The Big DumpTruck

We could skip the candy if you would just bring me a warm, sunny day. I realize that Easter is way early this year, so normally we're dealing with April temps instead of March ones, but still, I have certain expectations about Easter that just aren't going to be met.

Historically (and I mean back when I was a kid through recent years with my kid) after Easter dinner we would get in the car and drive over to the Leominster State Forest and look for salamanders and fish. I know, seems silly, but you must know, Easter Bunny, that you were the one who would bring us the butterfly nets that we used to catch the salamanders. You do remember that, don't you?

We took all the kids (and when I say that I'm referring to my son, niece and nephew) to the park a couple of times to either throw a frisbee, a baseball, or fly a kite. All things I do not want to do tomorrow because it's going to be too cold. So I'll ask again; instead of sugary stuff, can you give me a 55 degree day with puffy clouds and no wind? That would rock. (Of course, I wouldn't turn down the warm day AND some of those chocolate covered marshmallow rabbits that I love...)

Labels: fun, holidays, kids, weather

I do no like my winter shoe selection. I'm quite unhappy with it, to be honest. I don't have enough very comfortable shoes that are also stylish. It's hard to keep your feet happy when you have to go to work somewhere with dress code. Granted, I'm not trapped in nylons and high heels (I'd quit) but still, they'd be happier if I was than with my personal take on business casual.

So yesterday, when it hit 50-ish, I was actually wondering to myself if it was time to take the sandals out of storage. 50! You know last fall, when it dropped to 50 for the first time, that was not even a consideration. I practically wrapped my feet in wool and animal skins to keep them warm. But in spring, why a 45 degree day feels like summer!

This morning it was snowing when I woke up. I can totally understand why winter is a depression-a-thon. The sandals will have to wait for another day. Certainly not Easter Sunday, which looks like it will have a high of 37 for the day. Ya. 37. Nuff said.

Labels: holidays, shoes, weather

I was looking at the dog this morning as I laced up my boots and looked for my hat, and I was annoyed because we can put a man on the moon but we can't figure out a way to get a 20 pound dog to remove ten inches of snow from the driveway. I don't think it is asking too much. Animals have worked for humans for a pretty long time now. The only two animals at my house are a hamster (who would not do well if we dropped her into even 3 inches of snow) and a cockapoo. Sure, it might not be easy, but he should be able to do something, don't you think?

We're off to go see our tax guy this morning. He'd better be in a good mood.

Labels: dog, phantom, snow, weather

I am home today because I have an earache and oh, because it's snowing like crazy outside. This is the 15th or 16th straight Monday that we've had a storm of some kind.

Okay, maybe not the 15th or 16th, and certainly not straight, but every storm so far this year, and I count ice storms, too, has happened on a Monday. I know this because we have the "do you think the rubbish guys are going to come today" conversation practically every Sunday night. The one time they did come, I showed you photos of them shooshing all over the street. So far, no trucks today, but I almost didn't expect them.

The other treat is trying to figure out where to place the barrels so that the plows don't knock garbage all over the yard. So you need to put them fairly far down (in case the rubbish truck does show up) but not so far that the snow thrown up by the plow doesn't knock it over. It's a delicate balance.

Personally, I'm ready for the next storm to be on a day other than Monday. Let some other part of Leominster deal with wondering if they should put out the rubbish.

Labels: chores, snow, weather

Why am I not finished with my Christmas shopping? I do not understand - I am usually better than this. I have people I need to buy things for that I will not see after Friday, so I have to get my royal butt in gear right away.

I'm happy to hear we might see more snowflakes tonight. That's great news. My street is still completely covered with hard-packed snow so this will really help out in that department. Ye Olde Minivan has zero traction as it is, so I think this may put me in some sort of physics black hole with negative traction. If I was better at science I could explain to you how negative traction works, but I am not very good at science, or math for that matter. I can't wait until Junior gets to the point where I am no longer of service to him for math homework. I think I have another year before I hit that point.

Labels: holidays, shopping, weather

My desk at home is next to a window, which if you know me, is practically a need, not a want. I love looking out the window. This morning I was rewarded with a trash truck ballet, in which two different trash trucks slid and skidded and basically had no control. Ya, it's slippery on my street. No sanding again, which is nice. Eventually the truck that slid past the end of my street was able to get itself turned around before the other one almost took out a small snow bank. Eventually they just parked the two trucks and all stood in the street talking, probably asking themselves if it was really worth it to come in to work this morning.

Photo evidence of the two trucks out my window.

Labels: driving, photos, weather

I only want a wintery mix if it involves peppermint candies and chocolate. Okay, that didn't make a lot of sense, but I got tired of trying to think of something funny. Maybe I should not have said anything then? I'll leave that up to you.

I'm going to try to take a little movie of what my Christmas tree is currently doing. It's blinking. But very slowly. It could blink faster but it's hugely obnoxious. I know because it was doing it recently. (We bought a remove on-off plug thingy that you can use to plug in three strings of lights and what it does is turn them on and off at different times so it looks twinkly, but we have a pre-lit fake tree so it doesn't twinkle, it just blinks like a crazy person.

Saw the movie "Enchanted" today - it was fantastic. Highly recommend this one, especially if you have any experience watching Disney Princess movies.

Here is our tree and the current fire. Note the soothing blinkage.

Christmastree.mp4
Christmas tree.mov

Labels: christmas, fireplace, movies, weather

So far one of last year's Nano-ers has joined up to contribute over at the new and improved Nano Blog (2007 NaNoWriMo Rest Area). So what about the rest of you? Or some new people? I'll just yammer like a crazy person with or without you, you know?

In other news, it is FREEZING OUTSIDE! Oh man, it might not have been the best weather in Florida ("sunshine state" my large white arse) but at least it wasn't 30 degrees when I left the hotel in the morning!

Still no pictures for you. I'm guessing it might be Sunday before I have some. I'm very sorry about that, but that's just the way it's been going this week. If someone figures out how to slow down time a bit, I may get to it Saturday, or even do a little tonight, but I still have to get the pictures off Mr. Dump's laptop (we took his old PC with us) and onto my Mac, where my editing software lives. What, you think this stuff just magically happens?

Labels: nanowrimo, weather

I like living in a non_parched and barren landscape as much as the next guy, but after a week of drizzle, I was DONE with it. If it's going to rain, it should rain and be done with it. The endless misty drizzle just sucks. It's not raining hard enough to use an umbrella, but you need one to stay dry. It's hard to get the windshield wipers just right because it looks like it isn't raining but it is. I don't know, maybe people prefer that to a good old fashioned rainstorm, but I prefer the latter. Unless it lasts for a long time, in which case I'd like to reserve the right to change my mind.

Either way, the sun is out today, and a few weeks late the trees are starting to turn. (Is it just me or does the peak foliage seem late this year?) I rented a lens for my camera (what a cool concept - being able to rent a lens so you can try before you buy) and I want to give it a try. I suppose that means there will be new content on flickr before the weekend is over.

Labels: autumn, foliage, rain, weather

Hi kids!

Just popping in with a quick one so you won't think I've fallen off the roof or anything. Up to my armpits in stuff to do, and BDT has suffered greatly. Let me just share with you then, that in the past couple of days I have gone to Canobie Lake Park, a baseball jamboree for a league we aren't in, our final playoff game, a Lowell Spinners game, in addition to doing laundry, mowing the lawn and grocery shopping.

I assume eventually we'll get into the "lazy" days of summer, but so far, no go.

Junior started camp today, so we have that routine to get used to. He's already left something behind; I wish we had set up some kind of pool on how many days in it would take for him to not bring all his stuff home. We also could have set a value as a tie-breaker. The item left behind, his water bottle that you put in the freezer overnight, was worth about $4. So, because I didn't have a pool set up, I can official say I won!! My prize? Finding something else to freeze to send with him tomorrow because it's going to be 95 flippin' degrees.

Labels: baseball, camp, summer, weather

We had baseball games on Saturday and Sunday this week. The difference between Saturday's sauna game (I thought I was going to pass out at one point - I can't imagine how the boys in their polyester uniforms and knee socks handled it as well as they did) and Sunday's wearing-three-layers in the drizzle game was staggering.

Interestingly, the IFO (because after a minute it was no longer a UFO) incident happened on Sunday, when it would have seemed more appropriate for the hot day.

We were standing, watching the game, when suddenly we saw a "balloon" take off from the neighborhood behind the ball fields. We quickly realized it wasn't a balloon, but more of a flying donut with strings or something hanging off of it. I decided (and others agreed) that it looked like a flying pool toy - our assumption being that someone had a helium tank and had filled up an inflatable pool ring with helium, turning it into a balloon.

What an odd site. I would have killed to have my camera. Or to be on hand when the thing finally landed somewhere and people have to figure out how they ended up with a pool ring on their roof.

Labels: baseball, summer, toys, weather

I'm sitting out on my deck, drinking a Coffee Coolatta, and I can't think of a better way to spend the afternoon. Well, okay, I can think of a couple of better ways, but those cost money and involve being inside a mall. The breeze is what is making this a great afternoon to sit out on the deck. I highly recommend you run out and get the things mentioned in the subject of this post, and then you can write to me to tell me how great it is at your house!

Unless you live in the southern hemisphere, in which case I'm really sorry, I don't mean to make you feel bad.

Labels: happy, laptop, summer, weather, wireless

I am working from home today because I HAVE A REALLY NICE BOSS [*waves*]. Except it's about 95 degrees outside so I can't even go play outside. I was going to buy some flowers and plant them but I do NOT like 94 degrees so I'm in the house, working.

If Junior didn't have a baseball game tonight I probably would have driven to the beach or something. Ya, because this body needs to be SEEN! Oh wait, no, strike that.

Labels: boss, hot, weather

Forgive the yelling, but the National Weather Service is all about the caps, and I am just copying and pasting.

Just yesterday I was telling people that one of my biggest phobias is fear of bad weather. Driving in a thunderstorm can reduce me to tears. A tornado warning puts my blood pressure into the stratosphere. So this is what I just read.

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 330 PM EDTFOR CENTRAL WORCESTER COUNTY...AT 252 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PENNYSIZE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. THESE STORMSWERE LOCATED ALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM CLINTON TO WORCESTER...ORALONG A LINE EXTENDING FROM 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LEOMINSTER TOWORCESTER...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... BOLTON...NORTHBOROUGH AND BERLIN BY 300 PM EDT...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT WEDNESDAY EVENING.

This is part of the the current warning for Leominster:

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORSIMMEDIATELY! LIGHTNING IS ONE OF NATURES NUMBER ONE KILLERS.REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING.

Well now, that's just what I needed to hear!!!

Actually, I was on the phone with Mr. Dump (he was using a cordless). He's working from home and told me that right before one lightning strike that seemed VERY close, he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up. I would need a lot of medication right now if I were at home. I would also be in the basement, crouched in the corner, wimpering.

Labels: Leominster, weather

You know, I never had that much of an issue with April in the past. It's a good month. It has 30 days. You know, pretty average, as months go. But damned if this wasn't the coldest, wettest, snowiest April I can remember. I'm all done with April. Hello May!

Labels: weather

Hey, 117 pals, did you all have fun checking out the fog this morning? I had my Powershot in the car with me, and whipped it out in Bolton Flats. Any time I had to stop, I snapped a picture. I uploaded the five best ones to flickr (just use the link under this photo). I have to say, I would have been happy to just have one that I liked. To have five worthy of uploading...that was the prize for the day!

This makes up for yesterday. I got halfway to work before I realized that the dog was still in the car with me. Oh my God, when am I going to learn the benefits of owning a talking dog versus Mr. Silent?

Labels: 117, commute, weather

Oh, wait, it is! Man oh man, my fellow Leominster to points-east commuters must have had fun with the 117 portion of the commute like I did. I am guessing that the entire town of Lancaster will be completely under water by tomorrow morning. I wish to God I'd had my camera...the new lake behind the big yellow Thayer Conservatory (or whatever it's called now...I haven't been there since my sister was about 11 years old) made my jaw drop.

The normal "avoid Bolton Flats" route was also closed due to flooding. That's a bad sign. Looking at the alternate, alternate route, that one might be out by tomorrow. Goodbye Lancaster, it was nice knowing you.

Labels: commute, rain, weather

This is what I saw when I checked the Yahoo headlines this morning. I wonder if they are doing April Fool's Day a day early?

Labels: weather

Storm's a 'comin! Did you run out and get milk-eggs-bread yet? Cause you know it's a law that you have to. We need to go grocery shopping for realsies, and now I dread it. You crazy french toast making people...you'd better leave some bread and milk behind for those of us who actually have none left. I will not be buying in anticipation of 6 inches of snow (the current prediction). I've been living in New England for 42 years. Funny thing about snow storms. Outside of the beast like New York State had last week, snow ends, the roads get plowed and sanded, and voila, you can leave your house.

I actually have four or five whole cans of soup at my house, that in an emergency, I could probably survive off of those. Or a boxes of Near East Rice Pilaf, or the massive pasta stores we are required to keep on hand thanks to Junior's pasta addiction. I think I have a way to go before I start eyeballing the dog food.

By the way, I know in the distant past I covered Mr. Fussy's eating habits. Updating you on those, did you know that he now actually orders steak, shrimp or grilled chicken instead of pasta? Did you know that? He has eaten pot roast (Oh, hey, you know, maybe that's what we need to get for the snow day...) and roast chicken and ham and bacon. For any of you with fussy eaters (and I mean, he ate pasta with red sauce for lunch and dinner every day for a couple of years) there is hope. They do add items to the menu! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

Labels: food, junior, snow, weather

It was chilly this morning. What nerve, the January weather has, to be cold. Now Saturday's weather, that was a perfect January day, don't you think? I am going to stick my neck out and suggest that we keep all of our winter weather in the fifty to seventy degree range from this point forward. I think that it will help with our home heating bills, and it will help with our not wanting to scrape ice of the windshield, or drive in the snow. I'm not going to lie to you, this is the best January ever. And each day that there is no snow and ice I know I am that much closer to spring, and that brings me great joy.

I, of course, will take credit (or the blame, if you insist on harshing my mellow) for the lack of snow on the ground, because for Christmas we bought my step-son a full snowboard package (kit? setup?) of the board, the bindings and the boots. Not cheap to do that, so OF COURSE he hasn't been able to use them at all this year. Not once. This makes him sad, so I try not to do a happy dance of joy about 70 degree days when he's around.

What was also nice about Saturday is that is was Junior's actual birthday, and he picked out the bike he wanted that was his Christmas/birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa...and he actually got to go outside and enjoy it. I too, am a January baby (gift list is over on the right - I included all the expensive stuff because I knew you would want me to) and I remember the year I got a bike for my birthday - it was purple and it had a banana seat with flowers on it and streamers hanging from the handlebars...and I couldn't do a thing with it until after the spring thaw. That was just torture! So I'm glad he got to ride it this weekend. I'm sure my parents feel that it makes it worth spending the money, actually.

Labels: birthdays, weather, winter