The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey January 21, 2019

21 January 2019

Not properly cold, not in the ice moon Hoth sense of the word, anyway. But it was 11º Fahrenheit when I walked the dog early this morning, with winds gusting to 40 mph. I think that means a wind chill of minus one billion. As the day went on, it warmed a little bit, and the winds dropped to gentle breezes, which meant I could shed a layer or two for the later walks. It'd have been better if Lexi would simply walk, take care of her business, and be ready to head back in. But her idea of a…

Brian Bilbrey January 13, 2019

13 January 2019

Yup, our first major winter storm arrived yesterday late afternoon. We've so far got over 10" here in my back yard. I shoveled the driveway and sidewalks just after 4 PM, when a mere 6.5 inches had fallen. By the time was done, I went back over the whole thing to quickly remove the next inch of snow that had fallen while I was shoveling. Yay? Oh, yeah. The snow was supposed to be done by now ... but it's still falling. That explains the schools pre-announcing tomorrow's closure. The Feds? Who knows, all of the OPM people who communicate…

Brian Bilbrey January 6, 2019

6 January 2019

Of the new year, anyway. Not much of external interest happened in the last week - work was work, I got some chores done over the weekend, including the first coffee roasting of the new year. We'd been drinking from a couple of different batches of Rise Up coffee for a while, courtesy of a Christmas gift from the St. Germain's. But that's now running low, so it was time to get a pound of Sweet Maria's Ethiopian roasted and resting in anticipation of Wednesday or Thursday brewing. I am finally down to reading the wonderful Fran Wilde's Horizon, the…

Brian Bilbrey December 30, 2018

30 December 2018

We enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home, mostly binge-watching The Great British Baking Show. In the evening, we watched the Springsteen Broadway special. The dog got a couple of new toys, as did I. Marcia was surprised to get a couple of things, too, since we'd already got her "Christmas presents" a couple of months ago. With Christmas gone and New Year's Eve tomorrow, another year's gone by, and each goes faster than the one preceding. But here at Hovel Bilbrey, we're continuing to do okay. The big changes of the year involved first ramping up our involvement with the…

Brian Bilbrey December 25, 2018

25 December 2018

Whatever you celebrate at this time of year, with or without family, with or without larger significance, please let it give you and yours both joy and peace. I had a lovely few days off work. We spent a not-inconsiderable amount of time binge-watching The Great British Baking Show, and to join us in our turkey dinner today, we were joined by a Mister Bruce Springsteen, shown in the production filmed over a couple of nights of his Broadway run. What a lovely show. We leapt out of bed this morning at the crack of 8:41, and once the dog…