Executive decision in the black plastic purge (or at least, diminishment): the Hamilton Beach electric kettle I use is all glass with a black plastic lid. I wore one out a few years ago and replaced it with the same model. But they now make a model with a white plastic lid so I ordered one that landed on the porch this morning. Tested already and it works fine. Of all of the manufacturers out there I like this because it's an old established company with a good reputation and I've been using a number of their products for years. The lid's still plastic, but maybe it's just a little safer type? There will be replacement kettles under the tree this year for close family members.

I made my annual cancellation call and got Sirius to give me the introductory offer again this year. The automated answerer tries to speed things up by offering you a discount from the full price but not as good as the intro price, so you wait to talk to a human. My next door neighbor does this every year and she said she got an annual price even lower when she inquired about an annual payment so I asked if an annual price would bring it down. He quoted the one time cost that would be exactly the same as monthly and I hemmed and hawed but he didn't give me anything lower. Mission accomplished at $8.45 a month instead of $24.50. I make a point of streaming through my Echo Dot (it goes through a bluetooth device plugged into the receiver) to get use out of it, though I don't listen to their high-dollar talk shows or sports. They're still making money on me.

Lots to do today, including testing a couple of recipes (to start - a small batch of Brussels sprouts). Patty, what are you doing for Thanksgiving? Dorothy, do you do the US date (I guess so if family is arriving soon?) Charmion, I think you took a load of hand-me-downs to family for your Thanksgiving last month? Excellent deployment of excess goods on a family occasion! I'll work on my stack of "to go" things for my small gathering on Sunday.