The necessities

Exciting development on the house front: we finally got around to building the frame for the futon, which practically doubles the amount of furniture we have. We would have built it earlier, but first the floor was being redone (wood in place of very bad blue carpet [VBBC]) and then a seriously fierce crew of electricians were fixing almost every wire in the place. A few weeks ago, Tom turned on the bathroom faucet and got a big electric shock. Thinking that he must have been imagining the shock, he tried again, and lo and behold, it happened again. This meant that the faucet was live, which should never ever happen, because things like faucets (and showers and pipes and the like) are supposed to be grounded. Needless to say, ours weren't. This is when we called the electricians, who came in and fixed everything, and put in a new fuse box, so our wiring isn't Edwardian anymore.

God bless the electricians, I say. Halfway into my first English fall, it also seems fitting to give shout-outs to:
1) my trench coat, which I've worn nearly every day since arriving, and which is perfect for weather that's alternately gray and sunny, damp, occasionally windy, chilly but not properly cold
2) the tradition of roast Sunday dinner, especially roast potatoes, which are basically the best thing ever
3) the museums in London, which continue to impress. Just yesterday I went to see this exhibit of medical wax-works at the Wellcome Collection, and it was peculiar but good.