Friday, February 7, 2025

The Sarge in Winter

OAFS Photo
Winter refuses to loosen its grip on Little Rhody, much as the rhinovirus refuses to loosen its grip on my sinuses.

Light snow Thursday morning, as depicted above, which turned to light rain in the afternoon. No doubt it will all turn to ice in the evening. (Forecast says above freezing overnight, so that's a comfort.) It has been wicked cold here this winter. No, not northern tier cold, but cold for Little Rhody.

Having lived here longer than I lived in my home state of Vermont (25 years versus 23) I thought I knew the weather here. My experience has been that we get a couple of weeks of Arctic chill (teens and below) every year with the rest of the winter the temperatures staying mostly in the mid 30s to upper 40s. This year it seems to be staying in the mid 20s (and below) getting above freezing only when precipitation moves in.

Don't get me wrong, I've seen some major snowfalls in this area over the last two decades and a half. But that's the exception, rather than the rule.

The Missus Herself informs me that her homeland is seeing a lot of cold and snow this year as well. My observation on this is that this is a natural cycle. Saw some really bitter cold and snow in Korea during my four years in the Land of the Morning Calm, as juvat can attest to in his shorter stint on the peninsula.

So weather is one of the safer things we can talk about as adults. I think. At any rate, it's been awfully bloody cold here as of late and that situation extends all the way down to Virginia. Which is all I can speak to for the East Coast, New Hampshire to Virginia and no more than 150 miles from the coast. Something about being near salt water comforts me. (Not on it mind you, near it.)

As I've been coughing and hacking more, expelling dead viruses from my body, I guess I've turned the corner on Monsieur Rhinovirus. I sure hope so, having one's sinuses feel like they're plugged up with cotton is no fun, as most humans can attest to.

Now I know why Finnegan was sort of cranky last week, he just wasn't feeling all that great. He's normally what folks call a "happy baby," he smiles a lot and makes few demands from his parental units, except when he's under the weather.

The Missus Herself suggested the other day that if she wasn't around I'd probably just die. Well, she may be right, even when she doesn't feel so hot herself, she takes care of me. Yeah, I hear about it. Don't know what it is about some (most) guys but we can be big wusses when we don't feel well. Many of my female acquaintances would agree, saying "It is known.¹"

I spent the day nursing my battered sinuses, cleaning the slushy snow off the deck, and streaming a lot of TV shows and movies. I highly recommend Yellowstone and 1883 for TV binging. The movie Pixels, with Adam Sandler and Kevin James, was amusing and fun. The film is based on the 1980s gaming scene, think Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. You know, goofy gamers grow up then save the planet with their gaming skills. Very funny in parts, a fun film overall.

I did watch Gladiator II last week, streamed it online on Tuttle's big screen theater system. We had thought about watching it back in December by actually going to the theater, but the logistics didn't work it. Then I mentioned that we could stream it for $19.99 to avoid the logistical issues, not really appropriate material for 2 and 4 year old boys, and the 12 year old granddaughter isn't quite old enough to mind the children while the adults go to a film. Which would have meant leaving one of the adults behind.

Oddly enough, I almost watched it two weeks ago when the streaming cost went down to  $9.99. Missed the chance, only to discover that one can stream it at no cost provided one has the right subscription. Which we did.

I was very prepared to be underwhelmed. It's a Ridley Scott film, which up until last year I had considered a no-brainer for entertainment. As I felt Napoleon sucked, for the most part, I had no confidence in Mr. Scott's ability to capture the magic of the original Gladiator film with Russell Crowe. He didn't, not really (I mean come on, sharks in the Coliseum?) but to my surprise the film was very entertaining. Completely ahistorical but entertaining. I mean come on, it's not a documentary. (Neither was Napoleon but he made such a hash of the story and the main character, IMHO, that I couldn't let it go.)

So yeah, Gladiator II, not bad, not great, but worth the two and a half hour run time. If you've got the time to spare.

Anyhoo, back to sipping NyQuil and streaming.

Y'all have fun now, ya hear?



¹ For you Game of Thrones fans, yes, that's a Dothraki saying. For you non-fans, well, it's a saying.

44 comments:

  1. Darn! When I saw the title I was hoping for something in the style of TAmarians metaphor and allegory (See Star Trek, The Next Generation, "Darmok"). The Sarge in Winter. The homestead, In Snow. The Sarge, his nose red. Nyquil and the Sarge on the sofa. The Sarge, in blankets.

    Recent (in the last decade) studies do suggest that "Man Flu" and "Man Cold" are real things, and that men do get hit harder by viruses than women do. Hormones and such. Estrogen seems to slow the rate at which a virus multiplies, and so symptoms are a bit milder. Testosterone seems to act on men's temperature control center, so our fevers run hotter. Men also tend to ignore the first (and second, and third) signs and not start treating an illness as early as women do.

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    1. I like the theory, doubt I'll relate it to The Missus Herself, she'll not believe it.

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  2. Thanks for the comments on Scott's latest effort Sarge, looks like it won't be joining the home media library, I read he's planning for a Gladiator 3. This is the second winter in a row where snowfall to date in the season is waaaaay below average but February is lining up to change that...three to five inches overnight with below zero waking up for the next five days. Hmmm, time to check that snowblower today, having electric start on that beast is nice.......very nice. Keep chugging those hot liquids !

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    1. Snow, what’s snow? For that matter, I’m not so certain what rain is either!
      juvat

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    2. Nylon12 - Yeah, same here, one and done. Gladiator III? O.M.G. no ...

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    3. juvat - A little dry down there?

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    4. Yesterday I had to work from home since the roads were icy from the freezing rain. Yesterday afternoon it was 50 degrees and I'm wearing a light jacket.

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  3. Like you, I found Gladiator II entertaining enough, but likely not a rewatch.

    Please, Dear Lord, no Gladiator 3.

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    1. Sharks in the Coliseum? Might just be plausible. If I remember right, the arena floor was wooden atop wooden supports. They could be removed and the area flooded to stage naval battles. And sharks have been known to swim well up freshwater rivers, living for some time. Would have been interesting stocking the pond though.

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    2. There is some doubt about having naval battles in the Coliseum, some historians discount it completely. Bull sharks can live in fresh water, they live in Lake Nicaragua. But getting them from the river to the Coliseum, pretty far fetched.

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  4. Winter! It's the first week of February, spring will be there before you know it...

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  5. Two weeks ago we had 5 inches of snow. The past couple of days it has been in the low 80's here in south east Georgia. There has been about 75% of hurricane repair and cleanup where we still haven't seen FEMA.

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    1. Who did your area support in the 2020 election?

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    2. Tsquared - Finally! The Feds left you in the lurch last year, didn't they?

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    3. This is going to sound weird, but fire off a missive to the Trump White House about how your area still hasn't seen FEMA.

      After all, the Army Corps of Engineers finally showed up in North Carolina after President Trump toured the area and heard the horror stories.

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  6. If you havent seen it...Hostiles is well worth the time
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt547847

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  7. Weather is goofy this year on the Utah frontier. A couple of piddly snow storms, the total of which were exceeded by the single dump on the Florida panhandle. Temps mostly mild, (in the 60s one day earlier this week!). Not the same everywhere, of course, and weather is very variable so this does not prove "global warming is real!" only that weather fluctuates considerably.
    Not complaining, mind you. Have the snowblower standing by, but have not bothered to even give it a test run yet this season.

    Winter is NOT over, and we could end up with low temps and record snow before spring arrives. Who knows? Life goes on regardless.
    JB

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    1. I get that, heck, New Orleans had more snow in one storm than we've had all winter.

      That could change this weekend!

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  8. 1923 is just as good, and season 2 starts in a couple weeks.

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    1. It's got Harrison Ford in it, as I recall.

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    2. Affirm, and while he is a Dutton in that one, he's not the same direct lineage as the men in Yellowstone.

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    3. Tuna, I found 1923 to be rather dry and a bit boring. For example, the entire return from Africa trip is long, drawn out and a bit contrived for my tastes. Having said that, I'll be watching when season 2 starts up later this month

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    4. Worked too long - Thanks for the warning, I'll watch it anyway as I want the whole backstory behind Yellowstone. Mr. Sheridan creates some very good characters.

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    5. Yes, the story isn't over so it will have some tie I'm sure to Yellowstone, more than it clearly does now

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    6. I'm hooked. It took longer but I'm in.

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  9. Highly recommend Landman, Taylor Sheridan's latest series

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    1. Binge-watched the first season a couple of weeks ago, outstanding!

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  10. Regarding weird winter weather, well, we're on the 'recovery' phase worldwide due to the end of weather changes caused by the Hunga Tonga underwater volcano explosion. Expect a few more years of truly funky weather as the world-wide atmosphere rebounds and goes back to its normal funky weather patterns.

    TV series? Tulsa Kings, with Sylvester Stallone, is a rather unusual but entertaining show.

    And there's always Babylon 5, possibly one of the greatest sci-fi shows ever. Well worth watching again if you've already seen it.

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    1. I watched the first season of Tulsa King, need to watch some more.

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  11. Sarge, it's a cold rainy day here in San Diego and I had the day off. I fired up Netflix and just finished watching Number 24. It is a story about a resistance fighter in Norway during World War II. Quite good, highly recommended.

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  12. Some tv to watch AMERICAN PRIMEVAL.
    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24069848

    After watching this mini series i will never trust a mormon ,nor hire Isaac Reid as a guide

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