Now is the winter of our discotheque

Well, I dunno, but doesn't disco make everything more fun?

I went out to start the snow blower yesterday, it's a monster, a 9-hp model that originally cost someone over $900. It has electric start, which is good, because you wouldn't want to pull-start an engine that big. Not if you're 145 lbs, you wouldn't.

So, plugged the extension cord into the socket on the blower, pressed the starter, and got a shrill, whining sound and the smell of burning rubber. No go. Checked all settings, they were good. Tried it again, with the same results. Tried to pull-start it. Couldn't even get the thingie to move. I checked the oil, remembering how my dad was always on me about how engines needed oil, and not full up to the top of the crankcase, just until the dipstick read "full". If I ran the thing out of oil, I'd never hear the end of it. There was oil. Not full, but just shy of it.

So I stood with shovel, at the end of my driveway, thinking that if I just got hit by a car or suffered a heart attack while shoveling, that this would be the best week EVAR, when along came a neighbor with his John Deere rider snow blower. And he did our front sidewalk and took a chunk out of the driveway. Never seen him before--I couldn't tell you where he lived if you held a gun to my head. But he saw me and 6-year-old Frija out there with out shovels, and took a chunk out of our work. And then the next-door neighbor came over, who after 6 years I've learned is named "Jim", and he cleaned up a lot of the rest of it.

Random acts of kindness. I think that's what keeps me in Minnesota, especially in what others might think of as a small town (pop. 22,000 or thereabouts). The blower is still screwed. If I had a heated garage, I'd probably take a whack at fixing it, but I don't, so it can sit there. Could be a belt, or a seized engine, or anything in between. First $25 takes it.

I have this lifelong issue with small engines--they won't work for me, not for long. I try to avoid them as much as possible and, like a banker, I just know they're going to screw me in the end.

Uh, OK, health stuff: My success with "getting enough sleep" has been on and off. More on than off, I think, and old habits die hard, but I'll keep at it. I've got an appointment next week to get my wisdom teeth looked at, since my local dentists said they weren't doing anything until they got yanked. Due to the fact that smoking + wisdom teeth removal = dry socket, I plan to quit smoking before I have them out, later this month. So stay tuned for that. You think I'm bitter now?

Still hydrating, still flossing. I was 144 lbs. yesterday.

How healthy I feel (1 being least, 10 being best) 4
How happy am I? 4