Things Are Looking Up

Unless of course, you live in the eastern third of the nation . . .

But even that disaster has a silver lining for me, as I have been called in to help man an overflow FEMA disaster assistance phone bank. I start this afternoon.

"But wait, Scott," some of you might be saying, "what about your ankle?" It's doing great, thanks. Saw the doctor again yesterday, and he says things are going very well. Wants to see me in another three weeks to make sure the healing is continuing, and he -- of course -- wants me to "be careful" at all times. Hey, not like I was going to take tap dancing lessons or anything.

The next big challenge is getting this move organized. With both of us working, it's going to be tough, even though I don't expect the FEMA gig to last more than a week or so. What we really need to do is rent a foreman, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that. More information (and our new address!) as it becomes available.

Good luck to my East Coast friends. Stay safe.

October Surprise

Wow. Been a busy, eventful couple of weeks. Plus, it's October, my favorite month of the year, when the weather turns, I get to watch a month of high-drama postseason baseball, and it all ends with Halloween. What could be better?

First, the ankle. My follow-up with the orthopedic surgeon went very well. He told me that the surgery was a complete success, he was very happy with my post-surgical progress, and that after just a week or two more to make sure the healing is solid, I can start being more mobile and kiss the hospital bed, wheelchair, and walker goodbye. I have a feeling the walking boot and a cane will still be with me for a while after that, but I'll know more after the next doctor visit at the end of the month.

Second, moving. After a tense couple of days where we were scrambling to get cashier's checks for security deposits, filling out lease applications, and then sweating out a selection process where the owner had two sets of financial data and had to choose which one he wanted . . . we got the house! Well, it's a duplex. But it's on nearly a half-acre and it is exactly what we wanted -- still close to Buda, much smaller than our current house, and much cheaper. We get the place on Nov. 1. Closing on our current place got pushed back to Nov. 16, so we have a good-sized window to get the move done. We are extremely happy about this turn of events.

Good news all around!

Ow

Well, that was fun. And moderately painful. The good news is that the surgery appears to have gone quite well, and it ended up not being as complicated as it could have been. The surgeon visited me in pre-op with a final little pep talk, and told me there would definitely be one incision along the outside of the foot and lower leg where he would install a plate and some screws to completely stabilize the broken leg, plus if he found some other problems, up to two other incisions in other places to make further repairs.

When I came to in post-op, the surgeon was long gone, having moved on to the next half-dozen or so operations he had lined up. But the nurse informed me that I have just the single incision, and I take from that the guess that things went well.

The leg is completely wrapped in a splint and some sort of adhesive gauze from the foot to nearly the knee, and is quite immobile. It also hurts a fair amount, less if I keep taking the pain drugs they gave me. It's just the first day after the operation after all, and I expect it will hurt less as time goes along.

So, bottom line: Doing OK. Still immobile. Looking at another 4-6 weeks recovery. Yawn.

Under the Knife

My, how time flies when you're . . . well mostly, I've been laying in a bed or sitting in a wheelchair, staying off my injured ankle and hoping it would heal on its own. That hasn't happened, so it's operation time.

I will be getting orthopedic ankle surgery tomorrow morning at Seton Hays Hospital. It's a day surgery, which means I show up really early, they operate, and then I'm sent home that afternoon. This tends to make me think this surgery is not a big deal, but I also know that all surgery is, one way or another, a big deal. So I'm a little nervous (also, anxious and trepidatious).

Post surgery, they tell me I'm looking at another 4-6 weeks recovery time doing pretty much exactly what I've been doing all this time already. The only difference will be that with a couple little metal plates screwed into my fibula and some other ankle parts put back in their proper place, it really will heal this time.

Theoretically.

I'll log on later this week and let you know how it all went. Send whatever psychic, karmic, emotional, or spiritual good vibes you care to. Thanks.

Bam!

Great news on the housing front -- somebody made us an offer, and we accepted it! A few more hurdles have to be, uh, hurdled, but if it all goes well we will be out of here by the end of October. Yay!

So we have kicked the search for a new place to live into a higher gear, and Louise has already found one place she's pretty excited about. Still a ways to go on this front, too, but we've got some time to nail this down. Fun with real estate!

Friday Update

Saw the orthopedist this morning (rescheduled from yesterday), and the news was lukewarm. Nothing's displaced, nothing has gotten worse, but there hasn't been a lot of healing, either. His recommendation: two more weeks of complete rest. If we continue to not see much progress, surgery becomes more of an option. But for now, two more weeks in my comfy hospital bed and wheelchair. Ooo fun!

Three Weeks Down (Plus A Little ...)

God, I wish I had something to report. Went back to the hospital yesterday for new X-Rays, but won't know what they show until the big follow-up appointment with the Orthopedic Surgeon guy tomorrow afternoon. On the plus side, it was the first time I'd left the house in three weeks. Good to get outside, even if it was 100+ degrees out.

Nothing much else to report. Doing some reading, Watching some TV, Entertaining the occasional visitor. The folks at church have been very good about helping us out. I have some friends that I keep in touch with online (Facebook, mostly) who are strident, aggressive atheists. I understand the intellectual foundation of their argument, but when they go on about the excesses and evils of organized religion, all I can think is that they don't know the church I know. But that's a gulf I don't expect will be bridged anytime soon.

Two Weeks Down

It was two weeks today that an orthopedic surgeon took a look at the X-rays of my ankle and we discussed my various options. Surgery was not a first choice, though part of me just wanted to get it over with. Of course, it's not really getting it over with, because post-surgery rehabilitation (and rest) would still be part of the deal.

Instead, he recommended bed-rest, staying off my right leg as completely as humanly possible. So it's been two weeks now in a hospital bed, transferring briefly to a wheelchair and rolling around the house to get to exciting destinations like the bathroom and the kitchen. Mostly though, I lie in a hospital bed and watch TV. There's not a whole lot on in the afternoons, though I did enjoy watching all the Little League World Series games the past two weeks. This week and next there will be a ton of US Open tennis on the tube, but I'm not really that much into tennis. Still, any port in a storm.

Louise started school last week, and it looks like her autism class is going to have a lot more students this year. She'll be working hard, and could use some kind thoughts.

The good folks of Faith Presbyterian Church continue to be a big help. We've been getting meals, cards, even visits on a fairly regular basis. It's been great, and we continue to be thankful for their ministry.

I have about 10 more days of this before I get another set of X-rays and the ortho-guy decides what to do next. The possibilities range from, "You're healed! Pick up your pallet and walk." to "More rest. See you in a few weeks." to "Well, that's not working. On to Plan B." Whatever Plan B is . . .

I'll keep you posted.

When It Rains . . .

. . . actually, it's August in Texas. It never rains. But it does get hot. Real hot. Hardly an opportune time for the house air conditioner to go out, yet it has. Repairmen are crawling about today, replacing a compressor and a coil and getting ready to charge us $3,600 for the privilege.

On the plus side, we can now update our house listing to include "brand new A/C!" On the minus side . . . uh, I did mention what this was going to cost, right? Back on the plus side, it will be nice to have the house comfortable again.

Oy, what a week I'm having!

Gravity Is A Harsh Mistress

The congregation at Faith Presbyterian Church, like that of most mainstream Protestant churches, is getting older at an alarming rate. Over this year, a number of our congregation have found themselves laid up with various injuries, almost all of them stemming from the simple act of falling down -- broken legs, hips, arms, pelvises -- it got to the point that I suggested to our now-departed pastor that he skip his usual more spiritually-themed sermon and address common household safety, in a sermon I suggested he entitle, "Enough With The Falling Already!"

Turns out the joke was on me. About ten days ago, here in the house, I fell. Down the stairs. Bent my leg back behind me and sort of landed on my right foot and ankle. Hurt. A lot. As I laid there, assessing what parts hurt the most, I immediately thought of the joke about the Aggie who read that most accidents happen in the home . . . so he moved.

I tried to stand . . . and did! It hurt, and everything was stiff and sore, but I could put weight on it, and I figured if I let it rest and let nature do her healing magic, I would be OK. And I was, more or less. Got around with the help of a cane for about a week.

Now, a small digression to talk about health insurance. I finally became eligible for health insurance via the Federal Government around the same time I hurt myself (in fact, I sent in my enrollment papers the day before). But the applications have to wind their way through two bureaucracies (first the Feds, then the insurance company itself), and it turns out I won't be actually covered until next week (Aug. 12, to be precise). That's OK, I told myself -- I survived one week, I can certainly survive another. But since I wasn't going to get insurance help for a while, I figured I'd bite the bullet and visit one of those Urgent Care places (aka "Doc In A Box") for a quick exam and maybe some x-rays.

Turns out -- and here's where it gets funny -- I broke my leg. More specifically, the fibula, just above the little knobby thing at the bottom. I also have some displaced ankle parts, and he believes (though it will take an MRI to confirm) I also have multiple torn ligaments. He thinks I'll need surgery.

I asked the young doctor if the injuries were as severe as he detailed, how was it that I had been walking around, more or less, the past week? He said, "I don't know." So, I'm going to go with the theory that I am one macho dude who can tolerate excruciating pain by sheer force of will . . . even though the rest of my life is a stirring example of pretty much the exact opposite.

So the plan is -- get through this week. I did get one of those fancy walking boots from the clinic, which is helping me get around and reducing my stiffness and pain. Next week, my insurance will become active, and I can see a doctor. It also looks we're finally going to get furloughed at the IRS next week, too, so I will suddenly have health insurance and a ton of free time. I think I can make that work.

Speaking of the IRS, I got a promotion and a good-sized raise last week. It won't make a lot of difference this season, as it is kicking in just as we're getting furloughed, but it will be nice come next season.

So . . . be careful out there. And Enough With The Falling!

Happy Trails

A quick news update -- no news whatsoever on the house. People are still coming by, but nothing beyond that. Not sure what we need to do next, or even if there's anything we can do, but I'm hoping our realtor will be able to shed some light on the situation.

Found out a little more about those full-time IRS positions I didn't get. Turns out one of the people who did get one of the jobs was . . . my boss. Seems they were hiring from a whole 'nother level of experience all along, and three seasons in, I'm just not there yet. Emphasis on the yet.

Things continue to be interesting at work. A half-dozen or so of the most senior members of our crew were sent off to Washington DC last week for training sessions by Homeland Security experts on false identity documents. Then they will come teach the rest of us what they learned, and we will use that information in the stepped-up fight against document and identity fraud that our department is in the middle of. Given all the extra time and training we're dealing with, it looks like I'll be working here for quite a while yet this season, which is good news indeed.

And lastly, I want to take a moment to honor Rev. Lou Snead, who preached his last sermon yesterday morning as pastor of Faith Presbyterian Church here in Austin. He and his lovely wife Michelle are embarking on the adventure of retirement, with lots of travel and family and grandkid-watching and gardening on the agenda. Lou was pastor at Faith for 17 years, and I have never seen a better fit between minister and congregation. As Lou said at the retirement party we threw for him on Saturday, "I would have been here longer if I had gotten here sooner." Lou is one of the finest people I have ever known, a living embodiment of St. Francis of Assisi's advice to "preach the gospel at all times and when necessary, use words." Like everybody else in the Faith community, I will miss him terribly.

One of the policies of the Presbyterian Church is that, upon retirement, a pastor distance himself from his former church. This not only helps the congregation move forward, it doesn't put the next pastor in the difficult situation of having to deal with constant comparisons to the previous minister. (Some of that is going to happen anyway, of course, but trying to minimize it is a good idea.) Today, just one day removed from his last Sunday on the job, I find it very difficult to imagine a spiritual life at Faith (or anywhere else) that Lou is not smack-dab in the middle of. But I know that I, along with the rest of the Faith congregation, must find that new path, that new way to be witnesses to Christ's message in a needy world, that moves forward without our pastor of 17 years. It won't be easy, but I remain hopeful.

Strike Three

A quick update: Got another set of conflicting emails from my IRS masters about the permanent full-time gig, so this time I took advantage of the "if you have any questions" link. Got a prompt reply (good!) saying that the conflicting information went out due to some sort of computer glitch (bad!) and that, after reviewing my file, it turns out I did not make the cut (worse!).

C'est la vie. Or, to put it another way, que sera, sera. Or to put it yet another way, crappity crap crap.

... And The Livin' Is Easy

It is so summer here in Texas. Got our first few 100-degree days in the forecast for later this week. It's times like these I envy my sister Laurie and her backyard pool -- I would live in it 24/7 if I could.

Good news on the work front: The second official meeting to announce when they were going to start sending more of us IRS tax examiners home was canceled. Just like the first one. I could be there for weeks more, or months. It's not that they're not telling us (though they aren't) -- I think it is that they don't know themselves. There's a lot going in on our department with upcoming changes in a lot of our policies and procedures, and the new training for all that could keep us all there for a while.

I also heard about the permanent full-time positions they were accepting applications for back in March, and I made the first cut and made the Best Qualified list. That's good, but not a lock. What happens next -- or when -- is just as big a mystery as it was in the three-month wait from application to this latest news. Stay tuned.

Had a few more people come look at the house this past couple of weeks, but no progress. I get the impression it's a lot of waiting around with no idea what's going on until the realtor calls one day with the news that we have an offer. Kind of like the job news, where you know nothing, you know nothing, you know less than nothing ... then bam! It happens.

When I get a bam!, I'll let you know.

We're Listed

The house is officially for sale. The realtor came over this afternoon, took pictures, pounded the "For Sale" sign in the front yard, dropped off the paperwork. I don't expect anything to happen instantly (or even quickly), but it's nice to take this major step.

Great Weekend

The title says it all. We haven't had this good a weekend in a long time. It started Friday night, when Louise went to see one of her favorite bands, Flogging Molly, who were on tour and playing in Austin. I had to work, but Louise had a great time, and knowing she was having a great time made me feel better. Louise spent Saturday at a yoga expo with her yoga teacher (a lovely lady we know from church), and came home happy and energized. And Sunday, we had dinner-and-a-movie at the Alamo Drafthouse and caught The Avengers.

Really good movie. If you have any interest in the comic-book movie genre at all, you will really enjoy this one. I won't bother to do a review, since there's plenty of material out there already about it. Just go.

How good a weekend was it? I have to head off to work in a little while, and I don't mind at all. Completely ready to start the week and hit the ground running. We have to do this more often.

Making The Cut

A quick update on a number of subjects:

First off, furloughs have begun at the seasonal IRS gig. The temps hired just for this season were let go earlier this week, and the first round of seasonals go home next week. Good news is, my evaluations and seniority put me high enough on the ranking list that I will be passed over for furlough and get to keep working. There will be another round of furloughs in a few weeks, but I have no idea when the cuts will come or if I will be able to dodge that second bullet. They're going to send me home at some point, but I don't know when.

And nobody has heard anything about the permanent positions they announced a few months ago. Not a peep. So I'm going to file that under "it happens when it happens" and stop worrying about it.

Had a nice visit with Ben and his wife Stephanie a couple weeks back. Ben reported for US Navy Basic Training about 10 days ago. They keep those guys bottled up pretty tight during the training, so we haven't heard much. Training should take another six weeks or so, but I don't know the exact dates.

Work on selling the house has slowed to a near-standstill. Thing is, we don't have that much stuff left to do, but we're not getting it done. Time to get re-energized and re-motivated.

Doing a date night Sunday night with Louise -- dinner and a movie at a new Alamo Drafthouse location that opened just a few miles away. Right now, the front-runners are The Avengers and Dark Shadows. Details later.

Long Overdue Update

Hi. Long time, no blog. And the weird thing is, the longer you go without doing something, the bigger the task becomes (that's one of the laws of thermodynamics, or perhaps procrasto-dynamics), and the bigger it becomes, the more difficult and daunting it becomes, until you just don't want to think about for weeks or months at a time.

Well, enough of that. Lots going on, so I will try to hit the high points and keep moving.

I am completely recovered from my leg issues. I was knocked flat for about two weeks, and then had two more weeks or so of slow recovery, but for the past six weeks or so I have been just fine. In retrospect, I should have just gone to the hospital the day I got sick, but not having health insurance, I decided not to. I still spent a fair chunk of change on the medical-industrial complex, and I guess it worked out in the end.

Things are going well at the IRS. I'm working my regular 5pm to 1:30am shift, plus some overtime here and there. We'll have plenty to keep us busy for at least another month, and then they'll start furloughing people. I'm trying to delay that moment for as long as possible, but we'll see. The really exciting news is that they announced 25 (!) full-time permanent job openings in my department back in March, and I eagerly applied, along with a bunch of other folks. None of us have heard anything back yet, but I didn't expect to right away. After three tax seasons, I'm starting to get a feel for how the government does things (and you can take that any way you want to). Anyway, I like my chances -- I have a ton of experience, and it's the right experience, plus I had a lot of help from our Team Manager with filling out all the paperwork and using the right buzzwords to get past the screening process. The only variable is how many other people applied: 50? 500? I don't know.

We're still committed to selling the house and moving into some place smaller and cheaper, but getting the current house ready to sell is taking longer than we hoped. We're not listed yet, but we're shooting for Real Soon Now -- like by the end of the month, or early May. More on this as developments warrant.

We're getting a visit from oldest stepson Ben and his lovely wife Stephanie this week. Ben is headed off to Navy basic training in less than two weeks, and is coming through the area to see some family before he leaves. He'll start at the Great Lakes naval station in Chicago, and I don't know much beyond that. There's a good chance Ben doesn't know much beyond that, either. (Like I said earlier, I'm starting to get a feel for how the government does things.)

I feel that Louise and I are starting to emotionally withdraw from our church commitment, and that makes me sad. The pastor who has been there as long as we've been going (over 10 years now) is retiring, and it's made it hard to get excited about the future there. The church is way more than just the pastor, of course, and I have to reconnect with that part of the relationship if I'm going to continue to be a member. The only thing I'm really excited about is our little worship band, Banned From The Church. It lets me channel my inner rock star and make some fun music with some nice, talented people. I guess I'll use that as an anchor point, and try to expand and re-engage from there. Or something like that.

Enough of an update? Hope so, 'cause it's all I've got right now. Comment if you want, or if you have any questions, or whatever. 'Til next time . . .

My Left Leg

If there is one part of my body that has consistently betrayed me throughout my adult life, it has been my left leg. (Another part of my body that has consistently betrayed me is my mouth, but that's a whole 'nother story.)

I am finally recovering from a miserable week laid up at home with an attack of cellulitis in that traitorous left leg. It started with an initial bout of chills, shivering, shaking, massive headache and nausea that, while it did not make me wish for death, I considered it possible it might be coming, anyway. The next night the chills were replaced by feverish sweating, though the headache persisted. Finally, 40 hours after it started, on Monday afternoon I left the bed and gingerly stepped downstairs. Spent a couple of hours sitting in a comfy chair, then went back to bed.

On Tuesday, I felt better ("better" being a relative term), so I went in to work. Big mistake. Felt lousy, wasn't exactly productive. My boss convinced me that the massive federal bureaucracy would grind on without me for a few days. Wednesday, did what I should have done immediately -- went to the doctor. Got good antibiotics. Improvement rate raised dramatically. Now, on Friday, I really do feel well enough to work. We'll call it my spring vacation.

This is not the first time I've been hit with cellulitis, and it's always been my left leg (though one time, I seem to recall, it was both legs. That was less fun than usual.) The first two times it put me in the hospital, and now I managed to get through it (perhaps stupidly) without in-patient care.

The first time was the most fun, as I wasn't home. I was in Las Vegas, with Louise. The way I remember it, some GAMA folks were headed out there to tour the facilities and negotiate with the convention staff of the Orleans, and word went out on the Secret Masters Of Gaming grapevine that a gaming weekend could be had, as the eager-to-please hotel staff had some unused function space that they could set up a bunch of tables of chairs in and turn us loose. I seem to remember about 40 people showed up, games were played, fun was had, and the Orleans and GAMA had a nice successful run at trade show hosting for around 10 years or so. It was a great time, until I got hit with the infection in the middle of our last night there. I could barely walk, much less pack up and lug our stuff down to checkout and to the airport. Fortunately, the worst of it broke while we were sitting in the airport waiting for our flight. Then it was home, and the next day, the hospital.

But my left leg has not been willing to settle for just a severe infection that hits without warning every few years or so. No, this was also the leg that got mashed up good in our 2005 car accident, causing two operations and months of follow-up treatment. I still have a very impressive scar. No wonder my left leg doesn't like me.

The Four Sweetest Words In All Of Sport

"Pitchers and Catchers Report."

Baseball's back, baby! Spring Training sites are opening up all over Florida and Arizona, and optimism reigns supreme. Of course, these things are relative -- for my beloved Houston Astros, optimism is all about not sucking quite so bad as last year. A 106-loss season will suck the life out of the most dedicated fan.

And it's not like the 'Stros are going to get better right away. The young guys they're playing now are mostly just place-holders for the more-talented young guys who are still a couple of years away. New guys like Jose Altuve, Jimmy Paredes, and J.D. Martinez are the best we've got right now, but they're hardly world-beaters.

I'll write more in depth about the new season after the teams have had a few weeks to settle things out. But for now, I'm just glad to see all the reports from the camps and hear all the optimism.

Out Of The Tunnel

I spent the better part of the last two weeks going through my massive game collection, plus books, comics, DVDs, and other things that are heavy. Boxing it all up and carting it around made me think of the old saying, "Friends help you move. Real friends help you move books."

Some of the stuff went to Half-Price Books. The prices aren't the best, but it's one-stop convenience, and they got most of the non-game material. The rest is going to Noble Knight, a huge online game dealer located in Janesville, WI, not too far from my old stomping grounds in my TSR days at Lake Geneva. I have catalogued 24 boxes of stuff, and we are in the process of getting it all shipped their way and sold. So far, things have gone really well and I can give them a high recommendation.

So what's in these 24 boxes, weighing well over half a ton? The single biggest contributor was Call of Cthulhu. For several decades I pretty much bought every new CoC supplement that came out. I haven't actually played CoC in years, mind you, but I kept all the stuff, y'know, just in case. Plus, until I found Noble Knight, I had no idea how to deal with the pile other than throwing it all away (which I just wasn't going to do). Other games healthily represented included Axis & Allies Miniatures and Boardgames, XXVc (remember the Buck Rogers roleplaying game?), D&D in all its various editions, plus a healthy collection of Steve Jackson Games material (mostly employee comps) dating back to my many years working there.

My office was a total disaster area, with filled bookcases in every open wall space, plus a pile of stuff on the floor filling the rest of the room to a depth of about three feet. But now ... the furniture is still here, but the rest of it is gone! That means the painters and carpet people can get in here and spruce things up, which I'm looking forward to.

In other news, I RTD (Return To Duty) tonight at the IRS. I don't expect things to be any different from last year, but we'll see.

Your Tax Dollars At Work

Got the call -- going back to work at the IRS for another tax season, starting Jan. 31. I work in the ITIN division, which is responsible for issuing Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers to people who don't have a Social Security Number but still need to deal with the IRS, either as filers, claimed dependents, or something else. I work the night shift, 5 pm to 1:30 am, because it pays more than days.

I will not see Louise very much the next few months, as our schedules are complete opposites. That's tough, and things will only get more complicated as we continue to work on moving. Speaking of, the interior painting is almost done, and I am closing in on finishing the liquidation of my vast game and book collection. I feel like an archaeologist as I dig deeper and deeper into stacks, boxes, and the occasional Hoarders-style pile of RPG books, old magazines, comic books, card games, board games, CCG sets, and more. It's quite the trip down memory lane, coupled with many "what was I thinking?" moments. Good times.

I Got Hacked!

Every once in a while, I get an email from a friend, but it's not really from them. The copy is usually pretty generic, or has nothing to do with them at all, and it invites me to click on a link. I usually delete the email and think to myself, "Poor sucker got hacked. Glad I'm too smart for that."

Well . . . um . . . you see, the thing is . . . it happened to me. I got some emails earlier this week from friends, asking, "uh, did you mean to send this to me?" And I was appalled. I got suckered. I know who did it, too -- Seth Myers of Saturday Night Live fame, via his Twitter feed. The tweet didn't make a lot of sense, but I figured he was a comedian and maybe he was making some sort of joke. Turns out the joke was on me.

The upside of computer problems is that it gives me an excuse to talk to my personal IT guru, my stepson Ben. He walked me through Spybot and Adblock Plus and answered some other computer questions I had been saving up for the next time I talked to him. He and his lovely bride seem to be doing well, but he sounded tired -- you gotta work a lot of hours to make a living at the wages WalMart pays.

Then, as a bonus, I put his mother on the line, which I know made Louise's night. That felt good.

No, They Don't Come On Wheels

My lovely wife dropped some interesting literature on me last week in regard to our search for a smaller, cheaper place to live -- brochures and promotional material from a manufactured housing company.

My first reaction was not positive. Many years ago (my senior year in college) I lived in what was called back then a "trailer home." I don't remember if it was on wheels or not, but it was a dump, cheap and flimsy. It did fit my economic needs, however, as we were splitting the rent four ways. But it did forever color my opinion of this type of housing.

Until Louise took me back to the company's lot yesterday afternoon. I was really impressed by the quality, the space, the commitment to energy efficiency, and the prices and financing options. The homes are installed on traditional foundations, not put up on blocks or wheels. This could work.

Speaking of work, the interior house painting is coming along nicely, but there's a ton of stuff to do of the sorting/packing/hauling variety. The only way to tackle a pile this big is one bite at a time. So I'm off to nibble ...

Book Tour 2012

Still reading . . .

4. The Last Testament: A Memoir. By God and David Javerbaum. "God" retells most of the major stories of the Bible (Creation, The Flood, Abraham and Isaac, Exodus from Egypt, Jesus), shedding new light on the events with behind-the-scenes tidbits. (For example, God gets so caught up in the awesome display of faith Abraham shows by agreeing to kill his son, that He forgets to stop the sacrifice, until an angel reminds him at the last second.)

Smaller sections answer the big theological questions: Why do bad things happen to good people? Does God answer prayers, especially at sporting events? What about all the other religions? The God of this book is a bit dysfunctional, with some serious anger management problems (which he cops to), and a philanderer (dalliances with other universes). I wasn't looking for theological insight in this book, and I didn't get any. What I was looking for -- some laughs -- I got plenty of. Worth the time.

Book Tour 2012

I want to read more books in 2012, and one way to keep myself motivated is to blog about them. So 10 days in to the New Year, I have already knocked off a few:

1. Writing Movies for Fun and Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too. By Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. You may remember Garant and Lennon from the Comedy Central series Reno 911!, but mostly they work as Hollywood screenwriters. Their goal, as they entertainingly relate in the book, is not to write good movies, but to write successful ones. And there's lots of serious, practical advice on how to do just that. Unfortunately, their very first rule -- move to L.A. -- was a dealbreaker for me, but a lot else of what they said was great advice for writers (and game designers) in general. Plus it's a very funny read.

2. World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. By Max Brooks (son of comedy legend Mel). When we went to visit my stepson Ben and his wife just before Christmas, at some point the conversation turned to this book. Ben said he hadn't read it, and Louise and I both insisted he should. So we tracked down our copy when we got back home, and I'm sending it off to him. But before I packed it up, I opened it and started reading, just to see if it was as good as I remembered it. Finished it early the next day. It was as good as I remembered it.

3. Pawnee: The Greatest Town In America. By Leslie Knope. Leslie Knope, of course, is the fictional character played by Amy Poehler in the NBC comedy Parks & Recreation, and this is a tie-in book to separate the fans from their money. They even worked the book into the storyline last fall for one of those synergistic cross-promotion things. Which would normally annoy me, but the book is the funniest thing I've read in a long time. Fair warning: If you don't know the characters and story of the TV show, many of the jokes will make no sense at all. For fans, though, this is a laugh-out-loud (which I did many times, much to the consternation of my wife) treat.

Iowa Turns Out Like Illuminati

If I'm going to be a regular blogger, I guess I have to write about politics every once in a while, right?

Watched a lot of the coverage of the Iowa caucuses last night. I didn't learn anything new about any of the candidates. The big surprise for me was the late surges by both Rick Santorum and Ron Paul to make it a three-way race moving on to the rest of the January primaries.

But why these two? A few months ago, when the Ames straw poll kicked things off, it was Michelle Bachmann who had the momentum as the "candidate who wasn't Mitt Romney." Then her light faded with the brief advent of the Donald Trump candidacy, and then the Rick Perry run, which looked like a rocket sled to stardom until he opened his mouth. And then it was Herman Cain's turn, and then it was Newt Gingrich's turn, and finally Santorum and Paul. There might have been other candidates to surge into the "not Mitt" slot, but the GOP started to run out of people, and more importantly, time. Like a game of musical chairs, whoever was riding the bubble when the music stopped and people had to actually cast a ballot, would take the prize.

And that brings me to Illuminati, the classic card game by Steve Jackson Games. There are several strategies to winning that have nothing to do with how you play the cards and manage your resources. It's all about laying low and appearing to not be a threat, all the while alarming the rest of your opponents over how close someone else is to winning. If you bubble too soon, the rest of the players will gang up on you to bring you down. If you bubble at the right time -- after several other bubbles have been shot down -- your opponents will be out of resources to stop you and you can step into the winner's circle.

If Bachmann's bubble had been the last to emerge, instead of the first, then maybe she'd be the one with all the momentum. Ditto for Perry, Cain, and even Gingrich. The lesson here, as in Illuminati, is simple: don't make your move too soon.

Moving Update

Things got suddenly serious this week. Louise rented a storage unit and enlisted the help of some strapping young men volunteered up by some of her knitting parlor friends, and a goodly chunk of spare and/or unused furniture got carted out of the house. This empties out a couple of rooms, which will allow the painting and floor work to begin.

And I met with a realtor who thinks the whole thing is doable, from selling our current house to finding something smaller and cheaper. Of course, it's his job to be optimistic, so we'll see.

Now, the task is to divide every single thing in the house into five categories. They are:

• Stuff to hang on to and take to the new house
• Stuff to put in storage (this category should be zero, but we'll see)
• Stuff to donate to charity
• Stuff to sell
• Stuff to throw away

Let the fun begin!