Bubble Trouble

This bad patch we are traveling through seems without end right now. First it was the leak in our library. Yesterday it was our studded tires – one (front left) went flat and the other (right rear) has developed a huge sidewall bubble. What next?

Since things happen in threes (not that I’m superstitious), I’m hoping that those two tires each count separately. And, I might say, they aren’t even that old. This is the beginning of their third season – the receipt says we got them on December 9, 2013 and they came with a “Limited Warranty.” I hope that doesn’t mean we are outside the limits…

Mama’s Christmas Bell

On the plus side, better this happens now than in the middle of the snowy Siskiyous on our way to California. I have my fingers crossed (not that I’m superstitious)  that Nyel can get across the river without incident this morning and that the tire gurus will make good on their motto “Doing The Right Thing Since 1952.”

Meanwhile… I’m in the middle of Index Hell – the last step (I hope) in getting my book manuscript ready for submission on Monday. Indexing using the Word program is an exercise in persistence and meticulousness – neither of which are among my best attributes. I haven’t counted the entries but I think there are well over 500 with a number of cross-references as well – and any number of possible pitfalls.

Looking on the bright side, though – Nyel surprised me by putting up our Christmas bell – that tattered old accordion decoration that my mother remembered from her childhood a century ago. Since we’ll be gone for the holidays, we weren’t going to do the house-decorating thing. The bell is just the right touch! Tis the season!  Leaks and tires and indexes be damned!