Brake, gas and wood

Every once in a while I get to work from home. Today the group is having a party to celebrate the latest product release. I'm going to stay home, work some and prepare a few things for what I hope is our final meeting with Conservation Commission. I didn't attend last release party in August. Something else was going on then.

So, today, I get to hang around in sweat pants and a well-worn Windows Suites denim shirt. (I worked in the Windows Suite group at Rational.) I have three computers in the study (five if you count the two VMware virtual systems on my work laptop). I'll be using all of them in one way or another during the day. I have to set up a small network to test a few things. In the meantime, Marley is lying by the wood stove, yipping at the squirrels in his dreams. The real squirrels outside have taken cover as a hawk circles the neighborhood.

In these worrisome times, with families and friends scattered across the globe, it's nice to know that the clothing industry and mobile telecommunications industries have joined to bring us remote hugs.

Last night I paid $2.49 per gallon of gasoline. I know that people in other parts of the U.S. and certainly in the Great White North are paying a lot more, but this was a new level for me. It's starting to make some folks think differently about their driving. As we've been hearing, sales of hybrid vehicles are climbing rapidly. This is hybrid of a different kind, a truck that burns wood.