1. It’s been grey and foggy and cold here the last few days, and it can stay that way for the rest of eternity as far as I’m concerned. It’s good tea weather, and I’ve got a room full of books both unread and worth rereading. If I stay in my little cocoon, perhaps reality will agree to stay out of my little cocoon. It never works like that, though, so I will enjoy the autumn chill while I can.
2. Never blog about your workplace, no matter how much you have to say. Nothing good can come of it.
3. Something is raiding our chickens and stealing all of our eggs, which I find unacceptable. It might be rats – the rat poison I set out has been eaten away completely twice now, though I see no signs of the raids slowing down so far. It might be possums – though there isn’t a gap in the pen big enough for a possum, really. Rats can get in through anything, but possums require some space. Might be something else. At least whatever it is has left the chickens themselves alone, so far.
4. I spent most of yesterday morning replacing the under-cabinet radio in our kitchen. This really should have been a half-hour job but I managed to turn it into a much longer task, mostly because I couldn’t quite get the holes I was drilling in the cabinet to line up with the pre-existing holes in the radio. I am kind of hoping that I don’t have to replace this one anytime soon, as it is entirely possible that the bottom of the cabinet would collapse in a pile of sawdust if I did. As it is, our dishes have more than adequate air flow.
5. One of the few television shows that I make time to watch these days is Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, which is now in its second season and still has yet to make any actual contact with Douglas Adams’ original books beyond the name of the title character, though it is a fun series nonetheless. In this week’s episode, we find out that the name of one character’s dog is “Agrajag,” and I’m probably the only person in a two-county radius who would find that funny but I appreciated the shout-out.
6. We dragged out Kim’s old computer the other day – not the previous one but the one before that (of course we still have it, don’t be silly) – and fired it up solely to see if we could find some of the old games on it. And yes, there they were! So now our living room has been filled with the sounds of Saqqarah, which had a joyously campy sort of narration that followed you as you went about your business. It makes the house seem more festive.
7. It is amazing how quickly your life can get more complicated, even when those complications are objectively good things. No doubt there will be more bloggage about those things as they come up, though for now they are all prospective.
8. I need to get my eyes checked. It has now become more comfortable to read books and use computers without them than with them, and my guess is that is not how that is supposed to work. Perhaps next year, when all the insurance resets. Yes, even when you have insurance you have to play those games in modern America.
9. Maybe half of the calls we receive on our collective phones, cellular or other, are spam, though I’ve learned to filter most of it out. Most of the email I get is spam, though much of it gets filtered out by various automatic processes. The vast majority of the hits registered by Blogger for this blog are actually referral spam, so I have no idea how many people actually read anything I write anymore. I have been dragged unwilling into the world of texting, and – surprise! – much of it is spam. Far too much of my Facebook feed is Zuckerberg Spam, made up of the things Facebook wants me to see rather than the things I wish to see. You know, this is why we can’t have nice things.
10. I know it’s autumn because the little “Check Engine” light in my car has come on. I check, and the engine is right there where it should be. This is a game we play when the temperature is between 20F and 40F.
"I need to get my eyes checked. It has now become more comfortable to read books and use computers without them than with them."
ReplyDeleteI can't parse this paragraph.
My sarcasm meter isn't functioning well these days, as Lucy will tell you.
ReplyDeleteIf you're playing off the gist of the paragraph, then HAH!
If you're actually asking me a straightforward question, I basically have to take my glasses off to do anything that involves reading, either on paper or on screen. Even with bifocals. I suspect this is suboptimal. Perhaps next year I can afford to remedy it.
Sorry about the confusion on my part - it's been that kind of time here.
I thought your Sarcasm Meter was still in the shop suffering from Unaffordable Repair Syndrome™ and not expected to be returned within our lifetimes.
ReplyDeleteMayhaps I misunderstood.
There are precisely 2,197 souls reading your blog. I have that on good authority from my daughter, who is a Witch. Equipped with a genuine crystal ball from the internet and everything.
Don't have a clue how many actual people are reading it, though.
And I'm certain, beyond all doubt, that your egg thief is a skunk. Unless some external evidence proves it's not. (I'm not a republican. I will accept actual facts and change my option and stuff.)
But, my wife tells me I should still post a disclaimer out here somewhere to deny any possible accusations of sexual impropriety in my youth. (I was a baaaaadddd boooooyyyy!)
Lucy
Well I hope it gets repaired in my lifetime. That would be a lousy way to spend a life.
ReplyDeleteWe do get skunks out there, but again they need some space to get in and I don't see any holes bigger than rat-sized. The way the door and floor meet on that pen, there really isn't much I can do about the rat-sized ones except set traps for them once they get in. We have been getting eggs lately, though, so perhaps things are improving.
Welcome, all 2197 of you! We'll sort out the body/soul ratio later. :)
If you shave a skunk, you'll find they're actually about the size of a rat, and able to fit through similarly small places. I had 'em squeezing through ⅜" gaps between the bottom of the door and the floorboards.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I'm voting for skunk.
If you opt for live capture traps (recommended), once you've got a skunk inside, toss a blanket over the trap to keep them from spraying. Release remotely by lifting one end of the blanket, open the trap and walk slowly away. Critter will come out in her own good time.
Wishing you Good luck. If it is skunks, you're gonna need some.
Perhaps some souls will be watching over you.
Lucy
The skunks we usually get are the size of a housecat or larger and have luxuriant hipster beards, carefully sculpted to the point where they would certainly not risk a 3/8" gap. They still stink, but mostly of three-day-old craft beer and wet artisanal pipe tobacco.
ReplyDeleteOur friend who has the barn has a live trap and has caught a few skunks. I don't think she's the "release" kind when it comes to skunks, to be honest.