The Elysian Fields

Of course, I can't do a "real" survey, but here we go:

What temperature do you keep your house at in the Winter?

Speaking of temperatures, it was a balmy 65F this morning, and that was with mists, rain, and a sun that was still catching 40 winks and had yet to poke its head over the horizon. Good MayNovember weather!

The bridge between our office and the garage is often the victim of brutal coffee spills - this morning, stepping on one I *thought* was weeks old, I discovered a hitherto unknown slick spot, and did an impromptu softshoe routine for the enjoyment of my fellow commuters. A combination of awkward clumsiness and (*ahem*) amazing grace, I recovered without needing to break my fall with my nose, and without hammering the laptop into the floor or, worse, my kneecap. A little shuffling dance, and all is well. My left ankle is emboldened by the affair, and is considering a circus career as a contortionist, but the arch of my right foot - which stoically stopped the fall and grabbed solid purchase outside the ring of coffee stains and sticks - hurts like hell.

You'd think that, after spilling five to forty ounces of steaming hot coffee, the mostly-professional level crowd that uses the walkway might actually be aware that they spilled, and would attempt some kind of clean-up, or, at the least, would notify the cleaning staff. Thankfully, we live in a world where no one has to take responsibility for themselves - the coffee containers have warnings that the contents are hot, but not, alas, that they might spill - and just because they spilled it, doesn't mean they clean it. Not in their job description, donchaknow.