1/30/2009

I Left My Sunglasses At The Dunk

I stopped to get some breakfast at the Dunk this morning. I was wearing my shades due to the blinding sun. I must have put them down on the counter because they weren't with me when I was driving down the street a few minutes later.

Oh well, they were old and I needed to replace them...now I am going to be that guy buying sunglasses in the middle of winter.


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Departure Time: 7:06
Arrival Time: 7:44
Weather as I call it: Sunny, cold.
Shady Gas Price: $1.77
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nah.

1/29/2009

But Ice Slows Me Down

It took me a long time to get to work today. A long time. There was ice on the roads...I am not sure if there was ice on all roads, but the ones I drove had ice everywhere.

People drove very slow. School buses made things slower. If you tried to be nice for someone and stop to let them into traffic, you skidded.

Not fun. Longest trip (to this job) ever.

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Departure Time: 7:06
Arrival Time: 8:03
Weather as I call it: Sunny, cold, and icy.
Shady Gas Price: $1.77
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 6
Feared for my life: Yeah.

1/28/2009

Light Snow Never Stopped Me

....it's just the ice and the slushy stuff that will bring me to a halt in the afternoon.

I got behind a sander truck and I thought that was a good thing. He verve left at an intersection and got into a turn left only lane. Not so. I ended up passing him on the right and felt like a jackass. oops.

The rest of the trip wasn't so bad. I got to work safely.



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Departure Time: 7:10
Arrival Time: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Light snow
Shady Gas Price: $1.77
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nope

1/27/2009

Flag Raising

When I got out to the main street, I saw a fireman raising the flag in front of his station. He wasn't wearing a coat. He was a tough guy.

Not as many peeps pulling out into traffic today. I was happy.

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Departure Time: 6:56
Arrival Time: 7:31
Weather as I call it: Cold, sunny, dry.
Shady Gas Price: $1.77
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nope

1/26/2009

Back On The Roads

Hey there. I was gone for a week because my wife and I welcomed to the world another child on 1/18/09. Everyone is doing well and everyone is settled in...so it's time to go back to work.

Man, it's crazy out there. Too many high snow banks and too many people pulling WAAAAAY out to see around them.

It made for an exciting drive. I had to keep swerving around people.

Good to be back.


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Departure Time: 6:54
Arrival Time: 7:31
Weather as I call it: Sunny but cold. 15 degrees. More snow coming too.
Shady Gas Price: $1.77
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: A little.

1/16/2009

Minus 10

Yeah, that's what the thermometer said when I left the house. Minus 10.

I hate beating a dead horse, but the temperature is the story. I had to let my car warm up again.

The smokestacks of house burning wood were emitting long smoke chains as I drove through the neighborhoods. They kept climbing and climbing.

Steam was coming out of the sewer grates. You don't tend to see that in the 'burbs.

There appeared to be some water main trouble in the center of Chelmsford today. I didn't see a break, but there were trucks and police directing traffic. It held me up a bit, but not terribly much.

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Departure Time: 7:08
Arrival Time: 7:44
Weather as I call it: You know - Frigid.
Shady Gas Price: $1.73 Boo!
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: Nah.

1/15/2009

You Know It's Only Going To Get Colder

I started my car 10 minutes before I had to leave. The thermometer on the side of the house said it was zero degrees out...Fahrenheit, of course.

The drive was fine. When it's cold, people move slower.

When it's really hot, that's when people are crazy and mean.


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Departure Time: 7:08
Arrival Time: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Cold. Sunny
Shady Gas Price: $1.69
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nah

1/14/2009

Toasty

Man, it was 10 degrees when I walked out of the door this morning. I had a typical Massachusetts commuter morning. I got a few Dunkin' Donuts cards over the holiday and I decided to get some eats on my way to work.

My medium coffee and bagel was all right.

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Departure Time: 6:57
Arrival Time: 7:37
Weather as I call it: Cold, Sunny.
Shady Gas Price: $1.69
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: No

1/13/2009

It Is Still Amazing

If you leave just a little bit later, your commute changes so much. I got out the door late this morning and I ran into more traffic than I ever did before.

It was nice to experience, but not something I want to do every day.


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Departure Time: 7:10
Arrival Time: 7:48
Weather as I call it: Cold, sunny, 20s
Shady Gas Price: $1.69
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: Nah

1/12/2009

Can We Get Some More Snow?

I like spending some time of the weekend to shovel out my driveway. I really like brushing off even more snow on Monday morning before I go to work.

The drive was good. I did get behind a few school buses, and I had to get some gas...but it turned out ok.

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Departure Time: 7:01
Arrival Time: 7:41
Weather as I call it: Cloudy...cold..20s
Shady Gas Price: $1.65
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nah

1/09/2009

Now That Was Kinda Scary

One negative of taking the roads less travelled...they tend not to be sanded to prevent ice from forming. Route 4 right over the Billerica line was a little icy today. I skidded a bit...there was a guy who was pulled over to the side...Not sure if he got in an accident or not...but it was clear he didn't want to be stopped.

Happy Friday

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Departure Time: 7:06
Arrival Time: 7:38
Weather as I call it: Sunny, windy, cold.
Shady Gas Price: $1.67
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: A bit.

1/08/2009

Thanks For Plowing

The plow went by last night but unfortunately it sorta left a nice snow mound at the top of my driveway. I couldn't get through the first time. There was a loud crunch sound as the first set of tires got through, but then my tires started spinning. I had to "throw it into reverse" and try again with more gusto.

This time, I depressed the accelerator with a heavy foot and slammed through the mound.

Icy snowy mound...how you taunt me.

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Departure Time: 7:03
Arrival Time: 7:36
Weather as I call it: Sunny. Cold. Icy.
Shady Gas Price: $1.67
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nah

1/07/2009

Prepare For The Worst

I thought the roads were going to be bad this morning. I thought I would be slipping on ice. Not so much. Travel was pretty easy. I don't think that was true of people on the south shore.

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Departure Time: 7:02
Arrival Time: 7:34
Weather as I call it: Light rain, but I had to brush snow off of my car.
Shady Gas Price: $1.69
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: Nah

1/06/2009

The Party Is Over

I was surprised to see that the shady gas price was up 12 cents today. Wha' happened? Did we suddenly start to consume more?

The price was going down - day after day usually in 2 cent increments...but when it climbs up, it's a big jump.

I wonder if I could fill up a few barrels of it now to use later when it is over 3 bucks.


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Departure Time: 7:06
Arrival Time: 7:38
Weather as I call it: Mostly cloudy.
Shady Gas Price: $1.69
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 2
Feared for my life: No

1/05/2009

Icy For 2009

It appeared that I would have a pretty crazy commute, but it turned out ok.

I scraped a thin layer of ice off of my car with no problem. Where I thought there would be a problem would be the ice on the roads.

No ice that I could see. There was enough sand on the roads to make travel safe.

There was a lot of traffic around though. Make the trip pretty long.

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Departure Time: 6:56
Arrival Time: 7;34
Weather as I call it: Cold, not much ice though, 30s
Shady Gas Price: $1.57
Level of commute annoyance (scale of 1 to 10): 3
Feared for my life: Nah