Thanks to timing and friends...

I lucked out on my return trip, enjoying the company of netmouse, flinx, and their adorable daughter Wednesday night then taking I-80 across Pennsylvania yesterday. That kept me from being among the hundreds of motorists stranded on I-90 near Buffalo Wednesday night. Win.

I-90 is normally the winter route to take, as New York is much better about clearing the Thruway than Pennsylvania is the wilds of I-80. But that clearly wasn't the case for this storm. I ended up on I-80 thanks to a phone call from Edie Stern, inviting me to join her and friends at the Judy Collins concert they were going to. I'm sorry Joe wasn't able to attend as he's helping his aunts, but I was delighted to put his ticket to good use. Excellent company; excellent show. High point of the concert: "Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime?" It was hauntingly beautiful, poignant, and all too timely.

Eagerly awaiting sunset in San Jose

The Chanukah candles are burning here in Eastern Standard Time. In just a few more hours, I hope they'll be burning at Smofcon, and that smofbabe releases a new page of the SMOFTalmud.