By some quirk the sun is out today though it’s much too cold to make being out and about enjoyable. Unlike the same period last year the bare grass outside my windows is brown and dead; exposed except where windrows of snow plowed from parking lots loom dirtily. A cold gusty wind is blowing out of the west making it feel even colder. Of course it’s an ill wind that blows no one good and I’m taking advantage of this cold snap to defrost my deep freeze keeping my food on my third-floor balcony. Being single and having no offspring to stand with the door open there really isn’t that much build-up of ice but it’s a chore I feel obligated to perform yearly in the name of appliance efficiency. Already the third level is starting to drip but it’s the top grid in an upright deep freeze that collects the most frost and has the least ventilation. Uprights are less efficient than chest style freezers but the food is much more accessible. I’ve learned to store like goods in cardboard boxes and old metal fridge drawers. It’s a job that takes patience and care as one false move with a sharp object could be fatal for the appliance. I always breathe a sigh of relief when I close it up, turn it on, and feel heat forming on the outer frame indicating that the inside is cooling once more. Unfortunately this freezer is old enough that it lacks the noise dampening features of later models so it will whine and vibrate away for the next 24 hours while it re-establishes deep frost.
Yesterday I spent my usual lazy, restful Saturday but today I’m uncharacteristically active. Listening to an episode of Quirks and Quarks in iTunes I learn that the old saw about it being too cold to snow is not strictly true; it can snow, it’s just that at lower temperatures the air is incapable of holding much moisture—the high arctic is one of the driest places on earth. Although I haven’t finished reading my comics yet I have done my usual morning browse and listened to some podcasts. The deep freeze is busy dripping; I’ve made coffee and put up a loaf of potato bread in my baker. My crock pot is filled to the brim with slow cooked Irish Stew; for once I managed to judge the amount of vegetables exactly so I have nothing leftover to deal with. The beauty of this recipe is the requirement that the cover not be disturbed until the meal is cooked. Now I need to wash up the preparation utensils. There’s no easy way to clean a garlic press though if you let it dry out it gets even tougher.
Of the week past I have little to report beyond the usual round of endless mail and flyers, rude and demanding customers, and tedium in between. I began watching The Tudors and reviewed it for my sister blog. I’ve been working my way through this sixth season of Smallville and last night reached the Marriage of Lex Luthor and Lana Lang. It had never occurred to me until the priest began the marriage vows that Lex was short for Alexander any more than I’d matched Xander in Buffy with that name. While on the topic of the movies I would note the death of 25-year-old Brad Renfro; yet another casualty of the
Yesterday I essayed the task of renewing/replacing the trial version of Norton Internet Security that came with my laptop. For all its shortcomings as a resource hog and its unwillingness to run software I have valued and the lack of drivers for old hardware Vista’s uninstall manger removed my old Norton versions completely to the exacting satisfaction of Norton’s Anti-Virus 2008. I would also note in passing that unlike the endless problems I’ve had in the past with Norton firewalls and security software Norton Internet Security 2007 performed seamlessly and without incident for me on Windows Vista. I would have continued using it but I wasn’t ready to stomach the nearly $100.00 price tag so I went with the plain Anti-Virus Ware.
I’m down to the upper layer of ice in my freezer which is now dripping away like icicles on an eaves trough in spring. My bread is out and it’s time I moved on to other tasks.
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