気まぐれに付き合う, etc.

[Frobnitz]

1. Does the expression "気まぐれに付き合う" mean "to entertain a whim" (voluntarily, albeit possibly reluctantly) or "to be
held captive to [somebody else's] whim" (lacking a certain degree of choice in the matter)?

2. From a manga panel, unpunctuated: "この雪だ課長の戻りは一週間後でしょう". Is the "da" here a contraction of "de wa", or is it meant as a sentence stop, a sort of frustrated curse: "This (darn) snow - the boss's return will probably be delayed to a week from now (with it)"?

[NileCat]

1) It usually means "to cater to someone else's whim". And it is used in negative statements.
Here are some examples.

彼女の気まぐれに付き合うのは、もううんざりだ。
きみの気まぐれに付き合っている暇はないんだ。
気まぐれに付き合わせないで！　（which means あなたの気まぐれには付き合いたくない）

The speaker doesn't want to accept the request because the speaker thinks the request is only the other person's whim.
But we use it like this as well.

ねえ、私の気まぐれに付き合ってくれない？
わかったよ。きみの気まぐれに付き合うのは、僕にとっても楽しいことなんだ。
....
私の気まぐれに付き合ってくれてありがとう！

They are not negative sentences. But you would find out that those are kind of twisted usage of the expression.

2) Are you sure that there was no period or comma or space after 雪だ ? It looks not only wrong but also strange.
Grammatically, it consists of two sentences:

この雪だ。課長の戻りは一週間後でしょう。
Meaning-wise, you're right. This (darn) snow. (It would make) The boss's return probably a week from now.

And this is a sentence which means the same as you said.
この雪では課長の戻りは一週間後でしょう。

[Yudan Taiteki]

Manga does not always use periods if the end of a sentence comes at the end of a line (in the bubble).

[NileCat]

Manga does not always use periods if the end of a sentence comes at the end of a line (in the bubble).

That's true. But do you think it's possible in this particular case? この雪だ課長は～ hmm...very rare case, I'd say.

EDIT:
Oops! Sorry, Chris. I didn't read your message well. Please ignore this post!

[Frobnitz]

To clarify, though there is no period, the "da" is at the end of a line.

Thank you, NileCat. You've been very helpful and clear.