Rescued by Michael

When last we left Mr. and Mrs. Muddler they had stretched a flannel blanket across the entrance to their den to keep the frigid air from creeping into the rest of the house, the room heater having lost its pilot light.

When Michael, a Public Service technician, arrived later this morning he was astonished at how cold the back room was, considering the rest of the house was fine. The blanket had done its work.

He was more astonished when he looked at the source of the problem. That gas heater was here when we bought our house more than 50 years ago. It was much older than Michael and he had never seen one like it.

Nevertheless, he was equal to the task and after a few false starts got it working. In less than four hours the den temperature was back to normal.

And, needless to say, so were we. It made my birthday a very happy one.