Good early morning GH. It is just past 4:00 a.m. in "The City." I am up because I am. Nothing in particular with regard to any aches or pains. But I digress. The current temperature in the Weather Center is 71 digitally reported degrees. Outdoors, the analog weather instruments in the Weather Window tell me that the temperature is 35°, matching the low of 35°. This is April 23, so it should be a bit warmer by now. Sigh. At least we don't have any precipitation in the forecast.

I got an email yesterday from one of the yarn shops on Mary's "Yarn Quest" tour. It seems that when I was filling out the door prize entry for Mary, I also filled out one for myself, and I won. I don't know what it is, but we are going to pick it up today. It is "free" after all. The best prizes are given out on a first come, first served basis. Hey, whatever it is, I'll take it.

Tuesday, the plumber came and replaced the broken outdoor faucet. The old one was damaged beyond repair. He didn't even charge me for my supervision. Best of all, he didn't have to move anything in the mud room, the valve connection was accessible under the laundry sink. All in all, about one hour. He also told me that the main water valve in the basement didn't need to be replaced, so that saved me some money. That means that my "free" door prize is closer to being free.

On Tuesday, I also cleaned the tile floors. That included dusting, steam cleaning, and making them look as nice as they did when we moved in. I also took time to vacuum the carpets, but they still need a good cleaning too. That will wait for a consistently warm spell sometime this year, assuming that that ever happens.

I also found time to read the magazine section from the N.Y. Times, and then work part of the crossword from that same magazine section. I haven't done that in months, so it felt good to give it another try. I am doing well so far. Then the day was done and it was time to try that chili that Mary made on Monday. Like always, it tastes better after sitting a day or more. A few oyster crackers, a little shredded cheddar cheese, and some hot sauce to give it the kick that I like, and it was great. Mary likes her chili to be a bit less spicy, so I am free to augment at the table.

Today, we plan to pick up my door prize and then relax until later this week. Mary has a new project coming in on Friday, so I'll have to once again earn my keep by highlighting. That's okay, since I have had some time off from those duties.

I heard a train earlier, but that was about 12:00 a.m. I haven't heard another, so either I missed one, or it hasn't come through yet. Seeing is believing as they say.

By the by, I lost my desktop gadgets on my computer. I tried re-installing them, but they haven't reappeared. I'll have to try shutting down and restarting to see if that helps.

In sports, the boys in blue have now won two in a row with last nights 9 - 2 win over the even more hapless Diamondbacks. I'm sure the boys in blue are euphoric. Now they are only five games below 500. Wait til next week. The Tigers also beat that other team from Chicago, 8 - 6, to move to 10 - 7 on the season. My beloved Red Sox once again fell to the Yankees, this time by the lopsided score of 3 - 9. They are not looking good this year at 9 - 12. Can last year's World Series winning manager be the first to be sacked for losing this year? Stay tuned. The Caps once again lost to the Hot Rods by a score of 0 - 5. They are now even in their league at 9 - 9.

In other sports news, the Bulls lost their second home playoff game in a row to the Wizards, who had a similar regular season record to the Bulls. Now they move to an even less friendly court in Washington. The Blackhawks play again tonight as they attempt to stay alive in their playoff series. Currently they are at 1 - 2.

So that looks like enough for today. Sunrise will be at 6:48 a.m. and sunset at 8:34 p.m. Ciao.