Esther Williams and Sam Walton

I swam 1 mile today in the warm waters of Mary Siah pool. My sinuses are feeling better and not talking and hot tea is working wonders on my pipes.

We bought a new TV today- an extreme luxury for us after debating it for months (Vizio 37"). We played the Sam's Club game by buying a Walmart gift card (we never shop there!) with our airlines bankcard and then using it to buy the TV. Whoops- it wasn't activated. So, Paul had to go back and get that remedied. I would shop at Walmart if the products were American-made. I have no beef with their employee practices- they are no different than Sears or any other large retailers. I just heard of someone local who works there because they allow him a flexible schedule for taking UAF classes. Oh, wait, the ambiance leaves much to be desired, too. My son once said he wouldn't shop at K-Mart because he couldn't stand to watch people smack and hollar at their kids. Same-o, same-o.

While we were in Sam's Club, we bought raisins, M&Ms and cashews- yep, GORP. We're looking forward to hiking in February.

Speaking of said kid, he is in Guilin, China this week. Guangzhou is apparently very polluted and the dirty air is really bringing him down. I think he plans to return to Taiwan in the near future. How could he live anywhere that has YouTube blocked.

In another case of corporate stranglehold, I can order mail order medications from Costco. But first I have to transfer them to a store. The nearest store is in Anchorage, 360 miles away. I guess that's okay, but I really would have preferred to have my prescription processed nearby.

The Noel Wien Library has a pretty good gig. I can download audiobooks for free with my library card. After they expire, I'm required to delete them, but that's not a problem, since I can listen right away. If you live in Alaska but not in this borough, you can pay $25 for a library card with all the rights and privileges.

Shoutout to Brian, Tim and Kale- Happy birthday all you guys!