Squirrels!

I passed a little tree this morning, you know the kind that the city
sticks in the median or by the sidewalk, and it was COVERED in
squirrels.

I counted 8 as I was driving by.

One was hanging from a lower branch by it's tail with it's little
front paw reaching out trying to get the shrub that grew below the tree.

I have no idea.

Things Change

I first got a commuter rail pass in 2009 because I was sick of traffic. I live 13 miles from work. On a good day it’s about a 40 minute drive. On a bad day, well once I had it take 1 ½ hours. For 13 miles. So I got a rail pass.

It turned out to be a good move because a few months later gas prices went through the roof for a while.

I did not renew it for 2010. Traffic was still bad, but gas prices weren’t and they had increased the cost of the pass. So I decided not to get one.

Towards the end of the year though, traffic started bothering me again so I decided for 2011 I would renew my pass.

All of this is to point out that I haven’t taken a train in about 1 ½ years.

And apparently, things change.

I printed out the current schedules and figured out which trains I needed to take. Naturally the times had changed just enough that they were kind of in between what I needed; one a little too early, the other a little too late.

So a couple of weeks ago I made myself get up 30 minutes early and I caught the later train.

I went to the spot I waited at 1 ½ years ago, and sure enough, at the correct time, the train comes out of the west. The only difference was the actual train. It wasn’t the double decked one it used to be. This one looked more like an AmTrack train and instead of a platform that you just step on to get in the train, it had steps. And they were a tad bit higher than my crunchy knees were happy with.

Good thing there was a hand rail to help haul myself up with.

I get to my stopping station, and the commuter bus to my building is still there. When I get on, it is about 20 minutes before my scheduled start time. I’m thinking this is great, I will be able to take the later train and still get to work on time. Then we sit there. And sit there. And sit there some more. I’m about to ask how long we actually sit there before we go, when a westbound train pulls into the station. Then the bus driver starts his engine. Oh, ok. So he has to wait for the other train before we can go.

Well I end up at my desk about 6 minutes late. Not too bad, but I decided that next time I will try the earlier train and see what time I get there.

After work I go out to the bus stop and pick up the bus back to the station.

Now. This station has two sets of tracks. The last time I was taking the train, 1 ½ years ago, only one track, the far one, was being used. I saw no indication that anything was different. When I got off that morning, it was on the far track. So I go over to the far side, sit down and start reading to pass the time.

A train pulls in behind me. On the tracks that 1 ½ years ago were not in use. And since I was reading and not paying attention, I didn’t see which direction it had come from, so I couldn’t tell which direction it was going.

I walk over to that platform, but all the doors on that side of train are blocked off and pulled up. After a few minutes a worker hops out a little door and starts fiddling under the train. I go up to him and ask if this train is eastbound. He says yes, but passengers are supposed to board from the other side.

I was on the wrong side of the tracks.

I explained that the last time I took the train, that track wasn’t in use, so as far as I knew, I was on the correct side. He took pity on me and unblocked one of the doorways and let me on, the whole time pointing to the other platform and making sure I understood that next time I needed to be over there.

So now it is a couple of weeks later. I haven’t taken the train again since then. I’m finally motivated enough to make myself get up an hour earlier so I can catch the earlier train and see what time it gets me to work. The $65 it took to fill the Jeep the other day, is what motivated me.

I go to the station. Stand in the usual spot. Here comes a westbound train, on the track behind me. And it stays there.

I eye it suspiciously, but I saw it come westbound, and I need to go east.

About 5 minutes later, on the track in front of me, here comes another westbound train.

Now I’m really confused.

I see the two conductor guys chatting at the far end of the platform so I head that direction. One conductor turns and hops on the one train and the other starts walking towards the other. He is about to hop on when I holler at him and ask him if one of these is going east. He points to the one he is about to get on and shakes his head at me, apparently quite amused.

I was on the wrong side. AGAIN.

I’m wondering if it was the same train guy from a couple of weeks ago.

The Continuing Adventures Of...

Handy Husband!

With the temperature in the teen's and twenty's, our heater has been running almost nonstop all week.

It took it's toll on Saturday evening.

I smelled something burning, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. I checked with Hubby to see if he was soldering something, but he wasn't. We went from room to room, checking outlets and power strips to see if anything felt hot, and sniff, sniff, sniffing, trying to pinpoint the burn.

No such luck.

After about 20 minutes, Hubby headed back to his computer workroom and I headed back to the family where I was cleaning and organizing (I know!).

I happened to walk directly under the air vent and got a strong whiff of the burning smell. When I mentioned to Hubby that maybe it was the heater and the smell was blowing out the vents and that's why we couldn't find it, he remembered that I had said the heater was making a funny noise that morning right after we got up.

He immediately went to work:

It took about 3 minutes for him to

decide it was the blower motor and to

start taking things apart.

He took it all apart,

then hit the internet.

He found the part on line, but it would have to be shipped here. After a little more looking around he found some local places that carried the motor. BUT they were closed Saturdays and Sundays. We would have had to go the rest of the weekend with no heat.

No thank you. It's not in the 20's, but it is far from warm.

So...

He vacuumed and cleaned and greased up the bearings.

Then put it all back together again.

It may not last, but it may buy us some time.

So far so good.

EditedToAdd: Well, it's official. It won't last. It is only buying us some time. It started making the noise again. I turned the temp way down, so it won't have to come on as often. Here's hoping it holds out until Monday at least. Then the place is open to buy the new motor.

Snow Days

It started during the wee hours of Tuesday. Rain. Then sleet. Then sleet mixed with snow. Then temperatures dropping to the 20's and teen's. Then the wind with gusts of 40-50 mph. Then the windchill in the negatives.

That all equals calling off work with a vacation day because: I don't drive on ice.

So I spent the day lounging in my jammies, watching tv, and doing a puzzle:

Wednesday there was still ice. It was still bitterly cold. The schools were still closed.

Another vacation day. Lazy Non-Teenager had a birthday the day before, so on the pretense of checking road conditions in preparation for me going to work on Thursday, we went and picked her up and went to lunch and a movie. Hubby drove (so he could play on the ice in the parking lots) so I didn't have to. The roads were slightly passable so I tentatively planned on doing a "late start" on Thursday. That way I would miss the morning traffic.

Thursday morning came and there was still ice. It was still bitterly cold. The schools were still closed. I decided I didn't want to do a late start. It just wasn't worth the risk of an accident.

Another vacation day. I was feeling a little guilty for not doing anything productive during all this at home time. So I caught up the laundry while watching all six Harry Potter movies. In my jammies.

I was definitely going to go to work on Friday. I made up my mind.

Until I got up Friday morning to this:

And it was still bitterly cold. And the schools were still closed. And while I know it is easier to drive on snow than ice, there is still quite a bit of ice under all that snow.

And I figured by this point, what the hell - vacation day.

I would like to report how productive I was Friday. How much organizing and rearranging and cleaning I did.

I would really like to.

But...yeah, another day in my jammies.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I have had the short hair cut for a few weeks now and...

The Good

I got lots of compliments on it.

I only need a dime sized blob of shampoo and not a fifty cent piece sized.

I don't have to hardly do anything to it, and it looks "styled".

It is much easier to color.

It feels lighter.

I don't have to continually push it behind my ear to keep it from falling in my face.

The Bad

I do have do something more than run a brush through it in the mornings.

My ears and neck are always COLD.

It never looks the same from day to day, I am just not good at hair styling, so when someone compliments me and says how they like my hair the way it is fixed today - oh well.

I really like the sensation of wind blowing through my hair and it really isn't the same with short hair.

The Ugly

I wake up with some seriously scary "bed head"

I know...The suspense has been killing you....

I haven't completely decided yet how I feel about it. I still startle myself if I just catch a glimpse of my reflection out of the corner of my eye.

Uh-Oh

My hair fell off.

I finally gave into The Urge.