Whatever

COVID

Monday before last I woke up in the very early morning feeling like a train had hit me. I ate breakfast and at 7:00 AM as Fred Meyers was opening, I was walking in, in a mask, and purchased a couple of at-home tests and some NyQuil. Got home, followed all the instruction and 15 minutes later I had the COVID.

Best guess nowadays sez I was infected anywhere from 2 to 9 days earlier. That overlapped with Donna in the hospital with me at her side to buying a car only 2 days before. For the first 5 days of I was knocking back that NyQuil. Then I went back to a regular pain meds and decongestant.

So for these last eight days the meds have stayed the same and so have my COVID symptoms, so do I have the dreaded Long COVID? Or just ’cause I’m an old guy it is going to take a while to get over?

Note To Past Self…

…I am not lazy.

Twenty years ago today I wrote a post called The Epitome of Laziness. Even though I have linked it here, there is no reason to go back and read it because it involved me whining about power recliners where instead of manually moving your arm to move the chair’s arm, a motor does it for you.

Currently we have a couch and a loveseat that raises and lowers using a switch. It is not lazy, but merely working smarter not harder.

Everclean Car Wash

The photo above is from just after Thanksgiving the last time the Mini was clean. Since then we have had snow storms every two weeks like clockwork. Everything from a 1/2″ to 6″ and that meant the helpful folks of the Klamath Fall road department have been distributing cinders on the roads after each one. This has led to a very dirty car, especially the nearly vertical flat back of the car. It has become entirely brownish-red except for where the clean sweep of the rear wiper.

As much as I love washing our cars I am not about to go outside when the temperatures are below 40°, so this afternoon we ran out on some errands with the last stop being a drive-thru car wash. It is not perfect, so probably tomorrow I go down to the garage and break out the Mequier’s Quick Detailer and finish the job.

Times Miata Driven since 11/01/22: 7

 

Groundmiata Day

Backed the Miata out of the garage and it didn’t see its shadow so we are in for for an early spring no matter what Punxsutawney Phil says.

Times Miata Driven since 10/28/22: 7

 

Fourth Favorite Natalie

For the last 4 or 5 years we worked at the Valve Store™ we had a an HR Manager named Natalie Zeitoun. And like every other HR Manager that worked there after the guy who did it before Emerson Electric bought ASCO, she was a young up and coming Emerson hot shot on their way up the corporate ladder (not that there is anything wrong with that.)

One day she visited my department area to, you know, seem friendly and concerned with the happiness of the “associates.” When she passed by my cubicle she asked, “How’s my favorite manufacturing engineering draftsman?” I’m the only one that fits that job title. I replied, “I’m great, but I hate to tell you this, but your only number 4 on my list of favorite Natalies.” “Oh, who are the first three?”, she asked. “Well, lets see, at number one is of course, Natalie Merchant. And while I love everything Natalie Merchant does, this recent concert were she does several songs in duets with Abena Koomson-Davis are really outstanding.

Number Two is Natalie Hurley who was a character in the Aaron Sorkin TV show Sports Night which folded after 2 years:

And coming in at Number 3 is Natalie Portman, AKA Miss Elizabeth Swan in TDPM1:

My 4th favorite Natalie took it in stride, and retorted with I was actually only her second favorite Brian here at ASCO, she likes Brian Howell, a Quality Engineer, a lot better.

17 miles to the Running Y Ranch for a tandem ride.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 34

 

Et Tu Lands End with the Supply Chain Issues?

I am a freak when it comes to arm length, not full on simian, but my arms are longer than the standard adult long sleeve shirt is made. Admittedly there is a mental component involved as well, I just can’t stand the feeling or look of the long sleeve being above the wrist level.2 After trying to get long sleeve shirts that fit from several online place that sell Big & Tall sizes, I found the my holy grail in the Lands End tall large size.

Because I wear long sleeves even in the summer I end up buying two or three new shirts every other year or so. So when the latest Lands End catalog arrived in the mail with a 40% off offer and I was down to just 2 decent shirts left in the dresser draw, I decided to restock. The two I have are white and a medium blue, so I picked out three darker shirts, a black, a navy blue and a charcoal. When I got to the cart there was a $9 shipping charge and I hate paying shipping (damn you Amazon Prime.) I could get free shipping if the order was over $100 and my total was a few dollars shy, so I went to the sale area to see what was available to put me over the hundred dollar mark.

I found a large tall blue & white striped tee in their “upscale” supima cotton for cheap that would work. Back to the cart and noticed that three of the 4 shirts were on back order. Not just a week or two either, 2 shirts were two months out and the third was 3 months out. The only shirt that was going to be here in the next few days was that throw in from the sale page…

19.8 miles to Home Depot and back the long way.
Times Miata Driven since 01/01/22: 24

 

When Did That Happen?

Day one of another trip to Santa Fe, New Mexico: Klamath Falls to Carson City.

Filled up the CX-5 here in Carson City at the 320.3 mile mark. Google maps says our mileage between points should have been 280, but we roamed a bit of Nevada’s capital city before arriving at the hotel and that also includes a bunch of driving around Klamath Falls the two days before starting our journey.

The first part of the drive, through mostly northeast California, we were practically all alone on the road, but into Nevada at about 20 miles from Reno the road widened and it started to fill with cars. It has been a while since we’ve seen this much traffic, about 6 months to be precise, it was the last time we ventured out of our little city in November when we did this trip the last time.

We are ensconced in our usual Holiday Inn Express for the evening and are watching a decade old 27″ TV without an onscreen guide or even a cheesy little printed and laminated one. We have resorted to scrolling through the channels looking for something to watch.

I stumbled onto the Women’s NCAA basketball tournament and stopped to watch it for a bit. I have absolutely had zero to do with college basketball since I was involved with my former workplace’s March Bracket Madness back in 2018. When did the women start playing 4 ten minute quarters instead of 2 twenty minute halves?