Snowy Days and Sundays Always Get Me Down

I was hoping Walmart would be closed on Monday, due to the snow that was all over the roads and still falling when my shift began, but no such luck. They did end up closing four hours early, but the amount of driving was the same. It had only recently stopped snowing when I took bethje to work on Monday morning, but there was no chance her work would be closed, as it's considered essential for some reason. Whenever we get a significant amount of snow, the governor declares a state of emergency, but what does that really even mean? It doesn't seem like much of anything actually closes. Maybe the schools do, but it's winter break, so they're all closed anyway. Also, is there a step up from a state of emergency? I mean, we got a lot of snow, but I've seen much worse. So if it's a state of emergency in fairly ordinary situations, what is it on special occasions? Anyway, I personally favor closing just about everything when it snows. In fact, I think animals that hibernate are probably smarter than we humans are. Driving in the rain scares me enough, so why raise the ante? Still, I do it anyway, as terrifying as it is to have your wheels spin fruitlessly and the car skid. I'm just not sure why society deems it necessary for people to risk their necks so that a store can avoid closing for one day. Surprisingly, Walmart was actually fairly busy. Not packed by any means, but there was a steady stream of customers. I guess it's worth braving treacherous roads to buy remaindered Christmas decorations.

Speaking of which, I suppose I should say something about my Christmas (which was the same day as everyone else's Christmas, except those cultures that celebrate it in early January instead). Beth bought me a lot of presents, which is weird because she's always complaining about how she has to help me pay my bills. If you're reading this, Beth, then what's the deal? Stop it with the mixed messages! Anyway, she gave me a stuffed Cheshire Cat from the Disney Store, a sweater, the expanded edition of Martin Gardner's The Annotated Alice, the first volume of Larry Gonick's The Cartoon History of the Universe (a recommendation from vilajunkie), the Nintendo DS games Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light and Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story, Final Fantasy Adventure for Game Boy, Volume One of the Pee-Wee's Playhouse DVDs, and Belle and Sebastian's I'm a Cuckoo EP. From her Uncle John, I received the Puppini Sisters' The Rise & Fall of Ruby Woo, the reissue of the Dukes of Stratosphear's Psonic Psunspot, and Margaret Cho's Cho Dependent. My biggest surprise, however, is that my dad gave me a Wii. I haven't hooked it up yet, and Beth is telling me (not entirely seriously, I think) that I shouldn't try playing it until my classes are all over. I ended up getting an A- and a B in my first two classes, but I don't think my problem was being distracted so much as just having trouble getting back into the school mindset. Also, I probably should have contributed more to the discussions on Blackboard, but that's fairly easily remedied for the next quarter. That's starting pretty soon, by the way. Where does the time go? Well, wherever it's going, it seems to get there progressively faster as I get older. That's hardly an original sentiment, but some clichés exist for a reason.

Anyway, after the gift exchange, we had dinner with some of Beth's relatives, and went to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader at the movies. And that brings us back to the beginning of the post, with the snow and all that rot.