Sooooo, there’s a cold draft across my toeses. Considering that it was 2f when I woke up this morning (somewhere around -12f once you factor in all that wind-chill mumbo-jumbo), I should be grateful that the pellet stove finally got installed. That, and I’ve got a roaring fire going in the basement. In the fireplace insert, not on the pool table. That would be stupid, even by my standards. Bastards, the whole lot of you! Damn, someone’s had too many grumpy pills this morning, hasn’t he? Anyway, cold draft, cold toes, roaring fires. Everybody all caught up now? Good.

Not much has happened in the past, um, month?- since I last posted. Well, we did get a second gerbil. I did mention that we got a first one, right? Someday I should read some of the crap I write. And I made new baseboard for the downstairs landing. That’s all painted and installed. I still need to finish a stair nose there. What else? I put in new flooring in the downstairs bathroom and had some fun redoing the copper pipe that provides water to the toilet in that bathroom. It was too short by the time I removed the old connectors, and our water shutoff valve doesn’t actually shut off all the way, so I had great fun trying to solder the new pipe on while flooding the bathroom. Little hint for anyone else who wants to try this technique: Soldering (or “sweating” if you speak plumberese) does not work when you have a steady supply of cold water cooling your pipes. Thankfully I eventually turned on my brain (I try to do so at least once a month, so now I am set until February, thanks) and shoved a wadded up slice of bread in the pipe and finished up quickly. Once Jennie seals the new flooring I installed, I will toss in the toilet and vanity, which should be a blast. I actually installed the toilet earlier, but it turned out to require a smaller toilet. Once again, thank you previous owner who shall not be named, for not following the basic homebuilding guidelines that everyone else follows. I’m sure the kids will love having a toilet sized for a mobile home in their bathroom. Assuming I ever finish up.

My toes are still cold. Maybe it is time to put insulation behind the outlet covers in my office. Or maybe put the outlet covers back on in my office. It’s only been two years since we painted in here, and I really don’t want to rush things.

The horse, it turns out, does not like us. He tolerates me, but has decided that Jennie must die. Makes for an exciting time when we go out there. Hopefully he will settle down once we pick up a pasture-mate for him. Or threaten to sell him to the French.

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