Thanksgiving is merely two days behind us. We’ve all been ‘hyped’ to near death by ‘Black’ this and ‘Black’ that (even as people are still paying down their purchases from last year), and then it came.

Our tax dollar funded myriad cadres of bureaucrats, Henny Penny like, (less than a week after NASA admitted their climate calculations to be totally wrong) came streaming out of their office buildings like Lemmings in the Artic. The first radio pronouncement I heard waking up this morning was that these Chicken Little characters were screaming “the sky is falling” in perfect unison.

Translate their “sky is falling” pronouncement into mo’ tax, mo’ tax, mo’ tax. To save us we must pay trillions more, reduce us to two-sheets of toilet paper per session, erect a barrier of windmills around every town and berg, turn back the heat (or up with A/C), and only candles after 8-pm. None of which will make one iota of difference.

”In science, consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.” ~ Michael Crichton, author

So went the week – Alright, I’ve just finished my second mug of coffee and this is how far I’ve gotten – focus Dirk

• The front end of the week found me installing a new ceiling fan in our bedroom. I have a few suggestions for the dear folks at Hampton Bay Fan, Co. Nothing nasty mind you, just a few little pointers where a suggestion or two would combine Ikea assembly techniques with theirs. We love our new fan.

• Kirstin and the gang had an enjoyable Thanksgiving with friends and neighbors. It was about that time they had a water issue (shower faucet) and in their hurry to gain an upper hand the water heater was turned off. Next question, how to restart the pilot light? Through the magic of Text Messaging and instant photo sharing – plus a phone set on speaker, all turned to cheering at the Texas end as the heater kicked in.

• We also discovered that Adrianne was still getting our mail which was on a ‘temporary’ forwarding to their place till October 15. This prompted me to have a face to face with our local Post Office’s manager. Turns out that the start-up date was entered wrong by them and was set for January 19, 2019. It’s not quite Amazon at that place, but everything seems to be straightened out.
• Tuesday morning and it was Grandparent’s Day at the school. A bit of music, a plea for money from the parent’s group, and then a visit with each of our three at the school. Always fun. Always see growth over the previous year; always see teacher’s strengths and weaknesses (a number of both). And the kiddos are always so proud!

I showed off just how behind the times I am when during the question session a second grader asked me; “which game I liked best in PS4?” I asked for clarification since I didn’t have a clue what “PS4” meant. In unison the class exclaimed; “Play Station 4”. I answered; “soccer”, and received several fist pumps. You’ve just gotta love these moments.

The gathering – With our Cincinnati family we had a delightful Thanksgiving. Thursday it was a formal Turkey dinner at the Ongoleas followed by a long walk to satisfy the exercise needs of Rugby the dog. The whole affair tired Vili out to the extent that he fell asleep at 6 pm not to wake up till 7 in the morning.

Friday it was everybody at our little condo at Chaos and Mayhem. What made it great is that we were able to play games and include everyone (except for Marcia of “I don’t do games” fame). Even a game like Scattergories included equally a second grader at one end and someone who doesn’t remember second grade at the other.

Finis – With a few hiccups I am finally getting back into my daily walking rhythm. It’s about time.

We’re back up to our normal average of mid-fifties for this time of year. Then warmer tomorrow and then the bottom will drop out again as the work week starts. It’s Fall people.

Make it a great week.

Ciao.

Dirk