Here We Go Again: Snowstorm Prep 2016

Prepare! Don't Let a #WinterStorm Take You by Surprise. https://t.co/1JnO1HYp5Y | https://t.co/Kr39xluFVE pic.twitter.com/dJQb3I4F9I

— NWS (@NWS) January 22, 2016

Things your bookseller might have in their bag. pic.twitter.com/mPHUQxEB0s

— Strand Book Store (@strandbookstore) January 22, 2016

Now, besides all of the things pictured above - which I have - and  the latter of which could be true for a bibliophile/librarian/ME, I also feel prepared for the IMPENDING SNOWSTORM JONAS OF DOOM 2016. 

I'm good.

As long as the power stays on and pipes don't burst that is, but the major feet of snow is going to end up south of us, at least "write now."

I'm really, really good. My fridge is full for the first time in MONTHS.

Because of the off-site work retreat in CT yesterday, I rented a car for 48hrs to get there, pop up to see friend Jane for dinner, head to my favorite Trader Joe's, and then do some errands today.

I could have done more errands but was doing a neighbor a favor, and due to the storm, the urgency was for groceries and beverages.

Here's my cart full at Trader Joe's, which somehow only ended up being 4 full brown-paper bags,and yet, the exact correct amount for my freezer, minus the packaging for some of the frozen brown rice. GO ME! 

(Dad, apparently I DO have some packing spatial relations after all, thank you very much! AND, despite people being jerks and cutting me off, driving with their hazards in the wrong lanes and not driving some of these CT routes in over 10 years, the car was returned fine, no worries, Susan.)

Not pictured in the stockup:

• the 3 flats of Diet Coke bottles and cans residing at the office (the office is Pepsi-stocked); 
• the stash of bags from Target with staples like chunky peanut butter and more soda for the house; 
• the 3 bags/boxes and easels and whiteboards and materials moved for the retreat; 
• and the trashed hauled.

I'm good for groceries and snow activities.  I've got:

• 20 books in a to-be-read pile,
• a bag full of work from the office, not to mention the remote connection to the office, 
• 2 unfinished baby blankets that I could work on, 
• 15 letters I have to write, 
• blog posts to "retroblog,"
• a pile of personal archiving,
• laundry/cleaning,
• filing/bill paying,
• baking/cooking, and oh yes, vegging.

I think I'm actually running a fever, so I'm off to pop NyQuil, get in my pjs, and crash. I'll wake up to a Winter Wonderland of some sort of storm.

Hunker down, ya'll.

Storm Skyviews

Just as a record, THIS is what the East Coast looked like the last few days:

Widespread winter storm as seen from space http://t.co/PJzwivTGl3 pic.twitter.com/MYqDjAMyhW
— NBC Nightly News (@NBCNightlyNews) March 5, 2015

Winter storm sweeps over US East Coast, bringing snow, sleet & freezing rain: http://t.co/kk7jE8XYpg @NOAASatellites pic.twitter.com/ULUiawiQrC
— NASA (@NASA) March 5, 2015

THIS pretty much sums it up. And probably the best way to deal with it.

@News12WC my budda is buried pic.twitter.com/h0DZdVn3ma
— Harmonay (@Harmonay1) March 5, 2015

Birthdays and Valentine's Day

Usually my birthday tradition involves some sort of "sick" day or personal day, but this year Mother Nature gave me an extra present. We seem to be in a winter pattern not seen in about 20 years - or what winters used to be: snow about every other day, a precipitation mix that lasts about 12 hours and sees sleet, freezing rain, snow, white out conditions, slush, ice and temperatures that cause snow to fall while the icicles melt - and then just as quickly freeze.

Or you know, a typical nor'easter.

In ye olde days, this would be a true SNOW DAY: a day free from work responsibilities, a day to watch movies, read a book, or hang out. (If you had a car or property it would involve snow removal. Blessed be the poor aka Nettie, for doth she have neither of these?) In ye new technology days, this means working from home, conference calls on Bluetooths, email, .pdfs, and "track changes/insert comments."

Still, it was a most excellent day - to work, take phone calls, listen to voice-mails sung in 5-part harmonies, and get well-wishes... and open presents.

Me thinks my friend Jenn hath heard the tales of my people one too many times. Forsooth, it came to pass that some of Nettie's present came hidden in this box. As in ... "I hope it's not what's in the..."

I started to laugh, but had to stifle it, in case it actually was. Friends make sure that their friends are of the "regular" variety and all. I mean, Jenn and I are "not normal," but ...

My Valentine's Day also start off treat: I got to sleep in. The snow was bad enough to alter train schedules and cause a late opening.

Sleep. Sweet Sleep. 

YOU are my true love. YOU hold the key to my heart.

Hearts by 'Cupid' for various colleagues

Scenes from the commute:

Still life: Shadows and Shovels

Snow is so deep, it covers the Arts for Transit at Hartsdale

Guess I'm not sitting there to wait for my ride!

Despite the snow, doesn't the Rosen House look happy to have people on the property?

Caramoor Rosen House

Summer Fridays 2013: Washed Out

After a very long, busy, hectic crazy winter, and an equally as intense spring, Big J employees start counting down for our much-beloved Summer Fridays. About May we start to dream of all the things we are going to do with these days off.

What we often forget to factor in is Mother Nature's odd sense of humor seasoned with a hefty dose of payback. May is also the cusp of Atlantic hurricane season - which the "authoritative" source Wikipedia says is "...currently defined as the time frame from June 1 through November 30."

June is when our Summer Fridays start.

Yesterday's first June Summer Friday is when the first named storm system of the season swept up the Atlantic coast and ended up drenching parts of New York with four to six inches of water.

Mother Nature is ticked off and karma's name was Andrea.

Unlike some of my colleagues I watch the long-range forecast. I knew it was coming. I had no outside plans. I had movies stockpiled, as well as projects, but instead decided to venture out and do some volunteering up at Caramoor -- of course. A busman's holiday seemed to be a good way to get out of the house, help out a worthwhile organization, see my friends, and really - a way to transition into the concept of a day off. I'm a workaholic .... it takes me a while to get the idea I'm not supposed to be working.

It was soggy on the train platform going north in the morning ... and for some reason, my train car smelled like wet dog!

But even in the rain, Caramoor is pretty as a picture. What's the old saying?

Red sky at night / Sailors delight 

Red sky in morning / Sailors take warning 

Rooster crows: It is grey / Rain rain, please go away

It was delightful to spend the day in familiar territory, even if most of the faces these days are new. I got to help out with the collation and stuffing of membership materials, all emblazoned with the new logo. This is the new member bag - which Christine took on our beach day trip a few months ago. 

via @caramoor's Instagram

Here are Talia and Karla are putting together pre-festival membership packages! Packed with parking passes, menus, etc. Those folder were packed with information, and should be hitting mailboxes sometime next week. I saw mine ... er. ... someone named Anon Y.. Mous ... got a special delivery ahead of the pack.

Did I ever point out these semi-hidden murals in back of the Administration building? Shame on me.

Look at all these colors and textures of this office building. How do I work in a big grey box every day? (Oh yeah, the many many reasons, including burn-out, paycheck sizes, and summers being not so busy.)

 

I ask you, though, how can you stand in the area between these two pictures, turn left, and then, in all certain earnestness, ask people coming out of these buildings: "Excuse me, where is the Box Office?"

 ??

Really. If Caramoor had a quarter for everyone that did exactly that ... THERE ARE 2 SIGNS ... RIGHT THERE!

On the way back through Katonah to the train, I spotted the only kind of bike I will ever consider getting ... an adult tricycle. (After my "shark" experience on the Cape - no two-wheelers for me.) I could actually tote groceries in this blue beauty. Plus, isn't the view on the Katonah platform much nicer?

One last note. When tropical storms come through, with their bands of wind and rain, umbrellas are pointless. You are going to get wet. It's just something you accept. So I stood out on the platform - in my "water-proof" hat. I understand the concepts "drowned rat" and "soaked to the skin" so much better.

Partly because ... well... Grace struck again.

What was a little rain on my head and shoulders when I was already wet from the ankles up anyway?

I was tromping through the swampy woodlands at Caramoor from the office to the car park, when I ended up knees first in the mud. The blur of green on the left there -- the exact moment it happened.

 WHOO HOO! Summer Fridays. Always an adventure.

Poem of the Day

Stormy day

Train delay

No sun outside

Sunglasses inside

Pressure builds

Room not chilled

Head to explode

Giant workload

Oy to vey

Wednesday

Retroblogging: Chicago Trip 2012, Unique Urban Oasis

Having grown up in a very distinctly-named Connecticut town, full of urban myths about frogs, TWO bowling alleys, a drive-in and a flea market, an AM radio station and a local paper, a "boom-box" parade, a Cupid contest, and other quaint bits that would seem odd to outsiders, I like to visit other towns and ferret out the little bits that make their areas unique.

While I didn't really get a chance to explore Kari's Kommunity while visiting in January, I did start to glimpse a few things that made me smile ... and that's no bull.

Despite the glaringly obvious sign that I was in Chicago Bulls country, I did feel welcomed to the neighborhood.

There were one or two things that did make me wonder though. Like, how much DOES it snow, if the town has to rig the Christmas tree that far up a light-pole?

 What EXACTLY is happening at the lake that needs to stay at the lake? (Which lake?)

How many local residents have sniggered when Wile E. Coyote tries to head into the gazebo area at Smitty's?

What do I do for clothing if I'm not looking for jeans and a cute top? Where do I shop?

 

I know how much wood it takes a wood chuck to chuck, since he can chuck wood. He chucks it into neatly stacked cord circles.  Personal note: These are so much more attractive than the cords and cords of wood that were dumped into my driveway as a kid, that then we had to stack floor to rafters in the garage, and then schlep into the house.

Given the recent "inclement" weather in New York, I've decided I need to start saving money to convert a concrete silo into a bunker. What? Why so specific on my type of real estate? Because although I dream of a beach adjacent cottage, recent events have shown me that one of these, in the heartland, is MUCH more of a solid investment.

I was looking like a dork when I took pictures of these at the local community college, but who's laughing now East Coast? Oh yeah -- the mid-West.

And, well, then there was this guy who made me miss my New England roots - don't tread on my antique furniture and all that.

Welcome to the neighborhood. Don't trespass, shoplift, do a U-turn in my lot, ask me to bargain, and stay off my lawn, you damn tourist you. But welcome!

Maybe I won't move to Illinois after all.

Sandy: Spared and not Spooked

I am very grateful and relieved to relay that my little Attic, building, and neighborhood were spared most of the ravishes of the hurricane (aka FrankenStorm aka Superstorm aka the Sno'eastercane) known as Sandy.

Although I was up in CT visiting ye old homestead, Grumpa Max, Jenn, Wendy and Ms. Emily, the forecast was dire enough that plans were cut short so I could return to NY, unload my rental car, return it, and get on one of the last MetroNorth trains before the system was frozen. I was able to get all my emergency supplies of candles, soda, bread, and Diet Coke tucked away next to the food storage tins Dad brought East from the land of the 72 hour kits, fill the bathtub, make sure the freezer was full of ice, have the cooler ready next to the water supply, and to sit and wait to see what Mother Nature would wrought.

I even took pictures of the local river and highway so I could do before and after shots. In previous storms, the river has flooded the highway and trees have come down. 

The Bronx River

Having prepared as much as I could, I 'hunkered' in. The most scary part in the early stages was making sure that Dad was able to fly out of Hartford and back to Vegas. His was one of the last flights out Monday morning, much to everyone's relief. Especially his. (Next time, I believe he will be packing more than just a trip's worth of medication -- WON'T YOU DAD!?)

The waiting is what begins to get on your nerves. The pressure literally plays havoc with your brain. I had the worst migraine until about 9 p.m. on Monday - the day we got the brunt of it. However, I have learned one of the best things to do is actually turn off the television and radio for the most part, and to use common sense. Don't go outside. Don't go near the windows. Take all the potentially flying debris out of Mother Nature's way. Prepare. Be Calm. Carry on. Then don't be stupid when things look to be over. Stuff actually is more dangerous in the 6-36 hours afterward.

I can't say that all of my neighbors quite get this. The stupid upstairs neighbors, they of the illegal fire-escape Christmas lights, still hadn't taken them down, from last year, and they were unfastening in the wind, swinging down, and BANGING on my windows until I went up and pounded on their door and told them that I was going to pull them off if they didn't freakin' take them down -- HOURS into the hurricane winds. STUPID STUPID STUPID! I am still annoyed at the upstairs stomping neighbors, but I was more 'understanding' of the people on my floor. Understanding enough to be prepared to be the Crazy Craft Community Children's Entertainer for the 5 kids of varying ages on my floor if the power had gone out. When talking to one of my little neighbors, I asked what she was going to do if the power went out. She didn't know. She doesn't like to read. She didn't have games or puzzles, so she was just charging her iPod and hoping. Now ... Please. That's just ridiculous. I remember being her age in a hurricane and being shut in, but I knew how to entertain myself then, and now! I said fine and told her and her mom I had a plan. If the power went out, I had scissors, paper, pens, stamps, stamp pads, yarns, and stuffing, and we'd set up in the hall under the emergency flood lights with candles and have craft time. We'd make Christmas cards, work on snowflakes for our doors (we always have a "contest"), learn how to crochet, and make it a party -- thus entertaining the kids, charging their imagination, distracting them, giving them and their parents a break. I am kind of relieved it didn't come to it, but I know if it does, I  ... need more crafting supplies to be part of the storm prep, as well as batteries and candles.

Luckily, although we had some scary power flickers, we never lost cable, the Internet, or power. I was able to text, tweet, e-mail, and call people all day and through today. The winds were crazy, but the rain and winds have been worse for other storms. I also don't live near the ocean and am far enough inland that we were spared. I only found out tonight about how lucky this building was -- the one right next door is without power. Let's hear it for post-WWII brick low-rises. They may shake and sway in the wind, but for this storm at least, she held together.

I can't say the same for some of my NYC colleagues' situations. I'm sure the newscasts and photos don't do it justice. I know that some people of certain ages (those 20 somethings) had absolutely NO idea what to do with themselves when the power was out, or how to prepare, or how to deal with things even now. This may have been their first hurricane, now that I think about it. A lot of them lost power. Many are stuck in Brooklyn, Queens, and lower Manhattan with no way, for now, to get to work. (They may, or may not, be unhappy about this.)

I did venture out on Tuesday to assess. The river didn't overflow it's banks and the highways (as far south as I could see) have no trees down on the roads. The only real damage to my neck of the woods was in our strip mall. The main CVS sign is gone. The Dunkin' Donuts was closed so none of the local cops could stock up, even though the Starbucks was open. The 7Eleven was out of important things like chips, bread, and ice, and the papers couldn't get delivered, but the guys were calm, cruising through Lotto ticket sales, and charging people's cell phones and mobile devices.

School for the local and NYC kids was cancelled through the week. The Big J was closed for classes and staff on Monday and Tuesday. By today, classes were cancelled but staff were encouraged to get in if they could.

WHICH WAS/IS RIDICULOUS 

The NYC transit system is a mess! Luckily I commute through mid-Town and the Upper West Side which was spared, but the transit system wasn't even beginning to assess until late today. People did try to drive in, which apparently TOOK HOURS.

I spoke with my supervisors as early as Sunday and basically said I was going to work from home, as I could, until the situation stabilized, with a guesstimate of Friday ... maybe ... trying to get back. Guess what? I was right. I *might* deign to go to the office on Friday, but given that most of my work is in a database or e-mail? Welcome to the 21st century; I'm working from home!

Once things calm down I will be talking to my database colleague about our emergency back-up plan, for the server and the back-up of the back-up. The organization got lucky this time. We might not be next time. We're not that many blocks from the Hudson River and just lucky it "surged" mostly down-town and not that far in-land.

The only major bummer for the neighborhood kids was the apparent town curfew. This sign appeared on one of the doors on our floor. (Yes, the typo is driving me absolutely crazy.)

Which was too bad. There were some cute decorations put up in anticipation of Halloween. Mine is the one on the left -- all from my trash/recycling.

Usually I dress up as Ms. I'm-not-home or The Grumpy Neighbor Lady Who Doesn't Answer the Door. This year, since the kids knew I was home, I had to come up with a costume and go buy some candy, since I didn't think they wanted apples and/or granola bars. I did have a stash of Cyclops hats,

and then I remembered I had this t-shirt from years and careers past.

So I was a Scary Children's Librarian - threatening to SHUSH or hand out apples but really handing out NERDS to those kids who wanted candy. I purposely bought the NERDS. I figured I might as well give into the stereotype. I had one 10 year old lace-clad-goth-vampy girl that I intentionally gave the apple to and said, "Use this and say you are the cover of the Twilight novel." Luckily she hadn't read it, but the mom totally got the reference. Which is fine. I think 10 is still too young for the first Twilight novel. Why set her up for disappointment? Edward is .... well, let's not get into that right now. (Go Team Jacob! or something, I like The Host the most.)

Had I had more time, these are what I wanted to get together for my trick or treaters. I saw these at a bake sale/craft fair in Chelsea when I was running around earlier this month, and of course, wanted to "borrow" the idea. Clear catering gloves, some Tootsie rolls, M&Ms, Swedish Fish, and microwave popcorn. Healthy, unique and creepy. NEXT YEAR!

So that was my experience with Sandy. Lots of prep, lots of supplies, luckily no loss of power, life, or limb, and a few days off and then working from home. I am very very very fortunate indeed.

Please extend your prayers to those snow bound, or those further south in New Jersey and part of New York City, and up into New England, that were ravished by rain, floods, and fires. They will need your thoughts in the days ahead.

As for me, I will be giving blood at a blood drive on Friday (pre-scheduled, but now urgently needed), taking brownies into thank some of the MTA information/technical crew that hasn't been home since Sunday, and possibly donating some perishable supplies to a local food bank.

Be prepared.
Be smart.
Be calm.
And
Be a Good Neighbor.

For more on hurricane preparedness, please refer to this information prepared by the Red Cross at:
http://www.redcross.org/prepare/disaster/hurricane

I will also be browsing the aisles at Paintball, Food Storage, Violins and More in St. George a little more carefully this coming Christmas vacation.

Photo of the Day: After the storm

Skies clearing to the east.
On the horizon, above the rooftops, watching clouds chase themselves in and out of dreams.