Scattered Thoughts . . .

This past weekend, Sheila and I headed down to Rutland for a small train show. We've been attending this show since the first show seven years ago. Each September, we find it is a nice excuse for a relatively short day trip.  It was nice to get out of town for a short while after weeks of significant health problems for me. Sheila and I seem to take turns with poor health. This past month was my turn, apparently, so it was nice to get out of town if even for a short day trip.   The weather was quite nice although we did encounter a few sprinkles on the way down to Rutland. The autumn colors are barely visible in our neck of the woods and not yet all that crisp anywhere nearby but we did encounter some color once we approached Killington right outside of Rutland.  Driving through the northeast is always nice this time of year... the air is cooler and the landscape is in a stage of transition with colors beginning to uniquely enhance the appearance of each type of tree.  W

I've been trying to catch up with the many tasks on my to-do list as the season changes toward winter. One of the things I have been focused on in recent is our furnace since winter is fast approaching.  I already did some annual cleaning of the furnace... checked and cleaned electrical contacts inside the ignition... and then turned my attention toward our thermostat. Our thermostat has been a little bit of a frustration for quite some time. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. We replace batteries regularly and have to clean contacts inside this old programmable thermostat approximately twice each season.  Programming that old thermostat is a pain in the butt with tiny switches on the circuit board and a very clumsy interface. Usually, we just avoid changing the programming because it is such a pain in the butt and, instead, just make do with the main programming. Whenever we need a change, we simply manually change the temperature and use the hold button which de