Inside The Perimeter

I’m going to have to budget a lot more money for my natural gas bill next month. January’s bitter cold has led to a lot of furnace usage, even with my attempts to be as miserly as Mr Scrooge.

I never really got going yesterday. With the exception of the short time I spent outdoors picking up storm flotsam and jetsam (I know I’ve misused this term just as I misused “stymied” a few months ago), I remained in my pajamas. The queasiness I felt after lunch ended my desire to ride the trainer for a third consecutive day, and the lack of sleep I had due to numerous reasons on Monday night caused me to take two involuntary naps during the day.

Wordle: four, my starter was SABLE

Peacock is teetering on driving me to canceling my subscription. Last week before it showed me the Premier League soccer game it flashed up a 15-second advertisement. It did the same thing for my attempt to watch the Tour Down Under on Friday. I pay $170/year for “ad free programming” as a Peacock Premium Plus subscriber, with the acknowledgment that ads during sporting events will occur (even though they have the technology to prevent them). Peacock has boasted about their new ad insertion, clearly not giving a shit about its paying customers.

Initially I was only going to eat leftovers yesterday, but I wanted to heat the house by using the oven so I made “Cheesy Italian Noodle Bake” from “Ramen Noodle Recipes” for dinner last night. It was good, but would have been better with higher-quality ingredients than I used. It’s also another recipe that I will cut in half if I make it again in the future, because I really didn’t need a 9″x13″ casserole dish’s worth.

Wordle: four, my starter was MARSH

If I were a bottle collector I would have been in heaven Saturday. During our forest cleanup we extracted many old bottles, cans, and debris. The only downside of Saturday was learning that the part of the saved forest that I assumed was parking for the area is actually still zoned and slated for housing. Someday fifteen (my guess) townhouses will be shoehorned into that small cul-du-sac.

Pretty proud of myself for overcoming malaise and audio/video issues yesterday and riding the trainer for an hour. It was my first effort since getting sick a week ago.

The predicted temperatures for this week make it appear as if I will get a lot more opportunities for trainer riding as well as indoor choring.

Wordle: four, my starter was WAGER. Wordle continues to aggravate me.

Not knowing what the weather will be like this weekend makes it difficult to plan.

I need to gas up the M6 today, probably should have done that yesterday. If there is milk left at Kroger I may buy some of that as well.

Wordle: three, my starter was TRIBE

Paulie the Podcast Killer seems to be at it again. Last year I started listening to “Indiecast”, a music podcast, and at the end of 2025 they announced that they were going on an indefinite hiatus. I also started listening to “Chatabix”, a daily podcast which has been around for over a decade, but has not released an episode in a month.

Wordle: frustrating five, my starter was GRAPE

Given that I was feeling better yesterday I showered and dressed with the intent of leaving the house. Then I realized that I didn’t want to be out in the cold, didn’t want to deal with traffic, nor did I want to go out just to spend money.

So I stayed home.

Wordle: four, my starter was LANCE

Instead of cooking a recipe from a book last night, I cooked one from a website — Stick of Butter Chicken. It was really good, but made far too much for a singleton. If/When I make this again I will cut the recipe in half.

Lunch and dinner will be made up of meals (leftovers) currently living in my refrigerator.

Because I couldn’t find a recipe for French Toast in any of the five cookbooks I had nearby, this might I made waffles for breakfast from the waffle recipe found in “CookWise” by Shirley O. Corriher.

Wordle: four, my starter was ASTIR

I had a good morning volunteering with Trees Atlanta on Saturday morning and was surprised when I crashed for an hour’s sleep after eating lunch upon my return home. Yesterday started with me waking up fighting a cold, sneezing and a runny nose, thus ruining my day.

I’ve started reading another book, “The Last Thing He Told Me” by Laura Dave. The odd thing about this is that I am experiencing extreme Déjà vu, as if I’ve read this previously. I know there was a movie (tv movie?) made from the book, but I don’t recall watching it, and there is no record of me reading this previously, so I don’t know why it resonates.

I had initially intended to make “Ham and Bean Soup” from “‘I Love My Instant Pot’ Affordable Meals” by Aileen Clark tonight, but because I soaked my beans overnight on Saturday night, I went ahead and made it for dinner last night. Though quite tasty, the soup was a little too salty because of the stock cubes I used for the chicken stock.

Wordle: ???, my starter was NAKED. I can’t solve it!

I’m busy getting nothing done.

Wordle: six, my starter was INSET

I have nothing.

Wordle: five, my starter was DIRTY