My laptop computer is giving me fits;
It will randomly fade into black.
It looks like it simply is “going to sleep”–
With a difference: I can’t get it back!

My car has a problem they can’t diagnose,
And it’s rapidly starting to die;
The gauges don’t work, and the power is weak,
And my grease-monkey doesn’t know why.

My bike needs new shifters, new gears, and a chain,
The socks I am wearing have holes
With two kids in college, and spouse out of work
It is difficult meeting my goals.

But I’m healthy, I’m happy, and looking around
I can see, many more have it worse–
I don’t think I’d trade places with anyone else…
I’ll just sit here, complaining in verse.

Ok… every word of that is true, but this is not meant to be a pity-inducing post; I am very much aware that a great many people (including, I would assume, some of my readers) are in far worse shape than I am. Last time I actively asked for money, I had a specific and immediate need, and my readers showed a generosity so far beyond any real-life people [read: my damned department] that it was my readers who made the single most amazing experience of my last 5 years (maybe more; I am being conservative) possible. I am not in such straits this time, and I am not trying to guilt-trip anyone.

But I am going to gently ask for money. No hard-sell, though; I am not threatening to stop posting (I am much too obsessive–if nobody donates a cent, I’ll still be here); I have no pressing problems (other than what is in the verse above, which could probably describe a great many lives, and is no great hardship); I have no claim of charitable need-based donating. If, though, you read and enjoy this site, please consider clicking the tip jar over there on the right. It’s the time of year when I start figuring out cephalopodmas spending, and right now my budget is zero. (Which, I will be the first to admit, puts me way ahead of a staggeringly large number of people whose budget is negative.)

For the next few days, I will be posting some “best of” re-posts. This is for two reasons. One–I have a lot of grading I need to get to, and a laptop to bring in for repair, and a car to set fire to, and a bike to fix, and socks to darn. Two–according to google analytics, the vast majority of people who visit here don’t look at the older posts, and I really like some of them! So if you have a favorite you’d like me to repost, just let me know in the comments here or in email, and I’ll surely get to it!