windchill of -6

Another week, another opportunity to mull over excuses for not going into the office on Tuesday.

This week it was the cold. It was 16 degrees when I stepped outside for my Monday afternoon walk. I almost turned back twice before reaching the train station. I stuck it out in the end, but I was not looking forward to the same walk colder and darker the next morning when I could be warm in bed.

Various pros and cons, but art presents the most interesting tradeoff. If I stay home, I can sketch during the entire Zoom meeting, since I have no webcam. It’s completely free multitasking and earns me roughly 45 minutes of doubled time. However, if I go to the office, I might be able to get some blobservation done. Usually someone at the meeting has a good outfit. And there’s always the chance of me snagging a stray outfit from a passerby—rare but exciting. (I have to encounter someone in the hall or elevator, they have to be wearing an interesting outfit and NOT a coat (I don’t do outdoor outfits), and I need to accurately remember enough details to draw it later. Even before covid, it took me months to complete a page of blobservation.)

Anyway, I did wind up heading to the office today. When I left home this morning, it was 14 degrees, windchill of 6. Around lunchtime I discovered it had dropped to 11 degrees, windchill of -6. “Warming expected over the next 3 days.” Wonderful. I’ll look forward to it.

(I did actually do a bit of sketching during the meeting, plus I got a new outfit, so best of both worlds?)

Note to self: Stop eating the snacks from Noah’s bowl. Or at least pick better ones. I keep automatically grabbing the chocolate bars, but they are in fact gluten free protein bars and fairly unpleasant. Even the Biscoff would be better.

As I was leaving for the day, I overheard someone on the elevator saying: "I've been up since 3 am and I still have energy to go to the gym!!" My internal narration was a cross between "okay?? do you want a medal?" and "damn, maybe she does deserve a medal..."