Crazy Stable

Just tried something I read somewhere--put a string up against the leak in the roof, and the water will travel straight down the string instead of into the plaster walls. This was especially easy since a piece of the ceiling has been removed under the leak. The idea, however, is as stupid as it sounds; the string is bone-dry. Just about the only thing in that laundry room that is. I have expanded the emergency management technology to include a second foil roasting pan propped up with a window screen between the sill and the top of the clothes dryer. If the grounding wire from the dryer is wet, is that, like, bad?

Between this and the news about natural gas prices (basically, this winter we will pay our heating bills a la Weimar Republic with wheelbarrows full of currency pushed up to Keyspan, and will carve each other little Christmas presents like the Waltons would), I am awfully glad for this cheering news:

TONIGHT IS OUR 'LAW & ORDER' EPISODE! Yes, 10 p.m. Eastern time, NBC...that's our front door when the 2 intrepid detectives ask the little girl, "Is your father home?"...and our garage in which the guy sets his arm on fire when cornered by Jesse saying "Come out! I know you're in there!"...and our tenants' apartment, in which they interview the brother of a Terry Schiavo-like character about a car bombing. If you're new to CrazyStable, page down to the first few 'journal' entries for the whole story.