Blah . . .Blur . . .Meh

It is the 27th day of the year and the 27th day of January 2018. This last week has been so -- so-so. From the weather to the news, to politics, to flu, to stuff . . . we try to keep everything in perspective and a good outlook on things -- coffee helps. I drink about eight cups per day and stretch that throughout the day. I make a pot of Italian roast each morning around 7 am and that usually lasts till  7 pm.

This is an "emoji" week and the above is somewhat the way it is for my days lately.  I run the gamut of the above with ultimately a good outlook and a refreshed perspective -- somewhat caffeine induced I suspect.

A lot of what impacts us the last few days has been the weather -- at times it has alternately rained very hard and then drastically changes to bright sunlight with the appearance that "summer" is here -- but of course it is NOT.

In fact, we here in Northern California had a dry December and now a very mixed January. And for the next 7 or 8 days here it is supposed to be sunny without any chance of rain. The grass looks good and the pool water level has been naturally taken care of.

I know other parts of the country and world are having much more extreme weather these days. We can not feel sorry for ourselves given our current weather -- but can just feel "blah".

Of course lately, turning on the news brings about a blahness as well. I can not recall a political climate as stormy as our current state of everyday events.

It is hard to imagine what is to become of things if the turmoil continues.

The mid-year elections will most likely be in the direction that the populous is headed -- and that remains to be seen.

At least we still are using democratic methods . . .

Besides coffee, another way that we chose to "brighten" the horizon was to make a large pot of kielbasa soup including potatoes, rice, barley, peppers, celery, carrots, onions, a bit of garlic -- oh so good. add a dollop of sour cream and for me, a dash of hot sauce and "all is well".
To go along with that treat we made a pan of cornbread served with a drizzle of honey and topped with butter.

Soup and cornbread -- what a way to diminish the blahs. We have enough for a couple more meals -- even if it is sunshining.

Not to be outdone, for dessert, we made a pan of triple fudge brownies -- add a dollop of vanilla ice cream and a squirt of whipping cream and voila -- another blah buster.

We hopefully will have made it successfully through January may be a bit heavier -- but happier and content -- for now.

While all the above was going on, I still worked on adding (and deleting) folks from the family tree.

This week mostly it was adding more Gilletts to the tree. Growing up I never realized how integral they were to our family.

I actually never have met a "Gillett" even though they are so prevalent in the tree. The Gillett family is the connection to so many other relatives.  I do use "Gillette" products though.


And so, that is a bit of our week (meh though it was)

See you all "in a few" !  😏

Shelter-In-Place

With all that is going on -- or NOT going on, it seems like the right thing to do. It is hard to imagine that the current state of affairs is once again, part of our everyday life. It is getting to the point where watching ANY news is depressing. What is amazing also is that the ONLY folks receiving federal paychecks will be the members of Congress. Others will still earn their federal pay, but collect it after the shutdown.

The brick wall that we often see in genealogy has shown up at the highest levels of our government. We have to wonder how long this nonsense will continue. 

Working on the family tree over the years means plugging in dates -- lots of dates for vital statistics:

In our tree, we have many many 1918 dates for "date of death". And many of those are for the huge epidemic that appeared worldwide in 1918-1919. I don't always know if the flu was the reason, but when lives are seemingly cut short in those years there is a high chance that they are one of the statistics of that epidemic.

It is really hard to fathom that in over 100 years medicine has not been able to tackle the ravages of the flu -- and from the looks of it this week, it is starting again. And this is another reason that we are "sheltering-in-place" as much as possible.

Now that it is recognized that it only takes just breathing in the air from others to possibly catch the flu, we are trying to limit as many contacts with groups of others as possible. Sometimes contacts are unavoidable and we are suspicious with any sounds of a cold, cough and/or sneezing.

As odd as it seems, we are even considering reducing keeping doctor appointments unless absolutely necessary -- after all, that is where sick people are known to be . . . or have been. 

And if the above were not enough, it is now time to begin that horrible process of TAX preparation.                                                                                                                                                                This year I believe it will be even more unpleasant for those of us in California -- with the new tax changes.                                                                                                                                                               I am actually dreading even beginning the process as it seems to drag on over a several week period.                                                                                                                                                                   What happened to the "postcard" sized return that was supposedly being put into place. Even the tax pros are still unsure of how the new laws will be interpreted. The old adage "death & taxes" . . .

This week involved jumping into the mass of folks from all over the tree and even from other trees as well.                                                                                                                                                             I had numerous contacts with other folks who had questions regarding people from our HILES tree and then a few questions regarding folks in some of the other trees that I have created.

Most of the time I am able to expand some branches after communicating with others -- and this was the case as well. It is amazing the stories that we exchange and learn of while exchanging information. The real families appear as more insight is shared.

I wish that I could somehow capture and document all the bits & pieces that I accumulate over the weeks -- and when I read some accounts that others have written I am awed by how they could manage to do that so well. 

Well, this for sure is not something that would have been on a poster found in the house that I grew up in . . .                                                                                                                                                                                                          This is so against everything we were taught growing up that even now it is tough to think about.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          This quote has been attributed (probably falsely) to many folks, including one of our founding fathers. I'm sure the real origin may never be uncovered, but never-the-less, I find it somewhat fun.                                                                                                                                                                                              With respect to moderation, I think it is credible and find it too bad that due to current medication some of us have to skip being "happy" from that source. Oh, well -- we are a cannabis state now . . .

And again this weekend we have the NFL to look forward to, only this time there are only two games:

The Conference Championships -- both games taking place tomorrow, Sunday.  We were so happy to see the Vikings win that game last week over the Saints -- and it would be interesting to see the Vikings get into the Super Bowl since that is where it takes place this year!

That is a bit of our week, see you all "in a few"!

                                        

Relatively Warm . . . Today, Here

It is all a matter of degrees and where you live. Today here in Healdsburg it is supposed to be at or near 70°. And that is relatively warm. In other parts of the country (mostly the East & Midwest) the high temperature ranges from just under 20° in Chicago to around 30° in New York City -- and those could be considered "relatively" warm for this day.

It is a nice perspective of frozen cars parked alongside the lake, a trail through snow-covered woods, a trail through sunlit woods and trees alongside the sunny lake. As I look out our window the house across the street still has the icicle decorations outlining their home with the bright sun defining them.
I am sure others may look out their windows and see the real thing -- i.e. icicles that will someday melt as opposed to the ones that have to be removed and saved for next year.

It is all -- relative. Speaking of relatives, most days I receive updates for certain search surnames e.g. HILES. This week I received a newspaper obituary for a distant HILES relative, the first of 2018.

The above article appeared in the Logan, Ohio newspaper and relates the information about a 4th Cousin of ours Gary M Hiles. Prior to receiving this notice, I only knew of Gary's parents, Walter and Dorothy.

Because obituaries usually are filled with details of the family and this one is an example, I was able to add Gary and his wife, Marilyn, and their two children, Heath & Heather to the HILES Family Tree. I feel bad that we had to "meet" this way but extend my sympathies to that family.

So, what's new with us since the holidays -- how about virtual reality. Gail is peering through the VR device that she found under the tree a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately, we have returned the glasses as we could never get them to focus correctly.  We wanted to enjoy some 3-D type traveling excursions and other photo diversions but it appears that we may have to wait for advancements to come to the VR field.

But it was fun trying -- NOT. Instead, Gail has focused on something that she loves doing -- needlepoint work.

She finished a few smaller items that now have been sent to the "finishing" department and is awaiting a new piece that should arrive next week. She has changed her attention to smaller in size projects that won't take "forever" to complete.

 On our nightstand -- or should I say -- on our iPad in Audible, we are listening to the book on the left that is "all over the news" these days.

So far it has been a sleep-aid so-to-speak for especially Gail. We are through several chapters and nothing earth shattering has been revealed, nothing that is, that we have not already heard on the news . . .

It's like a movie trailer -- sometimes that's the best that it gets . . .


We will "stick it out" or at least I will and probably by then more "live" happenings will have replaced the tales and remarks found in the book . . .

What we really have to look forward to this weekend is --- football.

It is hopefully one thing that can allow us to escape from the "other" news these days.

We will watch at least parts of each of the four games in the next two days.

I do have to say though that we also watched the college championship game the other night -- and it was almost as exciting as the Rose Bowl game.

And both college games that we recently have seen have been more exciting than any of the pro games -- maybe today and tomorrow will change that -- we look forward to that.

And lastly, just what can you glean from genetic research, well things like what the Zits comic says:

And so it is, there actually is so much more that can be gleaned, but it is so "right-on".

That is a bit of our week, see you all "in a few"! 👫

What's Next . . .

The new year started out great! First, we watched the Rose Parade and then later the Rose Bowl Game. Of course, the day in Southern California (Pasadena) was gorgeous. And having lived there for several years I know how that can be and magically it always seemed to happen on New Year's.

The parade was excellent as usual and watching it on HGTV meant NO commercials which was nice.
I remember years ago walking along the parade route, not the whole five and one-half miles, but a portion of the route and finally to the end point where floats would be on display.

The nights before the parade we often visited the sites where float preparations were underway. I remember that as soon as one parade was ended the planning and preparations for the next year would begin.

One year when I lived north of Colorado Blvd I was scheduled to work (at the hospital) which was south of Colorado Blvd and to get there was a major hassle requiring driving many miles around the parade route.

But the game . . . one of the best Rose Bowl games to watch that I can remember -- unless you happen to be an Oklahoma fan.

At the beginning, it looked as though O.U. would run away with the game, but that was not to be.

At the end of regular time, Georgia and Oklahoma were tied -- 48 to 48.

The game went into two overtime periods and with the high scores, it made for a very interesting and fun game to watch.

After 102 points scored, Georgia wound up on top 54 to 48, a stunning defeat for Oklahoma. This essentially was the only "college" game that we watched this year -- it sure was worth seeing.

And to top the day off -- a Super Moon! The picture to the left is of the house across the street with the moon appearing above it.

It was amazing to see and I believe we are due another super moon at the end of the month.

The moon appears in the east as we get ready for bed and is hung up in the western sky when we are getting up, we enjoy seeing it! (we are old)

Now, I know that it is horrible weather in the East and Midwest, but on the west coast, the weather is "doable" at the moment.

Dino is enjoying the backyard with moderate temperatures while Buttercup (Lisa & Bob's dog)
enjoys running in the snow that fell for Christmas in Washington State.

Since last week though it has rained here for a couple of days -- a good thing -- and the snow in Arlington, Washington has melted -- also a good thing.

So, here we are in the 6th day of the new year and on the 4th day, our region had a 4.4 earthquake.
We did not feel it here in Healdsburg, but it was centered on the Hayward fault line near Berkeley. That may have significant meaning as that fault line historically has a major quake about every 150 years or so AND it has been 150 years since the last one there . . .

So we have enjoyed several days so far of the new year, but we have to wonder "What's Next"?
There's political issues, health-related issues (the flu epidemic) recreational pot issues (here in California) tax issues and just plain issues. Some -- same old, same old.

We just found out that one of our favorite game show hosts was in the hospital recently for brain surgery.

Thank goodness he was in the news for something health related and NOT for anything else like what has happened to so many well known male personalities.

Apparently, Alex took a fall a couple of months ago and it was discovered that he had blood clots (subdural hematomas) and they had to be removed.

We saw his "YouTube" explanation and were glad to hear that his prognosis is good for a full recovery and that he'll be back on Jeopardy regularly very soon.

They are saying that there will be almost no break in the showing of the program. We have frequently mentioned how different the show would be without Alex -- we wish him a speedy and full recovery!

Gail and I have watched Jeopardy for over twenty-five years and we enjoy it and look forward to being a part of it as we attempt to answer the questions along with the contestants. What would really be fun would be to see "someone" we personally knew as a contestant. It could happen . . .

What else is going on this first week of 2018? NFL activities of course.

First, there are the playoff games taking place today and tomorrow.

We'll probably watch at least parts of both games today unless they are unfun . . .

We kind of pull for the Chiefs and then for the Rams, but are okay if the other teams outplay and outsmart them.

Sunday's games, just pulling for the Panthers . . .

And then next week -- more playoff games.

But big news for Jon Gruden. I've enjoyed his commentary on ESPN the last few years and it is evident that he "knows" football.

But now that he is likely to reenter the realm of "head coach" again -- some teams are not wanting him to have any access to their inside plans because he will be a competitor. $100 million contract, too bad it is with an organization that many of us have little respect for . . .

Also this week I have been busy adding leaves to the family tree.

Check out "our tree" on Ancestry.com and you'll see that there are more leaves this week.

I have been in contact with yet another "Heil" possible relative and hope to one day make the connection with her "Heil's" and our Hiles.

I do maintain a separate "Heil" tree on Amazon.com as well -- and her tree and mine share a lot of the same folks.

I hope that we are getting close to the day when we can welcome more of the folks that I share DNA matches with, into a common tree.

The other main focus for me this week happened to be with a Gillette family. But this Gillette family appears in Gail's branch. Of course, I have a "ton" of Gilletts in my branch and I believe there is the possibility that eventually those also will be joined into a common branch.

As I have mentioned before -- Gail and I, according to Ancestry DNA, are likely 4th Cousins. We just haven't been able to make that connection via our tree branches -- yet. It could happen.

That is a bit of our first week of 2018. We can hardly wait for things to unfold in the coming weeks of this even-numbered new year. Happy New Year!  See you all "in a few"! 😎