The leaves have fallen, the time has changed, it is now dark when i leave work, shotgun season for deer has opened, our apartment is generally cold, and still, the ground is not white. We have had three snows so far this season and during each snow, we have experienced accumulation. However, the temperature can't seem to convince itself to stay below 32. lol. I guess we are not complaining. I just would have expected snow and winter temperatures by now. The first winter i moved up here, we got a heavy snow the last week of October and we didn't see the ground until the January thaw.
I would say that we are fairly prepared for winter. I'll admit that we don't have that much to do to prepare since we rent an apartment and have only one car. Our preparations include putting the snow tires on the car and getting the snow brush out of the closet and putting it in the car. Oh, and putting our bicycles and motorcycle away. Yep that's about it. I mean we do shuffle cloths around a little and I check the antifreeze in our car, but in general, we don't have that much to do to get ready. So, we are ready.
I/we have done a few things worthy of noting this fall:
1. Fill out and submit my Pistol Permit Application.
I live in Erie county and early this spring, i took my pistol safety course with some friends. It is my understanding from the course that in NYS, it is a felony to even handle a handgun that is not listed on your pistol permit. In Erie county, it is much harder to get your permit than it would be in Cattaraugus county. It takes 6-8 months minimum to get your permit after you submit your application. In Cattaraugus county, it takes only 6-8 weeks. Anyway, i wanted to get this out of the way while i have some time to do these things. The fee for the application isn't too bad, but it cost $105 just for the fingerprinting process. And I didn't even end up with a copy of my finger prints. Also, the fingerprinting was by appointment only... it only took 10 minutes.
2. Fill out and submit my Professional Engineers(PE) Application.
This application is very involved and it took me quite a while to finish. There are many parts: One to send to your college to verify your education, One to send to the state of Pennsylvania to verify that i passed the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam, One to each of the Engineers that I worked under for verification that I did the work. I also had to summarize all of the work experience that I had working under an engineer. All of this filling out of application forms is to get qualified to take the PE exam with the ultimate goal of getting my PE license in NYS. That would allow me to practice engineering on my own if I so chose. Oh. Did I mention the $377 application fee to NYS? NYS seems to get alot of our money up here!
3. Buy winter boots to be used for hunting, shoveling snow, and for general use in the winter time. We got Muck boots. They are very cozy and waterproof.
4. Take our hunter's safety course in order to get our hunting licenses.
5. Get our hunter's licenses for deer season.
We both got some clothing that would keep us warm and dry when we went hunting. We tried them out Saturday (opening day for gun season up here) when we went hunting with Jake and Laura and Mark. It was a bit warm for our jackets to be fully appreciated, but they were nice. We both saw a deer, but we didn't get a shot. We did however enjoy it so we hope to be out hunting again soon. I particularly enjoyed being outside and seeing the beauty of God's creation.
I should mention that the night before opening day, we went as leaders with our Youth Group to an all night event in Rochester, NY. We met the kids and other leaders at the church at 5pm and got back to the church the following morning at 7am. I think the kids had fun. It involved a Hockey Game, an evangelistic message, a few hours for bowling and eating pizza and pop, and then going to a sports complex to play all kinds of indoor games. The sports complex had two soccer fields, a basketball court, three volleyball courts, a bunch of other areas for smaller games, and a dodge ball 'field'. It was pretty fun. We got home from that and slept for about 4 hours before we went out hunting.
I think one of the oxygen sensors is going bad on our vehicle. The check engine light has come on two different times in the last 12 months. I took it to AutoZone and both times it was the "catalyst system efficiency below threshold - bank 1" message. Both times, the light has gone out on its own after a little while. I read online some and my research has lead me to believe that it is the O2 sensor before the Catalytic converter. I have experienced a small drop in fuel efficiency over the last 12 months which is one of the indicators that seems to support this hypothesis. At any rate, i think i will take the car into a shop next month to try to get the situation remedied.
We are going to Ohio to Dad's house for Thanksgiving from this Wednesday PM to next Monday PMish. We are looking forward to it and to the plumbing project he has lined up. We are spending the weekend of Christmas with Brad and Michelle and their family and then journeying on up to Maine for some time with Melissa's family. Then it will be back to NY for New Year's eve with friends in Springville. This time of year is very enjoyable with all the food and festivities and family and fun. Wow, lots of f's.
Until Next Time....
