December 4 , 1997
Dear Everyone:
Only two and a half weeks left to this year, as far
as work is concerned. Time
flies when you don’t keep a gun to its head.
Thanksgiving went very well, particularly when you consider that
“Marshall” brought the complete meal, from olives and pickles to pumpkin
pie, all in a big box.
(Well, OK, a box and two bags and a cooler.)
This was “Dinner in a Box”, in which everything is prepared for
you and all you have to do is reheat things in the oven and/or
microwave.
In anticipation of this, and because I can’t live
without one anymore, “Jeannie” and I went out the weekend before
Thanksgiving and got me a new microwave oven.
The one I’d had before was built-in over the range and so, stayed
with the condo when I moved out (one less thing to move).
This at least afforded me the opportunity to choose the options I
wanted instead taking
Hobson’s Choice.
I can now, theoretically, make
popcorn by touching a
single “Instant Action Pad” on the front of the oven.
How’s that for progress?
“Marshall” showed up Thursday afternoon and we had
a lovely repast, with enough leftovers to supply a small army.
“Dinner in a Box” serves “8-10”, but they don’t actually say
“8-10” what (linebackers?).
On Friday, “Jeannie” and “Marshall” came back to my place to help
me install vertical
blinds over the patio
door.
“Jeannie” did a exceptional job of holding the tape measure and
the screwdriver (not simultaneously, of course) and “Marshall”
supervised. Later, we went
to
Livermore to play
miniature golf.
We played 18 holes against a sharp breeze.
“Jeannie” and I each got two holes-in-one.
“Marshall” didn’t get any.
“Jeannie” came in four under par.
I came in one under par.
“Marshall” came in one over par, thus proving that actual skill at golf cannot stand up to
the powerful combination of blind luck and “just
whack it!”
In other news...
I’m settling in at the townhouse, although still
figuring out where some things should go.
Got the
Christmas lights up in the front window and put out such decorations
as I plan to use this year.
Since Christmas will be in
Canby this year, I’ve decided to forego a
tree.
I changed the lock on the front door, then had a
locksmith come out and re-key the outside lock on the patio door to
match the new lock. This
means that I can come and go by the back door instead of walking all the
way around the building to get to my car.
And it means that no one, except “Jeannie” and myself, has a key
to get into the townhouse.
One advantage to the new place is that it has
neighbors on only two sides downstairs and on only one side upstairs.
One disadvantage to this is that it’s exposed on two sides
downstairs and three sides upstairs.
And the walls are not as well insulated as the condo was.
Consequently, it gets cold
at night. Normally, I turn
the heat on when I get home to warm the place up, then turn the furnace
off for the night. I have a
little heater in the bedroom that’s set to come on about a half-hour
before I get up in the morning and, so far, that has worked pretty well.
However, last Sunday night the temperature outside
dipped down into the low 40’s and the temp inside was a shade
under 60 when I woke up Monday morning.
Here in California, we call this condition “winter”.
I also woke up with the beginnings of a cold.
So I have decided to bite the bullet and leave the furnace on,
with the thermostat just turned down, at night, at least until I’m over
this cold.
Movies...
Saw
Alien:
Resurrection last weekend.
Like Starship Troopers, this movie is long on action sequences and short
on character development.
Consequently, you don’t really care one way or the other if anyone
survives.
Michael Wincott,
who usually plays gravely-voiced bad guys, gets to play a gravely-voiced
semi-good guy (cleans up nicely, too) this time.
Ron Perlman, from TV’s
Beauty and the Beast, plays your basic, “I usually just hurt people”
thug, but with surprisingly good grammar.
Sigourney Weaver, who swore she would never do
another
Alien movie, and who
even died in the last movie, to make sure there would never be another,
not only plays Ellen Ripley again,
she also signed on as executive producer.
Winona Ryder plays the dewy-eyed innocent who is not as innocent
as she appears.
Scary underwater scene.
Loud sound track.
Unless you’re a real Ripley fan, wait for the video.
Only 12 working-days left until Christmas.
Love, as always,
Pete
| Previous | Next |