Time to Fall Back

It is just barely 5 pm east coast time and it is full night courtesy of the annual end of daylight savings time. It is also, apparently, Halloween at least as far as trick or treating is concerned. As I did not get that memo, I have no candy (I spent most of actual Halloween in the San Francisco airport) so I am vastly obliged to all those parents and children who respect the fact that I don't have my porch light on and do not ring my doorbell - I'm hobbling along much better these days, but am still not up for standing in the door explaining that I don't have any candy to a disappointed 4 year old.

Not that I entirely let the fact that I was in about the least creepy / spooky place imaginable entirely put a damper on my Halloween Spirit - thus I am happy to present a Halloween Coconut (thanks, chief!).

Now, for those who are tempted to complain that it is not a real jack-o-lantern, well, you do have a point there. But by the same token, some people think the original tradition involved putting a candle inside of a carved gourd or turnip, so a coconut is just the latest in a fine tradition of local substitutions.

I am back in the USA, at long, long last, and having a bit of reverse-culture shock. There are so many people! There are so many cars! It's bloody freezing! I am also feeling just a teensy bit sorry for myself as I unpack my suitcase, do my laundry and settle in for two months of gimping around in the cold and darkness waiting to find out what sort of surgery I have to have in December. It is my hope that, whichever option I wind up having to go with, the recovery afterwards is quick since I am not well suited for sitting around and taking it easy.

On that note, I've decided I hate basically my entire house and am planning to spend the late winter and spring doing some rather extensive remodeling. Planning it will take a while, but at the moment I have the time since what ELSE am I going to do. Can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm really looking forward to going back to work tomorrow. Seeing the same four walls gets old.

Something else I'm looking forward to - election day. At this point, I just want the whole circus to be over. I got home and my inbox was totally full with election related calls and every day that I've been back it's been call after call after call - vote for this candidate, take our poll, give money to that candidate, blah, blah, blah. Leave me alone already! There is nothing a phone call can possibly say that will persuade me to vote for a candidate I have previously decided to vote against, and an unsolicited call may very well persuade me to leave part of the ballot blank rather than vote for a candidate who would otherwise have had my support. And, since I know you sell the poll results, you can bloody well stop calling me unless you're planning to pay me for my time. I've started just hanging up on people. I know, I know, it's rude but then, so is harassing someone at home with unsolicited phone calls.