Michael Nicholas @micnic@a2mi.social

Currently on the London Underground, heading to Victoria for a final catch-up before I fly back tomorrow. The evil death stares when someone coughs is getting to be quite amusing.

Currently at DTW with a glass of wine. Heading to the UK for 6 nights to see family, friends, and pubs!

POWDER DAY! Had a brief few gaps in the cloud to grab these pics.

Wordle 245 3/6* - The disappointment when that 4th letter went white.

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Jeeeeez, the roads are bad, and they got bad quickly. Lovely mix of snow/sleet/ice/rain.

2/2 Snowstorm: ★☆☆☆☆

Wrong kind of snow, and not enough of it. Would not recommend.

I was advised to get the chimney swept before I used it for the first time. Sweep came today! I’ve been looking forward to this since I bought the house. 😁

Wordle 219 5/6 - That was more stressful than usual

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Boxed.com has C19 home tests in stock and you can order up to 8 of them.

From Sat 15th all private health insurance is supposed to cover the cost of 8 home tests per month. If anyone hears how we actually apply this new provision and get hold of them, please let me know. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/10/us/politics/insurance-covid-tests.html

I watched the last Bond film this evening, No Time To Die. I really enjoyed it. Fantastic! It ticked a lot of boxes, for what makes [imho] a good Bond film. It was traditional, action packed, emotional, and it felt pretty true to Craig’s portrayal of Bond. A good last outing. I look forward to seeing who gets the role next.

I forgot that "warm" cider is poured into those polystyrene cups at approximately 6000 Kelvin, and now my tongue is both angry and disappointed with me.

Dexter Cider Mill was lovely though. Very tasty cider and donuts, with bonus good dogs!

I've been to Wiards and Jennys in previous years. Which other cider mills should I frequent?

Pop-up food at York. This is one of my new favorite patios.

I'm running 3 for 3 on not getting contacted after filling in the Contact Us form on contractor websites. 😒 Has anyone used sites like HomeAdvisor to get a job done? Looking to get a portable generator inlet box and transfer switch.

I am having dinner at 6pm this evening, but I have a gap between work and dinner. If anyone would be interested in an outdoor beer at Bills/Grotto/Ravens/etc... I'm currently free between 4:30-5:50.

Bonus risk info: I'm doing home covid testing twice a week, and today's result was negative.

Car is in the shop at the moment for warranty work, so I’m using Uber to get around. Pre-pandemic that was very easy, but now it’s pretty hard to get a ride outside of downtown. If the current driver doesn’t cancel on me, 40mins to get picked up. Rates are pretty high. I’m surprised that the supply-demand aspect isn’t attracting more part-time drivers for some extra cash. Literally, take my money!

My favorite comedian, Sean Lock, has sadly passed away. He was an active regular on British TV comedy panel shows. He was known for dry, grumpy, but often quite silly humor. It might not work as well for a USA audience, but this was a pretty good tribute reel from Channel 4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRPngk5QyK4

Day 3 without power. Michiganders seem unfazed by this, but it's pretty insane to me. I'm disappointed in the state government, who should be coming down on DTE like a ton of bricks. Governor cited unprecedented storms, but I thought that was pretty lame. Some strong gusts of wind are not a natural disaster in my books. Monopolies are rarely good. Down with that sort of thing!

I awoke from my deep slumber this morning to the chorus of whole house generators buzzing away in the neighborhood. Unfortunately none of them belong to me. It looks like Southeast Michigan had a wild party last night.

Mosquito numbers are crazy today. Be careful out there!