Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. 👨‍🏫

That weekend came and went in a flash, but it’s a three-day work week before Thanksgiving, so hopefully things will go by just as quickly this week.

Partly cloudy and 42 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☔ There is a south-southwest breeze at 8 mph. 🍃. Temperatures will drop below freezing at around 9 pm. ☃️

Yesterday was kind of a cluster fuck with the tires. ⚫ Despite ordering the tires for my truck a week ago, and promises they would be at the tire shop on Sunday, when I got there and waited for like two hours — despite my appointment — they called me back and said they couldn’t find the tires at the shop as they hadn’t been delivered. I had planned to go to Waterman Park and walk around it for a bit, but seeing that they hadn’t done anything yet, I caught a bus to Pine Bush, 🌲 which I had nearly reached before I got the call. I was a bit livid about — I’m spending like $1,800 on the tires, but I didn’t say anything. 🤬 They’re supposed to be in on Tuesday, I’ll call later this afternoon. 📞

I now have to cancel my appointment today with my local shop, which is annoying 🎫 because I usually like to give people some notice — but it’s not like I could call them yesterday as it was a Sunday. I was originally a bit hesitant about making the appointment for a Monday, just in case something went wrong, but I figured what the heck. I don’t think it will mess up their schedule too much. I can offer to bring it in if they want, but I am not convinced all four tires are legal, even though they have some tread. 😕 The whole situation is annoying, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who has had to deal with this over the years.

Last night I went to bed a little later then usual — 8:45 PM, 😴 and I was up around 5 AM, just enough to hear the latest violent propaganda on the radio news, 📻 which I promptly shut off. Do they really need to be talking about how much blood was spread on a 5-year child’s when some angry driver smashed through a police barricade into a parade? It’s just sickening the news these days, put out by sick, evil minds wanting to sell more propaganda. 📰 Isn’t there important government reports or issues that would be more important to talk about then blood on a child’s dress from a murderous driver? 🚘 🧒 There is so much data and analysis out there that isn’t covered, the news media shouldn’t be encouraging murderous acts. So disgusting!

Been reading this book called Thinking Small, the Story of the Volkswagen Bug. 📕 Interesting book about the Nazi regime and the development of the Volkswagen bug both before the war and after it — and how the modern Germany came to be. While the book is primarily about the development of the car, it really tells the story of how Germany became de-nazified and the tough decisions that had to be made after the war. 🏵

Also was looking at heated blankets again. ♨ Been looking for affordable ways to stay warm without cranking up the gas heat or using a lot of electricity. 🔌 Until it gets really cold I’m trying to keep the heat at 50. Last year I bought a small electric heater fan and an a heating pad to help keep warm, especially when I’m reading 📖 in bed. I rarely use the heater fan now that I’m working downtown – but even last year with my relatively light use it added only about 33.5 kWh or maybe 40 lbs of coal to my electric bill, even though they don’t burn much coal anymore in New York State. Heated blankets though are kind of expensive – even the cheapest ones are like $50 and who has that kind of money these days with inflation eating up so much at the gas pump and grocery stores. 💵

The other day I was noticing how much prices where up at Walmart 🧀 and yesterday I was noticing how Shoprite 🏪 is even more expensive. I don’t buy fancy things but it’s even crazy how basics like big bags of frozen fruit 🍓 are a few bucks more. It’s just obnoxious how expensive things have gotten lately. I try to keep the budget, but everything keeps creeping up. At least with winter underway, I probably won’t be traveling as much, so that will help keep things a bit more in check.