Where are Jacob's Shoes?

Not too concerned with being up right at 530am, I slept a few extra minutes completely guilt free. I was still up and downstairs by 540am. Downstairs, I was very eager to get a glimpse of the weather, this being our first real extended dose of winter weather this season. Snow coated the ground and the wind was whipping around out there too, but it didn’t appear there was a noticeable increase in snow accumulation. Still not even an inch.

After sit-ups and push-ups, I checked the current temp and forecast. It was cold, 16 degrees (0 with the wind chill) with very light snow falling.  The forecast was calling for snow through the day with the possibility of another inch or so. Supposed to remain cold through the weekend but warm up above freezing again by Monday. But as it was, we were most concerned with the weekend’s weather since we hoped/planned to ski MRM both Saturday and Sunday.

I had just finished meditation and was preparing to make Mindy’s coffee when my cell phone rang. It was Lindsey. She was practically in tears sharing that her car doors were frozen shut and she didn’t know what to do. Was worried about being late for work and then ultimately losing her job. Wanted me to come over and fix the problem. I took a deep breath, glanced at the clock, and agreed to head over and see what I could do. 

I quickly delivered Mindy’s coffee first and shared that I was heading out to rescue Lindsey. I gathered a few tools, a long screw driver, WD-40, an extension cord and our blow dryer, then headed out in the Pilot. The extension cord and blow dryer were last second additions to my kit just in case I needed to try and defrost the latch.

Sure enough, the doors were frozen shut. I could hear the doors locks working, but the doors just wouldn't open. I hit the door in three or four spots and gave it a good tug. Opened right up. Cool! I had to ask Lindsey a couple of times to tone it down. She was still in a panic and being loud. I started her car and let it thaw and warm. As I readied to pull away she came rushing to my door again sharing that now the door wouldn’t close/latch. Good grief!

Sure enough, the drive’s door latch was frozen open. I tried getting it to free up using a screw driver but no go. I decided to go with the blow dryer option. I stretched the 100’ cord from her apartment down the steps to her car right out front. I’ll bet I didn’t hold the blow dryer against the latch for more than 20 seconds when I heard a ‘click’. That did it. I checked it 4 or 5 times then blasted it with WD-40.

I said goodbye to the grandkids then headed for home. I’d just put my tools away when Lindsey called my cell once again, What now, I wondered? Once again, she was in panic only this time stating that now the driver’s door would only close from inside. What? Also shared that only one wiper would operate. I confirmed that she could at least close the door and have it latch then convinced her that almost everybody’s doors would be frozen given the rain, snow, and extremely cold temps.

Finally, I could get on with my routine. It was almost 7am.  I skipped a stretch, dressed for my run, and headed out the door. And for the second time that week, I trimmed my run to just three miles in an effort to get back home before Mindy needed to depart for work.

Mindy was just leaving upon my return to the house. Can’t recall who walked the pug, but it wasn’t me. I ate my breakfast then headed off to the shower around 745am. Was still running about 10 minutes behind.

It was Friday, so I dressed casually wearing blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and black cotton sweater. I was dressed for comfort. We didn’t have a lot of time before we needed to head out for the bus. Bella suggested we leave Eiknarf inside due to the cold, but I thought not. She needs to get out more. We headed out into the cold with me starting Accord before meeting the kids at the bus stop.

Kenny was out with the girls and affirmed his intentions to head to MRM with a friend later that morning. The bus arrived at 815am and Eiknarf and I hurried back home. Before leaving the house I enjoyed another cup of coffee then grabbed my fully-charged iTouch. Left the house right at 830am.

The snow machine was off for most of my short commute into work, but it picked up again throughout the morning by witness of a few trips to the windows overlooking 270. Looked brutally cold too, especially with the wind. Mid morning I sent an email to Darwin, Tommy, and Bob asking if they might be skiing MRM on Saturday. Later in the day I received a text from Bob indicating that they were blowing snow like the dickens at MRM. I wondered if he might be there skiing. He didn’t really say. According to the MRM website, they received 2 inches of natural snow during the over night and made another 10” themselves. Their web cam confirmed the white-out conditions.

I spent the lion’s share of my day working on a monthly report and then a challenging escalation. As the day wound down, I completed the last three online courses I needed to get done by month’s end. That, I figured, was a good way to end the day and the work week. I was very happy that it was Friday and that I wasn’t on-call. I was very much looking forward to a snowy, snow skiing weekend. I left for home around 515pm. There might’ve been a fresh ½” of snow on my car, but thanks to the extreme cold, it was the light and fluffy stuff that blew off once I got going.

Mindy shared earlier that she’d be taking Jacob’s to his friends place to spend the night around 530pm, or right after Jimaken left with Bella. Those two were going to a Blue Jackets game, a first for Bella. According to Mindy, she was very excited. Mindy was just backing out of the drive as I neared the house. I stopped in front of the house to give her room to back completely out and pull away. There was a coating of snow on the driveway but not enough to be concerned about.

I had roughly 15 minutes of alone time before Mindy got back. During that time I unloaded my work gear and started publishing the prior day’s blog entry. And once Mindy was back, we started prepping immediately for an evening at CBC. Reason being, we needed to be home by 9pm to intercept Bella.

We left the house before 615pm in the Accord. We took two empty growlers, my thinking being we’d have them filled with CBC beer and then take them to MRM on Saturday for all of our friends to enjoy. The roads near home looked like they might have a glazing of snow/ice, but the freeway was completely dry. The weather wasn’t an issue. Mindy shared a work related story for most of the drive. We arrived at CBC near 630pm. The lot was full. We took a spot up against the back hill/fence.

The bar was full, but two stools opened up a minute or two after our arrival. Perfect. Kevin was tending bar, which is rare these days. He’s one of the first CBC bartenders we befriended a few years back. Mindy ordered a Bohdi and I ordered the Imperial stout. You’d think we might’ve had our orders crossed. J

Mindy ordered some bread as an appetizer. The young woman sitting next to us at the corner of the bar looked very familiar. After an hour or so I asked if she worked at CBC at one time. She acknowledged as much and shared that she’s now a manager at 229. Her name is Stacey. She was there with her husband, who is a cook for CBC. His name is Andrew. We chatted with the two of them for the rest of the evening. Andrew graduated from CCAD but grew up in Long Island, New York. I think Stacey grew up in Columbus.

Mindy eventually ordered dinner, the Mahi-mahi dinner special. I ordered only their soup of the day, chili with no beans. Mindy’s entrée looked really good. The chili was just OK. The beef was chopped much too fine for my liking. I could’ve eaten it through a straw.

I had a second beer, this time switching back to my native IPA – the Bohdi. And Mindy had a second one too after confirming that I would drive home. I didn’t drink anything but water for the last 45 minutes that we were there.

The bar at CBC is much like a fishbowl on the three sides, leaving a spectacular view of the outdoors and cityscape. We watched it snow during the entire 2 hour visit, and at times really hard. It was very pretty. As we prepared to leave, we opted to have  just one jug filled with Bohdi. Mindy picked up the check.

Burrr! It was a cold walk to the car. The Accord was covered in about 1.5” of fluffy snow. The snow fall had slowed, though, by the time we were on the road for home. Mindy had been in touch with the neighbors for the last 30 minutes or so. They were out to dinner, too, but at the Fish Market. They went with several others. Mindy suggested we visit once home. Jimaken and Bella were already at the house and watching the rest of the hockey game when we pulled up. They left after the 2^nd period as planned, though Bella said she was having a great time and really wanted to stay. After Jimaken left Mindy asked Bella if she wanted to head down to the neighbors. In hindsight that was probably a mistake because they weren’t yet home from their dinner out, and it didn’t take long for both Mindy & I to get tired and declare it a night.

I told Mindy that I was happy to stay home and get a good night’s rest ahead of our ski day Saturday. That must’ve struck a chord with Mindy too. She soon followed suit and got into her PJs just like me. Bella didn’t seem too disappointed about not heading to the neighbors. They were supposed to call once they were home. Mindy headed to bed near 1030pm. By then, I was horizontal on the sofa passively watching TV. I remember hearing Mindy’s cell ringing around 11pm. I didn’t check it but expected it was the neighbors letting us know that they were home. I think that’s what woke me. Shortly after that I headed up to bed.