Greybeards Gripes

Frustrated would be putting it mildly.   I had thought I would finish up my Christmas shopping today on Cyber-Monday and maybe save a little cash.   A thought,  was what that turned out to be.   Out of 5 items I’ve tried to purchase,  I’ve actually been able to complete the order on ONE web site.   Of course I don’t know whether to blame it on the web sites or on my I-net provider (Charter),  all I know is the ordering functions on multiple web sites I’ve tried,  fail to respond when I try to make an order.   BAH, HUMBUG!

 Happy Turkey Day

“Doc says”,  I don’t need an h1N1 flu shot,  but if I’m going to be in any groups of people I definately need the seasonal flu shot.  (Holidays and all, ya know?)  Problem:  I’ve called around,  and I’ve checked Google and Bing for seasonal flu shot locations.  Guess what?  NONE FOUND!   Typical,  the government and big media create a panic,  with NO SOLUTIONS!  Really gives me faith in their abilities to manage crisis situations.

Occasionally I take a look at what I was writing about a year ago.

This time I found this.

http://greybeard.igogg.com/2008/11/19/first-ice-of-2008/

First river ice of 2008 was on November 19th.   Even though we had a very cold summer of 2009,  it appears that fall of 2009 is hanging on a bit longer than 2008.   Here we are at November 24th,  and so far there has not even been a skim of ice on the river.  We haven’t seen the sun for going on 7 days now,  and the highs have averaged around 42 degrees.  At night we’ve averaged around 38 to 40 degrees.  Can’t complain to much,  I’m not a big fan of snow for Thanksgiving.

The Doc say’s,   Stay away from any Holiday get togethers, that include someone who has an upper respiratory infection, is coughing,  or has a fever.  Again,  I have to say,  “Well Doc,  that about covers ALL of the Holidays”.    It’s gonna be a long winter. 

No ice fishing, no snowmobiling, no winter hikes,  no snow shovelling, etc.,  Nothing that requires effort if the outside temperature is below 35 degrees.   I mentioned that this kind of limits my possibilites, considering that we live in northern Michigan,  but to no avail.  It’s gonna be another long winter.   I may be beginning to understand why so many people in Michigan are snowbirds.  How far south does one have to go to ensure above 35 degree temperatures?