Again, Baby It's Cold Outside

Baby it's cold outside. 

 

I don't mean just like 'brrr, it's cold out here, best wear a hat and gloves'.  No, not that sort of cold.  It's frigid.  As in the 'holy moly have we moved to the north pole without knowing?' and 'today I'm going to wear 3 layers of thermal under the 5 layers of actual clothes, two coats, three pairs of gloves, scarf wrapped around till you can only see my eyes and 2 hats on my head' kind. 

 

Here's a picture for visualization purposes  (I feel as if references from "A Christmas Story" is appropriate just about anywhere): 

 

 

(Let me just take a moment here to say (again for I've repeated this several times in several blogs before) that when I write about weather here in my fair city, I'm not trying to compare us to anywhere else.  I realize that other places have it way worse, as well as better.  I'm writing about MY city, from MY perspective, therefore if I complain that it's too cold it's because to me, it is....so back off in case you were judging.) 

 

Last night the east coast was hit upside the head by a snowstorm.  The forecasters had been predicting this for a few days but since they've historically been inaccurate, I wasn't fretting.  On Monday night (FYI, it's Wednesday morning right now...wait no, it's the afternoon...as I write this) I received an email from work saying that due to the impending storm (I practically read that as "doom") we could work from home.  But upon waking on Tuesday  morning, I peered out the window and saw...nothing.

 

The streets were dry with not even a flake in sight.  Checking emails again there was another that said if we could go to work if we wished and if it was convenient but otherwise stay home, safe and productive.  Okay.  I climbed back into bed debating whether to just go back to sleep or fire up the laptop and monitor but the guilty conscience that is a constant companion reared it's ugly head.  It jeered at me, whispering into my cranium that I had no real valid reason at all to stay home when nada was going on outside.  Besides P had also gone to work.  If he could, having a crappier car than myself, then why couldn't I? 

 

It was probably the quickest drive to work I've had in a long time, not even during the Christmas holidays did I see this particular type of open roads.  10 minutes door-to-door.  Awesome.  And where I thought I would be the only schmuck to be in the office, I was pleasantly surprised that there were 2 other people equally schmucky. 

 

Eventually the city was bombarded with the fluffy white stuff so I cut out at about 1pm-ish facing the same sort of traffic.  Being a diligent worker is one thing, being plain old stupid is another.  Oh, here's something some of you may not know unless you live in DC; this town is very health conscious.  Everywhere you go people are heading to gyms with duffle bags  in hand and determined looks on faces.  And since we have a river here, there are also plenty of activities in that arena with rowing and other water fun which I probably know nothing about.  But yesterday as I quickly made my way home through the driving snow, I espied plenty of nutso individuals outside running...with shorts on!  Okay there is a time and place for such things, I just don't think that was it.  Then again who am I to judge?  If they want to have random body parts freeze up and fall off all in the name healthy living then that's all them.  Just sayin'.

 

To be honest, it didn't turn out to be quite the Armageddon that the forecasters had predicted, no shocker there.  I believe my side of town only got 4 to 5 inches dumped upon us but the wind was pretty fierce.  P had the brilliant idea of shoveling late in the evening while it was still snowing and whereas I thought he had lost his little brown mind, come to find out it was in fact quite a brilliant strategy for while this morning as neighbors were out grunting and shoveling, our car and drive way had hardly any evidence of the crystalized water.  But damn was it unbearable last night.  Poor P (of course I wasn't out there helping him, that would make me almost too nice).  In case you were wondering it's still freezing outside (I told a friend of mine that I may have dropped a finger or two on my way into the building) however the sun is out and shining. 

 

As we prepared to go to bed last evening, P asked me why I went to work since I had the option to just telecommute.  I told him that I liked going to work.  I was in the process of folding laundry as I said this and stopped to consider those words.  "I like going to work".

 

I don't think that through my adult working life I've really said that and meant it.  Sure I've been places where I enjoyed the environment, the people, the camaraderie or even at times, the work itself.  However none of these things have ever come together just perfectly (other than I believe when I was in Hong Kong working with those specific team members). 

 

Snow days, when I was working at the law firms, meant freedom.  I would pray and hope feverishly that the sky would open up and dump as much as it could on us just so that I could avoid going in the next day.  Sounds so childish, right?  But day before yesterday I was worried that we would have to close.   Does that mean I've grown up? 

 

Nah, that's hoping for too much. 

 

It probably just means that I like my job, as P was quick to point out looking almost relieved.  I don't blame the guy for being on edge when it comes to my career.  In the past 2 years the trials and tribulations that have lead me to this place of employment has not been easy by any stretch of the imagination.  I have the lacerations hash tagging my soul as proof.  I admit I still walk around a bit tense, waiting for the other shoe of woe and heartbreak to drop.  I expect that the cool façade of this company will soon evaporate to reveal what it truly is:  a bleak soulless energy sucking waste of time and talent.

 

Guess what?  It hasn't (yet).  And Allhamdulillah, it never will.

 

Ugh, I just took a sip of my coffee and it's gone cold.  That's the worst!  Okay I'm off to do some work.  People are still straggling in and I got in here early enough to get plenty of things done.  Snow isn't predicted in the near future however today the wind chill is supposed to make it feel as if it's below 0.  That's okay, I'm warm in my office with the heater kicked up wearing jeans and fuzzy boots.  What more can a blogger want?

 

Stay warm for you around these parts.