Double Flee A

Sure is cold up here in Minneapolis. Holy shit. According to weather.com, it's 3 below and feels like 23 below with the wind, which is really whippin' some ass. We like it this cold if for no other reason than in the pecking order of bad weather, ours isn't anybody's bitch.

This morning when I went to unlock my car I discovered the locks were frozen. The only way I could gain entrance was to open the trunk and climb in and unlock the doors from the inside. Some hot chicks who were standing around in bikinis thought that was pretty awesome so we had hot monkey sex in my back seat while the car warmed up. Then I drove them downtown where we got wasted on malt liquor. I had to dry out at Betty Ford and then I was off to school.

School was fine. I am getting the hang of filing. At present, we're making cubes out of brass one centimeter on a side with a tolerance of a tenth of a millimeter. The difficulty of this exercise is compounded by the fact that we have crappy vises. I have a cube that's closing in, and if I'm careful I may yet make it without screwing up. Doing that over would be (and may be) a pain. Making a cube free-hand filing isn't easy. You have to estimate the squareness to a degree that will result in being within the appropriate tolerance by just eyeballing it. Back and forth you file, all the while the cube-ish hunk shrinking to dangerous levels. Metal can be filed away, but it cannot be filed back on. One oopsy-daisy misstroke with the file that requires fixing, it suddenly becomes fucking worthless, no matter how pretty it is, how flat and how square and unfaceted and polished. Any watchmaking student will tell you that that makes a sound which is so quiet it can only be heard by one person. Similar to a whimper and a large-ish swallow, it's the sound of defeat. Worst of all, there's no one else to blame. At this point, and there are many, a person can only close their eyes and groan. Everyone immediately knows what happened and no one who likes being alive will give you a hard time about it.

In the time I've been writing this, the weather channel has changed to saying it's 6 below and feels like 29 below. Hoo-wee. This is the Minnesota winters we're always talking about. People tend to remain where they are in this weather. Plans are broken. Dates are postponed. Tea is made. Phone calls ensue.

Tomorrow I have school and then work after. Saturday and Sunday are work, and then back to school Monday but wait! What's this?! Martin Luther King day? AAA HAHAHAHAHAAA! And so I will have Monday off. Beyond the grave. the civil rights leader is helping assure that I will have a chance to do my laundry. Thanks, man. Gimme five! Up high! On the side! Down low! Too slow, because you're dead!

My school will never close on account of snow or cold, because they lose money if they close for a day. And that is not going to happen, according to the president.

This was day two with no coffee; the headaches already have slackened. Over the weekend I'll probably have a cup or two, but I want to break the habit during the week because it might make me shake and ruin a watch component I'm working on.

I ran out of stuff to talk about a while ago. Sorry. Looks like I'm getting more visitors than ever before, not sure why. But welcome, I guess.

posted by dale @ 7:27 PM