Spent most of yesterday writing up the profile on the D.'s. It's shaping up pretty well, but I have plenty more to do on it. A big problem is the emphasis I'm putting on Spanky; don't have much about Rosemary. Well, I'll work it out. The picture I took of them came out very nicely.
Put down my pen--keyboard--in the afternoon to go to B.J.'s and B & B Produce for veggies. Pared and cut up butternut squash, onions, peppers, carrots, Brussels sprouts, and garlic, tossed them in olive oil, then roasted them for an hour in a to oven. Had just a big bowl of that for dinner--what a feast.
Enjoyed Ellen's usual Sunday night Skype call, although something's wrong with the sound again, so we had to use the phone simultaneously.
The living room t.v screen is again blacking out. Guess I'll have to spring for a new one, after all.
Desi sent an e-mail announcing auditions next week for Night Must Fall, which is scheduled for February. Yes, indeed, I'll be there.

It was a fine hike, my first of the season. Mary picked me up at quarter to ten and we drove the few miles to Bass River Park. This was, believe it or not, a "dog" hike. Five other women brought their doggies--from a large and scary Doberman to a teeny little terrier--but they were, of course, on leashes and well-behaved. The group laughed when I repeated my mantra "A good dog is a stuffed dog."
The weather was perfect for a hike through the woods: cold enough to wear winter coats, but not freezing, with clear skies and brilliant sun. According to the leader, who's with the Ocean County Park Service, we went 5.5 miles. We walked at a brisk pace and stopped for lunch at the pavilion next to the lake. I had made chicken salad the day before and put that between two slices of pumpernickel--tasted great. Got home a little after 1:00, just in time to catch my breath before heading over to Rosemary and Spanky D.'s to interview them.
What an interesting couple they are. He was a well-known jazz trumpeter and played with a lot of big bands, including some for which Sinatra sang. Rosemary had been a music teacher and they met at a jazz club. Spanky (nobody ever calls him his birth name of "Ronald") has gone through a lot of health problems. He had a leg amputated a few months ago (diabetes) and is very frail. He has to have dialysis several times a week, as well as other therapies, but hey, those aren't the important things about Spanky, this is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0murdQZLoZ0

Well, it's trials and triumphs all the way with me. I found that the T.V. in the guest room--which I was going to donate, anyway--doesn't work with a box. Somewhere in these pages--or whatever they are--are accounts of my running battle with Comcast, but I don't feel like recapping. Enough to say I was told I already had the "boxes" I need for the two sets and yesterday I was told I only had one. Trekked down to Manahawkin to get another and was told there I already had two (and they charge for the third). I insisted I didn't and after a long and pointless exchange, I took the box home.
Now these things are simple to put on as long as you have a degree in electrical engineering and an understanding of the universe close to that of Steven Hawking. Therefore, I called my favorite person from North Jersey, the one who just ran the marathon in D.C. She came and hooked it up and did me the favor of a few other chores. She also called Comcast and got them to tell me I wouldn't owe for this box.
Okay, I told myself, if the living room set goes black, I have a fall-back. Well, guess what? It stayed on fine, so there was no problem. Now, though, I have a dilemma: Shall I get another t.v. for the living room and donate the one in the guest room? Keep both? Get rid of both? Just quit watching t.v.? Dunno.
On my way to Comcast, I stopped at Habitat to look at their T.V.'s. Saw two that looked pretty good--and they all work--for twenty bucks each, so I could just get one of those. However, now I don't have to, I guess--or not yet.
Got a call from Mary S., asking if I want to go on a hike today. Said yes, although I'm interviewing the D.'s at 2:00. Called Rosemary D. to explain and say I'll probably be on time, but may not. No prob on her end.

Now it's my television that's gone kaplooey. I settled down with my wine and popcorn for my daily 45 minutes of mindless crap and after 15, the screen went black. This T.V. is about 15 years old, as close as I can figure, so I guess it doesn't owe me anything. However, I should probably have t.v. for when my guests come for Christmas. I'm pretty much okay without it myself. It's my little honey, the computer, I've come to "need." Last night, after the t.v. went, I watched a few parts of Night Must Fall (1942) on YouTube.
Earlier, I accomplished something I've been thinking about doing for--oh, about the eight years since we moved here: I cleaned out the laundry room. It was surprisingly easy and took me only about three hours. I put two bambooy-type shelving things (yes, that's the official name) at the curb and was pleased to see that the small bookcase I didn't know what to do with, fits nicely next to the washer. Thoroughly vacuumed and mopped the floor, too, and organized the cleaning products, light bulbs, and other stuff I'll probably never use.
I had told Frank I'd drop off gratis tickets for Moon at Sid S.'s house and at the Great Bay EMS headquarters, to which we're donating some of the proceeds from the show. Did so and also put up flyers at the post office and library. Drove up to the Stafford branch late in the day to do the same and see if they'd hand out the "postcards" Frank made up.
Wrote up The Breeze ad about the Christmas village collection and scanned the picture. Sent them to the A.'s for approval. (Geez, you'd think I'd get paid for this stuff.)

Went over to the A.'s on Windstar at 11:00 to see their Christmas villages collection. Good grief, they have $10,000 worth of the stuff. They said it's in three different "issues": "Dickens Village," "North Pole," and "Christmas in the City." I'll put their offerings in Classified in The Breeze, but it seems to me the chances of getting buyers here are slim. After all, as the A.'s did, many, if not most of the residents here, down-sized and, as I am, want to get rid of Christmas decorations, not buy them.
After, ran errands in Manahawkin. Home for lunch and household chores, then I drove to the cemetery and Produce Junction. Called Betty, who said she was free, so I went down there to visit a bit. Got home about 6:00 and was in for the night.

A-h-h...(long sigh of relief). Computer is fixed after Don was here for two hours. I guess the basic problem is that the thing is old and decrepit and I have "too much running." Don did leave me instructions on running a "clean up" weekly and "discmatch" or "Disc Max" or something every two months.
Ran over to Radio Shack and got a new mouse for thirty bucks, so with Don's fee, the whole ordeal cost me seventy. Oh, well, it had to be done.
What's ironic is that I sat down last night for my daily 45 minutes of television and the screen went black after about a half hour--another piece of electronic crap that's getting old, I guess. Maybe I shouldn't donate the t.v. in the guest room after all.
Got a call from Bea A., who wants me to come over and look at her Christmas village or whatever and put it in Classified in The Breeze. I'll do that today, but get seriously annoyed at people who expect ME to do all the work.
Called the D.'s, with an eye to doing a profile on them for the December issue. Other than that, the day was mostly taken up with the the mundane.
WIDER: My cyberfriend, Jim Wetzel, has an absorbing--and hair-raising--essay on the domestic drones recently acquired by a police department in Texas:
http://bartlebysfour.blogspot.com/
The last paragraph is especially noteworthy; here's some of it:
"Folks, you wanted a military empire, and you got one, and now you're its subjects....Snarling kickers of swarthy butts overseas, and respectful public servants in a constitutionally-limited republic at home? You might want that arrangement, but it can't be had...."
Yes, Jim, we reap what we sow.

Oh, horror of horrors, what a black day! My computer stopped yesterday--wouldn't work at all. Long story short: I had Don S. over and he cleaned it or or something--was here for two hours--and said my (wireless) mouse was bad. I'll go get another shortly. I'm lost, lost, lost without the computer; was reduced to watching television for more than two hours.
Anyway, it's fixed, but he lent me a wired mouse, must go out and get a new one, but I'm getting the wireless, of which he doesn't approve. Don't care.