The weather gods toy with us, like cats: a dash of rain; a soupçon of hail; a low grumble of thunder in the distance. I think I’ll bring the snow shovel indoors tonight so I can find it tomorrow morning. And check the bucket under our roof leak. And fill a couple coolers with ice as a redundancy system for our ‘fridge, which followed the rest of our appliances into early retirement just in time for what’s shaping up like the Storm of the Year. Jesus H. Christ on a flatcar. We need to find us some oil ’round here so’s we kin get us’ns a big ol’ Beverly Hills mansion with a cee-ment pond and appliances that work.
I got in a quick hour on the ‘cross bike this morning while the weather remained semi-springlike. Started out the door with short sleeves, arm warmers and knickers, then reversed direction and added layers; long-sleeve polypro, long-sleeve jersey, full-finger gloves. The NWS said 50-something, but it was not a dry heat.
Thanks to a relentless north wind, the ride was reminiscent of my first race back in 1987, a 40km out-and-back time trial near Strasburg, Colorado — 10 mph out, 30 mph back. I actually checked at one point to see whether I had a brake rubbing. Nope. Wind + lard = 10 mph.
Afterward, it was off to Ranch Foods Direct to stock up on dead animal parts for various soups, stews and whatnot to fend off the cold. That’s how I discovered our out-of-warranty Kenmore was on the blink — by loading $50 worth of meat into a lukewarm ‘fridge. I briefly considered cooking everything at once to keep it from spoiling, but then my cranial 20-watt bulb blinked on — uh, so where do you store the cooked food, Mr. Magic Chef, huh? I will never be smart.
But I can be less stupid. Via the miracle of the cell phone I consulted Herself, who reminded me that Larry’s Appliance had solved a number of issues with the Kenmore without having to resort to big hammers, voodoo or a second mortgage. Rang ’em up, and it just so happened that they had a cancellation and could come over straight away. One bum circulating fan and $112.84 later, the ingredients for posole, vegetable beef soup and a kung pao stir fry are cooling down nicely.
As is the outdoors. Hail again, with lightning this time. I’m off for the snow shovel.
Mad Blog Media 
like a dumbass i believed the weather dude and spent the afternoon whipping up some chicken soup with rice, and then arranging the dry goods so i could plan the next three days of hunkering-down meals. seems we’re either bracing for the storm that never comes or shoveling six inches of partly cloudy off the driveway.
Afternoon temps here by the big Lake Bitchi-Gummi yesterday was 44F. Twenty minutes inland was 72f. Guess where I rode – you got it. More of the same today. For Weather-Eye 6, Boz out.
“Wind + lard = 10 mph”, I love that line it’s going to be my motto.