We arrived home from Florida night before last straight into a Noreaster. There was local flooding at JFK from record rainfall. There were these enormous puddles we had to cross with all out luggage in order to get to the parking lot. (The "record" rainfall was .69 inches. I can't imagine what it it like to get across those streets after a summer cloud burst.) Some luggage and Elizabeth's car seat fell into a deep puddle on the way to the car. So I had to donate my coat as a seat liner to separate her from the wetness. About halfway home, it must have soaked through because her cheerfulness deteriorated into a fullblown two-year-old tantrum because I wouldn't let her climb out of her car seat. Meanwhile, the car crawled slowly through a wide variety of appalling road conditions. I don't know how long our driver has been driving in snow, but the deepening snow and sleet on the road seemed to make him extremely nervous. Between that and Elizabeth howling in the back seat, I felt bad for him.
Carl, who had gone to San Francisco for part of the time we were in Florida, had a much harder time getting back. His flight into White Plains was scheduled to get in around eleven, but it was cancelled by air traffic control because a plane slid off the runway there. United flew in him into La Guardia instead. At 1 AM when he arrived, ground transporation had of course shut down. He did ultimately find a service that would drive him out here for the paltry sum of $125. The drive took 2 1/2 hours because of slippery road conditions. He got here at 4:30 AM. I saw his footprints in the snow at 6 when I got up, so I knew he'd managed t get here.
I spent a busy day yesterday coping with entropy: shovelling wet heavy snow out of the driveway; picking up the repaired snow thrower from Sears in Jefferson Valley (the driveway needed to be shovelled before the snow thrower could be retrieved!); taking our digital camera to the camera store for repair. Because of the snow, Peter's school had a two hour delay and Elizabeth's preschool was closed. Today is a school holiday (whatever happened to good old Easter vacation?) so then next day they go to school and I have quiet time to get things done is Monday.
Having been away for a little while, I find that I like the newly painted walls I worked on before I left even more than before. They somewhat make up for having to return to winter.
I read very few blogs while travelling, but I note this morning that Cheryl Morgan (seen via Mark Kelly) is chastising those who announce their Hugo nominations on their blogs before the full nominations list has been formally announced. Ahem. This household has assembled more Hugo nominations than most over a 20 year period and I don't think I've encountered this particular bit of etiquette before. Since, the nominations are all we ever get, I personally think it is appropriate for nominees to enjoy their nominations to the fullest. She explains her rationale:
Worldcons can’t always get in touch with every nominee easily. And sometimes people decline, necessitating an emergency email to the sixth-placed person. It really isn’t fair to go round bragging about your own nomination (or someone else’s) until everyone has been notified and accepted.
Anyone nervous enough to be concerned about the comparative haste with which various people have been notified of their nominations has a problem that cannot be solved by etiquette. She seems to be asking to give everyone exactly the same number of days of nominated glory. Or for those who should think about what an honor it is to be nominated to have sympathy for those who might actually win—or perhaps just for the favor of those knowing early not to increase the anxiety of those who earnestly hope but have not heard yet and will not know for sure until the final list is announced, perhaps without them. Who among us cannot be sympathetic to those feelings, but we ought not to follow the lead of the most anxious or most easily wounded, I should think.
