An Interesting Monday

Sleeping last night was waking two, or three, times for no reason. I blame it on knowing I would have jury duty, and since I retired, having a set time to awaken does that to my sleep. So, I was out of bed at around 4:00 am, which gave me plenty of time to make breakfast, drink coffee, and go outside to see if I would have the opportunity to observe Tsuchchinshan-Atlas. 

The site linked gives a real time perspective of viewing times. This morning, even with some trees blocking my view to the East, there was enough darkness, and a transparent sky, to view the comet before the Sun brightened the sky. It was barely visible to the naked eye, although it was for a few minutes. My binoculars gave the best view, and it definitely looked like a comet. I woke my wife, she was happy to see something she has never seen, and within a few minutes, the sky was too bright to observe any longer. It wasn't nearly as observable as Comet West in the '70's, but it was a treat. 

Jury duty was all morning, a Voir Dire I thought was too long, and a $20 bill for my four hours of time. If I had been chosen for the jury, tomorrow would have yielded more money. My county pays $60 a day, if serving beyond the first day. It was an interesting experience, and I didn't have any facts to determine if the defendant is guilty, but in Texas, a felony charge of driving while intoxicated is after two other convictions. The defense attorney was, according to what I could surmise, pushing for the traffic stop being illegal, which should remove any other evidence from use in the trial. He might be successful. The only real question I have is who struck me from the jury. Was it the prosecutor? Or, was it the defense attorney. I don't know, but would like to know why. 

A family member was taken by another family member to the hospital to determine why they're having severe abdominal pain. They went in this morning. As of 9:00 tonight, they're still there waiting for results from a CAT scan. Hopefully it's all good news, and a simple problem easily fixed. My wife is not at peace, and worrying about both. Neither is young, and stress leads to fatigue. 

So, Monday has been a busy day, a nap didn't do much for rest, and it's looking like it will be long evening, if not a long night. Time will tell, and what will happen is unknown. 

After it was all said, and done, the abdominal pain was not due to a serious condition. It's some type of after-effect of hernia surgery from around a year ago. It's not dangerous, can be surgically treated, and the final result a clean bill of health.

More of the Same

I was looking at the National Hurricane Center 7 day forecast. Something in the Caribbean is anticipated to form, and will enter the Gulf of Mexico. At this time of the year, with the change in weather patterns, such systems are more likely to travel to the Eastern Gulf, which will lead to another storm affecting Florida. They don't need it, and the states just inundated with so much rain don't need it either. Maybe it will fizzle out, and nobody is affected.  

This is Irritating

 I received a notice my credit rating dropped tremendously due to an account in collections. My first reaction was to see what account, and to determine if it was any account I knew existed. An examination revealed something I didn't want to see. 

Apparently, someone opened up a cell phone, or broadband, account in my name, failed to pay their bill, and the account was sent to a collection agency. The original account was an ATT Mobility account, which had unpaid fees of around $1,400. The collection agency is out of a city in New York, and that's all was able to find out. A little research gave me methods to handle this problem.

I notified the credit agencies of the fraud, filed a report with the government agency that handles identity theft, and wrote a letter to the collection agency to send me all information they had on the account. Also, I notified them it was part of an investigation, and requested they remove the credit report. Next, I probably will freeze all my credit, and see how this plays out. 

There is an acceptable punishment for such thieves. It requires a ship with a hull covered in barnacles, four long pieces of rope, and enough strong individuals willing to drag the offender along the bottom of the ship. Video the event, and place it on public television.

Late Night Quiet

Last night, just before I went to bed, I thought I heard thunder. A peek at the radar showed a broken line of thunderstorm to the northwest, so I went to the porch to watch. 

It was quiet; really quiet. As I looked to the northwest, a flash of lightning lit the sky. I started counting, which allows determining the distance, if there are no other bolts. I was at sixty seconds when I heard the low rumble. This is a new record for me. Most storms have too much lightning to determine an accurate distance. At twelve miles, and with any background noise, I wouldn't have been able to hear it.

After a short time, more bolts occurred, but within thirty minutes, the storms dissipated. Radar only showed a line of light rain, which stayed above my location. The front stalled, but this morning, it was reinforced by a stronger front helped by Hurricane Helene's winds. This will bring us cool mornings, and bearable afternoons. It's a good start, and I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures.

I'm Impressed

My wife loves quilt stores. I like them, too, but not like she does. I get more out of watching her examine the different fabrics. She's like a child in a candy store, and while she browses the inventory, she's thinking what she can make. Her current quilt, which she finally finished yesterday, was something a little outside of her box, but she had a compulsion and followed the urge. 

I'm holding it up in the first photo. The finished dimensions are about 5 ft. by 6 ft. The photos really don't completely capture the brilliance of the colors, but are close. The fabric between the panels, due to the pattern, give the appearance the borders are not straight, although the pieces of fabric are all cut straight. 

I'm impressed, and while she can critique the quilt, I know it's her expert eye finding things the majority of people would miss. I think it's one of the most beautiful things she ever created and I'm proud of her creation.