Spectre’s Sayings

Well, yesterday was the day to put up the roof trusses. I spent a goodly part of the morning shovelling the snow the street plows had dumped in my yard out of the way so that the boom truck could get in.

The crew that were present consisted of 2 of my uncles, my father, a neighbor, my brother, and myself. The crane operator was late, so we started pulling some of the smaller trusses off the flat-bed trailer, and put up the gable over the dining room, and the girder over the front bedroom.

The boom truck arrived at about 11:30. Since I’m paying this guy about $100 per hour, that meant no lunch for the rest of us. We got all the big trusses in, and were able to get out of there shortly after 5:00pm.

It’s a real relief getting this part of the job accomplished, after being delayed, although we all had to put up with some discomfort - especially the cold and wet.

But anyway, it’s starting to look like a house. I’ll try to get some pictures soon, so that I can post them here.

O Flower of Jesse’s stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

Yet another reason to avoid black holes: radiation blasts.

O sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the holy law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

Condingsanity has posted a review of upgrading to Windows XP from Vista.

Here’s a link to a cool piece of art by John Russell, entitled The Brothers Bar-Jona.

Update: Some cretin decided to look beyond the cool idea and the composition to pan the actual execution. De gustibus non disputatem.

O Wisdom, O holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.

Imperial Stormtroopers raided Santa’s factory yesterday evening, killing an undetermined number of elves, arresting the owner, and confiscating his sled.

The emperor has said that Christmas will go on as usual this year, but a press release this morning confirmed rumors that it will be taken over by the Empire, and run under Imperial auspices.

Arcadia Ales’ dark beers blow me away. I’ll drink their light-colored beers with a mere shrug, but they certainly know how to do dark beers right.

Arcadia’s Nut Brown Ale smells and tastes of chocolate. It has a noticeable taste of hops at the finish, but it’s not overpowering. In fact, it’s even more subtle than Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale. The Nut Brown has a less complex range of flavors than does Arcadia’s London Porter Ale, but is nevertheless a very satisfying beer - especially in the wintertime.

I highly recommend it.

It snowed all day today. Setting the roof trusses on the house was therefore cancelled. So, I got a bit more sleep, shoveled a bit of snow, wrapped a couple of Christmas presents, and didn’t do a whole lot else but try to stay warm. Ah, well. Better luck next time.

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

“The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked, “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Captain Kidd’s ship has been found off a Dominican island. Ahoy, matey!

NASA has named its next-generation moon lander Altair. I know it’s the name of a star, but it just sounds so geeky.