Hmm... what's this?
A week or so, ha. Not to say that I forgot about having a blog entirely, but the course of recent (and not-so-recent) events made me not so eager to write things on the internet. Actually, a look at the web site will show you that I haven't been very good at getting anything at all done, internet-production-wise, since the move. But it's still something that I care about!! So here's the beginning of an attempt to get things back in order, get organized, and get back to work. Just... where to start?!
falling in love again
Brr, it's chilly out! There's a snap in the air, and things like that: the first outlying tendrils of fall are snaking their way into our lives. And I have to say, even Leah likes it. We're going to have to get some pumpkins to put on display.
Because the thing is, we haven't had fall for a while. Well actually, that's not entirely true: I had fall about a year ago, like everyone else, but it doesn't feel that way, for reasons which will be clear in a moment. But Leah, now, she went away to California in early June 2003, so she missed an entire cycle of seasons! In other words, this summer has lasted approximately 1.25 years for her. We didn't manage any surfing, but let me tell you, that still feels pretty endless. And me, I left in December, so my eight or nine month summer (math? pah!) seems pretty long too.
So we're exited. I don't want to hear that it's going to be 80 again by the middle of the week, but that's what you get.
And yeah, I need to change the title and/or look-and-feel of this blog.
excuses
Well, maybe I won't be able to update as much as I did in the California days, but I have a good reason: I'm actually working and things these days, to an extant at least. But also as I get back in the habit of writing here I'll remember to write more often, and also be ready with actual things to say. Not like this sorry excuse for a post. Which I will now end.
but WHERE in massachusetts?!
The biggest problem with this state is the paucity, and in some places complete absence, of anything resembling a road sign. Things are getting better in Lexington and Arlington where I spend most of my time, but I just had occassion to visit Newton and let me tell you, I got lost as anything coming back through Watertown and Belmont.
Picture the scene: you're on a major thoroughfare, and as you come around a curve you see the road head of you spits into two equally sized branches, with nary a sign to be seen. Which way do you go?! You have a second and a half left to decide! And now it's too late. So did you pick the right way? Well, one positive of the situation may be that, without signs, you may never know. But while that might be good for your ego, you can see that it's less than useful for navigational purposes.
And so on and so forth. With no street signs to be seen written directions are useless, and maps only marginally more helpful (mostly when augmented with a compass). But I suppose it's all in good sport. Now you must excuse me, I'm off to study a road atlas.
oops, it must be winter
I was awoken this morning by what sounded like someone standing on a chair pouring a bucket of water into a brass trough placed on the floor. What on earth was this cacophony?! Was it someone outside? Was there some sort of leak in the bathroom? No, in fact it was only--as you've probably realized if you're from the northeast United States--our heat starting up, and the water coursing through the radiator in our bedroom. At least we have some variety: the radiator in the bathroom sounds like a steam-powered jet airliner revving for takeoff.
I must say, never since the electronic abacus has the world seen a case of such high technology wedded to such primitive instruments. The reason the heat came on this morning is because I finally bothered to investigate, and set, our Star-Trek inspired thermostat, which may be standard in many households and businesses accross the country, but which still seems kind of like overkill to me. It's got all these buttons, and you can set your desired temperature for four different parts of the day, and even set a different temp for weekdays and weekends. All that programability avails for naught, however, when one's weekend happens to be Sunday and Monday. So I'd just as rather have on the little old round twisty kind of thermostats, where at least you can tell what's going on and the heat doesn't start up without you telling it to, unless the outside temperature drops 35 degrees and your springs a leak (or is generally an excelent conductor of heat). And how likely is that?