I’ve been meaning to update for months.  But on the other hand, there really isn’t much to say.  It’s all trivial stuff.

• Still working too much.  Except for today because I woke up with no heat and dread going down into the crawl space to see what’s up.  If it weren’t for the spider webs, the crawl space wouldn’t be so bad.  I’ll just keep typing here to avoid going down there.

• The winter has been very mild with higher than average temperatures.  The reservoir, which is normally long frozen by now, is still liquid.  For my short, after-work hikes, I’m still wearing hiking boots instead of snow boots or snowshoes.

• My computer took a major dive a few weeks ago.  I fixed it and then bought a new computer which runs side-by-side with the older one.  The new one is running a Linux desktop (Linux Mint and Ubuntu are both good).  I don’t know why anyone is still using windows (you can run most windows software on Linux) or why anyone pays the premium to use an Apple.  I’m tired of the extortion of repeatedly paying to have the same functionality as before.  I have to keep running the old Windows machine because of the engineering software I use is “locked” to it (anti-copy protection).

• I’ve been feeling reclusive lately.  I hate all of the stress of the holidays, not necessarily my own stress, but other people’s stress.

• I’ve loved my old Sorel boots.  This season I finally needed to get some new ones.  The old ones were made in Canada and were of high quality materials.  The new ones are made in China and are made of low quality materials.  Were they less expensive?  Nope.  Just the opposite.

• I’m tired of hearing about the economy, as if it’s something we should all be concerned about.  The stock market is at record, all-time highs. The US dollar is at a multi-year high.  Crude oil is at a multi-year low.  There is nothing wrong with the economy.  The problem is the corporations that do not pass along this great wealth to their employees.

• Ok, something positive. A fox has moved in across the road.  My neighbors who lived there for 35 years, moved away this past summer.  They always had dogs.  A recluse moved in, but never ventures outside.  As a result of both of these scenarios, the foxes have moved in.   I’ve got a great view through my windows.

A fox curled up for a nap in the neighbors yard.

Fox hunting outside my house.

The yard across the road is surrounded with a 6 foot fence.  The foxes have no problem climbing up and over.  It will be interesting to see if there are pups in the spring.  The fence might be an issue for them.  I imagine the pups would have to be grown up to get over the fence.

I wish it was easier to determine the gender of a fox just by looking from a distance.

Ok, I guess I’ll start moving furniture to gain access to the crawl space and figure out what’s going on with the heat.