Nice to see Andy yesterday, and glad to hear he’s got some Internet access. Also glad to hear Travis got cookies (and an interview). Here, it snowed a bit. The drive in was a slight hassle, but not too bad (for the brief leg of the journey that I make on a godless, socialist, interstate highway, I happened to get on a few cars behind a godless, socialist snowplow, driven by a godless, commie-pinko State worker clearing the way, so that was very smooth (albeit somewhat slow) sailing. If you’ve never been behind a snowplow with both wings down (so that it plows an entire two-lane interstate including shoulder all at once), then you don’t know how impressive it is, with snow rooster-tailing off the wings and sandblasting (or I guess that would be snowblasting) the nanny-state guardrails and tossing out sparks (very pretty at night).

So that was good, except he plowed in the on-ramp a bit before I got on, which made merging a bit rough (special thanks to the asshole wouldn’t move over into the left lane BTW), though he did make up for it later on down the road by getting off at my exit, clearing the off-ramp for me, and setting a nice pick for the merge into traffic (you don’t mess with snowplows, unless you’re f*cking nuts) before he got back on the highway and headed off to do the southbound side as I waved, bid him adieu, and wished him well on the rest of what I’m sure was to be a long, glamorous day of plow driving and making millions of dollars a year sponging off the taxpayers. Solidarity, comrade! :fist:

The ride back home wasn’t too awful bad either. No snowplow escort, but the storm (such as it was) had mostly ended an hour or so before quittin’ time, and we didn’t get a shitload of snow, really. Not by our standards. I haven’t seen the official stats just yet (I know how that must disappoint you), but I’d venture to guess it was in the, oh I dunno, maybe eight inch range out there in civilization (our version of civilization, that is; to us, more than one barn and a fence to keep the cows out of the dirt road – so we can make that half hour drive to Sears to pick up cattle feed and gingham dresses for our lady folks and whatnot – is civilized; just ask Ed Koch. Hmmm. You know, he pronounces it as if it rhymes with “crotch” but I wonder if he isn’t actually part of the Koch Brothers conspiracy? Part of the advance team – kind of a Manchurian teabagger, worming his way in by pretending to be a gay, NYC Jew), with of course heavier accumulation out here in Hooterville, where I live. Hard to tell, ‘cuz it was all very wet and heavy and sloppy (speaking of Ed Koch).

I was a bit concerned about getting into my driveway (I took my show shoes out of the trunk somewhere along the line, and was afraid I’d have to leave the car at the end of the driveway and trudge through the snow to get the tractor). When I saw the driveway plowed in and that the UPS guy (who is normally very good at making the long trek up to the house and leaving things at the garage door) had said “f*ck this” and dropped my package off (in a plastic bag, which was good) by the mailbox (one more pass with the plow, and I’d not have seen that sucker ’til spring), I have to admit to feeling slightly daunted (gettin’ old, I guess). The snow was pretty deep, my little car doesn’t have a whole lot of clearance, and I have to slow down a fair piece to make the left turn into the driveway – especially since the road is a downhill grade at that point, and was rather snowy and slippery.

Of course, I shouldn’t have worried. Being a veteran of far worse conditions than this (and equipped with four snow tires), I rammed the sucker through with more or less no problem (even ’round the hairpin curve – pedal to the metal; it’s a bit like driving a boat – you don’t steer so much as swing around). Never – ever – underestimate the awesome power of the Hyundai. This is why we need to support and defend our South Korean friends: if Kim Jong “Tiny Elvis” il ever gets hold of even a handful of these mighty machines, we’re doomed to invasion and occupation.

Though I should fit in pretty good, as I already cut my own hair.

So, anyhow, I was able to get the driveway plowed out before Granny got home (which wasn’t hard because, being a lazy, commie-pinko public employee, she was busy working a 12 hour day for 8 hours pay – barking like a seal – and didn’t get home until late). It took me quite a while to get it done, what with the heavy snow and all, and by the time I said “f*ckit – good enough,” it had gotten pretty darn cold out. My hands were so cold they hurt (switched gloves mid-plow to try and warm them up, but that didn’t help much).

Here’s a useful tip: when your fingers are really, really frozen, don’t try running warm water on them to heat them up. Turns out, that hurts like hell. Seriously.

But never mind all that, ‘cuz I’m not one to spend a lot of time talking about the weather.

Not when it’s SU-Georgetown day, at least.