Sorry the picture is blurry, but I think you can see the outdoor temperature display reads 30 degrees. I had a very early appointment at the Mayo Clinic yesterday morning so we left well before “sunrise.” Actually, a few minutes after I took this picture the display read 28°.
At 39° and below the Hyundai, which we drove to Mayo, my Jaguar and my wonderful wife’s Corvette all show an Ice Warning. You can see the snowflake next to the 30° reading.
By the time we arrived at Mayo, still before “sunrise,” the display read 38°. Again, many people who don’t live here don’t understand the micro-climactic variations that exist due to changes in altitude. Many people also don’t understand that it’s not always 100 degrees here.
Good news from the visit, by the way, as I did not need a fourth nose packing. The PA recommended I continue to put Vaseline in both nostrils to keep them moist as well as still using a cotton ball covered in petroleum jelly in the offending nostril 1-2 hours a day. I will most definitely heed her advice. Oh, we are now up to five humidifiers in the house. Don’t know how much they’ll help, but even if they just help a little in raising the indoor humidity in the winter then they are well worth what we paid.
******************
It was difficult having to root for Penn State in their College Football Playoff (CFP) semi-final against Notre Dame. In case you don’t know, and if you don’t you probably don’t care, Notre Dame won 27-24.
Even though Nebraska has always been my favorite college football team, growing up in Baltimore the University of Maryland was my second favorite. They played Penn State almost every season, but almost never won. The Nittany Lions beat the Terrapins 31 of the first 32 times they played.
In the 1970s, the decade I discovered college football, Maryland’s program improved under head coach Jerry Claiborne. An aside, his daughter and I lived in the same dorm my first year at the University of Delaware. As a result, I met Coach Claiborne once when he visited her.
Anyway, in 1974 and 1975 Maryland gave Penn State all they could handle, but lost 24-17 and 15-13, respectively. Most of the games were not close, though, such as Penn State’s 70-7 win over Maryland in 1993. That was the last time the two schools played until Maryland joined the Big Ten Conference, which Penn State had joined in 1993, in 2014. In the first Big Ten matchup, Maryland prevailed 20-19, only the Terrapins’ second-ever win against the Nittany Lions and their first since 1961.
Obviously, I grew up not exactly as a fan of Penn State football. Having to root for them last night sort of reminds me of having the Pittsburgh Pirates as a client in my baseball consulting practice. I was a huge Baltimore Orioles fan and the Pirates beat the Orioles in the World Series in 1971 and 1979. Both series went the full seven games and both times the Orioles had significant series leads: two games to none in 1971 and three games to one in 1979. I never could quite shake my distaste for the Pirates even in the two seasons I worked for them. (I had worked with the new Pirates’ General Manager while consulting with Cleveland. He hired me when he became Pirates’ GM, but did not renew my contract–a euphemism for being fired–after two seasons.)
It goes without saying I will be rooting for the team playing Notre Dame in the CFP Championship on January 20, either Texas or Ohio State. I will say, though, that I enjoyed watching last night’s game despite the outcome and that the outcome didn’t really make me sad. I mean, I’m not 15, anymore.
PLEASE read tomorrow’s post.
#Sub-FreezingInTheDesert