Winter seems to have hit with a vengeance. We got several inches of heavy, wet snow yesterday that came after heavy rains from late evening Sunday through most of the night. Last night we had lows going below 20F which froze the slush beneath the surface. We just finished chipping away that mess on the car. We have light snow now but of the light, fluffy kind. Thankfully we have nothing to take us outside until Friday. We didn't have internet service for at least 5 hours yesterday morning. I say "at least" because it was out when we woke at 4am and didn't come on until just after 9am. Also had two brown outs that lasted long enough for us to wonder if we should go for the candles and lanterns. At least the power came back quickly leaving us with the chore of resetting our clocks and the microwave clock. Mom napped while I brought out one of my needlework projects but it brought home, yet again, how dependent we are on the technology. Thankfully our cell phones functioned throughout.

When we visited my brother and his family for Mom's birthday I promised my niece I would try to root some rosemary cuttings for her. She said she wanted to grow rosemary. I don't think they will have time to root before Christmas but sometime over the next two or three months I should have at least one good plant for her.

I love Wolfe Richter's title here: "After wasting $14 billion in share-buybacks GM prepares for carmageddon..." I read that the current of the occupant of the White House isn't amused. The story is still developing since today the plant closing count is at 8. Yesterday it was at five but today's tally includes plants outside North America. The company seems to be betting heavily on the electronic vehicle market and the foreign market given the drop in sales of internal combustion models and in the U.S. According to YAHOO news #45 is so pissed he is talking about cutting all subsidies including those for the electronic vehicles. Good step toward getting rid of the Corporate Welfare system.