8.5" of white shit

and isn't my shoveling attire fabulous .. this was the third, yes third pass of shoveling ... I tried to shovel every 2 inches or so .. and with this pass it was still 30 minutes of shoveling .. Jessica, upstairs Jessica, had just arrived home ... NCHS had closed early and she gave me the road reports ... 

I stayed at the office until 4:00ish .. the snow was done by then and plows were trying to plow but a lot of us idiots were out on the road .. 

this morning -- everything was plowed it was 2WD on the inbound -- things are snow covered and icy after 2 hours of shoveling yesterday -- drippy nose and cough this morning .. not sure if the two are related (ailments vs. shoveling) but I'm assuming so ... 

I'm not going to sugarcoat it -- it was a bitch.  Shoveled at home too .. still have both decks to shovel.  Later .. #1 was pushing show in the yard with his tractor .. got stuck with the pickup .. when I'm 86 and dealing with cancer I'm not plowing the freaking snow.  
 

and the view from the cabin at 5:00 pm .. argh a lot of snow drifted in 

and today's drama -- I finally put on my big girl panties and told a client to go somewhere else -- seriously, I feel bad -- but man, the drama was out of control ... too much drama, too many experts, just too much ... 

snow day? perhaps

it might be a snow day .. it might be all over with by the time it's time to leave work .. I'm hoping so .. I'll be the idiot shoveling thru out the day .. old age has taught me to shovel often and shovel "less"

I've been trying to catch the perfect sunset at the cabin via the camera's .. no sunset, but I caught the neighbor wandering around down by the lake .. he's dead center in the picture

I was checking for snow this morning and this dude triggered the camera  .. second day in a row -- hope he's a mouser .. mousers are always welcome on 3rd street  -- note no snow at 5:01 am

and five minutes later the newspaper arrived as did the snow .. I was hoping it (the snow) would miss us .. one can always dream -- 

I'm liking my re-arranged spaces at the office - I'm really liking less shit sitting around .. the computer geek might be here over the weekend with the wall mount monitor and new workstation for the front room -- I'm on a regular replacement schedule for workstations -- about every 5 years .. this summer will be a server upgrade .. he also updated and reviewed all of the firewalls and security "stuff" .. I generally sleep better after that review ... 

None of my shopping binge stuff has arrived yet .. mostly likely today during the snow event . Smiley the UPS dude loves delivering useless crap while wet and slippery .. 

 

and it continues

new view from my desk -- yep, moved that furniture too and I'm not done yet .. 

don't ya love my thumb ...

and notice that directv streaming on the office tv ... that was the accomplishment of the decade .... 

I've since eliminated the bench gizmo with the plants and lamp and moved the tv bookshelf over .. the colorful curtains have been re-arranged too . less is more is my new motto (quit laughing ye who know me well) .. 

the end table with the lamp is also on the move .. less is more

I was all done and went to start the backup tape -- and the monitor on the server took a dump .. so .. stole one from Kate's desk ... needed pieces to make it work -- tomorrow that server room gets a vac'ing -- it is a dusty musty mess in there .. 

weekend finishes:

1.  file room office make over -- new desk, reconfigured space and swapped green room computer to file room and file room computer to green room ... data transferred and working

2.  clean said file room -- safe is also re-homed ... seriously .. less shit

3.  scrubbed all the chair mats -- they were filthy -- all of the floors vac'd and/or scrubbed ..

4.  moved my office furniture and purged.

5.  shopped 

        a.  2 new UPS's .. gotta have 'em

        b.  new chair mats -- even clean -- some are in tough shape

                they don't last forever and get a lot of use

        c.  new rugs for file room

        d.  new monitor for server 

        e.  xmas presents for family members

        f.  still need rugs for my office - hello Target

6.  laundry -- the endless laundry is up to date

7.  took a ride on the SxS .. kinda like her :)

8.  cleaned office garage -- I can actually park in it again and not be grossed out

9.  I actually worked too ... clean up document storage drawers .. someone's gotta do it 

10. Christmas cards -- office and personal designed and ordered  -- ditto a couple of calendars ... I only ordered two .. tossed 'em together rather quickly ... once they arrive will decide on more ...

It was a productive weekend -- I brought a couple projects home - but I think I'll hang out in the sewing cave and find some more laundry :)

This weeks projects.

1.  new computer for Kate's desk (and a new monitor)

2.  new wall mount monitor in my office

3.  put together cube units -- one is in my office -- the other might be coming home

4.  put together treadmill (it's an underdesk walking treadmill) .. probably coming home too

5.  get all of the recycling to recycling .. including the shit in Jessica's garage

6.  get truck washed

7.  finish f/cabinet purging (both on earth and in the cloud)

8.  set up and finish proofing of year end packets

9.  normal stuff

 

labor weekend

I found this little maple leaf laying on top of the trash curbie -- it was a sign to purge .. and the purge has begun

here is the almost final remake of the file room office (the pix are out of order)

rugs are ordered .. computer moved and lint free .. 

small things to go .. needs paint 

it's a comfy work space

my tech skills are merely an illusion - but I got 'em today ... directv is now streaming on my office tv via the amazon firestick .. no more watchin on the iPad or my phone ... next room re make is this office  -- big and little changes .. but this whole wall of furniture is going.  the third monitor that will hang on the wall next to my desk will have the firestick in it so .. tv can go .. maybe ....

this was the project that started it all .. the old "door" desk was relocated to Oshawa .. including it's chair ... so I tackled this stand up desk .. 28 screws later it was done -- then I pulled up the area rugs .. evidently the last two cleaning ladies have never pulled up that area rug .. OMG .. it's in the trash ... 

I'm actually going to work too .. sometime .. maybe ... today ... 

 

and suddenly

the holiday is over and it's back to work 

my disjointed attention span has led me to projects and well, Wednesday was one that was long overdue .. the cube unit that held all of the various county docs -- got scanned, purged, shredded or recycled ... there are 3 empty cubes in the unit -- and 8 empty wine bottles .. purged those too 

Thanksgiving morning fog .. as the sun rose over the valley the fog made for a pretty sunrise -- start to the day .. 

I knew it was going to be a long day of cooking, cleaning, dishes, eating, cooking, cleaning, laundry, chaos.  I was tired and crabby to start the day and it didn't get any better as the day went along.  By the time company arrived, I had the turkey done, 2 crockpots humming, dressing in the oven, potatoes ready to mash and much discussion with the elders about tables and seating.  It was a long day.

And sunset on 3rd Street -- the internet is down at the lake ( or the router needs to be reset ) .. so no pix from out there .. evidently I need to dash out and fix that -- not sure when

 

Happy Hump Day

Good morning --- the sun is shining and it's warming up.  I've not been sleeping very well again .. or I fall asleep early (9:00ish) and wake up at 4:00 ish .. so today I did it again -- got up and put in a load of laundry -- seems to be an efficient use of my time.  Finished my book, had a nap and came to work at 6:00 .. I'm not sure if it is a good habit or a bad habit.  

I had every intention of being efficient all week long -- and it's gone to hell from moment one -- drama, some self created and some from outside influences.  I was pooped when I got home last night -- so I read and did laundry .. I think my efficient/productive/overachieving weekend project list did me in ... and my next project is to create a 4 day punch list of shit to do.  

Computer(s) and technology upgrades ordered last night ... a new desktop set up for the front room and a 40" monitor to hang on the wall next to my desk -- the clients will watch that monitor and I'll never have to flip my monitor sideways ever again.  Thank You Technology.  

Before our new toys arrive however .. spaces need to be re-arranged -- computers need to be backed up -- software needs to be moved .. all the basics in life.  The 2022 tax programs are in our VPN .. it's not the final version but it is a working version .. here we go ... the race has begun.

Pix is from the cabin this morning -- I check cameras every morning .. makes me smile.

 

no rest for the wicked?

more likely - no rest for the driven? the demented? the responsible?

Yesterday --

 

    I went to work at 7:00 am .. knocked 13 things of my list -- that list .. came home and headed to the cave until bedtime -- a couple major items on the punch list of 35 got done!!!!

This morning -- started at the computer at 5:00am with laundry ....

1.    hauled 5 bags of trash to the office when I went to work at 8:30 am ...
2.    grocery store on the inbound $2.50 raspberries ... a steal
3.    worked until 12:30 -- more shit got done

            tax planning for those who feel the need to leave the tundra  
4.    the recycling got to the bins .. a truck box full of cardboard

5.    got home and moved Ruby to her winter spot -- 
           backing into a dark hole up a slippery slope ... #1 and I were having words

6.    got the SxS out -- took her for my first ride ... 
7.    got the home patio furniture stashed in the garage

8.    went to the lake and stashed more patio furniture, put new batteries in 

            the camera and checked things out .. I should have sat in my lawn

            chair by the ice and pondered life

9.    back home and now surfing the internet

10.  I see a nap in my future before Yellowstone

it was beautiful at the lake .. quiet 

Ruby in her corner .. the cardboard on the wall is from 1979 ... #1 never tosses a thing

the SxS .. 

ya, wedged in there .. can't walk between her and the wall .. then after the cover when on ... I remembered the garage door opener on the visor ... shit happens

 

two sunsets

I got home early enough Friday night to capture this -- on my walk from the machine shed to the house .. with the overloaded tote bag of shit.  

 

and this was tonight from the cabin .. it was really breezy today and even though cold enough to make ice - to windy to freeze -- we'll see what the morning brings .. I hope to dash out there tomorrow .. need my brief lake fix .. always need my lake fix. 

Actually, I have clean bedding to deliver ... and I need to retrieve my striped jammies and some other sweatshirts .. 

I had a two page list on Wednesday night of projects for W, R & F plus the weekend .. I'm slogging thru it quite well .. .. 

1.  scanning box of  scanning
2.  LSS Client stuff
3.  CFK/KWS
4.  Stuff mailers ( no envelopes so this will wait)
5.  Move desk ( mine ) -- large monitor ordered
6.  Set up stand up desk and treadmill
7.  Scan box of purge stuff
8.  Vac basement
9.  dropbox class/office 365 class
10. mail out partnership crap

it's a doable list .. 

unsettled

I was creeping thru my wastebook memories and pictures of the patch popped up .. some day's I really miss the patch.  I miss the simple, or not so simple tasks of planting, hoeing, weeding -- picking .. people at the market ---

Growing things, growing good things is rewarding, self satisfying, just feels good -- and now, sometimes I'm surrounded by a lot of well, greed, nastyness, competitiveness, one upmanship ( not a word but you get the drift ) .. 

Kindness, politeness, caring, compassion have become lost traits in our weird world.  

and then I found the "last hurrah" post here on the blog ..  memories   I am grateful for generations of family who earned a living from the land .. life lessons .. 

just a little reflective today ...

M

yes, I'm guilty

today's delivery included a treadmill ... an under the stand up desk treadmill not sure which desk it will be under -- probably file room and eventually home .. although, the file room stand up desk is still in the box too -- for two years .. let's hope all the parts and pieces are in the box .. it is on the project list 

8 hours of seminar on Wednesday -- it started late (9:00 am) and finished at 5:00 pm and I was shot .. lots of yada, yada yada ... exhausting yada, yada, yada

and if my Amazon is an issue -- it gets worse -- Dad has access to my account .. last night he ordered stuff shit -- winter boots, shoe stretchers ( not for the boots ) and something else .. getting him trained to push out the deliver dates to get the electronic credits .. "but I need it now" .. dude, you need to wait

Sunday night, he needed new turtlenecks -- and mom needed shoes from Schuler's .. all in a day's life on Daisy Lane ..   honestly, most of our Amazon stuff .. can't be found locally anymore .. I really really miss our little Shopko .. it had all the "things" ...  

 

truth

and another truth according to elder #1 when it snows in November it stays forever .......

I'm not sleeping well, again .. yesterday it was toss and turn from 2:30 ... until the buzzer started blaring ... this morning -- I got up and put a load of laundry in at 3:30 .. seemed like the thing to do .. I didn't bring any work home so ... and surfing seemed dull

I had supper last night with Jennifer -- my opponent in the election.  Nice -- I enjoyed getting to know her better -- I wish life would have been less chaotic before the election and we could have had time to visit then .. 

 

peace

I certainly did not get any peace with today's snowfall.  WTH, slip sliding away in the new to me truck did not make for a smooth inbound commute ...  yikes, some idiot dang near hit me at the KT corner ... 

Did not need 4WD on the homebound commute == until my own driveway -- which is a mess -- #1 felt the need to attempt to grade it .. and in his words "that was a bad move" .. yep.  

The cold is the worst.  I cannot seem to warm up.  Toes -- those things on my feet ... argh.  Kate and I assembled another large shelf unit this afternoon -- wire shelfing is my new favorite -- sturdy, somewhat inexpensive and doesn't show dust -- other than that we had a constantly ringing telephone -- constant .. there are some problems in this world that are not my responsibility to fix.  

I'll get off my soapbox -- my book awaits me.

 

Weekends ...

the kindle app on my iPad likes to track how much reading I've done.  I read every day .. lately, it's 4:30 am to 5:30 am ... I've moved away from morning TV news .. even the local .. it's peaceful with no sound, no distractions, no nothing

I'm aiming for 365 days .. since my iPad travels with me I sometimes sneak in a couple of minutes in between meetings or before meetings.  I just purchased the new John Sanford and hoping for a Turkey Day reading marathon.  I've subscribed to Kindle Unlimited for a couple of years .. might give it up.

and here is Ruby III or Blue Ruby .. she arrived last week sometime .. #1 mentioned driving her  so ... with it being the last weekend of deer hunting -- the neighborhood hunters should appreciate me not cruising the prairie .. next weekend ... perhaps

I managed to work most of the weekend.  It was cold and I had things to do .. so, it was a good thing.  All of the window kits, except the bathroom are installed on 3rd street -- I started hanging the quilts too .. moved some more furniture around and the last piece of wire shelving arrived on Friday -- I haven't taken time to put it together yet .. will not take long.  

The project(s) of the week is to attack the last stand up desk and get the file room whipped into shape.  -- and then there is my office -- hoping to connect with computer boy and get that project rolling -- none of them will take more than a couple of hours total.  

My fabric crap is selling on ebay.  Thankfully, slimming down the stash is a good thing.  Some of that shit is pretty ugly -- happens when you purchase on-line and don't get to touch it .. 

Hopefully, the fabric sales are beefy enough to pay for the treadmill I ordered on Amazon this morning -- I've been waffling since the plague arrived.  

 

what a weird and crazy week .. seriously, weird  - I've been super busy doing nothing.  Lots of meetings and travel ...Nicollet, Mankato, Gaylord - all the regional metropolitan areas in a 25 mile swath 

The drive home from Nicollet on Monday night was cool -- no traffic, full moon rising -- calming

Wednesday night coming home from Mankato was a treat -- for a while -- I opted to take Hwy 22 and dive off at the Holiday House corner and grab the Rabbit Road -- it was good -- but every other soul was using the RR as a short cut too ... not sure when 22 will re-open at the bridge .. and yesterday was my monthly trek to downtown Gaylord -- it was 68' when I left St Peter and 57' when I got to Gaylord ... when I got back to the office it was 41' ... yikes ....

yes, I have a dirty dusty Ruby .. the weekend plan is to wipe down interiors on all wheels, vac and wash .. Ruby's storage location is ready .. but until it snows.... Ruby had a 21,000 mile birthday yesterday .. 8 years and 21,000 miles -- don't think I'll hit 22,000 before storage ... 

my post election wardrobe was memorable .

gray leggings, orange fun run t shirt, brown sweater and dirty sneakers 

voting selfie for the campaign page 

I was #13 in Traverse ... and it was the lucky 13

notice -- I managed to avoid sharing the double chins, weird lighting and general clutter of the office ... I have spent most of the week finishing window kits -- only 2 to go and Amazon will be delivering them on Tuesday .. front room remake is done .. shelving coming for green room and then it is my office .. needs a total gut job ... and it might just get one.   the file room desk still needs to be put together ... maybe this weekend.

Mr Big Buck is dead center -- not the best phone shot ... the zoomed ones were fuzzy 

Need a project list for today .

1.  Financial Statements SRC

2.  Pay bills SRC

3.  Pay bills mine

4.  SPACC -- just get it done

5.  5 Issues

6.  Payroll taxes Q1 and Q2

7.  Financial Statements N

8.  DSS September F/Statements

9.  Vaccing and Trash 

Weekend

1.  Detail wheels]

2.  Recycling

3.  Basement fluff/buff

4.  Mkto -- return shoes to K

5.  Mkto -- return Amazon to K

6.  SSDD

I have admit -- crossing stuff off the endless lists is a good feeling !

 

election day (and the morning after)

 7:22am .. I'm going to be rambling all day long, seriously, disjointed since last night.  Hopefully, not as disjointed as the PowerBall peeps.  That issue screams security breach to me.  I'm nervous as a cat -- I don't know why but this election doesn't feel like any of the others.  I keep saying "it is what it is."  The PET Scan results are in the portal -- I'm not sure how to read them and I'm not going to guess -- "it is what it is" 

1:21pm .. Still rambling and really nervous.  I managed to get my car to Autotronics and walk back to the Government Center -- moderated the meeting (all 19 minutes) and back to the office.  Up to Traverse to Vote -- where the automark had issues -- it always has issues, back to DD for lunch pickup.  And now at work .. the shakes have happened a couple of times.  Moved more furniture around.  I'm afraid to actually work -- I'll screw something up.  Never a good thing.

3:42pm .. rain baby rain ... we'll take what ever we get when ever it falls ... still nervous as chicken in a cat house .. the over abundance of coffee is not helping -- tomorrow is oncology day and that isn't helping either

7:24am .. this election gig is not for the introverted faint of heart .. I thought results were slow to post on the SOS website -- but it was probably my trashy internet at home  .. surprises, no surprises and well, it was interesting.  I should turn on the TV and see what the "chatter of experts" has to say this morning .. but it was after midnight when I finally fell asleep -- I have 

    a.  work projects to complete
    b.  it's oncology day today ... 
    c.  R9 meeting in Mankato at supper time ... 

    I celebrated with a trip to the grocery store -- 2 boxes of raspberries, a bag of Honeycrisp apples, caramel for apples and a gallon of milk ... 'tis good to be old and well, win the race.  

since September, I've been jotting in my gratitude/blessed/thankful journal almost every day .. helps but the nasty parts of life in perspective.  

blowing in the wind

After a morning of hard labor at the office, Mom and I took a jaunt to the cabin -- office duties included plastic window kits on 7 of the 11 windows .. the front room awaits me.  The project entails a lot of cleaning because this place is filthy.  Truth.  

I checked out the wave action on the cameras before we drove out there -- it was wicked ... really wicked -- 

 

and I'm not a very good videographer .. I started stripping the bed and dis-assembling the desktop computer and couldn't find Mom -- I thought she was wandering around outside and no, she was sitting in the truck waiting for me -- and the truck was shaking.  We won't have much raking -- what isn't piled on the hosta and behind the cabin has moved to the neighbors

So the bed got stripped, the computer is in my back seat -- for Dad at home and I brought in 6 unopened bags of chips.  good grief, a chip obsession :)

PTL

see the orange button -- it's a problem

these people and this damn thing has drove me nuts for the last 18 months ... seriously, seriously slow internet ... phone calls to robots, stopping at the store "oh, we don't service or sell those anymore" ... well, my friends this is the only internet some of us can get -- so make this shit work, and work well

last night was the bomb -- i threatened to push over the tower ( law enforcement has yet to arrive) . seriously, we lease space to their freaking tower.  I pay big bucks to have internet ( with data limits ) .. 

I haven't been able to get my email to download via MS Exchange -- it's a corker ... seriously ... no file sharing via encypted email .. it's a bitch...

so last night, I re-booted it again ... took off all of the cables and cleaned them with rubbing alcohol and shazammmm   the fricking thing started to behave

I was able to log in MS Exchange and get my email ... holy cats -- a game changer ...everything else seems to be working a bit smoother too...

frack

it's the little things in life ...

 

scatter brained

 

    This week I've been suffering from "scatter brain" ... and when I googled it for images the above popped up ... pretty apt description.

    Focus has been an issue all week long --- all week long.  Weather?  Bored?  Tired?  Not busy enough?  Election?   I don't know, but I really need to get my shit together and soon.  Real soon.  

    It has been a joy not to wear a coat to work in the morning ... I've been here pretty early this week and productive in the early hours -- I've stopped listening to radio and podcasts and I get more done.  I left a pile of stuff for Kate today and she's slogging thru it too.

 

   I have 2 bags of fabric for the quilters .. sewing room purge has begun.  I have at least a tub full of pre cuts that I'm never going to use -- because clever marketing sucked me in and I bought them -- kinda like my clothes addiction .. today was 2 pair of shoes -- my achillies tendon is flaring up again -- so I'm trying an expensive pair of clogs.  

    See scatterbrained -- read the previous paragraph -- tough to follow the thought process eh?????

    So the extra pre-cuts ---etsy or ebay is the question of the week -- I'll tub them up tonight and take an inventory .. probably ebay ... here we go  -- setting up account and the bullshit that goes with it .... 

       scatter brained ... brain burn   brain farts ...