nlbarber

It started snowing here about 8 PM, I think, as younger niece and I left her house for mine. I agreed to let her drive me around the neighborhood a bit--her learner's permit is a week or so old and she wants to drive! We took a couple of turns around the subdivision streets as the snow switched to sleet, then back, and back again.

About 10 I looked out and the snow was steady, with more than an inch already piled up on my patio furniture. The prediction is for snow for a good bit of the night, then freezing rain and sleet. Atlanta will not be moving tomorrow: looks like it's not moving tonight. This is a shot of the Georgia Navigator road status at 11:30 PM--red triangles were mostly "all lanes blocked" (that'd be 4-6+ lanes) of interstate, plus closed roads because of ice. I, at least, know better than to take my Southern driving skills out into this stuff....

Just checked, and there's maybe 3 inches of snow out there, and for the moment it's not coming down. There's a lot more predicted for tonight and tomorrow, though. If the power stays on, I think it will be a good day to make bread and soup, and work from home.

Atlanta, the city in the trees. My favorite slogan for my town, but it has its drawbacks.

Last week in Denver, with nothing apparently blooming, the pollen count was "high". Anything pollen count over 120 is considered extremely high. Today in Atlanta, the count was 2,967. There's a yellow haze over the parking lot at work...and the pine pollen hasn't even started yet. Grass is about due, and that's my allergy. Of course, with counts in the thousands almost anyone can react to it.

And the current set of winter storms finally affects Atlanta. It started snowing as we (me, sister-in-law, younger niece, nephew, and friend of nephew) headed into the movie theater to see The Lightning Thief, and by the time we got out the grass was covered. Looks like there may me about an inch and a half piled up on my bird feeder now, and the prediction is for it to keep snowing for another 6 or 7 hours. Total accumulation expected is 2-4 inches, so nothing like what hit Washington, DC or even Dallas, but plenty to mess up travel in Atlanta.

However, I'm in for the day, and have the challah rising as my contribution towards dinner (I think sister-in-law will be seeing if Golden Buddha will deliver the rest of it), and I got the critical cat-food run made today. Hopefully tomorrow will be enough to let the roads clear, and I'll be able to drive to the Jazzerthon on Sunday to cheer on my team from the side of the room. I have discovered that the air cast does require a little more care in walking on slush than normal footware, so I don't think I'll venture out until a good bit of melting has taken place.

I made it back to Atlanta without great difficulty Saturday, though traffic made the normally 3-1/2 hour trip into 4+. Trip entertainment was largely the Georgia-Georgia Tech football game, which Tech won! First time in 7 years or so...it's been a long drought.

Sunday was a no-effort day, as I let the head cold take over. Spent a lot of the day napping or reading in bed. Cold is no better today, though, ungrateful thing. I left work early due to non-productivity, and took another nap.

Had to bestir myself to get Agatha to a 6 PM vet appointment, for another followup on the CRF. I underestimated the drive time in rush-hour traffic, but we had to wait anyway--lots of people picking up boarders after the holiday weekend, plus ailments, so there wasn't a treatment room for us for a few minutes.

Once we got in, Dr. Dunn mostly focused on Agatha's eyes, checking the pressure again and looking at the retinas and blood vessels. Things look stable, but not great--the retinas still look OK (not like that very first visit, when they apparently flapped like a flag in the wind), but it still looks like the blood pressure is up. Dr. Dunn suggested going to twice a day on one of the medications, but to wait until I'm back from my Disney World trip so I can observe the effects and stop it if she gets lethargic or otherwise acts oddly. Dr. Dunn also had me put Agatha down on the floor so she could try to see how much vision Agatha has. Same conclusion as we had reached earlier: probably seeing light and shadow, but not much else. We'll go back for another check in 3 months unless something comes up, and I can send updates via email. Oh, and I have a topical cortisone spray to try on the part of Aggie's back where she's pulling out the hair, in either a stress or allergic reaction. We've treated this before with a cortisone shot, but those are not good with the progression of the CRF. And so we go on.

It's hot. And humid. Gosh, San Diego was lovely...

I filled the bird feeders this morning, both seed and suet. I can see the suet cake in the backyard feeder from the window by the computer--the feeder is a cage-style that's much larger than the suet cakes I buy. The suet cake is slumped into a curved shape at the bottom, as it's too hot out there for it to hold its shape.

Current temperature is 93°F at 6 PM.