Batton down the hatches!!

OK, so Wisconsin is due to get 6-12 inches of snow in what could be a pretty solid winter storm.

so what's the problem?

Nothing that I see, I mean, I live in Wisconsin and I expect snow in the wintertime. That means I need to make some adjustments to how I do things.

Snow makes travel interesting, so I add time to get to my destination. I start my car and give it a few minutes to warm up, not so much for me, but so that the oil has a chance to get out of the pan and lubricate my engine before I get up to speed.

I'm aware that traction isn't optimal, so I add extra distance between myself and the vehicle in front of me, watching my mirror and hoping the guy behind me is doing the same.

I'm aware that it's cold out, so I dress accordingly: heavy coat, gloves, hat if necessary, and boots. I keep a change of clothes at work in case I somehow fall and get dirty or wet.

I turn my headlights on whenever I'm using my wipers. I flash my lights at those who don't. I tend to have a problem seeing gray cars at twilight while there's a light snow falling; they may as well have a Romulan cloaking device on them.

I don't freak out when I hear that there's a "large" amount of snow coming, no matter what the weatherman/woman is telling me. I don't run to the store to stock up on supplies because I don't need to horde anything; I have enough in my cupboards to sustain me the 24-48 hours it may be in the event of a snowpocalypse.

I enjoy the snow; I love the quietness, even in the big city, of a scene wrapped in freshly fallen snow.

I took some time tonight to do what I'm always saying I'm gonna do....contacting old friends. Holly has heard me time and time again say "I should call that person..."

So, I went through my friends on Facebook and wrote a quick note to several friends I hadn't heard from or seen in years...

new picture of me

When I mentioned I was growing a beard, one of my followers asked if I would post a pic.

yeah, it's wintertime

well, we have some snow and cold, so I'd say winter is here.

Work moves on: some guys are busy, but most are slower this time of year. Not a big surprise to me, since my dad was a carpenter for several years and was often laid off in the winter.

I'm growing a beard. I think Holly likes it, but I'll ask her to be sure. Probably just a winter thing, but I've given it about three weeks so far, only shaving my neck to trim it up. I think it's coming in pretty good and it doesn't itch so much anymore. I'll post a picture in another week or so.

Christmas plans have been mostly made, so more travel is in order.

Rod Blagojevich, Governor of Illinois, was charged yesterday with a couple counts of corruption for trying shake some people in non-government positions down. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

Youtube virus outbreak

Apparently, there's a virus going around that is spread through Youtube videos, which I've embedded on my site in the past.

Please, update both your antivirus software AND Windows.

Download this program to clean out your temporary files, which is where this virus lurks.

Any questions, drop me a line.

of Turkey and White Death

Short Holiday weekend.

Holly had to work Friday, so we spent Thursday with her family at her aunt and uncle's house. Lots of food and football and family.

Friday I had a computer client, then that evening was a going away party for a friend of mine.

Saturday Holly and I headed south to my mom's house around 8. We rolled in around noon, they headed over to my grandparents' house to catch up with them.

Back to Mom's house to veg out and get ready for dinner. Mom had already decided she wasn't cooking so we ordered pizza, which was fine with me. My sister and family was also there, so we got to see my nieces and nephew.

After dinner, we just sat and talked and hung out. Holly got to play with my nephew's new Nerf chain gun. Twenty five rounds of Nerf goodness can be fire from the thing.

At the end of the night, Holly and I made our way over to my other grandparents' house to stay the night. My sister and the kids were staying at Mom's, and we didn't want to overcrowd the house.

Chatted with my grandparents for an hour or so, then headed to bed. Up in the morning to see the glorious snow already falling. My stepmom called and said she and Dad wouldn't be over due to the weather. Problem is, she was bring the bulk of the food for that day. Grandma rolled out plan B and we had plenty to eat between the pork roast, the ham and the two casseroles my sister had prepared.

Holly and I started our return north at halftime of the Packer game. The weather wasn't too bad, just some limited visibility. The only real problem we had was traffic around Rockford, and it took us 90 minutes to go 30 miles.

The only real weather problem was about 30 miles out of Milwaukee on I-43, where the snow was sticking to the freeway.

I dropped Holly off at home, sat for a bit, then headed to the store to get fixin's for lunch this week. Watched some of the Bears-Vikings game, then headed to bed.

Short weekend, but sometimes, that's all you get.