Perils of Caffeine in the Evening

I’ve been working in Milwaukee this week, and the weather has been through some wild gyrations. When I arrived Sunday, it was a relatively mild 35 - 40 degrees (F). By Tuesday night, a cold front had come through, the temperature had dropped to 0, and winds were gusting up to 50 mph. Sort of like they tell you the surface of Venus is supposed to be like.

Then last night, during another delicious dinner of Arabic food and (not mentioning where we’re working) at the home of my Palestinian co-consultant, it started to snow steadily, and by the time I drove home there were 4 - 5 inches on the ground and more coming. “Lake effect”, they call it here. I guess it means the lake gets sick of its glacier-carved seabed and leaps to the sky in an effort to escape. An effort that is thwarted, eventually, by gravity, sunshine and storm sewers leading inexorably back to the lake. (Man, that was tortured, but I’m leaving it)

When I come here, I often rent my car from Thrifty, always specifying a “compact” because I just don’t value luxury and spaciousness in a damn car. They always try to upsell me at the rental desk, and I always refuse; every now & then, however, I receive a “complimentary upgrade” because I’m such a loyal customer because the only thing they have in the garage is some behemoth. This trip, my reward is a Chrysler Sebring. A convertible. In January. In Milwaukee:

If I had any guts, I’d have put the top down before I drove into my client’s parking lot this morning. On the other hand, it has heated seats, which sounds like a good idea in theory, just as a bidet sounds like a good idea in theory, but in actual use produces odd sensations on one’s nether parts.

We’re supposed to get 3 more inches this morning, and my 6 pm flight tonight may be wishful thinking. To compound the fun, I’m flying not to Seattle, but to Detroit, where the weather forecast is:

Cloudy with snow showers becoming a steady accumulating snow later on. Some sleet may mix in. Temps nearly steady in the low to mid 30s. E winds shifting to SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 70%. 2 to 4 inches of snow expected.

The plan is to drive down to pay a quick visit to my Mom near Toledo tonight and tomorrow, then head back up to Detroit for a 7:30 pm flight home to Seattle. I’ve been pretty fortunate for as much flying I do in the northern tier, with very few delays and no unplanned overnights, but it may catch up to me this weekend.