The Winter Blues, and Potholes, Too

Man, are you as tired of this winter as I am?

If you liver in the Northeast (and that region certainly is not alone in suffering through a very long inter filled with snowstorms and treacherous conditions), then this is probably around the time that you just wish to fast-forward about six to eight weeks from now for the spring.

Yesterday, we had an ice storm, effectively. It was very dangerous in the morning hours. Things did warm up later in the day, and the precipitation turned instead to a soggy rain. The ice melted, more or less. But it was rainy and gray and crappy throughout the day. And, of course, when night came, renewed concerns that the roads would ice up came along with it.

There is the distinct possibility that a major storm is on the horizon, within the next few days or so. It sounded like a done deal, but now several sources seem to be backing off of that projection. Still, winter storms are predicted more than once for the next week, or so.

And I'm just tired at this point. Just tired of the weather. I like to take walks regularly, on a daily basis. But since early January, when we got pounded with a massive snowstorm, I have barely taken any walks whatsoever. Too much snow and ice to make the going more laborious and even risky than it needs to be.

At this point, we are all just waiting for the spring to roll around again. No need to rush spring once it comes, either. This winter has been more than enough to remind us of how problematic a bad winter can be.

One thing that I have noticed more and more over recent years (and no year has been as bad as this one has been in this regard) would be that there are seemingly more potholes on the road than I ever remember their being beforehand. I swear, you drive around, and you really have to be careful not to run over some of these potholes, even massive ones. This is particularly challenging on highways at night. You are driving, and don't see anything, and then you hear that loud bang! and for that split second, you don't even know what happened. Then, you understand. I already had to get a tire replaced, because it started to have a slow air leak after hitting a pothole just before Christmas, after some inclimate weather there.

Of course, if you have been keeping up with these blogs of mine, you'll also know that this winter is long for other reasons, as well. My part-time job laid me (and several other people) off. I do have my other job, at least, and will be trying to land another job as well. It just feels very weird, not having that place to go to on the weekend anymore. For just shy of eleven years, I knew that my responsibilities every weekend were to show up and do my job there. And since November of 2003, I have worked two jobs, and have had other responsibilities.

At least the first day off, this past Sunday, had a major distraction - the Super Bowl. But, the game was terrible, not competitive at all.

This weekend, on the other hand, there are no obvious distractions. Just a lot of open time. Maybe it will be good to catch up on rest, but at the same token, there is the knowledge that there won't be paychecks waiting from that part-time job, and I have come to rely on them.

So, I am just hoping for a change in fortune. Hopefully, another job, even a temporary one. And hopefully, some milder weather, without the constant storms on the horizon. I do not even mind the cold weather, so much as the shoveling, the driving in slick conditions, and the knowledge that there is plenty more of that where it came from.

Let the spring hurry up and get here already!


Note - I wrote this, but did not publish it, yesterday. Just thought I'd add a few relevant notes as an aside.

The weather forecast that had predicted Snowmageddon for this upcoming weekend has been altered. Apparently, the front will be moving well to the south of us. So, we will not apparently get the two and a half feet or so of snow that they had originally been expecting. In fact, I heard Linda Church, the weatherperson for WPIX (Channel 11 locally) claim that she had not seen such an overhyped storm in years. 

So, that's good.

But I got a phone call from a friend of mine, also a coworker at the part-time job. He was the last of us part-time supervisors to remain on. As it turns out, that will have been just one week, literally. They are letting him go after he works his Saturday shift.

We had been hoping for the best with him. So long as one of the old guard remained, there was still somewhat of a fighting chance from the inside. Instead, we will all officially be gone as of late Saturday afternoon, and a memory already by that evening. 

The man that they are letting go was one of the most decent men that I have ever met. A Vietnam vet who hated wars, and blasted Bush and the wars that he got the nation involved in, he and I had some interesting and stimulating conversations over the course of years. He is an intelligent man, and all class. I know that sounds cliche, but it is true. I always admired the way that he handled himself. Over the course of these last years, we would talk about some of the things that we were going through in our personal lives. He was going through a difficult separation (not quite divorce) with his wife, while I was going through the same with mine (although the divorce is complete in our case). While at least my ex-wife and I are on good terms, his wife seems intent on giving him hell, getting on his case all of the time. He was always so calm, laid back. But the divorce was really starting to have an effect. Now, since November, when it was announced that the part-timers (that's us) were going, the stress levels have increased dramatically for all of us. I saw him angry like I never saw him before, and also saw him seeming more down and depressed than ever before, as well - within a couple of weeks of each other, as I recall. He looks tired, spent. All he wants to do, he told me, was get a small house - and I mean small, like the size of Thoreau's cabin at Walden - and live out his years under his own power, owning little and enjoying a simple life. Trying not to make too much of mark on the world, minimizing the energy he would require. I always found this goal of his admirable, to say the least. Again, he is a decent man. He deserves better than the way that we have been treated these last months. Hell, we all do. 

It saddened me to hear that he was going. Again, we were hoping, on some level for selfish reasons, but also just because he is a hell of a guy, that he would last. It was clear that he was still on schedule for at least one more week, after the two other remaining supervisors (including myself)  were let go last weekend. But, alas, the extra time turned out to be one week only. We both talked about how hard the times were, how scary. Nobody wants to have to look for another job like this. The weather sucks, this winter just feels very long, and we feel, with some justification, that we were wronged. Nobody did anything wrong to be forced out of a job. It just happened, and yes, it still pisses me off. I had more or less been numb for a few days after the end of my stay last weekend there, and truth be told, i was not actually looking very forward to the upcoming weekend, which will be the first that I have had in a long, long time with a lot of free time on my hands. I had largely managed to come to terms with it, but talking to him renewed all of that. They are making a mistake, I think. With all of us, yes. But they are wronging him, and he deserves much better. he is the consummate professional, and a hell of a guy!

It really does feel like the end of an era.