I can not say that everything is fine. I can say that although my world is not an entirely happy place, I am happy to be in it.

It has been cloudy. It has been cloudy for days on end. I just noticed it today, standing in the backyard for the first time in a long time.

The fire burned sporadically as sheet after sheet of paper crumpled in my hand and was thrown onto the flames. Old checkbooks burned brightly, checks, from accounts closed over ten years ago, curled one by one. Pages of my writing belong with the angels, characters from my pen blaze before turning black and blank. Ashes rise as letters from insurance companies and statements from banks are consumed.

Where do they all come from, the piles of documents that bear my name and other personal information. We never discard such items in the trash that is taken away by the city. We do not have a shredder. Have these documents become the pyres of ritual, or of economy?

It is only after returning to the house, smelling of smoke; fingers smudged with ashes, that I notice that clouds dominate the sky. It is only after I return to the house that my eyes fly upward; temporarily free of the administrative ties that bind.

There are lots of little things to write about...

The "stress test" carried out last Wednesday has revealed that my heart is strong and healthy.

Attila has moved most of his belongings to his new home office. Everything is there, piled high and deep. Organize, we must organize!

I spied a package of fish thawing in the refrigerator. This means that we will be having Herbed Fish for dinner tomorrow night. Oh, what Attila does with fish.

Today "Farmer Organic" dropped off a large parcel of pork patties, made just the way we like them. His prices are fair and his ethics are admirable. We will enjoy eating the food he produces.

Several projects are taking up my time, providing me with amusement and sometimes excitement. Recent dealings with banks, lawyers, and government agencies have been a real education. Greed and dishonesty have generated a bureaucracy that bogs down human interactions, almost to a standstill. The way things seem to be going, one might soon need a court order to ask a child to do their homework!

There are too many rules that do not work. When rules do not work, why, just make more rules!

"Rule Makers" like this sort of logic, it provides perpetual employment.

I could never be a "Rule Maker"; it is good to know the limits of one's talent.

The computers have been getting a good scrubbing, a digital scrubbing that is. Alfred felt the first wave of cleansing, with a hard drive format and fresh install of the appropriate software. Off-line altogether, Alfred will host personal files, protecting them from the ravages of errant code and roving greed.

Marjory remains plugged in to the Net, with the appropriate Firewall and Anti Virus software installed. Most of the sensitive files have been removed entirely from her drives, although I am still finding odd bits and pieces of information that will be removed to the refuge of Alfred.

Marjory works very hard, as does Alfred. She is where I download and install new pieces of software I want to try out, and where I do the bulk of my work. She is fast and flighty, and we have worked out a balance between us that keeps her up and running consistently.

The move to the new domain http://www.maggieturner.net has been a challenge. As I prepared files for the move I discovered some discrepancies in the entry dates. Months ago I experimented with "dates" and the neat things you can do with them using Dreamweaver. I did some not so neat things, as it happens. All fixed now, I think.

A search function has been added to the site. How useful this will be is yet to be ascertained. Please let me know if it is causing any problems.