Good afternoon, all.

Gory but not that cold (39 right now) in the Philadelphia area. It was a little warmer yesterday, so I did some winter prep—getting windshield washer fluid in all four cars, cleaning and putting away our insect trap, and filling the gas tank on the snow blower.

Gris' mention in yesterday's thread on how he's not as happy as he usually is on the run-up to Christmas made me think of one of my minor gripes related to the holiday: why are the butter cookies in tins not nearly as good as they were twenty to thirty years ago? They have less taste than they used to and the sugar granuals have gone almost completely missing. O tempora o mores!