Fragments From Floyd

~ There was Stupendous Man. And Spaceman Spiff. But my favorite of all Calvin and Hobbs alter-egos was "UnderwearMan!" I got some new ones for my birthday yesterday! Move over, Calvin. And I don't mean Klein.

~ The lost proofs were found on Friday, so the book goes soon (today?) "from proof to plate" which I assume means it has one last meal before becoming pressed.

~ I learned yesterday (thanks, Ian!) that PayPal will send the book to England for only an additional $0.21 postage for "boundary fee" or some-such. That's great!

~ I have decided the old dent-and-rust-bucket of a truck I've been driving since 1996 should go to pasture soon--literally. We will keep the 4WD truck for hauling wood and for the few occasions when this kind of traction is needed in the winter. It will bed over in the pasture behind the barn when not in use. And I will look for a small high-milage replacement I can pay for out of my little paycheck.

~ Ann says my wardrobe looks like something off of Happy Days. If I'm going to be appearing in public places, I need, first of all, new shoes. And there they were: some now BORN dressies that actually fit. They look like leather skis, dear, but that isn't your fault. Size 12. I feel like a circus clown.

~ Hey Dr. R, you figured out what kind of wood that is? The trees that died all of a sudden two springs ago I have been calling ash. No, treeman Craig said, he thinks they are elm. So now, we'll get a polished piece and perhaps even a thin section of this stuff and see if we can make a definitive ID. Whatever it is, we'll be burning a lot of it next winter.

~ I have done a poor job keeping up with pictures of the new addition. We are a week away from the laying of the tile (a nice irregular-edged sand colored thing we will lay in staggered pattern) and the new room will be complete, if very echo-y and empty for want of any money left for furniture. I figure it will be a great place to store a huge block of shrink-wrapped books. NOW I know why we needed another room on a house that seemed to be big enough already.

~ Rambling here? Moi? Actually, I'm just getting warmed up, thinking that if my fingers are moving that they might accidentally stumble across a topic for the newspaper column I need to have done by Thursday (for a deadline the following Monday). I can't keep on recyling things from what now will become the book. The pressure is on. Let's see. How about something about domestic tranquility or the battle of the sexes? Nope, already done that. A dog story? Natch. Something will come to me.