Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is nearly 4:00 a.m. in "The City." A current temperature of 33° is the lowest that it will get. Yet, the National Weather Service on another site shows the temperature as 31°. I just know that it is cold outside the Weather Window. With only a slight wind blowing, the temperature feels like 26°. Today, rain at 80% is the prediction, accompanied by a high of 39°. Tomorrow is much the same, as is Wednesday.

I did see the train go by as I was reading in the living room last night. One locomotive and six cars of mixed use. I didn't see or hear the northbound run. But, that may not have happened, yet.

In spite of my original intentions, I did get in some time with the girls. I was sounding good as I tried to keep the volume down as Mary was working.

Earlier I went to the man-cave to accomplish those tasks I had set out for myself, but the major one was deterred by the overwhelming complexity of the electrical service in this old palatial estate. So as I told Mary, I know my limitations and I'll be plugging lights in to accomplish my goal. That means that I saved a lot of work and some money for the things I'll be returning to the big-box home center. That seems like a twofer to me. I did get my music stand repaired after its fatal fall on Saturday. I saved money with that repair, so maybe it was three for three.

We had a nice visit with the neighbors last evening. We were invited over for a gathering of the three families who occupy our little corner of the GH community and we had nice conversations, as we learned about the history of our homes, the purchase circumstances, and how each family makes use of their space. We probably have the most space with the least people per square footage.

Today, I'll be walking with Sugar the Weather Dog, although with that high percentage chance of rain, that may be a short walk. Then I or Mary and I, will be journeying to that big-box home center for that return. Then I hope to find a carpet sweeper at the local vacuum store or one of the big-box everything stores. With Sugar in shed mode, I need all the help I can get picking up her hair.

Speaking of Sugar, yesterday she was spooked by a large explosion outside the palatial estate and repaired to her upstairs hide-e-hole for safety. Once again, the idiot explosives aficionado was at play. In addition, I have had to resort to various subterfuges to get her to take her anti-shedding medication. So far, the best seems to be mixing the crushed pill with her food. She will take the  medication when covered with peanut butter, but otherwise she will work around the pill or spit it out. So much for dogs will like these pills. I got lucky one day and stuffed the pill in a banana, but she got wise to that trick and chewed the banana and spit out the pill the next time.

I'll read the newspaper that Sugar and I will pick up on our morning walk and then go back to my novel.

The sun will rise at 8:13 a.m. and set at 5:11 p.m. Mary will work as I wash Sugar's couch cover. Ciao.