Hornets and Spiders in the Crawl Space

With a weekend of unfettered promise ahead of us, Judy and I started out the day with a trip to Trader Joe's. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but it always is. With $3 Chuck now down to $2.49, what's not to like?

I spent the day doing odd jobs, including replacing the thermostat on the 2nd water heater, cleaning up fallen insulation in the limited access walkway to that heater, and then working in the garage on a small woodworking project. I added a wood frame to the back of the Big Question Sign I put out in front of the house on BQ nights. The thin hardboard sheet had curved to the point it didn't want to stand on its own all that well. Now it looks Loud and Proud, as they say.

We watched the 3rd of the Steig Larsson movies last night, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest. As with the others, having read the book is almost required. There are big parts that are left out, and some sub-plots are started but not finished, such as the mysterious email'er who threatens Erica Berger and throws a brick though her window, but in the movie is never named and there is no closure on this. Strange. In the book Selander has a role to play in this mystery, and the person is revealed. In the movie all you get are the threats and the brick. And the role of the police investigator with whom Blomquist has an affair is almost non-existent. She is on screen 2-3 times, and is always 100% focused on work. At least they did a good job with the demise of Neidermann, and that is very satisfying.

Salix sat on our laps throughout the movie, and is getting to be a real lovey cat. We like this transition. And so does he, apparently. He comes when he is called, he follows me from room to room, he sits beside me while I am working at my desk downstairs, and is generally transforming into the Dog Cat we like around here. He is sitting on the counter behind the iPad as I write this, making sure I don't say anything bad about him, I'm sure.

Chief sent me a book review concerning a new book about and by Steven Hawking, and the review has some interesting topics and issues. I'm tempted to add this to my reading list, too. I will have more to say about this shortly, when I digest the ideas contained therein. Stay tuned.