A pipedream of bitter combat

Sure, it wasn't the Guadalcanal landing, but still...the body-count was quite high.

Top photo: The soldier on the far right fell in the line of duty on Thursday evening. The other three were victims of an insurgent attack of bitter cold on the following night. A "troop surge" was hastily deployed to replace these casualties, despite the clause in our home warranty that doesn't cover burst pipes.

Now, we are left with a good lesson for all those planning to add an extension (with bathroom) behind their existing 93 year-old urban rowhouse: dude, insulate the new walls, please. See smaller photo: That's interior drywall, a freezing void of empty space, and exterior wallboard with siding on the outside. In the middle space is a teeny, vulnerable little pipe feeding the Waters of Life to the toilet tank. Thanks a bunch, previous homeowners. We'll take it from here, with a little help from our new contractor friends.

...suddenly, it's no wonder the pipes are freezing. And we study the Weather Channel's predictions for next week, making sad little pig noises at the television. Clearly, this winter will not go down without a fight. And yes, as a fitting nod to the previous post, delivery Chinese was ordered again. (note to self: kung pao beats the pants off the general tso. The tso really didn't deserve the "spicy" icon in the menu.)

And diggit: we were denied fortune cookies again. If there is a god, it owes us FOUR (4) fortune cookies. Payable ASAP. Thank you.