The holidays are over, and except for a very bad cold, things are approaching nomal.

I can't say that I'm not working, I'm simply not getting paid for the work. For years I represented a major media company at any of a number of Trade Associations and Standards Organizations, that was my work: OK I would get things like this:

Division President (DP): "Ntsc, what do you know about Y2K"? ) (this was spring 1998).

Ntsc: " It was first described by Arthur C. Clark in a novel about raising the Titanic".

DP: "Well Dick told one of the billing computers it was Jan 1, 2000 and we lost $3,000,000,000 the next quarter, find out how much you need to spend to fix it for the technical side, Dick will handle the business end".

Dick and I spent a 31 hour long New Years 1999-2000 drinking coffee together and having nothing at all to do. Neiter Dick nor I still work there. Nobody ever bothered to say as much as 'Good Job'. By theway, my main job that evening was handleing the New Year's Eve show we did from around the world for about 31 hours. I was the company video transmission engineer and responsible for all of the world wide incoming feeds, somebody did say thank you, but because it was Roger it can't be printed here.

Mostly I either went somewhere else, or did it on the phone, and discussed a problem/solution set with other engneers. Over the years my empoyeer pulled back on travel funding and membership monies.

Then one morning I got a call from my division VP asking me to come up to a personel, er Human Resources, floor. It seems I was out. this was, by the way, the day before the market started to have the bottom fall out.

My second phone call was to the Trade Association I had been working with these many years, would they be willing to have me continue to chair the Working Groups, at no cost to them, at no cost to me. You could hear the relief from the person at the other end of the phone.

So now the view from my office is a lovely state park and yesterday I had an 8 point buck wander across the back yard. Lunch isn't much closer, down one flight instead of 6, but it is tastier, usually cheaper and I'm down 10 pounds since I stopped eating at the company caffeteria.

I have serious hopes of getting somebody to pay me on a contract or per diem rate to represent their company at any of a number of Standards Organizations and I have both more time to cook and no pressure that something has to be started on Saturday and finished by Sunday.

So a veal stock is simmering downstairs, it will be at 180 F for hours, then it will go into a 34 F garage on a concrete floor just at freezing. Monday it will be brought to just below a boil and canned. 'What anoher stock, that is about as interesting as watching paint dry, possibly true, but in this house veal stock is the basis and we are down to our last 3 pints. I would like enough of the stocks we use on the basement shelves by mid May to not have to do stock over the summer. Hard on the AC bill.

The main thing you will see here that is new and different is baking. Cheese making is also likely. We have a local baker/cheesemaker who only charges $300 for a 3-day internship in either. Bobolink and a source of unpasturized milk at not too long a distance Hendricks, whose salumarist is Bob delGrosso