Etc.

I got my phone line back in last night. Sorta. I have a working phone upstairs. I need to burrow back through two layers of bookshelves to find my drill so I can punch a hole through the brick. Then I need to run cable and install jacks in the computer room, kitchen, living room, and maybe the bedroom. Antenna wire to follow the phone lines into the bedroom and living room. I might get my computer set up in the kitchen just to have it back.

The house has finally been cleared of all incandescent bulbs. I've got a couple of LED bulbs and several Compact Flourescent Bulbs (CFBs). I'm using mostly GE's soft white 60. It hesitates before lighting and it gets a bit warmer than I remember CFBs getting, but the light is white and bright. It's 15 watts that looks like 60 watts.
Alas, that model was too big for the globe for the kitchen ceiling fan. I went out and got a 9 watt (looks like 40 watt) CFB by N.Vision. It fits but it's blue light. I may replace it with a 40 watt (in appearance) from GE and move this one to the back porch.

Nearly got in a fight last night. A neighbor kid wanted to borrow my Essential Fantastic Four. I told him that if he waits until I'm done reading it I'll be happy to let him borrow it. Every day he asks me again and I tell him the same thing. So while I had my back turned on my house he slipped in and got it. I caught him trying to sneak off with it held behind his back. I've had previous trouble with this guy and his cousin. "No" is not in their vocabulary. "No" translates roughly to "wait until I'm not looking". The cousin is already banned from my house for taking a game I said he couldn't borrow and for trying to walk off with some change that the workmen left in the house. This guy lied to cover for his cousin in the past.
So I dope slapped him, snatched the book away, hefted him up and gave him a toss down the street. He turned around laughing and tried coming back. I advanced threateningly and snarling "don't even try laughing this off. You leave now. I don't want to see you here." A few minutes later his mom showed up with his older brother and uncle. Both guys were large men a head taller than me and head and shoulders taller respectively. I'm aware of the two guys looming and being threatening, but this isn't about them. I'm maintaining eye contact with the queen "B". She starts yelling at me about laying hands on her son. I told her that her son was a little thief who needs to stop trying to make off with other peoples stuff. She lets me know that I should have brought him to her to deal with. I let her know that if she disciplined her kids then they wouldn't need complete strangers doing it for her. This continued for a bit. Her claiming that her boy is very respectful of other people and their stuff. I asked if she'd met her son and how respectful was it to walk off with other peoples stuff when permission was specifically denied. She threatened to call the cops. I said "please do". Finally she headed off. Her thugs followed. The uncle kicked the Battleship game I was playing with a couple other neighborhood kids. I stood back up and went nose to chin with this guy.
"My bad" he said in the most sarcastic tone possible.
"Damn strait it's your bad."
"Just like you hitting that kid was your bad."
"You would have done something different if you found someone walking out of your house with your stuff?" And as he starts leaving I had to throw in "What kind of parent are you anyway?"
I knew it would piss her off again but it had to be said. She came back with the standard "What did you just say?"
"Do you really need me to repeat myself?"
She said something about how she'd lose her job if she hit me and left.
Then we started hunting down all the Battleship pegs.