Tag Archives: volunteer

Winter’s Kiss

By | | ,
10 Comments

Winter has returned to kiss me goodbye. Not satisfied with the slow and gentle farewell when we parted yesterday, the season has turned to gently brush my cheek.

It was sunny and very chilly today, but the temperature did rise above freezing. As evening approached, so did the black volumes of cloud, swept in by the gusty wind.

I accomplished a lot today. I arranged to obtain a Camp Fire Permit to use at the Rideau Camp. I gave the pharmacy some lead time to check into my prescription renewal, which I will need soon. I called the car dealership where we bought our car to make sure the sales department has our new address; apparently changing the address with the service department does not change the address with the sales department. I sent the lawyer’s office information so that our real estate deal can continue smoothly, and at the same time asked a few questions about my concerns, which were completely and competently allayed. I updated the software on all of my websites. I went for my walk, and did my knee exercises. I received reading material attached to an email message. The reading is required for tomorrow’s teleconference, my volunteer work. I read the reading material. I learned how to draw lines and measure distances with Google Earth, and to remove lines as well. If I didn’t list these things, I would be sitting here thinking I had done “nothing”, when that is far from the case.

Terra announced that she is carrying a girl and boy, she is pregnant with twins.

My Sister-the-youngest-girl sent Attila and I an invitation to Easter Dinner, which is very exciting. We are waiting to see what this kiss of winter will bring, and what the roads will be like for travelling; there is freezing rain in the forecast. Fingers crossed that the weather will be good and the roads clear and dry.

It was a quiet day, one full of little bits of this and little bits of that. I love this kind of day.

Worldly Distractions

Weather
Special weather statement: …This late season winter storm is threatening to bring significant amounts of precipitation to Southern Ontario. Latest indications suggest significant snow is possible…
4°C
Date: 5:00 PM EDT Monday 21 March 2016
Condition: Not observed
Pressure: 101.1 kPa
Tendency: rising
Temperature: 4.4°C
Dewpoint: -11.2°C
Humidity: 31%
Wind: NW 18 km/h

Quote

“One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but cannot be taken away unless it is surrendered.”
Michael J. Fox
1961 –

Good Bad Good Bad Good Bad

By | | ,
10 Comments

Today was a busy day.

Early this morning I participated in an international teleconference,to which I belong as a volunteer. It is challenging, interesting, and very worthwhile from my point of view.

Serendipity allowed me to meet a very kind and interesting woman who lives nearby, who occasionally calls me to help her with her computer. She reciprocates the favour by giving me a wonderful massage. I had never had a massage before in my life; it was a pleasantly surprising experience. I recently assisted her in creating a Powerpoint presentation for a talk she was giving, and today I enjoyed a wonderful massage.

I had a lovely chat with my Mom and sister yesterday, over FaceTime. Mom is looking great! She is going through some miserable therapy right now, and is doing very well with it. I am counting off the days she has left to undergo the therapy, marking off each day on my calendar. My youngest sister dropped by to see my Mom, with her two daughters and their beaus, so we all waved hello over FaceTime.

The weather has turned very mild, mild enough that the heat pump is once heating the house. The difference between the heat provided by the heat pump and the oil furnace is very noticeable. The air from the heat pump that comes through the forced air system is the exact temperature to which the thermostat is set, so that sitting near a register while it is running is cool, sometimes chilly, and the heat pump runs for a long time until the interior temperature in the house matches the desired temperature. In contrast, the heat from the oil furnace is very warm as it comes through the forced air system, so that sitting near a register while it is running can be unpleasantly warm, but it doesn’t run for very long until the interior temperature in the house matches the desired temperature. I do not have a preference.

Threes play a big role in my life. Usually clustered events occur in concurrent groupings of three. I choose to use the number three as an alert system, if a behaviour has occurred three times I consider it a pattern, and I deal with it as a pattern.

Well, I reached a number three in a negative cluster of events this morning, and three on a developing cluster of positive events this morning. They might just cancel each other out! Good bad good bad good bad, as Harry Nilsson put it.

January 23rd saw a full moon, a “Wolf Moon”, in the sign of Leo. Mr. Galbraith would approve.

Worldly Distractions

Weather

-7°C
Date: 6:00 AM EST Monday 25 January 2016
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 102.2 kPa
Tendency: rising
Visibility: 24 km
Temperature: -6.7°C
Dewpoint: -8.1°C
Humidity: 90%
Wind: NE 5 km/h
Wind Chill: -9

Quote

“The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable.”
John Kenneth Galbraith
1908 – 2006