Tis the (End of the) Season

Today officially marked the end of our Holiday Season as we took down the tree and our outside lights. To me this is always the most depressing day of the year. I hate taking the tree down. Not so much because of the mess of needles that always occur, but it's so sad to dismantle what was once so beautiful and looked like this:

To it lying in the gutter waiting for the garbage men to haul it away. Actually I think there is a poem or story that tells the sad story of the Christmas tree. Alas poor tree, we will miss you in all your lighted glory and your sweet pine smell.

I had a problem with my outside lights this year. They worked fine until the weekend before Christmas when about half of them failed to come on at dusk. The ones that wouldn't come on were all linked to an extension cord I run from the back of the house. In a brain fart designing the house, the builder did not include any outside sockets in the front of the house. Brilliant. Anyway, I discovered that a circuit breaker was tripped. Every time I reset it, it would immediately trip off again. I even tried a different outlet, but the same thing happened. I assume both outlets must be on the same circuit. Finally I just gave up and they stayed dark until I took them down today. In dismantling the various connections and extension cords, I discovered this:
At first I thought it was just covered by mud since it rained yesterday. Closer inspection revealed that it was burnt and had melted some of the rubber insulation. I couldn't separate the two cords since the melted insulation from both cords had made them one. No wonder the circuit breaker would trip. I suspect that when Daughter#1 arrived home and used her hair dryer that was the straw that broke the camel's back. I swear half the house is wired into that one circuit. I'm glad to see the circuit breaker did what it was suppose to do.

I watched the Redskins exit the playoffs on Saturday. It looked so promising after they had rallied and scored 14 points to take the lead in the second half. They then recovered the ensuing kickoff on the Seattle 14 yard line only to come up empty missing a field goal. I think that was the defining moment of the game. After that it was all Seattle. Time to wait for next year.

I made my erg class today. I got in my goal of 10,000 meters and lord was it hard. There was a good turnout today. Every erg was taken, which means we had 24 (I think) people rowing, including the instructor. It's amazing the energy that group will generate. It's really hard for me to plant myself on my erg at home and rattle off 10,000 meters. It would take me about 43 minutes and the boredom that would ensue boggles the mind. Not to mention the exhaustion in rowing that far on the erg. It's much easier doing it as part of a group. Shared misery and all that.

Tomorrow is my first day back at work after being off for two weeks. The idea of getting up at 3:30 is not very appealing and I know it will just be crazy at work with everyone coming back. I just want to survive the day. Hope you all had a great weekend.