Curling up with a box of Kleenex and a good book on a rainy day, just what the doctor ordered

The weather up here in the Great White North has been really rainy the last several days and when combined with my cold (which is again on the mend, thanks to all for your concern and well wishes… I’m almost back to my normal self) has made for an excellent excuse to do little besides read.  So, I’ve finished A Discovery of Witches.

I liked it.  It had an interesting mixture of science and fantasy, a fun twist on monster characters (or as the author calls them, creatures) and though it is just the first in a series it didn’t have a super huge cliff hanger.  Although, I am left wanting more, as any good series should do.  The character development is pretty good, and for the most part the characters are pretty interesting and nearly believable, considering it is fantasy.  I think it does pretty well having something for all reading tastes; some romance (tastefully done romance by in large, although once you really get into the book the plot seems to focus heavily on the romance of the main characters and at times somewhat bogs down the action, but the romance is key to the plot, so in general it works), some action, some mystery, and a bit of quirkiness.

Overall, a pretty enjoyable read, and luckily, the sequel is due out later this summer.  Until then, I have to decide what to read next.  I have several books on my bookshelf in varying degrees of literary significance.  I tried to sit down and read a couple different titles last night, but nothing was blowing my skirt up, so to speak.  I think, as much as I enjoy a good read, I really need to jump start my enthusiasm again.  This yucky weather and my cold have really done a number on my summer fever.

April SNOW showers…?

Even after 4 years the magic of letting the dog out for a  pee on green grass and sprouting flowers before bed and waking up to let the dog out for his morning pee in 2 feet of snow is still impressive.

Although not too surprising as the school called at 5:30 am to notify us there’d be no school today.

Happy April 16th to you!

Yes, I understand mild is a relative term

We’ve been having a relatively mild Great White North winter this year.  Very few subzero temps, and very little snow.  Some of us are happy, as it makes commuting to school much easier, others have been a bit cranky because they bought fancy new snowshoes and have only been able to caress them longingly before hanging them in the front airlock.*

Sunday through Monday we got a rather decent snowfall and our accumulation is now pushing winky high to a long-backed, short-legged dog.  I can say this with certainty as I luckily have such a creature.  I brought my camera out this morning to document the measurement, however, between wearing extremely bulky gloves, the lag on my shutter and Rupert’s desire to do his business quickly and get back in the house this is the best I could manage:

Amazing how that dog can poop like the wind in the wind, but then it must really suck to have to do one’s business under such conditions.  So for those of you who aren’t good at spotting the supersonic invisible dog, I’ve Photoshopped the photo just a bit to help you, my dear readers, fully realize the scene:

Good boy Rupert!  Isn’t he the cutest dog in the whole world?

But I digress.  This promising winter weather development has put several members of the Jones household in a flutter.  Yesterday Leif and the Spud apparently went sledding for well over an hour, and when I got home I was greeted by this:

Incontrovertible evidence that winter outdoor sports were highly anticipated.  On my dining room table non the less.

Winter is a very beautiful season in the Great White North.  Which is good, because real winter can last upwards of 6 months.  Unfortunately, some of us need to be studying Spanish, taking a biology test and annotating our writing class reading today.  *Sigh*  No rest or winter frolicking for the wicked I’m afraid.

TTFN.

*Airlock in our family means one of two hallways to the outside which are sealed off from the rest of the house by doors.  Airlocks not only help keep the warm air in and cold air out when coming and going in the winter, but they make awesome extra freezer space.  On the down side, you really want to remember to bring your coat and boots inside the house, as putting on a frozen nylon sleeved coat which has been essentially hanging in a freezer is somewhat less than enjoyable.  Some call it bracing.  I call it by a slew of colorful explicatives we will leave to your imagination.

Brownie Points Earned

For any of my dear readers who don’t live in subzero winter climates, you may find the following tidbit of info useful in appreciating the point of this post.  When one lives in the Great White North, cars have a tendency to not want to start on a cold frosty morning especially when over night temps were below zero Fahrenheit.  Older cars, such as my lovely red tuna can on wheels, get a bit crankier and like to resist starting even when it’s only just below freezing.  Naturally having a heated garage mitigates this problem.  Or even having any garage, even an unheated garage.  But, seeing as my garage is barely big enough for one car, and has been co-opted as a workshop, our vehicles sit out side all year long, below freezing, subzero or otherwise.

Luckily, science has found a solution to frozen engine syndrome.  A heater is somehow put into the engine of the vehicle and all the owner needs to do is remember to plug the cord which hangs out of the hood of the car into an electrical outlet, preferably about an hour before one wants to use one’s vehicle.  The heater keeps the engine above freezing, and even a rusty old *hit box like mine will start up on the first turn of the key.

Brilliant.  Now all one needs to do is remember to plug in the car.

Now on to the point of this post.  It was 10˚F (which is equal to -12˚C) this morning, so I was pretty sure plugging in the ol’ tuna can was in order.  After walking the spud to school I went to get the extension cord and I noticed it was already strung across the hood of my car.  Leif had been out last night and plugged it in for me.

Awww.  Now isn’t that sweet?  Thank you.

I finally found the snow!!

I’ve been looking for the WordPress snow feature since last week.  And I finally found a somewhat suitable background for the snow to fall on.

Cheers!

When it doesn’t pay to be cheap

Leif has a Jeep with 4 wheel drive.  He let’s me borrow it to drive to school when the weather is bad, however, my crappy red tuna can on wheels gets much better gas mileage, and when you drive about 450 miles a week that difference translates to real money boys and girls.  So I tend to be cheap, putting off taking the Jeep unless I absolutely can’t avoid it.

Take yesterday.  It wasn’t actually snowing when I left for school.  However, when I got out of class finally at 5:30pm, it had been snowing for some time and the roads had developed a slick, smooth sheet of ice upon which there was little traction.  Sound bad?  It was.

However, there is more.

The Big City, where in Stickittoyou University is located, is built on a hill.  I have to drive up that hill to get home.  Now imagine, if you will, stop and go bumper to bumper traffic upon which no one, once stopped, can resume forward momentum.  Mmnhmmn.

Well, not exactly no one.  The *ssholes smart enough to take their 4 wheel drive vehicles were slaloming at 10 billion miles per hour around us schmucks in our lame tuna cans on wheels masquerading as fuel efficient economy sedans.

2 hours and 45 minutes after I left campus I arrived home safe and sound but rather vexed.  There was no problem with the roads about 10 miles out of town, however, it took almost as long as it normally takes to drive the full 76 miles home to get that first 10; wherein I’m sure I burned more gas stuck in traffic and literally spinning my wheels than I would have burned driving the Jeep and being able to join the other slalom-ers getting home in my normal amount of time than being cheap and driving my sh&t box tuna can on wheels car.  How about that for a run on sentence!

I love winter.  I just hate being so short on cash I have to live dangerously cheap.