On a cold January day I go with State Farm

Thru the window I saw the Mini-Cooper pull up. Look at the dusting of snow we got last nite. It was cold this morning - 14 degrees!

Mark Armstrong and I sat down in the kitchen to do business. He took one indoor photo - the electric box down in the basement bathroom. It was freezing down there! Also took photos of the front and back of my house.

Here I am in my warm PJs. I ain't going anywhere today. Worked for hours on the Compass mag. What a great issue it'll be.

They sure like the color RED. I'll save about $400 a year by switching to State Farm from Ohio Casualty, even tho I'm from Ohio - Why-o-why-o-WHY-o, why did I ever leave Ohio? Lyrics from musical Wonderful Town, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green, music by Leonard Bernstein.

As a kid, I listened to every musical that came to B'way. Dad bought them all. When he was dying, we played them in his bedroom. His favorite was The Pajama Game.

I told Mark Armstrong I'm not planning to die in a car crash. But if I do, SAVE MY GODDAM KIDNEY and give it to someone. It's currently only 38 years old.

Flowers on the windowsill in the drab winter is important.

Yesterday, at the Willow Grove Giant Pharmacy, I ran into a problem. With the new year, my Prograf - immunosuppressant - was not covered by insurance.

Pharmacist Bobby called me and said he spent hours on the phone figuring out how to get me coverage. He told me to see pharmacist Hannah yesterday so I could pick up my drugs at a lower price than $117 per bottle. I take two a day and run out fast.

Went to the Giant in the afternoon, reluctantly putting on a pair of jeans over my PJs. Hannah told me to have a seat, it would take awhile.

I selected a book from the sale books.

I was engrossed in the tale of the Utah disappearance of a wife and mother, when suddenly Hannah came running over.....

"We did it," she shouted. "We did it!"

She'd been talking to Bobby over the phone - it was his day off - and they figured out how to charge it to part of my Highmark card.

In appreciation, I bought three daffodils - one for Hannah, one for her assistant Donna and one for me.

And, in an unusual splurge.... I BOUGHT THE BOOK.