Photo of Andy Arthur

Andy Arthur

After getting COVID at the end of 2024 and sleeping through much of the holiday season, πŸ›Œ it's good to be up and back at my game again. It's cold and dark this time of year, πŸ₯Ά but I figure focus on learning and working, while counting down the days until Punxsy sees or does not see his shadow. 🐻

Everything didn’t change on Day One ⏰

I mean yesterday was a very typical Tuesday after Martin Luther King. I took the express bus downtown. Then I kept fixing records and tagging new data in system. I have more IOI Codes to announce today that I’ve developed for better targeting. And then a meeting to lead on Thursday.

As the man on radio says, β€œThe Words of the Profits Are Written on the Subway Walls and Tenantament Hallsβ€œ. πŸ“» I mean if I really wanted to I could drive to work with the acres of free parking, but I’d rather rush out to the bus stop this morning in the negative nine degrees weather and not have to worry about defrosting my truck or the cold engine. The bus comes pre-warmed up, and takes me to bus turn around with a warm place to wait for the shuttle πŸš€ out to suburban office.

I created a downtown parking profile on OGS website and applied for a commuter permit. 🎟️ This might allow me to get a discounted unlimited CDTA Swiper card for $8 a pay period or $16 a month, which would be a big savings especially int he winter when I ride the bus a lot more. β›” I am not sure if they will approve it – – I don’t technically work downtown anymore and my agency probably doesn’t participate in program but hell, I figured it’s an online form and the worse that can happen is I get a call from the secretary or human resources explaining that I’m not eligible. πŸ“ž Sometimes you just got to go ahead and not ask permission when the stakes are low. Just a web form! Sure would be nice to be able to hop on a bus whenever, and not have to pay extra. 🚍 Come the nicer weather I plan to ride my bike as much as possible, but I often have meetings downtown, and riding the bike up State Street Hill ain’t that much fun. Plus it’s sometimes hard to make the shuttle πŸš€ schedule work mid-day.

Heading in early to walk laps in the Plaza, 🚢 as it’s much too cold to walk outside and I figure I’ll probably then catch the earlier shuttle into the office as there is always more work to do, plus it’s warmer in the office 🏒 and they have lots of free hot coffee. β˜• People were surprised I didn’t ride in yesterday, but it was cold ❄️ and the bike trail is covered with snow. I really have the reputation of being the crazy 😜 mountain biker 🚲 who rides to work, that is when he’s not taking the shuttle. πŸš€ You know, the director who doesn’t drive to work 🚘 and has his office filled with pictures of West Virginia. Who is always linking databases together and creating new IOI Codes. πŸ’Ύ Who spends too much time dreaming of that off-grid homestead, 🐐 always saving whenever I can. I’m that odd character in the office, when I’m not in the office everybody knows I’m up in the wilderness burning things, smoking pot 🚬 t and camping in absolutely freezing weather in the wilderness. πŸ•οΈ

Went out at five thirty to get milk πŸ₯› at Stewart’s and it wasn’t that cold. 🚍 Timed the bus well so I didn’t have to wait out at the stop for long. 🚏I figure I’ll do laps in the Plaza until 8:25 am and then get the shuttle to the office. Wearing the muzzle today in part because it’s cold but I’m also not interested in getting the COVID again. 😷 Yesterday I went to Walmart and stocked up the new fridge. It’s good to have an ample supply of frozen vegetables and fruit. It provides many healthy options – when the fridge was down I was relying too much on carbs like brown rice 🍚, lentils and homemade whole wheat 🌾 bread 🍞. Big Red started real easy with the solar β˜€οΈ trickle charging the battery πŸ”‹ all day with the cold.

It’s a pretty morning with the sun rising πŸŒ„ in the cold. I wanted to walk laps on the Plaza last night after work but alas I needed to get to the store πŸͺ and my hat got wet at work when lunch leaked, and I wasn’t inclined to wait for the local bus in the cold when I could quickly transfer to the express bus 🚌 indoors and be home. Might also walk laps in the evening at the Plaza, the way I feel about it is no rush to get home as probably the thing I’ll do after kneading bread, cooking dinner is then hide under the electric blanket in the bed πŸ›οΈ and read as it’s the warmest thing to do in the cold. πŸ“– About now I wish I had a homestead with a wood stove. πŸͺ΅

Bourn Pond

The Bourn Pond Trail skirts the western edge of Branch Pond and then enters the Lye Brook Wilderness. The trail travels along an old railroad grade and reaches south end of Borun Pond. Sections of this trail can be very muddy and may not be suitable for hiking during wet weather.