The mother of all storms has ended...

But not before I had some minor rain damage. I have a leak in my chimney, so there was water dripping down into the basement, and also water in my attic that stained the ceiling here in the office. The contractors were already contacted a couple months ago about the chimney, but they're not stupid - they won't go up on the roof in the dead of winter. No one expected a fifty year rain storm, so I'll just have to deal with it. I was talking to a guy at work whose shingles were blowing off his roof at the height of the storm. He was actually up on a ladder trying to attach a tarp to his roof in gale force winds and pelting rain. Sheesh. So many people's houses were flooded; I'm really lucky to have gotten by with so few water issues. So now there's not a cloud in the sky - it looks amazing out. No pictures today, but probably when I post over the weekend. I'm going to Chicago today, and I have to head into town to pick up my former roommate G, who is watching the cats for me.
I had a 3rd row ticket to see Henry Rollins tonight, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Rollins so I'm sending G in my place. His spoken word tour is one of the high points of my year, and I'm really disappointed to miss the show. I've seen him a bunch of times and met him twice. He is a very cool guy - and was awesome about writing back to me (about a dozen times) when my foot was broken for most of 2008. That year, I sat in the front row of the Orpheum with my cast up on the stage while he was speaking. Oh well. There's always next year.
Like an idiot, I didn't opt to stay in Chicago an extra day. I had nothing better to do this weekend, and since I was already going to be there, I should've found something cool to do on Saturday instead of coming home directly after the conference. But not all is lost - I have an appt to have my hair colored on Saturday, and that is always fun. I've been seeing Janice at Backstreet Salon in Medford, MA exclusively for over a decade. Saturday she's going to kill me because I gave myself a haircut with my clippers. I was overdue for cut/color, and the length was making me crazy. If you have short hair, you know where I'm coming from. Anyway, it's all gone now. One of these days I'm going to march in there with a bald head and just ask to have my eyebrows done.
I'm terrible about packing, but I'm running out of time so I have to finish. The only knitting I'm taking on my trip is Tink's Twirly Skirt, and I'm taking Porter's & Olmsted Teisberg's book Redefining Health Care. My team at work is hearing Michael Porter http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Porter speak on the 31st. If you're all good, I may write on that topic further.
Alright. I guess I'm done here. I'll check in in a couple days. Bye.