Doubletake Of The Day
As seen on the front page of cnn.com just now:
Bush 3.0 releases patch for Iraq war
I knew from the beginning this war was only in “beta”.
Cut Me, Mick
It’s been quiet around lunenburg.org as we’ve been settling into the new house. We’re scheduled to close on the old house this coming Wednesday, so we went over there on Saturday for some final cleanup.
Now, the old house has been known for attracting wasps. I don’t know why, we’ve sprayed, sealed, and done everything else to discourage them, but we’ll regularly find new nests around the shed, deck, pretty much any semi-protected space. I’ll spray, kill the wasps, knock down the nest, and a few weeks later there will be more. I’ve been fairly lucky in dealing with them over the past five years, only getting one sting. That was a few months ago when I was pulling stuff out of the attic, and one was apparently in there and got me on the back of the neck. A little ice, a little benadryl, and I just had an itchy lump on the back of the neck for a week or so.
Of course, on our last visit to the house, my friends the wasps had to give me a going away present. I was trimming away some overgrowth from the blackberry vines on the deck, snipping vines and pulling them out, when suddenly I felt a jab on my forehead. Upon further inspection, the goddamn wasps had a nest inside the vines, and apparently weren’t happy about my gardening. I went in and got some ice and benadryl, treated the area, and didn’t see much swelling. I did, however, start to notice my back, ankles, and other joints aching a couple hours later. I don’t know if that was sting-related or just due to Thursday night’s hockey coupled with digging up some plants, but it was weird.
Yesterday, Holly noticed my forehead swelling some on the left side, going down to my left eye and temple. Somewhat annoying, but nothing major. This morning, however, I woke up looking like Rocky Balboa – my left eye was swolen almost completely shut, and the swelling on the left side of my face was worse. I swung by an urgent care, and they gave me a steriod shot. They said that it would take care of the swelling by mid-afternoon, and it’s helped some, but really just to the point where I can have my eye open without the help of my fingers. Plus, I have the urge to try out for the San Francisco Giants.
They also gave me a couple of prescriptions, including one for an epipen, which I suppose means that at least someone thinks I’m now allergic to insect stings. I didn’t get any of the classic throat-tightening symptoms, though I suppose that could be next on the list after swelling like I’ve seen.
Thanks, wasps.
If That’s Moving Up, Then I’m Moving In
We’re moved into the new house in Rolesville. Us and about a thousand boxes, that is. Because we’re country folks, we moved the way country folks move. We raided the liquor store for free boxes. While that makes the boxes somewhat lighter on average, the neighbors and recycling folks probably think we’re raging alcoholics.
Wednesday was moving day, so the movers showed up around 8:30 and were finished around 2:30. To save time, I had them just unload all of the boxes into the garage. That meant that my day yesterday was spent lugging boxes, including what felt like Holly’s collection of lead bricks, to the appropriate rooms. My office and Holly’s craft room are especially funny in the “number of boxes vs. places to put things” arena. But we’ve got clothes, places to sleep, and the kitchen is pretty much packed away at this point, so we’re making progress.
We’re Two Houses, Living In Just One Mind
As of around 10am yesterday, I now own two houses. We’re in the process of moving to our new house in Rolesville, a process that should be complete by Wednesday. Then we should hopefully close the sale of our current house in Fuquay sometime between next Friday the 18th and the end of the month.
If you didn’t get our new address (we’re sending out emails) and need it, let us know!
Baby Got Bank
I got myself an early birthday present this week. It was something I’d seen a while ago, forgotten about, but had recently popped into my mind again.
A little bit of backstory. When I was growing up in Kenbridge, VA, we lived “in town” and thus got our mail at the post office. When I was old enough, I was usually the one to walk the five blocks or so up to the post office and get the mail. The Kenbridge post office, a 1960s-vintage building, had a few walls of post office boxes. We were PO Box 426, and I memorized my Mom’s mnemonic for the three-letter combination (**D**isc **J**ockey **H**eaven). So I’d go to our box, make the required turns, and get the mail. Occasionally there’d be something there for me.
That was the last time I had need of a post office box, but “my job” of getting the mail continued to have a lasting nostalgic memory. I found out that there’s apparently a big market for people buying old post office box doors and turning them into things, like banks, lamps, and the like.
I went searching for one of those banks. But not just any door – one just like the one in Kenbridge, with number 426 on it, and combination D-J-H. Not picky, am I? I contacted a few people who popped up on Google searches or were selling similar ones on eBay. A couple had #426, but couldn’t get the combination right. Finally, I was referred to Jane at The Little Wood Works in South Carolina. She said she could hook me up, and sure enough, a package showed up earlier this week with this inside:
It was exactly what I was looking for. And in a weird coincidence, the certificate inside said that this post office box, which was due to my nostalga for my childhood home, originally came from a post office in my current home of Raleigh, NC! Weird!
So if you’re looking for a little post office history, I highly recommend Jane. Drop her an email!
NCAA - National Collegiate Asshat Administration?
So the Florida State Seminoles, with their feather-bedecked spear logo, tomahawk chop, and guy dressed as a Native American who plants a flaming spear at the 50-yard-line is not “offensive”, but William and Mary’s logo is? WTF?
So to recap:
Not Offensive
Offensive
Seriously, what the hell are those morons at the NCAA thinking? Wait, I think I’ve got it. Florida State is a football powerhouse school that brings in lots of NCAA revenue, and William & Mary is an academic school that doesn’t.
It’s becoming clear now.
Asshats.