January

Happy 2011 Saturday 1^st. . . . As I turned on my puter this morning I was surprised to find Eva and Pepik calling me from Prague. They are the couple Terri and I spent a few days with last March while we were passing through. I met Eva several years ago via the chess site we both belong to. I find Skype to be a fun way to stay in touch but I do wish Pepik could get a better picture out of his camera. I don’t know what my video looks like at his end but he says it is a great picture. I introduced them to ChiChi through the camera this morning, now they know what I am talking about when I mention my killer dog. The call lasted about 30 minutes and cost nothing more than the Internet hookup. . . . . It was cold out this morning, close to 18, from the reading I got outside the kitchen window. That thermometer always is high because it is so close to the house. It was too cold for me to walk out to the open thermometer on the back porch. . . . . Although I did venture out to the garage to take a look at the broken spring. My plan was to check the temperature to see if I would be comfortable in my ‘Blizzard’ suit while working on the repair. One thing led to another and before I knew it the spring was replaced with a rusty one I found hanging on the wall and except for a bit of adjusting it worked just fine. I went inside to stoke the fire and warm up a bit before continuing. Never did put on my cold weather gear. I went out later to correct the fact that the door does not stay closed automatically. After it gets to the closed position it opens again. I have to do some tweaking, I guess.. . . .It was a cold day, but dry. That beats cold rain or snow.