Winter Beard

 As it happened, we got our kids haircuts at the beginning of the year.  The place we go to has a punch card for adults and my was full, so I got my hair cut too.  But that day (January 4th I do believe) kicked off an experiment.  I decided to grow a beard. 

I've always had Weird Beard.. In my 20s, if I shaved on Monday, I would not get 5 o’clock shadow until about noon on Thursday.  Later in my 30s, the stubble showed up sooner, but it was still like nothing, nothing, nothing, then boom: 5 o’clock shadow that looked like I hadn’t shaved in a week.

I never minded because I’m not a beard, mustache, or goatee person.  And while the stubble grows faster as I have accumulated more spins around the sun, it still took probably longer than one would expect.  it was a good two weeks before anyone really noticed.  It was a good month and a half before the pepper was more noticeable than the salt in the salt and pepper beard.

Most people, including Nightingale liked it. In fact a lot of people who said they liked it also asked if Nightingale liked it.  There is one Friend-From-High-School who was against it but this is more about a relatively recent spat we've had on the Book of Faces and her opinion has no currency.

I personally didn't really like it.  it's itchy, scratch and I have to trim it to keep from looking like a cooter.  I was only gonna keep the beard until middle of February but I extended it to the middle of March.  I trimmed most of it off this week and will eventually get around to being clean shaven again, probably when Spring officially starts.

I might do Winter Beard next year but maybe not.  

Yes but what about Second Snowfall?

If it is rare to get snow in the South, it is even rarer to get more than one snowfall per year but here we are.  Last week the kids were off school for President's Day.  They went to school Tuesday and that evening, in anticipation of the coming snow, schools were closed, and if you didn't have to go anywhere STAY HOME! order was given.

from the first snow 

Nightingale had to use a PTO day because they couldn't reach all the patients in time to close the clinic.  It wasn't as much snow as the last one but down here any snow that lasts more than an afternoon is bad.  I started to clear off the driveway but while taking a short break -- I have a football-length driveway just from the street to the base of the house -- noticed that my neighbor's driveway was melting with the sun beating on it and realized ours was too.

On Thursday, schools were still closed, but the roads in our subdivision had melted, as had our driveway, so it was safe for Nightingale to go to work. The kids did have school on Friday.  The majority of the snow melted over the weekend with the last remnants fading away today.  

also from last time but it looks just like this

We had a big day on Saturday because we actually left the house.  First, it was for Nephew G birthday party at a bounce house.  He is 7 now.  Then, since we didn't have much food in the house, we opted to treat ourselves to Mexican.  We also invited Nightingale's parents who also invited Confederate Jethro et al.  

But first, the party.  I usually sit in a corner and just make sure my son isn't getting into any trouble but this time I made an effort to be social and sat at the adults' table.  Since I only see these people for G or M's birthdays for the most part, I always forget the names of most of Jethro's family.  

His Aunt B asked the table "Well, are we happy with the results of the election?"  My MIL said "We are, they aren't" referring to me and Nightingale.  Nightingale said I hope I still have a job and MIL said "I don't think that will happen, I have a gut feeling".  usually, it's FIL who is clueless.  

A short time later I was asked how I like it down here.  Whenever someone asks me a variation of that question, I respond with "People are uncomfortable with the answer to that question" which I did here.  Credit Beau Bennett, The Ranch.

She didn't quite hear me and thought I said something else but then she said "I'm not like Jethro" which Nightingale thinks is code for liberal.  I think it's more a way to say she's not as bat-shit crazy as Jethro et al but she is still likely conservative and Republican.

So then Dinner.  On the one hand, Jethro probably would have preferred anywhere but a Mexican restaurant for dinner.  On the other hand, if he didn't want to eat there he would have had to go home with at least one kid and make dinner.

It was loud and hard to carry on a conversation but I did manage to have a semi-pleasant chat with SIL and Jethro, though mostly SIL.  We talked about the upcoming trip to Michigan to visit the other SIL because her son is being crowned Prince of the Universe graduating High School and the Adamas want everyone to be there.  

I opposed to going for several reasons, which I may cover in a future post.  

Winter is Leaving (eventually)

It is wintertime in Mississippi and the rest of the South. Usually, what passes for winter down here is a few below-30-degree days and maybe one snowfall. Since we moved here, and even a few Christmas visits before, there has been bigger-than-standard snowfall and colder-than-record temperatures.  

kids attempt at making us breakfast

The good news is that winter is usually just mid-December to mid-February, give or take a week. Typically, it will be biting cold in the AM, but by 1 pm, the sun will be out, and it will be anywhere from 45 to 60 or even 70 F.  

This year, Winter seems to want to stick around into March according to the weather forecast.  We might actually get more snow next week.  

Finally got the chicken right for the Alfredo

Every January I wonder what I should do with this space.  I've been blogging here for 15 years with 922 posts to show for it.  While blogging isn't dead, it definitely has taken a back seat to other forms of social interaction.

I could go over to SubStack and revive my ChicagoNow blog in hopes of growing an audience, but I don't think I want that anymore.  Writing, running, and playing volleyball were my passions in my teenage and early 20s.  But each one eventually became "work" and thus not as much fun.  

Beyond that, by the time I can make words about something it turns out that other people already said what needs to be said much better than I could ever say it.  

The reality is that I'm not gonna be a viral influencer or pundit and I'm never gonna write that great American novel.  And I'm okay with that.  Having a space where I can write my occasional this happened to me and here are my thinky-thoughts about it is fine.  

A very simple meal

As I've gotten older, I've learned that I don't need to eat a Flintstone's brontosaurus-sized steak.  A simple few ounces will do the trick.

My hack is to buy the smaller 8 - 10 oz no-frills steak that is found at both Aldi or Kroger.  Kroger also offers a pair of lobster tails for $12.  So you can have Surf and Turf for about $10 per person.

And while my kids don't like the Lobster, Natasha will eat the steak.  Boris doesn't eat steak but if he had to eat it, he wants it well done.   He gets it from Nightingale's side of the family.  

What Streaming Services Might Cost a Family

After receiving one of my credit card Year-End Summary reports, I went down a rabbit hole of a sort.  I decided to see how much we spend on fixed services like our streaming services, and also our mortgage and utilities.  I limited it to things like Gas, electricity, Internet, and Water (which includes rubbish, recycle, and sewer) and also added Cell Phones and must-have-in-the-South Pest/Termite control.

I'm gonna share the Streaming services here because it isn't a state secret how much people pay for each individual service.   We have the 4 we explicitly pay for.  We also have 2 that other members of our family pay for but choose the plan that lets you add extra accounts for supposedly cheaper than each member getting their own account.  

[We aren't talking trip to Paris saving; it's more like we can supersize our quarter pounder meal.]  And then there are a couple of services that don't have extra account options but they don't care yet if you share with family members.

The four we have:

We have Amazon Music because my nephew re-enabled it once and I have been too lazy to cancel.  Plus the ability to play any song at will is worth the $10 to keep my kids entertained for 10-15 minutes when they use it.

The Paramount+ auto-renewed last Fall so we are stuck with it for a year.  My understanding is that if I do cancel it, I will not get a prorated amount of money back.  

We keep Amazon Prime because we use it more for the free shipping and whatever other benefits still exist. 

I think the point I'm trying to make is that barring some extreme series of unfortunate events, it isn't game changing to drop all of these Streaming Services, let alone any particular one.

It would be smart to drop all but one, bing watch everything we can, then cancel and add one of the dropped.  Rinse and Repeat.  But that takes timing and organization which is not currently in surplus in the Icarus household.  

My Eyes

 Last summer I signed on to participate in a Clinical Research trial.  I had tried before but didn't qualify but they had me on a list and called me back for a different one and I qualified.  

My thought was I have a lot of free time since no one wants to hire a 50+ year old dude who lives in MS.  

There was conflict even from the beginning.  The very first visit conflicted with my kids' annual pediatrician check-up.  I had forgotten about it and NG was pissed that we had to reschedule.  

Another visit prevented me from going to see my kids get an award or something at school.  

I just completed Visit 6 so I am halfway to the $1550 payout.  Of course, the story of my luck is that if I find a way to earn some extra money, a new expense shows up.  We had to replace our dishwasher and decided to replace the fridge too because the garage fridge died.  While we went frugal and got as many discounts as we could, the total cost was still higher than the Trial Payout, but it was close.

Nightingale and I believe that I have been given the placebo treatment.  The drops do not sting and I haven't noticed any real change in my night or short-sight vision.  

2024 Bears: What a waste of a season

 Another Bears season is over, and thankfully, it is over. We fans had high hopes after last year's surge to finish 7 and 10 and the drafting of generational quarterback Caleb Williams.  

Unfortunately, the Bears regressed this year.  I had them going 11 and 6 instead of 5 - 12.  My prediction record of 7 and 10 is also worse than last year.

This year they started off strong and were 4 - 2 at the bye week.  Then a series of unfortunate events occurred.  Not being properly prepared for the Hail May from the Commanders.  Getting pants by the Cardinals and the Patriots.  Losing to the Packers, Vikings, and Lions down to the wire.  

At that point, they were (4 - 8) not mathematically out of it but needed some help. Instead, they lost to the 49ers, who have been terrible this year.  

Even at 4 and 9 they still had a chance because other NFC divisions were not doing well.  Then Washington won a game they should have won and the Hail Mary came back to haunt them, except they had already dug their own hole.  

Two things can be true at the same time.  It became obvious they were playing to lose and get a high draft pick and their coaching sucked.  Not using times outs.  Not getting closer for field goal attempts.  Players are trying to extend plays and fumble instead of going down to fight again.

Our pretty solid defense also seemed to regress but really was just protecting itself for next year (and their next team).

The lone bright spot of this season is the win against Green Bay in the last game of the season.  It looked like they were gonna win again when they hit a field goal with 54 seconds left on the clock. Game-winning drives were not a part of the Bears equation since the Trubisky years.

But somehow they managed to get decent field position on the kickoff and move within field goal range and Santos got payback for the illegally blocked field goal from Week 8.  

I've always said that if the NFL were fixed, the teams from New York, California, Chicago and a few other markets would always make the playoffs. 

As a long time Bears fan, I've seen the Packers beat the Bears on the last game of the season many times, even when there was nothing to play for.  But times have changed and I suspect with a playoff spot secured, the Green Bay coaches were trying to just get though the game with the slim hope of improving their seeding.  

This game reminded me of the last game of the 2000 season.  The Bears kicked a last second field goal which kept the Lions out of the playoffs.  The next season they went 13 -3 and earned the second Bye in the playoffs, only to lose to the Eagles.