"If you're naturally kind you attract a lot of people you don't like." - William Feather

You still have time.

Cool and cautious heads will hopefully prevail, but the downing of a Russian fighter plane by the Turkish Air Force has the potential to turn into something very big and very international. Cf. the sinking of the Lusitania. In a worst case scenario all NATO parties would have to come to Turkey's defense in a conflict with Russia.

I spent a couple of hours this morning writing, and then most of the rest of the day putting siding on the coop. It's taking longer than anyone would think - it's only eight sheets - but I have lots of notches and openings to cut, and I'm doing it by myself.
Q: How does one hold a 4'x8' sheet of siding up in the air while nailing it to the studs?
A: It's a trade secret, but it involves smashing your left thumb with a framing hammer. Repeatedly.
I'll finish the rest of the siding install tomorrow and maybe get it painted. Then comes the trim.

I have a few more vinyl flooring tiles to remove from Fred before moving up to the loft for demo. But even after having all the paneling, trim, and insulation out for several days it still smells musty in there. So I think, per a helpful comment several days ago from anonymous, I'd better paint all the surfaces with Kilz. Doing that with a brush & roller would take forever, especially because the outer sheeting between the studs has nails coming through it from the cedar shingles and siding. I can't find a place locally that rents anything smaller than a professional grade paint sprayer so I'm going to buy one for $70 that I can use on projects in the future.
It would be a shame to put this much time, effort, and money into Fred's renovation to have it still smell musty when it's all done.

I'm still waiting on axles and a radiator. I called the axle guy yesterday and got, "They're all boxed up and will go out in the morning. You should have them Monday or Tuesday of next week."
Translation: "Oops. I'd better get those boxed and ready to ship. Good thing I have a holiday to cover up my failure to take care of that."

The radiator? I was told 2-3 weeks because they're made to order. And that order was placed on 11/10. Let's see; it's 11/24, which makes it two weeks later. Hmmm.

I have a friend, a married mother of two, who's having surgery tomorrow that will take between 5 and 10 hours. This is the latest step in her treatment for stage 4 colon cancer that had spread to her liver. She had her colon disconnected, went through some pretty brutal chemo, and is now having her colon reconnected, getting an ileostomy, and any remaining spots on her liver removed. After being in there to see how things look the surgeons will decide what comes next.

And I'm impatient while waiting for axles and a radiator?