Twenty Twenty Too

Mid January already. How'd this happen? 

I've been in a little bit of a fog, and every day goes by I forget to do things, like write the first blog entry for the year. After the Cookie-Palooza in December, after Christmas, after New Years, after Geoff's 25th birthday (longtime readers of the blog know I started this stupid thing when he was like ... four?) we start to get into the doldrums of winter. No good outside fun because it is cold and stupid right now, honest to God cold, not just me becoming southern cold. 

So this will be a dull stretch until we can go do some fun. Here are some highlights that I can remember.

Geoff and I ran an errand for Carrie back in December, she needed some parts picked up in Frederick, so we took a drive together. I had a vacation day to burn, so I figured what the heck, let's go for a drive. 

I like it up there, and I'd live up there or even further north if there wasn't a chance of me having to come back to the office, or Doug going back to his office. The commute would suck out loud.

 Geoff is also looking at a new academic program in Arlington VA so this would be a silly place to live. At least for the next couple years, I guess.  

But it's mountainous, beautiful, wide open. We got the parts (note: the bed of the jeep is shorter than I think it is!) and stopped at a brewery between Frederick and our house. We've been there before and I did a write up, but Geoff hadn't visited. A small reward for riding in the passenger's seat pulled up all the way to the dashboard, with a perilous sharp piece of metal nested in the headrest directly behind his noggin.    

We survived the journey as I prayed the whole way that no one would rear end us on 270.

The tasting room was done up for Christmas, the only thing missing in this space would be a gorgeous hearth. It really is a nice room. I asked Geoff to take my picture, telling him I'd like the tree in the shot. 

This is what I got from him. I told him "this is awfully close!" and he said he didn't like the lady in the background of the shot so he moved around to make it just me. Makes sense. 

We got some snow, real actual measurable snow, right after the new year. And it stuck around for a goodly amount of time. 

We had plenty to eat, charged batteries, and patience. Other people in Virginia did not. People got in their cars during the storm, and then got stuck on the highway all over the place. 

Some people were stranded for a day or so near Strafford on I-95 due to some jackknifed tractor trailers and other cars that just couldn't manage to drive in the heavy snow.  It sucked for them, but at the end of things I did not feel badly for these people. At the time of day they got stuck, in all reality and honesty, they never should have left the house. 

It seems like everyone wanted to blame everyone else for everything aside from self responsibility and poor decision making. Blaming others when people are being fuck all stupid about weather. 

It's the government's fault, it's climate change, it's the forecasters' fault. No, dummies. It's your fault you got stuck for 27 hours on the highway. People actually tried to blame the new, incoming, not yet sworn in Governor of Virginia for this catastrophe when the outgoing dude could have ended his time with a major victory by getting things figured out.  You can't blame the new guy until he's in as the new guy, folks. That was kind of hysterical. He's a jerk and all but none of this was his fault.

Here's a lesson for you. Don't leave the house if it is actively snowing, ever. Unless you are bleeding to death or need to get to a hospital. Your boss can suck it if he demands you come in. No one should risk their lives so a Panera can stay open.  

Stay inside. 

You see it is actually snowing so no, right now is not the time to go to the market. 

No, Senator dude, you don't leave at 1pm during a snowstorm that started at 6am to head up north to DC. Nothing is worth it. Stay put.  Nothing happening in DC is that important, I swear to God himself, for you to put yourself and your staff/driver in danger so you can get up there. Get a clue - monitor DC happenings from your house. Or your office in Richmond. No meeting, no people, nothing is that important.

I have to say that most of this area is in absolute denial when the forecasts are being put together. The NWS and all the TV stations call for us to get a boatload of snow, and we get flurries or nothing. The region is kind of a snow hole, snow happens to the west, north, and south. But never right in the DC area. So when they say "we will get 6-8 inches of snow!" literally no one believes it. We'll get a trace. 

Usually I sit safely at home and laugh at the forecast of 6-8 inches. I rag on people who tweet "OMG SNOOOWWWWWW!" and I can still see the blades of grass poking up through the 1/2 inch of "measurable" snow. I say "this isn't a winter storm, this is a Monday in Boston!" 

This time I got to sit safely home, look out the window at it coming down to beat the band, and said "huh. So yeah. There's some snow." And it was pretty. Here's a little instagram slideshow.

We had Geoff's birthday. Geoff's 25th birthday.

Took him to a brewery/restaurant in Hyattsville that we're fond of and have been to many times. He's still rather depressed with the whole school/work thing but this was nice to do, and we had a lot of fun. Geoff would be good working at a brewery if he had a little more skill with things like sanitizing/cleaning/etc. 

His attention to that level of detail is lacking in a lot of ways. He's also not very customer service friendly, and I don't think he'd make a good bartender except for people who are not shitty drunk. He's probably punch someone who is an asshole. 

But. Maybe hey.... a job in a brewery itself as an assistant might be good. He knows the product, how it is made, what it entails to turn water and a bunch of other stuff into beer. We've pondered pointing him in that direction. We're still working on things with him. 

Oh, and right now, today, I'd be hanging out with my sister, Ginger, Cate from Atlanta, Debs from Virginia Beach, and we'd be getting ready to head to a hotel in DC for check in. We would be meeting up with Sean and Sara, and their 6 yr old Henry who was looking forward not just to a hotel, but seeing a concert with me. But. 

The entire tour got canceled. Thanks Covid. Shows are being rescheduled for May, and we have to wait to see when things are going to be set back up. The Boston dates are rescheduled, and I didn't buy tickets to those shows because I know better than to travel to Boston in January (even though we did it a couple years ago). I'm now curious about tickets to those May dates and I hope they do not reschedule the DC dates for our anniversary, because that would be bad..

I took today and tomorrow off (and it crosses my mind I probably should have taken Thursday off too because I would have been waking up in a hotel). I thought about keeping the hotel, and just having a place to day drink and sit by a pool. But better thoughts prevailed, and we decided to save the money for the next adventure, whenever it happens. 

Doug's birthday is Sunday, so I'm trying to figure out if we go somewhere on Saturday and stay overnight. Initially, I had joked around about taking him to Pittsburgh on 1/23 and I'd go to a Guster show and he could hang out in the city and watch football at a bar, but that's a little shabby. I really wish he liked the band enough to go see them. But he's said "I've seen them enough times," and he's not interested. He doesn't care if I go off and see them, spend time with my sister, but he's more "meh" about going to concerts in the first place. 

I looked at Annapolis for the weekend, Philly, Atlantic City. Nothing is happening, no fun to be had. Just a hotel and dinner. I can do here for staying and dinner out. He has mentioned wanting to go to Berkeley Springs, which is up just south of the skinniest part of Maryland, it's less than two hours away. Maybe that would be an option. To be decided. I guess. The good thing is, this time of year even the nicer hotels have space, and they're not super expensive. So. Yay? I can help the economy with a $100 hotel stay and a dinner that costs about that at a nice nice place, and day visit to a local brewery? hmmm. 

I guess that's about it. I've got a little project for my friend Matt so I'll dive in after lunch in a few minutes and rock out on some book nerding. I'll close with this. Phineas doesn't love the snow, nor does he hate it. He sat nice for me, and I took a picture and put it through a filter on instagram. I kind of love how it turned out.