Mortgage Monday: Snow!

The weather forecast late last week was a bit of a reality check as we braced for our first major snow storm in the new house. Thankfully the oil company made a delivery (still hoping that they will call us beforehand next time) earlier in the week so that was one item off of our list. Thankfully we had previously discussed this scenario with our neighbors who assured us that they had never had any issues in the winter either with clearing or with regard to losing power. However, this feedback tends to be subjective and we were at that point without a snow blower or a generator.  

While I was able to find a snow blower for sale just before the storm hit us and we picked up a few supplies we were still wondering how things were going to progress especially since we still don’t have any means of emergency power. The big thing was what the snow and wind will do to not only the house but the hundreds of trees that surround us? Additionally, what will our road look like during the storm and immediately afterward? All of these things were running through our minds as the flakes began to fall late on Friday night.

By the time we got out of bed in the morning we noticed that there was already some progress made on our road despite not having hit the midpoint of the storm. Check one item off the list. With over a foot on the ground already it was also a good time to clear the driveway so that, the following day, the final cleanup would be manageable. A few hours later and we could easily make our way to the street… really glad we invested in a decent snow blower!

The following day was clear and sunny allowing us to survey the 25-30 inches covering our property. Thankfully, the light snow combined with the constant wind kept the whining trees and roof clear. After a full morning and early afternoon of snow removal (with a few breaks here and there to spend time with our son) we were completely dug out and I was ready to head into work the following morning.

Our first snow storm is now behind us and now we definitely know a few things that we didn’t a couple of weeks ago. Our power and cable remained connected for the duration and the plows went up and down our street about every 30 minutes. While it took some time to clear our massive driveway, it was completely manageable. However, I think we are going to look at a generator in the near future just in case. Add one more thing to the list of things we would like to do… a small addition considering all of the previous unknowns.

Just An Inconvenience

 

In the 45 minutes that is took for our food to arrive at the table, Armageddon had already passed by the front window. What had been a nearly empty restaurant when we arrived was quickly beginning to fill up as those without power poured in the through the doors for a late dinner. With the occasional flickering of the lights, the dining room filled to near capacity with new guests arriving and those who had been there long before we arrived refusing to leave.

By the time we walked out the door the winds had calmed and the rain was a slow drizzle of large drops. The street was spotted with a confetti of leaves and the clouds began to lighten as we approached our cars. It was just a quick storm but the sirens and fire trucks charging down the road let us know that the rain was not the primary concern. It didn’t take long before we found ourselves inching up to inoperable intersections that seemed to encourage people to put their foot down and pray that no one decided to turn in front of them.

My wife continued down the road as I quickly stopped by the lodge to check the building. It didn’t take long and I was back on the road within a few minutes. About halfway home my phone rang and I can’t say I was surprised when my wife said that the power was out at our apartment building. Because of changes made since we moved in two and half years ago, this is no longer a rare occurrence. During Sandy, with the old systems in place, the power stayed on… now, 20-30 minutes of intense wind and rain and the building is completely shut down. Thanks PECO! In fact, the power remained absent from our apartment until the early morning hours when we were both trying to sleep in a pool of sweat.  

At least we didn’t have to clean the fridge out… yes, that issue has yet to be resolved. As if we didn’t need the extra motivation to move when our lease is up. But, in the end, this is nothing more than an inconvenience. And without the distraction of the television or internet constantly barraging my senses, it has forced me to think about what many of our friends are experiencing in Israel. As I write this there are rockets headed toward Tel Aviv and toward our old (literally) neighborhood in Jerusalem. And while there is a certain part of me that is glad that we are here with this minor inconvenience there is another part of me that wishes we were there with our friends standing together as if to say “bring it, we’re not going anywhere!” This is just an inconvenience. Baruch Hashem and may G-d bless and keep Israel and her people safe during this period of conflict and for all time.

Avoiding Work, Relaxing, And A Summer Storm

Soaked streets, a down tree, and a light that is actually still working.

Well, this is the final short week of a month long string and, as is common place when I don’t have a specific event to attend or place to go, I had no idea what to do with myself. I got out of bed only slightly later than I normally would on a Thursday morning and while the weather started off sunny and humid the forecast showed some troublesome signs in the afternoon. If I stayed in the apartment I would do nothing but work and knowing that the day was going to be cut a little short with the weather moving up the coast, I had no other choice than to get in the car and drive.

Even with all the travel that I have already done this year, it is a different experience being behind the wheel without having to be somewhere at a specific time or having an event or place that you have to go. It is the ever-present cliché of the freedom of the road that allows me to relax, get lost, explore, and maybe find a few places that I have never been, see a few things that I had never seen, and discover some new destinations for a future weekend trip. And throughout the wandering and weaving between towns and the coasting down the highway, I didn’t check my mail at all… exactly the way I wanted to spend the morning.

By the time I stopped the car to get out and stretch much of the morning had already passed and lunch time was knocking at my empty stomach. With the stiffness having evaporated from my joints, it was time to head back and figure out where I was going to meet my wife for a mid-day meal. We finally settled on meeting in King of Prussia with a couple of hours afterward to spend together before we, once again, went our separate ways… my wife had to get to her grad class and I had to continue my attempt to relaxing during this rare day off.

By this time I had glanced at my work email but, with only a few minor things to address, it was not a hindrance to my time away from the office. While the limited time at the range could have gone better (I need more consistent practice), it was nice to just stand around and chat about anything and everything that didn’t involve work. With night riding across the sky on the back of dark clouds, I pointed the car toward home, drove through the squalls of a sudden summer storm, and picked up dinner for my wife and me to enjoy together after a full day and probably one of my more successful non-working days.

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.

Snow Lodge

When you first hear those two works you might think of a ski lodge or some sort of getaway in the mountains. While those bucolic Norman Rockwell type images may float into the mind that is not what those two words mean to me… especially tonight. Tonight that simple combination meant much more. It represented a commitment that many brothers made to our fraternity as we all traveled to the lodge knowing full well that by the time we left it was going to be a slow and tedious drive home. For most of us this was the culmination of our day and would prolong our time away from our families.

Despite leaving work a little early (well, early for me), it was still a task just driving the thirty miles back to the main line and into the parking lot beside the lodge. When I left there was a steady gust of flurries which isn’t too back to drive in but by the time I got off the highway and began meandering through the back roads, the snow was beginning to overtake the asphalt. Pulling into the parking lot the tires were crunching the soft powder and the prospect of leaving later that night began to seem a little precarious.

Having arrived in plenty of time to knock out a few things before the gavel sounded, it was nice to take care of a couple of items beforehand to shorten my stay after the meeting. However, during the current time of year when dues are flowing into the office, my time in the office wasn’t shortened as much as one would think. Working in my favor this evening was the sound planning by Worshipful Master in his decision to condense the meeting as much as possible while remaining within guidelines.

About an hour after the rest of the brethren had departed for the evening, the former Secretary and I headed out the door and into a whitewashed world. This was not a night for one of our post meeting chats as we could see the thick blanket covering the street and noticed the lack of cars driving by on what is usually a busy street during the early evening. So, as the sounds of scraping plows and the hiss of the salt skimming the street echoed off the surrounding buildings, we parted ways and began slogging through the drifts on our way to cleaning off our cars.

After a not so quick brushing and a bit of scraping, it was time to get in the comfy confines of the warmed interior and slowly slide down the road toward my apartment building. It was a slow ride but I not an easy one as the traffic lights were conspiring with the frigid gusts to keep me one the slick roads for as long as possible. After a short thirty minute drive (normally it takes about ten minutes), I was finally pulling into the untouched parking lot of my apartment building. While there wasn’t much of an issue pulling into a spot, it will be interested getting out in the morning with a health helping of snow and temperatures that are not supposed to surpass the teens tomorrow.

To make things worse, a couple hours after getting home this is the state of my transportation…

So the question this evening before heading to bed is whether or not I will be able to get to work in the morning or is my car taking the day off?