Returning from Miami was like jumping onto a fast-moving treadmill.

I returned to ungodly list of projects and contract work while still emotionally shocked from the trip. In retrospect I should have taken a few more days off, but I survived.

The frigid temperatures were the rudest surprise of coming back north. This winter has been marked by “character building” wind chills, although Minnesota is pretty in its own desolate way during winter.

The cold has become more frustrating than usual because of a massive construction project that severed my parking garage from St. Paul’s skyway system.

Most office buildings surrounding my garage shutter their lobbies around 6 p.m., so although the skyway is open until 2:30 a.m., it is virtually inaccessible if I come home too late.

The prospect of walking home in the -10 degree wind chill made me pretty desperate this evening.

I somehow managed to find an office building where the cleaning lady forgot to lock the door on time. She asked me for the time as I strutted inside toward the elevator.

I’ve also discovered that building security tends to ignore smiling businessmen with briefcases, so no one stopped me as I took the elevator to a random floor, slid through several stairwells, and climbed through a construction site into the skyway.

I felt like a cat burglar or a villain from a James Patterson novel, but the risk of being thrown onto the street was well worth not having to walk outside for four blocks.

Tomorrow, I’ll try to get home earlier.