Saturday, January 23, 2016

blizzardry

On my way home from work late Thursday night I stopped at the local supermarket, bread and bananas were already wiped clean from the store shelves.  During my 3pm coffee stop at 7 Eleven on Friday I miraculously came across the one last Pepperidge Farm Cinnamon loaf that fav bud likes (see bottom right in fridge).  Combine that accomplishment with 3 half gallon containers of milk to ward off any throwback reminder to the powdered milk my mother served during the famous 1969 milk trucks can’t deliver through unplowed streets crisis and I feel whole.
 
At 6pm yesterday, as I was readying to leave my office, the forecast was for 12 to 18 inches of snow for much of the NYC area.  Feeding my no food left behind anxiety I made another stop to the supermarket as my distress level increases if I have to ration my fruit and cereal portions.

Around noon today as the blizzard conditions began to kick up a notch I walked the ¼ mile to Stop and Shop.  This time I had a craving for liverwurst and blueberry pie—plus I validated my trek by picking up a large jug of the calcium chloride blend of Ice Melt.  Stumbling over snow mounds on the way back caused me to cross paths with a genuine rain, snow, sleet or hail postal carrier.  I was very impressed.  He was very soggy and it made me think about how low tech it is to be delivering mail in 2016.

High tech doesn’t always mean wonderful though.  As I shook the snow off my NY Jets hat and placed my boots by the front door, the TV that I left on featured a team of meteorologists explaining all the snow bands that would now drop 30 inches of winter white across much of the area.  I love how they never talk about what their predictions were less than 24 hours ago.  Instead they contort their bodies over the radar screen and wrap hands counter clockwise over Manhattan detailing how the storm pivots back westerly to keep it from moving away and thus steadily pounds the region with precipitation. 
 
All has not been lost though.  I’ve kept myself occupied with catching up on laundry, fixing the hanging lamp I accidentally damaged a few days ago, and I completed a Swiffer tour of my place and then vacuumed. 

With all this extra time afforded by Mother Nature and the travel ban on our roads I tested my brain to see if I could remember the password to the dashboard of my once in a blue moon post upon a blog page.

Certainly there is much to reflect on: movies, books, sports, politics.

I saw The Big Short.  I enjoyed it mostly for the attempt at a quasi-documentary/drama style of presentation.  In the end though the story is pretty simple.  A small group of opportunists masquerading as prognosticators kept themselves afloat in the shark infested waters surrounding Wall Street during the run up to the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis.  The opportunists won big (Powerball type big).  Lehman Brothers filed bankruptcy.  Bear Stearns melted down into the hands of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. in whiplash time.  And the U.S. Government came to the rescue so that only a large minority of people had to walk away from their homes or file for loan modification plans.

Star Wars was different for me.  Fav bud and his friend loved it…5 star like.  I thought it was an okay trip down memory lane…not much else.  I did enjoy seeing the Millennium Falcon fly again.

I’m rooting for the Broncos over the Patriots and the Cardinals over the Panthers.  I don’t think either one of my teams will win though and my bigger than powdered milk fear is that Tom Brady and the Patriots will win it all again on Super Bowl Sunday.

Global warming is not the biggest threat to the world.  The apex of dysfunction in American politics and the dismal field of 2016 Presidential candidate hopefuls is scarier to me.  If Michael Bloomberg, billionaire philanthropist and former Mayor of NYC, decides to run as an Independent I will cast my vote for him.  I’m not sure who he would take more votes away from whether it be Trump, Sanders or Clinton but I would have to vote my conscious for who I think would be the best person to step up.

Tomorrow will be dedicated to shovels, sleds and downhill runs.

Stay safe and warm.  Peace.

…..And just realizing I’ve had 101 blue moons.

© 2016 Christopher’s Views 

10 comments:

  1. How much snow have you gotten? Our milk situation was almost as bad in NC, but I did manage to snag a gallon.

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  2. Holding good thoughts for all of you in that area these days, Christopher!! Here in the northwest we don't have the cold or the snow -- yet!! But it has rained a little every day for two months now and we're all "molding" I think!! Good to see your post, as always!! Take care and stay warm!!

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  3. You keep bread in the fridge?

    Here, I am glad to say the coldest days are over (for now - might come back), and nearly all snow is gone. Not that we had much to begin with, but enough to be inconvenient for the trip to and from work.

    As I am on my own for much of the time, I never keep much food in store. So if anything would happen that prevented me from leaving the house for a while, I'd have to rely on what is in my food cupboard at the time, such as couscous, polenta, flour (to make my own bread if necessary) and pasta.
    For drinks, I wouldn't have a problem as long as we have running water - I drink tap water all the time anyway.
    It would be really bad, though, if I were without electricity. I couldn't cook without it, not even make myself a cup of coffee.

    I don't envy you for the "choice" of presidential candidates...

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  4. I woke up this morning and the snow was completely melted. Off the grass and everything! It came in Thursday and by Sunday, they'd treated all the main streets so they were passable. We bought a week's worth of food and were only snowed in for three days. Isn't that always the way?!

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  5. The storm has just reached our shores now, although here it is falling in the form of torrential rain, combined with high winds.
    Must have been awful, being short of essentials like milk and bread in the stores...I can't imagine beginning my day without a slice of toast!

    You have made me think though.
    If the weather turns cold here...think I'll stock up on flour etc., so at least I could turn to my bread maker in an emergency...:)

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  6. You had quite a storm last week. Glad you made it through it. I enjoyed reading your post - you made even mundane things interesting. Have a nice weekend. Mickie :)

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  7. I'm very glad you dredged up that password. I like knowing where you're walking, when you crave blueberry pie, what you've thought of the latest movies. All of those things are EXACTLY why I adore blogs. Glad you're here.

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  8. I see all those reasonably healthy staples in your fridge but I also see something yummy and colourful on the door...

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  9. I hope you survived okay the blizzard. I plan to read "The Big Short"

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