Category: Uncategorized

I’m going to be the one dancing naked in my driveway. I’d tell you how long it’s been since the last time it was 45, but I can’t find a website that has that kind of statistic. I’m guessing December, without exaggeration. If I find the actual date I’ll update this space. In the meantime…45!

I saw this in the Telegram: “It also surpassed Boston’s previous 24-hour record snowfall total of 25.4 inches, which was set during the April Fool’s Day storm of March 31 and April 1, 1997.”

I remember that storm. I also remember that almost all of the women in my Lamaze class had conceived during that storm (my baby was the last one due in the class, he was conceived two weeks after that storm, actually.)

I was going to reply to a comment from CT Karen in the comments section, then decided it would be more appropriate to make it a full-fledged entry.

I don’t have a well, and I do pay for my city water. I was exaggerating a bit when I said I would be watering the hell out of my lawn all next summer. For the past few years there have been water bans in town, last summer we were on odd-even for months. Low levels in the reservoir. The thing is, the extra 56 inches of snow will be a big help. But it won’t solve the problem. The problem isn’t a lack of rain and snow, the problem is our city has added hundreds and hundreds of new homes in the past, say, 10 year, and yet, nobody has raised a finger to look for additional water sources. We have had the one reservoir, Notown, since I was a kid. Okay, so add 1000 families (homes, apartments, etc.) to this mix. What’s the average usage per family per day? Okay, so doesn’t that tax the system? If you have n gallons of water available, the water level WILL BE LOWER THAN NORMAL because you haven’t ever adjusted what NORMAL is. Duh.

That’s like rationing the milk in my fridge because it’s a lower level than normal, not taking into consideration I added permanently added three people to the household. I can’t ration the old amount of milk I bought…I need to buy a new amount of milk. Or a cow. And in the water scenario, Leominster needs to buy a cow, as it were.

Anyway, I don’t water my lawn much – usually only if I’ve fertilized. I think it’s a huge waste of time, money and water. But I would like my son to be able to run under the sprinkler when it’s 90 degrees out. I’m hoping 56 extra inches of snow will help.

p.s. Would the department of public works find it in their hearts to please knock down the mountain of snow at the end of my street so I’m not killed trying to pull out into traffic. It is literally impossible to see.

Okay, every day is job search day, but today I’m going to work extra hard at it. I have two recruiters to call for follow-ups, just for starters. The big reminder of why this is so important is that the Department of Employment and Training website and phone system have been down for 3 days now (today is day 4) so nobody has been able to file their unemployment claim for last week. Normally we’d be getting checks today, but we haven’t even been able to call in the claim, so the checks haven’t been cut, never mind mailed. Do you think they’d have information on what to do on their website (i.e. go to your local office instead)? That would be nice. I tried calling this morning and the line was busy…that NEVER happens.

HELLO? State of Massachusetts, little help here!

I did joke with the manager at Office Max that I should work there for the employee discount and she offered to get me an application. I’m torn about taking a part-time job, because if something full-time came up, it might impact my ability to work certain hours. I don’t know that it would be fair to the store, you know? On the other hand, I could use the money. I guess I’ll wait for another week or two before I make that decision.

Oh, so briefly I’ll share Mr. Dump’s airport adventure with you. He had a ticket for the 8:15pm British Airways flight to London. Got to the airport around noonish. They checked him in, assured him it would take off. He and I were both skeptical, but we’re not the experts. He got on the plane and I started watching the online flight tracking. No sign that it took off. Still watching. It says the flight is “on time” but it’s now 45 minutes after he was supposed to leave. I check the BA website…it still says estimated to leave at 6:05. Hmmm. So around 7:10 it says “departed.” Cool. I can’t believe his plane got out, NOBODY is getting out of Logan.

At 2:30 AM the phone rings…it’s Mr. Dump. I assume he’s telling me he’s in London. He’s telling me he’s still in Boston. Spent 7 HOURS sitting on the runway, no food, barely any heat. Eventually they realize that sitting there all that time, there’s ice and snow in the engine. They get everyone off the plane, give them back their luggage, and shuttle them to an Embassy Suites, where he has to share a hotel room with 3 strangers. I cannot think of anything I’d like less. That means sharing a BED with strangers, mind you. It’s boggling my mind, but hey, there were 400 people on that plane.

He was back at the airport by 10ish this morning, and their plane is now scheduled to leave at 5, as an add-on flight because the regular 6:05 was already booked up. Oh, and the 8:15 BA flight? That one did take off, albeit very much later than 8:15. But why did the the 8:15 take off and not the 6:05? Who knows. I am just glad *I* wasn’t the one stuck sitting on a plane for 7 hours in a snowstorm. I’ve had to sit for 4 hours on a plane on the taxiway, waiting for a thunderstorm or some nonsense to pass, but not 7 hours. Yuck.