The Inmates Run the Asylum

Going in to work wasn't too bad this morning. It'd stopped sleeting pretty early last night so there wasn't much to deal with.

Business started to pick up, as JR would say, around mid-morning after several of the out of town people left. (They basically just came in to get done what they could before it got bad.) Sleet and snow. Fun stuff. All of the shop guys left by noon and the only office personnel left were the ones that lived in town.

One of our drivers who lives in Indiana ended up getting stranded here, so he's staying in a hotel. He wasn't going to be able to beat the storm back home.

Chad went home for lunch, but I brought mine so I wouldn't have to leave. The wind really started to pick up out in the boonies where I work to the point of whiteout conditions at times. It was still mostly a snow/sleet mix.

A little after noon, the Internet went out. Chad came back from lunch and once it was determined that the Internet was going to be out for the rest of the day, I got sent home. We can't do anything without it.

Chad warned me that the wind was whipping the snow/sleet hard and he was right. That was some stinging business going on and I'm glad I didn't have to do much scraping to my car. The drive home wasn't too horrible if you don't count the curve where the road disappeared. I made it home just as the it went to straight snow and started coming down hard.

It did let up enough for me to grill. Snow up the shirt was chilly, though. The wind is pretty fierce. My firefighter friend posted on FB that another firefighter found an American flag blowing up the street, pole and all.

As of right now, I'm still on to go to work in the morning, though it might be late if they don't get the Internet back up. And I may be chauffered if we end up getting the ten to sixteen inches they're predicting. At least that's the last total I saw.

I bet the way the wind is blowing, it'll be more than just the road at that one curve missing.

I had to go out today to do an errand that I've been putting off because I just couldn't put it off any longer. And, of course, it had to been when the high temperature was 17 degrees. That's what you get for procrastinating.

But, it wasn't too bad. By the time I got home, I was good with getting out of the car without my gloves.

It's weather like this that really brings out the personalities of the people in my town.

Leaving Walmart, I saw a lady bundled up, waddling across the parking lot. For the most part, her coat and hat and gloves matched (red and tan), but she was wearing a lime green scarf. Best part about it? It was wrapped around her neck at least twice and still reached her knees. It was like a knitted anaconda trying to bring her down. It was fantastic.

And then I saw a guy wearing a t-shirt and no coat walking across the parking lot. Clearly, what's chilly to some is balmy to others.

Right now it's 0 with a windchill of -10.

I want to remember this for next summer when it's 98 with a heat index of 110.

I'm not saying it'll stop me from bitching. I'm just saying I'll want to remember it then.

My dad always says that if you want to sleep well at night, do something during the day.

I decided to take his advice today as last night I didn't get a very restful night's sleep and kept having funky dreams. I didn't scream at little old ladies, but I did end up in a play written and directed by David Hewlett and couldn't remember my lines and at some point during the night, I went to Little Cesaer's with a bunch of guys from the Sopranos.

Anyway, instead of belly dancing today, I decided to shovel snow since we got about four inches of it. I figured on just doing the back steps, the front porch, and the driveway where my car sits. I'd have done the whole driveway, but I can't work the snowblower.

It was cold (the temperature actually dropped about four degrees while I was out) and it was windy (I know this because the snow I shoveled kept blowing back into my face), but I was sweating. Took me about twenty minutes to do it all. It was a great work out.

And I have no doubt I'll sleep tonight.

I was ready to sleep before I even got the shovel put alway.