Gear Up

Cake, "Stickshifts And Safetybelts". My favorite band, a great song.

For those of you who don't live in New England and don't pay attention to weather anywhere else but your own section of the country, it's snowing here in Connecticut. It began as a rainy mix last night, and somewhere between falling asleep and waking up, turned to snow. Well, it was sleeting a bit this morning, but we'll not bother with that. So, there have been soft white flakes drifting from above since 7:00 this morning. It's now 2:45, and it doesn't seem like it will stop any time soon. The flake size has lessened, and its rate of descent has decreased, but the sky is still 100 feet above the roof and the surrounding streets and homes are hazed by the thousands of flakes between them and myself. So...we've still got a bit to go.

I called out from work because as much as inclimate weather arouses a sense of adventure in my inner driver, the traction on my tires is nearing a complete absence and the roads don't seem as friendly as they did yesterday. Perhaps they woke up a bit chilled by the snow blanket that had been draped over them during the night, and as a result began their day on the grumpy side. One never knows with roads. I suppose they'd be a bit more pleasant if we bothered to converse with them once in a while about their wellbeing and what could be done on our parts to help its improvement. Otherwise they shall continue feeling used and underappreciated. And i can't say as i blame them.

My father, who happens to be the foreman at the machine shop (where i work now, in case you've missed it in an earlier entry or i am at fault by neglecting to inform you of the change), understood and said that he would see me tomorrow. And that he shall. But, in the mean time, i am in a small, white, suburban, three-floor (including the basement) American home with two cats as company, good music to keep my spirits high, and snow to keep the windows from getting bored.

I was leaving my cousin Chelsea a message on AIM, when i recalled something my brother and i like to do when our snow shovelling talents are required of the presiding Lord of the Manor. We gear up with our coats, hats, gloves, boots (extra socks if it's extra cold), and shovels as our tools. What i am about to describe to you is "make believe", but i'm going to tell you how we see it so you get the whole experience yourself.

Some things you may need to know:
airlock = door leading into the garage
cargo door = garage door
cargo bay = garage

We've landed on an alien planet, and my brother and i are being sent out to explore a small surrounding area and secure it for any further explorations. We gear up in our pressurized suits (including tear proof gloves, heavy durability kevlar lined boots, and helmets of equally cool and functional qualifications). We check the pressure gauges to the airlock to ensure equal pressure inside and out. If all is well, we crank it open, step into the cargo bay area, then close and lock the door behind us. For extra caution, we recheck our suits making sure they've been put on correctly and are without any tears or loose connections. We depressurize the cargo bay, then open the cargo door and slowly venture out into the unknown.

Never before have we encountered such a bizarre and beautiful landscape. The ground seems to be covered with trillions of small white flakes. Sensors indicate their temperature to be about 30 degrees ferenheit. Lab tests, after microscopic analysis, will determine they are in fact crystalic structures comprised of solidified water. When heated above 32 degrees ferenheit, they return to a liquid state. We also discovered some far denser solidified liquid that adhered to whatever surface it was on when it reverted to a solid state.

We use our highly advanced tools to remove the crystal flakes, named "snow" by the head scientist, to clear a path for outgoing and incoming vehicular exploration teams. The "ice" (what the same scientist named the denser solid) took more work and effort to clear, but eventually succumbed to our advancements. Our vehicles were not quite outfitted for the much lesser friction between their tires and the snow, but we outfitted them with some heavier treads we had brought along, resulting in greater performance.

Anyway, you get the picture. We would do this every time we had to go out and shovel. We were explorers, or warriors destroying that which dared to cover our driveway. It was always fun, and i still do it sometimes when i'm by myself. Except now i have even more advanced machines that move the snow at faster speeds with little effort from me. Our team has become quite accustomed to the environment, and our methods of innovation have helped in many ways.

The haze between my eyes and the school in the backyard is growing weaker, and i'd like to get outside before the snow completely stops. So, dear readers, i will leave you with the above and hope that it will perhaps give you inspiration to go outside or at least use your imagination. It certainly helps work to be less "work"and more fun.

Gear up.