Sugar Cookies or Powdered Doughnuts

Since a lot of you have been wondering (okay, maybe only three people asked), the lady-who-might-be-a-hoarder’s check cleared the next morning. Whew! Not that getting stiffed out of $30 would have sent me to the poorhouse, but it was the principle of the matter. I half expected her to email me back saying the TV was too heavy for her to get inside her apartment, but thankfully, I have not. So she either found somebody to assist, or it’s still in the backseat of her car along with all the other crap.

If I were a betting man, I’d go with option #2.

No Rush

Friday night, Tara scored tickets to the Rapid City Rush’s home opener. They’re our local minor league hockey team, and her employer often has tickets to give out. We’ve been to a few Rush games and always had a good time, so initially, I was excited. But then I started thinking about how we’d be elbow to elbow with other fans and would have to wear masks the whole time, and it suddenly sounded less appealing. Plus, after a long warm spell, our weather finally turned cold, and we’ve got an approximate shit ton of firewood that hasn’t gotten much use yet. So we decided to pass on the tickets and instead hung out in our basement, where we built a blazing fire, put on a couple of Christmas movies, and drank beer and whiskey.

It was a thousand times more enjoyable than the Rush game would have been. There truly is no place like home.

Mo’ Joe

Last week, I redeemed myself by successfully making a pot of coffee for the office after my recent embarrassing hot water fail. I’ve always been one to climb back up on those proverbial bicycles once I’ve fallen off, if for no other reason than to prove to myself I can do it.

And then, I ‘fessed up to my supervisor, and we both ended up having a good chuckle over the whole thing.

The new job is going great; I have definitely found my groove, and seem to be making a positive impression, coffee fiasco aside. Our HR supervisor is especially happy with me, and sent an email thanking me for my hard work and saying how much easier I was making her job. Best of all, she copied both my supervisor and the director of marketing. I appreciate the praise, and appreciate even more that my direct reports were included. This is a job I’d like to keep for a very long time (with that pension, I’d love to retire from CenturyCo), so I’ll take all the ammunition I can get. Getting in good with Human Resources, the department that can make or break you, is never a bad thing.

We’re having our virtual holiday party this Thursday over Microsoft Teams. It’s definitely an innovative way to celebrate, and should be fun. There may not be an open bar or live entertainment this year, but they’re giving away tons of prizes and our CEO will be taking a pie in the face because we all met our goal of raising money for Feeding South Dakota, and that was his way of incentivizing us. I’m glad the company was able to figure out a way to have a COVID-friendly event. And my office is so festively decorated anyway, I’ll already be in the holiday spirit. It’s impossible not to be when you’re surrounded by an acre of red-and-green gift wrap, a pair of miniature Christmas trees, and twinkling lights.

Frozen

It had been weeks since Tara and I went out exploring, so we decided to take a drive through the Black Hills on Saturday afternoon. We didn’t have a lot of time because it starts getting dark before 4:00 this time of year, and it was one of those bone-chillingly cold days in the mid-20s, a far cry from our 70º high just a few days ago.

Still, it was perfect. There had been a very light dusting of snow overnight, which made for great scenery. The granite cliffs looked like sugar cookies or powdered doughnuts.

And despite our long stretch of unseasonably warm weather, Sylvan Lake is frozen solid. A few days ago my mother-in-law suggested we take advantage of the warm weather by taking our boat out, but I told her that wasn’t possible.

South Dakota sure is a weird place. Doesn’t matter if it’s sunny and warm for weeks on end, in December the lakes WILL BE FROZEN.

Have a great week!