I forgot to mention something funny that happened on our way to Green Bay for the Heart concert.
We’d stopped at Kwik Trip to grab something to drink. While there, I ducked into the bathroom. I’m standing at the urinal, doing my business, and there’s a guy next to me doing the same. Thirty seconds pass in silence, because there’s an unwritten rule in men’s rooms: guys don’t talk to one another. It’s bro code. Don’t ask.
And then my urinal mate (weird thing to write) chuckles and says, “I may need my snow blower this weekend!”
Huh. This is a breach of etiquette I’ve never encountered before, but Midwesterners do have a reputation for niceness, so I decide to roll with the punches, smiling politely and nodding my head.
“Supposed to start Saturday night, right?” he adds.
“That’s what I heard,” I reply.
“How much?” he asks.
“Just a few inches,” I say.
“Katie’s still bringing the beer?”
Wait a second. Who’s Katie!? I look at my bathroom buddy questioningly, and that’s when I notice the bluetooth earpiece.
“Yeah, pizza’s fine with me,” he says.
Whoopsie. Well, don’t I feel like a dumbass now, crashing a conversation that never involved me!
(For the record, I would’ve been down with pizza too, Katie!)
Not making the same fishtake twice
It’s been a tad cold ’round here lately. Not just below freezing; below zero. More typical of January than December, and this morning was no exception.
With such frigid air in place, I decided to check on the koi pond. You might recall that we lost every single fish – about two dozen in all – last winter when the pond froze over. (I should clarify that we didn’t actually lose them, you know, hey, where’d all those fish that were swimming around this pond go? We knew exactly where they were: bloated and decomposing in the bottom of the pond.)
Sorry if that deserved a trigger warning. RIP, Dick’s koi.
Needless to say, we felt horrible. I later learned that you need to keep a hole open in the ice to prevent harmful gases like carbon dioxide and ammonia from building up and killing the fish. Total rookie mistake, one that we vowed not to repeat this year after investing in new goldfish.
So, I bought a heavy-duty aerator and a floating pond deicer/heater. Overkill? Tara thought so, but when I checked on the pond this morning, even the constant circulating water wasn’t enough to prevent the surface from freezing. Luckily, the heater did what it was supposed to.
Cool ice patterns, by the way. And it was a trip to see the aerator bubbling away beneath the ice.
Our goldfish are in a semi-dormant state called torpor, in which their metabolism slows down and activity decreases. Sounds like people around the holidays if you ask me. In any case, they don’t need food – just oxygen. Which that hole in the corner will provide nicely. (What I need is a glass of bourbon, ’cause Geez Louise, the koi pond learning curve has been steep.)
Looks like we’re finally going to see some relief from the cold weather this week. They’re predicting 40° by Wednesday, which will feel downright tropical, and it might even rain. Our odds of a white Christmas are dropping, I s’pose, but what can you do? I feel ya, Bing. I do.
As cold as it’s been, I didn’t do much this weekend, at least outdoors. I did dash outside, in nothing more than socks, sweats, and a t-shirt, to catch this rather nice little sunset.
But inside was hoppin’ this weekend. I played cribbage and listened to rock ‘n roll and ate broccoli cheddar soup and beer bread and oh yeah watched one HELLUVA football game, my Broncos crushing the Packers (sorry, Wisconsin) and hopefully putting to rest any lingering doubt that they are legit. Underdogs at home, where you’re riding a gloriously long winning streak?
SUCK IT, HATERS!
Have you ever mistakenly thought you were having a conversation with someone? How’s your football team doing? Think you’ll have a white Christmas? (California readers are granted an automatic exemption from answering this.)
Mark My Words 
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