I've given myself the assignment to solve the office desk question this afternoon - part 1, will I swap the orange cabinet for the black, and part 2, will I move other pieces of furniture around just for a change (and a better look out the window.)

Starting this weekend I'll be watering plants next door while they're taking a grandchild on a road trip, and she said it would be easier for them if I just put a hole through the fence and came in that way and don't have to fool with the padlock on the gate on the other side of the house. I love that we're so comfortable that a hole in the fence is the preferred transit mode. I'm still thinking about a gate that could go in there for as long as we're both in these houses. I might have to turn that stretch back into fence if one or the other parties moves. YouTube has many videos that show how to make them, and I'm almost there.

An interesting note on the New Yorker subscription - when I called she said she didn't have any offers as low as I was asking for, so I should just renew using the web page I'd found that offered it. "Really? It'll let me do it that way?" Yes - so I clicked through, paid my money, and got it for $50 instead of $99 or the print and digital "deep discount" of $169. It opens new possibilities for some of these publications. (Don't forget to turn off automatic renewal or it will charge you the larger amount next year.)