Snow Joke

Tuesday February 1st, 2011 - Fox Lake, IL

   The white death is here. Snow-torious B.I.G. This is supposed to be the biggest, baddest blizzard of the new millennium, and it just might be true. I had to drive home in my 1983 Cadillac tonight and it felt like a toboggan ride most of the way. I slid around corners and had to spin my wheels go get up even the smallest of hills. Nasty winds made it all worse.

   Vehicles were getting blown all over the road, and I lost count of those stuck in ditches. I probably shouldn’t have been out myself, but I was scheduled to have dinner with Gary Pansch and I didn’t want to miss it. Gary is not only a fine comedian, but a cartoon artist also. He’s been a friend for many years, and is a true definition of the word gentleman.

   Gary gets free meal certificates to a truck stop owned by the people he works for on one of his day jobs. He’s bought me several delicious meals, so today it was my turn. I wasn’t going to back out, even with the rotten weather. It’s only snow, and I’m used to it by now.

   So I thought. Businesses were closing down early and cars were crawling along the road at a snail’s pace. By the time we finished dinner, I knew I’d made a mistake. I was barely able to back the Caddy out of the parking space, and it was way too late to turn back now.

   I had a hell of a time getting home, and there were all kinds of detours on roads I would normally take to get home from Kenosha. There were police barricades diverting traffic to alternate routes, and I found myself wishing I’d stayed home. Me and my big fat mouth.

   The rear wheel drive American sleds of yesteryear may look good on paper, but in snow they’re about as useful as Bears Super Bowl tickets. I brag how much I enjoy piloting my road yacht around, and I do, but not in these icy conditions. I’d be better off in a go kart.

   This is going to be a great opportunity to just relax and start sorting my life out without distractions. I’ve still got everything in boxes from my move, and I’ll have a few days of nothing to do but start digging out and reorganizing while everyone else is trapped inside their houses too. I won’t be able to go anywhere even if I want to, and that’s fine by me.

   I really need to start moving on all my projects. The first month of 2011 is gone already and I made some progress but not as much as I’d like. It’s always a matter of keeping my momentum going and staying focused. I’m getting better, but still have a long way to go.

   I have to always keep tweaking my plan, and following through. Getting teams of good people in place will help that to move faster and smoother, and that’s what I’ve improved on in the last little while. I’m putting people in place to be able to delegate responsibility.

   I’ll go over it all again in the next few days during the snow break, and be ready to rock when the city digs out again. I’ve got gigs next week and then it’s back on the ships to do more time there. I want to be in a position to have other people working on projects here while I’m out there working on new things for all of us to do. Let the snow fly. I‘m ready.

Posted via email from Dobie Maxwell's "Dented Can" Diary