the DronesClub	the smackdown	Fierce Creatures	Little Blenheim	Barmy in Wonderland	the dernier cri

The unpleasant, acrid smell of burnt poetry.
Young Men in Spats, 1936

June 2008	July 2008	Aug 2008	Sept 2008	Oct 2008	Nov 2008	Dec 2008
Jan 2009	Feb 2009	March 2009	April 2009	May 2009	June 2009	July 2009

 

September 30, 2008

9:26 a.m. - More on the Darth Vader theme. For your consideration: would Darth Vader be at statistical risk for Alzheimer's disease? The facts:

• Unchecked depression - major untreated Mommy issues
• Heart and lung problems
• Traumatic brain injury
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Lack of exercise - it's not like you can hit the treadmill in that suit
• Vitamin B-12 deficiency
• Hypertension
• Other possible risk factors – some studies have suggested that traumatic head injury and lower education level may have a statistical link to higher risk for AD. Somehow I don't think the son of a Tatooine slave is going to get his GED certificate.
• Metals have been implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, although it is unlikely that they are the sole cause of any disease. Zinc, copper, and iron have been implicated in the formation of beta amyloid protein placques that are part of AD, though the role of these metals is not clear. Who knows what metals are leaching from his helmet into his brain. 

It's touching that his boys "got his back," as the kids say.

September 29, 2008

You don't often see a Storm Trooper enjoying cotton candy.

9:18 p.m. - Sweet! The market tanked today when Congress decided not to approve the bailout of American business. I can't say I totally disapprove of that action, though rather than oppose the bailout on the ethical grounds of bailing out excessive CEO pay and poor CEO management, they chose not to approve the bailout out of moral cowardice. Congressmen don't want to attach their name to a bill before election. They'd rather it be done in November when they have two years of lead time before the next election.

And a little Storm Trooper ultimate frisbee with TK 421

That said, I jumped on the chance to buy shares of New World at its lowest point since June, 2006. In spite of $9,000 worth of contributions toward my Roth accounts in the past year, they have gained less than $2,900 in the same one year period. So I've lost over $6k in value! My gross worth hasn't been this low since June, 2007 - and that is in spite of financial discipline, investing in my retirement funds each and every month! Hopefully buying New World at $41.70 is a smart move. We'll see in 30 years. . .

Meanwhile, our Memory Walk went very well indeed. The Star Wars blokes were very, very popular, and we had mo' teams and mo' money than ever before. It was a stunning success! Seeing all these happy Storm Troopers frolicking about on the green brings me to a debate I had with Hubbard about the Galactic Empire. He seemed to maintain that they were, in fact, evil. I disagree. The long and short of my argument is that the Emperor may have done away with the Parliament in Star Wars IV, but you can't govern the universe with an iron fist. You can't have the Death Star everywhere. I suspect that he governed with an iron fist in a velvet glove, sponsoring Wookie wildlife preserves, supporting folk dance and puppet troupes, endowed university chairs, funded summer camps for under-priveleged Storm Trooper younglings. I suspect that on the whole, the Empire was not bad at all. There is that element of moral relativity about history. Were the rebels entirely justified in blowing up the Death Star, when you consider the thousands of innocents on board - the independent contractors who were there to keep the plumbing working, run the PX, operate the movie theater and the cafeteria, and so forth. The rebels won in the end, and the winners write the history. 

September 27, 2008

9:03 p.m. - Saturday is almost over, and tomorrow is the big Memory Walk. Please let there be lots of generous donors and great weather! I won't sleep well tonight! And if Percy starts barking at 3:00 a.m., he will be one unhappy dog.

My 1854 Colton. Two years of my salary. WANT!

So. Busy morning. Jennifer beetled off at 8:00 a.m. to the antique show, and I left about an hour later to start my errands. Got my haircut (a horrible haircut - too short). Filled up Jennifer's truck. Picked up fruit for the Walk tomorrow from the grocery store. Got my prescription filled at the pharmacy. Checked on my car. Then I went down to the antique show. They had so many great things I wanted. I kept walking around pointing at things yelling "WANT!" "WANT!" "WANT!" There was a Masonic shaving mug that would look good on my desk. And the Arader gallery had so many things I need to have. The 1854 Colton atlas. WANT! The 1867 panoramic view of Omaha. WANT! Ortelius maps. WANT! The 1885 Grossmith Evert & Kirk atlas map. (Have it, but WANT!) I ran home afterward and tried to find the 1854 Colton pocketmap online, and I thought I found one, but it was the 1856. Already have it. I got my hopes dashed. At any rate, many good things, and I did not buy a thing, though I really wanted to. Jennifer is threatening to buy a shabby chic chandelier for the small room upstairs. Ugh. NOT WANT!

I spent the afternoon afterward puttering around the house. I should have finished my essay for the Master Craftsman program. . . which means my house has never been cleaner, by way of procrastination. I watched a bit of Firefly on DVD while cleaning upstairs, throwing away tons of papers accumulated on top of the computer and printer. I filed the DVDs piled up on the bookshelf, dusted, assembled a box of books to send to the used book store or basement, and threw away still more junk. Jennifer got home at 5:30 and we had dinner at Julie's, then watched an episode of Yes, Prime Minister. Jennifer is in bed now, and I'm puttering around before bedtime. Just bought an 1854 survey of Kansas and Nebraska. I have a few of these, but for a $20 bill, its worth adding another to the pile. I've got to have that 1854 Colton, though. WANT!

September 25, 2008

Maybe I'll surprise Jennifer with this. . . for our anniversary. Right. And maybe it won't cost more than a new Mercedes.

8:45 p.m. - So somewhere along the way I picked up a nasty virus. I had to call in sick yesterday and spent most of the day. . . indisposed. I seem to be over it now, or at least mostly over it.

Meanwhile, Jennifer is working late at the antique show at the Garden. They have all sorts of things I want this year - a Masonic shaving mug, original architectural drawings of the Durham Museum, and an 1867 panoramic map of Omaha. I begged Jennifer to talk to the gallery representative about "losing it." These things happen all the time, and the insurance covers it. All I can say is gimme, gimme, gimme. I wonder if I have the self-restraint to show up at the show on Saturday and not buy a thing. They have so many things this year that I need to have in my house. And Jennifer did buy that repoussé silverware 2 years ago, so its my turn.

I'm chillaxing at home this evening with the dogs, all of whom are fast asleep. Arabella snores like a banshee for such a tiny dog. I just finished watching the movie Balls of Fury which makes me laugh uproariously. Christopher Walken as Chinese warlord Feng and a crazed ping-pong fan is hilarious. I watched a bit of it last night while I was recuperating and I watched a bit more again this evening. I could probably watch it yet again later. Then again, compared to most of the junk on TV, a monkey grooming itself is funny.

 

September 23, 2008

Jennifer's birthday cake. Notice the colors: pink and chocolate, after Randolph Churchill's racing colors. I think it is just a coincidence, but one I relish.

8:33 p.m. - Happy birthday, Jennifer! I am a bad husband. I've had actually no idea what to get Jennifer, at least in the $25,000 and under range. No new Nissan Figaro waiting out front when she got home. On the other hand, I prepared her favorite dinner: hot dogs, chips, and cake. She's happy as a clam!

I made the mistake of partaking, even though I knew that hot dogs and me strongly disagree. I already am feeling a bit queasy, and the hot dog and cake pushed me over the edge. I spent the last 45 minutes cleaning the kitchen and I feel better moving around, but I think I'm in for a rough evening. Meanwhile, Jennifer is over watching Pride and Prejudice next door, which I passed on.

Little else of note. Percy - again! - started barking at 5:00 in the morning. I took him out the first time with more patience than he deserved. He barked again, the swine, at 5:30, and after he simply puttered around outside, I was not too nice with him. If he does it again, he may be given to Michael Vick as a house warming present. I am hurting for sleep right about now.

My car is still in the shop. It's basically repaired, but they are working on one final piece to replacing the ignition thingummy. After 4 days of having no car, this is getting wearisome. I need my gorram car back, and I need it back now. They were supposed to call this evening about it, but that would have been too simple.

September 22, 2008

Arabella got to explore my father's house and then pooped herself out. She's fast asleep under the coffee table.

Jennifer's sister & family are in Brunico, Italy this year. The girls are living the high life as jet-setting Europeans. World's cutest nieces. . . ever.

7:03 a.m. - I felt horrible all night long, so I'm working on about 4 hours of real sleep right now. I got back to bed at about 5:00 a.m., and then Percy began to bark to go outside, so I got up to take the little beast out. He's a real pain - he woke up Jennifer up both Saturday and Sunday in the wee hours of the morning barking. . . . I'll be dragging all day today.

Yesterday was a nice day, on the whole. We had breakfast at 11-Worth Cafe, which J & Self have both been to separately, but we've never gone to together. I had their famous "Robert E. Lee," which is biscuits and sausage and gravy and hash browns. Why they call it the Robert E. Lee, I have no idea. I shouldn't have had the unnecessary carbs, but it was so good! We went to the antique mall in Council Bluffs, but the mildew and mold in that building got on Jennifer's nerves pretty quickly, so we left. Later on we stopped at Lowe's and then picked up some rawhides at the Pet store for the puppies. Then stopped by Dad's house to say happy birthday. Arabella had to come, and she had a grand time exploring before falling fast asleep under the coffee table. Otherwise, a thoroughly relaxing Sunday at Casa de Evans. This may be the last relaxing time in a few weeks. Jennifer has the antique show coming up and I have our Omaha walk, quickly followed by two more events and then our vacation, which is more stressful than any workplace event! 

September 20, 2008

8:30 a.m. - Relaxing day. Great weather. We started off the day by sniffing around at new used cars. The used car dealers were somewhat unctious, and I was put off by the price tags. The 2006 Corolla we looked at was $14,995. I can't believe it! I just bought my 1994 Toyota not 11 years ago for a mere $10,600. Can they have gone up that much in a decade? I finally got my poor car towed in to the lot and they'll have to replace the ignition thingummy. It probably needed nothing more than a dash of graphite spray, for which they'll charge me $120. Ah well. Squeezing another 4 years out of my car for a $200 repair is better than a $250/month car loan.

At any rate, we had lunch at Ruby Tuesdays, and I did well avoiding most carbs. Then we came home and puttered around waiting for the tow truck to haul my car all of 3 blocks. Afterward we looked in at that antique place out on I-80 by Sapp Bros. Jennifer bought a few odds and ends. Then we picked up gyros from Katie's on the way home and gorged at the trough of freedom. We just got back from walking the dogs down to Field Club and back, and now we're relaxing upstairs, watching Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle.

September 19, 2008

Camp counselor 1992. I was much leaner then. Those kids are now about 26 years old. I'm getting old!

7:58 p.m. - The old folk enjoy a peaceably quiet Friday evening. I took a nap earlier and Jennifer is taking a quick nap now. I walked to work this morning and home in the evening, and we spent the day hosting the "Tailgate to Tackle Alzheimer's" party at work, which was a successful first time event. We brought in some of the best pulled-pork I've ever had, and I gorged at the trough of freedom. The walk home was necessary just to work some of it off.

So at any rate, I'm chillaxing this evening, watching V for Vendetta on cable. As I putzed around I came across a picture of me from 1992 (considerably leaner about the mid-section) when I was a camp counselor. I had a cabin full of 9 or 10 year-olds, all of whom were good kids. I had a lot of fun that summer. It occurred to me that those 10 year-olds in 1992 are now 26-year old college graduates. Twenty-six years old now! The 15-year olds I had later that summer are now about 31! I think I am starting to get OLD! And then to make matters worse, I was perusing high school alum on myspace.com, and trying to recognize a single familiar face. Not one of those geezers was familiar to me. Not one. No point in going to a reunion if I won't remember a single one of those duffers. Not that I'd go anyway.

September 18, 2008

8:36 p.m. - Jennifer went to bed at about 7:45 this evening. I think she's bitter that I didn't come home after a long day and immediately go out to get gyros from Katie's. I have been pottering around for the last hour doing a bit of laundry, taking care of the dogs, cleaning up after her dinner, and paying a few bills. Percy and Arabella are with me, and Arabella is fast asleep. Snoring like a banshee, of course. . . The market swung back 400 points to the positive. Isn't it amazing what a few points one way or another mean? In the course of a single day, our funds swing $2,200 one way or another. New World is still down among the wines and spirits, trading at $43.57, or $20 less than its high a few months back. I am worried that when I am 68 years old, sitting in my rocker in Charleston, SC, my rocker may not be there. But then again, in 30+ years, there are pretty good odds that it will be. Patience, young Jedi.

7:08 a.m. - Apropos of my misquoting Warren Buffet yesterday, what he really said was: "We simply attempt to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful." Fair enough. I am trying to not let the stock market bother me. I am buying shares a lot cheaper than I was a year ago, and I have 30 years to let them grow. The fools are these 20-somethings taking their money out of their retirement investments and socking it away in the old mattress because it feels safer. Sure, for today it is. But then the market turns around and they buy back their investments at a higher price. 

Okay, enough pontificating on high finance. I got up at 5:15 this morning and took Jennifer to work by 6:30 for a board meeting, and then was at the office by 6:45 in the morning. I am getting ready for a radio interview in 20 minutes, and I am dog tired. 

September 17, 2008

One word. Plastics. Maybe that's what I should be invested in.

9:10 p.m. - My car is misbehaving, so I had a good walk home from work. Jennifer stopped at the grocery store shortly before 6:00. We had a sensible dinner this evening: roast chicken, green beans, and carrots. I've decided that Atkins will be impossible for me, so I am going to begin being sensible. I won't cut out all carbs, so if I have a cheeseburger with bun, I'll say no to the fries. And I will do a better job getting in a 30 minute walk after dinner. The impetus for all this is a stern lecture from the doctor at my physical today, who has advised me to start taking proper care of myself. After dinner, Jennifer and I took Gryffindor and Percy for a long walk around Field Club and then sat outside on the porch with Arabella for a while. What a perfectly nice evening.

5:53 p.m. - The market is down ANOTHER 449.36 points, closing at 10,609.66. We've lost substantial gains, and our American Funds are down nearly $20,000 from last year, in spite of monthly contributions to our Roth funds. I keep telling myself that this is the time to buy - mutual funds are cheaper now. Doesn't Warren Buffet say that the smart investor buys when others are running and runs when fools are buying. Or something like that. Easier said when you have a few billion dollars stashed away. I am tempted to stop contributing to the Roth fund and use the money to pay down bills, but I know I need to stay the course. It sure sucks though.

Do we need to go on vacation? We're already here.

Gryffindor waits patiently for Mummy last night.

7:24 a.m. - Still quiet on the Midwestern Front. Jennifer got home at about 10:00 last night, and we all went nearly straight to bed. I woke up at 5:20 this morning and could not get to sleep, so I'm dragging today. Our house projects continue apace. The handyman Jennifer hired to do some painting and other projects is fantastic! He oiled our teak table and it looks as good as new, for a third the price! It really looks sharp, and you'd never know it was so weather beaten and old when we got it last Spring. He also painted the new rails to the basement. Now that the fence has been prepared, our backyard finally begins to look like our private preserve. With cooler weather, we'll be able to enjoy it more. J. may disagree, but I think we should get some sort of chiminea and a few adirondacks so we can sit beside our own fire on cool evenings outdoors.

September 16, 2008

With regular grooming, Percy cleans up nicely.

7:04 p.m. - Little to report, True Believers. Jennifer took the dogs to the groomers yesterday, and I picked them up on my way home from work. Arabella was gravely displeased with Melanie, but our groomer persevered over an angry Maltese. Poor 'Bellie does not do well with groomers. None of our dogs do, but Arabella is a princess and princesses know how to express themselves in no uncertain terms. At any rate, the monsters are clean and adorable. They are so tiny without 3 months of filthy, unkempt fur. On the downside, Percy beshat my car and then ground it in to the fabric, the little beast. It was horrible, truly horrible.

Went to Lodge last night. I waited years to be WM of my Masonic Lodge, and now my fondest desire is to turn in my top hat, hand over the keys to the building, and let someone else deal with the problems the Lodge is facing. I am tempted to swap my membership for another Lodge, but in all likelihood I will join the ranks of past masters who pay dues and never show up again. The membership seems to prefer to deal with issues through apathy and inactivity. Their premise seems to be that if you ignore a problem hard enough, it goes away. I've been working all year to dispel them of that notion. Of course, I am close to going away, so perhaps they are right.

September 14, 2008

6:28 p.m. - I never did kick back with that old friend called television, as earlier threatened. There is never anything on, and I hate wallowing. Or at least, if I am going to wallow, I could read a few more chapters of Nelson DeMille's The Lion's Game, which is a good read. I broiled a couple of cheap steak rounds for dinner and made buttered carrots. Jennifer was on her feet all day at the Garden's car show, so she's lying in bed watching TV. I'm reading the news online and will finish the laundry shortly and take the beasts out.

6:00 p.m. - Jennifer read my earlier remarks about the bugs in my car and remarked that my car will no longer run - it was the millions of bugs flapping their wings that made my car go in the first place. Well. . . I thought that was droll.

Can you believe that I've been driving this same P.O.S. since 1997? Washing it blasts away more rust than grime. Sadly, no new hot rod for me until 2012, if all goes according to plan. 3:16 p.m. - Quiet Sunday. Jennifer is working at the European Car Show, and reports that it is a great success. I have spent the day doing small house projects: pottering around picking up this and that, doing laundry, throwing away the perpetual pile of papers that accumulates. I decided to vacuum out the trunk of my car. About two years ago, a pet-loving doctor at the Drew gave me a few bags of cheap cat food to feed the stray cats that live around the Drew. Long story short, the bags have sat in my trunk for the two years, eventually spilling. It was high time I cleaned it up since they were attracting bugs. I figured that it was maybe half a bag that spilled, but it was considerably more, and it was everywhere in my trunk - down among the spare tire and in every nook and cranny. And dry cat food does, in fact, rot. And it attracts bugs. Lots of them. The remains of generations of bugs were everywhere in my trunk, in vast, disgusting piles of their horrible remains. I vacuumed as much as I could and threw away an entire garbage bag full of bits of paper, rope, plastic bags, and the other trash that accumulated in my trunk over the past few years. Then I found more dead bugs - little flea like critters - in my back seat, and vacuumed that out as well, throwing out more detritus. I am sure I must have vacuumed about $30 in change from my seats, but I threw out anything that was remotely contaminated. The only things in my trunk now are:

• one (1) folding canvass chair
• an assortment of bungee cords
• a plastic rain poncho
• jumper cables
• a spare tire and jack
• two ice scrapers
• the last remaining hub cap that came with my car

That may sound like quite a bit to you, but compared to the trash that was in my car, its the bare essentials. My car is somewhat cleaner, but it really smells like feculent cat food now. And my vacuum also stinks. I'd leave it outside to air out, but today is another one of those 40 mph windy days, and it would blow off my porch. When I finished, I had to remove the dressing from my stitches and thoroughly wash and sterilize my hands and re-bandage the finger after wallowing about in that filth. It was horrible.

And I spent about two hours working on my Master Craftsman program for Scottish Rite. The stuff is so esoteric - drawn from Christianity, Judaism, Zoroasterism, Kabbalah, Sufi, history, ancient philosophy, that its very hard to understand. I'll have to think about the readings for a while before I can work on my essay for the quiz.

For the time being, I am on break. Time to kick back, pop a movie in the DVD player, and get reacquainted with an old friend called television.

September 13, 2008

I am always serious during the pursuit of my duties.

We were serenaded by the official Midlands Chapter band.

Our walkers on the Mooove.

9:51 p.m. - Jennifer has gone to bed, and Arabella is fast asleep on the floor by me, snoring like a banshee. Percy is busy wallowing in something filthy. I'm watching the last 15 minutes of Silverado on AMC, probably one of the best westerns ever made.

7:10 p.m. - Day Two of my convalescence. For once, I am glad the pain medicine wore off. My wounded finger was so numb yesterday, I could have pounded it with a hammer all evening long and never felt a thing. It was like replacing a finger with a rock. What a weird feeling!

I wrapped my finger in saran wrap like yesterday's chicken and rubber-banded it tightly in an effort to waterproof my mitten while I showered. The principal was sound, but the practice was flawed. It only somewhat worked. I'm still hobbling around with my finger pointed up like some kind of itinerant philosopher on the verge of launching a brilliant aphorism. Meanwhile, Jennifer has only earned a mere 3.5 stars of a possible 5«'s for the quality of her care giving. The extra half-star was for bringing me an ice water before going out to walk Gryffindor. I'd give her less, but I figure I better preserve marital harmony with at least three stars. She might have earned more if she came to clean me after I finished in the bathroom. Julie gets 4 stars simply because she put a fresh bandage on my wound and then went all the way home and back to bring me a cold Diet Coke. I examined the wound during the re-dressing of the wound and I got four stitches. It looks angry.

Otherwise. . . today was the Memory Walk in Council Bluffs, and it was a stunning success! We had more teams than ever before, and they enthusiastically participated in the Walk with bigger teams, raising more money and fielding more walkers. I was absolutely thrilled with the day! I got home a little before noon and nearly immediately zonked out for a two hour hard-core nap. Even a half day like this takes a lot out of you. The Omaha Walk is in two weeks. . .

Jennifer spent the day out with Julie shopping & so forth and got home at 3:00, and she took a 1 1/2 hour nap herself. After a great deal of negotiation, I reluctantly consented to picked up dinner while I was out at Walgreens picking up fresh bandages and so forth, and we sat on the porch for a while after dinner. Or rather, I sat on the porch and Jennifer planted a few bulbs. She's now taking Gryffindor for a walk around the block.

I am sitting outside right now on the front porch. The weather is perfect - nice and cool, light breeze - late summer/early Autumn. The only thing marring a wonderful evening on my porch are those gorram workmen who decided Saturday evening was the right time to begin work on a roof down the street. Fortunately the light is fading and they can't work much longer.

September 12, 2008

7:20 p.m. - After a long day at work, I came home and began preparing dinner. The cat broke my attention and I gave myself a deep, nasty cut that left blood everywhere. It looks like Dracula's bathroom. Jennifer sent me to the Urgent Care clinic where after what seemed like forever filling out paperwork, they patched me up quite nicely, and even managed to save my hand. The doctor stitched me up, gave me a tetanus shot and a shot to numb my finger, and I can't feel a damned thing. I'm reduced to hunting-and-pecking to type here. Jennifer is not feeling well, and I am left to hobble around as best as I can.

September 11, 2008   Mom - circa 1970 This one is from the late '70s at Creighton University. That. . . ain't. . . right. 9:03 p.m. - From the "That ain't right" files. . . Mom sent this picture of her in 1970. She would have been living on Heberton Street in Pittsburgh, and be more or less just entering her doctoral program at Pitt. She's younger then than my baby brother is now. She didn't have a care in the world, at least until my brother came along in 1978 and crushed her spirit - as you can tell by the picture on the right! Really the worst part of the picture is that I have that sheet of 16th century music which is behind her in the picture, and I know that Dad has that horrible wooden mug somewhere in his basement. That ain't right. . .

The old family homestead Meanwhile, Jennifer is feeling on the ill side and has gone to bed early. After a great deal of negotiation, she persuaded me to go down to the grocer's and get chicken wings for dinner. As far as negotiation skillz go, I seem to have lost. Apparently I'd suck at Risk. . . . So I picked up chicken wings, dog food, and gasoline - the whole day came to about $100. Yikes! Time was when $35 filled up Jennifer's truck, and I thought it was damned expensive. The dogs are this close [fingers held about half-inch apart] from being down-graded to the cheap store brand dog food. I am puttering around on the computer, and found a Google street-view picture of Mom and Dad's house in Pittsburgh from the late '60s while they were in graduate school. Isn't that amazing? In 10 years time, technology will be at the point of sending me a live satellite feed of Heberton Street in Pittsburgh in ultra-high resolution. Extraordinary. I remember when those grainy black and white satellite shots were the be-all, end-all of high technology. . . . And on that note, I think its about time for bed.

September 10, 2008

I suspect he hand-made identical furniture

Here is the original weather-worn furniture.

9:32 p.m. - I got home and found our man had replaced our teak furniture with beautifully handmade new teak furniture that looks exactly like the old stuff. How's that for service! Or maybe, as Jennifer suggests with some degree of veracity, he power washed the old stuff making it look as good as new. The difference is between night and day! He also replaced the rotten pine rails along the basement. This guy is good! We've got a lot more for him to do, and I can't wait to let him at it! Meanwhile, I am so thrilled with the way the backyard furniture cleaned up, I may try my hand at power washing the back porch tomorrow to clean several years worth of Gryffindor's tinkle off it.

Meanwhile, tonight was the Templecraft meeting at Benson, which is always useful. I'll need to arrange to move Florence Lodge's office upstairs and move our Lodge gear out of the storage room. More work for me. Most of my Lodge neither knows nor appreciates all these behind-the-scenes projects I do, which is why I will cheerfully hand the keys over to the fracktards in 2009 and let them deal with it themselves. . . . Mercer Lodge has come a long, long way with their downstairs renovations, and it will be an entirely new reception hall when they are done. I can't wait to see what they do upstairs in the Lodge room when they begin in a few years!

One more side note. I was reading my entry for June 26, and I ranted at the time that my New World fund was down to $55.32. As of the close of business today, it is down to $46.32/share, a $9 decrease. I guess there is no problem that can't become much worse. Now I would celebrate if New World fought its way back to $55/share. 

7:18 a.m. - I have had a 1˘ error or variance somewhere in my checkbook for the last two days, and its driving me up the wall trying to find it. I could simply book the penny difference to bring my checkbook into balance, but that would be cheating. I am going to find that penny's difference and fling it in my banker's face!

September 9, 2008

10:51 p.m. - Took dogs out for their final trip outside. Gryffindor and Arabella do their thing and trot right back in. Percy would not come back in, despite bribes, threats, and pleading. I finally stomped back in to find my shoes and drag him in by some tender part, and he got the message that Papa Bear was not Happy Bear, so he ran to the door as I was slipping on my sneakers. I was so angry at him, I nearly flung him in his kennel downstairs. Little beast!

Gryffindor gets used to his new doggie bed!

10:11 p.m. - First off, it took me an hour to figure out how to crop 16 seconds of music from Iolanthe, and embed it within a pop-up window in the link below. I'm a gorram accountant, not Bill Gates! I am really rather impressed with myself. . . . So this evening we looked in on Mom and Mike's to borrow their pressure sprayer and carpet shampooer, and then stayed for a bit of spaghetti and pasta. Delicious! We stopped for gas and wound up in the full-service lane, and the fellow naturally gave us the most expensive gas they make. What should have cost $53 for Jennifer's truck wound up costing us $63. Lesson: never go to full service. 

I drank a lot of Diet Coke to accumulate this many points. Jennifer could download the entire Billboard Top 40 collection over the last 25 years, based on how much Diet Coke I can consume. That's probably not a good thing.

7:44 a.m. - Fortunately, the pearls of wisdom scattered on these web pages is not so prestigious (the word prestige is French) that the οἱ πολλοί (a Greek remark) have clamored for more. In fact, my absence from the Drones Club has gone completely unnoticed by the plebeians (a Latin word), which is fine by me. (Well, I'll be damned - a Latin word, a Greek remark, and one that's French!)

I really haven't done anything of note or I'd've told you. Honestly. Labor Day weekend was about as much of a snooze fest as you can imagine - we pottered here and there, took a few naps, and watched television. When I tell you that channel surfing and watching Boys Town on cable was the highlight of our weekend, that tells you how dull it really was. Last weekend was the Memory Walk in Harlan, IA, which I really enjoy. I like Harlan - it is an absolutely gorgeous town, and the people in Harlan and surrounding towns are very nice and really support our Walk. It was unseasonably chilly and foggy, but a very good day nonetheless. And in the meantime, that is about it for thrilling adventure. I'll try to keep you up to date going forward.