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How cold is it?
Jan. 15th, 2004 11:13 pmIt's so cold here that most school systems in the area decided to cancel school tomorrow. Apparently, it wasn't so much a cost-cutting measure as much as it was concern about the kids walking to school and waiting for the bus. I don't remember this ever happening before; interesting. Tom gets a four day weekend, which, as can be imagined, does not bother him in the least. I encouraged him to clean the chimney tomorrow, since he has the day off, but for some reason, he refused adamantly. And I, in the daily struggle to survive in the face of such brutal cold, got a really bad sliver from an oak log the other day. That's it, I'm moving to Hawaii. Todd, if you are reading this, I now understand how it happened that you endangered our lives at the Katahdin ranger station, when you got the sliver in your hand and, distracted by the pain, told the ranger that we didn't need an extra flashlight. This is my karma for yelling at you. Even though we almost died because of a sliver. Anyway, you got your comeuppance at the campground the next morning.
Granger and I were both very grumpy this morning. "I'm nooooooooot grumpy!! I'm noooot!!" The question is, which of us am I quoting? I'm not sure myself. I feel happier now, although rather like I've been walking through one big wet paper bag all day, or like somebody's sitting on my eyelids.
Follow-up to to the Morris thread yesterday: once I got there, it was great. Today, my knees hurt a little. More stretching, more general exercise, these things would be excellent. So gone are the days of daily running or bike rides...maybe when G. is a little older and can go with; also, I've been contemplating going back to Aikido when he gets old enough to go to those classes. But that's still a couple years in the future. I look back wistfully at the time when I was free to do as I pleased with my time, and regret that it isn't possible to have it both ways. Just small, very contained amounts of freedom. I was talking to my friend Tucker the other day about this. He's in his twenties, but he's committed to a career of glassblowing. Therefore, he works 6 and a half days a week, and doesn't have much of a life (for those who don't know about glassblowing, becoming a professional one is more like working through a medieval guild system than any other craft). We discussed how much being a responsible adult bites, and came to the conclusion that we don't regret any of the money and time we spent fucking around with our friends in college. In fact, we agreed, we wish we'd done more of it. Yeah, I know, that's not a new feeling for anybody. But when did we all become slaves to our health insurance, or lack thereof? That's changed a lot in the 36 years I've been alive, and not for the better.
Random things I learned today: Paul O'Neill thinks that a loyalty should contain a spirit of inquiry towards the person or institution to which you are loyal. GW, who fired him from being the treasury secretary, thinks that loyalty means that you should stick by a person whether you think they're acting stupidly or not. Anybody surprised by this?
When you don't have enough iron, your taste buds don't respond to sweet things, and consequently you crave carbs. I haven't substantiated this yet, but it's interesting to think about.
When it's this cold out, and the wind's blowing, and you run across the parking lot to Greenfield's Market, your face freezes into position.
Gollum has written a book. OK, the guy who PLAYED Gollum in the movie has written a book. About playing Gollum. Andy Serkis.
Ted Nugent injured himself in a chainsaw accident. Last month, Ozzie Osbourne injured himself in an ATV accident. Hmmm. I'm sensing a trend here. Who will be next?
Ursula LeGuin won the Margaret A. Edwards award for lifetime achievement. Cool. (and Mordecai Gerstein won the Caldecott, and Kate DiCamillo won the Newbery).
Granger and I were both very grumpy this morning. "I'm nooooooooot grumpy!! I'm noooot!!" The question is, which of us am I quoting? I'm not sure myself. I feel happier now, although rather like I've been walking through one big wet paper bag all day, or like somebody's sitting on my eyelids.
Follow-up to to the Morris thread yesterday: once I got there, it was great. Today, my knees hurt a little. More stretching, more general exercise, these things would be excellent. So gone are the days of daily running or bike rides...maybe when G. is a little older and can go with; also, I've been contemplating going back to Aikido when he gets old enough to go to those classes. But that's still a couple years in the future. I look back wistfully at the time when I was free to do as I pleased with my time, and regret that it isn't possible to have it both ways. Just small, very contained amounts of freedom. I was talking to my friend Tucker the other day about this. He's in his twenties, but he's committed to a career of glassblowing. Therefore, he works 6 and a half days a week, and doesn't have much of a life (for those who don't know about glassblowing, becoming a professional one is more like working through a medieval guild system than any other craft). We discussed how much being a responsible adult bites, and came to the conclusion that we don't regret any of the money and time we spent fucking around with our friends in college. In fact, we agreed, we wish we'd done more of it. Yeah, I know, that's not a new feeling for anybody. But when did we all become slaves to our health insurance, or lack thereof? That's changed a lot in the 36 years I've been alive, and not for the better.
Random things I learned today: Paul O'Neill thinks that a loyalty should contain a spirit of inquiry towards the person or institution to which you are loyal. GW, who fired him from being the treasury secretary, thinks that loyalty means that you should stick by a person whether you think they're acting stupidly or not. Anybody surprised by this?
When you don't have enough iron, your taste buds don't respond to sweet things, and consequently you crave carbs. I haven't substantiated this yet, but it's interesting to think about.
When it's this cold out, and the wind's blowing, and you run across the parking lot to Greenfield's Market, your face freezes into position.
Gollum has written a book. OK, the guy who PLAYED Gollum in the movie has written a book. About playing Gollum. Andy Serkis.
Ted Nugent injured himself in a chainsaw accident. Last month, Ozzie Osbourne injured himself in an ATV accident. Hmmm. I'm sensing a trend here. Who will be next?
Ursula LeGuin won the Margaret A. Edwards award for lifetime achievement. Cool. (and Mordecai Gerstein won the Caldecott, and Kate DiCamillo won the Newbery).