Another Moan-day... Nov 9th, '26...

[ST1100Y]

Today's agenda:
slowly drink my coffee...
putter around the house...
make something nice to eat...
do absolutely nothing that can't wait till tomorrow...



G'Day...

yeah there some positive sides about 'unemployment'...

1°/7°C, 91% RH, fog, dim, drizzle, ghastly...
Possible clearing up in the afternoon, providing at least some sunlight...

slurping my Nespresso while the world keeps turning...
ze GF is off to the office...
the unemployment office suggest re-applying to open positions I was already refused from in the past...

So, yesterday we had almost 3 1/2 hrs driving vs 3 1/2 hrs hiking...

starting point (Kollmitzgraben ruins)



yours truly somewhere in the wilderness...



that Mapy.com app/site proves quite versatile...
select a starting point, a desired walking distance and it builds suggestions you can then tinker with, store in your account and they're readily avail on your phone upon arrival at site... just like MapSource...
It even gives navigation audio "... in 90 meters turn right... in 60 meters... in 9 meters... turn right now..." and it tracks any trail, even old lumbering trails that have been unused for decades, overgrow, dead trees fallen across...

It also offers precise tracking, according to which we've covered 9.9km in 3hrs 20min (incl the open air lunch-break) and an elevation of 305 meters (up and then down again) with a nice interactive profile diagram...

Not my most favored activity to spend a day, but its told that physical activity and fresh air do you good, the GF enjoyed it... happy wife and that...
Plus office life is causing your bodies to rot anyway...
Only very marginal soreness (can't tell about ze GF...), will have to keep an eye my left knee though, the occasional pinch in the medial meniscus follows me for a couple of years know... yeah, decades of kneeling on the floor, climbing stairs & ladders, lifting heavy kits around... some wear and tear is to be expected...

well, ease into this new week with some proper Joe...

 

[STooRay]

Thx Martin!
Looks like a nice hike.
My knees are letting me down these days…so I do mostly flat landscape walking.
Doc awaits the Mri before he suggest some treatment.

Yesterday we got a visit from Peter and his dad, my daughter had caught the virus Peter is recovering from.

Late in the afternoon Mrs Stu and himself went for a walk at the local beach.

Today, it’s all open.

8˚c/46f, drizzle, calm.

Have a good one!
Stu

From yesterdays walk

 

[ibike2havefun]

Good morning everyone

Thanks for the start, Martin. Glad you enjoyed your hike.

Today's agenda:
. . .
do absolutely nothing that can't can wait till tomorrow...

FTFY. If it can't wait, it needs doing now or at least today. If it CAN wait, it can wait. Until it can't.

It's 51°F and clear in Rockville now, will likely be sunny with a high around 63 later on. Good enough, for what's nearing the middle third of November.

After Saturday's day of rest collapse, yesterday saw a return to a somewhat reinvigorated me. I took care of some deferred uke club business, did a load of laundry, made a trip to the grocery store (another will be needed, today, since there were several items I neglected to realize needed getting), did an initial leaf skim of Mrs. Fun's fish pond in preparation for putting the netting over it for the winter, and miscellaneous other things that involved moving around rather than sitting on my keister.

Yesterday evening another member of the uke club and I went to a local music venue to hear Jake Shimabukuro play uke. He's one of the top names in the business, and deservedly so (although there were a couple things he played that weren't entirely to my taste, his technical skills were still absolutely, stupendously top-shelf).

I'll putter some more today; the leaves in the yard need to be relocated to the curbside so the City's leaf collecting vacuum truck can suck them up. It won't be the last time this year that happens, but it'll be a start. Also, since the cleaning ladies are due sometime today, I'll tidy up a bit before they arrive.

Stay safe and well everyone and tell your dear ones you love them. Do it today, NOW, for tomorrow may be too late.

 

[ST1100Y]

FTFY.

Well, there you go then:

 

[ibike2havefun]

Well, there you go then:

Then again, your English is waaaaaaaayyyyyy better than my German, so I'll let you off with a warning this time.

 

[ST1100Y]

... I'll let you off with a warning this time.

 

[Chris09]

Good morning and thanks for the start, that is some pic kinda puts everything in context
I agree there are some positive sides to unemployment; I've been lucky I've only been once and more or less by choice I was on EI going to school, checked in with my previous employer a couple weeks before getting out and learned, nah we're not that busy right now. Okay well, thanks for the heads up said the guy that just got his second EI cheque with a wife and screaming [hungry] brat that just spent the last six months fixing your customers walk in coolers and bulk tanks at dairy farms at five in the morning, yeah, I'll just maybe see if I can find a job now that I know that I need one. One thing about being nobody's cousin or brother in law, does kind of keep you how do say, self reliant.
So there I was had enough of that, decided I'm gonna stay on EI until I get a job with a bigger company where I can hide in weeds or put a lamp shade on my head when things get lean.
In the waiting, so and so calls me back, yeah I've got work for you here on Monday. Okay, perfect I'll be right back... which of course, didn't happen. Thought I'd leave him with that, see if he could figure it out on his own.
Didn't take long fortunately only another week or two and managed to get on with a good company, all I had to do was move to Grande Prairie. Yee Haw! Who wants to go to Grande Prairie? C'mon it'll be fun, it's December! We can... story for another day
Well we managed to get the old 1982 Yamaha Maxim 550 back together; turns out the biggest problem probably was the vacuum operated petcock. There's a little diaphram chamber that references to the No 2 intake spigot that when vacuum is present, is supposed to enable flow through to the ON and RES port. So we capped the sense line ends and now, PRI is on, and ON is off. Yup, works perfect.
Calling for more rain in our neck of the woods but hope to get out in the sunny breaks as opportunity presents, the weather is unseasonable warm still so
Wish everyone a good one and safe ride if you're able

 

[ST1100Y]

... decided I'm gonna stay on EI until I get a job with a bigger company where I can hide in weeds or put a lamp shade on my head when things get lean...

LOL!
In our "high tax nation" everyone* is entitled to unemployment (or health) benefits, after all you've paid for them during your active times with your social security contributions...
(* these days however also those who'd never worked even a single second, hence never contributed a dime... but that's a different issue...)
My "problem" if you will, is the age<>income relation...
My "unemployment cheque" is aprox 80% of my last average income (guaranteed till November 2027)... the wage of most jobs offered lies noticeable below that...
And then you've to consider expenses arising when being employed, like fuel costs for commuting, or costs for having lunch out on the road while running service calls... (no fridge and microwave in a panel van...)
Stationed at an office with kitchen access I can bring cost for lunch down like € 5-/day... out in the field € 10~15,-...
Or when receiving a suggestion for an opening 60km away... that's 120km commute a day, makes >€ 100,-/week... € 433-/month... only in fuel costs... seriously?!
And for the "benefit" of using a company car/van for commuting to/from work, you get taxed extra... not much to gain there...

Creating the weird scenario of: can I even afford to be employed?

 

[steve3b3]

Good morning, and thanks for the coffee start, Martin.

It's supposedly cloudy and 36f/2.2c in MA this morning, although it looks pretty clear in the pre-sunrise sky to the east.
The temperature will rise to 55f/12.7c and partly cloudy skies, after a possible morning shower.
Wind will be 10-20mph.

Yesterday, we traveled to a park in Framingham, where we met with the other grands and our granddaughter. The two kids hugged, and went on to play on the playground apparatus that was there. Elouise also had her bike there, that she propelled Fred Flintstone style.
We all went out to lunch at a local restaurant, where we were reminded why we are not planning on dining out this week. Both kids were generally well behaved, but the occasional meltdown occurred.
Oliver slept during our ride back home, but not enough! He was pretty miserable, until dinner, after which he calmed right down, Our theory is that he was distracted, and hadn't eaten enough at lunch which along with a shorter nap, made him cranky.
We got a call from his dad and mom in Iceland, and Oliver got to speak with them for a bit. We were pretty touched when his mom and dad "blew him kisses" over the phone, and he responded by kissing the phone back.

Today, I'll head out to my last PT session for awhile. The leg is coming along fine, and at the last session we decided that I'd do the PT exercises on my own, and reconnect after the holidays.
Brenda is planning on a playground visit with Oliver, but that might wait until the afternoon and the rain is gone.
I've got to work some gym stuff into my schedule at some point this week, as well.

Oliver is in for a small surprise today. He's been opening a drawer next to my recliner, even after multiple "Nos". You can see the little gleam in his eyes when we tell him no, so it's a game. After he went to bed, we added a child-proof lock to the drawer, so he can't get in, any more.

Enjoy the day,
Steve

 

[Obo]

Morning all, and thanks Martin for getting us started.

5C for the ride in and possibly 9 for the ride home. Moves me up on the coldest ride of the year game.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Obo

 

[Nashcat]

Good morning, everyone. Thanks for the start, Martin.

A brisk start at 36, but warming to a nice, sunny 69 this afternoon.

The only thing on the agenda is moving the camper a few feet, to the edge of the concrete drive, and then checking that it’s winterized properly.

Gotta run. Dang, this is seeming more and more like a work schedule. Only 8 more weeks of treatment.

John

 

[Sadlsor]

I'm baaa-aa-ckkk.
Mission accomplished at the Alabama Traffic Safety Center, my third RiderCoach certification after rain, sun, wins, cold, and LOTS of walking up and down and back and forth across the range to kick cones.
Eight new MSF RiderCoaches, capping off the week by conducting a full class of 12 students who completed their Basic RiderCourse under the tutelage of us candidates.
Learned that the bike I've told you about, that cranks up one street behind my house every morning between 6 and 6:15, is owned and ridden by Jim... who was in my coaching class.
It's a small world, after all.
Nine days of riding little bitty Honda Groms, Kawasaki Z- something, Suzuki TU250s, and Kymco Slades... all training bikes, and now it's time to go back to work.
Can I do this...?
I'm in front, wearing a red Ilean Racing t- shirt. I-LEAN -- get it?
A friend of mine, amateur racer and fellow RiderCoach, he caught cancer and moved to Texas a few years ago.

 

[Chris09]

It's a funny thing Ive watched people take advantage of Employment Insurance, Worker's Compensation, Long Term Disability, Stress Leave, Paternity Leave - now that's a good one if you can line up a few side jobs - accumulated sick time, and the best one, good old fashioned ICBC rip offs yes sir e if you could be so lucky to get someone to bump into your car, hey, wife's got a good job, I can wear a neck brace for a while, it's only when I gotta go to the store
Best one was a social gathering where a guy showed up long enough to say I can only stay for one, I just got rear ended and I gotta go see my doctor
cha ching a hundred grand and the last guy to reach into that pocket to buy a round
But seriously, harassing people on EI who are only getting benefits (it sounds about the same as Canada) that they essentially accrued has to cost a lot more in the long run

 

[ST1100Y]

But seriously, harassing people on EI who are only getting benefits (it sounds about the same as Canada) that they essentially accrued has to cost a lot more in the long run

As said, I won't decline something interesting and at least financially equal to my prev job...
But at 50~60% of the prev salary?
Sorry, nah!
For such a sum I'd rather restock shelves at a supermarket... no thinking required, no responsibilities...

 

[SupraSabre]

Morning Martin & All from sunny, SOuthern Utah!

Currently it is 41F, up from 30F and heading for 62F. No breeze yet and the winds might get up to 5mph from the SW.

Nothing to report on the shed electrical project. I'll go get some comex today and see where it gets me.

Yesterday I decided to load Win 10 on my wife's brick of a Laptop that had Win 11 on it with more BLOATWARE than I've ever experienced. I will not buy another Laptop from Costco!

Everything seemed to go well last night, then this morning, all I'm getting is "Getting ready..." message and it won't stop. I've tried powering off & on, but it still does the same thing. Any suggestions?

Once Chris is up, we'll get some breakfast.

Anyone , have a great day on the roads!