Murder by Death

On a personal front, 2019 started as it meant to go on:  crap.  This is reflected in my year in books, which I'm not even going to review, because I'm 100% sure it's crap.  I didn't come close to my goal, my participation in all the games this year was sub-par, and my participation on BookLikes in general was almost non-existent.

2020 is at least starting on a more positive note.  We're busy beavers here at the funny/animal farm, but we're both in good health and we've had some great news on the business transition front that will make life much more cheerful - or at least, less stressful.  My in-laws have run out of furniture and pictures to give us (I think / hope / pray), and I'm a lot in love with my new camera and itching to book my safari.

However, I'm still feeling down in the slumps, reading-wise.  This might be because we're up to our eyeballs in a home improvement project that has MT and I taking bets as to which of us is going to be the first to lose a kneecap in the middle of the night. I don't want to count on it, so I'm setting my 2020 goal at 150 books, maybe 125.  2019 has me spooked.

Australia is also in the midst of trying to destroy itself; the stats are staggering, and I won't hit you with them here, but every state and territory in the country is on fire in a really, really big way, and where the fire isn't, the smoke is.  I honestly believe it will be a miracle if, by the time it's all over, there's anything but sand and concrete left.  

December 18th was the hottest day ever recorded over the entire country:  the average temperature for the nation (which is roughly the size of the USA) was 107.4 / 41.9C.  That includes Tasmania, whose nearest neighbor is Antartica.  3 days ago (Saturday) an outer suburb of Sydney hit 120 / 48.9C - the hottest place on the planet that day.  Melbourne reached 111 / 44C.  I  mention all this because we haven't had a day over 60 / 16C since Sunday.  My AC is having an identity crisis, and Australian weather is weird.

Meanwhile, we're all fine, but the chickens are complaining about not being able to get the smell of the smoke out of their feathers, and the cats have retired to bed for the foreseeable future; the fish don't understand what the fuss is all about but are requesting someone do something about all the bees stealing their water.  I can't imagine a scenario where we'd be in serious danger, but I catch myself wondering if the car is big enough for 2 cats, 4 chickens, and 2 humans, and how many of each species would come out intact at the end; please God may I never have to find out.