Last Post of the Month - Cleaning Up

 Nothing particular about this post today. It's the day after I made a day-long push to finish two books yesterday for my two book clubs. Neither one will make my favorite list. But I did read the 23rd book in the Inspector Rutledge of Scotland Yard series. The series is about a WWI police inspector who is suffering from shell-shock while solving very complex cases. This one is called A Fatal Lie. 

I also posted on Facebook pictures of me carrying the Olympic torch in 1984. It garnered quite a few views.

I was able to get the front page picture on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette because my mother gave the young photographer a ride to the run location; he was hitchhiking from Pittsburgh!

And I finished up my COVID vaccinations. Two of them. Pfizer. Lisa got the Moderna. I had no reaction either time. Lisa got chills with the second which lasted about eight hours. But that was all. 

We had a cold and snowy spell the last half of the month.

Looking forward to March!

Words - Calyx

 Words are amazing. I love studying the etymology of them. And I enjoy learning new words. One I recently learned was calyx. I came across this from a blog I follow - Adam's Apples. Yes, it is a blog about apples. All about apples. Anyhow, the calyx is the bottom end of the apple opposite the stem. This is where the apple blossoms. Here are a couple of pictures from his blog:

This picture is of the calyx. The blossom would have had to come from here. It's at the bottom of the core if you cut into the apple.

Around the calyx are a series of bumps. I think I read somewhere that there always five bumps, but will have to check that. Anyhow, they surround the calyx. And are called the crown. Interesting that the crown of the apple is on the bottom.

 

A Visit to the Outside World

 Two weeks ago today I received my second vaccine shot. I decided to go my wife to her annual breast exam. I couldn't go in - no one was allowed in except the patient -because of the COVID restrictions. That's okay, I read and napped in the car.

Then we went to Wegman's. Terrific grocery store. I hadn't been in a year. In fact, I hadn't been anywhere except to a doctor's office in a year. I only went in initially to get a few things and then gave them to my wife. Then I went back to the car and read and napped. I did use the restroom since we were allowed here. How do you know I went out?

I picked my sushi and sent a picture to my wife. She bought it when she checked out. I'm having it for dinner this evening, along with tilapia and shrimp. 

Next adventure - going out to get my haircut. Felt funny.

Snow, Car, and Furnace Problems, and Finished a Book - Busy. Busy, Busy

 This week has been a doozy. First, I got us cleaned up by Tuesday from last weekend's.

But then, the outside air conditioner/furnace unit froze up so the fan would not rotate, causing the motor to get to the "burning out" phase. So I had to trudge through the icy crunchy snow-covered grass to break up the ice around the fans.

Yesterday, the Saturn wouldn't start. I figured it was the battery. It was. Fortunately, it was still in warranty. AAA came out and started it. They ran a test on it and said it was a dead battery. So I drove it around the corner to the shop I had bought the battery from. They replaced it for no charge. Took about 30 minutes. The only negative thing was none of the staff was wearing masks.

Overnight, the snow and sleet returned. There's a break,now but it's due to resume anytime.

Tomorrow I'll have to clean the car off and then the driveway.

But on a positive note, I finally finished "The Woman in White" by Wilkie Collins. It is 626 pages. I began it in May of last year. Written in 1886, it was one of the first of the mystery-thriller genre. Collins wrote another in the same genre in 1860. It was called "The Moonstone". I actually liked it better. Now to choose another big book. My latest Charles Todd/Inspector Rutledge is coming; it was released on Tuesday.

An Active Weather Week

 It's been a real active weather week. It's snowed twice since last Sunday, and last night/this morning it began a freezing rain. I had to go out this morning to clean the car so that Lisa could go to work.

I only hope that it's not so bad that she doesn't have trouble coming home. I'll go out ahead of time and make sure our driveway is safe.

Sunday is forecasted for clear, but more trashy weather Monday.

Got Vaccinated!

 Got my second Pfizer shot this morning. No real problems getting there and into the facility next to the hospital. The organization was better than the first shot, but there were still a few areas that could have been done better. It probably didn't help that both 1st and 2nd shots were being given.

We stopped at McDonald's on the way home. I got a  sausage egg McMuffin with egg and cheese; haven't had that since COVID began. And a medium coffee. I always like their coffee.

A Facebook Post

The following is a Facebook post about my library and books that I posted this evening. I thought I'd copy and paste it to my blog. Enjoy.

A very good friend posted a comment earlier on my page referencing my books and what I have actually read. He asked "...How many of the hundreds of books have I actually read." After I replied to him, I felt all of you deserved the same answer.

First of all, my library is not in the hundreds as he suggested; it is between 2-3 thousand separate books. About 80-90% are nonfiction. I have read a part or all of the majority of them. Sometimes, it is only the introduction, preface, afterword, and the first chapter or two. My plan is to return to it later. Often, I will stay with it and adjust my current reading list (5-7 books). About 50% of the fiction falls into that "read" category (reading the first couple of chapters). Not included are the books I take out from the library, which are mostly fiction. I buy very few books anymore. Before COVID, I stalked old bookstores and library book sales.

I read every day. As I said before I generally read anywhere from 5 to 7 books at a time, with only 1-3 being fiction.

I hope this helps to explain my "bibliomania" passion. I post the pictures of my books just to try to instill a passion for books in others. Thanks for reading.

 

Miscellany

This is a catch-up post. January was not a good month for my blogging. I spent most of it reading. I had two book clubs last month, one just beginning and the other after a month's break.

I also DID get my first COVID vaccine shot - Pfizer - and had no problems. I am scheduled for my second shot next week, the 10th, in the morning. 

We had our first significant snowfall in two years on Sunday. We got about 4-6 inches. Fortunately, the complex has a superior snow removal company and we were clear by late morning. No new snow is expected in the next week (good for the forecast for getting my shot next Wednesday).

Our B&B book club resumed well. We had a good discussion on "Marrow and Bone", a fiction book about a road trip through 1989 Poland. While I thought it was only okay, several enjoyed it. Honestly, I really don't get most of the fiction I read for this club. But I do like the nonfiction. We only have four this year so it will be a struggle. 

Our first meeting of the Mysterious Book Club was last week. We have seven members and six showed up. Our seventh has COVID and didn't really feel well enough to attend (virtually/ Incidently, both clubs are meeting virtually). My friend Dave and I started the club, so Dave selected the first book, a post-WW1 Scotland Yard series. It's a favorite of both of us so we had high hopes. 

Unfortunately, I don't think it went that well. Maybe it was because three of the members were new - three of us came from the B&B club - and might have been intimidated. We meet again in March (we meet every other month) so we will see how it goes.

I also re-read the last Inspector Rutledge again. It came out last February as they all do. I always re-read the last one in preparation for the next new release which comes in February. I've already pre-ordered it from Barnes and Noble. It is due to be released on February 16.

So my fiction is over for a short time, and I have decided to make a push to finish Wilkie Collins' A Woman in White. It was written in about 1880 or '86. Collins is called England's Edgar Allan Poe. He began the mystery thriller in England. 

It is over 600 pages and I still have about 190 pages to go. I began it last May! But it has been easy to drop off and pick back up again. Hopefully, I can finish it before my Rutledge gets here.

As I said - I didn't get much done last month except reading.