News from the Front

People, T minus Two Days before my departure to Chicago. T minus Three Days before my departure to Japan. Things are slowly coming together and I'm really hoping to have everything packed up by Thursday night so I don't have to take the whole day off on Friday. We'll see.

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End of the Line

There I was, whacking weeds in the front yard when the weed whacker made a sound I never heard before. It wasn't the sound of a rock being tossed into a car, because I've heard that before. No, it was the sound of the last piece of string flying out of the head. Well, damn. I've only had the thing for a few years and just haven't had a chance to buy more string. You know, I've been busy.

So now I'm going to be leaving for two weeks and my walkway is half trimmed. I'm sure by the time I get back I won't be able to see some of the stones, as the big fat late summer grass will have completely enveloped it.

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Full Time Maid Needed

Over the course of the last few months, I've spent as little time in my house as possible. As a result, I've spent even less time tending to things of a domestic nature. As a result of that, in the last week I've spent every night just doing laundry. How can one person generate 9 loads of laundry and still have clothes on his back? Christ! Granted, a few loads were sheets, duvet covers, towels (I use a lot these days), but still.

As if that's not enough, when the laundry (and subsequent packing) is done, I have to clean the whole damn house. This I know for certain hasn't been done in a la-la-la-la-long, a la-la-la-la-long-long-lee-long-long time.

Bonus points, name that tune.

So what I'm looking for is a full time maid: mid twenties, French, willing to work for free room and board. The cats generate roughly three cats worth of fur per day, so she would pretty much have to follow them with a vacuum during the heat of the day. Another hour or two would be spent washing my freaking tupperware, which I seem to get dirty at the rate of one dishwasher load per day, and the last few hours she would have to pick up after my slovenly ass. Most things could probably go in the trash (or recycle bin, or composter) but I'm a pack rat and don't have the discipline to get rid of anything until I've tripped over it carrying two baskets full of laundry (with laptop balanced on top, and a coffee).

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The Silence is Deafening

If you haven't already been a part of my running commentary on noise canceling headphones, I researched them for this trip. I forget exactly what the number is, but I think I'm in the air for something like a bazillion hours. Anyone who's been on a plane that long knows that the hum of the engines combined with the uncomfortableness of cranked up headphones makes for one cranky passenger.

So, I bought these puppies. They showed up on my doorstep yesterday and once I figured out how to get the battery (active noise canceling means you need a battery) into the things I was blown away. They cover your ears, so there's already some noise isolation, but when you flick that switch the only way to describe it is like the first breath of air-conditioned air in the middle of a muggy August day, but for your ears. It actually made me take a deep breath when I "heard" it. I turned them on and off a few times to make sure it wasn't just my imagination and it's great. You can still hear stuff, but the constant hum of traffic and even my own breathing were almost completely eliminated.

If you're fortunate enough to live near me, I can let you try them some time. But be warned, you just might have to get your own pair.

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"You must become an old man in good time if you wish to be an old man long." By Marcus T. Cicero

Marcus, I'm way ahead of you man.

Over and Out,
Old Coot