Dwarf Planet in Purple

Tonight is the longest night, with the winter solstice occurring early tomorrow morning. My church had a solstice-themed lay-led service this morning, and also this evening. I attended both, via Zoom of course. The evening ritual was up against the monthly barony meeting, but after all the stress our congregation has been through during the past six weeks or so, I thought I should support that community. The Storvik meeting was over by the time the ritual ended -- oh, well, next month.

I am still on Stove #2. Apparently the current owner of Stove #3 isn't as far along with his kitchen renovations as the maintenance guy previously thought. The boy toy will make another inquiry when he goes to drop off a gift basket for the maintenance guy. We don't normally give him stuff, but he has been SO helpful to us this year with all our issues -- the Thanksgiving 2019 leak from upstairs, the January 2020 leak from upstairs, installation of the $25 dishwasher, the disintegrating bathroom-sink plumbing, the disposal of Stove #1, the break-in at our building's common storage area, the attempts to fix Stove #2, the meltdown of the building's hot-water system, etc. Plus, he lives *in* this building, so he is our neighbor.

Speaking of neighbors, I scored another bargain from a different neighbor, the one who is an archer for Bright Hills. She posted on Facebook that she and her husband were looking to rehome their 55-inch Panasonic plasma TV. I messaged her and asked her what she would take for an offer, like $100, and we agreed to that. When the boy toy and I walked over to pick it up, however, she told me that her husband didn't want her to take any money for the 10-year-old TV. I couldn't see doing THAT -- she already gave me $50 worth of dry cat food a couple of months ago, and I know she is getting a new catalytic converter for her aging Pontiac, and those suckers are expensive. I had five $20 bills with me, so I gave her $40 and she accepted. The TV works fine and is a *lot* larger than the flat-screen TV we had been using in the living room, which is probably about a 32-inch model. So we put the 55-inch set in the living room, moved the newer small TV from the living room to the bedroom, and put the older bedroom TV (which is also a 32-incher, more or less) in the spare room in case one of us gets covid-19 and has to isolate. Dances with TVs!

Another reason why I jumped on the new TV: I had a rear bearing replaced on my car, and the work plus the "winter package" (oil change and other routine maintenance) came to only $300. For some reason I had convinced myself that the job would cost $800 to $1000. Maybe I was misremembering something I'd read on Facebook (like the cost of replacing multiple bearings on a truck or SUV). Anyhow, I was relieved.

Finally ... earlier this month, I had been looking forward to my annual science writers' holiday party, which of course was going to be virtual. I realized that nobody's going to care what I wear, for all that will show up on screen are my head and shoulders. So I got my first professional haircut in two years -- yes! -- and then, on the day of the party, I dyed my hair a Color Not Found in Nature! Specifically, a semi-permanent ruby color designed for non-bleached hair (my hair is way too fine and limp for bleaching).



I think it looks right purty, don't you? I wouldn't have done this if I had a job interview or professional presentation coming up, but since nobody is hiring me for anything, and I didn't do any of the fancy punk 1980s hairstyles when I was in my 20s because I wanted to be all grown up and professional back then, well, what do I have to lose?

I didn't get the car that I looked at on Sunday afternoon. It was a nice 2003 PT Cruiser, clean and running well, just needed a new O2 sensor. But I said it would have taken me a couple of days to round up the cash, and some guy came by on Sunday evening and said "yes" to the car (and probably whipped out a bunch of C-notes).

So, here I am, planning to get on the Metrobus in the rain to go downtown (i.e., into the District) for my local professional group's annual holiday gala. Nobody knows how to party-hearty like the science writers. Except, perhaps, the Lithuanians. :-)

Yesterday I sweated through some online applications for professional jobs. Tomorrow I'll be back to the classified car ads.

So, the holidays are in full swing around here. Last night was the annual "holiday gala" held by my local professional group. About 150 people showed up at the social event, which was at a small science museum near the Judiciary Square Metro. I had a great time checking in with my professional friends and acquaintances, and meeting a few new faces too. The food was decent and the open bar (for beer and wine) did not hurt, either. This wasn't the most unusual venue for the annual gala, but I was there to see the people more than the exhibits, anyhow.

(I seem to recall that last year was the first time since 1995 that I had NOT gone to the holiday gala, but now I cannot remember why I missed it. Perhaps I missed the deadline for reservations? Perhaps I was running out of money? Perhaps I was just in a funk over the deaths of a couple of people I knew? I certainly didn't bother to write it down in LJ/DW at the time.)

And, of course, there was one person in my professional group whom I knew in advance I wasn't going to see. Dammit, Pedro.

And this evening I went to a "happy hour" gathering to celebrate the successful launch, last week, of the Big Project at the Very Prestigious Institution. The one of which I was a small but necessary part. I had a great time catching up with people whom I hadn't seen since August. It was just so gratifying to be remembered and welcomed. (And, gee, it would be nice to get another contract to work there!)

I have also been playing with the new Android tablet, which I have named Tonks because the back side of the tablet is bright pink. (Tonks, if you read the Harry Potter books, was the young, punky witch whose hair turned different colors, including pink and purple.) I've downloaded both the official LJ app and the "ElJay" app, which apparently allows cross-posting among the journals with the same basic code. I suppose I shall try them out if I carry out my plan next week to bring just the tablet, not the laptop, with me on my annual journey to Massachusetts. However, in that case, don't expect me to write long posts. After touch-typing my entire adult life, going back to tapping out one letter at a time, one finger at a time, on a virtual keyboard feels a bit like carving hieroglyphics in stone. Hmm, maybe that's one reason why this device is called a "tablet." :-P