Snow Is a Four-Letter Word. So Is Pain.

Yeah, it's pretty. And?

So, this exercise stuff is totally overrated. What is the appeal supposed to be of all these sore muscles? Anyone? Bueller?

Not that I have a problem with not being an exercise type, since I have a strong feeling that exercise causes stupidity. Exhibit A: the young woman jogging on the road tonight, in the dark, wearing dark clothing and nothing reflective. That's damn stupid any day, but the day after a blizzard, with roads not completely clear and drivers trying to see around massive snow piles and drive on roads that are often plowed to be narrower than usual ... certifiable. I happen to think that all the joggers (and the cyclist) that I saw out tonight are crazy, but the others all reflected, which shows some brains.

So anyway, it took another two rounds of shoveling* this morning before I could get my car out, and that's with someone else having re-dug-out (yes that's a word)(kind of) the end of the driveway (where the street-plows have gone by and piled up more slush and sludge). I went out first thing after confirming that the office was open today, then came in and showered and got ready, and did the last clear-off-the-car layer. My back hurts, my arms are sore, my hands** ache.

*For a total of six rounds, whoa. I'm kind of glad I didn't keep track of how long I actually shoveled; I think ignorance is, if not bliss, at least better in this case.
**Yes, my hands. We'll blame their weakness on the arthritis. All I know is, they ache generally, and at lunch, I found the process of getting the fruit portion of my meal, peach halves, into bite sizes to be very uncomfortable. And I've been trying to 'type lightly' today, which is working about as well as you might imagine. Is it time for more ibuprofen yet?

But though the side roads were pretty messy, and even secondary roads not great, the highways were fine, almost bare pavement and all, so driving didn't seem like a totally stupid thing to have chosen to do. The plow guy said he would be back today to "clean up" when the cars weren't there, so I was hoping to return to clarity, in the snow-underfoot sense. However, apparently he was lying to me, as I returned to exactly what I left. Oh well.

Meanwhile, I did get a bit of a scare with the car this morning. When I first got on the highway, traffic was pretty heavy and slow*, though not more than on a bad day. When it finally got to the point of relatively free motion, I noticed the car was really rattling once I got to about 40mph. Bad enough that I sidetracked to the garage I usually go to, which conveniently was not far from where I was when I decided that the shaking felt too bad to ignore.

*I typed "snow" first! It's on my mind, all right.

Turned out, it was the snow built up in the rims of the tires that was to blame. The guy said it's not uncommon, and it throws the balance of the car off enough to cause the shaking. He had a guy go out with a tool and clear out the rims, or at least break up the snow in them, and it was fine when I got back on the highway, no shaking. So slightly scary, but ultimately no big deal. And, of course, learn something new every day.

In less positive though extremely minor news of the day, I wore my boots to work (naturally) but forgot to bring shoes to change into, and there was a Globe story this morning mentioning that "a few hearty souls braved the elements", to which I say honestly! Hardy! Not hearty. Sigh.

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A month or so ago, I stopped maintaining the list I'd been keeping of books I read. Although this was a tool I enjoyed keeping up for several years, I'd started forgetting to update it, and one too many mistakes moved it into the "too annoying to keep doing" category. I was sorry not to have the information, for reference and for nerdly-stat purposes, but it felt like time to stop.

Then this week, I read the nth reference I've come across recently to Goodreads, and thought that perhaps it might help me do much the same thing. If you're not familiar with it, Goodreads is a website where you can list what you're reading, rate it, and review the books if you wish. I started using it, and I think I like it.

How it works is, I search for the book I want, and add it to my "bookshelf" as one that I have read, am reading, or want to read*. I can also create other "shelves" as I desire, so that I can track books recommended by certain friends, or library books, or what have you.

*Eventually it may also remove the need for the list I keep of upcoming books I want to read when they're published. I already found a couple of upcoming books by favorite authors that I didn't even know were due. Woo! Two tools replaced by one sounds good.

Because it's not a listing of all books I own, I don't have any pressure to "get it all in there". I'm adding books as I read them, and having fun looking up authors and linking to them. I've found books I want to read, and added them to the to-be-read shelf.

Basically, the early signs are good for me liking Goodreads. Have you used it? Heard of it? What do you think?