Winter Fatigue

The Queen in Residence

I think I’ve been away from my January tropical beach hang out long enough to be officially tired of winter. My son very snarkily reminded me of my emailed January photos which almost resulted in assassination squads waiting at the airport upon my return. However, I’ve done my time. Today we’re facing our third Nor’easter in less than two weeks and this one is bringing an unneeded additional 15-20 inches of snow. I can now say, without fear of contradiction (except from those maniacal skier types – you know who you are) that winter officially sucks.

According to the internet the typical symptoms of winter fatigue are:  Trouble sleeping, poor appetite, weight loss, and agitation or anxiety. So I don’t even have that, well except for the agitation. This too will pass as any good New Englander will tell you, the march of seasons is upon us. Less optimistic news out of New Jersey last night as the FBR is down with a serious cold. My daughter had to come back from work to administer to her and reported she is getting old enough to negotiate some perks. She texted me the following:  “Her royal highness insists on laying in our bed to watch tv.” I responded with a remark that I recalled similar entitled behavior from a certain individual three decades ago. I received no answer to that.

Dinner Sleep with Mom

Across Generations

The FBR seems to take her colds very seriously, doing nothing in half measures. She actually fell asleep in my daughter’s arms last night instead of finishing dinner- simply unheard of when she’s healthy. My daughter sent me a picture of the FBR eating spaghetti in fabulously chaotic fashion. I couldn’t resist posting a similar picture from more than thirty years ago next to each other. I’m sure part of the FBR’s recovery will involve reading with her mom. A couple friends posted this photo on Facebook – truer words were never written.

This One Was Quite the Little Reader

Keene Friend bunked at our house last night to ride out the storm. I introduced him to the psychotic musings of Ash Williams as portrayed by Bruce Campbell in Ash Vs. the Evil Dead. We laughed together at the grisly excesses while I learned Keene Friend had never seen the seminal film - Army of Darkness. I’ll remedy that shortcoming on our next snow day. After that he accompanied me to the movies to see a Wrinkle in Time.

I was disappointed in a movie I should have loved. This ought to have been marketed as strictly a children’s film because they will overlook a lot of its obvious shortcomings. The filmmakers also underuse Gugu Mbatha-Raw which should be grounds for criminal charges. A young girl is bullied at school because her physicist dad disappeared four years earlier. It turns out her dad has been teleporting himself around the universe until captured by an evil entity called, “It”. I know. It falls to the young daughter and her precocious brother to rescue their dad with the assistance of some gaudily dressed celestial beings. A forty foot tall Oprah is one of them struggling to appear regal with all the silly accoutrement she’s adorned with. I hate to pick on a kid but the lead actress fails with no screen presence whatsoever. The other child actors, especially the younger brother, were fantastic but this was the gal’s film to carry and she shows hardly any emotion throughout. Maybe this is what a millennial ideal is supposed to act like but there were times I found myself shaking my head at the screen. My major problem with the movie is that is takes itself entirely too seriously, as if the filmmakers were so impressed with themselves that we viewers were expected to follow along without question. Again, great flick for very young children but a huge miss for an adult audience.

Bye Bye Baby

There She Goes - My Wife this Morning at Logan

Bachelorhood has returned to my homestead as my Favorite Panamanian is currently aloft returning to her native, decidedly warmer hometown. While toilet seats can now remain erect without having my intelligence questioned, I’m going to miss the very cold feet I am honor bound to warm up each night. We had our usual argument this morning as we tried to get out of the house and ahead of rush hour traffic into Boston. I’m still, even after 36 years of marriage, mystified as to why it takes her so long to get ready to go anywhere much less across the continent. She apologized when we reached the usual standstill that is the Mass Pike at the Watertown exit. Everything else went better than usual and we had scant time to say goodbye at Terminal E before the security line swallowed her whole. As I write this she is passing over Cuba (these new flight tracking aps are cool).

Lights Came on!!!

The photo above shows the most welcome sight my daughter and Wingman could have imagined. Power was finally restored to their New Jersey home around mid-day Sunday and none too soon for the exhausted parents of the FBR. Unfortunately the nomadic existence she’s had to endure since last Wednesday’s storm has resulted in a potent cold. Wingman sent me this picture of her laying her head down to sleep at the breakfast table – something completely out of the realm of belief for anyone who’s ever eaten breakfast with her.

Definitely Out of FBR Character

Sniffling at Daddy's Work While Waiting for Mom Medevac

Up in New Hampshire the BRS continues to hold court as more and more of the family and friends come by to make her acquaintance. Riggins seems to be taking exception to all the attention fawned on the new arrival and tried to butt in on a couple of the pictures. By all reports and from what I observed he loves having the little one around but he is an attention hound. Her parents as well as I are preparing for the third Nor’easter in two weeks. My son thinks these storms are happening in retribution for my glib comments in January while lounging on the tropical beach while they absorbed some serious body blows from Mother Nature. (was still worth it)

Ultimate Sunday

The BRS Looking into Daddy's Eyes

Today marks the last day I’ll have a Panamanian in permanent residence for at least a month. My Favorite Panamanian flies south for a month early tomorrow morning. Our latest Nor’easter was polite enough to wait until Monday night to hit so hopefully her early morning flight can get out of Boston. While these separations have become a matter of routine over the last ten years that doesn’t make them any easier. On the upside I now have two granddaughters to visit so any claim of loneliness would be crocodile tears at best. I was also very pleased with a surprise phone call on Friday from my younger sister. I love her dearly but we don't stay in near enough touch and I really appreciated her reaching out. I look forward to getting together with her and her outstanding husband as soon as I re-acquire my own souse in April.

ABFA Mom

That Favorite Panamanian made my day on Friday when she showed up at First Friday celebrations which were sparsely supported by my co-workers. I think they, like the rest of New England, was still mentally digging out from Wednesday’s storm. I know it took a good night sleep last night before my body finally recovered from the physical effort of wrestling the snow blower around on Thursday morning. I was proud of Worcester which was back on its feet and working through a fairly normal day less than 24 hours after having more than 16 inches of snow dumped on it. I cringe to think what my former home in Northern Virginia would look like in a similar situation.

FBR (in back) With Some of Her Neighborhood Cronies at Hotel

The New Jersey power company, PSEG, is not covering itself in glory. My daughter reported this morning that electricity had yet to be restored to her neighborhood which is criminally incompetent in my view. We had north of 400,000 homes without power after the storm around here and that number was in the hundreds by yesterday morning. Someone is not doing their job down in New Jersey. You’d think after Super Storm Sandy they would have this drill down. The FBR is taking all of this in manic stride after two nights in a hotel and then last night in a friend’s house. Her parents, my daughter and Wingman, are less sanguine about the experience. I think frazzled would be a more accurate description. Chasing an energetic two year old around as she explores new environments is not for the faint of heart and is possessed of a significant “frazzle” factor.

Hanging with Another Host While Awaiting Power

Powering Up & Down

Birthday Girl

The BRS marked her 1 month birthday by shutting down power in her house. There are rumors that loss had more to do with the savage snow/wind storm of the prior night but I’m skeptical. She, the ABFA and my Favorite Panamanian decamped to a nearby friend’s house which did have power while my Favorite Son headed out to purchase a generator. He returned home with his daughter’s first significant birthday gift and a healthy supply of gasoline to keep it running only to discover that power had been restored. I opined that if he hadn’t made the purchase that the power would still have been off and it was a good resource to have for future birthdays if the BRS continues this trend.

The news was less welcome down in New Jersey as it looks like it will be until tomorrow before my daughter’s house has electricity restored. They face a different problem since the FBR is geometrically more mobile than the New Hampshire granddaughter. They ended up in a hotel which I’m sure made for an interesting evening since they are dedicated to a strict bedtime routine for the FBR. She does seem to be sampling the hotel furniture and even ventured into the hotel pool.

Hotel Furniture is Cool

So this is the Swimming Thing Grandpa is Always Talking About

A friend featured this music video on Facebook yesterday and it really caught my eye (see how long it takes you to realize the interesting facet to the video). My sister and I had a running argument while we were growing up as to our ancestry. I always claimed we had a healthy dose of Scottish blood while she just as adamantly denied it. This usually resulted in me breaking into song, torturing her with my rendition of Taking the High Road to Loch Lomond. Anybody who’s heard my singing voice will understand why this would be considered persecution. Granted I based my claim of Scottish blood on my unexplained love of bagpipe music so my sister’s counter-claims were stronger (not that I would ever admit to that).

One of the nicest features of the DNA test I did last year was the revelation that I and certainly she both sport a full 34% of Scottish blood. She has been noticeably quiet on the issue ever since. It’s a brother-sister thing. I knew there was something in that bagpipe addiction! You’d need to have Scottish blood to enjoy that caterwauling music (at least that’s how my wife describes it). Speaking of my Favorite Panamanian she scheduled to return this afternoon from abuela duty up in New Hampshire. We’ll get to enjoy each other’s company for a full two days before she wings off to Panama again for a full month.

I went to see a movie last night using a Christmas gift from the New Jersey contingent. They gave me a membership in MoviePass which allows you to log in when you’re within 100 yards of a movie theater with your smart phone and then choose a movie you want to see. You then use the MoviePass card to pay for the movie. The card only costs a minimal amount each month so they will be losing a lot of money on me. I was particularly proud that I made my way through the process of setting it up and using it completely on my own without the usual technical calls for help to the gift givers.

The movie itself was less welcome. Death Wish was a great vehicle back in the 1970s and I was interested in seeing how Bruce Willis would fare in the Paul Kersey role as the vigilante husband/father seeking revenge for his shattered family. I’ve missed Willis since most of his recent acting ended up going straight to video instead of theaters. I now can see why. This should have been a great part for him but he sleepwalked through it. He seemed completely disinterested as times. It’s pretty sad when Charles Bronson can be pointed out as acting circles around you. The rest of the cast was very good and struggled mightily to rescue the film from Willis’ dedicated mediocrity. It was a tall order. There were some well-staged action scenes and since Eli Roth in involved the obligatory bloody torture events. I was really prepared to like this flick but I was left with more a “meh”.

Progeny Power Problems

Our House This Morning

I knew yesterday was going to be a weird day when I looked out my office window in the afternoon to see a truck fully engulfed in flames. The fire department eventually showed up and quickly doused the now towering inferno but I’m fairly certain nothing much survived except the driver. The day was already notable because my Favorite Panamanian accomplished a long distance drive all by herself, something that scares the hell out of her. The BRS was all the motivation she needed though to make the trek up to New Hampshire ahead of the storm. She actually sounded a little cocky later in the day recounting her drive.

Truck on Fire Seen from my Office Window

Back Deck This Morining

Snow Coating Everything

Driveway Before Clearing

This was a really weird, powerful late winter storm. It snowed all day long in Worcester with no appreciable accumulation on the roads. As soon as the sun went down Mother Nature dropped the proverbial hammer with a wind driven heavy snow that built up at a remarkable rate. Keene Friend wisely chose to bunk at our house last night instead of attempting the drive back to Keene. I woke up this morning to over sixteen inches of snow coating everything. It was definitely the biggest punch this winter has thrown so far (at least while I wasn’t on a tropical beach). It was cool having Keene Friend to assist with the driveway this morning since the heavy snow bank at the street was a real bear to clear. He broke it up while I attacked it with the machine.

The BRS Doesn't Seem Concerned

Mom and Dad Can Handle This

I'm Going to Snooze

My problems pale considerably compared to both ends of the geographic span of my immediate family. Our power lines are all underground so our house still had power. Neither my daughter in New Jersey nor my son (and his mother) up in New Hampshire were similarly lucky. Both of them lost power over night with the complicating presence of very young granddaughters as well. I got a late night text from my daughter saying she had just managed to get the FBR to sleep and was exhausted. She doesn’t think power will be restored until Saturday at the earliest.

Conquest in Progress

I Got You Dad

And Dad is Happy About it

My Favorite Son encountered a similar scenario at 2:45am when his power went out. Since they’re on a well that meant they lost their water supply at the same time. They have no idea when the power will be restored but he’s out this morning looking to buy a generator. They have a close friend nearby who does have power and the BRS along with her mom and abuela are there right now until my son can get heat restored. Today marks the one month birthday for the BRS as she is now four complete weeks old. She is showing a troubling tendency to mark milestones with cataclysmic intensity.

Out Playing with Riggins this Morning

I was heartened when arriving at work to find several emails from colleagues around the nation. Apparently CNN was reporting from Worcester last night talking about how severe the snowstorm was and how it paralyzed the city.  In the background several of my buses were seen running. We kept the bus service running as long as humanly possible and only quit an hour before we were scheduled to stop. My drivers are my heroes today.

I finished reading another book by David Drake yesterday, Ranks Of Bronze, where he transports an entire Roman legion into space to fight for an alien trade guild against galactic foes of a similar technological level. As always Drake excels at depicting the close quarter combat.

Dated Night

My Dinner Date Last night

For the first time in four years my Favorite Panamanian and I were together for our anniversary. That lasted until this morning as she set out ahead of today’s major storm for some abuela duty up north with the BRS. My newly acquired operations manager, Keene Friend, more than redeemed my decision to hire him on Monday. I had become so caught up in work that I hadn’t realized the 6^th of March had snuck up on me. I’d already bought the gifts and cards but anyone who knows my wife realizes roses are de rigueur. As soon as Keene Friend asked me what I had planned for my anniversary on Tuesday the proverbial flash bulb went off in my head (might have been more of a match light).

She Traded me Out for This today

Can't Blame her a Bit

I purchased the required flora on my way home that night and successfully smuggled them into the house for yesterday morning’s “surprise” reveal. As stated above, a true surprise would have been the lack of roses. We returned to the restaurant my wife loves where we last celebrated an anniversary together for dinner. That turned out to be a lot of fun although the flourless chocolate cake hit my keto conditioned stomach like cluster bomb, albeit a very tasty one.

Obligatory Anniversary Couple Photo with the Cluster Bombs

We sandwiched in a hurried FaceTime call with the FBR between dinner and a movie. Predictably for once the FBR wanted to continue talking as we tried to get out the door. I think she reveled a little bit in delaying us when she sensed we, for probably the first time ever, wanted to end the call first. She wanted to extol the virtues of the quesadillas she was busy devouring. I fear she may have inherited her abuela’s “punctuality” (more accurately “lack thereof”) gene. I pity her future boyfriends who have to get anywhere on time.

The movie, Red Sparrow, turned out to be very good. I’d watch Jennifer Lawrence in anything (well except mother!) and she is at the top of her game as a Russian ballerina turned spy. She is very good (as expected) in a very subtle way as she works her way through training as a “honeypot” to seduce enemy agents. There are double and triple crosses involved once she is sent to the field and I honestly didn’t know which side she would end up on until the final, startling conclusion. It was all very Russian. The only miss in the casting was Joel Edgerton as the American CIA agent. He was clearly fighting well above his weight trying to serve as a love interest for Lawrence, absolutely no chemistry between the pair. This wasn’t an action flick, if you discount Lawrence’s bathing suits, but exuded a very cool style throughout. It’s one of those movies I want to see again to see all the seemingly harmless clues that were provided throughout that come to bear at the end. I’m convinced Lawrence can do anything.