Miter saw setup, “Whale Wars”, office work, “Gonzo: The Life and Works of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson”

(posted from home)
(This post covers 25 - 31 December, 2008)

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Wednesday, 31 December –

I intended to go into Martin Library this morning to read the papers but checked the web site for their hours and learned they’re closed all day today. I paid bills through 1400 then went for a walk on my six-mile loop. Today’s temperature was near freezing with wind gusts to 50 miles per hour so I considered skipping the walk but then figured I could just turn back if it was uncomfortable. But the cold and wind encouraged me to dress extra warmly and I was fine—and in fact I loved being out there as the sunset put on a pretty display of pink clouds against the ultra-blue sky for the last half-hour of the walk.
That evening we watched “Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson”, an excellent documentary. It made me glad to be so happily average in my ambitions.
After the movie we tried watching a bit of the New Year’s Eve coverage but quickly decided we’d rather go on to bed and read.

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Tuesday, 30 December –

This morning when I arose I decided I’d get out of the house and go somewhere—Cabela’s maybe. But I made the mistake of sitting down at my desk and thinking I’d just clear out another estate item or two and before I knew it, walk time was here. I walked the four-mile course today and had the great luck to see three bluebirds, perched on successive fence posts right along the road and in the sun. On the way home a kingfisher patrolling along the creek landed in a tree only a few yards from me- what a magnificent bird.

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Monday, 29 December-

I worked in the office for an hour or so then Labashi and I drove into the Martin Library for a ’book fix’ this morning. I read the Times, Journal, and Post, then picked out a David Baldacci mystery and a compendium of what are supposed to be the top mystery stories of the 20th century. I returned Randy Wayne White’s ‘Black Widow’ and James Patterson’s ‘Cross’. I liked the former most of the way through but thought it got lost in the final chapters. I had mixed feelings on the latter— I liked the character of the protagonist but we seemed to be flying over the story and just taking a sample here and there, then rushing off to the next gory scene. Labashi was all over the map—literally. She picked out novels about Versailles, Hong Kong, and Ireland.
Afterwards we had burgers at Fuddrucker’s and made quick stops at Starbucks (mocha!) and the Salvation Army (dropping off stuff ) on the way home.
I walked my six-mile route on this nice, airy, near-50 day and saw a red-tailed hawk lit from underneath by the sun. We cruised the Web that evening.

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Sunday, 28 December –

I worked on estate stuff for a few hours and then copied my video files to Labashi’s PC to have another backup copy. I had copied the files to the portable hard drive I bought for this purpose but realized I could lose everything if I just accidently dropped the portable drive.
That afternoon I walked my six-mile route around home. We both spent the evening on the Web. I’ve been spending a good bit of time on DealNews, thinking I’ll find some great bargains but I’ve not seen anything I both need and can get cheap.

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Saturday, 27 December –

This morning we set up Labashi’s sliding-arm miter saw. She’s anxious to get started building some cornices (or valances, I’m not sure of the difference) to enclose the cellular shades she put up in our offices this week. Assembly went fine but it took us a minute to figure out what was going on with the laser guide. As you bring the saw arm down the laser line moves to the left. But as it turns out that’s normal. You must align the laser line with the saw positioned at the top of its travel, then ignore the fact that the line moves left as the saw descends. That works fine. And in fact you can choose which side of the line you want to cut on and it will do that perfectly.
I spent the afternoon working on some plans for a winter trip, again to south Florida. Then I took my regular four-miler on this foggy, mid-Forties day. I can’t wait to get back to gator country.
We watched the extras on the Dexter-Season One disk for our evening’s entertainment.

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Friday, 26 December –

I was supposed to help Labashi set up her new sliding-arm miter saw today but got hung up on some bills for the estate and before I knew it, it was mid-afternoon and walk-time.
Since I started the walk a little earlier than usual, I did the six-mile course and did it at a fast pace. Once back home I had a mojito-rum and coke and that put me into a deep sleep until suppertime.
We were planning to watch the extras on the ‘Dexter’ disk but got caught up in the ‘Whale Wars’ Marathon on TBS. Pretty cool!

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Thursday, 25 December –

Merry Christmas! Labashi and I stayed home and had a very relaxing Christmas this year. We spent most of the day on our PCs and then I rode the motorcycle over to Pinchot Park for a walk. I started out a bit too late so shortened my walk to about 45 minutes to get back to the bike before dark. The trail from the east-side boat launch to the dam and back was muddy so it wasn’t the most enjoyable of walks but I was glad to be out as the sun set.
That evening we watched the end of ‘Dexter- Season One’. We have mixed feelings on Dexter. We enjoy Michael C. Hall and the twists and turns of the plot but the gore is a bit much. And as we near the end of the season, we’re reminded of the feeling of manipulation we got from ‘Lost’—even the music in the end-titles reminds us of ‘Lost’. We’ll try a few episodes into Season Two and then decide whether to go on.

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