Snow!

We got some snow in Philly this weekend.  Unfortunately, it didn't really stick around here.  What fell on house roofs and and car roofs stuck, but nothing stuck to the streets or sidewalks.  Boo.

I was a little amused at the way people (read: the media) were all "ZOMG - it's snowing in OCTOBER!!!"  Clearly, these people did not grow up in Missouri, where snow in October is a regular occurrence.  Granted, I'm not referring to snow on 01 October, but it isn't at all unusual to get some kind of snowfall at some point during October.

When I mentioned this at work, one of the women got excited and said she should move.  But when I mentioned that she'd also have to get used to the summers with 100-115º heat indices, she changed her mind.  Oh well.

A Mouse Mystery

First thing's first: Felix and I are great.  Irene made a visit to Philly, but I'd like to think that we didn't show her enough of our famed Brotherly Love as to encourage future hurricanes to visit (you hear me, Tropical Storm José?).  There are plenty of people are here sans power and with lots of flooding, but I'm not one of them.  Whew.

I swung by my upstairs neighbour's place today.  He's been buying the pork products from my Angel Food, and since Rachel wasn't able to go with me yesterday, I also foisted the mango off on him, too.  He may end up buying some more things from me, later this week, by the time I see which of the fresh product things I think I'll get through in a timely manner.  It's an arrangement that's working out quite well.

While I was up there, he asked me if I'd noticed any mice in the building lately.  I said I hadn't, but I reminded him that I had Felix.  He said he put out a trap, but a mouse got his tail stuck in it, so then he had to deal with that appropriately.  So then he put out two traps side-by-side.  But then he noticed that the bait was gone... and so was one of the traps.  We were trying to figure out what could have possibly happened.  Because even if the mouse's body part got stuck in the trap and the poor thing hauled it off with him, he could only get so far.  And then the hole the mouse came out of... well, surely the trap couldn't fit back through that hole.  If the hole was THAT big, then he would have noticed said hole and sealed it up.  And he certainly hasn't noticed any traps randomly laying around his flat.

So, dear readers... ideas?  What happened?  Where is the second trap?

Preparing for Irene

On Thursday, after watching The Weather Channel for several hours and then watching a presser that our mayor had, I decided to head out to Trader Joe's for some basic supplies.  I wanted some non-perishables just in case power went out for several days, and since I have a gas range, I wanted some things I could feasibly open and cook without needing to do anything else.

Yesterday, my friend Sue called and asked if I needed a ride to the store for stuff, which I thought was extremely kind and considerate.  Since my trip to TJ's had been via trolley, I was happy to take her up on her offer.  On the trolley, I can only carry so much -- both in volume and weight.  But going via car, I could get as much as my wallet will allow.

So we set off.  The difference in number of people and stock was day and night!  There was no water left (except sparkling), fresh produce was going like hotcakes (which was not going at all), and the check-out lines were backed up to the end of the store.  It was nearly impossible to shop because of the people standing in line.

One woman got exasperated at Sue when Sue left her cart in the middle of the aisle to get some cream cheese, but I'm not sure where she expected Sue to put the basket since the sides of the aisle were already taken up by people standing in line.  I pointed this out (in my "are you a complete dumbass?" voice) to her, but she just rolled her eyes at me.

Now, if this were a NORMAL day, I would agree with her -- there's no reason to leave a cart in the middle of an aisle.  But, really - let's think about this.  If Sue had rolled her basket to the end of the aisle, and gone back to get the cream cheese, I'm convinced that not everything she had left in the basket would have still been there when she got back to it (again, on a normal day - sure, everything would have been safe.  But yesterday, everything was a valuable commodity.).

Eventually, we got home in one piece.  I spent the rest of the day rinsing out and filling my numerous water bottles, filling my bathtub so I would be able to flush my toilet, charging my phone and laptop, and making sure my tornado bag was ready (I guess now it's a "hurricane bag," but growing up in Tornado Alley, I always call it a "tornado bag".)

Earlier today, I rearranged a few things in my basement and brought Felix's cat carrier upstairs just in case I need to corral him in a safe space.

The difference between tornado prep and hurricane prep actually isn't THAT much (this is my third hurricane, by the way).  I think it's just psychologically more taxing because you hear about the hurricane SOOOOO much more as it approaches.  With a tornado, it comes, it's over, and you move on.

Where did spring go?

First, I know I usually post a recipe on Thursdays, but I haven't tried anything new lately, so nothing new to post.  Sorry.

Somehow, spring has disappeared and summer got here way too soon.  Don't get me wrong - I enjoy summer, but it has it's time and place -- after spring and before fall.  Not after about two weeks of spring and then a full week and a half of rain.  That's just lame.

I had a rather exciting day today.  A woman I did some work for when I was getting my Master's degree had referred me to a colleague of hers for a potential job that may or may not exist.  I went for an informational interview today, just so we could find out more about each other.  It ended up that we quite like each other (professionally), and I'm feeling very optimistic about how this might turn out.  There's actually much more involved, and this might get a little tricksy, but I don't want to go into detail here.

My mom has her biopsy tomorrow, and she's just hoping the weather is good.  She's been making jokes about hoping that they aren't in the middle of cutting her head open when they announce needing to run to the basement to take cover.  So, now you see where I get my morbid sense of humour.

My headache was kind enough to hold off until I got home from the interview, so I apologise for the rambling.  More tomorrow.

Ignore this post

This post won't make sense to anyone except one other person.

But in an attempt to kill..  uh... well, several birds with one stone:

JOEY, WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Missouri vs Philadelphia: Winter Weather

People kind of roll their eyes at me when I head out in the winter weather in only Mizzou hoodie and maybe some fingerless mitts and roll out my usual line "Oh please, I'm from Missouri."  But it's true.  Coming from Missouri, I'm used to much harsher winters than we get here in Philadelphia.

I was reminded of this last night when the West Philly knitting group broke up for the night, and Elizabeth put on her scarf, mittens, cuffs, and winter coat, and I threw on my... Mizzou hoodie and fingerless mitts.  She exclaimed, "Is that ALL you have?!?!" "Yep.  I'm from Missouri."

When we got to the corner where we usually part ways (we walk about halfway home, because she lives near me), we talked for about ten minutes until she finally said, "Okay, I'm sorry, but I'm FREEZING!"  I said, "Oh, okay.  I'm sorry.  You have to tell me these things because this kind of weather honestly doesn't faze me at all."

I was reminded again of the difference tonight when an acquaintance posted to Twitter that her school already cancelled classes for tomorrow.  Snow had only started to fall an hour prior to her post!  The forecast is for 4-6", but who knows what we might actually get!  I called Mom to tell her that schools here were already cancelling, and we laughed.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City, there are seven inches of snow on the ground, the forecast for tomorrow is a wind chill of -15º to -20ºF (yes, that's 15-20ºF BELOW zero), and they have NOT called off school yet.  Also, here's what the handbook from my former grammar school says about the recess policy (I was looking at the handbook earlier this week trying to find out if the school still has open classrooms like they did when I went there, or if they have walls now; I don't generally make it a habit to go around checking out school handbooks):

• +6º F and above     May have full outdoor recess
• +5º F to -14º F       May have shortened outdoor recess
• -15º F and below   Must have indoor recess

*These guidelines are based on the wind chill index

So, see - truly, I come by my winter heartiness naturally!