As anyone who lives in Saint Louis knows, we got a lot of snow yesterday.  We here at RegenAxe Row ended up with a little over the predicted six inches.  Anne had a triple day off: 1) she wasn’t scheduled to work; 2) she still felt too ill to work and would have declined any offer if called; 3) school was closed with a snow day, so no call would be coming.  I on the other hand had to go to work.  I must have called the employee hotline at least four times, but the answer was always the same, “All sites are operating normally and there are no closures”, except for my last call, where the following was added “if you call one more time you will be referred to human resources.”  No harm in trying, right?

So I went to work.  There were a few accidents along the way, but no major backups.  I still made my customary Starbucks stop and snapped the picture of Fernando Botero’s Man on Horse, which was relatively clothed in snow.  I arrived at work and the place was nearly empty, but people continued to drift in at least until three, when the tide turned and started to flow the other way.  The commute home was thankfully event free.

Anne got a call from the bank for Dan.  She explained that he wasn’t here, but also asked if she could take a message.  The bank representative told her that the call was an inquiry about Dan’s credit card and asked that he call the bank’s security department.  Sensing that this might be important, she called Dan right away.  Dan thought that he knew what the call was about, but promised to call her back after he spoke with them.  It turns out that Dan’s purchase of $170 at a liquor store triggered the alert.  The booze bill was not for binge drinking, but for his art opening, last night.  You’ve got to keep those art critics well lubricated, or they might turn on you.