By Andy Tarnoff Publisher Published Jan 12, 2012 at 11:18 AM

Last night, I rushed home from work, bought some fresh oil and gas and attempted to start my snowblower for the first time in nine months. I held my breath and gave the cord a pull. Nothing. I tried again, then again, then again. Calmly, I pushed the choke button three times, then paused. One more pull, and it sprang to life.

Bring it, snowmageddon. There is little more satisfying to me than hearing my snowblower actually start for the first time each winter.

Hey, in the middle of January, sometimes you have to relish the little things, life's little pleasures.

This week, here are 10 things that make me smile:

  • My snowblower started on the eighth pull, and ...
  • ... We made it to Jan. 12 without any real snow.
  • Even in the dead of winter, I can put on a Brewers Spring Training T-shirt and instantly find myself transported to the outfield berm at Maryvale Baseball Park.
  • In the last 20 years, the Packers haven't started anyone less than an elite quarterback.
  • Thanks to a trade with Stone Creek, we have hot coffee in our office every single day.
  • "30 Rock" is back tonight.
  • I can count on Twitter to amuse me pretty much 24/7.
  • At age 76, this is probably Ron Paul's final presidential run.
  • If I am having a bad day, I can tune in to a rerun of "Cops" on cable TV (in HD) and be thankful that at least I'm not being arrested on national television.
  • I'm going to Las Vegas next weekend.
Andy Tarnoff Publisher

Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.

Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.

Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.