I hate driving

#1181: Ice Storm April! [with Dashcam Video]

RECORD STORE TALES #1181: Ice Storm April!

I think one of the greatest reasons that my seasonal affective disorder (S.A.D.) has been non-existent this year is the revelation that I can work from home, and when I do it’s not as bad as I feared it would be.  This means if I can avoid driving due to weather, I don’t have to drive.  My work has a good policy on working from home that would give me this flexibility.  After all, when it comes down to brass tacks, the worst part of winter isn’t the weather.  It’s driving in it.  Looking at it from inside is actually kind of fun.

Our spring has been warm/cold off and on, but spring is definitely here.  That means that a few drivers have prematurely taken off their snow tires.  Canadians seem to forget that April can get angry, just when you think it’s all over.  I don’t know why they forget this, year after year.  Perhaps it’s wishful thinking.  Regardless, when that last angry storm hit us on April 3 2025, the lack of snow tires on cars that should know better by now, created an actual perfect storm of traffic chaos.

I was at work that morning, and watched as a wet mix of snow and rain suddenly pelted my car from outside.  Although I should have gone home immediately, I ate my lunch and emailed my bosses that I’d be working from home that afternoon.  I wish I had left 30 minutes earlier, but if wishes were horses…I’d probably still got stuck in traffic.

I watched as a pickup truck in front of me, on only the slightest incline, began to skid backwards.  He veered off to the left, and made a U-turn, unable to go up the slightest hill.  Once I crested the hill, I was met with three transport trucks that were completely stuck in the snow and ice.  I had to carefully navigate the space between them in order to proceed.  The hill got steeper, but I had no problem with my snow tires.

It was nerve wracking and I had my dad on the phone the whole time, keeping him up to date with my progress home; he was so worried.

I saw cars pull over to the side of the road just to brush the accumulating snow off their rear and side windows.  I was luckier.  With my dad’s help the day before, we just finished installing new windshield wipers on my car.  They were more than up to the task.

Lessons learned in the winter of 2025:

  1. Working from home alleviates the anxiety aspect of Seasonal Affective Disorder.
  2. Don’t take your winter tires off until mid-April!

Songs:

Buffalo Crows – “Starlord” from Bovonic Empire

Sword – “Unleashing Hell” from Sword III

Stir of Echoes – “Wild Eye” from Stir of Echoes

Blotto – “Secret Agent Man” / “Metalhead” live at Toad’s Place

#358.5: On the Road Again

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RECORD STORE TALES MkII: Getting More Tale
#358.5: On the Road Again

Today was another day on the highway, on the road to another hospital!  We’re making progress on Jen’s epilepsy and she is currently staying at a hospital in Toronto for a few days as they try to figure out just what’s causing these seizures.  It will be the longest we’ve been apart since we’ve been married, six years ago.

You don’t come here to read mushy stuff, you come for funny stories and to read about the rock!  The drive itself was uneventful.  The eastbound lanes are clear, but a jackknifed tractor trailer on the westbound side left just one lane open to traffic.  It was backed up as far as the eye could see, and I was grateful I was not one of the commuters stuck in it.

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We had Zeppelin on the ride into Toronto.  With your morning traffic jams that just happen, we listened to all of Led Zeppelin I, the deluxe edition with bonus concert CD, Live at the Olympia in Paris.  As good as this set is — and it is good — it didn’t suit the mood this morning.  I should have started with Queen instead.  I drove home to disc one of the new Queen Forever, and the pop sound and bright melodies of Queen were  better suited to lift the mood.  On the way there, Plant’s anguished screams only heightened my own tension.  On the way back, Freddie’s smooth crooning was just what the doctor ordered.  It was a bright sunny afternoon drive home.

As is par for the course this time of year, my car came home covered in a thick gray coating of sludge and salt.  I almost went through almost half a tank of windshield washer fluid today!

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If she’s there a while and I have to hang around there, I will definitely be checking out some record stores.  When we passed the Honest Ed’s building, I realized that we were right in the vicinity of Mike and Aaron’s Annual Taranna Record Store Excursion!  It would be weird to be so close and not check out Sonic Boom.

I’m looking forward to video chatting with Jen tonight on our laptops.  She’s got a few days ahead that will be a mixture of boredom, homesickness, and tedious testing.  Me, I’m back to bachelor living for the week.  I’m already bored.

Today’s musical lesson: Queen lifts the mood!

Part 199: Hooray! Hooray! It’s Stock Transfer Day!

RECORD STORE TALES Part 199:  Hooray! Hooray! It’s Stock Transfer Day!

A couple weeks ago, I was out driving, rocking to Kiss’ Hotter Than Hell.  Suddenly I realized the car in front of me was being driven by my former boss at the record store.  We happened to be going in the same direction.  I followed him as he pulled into the old record store, where he turned off.  He didn’t see me wave but from the stop lights, I could see him go to the back of the vehicle and pull out a big box of discs for the record store.

This brought back a vivid memory — Stock Transfer Day!  STD!

Twice a week, the local store managers were required to travel to a central location to pick up stock from the other stores.  This stock could include special orders being transferred from store to store.  The majority of the boxes were full of stuff for our shelves, and fresh jewel cases since we went through hundreds a week.  These would fill the trunk, pile up on the back seats, and once in a while the passenger seat too.

The managers decided to do stock transfer on Monday nights, and Thursday afternoons.  I hated Monday nights and Thursday afternoons.  The only good thing about stock transfer was the chance to see some of my store manager friends, such as the eternally interesting Joe.  It was during one of these stock transfers that I witnessed the immortal Open Door Piss.

What bugged me most about the stock transfer arrangements were that the time, gas and mileage on our cars was considered to be “part of our salaries”.  This part of it really sucked, as you could spend a good chunk of your night hanging around doing nothing, waiting for someone.  Sometimes a traffic accident or tie-up on the highway could screw somebody’s route home.  That’s just the way this city was(n’t) planned out.

So while you’re waiting for someone with some orders that you absolutely need, you’re sitting doing nothing, burning your own time.  This happened frequently in winter, but in the summer too.  While this is ensuing,  at home your porch is unoccupied and lacking in beverages.  And that is a shame.

Next time on Record Store Tales…

200th episode!!