Early or not, still up an hour late well after seven to head over to the Lakeshore ATM on the way to breakfast, the parking meters still not being enforced during this holiday sales season, so breakfast over the papers on a cold but clear morning. Cold. But sunny. As mentioned.

note: I checked the meters not running thing (not believing it could be true) and discovered they were not being enforced on Saturdays and were quite active after eight during the rest of the week. Dodged a bullet brought on by my own stupidity this morning, I did.

Later. A bus ride to the City Center to have a donut and a cup of coffee out at a table in the sun. The Center is pretty much cast in shadow at ten-thirty, but there was one empty (sunny) table out in front of the bagel shop and so I remained to eat, drink and watch the people stumble along. Cold for a Californian, even in the sun.

No ambition to walk and so another bus to sit here and think about maybe taking up the guitar and going through the new lesson. Yes, I did some work last night, but a proper go through is needed, playing along this time with the music. In saying it I'm giving myself another exhortation, of course: download the songs, play along with the music. Good luck, given my habits.

How long have I been playing? Well into my fourth year and only now reading about guitar setup and maintenance and specifically measuring/adjusting string height over the pickups? Something they recommend doing every six months (that was from Fender, who knows how often I should really be doing it, but more often than never one might suspect), something other commentators have mentioned usually needs doing when buying a new guitar. Oh, dear. Maybe the sound I'm hearing, when I think it's not quite right, has something to do with pickup height?

Something to keep you busy/entertained for another week.

Maybe so. Maybe that's what some of these tools that came with the guitar kit I bought when I got the guitar are about, when I first had the guitar and was acquiring what looked to be the necessary rags and tools and toys and such every good boy needed in its upkeep. Hmm. You're right, something to keep me amused for the rest of the week month.

Later still. A walk to the morning café for a grilled cheese sandwich and coffee. No lemonade in these temperatures, no sitting out on their patio either since it was by then in mid-afternoon shade. Feel pretty good, blowing the nose every time after I eat. The change in weather? The cold? I pay attention only because of the ongoing sinus problem, hoping without any data to back it up, that it's a sign of progress. Still, feel much better after the fact, so we'll babble on and hope.

A walk back to the apartment taking but one photograph. Saw her in the distance, moved the camera off the shoulder and hurried my pace. Nothing special in the result, but I'm sensitive to anything like the umbrella that has a chance of setting, what is a static, seen too many times scene, off. No complaints.

Some progress in finding out how you adjust the pickup height on the guitar, although I'm thinking of talking with my guitar teacher before I do anything stupid. The sound seems fine, so I'm not sure it needs adjustment. Still, one should always be at least aware if not skilled in the adjustment of one's instrument.

Evening. Nothing on television, so to bed early. I was able to get the tablet to reconnect to my network, but three attempts starting three different movies all ended in failure. When's the last time I actually attended a movie? Been a while.