A bit under the weather for the last 24 hrs, but better now. It's odd how the period of urgh can derail your intiative. Yesterday I was looking at houses again, thinking about what makes sense, dreaming of a new solid and settled environment, and even considering a trip! Also, have to get cracking on that book again tomorrow. Today: what is possibly the point of all of this

Then you think that all the forward-looking plans and daily routines and boxes ticked, accomplishments made, are just diversions. And then you think well, when weren't they? I mean, that's life, and before the Great Schism I had my moments of weariness and loss of purpose. Nothing was ever really the same the day Daughter walked through security to head off to Brazil. So today is just . . . normal! But perhaps you've been in that place where you feel the wind at your back for a while, and then it suddenly dies down and you wonder if now you'll topple over backwards into the yawning void.

Best thing to do in this instance is fix the lag problem. When I first envisioned the office here at FBOne it was white, with a few color accents. There would be two orange HomePod minis for music and radio et al. It looked fine. Modern and spare. Well, the damned things have a two- to three-second lag, and apparently it's a "known issue" with AirPlay and there's not really anything you can do about it. In the old house - which I will be going back to any day now when I wake up - I had two nice desktop speakers, which of course were packed away. So let's go to Zork Storage and get them. This was a few days ago.

Of course, the key to my unit did not work.

Did I have the wrong one? I tried the next one. The key went in this lock as well, but didn't work. Sigh. Back downstairs, out to the lobby where the video kiosk is embedded in the wall. Call for help. A nice lady appeared on the screen. It's THE FUTURE! and I hate it and no one likes it, but it's better than calling a number and getting a recording. She checked my account; everything was fine. I said I'd try it again. Back upstairs. Try the key again. It turns. WHATEVER. I found the speakers in the third box and took them home and did nothing about them, because I didn't want to admit that the HomePod Minis with the Splash of Color in an Otherwise Minimalist Room was another example of something I'd planned, but hadn't worked out.

Don't get me started on the cookware.

Anyway, the new speakers have no lag, because they are connected by a wire, that I own, to my computer, in my house. I fixed it all up today, then felt a bit better, then not so much better. Time to reset the day with the nap. It's the equivalent of putting a paperclip through a small hole in the back of my head. I awake a new man.

I present: Material that did not pass Hiatus Muster. I was working on some future projects, and decided to bail on making you plow through a 1951 Woolworth Annual report.

But it has some worthy moments.

Part of the problem: I know I've shown this to you before, because I remember looking for it in Cleveland.

The rest of the book has some store photos. I love the store photos.

Stylish! The equally chic jewelry counter.

Not a lot to absorb the sound.

This is a lot of floor-space to devote to picture frames.

The text says it's Christmas every day in the toy section.

The toy section:

You can get a complete and consistent color profile in your house - cheap!

Won't you be curious to see what I did decide to use for the next Hiatus.

This is a still from a fairly horrifying episode of The Outer Limits. I've never watched the show - didn't have the opportunity, as it didn't run in Fargo in syndication. It can be quite effective. This, of course, is not a review. We're looking for little details and see if we can reconstruct anything.

Bob Culp and his wife are merrily windowshopping. She's unaware he's about to turn into a monster.

Oh cruel foreshadowing! He's about to turn into something primitive.

Let's see what they saw in the record store window:

That was easy enough..As was this:

But I couldn't find the one on the left.

I can make out one word:

I tried everything. Then I went back a few days later - I know, it's a thrilling life - and I got a bit more.

Okay, now I see "WITH A" to go with BEAT.

Anyone want to take a crack at it? Busts, the Fedora - it's driving me nuts.

Also, note this: the Godfather / Omega Man typeface:

Looks wrong. Looks creepy for a baby box. Also, I've seen block before.

Backlot shot, no doubt. Remember this: we'll see it again some day.

No, I can't just watch TV; why do you ask?

It’s 1984.

Question: why wouldn’t you smoke these?

Because you wanted a Rugged Manly Brand. Because you wanted something particular to your demographic. Because you liked the color of your brand’s package. But let’s say none of these apply. Why would you turn down something so elegant and classy?

Because they weren’t any good, is what I recall.

A dazzling feat of miniaturization:

This was the future, right here, and it was only going to get cooler. There’s something about the early-mid 80s Japanese tech that had a compelling simplicity. It just was.

Panasonic ruled, for a while, and suddenly it didn’t seem like a relevant brand anymore.

No copy needed. Get the old man a bottle of the good stuff.

It was considered the good stuff, too. It probably is the good stuff. I had a friend who swore by it; his go-to whisky.

But was this taped so long ago the tape yellowed?

The dream. The absolute dream. A high-tech automated digital music center with a sci-fi city background.

It’s all in your phone now.

So I guess we’re all day-drinkers now

Love the women's hair. It was such a change from the 70s, sharp and chic and new-waveish, or full and frothy: All the boys want in to her lair / She's got Geena Davis hair

They had the most banal slogans. Didn’t mean anything.

High heels on a boat: have fun when you hit a swell. Even worse, she's coked to the gills.

Looks a lot like Sterlings, no?

A British brand that tried to crack the American market, but really didn’t do that much business.

Interesting: only the women are smoking.

Same magazine. Demographics in some of these mags was wider than anything you’d find today.

They still use the same logo, I’m happy to say.

That'll do. Comic Sins now, and Joe's up at 11 with another tale.