If I can figure out how to work my camera ...

I'll take some pictures of the view out my window. There are 2 evergreen trees in the backyard. Their branches are weighted down with snow. They were evenly covered at first, but after the wind we had the last couple of days, one half has tons of snow and the other half is almost bare.

Last night, I heard on the news that we've already had as much snow as we usually get over the entire winter. Here in Iowa, winter can last from October until April. We've also set some new record low temps.

More car drama this week. On Monday my new battery was completely dead. I got a jump start and allowed plenty of time for it to recharge. Later that afternoon, I did some errands and it started great. I thought I might have left an interior light on overnight so I let it pass.

Tuesday morning - dead again. It's been getting down wayyyy below zero every night, but still, the battery is less than a month old. It should start.

I took it back to the place where I bought the battery and they said "Maybe it's the alternator." They took it back to check it and after a half hour passed, I'm thinking, "If they say it is the alternator, do I let them fix it or take it to my other mechanic for a second opinion?"

The battery place is where I usually get my oil changes, brakes and tires. They've always been very straight with me - last summer I went in fully expecting to buy new brakes and they told me my brakes were fine, they were just noisy.

Well, it wasn't the alternator. It was a loose connection. They didn't hook it up correctly when they installed the battery. They were very apologetic and fixed it for free (as they should have). I'm thinking now maybe I could have squeezed a coupon for a free oil change out of them.

Oh well. It's been starting great ever since. I'm probably jinxing myself. We had another cold, cold, cold night last night - about 25 below.

Today's agenda: I HAVE to clean my apartment. HAVE TO.