Around 3 AM someone came and did a shitty job of plowing the street, leaving four foot high mounds of snow piled up about two feet out from all of the cars.
I spent about four hours this morning shoveling out the sidewalk and the car. I shouldn't have any trouble getting out tomorrow morning, but I'm not so sure about my chances of getting back in tomorrow evening.
I'd like to think that after seeing that even with record amounts of snowfall the world didn't come to an end, civilization didn't collapse, and we're not living in some Mad Maxian hellscape people will have learned that there's no real need to panic the next time the forecast calls for some of the white stuff, but that would be uncharacteristically optimistic of me.
While I was digging my car out some kid with a shovel came along and expressed his dismay and disappointment over the fact that almost all of us on the street were digging ourselves out, thus dashing his dreams of making some money. I didn't have the heart to tell him that he was better off not trying to make money by trying in vain to move around massive amounts of snow with a garden shovel.
In any case, I haven't really posted anything of substance for a while - Though for that matter, have I ever? - so I figured I'd post some updates.
On Wednesday night Scott and I headed to the theater for the RiffTrax LIVE! Christmas Shortstravagana, which was, as expected, freakin' hilarious. They riffed on some really bizarre old Christmas-related (and not-so Christmas-related) short films, including this bizarre fever dream of a tale about the importance of not abandoning your old beloved toys in favor of the shiny new stuff you find under the tree on Christmas morn, and really bad, really creepy animated version of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
I'd had to go in to work early that day for a meeting, so I planned on leaving early as well, which made things kind of a pain, as the RiffTrax LIVE! event didn't start until 8. Ultimately we decided to just go to our respective homes after work, then meet at a restaurant near the theater before it started.
Thursday I worked from home in order to be present for the delivery of my new washing machine. I got a call from a recording a bit after 8 AM telling me that the delivery guys would be here in a half an hour. Exactly one hour later they showed up.
They were undaunted by the task of lifting the machine over the toilet, and had the old one removed in a matter of minutes.
There were three guys on the truck, and one stayed outside to unpackage the new machine while the other's hauled out the old one. Once they got outside, one of the two had this to say to the third: Hey Juan! [A long string of Spanish] toilet! Hahahahahaha!
While they were doing that, I cleaned the floor in the bathroom as best I could, and then they easily lifted the new machine (seen below) into place.
They then tested it to ensure it was working and were on their way. The whole process took about ten minutes.
Friday I left work early, hoping to be able to swing by the comic shop and to pick up a few groceries before the panic-stricken horde had time to descend, but apparently they started much earlier in the day, and while the snow had yet to fall, people were driving as though the roads were covered in snow and ice. When I - finally - got to Target, the place was a madhouse.
Even though I'd left work a half an hour earlier than usual, I ended up getting home an hour later than usual.
Madness.
(Madness? THIS. IS. NoVA!)
I spent most of Saturday doing not much of anything, though at some point in the afternoon I was surprised to hear my doorbell ringing.
It was my neighbors' youngest son, who had trudged through the snow to deliver some Christmas cheer:
And that brings us pretty much up to date.
I've got four more days of work - though I suspect my boss will tell me to work from home on Christmas Eve - and then I'm done for the year.
I have no particular plans for the time off, but not being at work will, quite possibly, be the greatest gift of all.
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