Veteran’s Day
I still don’t know why I did it.  I had the day off and I was going to go up to East Rutherford to pick up some tile.  We’d gotten part of our backsplash in our kitchen tiled, but not the rest of it, and the only way to get a match was to go up to the one place that had it, and you don’t care anyway, but that’s where I was going.  I had lunch at the Chinese buffet in Hillsborough, which was bad enough already, and has now gone downhill enough that I won’t be going back.  I left the restaurant and decided to stop by the house for a minute before I left. So I was driving southbound on 206, which is the main drag through Hillsborough, and there was t

Stuff To Do – November
I am SO playing catchup this month, it’s unreal.   I have deferred work on the mosaic until I have time to really do it (maybe over the holidays, or the next time my M-I-L is in town to take care of babies).  Other crap that needs doing: Last (absolute last) round of query letters that MUST go out before the end of the month. Schedule the last remaining four items for warranty review. Get second bookcase put together for living room. Sweep garage. Lubricate drive for garage door opener. Schlep to East Rutherford to pick up tile. New for this month: Change oil in car. Change oil in lawn

Less Poetry, More Democracy
Thomas L. Friedman, in the New York Times today: More and more lately, I find people asking me: What do you think President Obama really believes about this or that issue? I find that odd. How is it that a president who has taken on so many big issues, with very specific policies — and has even been awarded a Nobel Prize for all the hopes he has kindled — still has so many people asking what he really believes? Well, it’s not that difficult to understand.  A big portion of what Obama says is (everyone recognizes this) fluffy rhetoric or windbag puffer

Week 4 - Thursday
Breakfast - Had breakfast at five in the morning, thanks to a cranky baby.  Kashi granola cereal with a little honey. Lunch - I had a parking space near my office today, and that meant I could go out for lunch, and that’s what I did.  Didn’t go to Five Guys, because a healthy trip to Five Guys (no peanuts, Coke Zero, no cheese, no bacon) is no fun.  Went to Chevy’s, got something relatively healthy (flautas with no sauce, as opposed to chimichangas) and the chicken tortilla soup.  Still lots of points, don’t get me wrong. Dinner - two hot dogs, a small diet Coke and a hot chocolate at the Atlanti

Stuff To Do - October
The leaves are turning, the year is winding down, and I still want to go to Five Guys.  Ahem. Work on second mosaic (you have no idea how difficult it is right now to even make it downstairs to my workbench). Get query letters ready for November writer’s conference in NYC. Complete one-year warranty review of new house (scheduled, or I hope so). New for this month: Get the garage in shape for (possible) painting, which means: Get everything synched with garage-door openers for both cars Get both garage door motors lubricated Sweep Take all the crud that’s on the s