Putting up the Christmas lights

The new neighbors have shamed me. They put out their Christmas lights. Holy Snohomish-PUD! There can’t be a square inch of exposed aluminum siding on their house anymore. They must have put up a billion lights. I suspect I won’t be sleeping until the New Year.

The best part though was how they put the lights up. We put lights on our roof. I send the wife up there and I spot her. There are 2 reasons for this arrangement. Number 1: I figure I can catch her, whereas if I fall on her… well, do the physics. It’d be like Santa falling on an elf. Number 2: The wife is part nanny goat.

Anyway, back to the wacky neighbors. I got up this morning to see Mrs Neighbor parking one of their vehicles in front of my house. Why? They needed to create room for a cherry picker. And they did not get the small one either, but rather one of those big bastards that they use to work on stuff 30 or more feet in the air. Their house has almost the exact same layout as ours. We live in a split-level. A cherry picker!?!

So now, not only do I have to increase the wattage on our lights. Not only do I have to get my lights up sooner. But I need to get some big heavy equipment to help me do the job! Maybe I could rent a steam roller. Ho-ho-ho.

Busy?

I finally found some time to write (obviously). I was finally able to catch up on some of the accumulated nonsense that has been gathering in my inattention. I’ve been spending too much time at work. I have been ignoring my wife. I have not been keeping up on my personal maintenance tasks. But it hasn’t all been my fault.

I got horribly sick 2 weeks ago. At first I thought I had West Nile virus, but then I watched the news and I decided I had Bird Flu. I actually missed a day of work last week. Of course, I had to work literally all weekend to make up for the lost time. So, my wife was unhappy.

I hadn’t been spending any time entertaining her. Fortunately, we subscribe to the 5th Avenue Theatre. Last night was our night to go see Sweeney Todd. I love a story where justice is meted out at the end of a blade. Tonight we were supposed to go to the movies.

Fortunately my wife had a mini-non-emergency and we missed the show. Thank goodness. I managed to catch up on a little email. I ran on my treadmill. I got around to updating my resume (you never, never know) and I was also able to see George Carlin’s latest entry on HBO.

George is truly one of my favorites. That old bastard is still pretty gosh darn funny. As usual he was right on target as far as his observations relate to my life. His first topic tonight was suicide. That doesn’t relate to me. However his fascination with suicide was apropos. George’s interest wasn’t “why do these people kill themselves?” but rather: “How do they find the time?”