Statistically, the coldest part of our winter begins January 10th and ends around the 1st of February. It was still Autumn here this year until January 9th, when a bit of winter weather finally settled over our area. Our daylight has already increased by 18 minutes per day since Solstice, and there is no ice on the river so far. Due to high winds yesterday and today, it was too cold outside to maintain our walking program. While temps will remain below 0 C for the foreseeable future, the wind should drop enough tomorrow for us to venture outside again. There is no snow on the ground yet, but we might get a bit on Saturday. It is clear tonight, and I can see a lovely banana moon out our south picture window. Had it been a teeny bit less windy and cold, I likely would have headed out to the observatory for a short time. Instead, I'm indoors writing this, with a lovely glass of dark stout beside me. Ah, winter!
We now have three of this month's six medical appointments out of the way. Last week Deb had to go for her blood work, and today she went for her RA infusion (we were in and out in 30 minutes!), and then went next door for X-rays to her shoulder. I am up next, with an appointment with Dr. Emara next Wednesday to set a date for my cataract surgery. Deb is up the following week to see a specialist about her shoulder. Likely we will both soon have dates for our surgeries afterwards. Thus things will carry on into February...
If one has to work for a living, it doesn't get much better than having a 5-day weekend. The only thing that could be better is having a 6-day weekend! I have now consolidated all of my private teaching into one day, Wednesday, and though it is a pretty harsh afternoon and evening, it does go by quickly. We can now go away for six days without having to change or postpone any lessons!
We recently watched one of the worst Sherlock Holmes movies one could ever imagine. It is called "Sherlock Holmes," and features the worst Watson/Holmes pairing I have ever seen, along with a Mycroft who is a criminal who makes flying dragons, a huge underwater octopus, which destroys a ship and kills everyone for no apparent reason, dinosaurs, and other flying devices and such. It seems to play out as a very poor Dr. Who episode, but with "Sherlock" (called Robert in the movie!) instead of the Doctor.
We are into several very good series on Amazon just now, having just added Season One of "Catastrophe," a very funny British series about an American guy and an Irish girl who end up having a brief and lust-filled affair while he is in London. This one gets great reviews, and so far is quite hilarious. We are also watching two Anime series. "The Great Passage" is a tender and funny series about a group of people at a publishing firm trying to publish a new dictionary. Not your usual plot in these kind of things, but it is really good! A bit more traditional is one called "Rage of Bahamut Virgin Soul," in which a teenage girl (always) has a magic power that can turn her into a rampaging dragon. When just herself, she has super strength and eats a lot. It is quite funny, and the graphics are spectacular.
We are still watching "Mr. Robot," but we are less thrilled with where it is going now. It seems to be following a pattern of many "hip" TV series, with interesting characters dying, stupid and unnecessary plot twists popping up to shock us, and more or less spinning its tires mid-season. We will try to finish watching, but it's getting harder to do. "Detective Anna" continues to be a favourite series. From Russia with subtitles, we are at episode 43 of 56. The period costumes are just jaw-dropping, and Anna looks great in all of them! She is a psychic who can see people who have died violently. Sometimes the police will trust her, and other times just want to do things their way. There are many fun sub plots, too.
Gaming has been on hold, but hopefully will resume soon. We have given up on Obduction, which started as one fabulous adventure game, then just bogged down and wallowed in its own complexity. Its worse crime is allowing players to reach a dead end deep into the game, with only one major event remaining to solve. There is no real chance of backing up, unless you know exactly where the error took place, and what the error was. This game does not deserve the high ratings it gets, though it is awful pretty to look at and wander about in.
Mapman Mike
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