Feliz, feliz, feliz?

     Yeah, I guess I'm happy these days. Why shouldn't I be happy? I'm off for two weeks, I've been to a number of Xmas parties and the three biggest ones are still ahead, and I'm halfway through a français book challenge that I set for myself. Catherine Leroux's 'Le mur mitoyen' for yer big fat information  (The party wall in English). Note to self; don't go to Goodreads and not expect spoilers! Augh! I just took a peek at the blurb for 'The party wall' and saw a spoiler. Anyway, siblings with interesting family connections are all over the shop in this collection of stories.

      The going is all right thus far, by the way. I haven't set a French challenge for myself in some time. Yeah, you'd think, 'she's working in an immersion school library; she has thousands of opportunities for français challenges.' Okay, okay... you would be right. I'm just a lazy sack of summat-or-other. I should start trying more challenges using school library books. Hey, the français might be easier in these books, right? But that won't be until 2020 when I get back to work. I'm still blown away by the fact that 2020 is just around the corner. As I like to say, a million years ago in the 80s, 2020 was this far off year that wasn't good for anything but sci-fi novels. Now it's just around the corner. 😱

        I always seem to need time to get into the shopping spirit. I have just a couple of things left to buy and then I'm golden for Xmas. Definitely First World Problem here. The weather's been warming up a little and my car's not yelling at me about low tire pressure anymore. I know I'm overdue for a visit to the dealership for a tune-up - maybe in the new year. On the Sims front, I am going to give Isla Paradiso a fair shake. That is one world I have never done anything with and it's definitely time to give it a go. I'm not fond of Bridgeport, I adore Riverview, and the rest are all right. I've been to the future world a number of times but never IP.

       That's about all for me. I will definitely be back in 2020. I'll find summat to blather about, I'm sure. To the two or three people who actually follow my blog (esp. those possibly Yorkshireian Mares): May you all have family, happiness, and plenty of food and good times at the tail end of 2019 and even more in 2020.

       Oh, and Sims.

BYE. 💗

Okay... where's Jason?

       Keeping you in the loop about my life and daily affairs. This week has been an interesting one. Power outage on Thursday at work and a real fire somewhere in the building at work today. The kids and teachers were all talking up the prevalence of Friday the 13th but that doesn't explain the shenanigans on Thursday. According to Manitoba Hydro, a lone crow was the blame for taking out over 3000 properties in St. James. My school was also out but luckily it did not last very long. Now we have tons of snow and the drive home was very slow.

       Meanwhile, in the lovely city of Winnipeg, a committee is looking at discontinuing garbage pick up for apartments and condos. Standalone houses will not be affected. Nice idea city council! Making us the fall guys... such a lovely idea! Of course this is unfair. I know that the two or three of you who are watching cannot really help me but I appreciate your company. I will be complaining to the city, of course. Jerks.

      My car's tyres are low on air and my car never fails to remind me of this fact. It was too cold for me to go out there are get it done. Then I went to the wrong place, got flustered and came home yesterday. Had the roads not been so horrible today I would have gone to the right place and got it done. It will have to be tomorrow. Nothing like procrastination, eh? Meanwhile, I'm going to make a cup of tea and think about supper.

Oh yeah... and some Sims in the winter.

BYE.

About madness

    Honestly, I really don't have very much to say. The only reason I'm posting is to reassure the two or three people who actually follow my blog that I have not died. My online presence is, as far as I know, not very strong or enduring. Apart from this ancient blog, my Twitter account (which collects more dust than my house), and my chance visits to the Sims Forums (which, as far as I know, looks like Sheffield in 'Threads' right now), I am barely anywhere. I am on Youtube but only to post inanities and the like.

     On my current literary horizon I am looking through 'Madness is better than defeat' by Ned Beauman. My first thought was that the title reeked summat Lovecraftian. In many of Lovecraft's short stories something unspeakably weird and tragic happens to the character and he has no other recourse than to go mad. The vibe of this book, meanwhile, is struggle. Struggle between two groups over a temple in the Honduran jungle. Two groups who might realize that their struggle is lunacy but they won't give up the fight.

      The title makes a fair bit of sense, in other words. Also, as the struggle goes on for years, people start running out of things in the jungle and have to make do with other things. At first, I found myself getting a 'Threads' vibe as well. No surprise since I am still freaking obsessed with that blasted movie. Not as much as I was back in 2013, thankfully. That vibe, also thankfully, did not last. I don't need my sleep interrupted by ICBMs, traffic wardens, and that miserable woman with the barbecued baby.

      Anyway, this wouldn't be a (in)decent post without some sims pictures, would it?

     










     
      I should make a couple more visits before the end of the year. 2020 was such a weird year to think about - in the 1990s it was still such a long way off. Now it's less than a month away. Gads.

BYE.