all the news that isn't

Went to Goodwill with plans to look at/pickup some baby clothes. Ended up getting more books than clothes. At $2 each, hard to pass up!

Saturday + partly cloudy + 70 degrees = car wax time. Yeah, a couple months over due.

Got home from work at 11pm to find the power out. Adrienne had called (from the cell) and after I walked her through how to shut down UPS-protected computers, she said she was going to bed in the darkness; not much else to do. Coming home to a completely dark house on a completely dark dead-end street reminded me what I like so much about snow storms: the time right after when everything is so peacefully quiet. Sure, we’re in the ‘burbs but hearing that silence brought out how noisy our surroundings and lives really are. From the cat’s water dish to the washing machine to the neighbor’s loud tv (yes, we can still hear it at times), life still is quite loud. I only got about 5 minutes of quiet beauty until everything sprang to life. And while it’s nice to know the refrigerator is again making sure my milk won’t spoil and the bedroom AC is making sure my wife won’t spoil, the easy silence was really nice too.

Oh boy, yesterday my barber (Tony) asked if I’d like my eyebrows trimmed.

A couple days ago I came across this site/forum where a Belgian couple chronicles their trip across the Democratic Republic of Congo. Supposedly it’s the first time someone has made such a trip in decades, due to the poor state of roads, corruption and general state of the countries (war, etc.). It’s fascinating reading for me; I admire their drive (both literally and figuratively, as you’ll see). Check it out here: http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50799

The Holidays: the only time of the year that I use karo syrup. But I suppose that just means I don’t make caramel rolls enough!

I must have brass playing on my brain: this morning I found myself singing some Gabrieli. And then earlier today I came across a great link to Nielsen’s 2nd Symphony. The recording is out of print, but here it is in mp3. Amazing brass playing by the members of CSO. Enjoy!

I think we’re going to have to purchase another cat carrier.

I didn’t let you know, but for some time the Squeezeboxing feature of this blog has not been working. I’m happy to say that due to some reworking and downgrades, it’s working again. So you can check in on my listening habits again.

Oven (but not stove top) stopped working tonite. Made do with pizza on the grill. Ham on Sunday might be tougher, looks like I’m going appliance part hunting tomorrow….