October glory

It would have been a fine day even if I'd accomplished nothing, being one of those sunny blue and yellow October jobbies with red maples and big white clouds, whose mere beauty justifies its existence. But I also finally got to play about with the cement I bought a month ago, patching some of the earthquake-deep rifts in the back concrete pad so as to get an idea of the proper consistency. Two packages doesn't go very far and I'm not sure if this is what I need to brace the progressively more crumbling front stoop, but I bought two more packs and shall probably have a go at it tomorrow. Alas that my wooden form is a silly millimetre too high to fit on the side. OTOH, I'm obviously going to be doing this in stages, so can start with just an ordinary piece of wood.

Then watched two eps of Otougizoushi. Been two years since I used my DVD player and had to replace batteries in all the remotes. Begin to find my screen too small after all the huge flat screens people have now. But I'm so not a watcher that buying one is pointless, especially since I don't have cable or even a digital antenna.

Wish I hadn't learned that Charles Todd is American. Not to be chauvinistic, but now I'll be wondering more about things like that respectable woman in the 1920-set one who's walkng outside bareheaded. I know people get their own historical details wrong, but it's that much likelier when you write another culture.