Sometimes affluence sucks

Okay, by world averages we're rich Americans. We have two cars. Two _old_ cars, a '95 and a '97, but sometimes Wife and I need to be in different places at the same time. One of the unsung joys of the self-employed architect's life is the occasional need to visit a job site in East Overshoe, Maine on a snowy day in February.

So now my car needs an new exhaust system. Friday afternoon (too late for service, of course), strange and truculent noises began to emerge from underneath. That's a few hundred dollars we'll never see again. And the new system will probably outlive the car, judging by rust scabs showing along the door edges...

Other sucking sounds...

(Not personal)

Heating repair truck in the driveway next door. Generally considered a bird of ill-omen in November in Maine.

Well, they _could_ be doing a routine cleaning and service on the system...

Urban renewal

A chainsaw in a bucket lift out back -- removing the large maple from a space approximately 20' wide between two houses. Delicate work, that, and I don't care much for the impact on the view from my office window. So what if the tree tended to put large dead limbs through the roof of Rear House Neighbor and Next Block Neighbor? Not my problem.

I do expect a swarm of homeless squirrels crouching on our back steps, though. And maybe an agrieved bald eagle or barred owl deprived of a favorite perch...