Our cellular phone is dying - if it isn't already dead. It doesn't seem to hold a charge for more than a few hours anymore. The phone is an antique now, by technology standards. When I first bought it, Ulrike marveled at how small it was. Now it's at least seven years old, and it seems huge. That's no reason to replace it, though - the inability to hold a battery charge is. If we do decide to replace it, though, we're going to get a device to make phone calls with - no games, cameras, or web access, thank you.

We hardly ever use our cellular phone - not like some people we know, anyway. It would have come in handy today, but it had to left at home to recharge its completely dead battery. We took Craig out for pizza, and the situation with his mobility, and with the lack of front door parking in Pike Place Market, makes it a necessity for us to call him when we're almost at his place, so he can meet us out front without having to wait very long. We went shopping in Wallingford beforehand, so we were already on the road, without a phone, when we approached Downtown. We suddenly realized that we faced a problem: Where do you find a pay phone? We'd forgotten how to find one. Do phone booths even exit anymore? After several unsuccessful attempts, we found pay phones at the Greyhound station, which isn't very far from Craig's place.

We had planned on visiting Martin this evening, but Phillip got his first migraine headache in over a year, so we had to postpone. I was looking forward to seeing Martin. I hardly know him. Now that he's moved to Seattle, I hope we'll see him more often.

My 2004 tea/teasan log:

1. yerba maté, 1 January
2. genmaicha, 9 January
3. South African Rooibos (with honey crystals), 10 January (a new one for me)

(This is going to be easier that I thought.)

My 2004 tea/teasan log:

1. yerba maté, 1 January
2. genmaicha, 9 January

(Genmaicha has been one of my favorite teas for years.)

The 4th best blog ever: Vitamin Q

When I left our apartment at 3:20 this afternoon, to go to the vet, with a stop to pick up Phillip at work, the rain had washed enough of the snow away that driving on major roads was no problem at all. I was even able to drive up Republican Street. I felt safe attempting an uphill drive on steep Republican because a half hour earlier, I looked out of our window to check the weather and saw someone else's Prius cruising up the hill.

The lump on Gladys Night's tail turned out to be a scar - a healthy, well-healed scar. It was not the tumor we had been afraid of. The vet gave us an antibiotic and pronounced both Gladys and Gladden healthy sugar gliders.

The vet also commented that Gladden and Gladys are two of the most well-behaved sugar gliders he had ever met.

Gladden T Hart weighs 179 grams (down from 189 grams a year ago) and Gladys Night weighs 142 grams - overweight by sugar glider standards (we knew that).

Finally, I've found a practical use for Busview! It's a nifty application, but I'd been wondering why I'd want to know where a particular bus is if I'm sitting in front of my computer (since I don't have a wireless connection and a PDA). But I've been having the application running on my desktop here at work for the past couple of days, watching to see how well the busses in the U-District are getting around, if they're getting stuck, and to see which routes are following snow reroutes.

This is why I don't love snow:

I made it to work with no problem yesterday morning, and I made it home all right yesterday after a slight adventure. (It's too good an adventure for this blog.) The snow is still out there this morning, but it is raining. Phillip and I have discussed how we're going to get Gladys to the vet this afternoon if it doesn't thaw out. I had to almost beg to get time off this afternoon, on such short notice. If it isn't safe to drive, should we postpone until Saturday? (It is safe for Gladys to postpone?) Should we postpone until tomorrow and beg to change my time off? Should we hire a taxi?

Why did it have to snow now?

What I should have written earlier is that I had no trouble getting into work because I live on one of the milder-grade hills in Seattle (the north and south slopes, anyway), I live only about 2 or 3 miles from work, and three of Metro Transit's most frequent routes run right through my neighborhood.

Others are not so lucky.

There's a doctor in our conference room. He looks about 80 years old. He'd fuming because the doctors supposed to start the lecture are late - having trouble getting through the snow.

¡Está nevando!

I had no trouble getting into work this morning. A 43 passed by as I was a half block from Broadway. I had only a few minutes wait until a 7 arrived. It was slow going to the U District, but I still managed to get into work slightly before 7:00. For a long time, it was just me and my manager (who said he wasn't going to be in if it snowed) here in the clinic.

The phones are busy with calls to reschedule, or to ask if we're open today.

Es tarde, y el tiempo es frío.

(I did that on my own, and then checked my translation with Babel Fish.)

We discovered a lump on Gladys Night's tail last weekend. I've made an appointment to bring her into the vet on Wednesday afternoon. (It's time for Gladden T Hart's annual exam, so he gets to go, too.) Maybe the lump is a scar. Or maybe it's something more distressing. None of our three sugar gliders have ever had any health problems (other than Gladden's chronic overweight issue). I am a little worried about Gladys.

Headline Of The Day!

From The Seattle Times: Competition Can End Some Monopolies