The Big DumpTruck

I remembered what I was going to write about! I should probably save this for a novel or short story, but don't you think you have earned a special posting? I think you have. All 3 of you who read this site regularly.

Sunday night there were a lot of odd conversations. VERY odd. We had my niece and nephew over for a while, and then when my sister came to get them, we all went to TGI Fridays. So here are the things that occurred after we got the kids in the van:

1. I became an eastern European tour bus guide. I pointed out helpful things along the lines of "In front of you is road. Behind is road." I pointed out the rubbish barrels on the side of the road. I told them that if at any point they noticed the bus driver missing, they should "Press ding button". They seemed greatly amused by the whole drive.

2. There were two shows on the TVs in the TGIF bar - on one was a car race. On the other, I don't know because I could only see TVs with the car race. I pointed out that race car drivers probably wore diapers. There was some discussion about "pit stop" means something different in non-racing circles. We call it a pit stop when we want a potty break. Mr. Dump pointed out that race car drivers don't exit the car during the race.

3. Whatever was on the other television involved bees. I asked what it was about and Mr. Dump said it was a story about how they are training bees to sniff out drugs. We envisioned a world where they would release swarms of bees in airports to look for drugs. I thought maybe they meant farms where they were growing pot. We wondered if it would be helpful to attach little cameras to the backs of the bees. Then Mr. Dump admitted he made the whole thing up. I still think you'd get a lot more people admitting they had drugs on them if swarms of bees were circling their heads.

4. Nah, I'm saving this one for the re-write of the nano-novel. I have to have SOMETHING to replace all the crappy stuff I have to remove.

Labels: 01453, bees, bus, Leominster, odd

I had the really pleasant "2 hours to drive what normally takes 40 minutes" commute this morning. People, if you can't drive in the snow, stay home and let the rest of us get to work. Of course, I have four new tires on my van, so I'm feeling a little better about driving in bad weather. Nothing like fresh treads to take your mind of hydroplaning. Not that I'm a risky driver; I most certainly am not. But there was nothing out on 117 today that should have caused it to back up the way it did. Someone is to blame, and when I find that person, I am going to give him/her SUCH an Indian burn!

Oh wait, is it politically incorrect to call it an Indian burn? I'm sorry. I meant no disrespect. Do tell, dear readers...what is the politically correct way to refer to an Indian burn?

So while I was stuck in the car for two hours, I had some kind of great idea for what to talk about today, but somehow I forgot what it was. I could make something up, but it wouldn't be the great thing that I thought of. You know, the great thing that would catapult me to the top of the personal website heap. Make ME blogging queen 2007. But I can't remember what it was. So I continue to flounder in obscurity. In 11 years of doing this, can't I be the queen at least once?

Other ordinary stuff:
Video Game Review: Sonic and the something something for Wii: I haven't played the game-game (sorry!) but I have played the really great bunch of party games a la Mario Party. In fact, I like them better than Mario Party 7. I've heard Mario Party 8 (due out soon?) isn't what it could be. So A- for Sonic's party games, or what I've seen of it so far. [Note: If you buy this at Target it comes with an exclusive DVD with a Sonic Comic book on it. We took a look and it's not worth buying just for that, unless the Target price is lower than wherever else you shop.]

Music: John Mayer Continuum A. I love it. Mr. Dump loves it. What more do you need?

Labels: 01453, car, commute, music, wii

Okay, Junior and I were taking photos today. That was our activity. We did take a bunch of pictures up at Skyview Middle School, which can be seen in my personal Leominster set (they are also in the Leominster group I linked to below.)

That little trip went fairly well, considering it was about 500 below zero up on top of the hill so we decided to take most of the pictures from inside the car.

When it was closer to sunset (i.e. good light) we headed over to Evergreen Cemetery to get a few more shots. I went in the main entrance to see if I could get a good shot of the sign (I couldn't) and then headed up the road to the right that goes into the "old" section. I got to the part that curves uphill...and it was snow-covered with big ruts. Uh oh, my van was not going to make it up the hill. But when I went to back down, the car didn't turn, it just sort of slid straight down. I didn't hit anything but snow, but that snow got good and jammed and my car got stuck. So I tried to rock it back and forth and started to get nervous that I was getting too close to the stones, given that I was trying to do this by myself.

I eventually called Mr. Dump to bring a shovel to save us. How embarrassing. But I don't think this is my fault. If the city didn't want to plow that whole road (it was plowed up to that curve) they should have blocked it with a barrel or something. And looking at that immediate area, it looks like I wasn't the first person to get stuck there.

If the city is going to plow the roads in the cemetery, they should plow all the roads in the cemetery, or block them off so that people like me don't get stuck and there isn't a risk of anyone damaging the stones.

So Mr. Dump freed us, and we went home photo-less. I told Junior we'd go back...after the snow melts.

Labels: 01453, car, Leominster, photos

You know, usually this time of year, we bitch and moan and crab about how sick we are of winter, and how we wish it was April or May already. Me, I'm fondly remembering the warm, lush days of January. Whoda thunk it. Well me. I remember thunking to myself "Boy, we're going to be really sorry when all this ends and we get real winter temperatures."

My nasal passages are so angry with me, we aren't on speaking terms. I need to swing by the Hallmark Store to buy them a card.

"When you're blue
And you don't know
Where to go to
Why don't you go where saline sits
I'll give you a spritz."

I hope it doesn't have a picture of a flower on the front. My sinuses really hate flowers.

Labels: 01453, nose, poetry, winter

Okay, I don't think I should open THAT can of worms, knowing most of you are probably up late every night trying to work that puzzle out on your own. But the Worcester Telegram did figure out a way to annoy me today, and I figured I'd complain about it here because that's why I pay hosting fees and domain registration fees every year. That's what it's all about, my people.

The Telegram, a good source of local (Leominster) news, decided that instead of having a page of news items of specific interest to the "North" (which is where the Leominster, Fitchburg, Gardner, etc. stories were), and another for West, and another for Blackstone Valley, etc., they would just lump us under the heading "Suburbs".

Great. No offense to Hopkinton, but your news stories aren't really all that important to me. And I'm sure mine are not to you. So what the Telegram has effectively done, is go the Boston Media route of closing their eyes, blocking their ears with their fingers and saying "Nya nay nya I can't see you! You don't exist!" to anything outside of the 128 belt.

If I didn't have such a long history of being completely annoyed with the way the Fitchburg Sentinel is run (I love LOVE LOVE! when they run stories about events after they happen, not before, so that I can sit and feel badly that I didn't know about it. No, really, that's fantastic.

So ya, there may be a war going on, people dying and starving, etc., but I'm really ticked off that the paper has decided they can't be bothered to give us our own page any more.

Labels: 01453, Leominster, News, Sentinel, Telegram

Apparently, there was a report of a pipe bomb on the side of the on ramp to route 2 from Route 12 in Leominster. We had made arrangements to meet my parents for lunch at UNOs at the Twin City Mall at noon, so we gave ourselves an extra 10 minutes to get there, assuming there would be some extra "NEXT TO THE LAST SATURDAY!" Christmas shoppers out there.

We did not anticipate route 12 being shut down while the police and the bomb squad dealt with the pipe bomb issue. We did NOT allow ourselves enough time to get through the horrific backups that the pipe bomb caused. For those of you familiar with the area, it took us an HOUR to get from the Brooks Pharmacy on Main Street (near Prospect St.) to Unos. We were just trying to go down Main, turn right on Hamilton Street, straight through the lights at North Main (Route 12) and up Lindell.

Problem is, everyone trying to drive toward Fitchburg on route 12 was being sent either up Lindell or down Hamilton. That is, when the cop directing traffic decided to actually let people from Hamilton Street move forward. Can someone explain to me what would possess the guy directing traffic to let us move 1/2 the number of cars as the other lanes? We were backing people up all the way to Main Street! Plus, with people trying to pull out of streets and parking lots (the Shaws back entrance, the cheerleading place), there was a level of gridlock forming that would not be relieved unless he actually allowed some of us to flow through the intersection. Dude, you see how they are all backed up? That's because they can't go anywhere. If you keep letting people take a left, and they get stuck, we will be blocked and nobody will be able to move for the rest of the day. Do you understand that you are CAUSING this problem?

Do they not teach "directing traffic effectively" anymore in policeman school? As we went into insulin shock in the car, I mentioned to Mr. Dump about the time I was stuck at "7 Corners" (or whatever it's called) in Lancaster and the guy directing traffic literally let each street completely empty (like 4-5 minutes, no lie) before letting traffic on the next street move. I sat there TWENTY MINUTES without moving, and this bozo was actually directing traffic. And *I* was on the only street that actually had the legal right of way (no stop signs).

Do officers have to pass some kind of test on the best way to direct traffic at a major intersection before they are allowed to do so? I am not trying to be mean. I am trying to prevent them from being run over by hundreds of drivers experiencing police-induced road rage.

So I'm glad the police detonated the "bomb" (results pending) and nobody was hurt and my parents only had to sit in a restaurant for 45 minutes waiting for us to make the 5 minute drive over. But what a damper it puts on the day.

Labels: 01453, christmas, Leominster, restaurant, traffic