Monday, May 08, 2006

My Horoscope has Made Me Lazy

Good day, everyone. I just got back from the Building Inspector's office and I'm on my way to starting to fill out the paperwork to apply for a permit that will allow me to build a front porch. Yup, nothing actually accomplished yet!

The problem with the building inspector (BI) - as I have learned the hard way - is that their office hours are 7:30 - 3:30. This would fit my schedule if I didn't have to also see the City Engineer (CE), who doesn't come in until 8:30 when City Hall opens. I'm not sure how the BI opens an hour before the whole building opens, but it doesn't much matter since I had to see the CE anyway. It would also be okay if the inspectors weren't out of the office from noon on. This leaves me a window of 8:30 til 12:00. Conveniently, I work from 7-3:30 so you can see how this might interfere. This morning I just lounged around the house for an extra couple of hours and rode over.

I found something interesting when I pulled up to City Hall this morning. I was on my bike and was looking for somewhere to lock it, and to my surprise I did not find a rack. I had to lock it to the railing on the front steps and was just hoping someone would tell me I couldn't do that, so I could complain.

This is one of my beefs with Pittsfield - if you don't want to drive somewhere you're shit out of luck. Sidewalks just end randomly, roads are treacherous both because of traffic and because of the condition of the roads, drivers are SCARY, and there's nowhere to put your bike when you get somewhere. When I used to walk to work, I would have to cross the same road 3 times to be able to walk on the sidewalk. Now I'm trying to ride my bike on short trips and find that my options are limited. Even if a store has a bike rack (or something else that would serve that purpose), you can't actually get to the store without risking life and limb. It's a good thing they keep turning down the Rail Trail extension plan. Stupid short-sighted yokels!

In other news, I'm beat. I didn't exactly warm up properly for my bike ride this morning; I just sort of hopped on my bike and went. The work clothes didn't help any either, good thing I sweated the hell out of my shirt before the day started. I'm not complaining, just letting you know how it is.

Lastly, it's another beautiful day today. My horoscope suggested that I chat with people and possibly play hookie. I've been blowing through my vacation lately with all of the nice weather, and I should probably save some of it for all the weddings and so on that I have to attend. I'm also thinking about taking some time off to build the porch, perhaps I'll coordinate that with a visit from the folks. My mom offered up my dad's help with building the porch, and I might take them up on the offer. They haven't been out to my place in a while. I think they'll be pleasantly surprised with how far the place has come in the last year and a half.

Well, so far I've been able to schmooze my way through most of the day. I was up in the lab watching someone test things. Technically, I was helping but it was mostly "Hey, what pin is (insert signal name) on?" to which I would reply "(insert pin number)". I found my usefulness wearing thin, so I bid the lab adieu and headed back to really get some important things done (like this blog). But surrisly, I do have stuff to do. I'll holler at y'all later.

Over and out,
Old Coot

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"Something inside of me just said 'Hey, wait a minute, I want to beat him.' and I just took off." -Pre