Friday the 13th

“I wonder if the snow loves the trees and fields, that it kisses them so gently? And then it covers them up snug, you know, with a white quilt; and perhaps it says, ‘Go to sleep, darlings, till the summer comes again.’”

– Lewis Carroll

Truly lazying the morning away--it's 9:45 and I still haven't even brushed my teeth. The Great Microsoft Outlook Crash of 2026 brought eighteen hours or so of serenity starting around lunchtime yesterday, because I couldn't send or receive work emails. I was surprised how libertating that was, not having the BLING poking me each time an email arrived or a calendared deadline drew near. Peg and I cooked beef with broccoli for supper, a first for me, and afterwards lounged in the jacuzzi tub with a glass of wine and a little mood music.

The email's back, but the sloth hasn't abated. It's just difficult to get into the swing of work with the first snow of the season falling from slate-gray skies out there. No accumulation in Corning, except in the upper elevations, but Peg sent me this photo from when she drove over Harris Hill to work a couple hours ago.

Filled with hope that the lakeside condo's stove and chimney would finally be fixed, P and I had planned after work to ride up to Canandaigua for a weekend of watching it snow some more, reading books, and watching a little football. That all went sideways when I called our friendly technician, a nice guy we've been working with since this chimney debacle began in June, and found that they'd discovered another issue and no, I'm sorry Mr. Dickey, but you still can't build a fire for another couple weeks.

Not sure what P's going to want to to--go anyway or drive down to Manhattan. I always enjoy my time there, but hate the drive and the exhaustion I feel when I think of it. Plus, I'm flying to Florida for work at daybreak on Tuesday, and have a Zoom mediation on Monday morning, so we either come back to Corning Sunday or accept that the drive back after mediation on Monday's going to be brutal. This past return trip that departed around the same time of day took well over five hours, after we found ourselves stuck in the Lincoln Tunnel for over an hour, sucking carbon monoxide and wondering if we and the cats were going to succumb there. No matter what Google Maps says, we're taking the George Washington Bridge, or maybe the Henry Hudson, next time.

I guess I've stalled enough. No hearings or appointments today, so I'll just draft stuff and await the boss's decision on where we're spending the weekend.