morrowlife

Here are a couple of guys out fishing at Anthony Chabot Regional Park. Part of my famous Camping series.

Another berserk day at the office. Busy, busy, busy. I really need the weekend. Fortunately, it’s here.

Highly foggy morning. It’s been that way on a pretty regular basis lately. I’ve been enjoying it as a pleasant change. Fortunately, my drive to the station is short and on basically untraveled roads, so the fog doesn’t really slow me down much.

Loyal Reader Number Two’s organ recital was this evening. We left basically the moment I got home from work. It’s always a nice presentation and LRN2 did a great job on all three of his pieces. Congrats, LRN2!

Let’s talk weekend plans, shall we? It’s shaping up to be a busy one (sigh). We’re taking Loyal Reader Number Twelve to the Victorian Christmas thingamee around mid-day Saturday, after which we have the Ward Christmas Spectacular.

Speaking of the Ward Christmas Spectacular, it’s been advertised in kind of amusing way. There were invitations that said something like this: “Come enjoy a spiritual feast as we celebrate the sacred birth of the Savior of the world. Fun for the whole family!” I’m not quite sure what to expect – a Nativity scene or Pin the Nose on Rudolph. Maybe both.

At any rate, there will be dinner.

Saturday is also scheduled for dragging out the Christmas decorations, setting up (but not decorating) the tree, and putting up the outdoor lights. All of which will take some time. Plus, I’d like to get out and look at a new car or two.

Sunday will be normal, although I don’t remember whether we’re having choir practice in the afternoon. Then it’s the First Presidency Christmas Fireside in the evening.

Plus, I still need to work on that stupid rocket launcher. Also hope to spend some time lying around relaxing.

We’re hoping the First Presidency Fireside will be shown on BYU TV. Need to check the schedule.

Anyway. No toilet or food attack news today. Instead, we have some festive holiday news.

Have a great weekend. See you Monday.

Here’s the amphitheater at Anthony Chabot Regional Park. Looks nice. Sadly, this year’s evening programs are long since over. I guess people just aren’t enthusiastic about going to campfire programs when it’s 47 degrees out. Picture part of my famous Camping series.

Yet another Short Shrift day. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time. At least my normal Thursday evening meeting was canceled. So that’s something.

I’m pretty tired again tonight. It’s been an exceptionally busy week meeting-wise, and I need to rest. It’s as if I hadn’t just slept in every morning of a five-day weekend. Sigh.

On the upside, it’s better than unemployment. But not as good as self-employment. Some day.

We’ve been trying to decide whether to buy a new car. On the one hand, it’s great not to have any payments on most of the cars. On the other hand, some of them are getting worrisomely old. One of the most popular ideas out there right now is to replace both Loyal Reader Number Four’s car and the Suburban with a new Burb (or equivalent). I would drive the truck as my primary car and LRN4 would take my Honda. I would have the Miata as my going-to-work car if I wanted to drive.

There are plusses and minuses to the plan. Still don’t know whether I’m enthusiastic about anything out there. Including the BMW 3-series I drove. Sigh. When I can’t even get excited about a Bimmer, I really worry. And the deals I’ve seen at the dealers haven’t been as exciting as the news people are trying to get you to believe.

Any advice, Loyal Readers?

Christmas list update: Pretty much anything on this list. Especially the dogfighting helicopters. And the Nerf cannon. A more personal list is coming, no later than this weekend.

I don’t know whether to share today’s shocking toilet news or the even more shocking food attack news. Which do you find most shocking, Loyal Readers?

Too many links. Time for bed. See you tomorrow.

Here are Loyal Readers Numbers Two and Four taking a little hike at Chabot Regional Park last week. There’s a little view of Loyal Pet Number One too. This was the flat part of the hike, which turned out to be a very short distance. The steep part, on the other hand, was pretty substantial. Part of my famous Camping series.

Nothing much to report today. Got up, commuted, worked, etc.

Fortunately, there’s some important toilet news today. I can’t tell you how many times this has happened to me. Gotta start reading the fine print.

Still working on my Christmas list. In the meantime, my Loyal Readers may be able to find something nice for me here or here. Might want to study this too, just in case. I’m only trying to help.

See you tomorrow.

Here’s Loyal Reader Number Two enjoying the view at Yosemite. Part of my famous Camping series.

Okay workday. Nothing too exciting, but nothing too depressing, either. Most of the day was spent in meetings (sigh) and giving performance appraisals to people. Several more of those left to do next week.

The train was half an hour late this afternoon. The one in front of us broke down outside of Livermore and had to wait for us to catch up with it so we could push it home. I’m glad I wasn’t on the earlier train – it was an hour and a half late.

In today’s toilet news, they’re now classified as Great Art! Now, that’s my kind of museum.

The weekend is once again upon us. I’m sure there’s plenty to do, but I frankly don’t know what any of it is. I’m not planning to figure it out right now, either. The work will have to come to me this weekend.

One thing I know, though, is that we need to pick up the trailer from the shop. Oh, and I need to fix that doggone rocket launcher once and for all. And I should probably get a car washed.

I just checked the weather for the campout. It’s supposed to be sunny to partly cloudy with highs in the lower sixties or upper fifties and lows in the upper forties. Not too shabby, although I could stand it a little warmer. Shouldn’t complain, though, it being late November and all. We will have full hookups at the campground, so there will be no shortage of heat and light. And water and sewer, for that matter. I’m really looking forward to being there.

Spoke with Loyal Reader Number One for a few minutes this evening. He’s doing well at school and greatly enjoying his new job. He has his own personal, private desk with a quite nice (Apple) computer on it, so what’s not to like? He has nice co-workers, fresh-baked bread, bratwursts, and there’s even a cot in the closet. He’s thinking he could live there.

Which would be great! He could save big on housing expenses. In fact, he might not even have to work anymore! Of course, then he wouldn’t have an office to live in anymore. So he’d have to move back into the dorm. And then he’d have to go back to work. So I guess he can’t live there after all.

LRN2 is away at a friend’s house for the night. Loyal Reader Number Four and I are on our own again. Not that that’s a bad thing. Have fun, LRN2!

See you on Monday.

Here are Loyal Readers Numbers One and Two crawling around in the bushes at Clark’s Fork. I have no idea why. Part of my famous Camping series.

Another perfect weather day in the aptly named town of Sunnyvale. And I was indoors for 99.9 percent of the daylight hours. Sigh. Only four more years until I can retire.Theoretically , that is. I’d have to struggle to afford dog food in my hovel, of course. I have the motive; now all I need is the opportunity.

I heard from my old co-worker Jim today. He went to Florida a couple of months ago to take a really cool job at an Air Force base near Tampa. The job disappeared almost immediately, so he’s looking again. Poor Jim.

But that’s not what I’m talking about right now. When he left, he gave me three gifts: his small radio-controlled helicopter (just like the one I got myself for Christmas, except that this one didn’t break on its second day), his big RC helicopter, and his RC UFO. They’re all really cool, but I can’t use the big helicopter because its battery charger is missing, and I can’t use the UFO because its controller is missing.

Well, Jim just unpacked his household goods, and he found the missing pieces! He’s mailing them to me.

The UFO is fun, but it has just a single control – it’ll go either up or down. It has flashing LEDs and stuff, so it’s still cool. The big helicopter, on the other hand, is a real RC flying machine. It’s electric and self-stabilized, so it’s easy to fly (they tell me), and it’s big enough that it has to be flown outdoors.

I’ve played with the UFO when it was at Jim’s desk, but I’ve never gotten to fly the chopper. Looking forward very much to trying it out. I’m hoping for at least two or maybe even three flights before I ruin it. Let’s hope my extensive experience with the tiny one will translate up.

Called my Mom during the afternoon trip to the train station. It’s her birthday. Although I really shouldn’t need an excuse to call her. She’s doing fine and appears to have had a happy birthday.

We talked about LRN2’s recovery. I was happy to report that he’s doing much better in the last few days. He’s finally able to eat pretty much anything and is feeling well. Still can’t play the violin, though.

No new controversy today. Still waiting for Dave Barry to get back from travel.

As mentioned in yesterday’s comments, the musical road is back! I’ll definitely check it out next time I go down there. Thanks to Loyal Reader Number I Don’t Know Which for the tip.

That’s all for now, Vladimir. See you tomorrow.