While today won’t be as cold as it’s been the rest of this week (we expect to get above freezing, but only to 33 degrees), we are under a winter weather advisory. It’s not supposed to be too bad, with only about 4 inches of snow, but it’s enough to disrupt things. Thankfully, it seems like not as much snow fell last night as the weather people expected, and the current forecast shows a gap in the snowfall until this evening.
As you might can tell, I don’t have a lot to say today. I have a few things to do at work this morning, but I will be leaving around noon for a dermatology appointment this afternoon. Then, it will be to head back home and ride out the rest of the snow in the comfort of my apartment. I’ll be working from home tomorrow, so only 4 hours to be at the museum today, and thankfully, I will be the only one there. I’ve been a bit aggravated/frustrated with work for the past few weeks, so it will be nice to not have to deal with my coworkers.
Because I haven’t posted an Isabella picture of the week in a few weeks, here’s a rare picture of her “cuddling” with me:
She looks a bit aggravated, but it’s only because I stopped rubbing her head to take her picture.
When I woke up yesterday morning, it was snowing. It continued snowing throughout the day, and when I went to bed last night, it was still snowing. The snow finally stopped sometime last night. Because the temperature was above freezing most of yesterday, we only had about 2-3” of accumulation, but we probably got about 5+” of snow in total. I walked out side a few times yesterday to take pictures of the snow for some friends, but mostly I stayed in and watched the snow from my windows.
I had a lowkey Thanksgiving, just me and Isabella. I had turkey and cornbread dressing along with some butter beans. I love cornbread dressing. It’s my favorite food for winter holidays. I’ve had other types of dressing and stuffing mad with stale bread, but for me, nothing compares to cornbread dressing. I ate way too much of it yesterday, but it was damn good dressing.
Fo those of you in the United States, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and for those outside the U.S., I hope you have had a wonderful week. I will not be going Black Friday shopping today. I put in orders at two different places to get a few sales items that I needed, so I will be venturing out today but only to quickly run in stored and pick up my purchases. I hate the crowds at stores on Black Friday, but I am hoping the two places I have to go, CVS and Petco will not be as crowded. They are not the usual Black Friday shopping destinations. Is anyone actually going out Black Friday shopping? What about Small Business Saturday, when we are encouraged to shop at local small businesses? Or, are you waiting until Cyber Monday for those online deals?
Tomorrow, will likely be another lowkey day. It’s my birthday, and I will watch the Iron Bowl, i.e. the Alabama vs. Auburn football game. It’s a big rivalry game, especially in Alabama. I might watch the Egg Bowl today (Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State), and possibly the Lone Star Showdown ( Texas vs. Texas A&M) Saturday night. If you have ever seen The Best LIttle Whorehouse in Texas, then you should be familiar this particular rivalry. Besides, “The Aggie Song” is probably the best part of that movie, and the gayest football song and dance numbers in history (Do other football song and dance numbers exist?), but I digress.
The only thing that I might do this weekend is to go see the Wicked movie. Has anyone seen it yet? I’ve never seen the musical, but I read the book many years ago. I have always been a fan of The Wizard of Oz, and I always found the new perspective on the Wicked Witch of the West to be pretty interesting.
Anyway, that’s all I have for today. I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend!
Today should be an easy day. I only have to work a half day, and then, I will be finished with work for the week. The weather is supposed to be better today as well. Yesterday, we had rain, freezing rain, snow, and graupel throughout the day. It was cold, nasty, and windy. Today, we should actually see some sun. The temperatures will be about the same, just above freezing. Tomorrow is not supposed to be a good weather day. We are expecting 4-5” of snow.
It’s going to be a very lowkey Thanksgiving tomorrow. I canceled my plans for tomorrow. With the weather we are expecting tomorrow and the fact that I am just not in the mood, I decided not to go to the trouble. I will cook some turkey and some cornbread dressing, but I don’t know what else I will have. I also plan to make some turkey and wild rice soup. I plan to come straight home from work today and not leave my apartment until Saturday or Sunday.
I know I often say that I hate Mondays and just want to stay in bed, but it is even more true today. Sadly, I’m the only person at the museum today, and I have an important meeting this morning. However, I started getting a cold Saturday night. My throat was feeling raw, and while I know it’s likely post-nasal drip, it doesn’t mean I don’t feel awful.
I was supposed to go to the Stowe Foliage Arts Festival with a friend of mine yesterday, and I almost canceled going, but I’d started feeling better and decided to go. I should have gone with my first instinct, but decided to go because my friend and I were supposed to go out to eat at a new restaurant I wanted to try. Probably none of y’all have ever tried to drive through Stowe during peak foliage season, but traffic was bumper to bumper. Then, we arrived at the site of the festival only to find out that it had been canceled due to high winds Friday night that caused the main tent containing the festival to collapse. We were able to walk around a bit to see the foliage, but it was a big disappointment.
Stowe, Vermont taken yesterday by me
We went out to eat and by the time I got home, I was completely worn out. I went to bed early hoping to feel better today, but I don’t. So, I really wish I could just stay in bed today. It won’t happen. To add to this, it’s currently 41 degrees here, but the temperature will drop to nearly freezing when I’ll be heading home from work. Most of this week will have highs in the low 50s, but we will have lows below freezing most mornings this week. We might even get our first snow of the season.
The chilly weather of fall has arrived in Vermont. Yesterday, I woke up to 35 degrees with a high of only 55. Today is not any better because while our low temperature is 39, our high will only be 53. At least we are expecting some sun today. It’s beautiful outside with the fall leaves changing color, but the warmth of summer is over. Soon, the temperatures will drop below freezing, we’ll have snow before we know it. I’m not complaining. I like the cool crisp air of autumn. I just hate having to remove the air conditioner and put it back in storage, but that will only take a few minutes this weekend.
It started raining off and on all day yesterday, and today we are expecting constant rain throughout the day. Along with the rain, I also have a migraine. I was doing fairly well yesterday when the rain started, but just after lunch I saw an unusually bright aura, and within a few minutes, I had an awful migraine that has only gotten progressively worse. Thankfully, I was scheduled to leave work early yesterday, and I am working from home today. Luckily, I don’t have much work to do today. I have some class preparations to finish and a few emails, but mostly, I can just rest and recuperate.
Here in Vermont, we’ve had rain every day this week. I honestly don’t mind the rain, but my migraines do. Changes in air pressure causes my migraines to act up. I definitely have a problem whenever the air pressure is low, and Vermont has been in a low pressure system for past several days.
In other words, I’ve had terrible migraines all week. It started Sunday night and was pretty awful throughout Monday. I had been out with a bad migraine the Monday before, so I felt bad about calling in two Mondays in a row. My migraine got so bad Monday night that I went to bed at 7:30 pm. Last night, I went to bed at 9 pm. At least I’m getting at least 8 hours of sleep. The sun is expected to return on Friday, so hopefully, this migraine will improve by then.
I try to be a pleasant, congenial person with a smile on my face, even when I don’t feel it. Sometimes, though, I find it difficult to keep up an affable façade when I’m not really feeling it. Usually, the irritability I can’t hide is because of not feeling well. For the past week, my migraines have been a bit worse than usual. I’m not for sure if it’s the seemingly ever changing weather or wildfire smoke passing over Vermont. Since Sunday, our air quality has been worsening.
Then again, my irritability may be because I’m just fed up with hearing people complain. Some people are going to constantly complain and nothing will satisfy them. This is especially true when a person is a martyr narcissist, i.e., a person who constantly acts as if their every action is a personal sacrifice. People like this don’t want their complaints satisfied because they can’t keep receiving the sympathy they crave. Then, there are those people who are just miserable human beings who want others to suffer the way they do, even when they aren’t actually suffering.
Also, politics in the United States right now are fucking annoying, and if I watch even ten minutes of the news, I can’t get away from it fast enough. Why can’t politicians be positive in their campaigning instead of always negative? I think partly because anger drives people to vote, and the angrier a politician can make voters by denigrating their opponents the more likely they’ll get their votes. Too many Americans are voting out of hate and fear instead of voting for peace and hope.
It’s probably the combination of all three that have me so irritable today. Thank God, I’m working from home today and won’t have to deal with people. I’m not sure I could put a smile on my face today. Yesterday, I just buried my head in a project and tried to ignore everything else. I think I just need some alone time to recenter and reset.
With Debby now a tropical depression, she’s heading my way. Though she’s expected to mainly be west of us in northern New York on a track for Montreal, we will still get a significant amount of rain. We don’t need more rain right now as some of our rivers are still high and at risk of flooding.
One of the things I do not miss from living in the South is tropical storms and hurricanes. These storms are low pressure systems which means they wreak havoc on my migraines. I’ve always had some of my most severe migraines when there are low pressure systems.
While it’s always caused migraines, it’s a bit worse these days because of the trigeminal neuralgia (TN). It’s sort of like people who have an old injury that acts up when it rains, the TN causes nerve pain in the right side of my face. Think of three electric shocks originating form about you ear and traveling to your eye, your nose, and down your jaw.
My TN started acting up yesterday and continues this morning. Thankfully, I’m working from home today and can take it easy. I have work to do, but I can take frequent breaks when needed.
For anyone who’s had or will have effects from Debby, I hope you are staying safe, and for everyone, I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of major flooding in Vermont. Also yesterday, the remnants of Hurricane Beryl came through Vermont, and we are once again dealing with widespread flooding. For the most part, it doesn’t seem as bad as last year; however, in the small town where I live has three bridges washed out. Last year, my town was lucky and did not have the flood damage seen in much of the state, but all roads leading out of town were closed for several days due to flooding.
According to the local news and the Vermont Department of Transportation, my usual route to work is closed this morning due to “multiple washouts.” I have an alternate route that is currently not closed (as far as I know) though it was closed last year due to flooding. So, it looks like I’ll be able to get to work. Rest assured, I will be careful, and I will not drive through water over the road way. If it looks sketchy, I will not risk it.
It’s amazing that exactly one year later, we are experiencing some of the same flooding as before. Anyone who does not believe in global warming and its impact needs only to look at places like Vermont. Floods used to be rare in Vermont, now they are yearly. Hurricanes and their remnants rarely reach Vermont, yet we’ve seen major flooding numerous times over the past year alone. July and December of last year and July again this year saw major flooding in areas of Vermont.
The Closet Professor 