Let it snow

[Andara Bledin]

Yeek. More and more reason why I'm going to stay in my nice, mostly-dry, coastal desert.

Nekojin has a tale of winter woe from Lancaster. They don't get a lot of snow, but one year it was enough to leave foot-high drifts in the middle of the street, and people kept trying to cross the medians and were getting caught in those random drifts.

I remember a tale my mother tells of a time on the east coast when the roads had been pretty solidly iced, and there was a chain requirement in effect. She was on a residential street and had stopped to allow another car to exit a driveway. Another car came up behind her and ended up hitting her. The guy that hit her got out and yelled at her for being stopped in his way. Of course, he didn't have any chains, oh no. But he thought that didn't matter since he was on his way to get some.

As for a lousy way to spend Christmas, one of my friends has the worst story I've yet to hear. He woke up Christmas day in the ER with a collapsed lung. Turns out, he'd had walking pneumonia and never knew it.

^-.-^

[Dark Psion]

Well, back to work today. I know at least one coworker missed me. One of my jobs is to make signs, you know like "We will be closed on New Year's Day" signs.

He was here almost an hour before he realized we were closed

My dad is getting better, his skinned elbow is healing very nicely, the bruises are going away and he can get to the bathroom on his own on occasion. I need to look at getting him one of those chairs that can lift you up as his biggest problem is getting out and back in his recliner.

And after several Google searchers I have deciphered his ER report. He cracked his Humeral neck. That is the Mushroom shaped bone in your shoulder joint, where it is narrowest. It may take 3 to 6 months to heal completely. If our weather will get back above freezing, his doctor will get him an appointment to see a specialist.

So back to work and inventory. Is it wrong to wish I had broken my arm and would not be able to count for 3 to 6 months?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

We were under a winter weather warning from Wednesday until Saturday at midnight and the movie theater was PACKED on Christmas Day.

You know you live in a bad winter area if they issue warnings a day BEFORE the storm even starts.

Yup.

We had a Winter Storm Warning issued yesterday for today. Looks like the lake is going to provide us with 5 to 9 inches of snow.

At least it won't be busy at the swamp today when we're doing truck. It was busy yesterday, what with it being Another Damn Senior Day and all. Plus I suspect there was a decent amount of panic shopping going on. When will people learn?

[Jester]

Lo and behold, the Wal Mart parking lot was full. And the roads had not even been remotely plowed at that point!

Okay, I can see lots of reasons for this beyond people shopping.

1. Employees who were forced to come in.
2. Employees who left their vehicles their and either walked home or found other, more snow-worthy transpo home.
3. Customers who left their vehicles their from prior shopping days and either walked home or found other, more snow-worthy transpo home.
4. Customers and/or employees whose cars told them, "Screw this! I ain't moving!"
5. Neighborhood residents who moved their cars to the lot because where they lived would be worse for their vehicles in such conditions. I know when hurricanes are impending here, many people will move their vehicles to higher places on the island, including certain parking lots.

You get the idea.

Is it wrong to wish I had broken my arm and would not be able to count for 3 to 6 months?

Oh, you can still count with a broken arm. You may not be able to MOVE things, but you can still count. Trust me, they would have you hold a clipboard or something and help in some way.

When will people learn?

I know! I know! I know! I know!

Never. At least by all I have seen to this point, both personally and what's been related to me.

[protege]

I'm confused... if the highways are closed, why are so many people still driving?

The highway could have been closed while people were on it. PA tends to do that quite a bit to the Turnpike during the winter. Never mind that the people *on* the highway are now SOL and traffic is usually a mess after it's been closed

But, I do know what it's like to take 3 hours to get home from work. Did that last year. Usually, it takes about a half-hour or 45 minutes normally. Throw in the snow (along with the idiots and old people plodding along at 5mph), and that trip can easily an hour.

Last winter, it took a whopping *3 hours* to travel the 16 miles or so towards home. Yep, 3 fucking hours, which included an hour just to cross my borough! There were so many accidents, that as soon as the rescue workers would clean up one mess, another would start. Every main road, and most of the secondaries, were literally parking lots. In fact, most of the hilly streets had already been closed to prevent more accidents. Even my own street was closed. Still, it didn't stop some idiot from attempting to go down one of the steepest streets in the borough, flipping his car, and then sliding to the bottom on its roof! The fire department was *not* amused about that

[Lots42]

Even without the blizzard, making you stay after close with customers in the store should earn the managers a firing. I'd complain like holy hell.

[Magpie]

But, I do know what it's like to take 3 hours to get home from work. Did that last year. Usually, it takes about a half-hour or 45 minutes normally. Throw in the snow (along with the idiots and old people plodding along at 5mph), and that trip can easily an hour.

I had a co-op job where people where asking why I wasn't leaving, had I seen the weather. I honestly didn't care. I was walking home, and it's my boots that slow me down, not the snow. It will take me the same amount of time to get home either way. Now, going out afterwards I was even faster, because I switched to skis... best way to get around in a snowstorm. I really hope I never get stuck living anymore outside of a major urban centre than I currently do, because I really like my mobility.

I also like the fact that the roads are normally fine here, even if they're completely impassable out in the country (hence my confusion about why there would be problems in a city even if they highways are closed).

[protege]

I also like the fact that the roads are normally fine here, even if they're completely impassable out in the country (hence my confusion about why there would be problems in a city even if they highways are closed).

Around here though, the city roads are usually pretty bad. There's either nowhere to put the snow (dumping it in the rivers isn't an option--to do so screws with the barge traffic), or the guy in charge of public works supposedly "didn't see the storm coming" and as such, is short on manpower and salt supply. But, once I hit the 'burbs, my commute home is usually uneventful. That, and the roads are actually cleared My street is almost always clear. There's an elementary school just around the corner, and even if there's a 2-hour delay, the street is open.

But, the fun areas have to be the rural ones. Most of the plows hit the highways, and the "main" roads between towns. They don't bother going over the back roads. Not enough traffic to justify it. An exception was my grandmother's side road. There was a mine portal (since closed) about a mile from the house. We'd get about 300 cars a day going up there, so they had to keep it open. Coal being most of that county's economy and all that