Happy almost to you too! We can save the happy wishes until tomorrow, though. I like to celebrate with my sorella Maria since we share the day.

They're grading the road before the melt?

They'll grade again after the melt. Like I said, they do a really good job. I wouldn't normally expect it to be done now, but it definitely will help get us through to spring.

I went out to feed the birds and waved at the road grader guy, and he went around my street (it's a cul de sac) three times. They normally only do it twice, I think. I wasn't trying to suck up, I swear! But the road is all so nice and smooth now.

Back in the 80s, Hubby was running a projector at a SF con. He announced to the crowd in the film room, "OK, our feature film today, Graders in the Park, the gripping story of the men who run the big machines that keeps the roads passable in our national parks."

Several people make noises and get up to leave.

"Oh, sorry, wait, I misread that. This is something called Raiders of the Lost Ark. I don't know, it might be interesting."

(No, it wasn't a pre-release thing, he was just bored. He only got pelted with a little popcorn.)

I grew up in BFE. We lived in a valley on a gravel road, and one winter, the snow was so bad, no one could get any kind of vehicle around.

So my dad and the neighbor rode horses the 10 miles to the grocery store. Daddy rode my horse, Bittersweet, who was a gentle, huge Clydesdale/quarter mix; Gerald rode a little paint.

It took them 8 hours.

I'm actually going to shop around for a Sodastream refill. Hmmph.

ME, TOO! WTF? I went to to stores that carry the Steam unit and syrup (Target and Kohls) and neither of them carry the CO2 canisters. Major fail. I think I'm going to call a local gas supplier and see if they can't refill my tank.

The Sodastream website lists carbonator retailers, or at least it used to.

I know in my area, the Bartells chain of drug stores carries them. But the Sodastream site should list retailers.

ND saves the BB&B 20% off coupons and uses those to get a reduction on his office soda stream refills

Oh, does Bartell's? I always just go to BB&B in Northgate.

and pharmacy

If you have to pay out of pocket for anything, their prices are way below other pharmacies I've tried. And, if you will use the quantity, the OTC stuff is priced well, especially generics.

I keep meaning to keep my receipts from my cartridge exchange for my SodaStream so I can see how often I really go through them and see if it is worth shopping around for a better deal. It's just that exchanging them at Sur le Table is so easy when I can park in front of the store, walk straight to the register and they've got new bottles right there. I'm out the door in three minutes and they only usually try to sell me olive oil in addition to the tank.

And hey, it's better here; last place I lived it was closer to an hour to anything. You could get to the Chaco Canyon ruins site in less time.

I'd love to live so close to the Chaco Canyon ruins site!