Bob's New Life in Columbus

Saturday, February 17, 2007

More disappointments and blessings...

Debbie Shrum, a co-worker from the Foundation, has been such a blessing to me. As you will recall, my car has been stuck in the ice since Wednesday. Debbie took me home from work on Thursday and Friday and took me to work on Friday. Not only did I not have to drive the interstate, but she has a parking space next door to the Foundation. She also agreed to take me to the airport today. Leslie Meyer, another co-worker, was gracious enough to offer to take time off work to pick me up and transport me to Bob's apartment in Reynoldsburg on Wednesday of next week.

Oh, and my boss Kevin said he will pay for the cab fare I spent getting to work on Thursday. Isn't that great!

My best friend Emily Bien may have gotten salmonella poisoning from her Peter Pan peanut butter. She has had abdominal cramps for the last several days, and she definitely was eating pb from the serial numbers mentioned on the radio of those jars that needed to be tossed. Pray for Emily to recover quickly.

Yesterday afternoon about 3:30 I received a call from my realtor's office. The buyer of my house had finally completed the inspection in anticipation of closing on Tuesday. To my dismay, she is wanting several items repaired along with a letter stating that the roof still has years of use.

If the inspection had been completed in a timely manner, this would not be an issue. Now I have three days, counting today and tomorrow, to provide the documents and repairs she has requested.

My realtor says it SHOULD be no problem. I suppose we'll see...

When I got home yesterday, I called Emily to check on her. As I was chatting, Bob walked into the house and gave me my first paycheck from Children's. To my dismay, the advance I had been offered for payment to my movers this coming Tuesday was missing from the amount!

Bob offered to help me try to "unstick" my car from the ice. So after I hung up talking with Em, he and I headed outside to give the car extraction one more try.

Bob's neighbor came out and offered some rock-like kitty litter she had purchased to get her car out of the ice. With the litter and the neighbor and Bob pushing the car forward and backward, I was finally able to drive the car out of its frozen grave! YEA! (I've already let my co-workers Debbie and Leslie know that I won't be needing their assistance with transportation. )

Since I had hung up with Em abruptly to get outside before dark, I called again to chat a while longer. She offered to let me use her savings for city taxes (which are due at the end of February) to pay the movers. Then I could return her money by month's end after Children's cuts me a check. It just might work!

Meanwhile, I've emailed my boss and someone in HR at the hospital to see how quickly the advance check can be cut and when I can pick it up.

I head out in a few hours for Memphis. Let's hope that the plane is able to leave on schedule.

Em and I are going to see "Spamalot" at the Orpheum tonight. We're meeting Jimmy Stephens at Spaghetti Warehouse around 5:30. Ione's will be my home while I'm on this trip to finish the move.

So keep on praying that everything works out and that at this time next week I'll be in my new digs in the Brewery District with my home in Cordova in someone else's name.

By the way, happy birthday, Peterson Toscano! I love you, man!!!

Thursday, February 15, 2007

insignificant...

It's times like these when I feel small and insignificant.

The car's stuck; a taxi to work and back is outrageous; a tow truck is $65 just to get me moving....

In a city of over a million, there's no one to ask for help...whose services don't cost most of my day's pay.

:(

Stuck!

Well, the bad news is that it's 0 degrees here this morning; the good new news is that there's no wind so it also feels like 0.

The worse news is that I'm all dressed up with someplace to go and no way to get there. My car's tires are spinning feverishly but not budging.

I'm torn. Should I call a taxi and spend $50 to $75 to try to get to work and back since I'm a new employee and don't want to risk being absent this early in the game or do I just wait to see if something miraculous happens and the tires start moving through the ice although it's 32 degrees below freezing.

No chains, no snow tires, no clue...

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!

Well, I got ready for work this morning, broke my car door free from its icy prison, and started the car so it would de-ice. (This ice was too thick to remove with my ice scraper.)

I came back in the house to watch the weather while the car thawed.

To my surprise, Columbus and Franklin County had issued a Level 2 Snow Alert. (It was Level 1 when I went to bed last night.) My boss had said not to come in today if the level was raised to levels 2 or 3...so I'm staying home today.

Below are a few photos I snapped from

INSIDE Bob's apartment.

Notice that the ice on the limbs are

as thick as the limbs themselves.

Good thing Ohio doesn't boast pines

like the South!

I had Blackie completely ice- and

snow-free yesterday after work.

A few icicles hanging from the roof...

The temperature right now is 12

with a windchill of -3.

Below are descriptions of the snow alert possibilities:

Winter weather often means hazardous driving conditions. Knowing the facts about Franklin County’s Snow Emergency levels can mean the difference between arriving safely at your destination and not arriving at all. The Sheriff may close county, township, state, or municipal roads within his jurisdiction for preservation of the public peace.

Level 1—Snow Alert: Roadways are hazardous with blowing and drifting snow. Roads are also icy. Drive carefully.

Level 2—Snow Advisory: Roadways are hazardous, with blowing and drifting snow. Only those who feel it is necessary to drive should be out on the roadways. Contact your employer to see if you should report to work.

Level 3—Snow Emergency: All roadways are closed to non-emergency personnel. No one should be out during these conditions unless it is absolutely necessary to travel. All employees should contact their employers to see if they should report to work. Those traveling on the roadways may subject themselves to arrest.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Snow...snow...freezing rain... (February 13, 2007)

I know...all it's done

since I've been here is snow!

The hillside in the photo below

was completely snow-free yesterday.

Probably even as recently as 4:00

this morning, it was clear.

You can tell in both the shot above

and the one below that the rain

is hitting the windows and

freezing where it lands.

When I got home, I cleaned

all of the snow, ice and slush

off the car. See Blackie?

You've seen the shot below in other photos.

Notice how thick the snow is

on the railing.

It would be thicker if the rain

had not caused it to lose fluffiness.

This is another shot of the tributary.

Notice that the entire stream is iced

over, and snow is covering the ice.

Still a trickle is finding its way

under the snow and ice to its

next destination...

Of course, a parting shot of Maria!

If I'd tried to get her to lick her chops,

it would never have happened! HA!

You know, she may just be sticking

her tongue out at me!!!

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Maria's Morning Bath (February 10, 2007)

Wednesday, February 7, 2007

Columbus Children's Hospital Foundation

I experienced my first big snow since I arrived. Starting yesterday about noon, it snowed and snowed and snowed. It took two hours for me to get home from work yesterday. I waited 25 minutes for one of our hospital shuttles to arrive. (They're supposed to be on a 10-minute rotation.) With nothing on my head, I was completely white-haired by the time the shuttle finally arrived. Then these people who had arrived moments before the shuttle did started filing onto the shuttle ahead of me. I was not happy. Anyway, this morning I decided to leave for work about 6:00 to make sure I arrived on time.

This was what I saw when I got to Bob's apartment complex parking lot...