A lot has gone on since my last post, but little of it seems of interest to me as far as posting goes. I did go on another "12 Pubs of Christmas" pub crawl. Nothing like a whole bunch of repetitive drinking to take your mind off repetitive sanding, painting, or bleeding air from leaky radiators. The crawl was fun but seemed to go by too quickly. We started a little late and missed the first few bars. I was still pretty much shitfaced by the time we got to The Scratcher, so don't you worry bout lil old me. The odd thing was that, like last year, I was not in the least hung over the next day, nor was I particularly tired. And, also like last year, I was again hung over from the night before the pub crawl, after having been out to Enid's for Francis' birthday. Yes, two years running now, hanging out at one bar and drinking half what I would drink the following night leaves me feeling nauseous and achy. Maybe it's all the walking you do on a pub crawl that staves off the hangover. Maybe it's mind over matter.

Last week also saw the first visit from a plumber to our happy home, ostensibly to repair a leaky radiator and install the clothes dryer (gas line, vent excavation, connections, etc). The price he quoted for the installation would pretty much bankrupt us, but I didn't see any other choice if we actually wanted to use the damn thing. Upon calling back yesterday, I was told it was now a "3 day job" and could not proceed until next week. So I told them to just come in and run the gas line, I'd install it myself, and figure out how to put the vent in, too. So in order to save some dough, I will gladly compromise the safety of the occupants of this house! And their cats.