Random bits from Facebook:

May 20:
Today I fought the first skirmish in this year’s campaign of the never ending war against the ever-encroaching hideous herbaceous hordes. While battle has still not been joined on the Western Front, the battle on the Eastern Front was successful, and the creeping green horror was pushed back to its historical mid-winter boundaries. (I mowed the front lawn.)

May 23:
Every now and then, not very often, I read something that just rips my heart out. It happened today; it was a passage in Neil Stephenson’s “Cryptonomicon” that includes the phrase, “My uncle’s teeth”… Just… Wow.

May 24:
Got Suchia in the water today for the first time since 2014. Didn’t go far; Sterling Lake was REALLY high, so I was unable to get under the bridge and get to the north pool at all. Still, it was a lot of fun, and GREAT to be on the water again. (And here’s to you, Brother Rat.)

May 25:
Perspective: A year ago, I had a very lucrative job that made me miserable. There were rumors of outsourcing, but mostly I was saddled with a partner who simply COULD NOT do the job, who fundamentally lacked the mental horsepower. I worked flat out, all day long, twelve hours a day, and we were at best breaking even with the necessary work; a fair amount spilled over onto the other shifts. There were several times when, if the appropriate face had presented itself, I would have punched it, and damn the consequences.

Today, the job is GONE; I am terrified by the future, but I am still sleeping better, and am generally happier and more optimistic than I was then.

Just maybe, the horse will learn to sing.

May 26:
Dementia was on her way out the door, tossed me a package with a shrug. “It’s for you,” she said. “I don’t recognize the sender.” She left. I examined the box, opened it, and found… Cats Laughing. Three CDs and two tee shirts. The CDs are a re-release of 1988’s “Cats Laughing” (of which we have never managed to acquire a copy, heretofore), a copy of 1990’s “Another Way to Travel” which we have played to death (we killed the tape, and only take out our older copy of the CD when one of our use copies dies and needs to be replaced), and the brand new MiniCon 2015 reunion double album.

I am in tears.

Yes, these people own a piece of my soul.

Cats Laughing.

Damn.

May 26:
Watching recorded “Arrow”. An ICBM has been launched from Colorado toward Star City. There was an image of a map, but I was distracted and didn’t parse the real world location. Rewind, roll forward… I paused the image, but there wasn’t really a point. The southwest corner of Lake Michigan is REALLY hard to miss when you are actually paying attention. Dementia and I both laughed out loud.

Uncle Hyena