Tag: traffic

In the Office Again

Here we are, in the office in Westwood again. We come in once a month, the whole group on the same day. It doesn’t really make sense from a Covid perspective, but that’s the situation we’re in now.

Traffic was bad, but not remarkably bad. Just normal bad. There seemed to be an overabundance of stupid people on the road. That was interesting and rather awful, but unfortunately not too out of the ordinary.

My wedding ring almost fell off while I was unloading my backpack. That does it. I have to go and get it resized. This weekend, assuming my jewelry shop of choice is open this weekend. I have to check on that. I want to bring it to the same shop we bought it from in 2009. That seems like the right thing to do. If they aren’t available I’ll go somewhere else, but they are still my first choice.

Back when we had the cellar remodeled I broke the hose that vents the dryer. We had to have someone come in and replace it. Apparently they put too many twists and turns into it when they installed the new one and now we’re getting errors triggered by the flow sensor. Urgh. I will try to hook up a shorter hose that goes straight to the vent in the wall. Something else I need to do this weekend. I feel like it’s going to be a busy one.

Okay, let’s get to work. Lots of meetings today. Fun fun fun. I miss Jen.

In the Office

We’re in the office today. I’ve already had two meetings (successfully). Only five more to go today.

Traffic was okay. It took a little more than an hour to go 40 miles. Not as bad as it often is. We’ll see how things look on the way home this evening.

Fingers crossed for a quiet day. I want to get home and see my love. We’re so used to remote work meaning that we can just walk to the next room and say hi that it really blows when that’s not possible.

Oh well. Happy Tuesday.

Come Home Already

I made it home from the office pretty easily. There was a little traffic jam in Waltham, but nothing too bad. It took me about an hour to get home.

I had dinner. 4.6 oz of roast beef. After 2.6 ounces I stopped. I’m not sure why. I was still hungry, I wasn’t feeling any nausea, it tasted good. I just needed to stop. I had a little sugar free pudding to try and fill my tiny new stomach, but I’m still a little hungry. I am not sure what happened. We’ll keep an eye out for any future occurances.

Bellana went to her dad’s house for a bit this evening. We are waiting for her to come home so we can watch the 1st season finale of Stranger Things. Bellana has seen all of season four so far. I was going to start watching it over the weekend, but Jen had never seen any of it and Bellana talked her into giving it a try. So Jen and I are watching it together. We burned through the first seven episodes in two sittings. I think my beautiful bride might be enjoying the show.

Okay, Bellana is almost home. Time to watch some tube.

In the Office: July Edition

I am in the office in Westwood today. Jen took the day off to hang out with Bellana, but I had to go into the office. Covid is surging, so let’s all get together. End Rant.

The last time I came here I forgot my headphones and it was borderline nightmarish. I did not forget my headphones today. Thank The Force for that one. No, today I forgot my Thursday pill caddie. I guess I am taking my lunchtime vitamins at dinner, and my dinner vitamins before bed. It’s okay. It won’t be the first time.

The real downside today was the traffic. A year ago, when we first started experimenting with coming into the office, much of the world was still locking down and there wasn’t a lot of traffic. Not so today. I got in the car at 7:30 and Waze told me I’d get to my destination at 8:50. I actually got here at 8:48, which is nice but still really crappy. There were traffic jams everywhere. My favorite one was right at the spot where I first pull onto the highway. It really set the mood for the drive.

Absent Minded Doofus

I am in the office today. It’s the first time since before the surgery. The traffic was really bad. Another sign that the pandemic is over, even though people are still getting sick in droves. Hooray.

I was 10 miles down route 93 before I realized that I forgot my headphones. Damn it! Fortunately I had an old set of ear pods in my desk, so we’re good to go for today but… dumb ass.

It’s my first attempt at monitoring liquid and protein intake from outside of the house for a full work day. I will also be taking my meds (just vitamins, actually) at work today too. What could go wrong?

Traffic

The weight loss clinic is 21 minutes from my house, according to Google Maps.

21 minutes there, a few minutes to drop off the paperwork I need them to fill out and fax to the insurance company, and 21 minutes back. I should be able to do that in less than an hour with ease, right?

I did it in 59 minutes. Not bad, but there was a hiccup I didn’t consider. I would have seen it coming light years away if we were still in the office every day.

It’s Friday… in June… Beach/NH lakes traffic. It was starting to build up on route 495 North at the big interchanges (routes 3 and 93) on my way there. We’re talking about 1:15pm and already there was traffic.

Yup. That’s normal on Fridays in the summer. The traffic heading North is brutal all day long. Fortunately it wasn’t too bad for me this time.

Oh the things you forget about when you’re working from home every day instead of commuting to the office.

Doing Stuff

I logged into work today. The first time in almost a month. I’m not actually allowed to work because I’m still on leave, but I needed to find out what I needed to do to in order to both go back next week and to get paid.

All of the paper work has been filed. All of the forms have been submitted. We are good to go on Monday.

I had to drive to the clinic to get a form that I already had. Don’t ask, it’s kinda silly. I learned a terrible truth. Traffic on route 495 at 11:30 am on Thursdays is indistinguishable from Sunday mornings. I swear it was like experiencing life in slow motion. Everyone but me was moving at 2/3 speed. It was frustrating as hell.

Once I was back in Methuen I had to go to the pharmacy to get a prescription filled. That’s when the 2/3 speed traffic morphed into 1/3 speed. It took 17 hours* to get through the center of town.

I tells ya, I do not miss commuting.

*Slight exaggeration.

Back to the Office Again

I’m in the office today. I’m not terribly happy about it but I’ll live. The commute was better than most days pre-Covid, but given that I’ve only made this drive a few times over the last two years it was infuriating. I drove about 200 yards before I hit traffic. It was just a school bus, but it was still traffic. The highways were slow and annoying. Again, not quite pre-pandemic, but definitely bad enough to imply that the pandemic is over… even though it’s not.

There is no one sitting at any desk near me. I think the closest person is probably 30 yards away. Much more than six feet. I am plenty Covid/Omicron safe at my desk, but I will still need to go to the bathroom and the kitchen and such. I feel good about my elevator skills. I expertly avoided having anyone in the car with me as I went up to the third floor. My people avoidance skills are still very sharp in that respect.

My desk is still here. It’s nice and clean and all. My keyboard is shit compared to the one I use at home. My monitor is double shit compared to the one I use at home too. Oh well. It’s just going to average out to one day each week. I can survive that. Sure, I would prefer not to be here, after nearly two years of only working at home.

Funny, remember back in March of 2020 when all of my posts were how working at home was abnormal and how I had to get used to everything being different? Deja-Vu, right?

I Am the Single Dumbest Person on Earth

I left the house at 7:40 or so. A smidge later than I wanted to (I find that I am using the word “smidge” in posts way too often these days. I’ll work on that) but with plenty of time to get to the office by 9:00. As soon as I was on the road, Waze started freaking out about an accident on route 93. It detoured me through the heart of Andover (the richest town in the area and yes I did drive past a golf course) onto roads I had never seen before in my life. Finally I got back onto 93 and hit another traffic jam at the junction with route 128 which then turned into a traffic jam on 128 just after the junction.

By this point I was on the verge of fury. That’s when I realized I forgot my security badge and I was not going to be able to operate the elevators or get into the stairwells. That’s when I stopped being on the verge of fury and embraced it full, like an old friend I haven’t seen in years. I turned around immediately and went home.

I am so mad at myself.

I am so mad at myself.

I am so mad at myself.

What is Commute?

I just updated the Waze app with my new work address. Do I really have a morning commute today? This is so weird. 15 months ago not having a commute was the weirdest thing ever. Now it’s the opposite.

Wish me luck, everyone. Traffic nightmare ahead.