What did you do today? - 2020 version

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Ours is a Grundfos. Bulletproof so far.

Replaced the main zone circulation pump on the heating system. 3rd time in 2 years I think. I think I got the last early failure replaced under warranty, so I am going to take this one back and see if they will give me another one. But the person who built this house over did everything, and had put a 4th zone in, with circ pump stubbed out for some future need, so this morning I just moved that one on place of the failed one. If the supplier will give me a warranty replacement, I'll keep it as a spare. Also just found out that Home Depot sells them for less than this plumbing supplier does.

Will clean the pellet stove out after lunch, then take the truck and trailer and go get a ton of pellets. Down into the teens tonight....

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Walked around the port with my peeps. Took another 3-4 fotos of the sunsets out the back door.
Had a good consult with my PHP. She approved of me dropping my statins and metformin (replaced with berberine; not going naked...yet).
Finished a 7-day water fast on Thursday. Starting again tomorrow. Blood ketones still about 100 mg/ dL even after 2 days of eating and drinking.
As it is storm season again. Bought a separate UPS for DW and self for our CPAPs.
Met more neighbors today by chance. There used to be gatherings on Friday nights to meet up, but not since we moved in.

 

[Music Lover]

You folks still using tall ladders really need to assess the risks at your age. (yeah, I know you are all younger than me, but 60+?)

A local fellow I know personally (50+ years old), fell off the top rung of a 12' ladder this Spring and landed on his head (on concrete). He is now in a nursing home paralyzed and in a wheelchair....for the foreseeable future. Plus, he can't speak anymore.

A lot of people use ladders unsafely and a lot of people don't have a lot of experience with ladders. It's not always about age, but age does become more of an issue eventually.

I'm 58 and still use ladders...in fact, I shingled my house and garage this past summer. But, I'm very fit and have decades of experience with ladders, scaffolding, and roofs. I have shingled dozens of houses, understand my limitations, practice safety, and am cautious. I also know people in their 20's that should never be allowed near a ladder.

 

[Aerides]

I am gonna be up on the ladder today - just a few steps on the step ladder to put up my outdoor christmas lights. (but yeah, tall ladders are a bad idea for anyone. breaking bones is a quick way to wreck your retirement)

I know it's early, but I'm not the earliest in my neighborhood, and it's so dark already by 6pm and I like the twinkly light. I like to get this out of the way before thanksgiving, as the tree takes me about 2 days to get done, so that'll be next weekend.

 

[NW-Bound]

Speaking of Christmas lights, I will have to do that soon.

For years, I stopped putting up the lights when the kids got to teenage. Then, two years ago, my next door neighbor gave us some new LED lights and insisted that I mounted them. She even said she would come over to do it for me if I did not want to do it. Such arm twisting!

It's a simple job, as I already had hooks left on the fascia boards. And I only need a step ladder, not a tall one. No lights on the 2nd story. No way. Too much work, for a grinch like me.

 

[Car-Guy]

Speaking of Christmas lights, I will have to do that soon.

No way. Too much work, for a grinch like me.

Crap, that's next week for us (ME!)... Once I can start moving again (after the turkey dinner) I know it's time to drag all that "stuff" out of the back barn...

Maybe I'll try to convince the DW we should trying leaving them up all year around this time.... I mean we're so far off the beaten path who's going to see them anyway.

 

[KarlH]

I finished the top on our cold frame. We built it years ago with recycled windows, but kept breaking panes. This year I bought a 3×6' sheet of clear plexiglass/acrylic (fits fine in the back of a Model 3) and built a frame out of scrap wood laying around. Had to borrow a bit to put screws through the plastic, but it came together nicely. Used wd40 on the hinges, and its working fine. Hopefully we will keep the green things going into December and beyond.

 

[O2Bfree]

Put some Christmas lights up in the back around the cement pagoda and a couple surrounding trees. Seems like I took them down just a couple months ago!

Finally figured out how to filter my emails in Gmail so they go directly into certain folders, aka labels, without showing up in my Inbox. Gmail's folders vs. labels scheme is a rather contentious topic. In researching the issue, I came across a number of heated discussions in the Google community where Google experts got quite testy with users who couldn't understand the difference between folders and labels. It always has seemed like a weird deal to me, even though I understand it pretty well now.

 

[Gumby]

We finished our ready service supply of bar soap today, so I brought in the batch that has been drying in the garage for the last five months, and then made a new batch this afternoon. After I unmold the new stuff and cut it into bars, it goes out in garage to dry. In five months, I'll do it again.

 

[Koogie]

We got our first good snowfall of the year (about 6" and counting) after a very mild November.

So that put the kibosh on my plans to start work on a hard maple stump stool outside.

Felt like a good afternoon to flake out on the sofa, watch it snow through the picture window in the living room, drink a little to much rum and watch a Bogart movie.

DW has made a vast pot of chili for dinner, baked some fresh buns and made sugar free Timbits for dessert. At least one of us got something accomplished today !

 

[aja8888]

Over 80 F here today. (where the heck is winter??)

Decided my grass has been watered and cut enough this year so I shut in the sprinkler system and put the mower in the shed after winterizing it (run out gas, oil change, filter).

 

[O2Bfree]

Felt like a good afternoon to flake out on the sofa, watch it snow through the picture window in the living room, drink a little to much rum and watch a Bogart movie.

We had a little too much wine last night and watched In a Lonely Place. Hadn't seen it before and really enjoyed it. Got a few more Bogart movies in the queue. Maybe whiskey next time...

 

[Chuckanut]

Normally, I delay Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving and remove them after January 6, the twelfth day of Christmas. But, this year is different. I finished putting the lights and decorations today. Some of us need it.

 

[Aerides]

Normally, I delay Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving and remove them after January 6, the twelfth day of Christmas. But, this year is different. I finished putting the lights and decorations today. Some of us need it.

I know how you feel. Sorta had a "alright let's get these lights up and get this misery of a year over with" vibe.

I feel bad for anyone whose main income is making Year commemorative decorations. Who is really gonna want a "2020" ornament in the tree?

 

[Time2]

A lot of people use ladders unsafely and a lot of people don't have a lot of experience with ladders. It's not always about age, but age does become more of an issue eventually.

I'm 58 and still use ladders...in fact, I shingled my house and garage this past summer. But, I'm very fit and have decades of experience with ladders, scaffolding, and roofs. I have shingled dozens of houses, understand my limitations, practice safety, and am cautious. I also know people in their 20's that should never be allowed near a ladder.

I was on a 6ft step ladder whle building a carport, somehow I tipped the ladder over sideways. I got by arm hooked around a carport beam, my body swung until my arm no long hooked and gravity, well, I landed on my butt. Sat for a few seconds and everything seemed ok, I got up I was fine and lucky. Picked the ladder up and continued the job, with a little more respect.

 

[Music Lover]

I was on a 6ft step ladder whle building a carport, somehow I tipped the ladder over sideways. I got by arm hooked around a carport beam, my body swung until my arm no long hooked and gravity, well, I landed on my butt. Sat for a few seconds and everything seemed ok, I got up I was fine and lucky. Picked the ladder up and continued the job, with a little more respect.

Step ladders are not stable and tip very easily.

 

[Calico]

I know how you feel. Sorta had a "alright let's get these lights up and get this misery of a year over with" vibe.

I feel bad for anyone whose main income is making Year commemorative decorations. Who is really gonna want a "2020" ornament in the tree?

As with so many other industries, ornament makers are monetizing the pandemic. A lovely collection of holiday ornaments, circa 2020:

https://www.fairyseason.com/2020-an...b-mdNi8dah-CvzxAInGHJcL81xzSJCshoCdJQQAvD_BwE

Santa and his helpers in face masks:

https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...HaJVBIcQ7Al6BAgCEEE&biw=1707&bih=803&dpr=1.13

 

[Hermit]

I woke up to a totally unexpected snow this morning. 3 inches an still snowing. I'm having a cup of mocha made with candy cane cocoa instead of my usual black coffee to celebrate.

 

[Gumby]

Watched the new movie "Hillbilly Elegy" last night, the adaptation from J.D. Vance's book. Glenn Close was fantastic as Mamaw.

 

[Sue J]

Yesterday I ran a few pre T-Day errands including the grocery store and the library. I have been reading Kindle books recently but I had a physical library book on reserve and it's now my turn. Our library is closed for browsing but they have a drive up window for pickups and I was 5th in line but it went fast.

I came home and found out that our schools will be going to all remote learning starting Monday! Very short notice for parents, especially the working ones with young kids. Our schools have been doing the hybrid thing since late Sept. The all remote learning will be until at least Jan 19th, 2021 when they reevaluate. The last two weeks of 2020 would have been the winter break anyway.

For me (school crossing guard) this means that I am unemployed, again. Financially, it's no big deal, I don't depend on the money for anything except an IRA contribution. Our area has an increased amount of positive Covid cases and staying home sounds like a really good idea.

 

[pacergal]

Roasting the turkey this morning, will carve and then pack up with all the other goodies for door stop delivery meal this afternoon to DD and DS.

 

[Calico]

Yesterday:

I went to my office for the first time since March 13th, when we all started working from home. It was like a ghost building, really creepy, with only 3 other people there. I was there to clean out my office, dispose of many years' of old paperwork, and bring home the few remaining personal possessions I hadn't quietly spirited home pre-Covid.

After 25.5 years, not a trace of me remains there now - I even brought home my nameplate from my office door! I figure it will come in handy when I'm too old to remember my own name.

It only took me 30 minutes to pack up my personal stuff. It took me another 3.5 hours to dispose of the old paperwork. I wanted to make sure there wasn't anything that needed to be saved - and there wasn't. It just goes to show that I saved too much paper over the years. For the past 20 years a former co-worker (she retired in March) and I shared "joint custody" of a big box of keys to the departmental cabinets. I left the box in my young boss' office.

I often worked late enough in the evenings that I overlapped with the arrival of the cleaning crew, and I got to know some of them well. I left a note for one fellow with whom I shared many pleasant evening conversations.

I took one last look out my office window and said goodbye to the ducks swimming in the pond.

Given the strange events of 2020 due to the pandemic, and the fact that I had always envisioned a much different "last day in the office" I wasn't sure how I would feel after the cleanout. To my surprise, as soon as I arrived home I felt equal parts relief and happiness. It probably sounds corny, but I feel like I have really closed that chapter now. It was also very cleansing - I should probably start throwing out paper at home! That can be my quarantine project for the new year.

I am glad I decided to do it before the holiday break, and not leave it to the very end. We are all off work until next Monday for Thanksgiving. While I will officially be on the payroll until 12/31, I only have 15 more working-from-home days until 12/18. The rest of the time will be our Christmas break. Which means only 3 more Monday mornings (ever!) as an employee.

 

[Ronstar]

Watched the new movie "Hillbilly Elegy" last night, the adaptation from J.D. Vance's book. Glenn Close was fantastic as Mamaw.

Watching it now. Great movie. I agree - Glenn Close is fanatastic as Mamaw.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

We had a nice, small gathering for a picnic lunch at a garden inside a regional park for Thanksgiving followed by a hike. It was a little windy but we were lucky to have a sunny day. We're Zooming with the out of town relatives tonight.

 

[Walt34]

Drove down to the R/C club field with three airplanes, two of which had never been flown. Flew all three until I got tired, and returned home with all three airplanes and in the same condition that I brought them. In R/C, that last part is not always a given.