Simple pleasures, like driving a car, are that much sweeter when you’ve been immobilized under a pile of sludge for a few days. It’s not much of a setback, considering some of the other unpleasant surprises that can happen — like the car lying upside-down on the middle of the freeway, with its windshield smashed in, as I drove home from dinner after work. Just being able to drive to the top of the parking lot (about seven city blocks long, and I’m at the end, on the bottom) was a rush this morning after I left for work. I spent a couple of hours with a broom clearing snow off and from around my car, before some kids asked me how much I’d pay them to finish digging me out. I told them, they accepted, and I was gone 20 minutes later. Freelance capitalism is a beautiful thing. I bought two burritos at Chipotle to celebrate. By the time I got home tonight, there were finally snow plows winding their way through the parking lot, making everything habitable again.

In other news, I’m moving this weekend, to Alexandria, VA. It’ll be nice to finally get out of the hood after almost four years — but I’m not looking forward to moving all my crap. Manual labor sucks . . .