Rain, Sox, and Sausage

Some kind of rain we had today--it rained HARD and FAST for most of the day today; it was pretty impressive actually, as we haven't gotten much rain for a long time. I wonder how Mom and Bob are doing: I think they are on "vacation" up in New Hampshire. I hope they are staying dry.

I had bus duty--or as I like to call it "pus duty" at school this week.In the rain. It is the worst part of my job at Winslow High School, so I guess that is pretty good, all things considered. If standing outside for 40 minutes, five days out of the year is the worst part of my job, then that is great. Its just that its so boring and pointless--you watch awkward kids play hackey sack and grab-ass with each other, until the bus comes to take them home. But its a good deal.

Upon getting home, I built a nice fire in Moe Jr, so as to take the chill off and warm up the house a bit for when Amanda got home. As you can see from the picture, Thomas, of course, wasted no time at all resuming the stationary position he held from November through April of last year: lying on his green rug right in front of the warm stove. He doesnt miss a beat. Its funny how animals have "seasonal" places where they hang out; I know Ortiz's cat Kody does too. If you think about it, I guess its just like how people travel to different places depending on the seasons . . .

Eric came by to watch the sox game--they clobbered the Indians in game one of the ALCS; we stopped watching in the 7th inning. Eric is a huge fan of my special pickled Polish sausages, and he wanted me to show him how the process was done. I obtained my recipe from the "hot sauce king" himself, Dan Camann, who retired last year. So, while Sally gave up updates on the game, Eric and I brined ourselves into Kilbasanary delight--we put in special hot peppers from Krazy Karl's garden, onion, a unique blend of pickling spices, and plenty of sugar and vinegar. These things are very tasty, and they go great with beer!

Amanda and I finished the night checking out some podcasts that were available from iTunes. This stuff is all so new to me, and I am just starting to scratch the surface in learning about them, but, basically, podcasts are free "programs" you can "subscribe" to that will be dumped directly into your iPod. There's the best of National Geographic, Car Talk on NPR, "The Greatest Presidential Speeches" sponsored by the American Rhetoric Society, and ESPN shows--and they are all free. I subscribed to A Prairie Home Companion's "The News From Lake Wobegon," and Amanda subscribed to "Truth For Life," a Christian Bible teaching program we sometimes listen to on the radio. Podcasts are very cool, and I hope to learn more about them soon