After a snowstorm that apparently caused states of emergency in a few states (at least, statedly), today the weather warmed up. It warmed up so much that I almost regretted wearing my heavy coat as I walked to work this morning. In fact, it was so warm that much of the snow had melted into an unpleasant conglomeration of dirt, water, ice, and slush, resulting in a very disgusting half-solid river of sludge on the sidewalk kept in by a bank of snow on either side. I tried walking in the road for a while, but being in the way of cars in bad weather seemed worse than the alternative, so I trudged through. My shoes and the bottom of my pant-legs got very soggy, dirty, and covered with muck.

    By the time I left work, the sludge on the sidewalks had done a bit more melting, turning into water that must have leaked off onto the road. I was happy to see this, because frankly it was really unpleasant walking through all that stuff. Finally, the sidewalks were clear and I could walk at a decent clip without worrying about getting dirty. Naturally, when I was halfway home, a car drove by and in the most cliched manner possible, splattered me with muck.