pass 250,000.

Yup, a quarter of a million doughnuts.

You can, of course, make your own, if you don't mind deep frying at home. There is a recipe at the end of the article here. You will, however, need eat a lot of egg white omelettes (or make a meringue-based cake) to use up the whites left after using 20 (TWENTY) egg yolks for two dozen paczki.

Paczki show up in cities and areas with a high concentration of Polish immigrants, whether recently or in the past. Philly, Boston, Detroit, Cleveland, parts of New Jersey, Chicago and northwest Indiana are all familiar with the seasonal treat. It's not just a Midwestern thing.

I see my boss brought a couple dozen in....one advantage of getting to the office at the break of day is first choice of the baked goods...

Quick (yeah, right) update

Nothing is torn, out of place or in danger of falling out of my knee. According to the ortho, it's worn (oddly, the left is nowhere nearly as decrepit; I attribute this to my long habit of twisting my right leg under me to sit on it) and unhappy.

The solution? Move the heck out of it. Physical therapy, in other words. The downside? Their PT department does not have any openings until April 10th. Why yes, this injury happened March 3rd.

As soon as they open (half an hour from now) I'll call the campus Physical Therapy Clinic. I didn't think of it until I got home last night, but if I can get in there more quickly, the service is not only covered by our insurance plan, but co-pay and deductible free. Yay for that.

The doc said I could have a corti-whatever shot "depending on my frustration level" (??He just met me, obviously he doesn't know me), but it would mess up my blood sugar for a few days. No, thank you, I do a great job messing up my blood sugars myself. Though if I'm still in this kind of pain by this time next week, I'll jab the needle in myself and sugar be darned.

I'm really a whiner about pain; most of the time, what I have is an ache. Turn it wrong, or put weight on it unevenly, however, and not only does the leg buckle under me as someone sticks flaming hot swords into my knee, but bad words come out of my mouth. Sometimes, just moving my leg under my desk sets off the pain.

Note that compared to when it first happened, this level of pain is nothing, and passes quickly once I correct my behavior. But I am, like most reasonable people, pain-phobic. Perhaps more than others, I am very Pavlov's dog about behavior and reward. Consequently, I'm moving very slowly and carefully.

Eh. This too, will pass? That's the theory, anyway.

As I may have said in the prior post, driving does not hurt at all, as this is my right knee. Neither does using the presser foot on the sewing machine (which, actually, would not be an issue if I used the other machine, which has a start/stop button that can be used in place of using the presser foot). So I can go out for coffee (at places that do not require you to stand in line) or stay in and sew. Life's little pleasures.

Unexpected blessing

Our area Vice President is retiring at the end of May, and has been full of pre-retirement happiness that spills over onto the staff every so often.

My boss (who reports to the VP) showed up at my door a few minutes ago, and said if I wanted to "work from home" tomorrow, I could, as the entire office was being given permission to "work from home".

Don't have to hit me over the head with a brick.

But since the university is closed next week, and I am off the week after that, I need to make sure everything that needs doing before vacation starts gets done today.

Fortunately, most of it is almost done. Just cleaning off/organizing the desk. Hour and a half to vacation!

Stupid cold

It's always fun to pull out of the underground parking early in the morning, and watch the temperature readout on the dash drop...25...18...15...14...

It stuck at fourteen this morning. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your particular frame of mind), cars are not yet equipped with anemometers, so you can't tell wind speed, nor calculate wind chill.

That last statistic is well into the negative digits, forecast to stay that way until Friday. Friday into Saturday it will warm up just enough so we can get hit with a high snow total winter storm. After that, the temperatures dip back into stupid cold.

It is only on the few days like this we get each winter that I wonder why I live in Wisconsin. They also remind me to be very, very grateful for a working car, underground parking and a job that pays well enough that I can set the thermostat at home as high as I need.

Easter Seals is picking up donations in my area today. I had a couple of boxes and a lamp for them, but didn't put the lamp out. This kind of cold is not kind to glass; I'd hate to have the glass shatter and injure the pick up guys. The other glass objects are inside a box, swathed in leftover bubble wrap.

It may be too cold to do anything that involves being outside, but stupid cold does lend itself to some fun indoor activities:

- Drink lots of hot chocolate.
- See how many mini marshmallows you can cram into one cup of hot chocolate.
- Make a warm little nest in the middle of your bed, under a stack of blankets, with pillows piled all around you to keep out the drafts.
- Light a fire and doze in front of it (under a stack of quilts, naturally).
- Declare a "slanket" the ultimate fashion statement, and wear one continuously.
- Turn the oven on and bake cookies. Lots of cookies. The longer the oven is on, the better.
- Make lots of casseroles and stews, but use the oven, not the crock pot (see previous point)
- Drink mulled wine.
- Try on every sweater you own. All at once.
- Chase the family dog out of his spot on the chair so you have a pre-warmed spot to sit down in.
- Ask someone to flush the toilet while you are in the shower, so you have enough hot water to finally feel warm.

Winter in Wisconsin; you have to experience it to believe it.

Because it's been almost two weeks

Somewhere during that two weeks there was a presidential election. Personally, I'm happy with the results, and cautiously optimistic that real change will happen. Then again, that would imply some measure of cooperation from the Democrats.

That.ain't.gonna.happen.

In local news, I am on vacation the three workdays there are next week. Two full days are scheduled with necessary things; I've moved on to trying plan some fun. I've yet to visit the local Hobby Lobby. There is an arts and antique vendor mall half an hour out of the city I'd like to visit. A friend and I already have a craft day scheduled for one afternoon.

That, however, may be dependent on the weather. This Friday, our amazing stretch of above average November weather is coming to an abrupt and pneumonia-inducing end. Temps are supposed to drop twenty degrees between one day and the next - and stay dropped. The weather people are already making noise about a "storm" of some sort or other arriving somewhere between Thanksgiving and the following Saturday. At this point, they are not saying snow, but it is early days.

Time to wash the winter coat.

One of the vacation projects is to "eat the freezer". Actually, the contents of the freezer. I have a bad habit of picking something up after work rather than coming home to cook. While I do cook quite a bit on the weekend - including things to reheat for dinner during the upcoming week - not cooking during the week means the freezer eventually gets rather full.

The chicken breast and containers of soup (the three Italian beef/barley I just put in, plus the two of chili I unexpectedly found Sunday) will stay. Everything else is fair game. I plan to make the small pork tenderloin on Thanksgiving. I need some ideas on what to do with ground turkey (a pound or so), half a pound of ground pork, Italian sausage (other than the obvious things), a little bit (maybe one or two links) of Andouille, half a pound of lamb stew meat, a small cube steak and a lone pork chop or two. I know there is more...catfish and a couple of small steaks.

Truly, it doesn't get like this very often.

Also on the list is clearing out the pantry, taking a bag or two of cans and pasta to the local police station for their food drive. If I have the ambition, I'll bake a couple of coffee cakes to take to the officers, plus a batch of "cookies" for the K-9s. With the chimney sweep and carpet cleaning on Monday, it will be a good day to hang out in the kitchen.

Quilt guild tonight, with the speaker I've looked forward to since June. It's also the last night to hand in money and registrations for our Christmas party; I think I'd rather not spend the money. It's fairly expensive ($40 - 50 depending on your choice of entrée), and that doesn't include the buy-your-own drinks. Eh. I don't have my checkbook with me, but if I change my mind before I leave work today, we have an ATM in the building lobby.

Besides, since this guild seems to do everything based on "old people" time, I'd still be home by eight that night. And that includes a half hour drive time home from the restaurant.

Still on the fence about this guild, can you tell? The nickel and diming...I just realized I forgot to grab my nametag, which will cost me a quarter. Sheesh. Or maybe fifty cents? If they don't mind some pennies, I have about fifty cents in my desk drawer.

I'd better get to it. I have things I need to get done by Friday, yet every time I turn around someone wants something else, and it's an "emergency".

Randomosity, before my head explodes

- Voting. Voted last Wednesday. Incredibly quick, painless process, unlike the choices. Based on the number they assigned me, they had seen just under 100 people per day for the first three days of early voting. That number per day is much higher now.

- Sticker! For the first time in years (I've early voted ever since I moved five years ago), I actually got an "I Voted!" sticker whilst early voting. Still a bit put out, though, as a co-worker who voted at the same place the day before received an "I Voted Early!" sticker. Still, a sticker is a sticker.

- Cubs. Congratulations to baseball's perennial losers. Apparently, the MKE media went crazy last night after the Cubs' win. I can only assume that's because they realize the Brewers will not give cause for similar celebration for quite some time.

- Give as good as you get. Two days ago, I received a text message from some liberal get-out-the-vote organization. Last night, I just missed picking up a call that caller ID said came from New York. They left a voice mail - sure enough, another liberal hack, this one a nice sounding lady urging me as a "friend of Hillary" to get out and vote early. Guess what? It wasn't a toll free number, so I called her back.

She was a bit confused at the call back, I could tell. I nicely, but firmly informed her I am no friend of Hillary, wanted off whatever list she pilfered me from, and that yes, I had voted early - NOT for Hillary. If I figure out what company sold the list with my name on it to the Dems, it will be one company I'll never do business with again. I guard my phone number like a hawk.

- Adulting! I'm on vacation the week of Thanksgiving. Every Black Friday for the last five years I've had the annual furnace maintenance; this year is no exception. To add to the homeowner fun, I've scheduled the chimney sweep and a carpet clean for Monday of that week (in that order, separated by about three hours). Crammed a hair appointment in the morning of the furnace servicing as well. Trying not to have a "must do" or appointment on every day of the vacation week.

- Wacky weather. We tied a record high Tuesday (77 degrees on November 1st). Normal highs this time of year are around 54 - 55. While it cooled off, we are still going to be five to ten degrees above normal for the next week. Good thing; I still need to take care of some outside things before the snow flies.

Office politics

A couple of months after I started working at the university, a memo came out stating that we were going to dress up like Jesuits for Halloween (Jesuits had a better sense of humor twenty years ago). Collars would be provided; we simply were to wear all black attire.

The day came, we were issued our collars, and walked over to the racquetball court to have a group picture taken.

For the several years after that, we were encouraged to wear costumes on Halloween, provided we didn't have meetings, or it wasn't too extreme. The practice fell away, however, and in recent years, getting anyone to do anything extra in our office has been difficult.

Simply put, morale sucks.

This is in part due to a whole host of announced changes, shifts in personnel and university structure that will unfold over the next year. The stress level around here, usually at a six on a ten point scale, ratcheted up over eight, where it will stay until the dust settles.

One young colleague appears to have taken upon herself the unofficial mantle of "morale officer". She brought in a random treat last week (bagels), and now has sent out an email saying our boss has agreed to let us wear costumes next Monday, meetings permitting.

This leaves me in a quandary.

On the one hand, get off my lawn. I don't "celebrate" Halloween.

On the other, she is trying to make things happier around here.

So, were I inclined to dress up, what is both simple and easy to get rid of if it makes me crazy?

- tape 1040s all over me and go as the Tax (wo)Man?
- find the light up reindeer antlers, add a light up red nose and go as Rudolph?
- pin on a piece of batting covered with pieces of fabric, to be a quilt in progress?
- keep my office door mostly shut all day, and be the grumpy old lady?

Decisions, decisions.

Slowly wilting

So it begins. Tired, cranky, slow moving. Funny, even though I have the incredible blessing of central air at home and at work, the heat still gets to me. Maybe it's a psychological thing, after all those years in a sweat box flat?

It's not as bad as it will get later in the week, but it is still in the low eighties and humid. Quilt guild tonight (in a thankfully air conditioned Salvation Army church/hall), so I'll be in and out of it a few times.

Plans for Friday's fun are going to have to change because of the heat. My 90 year old aunt and I were going to lunch at a place that has a wonderful patio and wrap around porch with seating - and very few inside tables. No way are we going to eat al fresco when the National Weather Service has already issued excessive heat watches (heat index 103 - 110) for both Thursday and Friday.

I hate to even have her come out. Maybe I'll pick up Panera and bring it to her? I know how much she was looking forward to it. Though I'm not sure I'll survive a Panera run in that heat.

To all my friends who profess to LOVE, LOVE summer: here you go. I don't want to hear a word from you about how it is "too hot". Be careful if you are planning to be out.

Eh. How many days until winter?

Thoughts of spring

On Monday, I've someone from a local greenhouse/garden center coming to give me an estimate on replacing the brick border around the front flowerbed. There are a few challenges...the current border is only about six inches high, but cannot be raised any higher, since the outdoor faucet is on the house at the back of the bed, only an additional six inches or so above the ground. I've looked online at some bricks/pavers/edgings, and honestly, have not found much that appeals. Hopefully, this guy will have more resources.

They will most likely want to provide plantings as well - my efforts last year look rather sad this spring. I think one of the three bushes will make it, while the other two are on the fence. I've no objection to purchasing the plants from them, as well as having them plant them. I can, however, cut some costs by putting down the soaker hose and doing the mulching myself.

At long last I've come up with a solution for the garden hose as well (because of the way the units are built, most of the neighbors have a leader hose running from the faucet to a hose box or reel that sits right in front of the gate to the patio - kind of silly, if you ask me). There are some very pretty hose stands available that I can put in the back corner of the bed. I only need twenty-five feet of hose, which will coil around it very neatly.

Since winters here are just Too Darn Cold for perennials to survive in urns unless said urns are brought inside for the season, the giant outside urns will be filled with annuals. I gave it a try with perennials, but I'm too indifferent a gardener for them to have a fighting chance.

It is still too early to actually plant anything here in the land of Too Darn Cold. The local weatherperson posted a picture on Twitter of the seven day forecast for their sister station in Orlando. Our daytime highs will not reach their current nighttime lows for almost another month. My heat still comes on regularly. Usually, it's completely turned off by now. The sun doesn't set until almost 8 p.m., but if you want to sit outside enjoying the light, you will need warm shoes, your winter coat, a stadium blanket and maybe mittens. Not to mention hot chocolate rather than a cold brew.

It may well be too chilly the week of Memorial Day for the annual tuning up of the air conditioning.

Global warming my frozen butt.

Signs of spring are there if you look closely: grass greening up nicely, leaf buds on trees, geese meandering down the condo complex entrance road... With a bit of luck, we will have a least a day or two of "spring" before Ma Nature flips the switch from Too Darn Cold to Hot, Humid and Hazy.

We can hope, anyway.

All we need are the peanuts and cotton candy

The circus is in town this week, or at least touring the state. All five remaining serious contenders for party presidential nominations are in Wisconsin, thanks to our only-in-the-nation-that-day primary coming up next Tuesday.

The three Rs (who bear nothing at all in common with readin, 'riting and 'rithmatic) are having a "town hall" about a mile from campus tonight. I'm half expecting Trump to take offense at some point during the proceedings, walking off the stage in a huff. Given that he hung up on a local conservative talk show host yesterday, I think a walk-off is a possibility.

While I was off last week, I intended to drop in to City Hall to early vote. That never happened. The new plan is to go after work tonight. While I feel a responsibility to do my civic duty, I find the choices available less than stellar, and feel a low level of repugnance for the whole process.

On the bright side, while it may be a circus, I know the Ringmaster and trust Him. Will He give us what we need - or let us get what we deserve? Either way, I know He has a plan, a long range, all encompassing plan in which this election is a small, small point.

Keep reminding me of that, would you?

Things that make you go hmmmmm

From the police blotter for my city, for the week or so before Christmas, two apparently unrelated incidents:

·A caller reported Satanist activity at a business in the 10500 block of West Layton Avenue at about 1:20 p.m. Dec. 24. The caller stated that when she quit working there about four-years ago the owner cast a spell on her and other employees. An officer attempted to call the business but it was closed for the holidays. Police advised the caller to consult her pastor about her concerns.

·Police responded to South 104th Street and West Howard Avenue after a caller reported there were two headless exotic birds lying in the roadway at about 7:45 a.m. Dec. 25. The birds turned out to be two chickens with their heads cut off, and they were disposed of.

These two locations are less than a mile apart.

One wonders why, four years after the initial curse was cast, the woman finally decided to call the police. One also wonders if the poor chickens were used in a renewal of that curse.

You really can't make this stuff up.

That first snow...

According to the weather gurus, we received 6.1" of snow Friday night to Saturday noon, shattering the old record for the date of 2.1 inches.

That's about what I would have guessed, based on what is piled up on the patio table. While it's a heavy snow, it didn't stick much on the roadways and sidewalks, which are still pretty warm thanks to our unseasonably warm temperatures recently.

Did I say unseasonably warm? Things have changed. It's seventeen degrees right now, with a wind strong enough to give us a fairly low wind chill. (The forecast says fifty for Wednesday, which will be a one day, "say goodbye to mild temperatures, suckers!" final gasp of autumn.)

As much as one can be ready for winter, I'm set. New gloves, hat, scarf and snow brush. Boots are still fine, though I put new, fuzzy insoles in them. No need for a shovel; the lawn/snow service is doing a bang up job.

There is a healthy stock of hot chocolate in the house, and plenty of supplies for comfort food dishes, starting with salisbury steak for tonight. A pair of fuzzy sock slippers and warm quilts for spending time in the living room (sunken room tends to get chilly). New candle lighter to use to light the fireplace.

Winter is no longer coming; it is here.

It's been over a week, so a few quick thoughts...

All this fuss over a plain red cup. Honestly, when will my Christian brothers and sisters stop expecting the world to behave like believers? And how stupid is it to be a snarky ass and insist your name is "Merry Christmas" in order to have it written on your cup? Deeds witness more loudly than words.

The Republican debate circus is coming to town. Several candidates are doing events in other parts of the state, as long as they are "in the neighborhood". The good news? One year from this Wednesday, the election will be, for better or worse, over. Three hundred sixty-six - oops - three hundred sixty-seven (2016 is a leap year, as is every presidential election year - you would almost think the politicians planned that so they would have an extra day of campaigning) days to go. Maybe I should put a countdown clock up in the sidebar.

The dinner party Saturday was perhaps the best of the five "Supper for 12 Strangers" I've held. Once student simply didn't show up at the carpool; the other four both tried to contact her and waited an extra ten minutes, all in vain. Boy, did she miss out. Much fun, conversation, laughter. Two of the young ladies were international students, from China and Kenya. While internationals can be very reserved, particularly the Chinese, both girls were chatty and fun. A friend of mine came as a sort of "wing woman", helping to keep the conversation going when I needed to be in the kitchen.

The only down side? I gave away all the leftovers (this is apparently very much a Wisconsin, though not an American, custom, as I explained to the internationals and the native New Yorker (the student from Wisconsin understood it- the impulse to offer any leftovers to your guests, for them to take home for lunches or a quick dinner).

The heat came on when I was getting ready this morning, and stayed on for a good five minutes. It turns out the outside temperature was only 28 when I left for work this morning. It may be time to consider changing from the light spring jacket over to the heavy winter one, finding the scarves, mittens and gloves.

Forty years ago this afternoon, the Edmund Fitzgerald set out on Lake Superior, headed to Zug Island, near Detroit. Shortly afterward, a gale warning was issued for the lake. By seven-thirty the following evening, the ship had sunk with all hands aboard. While the Gordon Lightfoot song is probably the most well known tribute to the tragedy, today's JSOnline has a nice article about it, centering on the memories of one of the crew members' brother.