We went to the potato bar sponsored by the Hillsboro High School site council, which was excellent, then to the gym for two big wins by the Trojan girls' and boys' teams against two very good Lyons teams.

Like my dad always said: the team that won't be beat, can't be beat. It still bothers me that he didn't live long enough to see the modern era of HHS basketball, which he loved to watch so much.

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The ice storm of Jan. 4 still has a hold of our throats and hasn't yet let go. Our side streets look and drive like the back side of the moon or someplace as desolate. Can't blame anyone but the weather, which has been below freezing for what seems like weeks.

From the looks of things in our neighboring towns, we got by lucky with the amount of ice deposited here.

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Dale Snelling, who manages Marion County Park & Lake, said last week that the rabbits were eating out of his bird feeders because the weight of the ice had lowered the feeders to the ground.

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This guy went ice fishing but his wife made him quit because she didn't know how to fix it.

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When we finally decided to get the car out last week, I hit the garage door opener. The top of the door started to open, but the rest of the door was stuck to the ground and resulted in big V in the top panel. A piece of angle iron for reinforcement will take care of it, but that is a project for a warmer day.

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I am scheduled for a followup thallium treadmill test later this week. For the longest time I couldn't remember that word and was saying I was taking a valium treadmill.

I hear that kind is very relaxing.

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The bill came for the first treadmill test I took back in December, the one I failed in only a few minutes. Looks like there wasn't any discount for taking a short time. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. What would we do without our hospital?

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I was telling Doug Wright about my garage door problem and he had a solution: just put a little short block of wood under the door. Then it only needs to break a few inches of ice instead of 9 or 16 inches, depending on what you have.

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A new Web site links people who need help in the aftermath of the ice storm to those who can provide it. I looked it up and found listings for people needing help in Marion, Harvey, Sedgwick and Kingman counties. The address is: www.kansasdisasterrelief. com/index.php.