Cousin Kathy going back to work, it seems.

https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2018-03-16/oxfam-announces-zainab-bangura-and-katherine-sierra-co-lead

Can place settings destroy a marriage?

One member of the Pierce family is in the habit of requiring the use of placemats on the dining table during meals.  They are cloth rectangles placed under one’s plate.  Sort of like shag carpeting under one’s food. According to custom, it would seem, these placemats ought to be cleaned after use. But, in fact, they never are. They sit on the table for days, collecting bits of refried bean and spaghetti sauce.

Another member of the Pierce family is repulsed by the idea of dirty cloth sitting underneath his/her food. Indeed, s/he does not understand the point of placemats in any event. The dining table, with layer of very hard polyurthane finish, is much easier to wipe down than is a placemat.

If anyone has any information about the origin of the custom of using placemats or knowledge of how to use them  effectively, please comment below.

A man was washed overboard and not recovered in this year’s Volvo Ocean Race while the fleet was in the very cold and rough Southern Ocean. These guys are living on the edge, definitely. Different lives, for sure.

Here is the announcement by the race president.  Check out the frightening but beautiful videos of the conditions that follow the announcement.

“My wife says I never listen to her, or something like that.”
Anonymous

80 words.  1 mistake.

A beautiful day in the Sierra!

World class mountain biking, from our front door!