Snow Way I'm Going to Work Today

So we have survived the Blizzard of 2010. Snowmageddon, whatever. My place of employment closed yesterday and today. And rightly so, the storm has dumped over 18 inches of the white stuff on us and clean-up will take months. Okay maybe not months but a long time.
On Tuesday night the snow started falling. Softly and beautifully. And when we awoke Wednesday, it fell 'til about 1030 then stopped. I wondered out loud if that was it. Had Mother Nature steered the storm off to the sea? Sparing us any more aggravation and back-breaking cleanup? no. The bitch did not. At around 130 the snow started again, and this time it was not softly and beautifully. It was mean and freakin' nasty and it snowed well into the night. When we awoke we were literally buried. Im talking 16 inches on top of the 19 that fell only on Friday. I do have to say, from my seat at the kitchen table, it was amazing and beautiful. My back yard abuts a wetlands so there are no houses behind me. Just acres and acres of trees. The snow covered all the trees and weighed down their branches. The sky was an amazing deep blue against the snowy Earth. Very serene. Until, of course I had to go clear away snow.
So I went out early to clean off the cars and unbury them in our snow-locked driveway because Mags place of business decided that their employees were expendable and opened for business. I suggested she use a day to stay home where it was safe and warm and not, well...work. She agreed and called out.
I had to use my shovel this morning because I was getting her car ready to go at around 630 (before I knew she would not be going in).
Long story short, I finally finished the task at around 1030 and when I went into the house Mags mentioned that pizza might be a good idea for lunch. Who am I to say no to pizza? So we called Luigis and ordered up a pie and I made the three mile trip to get it. The trip took twice as long as it should have because the roads were not completely cleared. But that was okay because, well....pizza.
After a nice lunch I went out and dug out our mailboxes. Fun.
Then we ventured over to Bubs' place and once there, I resumed my shoveling duties.
Mags dad has had many strokes and is bed-ridden. They had a cement ramp poured up from the driveway to the back deck. I shoveled the ramp out and then the decks. Bubs insisted I didnt have to do it all, just a spot on the deck for her Boston, Lucy. I insisted because if, God-forbid they need to get JW out of the house, it has to be via the ramp. I'm not sure how long it took but it went pretty smoothly. Of course shoveling uphill is a bit more challenging and if you saw me shoveling the ramp from the deck to the house you'd have a good laugh. Because I kept sliding backwards on the wooden ramp while trying to shovel 'uphill'.
I did have a brief break for tea and then I went out to finish up. Lucy, was looking curiously out the door and seemed a bit put-off by the shovel. But she's happy now that she can go down the deck into the yard where I shoveled out a small spot for her to...well you know.
Bubs was very appreciative and thanked me several times. I don't mind at all. They are both very nice and have been very good to me in my years with Mags. It was my pleasure. My back may disagree later but hey, we're family.

Now we're home resting up. I'm sure we'll both be going to work tomorrow.
If I weren't feeling so tired, I'd have taken pictures but you can watch the news and get the idea. Stay warm.

Now That Was Easy

So last night New Jersey got some snow. I guess we got about 17 inches or so. Gusty winds and really, really low temperatures. Lots of drifting too. A good day to stay indoors, right? Well...someone has to clear the snow. Which leads me to my entry title. Since I've met Mags, her son Tom, has been very good to me. He's a great guy and we get along really well and he will do anything to help us out. He has done much for me also. He knows of my ailing back and one day during the summer came to the house with a self-propelled' lawn mower for me. He bought it second-hand and using his mechaincal know-how, refurbished it and gave it to me, telling his mother "Connor should have one of these. He shouldn't be pushing a regular mower." Nice right? Well, last year he found a used snow blower and same deal, reworked it, tuned it up good and brought it to me. However, last year I just couldn't get it started. I have problems with those 'pull start' devices. Same thing this year. Last night, however, he came by again and primed it up for me.
I was hesitant because I had so much trouble in the past. Well this morning I tried again and no luck. Frustrated I came into the house and told Mags, "no deal"
She suggested taking a break and trying again. Which I did. Well, this time the puppy fired up right away.
The difference between shoveling and and using one of these cannot be described. It was soooo much easier. The hardest part was the crap at the end of the driveway deposited by the snow plows.
So easy in fact, I did our neighbor Shirley's driveway. Her husband is having back woes and she is a good neighbor so I dug her out. They were pleased and I then stepped across to help another neighbor do the very end of her driveway.
Then it was across to Keith and Staceys to help them out.
It was almost fun. Okay. It was fun.
All in all I got alot accomplished. It's a good feeling when you can help a neighbor out.

~Good things are happening with the Devils. They picked up Ilya Kovulchuk from the Atlanta Thrashers. The big Russian comes in with 31 goals already and he has more moves than a street hustler. This guy can stick-handle in a phone booth. The Devs played an exciting game last night against the Maple Leafs, Scoring three goals late in the third; including two in the last minute of regulation for a huge win.
I watched the game in between shifts on the snow blower.

~Got to visit with Keith and Stacey our groovy neighbors across the way and their 3 crazy pooches. After that came home for a beef stew I did in the slow-cooker. It was okay but could've been better. Live and learn. Mags made a good suggestion as to how to spice it up and next time I will follow her sage advice.

Well, my body is achey and I think I may be turning in soon. Stay warm everyone.

The Best Two and a Half Minutes of Your Day

Two Englishers in Amish Country

So yesterday I decided to take the day off. I did it with the intention of hanging out with Mags and maybe doing something fun because on Monday she will be returning to work. I figured we could do something, anything, so she could go into the weekend on a relaxed note.
I suggested a trip to PA. Amish country. Intercourse to be exact and this seemed to suite Mags fine. We were misinformed about the business hours of the local merchants and seemed content to run an errand before we hit the road. Right before we left I Googled the store and found the hours were very different and opened at 9, rather than 12 as we were told. So after a stop at the hospital we hit the highway.
The drive was about two hours and it wasn't all that bad. Its simply down the PA Turnpike to 76 and then onto the smaller county roads. And it does get pretty scenic once you get onto 76 and get further into the state. Lots of rolling hills and farms. nice.
Our first stop was the Kitchen Kettle Village. An assortment of little shops and restaurants. We moved quickly from store to store because it was very cold yesterday. Only about 21 degrees. Still we had a good time. We then went to the building next door, the Old Candle Barn and browsed through their for a bit. Mags picked up some little things and then it was next door to another little shop that sold 'country' type stuff and of course, Amish goods.
From there it was down the road to an Amish furniture store. We browsed through their showroom and Mags may have found a desk she wants. Let me tell you, these Amish craftsmen are freakin' good. The quality of the work is superior to most of the stuff that's sold in retail stores.
Wrapping up the day we headed to a large buffet, oops sorry, smorgasbord, style restaurant called the 'Shady-Maple'. (On the way home I suggested to Mags that maybe we could open a strip club right next door and call it the 'Shapely Maple' but that was only met with a look over the top of her glasses and the sound of crickets chirping)
Her Mom raved about it and we figured we would try it out. It wasn't bad and there was a ton of food. All you can eat for 10 bucks. They had a massive gift shop downstairs so we perused through there before hitting the highway for our trip back home.
So overall, except for the temperature it was a good day. Maybe we'll get back in the summer and spend a little more time.
Later I'll post links to the sites we saw.
Thats it from Joisey. Stay warm.

This and That

Well it's been a while. Truth is nothing too exciting is going on here. Work is busy. Lots of receives to receive and then we 'split' the bulk shipments we get down into smaller shipments to be sent to other, smaller branches. Heavy work but the day goes by faster when you're busy.

Mags desktop finally died and she replaced it with a laptop. She had always wanted one and the day after Christmas she finally got one. A week later she called me at work, very upset, she was having problems with the new 'puter. I had planned on leaving work early because I was feeling like crap so I told her when I get home I would have a quick cup of tea and then we could go back to Best Buy and return it. Which we did. With no hassle, and got an exact replacement. This one is working fine, thank goodness.

Weather here has been freakin' cold. Only yesterday, and supposedly today, will the temps get above 30 degrees and hit almost 40! Heatwave!

So I'm beginning to wonder if my new building is built on some ancient burial grounds or something. Since I've started there, several co-workers have lost family members.

In the past two weeks alone, my boss' Mom has died, two days later another supers' wife lost her Grandmother, a co-worker's father has died and his sister and mother are amongst the missing in Haiti. Seriously? Did we, as a group, piss someone off? Some spirits that inhabit our little plot of land in the new industrial park? Seriously, shouldn't the guys who bought and developed the land be getting all this? Or am I just reading too much into it? Could be....

We had a kitchen mishap last night. Mags had put together a fantastic steak dinner (with caramelized onions of course) and a salad. Half-way through the cooking process our smoke detectors went off. All of them in the house, screaming all at once. We could not figure out what the heck was going on. No smoke, but an acrid stench filled the air. I thought it was smoke. So I hurry up the stairs to see what is burning. Nothing I can see. So we sit down to eat and then suddenly Mags jumps up "I know what it is!" At Christmas I bought Mags two new cookie sheets and she simply put them into the oven for storage. She did not, however, remove the paper tags that were glued onto the sheets. So after dinner I spent over an hour trying to remove all the paper and glue that was baked onto the new cookie sheets. I did get everything so now hopefully they are salvaged. If not, I'll just have to buy new ones.

Weather should be nice today so I may wash my car and remove the inch of salt and road grime that is covering it.

I think that's all. Enjoy your weekend.

Snow Joke

Well greetings form the snowy wasteland that is central New Jersey. We are in the midst of the biggest snowstorm ( well the only one actually. so far) of the year. It is being heralded by the Weather Channel as "Blizzard 2009!". It's going to dump over a foot of snow on us here in the great Garden State and is wreaking snowy havoc elsewhere along the Atlantic corridor.

The storm started early this morning. Before I was awake for work. Yes I was going to go to work today. Last night over dinner I said to Mags "I bet nobody will show up for our big sale. I can't believe they won't cancel" Rescheduling is out of the question. I can't fully explain the madness involved in setting this thing up or breaking it down, but I'm guessing they will not reschedule. But the events of this cold early am leave my mind open to expect anything.

So after a horrible, restless night for both Mags and myself ( Mags did tranq me at about 130) I crawl out of bed at 630 and go into the kitchen to make tea and feed the boys. I get up extra early because I feel that the roads will be slick as the crews probably haven't been out yet. I have a small breakfast and get my winter gear on. I head out and sure enough, the storm has started. The road crews here in my area are pretty good about keeping things relatively clear. But I was out early before them and the going was slippery at best. My 20 mile commute involves mostly two-lane country roads. Except for 15 minutes of 'county highway' rte. 130 (four-lane road). My job is south of me. So as I go further south, the storm gets heavier, visibility is near zero and the roads are absolute crap. It is slow going and the trip takes me almost 50 minutes as compared to the 35 it usually takes. Not awful but still...

So I get to within, I dunno, a fucking mile of my job, my cell rings. I look at the caller id and it is Mags. I assume she is calling to make sure I got to work o.k. (She's sweet like that) I pick up the phone and this is our conversation....

Me: Hey babe

Mags: Con? You aren't going to believe this.

Me: okay......

Mags: "Someone just called and asked for you. I told them you had left a long time ago and were headed to work..."

Me: "and?"

Mags: (slightly upset) "They said to turn around and come home. The sale has been cancelled."

Me: Are you fucking kidding me? I'm a mile from the place."

Mags: "Sorry. Why did they wait until ten minutes before your shift was going to start??"

Me: "Got me."

Mags: "Well come on home and be careful."

I turn around in the parking lot of a small soccer complex and begin the treacherous drive home.

The roads are continuing to get worse and I crawl along the side streets to rte 130. One of the bad things about winter in New Jersey is all the big SUV's and the people that drive them. They feel like they are completely safe and snow won't affect them. Therefore they drive like ass-bags.

The roads are covered in snow, covered and I have these people riding up my butt then roaring past me. I hope they all got where they were going in one piece.

So I come home, make tea and Mags continues to try and figure out why the company would do something like that.
Well good news is, I made home in one piece and now we will sit and watch the storm from the warmth of our little home.

If the storms got hold of you, i recommend you do the same

Not Good

So I'ma at work today and I'm finishing loading a trailer. I put the dock plate down but the end of the plate, the part that extends from the plate to the truck won't fold down.

Let me paint a picture, if I can. The plate is flush in the floor. When you want to load/unload a truck you raise it. You do this by pulling a ring that is in a hole in the plate. The ring is connected to a chain that raises/lowers the plate. At the end of the plate is a piece of steel that flips out when you raise the plate (to connect dock to truck) and when you pull the chain again, the piece of steel should fold back down and then the plate falls back into the floor. Got it? Good.

Well the small piece of steel at the end of the plate won't fold down so I decide to do it manually. The only way to do this is to stand in the trailer and push down. So push and push I did. With no result. I took a deep breath and pushed again. This time success! However, my foot is beneath the small piece of steel and instead of that small piece just folding down, the entire plate comes crashing down. On the end of my foot. My foot is pinned between the dock plat and the edge of the trailer. Not good. The pain, at first was pretty bad. I was able to get most of my foot out of my shoe in time but my poor big toe and his neighbor suffered the most. I did not go the the e.r., doc whatever. Because it really only hurt for a hour or three. I have since then looked at my toe and it looks like something Prince would wear on Halloween. Not pretty.

I was actually going to take a picture of my foot jammed in there but my brain was too busy processing the pain. Maybe I can recreate it tomorrow.

A Dirty 'Oul Day

I speak, again, of rain. It's bucketing here. Again.

So it's Sunday and I've not posted in a week. Honestly, nothing has been going on. Ive been working. Picking up some O.T. as we are having our warehouse sale. Even worked yesterday. Six hours. I'd rather be home but I'll enjoy the extra scratch in my check.

Got home from work and Mags had gotten herself all dolled up (She's cute without make-up too) and decided we needed to go out to eat. Sh'e right. We haven't been out in sooo long and really, who deserves it more than us? So we headed to our local Chilis. Dontcha just love Chilis? We were lucky to get in when we did. We were seated immediately and within ten minutes it was packed to the gills. We got the two for $20 deal. Our appetizer was the Tostada chips and salsa (which I think I could live on) and I had the ribs and Mags had a pulled pork sandwich. I'm not sure what 'pulled' pork is exactly. Maybe the pig that fought the hardest at the round-up? Not sure but Mags liked it. For desert we got the hot fudge brownie with vanilla ice-cream toppin' it. A very good dinner for under 30 bucks.

Next stop was to say hi to her folks and then it was home to watch 'Body of Lies' Interesting flick. Decaprio and Crowe did a good job on this one.

One of the best parts of winter coming is that we have broken out the down comforter. This thing is sweeet. It would keep you warm if you were sleeping outdoors in January. Seriously.

Well thats it for now. Exciting, I know. Stay warm.