Crowning achievement

So, the roof is done (I guess); they started at about 8 and went til 6:30, which impressed the hell out of me.  They left a trailer-dumpster full of stuff, but I didn't see any nails or such in the yard (which is good); the sales rep and the foreman are coming in the next day or two to make a final inspection, as will the building inspector. As I told my sister, all that needs to be done is pay for it, which is -- barring some miracle -- going to be option football.  Not that I expected anything less, but we all know how I am about the benjamins.

One thing they told me to do -- and it didn't seem necessary -- was to take all of the pictures and mirrors and such off the walls; in doing so, I uncovered and brushed away some cobwebs.  Anyways, before I headed off to the gym for the nightly workout, I squashed this huge spider -- like an inch in diameter -- in the kitchen.  AS you can imagine, this brought about full-scale war on dustwebs tonight... and I vowed to fully eradicate dust and any grime ASAP (after, of course, I put humpty dumpty back together).  We will see if I do it...

I watched "Go Tigers" a couple of days ago; it's a documentary about Massillon football, which, as you know, is something of an obsession out there.  It's a bit old, of course, and some of the stuff that happened wouldn't fly now -- putting the QB back in after suffering a mild concussion, someone who did time for rape being allowed to play (he was recruited by JoePa, which made sense, snark) -- but a lot of it, I suspect, is unchanged now from then.  I don't think, on the whole, it is very healthy; I mean, it's good if you are a football player and in the milleu, but less so -- to put it mildly -- if you are not.

I finished Red Famine today, which looks at the deliberate famine created by Stalin in the Ukraine in the 30s, as well as its precedents and its historical legacy. Remembering the Morgenthau Plan for Germany in WW2, I think that it could (and should) be applied to Russia with equal vehemence.... I note that the next book on the shelf is a history of Nazi concentration camps.  Obviously, I will need some lighter fare for the next missive.