Good luck, everybody!

Fixed! --Gary

I haven't seen the movie yet, but have you seen this site? Turns out I'm a "Kip" -- is that good??? --Gary

This refers to today's crawl, in case you don't see it: "AMAZING FACT: Taxi drivers in London are required to pass a training test, a test which requires between two and four years of study. Of ten who start, eight or nine drop out before completion." --Gary

Oooh, sorry, but that's another thing entirely. I'm afraid you're just wrong. That was an excellent movie! :-) --Gary

Thanks, what a nice thing to say. :-) I am still trying to weasel out of this trip, but it's looking like I will have to go. I know there are plenty of people in this world who would think I need my head examined for trying to get out of a trip to a resort spa in Arizona, but there you have it.... As Homer Simpson said, "Weaseling out of things is important to learn. It's what separates us from the animals. Except the weasels." --Gary

See you at the movies!

I agree about the amazing number of movies in a year. So far, from the Oscar nominee-predictions that have come in, I have seen more movies than anybody -- and my number is only 29, slightly less than 11 percent. Who could see them all?!? You'd have to see more than five movies every week! (So far, by the way, I've received ballots from Amanda, Gary, Grandma, Emily, Erika, Karen, Lindsey, and Samantha. If you weren't named, go here!)

Snow and ice melting like gangbusters here in Lincoln too, even melting overnight. And no, I'm not paying any attention to the inauguration. I'm not watching one of those until we get a legally-elected president.

Amanda's London Week is actually two half-weeks with a weekend in between; it will go through next Tuesday.

Yes! I meant to announce it on the crawl, but forgot. I'll be putting Amanda's London photos (with her comments) right on the front page every day for the next week or so. New pictures every day, so check back each day to see them all! --Gary

Check today's cool site. A little 4-year-old girl in Germany made up a song about a crocodile, and her parents recorded it and put it on their website. (Click on schnappi.original to hear it, or click here.) Then a radio station in Germany found the song and started playing it on the air. That song is now the #1 song in Germany! Today's crawl is a rough translation of the words to the song. A friend of mine knows someone in Germany, and they said everyone in the country is humming or whistling that song -- they can't get it out of their heads! :-) --Gary

Emily, will you still be doing debate after school even though you no longer take debate as a class? Your trip last weekend sure sounded fun. What is Art 2D?

Erika, there is no way you like hot sauce. I may need you to prove that. ;-)

Amanda has sent me a bunch of London photos with commentaries for the webpage, so what I think we'll do is put them right on the front page -- 5 or 6 a day -- and make it a "London Theme Week" (or longer!). Starting next week, probably after Marsha's birthday page. --Gary

Whoa! <:-O Next time I'm up there or you're down here, we gotta go -- just so I can watch the steam come out of your ears!! :-) --Gary

Yeah, after I wrote my note I looked at their map; and while there are no HuHots in Texas or Minnesota, there is one in Sioux City. I didn't try the "Burn Your Village" sauce, but I did add one dipper of "Mean Bean Garlic" to four dippers of "Black Thai Peanut" -- it was good! --Gary

Anna, is your driver's ed. teacher also a phys. ed. teacher? Driver's Ed. teachers are always weird and for some reason they're usually the gym teacher too.

We have freezing rain coming our way so I'm wondering if the busses will leave early today. I hope so. And I'm betting it'll be a work from home day tomorrow.

I feel your pain, Erika. I've never understood why the schools are so stingy with snow days. I'm not sure how much snow we got, but I think it's about the same amount as you: 8 or 9 inches. (The webcams are working again (except for MPLS), so you can see Lincoln's snow looks just about the same as SC's snow.) Yet we got two snow days, and you guys got none. No fair! --Gary

As long as you don't have to go anywhere, it's really beautiful. I stood out on my back porch just now, and the city is almost completely silent. No traffic noise. All I could hear was somebody's windchimes on the next block over, and the faint raspy sound of snow falling on snow. My poor car is totally buried, so even if tomorrow is not a snow day, it will be a "late start" for me. If so, I hope I have a better time of it than you had, Karen! :-)

Thanks. (And thanks, Emily!) I do feel much better. I'll be going to work tomorrow... unless it's a snow day, of course! :-) --Gary

Yeah, I think everyone is back to school/work -- except me, still. I took one more day off. The cold symptoms are definitely going away, but I've still got some congestion, headache, and almost no voice yet. I thought I might make it in today; even went outside last night and spent half an hour scraping off the thick coat of ice from my car windows. But this morning...no. --Gary

Thanks. This note was sent at 7:49 this morning, but I didn't receive it until 7:50 this evening... Sorry for the delay! --Gary

Must have been some email slowdown (ice related?) this morning. This note was written at 6:53 this morning, but I didn't receive it until 7:30 this evening... Same with Karen's note above. --Gary

P.S. I'm writing this at 8:40 in the morning, which means right now Amanda is in the Tower of London!

Woohoo! :-) --Gary

Tell your mom she can still go ahead and get me something, even though she didn't get my name. :-) I would have changed the list before I posted it, but didn't want to mess up the careful work of the list-makers! --Gary

Right now! --Gary

I do have next year's Christmas list ready to go up, but haven't gotten around to posting it yet. Will soon. It was done scientifically, by a committee, at Grandma's on Christmas Day. --Gary