Night Owl Cards

Today, I'm planning to head into work for a full day for the first time since Wednesday. We'll see how that goes. I'm still coughing like a nine-pack-a-day puffer and unless my co-workers consider that comforting background music, things could be bumpy. Also, I haven't exactly been in touch with the normal rhythms and customs of life for the last week and have done a variety of things to almost get myself and others killed, including: driving at night through a snowstorm for a mile without headlights, leaving the stove burners on while making chicken soup, sailing through a stop sign, and other things I'm sure my wife will tell me about when she's sure I'm my old self again and can be sufficiently embarrassed. Staying home and lying on the couch when you're sick isn't only to get you healthy and keep others from catching your illness. You're also there because sick people lose the direction manual to life's little rituals. Fortunatel

I just finished transferring the stacks of cards that sat out brazenly in the living room, in full view of everyone for the last two-plus years, to a new roll-top desk, where they can be hidden from anyone who might be offended by them. Now, I don't know whether they have offended anyone. Nobody has told me that to my face. Yet the desk is of the roll-top variety. So, you know, the cards can't be SEEN. Take from that what you may. My wife's influence is all over this, as you might have guessed. The home and garden shows are popular in my home. I don't watch them very often because they're agonizing. But every once in awhile I catch a couple going through a home and commenting about what they like or don't like about the house. I giggle when I hear the guy mention that he doesn't like the color of the drapes or the wall pattern in the kitchen. I giggle because: 1. You shouldn't have an opinion, buddy. Why do you care about wall patterns? It&#