The weather turned bitter cold, warmed up, and turned bitter cold again.  Cold makes me grumpy. [tweetthis]I spent Friday with Siri taking control of my iPad on Amtrak. [/tweetthis]Does that sound like an opening to a horror movie?  It was pretty horrible, when you consider I looked forward to 5 hours of WiFi helping me meet my newspaper deadline.  But things are looking up.

[icon name=”heart” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Amtrak and senior rates.  I can take Amtrak to see Mom for less money than driving.  Yay!  I read a whole book on the way there and wrote and published a post.

[icon name=”heart” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] A five day visit with Mom. What a treat.  Five whole days with an almost-88-year-old woman who is full of wisdom, humor, and strength.

[icon name=”heart” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]  Clear January skies.

[icon name=”heart” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] A fire in the fireplace makes me as toasty as red flannel pajamas.

[icon name=”heart” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] On-line technical support that approaches my problem with humor and respect. How does Apple train its people with a blend of understanding without condescension?

[icon name=”heart” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Great breakfast restaurants.  It’s such a treat to linger over the Sunday newspaper, while fresh coffee gets delivered to me.

Downton Abby.  Love, love, love that show.

Siri. Okay, she’s insolent, going her own way inside my iPad.  Still, she continually, pulls up iMap with a fine selection of local places where I can treat myself to an ice cream sundae. Does Siri know me, or what?

What’s on your gratitude list this week?  Just add something in the comments below.  Feel free to add a link, and I’ll come check out your list.

In the meantime, I’m off to the Genius Bar. A soft-reboot, a hard re-boot and restore, and Siri still has control.  Perhaps the universe (of Apple) is trying to tell me something.