It is 16 degrees outside right now. Last night, when I went to bed, it had dropped to 5.
I am not a fan of the cold, as you know. I'm not a fan of it any more than I'm a fan of 110-degree summer days. The cold creates the same number of problems, if not more, for me personally. In the summer I can't stay cool; in the winter, no matter what I do, I can't stay warm. At least not here in my home. When the temperature drops to a certain point, even the electric blanket downstairs won't keep me totally warm.
It is dark and gray outside today, even at noon. It's supposed to snow off and on today, but nothing significant or accumulating. Probably just enough to re-slicken the roads a bit for Daisy's trip from, and our return trip to, Omaha.
Daisy is sick, or at least she thinks she's getting sick (she blames it on allergies more than anything else). I reminded her last night that she's been in the house with not only her parents, sister, and sister's husband, but their two boys for the past week or so. Obviously, that many germs swirling around will probably batter down one's immune system over the course of enough time. She came home from work this morning, drank some DayQuil and took a two-hour nap, and is now getting ready to leave the house to come down here.
This is fine, as I told her last night that I can't leave today anyway until the mail has come in and gone out; I am still waiting on the box from my parents, which should arrive today as my mother paid for it to be delivered on Saturday, and I want to make sure my rent check and Discover bill go out in the mail today while I'm here and can verify that yes, they were mailed. The mail, depending on how shitty the roads are in my neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods, could get here anytime between now and close to 6PM. So, really, who knows. Regardless, Daisy won't get here until after that anyhow, even if she leaves right this second. I doubt we'll be on the road again to go back north until 8-9PM, roughly.
I'm fine with that, really; I much prefer making that trip at night anyhow, as you know, especially when I'm driving.
After highs in the 60s last week (and it apparently reached the 70s back home in some places) this week it's going to be December-ish here in the midwest; this is pretty normal weather for Kansas in the winter -- snow and cold. Daisy had me check the roads for her earlier -- whether they were open or closed, I mean, and the road conditions for the trip. All roads are open, and highway cameras show most of them to be mostly or completely clear. I told her to be extra careful, as no matter how well they're treated, there will still be slick areas of black ice and/or snow/icy slush-covered areas on the routes we take back and forth. It's cold enough to where most road treatment probably only works up to a point.
Last night, as I'd run myself out of most foods in the house about 36 hours earlier than expected, I took a nap and then ordered pizza when I got up. I can afford pizza; it's not a massive purchase. I did this for two reasons -- the first was so that (duh) I could eat something last night that I didn't have to cook and was different than the usual fare. The second was so that I could freeze whatever was left and thaw it upon my return home at the end of the week, therefore having food here ready to go without needing to go to the grocery store immediately upon my arrival home. Yes, I will more than likely be asked to (and will) take home some leftovers from Christmas dinner with the family, but pizza is a good stop-gap measure for me. When I use coupon codes to make it much more inexpensive than usual, it's even better.
Now, mind you, I hated the fact that my delivery driver had to drive through the snow and ice to bring my pizza to me -- through neighborhood streets that have not been shoveled, treated, or plowed -- and the little car my delivery guy drove really didn't look like it went well in the snow. I, therefore, tipped him 50% on the order. It was a $20 order, and I tipped him $10, making it a round, even $30. Because I felt like a dick. But I also wasn't going to take out the Monte Carlo in this cold/snow to go to Walmart and back for one meal's worth of food, only to have to stick her back in the garage as soon as I returned home. It was a judgment call.
I am a relatively nice guy sometimes, I suppose. I try to be, at least, when I inconvenience others.
Anyway.
I have a fair amount to do before Daisy gets here, as always; I do have to ready the cats' food/water/litter and I need to clean the kitchen and freeze the pizza, as well as get a shower and dress ever-so-warmly afterwards so that I don't freeze my bits off. Most other things are taken care of. All of the gifts are wrapped. All of the bills I have are paid. Everything's packed up and ready to be hauled to Omaha, with the exception of a few of my electronics (DS, mp3 player, laptop, etc) that I may or may not have time to use or work with while I'm there. And, finally, the sun is poking through the clouds a bit right now. It won't melt anything, since it's still way below freezing outside, but at least it's a bit of a change.
The neighbors next door apparently got a new recliner for Christmas -- I watched the furniture store people deliver it this afternoon. Must be nice. I have no doubt that one of the gifts Daisy must have gotten me for Christmas is a new computer chair, as she knows it's the one thing I need right now that's affordable for most people, but not for me. While I have no doubt in this, I really hope she didn't get me a new chair -- I have to be able to test it, approve it, know that it's going to hold my weight, etc. I spend many, many hours every day, week, month, etc in my computer chair. I need to know that my ass isn't going to ache, literally, from sitting in it for long periods. Not to mention the fact that almost all of the chairs I looked at were $200+. Yeah. For a computer chair. I don't get it either. And, additionally, almost all of them were leather, which the cats would destroy immediately or I would stick to in summer. Not to mention that Daisy is, y'know, vegan, so it's not like a leather chair is something she'd get me anyhow.
In other news, I tried to apply for the health insurance thing this morning, the Healthcare.gov Obamacare website, since today is the last day you can apply if you want coverage starting on January 1. Well, the site is down. Okay, it's not down, per se, but there's a very long "queue" to be able to apply for anything because today's the last day, and everyone is stuck waiting for hours. I don't have time for that. On the plus side, I make so little money that 80% of the plans I saw basically gave me free healthcare. Not that it matters, really, but I haven't been to the doctor for anything in...oh, four years? Something like that. When I get sick, I deal with it myself. I don't really care about the arbitrary deadline of January 1st coverage, either. It doesn't concern me. Believe me, I have a lot of more important stuff to worry about and deal with in my own time. Obamacare is the least of my concerns right now.
Daisy told me she was leaving about an hour ago. If she stays on schedule she'll get here around 6PM or so. This means I should probably begin to take care of most of my household tasks if we plan to turn around and leave again as soon as she gets here and everything's loaded into the car.
Fare thee well, folks. Happy Festivus, merry Christmas, and all that jazz. You shall hear from me again upon my return to Kansas.
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