In the afternoon we did some experimenting with our electrical service, trying to see if they had upgraded us from 3KW to 4.5KW. I was skeptical, because the power hadn't gone out recently, which is what I would have assumed was needed to make such a change, but Fratello Calabrese asked us to check. We have several appliances that use about 2KW each: hair dryer, iron, two space heaters. In the past we could only turn on one of them at time, so we always had to check with each other before using an appliance. For our test we tried all combinations of two appliances at a time, but never tripped the circuit breaker -- maybe it has been upgraded! In any case, life is much easier for us this way, since we no longer have to check with each other to turn something on. Our rule now is simple: one high-wattage appliance each at a time.
The Thackers organized a senior couple dinner out at 7pm, with them, us, the Balzottis, and the Millets. It was at a restaurant at the mall called Fratelli di Buffala, which apparently was a favorite haunt of the Thackers when they were here last time with the Guercios. Most of us had a pizza, with one salad thrown in and Dee enjoying lentil and faro soup. The food was good and the company was better. These are such nice folks, and it is fun to have time together, with lots of good stories and laughter. We are all generally pretty busy, but Saturday night is the only evening that we Whitings have free, and even that only sometimes. Dee and I have only eaten out a handful of times during our whole time here, except when family is visiting. We should do this more often.
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| L-R: Whitings, Thackers, Millets, Balzottis |
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| My calzone, half way through |