The Johnson Blog

After a long winter absence, baseball is back.  I’m listening to the Cardinals wallop the Phillies as I type.  Ahh spring.

At 10am today, the Cardinals released another 45,000 tickets at the new stadium since they are ahead of schedule.  I was lucky enough to be selected to purchase tickets and I bought 3 for a game in May for Ana, my dad and I to go to.  Can’t wait to see the new ballpark.

And finally, this annoys me every year.  We wait all winter long for some baseball, then opening day comes and goes.  Then the Cardinals get a day off.  Quit teasing us – let them play the first few days of the new season!

More bad weather tonight in Springfield.  My parents and I had just arrived on the west end of town when we heard the tornado sirens and the radio announcers explaining that a tornado was seen on the ground in Loami and was heading toward Springfield – putting it just a few minutes away from us.   So instead of eating, we rushed back onto the interstate and stayed in my basement until everything passed.

That’s 3 tornadoes in the area in under a month – WTF?

I think I’ll leave work after 8hrs today.  It’s 72 degrees outside with a beautiful blue sky, not the kind of weather that’s conducive to productivity.

This marks the beginning of week 3 of exercising and slightly changing how I eat.  At work there’s a decent (free) gym, but after working there for several years I’ve learned that once I’m home I’m just too lazy to drive 20 minutes to get back there for a workout.  So I purchased the cage system shown below, an olympic weight set, and some dumbells.  Jay has pitched in a tricep bar and a pair of dumbells too, so I now have a pretty decent setup in my basement.  It’s much easier to stay on track when all I have to do is walk downstairs to use it.  Also helps to have someone to work out with.

I’ve started feeling much better already, and I’ve already lost a few pounds and gained a notch back on my belts.  Taking cues from a couple of coworkers, I’ve started eating every couple hours at work (tuna sandwiches, peanut butter sandwiches, oranges, etc.).  It seemed odd at first, but with the weight lifting I’ve been VERY hungry most of the time.

On another positive note, I purchased a blood pressure checker.  Some of you may recall that about 8 months ago my bp was dangerously high, forcing me to alter what I eat.  Well it’s now in the “low” category!  Woo!

Ana headed to Minneapolis today for work.  She’ll be gone until Thursday afternoon so it’ll be pretty quiet around the house.

We’re under a blizzard warning and will be for the next 19 hours or so.  No precipitation yet, but it’s supposed to start raining shortly, followed by snow around 2am, and continue to snow until late afternoon/early evening tomorrow.

Let’s see, in one week we’ve gone from two F2 tornadoes to 70 degree days to a blizzard.  Ah, Illinois weather.

A couple years ago, Ana and I spent a weekend putting together a home emergency kit.  We used literature from various sources like the Red Cross and Ready.Gov and ended up with what seems to be a fairily thorough package.  It’s contained in one of those large rubbermaid tubs and has everything from cat food and dishes to first aid kits, flashlights and anti-bacterial wipes.   Sunday night was the first time we’ve had to crack it open – for a radio, some batteries, and another flashlight.  Everything in it is packed for ease of access, so one ziplock bag had a flashlight and a package of batteries that run the flashlight.  I’m glad we didn’t need it for more, obviously, but just having those things in one place kept us from running througout the house when we needed to be in the basement.

We’ve since looked at the spreadsheet of its contents and realized there are a few items that are near expiring, so we’ll be heading to the store today to replace them as well as the batteries we used this week. I felt rather stupid putting the thing together but it was one less thing to worry about as we hunkered down in the basement.

Since the storms and tornadoes rolled through Springfield last Sunday night, I’ve been looking around online at generators.  The kind that hook up to the natural gas line and kick on immediately are very tempting – and starting at around $1800 makes them a definite option.  But, I know deep down that it’s overkill so most likely won’t get one of those.  Instead I’m sure I’ll end up with a typical gas powered portable.  Nowhere near is cool, but would still keep me from bailing water the next time we don’t have electricity.

A generator in combination with a battery backup sump pump, and a regular spare pump should get us setup how I want.  I’ve been saying for months how I at least needed to have a second pump on hand for when my current one decides to crap out.