The GOAT-est of all Time

     So, one of my neighbors now has a goat.  Actually, they have probably had it a few months now, but they now keep it in a location where I can more easily see it, after they burned off some of the brush on the hillside behind our homes and almost causing an out-of-control fire.  It is a fairly pretty white goat with black ears, I think.  I haven't been close enough to it since I first saw the animal to be entirely sure.  I actually see a lot of goats during an average day for me.  There are multiple spots to catch a sight of them on my way to and from work.  The first stop, after I leave of course, is less than five minutes away.  At Melvin, I pass a house where they have three or more cows (some of them were calves last year), a pony, and three or four goats.  I have seen the goats roaming in the church paring lot next door.  At least they don't get onto the road, like one of the cows did.  I have no idea how that could have happened, considering how far that is from their stable.  The next spot I regularly see goats would be on Indian Creek, near the far end.  There is the home with a rather large yard with a long stretch of hillside behind it.  They have three goats.  This isn't the first time they had them.  Years ago, they had another trio of goats, a family think since the original pair may have had a kid.  Those goats are no longer there, but this second batch is holding strong.  They even had their own shed to sleep in and keep away from the elements.  The final spot I regularly see goats is on a hillside along Robinson Creek, just before I get to a horse stable.  At the top of the hill, there is a pen for maybe a dozen pygmy goats.  Grey, white, black, and brown.  Sometimes, they are let out onto the lower hillside, which is where I first saw them.  Unlike the larger goats, these don't move around as much, at least when I get to see them.  Sure, I've seen goats at other spots along my route, but these are the best bets on a regular basis.  And now I have one just down the street.  Along with its guard goose.  Maybe a duck, which is more likely.  I don't want to get any closer to find out.  I sometimes hear it quack/honk, even before I knew it was there.  And the pig.  Pot-bellied.  I first saw it when it was still small enough to be carried about.  Now, it is about two to three feet long and stays in the same pen as the other two animals.  It is not as cute as the goat or the bird, but it might still be lovable.

Memories, All Alone on My MacBook

    So, late last month, either on a weekend or a snow day from work, I finally decided to upgrade the operating system for my computer.  Monterey came out in October, but I wanted to wait until a was sure there were no known major problems with it.  I was supposed to have done this earlier in January, but I kept putting it off.  Anyway, I was getting sick of the constant notifications, so I started the download.  I had over an hour of free time.  There was little worry of losing power or internet.  And I started the process.  The download may have actually took less than the hour suggested.  I all had left to do was click the icon to install.  Nothing happened.  Apparently, I didn't have enough memory storage left to complete the process.  To the best of my knowledge, the new system is supposed to overwrite the old one.  I thought that was what happened during the previous installs.  This time around, there wasn't enough.  I then began to come up with a plan on how to get more memory.  I deleted old documents and pictures that had old lived their usefulness.  I got rid of an old game that I never played anymore because the free trial had ended.  Still not enough.  I looked over the storage capacity to see what was taking up so much space.  Of course, documents were the majority.  I had papers from my classes, information and other peoples work I had commented on, as well as the Word versions of my own papers.  These were easily deleted.  [I'm pretty sure my originals are still safe.  Some of them were quite good and cold be used as bases for applications and other submissions.]. Next, old downloaded catalogs for my store.  All the most recent are gone.  However, most of the rest were PDFs of books I bought.  Hey, they were cheaper than having them printed and delivered.  Faster too. Theoretically, the website has a library feature that would allow me to download copies again if I lose the originals.  I'm a little scared to try just yet, but it is an option. The next biggest drain was called 'music creation.'  Yep, the Garage Band app that I have barely used needs tons of memory to store all of the beats and rhythms I might need.  Now, I could delete this app, if possible, to free up a huge chunk of memory.  It was pre-installed, so I'm unsure if I can delete it.  It's free on the App Store, so I could always get it back, if I even wanted to, but I don't know how it will work.  Even the Mail app is taking up some space.  Now, I almost always look at my email from the site, not from my Mac's connection to it. The only time it really mattered was when my account got taken down a few days due to the installation of new features.  However, the Mail app still collected all of my emails.  I now have hundreds of emails stored somewhere on my Mac, many of which I had already deleted from my account.  I even saw some from before I got my computer on here, ones I had thought I had already deleted years ago.  I've been trying to go though them, but it is a multi-step process to do so.  What's worse is that more get added every time I open the app, even accidentally. I've been looking into sending some things onto iCloud, but I am still trying to figure out how the process works and what would happen if I delete the original.  I've been looking into outside storage too, but I am so computer illiterate that I'm falling behind on that front.  Anyway, sometime before the month is out, I am hoping to finally get upgraded.  I'm never going to get my arrow cursor color changed to UK blue without it.  That's just one of the minor features that the upgrade provides.  

If a Groundhog Could Hog Ground

     The title is a riff on the famous tongue-twister involving the woodchuck, the alternative name for a groundhog.  I actually made my own version of it by substituting every instance of "wood" with "ground" and "chuck" with "hog."  I thought it was very clever, until I heard Stephen Colbert using it once on his talk show.  I should've have done something then, but there was no way of knowing if my version was an original creation.  Still, happy Groundhog's Day.  For all of you who don't know, Groundhog's Day is the modern day equivalent of an ancient holiday, Imbolc. [Note, the spelling for some of the words mentioned today can be quite fluid.  You might find alternative spellings and even terms for many of them.  If you think there might be a mistake in the post, it just might be that we are using different sources.  Bear with me.]. Imbolc was one of the ancient 'cross-quarter'  holidays celebrated by many cultures, notably the Celtics. While some faded into history, others survived in different forms.  Many were revived, in a more-or-less traditional form, by the Wiccan community in the twentieth century.  These holidays mark the 'turning of the wheel' of the year marking the transitions of the seasons.  Four marked the start of the seasons, on the equinox or solstice when they began.  The other four marked the mid-point of the season, when the season was at its strongest and the slow decline into the next one.  Imbolc is the midwinter point.  It was adapted into the slightly more familiar Candlemas.  Somehow, in America, the holiday also became attached to groundhogs as a way to see if the rest of winter would be strong or mild.  Whatever floats your boat.  Four other of the holidays have managed to hang on into modern times.  Next in the cycle is Ostara. the first day of spring, when life renews itself.  The name was changed to Easter and attached to Christianity's biggest holiday, as resurrection and renewal are very close to each other.  Next came Beltane, the middle of spring.  It has survived as May Day, although it is more celebrated by Socialists than the average public.  The next three holidays don't really have a modern equivalent, although each is marked in kind in some way, if not in importance.  Litha is the celebration of the first day of summer.  Not really that big of a deal anymore, unless you want to join the Druids at Stonehenge.  They celebrate the same holidays too.  The next one is Lughnassa, or midsummer.  Again, there is no modern reason to celebrate such a point, unless you are a fan of Shakespeare or have to do a report on one of his comedies. You can guess which one.  The final 'forgotten' holiday is Mabon, the first day of autumn.  This marked harvest time, which is still celebrated in a fashion in many agricultural communities.  The final two holidays are still celebrated, in many ways the way they were originally.  The first of these is Samhain, the mid-autumn holiday.  This holiday was at the point of the year when the living and the dead were closest to one another.  People would dress in costume to scare or entreat the dead.  If you haven't figured it out yet, this is the basis for Halloween.  Somehow, the older traditions managed a comeback all on their own without too much help.  The final holiday of the year is Yule, the first day of winter, the time of year when darkness was at its greatest.  Yet, it also marked the birth/rebirth of light.  It was so popular and hard to stop the celebration of it that Christianity chose to 'borrow' the holiday and turned it into Christmas.  Similar significance, but not too close.  This brings us back to the groundhog, a rodent that doesn't always start coming out this time of year, but when it does, it is usually looking for a mate.  Yeah, that really puts a new spin on the holiday.

Hitting the Big [Age Redacted Due to Vanity Reasons]

     Today is my birthday.  I won't mention which one, but it could be considered a milestone.  As I write this at work, I have to use an iPhone hotspot just to get internet service.  I'm trying to use as little as possible, but I do have a lot to do. I'm not planning to do much today for my birthday.  At most, I'll be getting takeout for dinner at a favorite place and maybe a piece of cake from somewhere else.  Because my birthday is in late January, I never really could plan for much.  When I was in school, I only was able to have one party.  Every other time, school was out either due to weather or sick days. By the time I was in college, I didn't have anyone to celebrate with.  This is about the same as it is now. Sure, the pandemic is partially to blame, but I still didn't have anyone close in the first place.  At best, I'll have notifications on social media, but I'm not expecting any gifts, not even a card, although that would be nice. The thing is, I don't feel my age.  I usually feel, and sometimes act, as a teenager.  While I could probably pass as someone five to ten years younger, with help, I just don't consider myself as an adult.  Part of this is due to my anxiety/panic attack in 1996.  The attack pretty much broke me down to the point where I regressed.  Ever since then, I've rarely have had the chance to feel like an adult.  I barely own my own business.  Definitely not to the point where I'm financially successful.  I put off starting a family partly because of this.  The other part is I never really learned how to socialize and date.  I was planning to in college, but when my plans for higher education were sabotaged, I just tried to make due with what I could.  Didn't really work.  Quite frankly, I am usually miserable, just trying to get from one kind of high point to another.  I'm at an age where I should be thinking seriously about retirement and grandkids, but I haven't even found employment or a wife.  I am a failure.  Yes, I've said it.  One misstep here, a small mistake there, and I wound up with nothing much to show for it. I hate it.  I've been trying to recover, in any way I can, but I need more.  I just wish I had more help.  Someone to help show me the way.  Either I'm missing them or they don't realize just how much more I need.  Not that happy a birthday statement, but more me, it is all I can manage.

Tell Me What's the Word, Wordle

     There is a new game that is sweeping the internet called 'Wordle.'  For those who have yet to experience the game, let me give you a brief overview.  You are presented with a five letter word, possibly without any letter repeated.  You have six guesses to figure out what the word is.  With each guess, you are given hints about how right your guess was.  A letter highlighted in yellow means the letter is in the answer word, but in the wrong position. A green letter means that the letter is in the word and in the right position.  A grey letter means that it isn't in the word at all.  A good strategy is to choose a word with many vowels as your first guess:  arise, arose, irate, radio, ratio.  Words with an 'e' are slightly better than those without.  Unless your first guess had multiple correct letters, your second word should feature a vowel not it your first and as many different consonants as possible, such as 'think' after 'arose' or 'thong' after 'irate.' After the first two words, you should know which vowels appear in the answer, and probably at least one consonant.  For my first time, I had 'arose' as my first choice, with a yellow 'a.'  My second word was 'thick,' with the 't' in the right position.  From this, I know that 'a' was probably the only vowel, as there aren't many five-letter words starting with 't' that include both 'a' and 'u.'  My third word was 'twang.'  I wanted a word with 'n' as it was the most frequent letter I hadn't tested yet.  The 't' was still in green, naturally, but the 'a,' 'n,' and 'g' were all in yellow.  I immediately decided that 'a' was the second letter, based that it probably wasn't the last letter, the only other position left.  Also, 'n' and 'g' were probably third and fourth based on letter combinations.  This left a vowel for the last position, but it couldn't be one I used before.  The only word that fit was 'tangy,' which was the correct answer.  Similar sites have since popped up with copycat games.  This is reasonable, as 'Wordle' is based on a word game that has been around for years.  I believe it is called 'Lingo' among other names.  The premise is very similar.  Two people each choose a five-letter word, frequently from a certain category.  Each player then guests a word and the other player then tells the first if any letters were in the word and if any were in the right position.  Players only have to give the number of letter; they don't have to specify which letters were correct.  The game ends when a player guesses the right word.  There are other puzzles for one that are similar as well.  One goes by 'Letter Logic.'  In this game, you are given four four-letter words, each with one letter that is in the answer, but none are in the correct position.  You are then given three more words, each with two letters that match the answer word.  One letter is in the correct position, but the other is not. With this information, one can determine the answer word.  Another puzzle goes by 'Secret Word.'  Here, you are given clues to a list of five-letter words. Among the clue answers, each letter appears at least twice.  The first letters of the clues provide an additional clue to the final answer, another five-letter word.  Each clue word is followed by a number between zero and three telling you how many of the letters are in the final word.  This is enough information the guess the final answer, even without knowing anything about letter positions.  I have yet to go back to the site for more attempts, as I slightly prefer the paper and pencil versions.  Also, the only benefit of playing is posting your record on Twitter.  Since I'm not a member of the platform, this benefit is lost on me, so why play unless I discover further benefits or challenges.  Note, today's post's title is based on the Cameo song "Word Up," a longtime favorite of mine.

There Is No Business When There Is Snow Business

     The first big snowfall of the season fell last week.  Fortunately, I closed my store extra early and managed to get home before any snow actually fell.  I also didn't go into work the next day, as road conditions were still a little too bad for driving.  While I wasn't at work last Friday, the snow removal company hired by the shopping center was.  As usual, they piled the snow mostly up against the various light poles around the parking lot. For some reason, the biggest pile always seems to be at the pole just in front of my store.  For the past few winters, I had been lucky that they were mild and didn't require having major snow removal problems.  In fact, last year's lone event was so small that I was able to get into work and park at my normal spot before the removal began.  This led to a much smaller pile away from my spot.  Here is a picture of the current pile, taken on Monday, January 10, after an entire day of moderate rain and a weekend of above-freezing temperatures. Note how the snow had already melted off the hillside across the road from the shopping center.  Much of that had melted on Saturday.  The pile is about ten feet 

tall, as you can estimate from the car in the background.  As of today, Wednesday, January 12, the pile looks about the same.  Meanwhile, other piles around the shopping center have noticeably melted.  This is due to them being smaller to begin with as well as receiving more sunlight later in the day.  This additional sunlight allows for more melting.  This snow pile mostly gets early morning sunlight, where it does very little as the temperatures are not warm enough to help in the melting.  What's worse is that there is some melting occurring. However, since the temperatures are still getting to below freezing, the melted snow is refreezing overnight, causing a huge patch of ice to form on the other side of the pile.  This is leading to a slightly dangerous situation for those drivers who try and take a shortcut or go the opposite direction of the traffic flow. While the short term forecast has warmer temps the next few days, there is also a chance for one or two minor snow events.  This could lead to more plowing and a bigger pile.  Even without more snow, I doubt the pile will be down enough for me to get my parking spot in time for my birthday in two weeks.  The worse part is that the pile would pretty much be melted by then if it had just been made in a spot closer to the road.  The pile would be getting more sunlight and any melting would lead to a smaller area to refreeze.  But no, the removal service has to place the snow by the light poles, even when it is clear that, in this instance, this is not the best location.  I mean, there could theoretically be a body hidden in that pile and no one would know about it for a few weeks.  None of the other piles on the lot are this big, although still big enough hide something.  This pile is big enough to have two or three, theoretically.  At least there are still plenty of parking spaces left for my car and any potential customers, especially since the neighboring unit is now empty.  No more Zumba sessions once or twice a day, although I almost miss the music.  Almost.

It's the Natal Countdown

    For the past few weeks, I have been posting video selections of every song that was at number one during the week of my birthday.  I have been going in reverse order, starting with my least favorite and working my way up to my most favorite.  I let the public know exactly what I was doing this past Saturday, just as I passed the halfway point.  Here is a recap of the first half of the countdown.

• #50 "Laughter in the Rain"  Paul Anka 1975
• #49 "You're Sixteen"  Ringo Starr 1974
• #48 "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"  Elton John and George Micheal 1992
• #47 "At This Moment" Billy Vera and the Beaters 1987
• #46 "Grillz"  Nelly and Paul Wall, Ali, and Gipp  2006
• #45 "Bump, Bump, Bump" B2K and P. Diddy 2003
• #44 "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" Micheal Bolton 1990
• #43 "The Box" Roddy Ricch 2020
• #42 "I Knew I Loved You" Savage Garden 2000
• #41 "All for Love" Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting 1994
• #40 "The First Time" Surface 1991
• #39 "Baby Come Back" Player 1978
• #38 "U Got It Bad" Usher 2002
• #37 "Hold It Against Me" Britney Spears 2011
• #36 "The Tide Is High" Blondie 1981
• #35 "Together Again" Janet (Jackson) 1998
• #34 "Let Me Love You" Mario 2005
• #33 "Havana" Camila Cabello f. Young Thug 2018
• #32 "Two Hearts" Phil Collins 1989
• #31 "Love Rollercoaster" Ohio Players 1976
• #30 "I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" Daryll Hall and John Oates
• #29 "I Will Always Love You" Whitney Houston 1993
• #28 "That's What Friends Are For" Dionne (Warwick) and Friends (Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, and Elton John)
• #27 "Irreplaceable" Beyoncé 2007
• #26 "Without Me" Halsey 2019
• #25 "Timber" Pitbull f. Ke$ha 2014

As one can see from this partial list, I tend to dislike older works in favor of newer ones.  Also, many of the rap/hip-hop number ones are clustered near the bottom as well.  This is somewhat intentional.  I am always trying to stay on current trends.  While I still like much of the older works, I am still looking for the new.  The low placing of rap isn't because I deliberately hate the genre, just that I don't like the ones that hit number one during my birthday week.  There are some hip-hop songs ranked higher, but not too many.  My current tastes lean towards dance-pop, and the higher numbers will reflect that.  Also, there isn't much rock on the list.  In fact, there haven't been that many pure rock songs that hit during the birthday periods.  In fact, hardly any rock songs manage to crack the top ten anymore.  I have a few of those near the top though, but they are tending older.  I'll have another recap after I finish the project, which will include a bonus entry for this year's song, which has a high probability of being Adele, at least at this point.  I would prefer "Oh My God" to "Easy on Me," but a surprise song could debut instead. We'll see.