Day #65 Which Happens To Be A Thursday

Snow Removal...
The previous two days were good days to have a working snowblower.  Mine was in for maintenance, but now I have it for the next two days that warrant something other than a shovel.  The repair guy commented that "they don't make them like that any more."  It's a Bolens and about 30 years old.  A number of features were faulty immediately but I've worked around them.  It leaks gas, the tires leak, the auger and drive controls are lame, the insulated handlebar grips fell off a couple of decades ago and the shutoff switch does nothing.  Once off the truck I thought I'd run it down the driveway that I shoveled for hours.  It seemed work but the auger control would not move.  The first thought was to drag it back to the shop but instead I pulled out the kerosene ready heater and heated the whole thing up to near combustion temperatures.  That worked.  It's fine.

Public Health...
While leaving the snowblower repair place I glanced to my left.  I'm not sure if the hardware store sells the

bed bug killer or if there was a phone number in the snowbank.  As I thought about the -20 degree windchill, my gloves, multiple layers, warm socks, hat, etc., I thought "do bed bugs have gloves, multiple layers, warm socks, a hat, etc.?"  Probably not.  I guess it would be the time of the year where if you did have a problem with bed bugs you could just drag your mattress outside and lean it up against the garage or a tree and wait a few days.  With the wind coming out of North Dakota and the Canada prairie provinces tying the mattress to something might be a good idea.

I "Googled" something about bed bugs and freezing temperatures.  The best response was that a winter outside treatment might work if you lived in the Rockies.  Obviously that was written by someone who has not lived in six decades of MN winters which can certainly kill unprepared humans, much less, bugs.  Apparently the outside treatment in more moderate climates causes the bed bugs metabolism to slow down making them even more durable.  That's nice.

Webinar...
Today was a day to participate in a webinar put on by a company that I applied at.  Even though they are a Google Application services company and even though I entered it in my Google Calendar application I simply forgot.  The iPhone need to scream, not ring or vibrate.

Networking...
Today did involve some networking with contacts in the IT space.  Each of the conversations ended open-ended and that is good.  My Friday is clear so I'm going to get caffeine early and make it a good good wrap up for the week.