Given current circumstances, as mentioned previously, Marscon didn’t happen as scheduled in person in Williamsburg this year, but a bunch of regulars stepped up to help create a virtual experience for those of us missing our chosen family of misfits. In the form of a bunch of online meetups, streaming video, and all the other […]

So, given the last ten days or so in Washington, we’re in all kinds of uncharted territory. While the former civics/history teacher in me is fascinated, the concerned citizen in me is, well, concerned, and not in a Susan Collins way. While I am absolutely in favor of impeachment here, because there have to be […]

That thing they say about interesting times? These might be some. That said, I’ve blathered on enough about politics and Constitutional interpretation for this week; if something happens, it happens, but that’s not what this particular utterance into the void is going to be about. Let’s get dull. This week, on the micro/household scale has […]

Today, I went back to work*. Only 270 unread emails in the queue, and 240 or so of those were system-generated cruft. Only took me about 40 minutes to address everything and move on. No crises, no bad news, and even a few encouraging developments. Other than one of the systems I have to use […]

♫ 2020, 24 Hours To Go… ♫ I should probably be sedated.

As I try to do most years, I break down the year in the form of significant digits. It’s an interesting way of remembering things throughout the year, and I kind of have fun playing around with it. 2020, of course, is 2020, and an exception to most normal things, given this once-in-a-century pandemic. This […]

At the absolute eleventh hour, after a whole big holiday temper tantrum, he finally signed the damned thing, so the government keeps running, and I can relax, at least about that, for a little while. My topical song sold a couple of copies while it remained topical, and it remains out there for your amusement, […]

So, after a couple of “kick the can” extensions, that $900 billion relief package, tied to the omnibus “fund the government” bill, got through both houses of Congress and landed on the President’s desk yesterday. Nobody really liked it; it’s totally insufficient, but that’s what they say compromise looks like, and it would carry us […]

Today is my last scheduled day of work for 2020. I’ve tied up everything I need to apart from one email response from one individual, who’s reply need only consist of “thumbs up*” for me to close the book on this particular item and feel like I’m keeping the project on track. Also, my body […]

Today inaugurates my last working week of 2020. Thursday afternoon after logging off for the year(!), I shall do the usual run to the pet store to buy cat food, and (assuming further restrictions are not imposed in the meantime and there’s a free table for me to sit down) then visit the Kroger bar […]