Maybe next week

There I was, all mentally girded for the prospect of an honest 40-hour work week about to commence, when my wife asked me if I wanted to turn off my alarm clock, because it was sleeting outside and she had already checked the Office of Personnel Management website and learned that federal offices were opening late this morning. I was in no way so over-girded that I was going to argue with her, so I slept an extra hour and forty-five minutes or so longer than usual, had a leisurely breakfast, watched the kids while my wife showered (an exceedingly rare luxury for her, to get ready in the morning without racing the clock against the kids either waking up or watching too much tv), and read the OPM message for myself to see that I was being asked categorically to stay off the roads until at least 10 a.m. and report to work no later than noon. Of course by then the wintry mix had tapered off to a non-freezing drizzle, but again: not going to argue.

I did leave the house around 10, and had to drive myself to the Metro station, but the government did at least succeed in spreading out the morning rush hours to the point where I was hardly alone on 66 but the traffic was still moving at a decent clip. No major issues on the Metro, either, which always strikes me as borderline miraculous, no matter how the weather behaves. I got to the office around 11:30 or so and I could tell that I was one of the last people to arrive, but no one mentioned anything to me either way (plus one of the indicators on a normal day that one is well and truly late to work is that the sign-in attendance sheet has already been taken down, but it was waiting in its usual spot for me to mark myself 'present' for whatever that’s worth) and it has been a pretty quiet day overall.

I’d be slightly worried that, as a result of this morning’s outcomes, OPM would be too reluctant to pull the trigger on closing the federal offices when (if) we do actually get a substantial amount of snow this winter, but supposedly we’re headed into a week or two of unseasonably warm weather (which at least means we shouldn’t have a freak blizzard putting the kibosh on my friends’ Super Bowl party on Sunday), so when (if) it gets cold enough to snow again, memories of today’s overreaction will hopefully have faded. I also don’t have a lot of extra mental capacity for worry considering I’m far more apprehensive about facing the Metro and 66 again this afternoon when everyone’s trying to get home at the same time. (Despite not rolling in until the waning minutes of the morning, I am not staying at the Big Gray until 8 p.m., thanks.) If I make it home with my sanity intact, I will reflect upon that and other subjects at further length tomorrow.