How I Know It is Winter

Here's how I know it's winter and how I know everybody is sick of winter.

Today in the ladies' room there wasn't just one bottle of hand lotion, there wasn't two bottles of hand lotion, there were three bottles of hand lotion.

We are all sick of winter.  So are our hands.

Wash your hands. Wash your hands.  Wash your hands.

Walt Kowalski is struggling, too.  He lotions and lotions and lotions and wears gloves all the time. But this season brings a double edged sword.  Wash your hands, GERMS and DIRT! But the industrial soap in most restrooms is so harsh and full of antibacterial chemicals that it makes his hands worse. He needs to carry his own soap. 

The other day, as he was getting dressed for work, he called to me from the bedroom.  "Help! I can't button my pants."

I called back, "I don't need another reminder we need to go to the gym more, thanks."

"No, you don't understand, my fingers are so split and sore that I can't get the button through the button hole of my new pants. If I try, my fingers will bleed. "

My heart breaks for his poor hands. 

Come on spring!

(Yes, I know I took another photo in the bathroom!)

Toys

Every morning there are toys waiting for us outside the bedroom door.  Sometimes every kitty cat toy, sometimes only a few.  Sometimes they are in the bathroom.  Maybe I need to set up a hidden cat cam to see what exactly goes on at night. 

The pink fuzzy ball is a new toy from Christmas. There is a green fuzz ball, too.   They are favorites because they move fast on the floors. 

Yesterday, as Walt Kowalski was walking from the kitchen into the living room, he said "Where did this big green puff ball come from?  Is this a new toy from Christmas?"

 

 

"No! That's my bath poof from the shower!" 

 

Ok, who was using my poof?  Cocoa Fluffy? Fudge?  

Snow

Last week I flew home in this:

 
We climbed above the clouds.  Then the view was this beautiful horizon:

 
And then, as we approached home, we made our decent down through the clouds into this:

Where did I go wrong? I knew I should have made a left at Albuquerque.

But it turned out ok.  The next round of was beautiful snow.  Sticky and thick covering all the dark and dirty.

Today's Germs

Germs. Germs. Germs. Today's germs are brought to you by the letter G (for germ) and A (for airplane).

 

The airplane was crawling with them.  I knew it.  I’ve seen the reports.  I could tell by the looks on the faces of my fellow passengers.  They looked germy. I’m sure I looked germy to them, too.

Miss Brenda and I were just talking about germs. What if you could see them? What if they were different colors? Would it make life better, or worse? I think I could become obsessed with trying to get rid of them. Miss Brenda said “I’d bargain with myself. ‘Oh those germs are only the blue germs.  The really bad germs are red.  I can live with blue germs.’”  Yeah, I would do the same. 

I use the ladies’ room at the far end of the building at my new office.  I use this bathroom not just because it adds extra steps to my 10,000 required steps per day, but also because there is no exit door on the bathroom.

It is actually a locker room with a large bathroom. You enter to the left, turn a quick right, and then turn a quick left. No door needed. No one can see in and no doors to touch on the way out.

The office building where I worked this week was totally automatic.

Automatic sinks.

Automatic flush toilets. (Even if I’m not fond of them.)

Automatic soap dispensers.

Automatic towel dispensers.

Sometimes even high-intensity automatic hand dryers.

But yet, like Walt Kowalski said, ‘Why don’t they use automatic doors? Or even make the doors open out so you don’t have to touch the handle?’

He’s right. I totally agree.  How often have I washed my hands and then used the paper towel to open the door. Always. Sometimes my coat sleeve. 

Then today as I opened the door to exit the bathroom I noticed a small tissue holder and small wastebasket on the wall just by exit door.  The tissues dispensed were small.  Smaller than a tissue for runny noses, but just large enough to use to grab the door handle to open the door and toss in the small wastebasket. 

 

Great idea.  They planned that someone wouldn’t wash their hands and the door handle would be germy. They gave you an additional option to cleanly exit the restroom. (Yet the door back into the office required touching the handle.  Crap.)

For the record, I don’t usually take photographs in bathrooms. Except that now I have taken two photographs in two bathrooms in two days. 

Traffic

 

I have been traveling between two sites.  They are about 15 miles away from each other.  My hotel and the airport are in between the two sites.

 

Monday and Tuesday we went out to eat after work near the work sites, so I missed the "rush hour" traffic. Last night was different. Dinner was at a restaurant next to my hotel. 

 

The area of one site is in a nice, new industrial park. That also means construction of buildings and truck traffic.  Last night on the way home I hit traffic as soon as I left the parking lot. But wait, it was construction traffic. There was a train!  Am I at home?  I wasn't expecting that. 

 

 

Once the train passed, I hit a few red lights causing back ups.  Not unusual for 5pm. The red lights were controlling the left turns onto the highway.  Once I get there, I should have smooth sailing. Ha!

My new GPS app on my phone was a lifesaver. 20 minutes is what the GPS estimated in travel time to the hotel.
 

 
Turn left at the next light the GPS indicated.  The GPS didn't tell me that I was car number 30 in line for the light! I'm not going to make the hotel in 20 minutes.

 
We were moving! Then we were stopped. Then we were moving! Then we were stopped.

 

There are no mountains or tunnels here, so why are we braking?  Maybe an accident?  Nope. Just braking.

And more braking. Really, there must be some reason up ahead to be braking. Nope. Everybody was just braking.
 

Instead of the cars merging into traffic braking, the traffic that was supposed to be moving was braking.  No wonder there was a backup on the freeway!

I also figured out that if follow the rules of driving, and courteous driving, and I leave space between the front of my vehicle and the rear of the vehicle in front of me someone will see that spot and change lanes and squeeeeeeze in front of me.  

And I thought heading into our city through tunnels was annoying. 

Hotel House

My hotel room is more than a room. It’s a suite.  Actually, it is a room for a long stay. They call it a house. I see why. I have a bedroom, bathroom, swivel television, couch, island with work area, microwave, fridge, dishwasher, pots, pans, silverware, glasses, wine glasses, and plastic containers.

 

 

 

Cooking is not on my agenda this week, but it’s nice to consider if I ever did have to stay. Then again, there are so many nice restaurants within walking distance that I would try each one before cooking.  But…there are two nice markets within walking distance.  And a restaurant in the hotel. And a full breakfast. Ok, I’ll save the cooking for home with Walt Kowalski.

 

The bathroom shower is all glass. Which means…I can watch the television from the shower.  I can watch the television while I am IN the shower! I honestly never gave that a thought.

 

The breakfast in the lobby is very nice, too. Omelets, eggs, sausages, toast, pancakes, fruit, juices. Very nice. The design of the entire hotel is clean and modern.  Open shelves. Open everything. 

I’m just glad I’m not the one doing the dusting.

The halls are decorated to look like furniture, pictures, and fancy rugs.  All easy to clean.

 
Outside is a pool (closed for the season), fire pit, and lounge area.
 

 
The entire area is apartments and shops and restaurants.  It's a happening place.
 

Leaving...

On a very small.

 

South.  I headed south.  Only for four days.  Business, not pleasure. I had a wonderful driver to the airport.  Walt Kowalski didn’t wear a limo driver’s cap, but he was a great driver.  Got me right to the door and walked me as far as he was allowed.  He couldn’t join in on this trip south.  Hopefully next time. 

 

It was a small plane.  A direct flight. Everybody was very business.  I was taking pictures like a tourist.

 

There is something about flying in a small plane.  The large planes are powerful and massive and get you long distances. Small planes feel more like sightseeing. You’re closer to the ground and can see towns, cities, and homes.  Lots of rivers, mountains, streams.

 

The airport had a cool retro look to it.

Even on business, I’d rather be a tourist.  The majority of my fellow passengers had their noses in their computers and phones.  They missed all of the scenery.  Maybe they do this trip so often they have seen all the mountains. Being just above the ground gives a person perspective.  The country (world) is big and I there is lots to see. I don’t want to miss a thing. Even a mountain I’ve seen before.