Tuesday

According to Blogger, this is my 600th entry on their site. I actually started 4KDays on another blog platform, so I'm guessing that my total number of entries is in the 700 range. Which is getting me on toward 20% of the destination total. It's not a journey. It's an adventure.

Bitter cold again. The temp dropped 35-40 degrees in a couple of hours today. Way below zero wind-chill tonight. What does it mean if January goes out with a bang? Probably that the first week of February will be cold.

I'm thinking that we ought to get all of Mother's kids, grand kids, and great grand kids (and all relevant spouses) to add 3-5 memories of Mother (Grandma/Margaret) and have a "100 Memories of Margaret" keepsake composed for all to share. This raises a couple of Clinton-esque definition issues: 1) Who is a relevant spouse?, and 2) Can a great grandchild contribute a memory if he/she were not born before Margaret's death? On the first question, pity those who are irrelevant. As to the second, I defer to the Commissioner of the Horan Clan NCAA contest.

I'm serious about the concept.

My top five memories of Margaret (subject to future revision):

1. Feeding the dry cows and heifers in the bitter cold of Winter. Circa 1960.
2. The years of her weekly letters. Circa 1967-1995.
3. Tomatoes in the garden. Circa 1955.
4. Crosswords. Forever.
5. How ya' feel'n, Mother? With my fingers. (by pantomime) Circa 2002.

I just threw those out there. I've got to give it some thought.

I really want this project to be embraced by all. Pass it on.

Here's a new bit of experience that goes to show you that there's always another loose-end to even the supposedly open-and-shut, lay-up event. My conversion to Direct TV from Dish Network yielded one more surprise. Several years ago, I elected credit-card payment on my monthly Dish account to obtain a lower monthly charge. This was essentially independent from the Dish contract. Ergo, when I cancelled the Dish contract, the credit card payment was not part of the cancellation process. My recent credit card statement had the full monthly charge for the satellite, even though my subscription had ended by mid-month.

I made the call to Customer Service and the automated system indicated that I had a credit balance in my account. And when I finally got to talk to a warm body, she credited my card for that amount. But it took that additional effort on my part, or Dish Network would have kept an additional $35 of my hard-earned cash just because I didn't ask for it back.

I am troubled by the striking writers who now have worked an exemption deal for the Grammy Awards show. I don't doubt that they have an issue on compensation for their work relative to the new media outlets. I think that they just want to choose who they hold to their standards.

Brian Williams took exception with a comment suggesting that he probably illegally down-loaded most of the songs on his IPod. His blog, www.dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com, is often worth the read.

Have a great evening. Stay warm

BCOT