It's Not a House, It's a Home

Well the new newsletter offices are pretty well setup and looking nifty and spiffy. We apologize for the makeshift lower quality of the past two issues of this publication. Things are finally settling down and we can get back to the business of producing the high quality, non sucking newsletter all of you have become accustomed to.

First of all let me describe the new place for you if I may. Unlike the old place where we pretty much ate, slept and worked in the same area, this spatial palace has separate rooms for most of life's activities. The main office has immaculate wood floors and for the first time in years we actually have our turntable set up. Having accumulated a large amount of vinyl from the days when I worked in one of the stores, this means a sudden blossoming of the choice of music we have to choose from. (Currently we are enjoying George Jones' Homecoming in Heaven). Man this is choice! Music sure is neat. On the back wall of the office hangs a print of Magrite's La Clairvoyance which one could say is the painted version of what these pages strive to be every week.

The living room also has shiny new sanded wood floors, with a nice view of the fairly steady traffic on Hamline Avenue. The home entertainment center (TV, VCRs) is setup up in the corner meaning that watching television while producing the newsletter is no longer an option. (Next big budget purchase: a laptop.) Max the Cat has been a bit lost with all the change but I'm sure he'd give the new place a big thumbs up if he had thumbs.

The other room worth mentioning is the bedroom which also has wood floors, but they are of the old variety (not having enough in the budget to get that room done). This room has nothing to do with the newsletter other than the nights that aren't spent tossing and turning are spent dreaming our little dreams which then become fodder for these pages.

We had quite the adventure getting our fancy newsletter equipment back on-line however. The problem was diagnosed as a bad video card so I had that replaced. I was very happy the problem wasn't with my hard drive which probably would have meant some major expenditures. So happy was I that on my way to pick up the repaired computer I promptly and quite solidly hit a pothole and blew out my tire and jarred all the fillings in my mouth. Wah. I brought my computer back home after getting my tired fixed only to discover that I couldn't get into Windows. Tires, windows, I could feel the doors of my own little sanity slamming shut. But being a firm believer in Tom Kelly's philosophy of doing the best that you can with what you are given, I went into the Windows setup menu and fiddled with the video options. Nothing worked, so I dragged the machine back to the shop and they found a virus which was causing the current problems. Back at home everything seems to be working OK computerwise except my modem (always has to be something)- so for all of you who contribute via e-mail, please be advised that you must get your contributions to me during regular business hours.

Well enough about my scrawny little problems. I guess if there is a moral to the story it's that life is an odd combination of deceptively smooth roads full of dangerous potholes, and the windows you take for granted someday may be surprisingly shut on you at the most inopportune times. There is always another obstacle, another nagging problem to try to find a stop gap, band aid sized solution for, and no matter what you do you will always be just across the borderline. So don't let your morale falter, just keep fighting the viruses and irritants that come your way, and enjoy the fruits of your labors. Oh yes, and the most important lesson of all? Cats don't have thumbs.