Abominable Snow

We didn't have to wait too long for our first miserable winter experience this year. Yesterday's snowstorm dropped about eight inches on us, but it was more notable for the horrendous traffic jams it caused. The biggest reason for the problems wasn't so much the snow itself but the fact that most people left work early and just turned every roadway into a parking lot. I left work at 3 and it took me two hours to make the eight-mile commute home. I had to pick Hannah up at her after-school program because Deb was stuck in worse traffic coming home from Malden; she had a three-hour ride that was pretty intense. But other folks I worked with had it worse; one guy who lives in Shrewsbury left at 1 and got home at 11. Holy crap!

Once we got home, the girls had fun playing in the snow while Deb and I shoveled out our driveways, so at least some good came out of it. The forecasters are predicting that a Nor'easter will hit us on Sunday morning, although it's unclear whether we'll get slammed with snow or rain. It could wreak havoc on the Patriots-Jets game Sunday, too.

Another drawback of snow and ice is it forces me to run on a treadmill, which I normally hate. After Monday's ice storm, I ran inside, but ran outside on Tuesday and yesterday. The snow started about halfway through yesterday's run, but the real bummer was when I hit a patch of black ice and wiped out. I've got a nice scrape on my left knee, but that's about it. Looks like my 10-miler tomorrow will be done on a treadmill at the gym. Huzzah.

Where's the rock salt?

• The other big news story yesterday was the release of the Mitchell Report on steroid use in major league baseball by former Maine Senator George Mitchell. Specifically, the report details a list of about 80 current and former players who allegedly use steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Most notable was the section on Roger Clemens; a former trainer with the Blue Jays and Yankees claims he injected Clemens with roids in the late '90s, coinciding with his post-Red Sox Cy Young awards. The 409-page report is by no means comprehensive, since most players wouldn't cooperate and Mitchell's staff got most of its information from two main sources. Still, it caused quite a stir. It'll be interesting to see what, if anything, MLB does about it. I have to say, though: This remains my favorite Mitchell.
• I'm still working on addressing some Christmas cards, but I should get them out quicker than it took this one to arrive: 93 years.