That January feeling

 I know I've written about the weather a lot the last week or two. It's January. Weather is about the only thing going on this month.

It's generally cold in almost the whole country right now from what I gather, but, per usual, we're off the charts here. The lake-effect snow dump isn't as bad as it was in Christmas 2022, but we're in one of those "when's it going to end" stretches. It certainly doesn't help when the weather forecast tells us the lake effect will be gone once Thursday's here and then magically changes to "expect 3-5 more inches (more like 7-8)" with not a word about the previous forecast. That's we're I am right now as I write this.

Yeah, yeah, I know, just get to the cards (spoiler: there are only two), but you can scroll, right? Here's a look at how much the weather has dominated this week:

 

That's the little bird house/bird feeder set-up my wife has in the backyard (that middle lump is one of those all-weather plants). The bird house roof has a snow roof. Yes, it's snowing in the background. Been snowing since Saturday.

Yesterday I worked. I had to go into the office, which meant dealing with our work parking lot. Everything was plowed back at home and the lot wasn't too bad when I arrived. Then it snowed nonstop for four hours. I decided not to go home for dinner like normal (I'm about 2 miles away) and just clear off my vehicle.

Well, the vehicle looked like it had been abandoned in a storm for two weeks and I was just discovering it. I cleared it off, shoveled it out and then pulled it into an overhang at the building to protect it the rest of the night (the wind has been whipping, so there would still be some more clearing ahead).

I worked the rest of the night, and it was a long one due to work inefficiency that I won't get into but I was there way longer than I should have been. I trudged through the parking lot to clear off a bit of snow, with the wind redirecting it back into my face. I decided to drive out the entrance rather than risk driving the usual way through the unplowed lot. But the street plows had built up a bit of a wall at the entrance. Fortunately it was 2 in the morning so I just gunned it and flew out onto the downtown street without the risk of hitting anything. Always fun.

The drive home was not eventful (no traffic) but when I got home, my driveway was plowed in (*sigh*), so I had to shovel my way into my own house. 

This is really not that unusual. But the combination of the weather here and the fact that I have a nighttime job makes it more tiring the older I get. People wonder why I root for retirement? This is an example. It's also why the retired move to Florida (I don't think I'll ever do that -- for risk I'll become one of those people who upon seeing a snow photo up north says "keep it up there!" and then I'll have to punch myself).

I could've avoided this by working from home, but IT is working on that.

I know warm-weather people can't relate to this, but until recently I felt this was a trade-off for the benefit of having the changing of the seasons, a lot less bugs and fewer of those thunderstorms that freak me out. Plus, I'm really good at shoveling. I think I'm getting better at it the older I get, which I think is the opposite of what is supposed to happen.

Meanwhile, also because it's January, I'm assuming, the cards aren't arriving. I ordered a bunch of one-card packages from various ebay sellers two weeks ago. Every single one has yet to arrive. My new arrivals on my desk are almost nonexistent.

But I have two cards for you, one from a warm-weather locale and the other a cold-weather spot. Both just-because sends. Because you can do that, no matter what the weather.

This Big League insert arrived from Michael of Dillard's Dugout, way down in warm country (or relatively warm country). He reached out on TCDB to see if I needed it and I needed it!

 

I love the '80s old-school video game feel front and back. I didn't get into video games as much as I would've liked back in the '80s. Loved the hell out of them, but I wasn't a kid then, so they weren't the be-all, like when you are a kid. I sometimes think of what kind of damage I could've done if Gameboy came out when I was kid instead of when I was 24.

This unexpected item arrived from Canada, direct from Steven of the baseballcardstore.ca. I admit I had no idea what it was until opening the Christmas card. I don't know if the card means it took the postal service four weeks to deliver it. If so, that's bad news for my ebay purchases.

The Tom Prince card is a definite need. It's from the Gems of the Diamond insert set from 1997 Pacific Invincible. Check my facts on that one because when it comes to late '90s Pacific I have a hell of a time figuring out what stuff is. But I think TCDB told me right.

That was super-nice of the BBCS to do that, they've been so good to me and this blog the last few years.

It's nice to have moments like that in this month. Outside of playoff football (now you know why there are so many cold-weather teams still left in the postseason), it's about the only thing that gets us hearty northerners through the damn month.

Relatively hearty anyway. I'm not about to do something foolish like ice fishing.

*Update: 7:15 p.m., it finally stopped snowing.