We’re into winter weather. Thursday and Friday it was cloudy, temperatures were near freezing, and winds were 20 to 40 MPH. That’s enough to turn me into a slug, staying indoors and doing nothing. Yesterday was nice, Temperatures were still near freezing but the wind was mild and it was sunny. I got a great ride in. That’s good because today it’s snowing. The ground was above freezing, so after 5 hours of snow it’s only now beginning to stick on the street. Danita teases me about shoveling snow when I don’t have to, but there’s not much of an alternative for getting some exercise.

We had a nice Zoom with Mark, Jiajia, and Mira this morning.

I think I finished my budget database. It has all the features I want and no known bugs. I even wrote a user guide. I wonder what I’m going to do for the next several days until the streets clear?

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

My new trike has been at the bike shop for several weeks. It got held up because the manufacturer left a bag of parts out of the box. Then they shipped the parts USPS. It took over two weeks for the parts to arrive. I consider myself lucky to get the parts so “fast”. The trike is a fun ride, but I’m even slower on the trike than I am on the bike. That’s OK. I’m retired, and have time to ride the trike. Before today, I was staying close enough that I could walk home if necessary. I ordered some bike stuff that came in today. That lets me carry water, tools, etc. Now if I get a flat, I can fix it and ride home. I took my first real ride today. It was a 14 mile circular route with moderate hills. Everything worked just fine.

I’m also still working on my budget database. I’m finding and fixing little bugs and adding features. It’s a tremendous amount of fun. I forgot how much I enjoy doing software development. If I tried doing it for pay, I would be fired within a week. I’m that slow. But I chug along, get things done, and have a very good time doing it.

That’s the news. I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Ryn came up from Virginia for a quick visit. It was cool and cloudy. We shared an excellent lunch in the garage, with the door partially opened for everybody’s safety. I got plenty of pictures, but somehow every last one had Ryn with her eyes closed.

Both Bud and Mom are scheduled to receiver their first COVID vaccine shots next week. That’s a good thing for us all.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.

Wednesday, Danita and I “tunneled” from home to Mark & Jiajia’s. There was no stopping. Windows were closed. Danita brought 10 home-made frozen dinners. Mark and Jiajia were very appreciative.

We had a nice visit and enjoyed a very nice lunch — Danita’s shrimp salad with fruit salad, chips, and sinfully rich brownies. After we were all relaxed and contented, Mira woke up and we had a photo shoot. Then we “tunneled” home. It was a great visit.

We have big news this week. Mark and Jiajia had their baby Mira somewhere around 9 PM on December 31. Mira was 7 pounds, 6 ounces. Everybody is healthy. Mira has some jaundice, so they are still in the hospital. They expect to go home this afternoon. We hope to visit them soon. There’s a good chance there might be a picture or two next week.

I hope this finds everybody doing well.