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my 2nd aunt woke me up this morning, asking for the number of the tow company because one of the tenant's car might've been towed from the parking lot. i was still asleep (although it was almost 11:00) and when i went to turn on my computer i accidentally hit the restart button. so instead i tried the yellow pages, which only had the number for the boston police (i decided to toss it into the recycle bin). by that point my laptop had already fully booted and i did a google search. even then that took a while, since it brought up a bunch of different numbers and i had to pick the right one. i told my aunt to call that number to get the number/location of the tow company.

so that was my morning. when i looked outside it'd already been snowing for a few hours. even though the storm wouldn't be over until late afternoon, i decided to shovel anyway, just because i wouldn't be home the rest of the day and wanted to at least make a dent in the clean-up effort. the weather outside was surprisingly cold; normally the temperature hovers around freezing during a snowstorm, but my thermometer read 20°F. maybe that's why the snow was especially light and fluffy, could've swept it with a broom instead of shoveling with a shovel. i did the sidewalk first, then worked my way to the back of the house. my upstairs neighbors seemed to be gone for the weekend so they were no help. i was cold at first, but warmed up fast once i started shoveling.

in my ongoing neighborhood watch series, i saw movers loading furniture from julia's house into a moving truck. so maybe she managed to sell her place? but more likely after 4 months of waiting, she wanted to take all her furniture to her new place. i didn't see julia but i did see her husky mustachioed friend who shoveled the snow off of his car with a box lid.

to get to my parents' place i was seriously considering taking the bicycle. never mind that i haven't biked there since november, and that was under ideal weather condition. with the snow still falling and the roads barely plowed and salted, it would be an adventure to say the least. i'd already packed and was dressed to go when my father called me, saying he could swing by my place to give me a ride (after already dropping off the tenant at the tow lot). we stopped by the cafe so he could snow plow the sidewalks before continuing onwards to belmont.

although we'd only get about 3 inches of snow maximum, that small amount was enough to make the roads hazardous to drive. the problem was it was so cold none of the snow was melting, so it'd just combine with the road salt to become this slippery dirty powdery sand. my father was driving 5-10 miles below the speed limit, and even then i could feel the car fishtailing every once in a while. fortunately this storm happened on a weekend when most people could afford to stay indoors if they didn't have to be outside so the traffic was light.

i was lucky that i didn't try to bike under these conditions. bike lanes disappear during snowstorms and the only way i could've gain any traction would be to ride in the middle of the street, much to the delight of cars unfortunate enough to be behind me. nevertheless, it would've been an interesting experience. i still have tomorrow to make the ride.

when i got to belmont, i dropped my things before going outside to help my father with the shoveling. hailey was crying indoors. when my sister finally let her out, she stood in front of us and wouldn't stop barking. turns out she thought maybe we were playing and wanted us to throw snow in the air with the shovel so she could catch it. when we didn't do that, she'd bark angrily. finally we had to put her in the backyard after she got too crazy.

it was already 2:00 when i finally had something to eat (although i wasn't that hungry), a simple plate of pasta with chicken and tomato sauce. there was nothing good on television other than watching the sports pundit talk about tomorrow's football games.

in the evening, news of south carolina's republican primary finally came in: newt gingrich won by a large margin. that thrills me to no end, muddying the republican water. after mitt romney won new hampshire, his nomination almost seemed like a sure thing, but then a few days ago it was announced that he didn't win iowa (rick santorum did by a narrow margin) and the new focus seemed to be why he's so reluctant to release his tax records. new gingrich on the other hand, who would've thought? his 2nd wife's recent allegation that he wanted an open marriage didn't seem to hurt him at all.

my father give me a ride back to cambridge after dinner. a crusty film of ice had formed on the car windows and had to be scraped off first. i also brought back all my lasagna dishes and ramekins. once i got back, i shoveled once again, clearing the sidewalk as well as the backyard. there was just enough light bouncing off the snow so i could still see in the dark.

elsewhere in skyrim: walked all the way to eldergleam sanctuary from whiterun (after finally buying my first house for 5000 gold last night), killed 2 trolls in graywinter watch, fought bandits in valtheim towers, got killed by a giant in cradlecrush rock (still not powerful enough to slay giants, only level 8), and clashed with fiery mages at fort amol.