October, 2021

This trick-or-treater has a very realistic squirrel costume, and got started pretty early to score a full-sized peanut butter cup.

After 25 years, the rubber of my old handlebar grips was starting to deteriorate and feel sticky. Not pleasant. I had to cut down the new ones to accommodate my bar-ends, just like I did long ago with the originals.

Believe it or not, these Swedish crystal double-old-fashioned glasses are swag (or a close relative), the result of a coworker trying out my company’s new employee-to-employee recognition system on me. Whiskey not included.

In previous years I’ve stopped biking to the train station once it gets dark out for my ride home — the primary road that’s most of my route was in awful shape and I feared falling into a pothole and crashing. But that road has been repaved, so I’m trying to extend biking season. I bought a nice little rechargeable headlight — bright enough to see by; I already have a blinking light on my helmet so I’m seen — to make that easier. I tried it out this evening, and so far so good!

Never let it be said that the mayor of Newton never did anything for us. Here, her campaign flyer is the perfect stiffness to make a good fruit-fly-trap funnel.

Oh, it’s just a reflection.

We quite enjoyed MIDA Newton, our 2nd visit. Anyone who’s eaten my cooking knows I am all about uncluttered preparations of excellent ingredients, and this is one of the rare restaurants that does it better than I can.

Thanks to Michael, I have an opportunity to do a taste-test comparison of two scotches: on the right, Balvenie 12-year Doublewood, an old favorite. On the left, Balvenie 15-year sherry-cask. My verdict: while Doublewood remains a favorite, the sherry-cask wins with a bolder, richer flavor.

Today is National Homemade Cookies Day!