Stormy Welcome and Canine Overachievement

Fruits of a Very Long Day

Any time you get a major snow storm and work in transit, it is going to be a long day. Yesterday was a true testament to that belief. We received over a foot of the white stuff yesterday. I’m really proud of my people because we made every scheduled run and the drivers and their supervisors performed magnificently getting people to work and back home. Several other transit agencies around Massachusetts chose to suspend service which made our bunch even more impressive.

We Even Made the TV News

I had the fun task of driving into Boston just as the worst of the storm hit. It was a very long and slow trek but the severity of the storm kept traffic to a minimum and the normal one hour trip only took an hour and a half. I checked on my daughter’s flight status before I left Worcester and she was still on track to land a little after 5pm. A little over half way through the drive I received a call from Wingman reporting my daughter’s plane was diverted to Detroit to wait out the storm.

The Snow Plowing Operations

Since I had already made most of the drive I didn’t want to return to Worcester and then have to turn around and drive back again so I continued on to the airport, figuring I’d have a couple hour wait. That estimate was slightly off as I got to spend five magical hours at the nearly deserted Logan International Airport. It was kind of spooky to see the normally bustling place so quiet as most flights were canceled, casualties of the storm. It did provide an opportunity to watch snow removal operations which were fascinating. It resembled an army of ants as dozens of plows maneuvered the snow across the vast concrete jet ways into a huge pile. A massive front end loader then scooped it up and dropped it into a freight car size snow melter. In a matter of second the gigantic load of snow was reduced to water which streamed out below. It was almost hypnotic to watch and I spent nearly an hour there.

The Snow Melter

You can guess from the above statement that I was more than a little bored. After buying another set of reading glasses I finished off the one book I brought with me. I was also more than a little frantic because the delay meant I wasn’t getting home in time to allow Buddy to get outside to do his business. I called the neighborhood Mafioso and he trudged through the snow to try and gain access to the house but the garage door code wasn’t working so Buddy was on his own. While he was there he and his son carved a hole in the three foot tall snow bank so I could get into the driveway when I returned. I’ve said before how blessed I am in the neighbor department – yet another example.

Such a Welcome Sight

Finally, a little after six, the flight status changed and reported my daughter’s plane would arrive in Boston at 730pm. I’m no genius but I knew it took longer than that to fly from Detroit. My daughter had my granddaughter break away from knocking over huge Detroit chess pieces and boarded the plane. The finally arrived a little before 9pm and had to wait a frustrating fifteen minutes longer as my fascinating snow plows were in the way at the gate. It was a huge relief to the far flung elements of the family, who’d been tracking the progress, when I finally saw them descending the escalator. The granddaughter was a little shy at first abut seemed none the worse for the wear after a long day traveling across the country. While we were waiting for baggage a fellow passenger came up and complimented my daughter on both my granddaughter and how well she handled the long day.

Knocking Over Detroit Chess Board

The drive home was not bad as the storm had passed and the road crews had the interstates down to the pavement. We slipped and slid into the driveway through the gap created by the Mafioso and I hurried inside to learn what kind of mess I was going to have to deal with from my abandoned dog. Once I found him, he’d burrowed into some stored furniture to hide from the thunder snow, I found he’d passed the entire 16 hours without passing anything else – no mess at all! I felt like Buddy was a bona fide hero for the first time in his life. I spent a couple more hours outside clearing away the snow and finally sat down to relax a little after midnight. A very long but well spent day since by the end of it I had both the daughter and First Blog Reader in residence.

Start the Happy Dance

Nor’Easter

That’s an expression any sane New Englander does not like to hear on a February day, much less a day when some very important people are flying into Boston. This storm has been forecasted and kept growing in the telling all week on TV news. As I came into my office this morning the snow was just starting and I felt like Theoden as the Uruk-hai massed outside the Hornburg at Helm’s Deep – “So it begins”. (I apologize profusely for that geek moment) We’re expecting between 15 and 24 inches here in Worcester as the region’s weather once again takes its residents on one of its signature wild weather rides. We had an ice storm on Tuesday, balmy fifty degree weather yesterday and today a major snow storm – with thunder snow! So this is fun.

View From Office This morning

An Hour Later

The Intrepid Travelers This Morning at the Airport

Luckily it’s a fast moving event, despite its potency and my daughter’s flight is still listed as on time. That will be an interesting drive into Boston but the payoff is more than worth the effort. Wingman has to stay behind for a day or so since their household goods exceeded the capacity of the pods they packed up yesterday. So my daughter gets to travel cross county with both a cat and a one year old – this is why the moms always get the big bucks!

The first floor project continued apace yesterday with the kitchen cabinets now completely in place and the hardwood extended through the living room. No work on that today as this storm has closed down just about all non-essential activities. I’m lucky enough to work in public transit so I’m at the office but I sent the entire admin staff home before the heaviest part of storm descends. It will actually be easier to get to the Mass Pike and then subsequently the airport from my office than my hilltop home. Note to self – pick up cat litter on my way.

Last night I took in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest comeback effort, Split. James McAvoy has a lot of fun moving through a whole cast of characters residing in the tortured villain’s mind. He kidnaps three teenaged girls and they get to experience a wild ride as different personalities show up to confound them. As with any Shylaman projects he tries (sometimes too hard) to inject some real texture into his shots. He fell in love with a circular staircase this time out. The young actress from the Witch is the lead victim and continues her string of strong performances. There’s no huge twist attempted which for a Shylaman film is a twist in and of itself. There is a neat tie in to one of his earlier movies so he hasn’t totally abandoned his whimsy.

And it's really tough to be depressed after this past weekend - never gets old:

Today’s morale photo injection:

Frosty Progress

My Car this Morning - Completely Coated

An interesting day, weather wise, for my first day of geographic bachelorhood. A couple inches of snow was followed by a day long ice storm which coated everything in sight. It was supposed to turn over to rain and warm up a little bit but that never happened. My wife certainly picked the right day to exit south. She had adventures of her own arriving in Panama. She’d made her flight reservations back in November but forgot to book the connecting flight to her hometown to David. She figured she could buy a ticket at the airport when she got there but they only had first class tickets available (their story) and she wasn’t going to pay $300 for a 45 minute flight.

1st Day Progress

This left her wandering the airport with her typically overloaded three suitcases searching for a Wi-Fi hot spot so she could contact family members in the city. She eventually did and they rescued her after a few hour ordeal. She recounted all of this in excruciating detail when she finally got to a phone late last night. Note to self – be more patient when listening to ten minute, non-stop narratives.

Progress as of Last Night

Deckzilla Dude is making steady progress on the first floor flooring. I’m always impressed when I see the work of a true craftsman. He makes things seem so simple but I know this type of detailed carpentry, fitting and joining, is beyond my capacity. He also moved the former island cabinet into position at the end of the existing counter in preparation for the granite guy measuring on Friday.

Island Cabinet Moved

Today is the container packing day out in California as the avidly prayed for return to the east coast of that beloved bunch is scheduled for tomorrow. New England is throwing another storm in their path and I‘m praying it moves quickly enough to be out of the way by the time I have to pick them up at the airport.

I wasn’t going to spend the first night solo alone in the house and there was a zombie movie that my wife, for some odd reason, refused to see with me. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is the promised (hopefully) last film in the series as we follow Alice back to the “hive” where the whole apocalypse started in the first movie. Jovovich has grown to be a compelling female action star as she continues her six movie swath cutting through zombie hordes while battling the evil Umbrella Corporation. It’ every bit as silly as it sounds but I remain a fan of this type fare and really enjoyed this last ride with Alice. While this is promised to be the last chapter they did leave themselves a little wiggle room. Nothing is ever final in the Resident Evil world, especially when it makes buckets of money. It turned out to be bad idea to go to the movies last night. The promised warm up never arrived and I came out to a car completely coated in ice. Since I was using my wife’s car and it never stays out in the weather it doesn’t have an ice scraper. It made for an interesting ride (slide) home and a huge puddle in the garage this morning.

Today’s morale photo injection:

Sweet Sorrow

And "Poof", She's Gone

I am officially a geographic bachelor again with my wife’s flight south to warmer climes. We journeyed into Boston this morning just ahead of the ice storm that’s busily coating everything in sight right now while a certain football team in journeys through Beantown in duck boats. You’d think I would be more than prepared for the separation as we’ve had a lot of practice over the past year but it just does not get any easier. I think we’re used to being around each other.

Granddaughter is Helping Pack up Her Toys

People who know both of us sometimes marvel my Favorite Panamanian and I get along so well because we are so different in personality. I think any successful marriage involves tolerating occasional personality clashes. This allowance is something that comes with age and experience though because I certainly wasn’t very good at it as a young man. I gave up on relationships on some of the flimsiest criteria, at least in retrospect. I’ve learned through hard experience that Soldiering through the tough times can produce a deepening of a connection between a couple as long as you honestly admit to yourself that you have worked through it. There are, of course, no hard and fast “rules” because we’re dealing with homo sapiens here but from my own experience it’s worth the labor involved as I descend into a more elderly status.

Dinner Date

I got the opportunity for one more date night before she flew the coop. We went out to eat last night and spent a lot of the meal just talking. I made the single largest bank transfer of my life earlier yesterday as I moved funds down to our Panamanian bank. We’ve got the closing on the condo coming up in the next couple months which will require yet another trip for me. I somehow don’t think I’ll mind it if a certain dinner date is waiting at the other end. She’s getting fired up about furnishing the condo and revealed a number of purchases she’d already made over the past couple years and stashed away in secret caches.

Cantankerous on the Right (starboard) 

I ran across this photo today on Facebook. It shows a very young version of the Cantankerous Friend at sea. Some of us who know him well think his ship still hasn’t come in. I particularly like the confused look on his face. While I understand that is a perpetual state of mind for young naval officers, he wears it well. Now I just hope he doesn’t find anything from my own second lieutenant days. God knows there’s ample evidence lurking somewhere.

Today’s morale photo injection:

For the Ages

Some of the Westernmost Pats' Fans Watching Game Last Night

I’m a little hoarse of voice this morning as I gave full throat to one of the greatest football games ever played last night. The Patriots inexplicably and in direct contravention of all traditional wisdom staged an epic comeback to snatch victory out of the mouths of a talented but worn out Atlanta team. I thought the game was over so many times as the gifted Falcons offense ran circles around a Patriots defense that looked overmatched and slow for more than half a game.

By the middle of the third quarter they were down 25 points and all hope appeared buried deeper than Roger Goodell’s ethics. The very helpful broadcasters showed a graphic that teams down by this much in the playoffs were a collective 0 for 93. This however was a team, led by the greatest quarterback of all time. They shrugged off all the noise telling them they didn’t have a chance and slowly ate into the lead. A strip sack, miraculous throws and one seemingly impossible catch followed in a game that will go down in the annals as something very, very special.

The Catch

We had another couple over to watch the game in the Man Cave and enough food and snacks for six times that number. By half time we were looking at each other and wondering what happened to the real Patriots. As the Patriots started their comeback we discerned that this happened when my friend’s girlfriend went under a blanket so she spent the rest of the game peeking out from under that blanket; roundly chastised if she let it droop at all. She didn’t emerge until we were all screaming and jumping around when the Patriots scored the winning touchdown in overtime.

Blanket That Won the Championship

This is the reason we watch sporting events; for this rare opportunity to see something that has never been done before. To see millionaires cry like babies as they lay exhausted on the field, having given every ounce of effort to win a championship. I came away with a profound appreciation of just how special Mr. Brady is; the Atlanta team was also fun, if agonizing, to watch. I’m convinced Julio Jones is an alien from another planet, just so good.

Three Meals at once

Prior to the game my Favorite Panamanian was trying to overcome her frustration at being out of town/country when the California Contingent shows up on Thursday for a weeklong visit. She prepared three huge meals and then placed them all in the freezer before certain well known kitchen predators (Buddy and I) could graze. I’m under strict orders to break the seal only when my daughter, Wingman and granddaughter are in residence.

Everyone I’m running into today in New England look tired, speak in the same hoarse voice I have, and smile at the sheer unbelievability of what the Patriots accomplished last night. A truly satisfying note after the game was seeing weasel dink Goddell booed roundly off the stage when he had to present the trophy to the Patriots owner. I’m so tired today but it’s a very good fatigue. We called the offspring after the game only to learn the Frist Blog Reader’s bed time had occurred just before the overtime period. She still saw the comeback though. She won’t remember this in twenty years when she’s finally, hopefully, reading this, but you saw history last night kiddo.

Today’s morale photo injection: