Day 3997

I took my paperwork for the dehumidifier warranty replacement to the post office today. I was going to pay extra for delivery notification, but there was a long line of grumpy old people waiting to mail Christmas stuff. It seemed a little early to mail Christmas stuff, but what do I know. Several of the people were complaining that other people were standing too close to them. I wasn't going to stand in that line, so I just dropped my letter in a letter box and headed home again. I hope the mail doesn't get lost because I had to peel a label off the back of the dehumidifier and send it in to start my warranty claim. I have no faith in the mail anymore and don't have any extra labels either.

I've been wondering why Sky & Telescope hasn't paid me yet, so curiosity finally got the better of me and I wrote their billing department. The magazine initially told me that they paid on acceptance and that was almost two months ago. I guess it was a good thing I contacted the magazine. My invoice had gotten lost somehow and they had no record of it. They asked me to resubmit the invoice and this time I asked them to acknowledge that they had received it. I sent the invoice to exactly the same place I did several months ago, but this time it worked. When I asked what could have happened to the first invoice, the woman in the billing department just said "Hey, it happens."

It seemed really cold this morning. I wore two coats, a wool hat, and heavy gloves on our walk with Dawn. Dawn wore her winter coat, but she let us know that she wasn't having anything to do with that hat again. I don't know how Northerners can stand this kind of weather. It wasn't even snowing or anything, but I couldn't wait to get back inside again. Janet and I occasionally think about moving, but we quickly come face to face with Winter. Texas has its faults, but our Winters are definitely much milder than what you'd find in Wyoming or Idaho. Maybe I'm just getting old and soft. I went to high school in Alaska and I don't remember feeling as cold as I did this morning.

I had to go looking for a lower dose of vitamin D this afternoon. For years I thought it was impossible to get too much vitamin D. I took 5000 units a day for quite a while. Then I backed off to 2000 units a day. My doctor now wants me to take 1000 units a day. These lower doses are actually harder to find. The most common bottles on the shelves seem to contain 5000 IU pills. We'll see if this change makes a difference when I take my next physical six months from now. 

It was cold last night so I put a fuzzy blanket on the bed that Dawn seems to like. Usually she sleeps at the foot of the bed, but this morning when I woke up she was curled up right next to me. Interesting. Dawn's love of fuzzy blankets is much stronger than her fear of me. Maybe we'll eventually bond over a shared blanket.

I almost forgot that it was time to take out the trash again. This entire week has gone really fast. Our Santa Paws photo shoot will be here before you know it. After that, I've got a few more doctor's appointments and the year is over. We're thinking of having a Crown Roast for Christmas Dinner. Hey, that's something to look forward too. I love a Crown Roast.

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