What are you doing today?

[Scepticalscribe]

Smiling happily at the library books (libraries!) on my sofa......

 

[Clix Pix]

I have a special table in the main living area for newly received library books, and of course as I am reading them they migrate to the bedroom or the deck, wherever I'm reading.....and then when finished I put them on the sideboard as a signal to myself to return them to the library when either it is convenient as I'm going out anyway or when they're about to be due. It was really a sad time during the pandemic when our libraries were closed down altogether and I had nothing -- NOTHING! -- on my "books-from-the-library" table......

Of course I had a separate stack of books I've purchased that I hadn't gotten around to reading so all was not lost, I still had reading matter, but still....it just didn't feel the same to me without library books here in the house, too.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I have a special table in the main living area for newly received library books, and of course as I am reading them they migrate to the bedroom or the deck, wherever I'm reading.....and then when finished I put them on the sideboard as a signal to myself to return them to the library when either it is convenient as I'm going out anyway or when they're about to be due. It was really a sad time during the pandemic when our libraries were closed down altogether and I had nothing -- NOTHING! -- on my "books-from-the-library" table......

Of course I had a separate stack of books I've purchased that I hadn't gotten around to reading so all was not lost, I still had reading matter, but still....it just didn't feel the same to me without library books here in the house, too.

The library had emailed me to let me know that one book (that had been "in transit" since before the imposition of the most recent lockdown) had arrived, but, when I visited - in person - (and was warmly welcomed) to my inexpressible joy, three books - rather than the single work I expected actually awaited me, and yes, they, too, had been "in transit" since forever.

One of them shall accompany me to bed: The challenge is to decide which of them it shall be.

Two are about US history, - Ron Chernow - his biography of U. S. Grant - and James M McPherson - "Battle Cry of Freedom - The American Civil War", - and one falls under the heading of UK history (well, on the Raj, - "Women of the Raj: The Mothers, Wives, and Daughters of the British Empire in India", by Margaret MacMillan).

 

[Alli]

Slept until 10 this morning and wondered why I should get up at all. It rained and was nasty. But then I got an email from my chair saying we can do our practice run tomorrow and my prospectus next Wednesday morning. No matter that I'd just made plans to go visit the family and come home on Wednesday. I'll come home a day early for that!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Just received notification that the coffee I had ordered on Monday will be delivered by lunch time today.

French bread and coffee (and cheese) and library books about history: What more could one ask for?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Excellent; my delivery of coffee arrived safely.

 

[fooferdoggie]

I am not buying gas today

 

[Pumbaa]

I am not buying gas today

Me neither. All out of plastic bags.

 

[SuperMatt]

I am not buying gas today

Me neither: bought an electric car (VW) in 2016!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Delighted that you managed to see your Dad & hope you had a lovely time; Stella for you? What did he have?

Re the cold, it is still unseasonably cold, and winter lingered late this year.

My electric blanket will be keeping me company for a few nights yet.

A burger and chips. No Stella, so a Kronenberg.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A burger and chips. No Stella, so a Kronenberg.

Hope you enjoyed the Kronenberg (Kronenberg, 1664, if memory serves?); the fist time I encountered that beer was a good many years ago in Paris, when I was a student.

Hope you enjoyed it.

What did your father drink?

Did you both have burger and chips?

More to the point, were the burgers and chips good quality?

That is a dish that can be really tasty if prepared from good quality ingredients, and there are a few times per year when nothing else wil hit the spot.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

@Apple fanboy:

Aside from extensive discussions about protocols for receiving the vaccine, and possible side effects of the vaccine, both brothers and I have been emailing (and chatting) in recent days re our shared mutual loathing ("odious" remarked Other Brother yesterday) for Boris Johnson and his appalling, perfectly dreadful, ghastly government.

 

[Clix Pix]

Playing "domestic goddess" and doing laundry plus sorting out the refrigerator and discarding items which have spent way too long a time in there and which are probably never going to be consumed anyway. Once the final load of laundry has been through the dryer, time to go out and have a walk around the boardwalk and enjoy the sunshine, even though the day is still rather chilly. Happily most of the trees and bushes and such have finished spewing out their pollen and I can walk around outside without immediately having an allergic response with sneezing and blowing, so that's a relief!

Thankfully, as it happens I filled up my car with gas a couple of weeks ago and haven't really gone very far since then so I've still got a mostly-full tank which should get me through this (hopefully short-lived) temporary shortage of gas in my area and the Southeast so that by the time I do need to fill up again gas stations will be back to their normal supply and there will be no issues in getting what is needed. It is pretty clear that some of the current shortage is due to people panicking and filling up their tanks unnecessarily and also filling up containers with extra gas so that they'll be sure to have plenty.....the same kind of hoarding behavior we saw early on in the pandemic, with people grabbing as much hand sanitizer, disinfectant cleaning sprays and wipes, and of course paper goods (paper towels, Kleenex, toilet paper) as they could. Sigh....

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Yes, doing some laundry, here, too.

Other Brother has just been in touch; he and my German sister-in-law received their vaccine today, and report that they are a bit sluggish and are feeling a bit sore or stiff in the arm thta received the injection of the vaccine.

Next up, Decent Brother, who has yet to receive an appointment.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Hope you enjoyed the Kronenberg (Kronenberg, 1664, if memory serves?); the fist time I encountered that beer was a good many years ago in Paris, when I was a student.

Hope you enjoyed it.

What did your father drink?

Did you both have burger and chips?

More to the point, were the burgers and chips good quality?

That is a dish that can be really tasty if prepared from good quality ingredients, and there are a few times per year when nothing else wil hit the spot.

He had a Guinness. We were both driving so just the one drink each. The food was okay. I’d not rush to eat there again to be honest. I’d have rather it come served on a plate as opposed to the wooden chopping board and chips in a wire basket that seems so popular at pubs (and we all know why!). The chocolate fudge cake and custard was good though. I could do with some of that now!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Playing "domestic goddess" and doing laundry plus sorting out the refrigerator and discarding items which have spent way too long a time in there and which are probably never going to be consumed anyway. Once the final load of laundry has been through the dryer, time to go out and have a walk around the boardwalk and enjoy the sunshine, even though the day is still rather chilly. Happily most of the trees and bushes and such have finished spewing out their pollen and I can walk around outside without immediately having an allergic response with sneezing and blowing, so that's a relief!

Thankfully, as it happens I filled up my car with gas a couple of weeks ago and haven't really gone very far since then so I've still got a mostly-full tank which should get me through this (hopefully short-lived) temporary shortage of gas in my area and the Southeast so that by the time I do need to fill up again gas stations will be back to their normal supply and there will be no issues in getting what is needed. It is pretty clear that some of the current shortage is due to people panicking and filling up their tanks unnecessarily and also filling up containers with extra gas so that they'll be sure to have plenty.....the same kind of hoarding behavior we saw early on in the pandemic, with people grabbing as much hand sanitizer, disinfectant cleaning sprays and wipes, and of course paper goods (paper towels, Kleenex, toilet paper) as they could. Sigh....

Why is there a gas (petrol is what we call it) shortage?

 

[Pumbaa]

Why is there a gas (petrol is what we call it) shortage?

Maybe this?

More than 1,000 gas stations in the U.S. Southeast reported running out of fuel, primarily because of what analysts say is unwarranted panic-buying among drivers, as the shutdown of a major pipeline by a gang of hackers entered its fifth day Tuesday.

U.S. gas stations report shortages as Colonial Pipeline shutdown continues - National | Globalnews.ca

The Colonial Pipeline, the biggest fuel pipeline in the U.S., delivering about 45 per cent of what is consumed on the East Coast, was hit on Friday with a cyberattack.

globalnews.ca

 

[Scepticalscribe]

He had a Guinness. We were both driving so just the one drink each. The food was okay. I’d not rush to eat there again to be honest. I’d have rather it come served on a plate as opposed to the wooden chopping board and chips in a wire basket that seems so popular at pubs (and we all know why!). The chocolate fudge cake and custard was good though. I could do with some of that now!

Gosh, I can only empathise.

Agreed, give me a proper plate any day instead of this nonsense.

Personally, I cannot abide those wooden chopping boards for serving food (for serving anything except a cheese board), - nor granite, not for food - and using those little wire baskets for serving chips strikes me as silly self-indulgence.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Maybe this?

U.S. gas stations report shortages as Colonial Pipeline shutdown continues - National | Globalnews.ca

The Colonial Pipeline, the biggest fuel pipeline in the U.S., delivering about 45 per cent of what is consumed on the East Coast, was hit on Friday with a cyberattack.

globalnews.ca

Just noticed this story today; madness.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Maybe this?

U.S. gas stations report shortages as Colonial Pipeline shutdown continues - National | Globalnews.ca

The Colonial Pipeline, the biggest fuel pipeline in the U.S., delivering about 45 per cent of what is consumed on the East Coast, was hit on Friday with a cyberattack.

globalnews.ca

Haven’t really seen the news. Finished work. Had dinner. Straight out in the garden for an hour or two, then back to work (which is what I’m doing now). Good luck with it.