Random Ramblings

Welp, FB quit on me.

Just found out that the weekend after the Super Bowl, the XFL starts up again. That means more football.

I thought the XFL had tanked a few years ago.  
What about Arena Football?   Is that still a thing?

Staybrite wrote:

I thought the XFL had tanked a few years ago.  
What about Arena Football?   Is that still a thing?

It didn’t tank. It got cancelled for the remainder of the season due to Covid.

I must have it confused with that American style football league that had teams in other countries.  There was like 4 or 5 teams (at least) in the U.S. but a team or two in Canada and at least one in the U.K.
I think this was at least a decade ago... maybe two.

Does extreme weather follow me?!? It used to be hurricanes and now it's blizzards! We are in for the ultimate White Christmas! 50 mph winds, extreme cold and up to 2 feet of snow. 

We are stocked up on goods. May go buy some more this morning. Also got a fresh load of firewood. Hopefully the power will not go out. I am off work until the 27th and it's nice to have everyone here (oldest daughter is on break from school). They have never seen snow on Christmas so they are in for the big one this year!

This cold front is moving across the country.  We're supposed to get down into single digits this weekend.

It was a balmy 1 deg F yesterday evening!  It got to NEGATIVE 7 deg F last night.  Yikes.

It is expected to get to about 20 degree’s Saturday morning with a high of 36. Quite nippy for around here.

Went out in it. Not as bad as they said it would be but there is more to come.

Five degrees tonight. Heat wave! -27 with windchill last night.

MikeInFla wrote:

Went out in it. Not as bad as they said it would be but there is more to come.

From one weather extreme to another!
I'm guessing you won't be smoking a ham for Christmas dinner.

This might be a dumb question but what are all those little flags all over the place?

A bit "warmer" last night, low around 4.  At least the wind died down a bit.  

Supposed to be 62 by Thursday the 29th.  

Staybrite wrote:

MikeInFla wrote:

Went out in it. Not as bad as they said it would be but there is more to come.

From one weather extreme to another!
I'm guessing you won't be smoking a ham for Christmas dinner.

This might be a dumb question but what are all those little flags all over the place?

No smoker for me! Oven this time unless I decide to give it a try. 

Those flags were put there by the gas company to mark the gas lines. The city was replacing underground water pipes and the gas company had to put markers out before they could dig. Luckily no digging at my house because they said ours were changed over a few years ago.

What the heck! Smoking a turkey in the snow anyway!

You are a braver soul then I am Mike, I hope the turkey turns out great!

The wife works this evening, so I am spending Christmas dinner with one of our neighbors.  I refused to get dressed up in anything fancy so she is making me wear this shirt.

Turkey turned out awesome! It was definitely a challenge but I got it done.

MikeInFla wrote:

Turkey turned out awesome! It was definitely a challenge but I got it done.

Great news!!!

I had a nice long chat with my best friend from California.  Aside from simply catching up, we shared some common things that the Lord is working in our lives.  Among them:  we're not really so much into headbanging anymore.     Chalk it up to old age or whatever (I turn 56 next Tuesday), but the Lord has been changing my priorities lately, including lightening up in acquiring music.  I probably can count the number of CDs I bought this year on one hand.  The same with vinyl.  Most of the newer stuff I enjoy I download.  Part of this is probably that my car payments and insurance take up a far more necessary number of shekels; but there's some other reasoning behind it.  For instance, there's a certain world-famous Christian band we mentioned (that will remain nameless, lest it start a flame war, hint hint) that we surmise are more in it for the entertainment than the ministerial aspects.  While this is not altogether unexpected, it is disheartening and causes us to reevaluate our fiscal and spiritual priorities.  I would rather read a decent book by LA Marzulli, Derek Gilbert, Gary Wayne, et al than splurge $ on the latest ?????? album.  

I also watch only one current TV show (Blue Bloods) and couldn't give a toss regarding the rest.  I've been getting into these really cool Spotify podcasts (Blurry Creatures, et al) and awesome YouTube teaching videos (Derek & Sharon Gilbert, Jay Dyer, Through the Black, Don't Let Them Burn, and many others that contain commentary on our current cultural climate and our society's need for Jesus).  I have such peace in my soul with this decision, and that's why you haven't seen me posting much about music here any more.  Granted, when Flood and Human Code arrive with their next albums, I'll get excited...but not overly fervorous like I was say, five or ten years ago.  

End rant/thoughts/manifesto.

So I am having to have a plumber tonight.  I have a leak under the house and can't fit in the crawl space to attempt the repair myself.  I contacted several people, but one said they could come today.  So, the guys are here under my house at 8 PM.  They just turned the meter back on, so hopefully they are done.  We shall see.

The plumber came and went!  Everything is good to go!  Hallelujah!

After the plumber left, the commode started running a lot!  I have changed the flapper ball.  I have changed the apparatus that controls the water.  It is still running, but not solid.  The water is slowly leaking from the tank to the bowl and I don't know why.  I am about at my wits end with stuff that needs fixing for now!

Hallelujah! After the water leak under the house, we had a big air bubble that came through the water lines when we turned the water back on. It was loud through the toilet, and the seal between the tank and bowl bags to leak. We were busy both Sat. & Sun., and we just kept turning the water to the commode on and off to save water.  

Today, I tried taking the old toilet apart to change the seal. I couldn't get the corroded tank bolts loose. Using a hacksaw to cut them off wasn't working as our bathroom is tiny! I ended up pulling the whole toilet out. I accidentally cracked the tank while trying to get the bolts out.

Luckily, I had bought a commode to put into my building and had been lazy about fixing it. So, I began installing the new one without knowing what I was doing. But, after wrestling with this for some time now, we have a new commode that appears to not be leaking!

Praise the Lord!

If this one lasts as long as the previous, I hereby declare that I will be too old to attempt this when I need this redone in 21 or 21 years from now!