Blizzard of '13 vs. Nemo

After thinking about it a while, I have decided that the Weather Channel's new policy of naming winter storms is just silly. What tipped the scales? Winter storm Nemo. In my frame of reference, Nemo is an adorable clown fish in one of the best animated movies ever made, Pixar's Finding Nemo. What Nemo is not is a major snow storm / blizzard featuring 70+ MPH winds, around 28 inches of snow and drifts over 4 feet tall.

I was actually away on business earlier this week and, along with what appeared to be half the population of New England, decided to push up my arrival so I could make it home before the storm. I actually couldn't get home on Thursday evening because all flights to New England were sold out. I got as far as DC, where I overnighted at one of my favorite hotels, the Hyatt Regency in Crystal City. Incredibly convenient to the airport, stylish, and my room had a view of the Washington Monument. If I had to get stuck somewhere, that hotel is easily in my Top 10.

I had a confirmed seat on the 6:30 am shuttle into Boston. It was rather like the last flight out of Saigon; I wouldn't be surprised if there were people clinging to the landing gear. We took off on time and landed a whole 1 minute early. My last minute car service was waiting (the service that cancelled on me later called to ask if I still wanted a ride - tacky), and I was home by maybe 9 am.

It was starting to snow, but there was still time to hit the grocery store (mushrooms, cauliflower and garam masala - I am not a bread and milk sort of shopper) before hunkering down to ride out the storm. It really didn't start until the afternoon, but when it came, it came with vengeance. This is what it looked like out my front door around 9 pm:

The plows passed through periodically through the night, so you can kind of pick out where the streets are supposed to be. I rather expected to lose power, because typically whenever the wind is stronger than, say, a sneeze, the transformers in our neighborhood start popping off like fireworks and we lose power. I pumped up the heat before going to sleep, just in case, but awoke to a warm, powered on house and even more snow. Of course, the worst of it was the blowing snow drifts. It had piled up to a depth of at least 4 feet on my back patio. The view out my sliders was like looking into the middle of an ice core:

It's a little tough to see, but trust me, it was even tougher to shovel. Which is what I mostly did yesterday. I shoveled the front walk first, since the snow was piled up to the point where I could barely open the door. Then, I had to shovel the back patio, so that I could get to my utility room in the event of an emergency. I could barely open the sliders wide enough to shovel out a little square to step out onto. By the time I had cleared the patio, the walkway was several inches under snow, so I re-shoveled that, then cleared a path to the side of my car.

When the snow finally stopped, around 11 am, and the plows came out, it was time to extract the car. Let me give Toyota a well earned attaboy here - the snow covered the entire front of the car, and I was plowed in by a 3 foot high, 4 foot wide snow berm. I turned on the car, hit the gas and *poof* out I went on the first try with no issues and, better yet, no problems with steering or control. Hooray for the RAV-4.

After all of that shoveling, I can barely lift my arms, let along go out looking for Nemo. Which is, of course, entirely unnecessary, since Nemo most decidedly found us. With hundreds of thousands of people still without power, and many coastal homes damaged or destroyed, one cannot say we got off easy. However, the decision to close roads to nonessential traffic and the advanced notice definitely prevented a disaster like the Blizzard of '78. Which, incidentally, wasn't named Dory.

Beat the Cold in New Mexico

Having recently returned from my last weeks in exile in Idaho (bloody freezing Idaho), I decided it was time for a change of scenery and went down to Las Cruces, NM for a few days. This was partly to thaw (it was a lovely 60-70 degrees) and partly to visit with a good friend who transferred down there, oh, 2 years ago now.

The easiest way to get to Las Cruces is to fly into El Paso, TX and then drive ~40 minutes west. By New Mexico standards, Las Cruces is pretty large, and is home to a university, which definitely improves the caliber of the food and entertainment options. There is also a NASA research center and a missile range. Unlike most facilities, this one actually has a museum open to the public. So, if you want to go admire the missiles, or see what they claim is the most intact V2 rocket left in the world, Las Cruces is your destination.

For logistics purposes, the missile museum is located ~25 minutes from downtown Las Cruces, traveling East on Highway 70. It's basically the only right turn you can take after you cross over the pass for a good 40 miles, so its hard to miss. It is a military base, so you have to stop by the visitor center. You can get a temporary car pass, but the weather was fabulous, so we just decided to walk the <1/4 mile to the museum.

Mostly, we just relaxed and hung out eating Mexican food. There are some great options, ranging from the traditional (La Posta de Mesilla) to local (My Brother's Place) to homemade (disastrous). Mesilla is so close it's practically part of Las Cruces, though it's technically a separate town. It used to be a stagecoach stop on the old Butterfield trail route, and has a very cute old town square.

I celebrated my new mobile status with a little hiking in the Organ mountains. We didn't go all the way up to Hermit Pass (there was some snow at the higher elevations and I didn't want to push that far), but enough to do more than sit and eat. One of the real highlights of the area is getting to see the sunsets, which are pretty uniformly incredible:

Since I was visiting a friend, I didn't have to worry about hotel costs, though I have been there before and give the thumbs up to the Staybridge Suites and a qualified recommendation to the Encanto (qualified because, while it's a nice hotel, the service can be a bit uneven and they don't offer a loyalty program). If you're not that into Mexican, there's also surprisingly good Asian food, it is a college town after all, at Katana down on University, Thai Delight in Mesilla, and Asian/Southwest Fusion at Aqua Reef. If you're really hungry, eat at Tiffany's - a Greek and Italian place walking distance from the Encanto. The food is good (esp. the baklava) and the portions are enormous. 

I did stay in El Paso the night before my flight at the Radisson's airport location. I prefer the Hyatt Place down on I-10, but it was booked (I'm guessing a conference?). The Radisson has some good points, such as the free cooked-to-order breakfast and the sleep number beds, so it's not that I object to staying there. The Hyatt is just a better fit for my taste and style. They also offer a more generous shuttle service, so I can return my car the night before. There's a little dive called L & J's near the graveyard off the freeway that is a favorite. Great food, but it can get a little noisy when there's a game going on.

In all, a great weekend. One of the best parts? It was the coldest week of the year in New England, and I missed most of it wandering around the warm southwest. Back to reality. It snowed yesterday. Only 2 inches or so, but enough to remind me its still winter. 

Oh! And I finished painting the office! I'm very excited. I like the light blue with the curtains (a dark chocolate brown). Now I just need to paint the hall and the other guest room so I don't have to worry about getting paint on the new carpet that I hope to put down later this year. Yay for finishing something.

Finally, on a sad note, one of my favorite cross stitch pattern places, Witch Stitch & Bits (http://www.xstitchgirls.co.uk/WSnB/), is closing at the end of January. They're having a huge sale (though the patterns were never expensive) and one of the partners is continuing independently, but its sad to see any of the site go, there are so relatively few of them.

Alas, No Death Star

Recently, a petition was submitted to the White House to build a Death Star as a "stimulus" project.  Not unexpectedly, the White House declined to add this initiative to it's 2014 budget request. On a more positive note, the response was largely humorous in a tongue in cheek way - start with the title "This is not the petition response you're looking for". Also, I have to grant they have a point about spending $850 quadrillion plus on a space station vulnerable to successful attack and obliteration by a one manned fighter... or the Millennium Falcon. I think they left a little too much room for ambiguity, though, in their stated policy opposing the annihilation of planets - what about large impactors? Earth was (granted a LONG time ago) smashed into by a Mars-size body, it could theoretically happen again...

This was my first week back at work after an extended period of time off (burning down use or lose vacation time) and everyone is sick. Its so bad that I fear the colleague in the cube across the aisle may actually be becoming a zombie. I have decided I really don't like sitting around all day. I'm not sure what I can do to address that, besides maximizing all possible excuses for getting up and walking around. It's a delicate balance - sitting at my desk makes me bored and unproductive but if I spend too much time away from my desk I will be similarly unproductive. Too bad I can't get one of those treadmill desks, but since our office supply budget has been cut to the point where I bring in my own staples, I'm not counting on that.

For many people, January is diet season, which means it's also the peak of pseudo science season as well. Sugar is poison! Raspberry ketone will make you lose weight even if you eat 5000 calories a day and never walk further than the refrigerator! Do a cleanse and lose 80 lbs! Oy oy oy. Here's reality - if you use some wonky fad to lose weight without making a more substantial change in lifestyle, you will gain back every single ounce plus more. In the interim, the resolutioners are crowing my gym and not wiping down the equipment (eww!). They also don't like the answer to "what's your secret"(there is no secret - eat healthy whole foods and work out regularly while enjoying treats in moderation), which tells me that they'll mostly be gone in another 3 weeks and life will get back to normal.

Oh, and I finally got the all clear for the elliptical, fitness walking and moderate jogging. WHOO!

2013 Goals & Resolutions (plus an Unexpected Hobbit)

I debated the whole resolution thing this year. It seems to me that if you want to make changes in your life, you should just go ahead and do it, and not wait for the new year. Still, January 1 is a natural time to reassess what you're doing in your life and as I looked over mine, I was inspired to make some additional changes. These are partially resolutions, but more accurately goals - things I want to do, or to do differently this year:

• Renovate my master bathroom - its ridiculous that I've lived in this house going on 7 years and I've never once used the master bath because I despise it so. I'm fortunate to have a less despicable guest bathroom, but still...
• Finish my assorted house and crafty projects - I swear I'm like that dog from Up, I start a project and it's going well and then something pops up...SQUIRREL!!!... and I get distracted and things don't get finished. Case in point, my 3rd bedroom - I spent two weekends prepping the walls (spackle, sand, repeat), painting the trim and windows, etc and in the 4 months since, I have yet to get around to painting the room. Doh.
• Purge closets (and house) of accumulated *stuff* - until I moved in here, I moved every year or so, and when you have to pack up and schlep your stuff with that kind of regularity, you have regular chances (and motivation) to declutter and streamline. Suddenly, the unfillable vastness of my condo, more than half empty when I moved in, is getting full. I don't need all this stuff, it's time to downsize

I also want to keep up assorted things I've been working on the past year, such as working out regularly and maintaining good eating habits. I also need to make time to do things I like, and not feel guilty if that means doing things alone. Most of my friends are married, and several have children. I'm willing to do kid- or couple-friendly things most of the time. But not all the time. This week, I put my foot down - I am NOT going to go see Monsters Inc in 3D. I'm glad some adults think it's cute, I'm glad it so kid friendly, but I am not paying movie theater prices for something I can watch on netflix if I want to just because it's 3D, which is how I wound up in the Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey instead.

Most people apparently went for the standard showing, which was all but sold out, while the 3D showing was only about 30% filled. I got a great seat and even sprang for a small popcorn. I'm not going to pretend that the 3D was a mind-blowing marvel, but it was fun. The film was good, Martin Freeman plays Bilbo brilliantly, the special effects were fabulous and Thorin was unexpectedly hot. I know that Jackson pulled background material from the LOTR appendices, but he made events contemporaneous which Tolkien actually described as happening up to a century apart - so I'm on the side that says they fluffed it out to 3 films (instead of 2) for financial rather than artistic integrity reasons. The highlight, of course, was Andy Serkis' Gollum and the Riddles in the Dark scene was tremendously well done.

Post movie, we did all go out to dinner, where the childless spent 2 hours complaining about Monsters Inc while the parents were too distracted by the logistics of children and Chinese food for much conversation. Overall, I'd say I had the better time and I'm fine with sitting in a different theater (you're supposed to be sitting quietly in the dark anyway) while sharing our post-movie meal in the future. Of course, if we all agree on the film of the week, I'm also happy to join in for a shared movie experience.

Anyway, actions speak louder than words, so it's time to go tape over the trim, put down some plastic and paint the office.