Monday, December 10, 2007

No Ice...Thank God

So…the winter storm warning for the High Plains has been cancelled. No ice storm today… I think. But the potential still exists; it’s raining moderately heavy as I type and the temp is 36 degrees. Not a nice day to be out and about. It’s a lot worse elsewhere, though.

OKLAHOMA CITY - Roads were treacherous Monday from the Plains into parts of the Northeast as a storm spread a coating of ice and freezing rain that blacked out a more than half-million homes and businesses. At least 13 traffic deaths were linked to icy roads.

Winter weather warnings and advisories were posted along a cold front that stretched from Texas to New Hampshire. The wintry weather was expected to continue through midweek.

A state of emergency was declared for the entire state of Oklahoma, said Michelann Ooten, spokeswoman for the state Department of Emergency Management. Fifty industrial generators and three truckloads of bottled water were to be shipped to blacked-out areas. Missouri had declared an emergency on Sunday and put the National Guard on alert.

Oklahoma utilities said some 400,000 customers were blacked out as power lines snapped under the weight of ice and falling tree branches, and utilities in Missouri said more than 100,000 homes and business had no power there. Roughly 11,000 were blacked out in southern Illinois.

[…]

On ice-covered Interstate 40 west of Okemah, Okla., four people died in "one huge cluster of an accident" that involved 11 vehicles, said Highway Patrol Trooper Betsey Randolph.

Eight other people also died on icy Oklahoma roads, and Missouri had one death on a slippery highway.

As I said yesterday: I’m not liking this. And I won’t travel if this sh|t continues apace.

Stuff I really like… Part 29:

Geico commercials. Some are just strange:

And some are simply classic:

“Pull that string one more time. I dare ya!” That makes me laugh right out loud every frickin’ time I see this ad. And speaking of LOL moments, there’s this one, too:

The ad isn’t running any longer (it should run forever, in my book), but it’s most-definitely the weirdest of the bunch. I lurves me some weird. I really DO. And Geico delivers…with interesting, funny, and oh-so-prolific ads. I wish others flogging their products would take a page out of Geico’s book. The company never runs any one theme into the ground, and they’re always coming up with new stuff. I admire them for that.

But I’m not switching my insurance, though.

I’m mulling over a serious post but haven’t quite got it sorted out yet. The post involves that world-class twit Bill Moyers and his program on PBS… “Bill Moyers Journal”… which I happened to watch in its entirety this past Friday night. Sleeping with the enemy, as it were. What’s up with that, anyway? Maybe there’s something else screwed up in my life at the moment…other than my circadian rhythms.

I’m beginning to worry.

6 comments:

  1. "No Ice" reminds me of having my margaritas straight up. Ice just gets in the way.

    Those of us close to the Red River did not get the bad ice like those north of us. It is plenty cold here and there ice, but the temps are just above freezing at this time. I hope it stays that way for tomorrow too.

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  2. We dodged a big bullet here in CT. It was very icey last night, but by morning it had gotten up to 33 degrees, so the preciptation changed to rain and the roads were just wet. It looked pretty bad at 10:00 last night, that's for sure. Very grateful.

    Reflections by Kris

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  3. Winter storm warning in effect for the region from 1800 tonight till 1800 tomorrow. Forecast for tonight:

    "Tonight: A chance of snow and sleet between 9pm and midnight, then periods of snow, freezing rain and sleet between midnight and 3am, then periods of snow and sleet after 3am. Low around 22. South wind between 7 and 10 mph becoming calm. Chance of precipitation is 100%. Total nighttime ice accumulation of around a 0.1 of an inch possible. Total nighttime snow and sleet accumulation of 1 to 3 inches possible."

    Good thing I have nowhere to be. More snow to come tomorrow too.

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  4. Lou sez: "No Ice" reminds me of having my margaritas straight up. Ice just gets in the way.

    Dang. You're more hard-core than I thought, Lou! ;-)

    I hope, for your sake, that the temp stays above freezing, too.

    Good for you guys, Kris. I'm grateful, as well.

    Mike: That doesn't sound pretty at ALL. Be safe!

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  5. We are having freezing rain here in Kansas right now, and they are predicting up to an inch of ice coating the trees and power lines. Since we live in a neighborhood with big trees, they usually fall on our power lines in ice storms, leaving us with no power for a few days to a week or more. If you don't see me for a while, I'm in the dark here waiting for the electric company to arrive. *yuck*

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  6. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for ya, Towanda. I truly understand what an ice storm can really mean!

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