The RAV-4 had a perfect record. It never, ever got stuck in the snow, not even in the October Surprise Storm of 2006. But it did Monday night. We got a foot of the stuff Monday and there was a ridge across our driveway after the city plowed our side street, Highland Avenue. Even so, a little more speed, a trajectory a little more to the right and I think I could have sailed right in.
I dreaded getting out the shovel. That afternoon, I tried widening the path Monica had punched to the garage when she went to work and was appalled at how I felt after 5 minutes. My lower back was throbbing. It didn't throb the last time I shoveled a few weeks ago. Hello again, Tylenol. Fortunately, after a nap, the throbbing pretty much took a rest.
With the thermometer at zero degrees at 1 a.m., digging out the car couldn't do my back any good. But leaving the car there overnight, blocking Monica's exit in the morning, was not an attractive option either. Did I want to leave a warm bed to tackle this thing? Noooo! Three well-calculated digs in 10 minutes freed the RAV and I was without extraordinary physical complaints until I got indoors. Then it was the back. And the shoulders. And the upper arms. More Tylenol.
Tuesday felt better than it should have, good enough that I got lured to the bridge game by having the rare chance to partner with assistant director Mike Silverman. With no serious mishaps and playing lots of defense, we came in at 53% and won our first fractional master points of the month.
Still feeling good enough, I joined director Bill Finkelstein and three of the players for the soup buffet at nearby Danny's, then plunged toward the city to pick up a prescription at Tops Market on Amherst Street. A traffic snarl on the Scajaquada Expressway shunted me to the snow-covered local streets, which took forever. An hour after leaving the restaurant, I finally reached home. No time to think of napping, so straight to the office, where I was grateful to quit early -- 11 p.m. Wednesday's paper hadn't even come off the presses yet.
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