Reek

My annus horriblis continues...my house has had an awful smell -- mainly in where my garage, kitchen door, and basement chimney intersect..  Just unpleasant, like something rotting.  So, I call the recommended (by my insurance guy) animal specialist, who is pretty sure that it IS an animal...but he cannot find it.  Puts a couple of holes in the drywall...nothing.  So, he suggests I crank up the furnace to about 80 for a couple of days...once I see a big wet spot in the wall, that will be where the thing is, and then I can dig out the drywall (and the animal).  Alas.

So, for the last day and a half, the place has been a sauna...and today, when I got home from work -- a day and a half of this treatment...no wet spot.  I can't smell the stink, so maybe the holes in the drywall have aired the thing out...but at the very least I will have to fix the drywall and then re-paint.  Ugh.  One "bright" side to this is that I've decided to fix the front steps, which are looking a little shady...I am not a fan of spending more money, but now is the time, and the steps need to be done.  Alas.

Salazar was sent down.  I do not really have a problem with this, given his struggles, and his work last year; the problem is that the alternatives aren't that much better.  McAllister has not learned a new pitch, I think, and while I like Tomlin, I don't think he is a long-term answer.  House could be suitable, given his youth and lefty-ness, even if he does not exactly get it up there, but...the rotation being what it is, I just do not share the confidence of some publications.