“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 701 (Saturday) - tracks and snacks

It’s still winter. I keep hoping to wake up and it’s suddenly spring with fresh new plant growth and the earthy smell when the world comes back to life. Instead, the gutter at the corner of the house is leaking and the trash and recycle bins were encased in ice. Winston has to be coaxed out to the frozen tundra of the front yard where, for the past few days, a faint scent like skunk spray has hung in the morning air. There was a fresh dusting of snow atop the crusted snow, with a trail of bunny tracks from under the rhododendron and traversing across the yard and back in a loop pattern. 

Wordle stats - Day 3

There were mildly interesting reasons to leave the house that would likely have been temptations to spend money on artwork and trinkets for which there is no space to display. None of the reasons was truly compelling. It was easy to stay inside and handle the laundry and cuddle Winston. As much as he’ll let me that is. Without Moose around to compete for my attention, Winston is less interested in snuggling next to my leg or having me rub his head. 

My Wordle game is improving, with today’s puzzle solved in three guesses. Yesterday’s puzzle was done in four, and the day before, my first attempt was successful in five.

When letting Winston out to the back yard, multiple sets of bunny tracks were noticed from the back yard and the back of the car and veering off to the front yard. Maybe it’s one bunny on many trips, or maybe it’s several bunnies on a mission and the driveway is the main commuter route.

Cookbooks were reviewed but everything felt like too much work. Instead of cooking proper meals like pasta and sauce, or quiche, or a new pot of soup, poor and lazy food choices were made. It was potato chips for lunch. Just potato chips. Plain ones, as the cheddar and sour cream were finished a couple days ago. Considering they were bought before last weekend’s blizzard, it’s a personal best that they lasted this long.

I've been abandoned.

The current eggroll obsession continues, with one for supper. Again. Followed by more potato chips. There were lemon creme cookies scattered throughout the day. Winston expressed interest in my existence while chips were being chomped, because, apparently, my chips bring all the boys to the couch. Once he realized he wasn’t getting any, he was less interested in me and abandoned me in favor of his bed. It's like we are old married people. 

During the afternoon, there was one excursion to the driveway to chisel the frozen snow off the car. Even with the engine running and defroster blasting, the snow on the windshield was tough to get off, and the snow on the roof was impossible. After 30 minutes, the windshield and hood were cleared, but the best I could get on the roof was “less.” Hopefully I can get the rest removed tomorrow morning before I need to head out. The trash and recycle bins were attacked with the shovel to crack the ice and free the lids in anticipation of loading bags and recycling for Monday's pickup.

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 700 (Friday) - slush and stuff

Rain. Snow. Sleet. We saw it all today. Luckily, there was a plan in place yesterday for the team to work remotely today. That bit of managerial planning removed the weather-related stress that would have accompanied the day. Thank goodness for small blessings.

Winston navigating ice-crusted snow.

Twice during the day there were quick breaks to push the slush and water and frozen granular snow around with a shovel. Twice, a plow came down the street after I had cleared openings to both driveways and created fresh obstacles to egress. 

Ever since a couple years ago when the city repaved the street, the puddle that used to collect in the street in front of my driveway now forms large and deep in my driveway. The municipal gift that keeps on giving is super fun. The collected water and slush was dark, muddy and disgusting as it launched off my shovel in an arc onto a nearby snowbank.

Winston was coaxed outside a couple times and it took maximum effort. Once, while out in the backyard, he kept sinking through the crusty snow and was up to his leg pits in snow. When he wasn't sinking, he was sliding like Bambi on ice. Winston my little trooper kept on walking, seemingly unfazed. Once he was back inside, though, he wanted no part of returning outside. He either exhibited amazing bladder control throughout the day, or was very sneaky and clever in where he snuck off to pee, because I haven’t found any wet spots yet, despite checking.  

Soju and lobster eggroll
budget-friendly fine dining.

The food front featured comfort food for lunch – leftover American Chop Suey baked in a dish with cheese. The freezer was restocked this week with egg rolls from Family Dollar and tonight’s supper selection was allegedly lobster. 

Whatever the wrapper says, the shrimp, chicken, lobster, and vegetable all taste the same. They are still good. Jinro Soju (Korea’s most popular liquor!) was chosen to accompany the $1.25 gourmet budget-friendly meal. Yes, the eggroll price increased by $0.25 since a couple weeks ago. Nothing is safe from inflation these days. 

The entertainment option for the early show was Burlesque, a 2010 movie with Cher and Christina Aguilera. Somehow, I never saw this before, but back in 2010 I had a friends and a social life that involved real people in real life. It’s not completely horrible, and it's got some great song and dance performances that make me wish I had 1/10^th the talent of either of these women and also that I had kept dancing through college and also taken those burlesque classes in Nashville a dozen years ago. Sigh. 

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 699 (Thursday) - no satisfaction

And just like that, done.

The tinnitus is out of control today. Somedays it is barely noticeable, and others it is overwhelming. There are no clues as to what causes the tinnitus pendulum to swing from one extreme to the other. Today featured a shrill and most unpleasant soundtrack that accompanied the afternoon and evening.

In other news, earlier this week I finished the Finnish lessons on Duolingo. It happened suddenly, and I  had no idea this would happen until I got a message that I had earned the "Level 5 trophy." It seems it should be a happy thing to complete a course of study, but right now, it's mostly disappointing. 

I’ve learned some interesting phrases. There is “This song grooves like a moose” (Tämä biisi svengaa kuin hirvi), and of course "The cat is a Viking" (Kissa on viikinki), but those aren't exactly going to help me hold a conversation in Finnish. There has been a considerable amount of time pondering what the heck grooving like a moose is supposed to be. Does that mean it’s wicked good? Or wicked awful?

No more words means
no scholar badge for me.

There are still accolades to be earned. I was number 1 in the Obsidian League, poised to advance to Diamond League, when I ran out of lessons and victory was cruelly snatched from my grasp. No lessons available means no points and no points means no league advancement. Clearly, there can be no scholar badge for learning 1,500 words in a single course when the course was completed at 1,000 words, and that is quite unsatisfying. 

This Duolingo situation is about as frustrating and unfulfilling as the goals planning program we use at work. We have to enter personal and professional goals, but the system doesn't include a way to mark them as completed. Cripes, the best part of a list is crossing things off.

Sometimes even when you win, you still can’t get no satisfaction.

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 698 (Wednesday) - lessons learned

Current breakfast fixation.

There was an early log in to the work computer to get a jump on email and a couple things before heading out for two more photo shoots. 

Breakfast was the usual coffee and the current fixation of a toasted English muffin with butter and orange marmalade. This was the sixth consecutive day with this breakfast, but now the English muffins are gone, so there won’t be a seventh. The package of English muffins was the best 99-cent item in the Market Basket pre-snowstorm shop, and I wish I’d bought more. Lesson learned. Stock up on 99-cent English muffins.

Metal shavings at a
location shoot, 2-2-22.

The photo subjects were fun and lively and it was energizing to be with people. This is a good reminder that maybe I’m not fully anti-social. Lesson learned. It’s possible I’m not really the lone wolf I play in my imagination. Maybe I’m a parasite that feeds off the energy of other life forces. 

Back in the office, the afternoon featured several fresh ad concepts from our designer and two solid contenders were chosen. Attention was focused and progress was made on a couple projects. While all the progress was happening, suddenly somehow it was 5:00. It was startling how fast the day flew by, but some days are like that and now the workweek is half over. Lesson learned. Focus and progress make the time fly. 

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 697 (Tuesday) - on location

Random image #1 from
a location shoot, 2-1-22.

February already. Individual days and even entire weeks of January dragged on and felt like forever, and at the same time, the month as a whole went by quickly. So weird.

The first two days of this week have gone by quickly. Monday was at the office-office, and was out-straight, barely breathing busy. Today was scheduled as a remote day and was also busy. There were three location photo shoots today which elevated half the day to a new level of remoteness. 

The day's activity was dreaded until it was underway and then, like always, it was fun. This is the basic story almost every time I need to leave the house. There is preliminary dread, the route and arrival time are scheduled in Waze, all traffic scenarios are imagined, and the actual driving includes excessive levels of stress and colorful language. Once I’m at whatever the thing it is that has drawn me out of the house, it’s nearly always enjoyable. Then I feel dumb for all the angst on the front end. It’s super fun being this weird and neurotic. Really.

In my dozen years in marketing, I’ve been part of countless photo shoots. I’ve scheduled photographers and subjects, recruited models, planned props, swung by the hardware store for needed items, and been on site to guide the proceedings. While working at a marketing agency in Tennessee, location photo shoots included downtown shops for the Chamber of Commerce, an iron foundry, and an earth-moving company. There were studio shoots involving locally produced wine and pie. Once or twice, I was the photographer and a couple other times, a subject in the final photos.

Random image #2 from
a location shoot, 2-1-22.

Today’s shoots went without a hitch. Our photographer is hugely talented, puts people at ease, and could  make a stone statue smile. The locations were all in one city and methodically scheduled with the aid of online mapping for efficient travel between sites. Everything ran according to the schedule. A couple random shots of "stuff" were grabbed with my phone at one location.  

Three photo shoots were done, which was a good number for one day. More than that might have been too much, at least for me. There are several more to go. There was even a bonus office dog at the final location, a French bulldog named Nitro who was 100% adorable. Every office should have a dog. Or two. 

There was quality time spent in the Jeep, where the heated seats and steering wheel are still my favorite features. They almost make up for the lack of a CD player, not very impressive navigation system, and meager cargo space and nonexistent backseat leg room.

Wednesday has a couple more location shoots, then the work location reverts to normal for a couple days. The days as a desk jockey will include finishing plans for more photo shoots. We're in a groove now.

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 696 (Monday) - paths

Snow tracks.

As the sun rose and cast its rays across the snow in the backyard. It highlighted two sets of little critter tracks from the shoveled path to the gate across the snow to either side of the back yard shed. 

The part of my street that can be see from the house looked reasonably clear of snow, and I set out for the workday thinking that was an indication of the level of street clearing that had occurred since the storm ended. I turned left out of my driveway and made it halfway up the street before that delightful little fantasy was dashed to smithereens. Further up, the road was plowed not much wider than one car width, flanked by deep swaths of snow.

The sloppy streets trend continued most of the way and it was a hellacious white-knuckle drive through the narrow, snow clogged streets of Lowell. From the garage, it was a trudge through the sometimes shoveled, sometimes snow-clogged paths along the downtown sidewalks.

Once safely seated at my desk, it was another of those out straight workdays. Things were wrapped up, other things were moved further along the path to completion. One minute it was 8:30. The next thing I knew it was 11:00. Then it was 3:00. Suddenly, it was after 5:00 and time to head out. 

Winston not wanting to get up.

The ride home was almost as a rough as the ride in. Outside the garage there were traffic lights flashing red and yellow instead of cycling through all the colors. One major road had parked police cars, officers in the road with light wands, and a major snow relocation operation underway.  

The traffic through the University area featured the usual joy of cars rolling through the red light and blocking the intersection. The slow progress allowed time to run through the pantry inventory and plan supper. It was between frozen egg roll and ramen, but ramen won for speed of preparation and its filling properties.

The next thing to look forward to is reading in bed. All I have to say is “Let’s go to bed,” and Winston emerges from under the living room blanket, springs to life, and is ready to sniff and pick his path upstairs. He loves going to bed, but getting him up in the morning is less easy and he lingers under the blanket as long as possible. We are so much alike. If not for the schedule driven by food and insulin, Winston could just stay in bed. If not for the schedule driven by the work path chosen to satisfy my fondness for food and shelter, I could just stay in bed. 

“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 695 (Sunday) - snow labor

The snowed-in back door.

The words of former Fitchburg mayor Hedley Bray were half true. God put the snow there. And over there. And there. And basically everywhere. It was not taken away. Not overnight anyway. It was, however, today rearranged and relocated as it awaits the next step of its life cycle – melting and flowing to the drain in the street.

It took three shovel sessions. The first one was first thing in the morning when Winston needed to go out, and his potty path was extended to the gate nearest the driveway where the car is usually parked. The car was cleared except for the center of the roof that couldn’t be reached with the shovel from ground level. The bank left by the plow was cleared. Most of the snow was tossed over the picket fence into the front yard. The real adversary was behind the car, and a path was started to the drifted-in steps to the back door. 

The back snowfield.

The second shovel session cleared a path in the parking spot on the other side of the yard to provide a way for the mail carrier to access the other gate and the mailbox. It’s not quite wide enough to get the trash bin out to the curb, but the effort required to expand it was deemed too much. The trash bin holds one half-full bag of trash for a few hours each Monday, and it can wait until next week.

The third session was to finish digging out the snowdrift blocking the back door, and the short stretch along the side of the house to the gate to the back yard. It was the only way to achieve a vantage point to see if the vent pipes at the back of the house were obstructed by a snow drift or not. They are not.

The back yard is a snowfield. The wind sculpted rolling hills and small crested dunes accented with a  moiré pattern. There is one odd spot near the shed where the snow had blown off and a few bits of grass could be seen before the rise of the next swirled dune.

After the shifts in snow labor camp a reward was needed. During the pre-storm grocery run, instead of the familiar blue Swiss Miss and red Nestle Rich cocoa boxes, there was a row of yellow boxes of Abuelita Mexican hot cocoa mix and cocoa with separate Lucky Charms marshmallows. The Abuelita was bought and this was the reward made this afternoon. There is nothing in the ingredient list to suggest a special flavoring but this cocoa has a little something extra going on that is good. For the first time in ages, I actually drank the entire cup. There may be a new favorite house cocoa.