Another quiet day as the blizzard moves in.

This is Em's car as we found it this morning. Not quite covered in snow, but getting there.
The weather bureau advised that it would be cloudy and cold with a high chance of ice pellets and snow. Ice pellets?? I didn't know what they were but they didn't sound good. Today was not the day to venture too far from home and the warmth of central heating.

Em worked this morning so we stopped by her work before heading to breakfast with her family.
This little toy dog holds Em's business cards at the reception desk. While I was waiting for her to finish up, I snapped a quick shot. She told me later that it's missing its tail. I hadn't noticed, I just saw that it looked a little like Paddy. ;-)

Every Sunday her family meet up at Burger King for breakfast. We met them there a little after 8am. It's a lovely warm atmosphere where the family catches up with each other over fries and burgers. I feel as though I've been adopted and I'm not complaining at all. :-)

After breakfast we headed back home where, because it was too cold to venture too far, I caught up on some reading and Em got to spend some time on the computer. My laptop is temporarily out of action because the adaptor plug I brought with me doesn't work. Until I can get a three pin adaptor, I'm computer-less. Usually this would devastate me, however I have two fully functioning cameras and access to Em's computer with its large and crystal clear screen so I'm not too bothered at all. However, this does mean that Em only gets to use her computer when I sleep in or I'm otherwise occupied, like today. ;-)

I spent several hours finishing The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and can't say that I particularly liked the ending. It seems to me that the author strayed from the heart of the story at about the 2/3rds point. Em agreed, and we talked about that structure and pacing of the novel while Crash snuggled up to his mum and Lucky played 'miss independent'.

By this time it was quite late in the day. We considered going to the gym but as we had been invited to an early dinner at Em's mum's place, we grabbed a late lunch snack then headed over there.

Em's brother has just bought himself a new car, a Dodge Neon, and he proudly showed it off. I declined the test drive however, choosing to admire from afar. It really is a nice car. He bought it from a second hand dealer in Iowa and no doubt enjoyed the engine's throaty rumble all the way home.
We didn't stay late and again dropped by her work, then home to margaritas and a movie: 'Stop Loss' which was fantastic; entertaining and eye-opening... assuming that it's unbiased and factual.

The 80,000+ men and women who signed up for active duty as a consequence of September 11 may never have guessed that when their contracts were up they would be 'stop lossed', forced back into another stint or face jail. Those who could not possibly return had only two options, escape across the border into Canada under a false identity and with no prospect of ever returning home or even contacting their loved ones left behind, or go to jail and be forced to return to Iraq anyway.

This film paints a grim portrait of life as an unwilling, honourable soldier who, once he has served his time, is unable to leave. He suffers dearly for his courage and so do those around him. Interestingly though, a review on IMDB suggests that the film gives a grossly inaccurate portrait.

I recall reading about the film when it first came out and learned that the writer had spent many years researching and interviewing soldiers about their experiences. I doubt that the story was entirely fictional and despite the negative review from a soldier who claims that several events in the movie could never have happened, I suspect that sometimes bad things do happen and though there are rules in place to prevent them, the rules are sometimes forgotten or ignored.

Regardless, it was a thought provoking film and well worth the wait to see it.

It's so cold that if it's not ice pellets coming, then it's a blizzard! Again, I'm not complaining at all!! :-D