Chronological Account of the Weiss family with contextual remarks, some weather, sports and other news.
You can write to me at: mhw20854@yahoo.com
The people in the Weiss family are: Martin, Ann, Beth and George. I also sometimes write about other people or our pet.
Sunday, January 25, 2026
Anti Gravity
Sometimes when I go shopping and get to the check out, the check out clerk asks, "Did you find everything you wanted" (or words to that effect). Frequently I will respond, "Well, I didn't find any anti gravity pills but then again the other groceries don't seem to carry it either" (or words to that effect). One clerk answered, "You should try isle 9 1/2 (which is a very clever Harry Potter related answer). ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... but this cartoon shows that you could actually have an anti gravity machine pretty cheaply
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Image is of the front yard and street. Plows have come by but sleet has covered the cleared road. Total snow accumulation on the ground was about 4-5" when it turned to sleet about 9 am.. The sleet is ending aboub 7 pm and is about 1-2" but compressed the snow so the total depth is similar to before the sleet started. In the 11 am image, the sleet knocked all the snow off the rose bush and some of the other vegetation. Maybe tonight we'll have some brief freezing rain and it will coat everything including the vegetation ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
Back a day or so ago, all the computer models were forecasting a very robust accumulation.
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And the final image is taken 26 Jan, after a contractor shoveled the driveway and sidewalk.
On 22 January, the predictions were
UKMet: 9 inches.
American model: 9 inches
Canadian model: 9 inches
European AI model: 8 to 9 inches
American AI model: 7 to 8 inches
European model: 6 to 7 inches
German model: 6 inches
NAM: 5 inches
On 23 January, the NWS put out this map in the second image showing 12+ inches for our neighborhood. Later that day Wunderground, as website I look at a lot for weather, had several hours predicting our accumulation to be 14-18".
BTW, Montgomery County has already cancelled classes for Tuesday (they were scheduled to be closed Monday due to teacher planning days). Even though the snow isn't all that deep it is brutally cold (mid day today 16F).
Today, I thought I was sending a message to myself to "buy tuna and bread". Unfortunately I sent the message to another person by mistake. She spoke to me and asked why I wanted her to buy tuna and bread. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... Of course it could be much worse, as in the case in the image.
We had a Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun yesterday and it looked like we would have enough radiation incoming to see an aurora borealis but the energy faded just as nightime came (it would not have been visible during daytime). The energy peaked at about 10 on the scale in the image but that was at about 5 pm while it was still light and quickly went down from there. Might get some good images tomorrow from people with cameras with long exposure tomorrow. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. The chart shows the time in UCT which is the local time in Greenwich, UK (also known as Coordinated Universal Time) and 5 hours ahead of EST.
That's for a car that actually exists however, Tanja Fairfax is a new one. There is a person with that name with an instagram account. She is, apparently, a rehabilitation social worker. .........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................I think she lives in Virginia but I'm not sure
Today I bought some Cosmos Crisp apples. The image has two Cosmos Crisp on the left (the white specks on the skin seemed to the apple namer to be like stars in the sky - you have to click on the image to enlarge it to see the white specks) and two Honey Crisp on the right. They both taste a little bit tart with sweet aftertaste and, yes, they are crisp. The cosmos crisp is said to be slightly less tart. However, the Cosmos Crisp has a slightly tougher skin and can last much longer without spoiling. Estimated time of good use is about 1 months at room temperature and 6 months in the refrigerator. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Not a bad price either today, about $2/pound, not much more than Fuji or Green Apples.
In modern hebrew, a red haired person is a ג’ינג (jin ji). In American slang it is 'ginger'. Meira has red hair. Yesterday, in a case before the supreme court, Justice Jackson, in a question to one side of the case, used the word 'cisginger' (probably meaning to say 'cisgender'). Anyway, I liked the new word. Meira seems like a happy kid so I presume she is also happy with her hair.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- link is to an image with her and Oz taken a few months ago.
In my dream I was in a hotel which had multiple floors and which seemed to be a venue for some sort of meeting. I was in one room where there was some sort of presentation and I took off my sports jacket which I think was blue. When the presentation was over, I left the room forgetting my jacket. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I went to the room where I had left my jacket but it wasn't there. I went to the front desk of the hotel and asked if someone had turned in a jacket. They said someone had a few days ago and brought out a green jacket. It seemed to fit. Then I woke up.
A few days ago, Tamar got off a bus with her kids and realized she had left her laptop bag in the bus. She called the main bus station (in Natanya). They told her they would call her back. She figured 'well, that doesn't sound good'. But 20 minutes later they did call her and they had her stuff (laptop was in bag and some other things including keys). This was not the first time she had lost something on public transportation (or at a station). Another time she had lost her keys. She had a small sheep toy attached to it and described it to a station employee. "Yep. We have it. Come by and pick it up." was the response. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Fortunately, she lives somewhere where people turn lost items in or, in the case of cell phones, wait until the owner calls their own number (a good reason for remembering the number).
I was on youtube looking at an image of the ice on Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. I was also eating popcorn from a large post popped bag I had purchased a day or so earlier. As I was watching the video, youtube suggested I might want to watch a video of what happens when a large pile of post popped popcorn is left in a forest. This video was uploaded to youtube earlier in 2025. The forest image, a cute little chipmonk enjoying the snack, is from the video that youtube recommended to me. Btw, deer, racoons and squirrels also enjoy the popcorn.
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For what it's worth, I'll also include a snapshot of the scene at Lake Mendota.
This is the second time that youtube made an apparently odd recommendation to me that I really liked. The first was several years ago when youtube thought, correctly, that I would like to see a parody of the Alanis Morrisette "It's Ironic", where two young ladies corrected the use of the phrase. Their video is at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32LCwZFoKio&t=23s
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The letter in the image is from a real estate investment firm. Their version of holiday greetings is to ask me if I want to sell our house to a real estate investor. They use a very nice font and have their phone number, 301 945 7329, twice in the letter. They have a nice name too. MarketProHomeBuyers,com .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... On the reverse side they promise a stress free sale, transparent pricing, a closing on my schedule and help moving. Well, it is nice to know you home is wanted.
Hardward Store Stops An Assassination - in my Dream
In my dream, I had already bought everthing I needed. I brought the shopping cart to the loading area. My car was already there (I can't explain that, perhaps I had an automatic driver system). Just as I pressed a button to get my hardware into my car, three guys, armed with knives, attacked the car. The hardware started flying toward the car and disabled all the assassins. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ I don't have a clue as to why they wanted to assassinate me.
Meira has been hospitalized with Rotovirus. Almost every child gets a rotovirus infection before age 5, some have symptoms that basically resemble a mild cold, some have it worse. Meira was in this latter group. Tamar was pregnant in 2024 and didn't get the RSV virus because of that. She is fortunate that she has neighbors who are very friendly and take Oz to school and otherwise are helpful. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. Meira seems to be doing OK though and probably will be discharged in a day or two. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... She was discharged on Dec 19.
Montgomery County Prepares to End Plastic Grocery Bags
The image shows an unhappy planet. Maybe earth likes plastic bags. Anyway, as of 1 Jan 2026, plastic bags will no longer be allowed in Montgomery county, except bags for fresh vegetables and a few other uses. Also, the paper bag fee doubles to 10 cents per bag. Half of the 10 cents is for the merchant, half for the county government. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I recall reading about how much the county was pleased with the decrease in litter after the 5 cent per bag policy. But I suppose it didn't get the county enough revenue. Let's see: About 1 million people in the county. Assuming 3 bags per week per person (a guess) that's 150/year per person. So about $7.5 Million for county government.
We had about an inch or two of snow last night. This is the second snow of the season (the other one was also relatively light). However the temperature has been a lot below normal, probabliy 2 stand deviations or maybe more for the first 2 weeks of December. At 4pm today the temperature was 20F and wind chill 2F at Rockville's recording station. The image (click to enlarge) is of my two door away neighbor's giant outside Hannukah monorah. He'll light the first light tonight.
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This is a cartoon in the paper today about Hannukah. I don't really get it. Is "Len" the name of the octopus or the turtle or the dophin or the seal or one of the two crabs? And is the banner a 'present'? Does the Octopus's eight legs have anything to do with the eight days?
For many years I was unable to drink coffee slowly. Thus some coffee conversations I had were with people who were still sipping while I had finished and, somehow, I felt this was wrong. Anyway, starting a few years ago I have been able to sip. Lately, I nurse a 20 ounce drink for about 90 minutes. It helps that modern coffee mugs hold the heat or the cold. ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I don't remember where I bought this. It may have been in 2022 at the Air Force Museum near Dayton, OH. This mug is fabulous for both cold and hot. Several times in the summer I remember waking up in the morning and finding that there was still some ice in the mug. I have to admit that even the less insulated cups used by, for example, Starbucks, work pretty well too. I haven't tried a hot liquid time trial test yet.
Back in 1992 after the election of Clinton I had a Dulles Airport nightmare where I was trying to go to National Airport but it was closed and I was going to have to drive to Dulles. I woke up and shouted 'No. No.'. Ann asked, "What's wrong?" and I said, "I dreamed that I was going to have to use Dulles Airport". Anyway, last night I had another Dulles Airport nightmare. This time I had been lured into some sort of job interview and they told me I was selected and my job would be to plan, design and build a 5 star hotel with walkway access to Dulles Airport. The map in the image shows how difficult this was going to be ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... In my dream, they showed me the map of where the hotel was going to be and I felt horror as it seemed impossible to fit a hotel in there...
For several years I've been looking for a kosher Rocky Road ice cream. It was going to be a challenge because the marshmellow manufacturing infrastructure had been making marshmellows for many years using pig bones to make the geletin that acts as an aerator in the marshmellow. It was going to be hard for an ice cream company to go up against Big Marshmellow. However, for what ever reason, the company 'Blue Ribbon' decided to use fish bones to make the geletin and thus the product was kosher dairy .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. ............................... Unfortunately, the ice cream, while good, is a bit too creamy for me. I bought it at Fresh Market in Potomac Crossing, a location former Giant Foods.
We are having 4 of the top 5 Thanksgiving side dishes
I finished almost all the cooking abut 130pm today but still have a few things to do (gravy has to wait until just before eating). I just noticed that our side dishes are among the most popular. I don't make mac and cheese as a side dish because of kashrut and also, I don't understand why you need that with the heavy carb dishes (stuffing and potatoes). --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- btw, it seems that somehow mac and cheese moved up in public preference this year
Yesterday as I was shopping I put some loose green beans in a clear plastic bag. They were marked as $1/79/pound. When I got home I noticed that the check out clerk thought it was from the wing bar and charged me $9.99/pound. Since I only bought about a half pound I thought of just letting it go but then I realized I needed to buy some more stuff today at the same store. As I was in line, it took the customer service person quite a while to work out the compensation transaction. I apologized to the person next in line saying, "Sorry, its only a $3 mistake". She responded, "Well, mine is a $2 mistake." .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I estimate I used about 10-15 min to save $3.50 or so. Anyway, it was an egregious error but I should have looked at the grocery check out slip before I left the store. I'll try to remember to do that going forward.
