Editing And Emailing

A couple of weeks ago I was making the final round of edits to my new book when I decided to do a quick search of my previous titles to see if they were still available for sale. Given the fact that this new volume would incorporate basically all of the previously published works I was going to pull the printing of the previous collections…. Don’t want multiple versions in the marketplace at the same time. Well, that was my original intent but it wasn’t what I found.

As it turns out, the publisher for my previous collection had gone under in the decade since my chapbook was put into print. I guess you could say that this issue was resolved much faster than expected. However, when I dug a little deeper, I did find a couple of websites that had scanned the contents and basically made the book available for digital download. This is not something that I approved or appreciated so I did some research and found the people with whom I needed to speak from the websites.

For those of you who may run into this issue of copyright infringement, here is the DMCA Notice letter that I sent:

To Whom It May Concern, 

My name is Sean and I am the author of Kaddish Diary. Your website, SAMPLE.net is infringing on at least one copyright owned by me.

A book was copied onto your servers without permission. The original book and poems, to which I own the exclusive copyrights, can be found at:

http://www.isbnsearch.org/isbn/1589983637

The unauthorized and infringing copy can be found at:

http://SAMPLE.net/kaddish-diary

This letter is official notification under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (”DMCA”), and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your servers and website. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately, and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material to your server in the future.

Please also be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under US law a service provider, such as yourself, enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided that you act with deliberate speed to investigate and rectify ongoing copyright infringement. If service providers do not investigate and remove or disable the infringing material this immunity is lost. Therefore, in order for you to remain immune from a copyright infringement action you will need to investigate and ultimately remove or otherwise disable the infringing material from your servers with all due speed should the direct infringer, your client, not comply immediately.

I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that rights I own are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright(s) involved.

Should you wish to discuss this with me please contact me directly.

Regards,

Sean

Unfortunately, after sending off this request and continuing the search for some of the other books in which my work has been included, I found that Charles Fishman’s anthology, Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust, was also out of print due to the publisher discontinuing operations at the end of last year. I guess I chose the right time to work on the manuscripts that have been sitting on my computer for the last ten years. Stay tuned for details about this and other books that I am releasing to the masses this year!

Moving Day Recovery

As soon as we got out of bed yesterday the long and hectic day started. We had a lot of appointments scheduled and, needless to say, a lot of work ahead of us. Yesterday was moving day and that was not the only task that needed to be accomplished… we also had an ADT consultation in the morning, Raymour & Flanigan delivering furniture by noon, and the cable company coming out to the house to get our phone, internet, and cable up and running by the end of the day. While I was taking care of those tasks, my wife was at work, our son was at daycare, and my parents were supervising the sluggish movers.

With all of these things set to a certain schedule, my wife and I got up a little earlier than usual, got our son ready for ‘school’ and were about to head out the door when my parents arrived. Actually, while my wife was changing, feeding, and generally getting our son ready, I was busy finishing up the remaining packing around the house and making sure that every box we purchased was being used. By the time I stopped to take a breath we must have had over 100 boxes stacked in the various rooms all labeled with their new locations at our home.

By the time I finished putting things aside, closing off all the rooms that the movers didn’t need to address, and coordinating the day with my parents I was already behind schedule and ADT was calling just as I was about to get in the car and head over to the house. Fortunately, the woman with whom I was working was very understanding of the situation and had the patience to wait for me until I arrived about 15 minutes after our originally agreed upon appointment time. Just before we completed the walk through of the house for the quote, the furniture arrived and we officially began the transformation from house to home.

ADT left shortly thereafter and, just like it was planned, the cable company arrived and began work immediately. Thankfully, I remembered to bring a television, my laptop, and a phone with me that morning to test. By mid afternoon, all the furniture was in place, the cable, internet, and phone were up and running, and I already had the quote from ADT in hand. All that was left was waiting for the lackadaisical movers to arrive.

Needless to say, we were not happy with how long it took the moving company to get things done. While I did get them to move a bit faster upon arrival it still took them until 8:30 to get things done, close up the truck, and leave all of their trash behind (I will be checking for damage over the next few days). Today was largely spend cleaning up after them and moving many of the clearly labeled boxes into the correct rooms. But, the important thing, regardless of the issues that we encountered, is the fact that we are now home! Let the recovery begin.

Looking Back On Back To The Future Day

It seems as though it is a requirement that all bloggers write a post on this subject so here is my attempt…

Yesterday was kind of odd for many of us that grew up in the 1980’s. I remember that there were a few movies when I was younger that I would watch over and over again. Three of those movies were the Back to the Future trilogy. These movies are not just representative of my movie watching habits from my youth but also many others including my wife. It is actually something that we have in common from when we were growing up.

While I was always partial to the third installment I was also intrigued even at a young age by the second movie which showed a prophetic glimpse into what at the time was the future. Well, yesterday the “future” became the present and while there are many things that are still far beyond the realm of everyday reality there are some interesting things that were actually pretty accurate. The movie and our current reality both demonstrate a number of commonalities which include a black man in a position of political power, instant news, drones, google glass, flat screen televisions, silent cars, voice activated lights, fingerprint identification and security, a baseball team in Miami, and a Cubs team that isn’t dwelling at the bottom of the standings. Oddly enough, the first version of reality also showed Michael J. Fox having issues with his hand which is a strange coincidence.

Of course there are also things that have yet to come to fruition such as the National Weather Service, hover boards, flying cars, rehydrating dinner, and a few other things that were seen as fictional conveniences. However, there have also been some things that have been developed since the time that the movie was made that far exceeded any predictions that could have been made such as digital music, smart phones, and, most importantly, the internet (although these things could be seen as having been implied by the immediate availability of news, payments made via card swipe at home, and officers immediately checking identification through a handheld device.

What might be the most important aspect to all of the movies is the simple fact that the human dynamic remains the same regardless of the year and what technology (or lack thereof) exists. There are always pleasant and not so pleasant people, the strong and the weak, the confident and the meek, the passive and the aggressive, the predator and the pray, the mental and the physical. People will remain the same contrary to the utopian and antiutopian worlds displayed in Demolition Man and Idiocracy (just to name a couple “recent” films). There will always be a Marty and a Biff no matter where or when you are. Just do us all a favor and stop asking Tom Wilson, a fellow Radnor High School Alum, about the movies.

Firearms Friday: Responsibility

Following the mass murder at the Umpqua Community College free fire zone yesterday, it didn’t take very long before the reactions to the horrifying event flooded social media. Politicians, celebrities, athletes all took to their Facebook and Twitter accounts to both express their horror and condolences but also offer their prayers to the victims and their families. Of course, if the messages stopped there I wouldn’t be writing this post.

What followed these messages of consolation and peace were what has become inevitable attacks against inanimate objects and the people who own them (i.e. me). One particularly liberal friend of mine on Facebook, whom I doubt has even held a firearm in their life, even posted the following today:

“Our legal system is predicated on the notion that it is better to let ten guilty people go free than to send one innocent person to jail. In my view it is better to deny ten lawful citizens guns than to have one loss of innocent life. Therefore I support bans on assault weapons and high capacity magazines; weapons that are more equipped to do harm than good. I also support requirements for gun owners to be licensed and insured.”

First of all, this “if it only saves one life it is worth it” crap is getting old. If our goal was to save a single life we should really be talking about banning cars, alcohol, prescription drugs, fast food, bats, professional sports, the internet, and dissolving the entire educational system. All of these things are part of everyday life and all are the source of multiple deaths per year. And, keep in mind, none of these things are a right. They may be seen as the social norm these days but in the end they are all privileges.

But let’s take a closer look at the words posted. Just take a look at the first sentence… you would rather have ten people enjoy their freedom than deprive a single one of said freedom for a crime they did not commit. I completely agree with this statement. We can’t deprive an entire groups of people of their rights to ownership or, as in this case, put limits on their rights because of the crimes committed by a few… don’t persecute the innocent and don’t accuse people of a crime simply for owning an inanimate object.

As for the last part, this is completely ridiculous. There should not be a penalty (i.e. license and insurance) for exercising my right. And this is coming from the same crowd that refuses to support the requirement of a photo ID to exercise another right… voting. I can prove who I am and ownership if I need to do so, there should be no other requirement. We might as well require a license and insurance for those who wish to use the internet… after all, there are a few people who use that tool for nefarious reasons as well. And we should abolish the entire educational system because there are a few “teachers” in this country who are indoctrinating, harming, and pushing children to their suicidal breaking points. All these actions wouldn’t save a single life, they would save multiple lives so what are we waiting for.

This crap has got to stop. Assign blame to the person or persons responsible not to a large group of people with whom you disagree. Accept the fact that you can’t protect everyone and that evil exists in this world regardless of the number of laws that you pass or places you declare free fire zones. And hold people accountable for their actions and don’t give them the exposure that they crave by taking about their evil deeds over and over and over again to further your political ideology. Take responsibility for yourself and stop relying on others for everything in your life including your safety and security. We used to be a self-sufficient nation that accepted personal responsibility for our actions and we need to return to that mentality.

TMI Tuesday: Adjusting And Replacing

Our son is growing. This is far from a surprise but that doesn’t mean that the rapidity of his growth is something that we were necessarily prepared for. We knew that we would be changing clothing sizes on a regular basis according to months but we are quickly finding out that those numbers on the back of the clothes are merely a suggestion (diapers too). Currently our three month old son is fitting comfortably in six month clothes. What can I say, we have a long baby… and a heavy baby too.

In addition to the bassinet that we previously moved him out of because of space limitations, we are now finding ourselves having to purchase a separate changing table for the same reason. We originally decided to purchase the changing table attachment for the crib that we selected. The thought that this would last a bit longer than it has was obviously a mistake. He is now only an inch away from the top and bottom which usually leads us to change him diagonally. We knew he was growing but we thought we had some more time. Looks like another visit to Amazon.

We have also been frequently adjusting his car seat. When we first started driving him around we got an insert to keep his head up and to just make things more comfortable for him. The insert is now gone and we have now had to adjust the straps twice so that he fits. All because he is getting to long for the previous setting. Again, we thought we had a little more time but that is simply not the case… time is flying and our son is growing way ahead of schedule. We wish we could slow things down and enjoy more of the moments and him as a certain size but that is one of the many things beyond our control in this adventure in parenting.

While we should probably start trying to plan for the continued growth of our, not so little, baby it seems as though any timeframe that is suggested as the ‘norm’ just doesn’t apply. He is growing faster than all of the books, websites, and the doctors originally thought and he is slowly becoming more aware of everything around him. In nearly all categories, he is ahead of schedule regarding all means of growth. His coordination is progressing, his strength is dramatically improving, and his size is beyond what we expected. We have a healthy baby boy and that is all we could have every hoped for.

Back To The Present

The New Year has started and there is a lot that we have to look forward to in the coming months and a lot that we have to be thankful for from the past year. In the past I have taken this opportunity to make a list of resolutions and to look back on the previous year. Well, those posts will be coming soon but I found myself thinking about something else today… Back to the Future… part 2.

A couple of days ago I found my wife watching the first movie in the trilogy as I ventured up the stairs and got ready for bed. It has always been one of those movies that she would fall asleep to and I really don’t mind because I remember watching them growing up as well. Last night we had to change things up as she had watched part one for a couple of nights in a row. So I put in part two, tucked her in, and came down stairs to get some work done not thinking too much about what was flickering on the screen.

As the clock struck midnight and the calendar turned another page, I could hear the faint sounds of the fictional 2015 echoing down the stairs as the reality of that year was around me. It is amazing to think about something that seemed so far off when we were growing up to now be a reality. While always a little far afield in their predictions, it is even more entertaining to see the drastic difference between reality and the trajectory that Hollywood portrayed over two decades ago.

So where is my freaking flying car?!?!

I am fascinated watching the prediction of the flying car, hover boards, Café 80’s (I am sure there are a few that are around), rehydrating dinner (makes me think of Ramen noodles), 3-D advertisements on the street, the national weather service, and faxing still a prevalent form of communication. All of these things are in addition to the craziness of the ‘fashion’ which you could tell came out of the time when the movie was made. It would be interesting if these things were really part of our daily life but that is not the case.

However, what might be more interesting is what is not represented. The internet and email are a huge part of daily life but are nowhere to be found on the screen. Smart phones are more ubiquitous than the walkie-talkies that Marty and Doc employ but don’t make an appearance. Flat screen televisions have replaced the large boxes that once played our movies but the café still contained the former format. And did you see the size of those discs where they hid Jennifer?

So while we may not have flying cars and weather that we can control to suit our needs (or time travel), there are still a lot of things that we have today that even Hollywood couldn’t predict. It certainly isn’t all perfect but things could be a lot worse as 2015 gets under way. Of course, we will have to see if the Cubs to really beat Miami in the World Series this year… now that would be one heck of a prediction.

Banking, Internet, And A Couch

For a day that was only supposed to consist of a half day of working from home. This Friday had been on the calendar for months but, like many days, my schedule didn’t hold. While I did get the required amount of billable time in for the office over the course of the holiday week, there were other things that came up and consumed blocks of time during the day.

So I woke up early in the morning and instead of opening my computer and taking care of some writing for work, I got in the car and headed to the bank. Even this simple commute had its moments of frustration as my E-Z Pass was being difficult and required that I stop and discuss the matter with a toll collector. I got to the bank before any other brother rounded the corner to park their car.

I was hoping that this was going to be a quick stop but we are dealing with a bank here so I wasn’t able to get back on the road for over an hour. However, during that time I was able to talk to one of my brothers who was kind enough to agree to help me pick up a couch from Ollie’s that I had purchased a couple weeks prior during a heck of a sale. So back on the road, the back roads actually given my issues with E-Z Pass, and into the townhouse where my wife and I waited for Verizon to knock on the door.

While it was unpleasant at time, it was also kind of nice being untethered from the internet for the past week but it is a necessity and we were quite happy to see the truck pull into the parking lot (especially my wife). The technician wasted no time updating the box outside and within an hour we were configuring the internet and updating the Wi-Fi on our numerous devices. Two hours after that and the cable was up and running as well. These things never get done in the 1-2 hours that they say it will take.

At this point it was time for a quick dinner, picking up a few more things for the house, and finishing up my work for the long day. It was originally going to be a nice relaxing half day but I should know better than to expect those to come to fruition anymore. But things got done and our house is becoming more like a home with every small item checked off the to-do list.

WTF Of The Week: Exposing Their Giblets

Throughout this week I have been noticing the countless stories about the cloud hack that resulted in the mass dissemination of naked celebrity photos. Yes, famous people had their giblets exposed to the world and without missing a beat the ‘victims’ and the mass media jumped on the bandwagon commenting on this ‘heinous’ crime. Basically, it was a huge pity party for all those with their naughty bits scattered across the web.

While it is a shame that this happened to these people in the end who cares? Frankly, no one should be surprised that celebrity winkies, tatas, and vajayjays are blowing in the virtual breeze. After all, this is not something new. The only things that was different in this situation is that they were pulled from the cloud (some having thought that the photos had been deleted). Although, even that situation is nothing that hasn’t been done before. I guess the truly unique nature of the offense was the fact that the hackers went after data kept by the significant others… even though it is incredibly shady you have to give them credit for thinking things through.

However, the act itself, while an invasion of privacy (the same privacy that most of these celebrities campaign against though other political means and endorsements) it is something that happens and quite regularly. And it is only getting worse. My question is… why the heck are you allowing your giblets to be digitized?

The best way to stop this from happening again is to keep your goodies off the computer, away from the cloud, and far from the internet. While ‘creepy’, you should know that as long as you are ‘famous’ and there are people in this world that want to see if the carpet matches the drapes, there are going to be constant attempt to get snap shots of your hoohoo and gazungas or twig and berries. Why in the world would you provide them with greater opportunities to have access to your naughty bits?

So, I guess the lesson to be learned in this media circus is rather simple… keep it in your pants. The only time that giblets should be exposed are during Thanksgiving. By putting such information in so many different places, especially in the cloud, you are exposing yourself in more ways than one. While we are not talking about drugs I think it is time to resurrect one of the more prominent slogans… when someone has a camera, just say no to showing your crack.

A Return To Letter Writing

I used to write letters all the time, at least a letter a day, but over the years I have gotten away from that practice. However, I have been writing a lot of letters lately for both good and not so pleasant reasons. As you have read, there are a number of correspondences that I have sent to management but there have also been a few that I have written for other reasons. It seems as though email and phone calls have become more of an annoyance for some so reverting back to a more traditional form of communication may provide more substantial results.

While I send a fair amount of snail mail as Secretary of my masonic lodge, which there seems to be a lot of this summer, the other pieces of mail have a much different purpose. I have taken a considerable amount of time off from doing the in depth genealogical research and now, as I previously mentioned, we are at a point when on line resources are not going to provide the additional information that we are looking for. There are a few things that come up here and there as archives are digitized but that still leaves us wanting more.

So, the first letter I wrote was to the Monacan Nation as it is now time to pursue membership in the tribe. Basically, there is a question as to how far back we need to provide documentation. Do we need to prove connection to those on the original rolls or do we need documentation of those individuals? It may seem like a small question but it has tremendous ramifications… one generation makes all the difference as the documents needed for that final step have gone missing from the archive in which they are stored. We will have to wait and see if this is going to be easy (as we have all the documents needed) or hard (and we need to find out where that one document is being stored).

Another piece of mail dropped off at the post office was to a woman living in Spring City, Pennsylvania. She is a descendant of my great grandfather and his second wife. While my grandmother wanted nothing to do with her father or her half-sister, it is time for the family to know more about that forgotten branch. I outlined the research and explained why I am reaching out in the letter but there is still no guarantee as to whether or not I will get a response. Frankly, I am not 100% certain that I am writing to the right person but all of the supporting information seems to make sense. After all, if I am correct, she is still living in the same house that my great grandfather lived in.

Next up will be pulling together all the information needed for the Sons of the American Revolution application. While I have all the documents needed, and then some, this is still going to be a project and a half. The work has already been done it is simply a matter of sending it in such a way as to speed up the approval process. It will be nice to finally have this off my plate after a year languishing on my to-do list.

So that is the plan at the moment. This, combined with whatever my aunt and uncle can find out during their upcoming trip to Virginia, will hopefully fill in a few gaps in the tree. Until then, I think I will find a few more people I can write, email, and call. And, of course, get a lot of editing done on the tree as it is looking a little ragged and is in dire need of pruning.

Does It Make Sense?

In addition to the changes mentioned previously regarding the annual encore of this blog I decided to give something else a try… AdSense. While I have enjoyed an ad free environment during this past year it was time to face the reality that this simple inclusion doesn’t cost me a thing and doesn’t interfere with me posting content on a daily basis. Of course some people may be annoyed but this is the state of the internet and everything else on my blog is free.

We are in an age when browsing websites is quickly becoming passé. It seems as though every other site has a pay portal keeping me from taking a look at the content and reading what people have to say about different subjects. And while the other pages are littered with ads, some to the point of overkill, at least the content is still free and I can think about what people are writing rather than whether or not their work is worth reading before I have a chance to read it. If you couldn’t guess, I don’t do pay portals.

So, this is my way of finding a bit of a happy medium. There will be ads posted in a couple of spots on the blog. It will be minimally invasive and, for the most part, lost in a torrential river of free content. Keep in mind, this is something completely new to me so if the ads seem a bit odd in the beginning it is because I am still trying to figure out the settings. There are different ways to shape the ad content and with the little time that I have, I am unable to explore all the tools at my disposal to hone the content. Of course, you could also see the ads as an accompaniment to the randomness of my posts.

Over time, I hope to find the right mix to compliment the content I post. Maybe it might add value at that point and provide you easy access to various companies, products, and websites. Who knows but that is the goal. At the very least I had to make you aware of this possible change… Of course, all of this may be moot if the blog doesn’t pass through the review process. While I have looked at some of the no no’s in the user policy and I don’t think I am in violation of any of them, you never know and maybe you will continue to read this blog free of ads.

Third Times Is The Charm (Or Is This Four)

Yesterday I had to leave the office much earlier than I usually do. I was in the car and on the road by 3:00pm. Not for anything bad, it was actually for a darn good reason even though I knew I would be sacrificing some of my evening in the process. Had I not double booked myself to be on two calls at the same time I could have held off until 4:00pm but sometimes those things happen and you have little choice in the matter so I headed out the door a hour early so that I could borrow some office space from a client for a call.

So, I got to my client’s office with about five minutes to spare until I had to get on the phone. Cutting it a little closer than I like but, hey, I made it and that is what really counts. While I was waiting for the call to begin, I pulled out my computer and started getting a few other things done. It’s great having access to a secure and reliable wireless network. The call went off without any issues, as I would expect from the people on the line. With about 30 minutes until my next commitment I had just enough time to get my tie on and prep for the next event, the reason I had to leave the office early which you know I don’t like doing.

A quarter to five and I could hear some very familiar voices carrying across the building. Knowing that things were obviously getting started a little early, I hurried myself back out to the car and dropped off my bag and coat, it was a mild evening, so that I wouldn’t have that clutter later in the night. On my way back, my colleague joined me and we entered the reception, mingled (with plenty of work mixed in) and awaited the Governor’s arrival.

That’s right, for the fourth time in the last six months, I was able to meet Governor Corbett and hear him speak as well as honestly answer every question that is presented to him. It was and evening when I wish my boss was able to attend as her views are similar to mine but she has yet to meet the Governor. With that said, her substitute representative, this being his first encounter, left that evening impressed by the fact that he finally met a politician who took his time, spoke to everyone, and was honest and sincere in his answers and views.

There were other business items that came up during the evening that brought the evening back to some of the issues that we have been facing time and again, nothing which I am at liberty to discuss here, but it was an excellent evening nevertheless and our client seemed to be pleased with the overall experience and results of the evening. And, personally, the evening served as greater motivation to do my part in participating in the process and ensuring that Pennsylvania continues along the right path during a second term by Governor Corbett.

In the end I only left with one question unanswered: when asked if there is any media in the room, should I start raising my hand? It is an interesting dilemma and one that will only become more complicated as some other projects, hopefully, come to fruition. I guess I will have to take this day by day, event by event, until I reach a clear conclusion. Until that time, my hand will stay down. No need to complicate things.  

Technology Abuse

Growing up I remember playing Nintendo for hours. From Mario Brothers and Zelda to RBI Baseball and Golf, I played them all at one time or another. However, sometimes the game consul didn’t want to cooperate. Sometimes the color would be off, other times the screen would be fuzzy or only half read the data, and there were also times when it would just be a blank screen. Whenever one of these problems would occur, there were certain methods that would be used to fix the issues.

Some of them were very simple and gentle solutions like blowing the dust out of the game or making sure the game was in all the way. When those didn’t work things would get a little more aggressive which usually consisted of jamming the case above the game to hold it down, tapping the sides of the consul, and shaking out the game. When the issues persisted, the real aggression came out which usually ended up with the consul and game having the ever loving crap beaten out of it! Eventually, the Nintendo would succumb to the beating and give up, allowing us to play whatever game we wanted.

What ever happened to the technology you could beat the crap out of to make it work again?

This week that question kept running through my mind with the satisfying memories of slamming my fist into the Nintendo. It wasn’t really coming to mind earlier in the week with the snow, ice, power outages, and lack of internet. It was after all that when my email decided to be uncooperative and evaporate all correspondences since mid-November. In addition to the disappearance of my existence from the past three months, my computer did not want to talk to the server or let excel work properly forcing me to redo the same edits over and over again about three or four times.

It is amazing to think how limited you can be by technological difficulties. Even being sick and working at half the capacity of what I knew I could do, I wasn’t limited as much as when my computer turned against me. While I can fix many things I never experimented or had any desire to work on computers. Of course, I never had the patience for them either because when situations happen like this week is when they would need to be fixed but this is also when I wish I could just smack the crap out of the computer to make it work again.

WTF = Winter’s Tenacious February

I woke up this morning to the sound of a heavy rain slamming into the ground. The kind of rain that has a purpose. We knew it was coming from watching the news the night before but we didn’t expect the echoes that the weighted water would cause just outside our bedroom window. I don’t know if it was the expectation of what I would inevitably find on the other side of our apartment door or the rhythm of the rain, but I had a hard time getting out of bed.

After a quick shower, I poured a cold cup of coffee from the day before and cracked open the door. The giant drops were a change from the frozen flakes that have plagued us for the past month but as soon as my shoe splashed onto the sidewalk, I was wishing that it was snow. Carefully I placed my other foot on the concrete and before long my feet began to slide as I walked toward my car.

I have always found that the best way to determine the condition of the road is to walk on it. With this thought in mind, I walked across the parking lot and found that while there were slick spots, the asphalt wasn’t too bad. The trees however looked like they decided to take up yoga during the night. With branches bent in an unnatural fashion, it was inevitable that there was going to be limbs, if not entire trees, along, on, and across the roads this morning.

It was with this thought that I began my journey to the office and it wasn’t long before the traction control began flashing on the dashboard and the brakes were pumping at the end of the driveway. Within a quarter mile of the apartment building the slalom began as I joined a line of cars weaving back and forth around trees on our way to the highway. The important thing is that the tires retained their grip and people kept their distance so we all managed to make it through the inoperable traffic lights, down the road, and onto the Schuylkill Expressway.

With few cars on the road, the ride to the office was pretty quick. While there was nothing eventful across the three lanes heading eastbound, my peripheral vision was overloaded with the constant motion of bending, breaking, and falling branches all along the highway. Nothing impacted the commute and I pulled into the office in about the same amount of time that it usually takes in the morning. The only difference in my arrival was second guessing my usual parking spot under one of the trees. I wasn’t about to take the risk when there were plenty of spots out in the open.

And this is how the long day of power outages and failed internet connections started. What seemed uneventful in the beginning of the day and was pretty safe, has been a bigger PITA than a foot of snow on the ground. And this is, by no means, an end to the winter weather for the week.