I'm in there somewhere.

We put the tree up and decorated the house, and had more fun doing it than ever before. I’m not sure why, and don’t care to analyze. Wife bought some new wreathes with embedded lights - big sale! Can’t pass up these bargains! - and it provided a nice refresh. Everything had gotten a bit rote over the years.

Some of the ornaments now seem wistful, signs of bygone times or interests or opportunities, but I suppose that’s why we hang them. Once there were Star Trek ships, but the manufacturers changed the plug interface. Yes, I know, thee are adaptors. That’s okay. I don’t get why people hang Darth Vader on the tree, though. I can imagine putting up Q in his Inquisitor role in his crane-operated Judgment Chair, but Vader? Maybe with his helmet off, looking like an bath-soaked big toe, but he’s, you know, evil. Right?

No! There is good in you, Father! I feel it! Yeah based on what, pal. I mean even before he was Darth he didn’t embody any particular moral virtues. Horniness for the babysitter is not a moral virtue.

What really makes the house seem Christmasy? I bought a Citrus-Pine cleaning spray, and when I do the counters after dinner it brings a nice fresh note to everything, and makes you think of those 17 minutes after you bring the tree home and it smells piney. After that, of course, it’s stale death, but ah, those wonderful 17 minutes.

No snow. Rote seasonal-song immersion in the space between entering the 333 building and the skyway to my office, and that’s about it. Haven’t wrapped anything.. I expect next week will feel festive. At least I know the presents will go over well, because:

1. No one wants, or expects, anything, because we’re all fine.

2. I did get a few fun things.

3. I will accept the things I cannot change, like getting my Wife to embrace a holistic technological approach that seamlessly integrates all her devices for a seamless experience. In other words, she will use what she has until it breaks and no replacement can be found, and every attempt to introduce a new paradigm will fail. Some people are like that; they’re not addled by every new thing, and don’t pointlessly rejigger their routines to embrace something they wouldn’t miss if they didn’t know it existed.

I wonder what that's like. Sounds terrifying.

I kid, but it does get frustrating. Now that she's working from home in perpetuity, you'd think she'd want to be able to call me upstairs without shouting. Why, you can use the new Intercom feature on the watches and home pods and send a voice message without having to get up, go to the stairs, and shout. But then I think, what if she's in another room? She wouldn't got to the room where the homepod is located and send the message, she'd just use her win-operated throat-based messaging system. Ah, so get her the budget watch, so she can send a Walkie Talkie message! Possibly, but doubtful.

Then I realize I'm trying to come up with ways to make it easier for my wife to call me downstairs to do something, and I think, no, the old ways are fine. I can pretend I had my headphones on and didn't hear her.

It's not always easy.

On the other side of downtown, we're still Larking:

It is completely and utterly better than a parking lot.

And now for something that makes me feel stupid, as it appears I've neglected another tall tower under construction. construction.

The Eleven. How did I miss this? It's because I haven't taken 35W across the river for a while, and haven't looked in this direction, and all my routes downtown block this view.

It's residential. From the street:

More on this in 2021, obviously.

		Do not taunt Dimaxio. I think this may have been placeholder copy for a proposed syndicated show.

		One of my dad's favorites, at the time. Everyone loved Ferlin Husky, if only because it was fun to say "Ferlin Husky."

		We remind you again about the advantages of Dimaxio.

That will do; the penultime page of Bathroom Ads awaits. Enjoy your weekend, and strap in for HOLIDAY MADNESS next week.