Wednesday is my day off from retail work, which makes it my designated day to record my parts for each week's edition of This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio and to try to get around to doing whatever else needs doing. I always run out out of Wednesday before I run out of Wednesday things to do.
The past few days have been a blur. This state of haze isn't so much due to the presence of a holiday--oh, BTW: Happy New Year!--as it is a consequence of snow in Syracuse. I'm told that Tuesday's snowfall (a little over two feet) was the second snowiest individual day in Syracuse's history, a feat that is equal parts weird, impressive, and hard to believe. The # 1 snowiest 'Cuse day was way back in the 1940s, which means Tuesday was the snowiest day I've ever experienced here.
It didn't feel like it. As depressing as it was witnessing that cold mass of white and gray descend upon the 315 on Tuesday, it didn't seem comparable to my memories of the Blizzard of '66, nor the powerful winter storms of the early '90s. Moving to different geography, this past Tuesday in Syracuse felt almost like a spring day if contrasted against the blizzards I experienced when I lived in Buffalo in the '80s.
But yeah, it snowed on Tuesday. I got up about 7:30 (itself a little later than I'd planned), and got out to clear the driveway. It was cold and windy, but at least the initial foot or so of accumulated snow was powdery, and my Cub Cadet dispatched it with relative ease. If I hurried, I could still shower and at least try to get to work on time.
Instead, I wound up calling in. Officials at the local and state level were advising people to avoid unnecessary travel, and I struggled with the decision of what was more responsible: Going in to work because I was scheduled and expected to be at work, or staying home because my commute might be difficult, and might not be considered necessary travel? I'm not sure I made the right decision, and although no one at my job gave me any grief, I felt guilty the entirety of Tuesday.
Dana and I had programmed the next This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio on our now-regular Monday night chat. After a few weeks of experimenting with recording the show during breaks at work on Tuesdays, I've determined that it's better to make time for that process on Wednesdays again. The fact that I was home playing hooky on Tuesday meant I might as well go ahead and get the show done a day early, and I did that. Recording went well, the selections fit within the time slot, and I shipped the file to Dana to apply the measure of gloss, spit, and random magic needed to transform it into a radio show. We'll hear the result on the air Sunday night.
Wednesday morning brought more snow to clear, less than the previous day's volume but (sorry to say) not as powdery. I do not remember how we spent the day after that. We were going to be staying home on New Year's Eve, and Brenda and I had offered to dogsit for our daughter and son-in-law so they could spend the evening at a friend's house. With that in mind, Brenda and I had an early dinner date at Mi Rancho Alegre in North Syracuse, and got back home before Meghan and Austin dropped Cider off with us.
Cider is comfortable staying with us, alternately playing catch and cuddling with us in front of the TV. She was angry with me for reclaiming one of my socks after she'd, y'know, swiped it and claimed it as her own, but she forgave me. Brenda and I shared a bottle of wine and watched Jeopardy! and a Quincy Jones documentary before switching to Ryan Seacrest as he fired 2026's figurative starting pistol. GO!!
Man. Another new year. I’ll be 66 in a couple of weeks, which I know isn’t exactly an advanced age, but sometimes I just feel older than the calendar says I should. It's not constant, and it's not even most of the time, but it's there. I try to fight it with superhero comics and bubblepunk rock 'n' roll. I figure a refusal to grow up has got to at least slow the aging thing down a little bit.
Slept in a little on Thursday, postponed clearing the driveway until Meghan and Austin were on their way over to pick up Cider. They told us about their New Year's Eve with friends, and Brenda reiterated our joy and gratitude just for having the two of them around. I nodded and beamed with pride in my daughter, and in the good man I now regard as my son.
After they left, I returned to the driveway for a little clean-up. Brenda began un-trimming the Christmas tree, and then I dismantled the tree and we returned all of these Yuletime trappings to storage. For supper, Brenda made some steak, accompanied by spinach ravioli with pesto sauce, a bowl of tropical fruit with Greek yogurt, a glass of milk for her, a Mexican Coca-Cola for me. Later on, we watched some game shows--we do like game shows--and ended the evening by watching a replay of NYC's new mayor Zohran Mamdani give his stirring and aspirational inaugural address. Hope. A little hope goes a long way.
Alas, hope alone doesn't clear the driveway. There's more snow forecast in abundance for Friday. I aim to make it to work this time. About 46 years ago, Trouser Press magazine asked its readers how they intended to face the 1980s. One correspondent responded with authority: "With whiter teeth, fresher breath, and the Ramones." Hell, armed with that, I bet I can face down a blizzard if I have to.
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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.
This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.
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