reprieve

First day in a while that it is not PAINFULLY cold out. Still cold but not as bitterly so.

Approximately equal

Number of people in the library on Friday morning and number of people at gym on Sunday morning.

hot air balloons, revisited:

Today I overheard a pretty good conversation on the bus, regarding the signs about things/activities prohibited on the bus. As mentioned here:

http://amazingcornacopia.blogspot.com/2010/07/aliens-on-bus-and-other-things.html

I had wondered about the meaning of the no hot air balloon symbol/image. What could this mean? Did passengers often attempt to bring hot air balloons onto the bus? Two passengers were discussing this very thing and then, not being able to make any sense out of it, asked the driver what it meant. He said it really didn't mean anything, it was just a joke. As in, no eating, no music, no skateboarding and no hot air balloons.

return of tax man!

Poor guy, I saw him outside on Duff Ave advertising for the tax prep place, in the bitter cold. What a job- standing outside, dressed like statue of Liberty, trying to entice people to get their taxes done, when it's FREEZING outside. Surely this company can think of a better, more humane method of advertisement!

seldom seen

What is that bright thing in the sky?

Oh, that's the sun. It has returned, after not being seen for the last 4 days.
Yay. Now it is cold and miserable, instead of dark, cold and miserable.

Winter.

nice things are nice

In our old address, we had the nicest and most hard-working mail carrier. Not only was he a super dedicated & conscientious mail carrier, he was just a friendly guy too. If we ran into him around our neighborhood, he always recognized us & gave us a friendly greeting. He would bring our mail and packages to the door sometimes. Right before moving & holiday vacation, we wrote out a Christmas card to him with a tip, although I still didn't even know his first name! I handed it to him while he was delivering the mail, to make sure he didn't think I was trying to give him some outgoing mail. Soon after that we were caught up with moving & holiday travel. Last week I saw a card with an unfamiliar name & address as the return address. When I opened it, I was delighted to see it was a very kind thank you note from the mail carrier (whose name is Chuck), thanking us and wishing us a good new year!
Yay for small towns and nice people!