Friends,
Some things have happened in the last couple weeks. Let’s review…
- It’s really very cold up here in America’s very best forest ever in history. Despite being smack-dab in the middle of Southern California, the lows have been in the early teens over the last few days. A disappointingly small amount of snow fell over the weekend, but it’s now frozen. Slippery!
- Following on that coldness bit, people are shocked at work to learn that I heat my house with a wood stove. I’m shocked that I find the opportunity to work that into conversations at work, but people seem interested in the weird world of mountain living. I could, if I wasn’t so lazy that I refuse to affect repairs, heat the house with my forced-air furnace. The blower, however, forces everything that falls in the floor ducts, like Cheerios and kibble and dog hair, out in a hot stinky cloud of rotting dusty disease. So maybe not so lazy as not interested in keeping the ducts clean at all times.
- Thanksgiving at my sister’s place was lovely. She didn’t show any stress whatsoever about how her newly remodeled kitchen might perform. That’s one cool customer.
- The very second that I heard about North Koreans shelling the South Korean island, I immediately thought that World War III was starting. We’d surely respond with a naval bombardment and the Chinese would retaliate. But, um, not so much. Then Wikileaks leaked a pile of diplomatic cables and the subject was changed. Did you know that the Afghan government was corrupt? Shock! And get this, Nicolas Sarkozy is “thin-skinned and authoritarian.” Revelatory! Israeli government officials are concerned about Iranian nukes. Gee!
- Question: Should I attend the company Christmas parties? I normally say nope, but maybe I should stop being an antisocial crab. I don’t like employee parties at all, so there’s that, but shouldn’t I start getting more involved with the company thing? Again, if you hire me, I’ll come to your company party and tell the parrot joke. After that, I’m tapped out.
- I have a little gig at work where I maintain their website. Having inherited the gig from the people at the mothership, I’ve taken ownership. Last week, the site was modified without my knowledge or permission and things blew up. And new files were overwritten by old files. And content that isn’t very good (whew! no kidding! -ed), but the current climate prevents me from truly speaking my mind about it here or at work to people who can do anything about it. Very frustrating.
- Another question: If I tell people that I want some engineered flooring for Christmas, along with the color, type, and place to purchase it, is that crass? My immediate reaction to my own question is, yes. My family is asking me what I’d like for Christmas and I’ve admittedly been a tough nut to crack, so sharing this might help. Can’t help thinking that I’m going overboard though. It harkens back to my first wedding (oh stop, everyone) when we told the assembled that we’d registered at a travel agent instead of Macy’s or Gimbles. Cheeky! Impetuous! This is a lot like that. Thoughts?
Anything I missed?
– bob