Woke up this morning to rain. Just rain. No freezing rain. No sleet. No “wintry mix” as they like to call it. Just rain. Weather Underground tells me that it’s 36 degrees (2 degrees Celsius) at the Maryland Science Center and it might get up to 43 degrees (6). I can deal with that.

Accomplished the knitting of a heel in a toe-up sock. Apparently the 37th time is the charm. Actually, it’s still not perfect. The picking-up of stitches didn’t go so well, so there are gaps. Also, maybe using size 1 needles wasn’t the best idea. The foot of the sock is fine, but it stretches pretty thin across the heel (and I didn’t do a narrow heel at all). But the important thing is that it worked, and I made it a few rounds into the start of the leg of the sock. I think I’ll get it eventually.

Killed my TomTom again. I think this time it’s because I have this habit of leaving it in the car and it’s been so insanely hot that the poor thing got overheated. I thought it was the adapter at first, because the light didn’t seem to be on (and the light for my cellphone adapter came on, proving that it wasn’t the plug that was faulty). It’s been replaced once before because it got fried (apparently if you plug the adapter into the car before you attach the adapter to the TomTom, it can short out the device). So I just bought a new one. Exact same kind (Amazon even told me so). It’s been exactly what I’ve needed, so I didn’t see a reason to consider anything else. I just have to remember to not leave it in the car all the time.

NOT having the TomTom made getting to Downs Park fun. We’ve only been there once before and I only had recall of about half the route. I got the directions from Google Maps and handed the iTouch to Kitti and let him navigate. Unfortunately the Google Maps directions didn’t give things like exit numbers, so we got lost. But I got things sorted out pretty quick and we had plenty of time to let Cardiff go mental. There are a lot of pictures over on Flickr.

We left almost in time to avoid the rain. I had to pull over at one point and wait out the worst of it because on 695, with traffic and pouring rain, the windshield wipers were essentially useless.

Cardiff got a bath at Dogma before we went home. Then Kitti and I got cleaned up and went to see Interpol. Really great show. I’m looking forward to the next CD. The new stuff they played really got my attention.

And now it’s Monday and back to work and all that jazz.

• Tell someone in the store closest to where the car is parked.
• Failing that, I will call the police.
• If the police or car owner doesn’t show up within 5 minutes, I will break the car window.

I do not even care that breaking your car window is illegal. I’ll stand right by the car and wait until the cops show up and explain why I did it.

“I left the window open a crack” is not acceptable.

Cardiff is disappointed. The snow in the yard that used to be over six feet high is now down to a tiny strip. It’s still “deep” in some places, and when he tries to climb over it, he sinks down to his armpits. The first few times this happened he looked at me accusingly, like it was somehow my fault, and I needed to fix it. Now he just takes it as a matter of course and continues to find snow to poop on.

They finally resumed normal garbage and recycling collection!

I think we’re officially past the worst of winter, though, no matter what doom they’re peddling on the 6-o’clock news. The daffodils in my yard are starting to come up.

Granted, it’s worse now because it’s melted and re-frozen a few times, but even when it was new there wasn’t any place to put it — most of the snow blocking Mim’s car in is from the snowplow clearing the street in the first place.

Anyhow, Kitti is at Mim’s right now, waiting for the guys to show up. I really hope they can get there today, since he’s got to go back to work tomorrow. I really hope they can get her car dug out. I don’t think Mim will mind me saying that she’s starting to go a little whimsical in the brainpan what with being stuck indoors for so long.

Seriously. I’m really tired of the snow. I worked from home most of last week because it was just impossible and/or not safe to go anywhere. We finally made it out on Saturday and got much-needed groceries. Sunday we had a much-needed trip to the dog park because even the dog was starting to get cabin fever. Today I’m in the office, but getting here was still annoying. I had to do the Highlandtown trick of getting the car out of the space, stopping the car, putting lawn chairs in the spot, and then driving to work. Tonight I have to reverse the process and then attempt to park in a snowbank.

My mom isn’t so lucky. Her car is not only walled in on three sides by snow, the last time I looked there was a huge van parked diagonally behind her, leaving her little room to go back.

I’m angry at everything. I’m tired of looking at snow. I’m tired of not being able to see at intersections because of the seven-to-ten foot piles of snow that have been made when they cleared the streets. I’ve started having dreams where I look outside and the snow is miraculously gone.

And the pinky and ring finger of my left hand have gone numb. I think I have a pinched nerve in my elbow again. Time to break out the Roboclaw!

We’re stocked up and ready for snowmageddon. I’m going to be slightly disappointed if we don’t get something worthwhile, even if it will be a huge pain in the neck on Monday, when I have to go back to work.