The good news is that Richard had actually already arrived when I posted yesterday, wondering about his whereabouts.  Tom had seen him driving up and 'escorted' him through the backyard.  The bad news is that we need a new heating element - which we just replaced last year.  I think that was probably in October (only remember because I injured myself when I slipped cleaning the hot tub, when it was part of a 6-month string of injuries and I definitely remember the 'timeline') so I'm reasonably sure we have missed the one year warranty window.  A check of the water's pH and other levels show the water is fine (too acidic can trash the element) so we're not sure why it didn't last, and bodes well for a new element.  Mostly I care that we will need to drain the tub again before Richard can replace it (hopefully he can shuffle around some of his appointments and make that can happen sooner rather than later!) but of course it means no soaking today -or in my immediate future. 

On the way to book club last night Myra and I talked about how to get a (bulky) saddle and (heavy) accompanying equipment from here to her sister in the Chicago area.  NOT going to be easy (or cheap!) and after talking to Hoogie last night may not be economically feasible - unless her sister wants it for sentimental value rather than trying to sell it to recoup money owed her by their recently deceased sister.  And if Sandy decides to sell it on-line, it makes sense to leave it here so it only needs to be shipped once.

Book Club at Cheri's was fun, especially hearing the backstory to the book as the author joined us for the discussion.  Emil taught remedial language arts classes at BGHS until very recently, and wrote the YA book at the level of his students; discovering this made me considerably less critical of the writing level.  It was also interesting to hear how he decided on the topic of the novel, which takes place in the late 1800s when the main character's father, a blacksmith (like Emil's own grandfather), is starting to lose business as the industrial age 'gears up' (pun intended), and the eventual end of his livelihood is a foregone conclusion as cars are introduced into our society.  Today, when so many have lost lose their jobs due to increasing automation and the spread of the digital age into virtually every facet of our society, we can see parallels between then and now.

The food, as usual, was delicious (I really pigged out on Jeannie's cream cheese, lox, and caper spread) and Myra's desserts delectable.  She made Chanukah cookies (decorated with Stars of David and menorahs) and scrumptious strawberry Santas.

We got home much, much later than usual because Martin (not quite sure why Cheri had invited him, unless it was so he could meet Emil and get some info on how to get his book published?) gave us a (very) long, incredibly detailed description of a book he's written.  Many of the ladies seemed enthralled, though Myra and I agreed on the drive home that it was beyond overkill; since it seemed like he went through and described every single scene in the book neither of us feel any need to now read his book!  Thus it was quite late when I finally crashed (going on mid-night...) so I am happy to report that I slept until the school bus stopped in front of the house.... at 7:45.

Off shortly to the Acura dealership to (FINALLY) get a new airbag.  Glad I never had any occasion to field test the one that came from the car since since their track record is not good!