Keeping Track of Expenses

   Sunny but cold this morning, -12C and only reaching -5C later in the day. No wind, though, so it didn't feel too bad in the short walk from the car to the senior's centre. There's still quite a bit of ice about and I nearly came a cropper on my front path. I will have to put down some more salt before someone else has a fall!

   We met for mah-jong again this morning, just 5 of us and Bonnie had two wins. I came close a couple of times so it was still fun. After lunch we played Bridge. Bonnie was my partner again and I'm afraid I tried her patience quite severely with my silly bidding! But she got over it when she had a couple of good hands. I had one small slam!

   Finally, a night at home. I made a chicken casserole and it turned out very well; it will last another two days. I still have several meals in the freezer so should just have a small shopping list on Saturday. My heating bill came today - $250! Hopefully that will be the most costly month this winter.

  

Financial Woes

    Things were a bit better on the highways, side roads and sidewalks today although still a lot of ice about. At least the parking lot at the senior's centre was ice free and that's as far as I went today. It was interesting to see all the shards of ice under the phone wires on my way there this morning. They must have had a really heavy coating which gradually succumbed to the strong winds. Seemingly, quite a large portion of the city was without power for a while but all is restored as of this morning.

   When I arrived at the centre just before my fitness class - no coffee! I quickly opened up the kitchen and made a pot and by the end of class someone had shown up to refill the pot so we were able to avoid caffeine withdrawal. After that everything went as usual, I finished my classes, ran an errand then spent the afternoon behind the counter. Seemingly the centre is in financial straights as some money was stolen from the trip organizer which has thrown the budget out of whack and the price of coffee may need to be increased - tragedy! In actual fact we only pay 75 cents for a cup which is really cheap (that includes a couple of cookies and it's really good coffee) so an increase won't affect people too much.

   I bought an individual  meat pie to bring home for dinner (they are also a bargain - $1.25) so  had that with broccoli and cheese. Now I am off to my Wednesday dance group. I wonder who will show up; some are really nervous driving at night when the weather conditions are not ideal.

Weather Complications

   Played very badly at tennis this morning (still not 100%) but Carol and I managed to eke out a win 7-5 in the tie-break. Ice rain was forecast but I managed to get home and put the car away before it got too bad. I skipped bridge class this afternoon as, by the time I had lunch, the rain was really coming down and forming ice on contact with everything.

   I had plans for the evening and really swithered whether I should go out. But I put down some salt on the path and driveway and managed to get the car out on the road. The main roads were fine but walking was quite treacherous as the sidewalks were just a sheet of ice. I saw a lot of people really struggling to get home from work.

   The talk was quite interesting (and not too long) so I was glad I made the effort to go. The room was only half full so I think a lot of people stayed home. There was tea and cookies and I managed to bring a couple home. I got home by 8:30 and had the heck of a time getting the car up the driveway - it kept slipping back down. I finally put down some more salt , backed up and took a run at it, and just barely made it up the slope. This will probably need to be repeated tomorrow! I had some soup, cheese and crackers and a minneola when I got in - a nice easy dinner!

   Time for bed. I think I will sleep well tonight.

Feeling a Bit Better

    A bit milder today, definitely above freezing, but ice rain is forecast for tonight. Car will have to go in the garage again.

   I managed to make it to Bridge and, with the judicious use of hand sanitizer, managed (I hope) to avoid infecting anyone. I'm glad I went as I had a small slam - my partner had two so we definitely came out on top today. We must have been in the lucky seats!