Category: Blog

So, I have a bunch of things to do, and the whole relapse thing was so not in my schedule.  We’ve already renegotiated the deadline for Alliance of Equals, but the other things on the plate can’t exactly be renegotiated.  So, I’m plugging away at them, doggedly — no, make that grimly — and hoping to ghod that I’ll pick up something like energy and brainpower.  SOON.

On the to-do list are these things:

1.  Get paperwork/form to accountant no latter than February 20

2.  Get Best Guess for 2015 income, and copies of 2014 income tax returns to ACA on or before February 15 (you will note the discrepancies in the dates)

3.  Hand in Alliance of Equals, by no later than May 29

So. . .this morning, I spent filling in accounting paperwork, slowly; and took a stab at the Best Guess for 2015 income.  The ACA is going to have to make do with the 2013 income tax returns, because that’s what I have.  Also?  It does not fill me with joy that the ACA cannot itself get its act in gear to adhere to the IRS deadline of mailing Important Tax Documentation no later than January 31.  They sent me an email this morning indicating that I could look forward to having my 1095-A, Health Insurance Marketplace Statement in “early” February.  Sigh.  Here’s hoping that’s not “early” by gummint standards.

After lunch, I answered a couple emails, and now, after I’m done this blog entry, I shall repair to the couch to read (again) the first 40K or so of Alliance of Equals, with an eye to, yanno, actually going to work sometime soon.

In other news — well, actually there is no other news, except that I just purchased three books about the Romani/Gypsies.  At this rate, I’m going to have to write another book about the Bedel.

So, what’re you doing that’s fun?

A reader on LiveJournal asked what the Mencken Table is.  On consideration, I thought there might be some interest here, as well.

This question comes up enough that I should probably make a FAQ.  For now, however, THIS is the Mencken Table, as it appears today, without the  piles of paper, books and DVDs that usually adorn it:

Once upon a time, the Mencken Table belonged to the Bard of Baltimore, HL Mencken, part of a matched set in his reading room.  As had been the fashion in the day, in order to make the wood shiny, it would be periodically shellacked.  This is an important plot point.

When HL Mencken died, he left his house, and all its contents, to the University of Maryland at Baltimore (also known as the University of Maryland Professional Schools), which was a near neighbor.  The Law School laid claim to it, naturally enough, but the Chancellor decreed that Straws Should Be Drawn, and, before the Straws were Drawn, the deans of the various professional schools ought to inspect the house, to see if it would be of use to them.

This happened over the course of. . .a while, and a lot of the Cooler Stuff that had been in the House started showing up the various offices and reception areas of the Deans and the Chancellor.

The Dean of the School of Social Work, where I was Administrative Assistant to the Dean, had one of the two reading room tables in the reception area, and a model of a Baltimore Schooner in the Dean’s Office.  There may have been other things, I was hired after the House had been emptied, and the Law School had had it for a while, and had decided that it didn’t want the upkeep and generously “gave” it to the School of Social Work.

In any case, the Table became a plant table in the reception area, and, as often happens with plant tables, sometimes got wet, and the shellack started to peel and by the time the new Dean came it, it was a Sight, and she ordered it Removed.

I. . .was fond of the Table, and asked if I could have it.  This prompted a discussion of what sorts of things it was all right for employees to be given from the University inventory, and it was determined that I could have the table IF it wasn’t in inventory.

Well, of course it wasn’t in inventory, it had been looted from the Mencken House, and no one had ever bothered to record or tag it. Therefore, according to the University, the Table did not exist, and I could take it home.

Which I did.  I also refinished it; my first refinishing project, which you can tell by looking at it.  I really ought to get it taken care of by a pro, but. . .it’s been more than 30 years and I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

So — that’s what the Mencken Table is.

Still regrouping here.  Yesterday, we had much scheduled on the cleaning and catching up fronts.  I managed to vacuum the house, change the bed, and wash the dishes before I thought maybe I should sit down for a minute.  I therefore repaired to the blue chair, and the last thing I remember before waking up, two hours later, was Sprite trilling happily as she settled onto my lap.

Steve was in similar straits, though his nap was intentional, rather than impromptu.

We finished up the day by watching an episode of Columbo — my ghod, the 70s hair!  And the smoking!  And the cars!  And the fact that $50grand was enough money to buy a ski instructor away from a wealthy girlfriend.

Not to mention Columbo’s consistent flaunting of the law.  How does he just walk into people’s houses?  Oh, well.  Still a pleasure to watch Mr. Falk at work.

After such a trying day, we of course sought our beds early, and I slept well, deeply, and late.  Today, the to-do list includes all the things I didn’t finish yesterday.  And maybe another episode of Columbo, or, yanno, RED 2, or From Up on Poppy Hill, or Sleeping Beauty, all of which have been sitting on the Mencken table since before Yule, waiting for us to be ambitious enough to watch them.

Also, I still haven’t gotten out to see Into the Woods — have you?  How did you like it?

Again, many thanks to the folks who have, and are, taking time to review Carousel Seas at the review site of their choice.

And that’s all I got.

How’s the new year shaping up so far for you?

So, this morning Kineo had an early appointment at Charlie’s Subaru in Augusta, for an oil change and tire rotation.  The last time I was in Charlie’s, they were in the midst of Deep Renovations.  Those upgrades are now finished.  The waiting area has comfy chairs, and three computer workstation tables; there’s a tidy little section for children to play with Nerf thingies, and, I thought, after my first, pleased look around — no television!

It was right about then that I spotted it — a monster screen mounted on the wall at the back of the area, but — it was off.  That’s right, it was off, even though the control-stick was in plain sight.  Every one of my eight companions-in-waiting were — reading books.

I sat down and joined them.

After Kineo was cleared to go, I stopped at Target to take advantage of their white sale, then eased past Barnes & Noble, where I saw a copy of Carousel Seas in the wild!  One copy of Carousel Seas, that would be, which I signed and put back on the shelf.

I came home to find that Steve had been busy in my absence, delivering the returnables to the redemption center, washing the dishes, and marinating chicken for tomorrow’s dinner.  We did lunch, then I finished the interview I’d started the other day while Steve put together an end table.

I thought, now that that interview has been sent on, that I would get to work on an InfoDump, but you know what?  I’ll do that tomorrow.

It has been bitterly cold here in Central Maine; tonight the weatherbeans are calling for a low of -16F/-26C, with tomorrow’s high to be every bit of 6F/-14C.  Happily, we have nowhere to go tomorrow, and the weather for Friday morning, when Princess Sprite will travel to visit her physician, is supposed to be sunny, with an eventual high of 26F/-3C.

So! Everybody stay warm, and I’ll see you on the flipside.

Today’s blog entry brought to you by The Hoax, “Wake me up.”  Here’s your link