Think of this post as a mental tab clearing

We’ve had another spell of warmer-than-usual weather, so I disappeared awhile. The good news is that 90% of the stuff that I like to have warm weather to do is done. Finally. There’s still stuff to do outside, but little of it needs warm weather. Things like burning brush piles are much more pleasant in cooler weather for some reason.

However, working time is often thinking time, and I’ve accumulated a few things I want to toss out there. Nothing earth-shaking, more like random thoughts.

Do you listen to audiobooks? I love ’em. I can do common tasks, such as trimming hydrangeas, while I listen. I know Amazon is the devil, but they also have a corner on the market. I subscribe to their Audible service. For $15/month I get a one book credit, which is great, but better is that they have a huge number of books that you can listen to “for free” with that subscription. For example, I just finished listening to The Fourth Turning, which is one of those freebies. I’ve never managed to read the entire book, but it’s more consumable when it’s read to you. Book report forthcoming on some future Sunday. Right now I’m on Animal Farm, which I’m reading for a book club. I haven’t read that one since high school. It’s scarier now than it was then.

I’ve heard a lot of economic rah-rahing going on over Black Friday spending. “Oh, it was a record!” Sure it was–it’s measured in dollars spent. The number was up something like 7.2% year over year. Big deal. Goods inflation has likely accounted for most if not nearly all of that. When 25% of Americans are still trying to pay for last Christmas, there’s no way this is good news.

(After a 3-day break for a migraine (2 days) and the hangover (1 day)…)

I’ve been working to expand my news gathering. Some of my old standbys are dropping off the list and new ones are coming on list. Among those are 1440 and Chartr. Both are relatively without obvious slant to their coverage, which is damn hard to find these days. I’m giving up some with a more “conservative” slant (Liberty Daily, Rantingly) because they’re getting overly slanted, repetitive or recycling old news on slow news days.

We’re now in a stretch of rainy weather. This is a good thing since we’ve been strongly on the dry side for too long. Monday may be brush pile burn day with some luck.

The house is mostly decorated for Christmas. We’re trying the Christmas tree for the first time in a couple of years. The theory is that the cats are all old enough that they won’t rip it down and we may actually be able to put a few decorations on it. I’m not holding my breathe, however, because cats.

I’ve been going through my clothes, segregating the too small and “I don’t wear that” into an extra closet. Yes, we have an extra closet. It’s amazing how moving your offspring out frees up extra space. But that is pointing up a few needs in what’s left. I’ve recently purchased a Carhartt hooded Rain Defender jacket and I have a sherpa-lined vest on the way.

I note that Popular Science magazine is passing into memory. I grew up reading it, but got out of the habit many years back. I guess everyone else did as well.

Our foolishly expensive Kitchenaid dishwasher went on the fritz AGAIN. This makes the third show-stopper problem since it was purchased a number of years ago. Resorting to the Intertubz, I was able to find a magic incantation to get it working properly again. It seems it needed a recalibration in order to get some anonymous part back on the tracks. This isn’t documented in the owner’s manual, but in a sorta service manual I found for a sister model. When/if we ever lose access to the Fount of All Wisdom, what are we going to do?

Lastly, I mentioned sometime back that I wanted to set up an old-fashioned BBS system. Trying to clean up and organize the disaster that is the basement, I stumbled on that particular pile of items. Since it was a largish pile, I thought that getting the project started was better than putting it in a box on the “projects awaiting time” shelves. Besides, the time might be coming when such things might come back into fashion. Alas, it’s not to be so, at least without more work and funds than I’m willing to devote just now. But if the parts can be found, it can be done. Save your analog modems boys, the BBS shall rise again! One day, but not today.

I think that covers all I had in mind to cover, or perhaps all that I can remember. Cheers.