Good morning or good evening. wherever you may be. It is just past 3:00 a.m. in "The City." A current temperature of 23° that feels like 15°, will give way to today's forecast high of 42° under sunny skies. Sadly, that sunny forecast will give way to rain this evening. For the foreseeable future, we won't see the temperature climb out of the 40s. Oh well, that's spring in MI.

Yesterday we got up early so that we could drive to GR for my MRI appointment. That meant that STWD and I had to get out early for our morning safari to the newspaper box. Unfortunately, we were too early at 7:30 a.m. In addition, someone dropped what I think was a large number of books into the dropbox at the library, so the intrepid one thought it was thunder and wanted to get home ASAP.

Mary and I got out after a quick breakfast of juices and an English muffin, mine with almond butter. The trip east to GR was mostly uneventful, unless you take into account the crazy people who were on their way to work and felt the need to pass into quickly approaching oncoming traffic. I guess that they felt an imaginary need to get to the promised land five seconds sooner. Fortunately, they didn't make it, so neither did we.

The MRI results won't be in for a few days. I'll keep you posted, although I don't anticipate any problems.

Since it was not a good day for walkabout in GR, we just stopped in at G.B. Russo and Son, a family run business in GR, that has specialized in all varieties of Italian and related type foods since 1905. Their wine selection is outstanding, as is their assortment of pastas, sauces, condiments and even kitchen utensils. Mary was totally overjoyed.

We made our way back to GH, with a stop at the Embassy Bar and Grill along the way. They have the best onion straws we've found in MI. Then home to the Palatial Estate and STWD. Dinner was pasta with a special sauce that Mary crafted over a two day period. Just the right amount of garlic, onions, tomato sauce and spices combined to make a delicious repast.

I only have a trainspot to report, as I only witnessed the northbound passage yesterday at 4:32 p.m. EMD GP 38 locomotives 2057 and 2019 were once again traversing the tracks of the reality scale train layout, with seven CHCs, six,, DBTCs, one GTC, three DWTCs loaded with HCL acid, and a lone BC at the rear.

I finished the Last Open Road  late Sunday night and I loved it. Thanks Adam. I'm now on to Montezuma's Ferrari, and it too is a great read. Maybe you have to be a car guy, but since I am, this is a joyful ride, so to speak.

I am also nearly done with my highlighting, having reached a 90% complete level. That's 252/281 pages.

For those of you who have been awaiting the balance of the MLB regular season openers, I have a little news. The boys in blue, AKA the Cubs, defeated the Angels in Anaheim late last night 9 - 0, behind a great pitching performance by Jake Arrieta, who tossed a two hit gem. Tonight, Jon Lester will face the Angels in game two. My beloved Red Sox were postponed and the Tigers open tonight in Miami. I heard that that other team from Chicago won also, but who cares? Oh, Villanova beat the Tar Heels of N.C on a crowd stunning, buzzer beating three point shot, 77 - 74.

I did get in some time with the girls late yesterday afternoon and it felt great. My thumb still needs repair, so I'll be making the appointment for surgery ASAP.

Not much is on tap for today except the usual mornig safari and then more highlighting, reading, and such. We have a meeting this afternoon with the head of the GH Public Works Dept. to discuss the sidewalk repairs in front of the Palatial Estate.

Speaking of construction, the public safety remodeling is nearly complete, but the landscapers decided that late yesterday afternoon was a good time to remove some concrete near the old entrance to the facility. That entailed pounding with an air hammer right next to the newly installed windows and brickwork at that facility. Plus, the pounding shook the Palatial Estate at its very foundation. Enough is enough already.

The sun will rise at 7:20 a.m. and set at 8:16 p.m. just after the opening of tonight's new episode of NCIS. Ciao.