Good morning or good evening, wherever you may be. It is just past 3:45 a.m. in "The City."

It still feels like winter here in West MI, but that will be changing by Sunday, when the temperature will rise into the 40° plus range and stay there through at least Tuesday. The chance for a proverbial "White Christmas" looks dim. IN addition, windy conditions are forecast for Sunday.

Yesterday, I can honestly say I didn't accomplish very much. In the morning, I walked with the intrepid weather dog to her doctor's appointment, where with the exception of her having gained about 10% more weight than she should have, everything went just fine. There are some test results due in today, but her wellness exam went well. In the afternoon, I greeted the furnace technician and after about 1/2 hour, he pronounced the furnace good for another year. How long will it last? It was installed in 1999, so it could be anywhere from five to ten years. My bet is on the long end of that forecast.

I placed a few pieces in my jigsaw puzzle and we traveled about in the afternoon to do some errands. We stopped at our favorite watering hole for diner and then visited the Post, where we learned that Sally was in the hospital, but on the mend.

Today, some highlighting, some play with the girls in preparation for Saturday's Irish Jam, and the regular walk with STWD later this morning. Mary has a chat session in the afternoon along with work on one or two indexes. In addition, one of the previous indexes has returned for reprocessing. I have heard that the mess made by the editors will necessitate some wizardry from our IT guru and then some magic wand waving by Mary. I have a part in the process too, but I'll know more later.

Right now, the temperature outside the WW is 34°, even though the overnight low is supposed to be 24° before the high later today of, wait for it, 33°. Our setback T-stat is working fine, as the temperature in the Weather Office is 65.7°. The sun will rise at 8:11 a.m. and set at 5:11 p.m. Ciao.