Since it's just us, I'd like to complain and whine about the weather for a moment. I don't care about the cold; I don't care about the snow and ice. What I'm sick of is hearing, "I won't be in today because of the roads."

I live 70 miles and three counties from work. Unless there's a level-3 snow emergency, I'm getting to work every day. My boss lives less than 5 miles from the office and she didn't come in yesterday. She didn't even call. She, like another co-worker, "worked from home."

I don't trust that phrase.

I know these people too well to know how easily they can be distracted here where we don't have TVs or doorbells or personal phone calls and kitchens and children and pets. I just don't understand how much work they can get done at home.

Fortunately, it's none of my business. I am not a supervisor. I can't tell a co-worker who has missed four days of work due to illness she needs to bring in a doctor's excuse. And I can't tell these people to suck it up, grow a pair and drive in to work when it snows.