New Toys
Technology hasn’t been my friend this week. The day after we arrived in Denver, I turned on my computer, and while the computer went on, the display stayed black. I tried a few things that the internet recommended, to no avail. So I trudged down to our neighborhood computer store and they took a look at it. They determined that it would cost a good $300 to fix it. Since I had already once had it repaired for the same reason, I decided to throw in the towel and buy a new computer. They were happy to oblige. How do you use your computer? Do you do a lot of photo editing? Do you run a lot of complicated programs? Of course, the answer to those questions was that I write my blog on my laptop, I do my banking and pay my bills, I check my email, and….well, actually, that’s about it. So I went with an inexpensive and smaller laptop. And in the when-it-rains-it-pours department, my cell phone — a rickety iPhone 7 — started losing battery power fast. I could literally watch it go down. So yesterday afternoon, Magnolia and I went an bought a new iPhone SE. Oh, I looked at the iPhone 12, but simply couldn’t do it. There was a $400 difference in price. How do you use your phone? Do you take a lot of fancy photos? Do you run a lot of complicated programs? The answer to those questions once again was no. I text. I answer a few phone calls. I FaceTime. I take snapshots. I google things on occasion. The SE will do me fine.

Hot and Spicy
I’ve mentioned before that there is a difference between Arizona Mexican food and Colorado Mexican food. Colorado’s food is more in the New Mexican style with lots of spicy green chili. They don’t smother food with chili in Arizona. I like the Arizona style, but I will admit that I prefer Colorado’s burritos over Arizona’s. So last night when we had dinner with some of our kids and grands, we went to our neighborhood Mexican restaurant where I enjoyed the burrito smothered in green chili immensely.

Blizzard
Because I pride myself on telling the truth (well, unless there is a need for literary license), I must tell you that I had some pushback after I said the snowstorm the other day didn’t drift like a typical blizzard. Au contraire, I was told. There was plenty of snow drifts as you moved west towards the mountains. A friend who lives perhaps 10 miles west of here showed me photos of plenty of drifts, including one that hung off their roof like a sinister ghost.

Roll Up the Sleeves
As Bill and I sat and drank our morning coffee yesterday, we started talking about how much STUFF needs to be removed from this house. Should Bill and I get hit by a bus, our kids would be horrified by our basement alone. And the garage? Glory be. We vowed that when we come back here in May, we will begin the process of getting rid of stuff. I suggested we invoke the help of our grands by telling them they can take any of our castoffs (and there will be many) and sell them on E-Bay, keeping the money for themselves. Someone would literally be able to make hundreds of dollars. Bill and I’ve been promising a clean-up for years; this year WE MEAN IT!

Ciao.