Category Archives: Sietch Willett

June 15, 2025 · 22:50

Proof Of Life – June 15th

You want to talk about an actual invasion of Los Angeles? Here! The freakin’ gophers are killing my yard from below!

This spot of lawn has a couple of recent mounds on the left, and three or four of them on the right. I was standing there in the middle of the two spots, minding my own business, middle of the day, and not five feet from me another chunk of sod shifted and that buck toothed little bastard stuck its head out, wished me a Happy Father’s Day, flipped me the bird, stuck out its tongue, and vanished.

I proceeded to thoroughly perforate the ground out for a couple of feet in all directions, finally leaving the pitch fork buried deep in the central tunnel opening, but I have no idea if I got him. I have no way of tracking him or knowing where he’s at down below. It could have seen me, mocked me, and then been 100 yards away two houses down the block by the time I grabbed the Pitchfork O’ Death. Or it could have been three feet away. I’ll never know.

Yes, I have become a cartoon character. FML!

1 Comment

Filed under Critters, Photography, Sietch Willett

December 2, 2023 · 23:43

MORE Lights! – December 2023

The second tranche of 2023 Christmas lights is up at Sietch Willett!

Last week I did the lights along the roof line, which is typically the most time consuming and difficult. That was seven sets of lights, plus two on the ground (the candy canes) along the driveway.

Today, in about half of the time as I spent last weekend, I got ten sets of lights up on the ground, in the rose bushes, and in all of the plants along the front and side of the house.

Curiously, I ran out of lights to put up! This is due to the age of my supply of lights and the fact that there were nearly a dozen strings that I had to pull when they were failing. I test everything before I put it up and I won’t put up anything with a section (usually a 1/3 section or 1/4 section, depending on the style of lights) completely burnt out. By the time they all got weeded out, I had enough to finish today’s ten sets – but I’ve got at least four other sets that really need to get filled in and there are a couple more places where I can put some up if I can still find them in the store tomorrow.

Good thing that the Chiefs game isn’t until 17:00 local time tomorrow. There’s a time and priorities conflict that might just short circuit my frazzled brain.

One other thing that I’m going to be trying hard to get done earlier this holiday season is getting the Christmas cards out earlier. To that end…

  • If you’re on the Christmas card list (i.e., you’ve gotten them in the past) and you’ve moved or changed your address and want to stay on the Christmas card list, please send me an email at pwillett@ix.netcom.com (or call, I’m easy!)
  • If you’re not on the Christmas card list (i.e., you’ve never gotten cards in the past) and you want to be, please let me know and tell me where to send it
  • If you see me posting a list on here in a week or so with high school friends or CAF friends or fannish friends who have dropped off the radar and you have current contact information for them, please either let them know that I’m trying to reach them or contact me with the current information

Social media is (sometimes) great and all of that, but I’m an olde phart and believe that there’s nothing better than a card, a couple of pictures, and the family newsletter from friends.

Especially given how many of them this year are being flagged as “deceased” in my mailing list database.

Life’s too short. I don’t know or care who “they” are, if “they” say that Christmas cards are uncool and passe, then I have a number of physiologically improbable suggestions for “them.”

Merry Christmas!

Leave a comment

Filed under Christmas Lights, Photography, Sietch Willett

June 9, 2023 · 23:53

The Toilet Was When I Knew That God Was Mocking Me

Life is multi-faceted. There are things you’re thinking about at home, at work, in life in general. Opportunities.

Some are forseen. For example, our audit is starting. This is a familiar and well-known stress point, a time when I need to be on my game, involving a lot of hours, reports, thinking, and so on. But we’ve known that it was coming.

Some are potential. At work we’ve known for a while that things were out there on the horizon that could be “a thing,” potentially a *HUGE* thing in terms of hours, work, effort, disruption to the normal routine, and so on. All stress points. Granted, with a lot of great opportunities on the other side of the stress, but still – stress.

Some are long-term goals, like the “forever home” search. We’ve been “looking” for three or four years, never knowing when we might find “the one.”

So when the audit starts, and then things start happening lightning fast on that *HUGE* thing, and then things start happening way faster than you ever thought they might on the house hunt, something’s got to give.  We’re adjusting priorities, which can be disappointing, but necessary.

THEN there’s another hour plus in the dentist chair which somehow results in a chunk of tooth that hadn’t been a problem being chipped off and now we have ANOTHER dental problem to deal with. With pain, just after we finally got rid of the old dental pain point…

So with all of that going on TODAY all at once, and I’m wondering which god’s dog I kicked, to find that the toilet has completely backed up and made a huge mess… The toilet was when I knew that God was mocking me.

Fine. Laugh away, God.

But I stuck with the home repairs and got the toilet functional again, even if it’s probably not completely fixed. And I’m ready for the audit. And I’ll hit the ridiculous deadlines for the *HUGE* thing, even though it will take the weekend. And sooner rather than later, even if a brief stint on the back burner means that we don’t get one of the ideal dream houses that we’re eyeballing, there will be other ideal dream houses to find later.

Being brilliant or talented might be wonderful, but being stubborn (i.e., “Too stupid to give up”) gets the job done.

5 Comments

Filed under Paul, Sietch Willett

June 7, 2023 · 23:36

Random Old Photos – June 07th

Playing the Zillow game, house hunting (or at least semi-seriously and starting to get more seriously house window shopping), I quickly started building up a checklist of things to verify. Priorities. Deal killers. Variables.

For example, a one-story property is a high priority – but a nice two-story with a master suite on the ground floor is acceptable. We have a price range which is firm – but if the perfect place came along and it’s “close” to that range, then we can talk.

Some things are absolute deal killers. I’m still working remotely and intend to keep doing it for a while, so an excellent, high-speed internet connection is a must, no questions asked.

Then there are the “softer” variables. How does the yard look? Does it have a pool or spa? Does it have solar already? Is it near a busy high school or mall or someplace with a lot of traffic? How old is it?

Beyond that, everyone has that “something” that they’re keeping an eye on, even if the real estate agent or other family members might not be. For me that’s, “How many Christmas lights can I put up? How many trees and bushes are there, and how much roofline and gutters to hang lights from? Are we on or near a major street where lots of people are going to see them, or are we off in the boonies where only a handful of folks will ever know, no matter how much time I spend hanging them?”

It’s not a deal killer, but it’s there in the back of my mind. The old house on Pomelo shown above from twenty years ago? That was a great house to hang lights on! The house we move to will be our last one, our “forever” home, so we need to get it right.

There are going to be a lot of Christmases there, they need to be celebrated with lights!

1 Comment

Filed under Christmas Lights, Photography, Sietch Willett