Thousands of geese...

...and soon they'll be on their way again.

Good for a smile

Silent film from 1906.

Good times, good times...

 When I bought the Highlander in 2018, I only borrowed a quarter of the cost from the credit union.  The gap between that plus the trade-in was filled with a loan from my 401(k).  The company match pretty much paid the interest while I refilled the principal.  But then a year and a half later, my company was sold with the loan still years away from being paid off.  That balance, I learn, is going to be treated as a withdrawal and subject to standard taxation.  Still, it also means the Highlander is now 100% mine, paid in full in a little more than 2 years.  No more payments mean a few more bucks in the paycheck for now, with later ones to be routed back into the 401(k) in the form of pre-tax dollars. 

Coming soon

 Later this week, the bamboo pajamas I ordered should arrive.  A real impulse buy.  Scrolling through Twitter, I read a post from a woman whose bamboo pajamas had recently arrived, and she was mighty happy about it.  The whole thing sounded good to me, so I searched, found, and ordered in the span of a few minutes.  

Something (or another)

 As with a lot of useful information, this one has been attributed to a number of persons.  I'll just go with old reliable "Anonymous."

The pandemic hasn't had any effect on the first two points.  My job is still necessary and can be done from home.  And after 36 years with BB, I have someone to love and someone to be loved by.

That leaves the third point.  With so much deferred due to Covid-19, the short-term things to look forward to is a pretty short list.  But I'm going to look harder and think more about it.

So, what've I got for tonight?  I looked forward to some Quality Time with my good girl, Good Queen Schwirly.  Sure enough, around 8:00 I went into the kitchen, and soon she was there with me, looking up and mewing.  That's the constant step 1.  

Then, she goes to her dry food dish and eats a few bits while I pet her.  Eventually, she lifts her head and we both make our way to the living room.  I try to sit down first and place a fleece blanket on my lap, and she jumps up and makes herself comfortable on it.  She stays as long as she likes; tonight I didn't have a clock handy, but it was at least 15 minutes.  She was content.  I was happy.

Blank stare

 Too cold and windy to go outside for more time than it takes to refill the bird feeders.  Another day in quarantine.

I know this too shall pass and things will return to normal (mostly).  At least I'll be able to visit Tabby's Place again.  So let me just state the conditions that prevail.  

If this is a preview of retirement, I don't like it.

MLK Day, a paid holiday from work, and this morning I worked for a couple of hours, just to have something interesting to occupy my mind.  

I can't binge watch or binge read anymore.  What am I supposed to do, chores?  And these are an introvert's words -- imagine how much worse it would feel be to be *extroverted* these days.

At last, something different

 Squirrel sex outside my office window.  He chased her, caught her and mounted her three times in about a minute before I turned my attention back to work.  Right now, they're sitting about a foot apart in the same cherry tree and grooming themselves.