W.O.F. 39 Not Sure What to Call It

Man, I'm not sure where that week went. This may be the first time I went from WOF to WOF without a post. The week just shot by; what can I say? I had stuff going on just about every evening, and the dog went to the vet with a cough (now she's on about $136 worth of doggie pills not covered by my health policy; seems to be better) that kept us up a couple evenings. Gotta get her to give up the ciggies... There's helping teach new people how western square dancing works on Monday nights. There's band practice on Tuesday nights (We're attempting what we are calling "gospel week" this Sunday. Gonna shake the rafters. Uh huh. Anybody have a spare Hammond B-3 organ I could borrow? Or better yet, keep?)

Got snow last night, maybe two inches. There is always a fascination with that first magical snowfall, followed by the reality of the need to sweep and scrape off the car, shovel the walk, and drive on treacherous roads alongside all those "idiots" who had forgotten over the past nine months how to drive in inclement weather.

It is also that dark time in men's souls when one wakes up in the dark, drives home from work in the dark, walks the dog in the dark - not much enlightenment. Not many photo ops for the blog.

So in fairly rapid order, our city and county's economic development directors left their jobs for better offers, and the downtown manager left as of today. So on top of what I am pretty sure is a full time job, I am helping out the city economic development office "at least 8 hours a week" (at most? 24/7..) to keep things afloat. It is rather like the job of that guy on the Ed Sullivan show who had to keep about twelve plates spinning on rods. That's pretty much the job description these days. Minimize plate breakage.

And now "the holidays" are staring us in the face. I am working my way out of "bah humbug" mode into a more celebratory approach. I think by next Wednesday evening I will be feeling pretty festive. The prodigal son will be home Monday. The daughter and son-in-law and grand-dogs will be by around Wednesday. There will be turkey and various forms of carbohydrates, etc. Looking forward to that whole thing. I hope you are looking forward to it all as well. And for heaven's sake, come Black Friday, get out there and stimulate this poor excuse of an economy we have goin'. Buy that bass boat or Cadillac or third home in the Rockies you've been thinking about...

Oh, right, weird object. I did not find a particularly innovative item this week, but slap on the macro and it yields some cool, otherworldly, colorful photos. I really don't know what you call this thing. One of the kids, or maybe Linda, got it for me. It is one of those icky, soft, almost gooey, tentacled things that, when you punch it, it starts lighting up in all manner of colors. Inexplicably, it is located in a plastic bowl on my side of the bathroom sink. I think I like it there because, say, on a dark Monday morning, I can punch this thing and there is light and color, and I then feel a little better about going out and making it a great day. To each his/her own motivation.

For a long time, I kept this thing in its original packaging, claiming it would be worth much more as a collectible. But that's hooey. This thing has far more value as a plaything and a source of mental therapy. And so, I give you...the thing without a name....