Bad Emperor

My dad turned me onto Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars.  I still have his copy.  Great book you can open anywhere and be amazed.  It's too bad that 1950 years later, we are still dealing with the same bad people.
 

Smokey!

 

 

No tornadoes, hurricanes or polar vortexes but we do get a few weeks of smoke in the summer. It would be interesting to know only the last 3 years' data.  Since OR has begun to be proactive about fighting fires, smokey days have seemingly lessened in recent years.
 

Time's Up, Mr. Bond

 

 

 

 

 

Barbara recently made news by calling the new partners idiots.....Only Michael's son Gregg has been involved with the current productions. Maybe there wasn't a natural heir to the Broccoli throne. So they seem to be taking the money and moving on to other things. 

Truth be told, I have not liked the recent films so Iet's see what a massive conglomerate can do with the franchise. Goodbye, Mr. Bond.

Variety has the story

A billion dollars is a good price!
 

Sutures Out

The sutures came out on Monday.  Everything looking good.  Back in a shoe today.
 

Best Selling Volkswagen

While watching my favorite British quiz/comedy show QI, I learned the amazing fact that Volkswagen sells more sausages than cars each year. The Currywurst is an official part and can be ordered by requesting original part 199 398 500 A. While not available in the US because of importing regulations, the VW brand of ketchup was briefly available here.  I'm ready to book a destination trip to Mexico or Canada to try a real VW sausage

Learn more here or here

Feeding the Deer

It's bad enough that the turkeys come and forage for bird seed. Now an enterprising deer has figured out she can feast as well.  W spent yesterday figuring out how to rise the feeder.

Four Toes

I got the foot re wrapped today. Everything looking fine and the four toes don't look too out of place. My friend Mark in Copenhagen says that I now have a Simpson's foot....just no jaundice (yet!)
 

Excellent Editorial

 A very good telling if where we are now.

Outage

 

 

Last Tuesday we had 6" of very heavy, wet snow fall.  It stopped by night time and everything looked beautiful outside. While I was in bed reading, I heard a large crack and then the power went out. Our neighbor's tree had fallen across our power line. We called power company but when we looked at their outage map, we realized that we would not be seeing anyone for a while.

I woke at 5am and built a fire to heat up the living room.  At sun up, we rolled out the genny and ran some extension cords into the house. We powered the fridge, freezer and another heater.

We got outside and shoveled. W had to get the car up the icy driveway to get more wood and some salt. Shoveling in a surgical boot made for a slippery time.

In the afternoon, we were thinking we'd spend the night at some friends' house.  The forecast was for a frigid night.  

We turned off the main and bled the water lines. We then empty the pool filter and pump.  We were getting ready to leave when an armada of trucks arrived.  It took 20 hours but within 20 minutes, we had our power back.

One Less Toe

I had the first re-dressing of the operation site on Thursday.  Almost no swelling or redness. No pain. Looks great!
 

What Could Go Wrong??? pt.2

 

His youngsters accessing classified files.  And what happens as he feeds all the government's data into his AI engines. He will be able to build a profile on any citizen that has ever gotten a tax refund, Social Security payment or welfare check.  Then the real fun starts.....

What Could Go Wrong?

A man with no allegiance to anyone gaining control of the federal government’s data bases. What could possibly go wrong.

And another takeover this morning

 

Back in the Boot

The operation went well. Should be a quick recovery. The doctor's scrawl still visible
 

The Year of the Snake

The year will be all about shedding bad energy. People born under this sign are considered mysterious, smart, caring and wise. That seems to cover a lot of bases.

Poppy's Car Wash

 

I borrowed Poppy the other day for a walk and a few errands.  It included her first time through a carwash.  She did great.

Gravel

After the guys finished the french drain, they came back and spread some gravel around underneath the deck and north side house. It cleans up the appearance.
 

French Drain Install

After the torrential downpour few weeks ago, we got a little water coming into the basement bedroom. W was in the midst of redecorating and the room was largely empty.  We had to take up his new flooring and dry it out upstairs. 

The landscaping came yesterday to put in a french drain. Covered in gravel and finished with river rock, it'll hopefully help in the future if we ever get 2.5" of rain in one day again.

Library Protest

Karen and I went and leant our voices to the library protest held at the courthouse yesterday.  The new commissioners have seen fit to rescind the library's lease.  People are mad about. The 30 day notice was the final act of a vindictive and recalled commissioner on his last day in office.  He had lost a court case with library on a separate issue last year and a library board member sat on his recall committee.

A new library is on the way but won't be operational for 3-4 years.  The property was recently bought and the design has only just been approved.

News stations says about 100 people showed up. A good turn out on less than 24 hour notice.