What's your sign?

If you asked Seth that question, he'd tell you it's this:
It all started when his Mommy began pointing out the Exit sign above the door on the way out of his day care center each day. Now, he finds them everywhere we go. And he knows what they are. If you ask him, "Do you see an exit sign?" he'll start looking around the walls and ceiling for it. Lately, he's even saying "Exit Sign!" when he sees one.

At the Museum of Natural History, he even found one at his eye level, mounted low on the wall. He wouldn't leave it alone. Got so excited, in fact, that he peed his pants. (OK, he does that all the time.)

Maybe he's got a future as a fire marshall?

Weather & Roads

Why is it that storms so frequently adhere to the boundaries provided by highways? Think about it - happens all the time. Here are a few examples, paraphrased from weather reports I've heard both in the DC Metro and Boston:

"A line of thunderstorms along I-95"
"Areas North and West of I-95 can expect some snow accumulation"
"South of the Mass Pike and 128 will get a dusting to an inch, while the Northern side will see as much as six inches"


I just grabbed this image from Weather.com's very cool interactive maps this morning, showing a storm that has so far remained obediently to the East of I-95, all the way from Richmond up into Delaware. Not to worry - later in the day, they predict that only areas West of I-95 will get any substantial accumulation of snow.

Is there something scientific going on? Do cars on highways produce enough turbulent air to actually cordon off an advancing storm? Or are storms just very well-trained to look both ways before crossing?

updates

Today, we joined Costco. We've visited once or twice before - particularly to evaluate the selection of food items, but today we bit the bullet. $50 membership, which included a free gift bag with a few product samples.

The samples in the gift bag are the only items in the store that come in anything less than feed-an-army size. Among the items we bought were 1400 baby wipes, a box containing approximately 12,000 granola bars, and a container of chopped garlic, which, in my estimation, includes the entire garlic crop of the United States for one week.

On the bright side, their products tend to be good quality, the prices are such that the membership fee will quickly pay for itself, [in part because] there's a store close to home, and the deals on electronics might just be good enough to one day justify the purchase of a flat-screen TV.

On the downside, I'm pretty sure that the rise of warehouse stores has some connection to the rate of obesity in the United States. When your options are: buying a loaf of bread at the grocery store for $2.99, or buying 3 loaves of bread in a single package for $3.99 at Costco, your personal consumption is likely to increase.

In other news, I start work tomorrow. Wish me luck. Gotta remember what that whole experience is like - it's been a while. Tomorrow also marks the first time that I'll take public transportation to my job.