Journal of a Sabbatical

December 28, 2000

the hype begins

Today's Reading: Yobgorgle: Mystery Monster of Lake Ontario by Daniel Pinkwater, The Worms of Kukumlima by Daniel Pinkwater, Reminiscences of a Nonagenarian by Sara Anna Emery

There was a light dusting of snow last night, maybe 3 flakes or so. Fortunately this was not enough to trigger BusyBody's odd behavior. We did get a memo in the mail from the condo's management company explaining the rules for snow removal in great detail in preparation for what they claim is going to be a major storm on Saturday. Actually it's not just the management company claiming there's going to be a major storm, the weather people on all the local TV and radio stations are saying that too. They make it sound like the second coming of the Blizzard of '78 with a touch of Hurricane of '38 and pinch of No Name Storm of '91 thrown in. When the weather people get this excited about a storm either nothing at all happens or it's way worse than they predicted. Usually nothing at all happens. But they're hyping it enough that that little holiday slump in retail sales this year will be erased by people buying snow blowers, snow shovels, white bread, and flashlight batteries. The health of the US economy rises and falls on sales of flashlight batteries. What, you thought it depended on washers, dryers, and new housing starts?

I mentioned yesterday that I got very tired all of a sudden. I remained extremely tired today. So much so that I decided to stay home and drink echinacea tea to ward off any possible cold-like illness. I spent most of the day immersed in that fat Daniel Pinkwater collection, laughing the whole time. Lounging in pajamas and laughing must be effective because I felt much better by the end of the day. Maybe tomorrow I can tackle the challenge of the ritual laying in of white bread and batteries.