i could use a bicycle right about now...

...cuz i'd probably make better time than in a car out on the roads right now...yes, the snow has been falling non-stop here in the northern suburbs. wait, what am i doing at work in the northern suburbs when i live 30 miles away in rogers park in chicago, and the winter storm warnings have been broadcast nonstop for the past 24 hours all over the midwest? i'm an idiot, what can i say?

you see, i haven't been in the office since last tuesday due to the thanksgiving holiday, vacation days, being sick and what not, and i actually have things that i need to get done that required coming into the office. i was also wide awake at 2:30 am with no sleep in sight, so i got up at 5, showered, ate a bowl of cereal, futzed around, listened to NPR, bundled up real good with my pants shoved inside my granny snowboots, and trekked out to the train station. it was a blistery half mile walk, but totally doable. the train was on schedule for the most part, and we were only a few minutes late pulling into the Lake Forest station. the shuttle bus was waiting for us, and it was crowded today as more people than normal chickened out of driving. this was one of the few times i didn't get a seat on the bus and it also happened to be the longest shuttlebus ride of my life. one of the roads on our route had turned into a parking lot of wiped out cars to the left, the right, and the middle of the road. it took us 40 minutes just to travel 2 miles of that road. apparently, lake county prefers to plow its roads only AFTER all the cars are off the roads, which means, NEVER, thereby leaving dozens of cars stranded and hopelessly stuck and in the way of our rather large shuttlebus.

we did finally make it to the office an hour later than usual, but we got off easy; the people on the later train were late by 3 hours because the shuttlebus itself got stuck in the snow.

so that same road has been a mess all day, and although my first thought was to do what i needed to do in the office and then catch a cab back to the train station as quickly as possibly, it occurred to me that such a cab ride might cost me a fortune if the length of the shuttlebus ride was any indication.

so here i am. snowbound. at work. and i really could have gotten by with staying home until monday because everybody in our department except our VP and the guy who lives down the street stayed home today.

happy friday!