* (not *********)

We lost power twice yesterday(for about 1/2 hour in the afternoon, and then an evening reprise from 4:30 pm until 2:30 am)during my weekly gasoline sabbatical (and by the way, the price of oil has dropped to a five-year low) and managed to gouge a triangle-sized piece out of the tip of my left middle finger (that spewed blood EVERYwhere--I thought I was watching "Curse of the Golden Flower" again!) while washing dishes. One of my dad's old Ford truck-fleet tumblers did the trick (All those cocktail parties with the Coynes and it didn't survive a simple washing) and now I've got a nice little bandage around the tip of my left typing finger (so if there are typing screw-ups, that's why). So, all in all it was a busy day, but without the computer there was not too much business accomplished. But I did managed to cook the pets' meals on the wood-stove, keep the place warm, and listened to entirely too much talk-radio 'til finally, Frank Shiers put me to sleep (That's the only good thing I can say about the man). But a KIRO radio guy I DO like is Terry Rose-recently retired from KIRO and living down the highway from me. I stopped by his and Christine's palatial pad, shared Island horror stories, briefly re-asserted that we have different tastes in movies--he loved "The Departed" and Jack Nicholson in it, I think Scorsese was slumming, and Jack needed some reigning in--and went over some nifty features in the recording software in his home-studio. Nice digs. And just when we were really getting into the nitty-gritty of it *poom* power goes out.

Which is where you came in.

I got up early expecting a lot of snow and found...nothing. A slight dusting on the table on the deck, and that was it. Roads were clear, but the further I headed south the more snow there was. Very gratifying to see the road-crews out. It'll be a busy day back at the Ranch, then I take my car in for some maintenance down in the old stomping grounds. Pick up some do-food. Check my mail. Pick up the dog. Go home. Do the stuff I couldn't do yesterday. Sleep. That'll be it. Get up early for the de-icing. Such is life.