20070130 :::
 

This was going to be another Missing Mia alert, but she turned up safe & sound, sometime around 10pm this night. Don't know all the details, but you can find them in those blogs that actually care about her & her problems. I was asked to post the alert, when the good news came in. Hopefully, I will never have to write about our area's own little Paris Hilton again. Now, I don't even have to post her picture.

Labels: Mia, Paris Hilton

::: at 04:39

20070129 :::
 

Well, today my reporting job was eliminated. Costs. I loved that job, if only because it took me to interesting places & interesting people. It didn't bring in much money, but the other perks were nice. I did complain once about not sleeping in my own bed, but that was just stupid. When everything else is so interesting, who cares about such frou-frou? Guess I had to lose it to miss it.

This does give me more time to blog, though. So I'm trading a few readers for probably none, & some money for none. Think there's something missing, there. And of course, more time to hang about the Ranch. The main problem with this is that they can pretty much run things without me here. In fact, as Rusty often reminds me, I'm frequently in the way, here. However, until something else comes along, here I am. At least the Ranch is self-sustaining.

Labels: Ranch, Rusty, Unemployment

::: at 18:00

20070128 :::
 

Ran into a bit of trouble the other day...had been driving around the bush with the Novitiate, just taking a bit of a look-see, when we came upon the old Mendenhall place, surrounded by both state & local cops. Several, including Old Joe (who's been a cop around here forever), were crouched behind a tree, with their weapons drawn & crouched. We were driving past that old place because it was the most direct way to get back to the Ranch. Sherriff Rohan stopped us, & told us to go back, & go home the roundabout way. He wasn't in any mood to answer our questions, so we just backed up & went the other way. The next day, I mentioned our little adventure to Rusty who--being the snoop he is & also knows how to tap into secrued files--went online & attempted to discern what had happened. There was nothing...absolutely nothing about the incident, that he could find. He was searching the relevant databases &--according to him--if it's not in there, there's no official report of it. As this happened at a remote site, wondering if they're taking their time in draughting the report, or if there's some kind of a coverup. Since I don't go to town as much, I don't see Rohan as much as I used to...next time I see him though, I'll definitely ask.

Maggie joined us for supper Friday night, even as she was planning a week out with the girls. She was mad because Tim--a local politician, entrepreneur, schemer & skirt-chaser of women half his age--called her a lesbian. She had run into him at a sundries store in town. Apparently, he was trying to ask her out on a date. When she told him that she didn't date (which shouldn't have been too subtle of a hint for Tim), that's when he accused her of being a lesbian. He then compounded the problem by asking if she'd had her heart broken, & saying "Boo Hoo." She told him to Fuck Off, & he responded that he'd have her job. Well, he hasn't said anything to me about it yet. If he does, I'll probably tell him the same thing. Maggie left us early to go into town to watch some chick flick with some of her friends, & then go drinking afterwards.

::: at 16:14

20070127 :::
 

Whose Body? is the very first Lord Peter Wimsey mystery novel...as I like mystery novels, I read it. Wimsey was as popular as Sherlock Holmes during his day, although Sherlock won the race in the long run. He would be comparable to the lesser knownS.S. Van Dine detective Philo Vance, although Vance was considerably more arrogant than Wimsey. They would have the same meddling upper class influecnce, though. Wimsey's shtick is to act like an upper class imbecile, using it to disarm the criminal element & find out information from others without seeming to interrogate them. His character is considerably more human than most detectives: indeed, he suffers from shell shock from his involvement in WWI, & even has a breakdown mid-way through the novel, retreating to the family's country estate to recouperate. And his valet, Bunter, is more than just the typical right hand man. He appears just as competent as Wimsey in some matters, & considerably more competent than his boss in others. Wimsey apparently gets his disarming style from his mother, the Duchess, shown to good effect in here.

I really enjoyed this book. If you like your ham with a little wry, you'll really love this one.

::: at 05:20

20070126 :::
 

As the weather has remained clear (if still cold) we've been able to get quite a bit of work done here at the ranch. All in all, I've been really surprised just how much we've been able to do, since we started up only a fortnight ago.

Rusty, who does more than his fair share of the work, was in a bit of an ill mood last week. Knowing that he deosn't require close supervision, I consciously avoided him for about 4-5 days. When we finally reconvened yesterday, he seemed in a much better mood. I prefer not to ask. Heck, we even skipped our traditional Friday night supper.

Spoke with Achilles on the phone yesterday: he's had a bit of a bad week. He went bowling with some of his classmates Saturday night & ran into a friend he's been worried about. She was high. It upset him & his other mates. By Sunday, she was a runaway. The upshot is, she turned up again Tuesday night. Spoke with him tonight: other than those details, he knows nothing. But he is happy she's safe.

Got a card from an old friend of mine the other day: April. She called me a "friend & mentor" in her letter. Guess if I'd known these people were listening to me, I'd have paid attention to all the stuff I said. April currently works with youth in a Franciscan-centered community in Canada. She wrote that she's planning on either getting an M.A. in Public Service from Marquette or hiking the Appalachian Trail. I advised her to hike the trail, then go to grad school. If they want you now, they'll want you in a year or two, & it gets harder to do something like hike the Trail as the years pass & you become busier.

Maggie was gone for about 5 days, between the end of last week, beginning of this one. She joined her sister to celebrate her 22nd birthday. As she is so efficient, it was no trouble at all to let her go for a few days...anything to keep her happy. She returned Tuesday.

Have worked it out so Achilles, Artemis, & I can all go to our cottage in Malta over Holy Week & Easter. Mother may join us--sometime in April, she's flying to visit my brother in England. That should be later in the month, though she needs to work out the details with him. That may be the earliest I can get down there, as the old diary looks pretty full up to then. Improvements were made to the cottage over the Winter, so we look forward to seeing them.

Speaking of my brother, haven't heard from the Major since Christmas week. My niece has a birthday coming up next week: we got her a Pooh bear & a singing card with the "Word Up" tune. Figure if she cannot read it, at least she can at least groove to it.

Ciao!

::: at 05:16