Scattered Thoughts . . .

W e awoke this morning while it was still dark outside to another blackout due to downed tree limbs covered in heavy ice falling on power lines nearby.  The ice adds too much weight for the branches to bear and it has been a bit windy too which doesn't help.  I think we had power again in about two hours.  That was just long enough for us to collect all of our battery operated lamps, lanterns, flashlights and power stations.  This time of year we worry about freezing pipes but short blackouts aren't a major problem unless they fry electronic components throughout the house and we had that potential today! When we lost power, the power was flickering for about ten or fifteen minutes which caused all sorts of problems with our electronic devices, appliances and entertainment center.  Once we had power back on I quickly realized that all the flickering had pushed everything into "pairing mode".  This meant that I needed to set up each device again.  We al...

I 've been sick with COVID since mid-July and I'm still struggling with this virus.  I felt better than I have in a couple of months yesterday morning so I finally stepped outside to do some landscaping.  I haven't done this at all in the past month so this was a good sign that maybe this virus is behind me.  Actually, I haven't done anything outside at all in the past month so the yard was definitely in need of some attention. My plan was to start with the edge trimming with the weed-whacker and then see how I feel.  I got side-tracked and did some pruning and trimming of some plants but I finished all the edge trimming in less than an hour.  I was still feeling well so I decided to pull out the lawnmower.  My original plan was to do the edge trimming on one day and then do the mowing on another to better manage my energy and avoid overdoing it but I was still feeling well after doing the edge trimming so I decided to mow the lawn too.   I got th...

This past week has been a bit brutal as far as my health is concerned.  The major complaint is chest congestion with the associated cough and having no voice.  My O2 levels have been down as low as 88% (last night).  I haven't had a fever but I've been feeling rather lousy with a sore throat and just not feeling "right" which, I guess, would be considered malaise.   I've taken three COVID tests in the last five days and every test result has been negative.  Of course, that is good news but, honestly, I'm having great difficulty believing the accuracy of these tests.  Other than having mono a few times in the summer, I have never been sick with any bug in the summer.  I'm not feeling mono-ish so I'm not thinking it is that.  Anyway, three COVID tests in the past five days have been negative.   Another positive is that this bug hasn't seemed to negatively impact my primary illness.  That is definitely a good thing!  My prima...