Last night our TV weather said it was snowing at Zion Nat'l Park and I thought of our friend looserobes over in that area. Maybe he'll have some snow pictures for us. And today I see where there are wind warnings for New England and I'm thinking of Fredo and how it must be for him. Checking FlightAware, there are significant delays at NY City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC.

We are sunny and reasonably warm here with rain predicted for Saturday. We're going for a drive in the desert this weekend and maybe we'll see some water moving around out there. That's one of my dreams, to see a heavy rain in the desert, not a dangerous flash flood, mind, just some water in all those dry creeks and arroyos.

I'm waiting for the noon news on TV. A news update said something is going on at Wayne Newton's house here in Las Vegas - police and moving vans. I'm thinking foreclosure or nasty divorce.

I made a car rental reservation for an upcoming trip, and decided to try hotwire.com. Their deal is that you get a lower rate but don't know which car rental company it will be until you lock in. Okay by us, we don't have any particular loyalties. It saved us $20 for the weekend rental over the other websites, so it will be around $50 instead of $70, and not the smallest class of car, either: National Rent A Car, Nissan Versa (like we drive here at home).

The last time we went to Orlando I found a small rental company on the Internet, not exactly Rent A Wreck, but I can't remember the name. It worked out fime, but the lines to pick up the car were so slow it got to be comical. I think some of the problem was people were trying to rent cars without the required credit cards in place so every transaction was a major negotiation, and then one woman had her hands in splints for carpal tunnel and they refused to rent to her and were calling around trying to find a company who would rent her a car. This is a different city, shorter rental, so I didn't know what to expect.

For supper last night we had a rare treat of Hamburger Helper. We bought it on sale last summer and its time finally arrived. I enhanced it with some sauteed onions, and the meat was Omaha Steaks burgers that we got free from a casino, so it was overall a little better than the usual.

In general I don't use mixes for cooking, although I sometimes make similar (hopefully better tasting) dishes from scratch. Mr. Troutbend was raised on mixes and convenience foods and he misses that type of eating, although he usually prefers healthier ingredients.

Well, you all stay warm and dry wherever you are. I'm thinking of you.