. Yay, with aggressive extra payments, the balance on my car loan is now down to about $6,000. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and plan to have it all paid off this year. I financed about $20K exactly one year ago.
Yay, FedEx finally picked up my recalled EcoFlow for a software update.
Yay, did some pruning today with the winter thaw, cutting down a Japanese maple and some big branches of a large viburnum, but only half done with the Japanese maple; need to pull heavy branches out of neighbor's side, cutting up the branches so I can drag them across the lawn into my brush pile.
Yay, got my car serviced with an oil change and tire rotation. Just one more year of free service with Toyota Cares program.
I got a larger platform (window) bird feeder which is working out well. However, I noticed with some alarm that the red-bellied woodpecker and later, a nuthatch, seemed to get their feet caught in the screen when trying to take off. I found a piece of clear plastic that perfectly fit the opening inside the frame, and problem is solved. I would rather the seed get wet since I refill daily, and I can also just avoid replenishing it before expected rain.
The platform makes it much easier for larger birds to land on it without the roof that was on the smaller one I had. It's safer for the birds, though a little difficult for me to refill as I have to open window and then crane my arm around the fill it. It would be easier to do if the top of the feeder was lower, but the vertical posts with the suction cups are fairly long and it's mounted as low as possible now on the window. But I can say it is 100% squirrel-proof. I did have one squirrel trying to literally climb the siding of my house to get to it, but that failed.
January 9th, 2026 at 04:45 pm 1767977107
January 10th, 2026 at 12:09 am 1768003796