The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey

Welcome to Winter

I'm thinking of Jerry Pournelle a lot these days, and wishing for him a speedy and complete recovery from his recent "small" stroke. What I *want* is for Jerry to keep defying odds, and keep putting out first rate science fiction (selfish of me, I know), and for Jerry to keep enjoying life. Not much to ask, is it? * * * Just another busy weekend for me, though. Much of yesterday I was in the woodshop, and repeated that again today. Among other things, I dismantled an old humidifier that was wasting space. Most of it is now in…

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Brian Bilbrey

Year Winding Down

We're about two weeks out, and at 36"+, just a little under eight inches shy on precipitation compared to annual normal. Of course, the tree abutting the deck has put on some bulk in the last couple of years, and it's entirely possible that the current siting of my rain gauge is in tree shadow part of the time. I'm thinking of re-siting it (or even getting a more comprehensive weather thing) in the next year. But that's a project for another day (month?). But this year certainly has flown by. * * * If you saw what I was…

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Brian Bilbrey

"A date which will live in infamy"

So said Franklin Delano Roosevelt, President of the United States of America, after the attack at Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. Here is a transcript of his speech, courtesy of GMU. This important historical even seems barely mentioned by big media these days. I was pleased to see that the flags in Maryland are at half staff today to honor those who died in the attack. * * * Along with finishing up Marcia's quilting cabinet (see the December 4 post), and getting some house cleaning done, I managed to spend some time working on building a sump pit monitor…

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Brian Bilbrey

Catching Up

The calendar is catching up to the weather, in fact. On Tuesday into Wednesday, we're due for "wintery mix," which sounds much nicer than it really is. But 30's and 40's for December are just fine. It's the teens and 20's that make us cranky, here in Chez Bilbrez. * * * I've got the week "off" - burning some unused hours before I lose them to policy, come the end of the calendar year. Primary focus: finish building Marcia's rolling cabinet, which is do-able, methinks. Here's the carcass, much progress: In the last two days, I've got finish on…

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