Damn That's Cold

Yeah yeah yeah - I know I just said that my posts may be a little sporadic and here I am with another post immediately. Shut up - it's my blog and I can do anything I want, damnit! (I work in government now, so I have today off.)

And no, that's not what I mean by the title of this post. I actually am referring to the weather. I knew that it would be cold here in Upstate New York, but the second half of last week was a little more than I had bargained for. We had several days in a row with highs in the single digits - and then a wind chill on top of that. And I walk to work! Not very far, mind you, but even as little as a mile feels like a long walk when it's -15 with wind chill.

It was cold enough that the moisture from my breath was condensing and freezing on my facial hair. You want to know what cold looks like? Check this out:

That's the partially frozen river I cross over everyday on my walk to work. The water is enough warmer than the air that it's actually fogging. And this is at about 8:45 in the morning (yeah, that's right, my work day doesn't start until 9:00!). I'm looking forward to this week when we're supposed to have highs in the mid-20s - it means I'll have a pleasant walk to work!

We've Made It!

I know it's been a long while since my last post, but in my defense, we have been a little busy.

So, Journey have made it Upstate New York and I've started work. The drive out from Tucson when well enough. We only had one day of bad weather and that was the very last one. Still can't say that I'd want to drive a 22 foot moving truck again anytime soon, but all things considered, it was fine.

It was once we got here that we hit problems. I had arranged a place for us when I came out here for visit in November, but we get got here we found that the place was absolutely trashed and full of black mold (yeah, the kind that has been known to cause all kinds of health problems, including death). Journey documented the whole sordid tale on her blog if you want to read it. Long story short, we told the landlady we were not going to move in to a house that was unsafe to live in and we would find another place to live. She said fine, but I'm only going to give half your deposit back (this despite the fact that neither she or we signed the lease). So, we did just that - found another place which is quite a bit better. And we continue to fight with her over getting the rest of our deposit back.

And I've started work. It's taking a little bit of time to get into the swing of things, but that's always the case with a new job. Everyone, myself included, is excited about my being here. I don't have the whole story, but apparently the woman who was responsible for historic preservation before me had been in the job for more than 20 years before she burned out and left. And the position was more or less vacant for more than a year before I started. Other people in the department were covering some of the those responsibilities, but that was in addition to their regular duties. So, needless to say, the program needs some updating and revamping. Which is actually just fine by me. And which seems to be just fine by a lot of people associated with preservation in the area. They're excited that I'm here and that I've got some new and different ideas. Hopefully I'll be able to do everything I want to do and make the program a real solid one.

And then there's the fun of getting settled in a new city which is so different from where we've come from. We're working on finding stores and restaurants and things to do. So, if my posts continue to be spotty for a little bit, hopefully you can forgive me, given how busy we are right now!