Now doesn't it make you feel better...?

Apologies for the moodiness today, but I need to rant here, so brace yourselves.

2 weeks ago, my IT guys sent a company wide message: No streaming audio allowed henceforth. Ok, no problem, I can deal with that, I can bring in my MP3 player even though this means I won't be up on the leading edge of indie rock during the week. I later learned that this is the humpy emailing puzzle retard's fault. Apparently she got the bright idea to do it herself, but she lacked speakers. So she goes to the IT guy and asks him for speakers, he says "what for?". She says so I can listen to the radio online. He says well you're not supposed to be doing that. She says why not, so and so does it (another co-worker who also cannot stand LL). Then the email went out, no more streaming audio.

But that's just the start of it. A day later, I try to get onto Facebook. Denied access by Barracuda firewall - Social Networking. I try Youtube (so I can do my Friday videos). Denied. (When embedded in a blog, it shows up as an empty space.) Red Sox Nation Ning, Flickr, livejournal. Denied. Denied. Denied.

Bastards.

But here's the kicker. I missed a company wide meeting on Wednesday while in New York where the CEO announced - after over 9 months of planning that the office would relocate from 35 miles away to the next town over from where I live - that we would not be moving the office due to our numbers not being met and the current economy being the way it is.

This totally blows because I've been anticipating it and it would help out a number of us that live in the more urban area from having to drive to the Mad River Valley. Carpooling isn't working out as well as I'd like it to although it seems that more of an effort is going to be made and HR is going to restart an effort in coordinating a vanpool, of course they're reluctant to pay for or subsidize it at all. But they've been doing that whole song and dance since they've been anticipating the move and courting more commuters from Chittenden County. Now that gas is about 3.50 a gallon give or take a couple pennies, it's really starting to hurt so much so I'm seriously considering leaving the company, I've already started looking online. When I started working there, I was just a newly married guy. Now with a child, I would really like to be home more with Sierra instead of the added commute time.

What was also disturbing was when it was announced, the local townies, one of them my manager were high-fiving and celebrating - how rude and inappropriate. She said and did a couple of other things which were also rude and inappropriate, and that really bothers me.

I wish I could be like Peter Gibbons of Office Space: "I don't think I'm gonna go anymore."

To finish, since it's Friday, get your Doc Martens on 'cause we're going back to 1994 and doing some moshing with Nine Inch Nails. To sum up: it just about sums up my day.

Catching up...

Just a couple pictures from Easter. Sierra looked very pretty in her Easter dress, although we don't go to church anymore, we dressed her up for the family dinner. The bunny brought her a tinkerbell Easter basket with tinkerbell toys, plastic toy kitchen utensils and blocks instead of candy.

Friday it snowed again (so much for being the second day of spring) and on the way into work about 3 car-lengths in front of me a pickup truck wiped out which gave me quite a fright. He was traveling quite fast in the left lane, pulled a "Dale Earnhardt" crossing traffic in the right lane, hit the guard rail head-on, bounced off and came to rest in the median of the interstate highway just before the exit I was about to get off. My vehicle was untouched and I was able to slam on the brakes and make it through, although it could have just as easily been a 6+ car pile-up. Right then after everyone had come to a halt a 20-25 foot diesel truck came barrelling through, narrowly missing the pickup truck which already had its front bumper smashed off.

To make up for the loss of Friday's post, here's the Friday Video. My workload at the job has increased so apologies for the relative inactivity, but essentially I'm pretty overwhelmed now with work. Right, here's Black Kids with "I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance"

Hold On

I could see the terror in its eyes, begging pleadingly not to die. As I applied my foot to the brake, I did with such fervor and gusto like never before. Tires squealed and the vehicle skidded slightly askew. There it was, in the middle of my travelling lane. It had jumped from the snowbank over the rail onto the frozen asphalt.

***

I got the car up to 50 after passing through the village and entering into the countryside once again. Up ahead just on the right were three wild turkeys just hanging out on a snowbank on the side of the road. One either brave or stupid turkey which was of good solid size decided to challenge my brakes. This was the eventful part of my commute this morning.

Sledding Is Now an Approved Vermont P.E. Curricular Activity

Basketball, running, softball, and square dancing. This is the stuff of gym class, also known as PE or Phys Ed.

On my way into work this morning, I passed a Middle School for kids ages 10-13 that sits next to a sizeable hill as I do on a daily basis. This morning however I noticed there were a good number of kids at the top of it all with sleds. It was not a snow day as I verified with my coworkers, although we did receive about another inch of snow last night on top of the foot of snow we got Wednesday night. The time was about 8:15, so not knowing what time school began, I thought maybe these kids were getting in a last minute slide before school begins at 8:45 or 9. But no, this school isn't in a residential neighborhood, it is a good 1/4 mile from the nearest house, and all the kids are bussed in from neighboring towns.

Then I thought, they must have begun class at 8 and this is part of their PE class. Yes, that's it. How cool would that be? Go to school, grab a sled, hike to the top of the hill and go whizzing down it. I'm now insanely jealous.

However my elementary school had its quirks. In winters, when possible, part of the schoolyard was flooded creating a skating pond. The gym teacher had a collection of kids' ice skates, although I cheated in a way and had double blade skates my parents got me. Of course I was made fun of for this (shocking) and begged my parents for a pair of real skates with just the single blade. I eventually got some, learned to play ice hockey, and in my adolescent years made my way back to that schoolyard to play stick and puck / pick-up games.

Any quirky PE activities in your schools? Do tell.

Have a cracking weekend!

The Early Bird

I used to be able to park right in front of the building in which I work. Every day. Even if I was late sometimes.

This morning, I left the house a few minutes early because the old lady was getting on my last nerve, and I wasn't carpooling today with KC (that's another story that I'm none too pleased about, but boo-hoo). I stopped at the store as usual to pick up a breakfast sandwich and a Monster Java coffee drink.

Nowadays, all the good parking spaces have been taken by the neophytes and temps that get in at 8am with the new program we're running, providing the locals with underpaying underbenefitted jobs while making our customer have longer hold wait times on the phones. Quite ineffective really, and taking up precious good parking spaces too by these undeserving n00bs.

But what a difference 15 minutes makes, I got a shiny, lovely parking space, not more than 20 feet from the door, and I didn't have to park in the visitor's or VP's spot to do it. And that helps when it's only 11 F / -10 C and snowing outside.

Simple pleasures, really.

Anatomy of a Commute: a Pictorial

Ah, leaving the condo. Freedom, sweet freedom. Ooh, the sun is coming up, it looks like it's going to be a nice day. But brrrr... it's cold!

Ah sh*t, gotta scrape.

Great, traffic. Stopped at the five corners light in the centre of town.

Ah, Mickey Dees. But I can't stop today, I'm running a bit late.

Picking up my carpool mate, KC.

On the highway now, going through the suburbs. Traffic's not as bad as it can be sometimes.

Opening back up to countryside.

Off the highway, and a stop at our regular convenience store. Also doubles as a liquor store and in the summer a creemee* stand. So you can put Grand Marnier on your ice cream cone.

Passing The Alchemist, they brew some excellent brews. And if you have too much to drink, you can go upstairs to the tattoo parlor above. Normally driving through this town you can smell Green Mountain Coffee all through the town, but not today.

Going uphill to 1100', a hairy drive when the roads are snow covered.

Back in the Mad River Valley, I just missed a great view of Sugarbush Mountain Ski Resort.

Made it just in time, with 4 minutes to spare.

Beautiful view out my window, with a nice touch of hoar frost on the trees.

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* Creemees - Vermonter for soft serve ice cream cones.

Snow or No Snow

I woke up a few minutes ago, hoping to see some snow on the ground. It's still dark outside, so I can't see that it's falling, but there's none on the ground. In a way I'm relieved; driving home near freezing on wet roads make me fear for black ice, that invisible slick icy spot on the road that sends me careening into a ditch.

The bulk of my 70-some mile round trip commute goes through some valleys and hills (at one point rising to 1100 feet of elevation where it has snowed while rain settled in the valley). One valley I drive through is a 15 mile stretch of 4-lane interstate which is essentially a gorge, with 2 of the tallest mountains in the state on either side; Bolton Mountain and Camel's Hump. This stretch is notorious for accidents in the winter. In the 3 winters that I've worked there, I've avoided disaster, sometimes on bald tires. Here's hoping for one more accident-free winter; supposedly next summer the company will move closer to my home, which will make my life so much easier.