Another step in the house work completed: we have a new chimney. OK, it's more like 99.5 percent completed, as there's some roof work needing to be done around the new flashing, and it's been suggested that we put in a liner. Roof work will be done next week. Not sure about the liner - it's a lot of money, and I don't think we're required to have it given the age of the house. It may be something we do later.

We did have one tricky night/morning during this part of the project, as we had some strong winds that, when combined with the loosely-tied tarp, caused part of the staging to come loose and bang around. No damage done, but it was more noise than you like to hear on your roof at 3 a.m.

The living room work continues, with new trim installed and work done in preparation for painting. The real issue, though, it that we're currently living without a thermostat. Which means we get heat or no heat, depending on whether or not the wires that used to go into the thermostat are crossed or not. This was less of a problem when the temps were unseasonably warm. It is more of a problem now, given that lows last night and tonight are going to be in the teens and low 20s.

There's been some sort of problem installing a new one, but someone from the oil company is coming to service our furnace today, so they may have some specialized knowledge to help get it working. Let's hope so, anyway.

Outside of the joys of home ownership, the other notable thing going on now is at work, where we continue down the path of switching over information systems. I won't go into too much detail, but let's just say that there seems to be a correlation between the number of consultants and such running around here and delays in getting things done. Admittedly I'm way at the fringe of this thing, so I'm quite likely underplaying the progress that's been made. It doesn't feel like it, though.