Updates and Notices

1. The window project is nearly completed now. Early last week, in the gap between snowstorms, Adam and I put in the last of the double-hungs. Yes, yes, it was a festival of double-entendres, why do you ask? But now all that remains is the picture window in the front - twenty-five square feet of two-pane, argon-filled plate glass that might just wait until spring given the early and active winter we seem to be having. Getting to that window through the snow and shrubbery is not something I care to contemplate, though if it warms up for a couple of days perhaps we'll go finish off the job.
2. Our Christmas tree is now up in the living room, with two new strands of LED lights and more decorations per square foot than is generally recommended. It leans rather to the left, but then so do we so that is all right I think. The girls had a wonderful time putting ornaments on every branch, a process which used up nearly two-thirds of the available ornaments. I did not have a wonderful time putting the lights on, but then I never do. This tree has needles made of razor-sharp Damascus steel and a temper to match. Just you wait, tree - you'll be mulch soon enough.
3. If all goes well I may soon be underemployed instead of unemployed. In fact, if it goes swimmingly well, I may have upwards of half a dozen jobs, which combined will pay me almost half my salary from last year. Hey - income is income in this economic climate, and I'll be grateful for it all.
4. It is ditch-digger weather out there right now - if we saw double-digit Fahrenheit temperatures today I'd be shocked. It's too early for this kind of cold. In fact, as I get older, I find that this kind of cold can be postponed almost indefinitely without any complaint from me. Of course, given the choice I'd rather have this than absurd heat waves. You can always add clothing; there is only so much they let you take off.
5. I am in the middle of The Gone-Away World, by Nick Harkaway, and enjoying it immensely. The plot, such as it is so far, is interesting, and he plays with the language like Robert Rankin or Tim Robbins. If you can get through the first two paragraphs, the rest is easy.