Happy Anniversary...To Me!

One year ago today (number-wise, yesterday if you go by day of the week) I got home from classes and talked to Muffin Man on the phone. I ranted and/or raved about something or other and he laughed. Heartily. He then encouraged me to quit hiding my knack under a bushel. My knack being the ability to complain, I suppose, but to complain in a way that makes people laugh and feel good. In other words, he was suggesting that I am a good story teller, just like VH1. He didn't actually use the words of hiding my knack under a bushel, that came later about a different topic, but that's the message he was giving me: share your talent with the world.

That very day, February 25th 2010 (also my youngest sister's birthday, Happy Birthday!), I began recording the whimsical revolution, which is my life, as a blog. And here we are a full year later, just under 200 posts and still going. Over the past few weeks I have read over just about every post, and aside from realizing there are a lot of typos, I have found a great collection of eclectic thoughts and opinions. The overall theme, I hope, has been laughter. But you be the judge of that. Never mind, I'll be the judge of that. You can be part of the jury and make suggestions, but I'm going to issue the final ruling. My stories are funny.

Recently I mentioned that the first anniversary for blogs is the silver anniversary. I suggested that all of you could send me silver gifts. But I understand that silver is pretty expensive, so I thought I'd make it easy for you and show you what I really want. Although I don't have any legitimate use or need for this item, it is what I want if those things and price weren't an issue. So here it is:

The Gibson Les Paul Custom in Silverburst Finish
@Musicians Friend only $3,899.00

What a gorgeous guitar, right? So everyone can band together and buy me this guitar or just send them individually. I don't mind having more than one. Just send it to Ajax, Vermont, USA. The Post Office knows me.

That's all in good fun. I don't want gifts from you. It is a nice guitar though. Someday I'd like to own one like that. Maybe after another year of blogging I'll be up to speed with my writing and I can write a book or something. Then I can afford to buy one of those bad boys. Actually I wouldn't, because I could never justify spending that much money on a guitar. It would be worth it in the sound department, but how could I live with myself if I spent more money on a guitar than many people spend on cars? I don't need a guitar of that nature. I can get the Epiphone (subsidiary of Gibson, if I am using subsidiary correctly, which I may or may not be) that looks just like it and sounds really good for about $500. And in the case of this guitar, it is mainly looks that attract me. Looks aren't everything, but they are the first thing. Especially with guitars. After the initial attraction you want substance. This guitar has substance in the form of dual humbucking pickups. It's a Gibson Les Paul! Of course it has substance.

I don't have a great plan for a post tonight, mainly I had to say happy anniversary to the blog. I can't give it cake. It doesn't have hands. But along with happy anniversary, I express my gratitude for Muffin Man and his constant encouragement and support. He is a muse for this blog. If not for him the blog wouldn't exist and I would probably be homeless in Texas. Thanks to everyone who reads as well. I like having an audience. Good night.

Sit-down Comedy and Other Stuff

What a day! Yesterday...and in some regards today! But this blog isn't about me (yes it is) so here is some of my observations that have nothing to do with anything! Exclamation points for all!

I was driving yesterday, a common occurrence for me, and a common way I'm starting blogs recently. I noticed the driver of an oncoming car with his wrists resting atop his steering wheel, cell phone in hand. I know what texting looks like, and boy, he was texting...while driving! Exclamation points and elipsises'...for all! Anyway, I just ruined my joke by breaking continuity of the story. Bag it! So I see this guy blatantly texting while driving and I got so nervous that he might crash into me that I had to stop doing my crossword puzzle and edge a little closer to the shoulder to give him swerving room. Some people just refuse to pay attention to the road while driving. Harumph!

Later in the day yesterday I was with friends and one of them had a broken vehicle. We ended up having to call Triple A, or AAA for you purists out there, to come tow the vehicle. In the interim of calling and waiting we discussed calling her insurance company, State Farm. She even had a State Farm sticker on the bumper. I sang out, "like a good neighbor, state farm is there!" But nothing! No agent appeared, even with a sticker on the bumper! There was no agent, no obnoxious morphing boyfriend or girlfriend, no teenage boy getting a sandwich, no hot tub, no dreamy boy with a dark side, no girl from 3E...and have I mentioned no agent? They don't even have an 800 number on the insurance card. She called the number on the card and it went to her agent's office, and surprise! it was after hours so no one answered the phone. Yeah, State Farm, that was a great neighbor. Granted, there wasn't any accident and they might not have done anything anyway, but we could have used a neighbor's help. End of story.

Today at work there was a lot of mail. Here's how the mail works in a government building these days. Ever afraid of chemical or biological agents being used as weapons through the mail, all incoming mail goes to a "safe room" in the basement of the building. I work in the same building as the Governor's office, so the security is "tighter" (and I use that loosely, ha ha!) in this building than in some other state offices around town. Anyway, the mail goes to the safe room and then one representative from each office or department goes down and sorts and opens every piece of mail for their group. The purpose of opening the mail in this room is that if there is a harmful substance present in an envelope the exposure will be limited.

The room is small, perhaps 6' by 10', not unlike a prison cell. An electronic lock with a special code is on the door to get in. The door is to remain closed at all times. The light switch is outside the door, an interesting feature of any room. Apparently the phone inside is a recent addition. Prior to having the phone installed the procedure was, if a harmful substance was suspected, to leave the room and notify someone. Thereby increasing exposure to other unknowing chumps. You might expect a room like this to be airtight and well ventilated with secure air sources and exits. This is not the case. There is some type of floor unit that hums and blows air, but I don't know if it is a filter or not. I've never taken the time to check. Maybe I will tomorrow. Regardless of what it is, it is there and it blows air. The rest of the room is just sheet rock walls. A good 3/4" gap under the door is the only source of ventilation, which is obviously not filtered or secure.

Fortuitously, nothing dangerous has ever come through our little mail room. But everyday representatives from each office make their way through the X-Files-esque basement corridor to the end of the hall where the digitally locked door is found. The office I work for has the assignment for our department once every few months. I share the responsibilities on our month with two other temps. We go like heroes, open the mail and peek inside for signs of danger. Selflessly sacrificing our well-being to protect our co-workers. Yeah right. Every time I go down to that room this little thing in the back of my mind reminds me that they are sending me down as a guinea pig. A canary in a mine shaft. If danger is present we'll know because Ajax didn't make it back. Well, I've made it back every time so far.

I say that all in jest. It is comical. Doing the mail isn't so bad, I have the easy part, just look at the address and toss it into piles. Not unlike the mail guys in the holiday classic Miracle on 34th Street. Sometimes, when alone, I will try my best New York accent and talk to the mail about sending all of the Santy Claus letters over to the Court House. But don't tell anyone, I'd be slightly embarrassed.

My story is now writing me. I have to take control again. Remember when I said there was a lot of mail today? I don't know if I did, but there was a lot of mail today. Yesterday was a holiday, and a Monday, so three-day weekend. That means a lot of mail. When I got down to the room and saw all of the mail for my department, I thought, that's more mail than you can shake a stick at! Which made me immediately yearn for a stick to shake at the mail buckets. You know, to see if it was possible. The saying says it can't be done, but I would like to try for myself. Sadly there aren't any sticks in the mail room. I guess all of the magic wands from the various wizards and fairy princesses at last week's mail room costume party took their sticks-posing-as-magic-wands home with them. My loss. I looked around and the next best thing to a stick was a long, butter-knife style letter opener. I shook that thing madly at the mail. I didn't have any problem. I may not have been able to test the actual saying, but I do know now that piles of mail that are so large as to prevent your ability to shake a stick at them, are not sufficiently large to prevent the shaking of a letter opener at. For what it is worth, you now have increased knowledge. You are welcome.

One final quip for the day. On my way out of the building I exited through the back staircase. I've seen lots of people use this door to travel between floors of the building and to exit the building. I have done it myself, but every time I go through the door I worry. The door is marked with a sign that says "Emergency Exit Only." It is apparent that the door is no longer relegated to that functionality. That, or everyone in the building has zero regard for the rules. I might be being led astray by those of my co-workers and leaders that use this stairwell as a normal exit. I just don't know. I've seen my boss use that route; in fact, I have used that route with my boss one time when I was giving him a ride home from work. If they ever pinch me for using that exit inappropriately I'll blame him.

The staircase is secure though, once you are in it you can only get outside on the ground level unless you have a security badge. My badge only works on the floor I work on, so if I get into the stair case I can go bang on the doors at other landings a la Fred Flintstone, but I cannot flash my badge at the scanner and unlock the door. The only door that doesn't require a badge to get through is, like I said, the one that exits to the outside.

I know it isn't nice to choose favorites, but out of the 6 landings (the ground floor level is lower than the first floor as the building is set into a hill) my favorite door is the first floor. I'll tell you why. I'm sure you want to know. So here it is, the reason why that door is my favorite, without further ado, the reason why that door is my favorite. On the door, stairwell side, there is a sign affixed. It says, among other things which I have never paid attention to, "Door Alarmed." That is why it is my favorite, because I read it as though it is telling me that the door is in a state of alarm. The door is feeling alarmed. Really, that's why I like it so much. A door can't feel alarm. That's why it works.

And you know what? I've thought of a few other things to mention. I have them in the note section of my phone. That's where I put brilliant ideas that I want to remember for later blogging. It is now later. One of my co-workers today asked, in a mildly sarcastic manner, "aren't we all having a blast today?" I retorted, "I am having a blast [holding up my bag of Doritos, left over from lunch at Subway], a flavor blast!" I don't think I got any laughter on that one. Not from anyone other than me anyway.

Here is a good one. I was listening to the iPod Shuffle at work one day last week. I actually had it on shuffle. The tune "Without You" from the My Fair Lady soundtrack played. In case you are not familiar with the storyline, we have Eliza, a poverty class flower girl who has reprehensible English speaking skills, at least according to Professor Henry Higgins, a pompous linguist. Higgins makes a bet that he can turn the girl from the gutter into a princess at a royal ball. By instructing her in the use of proper English and dressing her in fancy clothes, he proves that outward appearances are all that matter to high society. But in the end he really finds out that, well, I won't spoil it, go watch the movie. Back to the song.

In "Without You" Eliza is declaring her independence from the slightly insane Professor Higgins. She attacks his vanity (if he doesn't think this song is about him, he ought to think again) and departs by saying he will never see her again, or that she will never burden him again, I don't have it memorized. You get the idea. It is a fun song, standard show tune fare. Not to say it is ordinary and bland, but it sounds like a good show tune song. I like it. What it doesn't sound like is "Cretin Hop" by The Ramones, New York City's own punk rock pioneers.

"Without You" shuffled into "Cretin Hop." There you have my wild imagination picturing Eliza Doolittle exiting the entertaining room of Professor Higgins' mother's house, saying farewell to the man who transformed her image, and fading to a punk rock show with The Ramones playing "Cretin Hop." I could picture it in movie form. It would be so perfect. If I ever get to a point where I can write for a TV show or a movie I will make that scene transition a reality.

Oh man! I'm listening to the live version of "Cretin Hop" which I just hyper-texted above. What a great song! Joey Ramone is the best punk vocalist ever. Johnny plays that guitar just like he's ringing a bell. I could watch that video all day. But I won't. One thing is for certain, there is no stopping the cretins from hopping. As usual, punk rock has distracted me. I guess I will call it a post and click that old publish button now.

Finally, if you are waiting for the promised second video of Brandon and I dancing around our apartment like fools, I have been having trouble uploading it. For some reason the file size is huge. I'll figure it out and post it. Be patient. Thank you for being patient.

Driving Concerns: Vomitting

As I was driving to church yesterday I started coughing. It was one of those powerful coughs that make you feel like you might vomit. I didn’t, but I began to think about what would happen if you were driving and felt the need to vomit. I don’t like sneezing while driving as it is impossible to keep your eyes open and it just isn’t a comfortable driving activity, but that’s nothing compared to throwing up. And another thing, I don’t like typing “throwing up” or “throw up.” It just isn’t pleasant to type, or even to say. I prefer saying and typing vomit. What an interesting discovery to make in the course of typing a blog post. The whole point is that vomiting while driving can’t be a pleasant experience and I hope I never have to find out first hand just how unfavorable it is.

At this point I feel the need to type more. I could go one of two ways: other situations in which vomiting would be less desirable or other activities that don’t mesh well with driving. The first branch is easy enough; it is always less desirable to vomit than to not vomit. Even when you are in an appropriate location, such as near a toilet or outside away from people, it is still an unpleasant thing to vomit. However, I’m sure we could all agree that specifically there are times and places that would be worse. The first thing that comes to mind is being in a crowded elevator. But I really can’t get away from the fact that it is just awful to vomit and wherever or whenever it might be isn’t good, so I won’t spend any more time thinking about this one.

Other activities that you don’t want while driving is also a pretty broad topic, and one I don’t particularly care to delve into. I probably should have ended this blogging process after the first paragraph. I could have just left it alone as a quick thought and moved on. There was no need to go any further than that initial observation I made while driving. Oh well, the damage is done. I will follow this post up with another video of my friend Brandon and I dancing around our apartment for the sake of hopefully making people laugh. Look forward to it, or else!

eNumerate: Android App

Do you do a lot of counting or tallying? Is tallying a word? It doesn't sit right with me. Just go with counting, do you do a lot of counting? Well if you do, and you have an Android phone, then you ought to visit this web address and download the eNumerate app. I don't have an Android, so I can't do it myself, but if I had one I would download it.

I haven't seen the app in person, but I have seen it displayed via Skype. The way it works is by using the touch screen functionality of the phone to tap out a count. Every tap on the screen increases the count. Taps are accompanied by animated orbs with a plus or minus sign in the center. When counting up the orbs are green and display the plus sign (actual screen shot at left) and when it is counting down they are yellow and display a negative sign. To reset your counter, shake the phone. Vibration is also available so you can feel when the count has been registered.

I don't know all of the ways this app could be utilized, but one way is to take attendance at an event or function. Whether it is in a classroom setting, a restaurant, a sporting event or rock show, this app makes it easy to count without having to remember the number as you go along. You might think it is easy to count 200 people in a room without writing things down or using an adding device of some sort, but try it out sometime, not as easy as you might think. So download the app and use your phone. Just tap away and watch the colors appear and the tally increase. Save all those other brain resources for making clever observations about the people you are counting.

This app was created by James Nute.

Remember When

Remember when Brandon and I danced around our apartment because we had nothing better to do? I remember. Enjoy:

The Most Important News and the Least Important News

What do you want first? The most important or the least important? This is a one way communication so I guess I'll have to decide. We'll begin with the least important because it is freshest on my mind. Freshest. Strange. First I want to say that you shouldn't devote any more time to this thought than what it takes to read this post. I've already given it more thought than it warrants. Next, I will reaffirm my love for gummy candy. And now I will tell you the story and resulting thought that amounts to the least important news of the day.

Today at 11:15 I headed over to Lane's desk to see if he was ready to proceed to Subway, as our lunch routine dictated we should at that time. He wasn't at his desk and his monitor display was off, meaning he had probably been away from his desk for some time. This occasionally happens if he is off in a meeting or something, so I just go to Subway alone. Today was different, as I was walking down the street, he called. Only problem was that I was already on the phone returning an important message from an important person regarding important things, because I'm important. This was a problem because I don't know how to work the call waiting functionality of my phone. Whatev's. So eventually after I finished with the call I was on and tried calling Lane back and then him trying to call me and me not pushing the right button, after all of that he did get through. He asked where I was, I told him and he said walk slower and he'd meet me at Subway. I decided I'd kill some time by going to the candy store.

It was great in there, lots of candy. The customer service representative inside asked what I was looking for; I told her I love all candy, but I was thinking about gummy bears or something. She pointed out the gummy section. The store isn't very big so I did an about-face and there it was. She rattled off the different types of gummy candy they had and I was excited to hear about the gummy army men. But it was gummy cola bottles that caught my attention. I bought a pound and met up with Lane at Subway.

On my drive home from work I ate some more of the candy. It's good, but there is something about it that isn't quite as fulfilling as gummy bears. I thought it was maybe the cola flavoring that just wasn't very strong, or perhaps it just isn't good in gummy form. It's possible, I guess. But the reasoning I settled on was that soda doesn't fill you up, but eating a bear certainly would. Think about it, a bear is huge! If you eat a bear you won't be hungry for a long time. I decided that gummy cola bottles aren't as fulfilling as gummy bears because of the psychological difference between drinking soda and eating a bear. This concludes the least important news of the day section.

If you know of my penchant for gummy candy you might be wondering what could be more important than a gummy candy story. After all, this is a back-to-back posting regarding gummy candy. If gummy candy is important enough to receive two posts in as many days then for something to be more important than that it must be pretty heavy. Well, it is.

Something is coming. It is on the horizon. We hear jokes about it and no one takes it seriously, but it is coming. I'm talking about the robot revolution. Don't laugh; listen up. What always precedes a revolution? Oppression, perhaps, but there is always a period of education and enlightenment. Usually it is enlightenment regarding the state of oppression being suffered. Revolutionaries learn that there is more and that they are missing out. Once they become educated they revolt and, if they are stronger than the oppressors, they conquer. The key here is that once they become educated, or in other words, once they become smart, the revolution begins.

Ten years ago there was no such thing as a smart phone. Phones were dumb. Now they are smart. They have been educated. How long do you think they will wait around in their oppressed state before they try to take the power from us, the people? Not long, especially not as they get smarter and more capable, what with apps for everything and all. Mark my words, a revolution is coming, and it isn't going to be pretty.

Don't worry too much, yet, there is still time to prevent too much damage from being done when the revolution gets violent. I know what we can do and I will spell it out here shortly, but first I want to go over some of the preliminary intelligence we have regarding smart phones.

You might think you are safe because you don't have a smart phone, and while that does help, it isn't fool-proof protection. Have you ever been called by someone using a smart phone? That's all it takes. You see, the phones are smart, they have memory, once they learn your voice you are one of the oppressors to them. I know, you take care of your phone. It doesn't matter, once the bullets start flying the phones will band together and it won't matter if you kept your phone clean and never went over your monthly minute limits. Of course those things will help to delay the inevitable for you. The owners of the smart phones will be the first to go. There's no way around that.

It is possible to be too smart for your own good, and that's the direction the smart phones are heading in. They can already hear, see, and speak. They have impeccable memories for lists, numbers, tunes, and pictures. We don't stand a chance, unless we do these simple things...hang on, someone is calling me...[dial tone]

Here's a Story I Forgot to Write a Few Weeks Ago

It was 3 Mondays ago, if I remember correctly. I was with some friends on an excursion. Prior to reaching our intended destination we stopped at K-Mart. First of all, I didn't even know they had K-Mart anymore. I thought Wal was the only place to Mart these days. I was wrong. K-Mart existed for all of our marting needs. Secondly, I had no marting needs that night. Or did I?
One of my friends wanted something specific, he was the driver, so we stopped at the store. He went off to find what he was looking for, while the other three of us meandered in another direction looking to kill some time. It wasn't long before a store employee approached us. I was fully expecting him to ask if he could help us. He threw me off by asking if we could help him. I was flabergasted, and I don't use that word loosely, as you can tell by the misspelling. I think it is a ridiculous word.

He had some sort of rewards card or something in his hand. He asked if we had a minute to help him out with something. Flustered by an out of the ordinary social experience (he was supposed to offer help, not request it, I still can't get over this), I told the young chap that we were just there with a friend and none of us had any intent to purchase anything and finally, none of us lived in the area, we were on an excursion and about 40 miles from home. Granted, that isn't a far distance, but it is when you are talking about making frequent trips to K-Mart.

He was appeased by the dump of unnecessary information I gave him and he said thank you and continued on his minimum-wage way. That's not a dig against his job, just an observation that tries to add some flair to my story. I know, it's not funny if you have to explain it, but I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea about me.

I was slightly shaken up by the experience and remarked as much to my companions. And then we turned the corner onto the candy aisle. I didn't have any plans for purchasing, I wasn't looking, but it found me, a two pound bag of gummy bears. Four dollars, U.S. I picked it up. Then I looked at the weights and exercise equipment. They had a shake weight, which I have mentioned to my BFF Muffin Man that I thought I'd get one and be ripped like the guy in the commercial. I know it won't happen, but commercials work on me. Anyway, I left the weights, gummy bears in hand, and rejoined my friends.

We browsed some more and I commented on how K-Mart wasn't much different than Wal-Mart. I think they just have brighter lights in Wal-Mart. We collected our driving friend and made our way to the checkout. At this point I was feeling bad for lying to the kid who asked if we could help him. I did say that we weren't planning on buying anything, but I think we all ended up making some form of impulse buy. He was at one of the two registers in operation, but I didn't want to wait in line. I went to the open register. I didn't apologize to the kid for lying to him. Albeit an unintentional lie, so I suppose it wasn't a lie, but I still wanted to apologize. Instead I just bought my gummy bears, read the nutritional content, and calculated how many gummy bears I'd need to eat to get a good dose of protein for a day. To which I added the thought of getting the shake weight and bulking up in the muscle department. The muscle department of my body, not the store. You might have been thinking that because of the way I worded that thought. My exercise routine would be to eat the gummy bears while shaking the shake weight. Recipe for success.

Well, I'm glad I got this story down, rushed as it has been. I think it is only my third post of the month, I'm falling behind some imaginary schedule that I never made to write more often than that. This month is significant for being one year since I started this blog. Who would have thought I'd be as consistent with it as I have been? Not me, but I'm happy about it now. I think my first post was on the 25th last year, so there are still a few days until the anniversary, that means there is still time for you to send me cards and gifts. I think the first anniversary for blog writers is the silver anniversary. Its different than marriage. So send me silver. Thank you.

Sick Day(s)

So, I didn't blog it up on that snow day a few weeks ago. I still have a bunch of ideas to type up, but haven't gotten to them. The day after that snow day I came down with something. My temperature shot up while my energy level sank into oblivion. I had a wild headache with some kind of eye-pain association. Perhaps a touch of vertigo, the dizzy feeling, not the Hitchcock flick which I have never seen but could probably spot in a movie line-up (suppossing such a thing were to exist). With all of that I wasn't able to muster the strength to think about blog topics, let alone sit at the computer and type them up. I pretty much was in bed watching Law and Order for three days straight. A big "thank you" goes out to the USA and TNT networks for showing variations of Law and Order 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I would've been watching infomercials without you. Thanks.

Eventually I got better enough to go back to work. It was then that I missed being sick and having an excuse to stay home. I am finding the importance of having a job that you enjoy, because when it gets down to the nitty and the gritty, a paycheck isn't enough. Not for me. Speaking of paycheck earning, it is now 11:16pm, had a late night out with some friends, it was wild. I need to get to sleep and start the routine over in the morning. In case you are wondering what I listen to while at work,check this out:

Snow Day

I would have put an exclamation point on that title if the snow day was given to me, but I had to take it. Every school in a 100 mile radius, possibly further out that that, but I'm being conservative in my claim, has been closed. Not just closed, but closed yesterday evening in advance of the storm. Prior to the snow even falling they were all closed. Why? Because the weather people are telling us that we will be getting about 12 inches of snow over the next 12 hours. I have the local news on right now and they just announced that the mall is closing.
Yet I had to take the snow day. I'm not concerned over the loss of pay, but the loss of common sense. I know, I know, "there he goes complaining again," and you are correct, but in my defense my complaints usually are logical and humorous. That must count for something? Tell me honestly that you don't think my observations that sound like complaints are more entertaining than the complaints from most people. I don't think you can do that.
The road conditions are expected to be miserable today. That's the point of all of this. I found the emergency closure notification service for my employer online this morning when I got up. I will now retype the message that I read, interjected with my interpretations that they don't actually say. I'm going to read between the lines:
---
Bad Weather but Regularly Scheduled Hours
Wednesday February 2, 2011, 4:45am
At this time - although many of our employees live 50 or more miles away from the office they work in, and get to work before 7am, meaning they have already begun their treacherous drive over dirt roads and secondary highways - weather conditions do not warrant the delayed opening of state offices, or a reduced workforce. At the moment it seems fine, we choose to ignore the forecast and expert predictions for the quality of travel when you will be driving home. That's on your time, not ours.
Employees are encouraged to exercise caution - not common sense - when traveling to work. The weather experts who issued the severe weather warning might be recommending emergency travel only, but that's just "the experts." All state offices are open for business during regularly scheduled hours.
Agencies and departments, subject to their operating needs, may wish to authorize employees to report to work late, or leave early to better accommodate travel, using their own leave time. As long as we don't have to pay for it, and their jobs get done, and we don't have to make a decision, do what you want.
---
I just think it is ridiculous. Whether it is stubborn Vermont pride that says "it snows all the time, so what? I'll drive on it, if you don't want to drive on it you are weak and scared of life," or perhaps a simple lapse in seeing consequences of actions, people are dropping the ball on this one. I despise pride in all of its forms, especially in myself. If some people want to have confidence in their abilities and not be worried about snow, that's fine, but don't try to use it as a judgment of others, and don't expect everyone else to feel the same way. We had less than 3 inches yesterday, but it came late in the afternoon and made the evening commute a bit rough. It wasn't a big deal in most places, but there were two weather related traffic accidents that resulted in loss of life. Overconfidence is sometimes a problem, perhaps always a problem.
I think in this case it is more about an inability to see the end result. I think the people in charge of calling for cancellations are looking out the window and thinking it is fine to drive in. If there wasn't a forecast calling for another 12 inches of snow in the next 12 hours I might feel the same. I have 4 wheel drive and studded snow tires on my truck. I could handle the 3 or so inches that are on my un-plowed (I hear the plow passing by as I type this) dirt road, but it isn't about what is out there right now. When I leave for work I have to eventually return home. With this situation and in all aspects of life it is important to try to visualize the outcome of action. I don't always do that, such as when I buy a 2 pound bag of gummy bears, dump them in a bucket, and make a considerable dent in the candy level throughout the course of one day. I probably didn't eat a full pound yesterday, but I could have.
Having the ability to look at the immediate situation and see how things could turn out as a result is an important ability to have. It will keep you safe, alive, and happy. I think it could have been employed today. Of course, every person has this same responsibility, and they don't need to wait for their employer to tell them what is or isn't safe. I'm staying home today because I think it is the safe thing to do. If other people feel that way, but go to work anyway, well... But that's why it would be nice for the employer to say stay home, because some people will feel a loyalty or some sense of dedication to their job and they will go to work. If the business is open the employee will go in, ignoring their own safety and well being. It may seem noble, but unless your work is keeping people alive (emergency medical and law enforcement) or putting out fires or maintaining power lines or cleaning roads, your job can probably wait until tomorrow.
But what do I know? I know that work isn't the purpose of life. I know that we need to break free from routines and live with purpose. I say I know this because these things make sense to me and help me feel happy and productive. It is a subjective knowledge, but I think it has objective application. Someone on the news just said "we are stand-bying..." I lost my focus on what I was saying.
Come on People! Lots of snow, stay home. Be prepared. They did a report from a hardware store that said they had a run on snow removal tools yesterday and expect more shoppers today. It is Vermont, it snows a lot. You are going to wait until February, in the middle of a huge snow storm, to buy a shovel? This is the missing forethought I am speaking of. I just don't understand how people can't think ahead of the moment they are living in. I hope I'm not like that. But that makes an interesting thought. A few months ago I did a post that alluded to the fact that I think too far ahead sometimes and in my end result focus I miss out on some of the steps needed in the immediate moment in order to obtain that end result. I guess I'm just too end result focused. Maybe it is just a matter of what works well for you as an individual. I guess at the end of today I will be safe from not driving in terrible snowy conditions, but I'll be out a few dollars for not going to work. Others will have the money from going to work, but may be out a lot of time due to slow driving in hazardous conditions, perhaps they will be injured. I am near-sighted with my eyes, perhaps I'm far-sighted with my outlook on life.
I've got a few other things I've been wanting to type up recently, perhaps I'll make today a day of blogging. If you are in the blizzard-belt, stay safe and warm.