Yes, I'm back

Okay, it's been neigh-on a year. Get past that. I'm fucking lame and oh well, okay? The point is, I'm back.

And what a day. Go back to yesterday. With yet another blizzard and a screaming headache, I bailed out of the office at 2:00-ish. Fully intending to get in "early" today. Fine.

Oh, how little I knew.

When we got back yesterday, the snow was basically over. We did a 20-minute shovel of the driveway and called it good. Fine. I shoveled and went to bed, for all intents and purposes, at 5:00 PM. ("Going to bed" for me means TVR, Fender Strat, Ovation acoustic and laptop, in addition to all manner of papers and books: not exactly to bed without supper). I knew I was going to have to get in early today, and I figured the earlier the better. In early, out early. How wrong was I?

Oh, Lordy.

The alarm was set for 4:45. I woke up at 4:00, drifted off a bit, and woke up at 4:30. Normally I'm a 15-minute shit-shave-shower, a'la boot camp. Today, it was 5-minute shower and out. I checked the end of the driveway...and the plow had been by, leaving a hard, packed snowbank up to my tits. Got the shovel out. I didn't shovel quite enough, of course, and I got stuck. In my own driveway. With my car 3/4 of the way out in my street.

Stopped at Dunkin and got my cream cheese schmeer all over myself while eating and steering. There was enough snow packed under the car that I was shimmying all the way down the pike.

I punched into work at 5:58 AM today.

And I was supposed to be driving to Brooklyn today.

Got to my desk, got caught up on work, got caught up in new calamaties. All the while, I felt like Dante in Clerks. "I'm not even supposed to be here today!"

Did I mention I had today off? To drive to Brooklyn and take in the Christmas sights of my glorious second home NYC? Yeeeaaahhhh....

Left the cube at 3:00 PM, got home, retired. Now I'm here.

A lot more happened over the course of the last year, naturally, but that's where I'm at now. At least I'm supposed to be here.