Wasted Effort
published
I went to bed last night early, mostly due to boredom. I woke up earlier than usual this morning feeling refreshed. The weather didn’t get any better over night, so I was looking forward to getting out of the house a little early in order to get the car warmed up and still make it to work early.
After 30 minutes of trying to get the van out of the parking spot in our back lot, a neighbor came out to help. He wasn’t able to do much, but I was grateful for his companionship. He talked (a lot) and I listened while I tried to clear away as much of the ice and frozen snow from around the van’s tires as possible. After I finally got the van backed out and into the alley I thanked the neighbor and encouraged him to go back inside to warm up.
My problems were far from over, though, and I spent another 40 minutes trying to make any additional progress. Another neighbor, also in the alley, was trying to get his van dislodged from the snow and ice, so we teamed up to work together. We were able to clear enough of a path, and he was able to push my van just enough, that I could crawl forward. His van was blocking my exit, though, so I had to stop. I pushed his van, and he finally got some traction and made his way to the end of the alley. Running back to my van I was nearly paralyzed with fear that it would be stuck again; but thankfully I was able to rock forward and reach the main street.
I ran back to the house, dropped off the snow shovel I had been using, and went inside to fetch my backpack. Carina, sitting on the couch, looked up in surprise to see me. “Thanks for the help!” I quipped, figuring there was no way she could have not noticed all the goings-on outside for the past hour. But of course she hadn’t noticed anything, and likely couldn’t have done much to help even if she had.
After getting back into the van and well on my way to work, Carina called to let me know that The Ohio State University was closed for the day. We closed early yesterday. The last time the University closed was in 1994, when I was a student.
Since I had spent all that time freeing the van, I now feel obligated to put in a full day’s work!