I am very, very thankful I get to park in a warm garage at my house in Russell. 

In case I had forgotten–and I hadn’t–I learned again this afternoon. 

My car was covered in snow from the hood to the trunk. All four windows were covered in a thick sheet of ice, and not only were the windshields covered with snow, but it was icy underneath. It was so icy that my trunk wouldn’t open at first. 

I warmed the car while I scraped for 15 minutes in order to be able to see. Two weeks ago when it snowed in Norton while I was watching the basketball games, I had forgotten to put a scraper in my car. Fortunately the snow was not that heavy that night, so I was able to run the defogger between games to see enough to leave the school, and then the snow fell off the car as I drove south on US 283.

Everything was fine by time I reached the Hy-Vee at the corner of Barry and St. Clair. I stopped for snacks, then went over to Buffalo Wild Wings at 1:30. One of my trivia buddies, Larry, was there, and we enjoyed a couple of quick rounds before I settled in for the long haul. 

Dawn and Robb showed up at 4 and we had a good time for 90 minutes. I told them the story about the two people sitting next to me Sunday who hooked up. They were as incredulous as I was. 

Right now, I’m trying to watch numerous things–my phone, my trivia tablet, LSU and Texas Tech in the Texas Bowl, and Kansas playing UC Irvine in basketball. But for some weird reason, the sound is on the Michigan State-Iowa basketball game. I know there a couple of Hawkeye fans sitting at the bar, but there have to be at least 50 people in the Jayhawks’ crimson and blue. 

I don’t know how much longer I’m staying. Part of me wants to leave early so I can get food at Chick-Fil-A or Outback before both close at 10. On the other hand, Taco Bell will be open late anyway. So I have options.