We didn't get any snow, only timid flurries - but it's cold enough this morning to give a penguin frostbite.
All of the wash that I hung out to dry two days ago is now frozen solid. I just tried to bring it in, but the clothes pins are frozen to the clothes (my clothes dryer is still kaput, and there's no way in hell I can get a new one).
Due to the astronomical cost of heating, I use the furnace frugally. Just had it on for an hour. Turned it off, and already I can see my breath coming out in white puffs. No lie.
I'm trying to look at the bright side, but it's supposed to get much colder later today....and tonight....
Is tomorrow another holiday? I can't keep up with them. Here in the good ol' USA almost every Monday is a holiday of some kind or another.
Is it Martin Luther King Day?
Or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Day?
Or Antifa Day?
Or Androgynous Day?
Or Al-Qaeda Day?
Hell if I know.
I have the uncanny ability to be delightfully sarcastic even when I'm freezing.
This would probably be as good a time as any to expound on my previous blog post - and (indirectly) reply to some of your comments.
About grocery lists and forgetting things:
It would undoubtedly be a great idea for me to bring a list when I go grocery shopping - but I usually wind up losing it....or never bother to take it out of my pocket and look at it.
The long, perilous drive to town always shreds my nerves to the point where I'm usually a quivering heap of jelly by the time I get there.
And I always have to do so many things that my thoughts become jumbled and disjointed.
My usual routine consists of taking the trash to the trash place. I always do this first, because it's piled up in the back seat of my car (I no longer have a pickup truck like I did in Texas).
The trash place isn't a landfill. It's simply a fenced area where you have to wait in line until two hillbilly men come out and retrieve your trash.
Then I go to the filling station and put gas in the car.
Next I go to the bank (drive-thru), which sometimes takes nearly forever.
Then I go to various places around town to pay my bills: utility, water, etc. etc.
Then I go to Walmart and any other place where I might need something (like hardware store).
Last but not least, I go to the supermarket for the bulk of my groceries.
By this time my mind is so fragmented and frazzled that I can hardly remember my gender - let alone what I'm going to buy.
In the supermarket, I mentally try to plan all the meals that I'll have for the next three or four weeks (not an easy task)
Then I attempt to calculate the cost of all the things in my shopping cart and pray that I have enough money.
It's surprisingly easy for me to forget things that I wanted to buy.
Finally, I have the excitement of the long drive home, the anticipation of trying to get up the hill to my house without getting stuck in the mud,
AND
dragging all the groceries up another muddy hill to get to the back door (where the kitchen is).
By this time I'm nearly catatonic, suicidal, and ready for Intensive Care.
Change of subject
About getting a new cell phone:
I've had a Tracfone for about six years and I'll probably get another one.
It suits my minimal needs perfectly - since I generally hate cell phones and only use them to text.
Tracfone is great, except for two negatives:
1. With Tracfone it's virtually impossible to transfer your videos to a computer. I have loads of videos on my Tracfone that I can't share or use.
Perhaps this is only a problem with older phones - I'm hoping the new ones are better.
2. Tracfone customer service is nearly non-existent. If you try to get on-line help, you'll be connected with a fourteen-year-old in Zimbabwe.
And they have NO email address. Only a snail mail business address somewhere in Florida.
Also, if you don't add more airtime before it expires there's a good chance you'll lose your phone service permanently.
I was able to reactivate my phone one time a few years ago after my airtime expired.
But THIS time it was a complete impossibility - and I lost $40 buying airtime cards that didn't work
(it's a VERY LONG story that I'm not in the mood to go into).
Anyway, despite all the crap, I'm almost certain I'll get another Tracfone.
This post is long and boring, but typing it helped keep my fingers warm.
It's presently 18 degrees (Fahrenheit) and will drop much lower late tonight.
I'll be up all night making sure the water pipes don't freeze.
