It's been so cold that I now think temps in the mid 30's are warm!

We seem to have finally emerged from the deep freeze. It was a weekend with sunshine and daytime temperatures in the mid 30's (fahrenheit, that is!). My bikes were almost jumping with joy - almost because while the temperature certainly supported my winter riding habit, the roads were an absolute mess. The major roads are clear and down to dry pavement, but side roads are still snow-covered. And the sides all of the roads sport muddy-looking puddles. I could have ridden, but I really hate that gritty sound of sand and salt in the chain, and I'm afraid I would have heard that almost immediately. So yes, my wandering over the weekend was on two feet instead of two wheels.

What do you mean you can't see the sidewalk? I guess I really can't complain given that we had 33 inches of snow last weekend. The town normally plows the sidewalks - including this one - but somehow the roads took precedence. No sidewalk for me today.

No, it really wasn't a good day to sit here!

What's that funny noise?

A little earlier tonight I was looking at the SmartWool site, checking out some socks. I'd moved on to some other things, but I didn't close the window. All of a sudden I heard what I thought was a funny noise from my computer. Is something wrong? I didn't think so, but it just wasn't a normal sound. Then I discovered that the noise was generated by the SmartWool site...

I knew that this guy has a tendency to whistle, but tonight was the first time I heard him jumping up and down! Want to hear for yourself? Open the SmartWool site, click on products, look around a little bit, then just leave the window open while you do other things. If you're anything like me you should have a good laugh.

Do you know how to turn the snow off?

You don't? Neither do I!

OK, I know it's winter - but there is a lot of that white stuff out there. It seems like we've already had more than our share for the season, and while I'd like to believe that will make the winter shorter I have a feeling that there is still not an end in sight. A combination of the 30+ inches that fell over the weekend with today's 4 to 6 additional inches and the small amounts that fell earlier in the month broke the record for the snowiest January in Boston. I certainly hope there are no more monthly snowfall records broken this season - enough is enough!

The view through the windshield on my drive to work this morning. This road is two lanes with a wide shoulder - although you certainly couldn't tell that this morning. And yes, I was stopped when I took this picture!

The view along the side of route 125 in Andover. Just a little bit of snow, right?

Here's a shot to give you an idea of how much snow it out there. This stop sign is outside of the garage at my office - and it's on a post that is pretty high. It doesn't look very high today does it?

Lots of white...

...Home again, a day late

When I changed my train reservations to come home this morning after the snow instead of during the storm, I really believed that booking on the 6:20am Acela Express was a good thing. That train to Boston originated in New York, so I thought there was a good chance of it leaving Penn Station on time. Wow, was I wrong! When I arrived at the station at 6am after a brisk walk from the hotel, I found that my train was cancelled. I waited in line for a good solid half an hour to rebook on the next train, a regional train that made a large number of stops. It left NY almost an hour late, and arrived in Boston a good hour and a half late. It was a long morning... But - I'm home, and it's good to be here - in spite of there being 33 inches of snow on the ground! I'm afraid it will be here for a while too since it looks like we're in for a pretty cold week.

A good but chilly day for wandering

...an unexpected extra day in New York

I was planning to head home today, but the weather forecast for Boston today made me change my mind. Somehow arriving home and having to drive 40+ miles from the train station to my house in bad (snowy & windy) driving conditions didn't sound like the smartest move to me, and after all, plans are there to be changed.

It was a sunny but cold day here in New York, and I really wanted to get some exercise. I had access to the health club in the hotel, but you know me - I'd really rather be outside. I started the day with a walk from the hotel to Penn Station and back to change my train ticket. After that jaunt I warmed up a bit, then decided to head to Central Park. There were quite a few people there, but the thing I really enjoyed was watching the animals!

A rather chilly table for two outside the library.

This dog dressed in his fleece coat and booties was priceless. He was sitting practically at attention, watching some squirrels chase each other up and down a tree!

Is it better to walk on the ice or to swim in some very cold water? It seems the consensus here was that swimming was preferred.

Ah, this chunk of snow makes a good place to sit for a while...

The rest of the photos from my wandering afternoon can be found in my New York in sun & snow photo gallery.

Out of the hospital, into the snow

It was a snowy day for a first day out of the hospital. We spent a good chunk of time with Dad at Memorial Sloan-Kettering today, but it was to be the day of his release. A quick slippery walk from the building to a cab, then we were off on a fish-tailing ride back to the hotel. My folks stay at the Marriott East Side often enough (or maybe they just make a lasting impression on people) that we had to do a quick wander around the lobby so everyone could greet Dad on his return from the hospital. Up to the room, then Suze & I headed back out in the snow for a quick visit to the fabulous Whole Foods Market at the Time Warner Center. Yes, you're absolutely right, we did take a cab. Much as I would have liked to walk, the snow was coming down fast and furious and it seemed to be a good idea not to walk. I could have spent more time than we did wandering through that marvelous market - but we behaved (well, sort of behaved!). We picked up some munchies for the room - fruit, cheese, crackers, plus sandwiches for dinner. The first day out of the hospital with a snow storm as a plus - eating in was a much better plan than heading back out in the snow...

Brrr...

It was 1 degree out when I left the house this morning - Fahrenheit, that is. Too bad it wasn't 1 degree Celcius since that would be positively balmy in comparison!

This very cold snap is not doing much for my outdoor walking. I've been continuing to go to the gym - and I walked outside on the weekend - but this staying inside during the week is starting to get to me. It's supposed to be in the 20's today, so I'm hoping for a mid-day outside walk in addition to an after work gym session.

A hospital with room service!

Apparently the hospital that my Dad is living in this week (Memorial Sloan-Kettering) wants their patients to eat well in order to help their recovery - so they have room service. The kitchen is open until 9pm, and the patients can order food whenever they want it. A nice change from the typical hospital food.

It sounds like Dad's surgery went as well as can be expected. To the surprise of his doc, the cancer turned out to be lung cancer and not metastatic colon cancer. And the spot on the other lung looks like the same thing - that will come out after he recovers from this operation. From talking to my sister and my mom, it sounds like he's doing much better than his previous cancer surgery. I suppose that makes sense - last time he was ill from the cancer, and he had chemo prior to the surgery. This time he didn't have any symptoms at all and the problem was found during his annual CAT scan.

Dad in one of his crazy get-ups at Thanksgiving - I think the pants he was wearing were at least 25 or 30 years old! And from what my sister said, he appears to be doing something similar at the hospital. Apparently he found a strange green hat to top off his hospital gown outfit and was standing at the entrance to the floor greeting other patients!

And the answer is...

Remember my Lifesaver discussion from last week? The saga continues!

The folks at Nabisco actually answered the email that Betsi sent them last week. They answered the email, but they didn't really answer the question about how they could include - in one package - Lifesavers with almost identical colors but different flavors. Here are Betsi's comments and suggestions:

There are several quality issues here. As lime is no longer available, the watermelon and green apple are both green...being someone who strongly dislikes the watermelon, how am I supposed to tell the difference? Perhaps some sort of flavor marking on the Lifesavers that go into the variety pack could be made, or perhaps a greater distinction among the colors.

I have to hand it to the Nabisco customer support folks for responding quickly - even though they really didn't answer her question. Here's their answer:

Consumers were asked to take part in a historic event in February 2003, where they were asked to vote for the new 5 Flavors collation. In just 12 weeks a record-breaking 2.2 MILLION votes poured in, voting in Cherry, Watermelon, Pineapple, Raspberry and Blackberry. Since the launch of the new 5-Flavor collation, we have received incredible consumer feedback asking to bring Orange back to the mix. Shipping began November 2003 for the NEW Life Saver 5-flavor mix with Orange! We listened again! NEW Life Savers 5 Flavors: Cherry, Watermelon, Pineapple, Raspberry, Orange.

Oh well - at least they sent a response. And I didn't really expect even that, let alone an explanation on how to tell the flavors by color!

Polartec® Power Stretch® rocks!

What - you're advertising a product in your blog?

That wasn't really my intent, but... I have lots of thin layers that work well for cycling, and some of them tranfer very nicely to walking too. But the tights I like for riding in cold weather I really don't like for walking - Pearl Izumi AmFib tights are warm, and the front of the tights are made of a fabric that is windproof and water resistant. For some reason they feel odd to me when walking, but they don't feel odd at all when riding. So I went looking for another option, and found some tights that REI makes that are made of Malden Mills Polartec® Power Stretch®. What a fabulous fabric for keeping my legs warm and happy on my winter walks!

Even though I hoped to end the week with a bit of biking, I didn't expect that to be a real possibility, so I was pretty happy with my walking weekend. I happily ride when the temperature is in the 40s, and I can manage short rides - with a max of about 20 miles - when the temperature is in the 30s. But 20s? Well that's another story entirely. I can dress warmly enough to still be able to move when I'm walking, but cycling adds another dimension of cold. I did manage very enjoyable (fast) walks both Saturday and Sunday even though it was cold and gray both days.

The patterns in the ice skimming the tops of the many of the puddles from all of that rain fascinate me.

No, you're not imagining things - the trees are wearing collars made of ice. It appears that there was some drainage from this previously flooded area, and the unsupported ice has cracked, leaving what looks like collars around the trees.

This close-up makes it a little easier to pick out those icy collars.

New York bound

When I found out about Dad's scheduled surgery next Monday, he actually called to tell me that I didn't need to be there. It was a hard decision for me to make, but I ultimately decided that he was right since there really isn't anything I can contribute by waiting at the hospital as opposed to at home (well, at my office). I don't want my mom to be sitting and waiting alone during the surgery, but my sister is going to be there - so that's covered. If Suze couldn't be there, then I would have made sure that I was there. Can you tell that I still feel a little guilty about this?

We've been told that the hospital stay will be 5 to 7 days, and Mom & Dad will be staying in New York for several days past that time. He's booked a suite at the Marriott East Side which has a sofa bed in one room and two double beds in the other - so the current plan is that we'll all share the room. The good thing is that he is a Marriott platinum member (or something like that), so although the room isn't on the concierge level my mom will have access to the complimentary breakfast and evening snacks. Unfortunately, she's had practice within the past year of staying in a hotel to be with someone in the hospital (me! two weeks in Boston last May) - but it helps me to know that she'll have access to food without going out. And since they stay at that hotel whenever they wander to New York for a weekend, the staff there knows both of them. I'm sure that will help.

As for next week, Suze will be there Sunday through either Tuesday or Wednesday, Neal will be there for the day on Thursday, and I'm heading down on Friday. Although none of the rest of us are as sure as Dad, he's convinced that he'll be out of the hospital by next weekend. We'll see. In the meantime, we're all thinking good thoughts.

Hey Dad - Brandy said to tell you that he's sending his own good wishes to you too!

Hey - it was 61 degrees out this morning...

...are you sure this is winter?

What a crazy weather week we just had! There was snow, there was rain, there was cold, and there was even near record (or record) warmth too. As I was driving home last night I passed through what must have been the weather front. I was headed north on I93, and the thermometer in my car said it was 47 degrees out. The temperature was definitely on the rise, but as I exited the highway I must have driven right through the front. The temperature instantly dropped to 34 degrees. I've never seen that before - although it did match what all of the weather forecasters were saying.

The temperature continued to rise overnight, and when I woke up it was 61 degrees out. Definitely a good morning for a walk! And in a sleeveless shirt, not normal January attire. Unfortunately for my wish for warm weather, the temperatures dropped throughout the day. It was back in the 30s by the time I headed home again. I guess that touch of warmth was intended just to whet the appetite.

Lifesaver confusion, or...

...what flavor did you say that is?

I keep a jar of hard candy on my desk at the office, and my Lifesavers Variety pack purchase last week definitely created some questions. The package contains individually wrapped Lifesavers, and the flavors appear to be a combination of those from the traditional 5-flavor pack and their tropical fruits flavors. Combining the two causes some interesting color vs. flavor questions - which is only increased by some recent flavor changes. For example, they've stopped producing the lime flavor, but the package contains 2 flavors that are different shades of green. And when I say different shades, I'm referring to very slight variations that are only discernable when the two candies of that color range are sitting right next to each other.

The flavors? According to the package, they are: watermelon, cherry, pineapple, grape, green apple, fruit punch, pina colada, tangerine, banana, mango melon, orange, lemon, raspberry.

Which is which? Well, as far as I can tell, green lifesavers are watermelon and green apply. Red can be cherry, fruit punch, or raspberry. Orange? Those are orange or tangerine. Yellow are lemon and pineapple - but to be honest I believe those colors are far enough apart that you know what you're getting. And the remaining flavors are far enough apart in color that your expectation of the flavor hitting your tongue is usually right.

What were the Lifesavers candy designers thinking of? Betsi actually sent an email to the manufacturer questioning the colors, flavors, and (I think) their quality assurance process in allowing this confusion to exist. It should be interesting to see if she gets a response from them!

Unhappy, but not unexpected news...

...came our way last Friday

Dad had his followup appointment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering for two spots on his lungs that originally were noticed back in October. Unfortunately the spots have gotten larger, and the doc said they have to come out. It's too early to know what they are - he had colon cancer many years ago (9 or 10, I think) that was successfully treated. So it's possible that the new cancer is from the long ago removed colon cancer, but it's also possible that they are something new. It doesn't make any of us happy, but I have to believe that these spots were found early and that whatever it is can be successfully treated.

It's odd; people are diagnosed with cancer every day, but when it's someone you're close to or even just someone you know, it really slaps you in the face. I wish there was something I could do to help, but for now the only thing I know how to do is to send my good wishes his way, to be there to support both of my folks emotionally, and in person too when they need me.

Mom & Dad in the kitchen at Thanksgiving. Sorry Mom, I know you don't like pictures of yourself, but I think you'd agree that this one is decent! And yes, those are LIVESTRONG armbands both of my folks are wearing. I bought them before the latest diagnosis, and they just seemed right given what's happening.

If you're reading this, please send your good thoughts and wishes wafting towards my dad!

Yes, that snow is still here!

The roads are a mess - mostly clear, but still wet and full of sand and salt - so today was a walking day. My bikes opted to stay clean and indoors. It's funny, the stretch of sidewalk that I thought the town didn't bother to clear was clear today. Either they didn't bother after the last storm, or the plows threw the snow from the road to cover the walk. I was glad to find it was possible to walk there today.

Yes, it really did snow yesterday - and it's still here. Oh well, it is winter, isn't it?

Walking in the snow

Well, that very specific crazy weather forecast for today (the one that was posted for only a short time on Thursday) was partially right - we did get snow and freezing rain and rain. It just wasn't for the short times predicted; instead it was all day!

I headed out for a long walk just as it started snowing. It wasn't bad at first, but by the time I got home a solid hour and a half later it was getting hard to walk. I'm convinced at this point that the town of Andover plows the sidewalks in some neighborhoods. As I started heading toward the town center from home, the walks were relatively clear. (Relatively in that they had only new snow on them...) But as I completed that big circle and was coming close to home from the other direction, I had to go back to walking in the road since the walks were an absolute mess. They hadn't been cleared from the last storm. I'm actually pretty lucky in that I live next to a college campus, and the roads and sidewalks in there are cleared early and often in snow storms. That is my walking place of choice during the week since I feel a lot happier about walking there in the early morning and evening than I do about walking in the road in the dark.

My footprints in the snow, early in the storm.

A cozy home for birds, a nice place to escape from the snow!

Yes, it's really snowing - and those blobs in the photo really are the snow.

A fascinating weather forecast...

... courtesy of the National Weather Service.

I just checked the weather forecast before heading out into that rain on the edge of sleet that is our current present from the sky, and Saturday's forecast really made me smile - and not because I liked the forecasted weather. Let's see, the forecast is often wrong when it's presented by day - but this forecast for two days from now is specific to the hour!

As copied from the NWS forecast for Bedford, MA:
Saturday: A chance of snow before noon, then a chance of rain between noon and 1pm, then a chance of snow between 1pm and 4pm, then a chance of rain after 4pm. Cloudy, with a high near 38. West wind around 5 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%.

A bike ride to welcome 2005

January 1st did a good job of presenting non-January weather - so I was able to take my first bike ride of the year on a sunny day. It was 50 degrees, sunny, and windy when I left the house on one of my purple bikes. Of course the temperature managed to drop 5 degrees by the time I got home, but overall it was a very pleasant ride for a January day. My only complaint is that although the roads were mainly dry, there were enough wet areas that my bike was a mess by the time I got home. It's clean and re-lubed now; in fact my bike got its bath before I got my own warm-up shower!

A sunny day, but one with snow on the sides of the road.

I'm always fascinated by the things people have in their yards. This life-size carving of a zebra is outside of a barn housing live horses. I think I'd rather watch the horses, but I have to admit that the zebra makes me smile everytime I ride by there.

It's time to dream

2004 definitely wasn't the year that I had planned. Don't get me wrong - it could have been much worse, so I can't say that it was a bad year - but I had plans that were left undone. Of course, since I didn't plan to flip my bike over and land on my head in the first place, it would be pretty silly of me to say that I don't plan a repeat of that incident. But I do have to believe that it won't happen again...

It's a sunny, windy day. It's the first day of my riding year, and I consider myself lucky that the temperature is conducive to riding. It's already hit 50 degrees so I'll be waking up a bike with fresh air in the tires very soon!

It's a new year, and it's definitely time to dream of my travels for the year. My goal is to be back in (what I consider to be) decent shape by the time spring rolls around so that I can get back to touring by bike. I'm considering using my unused 2004 plans for trips to Nova Scotia and to the Canadian Rockies, but I also know that these winter months are good for dreaming. Where will I travel this year? Only time will tell.

It's time to dream...

Hey - what happened to...

...your 2004 blog entries?

Rather than having my blog go on forever, I made the decision to split my blog into years. My 2004 blog entries are still there - to read them you can click on the 2004 blog menu entry on the right, or click here to go to denisegoldberg2004.blogspot.com