It's now above freezing here-

not by much, but above- and that's good not only for the general 'not as cold' reason, but it started raining lightly, off & on. So instead of ice we've just got damp places. And it's supposed to stay above freezing through the night(just) so shouldn't have to deal with any ice the next couple of days.

Which means not only do I not have to worry about getting around, I don't have to worry about
Getting stuck on a hill because somebody in front decided to slow down as they started up;
Getting run into because "I didn't know I'd slide that far!"
Watching people slide on the hill out front and wondering if one of them is going to slide into the driveway and hit something.
At times, I think it should be legal to have a 20mm cannon mounted on the top of the truck, just to deal with the morons who think they can defy the laws of physics because
"I have snow tires."
"I have four-wheel-drive."
"I'm in a hurry."
"I know how to drive on this." This last from people who, if they actually did know how, would either not be on the damn road, or would be travelling at much lower speed.

Son did make it home on leave, and is currently with his wife(who also has leave) and at her family's house. Along with her four sisters, brother & wife, and assorted husbands, nieces and nephews(I quote: "It's gonna be crowded.") She got in from field maneuvers just before her leave started, so it's a nice break along with the holiday.

I was conversing with Og the other day, and mentioned that it's odd; he's 24, widely-experienced(including in some things I could wish he'd missed), married, but at times I can still see the kid who stabbed about a hundred holes in my heavy bag("I was practicing like you!" "BUT, I don't use a real knife, dammit!"), or the kid with a lapful of cat when the cat was almost bigger than he was.

Just to make things fun, I had to run out the 30's with winds gusting to 30, and the engine started running rough and the 'check engine' light came on. Went to an AutoZone and ran the codes, it showed a miss on one cylinder("Possible bad plug, wire, or vacuum leak"). But partway to the store it smoothed out and ran perfectly. So I cleared the error codes and put in a bottle of fuel system cleaner, and so far it's running fine. I'm hoping it stays that way; putting it in the shop(if not a plug or wire) is one thing in decent weather; I do NOT like riding a motorcycle when it's 30-35F and occasionally spitting rain, and I've got to get to work & back. At least I won't be using the Federally-Approved Transport shown below(courtesy of Theo):

Among other things, there's no stable at work.