Rick's Daily Journal

+5 am.....snowed hard last night and still snowing this morning....was cold Thanksgiving....-27 to start the day then it warmed to -8 later....smoked and deep fried turkeys for Thanksgiving...went and got water yesterday and took Kealey and the dogs.....

-12 1:30 am..playing catch up again......read meters tuesday....used 966 to clear snow on my street and Jimmies lot...Rob had come by earlier in the day and did it with his pickup plow.....stopped by Rogers and met his girlfriend up from Texas....blank

Blank spots.....+20 this am....still snowing.....been snowing almost a week every day.....came back last monday from Anchorage and got back in Fairbanks at 5 am tuesday....been shopping at all the thanksgiving sales for upcoming dinner....as usual we are on a cleaning blitz in preperation for the event....Tacey just went to sleep after being up for the last few days cleaning and putting up Christmas lights....Brett got his G5 a few days ago and has been burning up the phone lines having me help him learn the basics of computer ownership......has been really hard to explain over the phone what to do to a person that has never touched a computer in his life......but he is advancing quite well now that we are on the same OS....in the beginning he was on Jaguar and I was on Panther....Rogers girlfriend came in from Texas on saturday and I have yet to see or hear from them...wonder if this internet romance will sparkle.....he is planning on leaving next week with her to travel to her home and spend three months with her there.....darkness is now the order of the day for the north.....5 hours daylight and going downhill....been running the dogs in the dark out on the dyke every day.....Robin and I put up a lighted train decoration on the garage roof.....looks good from Rainees house.....went over last night to Rainees and John was in one of his what is wrong with Alaska moods.....I get so tired of Alaska bashing for I love this state and always will.....told him if he hates this state so much then why does he not leave....his response was that his house was not paid for yet.....what really irks me is that he is complaining about things the way they are now.... ie not enough box stores and chain resturants.....if he could only see Alaska the way it was when I was a child....we took each advancement as a treat....from condensed milk to fresh milk....from no TV to TV that had a three week delay to color TV....from one station to cable TV....from gravel roads to pavement....and I could go on and on.....I love Alaska....but I also look for all the good things in other places I go which makes for a much better experience.....everyplace has its good points and its detractions....but if you dwell on the detractions then your experience is lessened

-12 this am.....nothing too special to report for the last few days....headed to Anchorage for a doctors appointment on monday with the VA in connection with my application for disability....been some frozen waters in the Terrace that I worked on....tried to wake up Tacey yesterday to no avail...she was awake when I got back from my meeting at 11:30 pm....she grilled me on what I did and since I forgot to call Sears to see if the treadmill was in she said she did not want it anymore and for me to cancel it....it was a hectic day yesterday and I forgot to do a lot of things and she went ballistic not waiting for an explanation...she went back to bed at 12 am.....temperature is supposed to drop even further.....hope this is not a winter of extremes....

+10 8 pm....temperature has been steadily going down all day....was +25 at 6 am....I am afraid winter is about to set in...day has been plagued with nightmares..woke up with a nightmare then laid back down about 8 am and woke up in another nightmare..took a nap at noon and woke up in another nightmare...been real lethargic all day....got a letter informing me of a doctors appointment with the VA on monday down in Anchorage....got another letter from the VA requesting more information about my claim....they will not act upon my claim till next May.....went to a meeting at the hospital tonight....Talked to Brett last night till 3 am....

+24 this am.....+35 yesterday with rain then the wind came up and we had snow showers.....bought a new bathroom door yesterday....went to Kealeys birthday party last night at Rainees, fired off some fireworks....Tacey pulled another all nighter.....moved the 59 pickup to babes yard.....invited Jimmie to thanksgiving dinner.....ran the dogs by the dyke, stayed off the top as it is all ice and really slick.....

Still balmy here.....+33 this morning...was up till after 3 am talking to Brett....did not sleep well last night.....got up at 5 am....installed new screen door on the house yesterday....went with Tacey shopping and then took KFC over to Burnies for supper.....Burnie is not doing well..she is barely coherent and is gray looking...looks like death and can barely move.....Rainee and her family came over while we were there but Burnie barely recognized them......sad.....Tacey pulled another all nighter.....more later

+32 this morning again....last few days have seen temps in the mid 30s with rain....Robin and I went and seen Burnie last night, she does not look good.....Tacey slept all day again after being up for a few days....she was up when I got up at 4:3o am and pissed that I did not get her up although Robin and I tried on numerous occasions....is this record stuck.....going to get bathroom door and door for rental today as there is a veterans discount at Home Depot going on....bought a screen door thursday....days are getting shorter and with it being overcast it seems like it is darker than normal....I like this time of year for some silly reason...while other people are employing light boxes to counteract the effects of light deprivation I look forward to the shortening days....now I can use that 2,000,000 candle power flashlight I got last summer....the world is in turmoil and I an happy I have a great flashlight.....go figure....slept like crap last night, lots of nightmares and strange dreams....these postings are one hour off....the server must be on pacific time....catching a cold....need to get well enough to get a flu shot so I don't get sick....am eating well again....Roger and I went out and had Clam Chowder yesterday at the El Sombero, pretty good chowder.....better than San Francisco.....hope

Feeling better....slept most of the day....had dinner last night with Roger....staying the night at Rainees house as her and John took Teddy and went to Anchorage for the day to shop.....they left the girls in my care.....weather is still wonderful....very warm..roads are dry and the temp is +35 with the low only going down to about +30.....reminiscent of last year....could it be global warming or just some remarkable weather.....who knows....if it is global warming then bring on global warming....beats the weather we had when I was a kid...could aways expect to have -40 in November....dogs have been real pains lately...don't know if it is the weather or if they need more exercise.....find it hard to fit in the hour it takes to run them on a daily basis....not that I am a very busy person but between babysitting and trying to get Tacey up at the appointed time she has requested along with shopping and cooking, time has to be rationed out....makes me wonder if I am just using this venue to complain about all the things that are wrong with my life....hmmmmmm.....I always get so depressed whenever I get sick....I imagine all people are that way........need to change the oil on the truck....Ability is what you're capable of doing....Motivation determines what you do.....Attitude determines how well you do it....hope

Still feel crummy....went out for a little today and picked up my check and went to the bank.....ate some chinese noodle soup and did not lose it....Gene and Kevin cleaned some of the equipment out of Babes yard so now my renters have more room...I don't know what inspired them ...........to this day I can not trust or get close to anyone....salvation

Really weird weather for November...been raining for the last few days and temperatures have been in the mid thirties....still feel like crap and have not eaten since friday...Saturday I filled Taceys shopping list.....slept most of sunday ....tried to get Tacey up but she was impossible to waken....she left me a note while I was at Rainees accusing me of ruining her life by not waking her up and how if I want something I manage to wake her..... can't seem to remember when I ever needed her up to do something for me.........+34 right now....

Feel like crap.....was doing so good and now I feel like I have lost all the ground gained and actually regressed even further......went out halloween to some partys and had three drinks maybe that is the reason...Tacey just came down off a three day run....did not eat yesterday and did not even feel like going on line...