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Thursday, January 9, 2014

Surviving Winter: The Geezer

Sure, sure, I know that some of you have the real thing - a living, breathing, warmblooded geezer of your own.  And I do mean geezer in the most complimentary way possible.  I, however, have no warmblooded geezer to call my own.  What I DO have is... The Sweater Also Known As The Geezer.  Or, should I say, The Beloved Geezer Sweater (thank you from the bottom of my heart, Sylvie, for passing it along. xoxo)


It may not help wash the dishes, change my oil, stack firewood, or have other such helpful geezer traits, but it sure as heck keeps me toasty warm.  And I mean toasty!  The Geezer Sweater (GS) must weigh a good 7 lbs.  That is seven pounds of heavy wool.  The sleeves, left unrolled, come down to my knees.  The GS hangs down to below my knees.  It is pure heaven when it's -16 outside and a non-toasty 56 inside.

Slight aside as I step up on my soapbox (which is always handy):  As I listened to the news on the radio yesterday, I heard the President's annointed representative stating why the extension of unemployment insurance was so greatly needed - her complaint?  She had to keep the heat at 58 degrees (...and????) and had lost weight (....and????) because fuel oil and food were expensive.  Not siding one way or the other on the issue, my house is ALWAYS at 58 degrees and most of us try to lose weight or need to.  I am sure she feels both are hardships, but I wonder if there should have been someone else used as an example - someone trying to raise two kids, find a job, keep a roof over her head, manage without a car.  You know, hardships.  I will now alight from my soapbox.

I will introduce you to other parts of my Winter Survival Gear over the next week or two.  And it has nothing whatsoever to do with a dearth of posting material.  None.  Whatsoever.  Really.

11 comments:

Stevie Taylor said...

Love the nickname! When I was growing up we had these little upright pillows with arms that we used to lean on when we sat on the floor to watch television. My grandma always called them "husbands" which made us laugh. Stevie @ ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com

Carolyn said...

I absolutely LOVE warm honk'n sweaters! Alas, I had to give up most of them when we moved down here. I had like six under-the-bed storage boxes filled with them, and most years I didn't even break into them. Lucikly I kept some of my favorites as I've been having to wear them lately.

As for the "hardship" case? It's is just more brainwashing....the more we are "told" that this lady should be helped (even more) for something a LOT of us get through day-in-day-out, the more other people suddenly feel like THEY are living through hardships and then demand to be given their "fair share". Don't get me going, or I may have to do one of my "Warning; Political Rant To Follow" blog posts and then ain't NObody happy at the Krazo Acres place.

Susan said...

Canada is cancelling home delivery of mail. This won"t affect me, we already have something called a rural mail box down on the highway shared by everyone on our road. The government minister in charge said using this arrangement for all houses would be no hardship to seniors as they would benefit from the exercise. Slogging back up the hill the other day in the rain I had to wonder at his crassness. Neigbours and friends will help out but I still can't get over the guy's insensitivity. I'm without a really good sweater right now but I am in love with my hardy rain coat.

Fiona said...

I have a polar bear sweater I adore in cold weather, knitted by a dear friend it is kind of bizarre with Teeth showing in the pattern of a giant polar bear sort of grabbing you! It would scare children but oh my it is warm!

I have for the most of my life been self employed. If the farm needed extra cash flow I found a job, any job. Not always nice and not always anything that I really wanted to do but it paid the way. [Part time I could never qualify for Unemployment] We keep our house cool...and its drafty but we deal with it. As to weight loss, I just watched a show abut a food bus/restaurant that took food to needy people at Christmas and was amazed to see it feeding people way better dressed that Ralph and I are and wearing expensive brand name shoes and playing the latest hand held gaming devices? Worse yet is [this is going to sound harsh] all of them could have lost a lot of weight and been far healthier! Its a strange world, Unemployment has drifted far from what it used to be, so has charity and helping people get their lives on track.

As to the senior walking to get their mail.....has the Canadian postal service lost its mind? I bet the Minister in Charge does not walk out in icy bitter cold to get his mail!

Sorry I ranted! Its the polar bear sweater going to my head!

Susan said...

Stevie - Oh, LOVE that! I suppose that kind of 'husband' can always be relied on to support you - unless the cats get into the stuffing...

Susan said...

Carolyn - Ah, well, I know better than to get you started...hehe.

Susan said...

Susan - What?!? I thought OUR politicians were out of touch with humanity. I'd like to see him slog up a hill in the rain a few times to get his mail. Good heavens. I've found my best woolen sweaters at the thrift - and I tend to like big, wooly men's sweaters for cold weather. You stay warm!

Susan said...

Fiona - I am going to have to see a picture of that sweater...it sounds...amazing. Ditto here. I have always worked - I think I was on unemployment insurance for two weeks about thirty years ago. Hated the experience and went out and got three part-time jobs until I found a full time job. While I think these safety nets are important for some, there are way too many who believe they are entitled to charity. Reality has drifted far, far out to sea in that line of thinking. I think that policians have taken a very narrow and short view for too many years.

Janice Grinyer said...

no matter how much i love my geezer, i refuse to wear him on my back. ever. unless he dropped some legs somewhere and we were walking downhill...

I have an Inis sweater that i just love, kinda like yours! It is like a momma sweater to me as I feel so snuggled in it LOL

Leigh said...

Love your soapbox, LOL. I suppose some folks would feel sorry for her, poor thing.

Love your sweater too. Warm!

The Maine Gray Zone said...

That sweater is approaching the "almost" 30 mark. They don't make them like they used to........