Sunday, February 16, 2014

Trains and Automobiles

AMTRAK Acela Express - Northeast Corridor Rail
So a few weeks ago, The Nuke announced that at some time in February she would be taking the train up to Providence from DC. Once here in Little Rhody, she would collect The Missus Herself and Little Bit for to bring them both to DC for an extended visit.

Leaving me, once again, home alone.

Alone to face the ravening hoards of boredom and loneliness.

Like Toshiro Mifune's character in Yojimbo (用心棒), I stand alone.

Am I being overly dramatic?

Of course I am.

Still and again, it's just me and the felines for the next couple of weeks.

Now The Nuke was supposed to come up last weekend, but the call of duty overrode the familial commitment. So her trip up to Little Rhody was postponed one week. To this weekend.

Yup, the same weekend as our latest Nor'easter. Up to a foot of snow predicted, with howling winds out of Valhalla to follow.

However, while we did get some snow, it was nothing like the Snowmageddon or Snowpocalypse that apparently The Weather Channel was predicting. (DirecTV, which I have, dropped The Weather Channel some weeks ago over a pricing dispute. At first I was sore annoyed. Lately, not so much. I don't miss the histrionics of that bunch as much as I thought!)


Still and all, the time came to drive on up to Providence to the train station, and it was snowing like crazy. Not much accumulation yet, but it was a'building.

Trundled down our unplowed street (not to complain, it had been plowed by the time we got home) and headed up the "main" drag to I-195. In front of us was a Roger Williams University college type. With New Jersey plates. Traveling at 15 miles per hour. Fifteen...

Now I have driven extensively in New Jersey. I have friends in New Jersey. (Hi Joe!) The only time I have seen people from the Garden State driving slowly is if they were running out of gas or their vehicle was disabled, trailing smoke, and heading for the ditch. I did not think people from that fair state had any "slow" in them.


Yeah, kinda like that...

Well, there is, apparently, one. And they sent him out of state to college. Perhaps to learn how to drive in snow as well. Who knows. But OMG was he driving slow!

Eventually we got to the train station, collected The Nuke and set course back to Chez Sarge. The return trip went well. Made good time. For some reason, everyone in the car was a little tense every time I yelled "Hang on!" and accelerated through some unplowed snow on the interstate. Hmph. I was totally in control. The entire time.




Indeed I am.

Now, The Nuke was catching the train back to DC on Sunday morning. (That would be today, or, hmmm, depends on when you read this, doesn't it? Pretend it was today. Or that today is the 16th of February 2014. Or something. Um, never mind...)

So we all get up at the crack of dawn for the trip back to the train station. Little Bit was, to say the least, not pleased at getting up so early. She made her displeasure known. Loudly.

When I came downstairs to see if the team was ready to board the vehicle, the grown up ladies were cajoling the three-year old. Trying to get her ready you see. And someone had had the temerity, the unmitigated gall to have brushed her hair. Before she had consented to said grooming. Therefore, she was in full bore rant, denouncing everyone in sight.


So I offered, "Why are you negotiating with a three-year old?"

The Nuke responded with "No one is negotiating with you Dad."

Hoist on my own petard.


Oh well.

For the next two weeks I can rant and rave to my heart's content.

Until the cats get annoyed.


Oh. Wait.

They're already annoyed.

16 comments:

  1. DirecTV, which I have, dropped The Weather Channel some weeks ago over a pricing dispute. At first I was sore annoyed. Lately, not so much. I don't miss the histrionics of that bunch as much as I thought!

    I abandoned TWC when they hired that global warming twit Heidi Cullen, but I suppose that would be DOCTOR Heidi Cullen. She was freakin' everywhere on TWC back in that day... several years ago... and I simply got tired of her pontificating and nagging act. So I quit watching. I haven't missed 'em all that much, except perhaps for Mr. Cantore. I liked watching him stand in the middle of hurricanes and stuff.

    As for bein' alone... you might find it quite nice. It sure works for some people we know.

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    Replies
    1. Well, we will admit to a grudging admiration of Mr Cantore, him being a local New England boy and all that. But as to the other folderol and nonsense, we can get that elsewhere.

      As to being alone, I can tolerate it for a bit. I guess it's an acquired taste.

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  2. "The Nuke responded with "No one is negotiating with you Dad."

    Ouch, That's gonna leave a mark!

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    Replies
    1. Oh yeah, even had a Master Caution light come on and heard breakers popping!

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  3. "They're already annoyed."

    Heh!
    The neighbor (I don't know which neighbor) has a cat that perches on our front porch rail).
    That cat get really annoyed with me when I open the front door to check for mail.
    It amuses me so much that I will check for mail even when I know there isn't any.

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    Replies
    1. How dare you use your own front door. Can't you see the neighbor's cat has claimed that territory?

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  4. Cats are always annoyed. It's what they do. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But at least they're good at it.

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    2. I see you both have some experience with the feline species.

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    3. P.S. And yes, they do annoyed extremely well!

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    4. I didn't even get to start dating the woman who would become my wife until her cat would stop sharpening her claws on my shins and begin jumping into my lap to be stroked. In the ensuing 32 years, there have been 31. Thankfully 26 of them were barn cats that adopted us on our move to the ranch. (Mama cat was flirty and very hard to catch). Don't really have a problem with them. They're pretty deadly against most vermin, all the way up to raccoons. The last of the indoor cats went to the great scratching post in the sky last year and I waited with baited breath to see which way (I like Ras' acronym best) SWMBO would fall on a replacement. Breathed a (silent) sigh of relief when she said she was tired of cleaning catboxes and we would be a dog family from now on.

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    5. The barn variety are most useful animals. Raccoons eh? Our neighbor's old cat used to take down the odd rabbit or two.

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    6. Raccoons, skunks (10 confirmed kills with my trusty .22 revolver, double ace now), foxes, possums and, of course, hogs! Hate those things.

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    7. It's plain that you ain't no city boy.

      ;-)

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  5. Heh, enjoy! Now you can burp and fart in peace... :-)

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    Replies
    1. I still find myself saying "Excuse me..."

      The cats don't get it.

      Delete

Just be polite... that's all I ask. (For Buck)
Can't be nice, go somewhere else...

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