What a day! What a! The hen and chick have flown the coop, and the rooster is left alone with the wire and hay!

The girls went away for the day/night to a family birthday party. I opted out, claiming I was sick and tired -things like that. Truth is, I just can't go away another weekend. Seeing as we've been away almost every weekend the past few months and the heat and work has just been killing me. I need to get some things done around here. The home is the place of solace, and I've been coming home to see all my unfinished business, which detracts from the solace, so something need be done.

So did I just kick it after the girls left? Barbecue up some steak and open a bottle of wine ALL FOR ME!? Of course not. I climbed up in the attic at the hottest point in the day and rolled around in the dead spiders and fiberglass insulation! In a word, it sucked. But good news: THE GREAT RE-WIRING IS FINISHED!

Okay, not really. I still have some minor patching and painting to do (count 'em: over 30 holes in the walls) and I haven't actually purchased the dining room ceiling speakers yet, BUT OTHERWISE I'M FINISHED! And there was much rejoicing. Take it from me, a General Contractor licensed by the State of California (#810162), if you ever have re-framing done on your house, just go ahead and pull extra speaker wire, coax cable, and ethernet connectors on through because any contractor who knows what he's in for is going to charge you a million, no, a BILLION dollars to do it. He will know how painful it's going to be. He will know how his life will be at risk. He will know you really want speakers in your back yard and dining room and that there is only one way to do it. Seriously. Even if you don't like music, just go on ahead and pull the stuff through while the walls are exposed. You will never thank me for it, but if you don't heed my advice you will one day come to me sobbing, and I will just stand there with my arms folded and nod.

So I now have TWO speakers in the back yard! Was it worth it? What, are you asking for me to kick your huevos? Anyway, it's a good story. Next time you come over for barbecue I'll probably tell you all about it even if you didn't ask. At that point, as we stand there over the barbecue, beer in hand, listening to Barry White, at that point, yes, it will have been worth it.

Tonight, I had leftovers for dinner (in an effort to save $20 and not buy a pizza) and a couple of Pacificos without lime (fresh out/limes on tree not ripe) and just sat on the couch and flipped through the channels, enjoying the silence. This is Heaven for a man, well, that is to say, a man needs a bit of time to retreat to the cave once in a while. And this is it for me. Get something done around the house, unencumbered, and then sit on the couch and watch TV. With beer.

I watched an episode of Firefly. Have you caught this? One season of sweet sparkling awesome. I have no idea why it wasn't picked up for more episodes, but I have to admit I love it just as it is -why ruin it with more? You can catch the whole series on DVD (I own it) and it is nothing but pleasurable TV. What's it about? Oh, it takes place 500 years in the future and is a cross between the classic Western and Star Wars, that's all. Genius! Seriously, though, it is worth checking out if you are of the uninitiated. It didn't catch on for further episodes, but they did make a feature film of it called Serenity which came out a while back. Go figure. Proves there is a vast disconnect between TV-Hollywood and Feature-Film-Hollywood, like I've always said.

On another note, I got my monthly newsletter from Hillsdale College, Imprimus. It's just about the best free thing out there, no strings attached, so go to the web site and sign up for it. This month's article is on Global Warming, and I don't know why I bother to put that in caps. I consider myself a strict environmentalist and I sincerely believe in conservation, as in, no waste. And by "strict" I mean 'as defined in the dictionary'. I'm someone who actually appreciates the outdoors; I mean I start to feel funny if I spend more than a few months at a time in the city. And I mean "conservation" in the sense that Teddy Roosevelt did, if you're wondering, but I swear, this global warming thing is just nuts. Sorry! Anyway, read this if you wonder what the flap I'm talking about.

That's all I really got tonight. Lots of attitude and I'm all out of beer. I'm going back to the cave. Thanks for reading.