I’ve had way too much smoke alarm drama lately, and last night the fire brigade showed up. After much twiddling and three trips to Canadian Tire in a snowstorm for batteries (two kinds!), calm has returned.

The firemen were nice, and very helpful. They even offered to come back and change the batteries in the three — count ‘em, three! — alarms on the upstairs hall ceiling if I didn’t want to climb a ladder. I probably reminded the crew chief of his mum.

I’m glad the steroid shot is helping you, Stilly. One of my several sisters-in-law is nearly crippled by a bum knee and so far has found nothing that helps. She had one injection into the joint that absolutely nothing — a gel shot, perhaps — and I’ve been nudging her to ask about cortisone for a while. It has done a world of good for my wonky foot.