J.P.

My alarm clock is set to wake me to the local NPR station. Honestly, it’s a waste of the alarm clock to use the local NPR station as the station of choice because the alarm clock has HD radio built into it and the sound quality of our NPR station is anything but “HD”. Because of obsession with time, my alarm clock is set precisely to the atomic clock. When the alarm goes off at the top of the hour, NPR is firing off the national news. I usually listen to that, then the local weather forecast, before hopping out of bed and starting my day.

I’m not a huge fan of the weatherman on the local station. He tends to be overly dramatic whenever there’s anything more than a stray puffy cloud in the sky. I don’t want that. I want the forecast delivered in a calm, rational manner. If I want hysteria I can certainly find it elsewhere.

This morning this weatherman went on and on about storms moving into the area. He was quite concerned about snowstorms moving into the area, even though it is February here in Upstate New York and we have seen snow here as late as Mother’s Day.

As he went on and on and he got more and more excited. I pictured him jumping up and down with excitement in his little home studio from where he calls his forecast into the stations that contract him. I wondered if he was wearing sweatpants.

He then started talking about the “Grand Daddy of all storms” moving up from the Carolinas. There was something about Western New England and some swirling over the Hudson Valley, a retrograde and then some Atlantic moisture.

This “Grand Daddy Of All Storms” was going to dump … wait for it… “possibly as much as a foot of snow in some parts of the listening area.”

Big friggin’ whoopdie doo.

“Grand Daddy Of All Storms”? “Up to a foot”?

In 1994 our area had over four feet dumped on us in less than 12 hours.

In 2008 or 2009 (senile moment), parts of the listening area had nine feet dumped on them in 36 hours.

“Up to a foot?”

I had visions of having to contract a road snow plow to clean out our driveway before he announced expected accumulation. I had thoughts of 2012 coming early with this Grand Daddy Of All Storms bringing a white armageddon down upon us. I was ready for Judgement Day.

“Grand Daddy Of All Storms”. “Up to a foot.”

It was then that I jumped out of bed, slammed my finger down on the power button and then reprogrammed the radio to a different station for further alarm duties.

I don’t need unwarranted hysteria like that in the morning and especially from an NPR affiliate.

So yesterday it became official and I can now openly talk about this: I gave my resignation yesterday. My last day with my current employer is February 26, 2010.

I start my new job on March 1, 2010.

I am going to be working in a similar environment as the Network Operations Center that I currently work in, but on a much larger scale. I am very excited about the position as I will be a Tier II specialist. The salary bump is impressive and my commute has gone from 12 minutes to 55 minutes in each direction, but I am really excited about the opportunity. Honestly, I’m excited about the commute too because it will afford me the opportunity to gear up for and wind down from work.

I’m being vague about where I’m going to work because I tend to do that on my blog, being a tinfoil hat wearer and all. But the company I will now work for is publicly traded and is very large.

This is a really big step along my career path and I am most excited. I feel sad that I am leaving the group at my current job; I really like the folks I work with but I need to do what is best for me.

I should probably be upset but I’m not. I just got a speeding ticket whilst on my way from the office to home for lunch. I was driving 72 MPH in a 55 MPH. The freeway I was driving on is four lanes across at the point where I got stopped for speeding. He had a clear shot of me with the laser gun because no one else was on the road. The road was obviously designed to be posted 65 MPH but even it was I would still be exceeding the speed limit.

I wish I could say that I cared that I was stopped for speeding but I really don’t. I’ll just have to be a little more conscious of how fast I drive on open stretches of highway. It’s easier to be bunched up in traffic cruising along at 80. Then they have their pick of who to stop.

The trooper that stopped me is named Officer Geraldo Rivera. He probably has “G. RIVERA” on his name plate so he doesn’t catch shit for that. He looked younger than me, and the famous Geraldo Rivera wasn’t famous until well after my single digit years, so his parents probably didn’t know better. When I saw his name on the ticket I decided to not be snarky at him.

Since I was caught speeding in the left hand lane I pulled over to the left shoulder when he turned on his lights. This made him walk through a snowbank and a mud puddle.

Snark level achieved.