So bundled up.

[Plaidman]

So yesterday my ride canceled. My friend was suppose to do it. He a bit of a paladin, so he'll go through hell for people. It was also game day. His only respite. He loves to game as it allows him to get away from reality.

So me being stupid, just took my coat as I was given a ride there. It wasn't even that bad taht day. During day shift the blizzard really hit us.

THe he called to cancel. He had a friend over he rather be with, and he couldn't drive through it. I don't blame him, he lives an hour away by good weather. I hate for him to go through this crap, then go home. It just isn't fair.

So I took my coat after work and suffered a few blocks to the train line. Waited. Waited. Waited. Freezing. Just a coat. No hat, no scarf, no gloves, no sweater. Just my Joker coat. No train. I hear the tracks are frozen. I scream fuck to my head. So I suffer again through TWENTY BLOCKS of ice, snow, slippering, wind. Waited for normal bus. Normal bus comes often. Waited. Waited. No sign. I decide to try to walk to the next stop, if anything for the shelter.

It keeps going like this. I managed to walk about two dozen or so blocks, freezing, cold, at times sleepy and warm, but I trunched on. So a bus go pass despite my cries for stopping.

I go into a open burger king, and spend some money I can't afford for some warm food. I call my mom. She checks the website, and gives me a good idea when bus comes. I catch it, and get near my home, but still have to walk two blocks.

I get in, mom and roommate pile up three blankets on me and hat, and some hot cocoa. I was pretty warm, but my chest wouldn't stop moving. Felt like my heart was pile of fire.

But despite mom concerns i had hyprotherma. (Heh. Yeah whatever). I got to bed, got some nice beef stew, and slept pretty good.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

I have to work in Tigard tonight. Yesterday when the snow started coming down in buckets, I realized I needed to buy chains. Drove up to Napa. They had DOUBLED the price on their chains because of the weather. So I drove to Schuck's and bought a set for $35. I had to go real slow, and kept having to stop every few miles, get out, and use the ice scraper to break chunks of ice off of my wipers, so they would continue to let me see out my window.

By the time I got to Schuck's and got me some chains, it was dark and snow was still pouring down. I tried to drive home and ended up pulling into an empty Arby's parking lot because it was just chaos. Rush hour, 5 pm, and the roads were choked with several inches of snow, air thick with flakes so you could hardly see. I put the chains on in the Arby's lot, getting down and crawling around in the snow and such. It took me forever cause I didn't have gloves, so I kept having to get in the car to warm up for a few minutes then going back out to work on them again.

Finally I got them on and drove home doing maybe 10 mph. I was an icicle when I got home. I had snow inside my shoes and was soaking wet from head to toe. Made a hot buttered rum, downed it, then got into a hot bath before passing out cold under every blanket I had in the house.


Glad you're okay, Plaidman. I still have to venture out tonight to work the graveyard shift. My car has 3 inch icicles on it right now.

[Plaidman]

Good luck. I'm done for the day. Don't have to work til grave tomorrow.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

I finally made it work safely. My entire car had a half inch thick sheet of ice encasing it ( I took a chunk and measured it!), with an inch, at least, of snow on top of that. I had to use my house broom to brush the snow off, use the other end of the broom to beat my car with, to break up all the ice and then sweep it off the car. It took 45 minutes just to free the car from its icy prison, and I was literally sweating when I was done. What a work out!

The doors were frozen completely shut. I actually had to pour hot water down the seams of my driver's side door to melt it enough to pry it open. All the windows were frozen shut. It took me twice as long to drive to work, as I couldn't go over 20 mph. I kept having to pull over, like yesterday, get out and use the scraper to break chunks of ice off my wipers so they would work.

I was a half an hour late. But I made it. There's a girl here who's been here for 48 hours, her car is trapped on the lot and she can't go home. The trains here are hardly running and many bus routes are cancelled or severely curtailed due to the storm, so we are incredibly short-handed right now.

I hope I make it home in the morning!

[Sonoma]

Here's hoping you make it home OK Phone Goddess. I work in downtown PDX, and they actually closed our office today, thankfully. But there is hope. I live west of Hillsboro, and actually have icicles that are starting to melt. My thermometer's now reading above freezing. Now to just get rid of the 14" of snow on the ground. Even my 4WD truck is staying put right now. I'm almost afraid to call Les Schwab to find out about chains for my truck.

Plaidman, I'm glad you eventually got home. I had a 3-hour commute by bus last week, and the roads weren't even that bad. MAX has been running pretty steadily out here, but I haven't ridden it since Friday. Had to wait 45 minutes for a bus at 5:30 AM last Tuesday. My toes were numb by the time we finally got to the train.

Come on heat!!!

[ThePhoneGoddess]

You live west of Hillsboro? Where? I live within walking distance of the Quatama MAX station.

This morning my car doors were frozen shut again when I got off work. Took me 30 minutes to pry them open, pouring hot water on the door seams. Hwy 26 was a nightmare, chainless cars littering the sides of the highway. I made it to my apartment complex, and just as I pulled into my spot my chains snapped.

I'm calling in tonight. There's no way I'm venturing back out there tonight. It's hot buttered rum and movie time tonight!

[Sonoma]

You live west of Hillsboro? Where? I live within walking distance of the Quatama MAX station.

By west of Hillsboro, I really mean about 3 miles west, in Cornelius. Glad you were able to get home tonight. I'm checking our website in the next hour to see if they've made a decision about tomorrow. If I have to go in, I'll wave from MAX as we go through Quatama (as long as the #57 bus is running). I've parked there a few times when I had things to do in Beaverton after work.

It's beginning to look like we may actually celebrate Christmas this weekend. Grandma lives in Corvallis, and Dad's not sure if he wants to do the 160-mile round trip with the weather the way it's been.

[Plaidman]

OMG GAWD I'm in so damn much pain. Enough that I broke down when mom offered her pain pill. Everyday now I've had to walk to and from work since the damn main bus 71 isnt running. So Plaidman has walked a grand total of 18 miles now, and has to do 3 more tonight at 5:30 to work at 8, then back home at 6 am christmas with another 3 miles through this ice snow crap.

[Sonoma]

I feel your pain. Even if the bus line is running, you can't count on being able to catch it to get anywhere. I waited over an hour for the #54 last night. The first one came by, but was so full I wasn't able to get on. Then, an hour later, the next one came by (they should be every 15 minutes or so), and it was so full they weren't even picking up any passengers. I get off work at 4:30, and by 6 I finally got on MAX to get out of downtown. 3 1/2 hour trip home last night. So glad I took today off.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

Plaidman, take a hot bath with two cups of epsom salts. It will relieve muscle pain and relax your joints.

I noticed today when I left work that the trees were dripping. Which means it's warm enough that stuff is melting like the wicked witch of the west. Yay!

[crazylegs]

I feel your pain. Even if the bus line is running, you can't count on being able to catch it to get anywhere. .

We're lucky, our buses are getting GPS units fitted so the bus stop tells you (roughly) how many minutes the next bus will be, and the two after that as well.

[Sonoma]

Ours have GPS, but the road conditions have been so bad that they're not using it to predict any arrival times. We had a bus stuck on the light-rail tracks, since the ice-buildup around the tracks was creating a 3-4" trench. They finally had to get one of their support trucks to ram the bus so it could get out. Normally the Trip Tracker works pretty well, but it's just not reliable right now.

Phone Goddess, it's melting out here too. I've had a steady stream running from the icicles, and the snow on my railing is diminishing. My thermometer's reading 37.2, and it's been rising steadily, been reading above freezing since about 9:30 this morning.