February 2025

As we navigate the beautiful weather of Central New York at the end of February, everyone can relax because we have no worries when it comes to Truman’s litter box.

We have an app for that.

Chris and Mike bought us Truman’s automated litter box for Christmas and it has proven to be an asset to our cat dad experience. Unsurprisingly, the litter box is attached to an app on my iPhone. The same app also suppose to control our window blinds, but they sent us a little gadget with the blinds without any directions, markings, or other indications of what the hell the thing is suppose to do, so we still manually operate the blinds.

But the litter box? Totally automatic.

Since the day after Christmas I have had to do exactly one “reset” of the litter box when it didn’t detect that Truman had left the premises. I went upstairs during the workday to take my meds, and before the automated litter experience I would also scoop out Truman’s business for the day. Now, I just check to make sure the little catch all tray isn’t full. However, I noticed the litter had not done its thing, so I took a peek at the app and it said Truman was still in the litter box. He wasn’t, he was perched on his cat tree looking for his treats.

I hit the “reset” button on the app and after a squawk and notification “make sure cat is clear of litter box!” it did its thing.

The automated litter box has proven to be quite helpful when we’re away from home on jaunts such as this one. I just need to check the app every once in a while to make sure it’s not going to flip the cat and only flip the litter.

Since the end of November or so I’ve changed my approach to what I wear. Even though I work from home, in the past I’ve worn a polo shirt and a decent pair of shorts. Since the (relatively) cooler weather of winter this year I migrated to a t-shirt and a hoodie, and still the obligatory shorts. After all, I am a northerner by design and I’ve been known to wear shorts on the coldest of days. In fact, I was wearing shorts in December when it was 50ºF and while out on my walk a passerby commented on my bravery for wearing shorts.

Apparently she’s not from up north.

I started buying these cheaper t-shirts from Walmart during last year’s storm chasing trip. They are amazingly soft, quite comfortable, and I feel like I move well in them. Earl tells me I buy them too big, but since he’s lost weigh he can now wear them as well so I don’t know if he’ll continue to comment on the fit and finish.

At less than $10 a shirt they’re easily replaced.

I have a couple of hoodies in rotation; my hiking hoodie is becoming quite worn and will have to be replaced soon. I have a Polo hoodie for special occasions, a work hoodie that was a gift from work, an Apple hoodie that is ready to be retired, and a Jeep hoodie that I won’t wear when I’m driving our Nissan Rogue.

It’s all very complicated.

I just realized I need to get a Nissan hoodie.

Now that we’re up north for a few days I’m still wearing a hoodie over a couple of layers, and no shorts. But, I share this photo of me in our warmer climate back home, feeling and looking oh so comfortable.

Earl and I are sitting in an Airbus A321 at Chicago O’Hare. We are awaiting taxi and departure for Syracuse. Yes, a man that loves the Arizona desert is headed to one of the snowiest cities in the United States.

My mother is not doing well. She has been in the hospital for nearly a month and earlier this week I decided it was prudent for us to make the trip.

Our plan is to return home on Tuesday. I look forward to the warmth.

Roberta Flack is somewhat responsible for the name of this blog. You see, I have used “Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity” since the late 1980s, when I worked for Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC). You could put a “personal name” next to your given name in your work emails and other electronic communications, and for several years folks saw me as SOCIAL::WINGJ (John Wing, “Life Is Such A Sweet Insanity”). I kept the tagline through my post-Digital years and when I created my blog in 2001, I decided to name my blog with the phrase.

So what does this have to do with Roberta Flack?

Well, Roberta Flack sang the theme song for the sitcom “Valerie”/”Valerie’s Family”/”The Hogan Family” in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I always found the theme song catchy and I was delighted to hear Roberta Flack singing the track. Though she was still an active performer at the time, it felt like she was coming out semi-retirement to sing the theme song, “Together Through The Years”.

Roberta Flack was better known for the 1972 hit “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, probably one of the most haunting vocals to ever grace the U.S. Top 40 charts. She also famously sang “Where Is The Love” and “Killing Me Softly”, the latter being revived in the latter half of the 1990s by The Fugees (back during my radio days).

Roberta Flack passed away today at age 88. May she rest in peace.

Last weekend my husband and I visited a local resort for brunch. While we were waiting for our table to be ready, we took a walk through an adjacent building, admiring the grounds and such. Off the resort library was a magnificent library, completely worthy of its own blog entry. That’s coming soon.

In the corner was a book stand displaying a very large book. I was instantly reminded of a book I found fascinating at Grandma and Grandpa Country’s house when I was young lad. The indexing thumb tabs on built into the pages was always fascinating to me. Unfortunately, I did not get the title of this book on display, but it is an encyclopedia.

This find further reminded me of how much I love books versus reading off the screens of a tablet or e-reader.

I need to spend some time in a library soon.