12-20-16

Yo Bill here. Great numbers for this day wouldn't you say and taking a break to file a brief report from Ice Station Cobra. It’s 5 (outside), 278 (K) and 15 (inside) so while it may not be a heat wave, it IS an uptick and improvement. At least the freeze guard has stopped running for a spell.

The short break is on this totally off day. Carving a couple of shorebirds in front of the fireplace with a relationship fire. You know what that is by now. Lot’s of attention to keep going but marginal warmth & heat.

The carving is with a hand tool and makes larger chips (think whittling) so work & collect the small pile & toss into the fire. The gross carving sometimes is the most fun & the two species today are going well until some soreness developed. I took the protective glove off and then became needlessly careful so it was time to have a tea break and regroup. The fire also needed a larger log. This is today's image.

After I tire of the red knot & red-kneed dotterel for today, I have 3 or 4 tropical fish that are ready for final fine carving which may have to take place in the garage studio due to required use of the power tool for finer detailing. It would be simply smashing if I could get all of them to a point where I could sit & burn scales tonight during a game on the radio.

Last night I had duck soup which was terrific. I am thinking that duck has the same tryptophan as turkey as I knodded off shortly afterwards but before I watched an episode of the Man in the High Castle on amazon prime. Allow me expand on this a bit.

This is tv & technology at its finest. A superb story line & concept by the late Philip K Dick. As a Fan of his work, the story has some of his trademark literary tricks, workings & vehicles.

The action splits between flawlessly between the German & Japanese-controlled sections of post-war US and there were a couple of scenes from the new ‘world’ capital in Berlin. The airport showed incredible detail with large Concord-style jet planes with nazi markings unloading passengers at a terminal.

The actors are mostly not familiar or recognizable which is fine and what has struck me thus far is how brutal both sets of occupiers are and how the indigent Americans are either complying & conforming or being … well, let’s just say the atrocities are a regular occurrence.

Alright. I must get back to work.

This report should be considered a bonus as it was unplanned.

Truth be told I actually DID receive a check yesterday which reminds me I must check balances, perform some local financial planning and do a trip out while traffic is lightest & the tide allows.

Bill out, chill out.