Journal of a Sabbatical

January 15, 1999

several forms of precipitation

Several forms of precipitation have fallen from the sky over the last twenty four hours, some of them simultaneously. They're accumulating in layers: snow, ice, snow, ice, rain, ice... At one point I looked out the window and saw the tree across the parking lot acquiring an ice coat right before my very eyes. I could see the ice layer building, like somebody painting it on with a broad brush. Remind me to thank Kevin for the promised ice storm :-) Due to an act of nature or act of g*d, he, instead of me , gets to watch the Friday night lineup with the kids tonight. I told him to tell them I'll watch all their favorite shows on my tv. I know they won't believe that.

Chopping through the ice to get to the snow to get to the ice on the windshield to liberate the car took at least an hour. I stopped paying attention to the time. My new next door neighbor was outside chopping the ice off her car too. She said her office was closed today because they have no power. We have plenty of power, but I'm not so sure about the phones. I've picked up the phone a couple of times to find no dial tone, but then a few minutes later it's there again. No matter, 'cause whenever I dial my ISP I get busy tone.

I finally felt so cooped up that I just had to go out no matter what, so having uncovered the car, I drove over to Starbucks. Tom was sitting there in an armchair. Laptop man was sitting in a corner reading. Other than them and the baristas, the place was empty. I was wet and cold and conversationally impaired, but it was good to see Tom anyway. We compared notes on cabin fever and debated whether women would make better world leaders than men do. Tom thought they would, I wasn't so sure. Although I do think there is a slightly lower probability of a woman leader resorting to mass murder of civilians as a strategy. We ended up agreeing that you can't generalize whether one gender or any other subgroup of humans make better world leaders. It's an individual thing.

With my favorite Huun Huur Tu CD on the stereo and a cup of mint tea in my hand, I could almost feel cozy and snug against the weather. That is of course if I could stop berating myself for staying in and being a weather wimp. Of course, everybody is staying in. Not for nothing was Starbucks empty. The accident reports on the radio are enough to keep even the most intrepid nut case off the roads.

Once I finally got through to my ISP, I spent a long, long, long time moseying around in bibliofind looking for used books on the history of sewage treatment in Narragansett Bay. Well, actually looking for The Plovers, Sandpipers, and Snipes of the World by Paul Johnsgard and the Merrimack volume from the Rivers of America series. As long as I had the computer on, I figured I'd better work on the MRFRS newsletter now that I've finally got the last article from Kendra. Talk about trouble with e-mail attachments...

Always remember to use bleach when washing litter boxes from the sick room, the ringworm room, and the rabies room.