Never, Ever Make Plans

I had planned to hop on the bus and ride it to the grocery store today.  After what seems like weeks of damnitscold weather, the prediction was for a balmy 27 degrees today.  That is on the plus side of zero - not the minus side.  I even thought about treating myself to a small bag of chocolate stars from the bulk candy section, and getting a couple of the ingredients I need to make the pooches a batch of the peanut butter treats they love so much.  And then Fate stepped in and said, "I don't think so."

Anyone who reads this blog is probably aware that a short while ago I spent time whining about the lack of heat in my apartment and voicing my opinions about the furnace guy from Hell.  I was thrilled when heat started to flow from the vents and my toes thawed out.  Well, over the weekend I noticed that something was amiss.  Even with the temperatures in the sub-zero range and the howling wind, my apartment kept getting warmer.....and warmer.....and warmer.  I can't regulate the temperature.  My landlord sets it and controls it.  But it is set at a comfortable setting.  Except that now it doesn't want to shut down.  When it reached 77 degrees I started opening windows.

Anyway, enter the furnace guy from Hell.  Right away this morning he is slogging through my apartment, checking the vents, looking at the thermostat and scratching his head.  Because I am not fond of the idea of strangers traipsing in and out while I am gone, I decided to spend the day getting caught up on fun stuff like laundry, trash hauling and floor scrubbing.  Scratch the chocolate stars, at least for today.  I will go to the store tomorrow.

Or maybe not.  Oldest son calls me a couple of times a week.  He says he just calls to see what I am doing, but I know he is calling to check up on me to make sure that I am OK.  I am grateful that he does.  Anyway, he says that there is a winter storm headed our way tomorrow.  Then, as soon as I hang up the phone, it rings again and it is youngest son.  He didn't get around to the bread baking with his kids until this evening, and he has questions.  I tell him what he needs to know about the process, and he then says that he just received a weather alert.  Part of the duties of his job have to do with managing the snow removal crews, hence the weather alert.  Seems the aforementioned winter storm is supposed to drop 3 to 6 inches of snow on us by noon tomorrow.

I think I will stop trying to plan anything in advance.  The gods of winter have a mean streak.  If I plan a day out, they drop the temp down into the freeze my keister off range or they dump snow on me.  Maybe in April...........