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June 1 and the furnace is on. Not cool, in the nothing-to-do-with-temperature sense.
I've been off work since thursday putting up a houseful of Murricans: aunt and uncle from the Chicago burbs, uncle from Madison WI, cousin from DC. Mom and dad were here but mom got some kind of tummy bug and went back home, unfortunately. Fairly nice low key visit, packed everyone off this morning and although I already miss them terribly I confess it is nice to get the house back. Nominal purpose of the visit was to gather and honor my grandfather, who passed away a couple of months ago in Woodstock IL and didn't want any kind of formal funeral or memorial. We are sad that he is gone but he was very uncomfortable in his last few months of life and I am certain his spirit is glad for the release. This leaves my Gramma in managed care in Woodstock, badly ravaged by Alzheimers. Anyway, gloomy theme aside it was a very good visit and I think everyone had a grand time. Lots of digitally converted slides and wild stories and reminiscences and good food and hooch. I need a break now to recover.
We skyped with my other cousin in Prague -- 7 people on a webcam and laptop mic chatting away for an hour at effectively no charge. It has occasionally sunk into me since then how incredible this is. I need to investigate this tech for myself a little bit, I think.
Unfortunately I need to cut things short this afternoon and rush back to the office for a conference call, prepare for my annual review (5 months late and counting) and get ready for a trip to the Labrador Interior next week (mine site 10 miles east of the Middle of Nowhere TM).
I also need to do something about this inexplicable hankering for dried BBQ squid.
I've been off work since thursday putting up a houseful of Murricans: aunt and uncle from the Chicago burbs, uncle from Madison WI, cousin from DC. Mom and dad were here but mom got some kind of tummy bug and went back home, unfortunately. Fairly nice low key visit, packed everyone off this morning and although I already miss them terribly I confess it is nice to get the house back. Nominal purpose of the visit was to gather and honor my grandfather, who passed away a couple of months ago in Woodstock IL and didn't want any kind of formal funeral or memorial. We are sad that he is gone but he was very uncomfortable in his last few months of life and I am certain his spirit is glad for the release. This leaves my Gramma in managed care in Woodstock, badly ravaged by Alzheimers. Anyway, gloomy theme aside it was a very good visit and I think everyone had a grand time. Lots of digitally converted slides and wild stories and reminiscences and good food and hooch. I need a break now to recover.
We skyped with my other cousin in Prague -- 7 people on a webcam and laptop mic chatting away for an hour at effectively no charge. It has occasionally sunk into me since then how incredible this is. I need to investigate this tech for myself a little bit, I think.
Unfortunately I need to cut things short this afternoon and rush back to the office for a conference call, prepare for my annual review (5 months late and counting) and get ready for a trip to the Labrador Interior next week (mine site 10 miles east of the Middle of Nowhere TM).
I also need to do something about this inexplicable hankering for dried BBQ squid.
